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renjunniex · 8 months

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Thank You, For Being You

Isaac Lahey x Fem! Reader Series

Party Guessed

Prompt: Scott is hurt, Jackson isn't easy to stop, Lydia's birthday is coming up. And to top it all off, the full moon is tonight.

a/n: I read through this once and edited it so I hope I got all the mistakes

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It took a while but Isaac had finally calmed you down, Erica had left and even though Stiles wanted to stay because he was worried about you, Isaac had convinced him that he would take care of you.

"Are you sure?"

By now you had yourself tucked into Isaac as Stiles talked to you. You nodded wiping your tears away, "Yeah, Stiles, I'm fine. You should go home and rest. I need to find Scott and then I will too." He hesitated again before slowly nodding, you didn't see it but Isaac and Stiles had shared a knowing glance like some kind of exchange that just said 'make sure she's safe'.

Stiles had finally left and it was just you two. You guys sat in silence and he just caressed your hair. Even though no words were being exchanged between you, it wasn't awkward. It was comfortable. Even with all the dried tears on your face and the sniffles, it felt right to be there with him.

"How you doing, baby?"

You were startled by the nickname, you had heard him call you that while you were whaling but you hadn't thought he would keep calling you that. "What happened to 'your favorite girl'?" Your voice was so hoarse and it hurt to talk but you couldn't help but joke.

He chuckled at your question, "You can still be my favorite girl and be called baby."

You giggled, "I know, just teasing."

He smiled softly at you, you were still in his arms curled together on the floor. His hand was on your cheek, his thumb brushing your cheekbone, "Nice to see you back to yourself, if you're ready we can walk to the station, Derek will probably take Scott there after." You tilted your head up, nodding lightly, "Yeah, I'm ready."

Sure enough when Isaac and you reached the Hale pack hide out both Derek and Scott were there.

"Scott! Are you okay?" You crashed into the boy's back, who let out a gasp from the impact. He turned around and his eyes widened, "Have you been crying, what's wrong?"

"She was worried about you," Isaac had caught up with you, standing behind you two. "But I'm okay now, you're okay so everything is good," you hugged the boy once more. When you pulled away, you noticed Derek staring off into space, "You guys were having a serious moment, weren't you?" Scott tilted his as if he wanted to say no but in reality it was a yes.

"We can't save Jackson." Your head snapped to Isaac and then back to Scott, "I'm sorry what?"

"We can't seem to kill him either," Derek mumbled. "I've seen a lot of things Scott. I've never seen anything like this. Every full moon is just gonna make him stronger."

"Then how do we stop him?"

The Alpha shrugged, "I don't know."

"Maybe you should just let the Argents handle it then," you chimed in sitting on a chair.

"I'm the one who turned him, it's my fault."

"Yeah but you didn't turn him into this," Scott argued, "This happened because of something in his past, right?"

"That's a legend in a book. It's not that simple." You crossed your arms in annoyance, "What do you mean?"

"What are you not telling us," Scott asked at the same time as you.

"Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?"

"Because you always ARE keeping something from us!" The both of your voices had resonated, it had even startled Isaac. "Well, maybe I do it to protect you."

"Doesn't being part of your pack mean no more secrets," Scott asked quietly.

"Go home, Scott. Take (Y/N) too. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. Cause the full moon is coming and with the way things are going, I got a feeling it's gonna be a rough one."

It was officially spring break and that meant Lydia's birthday was almost here. Much to your surprise, there was a box on your porch from the red haired girl. She had sent you a dress to wear to her party tonight. You thought it was sweet considering you two weren't really friends. You were planning on going to her party so the gesture made some sense, unfortunately, you would have to leave early due to the full moon.

Derek had asked you to find something for the Betas to get through their first full moon, he had mentioned a spell and while you couldn't find anything like that you were able to find a type of potion to deprive them of their senses and calm their minds.

This morning you had decided you should probably pay the newly formed pack a visit, especially since you needed to let Derek know what you found and your plan. Which is why as soon as you got up and got dress you were on your way to the abandoned station.

You walked down just in time to here the pack talking once more, you did always seem to do that. "It's a spiral. Reminds us that we can all rise to one or fall to another. Betas can become Alphas, but Alphas can also fall to Betas or even Omegas," Derek explained.

"Like Scott?" Isaac stood looking at Derek.

"Scott's with us."

"Really? Then where is he now?" Derek looked at the Beta, "He's looking for Jackson. Don't worry, he's not gonna have it easy tonight either. None of us will. There's a price you pay for this kind of power." Derek picked up the chains, which you had recognized to be the same ones you had seen before, "You get the ability to heal. But tonight you're gonna want to kill anything you can find."

You had walked further into the room as Erica joked, "Good thing I had my period last week, then?"

You saw Derek pull out another chain, this one had a large circle and spikes on it, "Well this one's for you." You cleared your throat to let your presence be known and the whole pack turned towards you. Derek had nodded at you, like a peace offering on some kind, "Did you find it?"

You pointed at him, "The spell, no. But I did find this potion type thing that's able to deprive someone of their senses for purposes like this.

Derek looked relieved, "Thank you, do you have it?" You shook your head, "No, it takes a little bit of time to prepare and I just found it the other day. Deaton is helping me though to make sure it's perfect, should be ready tonight."

"Okay, thank you, bring Scott tonight, I might need some help." You hissed slightly, "Oh, yeah that might be a problem."

"What do you mean?"

You sat on a crate nearby as you began to explain, "Well you see, Lydia's birthday is tonight and Allison and Stiles are making us go. So Scott's gonna probably be busy with that and the whole finding Jackson thing." Derek had given you a deadpanned look, unimpressed by your answer. You raised your hands in defense, "Hey, don't look at me like that, they're making me. Lydia's even pressuring me," you leaned forward like you were gossiping to a group of best friends, "She sent me a dress and it was on my front porch this morning. I mean now I have to go, right?"

You scanned the room and almost everybody in the room was amused by your words, except for of course Derek. You sighed, "Don't worry, I'll be here to drop off the potion stuff tonight, I'm not gonna stay there for very long." Derek finally excepting defeat and just nodded walking away.

Erica and Boyd starting to converse from across the room and Isaac made his way to you slowly. You stood quickly, trying to play it off as best as you could. He made you nervous, especially now that you could let your guard down around him.

"You're going to a party?" You nodded slowly, confused since you had just finished talking about it, but when you looked up into his eyes, you saw it.

Jealousy.

"And Stiles and Scott are going too, right?" You nodded once more this time slightly more amused. "Yes, they are even if they weren't going you don't need to worry, I'm not gonna go around dancing with guys." His eyes widened as he realized he had been caught. You grabbed his hands softly pulling him a little closer and whispered, "When you get this whole full moon thing down, there will be nothing stopping you from being my plus one to every party."

Your words had gotten him flustered, you could see it in his eyes and in the way his cheeks glowed a little redder. It was like the old days, with the soft shy Isaac you knew before, "Walk me out?" He nodded his eyes just focused on you like a trance.

You had gotten ready for Lydia's party, of course wearing the dress she had given you, and you were at the clinic before you met up with Scott and Stiles.

"So, you added a little bit of rosemary to the water and then what," you asked watching as Deaton crushed the rosemary and threw it in the bowl. "Evening primrose, it's native to America and the oil extracted has been know to be quite anti-inflammatory. When combine with a Nymph's magical energy it was discovered to be able to affect supernatural species however they choose depending on the concoction," he laid whole petals into the water.

He turned and opening a cabinet, pulling out a Bunsen burner and rigging the small bowl above it. He looked at you and pointed to the bowl, "Rosemary is known to heighten concentration and memory, it will allow them to remember their human side more. Normally you would want to let the flowers ferment in the water for a week to allow the water to naturally be flavored."

You looked at him as he turned on the flame, then water instantly starting to steam, "But since we don't have time for that, heating the water will just have to do, it won't be as effective but with Derek and you there I'm sure it'll do the job." He gave you a smile before sliding your book over to you.

"You mean with Derek there, I'm still useless in a fight," you muttered, you felt a hand on your shoulder and you saw Deaton open the book. "Not anymore, I'm going to help you learn a basic offensive spell that uses a similar technique to your barriers. Since you've become more familiar with that and your natural talent, it should pretty easy for you to catch on." Your hand gripped the table, finally, you wouldn't be useless. You could actually hold your own, protect your friends.

"Okay, what do I do?"

He guided you away from the table and into the open space, he stood next to you. "For the most basic offensive technique you keep your hands here," he showed you, his elbows bent and his palms facing out, "You then will push out like your pushing someone away from you."

You copied the movement that you were very well acquainted with, considering you were constantly pushing Stiles around. "This doesn't seem that hard," you commented.

"The movement no, the build-up and timing will be."

You gave the man a confused glance, "What do you mean?"

"You essentially have to build up, in simple terms, your magic power to use this. What you're doing is using the amount of power you allow to either push an opponent back or even strike them. If you don't put enough magic pressure into, you could very well die to an enemy."

Your lips pursed, "Ah, there's the catch, it's never gonna be easy is it?" He chuckled, "No, unfortunately for you, your powers are all about balance. It's all tedious strategy and technique. Now try for real, let your power run through your veins and into your palms," he gestured into the open area.

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, trying to feel every ounce of the power you spent so long keeping down. It felt like a weight had been lifted and you felts tingles in your hands. You took the stance and pushed with as much force... nothing.

You tried again.

Nothing.

"Why can't I get it," you groaned.

"Relax, you have time. When you build a barrier what do you do?" You huffed at his question, crossing your arms, "Well, I imagine the energy flowing around whatever it is, that seems to work best." He nodded and pointing, "You see, just as I had said to Stiles, the imagination is a wonderous thing, do that and try again."

Shaking your limbs out to loosen up, you took another breath. A few nervous hops later and you brought yourself into the stance once more. You went through the motions, this time even with your eyes opened, you imagine the same iridescent glow you're used to. You pushed it out and this time...

You felt a blast whish passed you, blowing your hair. Everything on the shelves rumbled and shook, clattering around. "Yes! I did it!"

"And just in time too, the water is ready. All we need is just a spark of your power and it'll be good to go." He had bottled the waters into small vials and raised them up to you. Maybe it was the happiness of everything but without even thinking you raised your hand and instantly the vials shined your usual iridescence. When you realized what you did, your eyes widened, "It seems you're becoming more comfortable with who you are," Deaton smiled, "Now, I believe you have a party to go to."

"Hey! Allison! Wait up!"

The dark haired girl turned around to see you running, well trying to at least, to her. You were in heels and while you didn't have problems with walking, anything faster was immediately not as easy. "Damn it! Why did she send me a dress," you complained adjusting the fabric, "Normally I wouldn't say anything but tonight is not the night for me to be wearing something even slightly inconvenient."

She laughed at you giving you her arm, which you gratefully took, "You're still helping Derek tonight?" You nodded patting your little purse which held the vials, "Yep, sadly Derek created a problem that he needs others to help fix." Allison nodded along, "Yeah it feels like this whole semester has been about Derek and his pack."

You scoffed, "Tell me about it. We also never get to hang out anymore either so it makes it that much more impossible to not focus on the Derek problem." Allison smiled at you, you two really hadn't been that close recently. When she first came to Beacon Hills, you had easily befriended her (mainly for Scott you will admit) and even though she had hung out with Lydia and Jackson, it never deterred you from the girl. She was truly your closest girl friend if you were being frank.

"Well I'm glad you're here, I've missed being able to hang out," she said tugging you further up the driveway. You reached Lydia's front door where she had greeted you both with a smile, a smile that made you slightly uneasy. You chalked it up to the fact that you just weren't close with the girl and went back to scanning the room for Jackson, and your best friends.

"I'm gonna do a walk of the house, see if he's wandering about," Allison said pointed in the distance. She started walking off when you nodded, "I'm gonna look for the boys, be careful."

"You too."

She was now gone and you once more let your eyes wander the backyard, this time you had actually seen the two boys you were looking for. They had just made they're way outside when you reached them, "Hey."

They acknowledged you, "Have you seen Allison?" You nodded at Scott, "Yeah, we came in together." Scott went to ask you another question but he was quickly shut down by the clicking of heels, you turned to see Allison walking back up to you, "Uh, Jackson's not here."

"Yeah, no one's here," Stiles observed the backyard and he was right, it was eerily quiet. "Maybe it's just early," Scott suggested.

"Or maybe nobody's coming because Lydia's turned into the town wack job," Stiles expressed. You kissed your teeth and gestured to the boy in agreement, your eyebrows raised. "Well, we have to do something, because we've completely ignored her for the past two weeks," Allison said.

"She's completely ignored Stiles for the past ten years," Scott argued and shrugged. Stiles tried to defend himself, "I prefer to think of it as me not having been on her radar." You rolled your eyes, "Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night."

Scott made an unconvinced look, "We don't owe her a party."

"What about the chance to get back to normal?" The question shocked Scott, "Normal?"

"She wouldn't be the town wack job if it wasn't for us," Allison countered. You held up your hand, "Now hold on. First, just want to clarify, not against throwing her a party, it's her birthday. But it's not our fault she's gone coocoo for Coco Puffs, alright? That was all on Peter. Peter is the reason any of us are even in this mess to begin with, so she can blame him like the rest of us."

There was a silence after you made your point and you broke it once more, "Now that I've made my point let's throw her a good party," you said offering Allison your support.

"I guess I could use my co-captain status to get the lacrosse team here," Scott had relented. Stiles nodded as well, "Yeah, I also know some people who can get this thing going. Like really going." He dug into his pocket for his phone and Allison tilted her head, "Who?"

"I met them the other night. Let's just say they know how to party."

You chuckled catching on to who he was referring to, "Well then I'm sure this party is going to be in good hands. Chop, chop, people, let's go."

Soon enough Stiles' and Scott's called guests had made it and now the party was much more lively, you were pretty sure you could slip out now without Lydia noticing. You were standing with Stiles and Scott, watching as Allison stood across the pool with Lydia.

"Are you gonna apologize to Allison or what," Stiles asked. Scott's head snapped up to look at the boy, "Why should I apologize?"

"Because you're the guy. It's what we do," Stiles pointed out. You snorted at his answer and it caught both your best friend's attentions, "More like, you've made her feel ignored for the past couple of weeks."

"But I didn't do anything," Scott said cluelessly, you shook your head with a slight roll of your eyes as Stiles continues, "Well then you should definitely apologize. See, anytime a guy thinks he hasn't done anything wrong it means he's definitely done something wrong." You nodded this time, "Now, that, is true."

Scott grumbled, "I'm not apologizing." You nudged the boy slightly, "Is that the full moon talking, buddy." Scott looked at you and agreed, "Probably."

"Why do you guys care, anyway."

"Because, Scott, something's gotta go right here," Stiles emphasized, "I mean, we're getting our asses royally kicked, if you haven't noticed. People are dying. I got my dad fired. You're gonna be held back in school. This one is in love with a nut job," he gestured, "And so am I. If on top of all that, I gotta watch you lose Allison to a stalker like Matt, I'm gonna stab myself in the face."

"Hey, I'm not in love with Isaac," you exclaimed. Stiles scoffed, "Yeah, okay sure, I never said Isaac, Mrs. Denial." You went to argue again but was cut off by Scott standing, "You know what, you won't need to stab yourself in the face because I'm gonna do it for y-."

"Don't stab yourself in the face."

Both you and Stiles paused, looking at the Omega, "Why not?" Scott didn't look at Stiles, "Because Jackson's here." You three looked across the pool and there he was just staring at you guys. You blew out a stream of stressed air, "Alright, that's my cue to leave. You guys got this?" Both nodded wordlessly, keeping their eyes on Jackson.

Leaving the party was pretty easy actually, you got out like the Flash and now you had to deal with your anxiety of being in abandoned train car with three crazed out Betas. You had rushed into the car to see Erica and Boyd chained up in the back huffing from rage and Isaac and Derek in the front.

"Okay, so I see I might have been a little late," you said awkwardly.

Derek gave a pointed look, "Yeah, no kidding." Isaac however looked much more relaxed than before, still you could see he was definitely struggling. That's when you heard the two Betas in the back to cry and scream. The noise made you wince as you crouched down next to Derek and in front of Isaac.

"How do you not feel this," Isaac gritted his teeth.

"I feel every second of it," Derek had basically snarled. That didn't stop Isaac from shooting back, "Then how do you control it?"

"Find an anchor. Something meaningful. Bind yourself to it to keep the human side in control," Derek instructed tightening the chains, he jutted his chin out to other set on Isaac's other side and you got the message. You took the other chain and began to tighten it as best as you could.

"What is it for you?"

Derek took a pause before answering the Beta, "Anger. But it doesn't have to be that for everybody."

"You mean Scott?" You nodded slowly and whispered gently, "Scott's is Allison, even just the thought of her is able to calm him down." Derek indicated that you were right, "Alright, that should do it," he declared.

You opened your little shoulder clutch and grabbed the three vials, "Here, if you can get these two to take it now, it should help calm them down." You handed him two bottle and he nodded starting to get up but then he was interrupted by a loud break. Isaac had broken the seat holding his chain, he gave you both a knowing look.

"Go, get out of here," Derek urged you and before you panicked even more you opened the third vial you still had, "Take care of those two, I'll be okay." He didn't even respond as he was already moving to the back. You looked at Isaac who had sweat dripping from his forehead, "You need to go, it's not safe." You shook your head sitting on the chair, "Do you trust me?"

Isaac didn't even hesitate before agreeing, "Okay then I need you to drink this, okay?" He nodded and tilted his head back slightly and you poured it into his mouth, resting your hand in his hair to support his head.

"It might take a moment but it should kick in soon," you didn't get to see his reply because Derek had rushed towards you, grabbing your forearm and dragging you out of the train car. You could hear all their screams as Derek left a voicemail for Scott, "Hey Scott, could you call me back, I think I'm gonna need some help." Cue the violent and guttural growls and screams from Derek's pack.

"I thought you said it would help them?"

"It will but it's gonna take some time for it to kick in, it wasn't that strong since I couldn't properly prepare it."

Derek nodded, "Definitely gonna need some help." He unleashed his claws and walked inside the car. You followed closely and quietly behind, Derek had side stepped to stay out of Isaac's slash. You stayed in front, out of the away but also because your body ran cold, the sight of a blood thirsty Isaac terrified you.

Erica and Boyd had broken free and started advancing towards Derek. You had gotten distracted and hadn't even realized that Isaac also broke free until you heard the crunch of metal and the smash of glass. You lifted your hands up protecting your face from the flying shards, "Isaac!" He had already jumped out and you couldn't afford to take care of him yourself, not when Boyd and Erica were currently slashing at Derek, who was on the ground.

You had a clear shot to hit at least Boyd, maybe if you could get him off Derek, the Alpha would be able to fight off Erica himself. You focused your energy trying to make sure your blast was gonna be power and then when you were ready you pushed it out, watching as the glowing blast knocked Boyd off and made him forget about Derek. Only then did you realize that meant Boyd was now on you.

Derek had done exactly like you had thought and started to fight off Erica. You on the other hand were currently using small blasts to at least keep Boyd back. "Boyd, listen to me, I don't want to hurt you. Please, just calm down!" The Beta didn't listen, he snarled before raising his hand high to bring it down for a big slash. When he made a dash for you, you were prepared to feel something since you had no time to push him back.

But you never did.

Instead you heard another crash and felt someone shove passed you, you opened your eyes to see none other than Isaac holding Boyd down against the seat. He acknowledged Derek with a nod, letting him know he was in control. Things calm down once Derek had also knocked Boyd out and locked him and Erica back against the pole.

Isaac calmly sat in his old seat just staring forward, his eyes glowing. You sat next to the boy while Derek began to rechain him. "I think you'll be okay now," Derek started, "Looks like you found an anchor." You noticed in the corner of your eyes him direct his gaze at you but you paid no mind to it, only keeping your focus on the boy in chains.

"My father."

Your eyes widened. You didn't know what you were expecting as his answer but it certainly wasn't that. You saw the same confusion on Derek's face, "You father locked you in a freezer in the basement to punish you." He had said it as a statement but it sounded more like a question.

"He didn't use to."

Isaac set his hand down in his lap and Derek jangled the chains to confirm its security. "Go, take care of them, I got this," you said softly to the dark haired werewolf. He silently looked at you before walking away. You hesitated for just a moment and then you lightly rest your hand on top of Isaac's. "I'm glad you found an anchor, although I wasn't expecting it to be your dad." His head slowly rotating to you, "It's not."

You eyebrows scrunched and you tilted your head, "But you just said-."

"I lied."

Nodding slowly, you adjusted your position, sitting more comfortably, "Okay... then what's your anchor?"

"You."

"Me," you whispered, "but how-." He cut you off once more, "When I ran out, I heard your heartbeat pick up. You sounded so scared and I came back to myself instantly. I had to come back, to protect you, to make sure you were safe. Nothing else mattered." Your whole body dropped out of awe, you're sure you looked lovestruck by now. How do you not after hearing that?

"If it weren't for the audience back there and outside, I would totally kiss you right now."

The boy chuckled lightly, "Guess I have to wait until morning then."

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a/n: hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you think!!

taglist: @somiaw @vvicaddiction @mushroomelephant @breadbrobin @traumverloren-anderswelt @fandom-princess-forevermore @vanessa-boo @mxltifxnd0m

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hard-core-super-star · 1 month

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make every mistake [H.Steinfeld]

pairing: hailee steinfeld x reader

summary: you run into your ex at the vanity fair party, almost a full year after your breakup, and are forced to accept some hard truths.

warnings: technically none; bitter exes being bitter but also getting distracted; A LOT of references to cheating [very open to interpretation, though; more than one reference to JA; rubix please get over sunkissing challenge; did not proofread at all so it might not make the most sense at times; does this count as a ventfic?

wordcount: 1.5k

a/n: i was supposed to be writing something else [what a surprise lmao] but...it's sunkissing's anniversary and unfortunately, that song still means a lot to me and i needed to be nostalgic for a second. plus, last year's vanity fair party is what inspired me to start writing fanfiction again so...consider this a very weird, bitter, and nostalgic first anniversary celebration. i hope you enjoy and thank you so much for your love, support, and patience this past year, i plan to continue writing for you guys for a LONG while <3 [and yes, this is sunkissing (sad girl edition)]

* * * * * * * Whoever coined the phrase,”wrong place, right time,” as a good thing seriously owes you some compensation. It implies that there could be something possibly good in the situation you’re in but what could be good about being stuck at the same party your ex is also at?

Of course, that person might get along with your friends who have been trying to convince you that this situation is a fantastic opportunity for you to show how happy you are. Something that would work if it were true.

But it’s not.

How could happiness be anywhere on your radar when every time you interact with someone, they’re quick to remind you your ex-girlfriend is currently parading around with a quarterback? Not to mention, the amount of cheating rumors hasn’t been helping you feel much better about the situation.

Maybe you’re overly petty or arrogant, maybe even codependent, but time has done little to heal the wounds caused by a certain actress.

Which is why you were supposed to be out having fun in the first place…although maybe all of this could have been avoided if a certain 22-year-old hadn’t lied her ass off and told you there was no chance in hell your ex would show up.

All you know is you’re stuck in a room full of people you don’t care about, anxiously looking around every few minutes hoping you won’t run into her. It’s exhausting but it’s also highly addictive.

You’re in the middle of debating ditching Billie and the rest of your friends instead of torturing yourself for another hour when you catch a glimpse of the person you’ve been trying to avoid all night.

Your eyes find her for just a few seconds and yet the whole world seems to stop all at once.

Just like the first time.

You wouldn’t say you have a habit of romanticizing the past…except when it comes to Hailee Steinfeld and her ridiculously enchanting energy. A lot of things have changed since the day you met but the one thing you’re sure will remain a part of you forever is the way your heart takes off running when she's around.

Running away would be easy. It would probably be the solution to your impending problem and yet you stay. Because as much as you hate to admit it…you’ve missed her. Seeing just a glimpse of her feels like ecstasy after spending so long trying to erase the thought of her from your mind.

You know you’re chasing after someone who isn’t even there anymore, someone who vanished the day Hailee chose to go out to dinner with that guy instead of coming home to you. The person you love has been shoved back into far more closets than you can count but you’re an addict and the thought of getting her back for just a few minutes gives you a greater high than anything else ever could.

So, despite the thousands of reasons not to, you find yourself walking toward her. You tell yourself it’ll be fine, she’s in the middle of ordering a drink and the chances of her paying attention to you are close to zero.

You quickly learn close to zero isn’t enough.

You arrive at the bar right when she’s turning around to go back to whoever it is she’s pretending to get along with tonight. Her eyes instantly find yours and whatever liquid courage you had fades away in that very same instant.

For a second, you expect her to walk away without even acknowledging your presence, but then her mouth opens. “I can’t believe you actually left the house for this.”

There were a thousand sentences you were hoping to hear her say and the one she chose is nowhere on it. It does nothing except remind you of all the infuriating reasons why you can’t be around her anymore.

“Gee thanks, don’t sound too excited.”

She merely shrugs, acting like she can’t see the way your smile drops. “Just being honest.”

At some point in your relationship, you would have made fun of her for sounding so much like the characters she loves to play on TV but today, her attitude pisses you off like nothing else.

“Honest, huh?” You scoff. “That's gold coming from the cheater.”

There’s a flash of something in her eyes, mostly annoyance, and you know damn well that’s exactly what you’re looking for. A sign that she’s still human despite how much she loves to pretend like she doesn’t have feelings anymore.

Unfortunately, you’re sure her reaction has more to do with the fact that you’re in a room full of people who could overhear you than anything else.

“Oh, come on. I didn't cheat on you,” she says in the exact same tone as all the times before.

“Right, right, you just casually had dinner with your new boyfriend while we were still dating.”

A crack begins to form in her facade but you’re too annoyed to celebrate.

All she does is groan before placing her drink down on the bar and coming toward you. She wraps her hand around your arm, seemingly unaware of the sparks her touch ignites, and drags you toward the first secluded area she finds.

“Are we seriously going to have this fight again?” She questions you once you’re away from prying eyes.

“Sure,” you reply. “The only thing we ever do is fight.”

“Stop acting like I’m the only one in the wrong here. We both made mistakes.”

You scoff. “You’re right, I trusted you wholeheartedly. What a stupid mistake.”

“Oh my God.” She throws her hands up, frustration dripping out of her every pore, and yet she makes no move to walk away from you. “You haven’t changed one bit.”

“Changing isn’t always such a good thing. Just ask Martini and Brando, I bet they love the weather in Buffalo.”

It’s another cheap shot and you know it. Most of all, you see it. The flash of hurt that lingers in the eyes you know so well.

“Don’t,” she warns.

You can’t stop yourself from adding more fuel to the fire despite her warning. “Why? Is that more honesty than you can handle?”

“y/n, stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re right, I don’t know. Because I have no idea who you are anymore.”

It suddenly strikes you that you’ve had the same exact conversation with her before. You don’t know why you keep doing the same thing and hoping for a different ending. Especially considering Hailee is the most stubborn person you’ve ever met.

“You’re not the only one,” she says with a sigh, practically deflating in front of your eyes. “Believe it or not, you’re not the only person I’ve disappointed lately.”

“No offense but that’s the most accurate thing you’ve said in a while.”

A small chuckle escapes her and the sound instantly brings you back to simpler times. To spontaneous dates at the beach, random car drives to the middle of nowhere to watch the sunset, sleepless nights spent helping her rehearse for an early morning shoot the next day.

To being in love.

Back when your love actually mattered.

“Do you ever regret it?” You find yourself whispering into the space between you after a long silence. “Regret us?”

Her answer might split you in two but you're tired of the desperation that clings to you from the sheer amount of unsaid things that still linger in your mind.

“No,” she replies, her voice so quiet you almost miss it. “I regret how things ended, I regret what I did to you…do you?”

You shake your head before you can stop yourself, the truth spilling out of you just as fast as the tears that painted your face the day she left. “I regret…how much I love you…how impossible it is for me to hate you.”

For a split second, you catch sight of the Hailee you once fell in love with. The one with warm eyes and the softest smile imaginable. The one who could easily break your walls down with a single chuckle.

“Give it a few days,” she replies. “It’ll stop being so impossible.”

It’s ridiculous how enamored her words make you. It’s also stupid and infuriating that no matter how badly you want to walk away from her, you can’t find a way to make your feet move. You’re stuck and that growing smirk on her face tells you she knows exactly how much you’re struggling.

“No witty comeback?” She questions, her head tilting slightly to the side in an almost mocking gesture.

“I’m just trying to decide if I should slap you or not.” Your words hold no real bite to them, even if you wish they did, and you both have to pretend neither of you notice the way you lean toward her.

Her eyes betray her as they slide down your face until they reach your lips. Her gaze rests there for longer than would be appropriate for an exchange between old friends. But you’re not old friends. You’re something more. Something that exceeds categories and reasons.

Something that rests completely in the space between your mouths.

It should be easy to turn away from her…but it isn’t…and you can’t stop yourself from meeting her half-way when she leans in close enough for you to feel her breath on your lips.

It’s a mistake.

But it’s one you make as easily as falling in loving her.

#hailee steinfeld x reader #hailee steinfeld x female reader #hailee steinfeld x you #hailee steinfeld x y/n #hailee steinfeld fic #hailee steinfeld imagine #hailee steinfeld fanfiction #hailee steinfeld #hawkeye #mcu #mcu fanfiction #marvel #wlw #wlw fic #writing

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chaotic-super · 8 days

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Joining The Superfriends - Chapter 28

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“Alex, where’s Lena?”

Alex pushes back on Kara’s shoulders, stopping her from trying to sit up and get out of bed for at least the sixth time in less than two hours. “She’s got a lot on her plate and I think she needs some time to come to terms with everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“She sat by your side for five days straight, Kara. She spent most of that time doing nothing but worrying about you and hasn’t taken the time to properly process what happened with and to Lex. Her brother just died and that will impact her life massively.”

Kara closes her eyes, trying to get the image of Lex’s corpse out of her mind. “Yeah. That’s a lot. Is she mad at me?”

Alex looks down at her sister’s panic-stricken face. “No, no, of course not. She understands, and she actually told Kelly that she’s grateful it wasn’t her that did it, even if she hates that you now have to carry that burden.”

“So she’ll be back?”

“I’m sure she will be,” Alex confirms. “I’ll text her soon and see if she has an approximate time, but hopefully she’s decided to get some proper sleep in her own bed. She’s been pushing herself to the limit to be with you while you were unconscious. I think it’s probably all just caught up with her now.”

Kara nods slowly. “I get it. I still wish she was here, but she should look after herself.”

“It’s ok to want that, Kara. There’s no shame in wanting things. It’s only when you push someone else’s feelings aside for your own that you’re being selfish. Hell, sometimes we deserve to be selfish. As much as I want to push you to do that right now, Lena needs some time. She really does.”

“Ok…just,” Kara pauses momentarily, trying to find a nice way to word her next sentence. “Can you keep everyone away from me for a while?”

“Everyone or Mon-El?” Alex raises her eyebrow at her little sister.

“Both. I don’t want to deal with Mon-El right now and I don’t want to be interrogated by Winn either. I just want to rest for a while and try to wrap my head around everything.”

Alex squeezes her hand softly. “Ok, I can do that. I’ll tell everyone you’ve gone back to sleep. You should actually do that.”

Shaking her head, Kara snuggles into her pillow. “I don’t know if I can do that. I’m pretty achy and my mind is just everywhere. “I might read for a while. Can I borrow your tablet?”

Alex grabs it and swipes away all her open windows before handing it over. “I’ll leave you to it because you’re obviously not ready to talk yet and I’d be wasting my breath trying to get you to. Shout me if you feel weird. We’re pretty sure the kryptonite is all out of your system, but you’re not fully healed yet. It’s important you do.”

“I will, I promise.”

“Good. Now, I’m going to go and entertain everyone so they stay out of your hair. You owe me one.”

“I think I owe you more than one.” Kara smiles at her softly. “Thanks for taking such good care of me.”

“Always,” Alex promises, backing out of the med bay.

“Oh, and Alex?”

“Yes, Kara?” Alex sighs fondly.

Kara clutches the tablet to her chest as she peers over at her sister, her hair falling in her eyes and blocking her vision somewhat. “Are Sam and Jack coming?”

Alex shrugs. “I don’t know, why?”

“Lena should have her friends here to support her. Especially now. I know Sam works at Luthor Corp, so there’s probably a huge mess for her to clean up now Lex is gone, but surely at least Jack can come?”

“I’ll give them a call.”

“Thank you.”

“Now rest.”

“Ok,” Kara replies softly as Alex finally retreats out of the room.

With her sister gone, Kara leans back, not even turning on the tablet in her grasp, too preoccupied thinking about the mess Lena has to deal with now. Between Lex’s death, the destruction of the city, the deaths of all the civilians and dealing with Luthor Corp, Lena’s plate is so full it’s overflowing. She just hopes Lena will let her be there for her through it all.

Lena pulls the duvet around herself more firmly, then takes a moment to flick her damp hair out of her face. The shower was nice, but trying to reach over her shoulder to coat her healing wounds with anti-septic cream afterwards wasn’t. It’s done now though, even if it did wear her out. She really wants to be back at Kara’s side, but now that she knows she’s awake, she doesn’t feel as panicked. There’s not the same pit in her stomach or the little voice in her head telling her that Kara might not wake up. She just feels lighter. Lighter but tired.

She knew as soon as she made it back home that she would end up in bed for a while before going back to the Tower. She just needs a breather. It doesn’t help that she knows that when she does go back, she has to fight against Kara’s ex, who apparently hates her. The revelation that Kara once bitched about her family is neither here nor there. She couldn’t care less really. After all, who hasn’t bitched about her family at this point? What bothers her is that Kara’s ex decided it was alright to try and start a fight over Kara’s bed right after she just woke up from a five-day coma. That she can’t overlook.

Personally, she’s got nothing against the guy. He can say or think whatever he wants about her. What he can’t do is make Kara’s life harder or make her uncomfortable in any way. Who even comes to visit their ex after a near-death experience anyway? Someone who wants to worm their way back into her life, that’s who. Like hell is Lena going to sit back and let that happen. They might not have had the chance to make it official yet, but she’s pretty damn sure they’re at least seventy percent of the way there.

Allowing her eyes to droop closed without resisting the urge to sleep for the first time in days is a kind of bliss Lena can’t describe. It’s been long awaited just as much as she dreaded it. She doesn’t get to enjoy it for long though because she barely lasts five minutes before she’s off into the dream world.

Her mistake comes with not silencing her phone before going to bed. She should know by now that if Sam and Jack can make her life worse in any way, they’ll do it.

“What do you want?” A groggy Lena answers her phone, pissed that she’s barely slept at all and she’s already been awoken.

“That’s not very nice.”

“What’s not very nice is being awake for almost five days straight with only crappy naps between. I just got to sleep. I’ll call you back when I wake up again. Good night.”

“Oh no, the fuck you don’t.” Sam harshens her voice. “As much as I hate that you’ve barely slept, this is important.”

Lena huffs and rolls onto her back, kicking her legs against her mattress like a stroppy teen. “But Sam…” She whines.

“No, this has to do with Luthor Corp. Lex’s death certificate has been filed now. That means that legally, the company is now yours. You just have to come and sign on the dotted line. You’ll have to come to Metropolis though.”

“And you couldn’t have waited a little longer for me to sleep before asking me to come to another city in the midst of nobody being able to get anywhere due to the fact that National City’s airport literally got flattened by the weird-ass leg of Lex’s spider ship?”

Sam clicks her tongue and sighs down the line at her. “Lena, I appreciate that you’re not having a good time right now, especially knowing your brother is dead. I know you cared for him even after everything. I’m sorry for that. I’ve bought you as much time as I could with Luthor Corp, but there’s already talks of your mother trying to find a way to get her hands on the company.”

“Let her have it, Sam. I don’t want it.”

“I know you don’t, but you can’t let your mother have that power. She’s just as bad as Lex was, and look at what he did.”

Sam can practically hear Lena’s brain whirring down the phone.

“I just don’t know if I can do it, Sam?”

“Not even just for as long as it would take for you to find someone you trust to run it?”

“I trust you.”

“I can’t run it, you know that. I have Ruby.”

Lena sits up with a frown, propping her pillow up behind her haphazardly. “I know. I just…I don’t know how to run a company. I can build things, I can fix things, I can give a mean right hook. I don’t know how to run a company.”

Lena can hear the shuffle through the line as Sam shrugs. “That’s why you’ll have help. I know you’ve got a damn good team on your side back in National City, but you’ve also got a pretty good one here too. I’m with you, Jack is with you, and you’ve got a whole team of literal superheroes with you. You can change the world for the better now, Lena. Don’t waste your shot.”

There’s a brief silence on the line.

“Ok, fine. I’ll figure out how to get to Metropolis as soon as possible.”

“I’d say just use Super-air. I can say first-hand that she offers a first-class experience.”

Lena clears her throat. “I’ll ask J’onn. She’s…”

“How bad?”

“Pretty bad. She only just woke up.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” Lena sniffs quietly. “I’ll text you when I’m leaving.”

“Good. I love you.”

“Love you too, Sammy.”

Lena rubs her eyes, still awfully tired but feeling at least a little better compared to when she went to sleep.

Grabbing her phone, she sees that she managed to get almost six hours of rest, and that’s much more than she was expecting, so she is happy with that. She just has to get through her list of things to do that’s a mile long.

She squints at her notifications and sees that she has a handful of texts to answer, most of them from the Superfriends just checking in with a couple from Jack too, telling her that if she doesn’t let him know when she’s in town so they can get drunk together, he’ll throw a hissy fit.

Alex’s text sits right on top, so she figures she can answer her and she’ll let the others know. Jack takes days to answer texts so he can’t say anything about a bit of tardiness in responding. She can handle him later.

She drags herself out of bed, stretching out her stiff back and dripping her jaw to let out a yawn that makes her jaw crack. “Ok, so I just have to make sure Kara is alright, potentially fight her ex and take over an entire company before coming up with a way to help rebuild the city. That’s only four things. That’s not too bad.” Staring at her reflection in her bathroom mirror, she sighs. “Who am I kidding? This is going to be hell.”

Lena rolls her shoulders, trying to get rid of some of the stiffness there, and then she nods at herself in the mirror. She’s got work to do and moping won’t help anyone.

She gets dressed as quickly as possible before brushing her teeth and washing her face. The quicker she can get to the Tower, the faster she can get things rolling, and the quicker it’ll all be over.

As quick as she wants to get there and sort everything though, she still has a lot on her mind and she needs to take a moment to take everything in. Walking to the Tower, she stares at the damage left on the city. Damage that definitely wasn’t there when she moved here. Damage that she is partly responsible for. If she hadn’t moved here then none of this would have happened. If she hadn’t moved here, her brother would be alive. If she hadn’t moved here, Kara wouldn’t be hurt.

“Lena, I’m so glad you’re here.” Nia bumps into her as she walks out of the front door to J’onn’s P.I. firm. “Everyone is upstairs. We’ve spent the past hour or so figuring out the best way to help with the clean-up of the city. I think your big brain could do us some major favours in figuring out the best place to start.”

“Sure.” Lena nods. “Where are you going?”

“Just grabbing coffee and breakfast. You want me to grab you some too?”

Lena forces a smile onto her face. “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, I won’t be long.”

“Take your time.”

Nia grimaces. “I absolutely won’t do that. Alex gave me a very colourful threat because she’s caffeine-deprived and hangry. It’s better for everyone if I hurry.”

Lena chuckles and the fake smile turns genuine, just for a second. “That’s probably for the best then. See you soon.”

“Bye.” Nia waves, the door clicking shut softly behind her.

Lena’s shoulders sag as she wanders across the room and watches the elevator appear before her, glancing behind her for a moment before she steps inside.

Peering through the elevator doors, she realizes it’s in full view of the front window. She should really tell J’onn to do something about that. Anyone could walk past at the wrong moment and see something none of them want some randomer to see.

She sinks against the back wall as the doors close, letting her eyes fall shut as the gentle motion reminds her of the sleep she missed out on. Now, she kind of wishes she’d tried to get a couple more hours of rest before coming in, but she figures there’s no rest for the sister of the wicked.

Alex and Kelly are sitting in the main area as she steps out into the space. “Hey.”

“Hey, how are you?” Kelly asks, nothing but kindness and sincerity written across her face.

“I’ve been better. I managed to get a few hours of sleep so I’ll count that as a win.”

Alex frowns at her, her arms folding. “Why am I sensing a but?”

“Because there is one.” She shrugs. “With Lex dead, Luthor Corp is now mine, as we already knew. What I didn’t realize was how little time I have to get over to Metropolis to handle it all.”

Kelly’s eyebrows lift in shock. “You have to go to Metropolis?”

“Unfortunately.” Lena sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, stressed at the very thought. “I’ll have to see if J’onn is willing to fly me over. Sam called and told me there’s already talk of my mother trying to take the company. The only way I can stop that is by going over and making the switch official. My mother might not be quite as bad as Lex, but I can assure you that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. She’s trouble and shouldn’t be in control of a multi-million dollar company.”

Alex uses her foot to nudge out the seat beside her. “Come on.”

Lena does as she’s told, plopping down gracelessly. “Sam is doing everything she can to buy me time; that’s pretty much all she’s been doing for the past few days. Luckily, she’s CFO, or else I’d have had to try and find a way to Metropolis even sooner.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

She shakes her head softly. “I doubt it. Just…take my mind off it, just for a few more hours. I saw Nia downstairs, and she said you’re trying to figure out how to handle the destruction. Let me see your plan. I can help with that.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Trading bureaucratic destruction for city-wide physical destruction doesn’t seem healthy.” Alex challenges.

“And running around the city in masks fighting bad guys with alien technology is the healthiest thing a person can do, right?”

“Touché.”

“Can you guys go ten minutes without arguing?” Kara staggers into the room, one arm wrapped protectively around her middle and the other using the doorframe to help her balance.

Alex shoots up to her feet immediately, rushing to her side, Lena not far behind. “You’re not meant to be up yet. You’re still healing.”

“But Alex—”

“No buts, you need more rest and more sunlight. You might be out of the woods kryptonite-wise, but you still have some pretty gnarly wounds that need to heal. Look at you, you can barely stand without wincing.”

Kara pouts at her, hoping to win her sister over, but all she gets is a hard stare in response. That’s not going to get her anywhere. She changes tactics, pouting over at Lena, hoping to garner her sympathy and protection. “I just want to come and sit with you guys.”

Lena shakes her head. “We won’t be long. Why don’t you head back to the med bay and we’ll come and join you soon?”

“If you’re going to be done soon, I might as well just hang out with you guys until you’re done.” Kara bats away the two sets of hands attempting to steady her and usher her back towards the med bay.

Shaking her head, Lena sighs. “Come on. We’ll be ten minutes tops, and we’re just doing boring planning anyway. We just want you to heal as quickly as possible.”

“I know.” Kara swallows harshly and lowers her voice, talking through gritted teeth. “I just don’t think I can heal very well when my ex is busy talking shit about all of our choices right outside the med bay where I have to listen to him bitching.”

Alex rolls her eyes. “Of course he is. Kara, what did you ever see in him?”

“A partner whose nose I wouldn’t accidentally break.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Lena’s eyes widen.

“It doesn’t matter.” Alex waves her off nonchalantly. “I’ll handle it, Kara. I’ll walk you back to bed and then you won’t have to worry about him, ok?”

Kara’s shoulders drop and she catches Lena’s hand. “Will you come sit with me when you’re done?”

“Of course I will. I won’t be long.”

Kara’s pout disappears, her face brightening like she’s just stepped outside on a sunny day. “Good, see you soon.”

“See you.” Lena waves her off, worry building in her chest when she notices just how unsteady she is on her feet as Alex guides her away.

“Just keep your mouth shut, Mon-El. Now isn’t the time for you to come waltzing in acting like you know everything because you’ve been in the future for a whole five minutes.”

“I just happen to have read the history books, and I know that Luthors just happen to be on the wrong side of history.” Mon-El’s indignant tone cuts through the air and into the med bay, making sure that Kara won’t get any rest today.

“I’ve literally never seen you read a book before.” Winn’s confused voice at least brings a smile to Kara’s face. She’s missed the guy, even if he can be a little annoying and is terrible at keeping her secrets.

Mon-El’s offended gasp rids her of that momentary joy. “I once read Romeo and Juliet. Just ask Kara. There’s your proof, and so what if I haven’t read any history books? I still know that the Luthors aren’t good people. Why are you people acting so dense?”

A loud slap rings through the air, the sound making Kara wince. That was definitely an Alex slap, and Alex slaps are spicy, to say the least.

“What was that for?”

“For one, I know you’ve read that book, and you defiled it by writing nonsense all over the pages, and secondly, we’re not the ones acting dense. You’re the one being prejudiced against someone you don’t even know. You’d think the prince of Daxam would know that your family doesn’t define your beliefs or your morals. That is unless you’ve gone back to your slave-owning ways?”

Kara can just picture him shaking his head cartoonishly and backing away from Alex, trying to escape her harsh words. “Of course not! I would never do that.”

“But you did. Does that mean you’re still a bad person? Does that mean that because of who you are, you’ll forever be a bad person?”

“No! I’m good! I saved the world.”

“So has Lena, but you’re too busy calling her out for actions that aren’t hers that you can’t see that you’re only hurting the people around you. Kara is still healing. She got very badly hurt by Lex and Lena is the one that saved her. Lena protected her. Lena is the reason she’s still alive. You’re just the person stressing her out so badly that she keeps leaving the med bay just to get away from you and your incessant whining. Pull yourself together before I send you back to the future by whatever means necessary.”

If Kara were a betting woman, she’d put money down saying that Mon-El is quivering in a corner looking like a kicked puppy right now. She’s not entirely sure what she saw in him before. Sure, he was kind of like having an excitable border collie around. Cute at times but so energetic and chaotic, he leaves nothing but damage in his wake. Unfortunately, what she saw was his potential to serve the herd. The herd being the people of Earth.

“Let me go apologize to her.” She hears him say, sadness coating his words.

“She does deserve an apology, but you’ve kept her up long enough with your bullshit. Move into another room away from here where you’re bothering her and let her rest. She needs to sleep and recover, not listen to you acting like you know best for everyone around you.”

“But—”

“No buts, get your ass up and get out of here. I don’t care where you go, but you’re not going anywhere near either Kara or Lena unless you have my permission. Understand?”

A silence follows that makes Kara nervous, anxiety bubbling in her chest.

Alex clears her throat. “Understand?”

“I got it.”

“Good.”

Footsteps echo as the three of them filter out of the room and further away from her until she can’t hear them at all. She kind of wishes that her powers weren’t still gone. Clearly, the kryptonite caused a lot of damage if she solar flared, but she’s kind of grateful. There’s no impending crisis right now, which means she has to be on edge without them. She can just enjoy the moment without overthinking it too much. That’s something she doesn’t get to have often, and she intends on basking in the glow of not having the pressure of the world sitting heavy on her shoulders.

She lets her eyes slip closed, but just as she starts drifting off with the warmth of the sunlamps keeping her nice and toasty, she hears footsteps return and with those footsteps comes dread. She knows those footsteps.

“Kara?”

She keeps her eyes closed, praying he’ll get the hint and leave her alone.

“Psst, Kara.” He tries again.

Still, she makes a conscious effort to keep her face relaxed to not give away the fact that she’s awake.

Then her shoulder is grasped and she’s being shaken hard enough to make her gasp out in pain, her eyes finally popping open.

“Ah, fuck!” She grabs at her wounds, now thoroughly pissed and in pain. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I just need to talk to you.”

“Like fuck you do.” Lena’s sharp voice comes from the doorway. “I don’t know what was running through your obviously pea-sized brain, probably nothing of substance, but you’ve got some wires crossed. You just hurt her and woke her up for no good reason when I know that Alex just kicked you out of this part of the Tower.”

“With all due respect, this is between Kara and me.”

“Kara and I.”

“What?”

“It’s Kara and I, not Kara and me. If you’re going to start talking shit, at least be grammatically correct about it.”

Mon-El’s fists clench, and he turns fully towards her, standing directly between Kara and Lena. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you? You’re just like him, and you’re only going to hurt her.”

Lena’s eyebrow raises, her face nothing short of icy. “Like you just did?”

“You didn’t see what happened. She’s not hurt because of me.”

“So she just yelped in pain from what? Just lying there?”

“Must have done.”

Lena shakes her head as she lets out a short laugh. This guy is a piece of work. She takes a step back and turns her head towards the door. “Alex!” She shouts at the top of her voice.

Just like that, Mon-El turns white. He might be a lot stronger than the average human, but if there’s one person he’s scared of, it’s Alex, and he just went behind her back to do exactly what he’d been told not to do.

Lena can hear Alex’s hurried footsteps getting louder and louder as she approaches, drawing closer rapidly as Mon-El gets visibly more anxious with each step, his hands gripped into tight fists. At the same time, his eyes dart around the room in an attempt to find a way to escape.

Alex storms into the room, not knowing what’s waiting for her but intuitive enough to know that whatever it is, it’s not good.

She spots Mon-El facing off with Lena and knows right then and there that this isn’t going to be a pretty fight. “Who wants to tell me what in the actual fuck is going on?”

Lena clenches her jaw, remaining silent. She wants to see what kind of shit this complete and utter asshole is about to spout.

Mon-El does something Lena wasn’t expecting. He squares up to Alex, his shoulder back, his spine straightening and his fists held firm at his sides as he glares down at the redhead. “She’s dangerous and Kara’s not safe around her. I was doing what I had to in order to keep her safe. She can’t be here if you’re allowing someone like that to be around her. Look at what her brother just did; she could kill her at any moment, and the only one to blame would be you because you let it happen.”

Alex doesn’t hesitate to react. Using her Hand of the soldier, she summons up a boxing glove lined with lead and hits him squarely in the face, knocking him back and right onto his ass.

He cries out in anguish when blood starts to pour from his nose, not broken, unfortunately. “What the fuck, Alex?”

“Stay the hell away from us, Mon-El. I told you to stay away, and yet here you are, coming back where you’re not welcome to accuse someone you don’t know of something they’re incapable of doing. You’re a mess. You’re dangerous. Get the fuck out.”

“You’re not going to ask her what happened?” He throws his hands in the air. “You don’t want to ask her what she did? You seem to like attacking me, but you haven’t even got the full story.”

Alex sighs, dematerializes the boxing glove and folds her arms before turning to Lena. “Is there more to the story, Lena?”

“Yes, he grabbed her and hurt her.”

Alex’s eyes darken instantaneously. “Brainy!”

The Coluan comes scuttling in quickly. “How can I help?”

“Get this piece of shit out of the Tower now before I kill him.”

There’s the barest hint of a nod before Brainy pulls Mon-El off the floor and ushers him to the door.

The Daxamite doesn’t go easily though, pushing back against Brainy’s hands to turn back. “I was getting her out of here because you’re not keeping her safe.”

“I suggest you leave very quickly because I estimate that the next weapon Alex materializes won’t be a boxing glove.”

Mon-El snarls before huffing his way out the door, barely turning his head to spit out one last line as he leaves. “You’re going to regret this when she turns out to be exactly like her brother, just you wait.”

Lena shakes her head at the man, infuriated by his saviour complex and need to villainize her when he doesn’t know a single thing about her other than her last name.

Her gaze meets the side of Alex’s face and she’s shocked by the amount of pure rage she sees there before she remembers that she just told her that he hurt Kara. Kara, who she needs to check on. She turns quickly, rushing to Kara’s side, panicking as she finds the woman on her side, her back to the door. She’s curled in on herself, her hands thrown over her ears protectively and her knees to her chest.

“Kara?” Lena round the bed, crouching next to her so her eyes are in line with Kara’s closed ones. They’re shut so tightly little lines are spreading across her face from the force.

She reaches out carefully, her fingertips just barely brushing against the cowering woman’s wrist. The tiniest bit of pressure causes her to rear back and pretty much fling herself off the bed, landing on the floor in a pile of useless limbs.

“Kara!” Lena cries out, rushing to get to her side. Her eyes instantly rake over Kara’s body in search of injuries. “Are you ok?”

Kara’s hands remain over her ears, but now her eyes are wide open, looking like they might pop right out of her skull at any moment.

“Kara, you’re ok. I promise you, you’re ok.” Lena creeps closer, afraid to touch her in case she reacts badly again.

Alex sprints into the room, and it takes Lena a second to realize that she must have made sure that Mon-El really left this time, or else she would have been in here with them a lot sooner.

“Alex, I don’t know what’s happening. She was on the bed, but when I touched her wrist she threw herself off the other side to get away from me. I don’t know what to do.”

Alex holds her hands out in front of Kara, moving slowly so she can clearly see her intentions. Her hands slowly descend to land on Kara’s forearms, and Lena watches with rapt attention.

Alex’s eyes flicker between Kara’s and Lena’s for a second before she addresses Lena whilst looking deeply into Kara’s eyes. “She’s alright, Lena. She’s going to be just fine. She’s just panicking and overwhelmed.”

Kara stares back at Alex, unblinking and seemingly frozen. Lena can’t help but find it a little odd. Her breathing appears normal, if not a little deeper than usual, but she’s not gasping for breath, not struggling against whatever is happening. She’s just embracing it and riding her way through it.

“What’s happening, Alex?” Lena whispers.

“She’s fine,” Alex responds in a hushed voice, carefully prying her hands down and away from her ears. “She’s just fine.”

“Alex?” Kara whimpers.

“I’m here,” Alex reassures, taking that as her cue to pull her sister into a hug. “Both me and Lena are here and we’re not going anywhere. I promise.”

Lena nods despite the fact that Kara can’t see her face. “We’re not leaving, Kara.”

Tentatively, she reaches out to press her hand to the centre of Kara’s back and lets out a heavy breath of relief when she doesn’t shy away.

They sit like that for several long minutes. Alex holds her tightly while Lena strokes her hand up and down the centre of her back in a slow, purposeful rhythm, completely predictable. Then, Kara leans back, sniffling a little and wiping her eyes before tears can fall. “Thanks.”

“Are you ok?” Lena murmurs.

Kara nods shakily. “Yeah, sorry. It just…I was…I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know,” Alex says, standing up and pulling Kara with her, urging her to get back on the bed. “Lie down. I’m going to have to check you over.”

“I’m good.”

“I’m sure you are, but I’m not going to stop worrying until I’ve seen it for myself, so just humour me, alright?”

“Ok.” Kara doesn’t put up a fight, and it’s clear that she isn’t in the right state of mind to be able to for some time yet. “That’s ok. Lena, will you stay with me?”

Lena moves to her side, taking her hand. “Yeah, I’m here.”

Kara hums. “Can you stay with me tonight? I don’t want to stay here alone, and I don’t think Alex will let me out of here yet.”

Lena had to stop herself from agreeing, guilt already building up in her chest, heavy and uncomfortable. “I can’t, I’m sorry.”

A heavy silence fills the room.

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry, Sam called and she can’t put off everything going on with Luthor Corp any longer. I have to go or else the company could fall into my mother’s hands, and she’s just as bad as my brother.”

Kara blinks slowly before tightening her grip on Lena’s hand. “You have to go then. I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Just call me?”

Lena’s eyebrows pinch together in worry. “I’m sorry, Kara. If I could stay, I would. I don’t even want to go. If I could just leave it and not have anything to do with Luthor Corp or anything to do with the Luthor name at all, I would. I really would.”

“I know.” Kara forces a smile, one that both Alex and Lena can see through.

“I’ll look after her and stay with her.” Alex squeezes Lena’s arm, seeing the conflicting emotions hiding behind emerald eyes. “You do what you have to do and then come back to us, alright?”

Lena hums her agreeance and raises Kara’s hand up, kissing the back of it softly. “I promise I’ll be as quick as I can. This is my home now. National City is my home and I don’t really want to leave.”

Kara holds their joined hands on her belly, her free hand holding onto Lena’s wrist, preventing her from leaving, and Lena’s not about to pull away. Sam can wait a while longer.

Inevitably, she’ll have to go, but she’s happy to stay for as long as she can in the meantime.

Check out more chapters of JTS on my Patreon here!

#supergirl #supercorp #kara danvers #lena luthor #kara x lena #fanfic #cw supergirl #supercorp endgame #supercorp fanfic #joining the superfriends #chaoticsuper

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sushibatebue · 1 year

Text

T S A W K S Y U L - sun lilly

Pairing: agedup!Neteyam x omatikaya!fem!reader

Words: 1k+ (7 min.)

Warnings: fluff, love confessions, mentions of mating, use of y/n, a slight insecure reader, wounds, bit of swearing, sexual thoughts, making out, jealousy

A/N: ok so I don't even know why I made this but I am completely obsessed with Avatar and Neteyam sooo why not write if I enjoy reading it sm? Btw English ain't my first language so there might be some wrongly written words, nevertheless I hope you like it!

Translations:

Oel ngati kameie - I see you

Paywll - water plant (used for medicine)

Maite - my daughter

"Sometimes two souls are matched by Eywa herself."

His grandmother once said, and that was exactly what crossed Neteyam's mind when he first saw you. You were both about 11 and he, alongside his brother were walking towards the healing tent after Lo'ak fell because of a vine.

And there you were, mixing up medicine with your new friend Kiri for the Tsahìk.

"You can't never get away from trouble can you child?"

Lo'ak scratched the back of his neck and sat down waiting for his grandmother to patch him up. Neteyam on the other hand found himself gawking at the new girl, with a tsawksyul resting on her ear, standing right in front of him.

She was beautiful, no, alluring. Everything inside him tingled when she turned her face to hand Mo'at a misture of plants and now Neteyam was wishing he was the one tripping over vine so that he would be cured by whatever was made by the girl's hands.

"Oh brother, this is my new friend Y/N."

Y/N Y/N Y/N, her name rang on his head like a song that never stopped musing.

"Oel ngati kameie, Neteyam." She held 2 of her 4 fingers to her forehead and dropped them, greeting Neteyam in the most unintentionall graceful way.

"Oel ngati kameie, Y/N"

He struggles to breath, the mighty warrior Neteyam was shaking because of a girl?

He knew his siblings noticed his flustered behavior, but he didn't care. He only cared about finding out everything about this Y/N, this behavior seemed to stay untouched for the following 7 years...

"Mama! I'm going to pick up some more paywll for the Tsahìk."

Your voice rang inside the tent you and your family lived. "Okay, maite. Just be safe and do not come home after eclipse, yeah?"

"Yup!"

You say as you walk out of your house, casually jumping to fasten your step. Teníu your ikran seemed to be already waiting for you and you immediately hop on top of him to sore in the beautiful sky, although you enjoyed being a healer sometimes you wished you could just fly across Pandora with no due time.

That was always on your mind but you cared too much for your people, who else would cheer up the young children while healing their swollen bruises, or patch up the hunters?

Well, someone else probably would but you like the fact everyone liked you, even the most sour kids.

While caught up with your own thoughts you fail to notice the na'vi in front of you preparing to make a clean kill on an animal.

"Oh shit-"

You bumped on the boy's back and he missed his target, something unusual for him. Him being no other than Neteyam.

"I am so sorry 'Teyam, I didn't see you- well I did see you but I didn't really mark your presence."

You ramble an apology to your friend and crush, hoping he could endure your stupidity, but the boy was barely listening to you if he was being honest, your voice was now a background sound while he discreetly admired your body and how your skin was glowing from the sun.

"It's all good Y/N, no need to tire yourself, I wasn't even interested in the kill." That was a lie. He actually needed that kill to bring home for lunch, but speaking with you was far more interesting than a meal. Plus, he made a promise to his parents to start courting you at the Hunt festival, not he didn't think to do it since forever but he just didn't have the courage. What if you rejected him and it made things awkward? He couldn't bare being apart from you.

"Oh, good then." You smile and your eyes wondered his body looking for wounds, a habit you seemed to pick up ever since you tasked yourself with healing.

"Come, you have a big cut right here, on your shoulder. I shall patch you up before it gets infected."

"Y/N, there is no need for that I am fine and it's not that big."

You looks at him with your doll like eyes and he immediately knows there is no way he can convince you to not patch him up.

You grab his forearm and he immediately took a deep breath, calming his body, or more so his cock. He did this everytime your hands were on him and he loved and hated when you patched him up because as soon as you were done with it, he knew he had to pleasure himself while thinking the most obscene things about you.

He knew it probably wasn't the right thing to do, and he sometimes felt shame for having these thoughts about you but he couldn't help it.

You arrived back into high camp and dragged the boy to the healers tent, your second home.

You unwrap the paywll you picked up and immediately started working on your favorite patient.

His skin was soft, and his gaze was stuck on you, amazed by your concentrated face. He was always struck by how beautiful and graceful you were, and he knew he wasn't the only one who thought this. In fact, he heard everyday comments from other hunters on your beauty. But they don't know you like he does, they don't deserve you like he does. If he could choose when to take his last breath, it would next to you, just so he could take your devine scent with him.

"Y/N?"

His voice was a whisper now, hell, he could barely hear his own voice now.

"Yes, I'm almost done."

"Y/N, do you like anyone?"

Your freckles glowed and you avoided his eyes at all cost.

"Y-yes of course, I like everyone."

You say, trying desperately to cover up your massive crush on the boy you were healing. He couldn't know, not when he probably already has his mate promised, not when he basically see's you like a another little sister of his.

"Not like that. Like, is there anyone you would like to mate with? We're at the age of finding a mate..."

You felt sadness wash over you now, although you knew what he was saying is true, you didn't want to talk about mating. Not when the one you truly wanted to mate with was far from your reach.

"Maybe..."

The silent was scratching your skin in a very uncomfortable way and you were counting the seconds till you where finished with the cut.

"Who?"

His voice was stern and with a hint of jealousy, but he couldn't control it. You with someone else but him? Never.

Your silence was not helping either, not that he wasn't confident but you always seemed so distant and uncomfortable when he talked about love or mating, perhaps even sad...

"Is it Naran?"

You shake your head still not daring to look at him.

"Heatey?" "No, no Neteyam it's not-"

He grabs your thigh with one hand and your chin with the other forcing eye contact with his eyes, looking desperately for an answer.

"Who is it then?"

He was starting to get close, too close. You could feel his hot breath on your plump lips and his fingers gripping your thigh ever so slightly.

"Neteyam..."

You sigh, it was him you liked. It was him you loved but you weren't able to make yourself say it, not when he's so close and-

His lips connect into yours. It was sweet and perfect just like you imagined, maybe it even surpassed your expectations. You both start moving in sync like you've done this for your whole life but it was only the first time your lips met someone else's.

He licks your bottom lip asking nicely for permission to enter your mouth, now what started as an innocent puppy love first kiss, turned into a heated make out, both craving each other. Not that you didn't want it but you were question if you were doing it right.

After a rough minute you pull away, a string of spit being attached to your swollen lip.

"Say it Y/N. Please..."

He begged with faded eyes.

"You, you are the... I love you 'Teyam"

He absolutely despised when other girls called him Teyam, with their annoying squealing voice. But you... Eywa, you said it in the most pleasing way for a word to be spoken. All he wanted to hear for as long as he met you was just said in the most perfect way.

He kissed you again, wanting to be stuck in your mouth forever.

"I love you Y/N, I love you so much it's arduous to breath when you're not by my side. It hurts to walk when I know that at the end you won't be there greet me. I am madly in love you."

You huff a breathy chuckle not believing your dream has just changed to a reality.

He smiles still holding your heated cheeks.

"I have something for you."

Your ears twitch in curiosity, as he pulls out a neck piece, obviously made with tsawksyul. It was beautiful.

"Wow Neteyam..."

You admire the accessory, stunned by it's beauty.

"Y/N I was originally going to give this to you tomorrow, to ask you to be mate but I cannot wait any longer. When I saw you for the first time, you were wearing a tsawksyul on your hair. It was beautiful, you were beautiful. It became my favorite flower and my favorite material, everytime I see one I think of you, I guess that's why I love them so much, I see them all the time."

He looks down and takes a deep breath like he always wanted to say this, but took himself back everytime.

"I want you to wear this necklace so I don't have to see a tsawksyul to have your image on my mind. I want it to be backwards. I want to think of tsawksyul's when I see you."

Tears were threatening from falling off your eyes as you hug him and feel a grunt coming form him.

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry I forgot about your cut."

"It's fine, I can handle a cut. What I can't handle is your rejection."

He arched his eyebrow and you giggle softly to yourself.

"I would love to be your mate Ma Neteyam."

Ma Neteyam... He could definitely get used to this. In fact, he wanted to hear that every day.

"I love you."

He says again connection both of your foreheads while cupping your cheeks like he always wanted, like you always wanted.

Is it just me, or does this lowkey slap? 🤭

Anyways I hope you guys liked it! (And lmk if you want a part 2, perhaps with some smut)

🫶🏽

#avatar #avatar the way of water #neteyam #fluff #neteyam x reader #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #loak #omaticaya #atwow #kiri #neytiri #jake sully #neteyam x omaticaya!reader

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lovrily · 10 months

Note

Loved the Steve Harrington x shy reader ones, can you please make another where reader is shy but super kind inside? Like she rescues sick kittens or dogs from street and lets them be free after a good care when nobody's around? Really wanna see Steve's reaction after he accidently finds her doing so.

P.s-Hope you're enjoying the beach🫶

hi friend!! the beach was so good but there's sand everywhere and i can't get rid of it xoxo. thank you for ur request i hope this fits what you imagined <3

shy + fem!reader | 1500 words

"hey!"

your head snaps up at the sudden harsh call, but their next words are softer and maybe a little exasperated.

"what the hell are you doing in the road?"

steve harrington approaches like a mirage. the anchor of your stomach drops, nerves nearly pinning you to the ground. heat ripples off of the pavement and off the edges of his hair, ringer-tee tight around his arms. his BMW is parked in a gravel offshoot a yard or two away. for a moment, you forget what you're doing and your hands go free.

"hi," you muster. "i was..."

oh! you whip back around, surprised to find the dog you've discovered still meandering toward the far side of the road. it's limping on its back right leg, as if it keeps pushing forward, the injury will heal itself. it's a bully of some sort; not quite a pit, but definitely not a bulldog. its fur is completely white save for some dirt around its paws and nose.

steve slows to a jogging stop and flicks his hand at you where you kneel. get up, he's motioning. his brows are drawn in the sunlight, and likely in confusion, too. when you go to stand, he takes your bicep gently in his hand and pulls you the rest of the way to your feet. he even steadies you once you're up.

"good?"

your ears go hot as irons. you want to thank him, but it's hard to speak when he's around, so you just nod.

"is it yours?" he asks.

"no," you reply. "no, i just...i was on my bike and i saw it limping."

he throws you an odd glance. "we're on the interstate."

it's true. in the wooded part, at least- surrounded by trees and a metal barrier. but the road is windy, and if a car came around from the opposite side, it would have to be paying good attention to spot you at the curve.

you blink at steve, surprised at how much he seems to care. it's obvious that he does- you're quiet; not dense. but you still don't know what to say.

"it's okay," you shrug.

really? that's the best you could come up with?

steve shakes his head, a little frantic as he takes your forearm and leads you to the metal barrier, climbing over it and then offering his hands to you a second time. "c'mon. hop over."

you blink at him, a little stunned still. it's a bit of a ridiculous reaction, maybe. steve is one of your best friends. but he's also...steve. you can't really be entirely calm around steve harrington. especially not when he appears out of nowhere and drives his car off the road to check on you.

you take his hands and step over. once you've landed, his hands swipe across your shoulders; an almost extended release.

the dog lingers on the other side of the railing. steve swings his legs back over the barrier, and it teeters backward, frightened by his height or maybe just the drop of his feet.

"hey," he calls, frazzled. "don't...it's okay. c'mere."

the dog whines, wary.

the whirring of an engine catches your attention, and you're forced to speak.

"steve," you say. his name is foreign on your lips despite how familiar he is to you. "there's a car."

"it's okay," he replies, kneeling. his voice is a murmur. the dog is backing further into the road, its wounded paw drifting over the yellow median. steve's gaze is sharp, both of you afraid for the animal now. you feel a little bad for dragging him into it. if something happens to the dog, now steve will have to be sad about it, too.

a blue volkswagen comes around the curve too fast for your liking and you're propelled over the barrier, grabbing the neck of steve's shirt.

you yank him backwards, although he probably didn't need it. the dog scampers off just in time as the car shoots by. its back lights stay dim, the driver not even tapping the brakes as flashes of white fur disappear into the forest on the other side of the road. and just like that, the dog is gone.

"damnit," steve huffs. but his shoulders are rigid. breaths rise and fall quickly from his chest, hard and fast, as if he's trying to slow down his heart. he glances over his shoulder, but not quite at you, without moving to pry your fingers off of his shirt. "i don't see it."

your expression crumples.

steve locks eyes with you after a moment of silence. his brown eyes are wide, expectant, as if he knew what your wordless response would be. his head cocks to the side a bit before he straightens out and sighs.

"alright, alright. i'll drive around and look for it."

his neck is warm. you let go, wrinkles from your grip left in the shirt. he wipes a hand over the top of his spine like you've left a film and turns to you.

"you shouldn't just park your bike on the road, mother theresa."

you scoff at the nickname, turning from his gaze. "i am not."

"yeah, whatever," he huffs in return, as if he's ready to leave, although he hasn't moved to do so.

it's nice of him to offer to look for the dog, but you're sure he won't find it again just by driving around. why would it risk going out onto the road again? you needed to look in the woods.

"why are you making that face?" he complains.

huh? "what face?"

"that...oh, man, whatever. alright. quit ogling at me. i'm gonna do it."

you laugh before you can stop it, and if steve was tempted to smile by that, he scrubs the look off his face quickly.

"what are you talking about?" you breathe.

"you're looking at me all...helpless," he retorts. "now i have to do whatever you ask."

that does it. if your ears went hot before, all of you is on fire now. you turn completely around, pretending to look for your bike in the trees, but you had left it in the complete opposite direction and you're too worked up to pass by steve on your way there.

finally, you're forced to turn back around. there's nowhere to hide from the incredibly obvious diversion you attempted and steve is going to be standing there no matter how long you pretend to be searching for something.

he's standing with his arms folded.

"do you do this a lot?"

you stare at him, brows lifting. do what? he reads your expression.

"pick up lost puppies, brake for birds...that sort of thing."

"those are different things," you murmur.

"you get it," steve retorts.

but you don't. the notion that you're some sort of sweet and gentle creature is odd to you, considering how clunky and awkward you feel most of the time, and for steve to suggest that you just did 'that sort of thing' was entirely unexpected to you.

of course, to steve, it's plain as day; you are the sweetest thing he's ever seen, and he would camp out in a tent on the interstate for the next week until he found that dog. for you.

he has to bite back a grimace at how enamored he is with you to offer his hand.

"c'mon. you can put your bike in the trunk and then we'll go look for the dog." he clocks your concern and sighs gently. "on foot."

good.

you're greedy and take his hand before you can be afraid to, and when you step over the railing, it's clumsy; your right leg landing harder than your left. you stumble, and steve catches you, your torso folded over his arm.

when he stands you up, you can't even look at him. but you can see the amused grin on his face out of the corner of your eye, kind and surprised and maybe a little cocky.

"you know what? i'll get the bike. you just...stand there. and try to stay standing until i get back."

you shoot a glare at his back despite your nerves. he returns with your bike, looking weightless in his arms, and says- "think you can make it to the car by yourself, or do you need me to carry you?"

you grin, all embarrassment. "shut up."

"that dog would be shocked by your harsh words if he could talk."

"steve," you laugh breathlessly.

he chuckles, quiet and soft, like he hadn't meant to let it out.

"this should be fun."

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #stranger things fic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington drabble #steve harrington x reader fluff #steve harrington x you #stranger things x reader

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heliads · 2 months

Note

Hello if on’t know if it’s closed or open but if it’s close I’m sorry erase what I did, can you do a Thomas tmr hurt comfort when the reader is sad and reckless and everyone in the group notice and try to cheer her up ? Because she feel empty with everything that happened in her life from the glade to the scorch ? Please 🙏 thank you 💕

'after the safe haven' - thomas

masterlist

No one knows you better than the Gladers.

That, of course, should come as no surprise. You and your friends have survived more horrors than you ever thought possible. If it weren’t enough to find yourselves stranded in the middle of a massive maze without any memory of who you were or how you got there, you also had to break yourselves out, then find a way to survive both WCKD and the end of the world.

When you finally made it to the Safe Haven, you had assumed that you would finally be alright. You weren’t in danger anymore. You and your friends were safe. WCKD couldn’t find you if it tried, and the Cranks were an ocean away. It was truly a paradise. It should have been enough for you.

It wasn’t.

How could it possibly be enough? Whenever you looked around, you saw the signs of society starting to rebuild itself. Some of your fellow Gladers were taking charge, having already been used to what it took to organize everyone after the Maze trials, and others opted for simple jobs, deciding that their days of responsibility were over. Your friends are doing better, for the most part, but you feel the opposite way.

No, you feel terrible. It’s like having this break from running around day and night has only given you the time to realize how much you’ve lost. When you watch Minho and Thomas joking with each other, you don’t appreciate their friendship, you think about how strange it is that Newt isn’t there with them, or Alby, or Chuck. When one of the younger kids falls and skins their knee, your first response isn’t to brush off this small injury but to wonder if they could have survived out in the Scorch with an open wound. It would get infected easily, you know. Anything could happen.

This is supposed to be the part where you relax and give up your paranoia, but you just can’t manage it. Even weeks after the last time you came in contact with WCKD or the Cranks, you still jump whenever you hear a loud noise when you’re not expecting it. You still get nightmares about running through the Scorch with a pack of infected behind you. You still carry your weapons around, even though there’s nothing to fight. Even Gally has given up on tucking knives into his belt loops, even Minho knows there’s nothing to run from. Everyone is aware of this but you.

You’re not sure why you’re taking it so much harder than the rest. All of your friends are dealing with all of the torment of the Maze and the Scorch, obviously. The first few days after you arrived at the Safe Haven, everyone’s eyes had bags under them from lost sleep, and no one could hold a conversation without speaking quietly in case a Crank heard them or jumping when they saw someone moving in the distance.

Over time, though, they were all able to move on. You’re coming up on a month after your arrival in the Safe Haven, yet you’re no closer to healing than you were at the start. You’re not sure what it takes for you to be better, but at this point, you’re willing to wager anything. You spend time with your friends, but you can’t stop yourself from being quiet and withdrawn. You force yourself to put in extra hours at your job in the hopes that the tedium of a chore will take your mind off of things, but you still get nightmares when you go to bed, no matter how exhausted you feel.

It’s enough to make anyone feel hopeless. You’re sure your friends are aware of it, but there’s nothing they can do. Everyone’s dealing with this, everyone’s trying to figure out how they are when they’re not fearing for their lives. There’s simply no good way to move on after the apocalypse.

Thomas, however, seems to be the most attuned to your shift in mood. He asks how you are every morning, and doesn’t seem content until you honestly answer him. He’ll listen to you ramble on about the unsettled feeling in your blood when you don’t have to be on the run anymore, and he constantly reassures you that you’re all going to be alright.

Truthfully, you don’t know what you’d do without him. Thomas is one of the best parts of your life, if not the very best entirely. You have no idea how he’s still going after losing so many friends right before his eyes, but he somehow manages to not only keep himself alive but you, too. He’s all you need. Him, and the splendid truth of the Safe Haven, the knowledge that for once in your life, you are not going to die. Not of something violent, at least. That’s worth more than you could have ever imagined.

You wonder what you must have been like in a former life, before WCKD stole your memories or even stole you away from your home. Before the disease of the Cranks. Before the solar flares. When everything was simple and you didn’t feel like you do right now– haunted, terrified, and uncertain of who you’re supposed to be when the world isn’t ending. Maybe you would have been close with Thomas anyway. Maybe you never would have known him at all.

If there is one good thing to come out of this chaos, you have to admit it would be him. Thomas is a bright spark. He stood out in the darkest nights of the Maze, the worst horrors of the Scorch. If there’s one reason you’re still alive, it’s him.

And, if there’s one reason you’re going to become your old self again, or at least grow as close as you can, it’ll be because of Thomas, too. That night, Thomas gathers your old friends from the Glade and announces that they’ll be bringing back a good tradition from your old days before you broke out of the Maze: bonfire night.

Instantly, your spirits soar. Much like every other Glader, past and present, bonfire nights were the best times you had. Gally manages to cook up a batch of his special brew in record time, Frypan’s already hard at work producing some delicious foods, and crews of people are bringing back piles of wood for your fire.

When the sun sets, the bonfire is lit. You watch as the flames climb up to the sky. Around you, the survivors of the Flare laugh and shout and dance, talking to each other and having fun. You can feel the heat of the fire on your cheeks even despite the cool night, and for what feels like the first time in a very long time indeed, you smile.

Thomas pushes through the crowd to come to a stop by your side. “I haven’t seen that in a while,” he says.

You chuckle quietly. “I haven’t had a whole lot of reasons to smile. Thanks for proving otherwise.”

“Anytime,” Thomas promises. “We made it out, Y/N. We’re alive. We might as well celebrate, right?”

“I know, I just feel bad for celebrating when we’ve lost so many people,” you admit. “It doesn’t feel right that we’re all out here having a good time when we left so many of our friends behind.”

Thomas blows out a low breath through his teeth. “I know how you feel. Shuck, I feel it every day. I don’t think our friends would want us to be moping around all the time, though.”

“Really?” You ask doubtfully.

“Really,” he repeats. “Come on, you know Alby is watching us somewhere, shaking his head with annoyance that he went to the trouble of saving us just so we can waste the chance he gave us. Same with Newt, and Teresa, and the rest. They’d want us to be happy. They wanted that when they were alive, too.”

Your heart twists painfully at the mentions of the friends you’ve lost. “I think so, too. And I’m trying, it’s just hard sometimes.”

“I know,” Thomas tells you. “You’re trying, though. So am I. That’s the important part.”

You look back towards the bonfire. You can see some of the Gladers clustered together. Minho’s telling a dramatic story about something he’d discovered that day; he spreads his arms wide to demonstrate something and they all break out into laughter, even Gally. Maybe Thomas is right. Maybe there’s something here worth smiling about after all.

“Let’s have fun tonight,” you decide.

Thomas puts his arm around your waist, starting to lead you back towards the bonfire, back towards your friends, back towards the life you’d like to keep on living. “Let’s.”

It’ll take a while for the nightmares to stop, for you to avoid flinching whenever someone mentions something that reminds you of the Glade. You’ll never be exactly who you were before you woke up in the Box, but maybe that’s alright. You have a life you never thought you’d have, and best of all, you have a happy ending. You have Thomas. You’re going to be alright.

requested by @hope92100, i hope you enjoy!

tmr tag list: @blondsauduun, @ellobruv, @retvenkos, @neewtmas, @mayfieldss, @hiya-itsamber, @gods-fools-heroes, @23victoria, @w1shes43, @imwaysthelastchoice, @fadedver, @il0vebeingdelulu

all tags list: @wordsarelife

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lostcauses-noregrets · 16 days

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How do you think Levi is doing post war regarding grief? I've seen a lot of people say he's happy and theiving, living his best life in peace and that it fits his character because he always moves on and fights and he wouldn't cry for decades or something lol. I just saw a lot of people completely dismiss the idea of him not being "happy" and having trouble adjusting to his new life without fighting and actually having time to grieve for the first time in his life, which i find questionable since he IS the most emotional character and always cared about remembering his friends, especially Erwin. I feel like grieve is portrayed pretty one dimensional though, like it doesn't have to look like just one way (like it can look like mikasa but it can also look like Levi who is still actively trying to help people) but i also think that grieve is a big part of Levi's character and we should talk about it! I'd be interested on your take about this though :)

Oh man I have a lot of thoughts about this. I totally agree with everything you've said, however I can also understand people's reticence to dwell on grief, it's a difficult and overwhelming emotion. I know there are a lot of fans who want to believe that postwar Levi was able to live his best life, unencumbered by grief, and enjoying his freedom with Gabi and Falco. And I also know that there are some fans who are really offended by the idea that Levi would spend the rest of his life grieving, never moving on from those he lost during the war. Certainly living a hollow, grief stricken life is a terrifying prospect, however grief isn’t that simple. One of the best explanations of grief I’ve come across said that when you lose someone you love, you don’t just forget them, or replace them, time can never heal that wound or fill that void. However with time and patience your life can grow around that absence and expand to encompass new people, new love, new experiences. The absence is always there, it becomes part of you, and your life continues to grow around it. I think Mikasa is actually a good example of that. It’s clear that she continued to love Eren for the rest of her life, but that didn’t stop her from loving other people and going on to raise a family. I don’t think she ever “moved on” from Eren, no one could ever replace him, but I do think she was still able to find love in the world. The Ackermans were fierce and constant in their love and their loyalty; both Mikasa and Kenny remembered their liege, their chosen person, to the end of their days, and I see no reason for Levi to be any different. I believe Erwin’s absence would have left an indelible mark on Levi, and I don’t think anyone could ever replace him, however I also believe that Levi was able to forge a new found family with Gabi, Falco and Onyankopon and I hope he was able to end his days peacefully.

If you're interested, I've written several fics about Levi's life after the war that explore his grief for Erwin and his fallen comrades, and his new life with Gabi and Falco.

The Permanence of the Young Men

A Good Man

That And So Much More

#asks #levi ackerman #eruri #fic rec #snk

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missvelvetsstuff · 1 month

Text

With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemies

Steve Rogers x Reader, Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff, Bucky Barnes x Reader

Reader is a mutant with the ability to turn sound into light who was 'adopted' aka stolen as a child by Baron Von Strucker to use for experimentation. She was given a form of the Super soldier serum so in addition to her mutant abilities she also has super strength, enhanced senses and healing. When he starts experimenting on his volunteers, the Maximoff twins, she tries to convince them to escape with her but they tell the Baron that she's planning to escape so he doubles her cell security. Steve and reader met when the team recovered Loki's scepter from Strucker.

She falls in love with Steve and becomes good friends with Nat but they aren't the friends she thinks they are.

This story is canon adjacent except that Thanos never happened.

I try to keep my readers description vague but, as always, she's female and above average height.

****Previous chapter

At the compound they were still trying to find where Nat and Rainbow had disappeared to when Tony hollered "YES! I've got it. I know how to find her."*****

Chapter 10

Warnings: swearing, angst, violence

Bucky bolted to Tony's side to see what he had found and stared at him expectantly "Well?"

Tony turned to see him right in Tony's face "A little space, Barnes."

Bucky scoffed and backed up "Fine"

Tony looked at Bucky and Sam before glaring at Steve "Well, obviously I had FRIDAY searching for Y/N and Nat but no luck so far. Then it hit me, she left with her sister Yelena so I found some video from her visit and Friday is searching for her now, too." He grinned, pleased with himself.

Bucky nodded "Yeah, that's not a bad idea" he sighed heavily "I hope it works."

After a few hours Friday alerted them "Mr Stark? I found her, Yelena Belova was just sighted in a Kroger in Cleveland, Ohio."

Tony grinned "Send the Iron Legion to detain Miss Belova"

"Yes, boss"

"WAIT!" Bucky shouted.

Tony looked over at him, brows raised in question.

Bucky shook his head "The Iron Legion isn't very stealth. If Nat even thinks we're on to her she might pack Rainbow up and bolt somewhere and..." He trailed off before Sam spoke up

"And what?"

Bucky was lost in thought for a moment not realizing that all eyes were on him "She was raised in Ohio, with Yelena. Before her training in the red room, to acclimate her to the states and work on her accent."

He looked up to see everyone staring "What if they're staying at their childhood home?"

Sam stared "Do you know where in Ohio? Maybe we can narrow it down. Like set up in the general area before picking up Yelena?"

Bucky shook his head "No, maybe. Fuck I don't remember exactly, just Ohio."

Tony nodded "Alright, fair point. How about we just send Vision ahead since he can fly and be practically invisible? He can pick up Yelena and find a discrete place for us to meet them."

Everyone sounded their agreement and after a kiss from Wanda, Vision was on his way.

Tony looked at the team, pointedly passing Steve over "Suit up kids, wheels up in 10."

Steve headed towards the quinjet hangar before Bucky stopped him "Not a chance, Rogers, you're waiting here."

Steve started to protest before Tony nodded "Yeah, Barnes is right you can wait here. I think the rest of us can handle Nat and her sister if she gets involved. So go take a nap or whatever and we'll see you later."

Steve bristled "No way I'm sitting this out, you need me. Y/N needs me." The last part was almost under his breath but Bucky heard.

Bucky took a few deep breaths to keep from hurting him "Y/N needs you? Like when you spent most of your relationship with her off fucking Nat? Like when you helped Nat coordinate this bullshit and would be doing god knows what to Y/N right fucking now if Nat hadn't betrayed you?"

His eyes burned into Steve as he fought to keep control "It's your goddamn fault that she's in Natasha hands and I think I speak for the team when I say we can't trust you. You're just as likely to betray us and try to sneak away with her as you are to help in any way.'

A chorus of agreement followed Bucky's words and Steve deflated. "Fine, I'll go on my own."

Tony shook his head "I don't think so, can't have you coming in with your own agenda."

Steve laughed "You can't hold me prisoner here, I'll-" he looked at Tonys armored hand and grabbed at the sting in his neck "What the-' he almost dropped to the floor but Bucky caught him and threw him over his shoulder then carried him to Steve's room, dropping him on the bed.

Once Bucky left Steve's room Tony spoke up "I knew those tranq darts would come in handy. Friday. Please keep the Captain locked in until we return."

"Yes boss."

As they boarded the quinjet 10 minutes later they heard from Vision "Miss Belova is with me and we will be waiting for you..." and rattled off the coordinates.

Tony grinned, finally something good "You heard the, uh man? Friday take us to his coordinates, fast as you can. Everyone strap in."

They landed in an empty field and when they opened the ramp Vision walked Yelena into the jet, and the ramp closed behind them.

Yelena looked at the team with disdain "What are you assholes doing here? We left the city like you asked so now what do you want? Wasn't it enough to kick her out of your so called family?"

Bucky tried to keep his voice calm "It would have been plenty if she hadn't decided to kidnap Y/N on her way out."

Yelena scoffed "Why would she do that? We have enough to do to find the rest of the widows, after Natalia gets some rest. That's why we stopped here for a few days. I would know if there was another person with us."

Clint shook his head "Are you sure? She couldn't have Y/N hidden away somewhere on the property? Maybe somewhere that she's spending time to "recuperate"? She lied to you about the whole drama so maybe she's still hiding something."

Yelena started to object before her eyes widened "No, she wouldn't I mean she couldn't but........She's been hiding in the basement. Said she had some kind of project to help find the missing widows. She was so distraught about leaving the Avengers that I thought I should give her some space."

She shook her head

"I should have known she was up to something, girl never knew how to let anything go."

Suddenly Yelena's phone rang "it's her"

she paused for a moment before answering

"What's up sestra? Oh sorry I didn't realize how late it was getting, I've just been chatting with some of the locals. No I'm fine, I'll be home in a few."

They set up a rough plan and the team waited 30 minutes for Yelena to get home and settle in before converging around the property to ensure Nat couldn't get past them.

Bucky and Clint took the lead through the front door, being the more stealthy members of the team. Sam followed right behind. Wanda and Bruce stayed further back to make sure Nat didn't escape. Vision went through the outer basement door, while Tony stayed behind to make sure she didn't try to sneak out that way. Wanda set up a field surrounding the property. Bruce just stood back hoping there wouldn't be a code green for the woman he had once loved. His feelings for her were gone but he didn't know what the other guy would do to her.

Yelena let the first two into the house and showed them the door to the basement.

Clint went first hoping that their friendship would be enough to distract her so the others could get to Rainbow.

When the door opened the slight creaking caught Nats attention

"What are you doing Yelena? I told you not to come down here, I still haven't quite been able to work this properly"

She was standing at a work bench next to a wall of fresh drywall with a door. She jumped as an arrow hit the wall, barely missing her face, then quickly turned to face him.

"Clint? Very funny. It's about fucking time you remembered who your real friend is. Go hang out with Yelena, I'll be up in a little bit."

Clint scoffed "Friends, right. You need to let her go, she never did anything to you."

Nat looked at him in shock before quickly pulling herself together "She who? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm working on a way to find-"

Clint interrupted. "I know she's here, Natasha. Please, for the sake of our friendship, let her go before this gets out of hand."

She smirked at him "You gonna try to take me down? Maybe if I was alone but I have Yelena on my side and you don't stand a chance."

Clint shook his head "No one is on your side except maybe Rogers and he's not here. You've gone off the rails and taken someone who doesn't deserve your ire." He paused, sad that his closest friend had come to this.

"Besides, I'm not alone and I don't want to hurt you. None of us do. Well maybe Barnes but you can stop this madness and let her go."

Nat snapped "Fuck you Barton that little bitch is leaving here one little piece at a time and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Bucky stepped out of the shadows

"How about me, Natalia? Anything I can do to stop you? I'm not Barton and don't have any reservations hurting you if that's what's needed."

Nat eyes grew wide with fear, knowing first hand what the soldier was capable of, before she quickly composed herself

"Aawww, the Soldat came to rescue his little princess but I'm not quite done with her yet."

Bucky bristled "You're done, Natalia. Done as an Avenger, as a SHIELD agent, as our family or friend, as a free woman. Let her go now before you're done living."

While Bucky and Clint kept Nat distracted, Vision found Y/N, bruised bloodied and half dead, and worked to release the binds keeping her in the chair. Once he had her freed he decided not to remove the knife still in her stomach so she didn't bleed out. When he went to carefully pick her up the chair fell over and made a loud noise.

Nat jumped at the noise and turned towards the door in the drywall "Dammit, you and your friends are ruining everything. Why do you even care so much about a stupid little girl?"

When she opened the door it slammed her into the wall, stunning her as Vision walked to the stairs and out of the house with Rainbow. Vision advised Bruce that he had her and was on his way, giving all the info he had on her condition.

Bucky was distracted for a moment when he saw the terrible shape she was in. He felt like his heart stopped as his eyes followed her up the stairs until they were out of view.

Then he turned to Nat, jaw clenched, face turning red, hands balling into fists and soft whirring from his vibranium arm. His chest ached and his breathing was heavy as he fought to keep the Winter Soldier at bay.

His voice was low and dangerous as he growled out "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now, Natalia."

Nat stuttered "But James muy lobuv, we can be together now. For real, in the open. I had to get her out of the way, she was dangerous. A silly child who could get us all killed. Please. Ple-"

Bucky grabbed her by the throat with his vibranium hand squeezing until she couldn't speak, could barely breathe. "Yeah, that wasn't it. You know, Steve told me we should let you live, have you sent to the raft but he is just as much of a snake as you are so I know he would try to find a way to get you out. Hell even Tony said I shouldn't kill you and maybe he's right but I don't know if I can live with the knowledge that you were out there somewhere, plotting against us. Against her. Maybe if we take you into custody you'll be tried and executed anyhow or locked up somewhere you can't escape but I just" he sighed "I just don't think I can live with that. Good bye, Natalia."

He quickly snapped her neck and let her body drop to the floor without a second thought, quickly following Visions path to the quinjet.

Clint looked at the remains of his old friend sadly before wiping a tear away and hurrying to the jet, softly apologizing to Yelena on his way past her.

Once the team was all in the jet on their way home, Bruce advised them of all Rainbows injuries before he contacted Helen Cho so she could prepare for their arrival.

Bucky sat by Rainbow on the med bed for the flight home, holding her hand and speaking words of love and encouragement softly as his tears fell onto her. She died twice in the air but Bruce was able to revive her. She was barely hanging on as they landed and Helen took over, barking out orders as they rushed to the med bay.

Bucky said a prayer to any gods, to anyone that would listen, that his Rainbow would be alright.

Chapter 11

@vicmc624

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #james bucky barnes x reader #james bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #angst with a happy ending #james bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x female reader #steve rogers x reader

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achaiapelides · 1 year

Text

My TWP Predictions

I've seen that people started with predictions to what they think or want to happen in The Wicked Powers. So, here are my predictions:

The main character is either Dru or Kit. Dru because she is the most important living female character of the main squad and Kit, because most parts of the series are probably his story. Also he was second after Emma in TDA.

Kit, Dru and Ty have most of the book in their POV, additionally there will be some chapters from Ash and a few in Livvy's POV. The rest of the characters don't get their own POVs .

Kit and Ty will obviously make up (and out) and end up dating and staying together forever.

Mina or one of the Lightwood-Bane kids will be kidnapped and threatened to be killed, but won't die

Thule-Livvy comes to Our World and meets Cameron here. They get a second chance for their relationship, even though their respective versions of the other world are dead. I also think that Cameron would follow Thule-Livvy back to Thule to save it from demons.

Janus will either die, end up with the Seelie Queen, or go back to Thule to undo his and Sebastians mistakes and save the world on Clary's wish.

Thule Kit will either die, go evil and/or become King of Faerie. But somehow I think he dies because he gets attacked by faeries.

Thule Rosemary never gets attacked deadly, finds her son again, tries and fails to protect him at a dangerous attack by faeries and accidently goes to Our World and protects/saves Kit here.

The TWP-squad mainly consists of Dru, Jaime, Ghost-Livvy and/or Thule-Livvy, Kit and Ty. Ash joins them later and Anush also gets to be pretty important, but has no part written in his point of view.

Dru, Jaime and Ash will go to Thule for some reason. Kit, Ty, Livvy and Anush stay in Our World and go to Faerie.

We get to see Auraline. Either in a flashback or because she's actually alive, but nobody knew. In that case she will also protect Kit and maybe end up as Queen of Faerie.

Kieran might give up his throne to the brother who's dating (?) the Seelie Queen in tge end of TDA.

Kit has wings and can make other people fly with his powers. I want to see him and Ty dance across the night sky.

Love triangle between Dru, Jaime and Ash, but they actually communicate and Dru ends up with Ash.

In the end Ash lives with either Dru at Blackthorn Hall or either the Herondale-Carstairs family.

Dru and Ty move to Blackthorn Hall, like Jules planned them to, also to be closer to Kit (and Ash).

Kit and Ash become parabatai. Maybe to secure eachother's survival. They are scared the other will kill them, but parabatai's can't kill eachother. So problem solved.

If a Lightwood dies, it's hopefully Maryse.

Kit fake-dies. Ty also fake-dies at the showdown battle and Kit heals him with his power.

All characters comeback at the showdown. Also Herongraystairs reunion and sibling-bonding of their children.

Irene unexpectedly loves Kit

Ghost-Livvy playing with animals (Irene)

Dru naming Ash's chinchilla

Ash saving Dru from falling

gray character Ash, but he chooses the good side in the end

These are the things I definitely do not want to happen, but might be a bit likely to go down this way:

Jace dying. Because he's a Lightwood, too and has someone who wants to and can step up in his place if he dies: Janus. He's also in more or less immediate danger, because Janus wants to kill him. Also Clary thought that she would die in TDA, so maybe Jace steps up to die instead of her (like Jason did for Piper in TOA, Rick is a friend of Cassie's, too, btw). But I hope it's not him who dies.

Ideas I had, that are probably way too wild for it to actually happen:

KitTy wedding in faerie as a way of staying together forever, because others want to separate them.

Rosechild / Rosestar moments: I mean Ash flirting with Jaime and Jaime totally questioning his sexuality. Maybe even some more romantic moments

Ash taking the Fairchild name instead in honour of his aunt and grandma.

Kit taking the Blackthorn name because he feels more connected to them than to the Herondales. Jace almost disowning him afterwards.

Kit bonding and cuddling with a duck. Jace definitely disowning him now.

Ash being the one who warns Clary and Jace about Janus

I probably have even more ideas, which I will add when I remember them.

Predicted couple's surnames at the end (aka what I think fits the best):

Clary and Jace Herondale (-Lightwood): children will be Herondales

Clarissa Herondale and Jonathan Christopher Lightwood Herondale

Alec and Magnus Lightwood-Bane

Alexander Gideon Lightwood-Bane and Magnus Lightwood-Bane

Simon and Izzy Lightwood-Lovelace

Simon Lovelace and Isabelle Lightwood-Lovelace

Aline and Helen Penhallow (-Blackthorn): children would be Penhallows

Aline Penhallow and Helen Penhallow-Blackthorn

Mark, Cristina and Kieran Blackthorn-Rosales (if they have children, Cristina and Marks child would be Blackthorn and Cristina and Kierans child would be Rosales)

Mark Anthony Blachthorn, Cristina Mendoza Rosales and Kieran Blackthorn-Rosales

Julian and Emma Carstairs

Julian Atticus Carstairs and Emma Cordelia Carstairs

Kit and Ty Blackthorn

Christopher Jonathan Blachthorn and Tiberius Nero Blachthorn

(Livvy and Cameron Blackthorn-Ashdown)

(Livia Blackthorn and Cameron Ashdown)

Dru and Ash Fairchild (-Morgenstern)

Drusilla Fairchild and Ash Fairchild

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nalgenewhore · 9 months

Text

act of affection

elide x lorcan, modern au, they r smitten kittens, NSWF (18+) word count: 3246

He’s there, in the doorway of her bedroom, with an opaque plastic bag, the sharp edges of a take-out box almost ripping the weak material.

The girl turns in her chair and smiles, one foot wedged on the cushion so she can rest her hand on her knee. “Hey.”

“Whassup, baby?” His slow voice slides over her like syrup, familiar in a way that’s healing while it singes her skin with the echo of his fingers. “You doin good?”

“Mm-hmm,” Elide leans her chin on her knee as she grins dopily at him. “Aelin’s dyeing her hair.”

Lorcan’s eyes skip to her phone, propped on her desk and the wall. He nods a bit. “Dope. Same colour?”

“I got pink this time,” Aelin cuts in with a gleam to her electric eyes. She snaps the edge of her plastic glove as he gets close enough to see the barrette situation she’s rigged to section off parts of her hair and the dye saturating the edge of her hairline.

“Ay, that’s kinda sick, ‘lin.”

“Right?!”

The pink haired girl turns back to the mirror, and he focusses on Elide. Lorcan’s thumb finds her cheek, following the rounded curve before pinching it. He bends down for a chaste peck (uncharacteristic, but he hates an audience) and asks again, “You good?”

She stretches a bit to chase his kiss, wanting to seal her mouth to his. “Mm-hmm, I had a nap.” Much like what he’d been doing when she called him, voice weak and watery, after what he’s pretty sure should be considered for her worst shift of all time. He can’t understand how people are so rude to service staff.

Lorcan approves. “D’ya eat anything?”

“Yeah, Emrys felt bad and gave me an extra staff meal.”

“What’d you get?”

They answer at the same time, lips brushing lips. “Pesto pasta.”

It makes her laugh, the synchronicity, makes her break away as her head tips. He’s watching her fondly, standing to his full height. “Alright, I mean, at least you got something,” he chuckles. “But I picked you up some food, s’way better.” He sets the bag down on her desk in front of her. “Indonesian fried rice, extra shrimp.”

“Extra spicy?”

“Baby, c’mon, you already know,” he clicks his tongue. “Whatchu take me for?”

Elide melts. “I’m getting used to being spoiled, y’know.” She’s already reaching for it, fingers digging into the knotted handles to undo them. In a second, she’ll give up and rip the bag open.

“You should get used to it,” Lorcan replies, casual yet with a mark of arrogant surety that she finds so attractive. His next kiss lands on the corner of her mouth, like he can’t keep himself from touching her (he can’t). “Imma go smoke.”

“‘kay,” she sighs. He turns, and Elide reaches out, her bony fingers catching in his belt loop. Raising his arm, he looks back at her, and she realises he already has a joint tucked behind his ear. “Don’t take too long.”

He grins, reaching back to unhook himself from her. “Wouldn’t dream of it, sweet girl.”

When he drops her hand, her fingertips are cold. Cheeks rouging, she watches him walk away, tracing his broad shoulders, slouched, beneath a sage and light grey speckled sweater, his faded jeans baggy.

As she slowly rolls back to Aelin, she wonders idly if he’s dressed that way on purpose after she told him she liked that sweater and when he wears his pants that way (it’s nothing he wouldn’t wear; her soft heart still hopes it’s a little bit because of her).

Her friend is staring at her, and Elide blushes. “What?”

“You’re too cute,” Aelin answers. “He’s so, like,” she makes a face, like she can’t find the word.

“So what?”

“Smitten. Like, the way he looks at you, and how you look at him, too,” she elaborates. “You’re so into each other.” She massages more pink into her roots, glancing past her phone into the mirror. “He cares about you, like, a lot. And I like that.”

Elide shakes her head. Her cheeks are burning (is it because of how obvious she’s realising they are, or because it feels good that her friend likes her boyfriend?). “Yeah,” she says softly. “I like that too.”

“Oh my god,” Aelin fakes a groan of annoyance. “Go get him already, what’re you doing watching me dye my hair?”

“Ok, ok!” Laughing, Elide sits up. “Hey, thanks for calling me. Work was so gross.”

Her friend stills, eyes flashing back to the screen. “Me and your boy are going to find those creeps and teach ‘em a lesson.”

“Does Lorcan know that?”

“Not yet, but he’d so be down.”

Elide knows that Aelin is right. “Yeah…” she hasn’t told him what happened to make her shift so horrible, kept it vague saying she had a difficult customer. He’ll be pissed, if she tells him about how the table of men leered at her, their girlfriends sitting by meek and resigned, and she doesn’t want a pissed Lorcan tonight (or ever; he shuts down, shuts her out, because he doesn’t like being angry around her). “Ok, I’m gonna go. Talk later, yeah?”

“Yeah, girl. Love ya!” The call ends before Elide can echo the sentiment, which is just like Aelin.

She decides to text her friend instead. Then, she slides her phone onto her desk and gets to her feet. On her way to the door, she catches her reflection in the mirror.

Her fussing gaze makes her fix her tank top, tugging the tight and buttery-soft material down a bit (she ignores her flushing cheeks as she remembers what prompted her to dig this top out of her dresser).

Elide slips into the hallway and pads to her balcony. “Lor?”

He glances at her, the filter of his blunt tucked between his lips. “Hey.” Earthy smoke curls from his lips.

She smiles with a shy glance to the side. “Hi.”

That lopsided grin, her favourite, pulls on his mouth. “What’re you actin all shy for?” He snakes his arm around her waist, wanting her closer, always closer.

“I dunno,” she lies, embarrassment staining her cheeks. Lifting her hand, she rubs the soft knitting of his sweater. “You make me, like, nervous. It’s weird.”

“Mm, you make me nervous,” he answers. “Got me changing my outfit hella times before I see you.”

The nerves slip away like a wave leaving the shore, a cocky smile taking its place that matches the cocky tilt of her head. “Yeah, I noticed the sweater. Did you wear it because of me?”

Lorcan ducks his gaze. Blush always looks strange on his cheekbones, seemingly too carved and proud for something so soft as raspberry red. It’s what her cheeks are made for, and he loves that. “Shit, bro, you forreal gotta call me out for what?” She thinks it’s funny, the way he talks to her, so familiar, so improper and wrong, every loose word falling from his mouth. It’s charming, like how the way he wears pants so baggy they sag off his hips is charming.

She laughs and pulls the joint from him, bringing it to her own lips. Just as she’s taking a hit, plump skin hollowing beneath sharp bones, he fingers the stretchy cotton blend of her tank top. “On my ass ‘bout my sweater, but I never seen you wear tank tops ‘till I said-”

“Stop!” Her hand curls over his mouth, eyes round and blinking.

He pushes it away, ignoring her as he smirks, “I say one thing about wanting to fuck the shit outta you if I seen you in a tank top, an’ look at you now, ‘lide.”

The way she looks at him changes, and the heaviness of her eyelids has little to do with the baby hit she had. “Shi… you tryna smash, shawty?”

Lorcan gapes at her for a second before unchained laughter explodes from him. It’s her put-on voice, sliding down several octaves, his borrowed words that sound so unnatural coming from her heart-shaped mouth. “On god, shawty? After you’re fed, yeah,” he snickers.

“Better not be talking shit, on god, I’ll fuck you up,” she threatens, still playing in his tone.

“Oh my days, shut up.” He bends to let her hold the smouldering joint for him. He’s in her space at this height, so it takes one shift of his head to press his lips to her, inhaling into her.

Elide readily takes the smoke, and they trade shotgun kisses till not even the roach is left, just the filter. She’s tugging on him, impatient, barely letting him toss it into the repurposed plant pot.

Lorcan cups the back of her neck, bringing her up for a real kiss. She’s eager for it, her hands framing his jaw, sliding through the soft hair of his trimmed beard. Like their lips, their feet get tangled; she’s falling, almost but not because he’s there. His hands envelop her hips (they fit him so well) and give her little squeezes as he walks her back to her bedroom. “I want you-”

“You do?”

“Always; don’t be askin dumb shit,” he mutters. “But, you gotta eat first.”

She slides away with some reluctance, though she knows he’s right. “Wanna watch a show?”

“Yeah, baby.”

Elide rubs her palm over his cheek, their voices quieter now as if there’s people listening, even when there’s not. “You’re so good to me,” she whispers.

“‘s’all ‘m tryna be.” All he wants to be- hers. His nose bumps her cheek. “What’re we watchin, pretty girl?”

“Ted Lasso.”

He laughs- should’ve expected that. “All you wanna watch is Ted Lasso, there’s not even new episodes.”

“I don’t even care, I’m watching it all over again,” Elide sniffs. “You’re my biggest hater.”

“Nah, never. Just teasin’.”

✵✵✵✵✵

It’s later, when the food is finished and they’ve smoked again, which is why they’re lying down now.

He’s rubbing her back with his knuckles, his other hand holding her thigh where it’s hitched on his hip.

Abruptly, Elide closes her laptop and puts it on the floor. Her hand catches his cheek just as he goes to turn away, pulling him to her lips. It’s soft, it’s plush, it makes his head spin. Lorcan’s almost dizzied, definitely stupefied, as he sinks into her mattress; her hands fall down his neck.

He kisses her back, teeth finding her bottom lip to bite and suck. Lorcan moves his hands to her waist to pull her over him.

It’s easy (familiar) to straddle him, and she lets out a soft breath when he licks the bitten flesh of her lip. “See why I like my leg there?”

“Yeah, I like it there too.”

Elide leans on him and savours his shaking exhale when she kisses down his neck. Her hands, cold fingers and all, push his shirt up. “Off.” She helps him most of the way until he has to work it over his shoulders.

They part when he pulls it over his head, and there’s a pout on her lips at the momentary pause. Lorcan laughs at her, kissing her sweetly. “Greedy.”

It’s sweet until she slicks her tongue over his and grinds on him. He kisses her back, and her skin is warm when he puts his hand on her thigh. Pushing down on it, Lorcan makes her go on, pushing their pelvises together. His other hand goes up her torso to cup one of her breasts. “Take this off,” he tells her, about the tank top.

She actually sits up, her hands spread over his chest. He’s breathing hard while he stares up at her tilted head. “Are you going to make me, Lor?”

He chokes before huffing out a laugh. “Swear you act so different when I let you be on top.”

“I get why you like it up here,” Elide rolls her hips over him. His hand grips her side. “It’s more powerful.”

“Enjoy it, my girl, ‘cause I’m so close to flippin you,” Lorcan says casually, and she shakes her head with a look in her eye that says she might not mind it at all. “Don’t be pissy later.”

She bends down, like she’s going to bring her lips back to him, but it’s only for a tease as her soft hand cups the bulge in his boxers.

“You’re killin me,” he whispers.

“Don’t move,” she whispers back, her hand taking out his cock. He shudders at the soft touch tracing the tip.

“El,” he moans out, “stop, stop playin with me.”

“Shh,” she presses against his mouth with her hand now slowly twisting around him.

Lorcan tugs at her striped cotton boyshorts, and Elide mutely realises he wants her now just as bad as she wants him. She balances on one knee as he helps her yank them off. After, she sits on him, breaking another noise from him at the feel of her, soaked and silken. He looks at her with lidded eyes. “Can’t really tell if I want that off,” his voice is gruff. The black makes a stunning contrast against her milky skin, and her body looks so lush the way her tits stretch the material. She’s unbelievable.

Her sweet little grin is somehow in tune with the way she pumps him. A hitch in his throat makes her lips find his neck.

He grabs her nape to kiss her properly and grabs the wrist of the hand around him.

“Get on me before I flip you, mean it,” he murmurs before slipping his tongue past her lips.

Elide nods, bracing one hand on his sternum as she notches the head of his cock in her. It’s with an aching slowness that she slides down on him. He groans at the feeling as he fights the urge to slam her down.

There’s a flush to her chest when she’s finally taken all of him.

Lorcan draws her down and thrusts into her, his rough breath echoing in her ear.

“Fuck-” he lets out when she moves her hips against him.

She shudders at the feeling then, feels him twitch inside her and pants out. “Lor…”

“Sorry, ‘m flipping,” he whispers and does it before she has the wherewithal to tell him not to, and by that point, she’s laid out beneath him and he’s brought her leg over his shoulder.

Elide cries; he watches how she takes each deep, hard thrust. Lorcan welcomes the sharp sting of her nails digging into his back. His head leans on her shoulder while he keeps giving it to her. “Not- fair,” she gasps, her pupils blown. Her other leg wraps around his waist.

He says sorry by sucking on the inside of her knee. After a few more thrusts, the headboard slams into her wall and rattles anything that’s hanging on her wall. Elide’s small moans keep growing.

Turning his head, his eyes are heavy on hers. “You wanna cum?” His voice tightens under the squeeze of her.

She nods, bites out, “Need to.”

Lorcan falters once, fucking into her hard. It’s almost too much. He almost loses his mind when she pushes her hips into it. “Too much?”

Elide’s lips part. “Want more.”

He goes into her without any pace, chasing the orgasm that builds for them both.

Soon, their breathing is the only thing he can hear. Her moans are sharper as she arches her back. Through it, Elide’s eyes catch on his, and she’s cumming on him.

“Talk to me,” he says, his mouth agape watching her finish.

It’s surprising that she can talk to him, yet her voice is wrenched from her lips. “Fuck- you’re so good for me, feels so good,” she cries out. “Cum in me, give it to me, oh.”

He doesn’t need much more than that to let go and bites her thigh to prevent a moan from erupting when it happens.

Lorcan is slower now, gentle rocking into her. He flinches at the wince she makes when he drops her leg, lets it fall to his hip. “You hurting?”

“No,” Elide swallows and brings a soft peck against his lower lip. “Never.”

“And you’re bein honest-“

“Always, with you.”

He still kisses her in apology as he pulls out; for a moment, he watches his cum drip from her. When Lorcan’s sated gaze meets hers, Elide pinkens and looks away. Softly, he presses his lips to her cheek before his heavy body drops beside her, on his back.

After a few silent minutes, their minds coming back to themselves, here’s a cocky smirk on his lips as he drawls, “You pissed ‘cause I flipped your ass, huh.”

She’s pouting at him, but her hands are tugging at him closer and closer so it undermines her projected upset. “I never get a turn,” Elide mumbles, still spacey from his dick. “I thought you’d think I was pretty on top.”

A small laugh escapes him; Lorcan cranes his head to nip at her jaw. “Looked real fuckin pretty all laid out for me too,” he promises. “Looked too good on top, I had to fill you.”

Elide squirms away from his words, her cheeks flushing hot - he can feel it how their skin sticks together like the way your thighs stick to plastic chairs in the summer sun. “Oh my god,” she gasps. “That’s- oh my god.”

“Nah,” he laughs lowly, “you’re playing li’l miss innocent now, after actin all tough and shit.”

“I am tough.”

“Toughest gal around,” he confirms. “‘specially when you’re begging me to cum inside ya.” His voice stretches to a high key as he croons her words back to her, “‘oh, please, you’re so good for me, cum with me, I need it’-”

“Oh my god, shut the fuck up,” she yelps, her hands pushing his jaw shut. “You’re literally the worst ever, that’s, like-” Elide swallows, cheeks burning, “that’s so not cool, man, I don’t even sound like that!”

He finds her mouth to lay a small kiss against it. Then her arms hook around his neck, and she gives him kisses that linger, making him sink into her, one forearm notionally balancing his weight off of her, but there’s no real space between them; it’s like they’re a part of each other on an atomic level.

She tilts her head to the side to press her lips to the corner of his. “Shower with me?”

“Yeah,” he hums, but he tucks his face into her neck. She moves to sit up, her body pressing into his. Before she can, he slides his hand around her wrist and keeps her down. “Chill, woman. Can’t I just lay with you?”

Strands of his hair move when she exhales with force. “No, I can tell you’re going to fall asleep, and you got cum all over me.”

Elide can hear the joke in Lorcan’s voice when he replies, “You told me to give it to ya.”

“Because,” she clicks her tongue, “I knew you’d cum if I said it. Now get off.”

Lorcan sighs (dramatic) and rolls over, lifting his arm to rest his forearm across his brow. “Annoying the fuck outta me,” he mutters. “Put it down good, and you’re still bothered.”

“Hmm, maybe you should’ve let me try on top,” she quips before crawling over him.

“Ah, you’re never lettin that shit go.”

“I mean… you could make it up to me.”

“You got ideas?”

“A few.”

✵✵✵✵✵

an: i have a couple other ideas that would b interconnected with this one, so might turn into a little series. (btw i am trying a new writing style (tbh idk if its actually much different than my normal style) so if it sucks tell me pretty pls) idk if anyones seen street dreams but the argument that ends in "pull up your goddamn pants ya loser" kinda inspired this vision of lorcan. (ALSO STREAM 'C U GIRL' BY STEVE LACEY HUGE INSPO FOR THIS TOO)

tag list: @sassyhobbits @empress-ofbloodshed @celestialams @the-regal-warrior @icecream52 @elentiyawhitethorn @goddess-aelin @julemmaes (lmk if u want to be added/removed<3)

#elorcan #elide x lorcan #elide lochan #lorcan salvaterre #nalgenewhore #isa writes

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ireallylovepupplies101stuff · 23 days

Text

IM Gods AU info

I have decided to throw yet another AU at tumblr that my dear friend @midnightfire830 and I have worked on together. So if you guys have any questions, feel free to ask the both of us!

This post will have the basic information to understand the AU better before diving into the story, like who's a god, who's a demi-god, who's a mortal, what they all do in this AU regarding powers and jobs, and what the AU world is like. After that, I'll be diving into the plot of the AU in the next post.

so for now, enjoy!!!

World Building Details- While mortals live in typical and common villages and homes, the gods and demigods tend to live in a large floating kingdom filled with castles. Each castle is named after the god who owns it. Occasionally some gods and demigods live among the mortals, hiding in plain sight and offering help to those who either find them unintentionally or seek them out for aid. The mortal villages tend to be named after the gods they worship the most in hopes of pleasing them and gaining their blessings. They also give offerings to show their respect when the gods come to visit. This AU takes place in an ancient Greek themed time period.

God Chraracters:

Mickey- God of Magic, and wishes: With his powerful magic, Mickey can and will grant a single wish to a mortal, but only if that wish is what their heart truly desires, and if it's not something that'll harm someone else. Sadly, his magic has limitations. For example, he can't use magic to grant wishes that toy with life and death, and his magic can't do anything against another god of greater power then him.

Oswald- God of the Forgotten: He isn't a well-known God, but the mortals that do know him, worship him greatly because he watched over those the world has forgotten, and gives them hope. He keeps tabs on those that worship him, which included a very beautiful cat woman who Oswald loved and cherished with all his heart.

Demitasse- Goddess of Solar flare, and warrior spirit: With the almighty power of the sun, able to bless mortals with warm sunny days, or use her intense burning powers in battle, she is an extremely powerful Goddess warrior who fights to protect and will give her blessings to noble warriors so that they will have a better chance at victory and make it home to those they protect.

Dice- God of Luck, and Greed: Not the most honorable god to worship, he is usually the God people who like to gamble will pray to for better luck, but that doesn't always work in their favor, considering his god powers include manipulating the luck of a situation where it can either benefit, or hurt someone. He uses his luck power on himself mostly, earning him the Greed title as well.

Devil- God of the underworld, and sin: The god that drags the sinners of the surface to the underworld, he's also known to have a following of gods/demi-gods with a sin-based title who are incredibly loyal to him. His followers are willing to do anything he orders of them to get in his good graces considering his tremendous power.

Saltbaker- God of Baked Goods, and Gluttony: When people smell the sweet scent of something warm and delicious, they always give thanks to him for the blessing of a warm treat to bless their soul, but sometimes the warmth isn't always enough. He is also the god people blame when someone gets carried away with their gluttony, because he is rarely satisfied and wants more. Especially when it comes to power.

Granny- Goddess of Rest, Home and hearth: A weary traveler will always give thanks to her after a long trip and they finally find a safe place to rest. Hiding among the mortals, she offers shelter to those who need it most when traveling, she blesses them to sleep well, and then sends the traveler on their way feeling ready to continue on their journey.

Oddswell- God of health: He is the god people and doctors pray to for a person to either heal from an injury or recover from a terrible sickness. He is also the God other gods/demi-gods go to when in need of medical aid thanks to his amazing knowledge of medicine and what to use for any situation to better the outcome.

Yakko- God of chaos; God of Persuasion: While leading his siblings in spreading chaos around the world, he is also known for his power of persuasion. He can convince anyone to do just about anything without having to take away free will, and can sense when a person has no free will. Although he and his siblings are gods of chaos, the three of them are prayed to by those who desire their chaos to be used for justice. (which they are all too happy to help with).

Wakko- God of chaos; God of Prophecy: Though creating chaos for those around him and his siblings, much is misunderstood about his true power. Many that worship him argue that he can see into the future, while others claim he can see how the story of a person's life will go. Either way, if someone seeks him out for him to tell them how things in the future will turn out, most of the time he refuses to answer, claiming "spoilers"

Dot- Goddess of chaos; Goddess of Space: Creating chaos along with her siblings, she is known for her power to bend and warp space around her. Having the ability to jump from one place to another, make pocket space for storage, or to make space around her long or short, she uses her powers to further the chaos and shenanigans she and her brothers create.

Scrooge- God of Wealth: He is the god people pray to in order to benefit their wealth, considering he's rumored to be the richest god in existence. People tend to have rumors that praying to him actually don't work, considering those with wealth tend to get nothing out of their worship towards him, but people from a poor background that work hard claim that worshiping him does help.

Hat- God of Guidance: Though not a popular god to the mortals, he is the god who trains young gods/demi-gods who struggle to control and use their powers without being overwhelmed and/or causing a lot of destruction. Even if he's not exactly a gentle and kind teacher with his guidance, he will make sure those he teaches are prepared to use their powers in any way.Mortals who manage to seek him for his guidance are rarely ever accepted, when they are though, they have to be able to handle his brutal teaching.

Wilson-God of Wisdom: Living among the mortals, he is the god people go to in order to learn about anything from his incredible collection of knowledge from around the world. He is willing to help those who wish to learn with good intentions.

Demi-God characters:

Cuphead- God of Celestial fire, and rage: With the powers of the stars, when angered, he is a powerful force to be reckoned with in battle. Though when not using his power for combat, he is known for shooting stars into the night sky to create constellations that tell stories.

Mugman- God of the Sky: With the power to control the weather, he is a bit more popular with the mortals than his brother. They pray to him for good weather for the day, or to help their crops. He is however a powerful fighter with the ability to shoot lightning and control the weather with his intense emotions.

Holly- Goddess of memories: She is the demi-goddess people pray to in order to remember something, due to her being known for her ability of remembering everything and for her love of learning.

Cagney- God of Nature and Agriculture: The demi-god that watches over the plant life of the world, he is thanked by the mortals when they have a good harvest with plenty of food, or when flowers perfectly bloom. Tends to butt heads with Mugman over the weather being bad or trying to get Mugman to make nice weather all the time for his plants.

Donald- God of Ducks, and tantrums: Though he watches over the ducks of the world, animal and duck person, when people are throwing a fit for whatever reason, he is usually the one mortals blame due to his reputation for losing his temper, often. He can also make others in the same room as him feel irritated or ready to snap when he feels the same way.

Huey- God of the Smart: Has a godly ability to use his intelligence to think through any situation. Is often worshiped by tacticians.

Dewey- God of the Tough: Has the godly ability to fight through any situation. Is often worshiped by warriors.

Louie- God of the Sharp: Has the ability to see every angle in any situation. Is often worshiped by tacticians and warriors

Dimitri- Goddess of Justice: Helps keep order and balance in the Gods home kingdom and fights for justice in battle. Teaches mortals willing to learn how to practice justice systems, morals, and obeying laws meant to help them.

Mortal Characters:

Bendy: A stubborn servant who works under Cuphead, he works hard to do his job, but he doesn’t take garbage from other gods or do pointless things just to kiss up to Cuphead.

Boris: Living among the mortals in his and Bendy’s home village, he writes to his brother often and looks forward to getting Bendy’s letters back.

Alice: An apprentice to Oddswell, she enjoys learning how to offer medical help to those in need, and shows great respect to the gods she’s around.

Felix: An apprentice to Wilson, he aids his mentor in finding and collecting new knowledge for the world to learn.

Cala: Captured by mortals and offered to the gods as a gift, she was put on display in a giant magic glass tank for the gods to stare and admire her without fear of her turning them into stone.

Sasha: A servant to the gods, she sings for their entertainment during parties and events the gods throw.

Ortensia: A previous worshiper of God Oswald, she was one day approached by Oswald, who wished to get to know her on a personal level. Overtime she became his loving wife, and they had many demi-god children, but due to being a mortal, her time with Oswald eventually came to an end.

Cannikin: A warrior of his home village, he met and fell in love with a powerful warrior woman who would come and go from the village as she pleased, and enjoyed sparring with her whenever she was around. They had a beautiful son together, and had another child on the way when he was taken away from his family in a brutal battle. He never learned his wife Demitasse was a goddess.

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majesty-madness · 1 year

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Hi! Can I request a Naruto Shippuden x Fem!reader where the reader met them all and was this cheerful little girl who loved flowers but as they got older she left or to them she just more likely disappeared but when she came back she was this whole different person now.

Now she's a pretty quiet and calm girl with a powerful aura around her, and if you find a black rose then that means that she was in that place, so what I mean is since she sued to like flowers but not a black rose is kinda her sign now, so the black rose represents her.

Lets say for example she fights with someone and disappears, then there's a black rose on the ground, which means that she was there in that place.

Also she's known as the ~Black Rose~ Since she always leaves a black rose as a sign

Note: She was childhood friends with, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura also knew her along with Ino but then when she came back they told the others about her (or you can do it in your way, I'll leave the rest to you)

Feel free to ignore this for whatever reason if you want <3

"Black Rose" - Naruto Shippuden x reader (sfw)

Word Count: 8000+

Warnings: angst, battles, violence, blood, injuries, hospital, mentions of serious injuries, flashbacks, worried friends, light arguing, crying, good ending, references to the Hidden Waterfall Village (don’t know if anyone knows about that episode)

a/n: I want to say that this is the first request I have ever done, and I usually don’t take requests; I just write whatever I want to. However, I thought that this could be a chance to experience something new and depending on how this goes, I might do more requests in the future. But I need some time to figure out if this is a good thing to start or if I should keep doing what I’ve been doing. So for anyone it may concern, I’m trying to figure this whole “request” thing because it’s new to me. Thank you for understanding! Hope you enjoy!

Also not proofread.

Main Masterlist

“Do you know which flower this one is, Sakura?” The little girl asked her pink and blonde haired friends.

The pink haired girl shook her head but the blonde nodded.

“That is a Gladiolus!”

“That’s right, Ino! They come in red, pink, white, yellow and orange. But the most important thing is that they have medical properties, so the medic ninja use them all the time for healing.”

Sakura expressed her astonishment. “Wow, that’s so cool! You and Y/N sure know a lot about flowers.”

“Well what do you expect? My family does run a flower shop.” Ino grinned at Sakura with a little giggle following.

Then Y/N chirped in, “And I’ve been studying at the library. If you want Sakura, I’d be happy to teach you about flowers.”

Sakura gasped. “Would you really? Oh that sounds like so much fun!”

Y/N laughed happily, clapping her hands together at the same time. “Yeah! We’re gonna have lots of fun!”

With no effort, her eyes sprang open; staring tiredly at the wooden ceiling above.

She laid there a few more seconds before she forced her head to turn over to the right. On just the other wall, there was a small window with the light of the sun shining through; it was time to get up.

______

At the same time, many people of the village were getting up and ready, especially the Leaf ninja, prepared to be sent on missions.

Ino, after slipping into her uniform, walked out into the street to head straight to the Hokage’s office.

Despite the early hour, the village was already bustling with life. Many people were out shopping, organizing food stalls, and the like.

By this point in her life, Ino was really all that surprised anymore by the efficiency of the Leaf village. Everyone was always quick to start the day, even the regular citizens. It made being a ninja all the more worth it in her opinion; she could protect the prosperity of her home while doing what she’d always wanted to do.

As Ino was making her way down the dirt road, a familiar voice called out to her.

“Hey, Ino!”

Her violet eyes darted off the right, several feet in front of her there stood Sakura.

Ino smiled and waved at her. “Hey Sakura!”

The pink haired ninja suddenly came running over to her side, and then they both continued to walk together down the road. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. What are you doing up so early? I thought you had the day off today.” Ino asked curiously.

“I did, but Lady Tsunade suddenly summoned me. She said she had an important mission for me.” Sakura answered politely.

Ino made a noise, like a hum at the news. “Does it have anything to do with the hidden Waterfall village?”

“Yeah actually, it does.”

Ino looked over at her friend as they walked side by side. “It could be a serious mission then. Do you think she’ll combine our teams?”

“I’m not sure, it’s entirely possible.” Sakura said, moving her gaze back to the dirt path in front of her. “Guess we won’t know until we get there.”

“Yeah, guess so.” Ino agreed, not saying anything else for a couple of minutes. They continued down the path in silence for several more minutes when something just popped into Ino’s head.

“You know, it’s been three years.”

Sakura, knowing exactly what she was talking about, nodded (more to herself). “Since Y/N disappeared.”

Ino hummed again. “I can’t believe how much time has passed. So much has happened.”

“I know. The hardest part is not knowing if she’s okay or not, or if she’s even alive. It reminds me too much of when…” Sakura began to say, but paused as she felt her throat tighten up. “When Sasuke left.” Ino stopped in her tracks, resting her hand on Sakura’s shoulder and forcing her to stop as well. Her green eyes whipped up to meet Ino’s, seeing a look of sympathy on her face.

If anyone understood that feeling of hopelessness (besides Naruto), it would be Ino.

“Don’t worry too much about it, okay? Y/N is nothing like Sasuke; she’ll come back one day. I have faith.” The blonde ninja ressaured.

This made Sakura smile, and her body language indicated that she felt a bit better. “Thank you, Ino.”

Ino patted her shoulder a few times. “No problem. Now let’s hurry to Lady Tsunade’s office, or kill us for being late.”

Sakura laughed in response before heading towards the Hokage building, near the back of the village.

It took only a little while, but eventually Ino and Sakura made their way to the Hokage mansion, and stepped inside Tsunade’s office. Once they did, they saw Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto, and Sai already inside.

“Oh I’m sorry, M’Lady. Are we late?” Sakura apologized, a tad bit nervous that they’d get chewed out.

“No, in fact, I was just about to explain the mission.” Tsunade assured, then leading into the details. “As you may already be aware you all are going to be heading to the Hidden Waterfall village.”

Naruto perked up. “The Hidden Waterfall village?”

Tsunade nodded. “That’s right. I know that three years ago you escorted Lord Shibuki to his homeland safely, and now I’m asking you to return.”

“Please tell me that this doesn’t have anything to do with escorting his son to become the next leader, who’s just as cowardly as he was.” Naruto sighed, clearly annoyed.

“No, there have been reports of the Akatsuki sighted patrolling the village.”

Shikamaru chirped in. “So that’s why you’re assembling such a big team.”

“That’s correct. I don’t want to be taken by surprise, so that’s why I’m assigning all six of you to go and see if there is any truth to these reports. And with that, I’m also assigning you as squad leader, Shikamaru.” Tsunade explained, hands propped up on the desk, fingers intertwined. “You have half an hour to get ready and head to the Hidden Waterfall village, understood?”

“Understood!” Everyone in the room agreed at once and quickly headed out of the office.

Meanwhile, Y/N stalked a rogue shinobi from up in the massive forest, surrounding the Land of Fire.

He had no idea she was there, no inkling at all which made her one of the most efficient ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village.

And the fact that he was distracted with a meeting in the middle of the woods kept him occupied. He was speaking with five other people, exchanging stolen information about the Leaf with them. Though the other individuals were handing him back scrolls of what she assumed was information on other villages as well.

At least after she took down these ninja, she could find out what information was being sold off.

After about ten minutes, the five other shinobi shook hands with the rogue ninja and quickly scattered.

She watched the rogue one sit down onto the ground, taking out a water canister and unscrewing the top.

Being confident that he wasn’t going, Y/N made a hand sign and produced five clones. All of them (including the real Y/N)looked at each other and nodded.

The clones disappeared while Y/N remained inside the thick foliage of the tree leaves.

Her eyes centered on the rogue ninja, relaxing against the tree she was currently hiding in and then abruptly jumped down, colliding elegantly with the solid ground.

The man jumped back clearly startled by her appearance. “What the hell?!”

From her crouching position, Y/N’s sharp eyes, black masked face whip up to make direct, face to face contact with him. She hears the man gasp and try to reach into his bag for a weapon.

Before his hand can even make contact with the pouch, Y/N throws long, precision needles into the man’s arm; pinning him to the dirt.

The man lets out a shout of pain and his arm is pinned at a 90o angle, and stuck behind his back. “What do you want?!” Y/N approaches the man, completely unphased by his screams. Her domineering stance and quiet nature makes the man visibly sweat, and he finds it hard to make any kind of rational thought.

This woman, this woman right here was unlike anything he’d ever seen.

Completely silent in her approach, beautiful figure, graceful in the way she moved with deadly precision, dark eyes locked on him, and an aura that reeked power; unadulterated power.

Never in his life had he ever met a woman that was able to combine beauty with danger; it was a combination he believed didn’t exist and yet here it was.

Should he be scared or impressed? He wasn’t sure.

He tried to reach for another weapon with his other hand, but another, foreign hand had wrapped around his wrist and pinned it there.

When he turned his head to look, he saw that it was a clone of Y/N, a flurry of black rose petals appearing as quickly as the clone had. It piqued his curiosity.

“Don’t try that again.” Y/N finally said, voice low and smooth.

“I asked you what you wanted.” The man grunted out, trying now not to move around too much.

Y/N walked forward, slipped her hand into the side pocket of his uniform and pulled out a seal scroll with the information he traded for earlier. “I want this.”

He watched Y/N neatly put away the scroll into her back pouch before speaking. “You looking for information on other villages too?”

“Actually, I’m looking for those documents you stole from the Leaf, but if I happen to gain a bit of an advantage over another village then so be it,” She softly explains, tone never fluctuating.

Without warning, the man burst out laughing. “Oh, I’m sorry! I’m afraid that those pretty little documents are already on their way out of the Land of Fire.”

Finally, Y/N’s voice changed when she hummed in amusement. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

As soon as she finished, four clones then appeared at Y/N’s side. She raised her hand up just a bit and snapped her fingers; like that each of them, including the clone pinning the man’s arm, revealed the stolen documents he had just sold off to other rogue ninja.

More black petals floated down from the air as each one of her clones suddenly appeared before them.

His eyes widened in complete shock, air getting stuck in his throat almost preventing him from taking a proper breath.

They kept the documents out only for a couple of seconds then slid them back into their packs.

“Looks like this is the end of the line for you.”

“Wait!” The man screamed out, making Y/N pause for a moment to see what he wanted. When a couple of seconds passed, the man spoke again.

“There were rumors, started a couple of years ago. They were about a rogue assassin, killing other ninja left and right.” The man explained, the cold sweat rolling down his temples.

Y/N said nothing, it made him swallow nervously. “No one could find their bodies; all that was left were pools of blood and a single black rose.”

Then Y/N squinted at him, eyes narrow and fierce. “They called this assassin: Black Rose. I thought it was just rumors but…”

“You’ve changed your mind?” Y/N asked condescendingly.

“Well I’ve never seen anyone leave black petals lying around when they use clones or teleport said clones.”

There was a pregnant pause as both parties stared at each other, one’s heart racing and the other’s heart steady as drum.

Y/N clicked her tongue. “You should’ve believed the rumors, maybe you could’ve lived longer. Your complacency is what led you here.”

She saw the man tense up. “I believe them now so maybe we could make a deal.”

He tried to sound tough or unaffected by the aura surrounding this woman, but inside the terror was speeding over her nerves, up his spine, nearing choking him.

“I don’t make deals with rogues. I’m afraid that this is the end for you.”

“No!” The man screamed out, the panic now controlling him.

No please, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ve got resources, information; just tell me what you want.” The man pleaded.

Y/N took a step back, raising both hands to form a single hand sign. “I want you to disappear.” Then in a barrage of hand signs, too fast to keep, Y/N weaved her fingers together before landing on the final sign. “Ninja art: Black Flower Decay.”

A whirlwind of black flower petals swirled around them as if the wind was guiding their movements, eching their way closer and closer.

The man watched the petals coming his way and one single petal landed on his cheek; it was hot, burned even. But it was one petal, and for a split second he thought maybe he could take it, however that thought quickly left his mind when more petals started to collect on his skin.

Now the burning sensation grows in intensity until eventually the pain became overwhelming. The man again screamed out but this time it was more gutural; more real.

In a final blow, the wind directs the flower petals on every square inch of the man’s body. Then the petals began to completely break down the man’s body til nothing was left.

The man’s body was gone, the clones disappeared, the petals vanished, and the only thing left was a single black rose placed on the ground.

In seconds, Y/N was already miles away from the location of the rogue she’d just eliminated. Not to mention the other shinobi that she also killed when they took off with information that could’ve easily led to the destruction of the Leaf.

And no matter what she was not going to let that happen, not when she loved ones waiting for her.

Three years had passed since she was assigned on this mission, and not a single day went by that she didn’t think about her friends back home.

She wondered if any of them had made Chunin or Jounin, or if Lee had made a complete recovery from his surgery, or even wondered if Hinata had confessed her feelings for Naruto.

These were the types of things that wandered through her head, the things that kept her sane. Though after all this time, she wondered if they thought about her.

Maybe the first couple of months, sure since it was only a couple of months after Sasuke abandoned them all that she was sent away, but they were ninja; they had to focus on training, completing missions, trying not to die.

Truth be told, they most likely didn’t have the time to even wonder about her well being. Who would after three years? For someone who didn’t even say goodbye?

Oh well…

She was assigned a mission and had to complete it no matter what. That’s why Lady Tsunade entrusted this mission to her and only her.

Y/N was ripped out of her thoughts by a sudden and powerful burst of lightning right for her.

In a split second, she managed to dodge the attack in mid air and jumped to the nearest tree branch. From behind the sound of the lighting making contact with another tree causing the wood to splitter and blow apart.

The attack kicked up a bunch of dust to which nothing was visible for a couple of minutes.

Y/N waved her hand through the air to try to clear the area, watching as the dust only moved away from her general vicinity but nowhere else.

Her eyes darted around trying to fight the source of the attack, but before she could come to a conclusion she heard a voice from a somewhat short distance.

“I’m surprised you were able to dodge that so easily.”

That voice, that voice sounded familiar.

No, it couldn’t be.

As quickly as it appeared, a gust of wind swept away the debris, wiping the area completely clean of any signs of attack.

Her eyes widened, staring directly at the figure that stood on the solid ground twenty feet away. It was-

“Sasuke?”

“Most people would have been killed by an attack like that.” The Uchiha stated coldly.

Shaking the surprise, Y/N pulled herself back into espionage mode. “What are you doing here, Sasuke? Finally have a guilty conscience and decide to get over your superiority complex?”

Sasuke didn’t react. He didn’t smirk, or laugh sarcastically, he simply stood there with a cool expression. “You’ve caused Orochimaru some trouble; eliminating his line of resources and so he’s asked me to deal with you.”

“He’s still alive then. I’m surprised, I figured by now you would have killed him and taken control over his lackeys.” Y/N continued to retort back while on the inside she was getting nervous.

He hadn’t demonstrated his full power, however she’s always known he was strong. He was a Uchiha afterall.

“That will come eventually. Unfortunately, there is still something I need from him so until then I will do what I have to do.”

Y/N didn’t have anything else to say instead she stood there quietly, her right hand subtly reaching behind her into her tool bag.

Just as she had the kunai out of the pouch, she watched Sasuke vanish and his overwhelming presence was suddenly behind her.

She whipped her head around, eyes meeting a pair of crimson ones.

________

“This is so stupid!” Naruto complained very loudly for all to hear.

“Oh shut up, Naruto! You haven't stopped complaining since we left the Hidden Waterfall Village.” Sakura yelled back at him.

All Naruto did was huff as the entire team dashed across the treetops.

“It’s just if there are going to be rumors about the Akatsuki hanging around, they could at least do me the favor of actually being there.” Naruto added with a pout.

“Are you serious?” Choji chirped in from the back of the formation.

Then Shikamaru cut in. “Think about it; if the Akatsuki were actually there, we would’ve had our hands full even with the six of us.”

“Besides, you should know by now that rumors are not always true. So stop pouting.” Ino interjected as well, her own annoyance palpable in her tone.

Naruto grumbled in response, whatever words he was spouting to himself not audible to anyone else.

He remained mumbling for a while, even sprinting ahead of everyone without thinking about it.

“Stupid Akatsuki, stupid mission, stupid Shikamaru, stupid…” His vision caught an unusual color in the corner of his eye.

It wasn’t far so he immediately went to go take a closer look, oblivious to his team members flying right by only to stop once they noticed he was going in a different direction.

“Where do you think he’s going?” Sai asked, not expecting anyone to know that answer.

“Naruto! What are you doing?” Sakura from up on a tree branch as she saw Naruto jump down to the dirt floor.

He did not turn around to reply, but kept walking through the grass and bushes of the forest. “There’s something weird over here.”

Sai, Sakura, Ino, Shikamru, and Choji all exchanged looks of confusion before Sakura followed after him first and hopped down off the tree.

Naruto had a few feet on them as he stepped into a small clearing, seeing blood painting the ground.

He gawked at the sight for a second then focused on the next unusual thing, more unusual than blood in the middle of the woods.

In the middle of the pools of blood sat a single black rose.

Throwing caution to the wind, Naruto reached forward to grab ahold of the rose. His fingers had barely skimmed the surface of the dark petals when Sakura’s voice called out to him.

“What are you doing?! It could set off a trap.”

Naruto was too wrapped up in his own thoughts that his brain didn’t register anything his teammate was saying as he turned around to face them with the rose in the palm of his hand.

“Guys, what’s a rose doing out in the middle of nowhere like this and around all this blood?”

Once the gang’s eyes rested on the rose in Naruto’s hand most of them remained confused, but Shikamaru’s expression changed to one of knowing anxiety.

“Black Rose.” Was all Shikamaru uttered and everyone looked over at him now.

“What?” Choji questioned first.

“There’s been a lot of disappearances within the Land of Fire lately, all kinds of ninja gone in the blink of an eye with only their blood and a single black rose left behind.” Shikamaru explained, taking a moment to observe the battle field they were standinding before continuing.

“While there’s not a lot of tangible proof, the ninja that’s been doing this has been credited with over a hundred assassinations over the last three years factoring in they are even assassinations; but given the amount of blood I would say so.”

Ino couldn’t help but perk up at the mention of three years. She subconsciously mouthed them to herself, and her mind immediately jumped to the realization that her best friend had been gone that exact amount of time.

Is it possible-

There was a thud and a rustling within a tree off to the team’s right, about six feet away.

It took only a moment for each member to get into a defensive formation as they eyed the direction in which the rustling came from.

The tree leaves moved around a bit some more and then a figure fell out from the tree landing at the team’s feet causing all of them to jump back.

Even Sakura and Ino had gasped when this mysterious fell out of thin air.

From what they could see, it was a female; about their age, probably about average height with what looked to be a long scarf hanging around her neck and covering part of her face.

It was easy to tell that she was very unconscious even with her face covered. And she was injured.

“She’s bleeding!” Naruto pointed out as soon as he realized that fact.

He rushed over to her side while assessing her wounds, then reached to pull her mask off. His back blocked the others' view of the female and they waited for any kind of signal from Naruto.

“Uh guys?” He said, voice laced with shock and a slight tremble of anxiousness.

“What is it, Naruto?” Shikamaru calmly asked.

Without another word, Naruto took a couple of steps to the side revealing the woman to them.

There was lull in all sound, even the breeze that rushed against their ears suddenly went quiet. Everything that had once made sound now only sounded like the white noise coming from a tv, growing louder by each passing second.

It was almost too much.

“Y/N?” Ino’s voice broke them out of their trance right before she took a hesitant step forward.

Her mind seemed to catch up as she lunged forward, her best friend’s name leaving her mouth one more time. “Y/N!”

She bent down next to Naruto, violet eyes darting across Y/N’s body to see if they were more serious injuries. In her search, she saw a large laceration across Y/N’s back. The blood from the wound had soaked into the fabric of her uniform causing a clot to form there.

“She has a severe wound on her back, it’s big; probably eight inches in length.” Ino started to describe, weaving a quick hand sign then holding her hand over Y/N’s back, her hands glowing green as she began to heal the opening.

Sakura rushed over, appearing on the other side of Y/N. “Has it begun to clot?”

“A bit.” Ino answered curtly. “It looks like the tissue itself wasn’t. The blood soaked into the shirt, it’s acting as a sort of gauze.”

The others stepped closer to nervously observe Ino and Sakura’s movements.

Sakura then reached into her back pouch to pull out a black-brownish jar with a rigid lid. “Sai! Come over here.”

Sai reacted swiftly, making it to Sakura’s side in no time as she opened the jar in her hands.

“Now Sai, I want you to very slowly and very carefully peel back the fabric of her shirt; as you do I’m going to apply this paste to keep the wound from bleeding. It’ll act as a temporary bandage. You got it?”

“Got it!”

And just as Sakura had said Sai followed her instructions to the letter and as she mentioned as well, every inch of skin that was revealed under the uniform shirt, she applied a nearly transparent gel onto the surface of the wound to keep it from free flowing.

The moment that was finished, Sakura put the jar away and directed her gaze to Ino. “We have to go, it’s another couple of hours to the village at least. If she’s gonna make it, we have to go now.”

Ino nodded, stopping her healing and taking a hold of one of Y/N’s arms; the one closest to her. “Let’s get her up.” Sai then assisted with the other arm, and they both wrapped each arm around their shoulders.

“If we really push it, we can make it back to the village in less time.” Shikamaru suggested, his expression now back to normal with a subtle hint of concern.

“Well let's hurry then.” Choji added.

Naruto quickly stood up from his position, bringing a fist slamming into his other palm with a look of determination on his face. “Yeah the only chance Y/N’s got is if we stop talking and get on with it.”

All six ninja exchanged brief glances at each other then took off in the direction of the village with Y/N coming in and out of consciousness.

It felt like a lifetime but eventually they made it and as Shikamaru had said, they really pushed it and got there in only thirty minutes.

It was definitely a rough half hour, although it was a small price to pay for getting their friend the treatment that she desperately needed.

They all barged into the hospital, shouting several things all at once that it was hard for the front desk nurse to understand what they were saying. The point got across after Lady Tsunade showed up.

She’d heard that Y/N had returned to the village or rather had been dragged back because she had a serious injury to the back.

Sakura requested that she assist Tsunade in the surgery, but she denied it saying that Shizune would assist which left Sakura feeling helpless.

Tsunade understood that she wanted to help her teammate and friend, someone who had disappeared much like her love Sasuke, but even from a glance she could easily discern that Y/N’s injuries were serious.

Even though Sakura was a skilled medic ninja, she lacked the experience of delicate surgeries and Y/N’s condition required delicacy.

Sakura, Naruto, Sai, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choi waited with what could barely be considered patience, out in the waiting room.

Everyone sat down in an uncomfortable chair except for Naruto; he opted to pace.

Of course it set everyone on edge, but he has always been a fidgety person so add a bit of stress to that and he couldn’t sit still.

Though, Sakura did yell at him for not sitting like a normal person (her words). Normally Naruto wouldn’t have argued with the matter because she would’ve beaten him to a pulp for not heeding her word, but not this time.

He exclaimed that there was no way he could sit down since one of his friends was in surgery. Sakura remained quiet after that.

The silence permeated the very air they were breathing as they kept waiting for some sort of news on Y/N’s condition.

Until finally, Tsunade came out to meet them.

“She’s going to be just fine.” That was the first thing she said to them with a confident smile.

All the young shinobi had sighed in relief, the stress dripping off their shoulders to disappear forever.

“However,” Tsunade prefaced, “She’s in a medically induced coma so she won’t wake up for a while. The best thing she needs right now is sleep; this is also to keep her from moving around with that back injury so it’ll heal.”

Once more the young ninja exchanged looks of relief, happy to know that their friend was going to make it.

________

Nearly a week passed before Y/N woke up from her coma.

Her eyes felt the glare from the sunlight seeping in from the outside, and a warm sensation encasing her wrist.

When her gaze shifted to the presence of the warmth, she saw Lady Tsunade standing at her bedside while checking her pulse.

Honestly, at first, she didn’t recognize Tsunade for a few seconds until she spoke up.

“Well hello there, sleepy head. Finally decided to wake up.”

Y/N blinked a few times. “Lady Tsunade?”

The Hokage gently set Y/N’s hand back down to her side before crossing her arms and smiling down at the young woman. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“How-” She looked around the hospital room confused. “How did I get here?”

“I had sent several of your friends out on a mission to investigate rumors of the Akatsuki near the Hidden Waterfall village and on they’re way back, they found you lying in the middle of the forest.” Tsunade wasted no time explaining, her smile falling to a more casual expression.

Y/N’s eyes darted away to the hospital ceiling again, mouth gaped open subconsciously as her mind flashed back to that last thing she remembered.

“I vaguely remember somebody picking me up from the ground, but it’s all kind of hazy after that.” Y/N admitted.

Tsunade took a deep breath before speaking. “That’s not shocking, you were critically injured. It’s a miracle you were still alive when they brought you in.”

Both paused to gather their thoughts, the room becoming silent.

“What happened to you out there?” Tsunade asked with a startling seriousness.

She took some time to think through it, going back to every second stuck in her struggle against an old classmate. A classmate she actually used to know fairly well, and now he was nothing more than a stranger that she crossed unfortunate paths with.

“It was Sasuke.”

Tsunade didn’t even look surprised or shocked, it seemed as though she was already aware of who had almost killed her. After a minute or two, Tsunade nodded (more to herself).

“I see.”

“You don’t look surprised.” Y/N mentioned quickly.

The older blonde woman shook her head. “When I was performing your surgery, it was easy to make out the lightning pattern on your back. And not only that, upon taking a closer look I could see that the lightning had managed to barely sear the bone of your spine.”

She watched Y/N’s eyes widened at the revelation. Tsunade continued, “The attack was so precise that it scarred the bone, there’s one person I can think of that could use lightning like that.”

Y/N listened in horror, while trying to keep her mind from exploding with all the information coming in at once. “I am going to be okay?”

“Yes, luckily the scarring on your spine was superficial and there was no permanent damage that will affect your ability to walk or anything of the sort. The real problem was trying to close off the laceration, but that’s been taken care of too.”

“Oh thank goodness…” Y/N breathed a sigh of relief, holding her hand up to her chest.

Tsunade stepped forward, arms resting back at her sides. “However, you will need to rest as much as you can and you’ll need to start physical therapy.”

Y/N grumbled something under her breath; she would’ve rolled her eyes but her head hurt too much.

“Don’t get an attitude with me. It’s important to get your body back up to speed, that surgery took a lot out of you.” Tsunade scolded, her own brows pinching together in a frown.

“Yeah, yeah I know.” The younger ninja waved her off, choosing to now stare at the wall ahead of her as she sat up against her pillows.

She tried to suppress a deep rooted groan, unfortunately it proved useless, as the shock of pain in her back caught her off guard.

Her mouth let out a gasp before her teeth came clamping down on each other to soften any other noises that would try to escape.

“Try to move around slowly. Even if you were asleep for a week, you need to give yourself some time to heal.”

Y/N’s nearly popped out of her skull when those words processed in her brain. “A week? I’ve been here a whole week?”

Lady Tsunade opened her mouth to say something only to be interrupted when the hospital room door came slamming open.

“I can’t take it anymore!”

A familiar bright blonde haired male came bursting into the room with no regard for what anyone else was saying (Tsunade). He ran over to Y/N’s bedside, a now bright grin on his face.

“Hey Y/N, how ya doing?” He asked casually. It soon earned him a hard whack to the back of the head, a pink haired girl moving in.

“Naruto, you idiot! I told you to WAIT!” Sakura shouted quite angrily. Then she yanked Naruto back by the collar of his orange and black jacket.

Slowly, but surely several other people began to filter into the room, each other with their own unique uniform design.

And she knew every single one of them! Her face didn’t show it but she was glad to see them, it had been too long since the last time she saw them and now here they were.

Every one of them was taller than she remembered; particularly Shikamaru. Back then, she used to think that Shikamaru was kind of small but not so much now; he was fuller, broader.

He had grown up quite a bit.

Sakura had still been yelling at Naruto when Y/N shook herself out of her head, and focused on what was happening right now.

“Come on, Sakura…Cut me some slack okay? It’s been forever since I saw her last.”

“Ugh…” Sakura sighed as she placed a couple of fingers to her temple to dampen the oncoming headache. She switched gears in a few seconds as she faced Y/N, a small replacing the scowl.

“It’s been too long though, what have you been up to?” She nicely asked.

Y/N paused for a second as she thought of what to say; suddenly her throat felt unusable and her mind blanked. All the time she spent thinking of her friends, she never thought about what she’d say once she saw them again.

“O-oh…you know, finishing up a mission” She plainly answered, trying to sound like she used to.

What did she used to sound like?

There echoed a collective noise of surprise coming from her friends, their faces matching that.

“A mission? You mean the past three years, you’ve been on a mission?” Ino cut in, stepping forward to now be standing close by Y/N’s left side.

Y/N’s eyes danced over the faces of the people she once knew, to realize that they were different. It made her throat feel snapped shut.

She swallowed, noticing the soreness of it. “Yeah…”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Choji asked, his voice taking on obvious sadness.

Y/N went to answer but Tsunade cut her off. “It was a stealth mission of the highest order. It needed to be kept secret. No one was allowed to even be aware of why or when she was leaving the village.”

“So that’s why you left without saying goodbye.” Ino voiced as she held her hand against her chest as if she were trying to keep herself focused on the now instead of thinking on what happened back then. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but when she learned that Y/N was gone and no one knew why, she feared that she had succumbed to the same darkness that corrupted Sasuke.

Y/N was her best friend, they told each other everything especially the dumbest of stuff. They always said “Hi” or Good morning, always trading a goodbye before departing on a mission. In some weird way, they felt secure in that. To them it felt like a guarantee that even though they said goodbye it would never be the last.

So when Y/N suddenly wasn’t there anymore, it left Ino afraid that she had been unable to stop her from following a path with no way to return.

Y/N hung her head in shame, now having a difficult time looking them in the eyes. All she saw was the lingering disappointment swimming in their eyes.

“You’re different than before.” Naruto added in the middle of the silence.

She knew all too well.

“Back then, whenever you were around us you were always smiling, always laughing with us. And even when we’d end up in the hospital after a mission, you were always there to cheer us up.” Naruto continued, his usual boisterous personality on the back burner as he spoke softly and sincerely.

“But now, you’ve got this blank look on your face like you don’t know what smiling is.”

He wasn’t wrong. Not at all.

Three years spent on a mission tucking away her feelings, forgetting how much she missed being home and being with friends, and forgetting what made her who she is would make anyone feel as if they didn’t belong in the very place they called home.

It wasn’t a revelation she was prepared for.

The moment she tied that headband to her head she thought the it would be in the middle of the battlefield that she’d feel the most on edge, never did she think that moment would fall on her when she was surrounded by those she loved.

“Don’t be so insensitive, Naruto.” Sakura scolded him again, though this time she spoke less angrily and more concerned for Y/N’s reaction.

“Look, what I’m saying is that you’re not the same as before. What happened out there?”

Finally, Y/N looked up. “A lot of things happened out there. And-”

“Okay, that’s enough for one day.” Shikamaru advised after several minutes of not speaking.

“But Shikamaru-” Naruto began but Shikamaru spoke over him.

“Remember she’s suffered a critical injury; she still needs time to heal and us bringing up details of a delicate mission isn’t helping.”

At that, Naruto’s blue eyes drifted to the tiled floor in a silent agreement.

“Shikamaru is right, the best thing you all can do for her is to let her rest. Her bandages need replaced anyway, so clear out.” Tsunade ordered gently while crossing her arms over her chest.

Silently, each member made their way out of the room, glancing back to Y/N a few times (collectively) before they were out the door. Y/N and Tsunade waited until they could no longer hear their footsteps to say anything else.

“He’s right.” Y/N uttered, staring down at her palms.

“That’s his other gift…” Tsunade said thoughtfully, walking around Y/N’s bed to face the window. “He senses changes in people, no matter how subtle. It’s easy to forget when he acts like a moron.”

Y/N felt her mouth quirk up into a sentimental smile. “It's because of that ability that makes him such a force to be reckoned with.”

“I agree.” Tsunade stood by the window for a few more moments then looked over her shoulder at Y/N. “Alright, how about we get those bandages changed?”

________

Time passed, at what felt like, a blink.

Another week passed before Y/N was cleared to go home, but it felt like time rushed by her. Even when her friends would visit her, the hours they’d spend trying to fill Y/N on what she missed, seemed like mere minutes; gone without a chance to turn around.

Maybe that was better.

Since that first visit, Y/N hadn’t been able to shake the feeling of guilt hanging over her. Every time any one of her old friends came to see her, she saw the sadness in their eyes.

She attempted to act like how she used to, happily-go-lucky, but it was all forced and definitely difficult to keep that up so she quickly decided to let it naturally come back to her.

Whenever that would happen.

It was hard; knowing that her friends expected her to revert back to the old days, and be who she was. And she wanted to be that for them, she truly did, it’s just being on a mission that negated any sort of humanly interaction or connection made it seem like it was all a dream to begin with.

And when she couldn’t deliver, the disappointment always returned.

Now she was a walking blank canvas; splashed with a coat of white to hide any unique colors and patterns.

It almost scared her how much she didn’t react or feel.

Would she ever be the same?

The thought lingered at the forefront of her mind while Y/N sat criss cross on her own bed.

Her back was slouching a bit which caused her to grunt in pain when she straightened herself out again.

Lady Tsunade ordered her to sit as straight as she possibly could to help the healing process, but she was a creature of habit so she’d start out with correct posture then slip back into a slouch then would quickly correct herself again.

It was causing a lot of unnecessary pain.

Y/N huffed as she forced her shoulders to lie straight and back up, being as perpendicular as she could. While she did so, she kept her eyes on the blue sky filled with an abundance of white, fluffy clouds.

Cloud watching was a hobby of her’s, particularly when there wasn’t a lot going on during her mission.

Any time she felt nervous or anxious or bored, she’d tilt her head back and watch them float.

There was something very relaxing about that process.

But she didn’t enjoy it for long when a knock came at her door. Y/N perked up, head whipping to the other side of her room.

“Who is it?” She asked aloud.

“It’s me, Ino.” The muffled voice said on the other side of the door.

Bracing herself, Y/N carefully lifted her aching body up from the bed to make her way to the front door.

She opened the door to find an anxious Ino, twiddling her thumbs. “Hi.”

“Hey, can you come with me somewhere?” Ino abruptly asked.

Y/N raised a brow at her. “I guess, but where are we going?”

Her answer visibly made Ino relax. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “It’s a surprise.”

Then she turned on her heel, making her way down the apartment building hallway and in no time, Y/N followed close behind her.

For some reason, Ino chose not to make conversation on the way to wherever it was they were going.

Instead she quietly led the way, leaving the village houses behind with each passing step and ventured through some trees.

Something about the path they were taking looked familiar, so much so that it caused a warmth to center in Y/N’s gut spreading over her nerves like a warm blanket.

When it came to forests, three years isn’t enough time for it to change, and it looked exactly as it did back then.

Ino eventually stepped through the set of trees, and made it into a sunbathed clearing, completely lavished with a mass of flowers.

Y/N eyes grew wide at the sight; she couldn’t remember the last time she had been here even before she left.

Once she graduated from the academy there was never time to come back here, to relax and enjoy the simple colors of the flowers and their comforting smells wafting through the air.

It still looked like the small piece of heaven she loved so dearly.

“I can tell you remember this place.” Ino finally said, turning around to fully face Y/N; a soft smile on her face. “I know how much you used to love it here.”

“Why are we here?” Y/N asked, her own gaze observing every flower grazing her legs.

Ino stepped up to Y/N, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Because we loved this place when we were kids, so let’s enjoy it.”

Then Ino lightly nudged Y/N to follow her again and this time they didn’t walk that much further when they met a slight slope slanting downwards from where they were.

Ino took a spot on the small slope, then again nudged for Y/N to sit down with her. She did.

As soon as Y/N seated herself onto a patch of grass, Ino reached out and pulled out a white flower with a yellow center. “Do you remember what kind of flower this is?”

Y/N let out a quick airy laugh, caught slightly off guard by the question. “Uh..a jasmine.”

Ino nodded with a smile. Still holding the jasmine, she plucked out another one. This flower was drenched in a bright pink, petals resembling lace. “This one?”

“A carnation.”

She picked another one; it had a long green stem with a bushel of tiny purple petals at the top. “This one?”

Y/N nodded. “Lavender.”

Reaching for one more, Ino pulled up a flower with a somewhat stringy inside, center white and the petals gradually from that bright white to a light pink.

“How about this one?”

To Y/N’s shock, she didn’t recognize it. It definitely looked familiar, but there were several other flowers popping in her head that matched the look of it.

Staring at the flower, Y/N cautiously shook her head as if she were afraid she would disappoint Ino.

Ino held the flower up to her nose to smell the fragrance, closing her eyes a second to relish it before opening them again. “It’s a gladiolus.”

Y/N sadly decided not to respond to that.

“It was your favorite one back then. When we were still in the academy, you told Sakura and I that they could be all sorts of colors like pink..” she gestured to the pink one in her hand. “Or yellow or white. And you also said that they had healing properties used by our medic ninja. It was easy to tell how excited you were to tell us about it; how much you knew about flowers.”

“What’s going on, Ino? Why are we out here?” Y/N finally confronted the strange behavior of her friend.

Ino rested her hands in her lap, the flowers she’d plucked nearly falling from her limp hands. “I thought that if I could remind you of what you used to do, what we used to do together when we were kids, maybe it’d bring back the part of you that’s been hiding.”

“And you were the only one who wasn’t disappointed in me to try, huh?” Y/N laughed humorlessly.

Quickly, Ino faced her friend. “None of us were disappointed in you. We were all worried because you weren’t yourself anymore, and we could see how upset that made you.”

“Then why are you the only one who’s said anything? Why are you the only one out here?” Y/N began to feel the hopelessness grow in her chest like an infection.

Somewhere in the past week, she had rationalized that she had lost her friends because she couldn’t be there the same way as she could three years ago.

“I’m the only one out here because I asked everyone if I could be the first to help you remember. After this, Sakura and Naruto got their own thing planned for you.”

“What do you mean?” Y/N questioned, utterly confused by that statement.

“Well…” Ino began then recounted what happened only a few hours ago.

It was the middle of the afternoon when Sakura, Ino, and Naruto strolled down the street. Originally, Sakura and Ino were walking together but then Naruto saw them and caught up to them to talk as well.

There was some simple chatter going on between them when Naruto began to complain. “Don’t you guys think it’s weird that Y/N isn’t acting like herself anymore?”

Sakura and Ino stopped in their tracks, standing beside each other as Naruto took a few steps ahead before stopping himself, arms coming down to his sides after being held up in a casual posture.

“It’s not weird.” Ino answered somberly.

Sakura frowned. “It isn’t unusual for people to change when they’ve been alone on a mission for that long, especially if it was high priority.”

Naruto gritted his teeth. “I know, but it’s still weird to me. She used to be so happy back then, it was never boring when she was around, she had so much energy and now it’s like that person is gone. Like someone is impersonating her.”

“She’s not gone.” Ino was quick to add. “I can still see the cheerful girl we used to know, I think she’s just got lost along the way.”

Sakura nodded. “I think you’re right.”

There was a brief inter pause when Ino gasped, startling both Sakura and Naruto. “I have an idea!”

The other two ninja waited patiently for Ino to tell them what her idea was.

“We’ve been trying to fill her in on all that she’s missed the past three years right? Well if we instead we show her things of our past together, from when we were kids?”

Sakura’s eyes lit up. “Like when we played in the river together?”

“Or when we read comic books and played games together?!” Naurot chided, his voice grew louder than it was seconds ago.

Ino snapped her fingers and grinned. “Exactly! If we re-experience places we went, things we liked to do then maybe we could remind her of who she is.”

“It’s worth a shot at least.” Sakura smiled, looking between Ino and Naruto.

Naruto threw his fist up in the air. “Are you kidding me? That idea is awesome!”

“Alright, then from now on, each of us will try to remind Y/N of our precious memories together. Ready?” Ino closed her hand, and stuck a fist out to her friends.

Sakura and Naruto both bumped Ino’s fist, earning an excited cheer from all three at the same time.

“You see? That’s all we want, is for you to remember not who you used to be but who you are.” Ino explained, leaning over to a bundle of gladiolus flowers and extending them toward Y/N.

Her violet gaze could see the beginnings of tears gathering in Y/N’s eyes. “Like these gladiolus, maybe we could begin to heal you. If that’s okay?”

They fell, the tears that had been clouding her vision rolled down her cheeks, leaving a warm sensation in their wake.

For the first time in a long time, Y/N let out a relieved sob, taking the bundle of flowers from Ino’s grasp. Her head dipped down to stare at the colorful bouquet, watching her tears fall onto the petals and pool there.

The shame and guilt that hung off her injured back, finally disappeared, giving her the chance to breathe again, to actually breathe. Each inhale of air felt cold going down her throat but left her refreshed.

It was overwhelming.

Ino gave her space, letting her friend cry, to push out everything that she’d kept buried under a lock and key.

It wasn’t until Y/N had pulled her head back up and extended her arms out, that she hugged Y/N tightly to her and she reciprocated. Ino could feel her own tears begin to build.

Y/N cried a little while longer, then allowed herself to speak through the sobs. “Thank you; for not giving up on me.”

Ino pulled back, hands then resting softly on Y/N’s shoulders again. “That’s what friends are for.”

That caused Y/N to let out a tearful laugh and Ino mimicked that.

It was good to be home.

a/n: this was a long one, and I probably wrote more than I really needed to but honestly I do that more than people think. Regardless, if you're reading this thank you for making it all the way through this; it was a lot.

#naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto uzumaki #sakura haruno #sai #ino yamanaka #choji akimichi #shikamaru nara #sasuke uchiha #tsunade #naruto shippuden x reader #naruto imagines #naruto oneshot #naruto angst #naruto fluff #request

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smilesrobotlover · 6 months

Text

Whumptober day 30- bridal carry

You should read day 25 and day 28 to get a better understanding of what’s happening :>

Anyways, I don’t like this one, so just take it so I don’t have to look at it anymore. I hope you like it more than I do 👍

Uh, no warnings, this one is very chill, just mostly mentions of what happened in day 28 and day 25, also some mentions of racism.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Time opened his eyes and squinted at the sun peeking through the trees. He groaned as he sat up and noticed the others were with him. Well… not everyone. Warriors, Sky, Spirit, Legend, Wild, Age, and Minish were missing from the group, but the rest were all huddled up near him, still unconscious. Time licked his chapped lips and noted the familiar sensation of feeling hot and dry. They must’ve been in a desert of some kind, and as Time observed his surroundings more, he noted that the desert was awfully familiar. He stood up, accidentally causing Windy’s head to slip off his legs. His head hit the sand and he woke up, rubbing his head.

“Sorry Windy,” Time mumbled, helping him stand up.

“Where are we?” He asked, looking around at the others who were beginning to stir.

“I have a feeling we’re in Gerudo desert. Be on guard.”

Windy looked at Hyrule in concern, who was still unconscious.

“How is he?” Time asked.

Windy shook him a little, but Hyrule remained still. “He’s not waking up. I’m worried about him.”

Time frowned at the unconscious boy. The scratch on his chest seemed to have healed up thanks to the red potion Windy gave him, but he wasn’t sure if the magic draining poison was still in his system. They needed help. He lifted him up gently into his arms and started walking further into the valley.

“We need help. Maybe the Gerudo are nearby.”

Time marched into the valley without waiting for the others to fully wake up. They followed him reluctantly, but soon they were all awake and close by his side, protecting him and Hyrule in his arms. He was cautious as he observed the valley, it looking more and more familiar as he trekked through it. Though he rarely returned to it after his adventure, he couldn’t help but feel like this was his Gerudo desert. But that couldn’t be it, there’s no way. As much as Time hoped it was the case, there was no way getting back home was that easy.

Was it?

Time heard rocks tumbling down a cliff side and he froze, looking around him. The others stopped as well and began to pull out their weapons, but Time’s warning gaze caused them to pause.

“Is anyone there?” Time called out, holding Hyrule tighter. “We need help. Our friend is hurt, he won’t wake up.”

It was silent, then a Gerudo with a bow aiming towards them stepped out from a cluster of rocks. The others pulled out their shields but Time gave them another warning look.

“You’ll need to find somewhere else to go, voe,” the Gerudo yelled out, stepping cautiously towards them. “We have something far too precious here for you to be welcome here. I am sorry.”

Twilight stepped out next to Time. “Please. He’s just a kid! We’ll be in and out of your hair as soon as he’s better!”

“No! That is my final answer! I’m sorry, but I cannot allow you to come into Gerudo valley at this time.”

Time clutched Hyrule tighter, desperation getting a hold of him. He went to open his mouth, but someone spoke before he did.

“Risa, that poor boy needs help,” a familiar voice said from the group of Gerudo. “We can let them in, it’s ok.”

Time gasped as a pregnant woman stepped out, with fiery red hair tied in a yellow bandana, sharp blue eyes that stared at him lovingly, and dimples on her cheeks that appeared when she smiled at him.

“Malon,” he said, almost shocked, and her beautiful laugh made his heart soar. He gave Hyrule to Twilight and ran to his wife, who was crying tears of joy.

“Oh Link!” She cried, wrapping him in a hug. Time didn’t say anything, he just buried his face in her hair. Goddesses he forgot how good she smelled. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

“I’ve been so worried about you,” Time muttered, hugging her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

“You are the baby’s father?” Risa asked, and the two moved away from each other.

“Risa, this is my husband, Link,” Malon said, wrapping her arm around his waist. Risa stared at Time for a moment, then nodded.

“I see. The missing husband has returned.” Risa glanced at the other heroes who looked confused. “Normally, voe wouldn’t be allowed in Gerudo desert, but this is an exception. As for the boys—“

“I can’t leave them alone,” Time said quickly, gesturing to Hyrule. “He needs help, please.”

Malon gave Risa a look and she groaned.

“Fine. But as soon as that voe feels better, they’ll need to leave, understand?”

Time looked at Malon, then at the other heroes. They gave him a nod, and he sighed.

“Alright.”

Risa nodded and walked away, leaving the others to follow her.

“Link,” Malon started, glancing at the other heroes behind them, “we have a lot we need to talk about.”

Time grinned and nodded. “We do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Your friend is completely drained of all his magic,” the Gerudo healer stated, observing the unconscious Hyrule. “We need to hope that he can wake up on his own, just so we can give him a magic potion.”

Green nodded silently, watching Hyrule’s pale face as all the rest of the heroes shifted in the cramped room. All except Time of course, who was with his wife.

“How long will it take for him to wake up?” Twilight asked, holding Hyrule’s limp hand. The healer only shrugged.

“Not sure, he seems to be dangerously low on magic, it could take days for him to wake up.”

Twilight frowned, and Windy ran his hand through his hair.

“That sucks,” The young sailor muttered, and Blue shrugged.

“That stupid puppet did a number on him.”

“Will he at least be alright?” Red asked, worry in his voice. The healer shrugged again.

“This level of magic loss is dangerous, if we’re unlucky, he may succumb to his exhaustion.”

The group made different sounds of worry and concern over their traveling friend, who remained unmoving.

“I know you voe are worried, but it’s rather crowded in here, I need space to work. I will do whatever I can for him, I promise,” the healer said firmly yet gently. Twilight nodded and stood up, gesturing for the others to follow him. Everyone reluctantly followed him, looking around at the desert where other Gerudo women watched them.

“Well, now what?” Windy asked. “Time is with his wife, Hyrule is dying, we can’t really do anything here since we’re always being watched… I don’t know what to do.”

Twilight titled his head. “Well, someone should keep an eye on Hyrule, just to make sure he’s ok.”

“But the healer lady told us to leave.”

“That’s because we were all in there. I’m sure with just one person she won’t have an issue with it.”

Windy pouted but gave a determined nod, and headed back to where Hyrule was. Vio stepped up to Green and Twilight.

“Do you think we’re in any danger? The puppeteer is the reason why we’re here. He could attack us any second.”

“Then it sounds like we need someone to keep an eye out,” Twilight said with a grin. Green gave him a nod.

“The four of us will keep an eye out for the puppeteer! We’ll get you if we notice anything.”

“Good. Get going you four.”

Green nodded at his brothers and he marched towards the borders of Gerudo, but he stopped. “What will you do, Twi?”

The rancher shrugged. “I guess I’ll keep an eye on things as well, the puppeteer could attack from both sides. Now git.”

Twilight waved him away and Green smiled slightly. He gestured for the other colors to follow him, and they all went their separate ways.

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

“So… this puppeteer guy kidnapped you and a bunch of heroes for… what reason?”

Time shrugged as Malon stared at him concerned. “None of us really know, but he’s been hunting us down. “

Malon glared and rested her head against his shoulder, getting more and more upset.

“Why… if I ever see him I swear I’ll make him pay!” She shot back up, fury in her voice. “It’s not right to tear people from their homes! I’ve been so worried about you! If he ever hurt you I’ll… oh I’ll do unspeakable things!”

Time chuckled and brought her back down to his shoulder. “It’s ok, dear, we’re gonna find him and take care of him. Now relax, think about the baby.”

Malon huffed and rubbed her stomach, looking upset. “Link, you don’t understand, it was really hard for me without you. I—I thought you were in danger and I couldn’t do anything… I was just… so alone.”

Time gave her a comforting squeeze. “I’m sorry, Malon. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

“It’s not your fault. I just… it’s been hard.”

“I know, dear. I know.” Time buried her in a hug which she leaned into, clutching his shirt tightly. “At least you had Talon there.”

Malon stiffened and sat up. “N-no, I didn’t have dad.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dad he… he disappeared as well, and then Ingo took the ranch and kicked me out… that’s why I’m here, in Gerudo because I had nowhere else to go!”

Time sat up, staring at Malon in shock.

“Talon is missing?”

“Yes! He went missing and Ingo kept saying how he was gone and he took the ranch!”

Time blinked at her. “He… he actually did that? Without Ganondorf?”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Malon looked down, playing with Time’s hair. “Do you think… Do you think the puppeteer guy stole dad?”

“I don’t know, I never saw Talon… goddesses, Malon I—“ Time pulled her into a hug that she leaned into, tears pouring out of her eyes. “I’m so sorry Malon.”

He held her as she cried silently, rubbing her back. “Why didn’t the Gerudo do something about Ingo?” He asked after a moment. “Surely stealing the ranch would’ve been bad enough for them to do something.”

Malon sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “No Link, think about it, if a bunch of Gerudo stole the ranch back from Ingo, who do you think the Hylian guard would side with?”

Time looked down sadly. It was a sad reality of things. Nobody trusted the Gerudo, they lumped them in with Ganondorf, assuming that they all shared his beliefs and ambitions. Being anywhere with Hylians was dangerous for them, leaving all of them to stay in the hot and dry desert. It wasn’t fair to them. He sighed again and rested his head against Malon’s.

“I promise, Malon, I’ll get Lon Lon back. Ingo won’t get away with this.”

Malon was silent for a moment as they held each other. “I missed you Link,” she whispered, and Time laid down with her still in his arms.

“I missed you too.”

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

Leon looked around as the world around him got less green and more brown. The dry air and hot weather was an indication that they were getting closer to Gerudo desert, and he was getting uneasy. He wasn’t sure how the Gerudo were in Talon’s era. In his own era, they were trying to make up for what their leader did years ago, and though they were respectful to the Hylians, they didn’t trust them fully when they waltzed into their territory. With three Hylians walking into the desert, he didn’t know how these Gerudo would react.

“Uh, boys,” Talon started, wringing his hands, “just a fair warnin’, the Gerudo may not like our presence here…”

“What do you mean?” Rusl asked.

“Well, they’ve been wary about Hylians after Ganondorf got exposed for bein’ crazy. I just don’t wanna get arrested by them, is all.”

Rusl stopped walking and gave Talon a look. “Ok… ok… before we do possibly get arrested, are we sure that Malon is here?”

“I don’t know where else she would be! We’ve looked everywhere in Kakariko and castle town. I doubt she’d be able to get to Zora’s domain, and Kokiri forest ain’t a place for Hylians.” Talon sighed. “She has to be here.”

Rusl hummed and continued walking. “I get that she’s part Gerudo, but would they still mistaken her for a Hylian?”

“Probably, but I’m hoping that her being pregnant will help her case. Motherhood is sacred to the Gerudo people, they would never leave a pregnant woman to fend for herself, Gerudo or not.”

Rusl still looked uneasy, but he didn’t say anything further. It was silent as they walked, but Leon heard a noise and he stopped, looking behind him as he got the feeling that they weren’t alone.

“Hey,” he started, going to stop his friends, “wait I think we’re—“

“Hold it right there!”

Leon flinched as several Gerudo surrounded the men, pointing their spears at them. Rusl and Talon took a step back, raising their hands defensively.

“Wait, I just need to see if my daughter is here!” Talon called out.

One of the Gerudo stepped up, keeping her spear pointed at the men. “Voe are not allowed in Gerudo. Normally we’d throw you all in the dungeon, but today is an exception, you should consider yourselves lucky. Now leave.”

“P-please, I just need to know if my daughter Malon is here,” Talon begged, “she’s pregnant and I don’t know where she is.”

The Gerudo stayed still for a moment, glaring at the farmer, but she eased up. “You’re the missing father?”

“I—yes—yes I am!”

The Gerudo looked at Leon and Rusl and frowned. “Who are these two?”

“They’re my friends.”

The Gerudo frowned again, studying the two, her yellow eyes piercing into the men.

“Wait a second!” A smaller voice called out, and Leon gasped when a small boy with long blonde hair popped out.

“Link!” His voice cracked as he said it, relief and disbelief overwhelming him as he saw his son, the boy he’s been searching for relentlessly for weeks. Link’s eyes began to tear up when he saw Leon, but before he ran to him, three more Links came out, watching him cautiously. Leon was taken aback, but he quickly got over it. The four sword disappeared with Link, it made sense that he was split now. The first one he saw was Red, and Green looked relieved as well, but Vio and Blue looked to be distrusting towards him.

“Oh… father!” Red cried, running to Leon, ignoring Blue calling out his name. Leon couldn’t hold back the laugh as he was hugged by Red. Green and Vio walked over, and soon the first knight was bombarded with hugs. The only one who didn’t move was Blue, who was glaring at them.

“Guys! How do we know this is our father! It could be the puppeteer playing tricks on us!” He shouted, pulling out his sword. Leon looked at Blue in surprise, but remembered that everyone was brought here thanks to the puppeteer. It was no wonder why he was hesitant.

“Link—I mean— Blue, I’m not a puppet,” Leon said gently, but firmly.

“That’s something a puppet would say!”

“Well what would a non-puppet say?”

Blue paused for a second, watching him with his icy blue eyes. He huffed.

“What’s something only Father would know?”

Leon stared at him, then stared at the others. He took in a shaky breath and let it out.

“When Vaati put me in that trance, you boys wanted to blast your force at me. But no one was brave enough to do it, they didn’t want to hurt me. All except you, Blue. You blasted all your force at me, and it hurt, but it woke me up. I was able to keep myself from hurting you boys because of the pain, and I’m so grateful for your bravery to do that.” Leon stared at him firmly, then smiled warmly. “I know it’s you asking me if I was upset about you doing that to me. But I just want you to know that I never was, and I never will be. I look at that scar with pride, for you, for all of you. I love you, Blue.”

Blue’s glare softened and he put his sword down. He slowly walked over to Leon and leaned his head against his stomach. Leon let out a laugh and gathered all four boys into his arms, giving them all a squeeze. The boys all started crying as they hugged him, and Leon nearly choked up as well.

“Goddesses, I’m so glad you’re all alright,” he mumbled into Blue’s hair, and Red gave out a sob.

“We’ve missed you father,” he cried, his bottom lip trembling. Leon smiled and ran his hand through his hair.

“I’ve missed you too. I’ve been looking everywhere for you boys, I’m so glad that I finally found you.”

Vio pulled away, giving Leon a look. “How are you here, Father? Was it the puppeteer?”

Leon sighed and gave a nod. “He’s been nothing but a nuisance to us all.”

Vio made a face and went back to hugging him, resulting in a chuckle from Leon. He looked up and found Rusl and Talon smiling at him, and he cleared his throat, standing up where his sons were in front of him.

“Rusl, Talon, these are my boys.”

“I thought you only had one son?” Talon tilted his head in confusion. Green stepped up and showed off his four sword.

“This is the four sword, it helped Link split into four people. I’m Green, obviously,” he gestured to his green tunic, “That is Blue, Vio, and Red. It’s really easy to remember our names.”

Rusl laughed. “Well, hopefully none of us are color blind!”

Green smiled and Leon wrapped his arms around his sons. “Boys, this is Rusl and Talon. They’re my…. They’re my friends.”

Rusl smiled gently at Leon, and the first knight looked away as his face grew hot.

“I didn’t know you could make friends, father,” Blue said softly.

“Blue!”

Everyone started laughing as Leon grumbled, causing Blue to give small apologies to him. Rusl gave a few chuckles before turning to the Gerudo.

“Does that mean,” he started out softly, “that my boy is here too?”

One of the Gerudo stepped up. “I’m not sure, but you can’t come in, I’m sorry. Only the father may enter since his daughter is here, but that is it.”

Rusl frowned and took a step back. Talon rested his hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright, Rusl. I’ll get all the Links that are here back to you,” he assured, and Rusl silently nodded. Talon smiled and was escorted further into the desert, leaving Leon, his sons, and Rusl alone. He glanced over at Rusl who looked upset and he couldn’t he’ll but feel sorry for him.

“Rusl,” he started, and the swordsman looked over at him, “it’ll be alright.”

He gave a small smile and sat on a rock, continuing to watch inside the valley silently. Leon’s boys all huddled around him, curiosity on their faces.

“Father, I am very curious about how exactly you got here, and what you have been doing,” Vio muttered, sitting down on the ground.

“I am too!” Red plopped down as well. “Did you really meet the puppeteer?”

“I hope you punched him in the face,” Blue joined his brothers, punching his palm with his own fist.

Green smiled and looked up at his father. “I guess we wanna know everything.”

Leon chuckled and kneeled down. “I’ll tell you everything that happened to me, but I wanna know everything that happened to you.”

His sons all nodded enthusiastically, and they began to share their tales of adventuring with the other heroes.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Time woke up to the sound of shouting. He rubbed his eye and looked down at Malon, who was snuggled up against his side. He didn’t remember ever falling asleep, but his relief to finally be with his wife must’ve taken over. He always felt at peace around her. He sat up gently, trying not to wake Malon up, and he looked around. The shouting came from the Gerudo, probably giving orders to the others. He let out a sigh and rested his head again, but someone came into the room they were in.

“Excuse me, Link was it?” The Gerudo healer asked softly, “I have some news about your son.”

Time frowned. “My son?”

“The one with the magic drained out of him?”

Time shot up, waking up Malon. “Oh! Yes, he’s not my son but is he alright?”

“Yes, the red potion you gave him saved his life. It was able to stop the poison from draining his life. I’m assuming he’ll wake up today or tomorrow, when he does, give him a magic potion,” she handed him a green potion in a bottle, and Time observed it. “Now, come outside, someone is here to see Malon.”

Malon rubbed her eyes and looked at the healer confused. “Who?”

“Your father has arrived.”

Malon blinked at her, then gasped when she registered what the healer had said. She shot up, with Time quickly following her.

“My father is here? Are you sure?” She said breathlessly.

“Your father is a shorter man with a big nose, yes? He said that he was looking for you.”

Malon covered her mouth in excitement, and she almost ran out of the door, but Time stopped her.

“Link? What is it?”

Time frowned, looking at the ground. This all seemed too good to be true, and terribly convenient.

“Let me see him first, Malon,” he said quietly.

“What? Why? He’s my father, Link! I thought that something happened to him!”

Time rested his hands on her shoulders. “The puppeteer can make illusions to trick people, let me make sure that it’s not him, alright? I would never forgive myself if he got to you too.”

Malon glared at him, but she didn’t fight back. Time went outside and grabbed his Biggoron sword, looking around cautiously. He spotted Talon who had different guards surrounding him, and his eyes lit up when he saw Time.

“Link! Is that really you?” He exclaimed, running up to Time. Time didn’t move, and he clutched his sword a little tighter. “I can't believe you’re here! I finally found you! I’m glad to see you’re doin’ alright!” When he got closer, Time took a step back, and Talon stopped, giving him a weird look. “What’s wrong? Do you—“ Talon’s eyes widened. “Oh no! You think I’m a puppet don’t ya?”

Time raised an eyebrow. “You know the puppeteer?”

“Unfortunately yes, he’s been a real pain. But I’m not a puppet! It’s really me!” Talon rubbed his chin and looked down, thinking. “I gotta think about something that only I would know….”

Time squinted his eyes. If this was a puppet, he was doing a good job.

“Oh! Well… I guess I should apologize to you Link,” Talon started, “I’m… sorry I never believed you about Ingo. I dunno if you know this but he took the ranch, locked me in the basement when I got there and drugged my friends, kicked Malon out leaving her alone for weeks, and just made a mess of things! None of that would’ve happened if I actually listened to you, and I’m sorry.”

“You know about Ingo?”

“Yeah, I do now. But don’t worry about the ranch! I got it back! The Hylian guard took him away, so we can head back home!” Talon smiled, but when Time didn’t move, he sighed. “Um, I think I believe your stories now, Link. Especially the time travel ones. I’m still confused about the moon fallin’ and demons, but after the stuff I’ve seen, I think I believe it a little more.”

A smile tugged at Time’s lips, and he put his Biggoron sword down. Talon grinned and the two hugged each other.

“I'm so glad you’re alright, Link. Is Malon doing ok?”

Time smiled and patted his back. “Why don’t ya see for yourself? She’s in there,” Time gestured to where he and Malon were, and Talon excitedly shuffled over, barging into the room. Time heard excited cheers, but he didn’t join them. Knowing Malon, she’d want to go back to the ranch, and he was going to get the others ready so they could leave as soon as possible. He just hoped that Hyrule was awake now, or at least beginning to wake up.

Windy was confused when Time told him the plan, but he was given the magic potion and he started getting everything together, Hyrule was still unconscious, but he looked more alive, which was good. Twilight was watching the back area of Gerudo, and though he was hesitant to leave, Time’s glare kept him from arguing about it. Time didn’t know where Four was, and as he was looking for him, he saw his wife and father-in-law talking with two Gerudo. Malon’s face lit up when she saw her husband and she wandered over to him.

“Link! There you are! I was just talking to Risa here and uh… I want to head back to Lon Lon ranch.”

“I know, I already have the boys getting ready right now.”

Malon giggled and gave him a peck on the lips. “You know me too well.”

Time smiled at the kiss. “Yeah, I’m just trying to find Four, dunno where he is.”

“Which one was Four?”

“Well, he’s split right now but he’s the one with the distinct colors.”

Talon stepped up, gesturing to the Gerudo entrance. “I know where that kiddo is! They’re all with my friends who are waiting for us! I did say that I would bring their Links back to them.”

Time gave a nod and looked over at Twilight, who was helping Windy with a still unconscious Hyrule.

“Oh my,” Talon murmured, “what happened there?”

“The puppeteer poisoned him and drained all his magic. The healer said he should be fine.”

“Oh well, that’s good. That darn puppeteer. I swear if I ever see him I’ll shove my pitchfork up his—“ he stopped himself and looked at Windy who was getting closer, “uh, you know what I’m sayin’.”

Time snorted and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “I know exactly what you’re saying.” He gestured his head towards the entrance of Gerudo when Twi and Windy arrived. “Let’s go. We’re heading to my home.”

“Is this all’ya?” Talon asked, staring at the Links. Time shrugged.

“No, we were the only ones teleported here. There are more, but I pray that they are safe.”

Talon frowned. “Well, we should go then, I have a friend who is very excited to see his son.” His eyes lingered on Twilight for a moment and he squinted, but turned around with his arm wrapped around Malon.

“Excuse me,” Risa spoke up, stopping the group from continuing. “Please allow us to accompany you, that way we can help when the baby is born.”

“Oh! I’d love that very much!” Malon exclaimed. “Y’all have been so helpful to me, we really owe you a lot.”

Risa smiled and she and one other Gerudo joined them as they walked towards the entrance. Time looked at Windy who was still carrying Hyrule in his arms, all the shuffling would have woken him up, and he couldn’t help but be impatient. But he knew that the healer was right about him, and he knew that if he were to wake up soon, that Windy would take good care of him. For now, everything seemed alright for Time.

#IM SO SORRY RUSL AND TWI DIDNT REUNITE I COJLDNT FIT IT IN HERE #I was losing my mind finishing this so use your imagination #anyways. idk how I feel about this one #I don’t like it #but I hope it’s enjoyable to read regardless #smiles writes #strangers across eras #link between links #I’m not tagging everyone #maybe #whumptober #whumptober 2023 #whumptober day 30 #geez I was kinda sad that whumptober was ending but I’m kinda glad that it is #now I can focus on commissions and comics!#and also my other fics #but we still got tomorrow!#hopefully it’s better than this one

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punchdrunkdoc · 6 months

Text

Part 3, Chapter 3

Summary: After the events of S3, Matt Murdock is trying to once again balance life as a lawyer and a vigilante. But he’s been scarred by loss and betrayal - will a mysterious new neighbour help him heal? Or will her secrets drag him back into the darkness?

Notes: This is a slow burn romance with an original female character, told in 3 (maybe 4??) parts. There is mystery, intrigue, action/violence and angst - all the good stuff!

Also available on AO3 and Wattpad

Masterlist

Reference pics

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PART 3

Chapter 3

The next morning, Matt smiled as he walked passed the florist on his way to work, the rich, heady scent of roses filling the air.

Yesterday, that fragrant reminder of the upcoming romantic celebration had only added to his bad mood - the bad mood caused by a week spent worrying about Calina and her strange phone call, and a month and a half spent missing her. The fact that Valentine’s Day was approaching meant he was bitterly reminded of what was taken from them, and what other couple’s took for granted - the chance to be with each other.

But today, he was actually feeling…optimistic.

Calina may have been a few days early, but she’d given him the perfect Valentine’s gift:

Hope.

Her brief visit last night had spurned him out of his morose despondency. It was the catalyst he’d needed to realise that it was time to stop dwelling on the negatives and obsessing over what they’d lost.

Instead, it was time to focus on the positives. They were both still alive. Still healthy. And still fighting for each other. Distance didn’t matter. Being temporarily separated didn’t matter. They loved each other. They would have the rest of their lives together. A few months apart was nothing compared to the years to come.

Matt had been dealt some crap hands throughout his life - losing his sight. Losing his father. Losing again and again. But he’d always found a reason to stay in the game. To accept the defeats and find the will to carry on playing.

This was no different.

He just had to have faith that God’s plan would reveal itself.

And this morning, he felt like he was finally getting a glimpse of the tapestry. He was finally seeing the beauty in the chaos. This separation would only strengthen them as a couple. It would serve to reinforce their bond, and ensure that they never took each other - or their happiness together - for granted.

“You seem…better,” Karen commented when Matt reached the office.

Matt shrugged. “I feel better.”

“That’s good.” She gifted him with a wide smile, and Foggy patted him on the shoulder.

It made Matt realise how much his foul mood had been impacting his friends and their workplace. “I’m sorry, guys,” he said. “For being such a miserable bastard the last couple of months.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘miserable bastard’,” Foggy replied. “That’s a bit harsh. ‘Forlorn asshole’, maybe. Or ‘wretched son of a bitch’ would be more accurate.”

Matt laughed. “Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll try to be more upbeat from now on.”

“What brought on this sudden change in attitude?” Foggy asked.

Matt couldn’t help his smile. “I saw Calina last night.”

“So you got laid! That explains everything!”

Karen slapped Foggy’s chest with the back of her hand. “God, Foggy.”

Matt just laughed. “No, it was just a quick visit. But it helped give me some perspective. It’s like you said, Fog - this is just a long distance relationship. It won’t last forever…and other couples go through similar experiences all the time.”

“Exactly, man. Astronauts.”

Matt smiled. “Yeah. Astronauts.”

“She’s Neil Armstrong, and you’re the little lady waiting back on earth.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Something like that.”

“Okay,” Foggy said, rubbing his hands together. “Well, since you’re in such a good mood, you can take point on the meeting with the new nightmare client, while I finish off the brief for the Chisholm case.”

“Nightmare client?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, a tenant dispute case. They’re arriving at 10.”

“Fine,” Matt agreed. Liaising with a difficult client was the least he could do to make up for his less than stellar performance the last couple of months. “But I have something to do first.” He held up the USB drive that Calina had slipped to him last night.

“What’s that?” Karen asked.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

Matt booted up his computer and plugged in the device. It contained a single large document which he printed off in braille and started scanning through. At first there was just a list of chemicals - the results of the analysis by the Widow scientist - but then Calina added some context.

And it changed everything.

“Guys?” he called out. “You gotta hear this.”

“What is it?” Karen said, taking a seat on the other side of his desk. Foggy joined them a moment later and leaned against the door frame.

“Calina found something.” Matt spun his monitor around to show the document on the screen. “Apparently, one of the main ingredients of the fear pheromone is something called Arsonium bromide. Its a chemical that environmental groups have been calling for greater regulation on, because it’s disposal has been linked to soil contamination which is affecting agriculture yields across the country. Those environmental groups were successful in convincing a prominent politician to lobby their cause to the EPA last year.”

“Okay,” Karen said slowly. “How does this help us?”

“That prominent politician was Governor Andrew Benson.”

“The guy Calina was supposed to assassinate?”

“Yes.” Matt leaned forward as he laid out Calina’s theory. “Two days after the failed assassination, Benson suddenly, and without warning, withdrew his petition to the EPA, and walked back all his previous objections to the chemical.”

“Somebody got to him,” Karen added. “Somebody with a vested interest in the use of Arsonium bromide.”

“Exactly. With Benson’s support, the environmental groups were gaining traction in their fight. So someone tried to take Benson out. And when that failed, they likely played off the assassination attempt as a warning.”

“Do as we say, or next time it’ll be for real,” Foggy guessed. “Which means whoever is behind the manufacture of the fear pheromone-”

“Is the same person who arranged for Calina to be reactivated,” Karen finished.

“It’s all connected,” Matt said. “If we find out who created the pheromone, we find out who ordered Calina’s mind control. And vice versa - if we can find out who paid to have their very own Widow assassin, we find our pheromone guy.”

“Holy shit,” Karen whispered, tilting the monitor so she could read through the information on the screen.

“I take it the Widows are concentrating on finding out who bought Calina’s ‘services’, for want of a better term?” Foggy asked, reading the screen over Karen’s shoulder.

“As much as they can - but they’re more focussed on hunting down Volkov. He’s the bigger threat to them right now. Which means we’ll be doing them a favour if we find this information first.”

“So where do we begin?” Foggy asked.

“I say we concentrate on researching this chemical. Where its manufactured, who buys it, and how.”

“I’ll start today,” Karen answered, scribbling in her notebook.

“What does this mean?” Foggy said, pointing to something on Matt’s screen.

“Which part?” Matt asked, shuffling through his print outs.

“The last sentence. It says, ‘I hope this helps, shereen-am.’ What is ‘shereen-am’?”

Matt tried to control his reaction. “It’s nothing. Just an inside joke.”

It wasn’t nothing. And it wasn’t a joke. But it was something private, just between Matt and Calina. He’d googled the phrase before calling the others into his office and found that it was a Persian term of endearment. Roughly translated from Farsi into English it meant ‘Honey’.

By using that term, Calina was reminding him of Christmas Day, when she’d whispered all those terms of endearment into his ear as they’d made love on the couch.

She was reminding him of a happier time, to help get him through the dark and lonely days to come.

Matt smiled as he skimmed his fingers over that word again: Shereen-am.

Calina’s visit last night had given him hope. The information on the USB had given him a lead. And the affectionate nickname on the end of her message had given him a glimpse of how things would be between them in the future.

It was a promise, of better times ahead.

———

“And then he grabbed her and kissed her!”

“It was like something out of a movie - the way he dipped her back, and with the two of them bathed in the moonlight with the stars twinkling overhead…”

Calina groaned and sank into her chair as Katya and Inessa gushed to the other Widows about Matt’s antics on the boat last night. The three of them had arrived back at the mansion at dawn, and after a brief nap, they were now debriefing the rest of the team.

But it had gotten a little side-tracked.

“‘Bathed in the moonlight’?” Sofia repeated. “Come on, Inessa, I think you’ve been reading too many of those romance novels.”

“But that’s exactly what it was like!” the younger Widow protested. “It was the most romantic, swoon-worthy thing I’ve ever seen!”

“That’s not really saying much, given the way we were raised,” Viktoria commented.

Inessa rolled her eyes, and opened her mouth to respond but Anya cut her off. “Enough about Calina’s love life. Did you find the warehouse?”

Calina sat up again. “Yes, enough about me. Tell them what you found.”

Anya had found mention on Ranieri’s laptop of a recent real estate transaction. Which wasn’t unusual in itself - the Ranieri family seemed to prioritise property and commercial investments over gambling on the stock market. But while the rest of Salvatore’s portfolio made sense for a party guy in his late twenties - night clubs, bars, trendy apartments in major cities across the world - a former wholesale carpet warehouse in an industrial estate in New Jersey did not.

So Katya and Inessa had been tasked with scoping it out.

Katya tossed a USB stick to Anya. “Photographs and schematics as requested. The place was deserted - no personnel on the grounds - but it was spotless, with signs of a recent professional clean. It’s definitely being prepped for something.”

“Like a lab to manufacture the mind control serum,” Sofia guessed.

“Possibly,” Yelena interjected. “But we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We need more evidence. We need to be sure before we make any moves.”

“Agreed,” Anya chimed in.

“Which is why we planted a few cameras,” Inessa said with a cocky grin. “And several bugs. We’ll know soon enough what the plan is for that building.”

“Good,” Yelena responded. She looked around the room at the rest of the Widows. And a rare smile graced her face. “I know I just told you all to be cautious…but I have a good feeling about this. I think this is how we get Volkov. I think this will all be over soon.”

Several of the women whooped and cheered in response - a sign that Calina wasn’t the only one who was looking forward to this confinement ending.

And it also proved to Calina how much the Widows had come out of their shells over the last few months. They laughed more readily now. They expressed their emotions without prompting. Conversations flowed instead of stuttered, and there was an easy camaraderie between everyone.

The stilted, angry, and bitter atmosphere that often pervaded the base in South Carolina didn’t exist here in Maine. And Calina knew it had nothing to do with the change in scenery - the weather outside the mansion was dark and grey and wet these days, holding little of the sunny, vibrant beauty of Charleston.

Time was the reason.

They’d been given time to start the healing process. To learn about themselves and the world around them. Time to find their little moments of joy.

Joy that even Volkov couldn’t take away. If anything, the looming threat that he posed had the opposite effect - as if the Widows were defiantly enjoying themselves even more to spite him and his attempts to force them back into an emotionless, violent existence.

Calina would be sorry to leave this place when the time came. She no longer felt the need to escape this environment. Not like in the beginning, when she’d first been freed. Back then, she’d felt suffocated by all the pain and rage around her. She’d wanted to strike out on her own and discover who she was away from that toxic environment.

But everything was different now. Now she would miss living here with all her sisters.

Though not as much as she missed Matt.

Seeing him last night had been a rollercoaster ride. She’d swung from the lowest low of wanting to escape his presence, to the highest high from that kiss. Because as much as it made Calina cringe, Inessa’s description had been spot-on - it had been the most wonderful, romantic, swoon-worthy gesture in the history of the world.

But on the journey back to Maine, the high had worn off. And all her doubts and fears - and all the guilt - had come flooding back.

And all of it boiled down to one thing - she didn’t feel worthy of him.

She didn’t feel worthy of the kind of man who would fly a hundred feet through the air just to kiss her. She didn’t feel worthy of a man as amazing and kind and smart as Matt. A man who fiercely protected the strangers in his city, and could touch her with such reverent tenderness.

The kiss had made her forget all that. It had short-circuited her brain and over-rode all her negative emotions, until the only thing left was passion. She’d given in to the moment, to the feel of being in Matt’s arms again.

Which she’d known would happen. It was the reason she’d chosen that cramped, awkward crane jib as their meeting point in the first place. She’d known that if they’d met in his apartment, or on the pier - or anywhere else out in the open - he would have taken her in his arms and she would have been powerless to resist. She would have accepted his embrace and returned his kiss all the while feeling undeserving of him.

So she’d chosen that metal cage instead, as a way to deny herself.

As a punishment.

But he’d gotten around her little ploy. He’d kissed the life out of her on that boat deck, and everything else had faded away. How guilty she felt about Italy. How scared she was that if he truly knew her and everything she’d done as a Widow that he’d hate her.

How terrified she was that they were too good to be true.

“Calina!”

Calina lifted her head at the sound of her name. The other widows were all staring at her. “Huh?” she asked.

“You spaced out there,” Inessa explained.

“Sorry. Just tired,” she lied. “I’m going to head back to bed.”

The chorus of ‘Byes’ and ‘Sleep wells’ from her sisters followed Calina up the stairs, but she was already lost in thought again.

She didn’t know what to do about Matt and all these doubts she was having.

Did she share them with him? Admit her fears about not being worthy of his love? Could she even explain them without having to divulge all the dirty secrets of her past? Wouldn’t that just bring about the end of their relationship and defeat the purpose of the whole ‘sharing’ thing?

Calina fell forward onto her bed and smothered her frustrated groan with her pillow. Then she flipped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling as she contemplated the alternative scenario: being with Matt, with this constant pit of worry in her stomach. Revelling in his affection and his love whilst always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

A tear leaked from the corner of Calina’s eye as she wrestled with all of these unfamiliar emotions. A tiny part of her longed for the days of being an unfeeling automaton…but she quickly squashed that treacherous notion.

This was better.

Despite all the uncertainty and pain and confusion, dealing with these emotions was far better than living as a shell of a human being under the Red Room’s control.

“Hey, you okay?”

Calina hastily wiped away the tear as Katya entered their room. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Liar,” Katya teased, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “You’ve not been okay since Italy. Did something else happen there?”

Calina levered herself up to rest against the headboard. “What do you mean?”

“Well, when you debriefed us after the mission you said Ranieri just got a bit handsy. Did something…more…happen that night? You can tell me.”

Calina shook her head. “No, nothing else happened.”

“So what is it? What’s going on with you?”

Calina’s first instinct was to lie again. To keep everything to herself. It was the way she was raised - the way they all had been. Even before the mind control serum took away their emotions they were trained to hide them. To bury their sadness and their loneliness and their pain. To never confide in anyone how they were feeling.

It was a difficult habit to break, but Calina was determined to tear away this next layer of Red Room conditioning. So she took a deep breath and told Katya everything. How she’d called Matt before the party in Italy. How having Ranieri’s hands on her felt. And how it was all messing with her head. “I know intellectually that nothing really happened,” she explained. “It was just a few unwanted gropes and a kiss on the neck - I’ve been through much worse on missions like that - but I just feel so…guilty. I keep imagining if it was Matt in that situation, and he’d let some other woman touch him. I would hate it. Which means I can’t tell him, because then he’d hate me.”

“You don’t know that for sure,” Katya interjected. “If you just explain to him that it was a mission and you were playing a role-”

“But that would just open up this whole can of worms. About all the other roles I’ve played in the past, and the things I’ve done-”

“While under mind control, Calina.”

“Again, I know that intellectually…but don’t you still feel guilty about everything you did while under the serum?”

Katya smiled. “I feel guilty for stabbing you in Seoul.”

Calina rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious. We all did some really messed up shit for Dreykov. Doesn’t that…stick with you at all?”

Katya looked down as she picked at a loose thread in the bedspread. “Occasionally. Usually at night - my dreams are sometimes…not fun.”

Calina placed her hand over Katya’s remembering what it was like when she first arrived in New York - the endless nights spent pacing the rooftop, unable to sleep. “I’m sorry.”

Katya shrugged. “It’s fine. They’re just memories. The important thing is that I don’t blame myself for it. And you’re not to blame either. We were kids when we were brainwashed, and then we were forced against our will to commit all those acts.”

“But what about now? We’re acting on our own free will, and we’re still murdering and stealing-”

“Yes, to stop the bad guys!” Katya protested. “We’re on the side of good now. And we have the rest of our lives to be on that good side, and to make up for everything we’ve done”

“Can we, though? Can we possibly balance a ledger with so much red in it?”

“Now you sound like Natasha. And look what she’s accomplished. She’s an Avenger. Little girls all over the world want to be like her, because she’s a hero. We can be like that too.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever feel like a hero. Matt’s a hero, and he-”

It was Katya’s turn to roll her eyes. “You know I like Matt, but he’s not exactly squeaky-clean. He’s a vigilante - he breaks the law every night.”

“It’s different. He has a moral code. One I’ve violated again and again. If he ever found out the truth about me, he’d hate me.”

Katya studied her for a few moments, a frown marring her face. “Calina, what is the ‘truth’ about you?”

Calina swallowed harshly. When she finally answered, her voice was small and shaky. “That I’m not a good person.”

Katya reared back. “That’s ridiculous! You were brainwashed and under mind control-”

“I’m not talking about that! Since leaving the Red Room, I’ve abandoned my sisters, I’ve lied to everyone I’ve met, I’ve killed people, and I- I cheated on my boyfriend!”

“You didn’t cheat!”

“What would you call it?”

“I call it necessary! We’re fighting a war here, Calina. And wars are messy, and they involve sacrifice and difficult decisions. Killing the men who came after you, lying to protect your identity and going undercover to steal from Ranieri were difficult decisions, but necessary.”

“But-”

“I’m not finished!”

Calina snapped her mouth closed. She’d never seen Katya like this - so agitated and…loud. She’d always been one of the quieter, more rational Widows.

“As to your other ‘sin’,” Katya continued. “You did not abandon us. You came to save me in Korea - you risked your life to save me. That’s not abandonment. And the other widows told me what you were like after you were freed - they could all see you were struggling. Moving to New York was another necessary decision. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re a good person. You were never cut out for this kind of life. Even as kids we realised that you were too sweet and sensitive. And the Red Room persisted in trying to beat that out of you, but they never could. Despite what you’ve been through and what you were forced to do, you’re still that same sweet, sensitive, good person. It’s why you’re feeling all of this so much more than the rest of us. And while we all appreciate your help with taking down Volkov, if you want to leave again, not one person would blame you.”

She bumped her shoulder against Calina’s. “We love you, Calina. You are worthy of love. You just need to convince yourself of that.”

————–

So do we think Katya got through to Calina? Does she believe now that she's worthy of Matt?

Read chapter 4 to find out...

Tag list: @hollandorks @stilldreaming666 @yanna-banana @chezagnes @tearoseart-blog @acharliecoxedfan @freckledbabyyy

If you’d like to be added - let me know!

#daredevil #daredevil fic #tabula rasa #daredevil fanfic #daredevil fanfiction #matt murdock #daredevil x original female character #marvel's daredevil #matt murdock fanfic #daredevil fandom #matt murdock x oc

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transxiao · 2 years

Text

Every Letter from the Hidden Strife Event

Below the cut are all the letters from the Hidden Strife event, in chronological (or close to) order. The full written text for each letter is included. Will contain some spoilers for the Genshin Impact comic but they are there only for context

Note: Due to writing out to letters, this post is very long! Warning for when you open the rest of the post.

The first letters follow Crepus' death - for those who have not read the comic, on the day of Diluc's 18th birthday, (or the subsequent day) while traveling with his father, Diluc and Crepus were attacked by Ursa the Drake. Crepus used his delusion to kill Ursa in order to protect Diluc, but the delusion backfired and killed Crepus as well. Eroch, the then investigator for the Knights of Favonius, ordered that the incident be covered up. That was when Diluc left the Knights. (Eroch also claimed credit for killing the Drake around this time) That same night Kaeya revealed his origins to Diluc which involved Diluc reacting violently and Kaeya getting hurt, recieving his vision in the process. The first letter is shortly after that, and is from Kaeya, and Diluc, still displeased, does not reply.

A Letter With Beautiful Handwriting (I) To D: A Storm is brewing within the Knights of Favonius. Varka's inner circle is preparing to investigate Eroch and his henchmen, and it's looking increasingly likely that Eroch is about to get unseated from that high horse of his. You might not be too pleased to see this letter of mine, but I mean to get this news to you as soon as possible. You don't have to reply.

The next letter is likely from about the same time, and is sent from Alice, Klee's mother.

A Tidily Written Letter To the heir of the Ragnvindr Clan, I apologize for sending this letter without notice. You may not remember me, but we've met a few times. We've met near the square, when I sat at the table adjacent to yours at the Good Hunter, and seen you in your tavern… You were always busy with a great many things, especially back when you were much chattier than you are now. You spoke cheerfully and often with you brother and friends then. It's probably no surprise that you did not notice me then. But I've always had my eye on you, child. I recall with crystal clarity how my little Klee once made a complete mess of your vineyard while she was trying to catch Crystalflies there… But you didn't get angry. In fact, you personally escorted Klee back and even gave her a few bottles of fresh grape juice. Now I think that might jog your memory, yes? Klee recently told me that she "hasn't seen that strange man with the red hair in aaages," so I decided to look into it out of curiousity. My deepest condolences regarding your father. In many of the stories I've been told, you are the model knight: proud, driven, a knight of noble character and lineage. But I know that you're gentler than you appear. If you weren't, you wouldn't have treated Klee the way you did. And since you helped my child out, I hope you won't mind if I treat you as if you were my own. Therefore, I sincerely hope that you will leave the dark place that you are presently in, and that you will not wallow in grief and remorse. Partings are the most painful things, but they also encourage us to grow. A bird that has lost the roof over its head will fly further than otehrs of its kind. Go out and see the world. That's the best course of action I can envision. Only by feeling, observing, and listening can your heart be healed. Parents all wish that they can accompany their children forever, and the skies, seas, and stars bear witness to that oath. Everything that was your father now finds new life with you. That which you will experience in this world may have been things that you father experienced once upon a time. I hope that the wind will bring you all manner of wondrous things in your journeys to come. In any case, keep your chin up, young child.

Diluc in return sends a reply to Alice, which can be found in Albedo's camp in Dragonspine.

Letter Addressed to Ms. Alice Dear Ms. Alice, I must admit that when I read the opening lines of this letter, I was not expecting it to have been written by you. It seems that I may have indeed failed to notice you despite your presence nearby. My apologies for that. Regarding Klee, I have heard that you are an extremely powerful witch, so I suspect that Klee would have been just fine sans my presence. Even so, you sent me this letter, for which I am thankful. As you have said, traveling is my best option at present. I will go out and experience all that the world has to offer, just as you have suggested. My father's will shall find continuation through me. Klee is welcome to stay at Dawn Winery as a guest during my absence. Adelinde will prepare sufficient snacks and grape juice for such occasions. And if you don't mind, you are also welcome to drop by. I hope that you and Klee stay in good health.

At this point Kaeya finds out about Diluc's plan to leave Mondstadt, and is the first to send him a letter regarding it.

A Letter in Beautiful Handwriting (II) To D: Even I was a little surprised to hear that you'd decided to leave on a trip. Jean wanted to write and try and dissuade you, but I advised her against it. As for Varka, I don't think he knows that about this. Otherwise, he'd have probably sat you down for a talk. If you'd like to leave, do it now. The less the people know, the less the goodbyes you'll have to say. Leave at night, too, so things won't be too saddening. Take care.

Diluc has started his travels around Teyvat at this point, when Grand Master Varka finds out and sends him a letter.

A Letter With Rough Handwriting Diluc, Jean wrote to me lately with shocking news. If I don't miss my guess, she wrote to you too. Her sentiments are those of the Knights as a whole. Crepus was a good man, and I thought very well of him. It grieves me greatly to know that he met with such a fate. As for your defeat of the drake, the honors for that accomplisment should go to your father. I do not accept Eroch's theft of the credit for that deed, which was bought with your father's sacrifice. Stolen credit will not be accepted within the Knights of Favonius under any circumstances. I will not permit it. I have already given Jean the authority to punish Eroch with all necessary severity. The Knights will inform you of the results. I've heard that you've been taking some time off outdoors and may not be easy to reach, so there is no guarantee that my letter will reach you. As such, I'll stop here for now. If it does reach you, then I wish you good health and safety in your travels. Contact us if you need anything. I hope that falcon of yours will help put this letter in your hands. I mean, I don't write in person very often, you know? These may seem like pointless words to you right now, but remember: even the greatest of disasters must come to an end. Mondstadt waits for your return, and if you're willing, the Knights will always welcome you. (If you're not, forget I said anything, yeah?)

Kaeya also sends Diluc a letter, echoing Varka's message about Jean taking care of Eroch.

A Letter in Beautiful Handwriting (III) To D: Some slightly bad news. Eroch won't be quite so difficult to bring down after all. The Grand Master's order to investigate has certainly dealt him a major blow, but I wouldn't call the problem "pulled up by the roots" yet. The matter's been haned over to Jean's jurisdiction. She'll take care of this, I believe. Eroch is an obstacle in her path, in any case. Just sit tight and wait for the good news.

A Dawn Winery staff member then sends a letter to Diluc. It was likely Elzer due to his authoritive status amongst the staff, but there is no confirmation there.

A Letter With Clear Handwriting Master, Master Kaeya took leave and stayed at Dawn Winery for a few days. In a rare turn of events, he decided to stay in his original bedroom. He would pace around the grounds when idle, and even asked Adelinde to make him his favorite dishes. Ah, it really does take me back. I shall be honest with you, butu I was quite surprised to hear Master Kaeya say that he wanted to stay for a few days. We did not refuse him, however. We believe that even if you were here, you would not refuse him outright. Dawn Winery has always been a more quiet location, perhaps because all who stay here are rather peacable people. The house is made by those who live in it, and Master Kaeya's uncommon arrival did end up livening the place up significantly. I hope that you are doing well in your travels abroad. Everyone here at the winery misses you. May you remain safe and in good health.

Diluc sends a reply to Varka next. (This can be found in Jean's office in the Knights of Favonius Headquarters)

A Letter Addressed to Grand Master Varka Dear Master Varka, You have my utmost thanks for your condolences and concern. My father would be pleased to have heard your compliments. I doubt that anything would have pleased himm more than to have the acknowledgement of the Knight of Boreas. I am presently traveling, andby a stroke of fortune, your letter has indeed reached me safely. If nothing goes awry, I believe that I will not be joining the Knights of Favonius. However, I will not forget my previous experiences. I will commit everything the Knights taught me to heart. May this find you in good health.

Around this time, Kaeya sends Diluc another letter.

A Letter Beautiful Handwriting (IV) To D: Recently, a group of businessmen returned to Mondstadt. Word is that the reason for their return is a downturn in business. According to my observations, their employees are regulars at Angel's Share. These people can also be found out in the more dangerous parts of the wilds around the city. Now, a few of them were a little careless and even dropped some pages of their notes on the ground. I took the liberty of returning these sheets to the Angel's Share. You know, out of the goodness of my heart. I think they might have something to do with you, seeing as how they were there. I also noticed that their notes were written in code. Information brokers, perhaps? Or some kind of secret organization? Whatever the case, it took quite a lot of effort to see those blurred words with only one eye, you know? Don't worry, I'll keep this a secret.

Diluc replies to Kaeya for the first time we see. (This letter is found in a secret storage compartment on the roof of the Knights of Favonius Headquarters. The images containing Diluc's letters to Kaeya are compiled in one with the compartment details and will be at the end of this post, but the letter will be typed out below here)

Letter Addressed to "K" (I) To K: Message recieved. Thank you. Also, I suggest that you stop mentioning eyes in your letters. Don't think that I don't know that your right eye wasn't blinded.

Kaeya sends another reply.

A Letter to Beautiful Handwriting (V) To D: I didn't try to hide it from you on purpose, you know. But I suppose you found out all the same, huh? I mean, not everyone who wears an eyepatch must be blind, right? Don't people also wear an eyepatch if they have a scar over their right eye? The long-awaited news is finally here. Now I'm going to bring a glass of wine when I go to watch Eroch pack his things and leave on his last day (good riddance, by the way). That should be fun, eh? I know you're not the type to do that sort of thing, but I am, so allow me.

Diluc then returns to Mondstadt and recieves a letter from Jean.

A Letter With Elegant Handwriting Dear Diluc, Welcome back to Mondstadt, Sir. It has been some time since the incdient. We discovered that Eroch had betrayed us, and he has been punished severely. I hope this news will put your mind at ease. In other news, out people have discovered that the Abyss Order has stepped up its activities between Wolvendom and Stone Gate lately. Also - a mysterious individual that people are calling the "Darknight Hero" has suddenly started showing uup out of nowhere all around Mondstadt city. He typically acts in the dead of night, and his intentions are currently unclear. Please stay safe, and notify the Knights as soon as possible should you see anything suspicious. We will send support immediately. Whether you are presently in our ranks or not, all faithful knights will remember your contributions to the Knights of Favonius. May you remain in good health.

Kaeya sends another letter to Diluc.

A Letter in Beautiful Handwriting (VI) To D: Oh my! No sooner did you get back than a mysterious character started popping up. I hear he's called the Darknight Hero. He has repeatedly fought off Treasure Hoarders and monsters in the Mondstadt area - and he's even attacked Abyss Order strongholds. So far, it seems like he is on Mondstadt's side, but the Knights of Favonius could never permit the existence of a vigilante. I get the deeling that the two of you would get along nicely. Why don't you find the oppurtunity to get to know him and give him some sage advice? You know, just so he doesn't get caught by the Knights?

Diluc replies to Jean's letter.

Letter Addressed to the Acting Grand Master Dear Jean, Thank you for your concern, Acting Grand Master. It is as you say. That incident should no longer weigh heavily on my mind. Punishing Eroch for his malfeasance was the righ way to correct the Knights of Favonius's past mistakes. This is an immportant step indeed for the Knights. As for my own personal safety, you need not concern yourseld too much. The Knights of Favonius should focus their efforts where it counts by looking after those who need it most. May you also remain in good health.

Kaeya sends Diluc a letter as the Knights further their investigation into the Darknight Hero.

A Letter in Beautiful Handwriting (VII) To D: Per standard procedure, the Knights of Favonius needs to take a statement from all relevant parties. Recently, the Knights of Favonius have recieved reports from a number of eye-witnesses claiming to have seen the Darknight Hero in the vicinity of the Dawn Winery. The Grand Master has assigned the Cavalry Company to this mission. As such, I will be paying you a visit in three days. He seems to think that our relationship can be improved if we are forced to talk in person. Don't worry, though. My lips are sealed. This will be nothing more than a formality. Anyways, three days' notice should be enough for you, I presume?

A Letter in Beautiful Handwriting (VIII) To D: The appearance of the Darknight Hero has indeed bought the Knights of Favonius some valuable time during the Abyss Order's last attack. This helped Jean convince the Knights of Favonius to stop focusing on trying to stop him. This will decrease the limits on the Darknight Hero's actions, but this doesn't mean that his situation will necessarily improve. Objects with too honed an edge tend to be damaged more easily. You, I'm sure, are aware of the great dangers that come with acting alone. That said, I would advise against such a course of action.

A Letter in Beautiful Handwriting (IX) To D: I heard that the Dawn Winery did not suffer any damage. Likewise, the Knights of Favonius only sustained minor injuries, and will recover quickly. However, an employee of a local merchant has gone missing, and their last known location just so happens to align with the Abyss Order's are of activity. The Knights have dispatched people to go to the rescue. Do be aware that the Abyss Order has become more dangerous as of late, even going so far as to organize multi-pronged offesives. Perhaps the Darknight Hero and the Knights of Favonius should team up. That might guarantee that things will go off without a hitch, hmm?

After the investigation is somewhat concluded, Diluc sends another reply to Kaeya.

Letter Addressed to "K" (II) To K: Thanks for the letter. Cooperating with the Knights has objective pros and cons, like two sides of a coin. I'm sure you understand that better than I do. No need to worry about my safety. Self-preservation is easy. Striving towards my goal is hard. Take better care of yourself instead.

Going to the Coast where the ley line is located, you can find some notes at the tent. These are from Diluc's informant who suggests he reach out to Albedo. (The informant is possibly Vile [or associated with her], who gets defensive if you talk to her behing the Angel's Share during the Hidden Strife event)

The First Note It's been years since the ley lines last released such highly aggressive monsters during an anomaly. The Darknight Hero's timing was perfect. The way he lured the monsters a few time into the open to defeat them one by one… quite the strategy. And then he pretended to be seriously injured, luring out the Abyss Order's main forces and then meeting them head on. A truly magnificent counterattack. Still, this plan involved too many uncertainties. The Darknight Hero himseld even said that he can't afford to take risks like this every time. Getting to the root of the problem and preventing these types of ley line disorders from happening is the safest approach.

The Second Note Ley lines hold many secrets. We ordinary people do not need to concern ourselves with the way they work. But since the Darknight Hero will be fighting Against the Abyss Order for the long term, it is in our best interests to gain a deeper understanding of them. I heard that the caption of the Knights of Favonius Investigation Team is a highly accomplished academic, but unlike Lisa, he is not especially close with the Acting Grand Master. We should be able to learn a few things from him without the Knights of Favonius finding out. Perhaps the Darknight Hero could ask him for input on the technical issues regarding the ley lines. I will deliver the letter to his camp on the mountain.

Albedo reaches out and sends a letter to Diluc.

A Neatly Written Letter Dear Mr. Diluc, It is my pleasure to investigate the ley lines alongside you. As you know, my focus is on alchemy, so my knowledge of the ley lines remains quite shalloe, and I fear that I will only be able to share what little understand I have. According to many pre-existing documents, the ley lines can be seen as a medium for storing informamtion. Under certain circumstances, they can record activities that occur in the area around the. All this information goes through a recording and storage prcoess. After a certain period of time, they may be released once again by the ley lines. If I may be so bold as to make a guess, there should be a method to activate the ley lines. Those who grasp such methods can control the times at which ley line information is recorded and released. Judging from the runic symbols and some other clues, I surmise that there are particular members of the Abyss Order who may have a very small chance of being able to achieve this. If you believe that this requires further investigation, these entities may serve as your point of entry. I wrote a paper a few years ago in which I covered my brief foray into questioins concerning the flow of ley lines and other such topics. You will find a copy of this paper enclosed. I hope that it can help to clear up some of your doubts.

Diluc replies to Albedo next. (This letter is found at Albedo's camp in Dragonspine, near the letter to Alice)

Letter Addressed to Mr. Albedo Dear Albedo, Thank you for the detailed explanation. I have read your paper and found it both enriching and easy to understand. It is rare a and well-written document indeed. I have written the relevant information down in hopes that it will be put to good use in the future. Guarding against danger is a very important skill. I will continue to keep watching over the Abyss Order, and use force against them where necessary.

We are now brought to the last day of the event, when we get a letter from one of Diluc's informants that led to us reading the other letters.

A New Letter Dear Darknight Hero, the Knights of Favonius have stepped up the guard details throughout Mondstadt without making any major movements. The Abyss Order will not have noticed. I am scouting around Dragonspine. The monsters here are scattered and seperated. Clearly, they haven't been assembled by the Abyss Order. There are no signs of enemy activity in the south of Mondstadt either. If you can confirm that the other locations are also free of monsters, we will be able to conclude that the Abyss Order has nothing to do with the recent ley line disorders.

While caught up with the letters, there is a little bit I couldn't appropriately fit into the timeline. It is in a secret compartment belonging to Kaeya, which was where Diluc's letters to him were located. Here is the descriptions and other contents of the compartment.

Mysterious Box in a Secret Comparment The objects in the box are all pretty old. One particular sheet of paper stands out. A piece of it has been burned away, and the remaining parts show signs of hacing been rescued from that same flame. Every line on this sheet of paper has a matching one right under it. From the handwriting, it looks liike a child wrote on this first before an adult stepped in, held their hand, and taught them how to do it a second time. The writing are as follows: "Remember always that it was the Alberich Clan, who did not have royal blood, who stepped in as regents when the strength of the one-eyed king Irmin failed" "Though we could not restore Khaenri'ah to life, we of the Alberich Clan should leave lives as those who blaze like fire, rather than those who wallow in the embers." If you flip the paper over, there are other words there. You reckon these must be annotations of some sort. "I saved this one memento from the fire 'Father' made while he wasn't paying attention. This was in violation of our principles. Our clan's affairs should never be recorded. For me, this sheet of paper cannot serve as any form of identification, and will not give me pasage anywhere. Now that I look at it, his handwriting was as grieving as a smoking ash pile. There is no way that I can write something like that, living in Mondstadt as I am." Moving the paper aside, you can see a cloth bag underneath it that conatins an eyepatch of significant age. A sticker is attached to the side, and the text on it reads: "Hah! to think that all that play-acting as a one-eyed pirate would eventually end with one actual wounded eye. I have never blamed Diluc for that. I suppose I must have been asking for it, telling him the truth the day my adoptive father died without expecting conflict to emerge somehow. He seems to believe that I really was blinded, though that's not the case. Well, I've fooled him for a while, haven't I? Might as well keep going." Two letters lie beneath the bag, all of which have "D" as their sender. The letters are in great condition, and there is a time written on the back. This is most likely the time these letters were received. You can tell that the words have been written in a strong but elegant hand. [See "Letter Addressed to 'K' (I)" and "Letter Addressed ti 'K' (II)] A small paper bag lies next to these two letters. It contains nothing but a few seashells. They have lost most of their luster. It is unclear how much time has passed since they were picked up.

Note: The seashells are mentioned in the Echoing Tales event from the 1.6 version of the game. In the event, Kaeya asks if Diluc wants to collect seashells like they used to when they were kids, to which Diluc is surprised Kaeya remembers that.

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