#we rescued her from a... bad house to put it lightly after her father tried to kill her

[ndntighnari]

Can't believe this creature is over 18. Not only that but aside from some arthritis and being incredibly round (because my dad won't stop spoiling her with extra feedings) she's in almost perfect health??

Have some Ashallah pics, enjoy this screaming creature

#we share a bday actually #down to the hour on the actual day #however i am 5 years older than this little freak #cats #cats of tumblr #siamese #i have STORIES about her #she was a fucking DEVIL when she was younger bc she was really badly socializes #socialized* #we rescued her from a... bad house to put it lightly after her father tried to kill her #the other kittens were taken in by others as well #but the father didnt try to kill any of em for whatever reason so they were able to stay for the proper time #we got her at 4 weeks. we didnt know how to socialize a kitten. #she was a demon #as she and i both got older i started to properly socialize her #now she cuddles and is a lap cat when before she attached herself to my face w her claws #im proud of her in her old age #just wish she would stop shitting under my futon when im away from home overnight. #(thats not a health thing or even an anxiety thing. she just is a dick who needs me to know #that she's NOT happy that i LEFT her ALONE ALL NIGHT as if my dad doesn't fuckin live here too) #menace of a cat id cry if anything bad happened to her so hard

[star-spangled-steve]

His New Partner

Chapter 47: The Aftermath

Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader

Words: 4292

Warnings: Angst, fluff, mentions of death, pregnancy.

A/N: This took me so incredibly long (as usual), but I hope you guys enjoy it!

Having to tell Y/N about Tony’s death was one of the most heartbreaking experiences of Steve’s life. Nothing saddened him more than watching his wife cry, and cry, and cry, not even wanting to believe that what she was hearing was true.

Tony had been such a close friend of hers, helping her all throughout her pregnancy, assisting her with anything she and A.J. needed when Steve himself hadn’t been present. Hell, she even named their son after him. Y/N loved Tony like a father and she simply couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that she would never get to see him again.

The woman was depressed for days, the weight of the death of her two friends simply being too much to carry. Steve too was a mess, as he also cared for Natasha and Tony so deeply. But he knew that he really had to take care of his wife right now, as she was barely eating, drinking, or sleeping, all while being pregnant.

So much loss was just too hard for her to bear. It also had her worrying about who else she could possibly lose if things kept going the way they did.

Y/N’s body wracked with sobs as she sat sideways on her husband’s lap on their bed, her face hidden in the crook of his neck. He had pulled her onto him as a way to try and comfort her, as she’s been crying for the past two hours since he’d told her about the terrible news.

She asked Steve if she should call Pepper to send her condolences, but he advised that it was late and she should probably wait until morning. Any bit of sleep Pepper could get should be cherished, as it would probably be very hard for her.

So now here the couple sat, the only sounds in their house being Y/N’s sobs that she tried to muffle in her husband’s shoulder, wanting to make sure that baby Anthony James didn’t hear.

“I... I just...” she began to speak in between sniffles, but then she cut herself off. She didn’t want to say something that could make her sound selfish, but this one thought was starting to be the only thing she could think about.

“What, sweetie?” Steve questioned, tears in his own eyes, rubbing his hand up and down the expanse of her back soothingly. “What is it?”

The woman lightly shook her head. “Never mind.”

“No, no.” The man urged, bringing a hand up to cradle the side of her face, stroking her cheek lovingly. “Tell me, come on. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“It’s just,” she choked on a sob, “I feel like I’m losing everyone I care about, you know? And-And I...” Y/N lightly shifted in his lap, wanting to look him in the eye, “I know this may sound awful, and not what I should be thinking about, but... I just can’t help but be thankful for the fact that it wasn’t you who died out there.” More heavy cries came out of her as she covered her face with her hands, trying to calm herself down.

“Oh, baby-”

“I just...” she cut Steve off, needing to get this all out, “I just can’t stop thinking about it. We’ve been so unbelievably lucky, Steve. We’ve lost so many of your teammates over the years, and we’re, I’m so lucky that you haven’t been one of them. But like... what if you were? I couldn’t do this alone.” The woman gestured down to her baby belly. “I couldn’t raise these kids with you. I couldn’t go on without you. And, oh my god, I feel so bad for Pepper, Steve. I wouldn’t survive what she’s going through. I-“

“Hey, shhh.” The man cut in, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her closer to his chest. When her words were getting faster as she kept going, Steve could tell her that anxiety was getting the best of her, and knew that she needed to be soothed. “Shhh, babydoll, shhh.” He lightly rocked her back and forth, pressing soft kisses to her hair every now and then. “I know that it’s a lot to deal with, N/N, but you’re getting worked up over something that hasn’t happened. I’m right here, angel. I made it and I’m right here.”

“But what if one day you aren’t?” Y/N questioned, not even wanting to imagine how she would feel if that happened.

“Then you’d get through it, okay?” He spoke gently. “Just like Pepper is going to, because we’re going to help her out. But that’s not even going to happen with us, because I’m not going anywhere.” Steve brought a hand to her belly and rubbed it comfortingly. “Remember that pinky promise we made? That I’d return home from the time travelling safely? Well it worked, and it doesn’t just apply to that mission. I’ll always come home to you, princess. I promise.”

“M’kay.” Y/N spoke into his shoulder, sleepily. Her husband was grateful that his words were effective in calming her down, previously worried that she wouldn’t be getting any sleep at all that night. He held her tightly for several more minutes before she became completely silent.

“You feeling sleepy, doll?” He asked her quietly. And when he didn’t get an answer, he glanced down, slightly smiling to himself when he saw what she was already asleep.

Y/N’s hands trembled as she applied some sparkly pink lip gloss to her lips, staring in the dresser mirror intently. Words couldn’t describe how nervous she was for today’s events. First of all, it was the first time she was leaving the house in almost a week, as so far she had been too depressed to be productive in the slightest. This meant that it was the first time she’d be seeing the world with the other half of the population returned. Secondly, today she, Steve, and A.J. were going to lunch with Sam and Bucky. This would be the first time she’d ever met the brown-haired super soldier who was her husband’s best friend, and the thought made her so very anxious.

Steve and Bucky had been like brothers since childhood. They had probably always talked about their future wives and how they envisioned them to look, talk, act. What if she didn’t live up to the expectation in Bucky’s head about what Steve’s wife would be like? What if she was a disappointment?

“You look so gorgeous, baby.” Steve spoke from behind Y/N, interrupting her insecure thoughts. He stood behind her as they faced the mirror, his front to her back, his hands resting on her large belly. The man rested his chin on her head and gave her a small smile in the reflection. “You sure you’re okay to go? You seem a bit uneasy.” Ah, yes. He could always read her like a book.

“Yeah,” the woman spoke, gulping, “just a bit nervous. I’m meeting your best friend today.”

Steve smiled slightly, feeling complimented that she cared so much about the people in his life. “Well if it makes you feel any better, I just talked to Sam, and Bucky is just as nervous as you are.”

“Really?” Y/N questioned, shuffling out of her husband’s hold to chose her earrings. She decided on her silver ones with dangly pink hearts.

“Oh yeah.” The man said. “Sam said he’s worried that you’ll be angry with him.”

His wife turned to face him in shock, her mouth agape. “What? Why?”

Steve shrugged. “I’m not sure honestly. We can talk it through when we’re there.” He watched as she put in the earrings and started fixing her hair in the mirror again. “Speaking of being there... are you almost ready to go? You’ve been getting ready for like forty minutes, sweetheart.”

Y/N gave him a slightly annoyed look, though it was completely playful. “You try finding an outfit that compliments your figure when your stomach is larger than the freaking planet.” She sighed, before suddenly turning more serious. “I just wanna’ look good. It’s his first time seeing me. What if he thinks you could’ve done better?”

Steve frowned at her words, though he wasn’t completely surprised that she’d say something like that. Y/N has always been incredibly insecure, even though she had no reason to be. She was absolutely perfect in Steve’s eyes. “Doll,” the man spoke, walking up behind her once again and turning her around to face him, “there is no better than you.” He brought a hand up to cradle the side of her face. “You’re so beautiful, N/N. So incredibly perfect, and I’m so lucky to have you. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”

The woman smiled at his words, looking up at him lovingly. “I-“

She was about to say something when they were interrupted by the sound of a toddler laughing, and the two began to chuckle, wondering what baby Anthony was up to. “I’ll go check on that.” Steve stated. “You just take your time, pretty girl.” He then pressed a kiss to her forehead before exiting the room.

She took a deep breath, in and out, facing herself in the mirror. ‘You got this, Y/N.’ She told herself to try and calm her nerves, before hurrying to finish up.

*****

“You got this, man.” Sam assured Bucky with a pat on the back as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the diner.

Much like Y/N, Bucky was also incredibly nervous for this meeting. He was honestly worried that the woman would be mad at him; mad at him for taking away her husband for two years. It was to rescue Bucky that Steve had to leave, and perhaps Y/N would still be holding a grudge. He wouldn’t blame her if she was.

He was also a murderer, in his own eyes. No matter how many times Steve and the others had tried to assure him that what he did wasn’t his fault, Bucky still couldn’t believe that. He knows that it was his hands that did it, and for that he still felt an immense amount of guilt. Would Y/N even feel comfortable bringing herself, her son, and her unborn daughter around a man as tainted as himself?

A black Audi being parallel parked next to the sidewalk alerted the pair that the family had finally arrived, and Sam gave Bucky a reassuring pat on the back.

“That’s them.” The Falcon stated, watching as Bucky gulped.

The first to exit the car was Steve, who immediately shot his friends a grin as he jogged over to the passenger side door, opening it for his pregnant wife. He helped her out with a steady arm, even though she really wasn’t far along enough yet to need it. He just loved assisting her.

“Hey!” She greeted the two with a smile as her husband got their son out of his car seat.

“N/N!” Sam cheered back, opening up his arms for a hug. “It’s so nice to see you! Look at you, all pregnant and everything. You look awesome.”

“Aww, thanks, Sam. It’s so nice to see you too, buddy.” Y/N agreed as she settled into his embrace. As they separated, she turned towards Bucky with an adoring look on her face. “And it’s so great to finally meet you.” She chuckled.

The long-haired man let out the breath he didn’t even know he was holding, relieved that she was happy to meet him. “You too.” He smiled back, quite shyly too. He hoped that one day he could gain back the confidence in himself that he once had.

“And boys,” a deep voice had all three of them looking to Y/N’s right, “there’s someone else I’d like you to see.” In his arms was little Anthony, all wide-eyed and smiley. It was rare that he got to meet new people. “Buck, this is A.J.”

Sam practically melted on the spot. “Aww, look at him.”

Bucky’s mouth went agape. Steve had told him that he had a son and a wife, but seeing them both in front of him was almost overwhelming. The small kid from the 40s was all grown up. “W-Wow, I-” he was at a loss for words. “He’s... beautiful, Steve. I’m so happy for you. You two are practically twins.”

Steve nodded his head with a laugh. “Yeah, so I’ve been told.” He turned to his other friend. “Sam, I know you’ve met him briefly in passing before. A.J., do you remember seeing Sam? Your Uncle Sam?” He asked the boy.

Anthony nodded his head and Y/N giggled.

“Unqle Sam.” He slurred out, making Sam’s mouth drop open.

“Wow!” He said in astonishment. “This kid is smart!”

“Wanna’ hold him?” The woman asked.

“Oh my god, of course I do.”

Steve gently passed the toddler over to his friend, making sure that Sam was holding him correctly before he let go.

“Hey, little guy. I’m your uncle.” He beamed, turning to Y/N and Steve. “I’m an uncle of Captain America’s son. This is so cool!” The man watched as she laughed again before he turned to Bucky, who has been quietly staring this entire time. “Wanna’ try, Bucky?”

“Oh... I-“ The man stuttered. “I don’t know if she wants that. I mean-”

“Of course I want that.” Y/N cut him off insistently. “You’re his uncle too, Bucky.” She gave him an encouraging smile, and he nodded his head at Sam.

Once again, Steve stepped in to make sure that Bucky was holding him right. The moment that A.J. was in his arms, the brown-haired soldier was in awe of him. His best friend in the world helped create this cute little thing. How crazy.

“Buddy, can you say ‘Uncle Bucky?’” Steve asked his son.

A.J. looked up with a twinkle in his eyes before cheering: “Unqle ‘Ucky!”

Y/N put her hand over her heart. “Good job, sweetie!”

“Atta’ boy!” Steve rejoiced.

A.J. clapped a couple times at his parents’ words before his eyes went wide at the feeling of metal. He looked down and saw Bucky’s metal arm supporting him up. “Woah...” he marvelled.

Bucky shifted nervously.

“So cool! I wove it!” The little boy cheered though, making a warm grin appear on the man’s face. His heart just melted.

“Thanks, kid.”

Steve gave his friend a meaningful nod and smiled before speaking up. “We should probably go inside.” He gestured to the diner in front of them.

Y/N quirked an eyebrow teasingly. “Papa’s getting hungry, huh?”

Steve gave her a playful smirk. “Oh you know it.” He gently took A.J. out of Bucky’s arms, and Bucky moved to hold the restaurant’s door open for them all. “Thanks, Buck.”

Sam leaned closer to Y/N as they walked inside. “Steve sure does love holding A.J., huh?”

A loving look appeared on her face. “He’s hardly put him down since A.J. returned to us.”

*****

“So, Y/N, you’re an actress, right?” Bucky asked as the woman was sipping her water, and she nodded, swallowing.

“I am.” She smiled. “It’s been a while since I’ve done anything, though. I took a two-year break when I was having this little guy,” she cocked her head towards A.J., “and then the industry was really slow for the past five years. A couple studios tried to make some stuff, but it just wasn’t the same.”

Y/N and Steve sat in one side of the booth while Bucky and Sam sat in the other. Y/N and Bucky were seated against the window, and A.J. sat at the end of the booth in a wooden high chair provided by the diner. They had just ordered their lunch and were waiting for it to arrive at the table.

“I do have a couple movies booked for after this one’s born, though. I’m so excited to start working again.”

Her husband grinned and put his arm over her shoulders. “I’ve missed going to your premieres.” He looked at her with admiration. “I’m so proud of you every time.”

The woman simply blushed and looked up at him from under her lashes before leaning into his side, her actions speaking for her.

“That’s awesome, N/N.” Sam spoke up. “You can give me all the inside details, right?” He asked playfully. He always enjoyed getting the spoilers from her.

“Enough, Sam!” She giggled. “You know I’ll get in trouble.”

“Hey,” he gave her a serious expression, though he was still teasing, “if anybody gets mad at you, we’ll take care of it.” He gave a slow wink, making her roll her eyes.

“That’s never good.” Y/N shook her head. “I do not need the father of my children and his idiot friends getting me in deep messes, thank you very much.”

Steve chuckled and Bucky even cracked a smile at her words.

“Hearing Steve be referred to as the ‘father of someone’s children’ is still so odd for me to hear.” The dark-haired man stated. “You never thought you’d get this life, pal.”

The Captain’s expression turned soft in an instant. “I know, Buck.” He looked to both his left and right, taking in his little family. “I’m so very lucky.”

“I just can’t believe your second baby is almost here.” Sam said in disbelief. “We’re just getting used to kid number 1, and kid number 2 is already on the way.”

“I know, it’s crazy.” Steve agreed. “Then after that, kid number 3 can come along...”

Y/N playfully rolled her eyes. “He’s already planning the next one, my goodness.”

“Hey, the more little yous running around, the better.” Her husband stated.

“A.J. is a carbon copy of you, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up for the next ones to look like me.”

“Then we’ll just have to keep trying.” He gave her a flirty wink, making her laugh and shake her head at his dorkiness.

Bucky leaned closer to Sam and whispered, “When did he get so smooth?”

“Years of practice.” The Falcon whispered back. “Though, she’s pretty awkward sometimes so I guess she’s easily impressed.” His words came from love, as Y/N’s awkwardness was what was so endearing about her.

A voice had everyone looking to the side where the waitress had brought them their food, each adult at the table thanking her before she went off.

Everyone began to dig in on their meals. Steve was multitasking between feeding A.J. small spoons of macaroni and cheese and eating his own lunch. He and Bucky’s plates were almost double the size of Y/N and Sam’s, due to their super soldier metabolism that the woman had always been so jealous of.

“Open up, buddy.” The Captain spoke softly to his son, and Anthony James took the spoon in his mouth gently. Y/N smiled adoringly at the interaction.

Sam was also super glad that A.J. and Steve were forming a bond. He knew how crushed his friend was when they had returned from being on the run, only to see that Steve had missed so much. He couldn’t help but wonder how Y/N felt on the matter all of this time later.

“I have a question.” He spoke up, making everyone turn to him. “I don’t want to strike a nerve or anything, but... N/N, I was just wondering how you were doing about Steve and us being gone for two years. I know that it was a while ago for you, but it feels like just yesterday for me. Literally.”

Bucky looked down at his plate in shame, the guilt feeling like it was eating him away.

“Well you know, at first it was really hard. To build up that trust again, right? But we’re great now. He’s done a lot to make up for it and I know that he’s truly sorry.”

Steve had a guilty look in his eyes as well whenever it was brought up, and she found his hand under the table, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“I sort of feel like I should apologize too.” Sam added. “We kept trying to find ways to return, but there was huge consequences every time. And I’m sorry, N/N. I know how hard it was for you.”

“It’s alright, Sam. I promise you I’m not holding a grudge about it.” She told him honestly.

“Um...” Bucky cut himself off, trying to find the right words.

Steve was intrigued. “Yeah, Buck?”

“I really want to say sorry too. To Y/N.”

She began to shake her head. “Oh, Bucky-”

“No, I... let me. Please.” He insisted, and she nodded her head, letting him continue. “This has been weighing down on me for a little while. What happened was basically all my fault. If it wasn’t for me getting in the way, Steve wouldn’t have missed so much. He could’ve been with you for those two years. I took him from you and I’m really sorry, Y/N.”

“Bucky,” the woman spoke earnestly, “you have absolutely nothing to apologize for.” She watched as his shoulders visibly relaxed. “You and I both know very well that Steve makes his own decisions. And by the sounds of it, you would’ve been in a lot of trouble if he hadn’t stepped in. So in a way... I’m glad that he was there to help you.”

Bucky smiled at her words, grateful that she was so considerate. “And here I was thinking you’d hate me or something.”

Y/N’s jaw dropped as she shook her head ‘no’. “Oh my god, no, Bucky. I could never hate you for what happened. I’m so happy that you can finally be a part of our lives, and I’d love it if we could be friends.” She glanced at her son and then back to Bucky and Sam. “He loves having his uncles in his life.”

Bucky had an appreciative expression on his face, looking to Steve and saying, “Alright, pal, you got a good one.”

Y/N beamed and let out a small giggle, as her husband gave a nod and said, “I know.”

Now that A.J. was done his meal, he was getting restless just sitting in the high chair. He started to whine and wiggle a bit, reaching his arms out to his parents. “Mama, dadda!”

“He wants to sit with us.” Y/N said as Steve took him out of the chair and sat him on his lap.

“So desperate for attention, just like you.” Steve quietly teased her.

She stuck out her tongue at him before looking down at her boy. “Anthony, can you tell me who this is?” She pointed at Sam, trying to test his memory.

“Unqle Sam!” The toddler stated excitedly, making Sam nod cockily.

“And this?” She pointed this time at Bucky.

“Unqle ‘Ucky!”

“Yay!” The mother cheered. “You’re such a smart boy!”

“We claim him now.” The Falcon quipped.

“He sure does love his aunts and uncles.” Y/N added.

A.J. nodded, before beginning to list: “Unqle Sam, Unqle ‘Ucky, Unqle ‘Wodey, Aun’ Peppa’, Unqle ‘Ony...”

At the mention of Tony’s name, Y/N froze, glancing down at her lap, trying to hold back her tears. It didn’t go unnoticed by the men, as Steve’s hand that wasn’t holding A.J. grabbed her thigh, rubbing softly.

“Buddy,” Steve spoke gently to his son, “we talked about how Uncle Tony’s not around anymore, right?” The words pained him to say, but he had to make A.J. understand that he wasn’t coming back.

“I know.” The boy spoke sadly. “I want him.”

“Us too, little guy.” The blond man stared at his wife. “Us too.”

Bucky and Sam remained quiet until Y/N finally spoke up, “You two are coming to the funeral, right?”

The Falcon nodded. “Of course.”

The other man was silent for a second. “I... I don’t know if he’d want me there, to be honest.”

Y/N looked him in the eyes, sensing his guilt. “I understand why you might think that. But I promise you, he would in no way be offended to know that you were there. He wasn’t that petty, and deep down, he knew that you’re not at fault for what happened, Bucky.” She watched the man bite his lip in contemplation. “Please come. I know that Pepper would like as many of us there as possible.”

The brown-haired man nodded. “Okay... I’ll be there.”

“Good.” Steve said. “Then we have the thing we’re hosting for Natasha.” His wife nodded along. “It’s smaller, we know she wouldn’t want a crowd. But we need to honour her somehow.”

“I completely agree.” Sam added. “I’ll help in anyway you guys need.”

“Thank you.” Y/N spoke, deep in thought. God she missed her friends so much.

*****

Y/N stood by Steve’s side on the dock, A.J. in her arms as she was trying to hold back her tears, failing miserably. Watching Pepper place flowers in the pond, ‘Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart’ in the middle of them, made her so unbelievably sad. Losing the love of your life must be the worst feeling imaginable, and she was so grateful that she hadn’t had to experience it.

Seeing little Morgan having to say goodbye to her dad made Y/N’s arms tighten around A.J., determined not to ever let him go.

Steve wrapped an arm around his wife, pulling her into his side as she tried to cry as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb.

Everyone at the funeral was devastated, but also so thankful and proud of Tony for everything he’d done for them. He was a hero; a martyr. Who most certainly had a heart.

Y/N liked to think that Tony and Natasha were looking down at them now, so happy that friends and family all across the universe could be together again. Finally.

Next Chapter

Feedback is always welcome!❤️

#steve rogers x reader #captain america x reader #chris evans x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n

[calaofnoldor]

Dean, Don’t

Characters: Sam x F!Reader, Dean

Words: 1,906

Summary: You’re heavily pregnant and highly irritable. Luckily, Sam Winchester is the sweetest moose to ever moose.

Warnings: pregnancy (and all its related symptoms), ill-fated attempt at humor, disgustingly sweet fluff (seriously, you’re gonna need a tooth brush)

A/N: this might be my first ever attempt at this genre, so please don’t judge me too harshly :)

MASTERLIST

“Wow… geez, you look ready to-“

“Dean,” Sam shot his brother a warning glance as he guided you into the kitchen, a giant palm held gently against your aching lower back, “Don’t.”

Dean quickly raised his hands and the gesture, together with his wide eyes, seemed to say ‘I wasn’t gonna say anything!’, although you knew that was far from the truth. In fact, you knew exactly what he was thinking because you’d been thinking it too – every hour of every day. It was safe to say you really didn’t need any reminders of your current condition.

“Y/N’s already having a rough time with the twins keeping her up all night, and she’s been extra sore lately,” your moose came to your rescue as always. Sam had been doing that a lot recently, not only by shielding you from Dean’s crude comments (and consequently protecting Dean from your wrath as well), but also by comforting and distracting you from the woes of your third trimester.

“Well at least it’ll be over soon, right?” Dean tried again.

“Not soon enough,” you grumbled in reply, before attempting to stretch out your spine with an unfiltered groan of discomfort.

“Aaand, that’s my cue to leave!” Dean announced, grabbing his plate of bacon to go and sauntering off, though not before sending his little brother an exaggerated ‘good-luck-with-that’ expression.

Sam rolled his eyes despite feeling somewhat relieved by his brother’s departure, then turned back to you. “Come on, baby. Let’s get you off your feet.” He wore a sweet sympathetic smile; it was one he had been donning often as of late, but it only worsened your mood.

“Sam, I’m fine. I can’t be constantly sitting or lying down!” You barked irritably, but when you noticed the sad puppy dog look on your boyfriend’s face, your attitude instantly withered.

“Look, I’m sorry. I just hate this so much.” Your fingers began to massage your temples as your mouth continued to utter the words that took you beyond the point of no return, “I’m a hunter, you know? I’m supposed to be able to take down monsters with the swing of my machete! I used to be able to roundhouse kick those inhuman bastards when I wanted to, and now I can’t even put my own socks on!” That much was true. Sam had helped you with your socks earlier that morning.

“And sometimes you being so overprotective only makes me feel more useless,” you added with a defeated huff.

Sam waited patiently until he was certain your little tirade was over. “I know exactly what you’re capable of, Y/N; you never have to remind me. And I can guarantee that you will still be able to do all those things… after you’ve given birth to our beautiful babies, and your body recovers from this drastic change it’s endured.”

He moved closer to you and extended one hand to caress the side of your face, while the other splayed across your immensely swollen stomach. “But baby, right now, at 39 weeks pregnant with twins, you’re not supposed to be able to do all that. I wouldn’t want you to be doing all that,” he chuckled lightly with the afterthought as he pictured your heavily expectant form attempting one of your famous round house kicks.

You raised a brow at him, knowing how his mind worked, and he immediately sobered, “Y/N, my point is you don’t realize how incredibly strong you are already, even without all the pregnant kung fu fighting you seem to be so keen on.”

Although you were tempted to roll your eyes at his teasing, the boyish grin he cast you couldn’t be resisted, and the corners of your lips begrudgingly lifted. But a sudden lurch in your belly wiped the smile promptly from your features.

“Oh,” you breathed in a gasp, placing your hands upon the area of assault.

“What? What is it?” Sam questioned worriedly, as he too moved both his hands to your baby bump. His eyes flickered frantically between your face and stomach, trying to read the situation for himself.

“Nothing, just a really strong kick, I think,” was your reply after a pause. You looked up at him with what you hoped was a reassuring smile. He returned it with a certain tinge of apprehension, so you grabbed his hand and placed it where one of your wayward twins was moving erratically within you.

No matter how many times Sam felt it, he couldn’t help but beam with pride and elation at the thought of his children growing stronger each day, and the fact that you were the one fostering their development made him truly believe he was the luckiest man alive in that moment.

“Wow, I guess they’re really ready to come out, huh?”

“Maybe,” you mused, “Or maybe they’ll choose to torture me for another week. I’m not getting my hopes up.”

Still fondling your belly with one hand, Sam used his other to turn your face towards his. “I am really sorry that you’re hurting. I wish I could make it stop.” He said it with such sincerity, you were almost inclined to forgive him. Almost.

“I would say ‘it’s not your fault’, but it kinda is,” came your playful response, which happily earned you a loving kiss.

When his lips left yours, you continued, “Also, as if the fact that two of your swimmers managed to make it to my eggs wasn’t enough, did you really have to make both of them Winchester-sized too?” You motioned vaguely to the wide expanse of your front side.

Sam said nothing, but rewarded you with a hearty laugh and a second kiss.

Later that day, as you sat snuggled between Sam’s lengthy and outstretched limbs on the bed, the two of you absent-mindedly watched an old classic movie play out on the television. His lips grazed your hairline every few minutes and his hands rubbed incessant circles on your extended stomach.

“How do you know our babies will be beautiful?” You questioned Sam abruptly, your eyes never leaving the screen.

His chest rumbled with a deep chortle that resonated through your back and caused you to smile in turn. “Well, they’ve got you for a mother, don’t they?”

“Psh! You forgot to mention that they’ve also got a father who looks like he was sculpted by the Greek gods! But that’s not the point; genetics is based on chance.” You craned your neck to look him in the eyes.

“Fine. I just have a feeling then, OK?” Sam shut you up with a quick kiss to the lips and you of course assented.

“Do you still think they’re going to be girls?”

“I hope so,” he replied with a pensive smile.

You studied his elegant features for a minute before feeling a smirk form on your own face. “Well too bad, they’re both boys.”

“What? How do you know?” Sam’s brow furrowed in that way you always thought made him look unbelievably adorable, especially for a man of his stature.

“I just have a feeling, OK?” You quoted back at him. “They call it mother’s intuition.”

Sam’s grin returned and you couldn’t remember feeling better in the past month. Dean hadn’t disturbed you all day since the incident in the kitchen, and the support of Sam’s solid torso pressed against your back seemed to be alleviating some of the strain from your body.

But alas, nothing is ever what it seems when you’re living with the Winchesters. A sudden splash of fluid upon the sheets interrupted your scarce and apparently fleeting moment of peace.

It took you a moment to register the wetness between your legs, although Sam was already one step ahead of you. “DEAN!” he hollered towards the hall.

“Sam, I think my water just broke,” you told him in a slight trance.

“Yeah, I know, baby. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and changed.” Sam’s voice was soothing and you began to follow his lead, slowly rising to your feet as he supported you from behind.

Just then, Dean came barreling in, brandishing his gun as his eyes searched frantically for any potential sources of peril. His green gaze turned befuddled upon finding no clear cause for distress.

“Dean, go get the Impala ready. Y/N’s in labor.” Sam’s voice held that composed and assertive edge which it often did when he took the lead on hunts. You would have found it awfully attractive under different circumstances.

As it were, a fresh contraction tore through you when you reached the dresser, and you were forced to bend over to weather the impact, your breathing becoming a little uneven. Sam’s arms were instantly around you, while the sight of your hunched and gravid form awoke Dean from his stupor.

He cleared his throat and his voice seemed a little gruffer than usual, “Uh, OK. Right. So… the bags? What do I need?”

“I’ll get the bags. Just get the damn car ready, Dean.”

Still the older Winchester stood transfixed in his spot, his eyes were somewhat unfocused. “Wow. So this is really happening…”

“Dean!”

“Yeah! On it! Got it! Uh… fight the fairies, Y/N! We got this.” And with that, he finally took off for the garage.

You couldn’t help but giggle to yourself, “He’s right, you know? This is really happening.”

Sam turned around and held your gaze with such reverence and fondness, you nearly melted right then. “I know,” he stated simply, before he crashed his lips to yours in a rushed yet zealous smooch.

“Ow! Yeah, OK, I think the twins are sick of our antics already,” you gushed through gritted teeth as another tightening of your middle took over.

Sam cupped your stomach gingerly on either side, as if he could somehow abate the pain with his touch. “Right, let’s hurry it up then. I think all that soreness you felt before and the twins’ heightened movement might’ve been a sign of early labor.”

“You’re such a nerd, you know that?”

He only responded with knowing smirk, then continued to help you get changed so he could usher you out the door.

Dean met you outside, where he stood by the shiny black car, looking a little more prepared for action than earlier. “You guys good?”

“Yeah, are you?” Sam asked, a bit dubiously.

“Hey, I’m ready to get this show on the road!”

“Am I gonna fit?” You eyed the Impala with slight apprehension. You had always been a fan of the classic car before, but now that Sam had fertilized you so thoroughly, the backseat seemed a lot more daunting.

“Of course, my girl can handle anything. She’ll get you to the hospital in no time so that you can have my nieces.”

“Nephews,” you corrected, but nodded anyway and allowed Sam to help you inside the vehicle.

The boys stood outside for a moment longer. “You alright, Sammy?”

Sam was glowing and Dean couldn’t have repressed the surge of love and pride that rose within him if he tried, despite his ‘no chick flick moments’ rule.

“Yeah, I’ve never been better, Dean.”

“Speak for yourself, asshole!” You would later blame the contraction for your foul language, but it was your shouting through the window that ultimately got you on the road.

“Yeah alright, we’re going! Just don’t be having any babies in my Baby!”

“Dean,” Sam’s bitch face revealed itself once more, “Don’t.”

→ CARRY ON

A/N #2: thank you so much for reading! btw, if any of you sam girls wanna show off your love for the giant adorkable moose man, there’s a ‘sammy the moose’ print now available at lexicolor.redbubble.com!

also available in various styles, as well as on mugs, notebooks, phone cases, and a bunch of other stuff! and if you’re more of a dean girl, i got you covered too 😉❤️

#sam winchester x reader #sam x reader #sam winchester x pregnant!reader #sam winchester fluff #they chose family #supernatural #spn #fanfiction #fanfic #fanart #redbubble #imagine #one shot #series #my writing #text #lexicolor

[rainingpouringetc]

Hello,,, can you please tell me in just what happened in the coi table???? I'm really bad at listening closely in a video. It's fine if you can't. Thanks!!

lucky for you, anon, i am extremely bored and mad so i need a distraction. as such, i’m gonna do my best to transcribe it, although obviously it won’t be perfect. hope this helps :) (if you just want it broken down in simple bullet points, this was a good post for that)

[obviously this isn’t my own writing, i simply transcribed as best i could from cassie’s video]

Cassie: we open at a party. Cordelia is looking over at her brother.

Alastair looked... well, Alastair looked expressionless, or would to someone who didn’t know him. Cordelia knew by his slumped posture--he was nearly sliding down the pillar--and his tightly fisted hands that he was quite upset.

Charles: “I know you read mundane newspapers, too. I wondered if you’d noticed the recent murder in the East End. It’s the sort of thing that seems as if it shouldn’t interest us, but on closer examination...”

Cordelia stepped up to Alastair, blinking demurely. She knew people were watching. She wanted to give them no reason to talk.

Cordelia: “Charles, I believe that you agreed to stay away from my brother.”

Charles raised a superior eyebrow.

Charles: “Cordelia, dear, men have disagreements among themselves sometimes. It’s best to leave them be to sort it out.”

Cordelia looked at Alastair.

Cordelia: “Do you wish to converse with Charles?”

Alastair: “No.”

Charles flushed.

Charles: “Alastair, only a coward needs to be rescued by his little sister.”

Alastair’s expressive eyebrows flickered.

Alastair: “And only an ass puts people into situations in which they need to be rescued at all.”

Charles took a deep breath as if he were about to shout, but Cordelia moved swiftly between him and her brother. Her smile was starting to make her face ache.

Cordelia: “Charles, go away now, or I will tell everyone how your aunt and uncle must go rushing off to Paris to rescue the Clave from your blunder.”

Charles’ eyes narrowed, and somehow in that moment Cordelia saw Matthew in him. She could not imagine why. There could not have been two more different people. **If only Charles was more kind or more understanding, and perhaps Matthew would not--

Cordelia blinked. Charles had said something, undoubtedly something cutting, and stomped off. As he did, she noticed they were indeed being watched, by Thomas. He was gazing at them from across the room, seemingly arrested in midmotion. Behind him, James had rejoined his friends and was chatting with them, one hand lightly on Matthew’s shoulder.

Several things happened at once. Thomas, seeing Cordelia looking at him, blushed and turned away. The music ended and the dancers began to stream off the floor. And Grace left Toby without a word and came up to James. Matthew and Christopher were laughing together. Matthew stopped, staring as Grace said something to James, and the two of them stepped a bit apart from the others. James was shaking his head. His silver bracelet glimmered on his wrist as he gestured.

Alastair: “Want to go over and break James’ legs?”

Cordelia: “He can hardly run away screaming if Grace approaches him. He must be polite.”

Alastair: “As you were polite to Charles? Don’t take it the wrong way, Layla, I’m grateful, but you don’t need to--”

Out of the corner of her eye, Cordelia saw James break away from Grace. He came toward her; he was white as a sheet, but otherwise his Mask was firmly in place.

James: “Alastair, good to see you. Are your parents well?”

Alastair had told her she didn’t need to be polite, but politeness had its uses. James wore his manners like a suit of armor. A Suit to match his Mask.

Alastair: “Well enough. The Silent Brothers recommended my mother rest at home, given her condition. My father didn’t want to leave her.”

Some of this was doubtless true. And some of it wasn’t. Cordelia didn’t have the heart for investigation. She no longer had the heart for the party at all. James hadn’t betrayed their agreement, but it was clear that it caused him pain to be in the same room as Grace. The worst part was that she could sympathize. She knew what it was like to be near the person you loved but feel as if you were a million miles away.

Cordelia: “James, I find I have a rather desire to play chess.”

That brought a smile from James, though only a slight one.

James: “Of course. We shall depart at once.”

Alastair: “Play chess? How thrilling.”

Cordelia kissed Alastair goodbye on the cheek as James went to offer the necessary excuses to their hosts. They collected their things in silence and soon found themselves on the front steps of the Wentworths’ house, waiting for their carriage to be brought around. It was a lovely night. 

Grace had watched them go, a thoughtful expression on her face. Cordelia could not help but wonder how much she concealed. It was not like her to approach James. Perhaps she had felt desperate. Cordelia could not blame her if she did.

But she could not ask James because they were not alone on the steps. Tessa and Will were there. Tessa was smiling up at Will as she tucked her hands into fur lined gloves. He went to brush her hair from her forehead. James cleared his throat loudly.

James: “Otherwise they’d start kissing. Believe me, I know.”

Tessa seemed delighted to see them. She beamed at Cordelia.

Tessa: “Don’t you look lovely! Dreadful we have to leave the party so early. Fortunately, Ms. Highsmith has offered poor Filomena the use of her carriage later, but we’re meant to Portal to Paris early tomorrow morning.”

She did not, Cordelia noted, mention Charles.

Will: “We tried to approach you inside, but were cut off by Rosamund chasing Toby around because their ice sculpture had melted. What does it mean for the youth of today that they don’t know that ice melts? What are we teaching them in the school rooms?”

James: “Is this another youth-of-today speech?”

He dropped his voice into a passable imitation of Will’s.

James: “Running about, no morals, using ridiculous words like ***barney and brinkets.”

Will: “Even I know brinkets is not a word.”

He and James bantered back and forth as the Institute’s carriage rolled around the corner and stopped at the foot of the steps, driven by a skinny footman in silver and ivory. Cordelia could not help but think how different James’ relationship with his father was from Alastair’s with Elias. She wondered sometimes what Elias would say if he knew about Alastair and Charles. She wanted to think he wouldn’t care. Months ago she would’ve been sure of it. Now she was sure of nothing.

Her reverie was broken by a sudden shout. The skinny footman had leapt to his feet, looking about wild eyed.

Footman: “Demon! Demon!”

Cordelia stared. Something that looked like a spinning wheel covered in wet, red mouths shot out from under the carriage and rolled about in a circle. She reached for Cortana and flinched, her palm stinging. Had she cut herself on it somehow? That couldn’t be possible. James laid a hand on Cordelia’s shoulder.

James: “It’s all right, there’s no need.”

Will was looking at Tessa, his blue eyes wide.

Will: “Can I...?”

Tessa smiled indulgently, as if Will had asked for a second helping of cake.

Tessa: “Oh, go ahead.”

Will made a whooping sound. As Cordelia stared in puzzlement, he leaped down the stairs and raced off, chasing the wheel demon. Tessa and James were both smiling.

Cordelia: “Should we help him?”

James: “No. That demon and my father are old friends--or, rather, old enemies, but it amounts to the same thing. He likes to chase him around after parties.”

Cordelia: “That is very peculiar. I see that I have agreed to marry into a very peculiar family.”

James: “Don’t pretend you didn’t know that already.”

Cordelia laughed. It was all so ridiculous and yet so very much the way James’ family always was. She felt as if things were almost normal again by the time their carriage came around and they clambered into it. As they rolled off into the night, they passed Will, brandishing a seraph blade as he happily chased the wheel demon through the Wentworths’ rose garden.

~end of scene~

**this sentence was spoken really fast (cassie talks a mile a minute), i’m not sure if i got it entirely correct but i think i got it pretty close

***again, i think this is what they’re saying, but it’s hard to make out

#tlh #the last hours #chain of iron #alastair carstairs #cordelia carstairs #charles fairchild #james herondale #anon

[celestialtitania]

rescuing a nightmare (from a dream)

Thank you to @khanofallorcs and @linhlotus for betaing! Can also read on AO3 or FFN.

Adrien had let go of Marinette's hand for just a moment when it had happened.. They had been walking down the streets of Paris, having come from the most wonderful brunch at Marinette's parents' house, when Adrien had spotted their old friend, André the Ice Cream Man.

He had let go of Marinette's hand to say hello and maybe get a scoop of ice cream for his Lady when he heard a sickening thump. He whirled around to see Marinette sprawled across the cement.

He heard a yell, as he fell to his knees frantically trying to feel Marinette's pulse. It was strong and steady, but his wife was still unconscious. Belatedly, his throat feeling sore and scratchy, he realized he was the one who had screamed. He slowly propped her head onto his upper arm, desperately trying to remember what he was supposed to do for someone who had fainted. He was about to bark at André to dial 15 when Marinette's face scrunched up.

"Marinette!" Adrien gasped in relief. "Are you okay?"

Marinette put a hand to the bridge of her nose as she blinked rapidly to get used to the bright sunlight. "Adrien? What happened?"

"You fainted! Did something happen? Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?" Adrien demanded to know, his relief quickly turning to anger.

"Shall I call for an ambulance?" André inquired, a worried expression on his face.

Marinette slowly shook her head, "I'm okay, I think. Thank you, André." Adrien wanted to protest; going to the doctor would make him feel much better, but Marinette laid a soothing hand on his arm.

"Why don't you take me home, Kitty? Then you can watch over me as much as you like," she offered. Adrien knew that her words were just a dirty trick to avoid going to the doctor and for once, he didn't want to listen to her. They didn't know what had caused the fainting, even if she seemed perfectly fine now.

But he made the mistake of looking into her clear bluebell eyes that were looking at him so pleadingly.

"Oh, fine," he sighed in defeat. A bright, victorious smile appeared on Marinette's face. Well, he couldn't let that stand.

In one smooth motion, he scooped her up into his arms, making Marinette yelp as she looped her arms around his neck to balance herself. "Let's go home then, Princess," he winked at her. She gave him a cross look, but didn't protest, a pale pink flush covering her face.

Adrien smirked all the way home.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Adrien whistled as he cooked the eggs and set up the coffee maker. Marinette had been exhausted all week and he was still a little worried about her fainting spell from earlier, so he decided he would make use of his limited cooking skills to make her breakfast.

He looked up with a smile when he heard footsteps followed by a loud yawn.

"Good morning, Bugaboo," he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. She nuzzled against him before stiffening. Adrien pulled back immediately, a knot of anxiety forming in his stomach.

"What's that smell?" Marinette asked hesitantly. Adrien's eyes widened as he hurried back to the stove, worried the omelet had burnt. It was fine, though, albeit a little crispier than usual. He expertly folded it onto the plate and presented it to Marinette with a flourish.

She took one whiff of the omelet and was out the door. Adrien followed her immediately, only taking a moment to whip off his apron. He found her retching into the toilet and hurried forward to hold back her hair.

"Marinette, what's going on?" Adrien's voice was quivering. She, understandably, didn't answer as she coughed. His heart lurched forward as Marinette began to sway in his arms.

"Marinette!" Adrien pulled her back, as she blinked at him for a moment. Then she tried to push him away, "I'm okay now, Adrien. I must have eaten something bad, is all."

Adrien was finding it hard to breathe. "Marinette, we ate the same things, but I'm not throwing up." Marinette tried to stand up again, but Adrien stubbornly held onto her. She called his name, but he wasn't with her anymore.

He had been transported almost fifteen years into the past. He was playing with his mother in the garden, running around and laughing. One of his few happy memories of her.

She had finally caught him and was teaching him about the plants when a sudden bout of coughing had overtaken her. Adrien had run to his mother and cried loudly for his father. Emilie had tried to wipe the tears away as Gabriel approached, looking like he had run to them all the way from his office.

Adrien had gripped tightly onto her hand while Gabriel tried to support her. Instead, she had fallen down yet again, this time her coughs including drops of blood.

Adrien had been frightened, unable to move or comfort his mother. In response to his inaction, Gabriel had shoved him towards the servants and out of the way. After that, he hadn't been permitted to see his mother at all. A scant week later, she had disappeared, seemingly off of the face of the Earth.

He had never seen his mother laughing again. He closed his eyes and this time he hadn't travelled as far back in his memories.

This time, it was Nathalie who was coughing, barely able to stand on her own two feet. The strong, no-nonsense woman who had become a second mother to him had been betrayed by her own body.

When he asked his father if Nathalie was okay, all he ever said was that she was fine. Adrien had learned long ago that being fine was just a pretty lie. He knew now that it had been the effect of the broken Peacock Miraculous which had caused Nathalie's illness, but he still felt that he should have done something to help Nathalie. It could have ended up saving her life, but he had listened to his father's lies and Nathalie had paid the price.

He pulled Marinette closer towards him and buried his face into the crook of her shoulder. She fell silent, feeling the tremors running through his body. "Adrien?" She whispered softly, her breath tickling his ear.

"Marinette, I can't lose you," he cried out desperately.

Within a moment, she was squeezing him just as tightly. "Adrien, you will never lose me." Marinette promised him fiercely.

"You don't know that!" Adrien burst out, finally pulling him away from her. Swallowing past the lump that had formed in his throat, he took in a deep, shuddering breath. Gently, he took Marinette's hands in his own and made her look him in the eyes.

"I've seen this before. Everytime someone close to me gets sick, they say they're fine but they're not."

Marinette opened her mouth to interrupt, but Adrien continued talking over her. "Please, for my peace of mind, my Lady? If you're so sure this is nothing, then why not confirm it with the doctor?"

Marinette was quiet for a moment before she pulled her hands out of Adrien's. For one horrible moment, Adrien felt like his heart would stop beating as he stared at her in terror, completely certain she would deny him this. Tell him he was out of his mind and that she didn't want to be anywhere near him anymore.

Then she lightly placed her hands on his cheeks. "Adrien, you're crying," she said, her voice breaking. He blinked in realization, he hadn't even noticed, though it explained why his vision had suddenly gone blurry.

Marinette wiped the tears away with the tips of her fingertips before enveloping him in another hug. "My Prince, of course I'll do it. I'll go first thing tomorrow, alright?"

Her words had a calming effect on him, giving him the strength to pull them out of the bathroom. "Tomorrow?" He confirmed with her again, anxious tension creeping into his shoulders.

She gave him a look filled with love. "I'd do anything for you, Adrien. Going to the doctor tomorrow doesn't even scratch the surface." She looked down at herself. "Let me change first and let's see if there's something I can stomach right now."

"Sounds perfect," he nodded, but not before he gave her another hug, if only to confirm to himself that she was really still here.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Adrien had been standing outside of his front door for what felt like hours. He'd wanted to skip work so that he could accompany Marinette to the doctor's, but she wouldn't listen to a word he had to say on the matter.

Only now did he understand why she had forced him to leave. He was terrified of the answer. He closed his eyes, trying to gather the courage to step through the door. In the end, it was the thought of leaving his Lady to deal with her pain and suffering on her own which had him barreling through the door.

At once, he was assaulted by the sheer darkness in the room. "Marinette?" He called out, just a hint of fear in his voice. He blinked furiously, trying to have his eyes quickly adjust to the darkness. That was when he heard soft sobs penetrate the silence in the room.

She was sitting on the couch, clutching some papers. Adrien felt like all of his worst fears had come true all at once. Swallowing past his discomfort, he forced himself to remain calm so he could offer Marinette the support she so sorely needed.

Concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, Adrien reached Marinette's side, flicking on a lamp to alert her to his presence. Marinette lifted her head in surprise, her cries becoming louder as she caught sight of him.

She immediately jumped into his arms and Adrien tried to indicate all of his love and support for Marinette in a simple squeeze.

"Adrien," Marinette said breathlessly, but Adrien shook his head, trying to spare her the pain of speaking the words out loud.

"It's okay, Marinette. I already know." That he had to be strong for her was the only thought running through his head. One which he was chanting like a mantra.

She pulled back, her confusion showing all over her face. "Y-you know? Is this why you pushed me to go check with the doctor?"

Adrien nodded, trying to prevent the tears he felt pricking the corners of his eyes from falling. "H-how long?" He stammered out.

Marinette looked a little hesitant, but she wiped her tears away and took in a deep breath. "Six weeks."

Adrien felt his blood run cold. "Six weeks? No! T-this can't be happening!" He shook his head frantically making Marinette jump back in surprise.

"A-aren't you happy?" Marinette asked him, her eyes filling with tears.

Adrien felt his jaw drop. "How can you say that to me? Why would I ever be happy about this?" He demanded to know.

Marinette was looking at him as if he had somehow betrayed her. "I-I thought–," but Adrien didn't let her finish.

"There has to be some mistake!" He insisted, reaching towards the doctor's report to check for himself. Marinette snatched it away, his fingertips only managing to brush against the cool cover of the report.

"What sort of mistake are you hoping to find?"

"Anything!" Adrien finally snapped. "Damn it, Marinette. You told me I wouldn't lose you, and then you tell me you only have six weeks left to live." He ignored Marinette's squeak of surprise, rubbing his arm across his face to keep himself from bursting into tears. "How could you ever think I'd be happy about that?"

Quick as could be, Marinette pulled him into a fierce hug. "Adrien, that's not it."

Her touch had broken the dam and in moments he was sobbing, clutching at her shirt for support. "What are you talking about?"

"Adrien, Kitty, I'm not in any danger," Marinette promised him, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead.

Adrien simply blinked at her, unable to comprehend what she was saying. She looked away from him and mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What?" He croaked out, needing to know exactly what was going on. He felt Marinette take in a deep breath.

"I-I'm pregnant."

Adrien felt his eyes widen before they filled with tears yet again. "Six weeks?" He checked, her previous words now making sense. Marinette nodded shyly at him, making his heart swell.

"You're pregnant," he laughed breathlessly.

Marinette nodded, throwing her arms around his neck. "We're pregnant, Kitty. We're having a baby!"

Adrien was so relieved and happy, he scooped Marinette up and spun her around. Their combined weight had them falling onto the couch where they burst into a fit of giggles.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Marinette murmured, pulling his face closer to hers.

"M'lady, you've made me the happiest man alive. It's my own fault for not letting you speak," Adrien whispered back before he closed the gap between them. The kiss they shared was both loving and joyous, full of their relief and future hopes.

He slowly pulled away, only to rest his forehead on hers.

"I guess now we know what we're going to do with the empty room," Adrien grinned. "Pretty fur-tunate we don't have to move, huh?"

Marinette pulled away to laugh. "We'll have a little bug of our own," her eyes were glowing.

"The purr-tiest Bug of them all," Adrien agreed. "Well, after you, of course, Bugaboo."

Marinette looked at him hesitantly. "You really think we can do this?"

"Hey, it's you and me against the world, remember? Together we can do anything."

At his words, Marinette's smile grew wider. "You're right," she said before leaning in to kiss him again. As they sat together, Adrien felt his heart fill once again with gratitude that Marinette had fallen in love with him.

With their kitten on the way, he couldn't wait to begin the rest of his life with her.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #ml fic #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #married couple #post hawkmoth defeat #nausea #fainting #implied character death #love square #angst #hurt/comfort

[fallingfor-fics]

Teachers Pet-chapter 17: wanting

All chapters

chapter 16

Potions seemed to drag on forever, Snape was just teaching a lesson, his velvety monotone voice going on and on about a potion we were gonna brew soon. I was trying my best to stay awake, I was still very exhausted and his voice was slowly lulling me to sleep. My eyelids felt heavy and I let them close for one second, or so I thought. I began drifting off and it was too difficult to open them again. I could hear his voice get quieter as I slipped into unconsciousness. I should have known better, I saw a kid fall asleep in his class once and he practically hexed them, he took away house points and yelled at the boy, which ensured he never made that mistake again. 

I jumped awake to a tap on my shoulders. My head was now on the table on my arms and I opened my eyes to see Draco staring at me. "Y/n, come on class is over." he said, collecting his books. "What?" I looked around and saw most of the kids had already left and Snape wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Where's Professor Snape? Why didn't he wake me up? Why didn't you wake me up!" I said lightly shoving his shoulder as we headed out of the classroom. "He left as soon as the bell rang, and I didnt think I needed to, I mean I tried and you didn't move so I figured you needed the sleep." He said smiling. "How odd that he did not get angry with me, did he even say anything?" I asked as we went to the Slytherin common room. "No, when he looked and saw you asleep he just rolled his eyes and kept teaching, I guess he figured if you have the time to sleep, then you don't need to learn haha" I thought over what he was saying, that's not like Snape at all why would he do that? And he knows I'm bad at potions so you would think he'd want me to pay attention.

We went to our rooms for our free period and I said I'd see him at dinner. I was alone in my room and decided to get the book out I had stolen from Snape's room earlier. I began from the start and read the first few chapters, I noticed it began getting dark out and looked at the clock, "Great I missed dinner." I realized I had gotten through almost half of the book, it was very informational, and sadly to say, was giving me some ideas. I mean there's no way I could earn Severus' affections but a girl can dream right? I got my bag and quickly headed out to make it to Snapes lessons. "Draco! So sorry I missed Dinner I got caught up reading!" I said seeing him in the common room, "Oh that's ok I actually saved you this dinner" he said handing me a dinner roll. I smiled taking it from him, "thanks so much I'll catch you later!" I took a bite of the roll not realizing how hungry I was and headed to the potions classroom. The door was closed so I stood there and knocked on it. Recalling when Severus rescued me from the weird encounter with Lockhart that one day, I smiled to myself thinking about how he's always been there in my times of need, so conveniently.

"Come in" I heard him say from the other side and I walked in smiling, taking another bite of my roll. "Evening Professor," I said, sitting down in Dracos seat. It was closer to Snape's desk, easier to hear him from here of course, no other reason. "Today I figured we would look over the Amortentia potion" he said looking up at me, I dropped my smile, that was the potion he was teaching earlier that I so happened to have fallen asleep during the lesson. "About that," I said, getting up and walking over to his desk, "I wanted to know why you didn't wake me up during class." I said fiddling with my fingers. He looked down at his papers thinking for a moment. "I figured you deserved it after last night, although you should have indeed been awoken, I didn't want to disturb the lesson either." He said not looking up at me. "About last night.." I began "No need to discuss the matter Ms.L/n, It was wrong of me to have not sent you back to your dormitory immediately." He interrupted. "What? No..I wanted to thank you once more, It was almost a miracle you showed up when you did, and not punishing me, it helped a lot, I've been having a rough time and i'm glad you were there." I said within a small smile, I hoped this wasnt to far a reach and he didn't find it weird, I mean he was just comforting a student, nothing more. He didn't say anything he just stared down at his papers, I had said too much. I turned and sat back down. "We should get started." he said, stacking his papers. "Right." I said not looking up at him. It fell silent and I needed to break the silence, "Professor how well do you know Professor Lockhart?" I said looking up at him. "As well as any teacher I suppose why?" he asked furrowing his brows. "If I tell you something will you promise not to get angry and get me in trouble?" I said looking around and then pulling my chair up to his desk. He straightened up and looked at me with worried eyes.

"I might regret it, but sure." he said with a sarcastic tone. "Um, well... During Defense Against the Dark Arts today, we were practicing the protection spell, and I didnt have a partner again, and so Lockhart made me practice with him. He said to do easy spells to practice against. And at the end of class I was arguing with him because he used a dueling spell and he proceeded to say it was because he knew I could 'handle' it," he continued listening to me closely growing more and more confused and concerned as I went on. "And he was like 'watch' and raising his wand, and I wasn't prepared and I didnt know what he was going to do.." I looked down at my hands scared to let out the last part, "And so out of defense I hit him with Expelliarmus and he flew across his desk." I said breathing out the last part. Snape's eyes went wide for a moment and then his mouth grew into a small smile. I let my shoulders relax at his response and let out a light chuckle. "Wow Y/n you really like to test this mans limits." he said back in his normal tone. "He just makes me so furious, and I was so shocked he pulled his wand on me without a heads up so I got afraid." I added. "Are you gonna tell Dumbledore?" I asked with furrowed brows. "Well what did Lockhart do about it?" he asked looking in my eyes, I shifted in my seat, he had such an intense stare and his dark eyes looked so strong. "You see, that's the weird part, he didn't do anything," at this he returned his face to its normal stern look and looked a tad shocked, "All he said was 'be careful, you never know the consequences of your actions' and then let me leave." I said using air quotes and mocking his voice.

But Snape did not seem amused, he just looked away and dropped his gaze on my eyes and looked at the wall in thought I presumed. He didn't say anything or the next minute and I grew worried, "What?" he didn't respond. "Severus what is it?!" I said raising my voice a tad looking in his eyes. He snapped his gaze to me and opened his mouth to speak, "Dont scold me for using your name, what are you thinking about." "Nothing Ms. L/n, it's fine I just wonder why he did not assign you a detention. And I told you not to call me Severus'' Wow. The way he said his own name was beautiful, but now's not the time for this. "Well we are friends now, and friends don't use formalities such as Ms. L/n and Mr. Snape" I said jokingly but he didn't seem amused, "Definitely do not call me Mr. Snape" he said in a cold tone, I guess I hit a soft spot, I mean it makes sense, he didn't like his father and I'm guessing that was what he would hear a lot. "We are friends though, I mean at least here in our lessons, I won't do it during school.." I said reassuring him. "If it will make you focus then fine, now let's get started we have wasted enough time."

Hours had passed and I suggested he teach me how to brew the potion now for practice, and to prevent me from any mishaps in class. But he refused and said to just wait until we did it as a class since it was already so late. I was sitting next to him at his desk since we were going over stuff in the textbook. I went to close it and my arm brushed against his, I paused for a moment and let the feeling linger on my arm, I looked over at him and made eye contact with him, I got up and walked over to my table putting my book down. "I uh was organizing the books today but didn't get to finish, I can do that quickly if you'd like?" I asked, looking at the last bookshelf. "No that's alright" he said, not looking at me. "I-I should probably go now anyways heh '' I said awkwardly collecting my things, "Yes that is probably best" he said shuffling random papers around. "Ok um I will see you in class tomorrow, Goodnight Severus." I said walking to leave, "Goodnight Y/n" I smiled and walked out down the hall. I got to my room and one of my roommates was still awake, I smiled at her as I sat my bags down and sighed, "Y/n you like to read right?" my roommate asked, her name was Ruth and she was pretty popular, she had long dark brown hair and beautiful green eyes. Lots of the boys liked her, but we never became friends, but she was nice. "Yeah I do" I said looking up at her. "Good here, my muggle friend had this sent to me, but I'm not gonna touch it so you can have it." she said, extending the book to me. "Oh t-thank you! Are you sure?" I asked looking up at her hesitantly taking it from her hand, "Yeah at least i'll get some use if you have it." she said smiling, "Well ok thanks" She just nodded and said goodnight turning out her lamp and going to bed. I laid it on my bed and went to get ready to go to sleep.

When I finished I sat on my bed picking up the book, "Lolita" hmm I said reading the title to myself. I put it in my bag and told myself i'd read it once I was done with the one I stole from Severus, I grabbed the small book and continued to read through it, it was actually very helpful, except for the fact I wasn't going to get to try any of these things with him. "If the one your heart desires, does not at first glance your way, find someone to make them envy and draw attention to thine self." Merlin this translation was kind of hard to interpret, unless it was really suggesting to make them jealous, my only issue was no matter who I dated, Severus still wouldn't look at me the way I want him to. I needed to get this idea of him eventually falling for me out of my head. I looked in the margin at at a note that was scribbled in, 'she has found someone' I frowned reading it. This poor person, they must have really wanted things to work with this other girl. I flipped to the beginning to where I left the flower. It was a little white one flattened from the pages. I grabbed my wand and murmured a small "Appare Vestigium" A swirl of gold went over the pages and the flower and a few small fingerprints appeared on the flower. This would show me any magic that was lingering but it was not helpful in finding out where the flower came from and who wrote in this book. I guess I was just gonna have to tell Severus I took it and ask him whose it was, that was going to be fun.

#snape x reader #snape imagine #severusnape #professor snape #snape #severus snape #severusimagine #severus x reader #severus snape x reader #Snape slowburn #slytherin #hogwarts

[ikleesfiction]

Will you follow through if I fall for you?

Fandom : One Chicago Word count : 2,409 words Disclaimer

Previously on this fic : Part 1 🞂 Part 2 🞂 Part 3 🞂 Part 4 🞂 Part 5

Part 6

It's been a few days since your date night with Jay. It went much better than you expected. You knew from the start that Jay is a good guy and probably a sweet lover too. But after that night, you found out that there's more to him than his good look and easy-going attitude. Jay's gentleness soothes your insecurities. His understanding warms you from inside. It's hard to feel miserable when he's around. You cannot help but latch on to him.

You and Jay keep texting and calling each other every day, but you only got to meet him once since then. For a coffee date before he ran to work while you went for your PT session. His job doesn't leave a lot of spare time, so you relish all the time he spends with you.

You hear your phone rings when you have your lunch. There is a video call request from your best friend and work-mate, Alex. "Hey, you! I miss your stupid face!" you greet him.

"You know what's not stupid?" Alex ignores your greeting. "The new material I received this morning

He refers to an email you sent him last night. Instead of sleeping, you wrote some lines and tinkered some notes on your electric keyboard. It was still very rough, but you and Alex swap ideas all the time. They could be a bar of melodies or chord progressions. Or maybe a single line that you cannot get out of your head, even there's no context to it.

"Wanna work on it soon?" Alex proposes.

"Yeah, sure!" you easily agree.

"You know I'm gonna ask how you come up with that song idea, right?" Alex probes further. He got an idea about your sudden burst of inspiration, but you haven't told him anything yet so far.

"You can ask. I might not answer", you nonchalantly retort. "Are you asking now?"

"I would, but I just arrived at my parents' house for our weekly dinner", Alex turns his camera phone and shows you his family dining table. "Say hi to Y/N, Pop" He lets his parents know that you're on the phone.

"Hallo, Liefje" Alex's parents greet and wave at you. "I miss you, Y/N. How are you doing, darling?" Alex's mom squeals at you.

"I miss you guys too. I miss home," you utter mournfully.

"I saw your dad last week. He and your mom cannot wait to have you back home next month. As are we." Alex's dad informs you.

Your face gets even more upset. "I haven't told my parents yet, but it's gonna be another two months. It's not working out as good as they wanted"

Alex's parents let out a sympathetic noise. "Oh great, I still have two more months to hide all my chocolate from you" Alex teases you instead. He knows if he doesn't throw any humor here, you're going to weep. The family laughs at your offended look.

"Where's Sara?" you ask them when you didn't notice Alex's little sister on the table.

"She's getting ready for a date after dinner. Said they will go stargazing. Can you believe it?" Alex skeptically recounts to you.

"Hmm, that sounds romantic. Good for her." you hum your appreciation. Alex can see twinkles in your eyes.

"Of course, you thought it was charming", Alex sounds vexed.

"Why are you so grumpy about this? You have a hit song that compared someone's eyes with the moon", you remind him. "Last time I checked, that song already got more than 400 million streams on Spotify". Alex just grumbles incoherently, while you can hear his father's booming laugh in the background.

"Alex, would you please call your sister down for dinner?" Alex's mom orders him.

"Alright, ma. Gotta go, Y/N. I'll call you later when I'm back at the studio. Bye, sis!" Alex ends the call.

◢◤

Kelly Severide comes to your place in the evening after he finished his shift. He called you on your cell several times, but you didn't pick them up. He knocked on your door for a few minutes without answers. Worried that something bad happened to you, he uses his key to open your apartment door. You gave him a spare when you began your recovery from the incident. Since you got nobody in town except for the 51 Family, you thought at least one of them should have access to your place, in case you need help.

Kelly sees you sitting on your corner desk with headphones on. Your head is nodding to the beat you're working on. Relieved to know you okay, but feels a bit annoyed, Kelly taps your shoulder lightly. You jump in surprise, almost fall from your chair if Kelly doesn't hold you down.

"Kelly! What..! Why are you..??" your heart is still pounding in shock, makes you unable to finish your thoughts properly.

"I knocked! And called you many times! Neither you answered! I was afraid that you fell and unconscious so I used my key", Kelly exclaims.

You check your phone and see seven missed calls from Kelly. "Sorry, I left my phone on mute, somehow"

Kelly goes to raid your fridge and takes a bottle of apple juice. "Your fridge needs beers" he judges. "Go, get ready! We'll hang out at Molly's. Everyone misses you", Kelly orders you.

"I'm working, Kelly. Just because my work has no shifts, doesn't mean I can go anytime you want", protest you.

"You work for your best friend, who's in another continent right now. You can slack off for a bit" he dismisses your complaint.

"I'm making big progress here. My writing juice is flowing", you point at your laptop.

"One hour. I give you one hour to work. Then I'm hauling you out of here. In the meantime, I'm gonna order take out for us", Kelly decides.

You only mumble your disagreement, knowing that you're gonna lost the argument anyway. So you just put your headphones back on your head. However, Kelly pokes you again five minutes later, with his phone on hand, "Hey, do you want Thai or Greek? I'm in the mood for Greek right now", Kelly playfully asks you.

"Yeah, Greek is fine" you start to feel bothered.

He leaves to order the food while you're back to do your work. Ten minutes passed, Kelly drags a chair from the kitchen island to your side. He knocks on the table to catch your attention.

"Hey, I just remember, Brett said they saw you rescued somebody at the swimming pool last week. How did that happen?" he questions.

You let out a desperate sigh. "You're not going to let me work in peace, are you?"

Kelly just grins. "C'mon, we haven't hung out for a while. Lots of drama to share"

You save your work in defeat and then move to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Kelly sits on the couch with legs resting on the coffee table. You place yourself next to Kelly.

"They extend my therapy for another month" you restlessly play with your bottle cap.

"Is it not going well?" Kelly asks in concern.

"I got cramps that day at the swimming pool. They worried I damaged something. So they prefer to be cautious" you fill him in.

"That's when you rescued Dr. Manning's son " Kelly tries to clarify.

"Well, I just pulled him out of the water. The pool guard was the one who helped him breathe" you shrug.

"You assisted. It still counts as a rescue", Kelly insists. "Bet if Dr. Manning knew, she would buy you drinks at Molly's forever"

"More like got invited to dinner at their place," you mutter.

"Hmm, that's probably true" Kelly pauses for a moment, thinking. "Wait, did you meet her?" he grills you.

"Yeah. And her fiancé. I came to the hospital to check on Owen. Then next thing I knew I'm having family dinner with Manning/Halstead clan", you convey to him.

Kelly's phone chirps interruptedly. "Food's here" He goes to pick up the food from the delivery guy. "Alright, let's eat then we can go to Molly's"

◢◤

Jay is nursing his first beer as he watches Will bottoms up his third glass of whiskey. Will called him earlier in the evening, claimed that he needs bro night out after a shitty day at Med. Jay's initial plan to have dinner with you got scrapped before he even asked.

"Maybe you need to pace yourself, Will", Jay suggests to him as Will signs to Otis for a refill.

"Yeah, Doc. Maybe you want to switch? We have a nice Dutch craft beer chilling here", Otis offers. But Will is still holding out his empty glass to him, silently demanding for more. "Okay then" sighs Otis as he fills the glass.

Jay hears the commotions at the other end of the bar. He recognizes some people from Firehouse 51 there. Christopher Hermann is cackling, while Matt Casey grins widely. They pay attention to someone that is sitting among the group, but he cannot see who because Severide is blocking his view.

Jay checks his phone while he finishes his beer. He received a text from you beforehand, told him that she's going out to meet her friends tonight. He texted back, wishing her to enjoy her night out, but got no replies. Will notices Jay's scrolling on his phone and asks, "Do you need to go back to work?"

"Nah, just checking my texts" Jay puts his phone back in his pocket. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Not in the slightest. But I still have to go to work tomorrow. If I wanna do better than today, I cannot do that with a hangover" Will sulks. "Hey Gabby, I would like to try that craft beer Otis suggested" he requests to Gabby who passes by.

"Would you like one as well, Jay?" Gabby offers him.

"Alright, why not.." Jay accepts the new bottle.

"Is this a new batch? Don't think I ever have it here before", comments Will after his first sip.

"Yeah! Just start to come in this month. It's a friend's favorite. She hooked us up with a supplier directly from The Netherlands. You like it?" Gabby enthusiastically claims.

"It's good. But still not Bourbon", Will pouts. Jay lets out a snort while Gabby snickers.

Jay looks around the bar as he savors his beer. He paused when he thought he saw you sitting among the 51 Gang. Will notices and looks in the same direction. "Is that Y/N?" asks Will.

Jay stands up for his seat, "I'm gonna go say hi to her"

◢◤

You feel a palm pressed to your back as you hear someone's saying from behind, "Didn't expect to see you here tonight"

You turn your back immediately as you realize whose voice it is, "Jay!" shout you excitedly. You open your arms to hug him. Jay lands a chaste kiss on your lips before hugs you back.

Kelly and Matt look at each other over your head with eyebrows raised. "Well, that's something I didn't expect" goads Kelly.

"Severide, Casey" Jay gives them an acknowledging nod with his hands stay on your hips.

"How do you know each other?" Matt asks curiously.

Jay opens his mouth to reply, but you hear Will's interruption, "You guys finally made it, huh?" Jay rolls his eyes at his brother.

"These guys have been sending heart-eyes at each other since they first met" Will tips off the 51 gang. "Which I arranged, by the way. But this result was unintentional"

"No, we're not!" you try to deny.

"I was there, Y/N, at your almost first kiss" Will divulges.

"Oh my god!" you hide your blushing face behind your palms. Jay smacks a kiss on the side of your head, amused while the group makes fun of you.

"I guess this happened after Y/N rescued Owen?" Sylvie asks to confirm.

"Ooooh yes, our next year candidate!" Hermann yells. The others just clap and whistle in response. You thud your head to the bar table, abashed.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. We are proud of you" Casey remarks. "That said if you want to go to the academy..." he continues.

"Nuh-uh, I love my job, thank you very much" you quickly state.

You spend the rest of the night beside Jay, chatting and laughing with 51 Family and Halstead brothers until you let out a big yawn. "Tired?" Jay asks you softly.

You nod, "Beer always made me sleepy"

"Let me settle the tabs, then I'll take you home" Jay squeezes your shoulder as he stands up.

Kelly observes you and Jay throughout the night. When Jay left your side, he lowly speaks to you after making sure everyone else is busy conversing elsewhere. "So Jay Halstead is the one who got your juice's flowing, huh?"

"Kelly!" you slap his arm, agape.

"I mean your writing juice! You said it earlier!" Kelly yelps, but his smirk contradicts his words.

"You're the worst" you just shake your head.

Kelly's face turns serious for a moment, "Does he know about your situation?"

"What situation?" you try to sound innocent, but Kelly just gives you a look.

"Told him about the collapsing stage" you deflated.

"Have you told him that you're leaving in two months?" Kelly pushes.

"It's still too early. Who knows, Jay might end this soon", your voice sounds unsure.

"Don't think so. He looks quite smitten by you. Should probably tell him soon", Kelly disagrees.

"I'm happy right now, Kels. Can I just enjoy this for a while?" you start to lose patience with him.

"He deserves to know" Kelly persists.

You look down at the table, your fist is clenched in frustration. Jay comes back and notices the tense atmosphere. "Is everything okay?"

You reply with a forced smile, "Yeah, let's get out of here" then stand up from your seat and give Kelly a quick hug, "Thanks, Kels"

You move to say goodbye to the rest of the group, which takes a bit of time since everyone wants a hug or has something to tell you.

"C'mon guys, my boyfriend has waited long enough" you cry out when Sylvie and Gabby hold you back from going. The group guffaw even louder and playfully nudges Jay, who just beams brightly at you.

"Good night, guys!" you casually shout, finally getting away from the rest of the group, with Jay's hand in yours.

Next on this fic : Part 7

+x Taglist +x

@shipshipshipau @itsdesiree86 @thevelvetseries @annaallicce

#fanfiction #jay halstead x reader #original work #one chicago #one chicago fic #chicago pd fic #chicago pd tv #jay halstead fic #jay halstead imagine #kelly severide #will halstead #matt casey #gabriela dawson #sylvie brett #christopher hermann #otis zvonecek #wyftiiffy

[cassandraclare]

Prologue and first chapter of Chain of Gold!

The prologue and first chapter of Chain of Gold are now available to read! You can check out the prologue below, in which a young Lucie Herondale makes a surprising discovery. The link to Chapter One is included at the end of it. Those of you who have seen the earlier chapter sampler may still want to check it out, as the prologue wasn’t originally included in the sampler, and changes have been made to Chapter One since the old copy came out.

Prologue

DAYS PAST: 1897

Lucie Herondale was ten years old when she first met the boy in the forest.

Growing up in London, Lucie had never imagined a place like Brocelind. The forest surrounded Herondale Manor on all sides, its trees bent together at the tops like cautious whisperers: dark green in the summer, burnished gold in the fall. The carpeting of moss underfoot was so green and soft that her father told her it was a pillow for faeries at night, and that the white stars of the flowers that grew only in the hidden country of Idris made bracelets and rings for their delicate hands.

James, of course, told her that faeries didn’t have pillows, they slept underground and they stole away naughty little girls in their sleep. Lucie stepped on his foot, which meant that Papa swept her up and carried her back to the house before a fight could erupt. James came from the ancient and noble line of Herondale, but that didn’t mean he was above pulling his little sister’s plaits if the need arose.

Late one night the brightness of the moon woke Lucie. It was pouring into her room like milk, laying white bars of light over her bed and across the polished wood floor. She slipped out of bed and climbed through the window, dropping lightly to the flower bed underneath. It was a summer night and she was warm in her nightdress.

The edge of the forest, just past the stables where their horses were kept, seemed to glow. She flitted toward it like a small ghost. Her slippered feet barely disturbed the moss as she slid in between the trees.

She amused herself at first by making chains of flowers and hanging them from branches. After that she pretended she was Snow White fleeing from the huntsman. She would run through the tangled trees and then turn dramatically and gasp, putting the back of her hand to her forehead. “You will never slay me,” she said. “For I am of royal blood and will one day be queen and twice as powerful as my stepmother. And I shall cut off her head.”

It was possible, she thought later, that she had not remembered the story of Snow White entirely correctly.

Still, it was very enjoyable, and it was on her fourth or fifth sprint through the woods that she realized she was lost. She could no longer see the familiar shape of Herondale Manor through the trees.

She spun around in a panic. The forest no longer seemed magical. Instead the trees loomed above like threatening ghosts. She thought she could hear the chatter of unearthly voices through the rustle of leaves. The clouds had come out and covered the moon. She was alone in the dark.

Lucie was brave, but she was only ten. She gave a little sob and began to run in what she thought was the right direction. But the forest only grew darker, the thorns more tangled. One caught at her nightdress and ripped a long tear in the fabric. She stumbled—

And fell. It felt like Alice’s fall into Wonderland, though it was much shorter than that. She tumbled head over heels and hit a layer of hard-packed dirt.

With a whimper, she sat up. She was lying at the bottom of a circular hole that had been dug into the earth. The sides were smooth and rose several feet above the reach of her arms. She tried digging her hands into the dirt that rose on every side of her and climbing up it the way she might shinny up a tree. But the earth was soft and crumbled away in her fingers. After the fifth time she’d tumbled from the side of the pit, she spied something white gleaming from the sheer side of the dirt wall. Hoping it was a root she could climb up, she bounded toward it and reached to grasp it. . . .

Soil fell away from it. It wasn’t a root at all but a white bone, and not an animal’s . . .

“Don’t scream,” said a voice above her. “It’ll bring them.”

She threw her head back and stared. Leaning down over the side of the pit was a boy. Older than her brother, James—maybe even sixteen years old. He had a lovely melancholy face and straight black hair without a hint of curl. The ends of his hair almost touched the collar of his shirt.

“Bring who?” Lucie put her fists on her hips.

“The faeries,” he said. “This is one of their pit traps. They usually use them to catch animals, but they’d be very pleased to find a little girl instead.”

Lucie gasped. “You mean they’d eat me?”

He laughed. “Unlikely, though you could find yourself serving faerie gentry in the Land Under the Hill for the rest of your life. Never to see your family again.”

He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Don’t try to scare me,” she said.

“I assure you, I speak only the perfect truth,” he said. “Even the imperfect truth is beneath me.”

“Don’t be silly, either,” she said. “I am Lucie Herondale. My father is Will Herondale and a very important person. If you rescue me, you will be rewarded.”

“A Herondale?” he said. “Just my luck.” He sighed and wriggled closer to the edge of the pit, reaching his arm down. A scar gleamed on the back of his right hand—a bad one, as if he had burned himself.

“Up you go.”

She grasped his wrist with both her hands and he hauled her up with surprising strength. A moment later they were both standing. Lucie could see more of him now. He was older than she’d thought, and formally dressed in white and black. The moon was out again and she could see that his eyes were the color of the green moss on the forest floor.

“Thank you,” she said, rather primly. She brushed at her nightdress. It was quite ruined with dirt.

“Come along, now,” he said, his voice gentle. “Don’t be frightened. What shall we talk about? Do you like stories?”

“I love stories,” said Lucie. “When I grow up, I am going to be a famous writer.”

“That sounds wonderful,” said the boy. There was something wistful about his tone.

They walked together through the paths under the trees. He seemed to know where he was going, as if the forest was very familiar to him. He must be a changeling, Lucie thought wisely. He knew a great deal about faeries, but was clearly not one of them: he had warned her about being stolen away by the Fair Folk, which must be what had happened to him. She would not mention it and make him feel awkward; it must be dreadful to be a changeling, and to be taken far away from your family. Instead she engaged him in a discussion about princesses in fairy tales, and which one was the best. It hardly seemed any time at all before they were back in the garden of Herondale Manor.

“I imagine this princess can make her own way back into the castle from here,” he said with a bow.

“Oh, yes,” said Lucie, eyeing her window. “Do you think they’ll know I was gone?”

He laughed and turned to go. She called after him when he reached the gates.

“What’s your name?” she said. “I told you mine. What’s yours?”

He hesitated for a moment. He was all white and black in the night, like an illustration from one of her books. He swept a bow, low and graceful, the kind knights had once made.

“You will never slay me,” he said. “For I am of royal blood and will one day be twice as powerful as the queen. And I shall cut off her head.”

Lucie gave an outraged gasp. Had he been listening to her, in the woods, playing her game? How dare he make fun of her! She raised a fist, meaning to shake it at him, but he had already vanished into the night, leaving only the sound of his laughter behind.

It would be six years before she saw him again.

Click here to read Chapter One over at Riveted Lit!

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#chain of gold #tlh #jesse blackthorn #lucie herondale #shadowhunters #tsc

[wwwafflewrites]

A Rewrite of History

Chapter 8—Skin

So… shapeshifters.

As if you didn’t have enough trust issues.

Now, not only did you have to worry about every angel or demon sent to spy on you…

...but now you had to worry about a slimy, homicidal, lying monster that could pretend to be literally anyone.

Great.

You sighed, dragging your fingers along your scalp as you brainstormed. How could you do this and get out in one piece?

Becky calls Sam because she’s worried about her brother Zach, who’s been accused of a murder he didn’t commit. And, well, the only way to stop that would be to tail the shapeshifter before it even gets to the couples.

An impossible task.

To make matters worse, you were going to have to intervene. Right when the shapeshifter comes to torture Emily with her boyfriend’s face. And if you were caught, it would just be another thing to add to the piling concrete evidence that you were a monster in the Winchester’s eyes.

You rubbed at your temple. Your anxiety really was through the roof lately. Always on edge and lightheaded.Though, there’s only so many nutrients one can get from a peanut butter sandwich.

You underlined their names on your notepad, Zach and Emily, tracing over the line. Then you gained the will to start up your car and drive off to stalk the poor couple.

///

Time ticked by slowly as you sat and waited outside the victim's home.

To be completely honest, you weren’t sure what to expect. All the monsters you’ve hunted so far had a valid reason to be what they were. Ghosts? They were hardwired to act in violent patterns. Wendigos? They were just feral animals. Demons? They were twisted, broken souls who lash out and wreak havoc. But only after decades upon centuries of endless torture.

But a shapeshifter? A shapeshifter has its own conscience. Even if it was horribly skewed from a life of resentment and shame.

You shook your head. Sentiment. The sentiment always gets to you. This isn’t a human. This is a monster. Do the job.

After staring blankly at the house for what felt like hours, a shadow moved. Your heart picked up, and you tried to look for any other movement. Nothing. 

You sighed. How did your life even come to this? You popped open your car door, slinking out of your seat as quietly as you could. It would be much easier if the shapeshifter didn't know you were coming.

You tread lightly up to the house, up their driveway, and peeked in windows. Just as you were about to admit it was your paranoia talking, something in the house shuddered.

Welp. Guess you hadn’t imagined it.

The front door was open. You let yourself in.

The house was dangerously quiet. The lights were deceivingly warm. Then you heard whimpering. Silver knife in hand, you tiptoed in their hallway, watching the source's door like a hawk. 

This is the dumbest thing you've ever done.

Throwing out your invasive thoughts, you prepared to cave the door in and stab the monster in the heart. If it had been your choice, you'd shoot it, but you didn’t have any silver bullets on hand.

You kicked the door in, sweeping your weapon through the room, but there was only the victim. Her breathing was labored, and you weren't dumb enough to try and help her before you ganked the shapeshifter.

You tried to signal that you were on her side, but she just sobbed into her gag.

"No, 'honey, I'm home'?" a male voice called.

You froze. Shapeshifter.

The shadow in the hallway crept up until his figure was visible, and his eyes were glowing. "Oh… but you're not him. You're a hunter, aren't you?" he said. "Here to slay me, little girl?"

"I'm here to make sure you don't hurt any more families."

"I'm sure you are." He smiled. "Are you going to come and stab me, then?"

"Considering it."

"You're afraid," he sneered. "You're a poor excuse for a hunter. You're inexperienced." He grinned and started walking forward. "Stab me, little hunter. Do your worst."

You charged, swinging at him with your knife, but he dodged the move. He kneed you in the stomach, stealing your breath. When you fell on all fours, he stepped down on your hand with the knife. "That was a stupid move."

The last thing you saw was the toe of his shoe.

///

You woke up, sick to your stomach.

Waking up feeling gross wasn't that abnormal, but it wasn’t usually this intense. You could tolerate a little hunger or thirst, or some smarting, but this was something else entirely.

Some kind of tarp was draped over you, but you didn’t have the energy to throw it off.

Your shoulders ached, arms pulled taut above you with no give.

You just tried to breathe through the pain.

A sawing noise came from your left. Through the ringing in your ears, someone was talking. Two someones. It clicked: you were in the sewers, and that sawing noise was Dean breaking from his ropes. Distantly, you wondered for how long. Guess that didn't matter now, though.

"...didn't just look like you. He was you," Sam said. "Or he was becoming you."

You were completely still. If they found you, you were dead… but if they left you, they'd kill the shapeshifter and you'd be left to rot. Both options sucked.

"What'd'ya mean?"

"I don't know, it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories."

You had to get out. But there was nothing to saw your hands against like Dean had. Just smooth metal and rope burns on your wrists.

"You mean like the Vulcan Mind Meld?"

"Yeah, something like that." Sam paused. "Maybe that's why he didn't just kill us."

Dean must have stumbled out of his ropes, because now his voice was traveling. "Maybe he needs to keep us live… for the psychic connection."

"Hands." Sam was being untied. "Yeah. Come on, we gotta go. He's probably at Rebecca's already."

"Wait," Dean said with a long pause. "The shapeshifter turned into that girl, right? So wouldn't that mean she's still down here?"

Your stomach dropped.

"I guess. Or he just removed her when he took us. For all we know she could be in a ditch," Sam said. "And honestly? Good riddance."

You weren’t sure if you were rooting for them to leave you or stay. Both options were bad.

"Or…" Dean said slowly. "She's just being quiet because she's afraid of us finding her."

Yeah, that about summed it up.

You listened to footsteps, deadly still and holding your breath. The footsteps stilled in front of you and you steeled yourself for the reveal.

The tarp was tossed away, and you stared fearfully into the bright green eyes of Dean freaking Winchester. Your mind was churning, working in fight or flight mode, but you could do neither. You were screwed.

The only thing that could save you now was the angels, and they didn't seem to be concerned enough to step in anytime soon.

"Well, hi," Dean said with a smile. It was smug and absolutely intended to be intimidating.

You stared, and that sick feeling in your stomach only deepened. Something told you that it probably wasn't just the anxiety making you sick, but you pushed it away. That could wait. Right now, you had other things to worry about.

Like, say, the Winchesters. 

And torture.

Dean raised an eyebrow to his brother, who walked around to get a look at you. "You know, if we had left you, the shapeshifter would have come back. Or worse—wouldn't have come back."

"I'm aware," you said, finding it difficult to hold eye contact with them. The look in their eyes was overwhelming.

They smiled at each other, clearly amused at your situation.

You gained the courage to snap, "You going to kill me or what?" There was no trying to get it through their thick skulls that you weren’t the enemy here. Plus, maybe if the angels really believed you were in danger, they'd rescue you.

Dean shrugged. "That's up to you. I kind of want to hear your end of the story."

You frowned. "Really?" Maybe there's hope here. Maybe you really can form an alliance—

"Nah, I'm just kidding. I don't want to hear what you have to say." Dean admitted.

You scowled. "I didn't kill Jessica." They were giving you time to explain yourself, so of course you were going to use it.

"You were the only one there, and Sam saw you."

"I was there to save her. Figures you'd think I can just put someone on the ceiling and set them on fire."

"I wouldn't be too sure. Looks like you made a handy dandy flame thrower out there. Who's to say you aren't the thing our Dad has been hunting?"

"I wasn't even alive when your mother died. I'm telling you: I. Am. Human." You thrust your hand out, showing them the burns. "See? Scar tissue. I'm a human being—"

"How do you know that? How did you know about our mother?" Dean demanded. Of course he'd focus on that comment. It was like talking to a brick wall.

"It's not like it's a secret. It was written all over your father's journal," you lied.

Sam squinted. "Who are you?"

You let your head fall back onto the pole. Just kill me already. "Someone who just wants to go home."

"Boohoo for you," Dean spat.

"At least you're able to look for your family."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

You yanked at your ropes, and the Winchester's tensed. But you were still held tight. "We don't have time for this. Either you kill me right now, or you take me with you. Does the name Rebecca ring any bells?"

They scowled, but it got them moving. Dean nodded to Sam. "We'll come back for her."

You twisted to look at them as they walked away. "What?! No! Wait! But I can help! Just untie me and I can help!"

"Not a chance," Dean said. "See, I don't trust stalkers." And he walked away.

"Please," you said. "Please... I... please I don't… I don't feel right." Your voice echoed. Pipes dripped in reply.

They had already left you.

Your mind ran. Your breaths were shallow, biting back the nausea that threatened to overtake you. You blinked, slow and long, feeling off. You had to get out. Whatever acid trip you were on, you needed out of the ropes and out of the sewer.

If you had a little slack… you might be able to gnaw at the rope and loosen it. But that would mean dislocating your shoulder.

You braced yourself, getting ready to pull your arm out of your socket, but you chickened out. The anticipation was making your heartbeat like a drum against your chest. You can’t do that. You can't, your anxiety told you. It'll hurt. You don't know what you're doing. You've never done this. It's going to hurt.

But your logical side argued back. All it takes is one motion. One swift second and you could break yourself free, with the downside of shoulder problems. You don't want to be down here, tied up and defenseless. A dislocated shoulder won't hurt you—but the Winchesters and a shapeshifter definitely will. Do it.

You were pretty sure you were going to have a panic attack if you kept thinking about this. You took a breath, and swiftly yanked.

The pain was blinding. Your vision went white and you screamed. You panted heavily, riding through the wave of agony before it became a constant excruciating burn.

You reached your mouth for the rope on your good arm—since you could reach it now—and tugged at it with your teeth. It was old rope, and it tasted like dust. You pulled just enough for the loop around your hand to loosen, and it was free. You then worked the rope away from your neck and abdomen and, lastly, untied the rope around your dislocated arm.

You stood up too fast and saw a sea of grey. The jostling of your arm had you stumbling onto your knees and vomiting what little bile was in your stomach. Gross.

The shapeshifter would be back soon with… Emily, was it? Or was it Becky? Rebecca. You were losing your focus.

You also didn't know how to reset a dislocated shoulder. Just looking at it was making you queasy. The bone was pointed upward, your shoulder flattened. It was bruising and swelling, and god it hurt. It looked so unnatural you thought you might puke again.

You didn't though. You steadied yourself, knowing what was ahead of you: you were going to have to relocate it yourself.

You had no choice. Nobody to run to. Everyone that you knew was your enemy.

You braced your back against a metal pole, grabbing your arm with your good one. You pulled it straight forward, not yanking, but attempting to guide it back in. You cried as it popped back into place. 

You wiped away a few stray tears with your good hand.

You then worked on a temporary sling with the rope that had been used to tie you up. It turned out kind of sucky and awkward, as you only had one hand available, but it was enough to keep the arm steady against your chest. 

Your arm still freaking hurt.

You peered around, squinting at the shiny pile in the corner of the room. It had a tarp over it, but it must have shifted and revealed it's contents. You walked over, marveling at the mass of silver weapons just lying around.

"You keep it here? Just lying around? For anyone to take?" You grabbed a gun loaded with silver bullets (which was probably the Winchester’s, now that you thought about it), and your silver knife as a token of your survival.

Now to get the hell out of here, you thought.

"That could be my catchphrase," you muttered. Your chest was still heaving, in pain and in adrenaline. What a nightmare.

You ran, biting your tongue as the motion shook your arm. But there was no time to care, and definitely no time to pity yourself.

Somewhere behind you, there were echoing footsteps.

"Cas," you said softly. Shakily. "Cas, if you're out there, please come and get me. I know we're not on the best terms… but my arm, I got a bum arm and I'm in trouble—please—"

There was no reply.

You huffed. Typical. You took one more turn through the sewers, and you saw light.

The footsteps grew louder and as did your heart. You reached for the grating, working at the screws to try and pry the thing open. It took effort though. It hurt your fingers to strain like this, twisting each screw until they clattered noisily onto the tile. You grimaced each time, taking little glances to see if the footsteps matched a shadow.

As you worked on the last screw, you watched you—not actually you, shapeshifter-you—march your way. It was like looking into a fun house mirror. Except not so fun.

You pushed the grating away, shoving your frame through the entry. You rolled, struggling to get on your feet so you could run off.

A hand grabbed for your feet but you managed to stumble back, knife raised in front of you with your bad arm.

The shapeshifter crawled into the light like it was normal to walk on all fours. He mimicked your terrified look, then smirked at you. "Are we back here again? You know you'll never win." You watched as he drew closer, tensing.

When he was just five feet in front of you, you said, "No." And he paused. You whipped out the gun with your good arm, shooting him right in the chest. He floundered at first, but then crumbled into a motionless heap.

"I don't make the same mistakes twice."

The shapeshifter was dead. You stared at your face—its face—as you swayed and the world dipped with it, your mind snuffed out like a candle.

You were caught by two sturdy arms.

///

Tags: @rosaren2498 , @pillowjj , @busy-bee-angel-misska , @elle-r , @dagnylokisdottir , @omg-we-really-doo , @millieccino , @rycbar-221b

#supernatural #supernatural series #supernatural fanfiction #SPN #spn fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #castiel #slowburn? #slowburn #very very slowburn #enemies to friends to possibly lovers #enemies to friends #dean x reader #sam x reader #castiel x reader #dean x you #sam x you #castiel x you #castiel x platonic!reader #dean x platonic reader #sam x platonic reader #reader #reader insert #spn reader insert #reader x #x reader #possible love triangle?

[earth-architect]

Senior year adventures (Zuko x Oc)pt.17

“Zuko to the rescue”

 Zuko rushed in the kitchen grabbing a bottle of vodka, cranberry juice and the bottle of rosè that was hidden. He grabbed a few snacks he knew Kianna likes. With his hands full he rushed as fast as he could to Ki’s old room. Trying to navigate through the sea of drunk teenagers mad him go slower than he wanted to. He wanted to get to Kianna as fast as he could. He knew she was ok and safe, but she also doesn’t want to be alone, so the faster he got to her the better. ‘god how fast everything turned to shit’  

             He finally got passed the living room, making his way towards the bedroom. He could walk faster now that there was barely anyone on this side of the house. As he got closer and closer the more nervous, he got. He realized he still didn’t know Kianna that well, at least not as well as her friends do.  ever since he met her, he felt like he's known her for forever but that feeling came crashing down tonight. He walked up to the door and knocked. He sworn he stopped breathing when Kianna opened the door and he saw her face. She had been crying, that much was obvious. Her hair was slightly messed up and her cheeks were flushed. He pushed himself in the room, guiding her out of the way, and closed the door behind him. She watched him as he set the drinks and snacks, he had in his hand on her old desk.

        “do you want to change clothes” he asked her. She nods her head and moves slowly to the dresser pulling out clothes for both of them to change into. She hands Zuko clothes and silently asks for help unzipping her dress. She seemed not to care if Zuko sees her without a bra on but Zuko still wants to respect her privacy and made himself busy with changing his own clothes.

        Ki was done changing her clothes first, only wearing one of Zuko's shirts that she somehow stole. Zuko watches her as she grabs the bottle of rosè and a bag of chips. She walks over to the bed and climbs under the covers leaving room for Zuko to sit next to her. He gets under the covers as he watches her drown half the bottle or wine.  

       “do you want to talk about it” he's afraid to ask but he needs to put his issues aside for her. He needs to do everything he can for her.

       “it's just jet, I know he was just trying to set me off and I fell for it” she doesn’t look him in the eye, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Zuko.

        “what did he even say to you?”

      “he apologized to me for being a shit boyfriend and then had the audacity to say I needed to be careful around you!!! Something about your ex saying your bad news,” Zuko straighten his back at that comment,” and when I defended you, he said I was letting you walk all over me like I let him. And I get it, I let him ruin my life, but I've learned and grown and I'm not letting anyone control me. Ever"  

      Zuko didn’t know what to say. Jet may right about one thing, he did have skeletons in the closet, but was he also trying to control her. He couldn’t help but think back to earlier tonight when she was posing for her picture. ‘god maybe I am controlling’

“maybe he was right” Kianna looks at him surprised

“no Zuko your nothing like him, your completely-”

    “no, I mean I am bad news, at least I was,” he took a deep breath “I said I wanted you to know everything about me so I'm keeping my word.” he shifted so he was completely facing her”

    “before my uncle helped me get away from my Father and my father getting caught with the illegal stuff he was doing, I was working for him. He had hired me to help around here and there, which I was so happy because for so long he acted like I didn’t exist for so long and he finally paid attention to me.” Zuko took a swig of the rosè, alcohol is going to be his best friend right now.

     “for a while I was meeting clients doing a little work in marketing and accounting, but then father asked me to start doing small visits to our clients, which turned into me threatening, I had to pay a visit to a client who didn’t pay or sign an agreement and threaten them until they do. Every time I had to do it, I struggled, I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I had finally gotten the love I craved for from my father. For a while I was stuck.”

    “at the time I was dating a girl Azula and I grew up with, Mai, she would be my escape from everything that was going on even though I couldn’t tell her what was happening. Her uncle was in business with my father, and one day he  refused to sign a contract that would legally bind him to my father forever, I had to do my ‘convincing’, but he still refused. So, father told me to go after Mai. I refused immediately, and he scared my face as punishment, and sent someone after Mai anyway. Mai found out everything I was doing with my father, she even told the police, I went to jail for a couple of days until I was released because my father had the evidence buried. After I got out, I tried to contact Mai, tell her I was done with my father and I wanted him to pay for what he has done, but she got a restraining order on me. So, I called my uncle, and a month later Azula and I moved to a safe house while my uncle used the evidence I collected and what I witnessed to bring my father down”

    Zuko had his head down during his whole confession, but when he finished, he dared himself to look up. Kianna had tears in her eyes, slowly spilling over. For a while they looked at each other until Kianna reached for his face and wiped the tears he didn’t realize had on his cheek.  

    “you are not bad news Zuko, yes you did something bad, but you worked to fix your wrongs and you did the right thing”

    “I just wish I could apologize to Mai she didn’t deserve any of that. Maybe I'm more like jet then you think”

    “Zuko no!” Zuko moves away from Kianna but she keeps her hand on his arm so he wouldn’t move.” jet was manipulative, and he made me feel like I could trust only him, if you were like that, I would be with you”

   Zuko still had his hand turned away, he knew deep down that she was right, he hoped she was right. Kianna softly puts her hand on his cheek, guiding him to look at her.

    “I know you think that you were being controlling earlier today” he thumbs stoking his cheek relaxes him, “but I understand what you meant. Our relationship is new, we have to learn each other's boundaries, learn what I mean to be together”

    “your right,” he smiles softly “I came here to comfort you but now your comforting me”

    Kianna laughs lightly, the clock on her desk catches her eye, “its midnight.” she says. Zuko brings her face towards his, giving her a soft kiss.

    “happy new year's.” the two stayed up, talking, drinking, and eating until the early morning.  

a/n: ok so my life has literally gone stupid crazy since my last update. i had to come home to vote cause i never got my ballot which is crazy and my classes are online and my teachers decided to give us so much work for no reason and i had to get a new phone and a new laptop in the same week. so I’m a little frazzled but I’m working now to update today, tomorrow and hopefully Thursday. 

tag list: @fanficflaneuse @snickerdoodleeee @welovediaaxx @firedancer016 @pyromanicschizophrenic @rememberitlater

#atla zuko #atla x reader #avatar the last airbender #zuko x oc #Zuko #zuko smau #highschool au #atla x oc #atla smau

[zoxiqwritesstuff]

This fic is dedicated to the amazingly talented @elisaphoenix13 and her aeesome Mama bear AU that inspired this fic. Go check out her work on here and AO3!!

========

Looped Nightmare

Chapter 1: Was it all a dream?

Tony woke up as he jolted up from his slumber, panting lightly. His forehead was damp with a cold sweat as he ran a hand down his face, trying to calm himself from the nightmare he had just woken up from. He grabbed his glasses on the table next to the bed, sliding them on as the iv tube hit his face. Tony batted the tube away before his chocolate eyes went wide at his surroundings. 

"What the hell…" Tony questioned as he saw he was in the medical bay. " Friday, tell mama bear this is a little extreme for falling out of bed."

Friday was silent for once. 

"Friday? Oh don't tell me he's still mad about the bath bomb…  i said i was sorr…" Tony rambled as he tried to get out of bed, his legs failing him as he crumbled to the floor.

Steve had been passing by just asTony had collapsed to the floor, the super soldier rushing forward and helping the billionaire into a nearby wheelchair. Tony's face grew even more confused at his weakness. He had felt fine just last night when he had crawled into bed with Stephen. He hadn't felt like this since he was rescued from space after…

"You've been out for a week Tony." Steve stated softly. 

"Where are the girls? Stephen? The boys? Is everyone ok?!" Tony asked hurriedly as he looked up at the super soldier. 

"Cassie and Diana are fine… but I'm sorry Tony…" Steve sighed sadly as he walked behind the engineer, pushing the wheelchair. "Stephen, Harley, and Peter were…"

"Were what?! Where's Val? You forgot her! Were we attacked while i was asleep?!" Tony was letting the panic fill him completely at what he was hearing. 

Then things started to click. Space, everyone missing… It was just like after the snap. Was everything he remembered just a dream during his comatose state? 

No.

It couldn't be. This had to still be some sick dream he was stuck in. They defeated Thanos… he snapped again. The engineer was wheeled over to a table with the few remaining Avengers, the pictures of those lost to the snap projected up from the holotable.

Chocolate eyes widen when he sees Peter and Stephen's pictures flash across the screen. He grabbed what he thought was his damaged arm,  his brows furrowing when there was no charred flesh under his touch. 

Had him snapping all been a dream in his coma? 

His eyes focused off into the distance as the other's talked in the background.  Something was wrong.  He could feel it in his gut and would try to prove it.  

*****

Tony sat in the living room of the lake house, staring at the Starkpad in his hand. It was getting harder and harder to tell if what was happening around him was real. He got hungry and needed sleep, which meant it wasn't a dream. Maybe it was an alternate dimension? Or some spatial anomaly?

Either way, he knew he would get his family back. 

Cassie watched from the kitchen where she was feeding Diana some baby food from a jar. The billionaire had her worried. Maybe he was still in shock from the snap? She knew that she hadn't quite gotten a grip on what had happened. At least she didn't have it as bad as Tony, who actually had both Stephen and Peter turn to dust in his arms.  

She finished feeding Diana, wiping her face with a diaper wipe to remove any blueberries that had decided to stay on her cheeks before carrying her back to the living room.  The child set the baby in the swing before climbing up onto the couch next to Tony. 

"Uncle Tony? Can we watch cartoons?" Cassie asked softly, looking up at the distracted man. 

"Huh? Oh yeah… FRI? Put on whatever Miss Sass wants." Tony muttered as he kept scrolling through the articles that littered the screen. 

Each and every one of them was dated 2018, part of Tony wanting to believe that were true even though there was a much louder voice in his head yelling at him to wake up. Even his conscience sounded like his last husband.  He rubs his eyes and sighs as he sets the device in the coffee table before him. Cassie pats his leg gently. 

"It's ok Uncle Tony." Cassie said softly, the billionaire not missing the sorrow that laced her young voice. "I miss my daddy too." 

Tony pulled Cassie into a hug, hoping to soothe the still grieving girl beside him. "Me too Cass… me...too.."

Tony's brain began whirling with ideas.  

Scott. 

Scott…

"SCOTT!" Tony hadn't realized he yelled the man's name as his hands darted for the Starkpad again. 

Scott had solved the answer in how to get everyone back before. If Tony could find him again and bring him back,  maybe then he could prove he wasn't crazy.  Maybe he could get his family back. 

Cassie turned her attention away from the cartoons on the television to watch Tony. She knew the last time she saw her father, he was helping Mr. Pym and Hope to collect some particles or something like that. 

He was one of the victims of the snap.  

"Uncle Tony… daddy is gone too." She muttered softly as she reached to pull his hand away from the Starkpad. 

"Cassie. I promise I'm not crazy but… I've already been through this before. " Tony explained. "Your dad wasn't snapped.  He's trapped in the quantum realm and if I can find him, then he can help get everyone else ba…" 

The man turned and saw the tears filling large hazel eyes just before Cassie got up. The child ran to her room and shut her door behind her.  Tony sighs softly as he holds his head in his hands, looking over at his baby daughter in her swing.  

"I promise daddy isn't crazy." The billionaire mutters to her as he moves to put her pacifier back into her mouth.  "Maybe I should let time take its course. I know Stephen would say it's wrong to mess with a time stream."

He could wait. He had done it before and he could do it again. Tony knew exactly how to fix this,  but he needed everything to happen in the exact order as it did last time. 

That night, Tony lied awake in his bed as he stared at the ceiling with his tired chocolate eyes. He thought it was hard to sleep when Stephen was dimension hopping, but now it was nearly impossible. The billionaire sighed as he rolled over onto his side and stared at the spot where his husband would have been, his heart aching as his fingers reached over and clutched the sheets. 

"I'll get you back tesoro." Tony promised softly. "You and our whole family."

After a few more hours of tossing and turning, the billionaire finally fell asleep. If only it were a peaceful sleep. Tony was caught in a dream. 

Tony looked around the sandy terrain littered with the ruins of the alien civilization that used to occupy Titan. He slowly stood from where he had been seated in the sand, his hand instinctively reaching to tap the nanotech housing unit.  Two weights shot out and attached themselves to his wrist, drawing Tony's immediate attention to what was attacking him. 

He couldn't believe his eyes.  

Stephen and Peter were hanging on his wrists, their fingers clawing at his sleeves. Tony couldn't take his eyes off of the betrayed expression they had on their face. 

"You failed." Stephen's voice rang out as he suddenly vanished. 

"I...I tried… i…" Tony stuttered as he saw Peter vanish as well. 

"You didn't try hard enough." Peter's voice bit out as wind began to whip around Tony.  

He tried to push on through the brewing sandstorm. He had to get to his family. 

"I tried everything!" Tony shouted over the howling wind. 

"You can't… we had one chance… and you ruined it." Stephen's voice hissed in his hair. "You let us die." 

"NO! I DIDN'T!" The billionaire exclaims. 

"I told you to run. We would have been safe on earth." The ghostly form of Stephen and Peter appear before Tony.  "If you had listened to us instead of your ego,our family would be whole. We wouldn't have turned to dust!"

Tony fell to his knees as tears welled up in his eyes,  his hands trembling as he gripped the sand beneath him. He had tried everything to save his family that day. After having Thanos in his head since the Chitauri invasion, he thought the only way to stop Thanos was to take the battle to him. He wished he could undo everything from that dreadful day. 

"...ony...Tony…" Stephen's voice called softly. 

Tony went to answer the gentle voice, but he couldn't as a sudden pain coursed through his chest. He cried out in pain as he fell to the sand, clutching his chest. He tried to breathe, to catch his breath but another pain coursed through his chest. It was like he was being electrocuted by invisible lightning. 

"Tony! Wake up!" Stephen's voice cried out as the ghostly versions of him and Peter faded. "Tony!!" 

Tony jolted awake with a startled gasp, clutching his chest as he panted heavily.  His hair was drenched from sweat as he pushed it away from his forehead.  

What the actual hell was that?

#fanfic #mamabearau #stephen strange #tony stark #cassie lang #diana stark-strange (female oc) #peter parker

[the-star-knight]

Tales of A Star

Tales of A Star

Summary: A retelling of the show through Star’s eyes

Chapter 4 - Queen For A Day

Word Count: 3,147

Author’s Note: Sorry this took a while. I wasn’t motivated to write lately. It's the writer's struggle.

◀︎Previous Chapter || Next Chapter ▶︎

Today is the last day before Rapunzel takes over as acting queen. 

I walked past the throne room on my way to help my mom with cleaning the bedrooms of the royal family. I couldn’t help but take a peek in the throne room.

Rapunzel sat next to her father in the throne room observing him while he was having a royal hearing with the citizens of corona. 

Then I saw Varian’s father, Quirin, approach the king.

“Hey,” I heard a voice behind me.

“Ah!” I yelped. I turned around and to my relief I saw Varian there.

“Oh, hey there. What are you and your dad doing here?” I asked him.

“We came here to ask for help from the King, things in Old Corona aren’t getting better.”

Quirin began to speak to the King and we peeked behind the door. 

We overheard what Quirin said, apparently Varian’s and Quirin’s story don’t match up.

“What?” Varian whispered. 

Quirin asked for more land since Old Corona had such a fruitful harvest. The king granted his request.

Quirin began to walk towards our direction. I began to panic and I hid behind the door, I knew this was gonna be messy.

"Star? W-where are you going?" Varian asked.

His dad came closer and Varian stopped his father. Varian started telling him why he lied in front of the king.

"That is enough Varian!" Quirin said sternly.

Varian froze.

"Yes, sir…" he looked down. 

Ouch.

Quirin walked away and Rapunzel came through the doors. I got out of my hiding place.

"My dad lied. Things in Old Corona are getting worse…"

"How much?" Rapunzel asked.

He looked away and paused for a moment, "A lot worse…"

This is bad. Real bad.

"Give me until my dad comes back," Rapunzel said. "We're in this together, I promise."

"Don’t worry, we'll figure this out," I tried to sound optimistic but i wasn't convincing myself.

Today the King and Queen are off to travel for two days for their anniversary. Rapunzel would remain in charge for those two days. As soon as the king and queen left mayhem broke all over the castle. The Pub Thugs crash into the castle.

I watched from a ways away what was going down. When people got word that the princess was going to be the one having the hearing, more people in the kingdom conveniently decided to show up. I guess since people have this perception that since Rapunzel is new to this and that she is very generous, she might give them whatever they requested.

It was frustrating watching Rapunzel having to solve issues that adults should be able to resolve themselves. Some issues can definitely be taken to the royal hearing, like the cat and rat infestation in the town square. But there were other issues that could be resolved without a royal hearing. 

Later, the weather began to change as the wind blew with cold air and snow began to fall lightly. I went home to grab my jacket and earmuffs.

Rapunzel came out of the terrace with a winter coat. She announced today as a snow day. I mean we can see that.

Eugene wasn't fond of the snow. I've heard him complain about the snow more times than I would like to hear. Cassandra teases him about it which honestly doesn’t surprise me.

We played in the snow for a while. My sisters and I threw snowballs at each other and made snow angels. You know, typical fun stuff to do in the snow.

"Mariana!" Maribel called. "It's the perfect time to get hot cocoa! Let's tell mom to make some."

"Yeah! Love hot cocoa! Come on!" Mariana grabbed Maribel's arm and dragged her home.

It was getting dark. I'm glad my sisters went back home.

"Have you ever seen so much snow?" Rapunzel gleamed. 

"Once." Xavier responded to Rapunzel’s rhetorical question with seriousness. 

Xavier was near a fire. Rapunzel, Eugene, and some other people gathered around his fire.

He told us about the legend of Zhan Tiri, a demon that cursed Corona with a storm strong enough to nearly destroy it. Just the name alone was enough to send chills down my back.

Suddenly, the weather became harsher. The wind started to blow furiously and the snow began to fall even heavier.

A gust of wind blew out Xavier's fire. 

I guess that's our cue to go.

"Everyone inside!" Rapunzel ordered.

I couldn't agree more.

A horse neigh came from a distance. Slowly, Maximus came out of the darkness, without the carriage of the King and Queen.

The Captain took a look and concluded that there was an accident. 

The look on Rapunzel’s face was heartbreaking.

I'm glad my sisters and my parents are at home before the storm got stronger. I stayed in the castle near the fireplace. Several other people that weren't able to go home stayed in the castle as well. 

I stared at the fire burning in the fireplace. I watched the bright red embers float up and disappeared into the air. I felt its warmth. Ironically, I didn't feel warm. I was worried. The story that Xavier had told us kept lingering in my head. Could it be the curse? Has Zhan Tiri really had it that bad for Corona? 

No.

That couldn’t be. Demons don't exist, right? Much less curses. Corona won't be entirely buried in snow. Right? 

No matter how many times I logic through it, I can't shake off the feeling of something bad.

I could hear the wind howling outside, which is in it as itself is already bad enough, but the wind blew with such fierce that it blew the windows wide open. Rapunzel quickly shut and locked the window. I’ve never seen her in such a deeply distraught state. She kept forcing a smile when tending to the people that weren’t able to get to their home before the storm worsened. 

She talked to Nigel about going after her parents, but Nigel knew that it was too dangerous. Eugene and the Pub Thugs offered to rescue her parents. It was painful to watch Eugene and Rapunzel say goodbye to each other.

I couldn’t help but to think of my family. I hoped they were okay. Don’t worry, they are at home probably near a fireplace all nice and warm. Heck, they probably even have hot cocoa too.

At least I didn't have it as bad as Rapunzel. Rapunzel has a lot on her shoulders. She has to decide whether we should evacuate everyone to the mainland to seek shelter if this storm gets worse. Cassandra tried to comfort her. 

Cassandra's owl came through the window. Apparently the worst of the storm has yet to hit. If this storm wasn't bad enough we have a lot more coming. 

Again, Nigel strongly recommended for Rapunzel to evacuate everyone to the mainland since the island could be entirely buried in snow. If this is true then I better warn my parents.

"What about Xavier?" Rapunzel asked.

Xavier and his story about a machine that was able to drive the storm out of Corona. 

Nigel thought that idea was absurd, which I do agree with. It's just a legend right? Then again this storm seems to be just as strong as the legend says.

"Princess Rapunzel!" Varian suddenly bursted in the room. The guards tried to stop but he slipped right through them. 

Varian needed help with his dad. He's in danger. 

"It's okay, Varian, whatever it is we'll try to help you," I tried to calm him, he was pretty shaken up.

"Star!" Another person busted in the room. 

He was a neighbor of ours, he came in out of breath. "Star! Your family!" He finally managed to say between breaths.

My heart dropped. "What happened?!"

"The roof...collapsed...your family is stuck inside! Come quickly!"

I looked around the room. Varian was still talking desperately with Rapunzel. I felt bad for leaving with all these issues surging up.

I walked towards Varian and Rapunzel. "I have to go. My family needs me. I'll try to help you guys soon as I know my family is safe." 

Rapunzel nodded and Varian still looked worried. 

I left the room with a heavy heart.

The ice cold wind whipped my face. The snow was falling so hard I couldn't see too far ahead of me. The snow felt like needles hitting my skin.

My neighbor told me that the snow was too much and the roof collapsed. Only my dad got hurt by protecting my mom and sisters. He also told me that my dad shooed off the guards when they tried to help them because he had everything ‘under control’ and that the guards had ‘other more important things to do’ since he thought they weren’t in immediate danger. I would like to beg to differ. 

My neighbor and I were stopped by a royal guard. "Halt! The princess has ordered for everyone in Corona to be evacuated to the mainland!"

Guess Rapunzel made her decision, I thought

My neighbor turned to me and I knew what he was going to say. "I'm sorry but I need to make sure my family is safe," he said remorsefully.

"It's okay. I understand. I think I can manage it from here." I put my hand on my chest where my necklace is. I think I could get them out since I have a sword made of magic. "Thank you, though." 

I continued to run off into the storm hoping that my family is okay. 

I ran up to my house. The roof has collapsed in front of the door. I ran to the backdoor. The door was completely buried in snow. 

"Mom? Dad?" I called.

"Estrella?" I could barely hear my mom through the giant pile of snow. 

I tried digging to find the door handle, but I stuck my whole arm in and couldn't feel for it anywhere.

"Shovel. I need a shovel," I said to myself. I ran to the stables where we kept some shovels. 

On my way to the stables, I saw less and less people. They were packing up whatever they could. They were being evacuated. 

When I entered the stables, I immediately went rummaging through the tools we had stored. 

I didn't find a single one. Of course there wouldn't be any. All of Corona is buried in snow. Everyone probably took every single shovel in the entire kingdom.

I ran to the shed where we kept the bags of oats and hay bales to see if there were any shovels left. Of course there weren't any. 

"Mom! Dad!" I yelled as I ran back home. "There aren't any shovels! All of Corona is being evacuated! I'm going to get you out of there!"

"Are you sure, Star?" I heard my mom ask through the door.

"Yeah," I said hesitantly.

I looked around me. It was dark and cold. I couldn’t feel my nose. My hands were gonna go next. 

“Someone! Please help me! My family is trapped here!”

The only response I got was the howling wind. It was empty, not a single person in sight. Everyone around me was able to manage to evacuate safely with their families. The snow swirled all around me. As far as I can see, I was alone in the dark storm.

“I’m sorry,” I began to break into tears. “I’m sorry! I can’t!”

I pulled out my necklace. I remembered the last time I tried to summon my sword. "Come on, don't fail me this time." I muttered.

 I cleared my throat and said, "Starlight, star bright, I wish for the power for me to fight."

To my disappointment, nothing happened.

"Come on, you can't do this. Not again." I muttered. I said the incantation one, twice, three times...nothing.

"Please, what do you want me to do?! I don’t understand!" I yelled desperately. I was frustrated with this stupid necklace. One moment I'm in my armor when I don't want to, the next moment when I do want to transform, I can’t. I don't know what I'm missing.

"Argh!" I screamed into the wind. I threw my necklace into the snow.

I knelt down into the snow.  I looked around me. Empty.

This part of Corona managed to evacuate safely.

“Someone! Please!” I yelled into the wind. I could hear my own voice drowning. “I can’t do this alone!”

I've never felt so alone before…

"Star?" I was able to hear my mom call me before it was drowned into the wind. "What are you doing?" She sounded concerned.

"I'm sorry, mom. I thought I could do this, but I can't! I'm sorry for letting you down."

“No, Estrella. I know you’re trying to help and that you are doing your best. We’ll find a way.”

I looked down on the ground and I sharply inhaled.

I stuck my arm into the snow and dug through trying to find my necklace. No, I’m not gonna give up.

I dug and dug, finally, I found the necklace. I brushed off the snow and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Starlight, star bright, I wish—no," I stopped and tried to look for words that fit. "I order, I command, I summon, the power for me to fight."

Then I felt a connection from the necklace. It started to glow and with a flash of light I was in my armor. “Oh thank goodness,” I muttered. 

I was able to summon my sword and ran towards the front door. Still blocked by snow, I thought. I ran to the side of the house. The window was covered in fog. I wiped away the fog, I looked inside. My mom put on a blanket over my sisters. My dad was wearing a cloth wrapped around his arm. Behind them there was debris, broken furniture, and pieces of wooden plank from the house.

I knocked on the window. "Mom! Dad! Back away from the window!"

I saw them move back.

I swung my sword at the window, cracks began to appear in the glass. The latch on the window began to fall. I slashed again and the window finally bust open. 

"Mom! Dad!" I entered through the window.

"Estrella!" My mom cried. "What are you wearing—you know what? Nevermind. Here take your sisters first. I'll help your dad."

I picked up my sisters. They were cold and shivering. "Come on, you better hold on."

Marianna cleaned off her nose, "W-we didn’t get t-to drink hot cocoa yet." She managed to say through her chattering teeth.

"Don't worry once I get you out of here, I'll make sure you get some."

I carried them out the window.

I went back to see that my dad's arm was pretty hurt.

The walls began to creak around us. 

“Mom, hurry outside before this building goes down!” I grabbed my dad’s arm and helped him up.

“No, I’m helping you with your father,” she went to my dad’s other side and help him up as well. 

Creak!

“We better hurry up!” I said.

“Mija, what are you wearing?” he pointed out my armor.

“No time to explain, dad.” 

My mom helped him go through the window. The building began to creak more and more. 

My mom fell into the snow and so did my dad. I heard the wooden frame of the building breaking behind me. I jumped through the window and into the snow.

BOOM!

I looked behind me horrified.

Our home collapsed within itself. The broken wooden frame of the house poked out everywhere from the snow.

"Our house…" Mariana whispered sadly.

My mom went over to hug her, "The important thing is that we are all okay."

I looked up at the sky. The gray clouds were clearing out. The snow was no longer falling heavily. I smiled and sighed in relief.

My family went back to the castle. It was the only place that we could really go. Rapunzel said we were welcome to stay as long as we needed. She even mentioned how she actually found the Demanitus machine that was able to stop the storm. I would be doubtful but after all that happened I was not going to question it.

As the weather became warmer and cold air lifted, the snow began to melt throughout the kingdom. I no longer needed to wear my jacket and headed out of the castle where Rapunzel waited anxiously for her parents and Eugene to come back.

“They’ll make it, Rapunzel.” I tried to comfort her. “The storm is over thanks to you.”

Rapunzel sighed. “Thanks. It’s what I had to do as acting Queen.”

We continued to look onward and we saw small figures coming closer. It was the King, Queen and the rest of the gang. 

Rapunzel smiled and ran to hug Eugene and her parents. 

I smiled. They were back together. A family.

Varian!

Oh my gosh! Varian! He needed help. I felt my stomach turn into a knot. I ran towards the stables and got on Luna as fast as I could. 

We galloped towards the bridge that connected to the mainland, but a guard stopped us.

“Hold it!” he said and we came to a full stop. “No one is allowed to cross the bridge as time.”

“We can’t stop! We have to cross the bridge!”

“Sorry, but the storm caused an explosion that destroyed the bridge. We have strict orders that no authorized personnel can cross the bridge.”

“What?” I panicked. “No, no, no. You have to let me cross.” I jumped off Luna. “Please you have to let me cross the bridge! I need to see someone! Please!” I walked toward the bridge but the guard stopped me before I could get too far. 

He got on one knee to get to my eye level. I hate it when people do that, It always reminded me how short I was when they wanted to talk to me. 

“Look kid, I understand that you want to see someone you care about. We all do. I’m only doing my job. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

I sighed. “I understand.” I didn’t want to make this harder but I can’t let Varian down like this. 

“Do you know how long it will take for the bridge to be fixed?” 

“Hard to say,” he stood up. “Days, if everything goes to plan. Maybe weeks?”

“Weeks?” I squealed out. “I can’t wait that long.”

“Don’t worry. The sooner everyone cooperates, the sooner this bridge gets fixed.”

I went up on Luna and looked outward towards the rest of the kingdom. There was still a good amount of snow everywhere. I couldn’t see Old Corona from here. “I’m sorry, Varian…”  I whispered. Luna and I headed back to the castle.

#tangled the series #tangled fanfiction #tangled the series fanfiction #tangled oc #my writing #tts oc #rta oc #tts #rta #tales of a star #the star knight au #my ocs

[rora-s]

The Derivative  Chapter 2: Shots

Chapter 1<- 

I stared across the darkened classroom at my blinders. They were perched in captivity on my history teachers desk. Stolen away from me and promised release upon the end of class today. The teacher himself was blathering on about something that I didn’t find important about how history continues on today. It seemed rather a redundant point to make. Of course we were living history I mean at one point every person we learn about in history had been in their present time.

There was movement in the corner of my vision and I turned to see Mr. Hopkins had turned on the tv in the room. “...let’s see what’s on the news nowadays as an example.” after flipping past a couple static filled channels Hopkins finally found the news station he was looking for.

I was about to turn back to my thoughts when I caught what the reporter was saying “This is a live breaking report from the channel 8 news. Flying over Central Los Angeles Savings Bank. I can see multiple people lying on the ground. One appears to be a federal agent several bystanders also seemed to have been injured in the crossfire, where the shoot out between federal agents and suspected bank robbers is in progress...”

I felt like ice water had just been pumped through my veins. I froze completely in shock. I remembered back to just the other night when Don had asked Charlie for help tracking bank robbers. Could it be the same robbers? Could Don be in the shootout? Was he injured? The class continued to watch through a car explosion and more gun fire and more cops arriving. Even into the aftermath.

“I’m receiving confirmation that three people were killed in his tragic incident one of which being an FBI agent. ” The bell rang and Hopkins turned off the tv. Seeming only to have been half listening. Most of the students in the class only seemed to be half listening.

I however was shaking. I was terrified. What if it was Don? What if he was dead? Shot down in front of a bank. I swallowed the lump in my throat rising from my desk with the rest of my classmates. I sweeped by the teacher’s desk and rescued my blinders before heading into the hallway.

My next class didn’t seem at all important as I ducked into the bathroom and locked myself in a stall. I pulled out my phone and speed dialed my father’s number. He didn’t pick up. I tried again. More of the same. I tried Alan; he didn’t answer either nor did Charlie. I repeated Don, Alan, Charlie. No one would pick up their phone. After hearing my father’s voice mail for the fifth time. I pocketed my cell and grabbed my backpack.

The hallway was clear as the final class of the day had already started. I headed straight for the exit. I was going to catch a bus to Alan’s house and get some answers. I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

“Abby Calvin” the voice spoke. I turned to see none other than the school principal smiling down on me with a fake grin. “Skipping class are we?”

“Sir I was-”

He held up a hand “this is the third time in the last two weeks you’ve skipped a class. It’s not happening again, come on” he led me to the office.

The rest of my time at school was taken up by me being talked at by the principal. I tried to explain what was happening multiple times. He wouldn’t hear it and I was given a note for Don to read when I got home. My stomach churned as I imagined him shot to death in front of a bank. I quickly banned the image and beat my imagination into submission.

I tried each of the men I called family again twice on the bus before I was let off at the apartment building. I hurried up to my and Don’s apartment and let myself in. I threw my backpack on the couch and turned on the news grasping for any information that it might tell me.

As I sat watching the various unrelated news streams and casters talking about things I could care less about. I felt a sharp pain hit my head like a rock and with a blink I suddenly wasn’t sitting on the couch in Don’s living room.

I was crouched by a fire. I could hear the rain. People were talking all around me, there was music, laughing. Then there were shots. They echoed loudly in-

I stood and shook my head like it was wet. Pushing away the intrusive memory. I grabbed my binders out of my pocket putting them on and taking multiple deep breaths to try and calm down. I didn’t want to think about that. I didn’t want to think about her.

_________________ 3rd POV.

Don sighed sitting down on his desk and pinching the bridge of his nose. Tonight was not going well for him. His arm hurt and his head hurt. Worse he had just gotten back from talking to Agent McKnight's parents at their hotel. Nothing hurt worse than the look on McKnight’s mother's face when he told her what happened.

“I should be looking at mugshots, right?” Don voiced to Terry who was at her own desk nearby.

“Did you get a good look?” she inquired.

“Yeah, definitely” the man muttered in reply. Just then his phone rang. He pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID. It was Abby he was about to answer it.

“Agent Eppes.” Don turned to see the forensic scientist had appeared nearby. “That piece of evidence you found at the scene. We know what it is”

“Excellent” he told her and glanced back at his phone declining the call from his daughter and making a note to call her back once he got a chance. Then him and Terry followed the scientist down to her lab. ________________________ Don reached the door to his apartment and began digging for his keys with a sigh. This case had taken a major turn and it was really late. He wasn’t here to rest though he was here to pick up Abby and take her to his father’s house. Alan could watch over her while Don worked late at the office on this case. As he turned the knob of the door he grimaced at the shot of pain his arm gave him. Then he entered his apartment and heard the immediate stomping of feet running to the door.

“What the hell were you thinking!?”

It took the FBI agent a moment to register the unexpected outburst to be coming from his daughter. “What?” he asked, confused.

“You were getting shot at!” Abby yelled walking up to him. “It was all over the news! An agent was shot and another was dead and I didn’t know who was who because you wouldn’t pick up your goddamn cell phone!” she yelled.

Don thought back to all the times he had dismissed her calls that day. He hadn’t thought anything about it at the time. However now he realized how stupid it had been not to let her know he was alright. “I’m sorry Abby I-”

“You could have been dead for all I knew!” she cut him off “and where would that have left me? Huh?” Her voice broke.

“Abby I risk my life everyday” Don explained trying to keep his voice level and calming.

“I know but you can’t just act like I’m supposed to be okay with it or just leave me in the dark to suffer you unbelievable jerk” she shoved him harshly in her anger.

“Abby. Abby. Abby!” Don tried to get her attention to make her calm down as she whacked at his chest and struggled against him in anger.

“I already lost my mom, I can’t lose you to Dad!”

Both parties froze at her last outburst. The anger in Abby’s face faded as she realized what she had said. “You just called me Dad” Don muttered.

“No no I said Don” Abby objected.

“No you said Dad” Don countered a small smile threatening his face. Despite the circumstance it was the first time she had ever called him that.

“No I said Don” the girl muttered.

“You called me Dad” Don let off a light chuckle.

“Oh shut up you stupid sperm donor” Abby grumbled as he pulled her into a hug.

“Are you done yelling now?” he inquired. Abby nodded into his chest. “Then listen cause the truth is I’m sorry I should have told you I was alright rather than just leaving you in the dark. I just- I’m still figuring out this father thing alright. We both are and I’m sorry but risking my life and possibly getting shot at is my job” Abby squeezed him tighter “but I will make this promise to you though. For every moment I am alive I will be fighting to make it back here to you. Alright?”

“Alright” Abby nodded as they stepped apart. “Donald”

Don sighed “Dad things not staying huh?”

“I wouldn’t bet on it” Abby replied with a smirk that mirrored her fathers.

“And here I was actually liking the idea of being called Dad” Don murmured. They both chuckled lightly. _______________________ Abby POV.

Me and Don pulled up outside Gramp's house and loaded out of the truck. Alan came out to meet us near immediately with a look of concern clear on his face. “Donnie, you all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. It’s fine- ow! Ow!” he exclaimed as his father touched his injured arm. “Look it’s just, my arm’s a little sore.” he addressed the blatant concern on Alan’s face. “I got a- a scrape during an incident.”

I rolled my eyes at the lame excuse coming over to their side of the driveway. “A scrape? From what?”

“Well, a bullet, if you have to know” Don muttered with a sarcasm very much like my own.

“A bullet oh my g-” Alan exclaimed immediately.

Don quickly spoke over him “but it’s not… dad, please listen to me, okay?Just relax. We had an arrest go bad, and we lost an agent, okay? And three people died”

“It was all over the news” I added “check your voicemail I left messages”

“My word” gramps breathed out in shock.

“Now I’m dropping this one off and looking for Charlie. Where is he?” Don questioned.

“He’s out in the garage with Larry.” the other man informed. “He’s upset. I can see why now.”

“What’s he doing in the garage?” Don asked, confused. I had to admit I was confused as well last I heard they only used the garage for storage and laundry.

“He’s just working on that problem. You know.” Alan spoke directly to Don. “the problem he can never solve.”

“The P vs. P thing?” Don inquired.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s the one.” gramps nodded.

“Aw man” Don groaned in aggravation. I got the sense there was more going on here than I was privy to.

“Wait do you mean P vs. NP?” I looked between the two men. “The millennium prize problem?”

Neither seemed to be listening to me as Don started trucking toward the house. “Where are you going?” Alan called after him.

“I got to talk to him.” the son replied “I need a new equation”

Alan seemed as though he wanted to say more but Don had already disappeared into the house. “What’s the problem with Charlie working on P vs. NP?” I asked.

Alan sighed and looked to the ground “It’s not Charlie working on the problem that’s well the problem Abby. It’s why” I thought on it for a moment but was still not sure what he was saying. “Come on” he finally spoke up. “I’m assuming you haven’t had any kind of dinner yet” I nodded and followed my grandfather inside. ________________ 3rd POV.

Don came storming into the kitchen from talking to Charlie. It was aggravating after everything that happened with McKnight and the shootings. Charlie should be motivated to stop these guys but instead he just such down. Don was a kind of frustrated that only his little brother could make him whether it was rational or not and he knew it.

“Are you okay?” Don turned to see Abby perched sitting cross legged on the kitchen island. She was eyeing him quizzically.

“Yeah” he answered immediately “no.” he answered honestly “been better” he finally decided to go with. Abby nodded and bit her lip in a way that for half second made Don feel like he was looking in a mirror before he brushed the thought away “what are you doing in here?”

“Thinking” the girl replied honestly holding up her blinders which the man could infer she had just removed. “Gramps and your partner Terry are in the living room. She’s nice. I thanked her for the books she got me for my birthday.”

Don nodded and let out a breath feeling his irritation slowly ebbing away “yeah I’ve known Terry for a long time”

“Really?” the girl inquired.

“Yeah about ten years. We met in the academy” he explained.

“FBI academy?” she quizzed further.

“Yeah” Don nodded and a small grin came to his face “what you think I learned all this on the streets. Trial by fire style?”

Abby laughed slightly. “Well I don’t know I’ve only known a real FBI agent for the upside of a month”

Don scoffed and looked to his shoes. “Yeah”

“Is Charlie helping with this bank robbing case still?” Abby inquired, glancing toward the backdoor through which Don supposed she must have been able to hear the shouting.

“Apparently not” Don grumbled. “All he wants to do is work on the stupid P vs. P thing he’s completely shut down.”

“I can’t really blame him for being worried” she stated “and neither can you Don. You could have died and Charlie’s the one who sent you to the bank where the shooting happened.”

Don sighed and looked at his daughter quizzically “yeah I know but like I told you it’s my job to get shot at and I can’t change that. The more he helps though the less likely it is for that to happen and he just doesn’t want to help”

Abby looked like she was about to respond when the door to the kitchen opened and Terry stepped in “hey Don sorry to interrupt but we have to get back to the office.”

“Yeah coming” the man replied to his partner. Then turned to his daughter “I’ll see you later kid”

“Bye Don” the girl replied.

Don nodded and followed Terry out of the kitchen. Thinking in the back of his mind that he really wished she would have said Dad. __________________ Abby POV.

I walked slowly down the stairs of the house heading for the living room. Two books in hand that I wanted to read. I was mildly preoccupied with my own thoughts to the point that I didn’t realize Charlie had returned from the garage until I was about to turn the corner. I paused out of sight of the two men in the living room as the younger spoke.

“Dad. I’ve been working on a problem.” he explained “P vs. NP, it can’t be solved.”

“I think you knew that when you started” Alan replied wisely flipping through his paper.

“I could work on it forever, constantly pushing forward, still never reaching an end.” Charlie admitted. I bit my lip realizing I shouldn’t be listening in on this conversation however my feet wouldn’t move from the place they had planted themselves.

“You know, sometimes you want to think that things don’t end.” gramps mused “but they do.”

“When mom was sick I couldn’t stop working on it.” Charlie’s voice was breaking and I felt something clench in my chest. I had gathered enough knowledge about Margaret Eppes, my grandmother, to know she had died of cancer about a year ago. None of them really talked about it in excess. It was still fresh in their minds. Like my mom’s death and the state of mourning it procured were still fresh in mine.

“Yeah. I know.” Alan spoke to Charlie gently. “I didn’t get it. Uh, not then. And your brother sure doesn’t understand why you spent the last three months of your mother’s life working on a math problem.” I shifted on my feet listening despite my growing urge to leave “But Charlie, you mother she understood why. Because she knew how your mind worked.”

I finally pried myself off the wall and left the house. I wandered through the yard to the garage. My mom knew how my mind worked to. Even though she couldn’t think like I did she always understood why I behaved like I did. She knew what was in my head. _~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ 3rd POV.

Abby sat another book on her already read pile. Grabbing a new one from her, going to read pile. She had just opened the cover when there was a clearing of the throat from the entrance to the small nook she had claimed in the back of the library.

She looked up to see her mother standing there, arms crossed. “Busted huh?” The girl asked. 

“Uh huh” the mom responded. Removing her purse from her shoulder she sat down across from her 14 year old on the floor. “I got another call from the school. You know most moms when their kid ditches don’t check the library first.”

“But you know better” Abby commented with a smirk.

“Yeah I do kid but you still have to stop skipping school even if it is to go read books” Janice stated.

“But the classes are pointless and boring” Abby objected. “They want to either put me in the need help classes because of my spotty elementary school education or in equally boring regular courses and then are shocked when I ace it all” Abby explained adamantly. “It’s patronizing”

Janice sighed “I know I asked again about the advanced courses but they are still sticking to their plan” 

“If they’d just give me the chance I could show them” Abby muttered.

“You’re a brilliant girl Abbs one day people will see that” Janice reassured. “But you still have to go to school” Abby groaned “Hey, hey it’s not just about the school work maybe you could make some friends. You know you can’t hide in the library forever. Eventually you will run out of books. Especially at the rate you read” 

Abby nodded “yeah I know. But people are well… people” 

Janice smiled slightly “yeah they tend to be like that. What are you reading there?” 

Abby glanced down at her book. “I don’t know haven’t started it yet” 

Janice smiled “alright then you read I’m going to grab a computer and do some of my school work for my new online classes” 

“Mrs. Wiat wasn’t kidding about homework never ending was she?” Abby commented as Janice got to her feet the woman chuckled lightly with her daughter. _~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ Abby POV.

I was sitting in the garage with my blinders on just absently thinking when I heard someone else walk in. I raised up the blinders to see it was Charlie. He plopped down in the chair nearby and grabbed his laptop.

After a moment he glanced up at me “Abby’s why are you sitting on the floor?”

I shrugged “it’s comfortable”

The man wasn't interested in discussing the topic. “So your millenium problem.” I gestured to all the boards around us. “Are you going to keep working on it?”

Charlie froze in the typing he had been doing. “I don’t know but, it can wait”

“And Don can’t” I finished his thought. Charlie nodded slightly and continued on his computer. I half wanted to talk to him about my mother for some reason. As I felt he might understand. I wanted to tell him that my mom got it too. However, I didn’t want to reveal that I had overheard him earlier, nor did I want to upset him. “The numbers are easy aren’t they?” I finally voiced after a moment “easier than people anyway. Answers to questions and a solid foundation. Easy to hide in.”

“Yeah” Charlie breathed in response and looked up at me “but we can’t hide in the numbers forever can we?”

“Nope” I muttered, popping the p. We were silent for a moment with the exception of Charlie’s mouse clicking.

Then Larry, Charlie’s friend and fellow CalSci professor, entered the garage. “Well,” he voiced upon his arrival, “I was heartened to hear that you’ve shifted your focus off P vs. NP.” he meandered further into the garage “So tell me what is it that I can help you with?”

“I failed” Charlie admitted and I snapped my attention back to him. “I failed to notice something significant. These robberies display certain highly eccentric characteristics.”

“Okay” Larry murmured, taking a seat on my other side a top some stuff “well how so?”

“Many were conducted in under two minutes, but in many cases,” Charlie explained “the perpetrators remained on the premises far longer despite having the money. Why would they wait around?”

“Don’t know.” the cosmologist replied “leaving quickly would seem to be the essential strategy when fleeing a felony.”

“Or any kind of crime” I added. “It’s risky cops could show up”

“You see this game, Larry? Abby?” Charlie pivoted his computer screen to show he had been playing Minesweeper. “You have to clear mines without blowing any up. Each time you’ve cleared a square, a numerical value is revealed. That number tells you exactly how many squares containing mines are directly adjacent to the square. This allows you to predict where the next mine will be located. And then the more boxes revealed, the more accurately one can predict the location of the mines.” he finished explaining the game and then continued with its relevance “the pattern used in these bank robberies is similar to this same type of problem-solving pattern. These robbers have used the banks they’ve been robbing to tell them which ones to rob next.”

“To what end would criminals be playing Minesweeper with banks?” Larry posed the same question rattling in my brain.

“I don’t know,” Charlie admitted.

“Are they using it to find high cash sums.” I suggested.

“No the takes varied, some as low as one hundred dollars.” Charlie objected thinking.

“Well then you’ll have to gather more information on your robbers” I pointed out “see what they’re after.”

“Information” Charlie murmured then quickly stood up closing his laptop with a snap. “I have to go.” with that he had dashed from the barn.

“It seems you’ve inspired him young Abigail,” Larry sighed.

“Don’t call me Abigail please” I asked the professor “and I don’t know what I did to inspire him”

Larry made a humming noise as I got up from my seat on the floor. “Well does it matter how in the grand scheme of things really?” he asked philosophically. “Whether you meant to inspire him or not it is still the outcome” I nodded lightly in agreement. “So if not Abigail what would you prefer to be called?”

“Abby” I stated thinking it was rather obvious considering everyone else just called me Abby.

Larry let out another humming noise. “You know you are quite a unique being”

“Thanks” I murmured not sure where he was going with this.

“You have a mind such as your uncles but your traits portray your father in quite a respect for you only having known both for a month. A true statement of nature versus nurture” Larry observed “you are an enigma”

“Okay” I sighed “then call me the enigma”

Larry nodded and stood up “very well then” and with that he left the garage. I hoped he realized I wasn’t being serious. _______________ “Here you go, Pop.” Charlie called walking out of the kitchen with a bowl in his hands. “I got it.” he sat it down “now you got it.”

“Thank you,” Alan replied.

“Spoon” Charlie stated holding up the utensil.

I scoffed “I think he knows what a spoon is Uncle C”

My uncle gave me a look and messed up my hair with a small shove like gesture as he went to sit down next to me. He didn’t sit however as just then the main door opened. “Hello” my father called.

“Donnie!” Alan greeted getting to his feet. “Wow, it’s good to see you.”

“Oh, you guys ate. I’m starving” Don voiced coming into the dining room.

“Ah there’s plenty come on” Alan objected quickly.

“Yeah?” the agent clarified “did Terry call, tell you guys what happened?”

“Yeah, she said you arrested every suspect.” Charlie informed shuffling back toward the kitchen. “Only one shot fired, huh?”

“That’s impressive.” I mused “snipers are cool.” Don gave me a look as he made his way to the seat at the head of the table “sniper math is cool” I emphasized pointedly.

“One? How’d you pull that off?” Alan inquired.

“We knew roughly where’d they’d try to hit the next shipment,” Don explained as Charlie disappeared to get him some food. While I turned back to consuming mine. “And I knew they’d have an escape plan.”

“That’s very clever.” Gramps declared digging into his dinner.

“Out thinking the bad guys” I voiced “that’s got to be fun”

“Keep talking like that and someone might think you want to join the FBI” Don muttered giving me a look.

I shrugged and held up my hands in a defensive gesture “hey I don’t even know what I’m doing once I escape high school” I explained “don’t go pegging me to early”

“And I don’t think I can take two members of the family dodging bullets for a career” Alan voiced.

“Yeah well, I guess I was inspired by Mr. Heisenberg” Don continued as he went to grab a beer in the kitchen. “Just like Charlie here suggested”

“Heisenberg?” Alan gave Charlie a perplexed look. “You mean, the physicist?”

“Yeah” Don called in reply.

I chuckled lightly as Charlie took the seat next to me “Don goes to confront a bunch of crazy and armed bank robbers and your pep talk is about the movement of subatomic particles?”

“Yep” Charlie replied simply. Me and Alan exchanged an amused look. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Yes” Alan replied. “I guess it did.” There was a moment as Don joined us at the table and we all turned to our food but Alan “I’m telling you,” he began “if your mother could see you two guys now, she would be… so happy” he voiced and turned to me “and Abby. She would have loved to have known you”

I smiled lightly as the brothers exchanged a look themselves. “How are you doing on your P vs. P thing?” Don inquired after a moment.

“NP?” Charlie corrected with an amused breath.

“Sorry” Don murmured.

“I’m not pursuing it anymore.” the mathematician declared.

“No?” the agent questioned.

“I got plenty of problems to work on,” Charlie explained “ones that I think I can actually solve.”

Don nodded “Glad to hear it.” The two clinked their glasses and Alan raised his. I grabbed my glass of water as well and we all knocked glasses in the center taking a sip. As normal table conversation resumed. I found myself smiling. I was among family.

Chapter 3 -> 

#Don Eppes #Charlie Eppes #Alan Eppes #David Sinclair #Terry Lake #numb3rs #amita ramanujan #don's a dad #episode per chapter #This will be a series #also on ao3 #also on quotev #Abby Calvin

[chickensarentcheap]

Best of Me -Chapter 47

Warnings: none

Tagging: @innerpaperexpertcloud​, @alievans007​, @c-a-v-a-l-r-y​, @ocfairygodmother​

He takes the three oldest out to breakfast before school. It’s an attempt to kill two birds with one stone; spend time with them before heading to The Kimberley for four days, and to try and repair some hurt feelings. There’s still some lingering animosity  being in those little bodies; moments when they remind of him the time he’d ‘taken mommy away and kept her away forever’ and how it felt like he was ‘gone for centuries’. It’s been almost seven months since he both took the McMann job and -regrettably- gotten his wife mixed up in it. He hadn’t   realized at the time just how damaging that entire experience would be for the kids. Having both their parents away, and then sending them away with Ovi; staying in hotels and eating crappy food and travelling through four states before winding up at a stranger’s place in Oklahoma.

It had been done to protect them; keep them away from home and hopefully keep McMann’s people from finding them. But he’s never actually told them THAT. The nightmares caused by the knowledge of him going after bad guys had been bad enough. Telling them that the bad guys had been after them would have meant years...if not decades...of intensive -and costly- therapy. Ovi had tried his best to keep things calm and relaxed; attempting to convince the kids that they were on an adventure and trying to fill their days with new sights and new experiences. He’d grown up a lot in those two weeks. Suddenly responsible for four lives on top of his own; innocent little being totally dependent on him to keep them safe. But he’d come through; he’d done exactly what he’d been told to and had come back with everyone happy (relatively), healthy, and unscathed.

But despite Tyler's best intentions and efforts, it had negatively affected them. Especially HIS prolonged absence.  Things weren’t magically better the moment they were reunited in the driveway at their old place in Colorado. Even with all the hugs and kisses and the tears of relief and happiness, the kids had been angry. Furious that he’d had the nerve to not only take their mother away from them, but that he’d stayed away for an uncharacteristically long time. For two weeks they all refused to sleep in their own rooms; five bodies all shoved into the queen sized bed in the master. They’d alternate nights when it came to bad dreams; no evening passing without one waking up kicking and screaming and sometimes wetting the bed or throwing up. Night terrors that consisted of the ‘bad guys’ coming to the house and either kidnapping them or doing horrible things to their mom and dad in front of them.

Once they moved to Australia things began to calm down. In the kids’ minds they were on the ‘other side of the world’, which put them far enough away from the guys that it may as well have been in another universe. And once the initial hostility of being uprooted from the old house and their old lives wore off, they had begun to thrive. Happier in their new home and in their new country.

He herds them into a smaller family restaurant in the downtown core; the fingers of one hand hooked in the back of both boys’ t-shirts, a hand on the back of Millie’s head.  Always keeping them within a couple inches of him and his eyes constantly surveilling everything around them. Aware of every car that passes by or door that slams too loudly. Every pedestrian that walks past them on the sidewalk or lingers in store entrances or on front porches; defenses up when any time he feels as if someone is paying too much attention to them or comes a little too close. All of his senses running on high and his instincts sharp; his brain constantly processing everything and anything that happens around them. Functioning as both old Tyler and new Tyler; the two managing to coexist, at least temporarily. He’s confident in his skills and his abilities; he knows he’s able to keep them safe and that if a threat does arise, old Tyler will be one that reacts to it.

There’s an empty booth at the very back of the restaurant; enabling him to be able to sit facing the door. And the moment they arrive at it the bickering begins; who gets to sit next to the window, who gets to to order first when the waitress arrives, demands that no one orders the exact same thing because ‘that’s copying and copying is annoying’.

It’s surreal how drastically the direction of your life can change. Almost seven years ago he was standing in that squalid apartment in Dhaka surrounded by street thugs; mentally deciding in which order he was going to take them out in order to rescue Ovi. Now he’s breaking up fights over who gets to sit next to him and which napkin and cutlery belongs to who. You don’t know patience...true, unwavering patience...until you have kids. It doesn’t matter how much you pride yourself in how calm and collected you are while on the job; surrounded by tension and danger. Because nothing...and no one...tests your nerves and your sanity quite like a dramatic and ‘extra’ almost six year old and two five year olds who find it impossible to sit still.

After a brief game of ‘guess the number I’m thinking of between one and ten’, everyone is finally settled. The waitress coming to take their drink order and leaving them with menus and crayons for the kids to use to colour on the paper tablecloth. A victorious Tanner sitting between him and the window, and TJ and Millie across from them; as far away from each other as possible on the small bench. They’ve been at odds since leaving the house, bitter with one another after they’d fought over who would be the last one to kiss mommy goodbye.

Tyler watches his daughter from across the table; amused -and slightly disheartened- by how much older she suddenly appears courtesy of the sullen, if not overly dramatic, expression. Her elbows resting on the table top and her chin planted in her upturned palms; eyes narrowed as she alternates between looking at the menu and glaring at her little brother as he has the nerve to entertain himself by creating a pyramid out of coffee creamers. ‘Little brother’ doesn’t adequately describe the kid; he’s only eleven months younger but has three inches and fifteen pounds on Millie. He’s tall and solid; all torso and long limbs.

He wants to tell his daughter to stop being so much like her mother, but nothing could be further from the truth. That expression, that steely glare, that attitude...it’s all him.  And he sees the look of disgust she fixes on him when he removes his baseball hat and runs a hand through his hair. The top is starting to come in; he’ll take the clippers to the back and sides while he’s away.

“What?” He asks, and places the hat and his sunglasses on the bench beside him. “What’s that look for?”

“You’re not really growing that stupid hair cut back again, are you?”

He smirks. “What if I am? What if your mom likes my hair that way? Tanner has the same hair cut. Doesn’t look stupid on him.”

“And it’s not stupid anyway,” TJ pipes up. “It’s a bitchin’ haircut. I wish I had it.”

Tyler reaches across the table to lay the tip of his index finger against the tip of Millie’s nose, pressing lightly. “Why so grumpy?”

“I’m not grumpy,” she mumbles, and pushes his hand away.

“You look grumpy.”

“That’s just her face,” Tanner says, not even looking up from the game he plays on his dad’s phone.

“Bruh,” TJ grins. “That was savage. But so good. And so true.”

“When did you become the mean brother?” Tyler asks, playfully digging his elbow into his son’s side.

“She called me a bitch baby last night,” he explains. “Because I didn’t want to go into the woods without Ovi with us. We’re not supposed to go in there without an adult. Without your mommy or Ovi. But she wouldn’t listen.”

“You went in there by yourself?” he addresses his daughter.

“I stopped her,” Tanner says. “That’s why she called me a bitch baby.”

“Even though he tackled her,” TJ chimes in. “In the middle of the road! It was awesome. He’s not very big, but he’s strong as hell. Like mommy. Small but strong. Mommy can pick up both of us. At the same time!”

“I’m not THAT small,” Tanner frowns. “I’m almost as big as you, Teej.”

“On what planet? I got tons on you. Like daddy does on mommy. Daddy’s like a giant and mommy’s just tiny. But she scares me more than daddy does. She yells louder. A LOT louder.”

“I’m not scared of mommy,” Tanner says. “She’s nice to me because I listen to what she says. You just ignore her and then she gets mad and we all pay for it. If you’d just listen the first time…”

“Daddy doesn’t even listen the first time.” TJ points out.

“And then he wonders why she yells at him,” Tanner retorts. “‘Cause he annoys her.”

“I’m sitting right here,” Tyler reminds him. “When do I annoy your mom’?”

“All the damn time,” TJ sighs. “And then she gets bitchy. Like Millie. But Millie is way bitchier.”

“I’m not bitchy,” Millie scowls. “You’re just a dick.”

“Okay...enough…” Tyler pleads, noticing both the amused and appalled looks nearby diners are giving them. “Can not act like a normal family for once? What did I say before we came in here? What did I say not to do?”

“No fighting,” Tanner says.

“No bad words,” his brother adds.

“And no annoying each other. Or me. And you’re doing both. So stop. Or I’ll leave you all here and make you walk to school.”

“Mommy would be so pissed,” TJ declares. “She’d be mad at you forever.”

“She’s always mad at me about something. And you…” he looks at Millie. “...you know not to go into the woods alone. You want a dingo to eat you?”

“I wish one would,” TJ says, and then holds his hands up in surrender when his father glares at him. “She said she saw some lady go in there and told her to stop because that’s part of our house but the lady didn’t listen.”

“What lady?”

Both boys shrug.

“I didn’t see sh…” TJ bites his tongue when Tyler stares at him pointedly. “...I didn’t see anything. Ovi went and checked but there was no one there. He couldn’t find anyone. He said it was probably just someone trying to get to the beach without going on our property.”

Tyler turns his attention to Millie. “What lady?”

“There was no lady,” TJ insists. “No one else saw a lady.”

“I’m talking to your sister, you mind? What lady?”

“I don’t know,” Millie shrugs. “But there WAS a lady. I saw her. Just like I saw that guy in the Jeep in front of Salena’s house.”

“That’s not even her name,” TJ says. “She was lying to us. The whole time. That’s a shitty thing to do.”

Tyler frowns at him. “Excuse me?”

“A crappy thing to do. Sorry! It just came out. Maybe if you watched YOUR mouth around little ears….”

“How’d you like to walk to school?” he asks, then gives a polite smile and a nod of thanks to the waitress that refills his coffee and brings chocolate milk for the kids.

“You wouldn’t do it. Mommy would make you sleep on the couch forever.”

“I saw her daddy,” Millie insists, tone -and eyes- serious. “Remember how I saw that guy in the Jeep? Just like you did?”

He nods.

“Well I saw her too. Ovi asked me to get the mail so I did and that’s when I saw her and I tried to yell at her and stop her but she just ignored me. That’s why I tried to follow her and then Tanner stuck his nose in it.”

“Because we’re not allowed in the woods by ourselves,” Tanner informs her. “Daddy said when we moved there that we weren’t allowed because there’s bad things in there and we could end up hurt. Or dead. Do you want to end up dead? Because that’s how you end up dead.”

“That’s not how daddy almost ended up dead,” she points out.

“‘Cause the bad guys tried to kill daddy but didn’t,” TJ says. “Because Uncle Koen says daddy’s too stubborn to die. How do you know the lady wasn’t a bad person, Millie? She could have been a bad person and what would you have done? Nothing. She would have killed you.”

“Okay…” Tyler sighs heavily and runs a palm over his face. “...let’s NOT talk about bad guys and people dying. Or not dying. Just stop. What did the lady look like?”

“I still say there was no lady,” TJ grumbles.

“She kinda looks like Auntie Nik,” Millie says. “The same color of skin. Maybe a bit darker. But she had the same color hair and it was really long. She had it in a ponytail but it was still as long as mine.”

“You remember what she was wearing?”

“Of course I do. I notice things. She had on jeans and a black t-shirt and a green jacket like the one you have. And red shoes. Like purple ones that you bought mommy for Christmas.”

“Converse.”

“Yeah. Those ones! She had a pair of those on. She was kind of young. Maybe mommy’s age. Or a little younger.”

“Mommy’s old,” TJ declares. “She’s not young.”

“Don’t you EVER let her hear you say that,” Tyler warns. “And she’s not old. I’m older than she is.”

“Uncle Koen says you’re as old as Jesus Christ,” Tanner says. “The person. Not the swear word.”

Tyler smirks. “He did, did he?”

Tanner nods. “And mommy’s not old Teej.”

“She had all of us. She has to be.”

“Doesn’t mean she’s old because she had all of us. Just means her and daddy like to make babies. Doesn’t mean she’s old. Daddy’s old.”

“Excuse you,” Tyler nudges him with his elbow. “I’m only five years older than your mom is.”

“Your forty,” Millie points out. “That's super old. You have gray hair.”

“Because of you guys.”

“We don’t give your gray hair,” his daughter huffs.

“Mommy gave it to him,” TJ says. “‘Cause she’s a pain in daddy’s ass. That’s what he says all the time. That she’s a pain in his ass and drives him crazy. Right, daddy?”

“Don’t throw me under the bus.”

“You’re the one who said it! That mommy’s a pain in your ass. Uncle Koen said you’re lucky to have her. That she puts up with you. That tons of guys would want her and if you don’t, someone will take her off your hands and take her away.”

“He said that?”

“I don’t want some guy taking mommy away,” Tanner pouts. “I don’t want her leaving. She wouldn’t leave us, would she, daddy?”

“She would never...ever...leave you guys.”

“Then you better make sure no one steals her away,” Tanner says. “‘Cause I like the mom AND dad I have. I don’t want another mom or dad. That would suck, having another dad. He’d probably be some loser that doesn’t do cool stuff with us like you do.”

“He probably wouldn’t let me surf,” Millie adds, and sips her milk. “Or take us camping and fishing. And he’d probably be mean to us. And to mommy. You can’t let someone take her, daddy. I don’t want another dad. I want you.”

“No one is going to steal your mom away,” he assures them.

“The guy at the grocery store likes her.” TJ says. “The one that drives the Mustang and has the man bun. The one that called her a MILF. Whatever that means.”

Tyler frowns “Someone called her that?”

“The guy at the grocery store.” TJ sighs. “Mommy told him to F off. ‘Cause he got too handsy.”

“He what?”

“He touched her butt,” Millie says. “He said it was an accident, but I think he meant it. Mommy told him to F off and that she’d tell her husband and that you’d go there and break him in half. Could you really do that? Break him in half? ‘Cause I want to see it if you do it.”

“Of course he can break someone in half!” Tanner exclaims. “He killed somebody with a rake!”

TJ frowns. “That’s our last name.”

“It’s also a garden tool, dumb ass,” Millie huffs. “And it wasn’t one person, Tanner. It was two.”

“How do you guys even know that?” Tyler asks. “Because I know mommy wouldn’t tell you.”

“Ovi was telling Uncle Koen and Nathan,” Millie replies. “We just overheard it. Is it true? Did you kill two people with a rake?”

“Maybe…”

“I would have liked to have seen that,” TJ says. “Are you going to kill the douche at the grocery store? For touching mommy’s butt?”

“Maybe I should.”

“Daddy could totally kill that loser,” Millie enthuses. “I think you should do it. Break him in half. Can we watch?”

“No one is breaking anyone in half. Or killing anyone. What is wrong with you?”

“But you could, right?” she inquires. “Break him in half?”

“Of course he could!” TJ exclaims. “Look at the size of him! 0ne of his hands is bigger than your whole head. And you have a big ass head.”

“And look how big his arms are!” Tanner adds, and attempts to wrap both hands around one of his father’s biceps. “Look! They’re huge! I can’t even put my hands around one! He could totally break that guy in half!”

“I wish you would,” TJ says. “No one touches mommy like that. Only you’re allowed. We can touch her too, but that’s different because she’s our mom. She gave birth to us. Me and you at the same time, Tanner. However THAT worked.”

“Everyone knows how babies come out,” Tanner informs his brother. “The doctor opens the mommy’s tummy and pulls the baby out, right daddy?”

“Sometimes, I guess. That’s not how you guys got out, but…”

“How come TJ got to go first?” Tanner asks. “How come I didn’t get to go first?”

“I have no idea. It just worked out that way.”

“And how come I was by myself?” Millie inquires. “Why didn't I have a partner?”

“Because your brothers are twins. You’re not. You were alone.”

“You couldn’t have given me a twin? Like asked God or whoever or whatever?”

“That’s not how it works.”

“I’m so confused,” she sighs. “I don’t even know HOW I got in mommy’s tummy, never mind how I got out. And I couldn’t even have company in there? That’s some bullshit.”

The waitress chuckles as she arrives with their food. “You’ve got your hands full here, dad.”

“You think? And this is them behaving.”

“It could be worse,” TJ says. “There’s two more of us at home. A baby brother and a baby sister. Like, a baby, baby. Like tiny. Really tiny.”

“She sounds like a kitten when she cries,” Tanner adds. “‘Cause she’s so small. And she looks like mommy. We look like daddy. Not Addie though.”

“How do babies get out of a mommy’s tummy?” Millie inquires. “Daddy won’t tell us.”

The older woman laughs, then pats Tyler on the shoulder. “I think I need to bring you an entire POT of coffee.”

****

“How come we don’t get to come?” Millie asks, as they walk hand in hand down the path at the back of the school, the boys already running off to play soccer with friends. “How come we have to stay here but you and mommy get to go away?”

“Because sometimes, moms and dads need to be alone.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you want to go and play with your friends?” Tyler nods in the direction of a group of girls gathered on the playground, calling to Millie and waving her over.

“No. I’d rather stay with you. I can see my friends whenever. And when you leaver, I won’t get to see you for a while.”

“I’m not going to be gone that long,” he reminds her, and tightens the elastic holding her braided ponytail together.

“Long enough. Remember when you said you wouldn’t go away again? When we were at our old house and we had to go away with Ovi and then you were home when we got back? Remember?”

“I remember.’

“You said you wouldn’t go away again. And now you’re going away. And you went away two weeks ago! To visit Uncle Koen.”

“I was gone for one night.”

“Still,” she sighs as she lets go of his hand, then crosses her arms over her chest and she looks up at him. “We still miss you. Even if it’s just one night. You said at our old place that you wouldn’t go away again.”

“This is different.”

“How?”

Because that was for work. This is because your mom and I need some time alone together. Adults sometimes need that. And mommy and I? We desperately need that.”

“Why?”

“Look, when you’re married and have kids, you’ll understand. But right now, you’re only five…”

She glares up at him.

“..almost six, and you don’t need to know how or why or any of that. Just mommy and I need to be alone and that’s all that you need to know. And we’re going to go and be alone and we’ll be back on Tuesday.”

“Why so long?”

“It’s four days. That’s not long.”

“But you said…”

“I know what I said. And I told you, this is different. Back then was about work, and this is about spending time with your mom. Adult time. No kids allowed.”

“You’re not going to bring me back a baby brother are you?”

He chuckles. “That’s not how it works, kiddo.”

“Are you and mommy going to MAKE me a baby brother? ‘Cause I’d rather a puppy. Or another sister. Please not a brother.”

“We can’t make you a brother OR a sister. We can’t make any more babies.”

“How come? If you made five of us already, how come you can’t make more?”

“Because we can’t.”

“You’re only allowed five? Is that a rule? You can’t have more than that? What if Addie had had a twin? That would have been six! And what if Austin was still here? Does that mean Addie wouldn’t be allowed to be here? Because she’d be number six.”

Tyler frowns. “You ask a lot of questions.”

“I’m curious about the world. Mommy says I’m a free spirit. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds cool.”

“I think your mom’s right.”

“So if Austin was alive, I’d have an older brother right?”

Tyler nods.

“Better than younger brothers. Older better are better. Would he like me?”

He runs a hand over her hair. “I think so. He’d be a lot older than you, though. He’d be sixteen.”

“Do I look like him?”

“Kind of. I guess. I dunno.”

“I bet I’d like him. I had a dream about him the other night.”

Tyler arches a brow. “You did?”

Millie nods. “We were surfing together. I didn’t even know who he was at first because I’ve never seen a picture of him. I only know what you told me about him. But said who he saw and that he was my older brother and that he was there watching me. I was kind of scared at first. When he said that. But then he smiled and he ruffled my hair like you do, and everything was okay. I knew he wasn’t there to scare me or hurt me.”

He merely nods, fighting back the tears that threaten and swallowing around the lump of emotion that sits in his throat. It isn’t so much grief anymore; he’s moved on with his life and became a dad again and can’t imagine NOT having Millie or her siblings in his life. It’s more her view of what happened. It’s innocent and it’s pure and she has no idea that if Austin were still here, she probably wouldn't exist.

“Mommy gets sad when I ask about him,” Millie continues. “Even though he wasn’t hers. I think she’s sad for you. She said that he was still here, I probably wouldn’t be. Or any of us kids. That you and her probably never would have met. Is that true?”

“It’s a possibility. I like to think I still would have met her and fell in love with her and married her. And had all you guys.”

“Do you ever wish that he was still here and we weren’t?”

“You know what…” Tyler scoops her up with one arm and settles her on his hip, then presses a kiss to her forehead. “I would never...EVER...wish that in a million years. Because I love your mommy and I love you and your brothers and sister. I can’t imagine NOT having any of you.”

“Do you miss him though?”

“Sometimes. I used to miss him all the time. And then you came along and I got to be a dad again and it made a lot easier to deal with.  And if weren’t here? I’d be pretty sad. I’d miss you a lot.”

“How much?”

“A hell of a lot.”

“I’d miss you too. I always miss you. I wish you weren’t going away. AND taking mommy with you. Won’t you and mommy miss us?”

“Of course we will.”

“Won’t you be bored without us?”

“I think your mom and I will find things to keep us busy.”

“Like what?”

“Like things you don’t need to know about.”

“How come there’s so many things I don’t need to know about yet?”

“Because you’re just a kid. And mommy and I are adults who do adult things. And you don’t need to know what those are.”

“Please no babies,” she begs.

“I already told you…”

“I don’t get why you can’t have more.”

“Amelia…”

She giggles and pulls his baseball cap off, then puts it back on backwards. “Daddy…”

“I’m not telling you where babies come from or how they’re made. But nice try though.”

“I’m nothing if not persistent.”

He laughs. “I think there’s more of your mom in you than people realize. This lady that you saw…”

“I DID see her. She was real. I swear.”

“I believe yo. And when you get home from school. I want you to tell the neighbor about it. About what you saw and what she looked like, okay?”

“Don’t make me talk to her,” Millie pleads. “I don’t like her.”

“I know you don’t. But I still want you to tell her. Please? For me?”

“Fine,” she sighs. “I’ll do it for you. But only for you, daddy.”

“Thank you,” he presses a kiss to her cheek. “Bell’s going to ring soon. You better go.”

“No. Not yet,” she wraps her arms tightly around his neck, clinging desperately to him when he attempts to put her down. “I don’t want you to go yet.”

“I’m only going to be gone for four days,” Tyler promises. “And no bad guys. Just me and mommy.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“And you’ll come back Tuesday for sure?”

“For sure.”

“I’ll miss you, daddy,” she pulls back and kisses him as she holds his face in her hands. “I’ll miss you so much.”

“It’s only four days,” he reminds her.

“I don’t care if it’s one day. I’ll still miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” He lays a hand on the back of her head and places his lips against her brow.

“You’ll bring mommy back, yeah?”

“No. I’m going to leave her there with her new husband.”

Millie frowns. “That’s not nice. You’d miss mommy if she was gone.”

“I would,” he agrees. “I’d miss her more than you could ever possibly understand. Now go. Go and see your friends.”   He sets her on the ground, then shrugs her backpack off his shoulder and hands it to her. “See you Tuesday.”

“For sure Tuesday?”

“One hundred percent for sure.”

“Okay,” she says, and then wraps her arms tightly around his legs before scampering off towards the playground.

“Hey Amelia!” he calls to her, and she stops and turns to look at him. “Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle!”

A wide, brilliant smile spreads from ear to ear, and he can see those blue eyes sparkle from her stands. “I won’t!” she promises, and then hurries off to join her friends.

****

“You’re worried aren’t you.”

Briefly looking away from the road, he glances over at her as she sits in the passenger seat, watching him intently. Their flight leaves in half an hour; hiring the same old SASR buddy that he’d recruited when he’d gone to see Koen. It’s safer that way if someone is keeping tabs on them; no paper trail, no names on flight manifestos, no record of them ever boarding a flight and heading to The Kimberley. Once in Broome he’d rent a vehicle under a fake name and pay by cash. Anything that has to be done to keep someone...anyone...off their trail.

They’d be wide open targets there; the land vast and barren and unforgiving. And while he’d have the upper hand both knowing the landscape and having the confidence to use it to his advantage, it’s still not a fight he wants to engage in.  Guys like Mahajan don’t just send one person, they send an army of them. If he was alone, he wouldn’t think twice about engaging. But when there’s someone else relying on you to keep them safe, it’s a whole other ball game. It raises the stakes; makes everything much more dangerous and dire.  

“You’ve been really quiet,” Esme says, as she retrieves a pair of aviator style sunglasses from her purse and slips them onto her face.

True to her word, she’d managed to track down a yellow tank top and a pair of tattered and torn jeans shorts; almost identical to the outfit she’d been wearing when he’d first laid eyes on her. She’s changed since then. They both have. The piercings long gone and her hair six inches shorter. She’s curvier now; hips wider, breasts fuller, ass and legs thicker. She’s carried five babies inside of that little baby, after all. HIS babies. And she’s more beautiful now that she had been back then. And he’d never thought that would be possible.

“Are you okay?” she asks. “You’ve been like this since you got back from your time with the kids.”

“I’m fine. Just haven’t had much to say.”

She’s used to it. Even after nearly seven years he’s very much the strong and silent type at times. But there’s usually something behind it now; no longer quiet because he’s busy building up walls to protect himself.

“This isn’t your normal quiet,” she remarks. “How you get when you’re not feeling chatty. This is your ‘thinking too much’ kind of quiet. I know you, Tyler. Your different moods. I know your different forms of quiet. It’s all in your face; on your face. I’ve only spent nearly seven years trying to sort them all out.”

He smirks. “Anyone ever tell you that YOU think too much?”

“You’ve only been telling me that nearly every day since we met.  I know something’s wrong.”

“There’s A LOT wrong,” he reminds her. “A hell of a lot.”

“I’m not talking about all of that and you know it. Did something happen this morning? When you were with the kids? Did you see something? Hear something?”

“I’m just quiet. Nothing happened. I took them for breakfast, dropped them off at school, that’s it.”

Fuck. He knows full well that he should tell her about what Millie had seen. It will only come back to bite him in the ass somehow. The truth always gets out. Always. Whether it’s a week from now, a month from now, even years from now. He doesn’t even know WHY he does it. Why his initial reaction is to always keep things from her. Whether it’s that overwhelming and sometimes all consuming need to protect her from anything and everything or the fear of putting too much worry and stress on her plate. Or maybe it’s just an old habit he can’t shake; years of bottling shit up and letting it eat away at him.

But instead of just fessing up, he brings up the first thing that comes to mind.

“Did you know our kids know I killed someone with a garden rake?”

Esme laughs. “What?”

“They brought it up at breakfast. About me killing two people with a garden rake.”

“Well I know I didn’t tell them.  I try NOT to talk about what you did for a living. Or what you DO for a living. I’m so confused. Do we talk about it in past or present tense?”

The way she cocks her head to the side, the way her eyes are slightly narrowed...that’s all Tanner. He’s seen that expression so many times on their boy. Usually reserved for when someone has said something so incredibly stupid that he can’t wrap his head around it. Millie’s insanely smart, but he’s even more so. He’s brilliant and he’s crafty and he’s sneaky in that ‘under the radar, no one will ever expect it’ way. There’s a lot of his mother in that kid. A hell of a lot.

“It’s what I do,” he reasons. “It’s what I’ve gone back to you. It’s what I am.”

“It’s not who you are,” she gently argues. “It’s part of who you are. There’s a difference. Is that what’s bugging you? That they’re starting to realize just what you do? They were going to find out sooner or later, Tyler. And all they think you do is go and get good people away from bad people. That’s the extent of it right now. And they know sometimes you have to hurt the bad people. Sometimes you even have to kill them,” she shrugs. “It is what it is.”

“They’re kids.”

“They’re smart kids. Insanely smart. All three of them. TJ has the dumb ass act down pat, but he’s a smart little bugger. When you actually sit down and talk to him, he’s like talking to an adult. He has shit in his head that blows MY mind. He’s like you; he keeps it all under the surface and uses it when he has to.”

“Is that some roundabout way of calling me a dumb ass?” he teases.

“You are far from dumb. But people underestimate you, too. They always have. They see the muscles and the tattoos and the scars and they immediately think bad ass. That you’re all brawn and no brains. Yet you’re both. And THAT’S what makes you dangerous.”

He grins. “I’m totally the guy your parents told you to stay away from when you’re growing up, aren’t I.”

“You so are,” she laughs. “You’re my father’s worst nightmare. He would have warmed up to you once he got to know you. He would have at least given you a chance; not like everyone else. But I would have brought you home and he would have seen the hair and the ink and all the scars and he would have shit his pants.”

“Is it wrong that that makes me as happy as it does? Knowing I would have successfully corrupted his little girl?”

“You did a good job of it. Corrupting me. I was a good girl until I met you.”

“Like fuck you were.”

“I was! I was sweet and innocent and…”

“Sweet and innocent girls DO NOT bang a guy they just met. I’m sorry. They just don’t. I love you, but there was nothing sweet and innocent about you when we met. You had your tongue pierced.”

“Lots of girls have tongue pierced. It’s cool. It’s edgy.”

“That’s not why you got your tongue pierced and you know it.”

“Maybe I was holding out hope on finding a guy that would let me use it to its full advantage. And then you showed up and boy, did you let me use it to my advantage.”

“I miss that thing. I think you should get it done again. Just because.”

“Yeah, I know what your ‘just because’ is.  Maybe for your birthday. We’ll see.”

“That would be the best birthday present EVER. The gift that keeps on giving.”

“I’m already the mother everyone avoids at the school. Why not add something else to the list of things that make me stick out like a sore thumb. Why is everyone so uptight there? It’s a public school, for fuck sake. They act like it’s some posh private school. And they’re scared of you.”

“Good.”

“I hear the teacher made a play for you. At the bar.”

He frowns.

“What? You didn’t think I’d found out? Koen told me. That she tried to get on your dick. She’s lucky I don’t go there and beat her ass. I mean, it’s flattering that everyone thinks my husband is a hottie and totally fuckable, but don’t actually try.”

“Like the guy at the grocery store? The one with Mustang and the man bun? Seriously, Esme? A guy with a man bun? Talk about downgrading.”

She laughs. “Chad.”

“Chad? He even has a douche name.”

“He is a douche. But he’s only twenty-two, so…”

“You’re a fucking cougar. Atta girl.”

“I can’t believe the kids told you about that.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about it.”

“What’s there to tell? He grabbed my ass, I told him to fuck off, and then I told him I was going to tell my husband and you were going to show up and rip him in half. And he’s seen you and he thinks you’re totally capable of doing it.”

“I WILL rip him in half.”

“You’re not going to take a garden tool to him?” she teases.  “Maybe a shovel to the head? Chop off his dick with a pair of hedge trimmers?”

“You know what…”

“What? What are you going to do Tyler? Nothing. Because you love when I tease you. When I ride your ass about things.”

He smirks. “I like when you ride me, all right.”

“That is NOT what I was talking about and you know it. I’m surprised you’re taking it so well. Finding out about Chad.”

“Chad and his Mustang and his man bun? Fuck. I’m going in there next week just to freak him out.”

“He’ll shit his pants. He’ll see you and piss himself.”

“Good.”

“I thought you’d be pissed. Which is why I didn’t tell you in the first place. But this? I like this. I like this side of you. The one that just laughs it off and doesn’t lose his shit.”

“You handled it. I’m impressed. You’re little but you’re not to be fucked with.  Tanner is definitely your son.”

“He’s a tough little bugger. He’s not afraid of anyone. He’s a lot cagier than anyone thinks. He flies under the radar and surprises everyone. Maybe he’s the one that’s going to follow in your footsteps.”

Tyler frowns. “Why the hell would you want that?”

“You really think one of them won’t? My money was on Declan, but I don’t know, Tanner might shock everyone.”

“I don’t want any one of them being like me. Not that way.”

“It’s not the most horrible thing in the world, you know. If one of them does turn out like you. And I’m not just talking about looks and personality.”

“I know what you’re talking about. And I can’t believe you’d even say that, let alone be okay with it.”

“It’s not like you’re a serial killer. There’s worse things in this world you could be doing, you know.”

“I kill people. For money.”

“That’s not ALL you do, Tyler. It’s part of what you do. And one of them wants into it, we can’t stop them. It’ll happen whether we want it to or not. And if you think your kids are going to suddenly hate you or think less of you because of the job…”

“They might.”

“That will never happen. You’re their dad. What you do for a living has no bearing on how you raise them; what kind of father you are. You’re not the same person at home that you are on the job. All that matters to them is who you are when you’re with them. They don’t give a shit about anything else.”

He wants to believe that. He NEEDS to believe that. That when they're older, all they’ll remember are the good things; the times they spend together and that he was never afraid to show them affection or tell them that he loved him. How he’d tuck them in at night and read them bedtime stories and sometimes even fall asleep alongside them; tall, heavy frame way too large for their small beds, yet never complaining about the neck pain or the stiff back he’d wake up with.  He hopes they remember that he TRIED. To be a good man.  A good father. That they’re able to look back and say that they watched him treat their mother well; loving her with every fibre of his being.

But the reality of who he is...the things he’s done...it won’t be easy for them to accept. Not when they’re old enough to fully understand things.

And he thinks of Nik and her last ditch attempt to talk him out of settling down. She’d first tried when he’d found out that he was going to be a father again; making the mistake of confiding in her about just how scared he actually was. Not that he was having a baby, but that he’d only fuck things up again. She’d encouraged him to just cut all ties; convince Esme -only three months pregnant at the time- to go back to the States and live her life as a single mother. Telling him that he didn’t need the extra stress and worry while he was trying to recover; a baby would only be a burden he couldn’t afford and shouldn’t take on.

He’d refused to listen; he wasn’t abandoning her or their kid. He was going ‘all in’; they’d move in with one another and get to know each other and have the baby and raise it together. It wasn’t the conventional way of doing things. But they hadn’t started out conventional so why start being that way now? They’d make it work; they’d fall in love if that was in the cards and they’d have a good life and maybe even have more kids. It was the first time in his life -since Austin died- that he felt hopeful; he had a reason to live and not put a gun in his mouth or keep going on suicide missions in hopes of catching a bullet.

The last time she’d tried to ‘get through to him’ was the night before he got married. Asking him to meet her for a few ‘pre congratulatory drinks’ and then both propositioning him and trying to get him to change his mind. Attempting to convince him that this life -a husband, a father- wasn’t meant for someone like him. Someone who had the guilt and the regret and his kind of past. That being a family man AND a merc just wasn’t possible. Did he really want his children finding out years down the road just WHO he was? Did he really think they’d be able to accept that? Did he really think they’d love him knowing the truth?

“Tyler?” Her voice is soft. Concerned. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing,” he gives a reassuring smile. “Just thinking about stuff.”

“Bad stuff or…?”

“No. Just stuff that doesn’t matter anymore and I need to let go.”

“About…?”

“About nothing important. Just an old conversation with someone. About where my life was and where it was heading. Just some shit they said that pisses me off now when I think about it. They weren’t saying it for me. They were saying it for them.”

“We’re talking about Nik aren’t we.”

He nods.

“She won’t stop calling. She won’t stop sending emails. I can’t avoid her forever. YOU can’t avoid her forever. I think she wants to make amends. And normally I’d say ‘fuck her’ and that she made her bed and know she has to lie in it, but I actually feel kind of sorry for her.”

“That’s a first. You feeling sorry for her.”

“First you abandon her. Now Kyle.”

“Okay first off, I didn’t abandon her. There was nothing to abandon. I used to fuck her. That’s it.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been so good at it,” Esme teases.  “She wouldn’t still be holding on as tight as she is.”

“Or maybe she can just leave me the fuck alone.”

“I don’t think this about wanting to jump on your dick. I think she’s finally gotten the picture that that’s NOT going to happen.  I think she’s legitimately hurt. That you went and started your own business without at least telling her. Or giving her the opportunity to partner with you.”

“I don’t want anything to do with her. Tell her that the next time she calls.”

“I have an idea!” She clamps a hand down on his knee. “Why don’t YOU tell her? Nik is your mess, not mine. I’ve spent almost seven years dealing with her shit. I’m done. It’s your turn.”

Tyler sighs.

“Just call her and see what she wants. What’s the worst that could happen? She wants to work with you? Or just wants to reem you out for stealing her people? Just hear her out and hang up on her if you have to.”

“I’ll call her. When we get back.”

“And please call Yaz. He says he wants to talk to you. That he has an offer for you.”

“What kind of offer?”

“He wouldn’t tell me. Just that he had an offer and you needed to hear it. So call him too. So I don’t have to keep putting up with these people. Because I’m on my last thread of sanity and if I lose that last threat…”

“I’ll be the one paying for it.”

“Exactly! See? You get it. Only took you nearly seven years to figure out how things work. Happy wife, happy life, right? You’re catching on.”

“You and your fucking mouth…”

“You love me. And my mouth.”

“I’m not denying EITHER of those things.”

“I’m not talking about what I do with my mouth. I’m talking about what comes out of it.”

He smirks. “Sure you are…”

“Your mind is permanently in the gutter. Middle age suits you.”

“Fuck you and your middle age crap. I’ve still got at least fifteen years to go before I’m middle age.”

“Tyler, no one lives to be a hundred and ten.”

“You just watch me.”

“You know what? You’d be the one who would. You’d be the one that after getting shot,  stabbed, hit with a shovel, hit by a car, everything else that’s been done to you and you’ve been through, that WOULD live that long. Somehow that makes sense. The one that should have died a long time ago ends up living that long.”

“I’m too stubborn to die.”

“I’ve never heard anything MORE true. I like hearing this kind of talk from you. Instead of the doom and the gloom. Instead of hearing you talk about not coming home and being stuck in Mumbai and…”

“Hey…” he reaches out and takes her hand in his, settling them on his thigh. “...let’s NOT talk about Mumbai, okay? For four days, let’s not talk about that. Or the job. Let’s just...I don’t know...talk about normal stuff. The weather and what we want to eat and things we want to do. I don’t care how boring it is or how stupid is seems. I just want us to be...I don’t know...normal.”

“Have we met? Neither of us are normal.”

“Okay, so our version of normal. I don’t want to talk about Mumbai or Mahajan or the job or…”

“If you didn’t want to talk about it or think about it, you wouldn’t have brought THAT,” she lifts the bottom of his t-shirt and nods down at the holster and gun on his right hip.

“Might have to kill a dingo. Wasn’t that in the wedding vows too? That I wouldn’t let a dingo get you?”

“That’s what hunting rifles are for. Not Glocks.”

“Just better to be safe than sorry. We don’t know who is out there. If anyone IS out there.”

“Do you think there is? Someone out there? Watching us?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“You’d tell me, right? If you felt that way?”

He nods.

“You know what’s funny? You’re the one that is talking about us ‘talking’ when we’re there. I’m the one that’s looking forward to the sex.”

He chuckles. “Well I’m looking forward to THAT too. Weird hearing you mention it first though.”

She laughs. “I can’t help it. There’s something wrong with my hormones. That’s all I’ve been thinking about lately.”

“And you call me ‘extra’.”

“I want to have all the sex,” she enthuses. “With you. All of it. Like dirty, raunchy, adult sex. The kind we can’t have at home because we always have to worry about kids interrupting us. I mean hard core sex. Like in Dhaka. Where I can make all the noise I want and no one can hear it.”

“Everyone in the hotel in Dhaka heard. They all knew my name and I never told anyone of them my name. So…”

“Remember the time the people next to us complained to the manager? The second night? I think they were just jealous. They wished they were getting dicked down that good.”

“I do miss that kind of thing,” he admits. “It’s a turn on. Hearing you.”

“You’re such a bad influence. I really WAS a good girl before I met you. I don’t know what got into me.”

“I know exactly what got into you.”

“Well if you weren’t so good at these things…”

“Isn’t that part of why you married me?” he chides. “Because I am good at those things?”

“One of the reasons. There’s a lot of them. Reasons. I really married you because of your hair, so technically I should have filed for divorce the second you made me shave it off.”

“I’m growing it back. Relax.”

“And you’re getting scruffy again,” she grins, and rubs her hand against his cheek. “You’re all sorts of sexy. No wonder I put out so much. And it’s going to be good for us. Getting away. And not just because of sex. Just to be alone together. Be able to relax and just...I don’t know...be together.  We haven’t had that in a long time.”

He nods in agreement. “I don’t know if we’ve ever really had that. And no. Dhaka does NOT count.”

“That’s because you were getting paid to have sex with me.”

“In a weird way, yeah.”

“I really was whoring myself out to you.”

He frowns. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just something someone said. It’s not important. What’s important is us and the next four days. And me NOT getting eaten by a dingo.”

He laughs at that. “I’ll protect you from all the dingoes, baby.”

“I know,” she smiles, and then rests her head against his shoulder. “You'll protect me from ANYTHING.”

He nods in agreement. It’s true. He WOULD protect her from anything. Anyone.

No matter what it costs.

#tyler rake #tyler rake fan fic #tyler rake fan fiction #extraction #best part of me #chris hemsworth character

[s-ultry]

please me - a tom holland fanfic

CHAPTER FIVE

A/N: so i decided that i’d move my fanfic from wattpad to tumblr! just to give me a bit of a boost to continue it, i hope you guys enjoy!

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four | chapter six

SUMMARY: when the billionaire meets the microbiologist.

sugardaddy!tom

Previously on Please Me

"No one can glance at you, without going through me. You are mine, do you understand."

***

(warning: topics about attempt rape, mental abuse, and tease extreme! i should really stop warning yall about this smh)

Belle couldn't stop thinking about the encounter she had the day before, the way his wickedness made her fall in terror hoping to never experience or even encounter the abuse again.

The beauty was getting ready for her second day of work, yeah it was a Saturday, but being an assistant to Tom Holland is something that'll never allow vacations. Today, she was wearing a black turtleneck with a brown pencil skirt paired with the same kitten heels. Belle decided to let her hair be straight, her natural hair.

Walking down the stairs, she laid eyes on her mother who was negotiating terms with her father, knowing it was significant, she allowed her quiet self to enter the kitchen without intruding.

"Belle, sweetie, we'd like to talk to you," her father smiled at her, his expression true and raw. Whilst her mothers were in a deep bore, fake and nothing unusual to Belle.

"Yes, Father?"

"Mr. Holland called us not too long ago," Demitri spoke making Belle's throat hitch, her heartbeat growing quicker and quicker by the minute. "He asked us if you'd like to go on a little field trip with him to his other headquarters. Knowing that you're his assistant I must say you're obliged to go, but he wanted to make sure you were okay with it first," her father continued.

"Oh, well. Um, how long am I going to be gone?"

"You'll be back tomorrow night, Belle. Luna already packed for you last night whilst you were studying in the library."

Remember when I told you that Belle's family aren't stupid rich? Jokes on you! Belle's family were extremely rich but wanted to stay humble and not waste their money on childish items that had no value.

"Oh, okay. Thank you," she sincerely glanced at her mother, only to be returned with a fake one in return.

"Mr Holland will be here any minute, help yourself to some breakfast," her mother announced placing a plate in front of her youngest daughter. Belle may look tiny, but her appetite is three times larger than her.

To busy indulging her pancakes she didn't realise the familiar figure standing next to her, watching her stuff her mouth like a two-year-old. Belle choked on her pancakes, carefully swallowing it her boss had a slight grin on his face.

"Morning," she muffled as the piece of pancakes was still in her mouth.

"I didn't know you had such a huge appetite," he smirked as her parents continued discussing matters that didn't need to be interfered. He was wearing his usual tuxedo, but the coat nowhere to be found along with his tie. Two buttons undone from his white dress shirt made Belle's blush grow deep.

"Well, now you know. When are we to leave?"

"Now, actually. The jet's waiting for us to reach LA," the Britt checked his wristwatch to calculate the time, knowing their departure is soon, they head out of the house and bid their goodbyes.

The car drive was surrounded with comfortable silence, both of them sipping of their ice coffees that Belle made at home with two of her to go cups.

"Belle, I'd like to ask you something," Mr. Holland disrupted her thoughts, allowing her to look at him with full concern.

"Are you uncomfortable with me talking to Timothy Grey, and be honest, baby."

"Sir, I don't have the right to tell you who to hang out with. If you feel like he's good to you, then hang out with him. I have no word into this," she whispered as she cringed at the name, but loved the pet name.

He intertwined his fingers with hers, an action that made her heart flutter as he gently kissed her knuckles. "Of course you have word into this, doll. You're my partner, and whatever happened or even happens to you, goes through me."

Her boss was awaiting her response, her not knowing how to respond, she stayed silent like she always did when she had nothing to say.

"Your silence is telling a whole lot, darling," he lightly chuckled. Belle still didn't know what to say, or how to say it. Just the awful memories replaying in her head like a rollercoaster.

"What did I tell you, Belle. Always be honest with me, I wouldn't want my baby to be filled with negative thoughts," the car came to a stop signalling that they were at the airport.

"On the plane?" Belle whispered in which he nodded to. He let go of her hand to get out of the car, as she placed her hand on the handle, the door opened to Mr. Holland offering his hand.

"Don't worry, it's a private airport."

They made their way up the stairs and were greeted by the pilot of the plane ushering them to take a seat and to get comfortable, the assistant and the boss sat opposite of each other.

After the gruesome experience of the departure and a half an hour left of their flight, Belle thought it was finally time to speak to Mr. Holland, in details, on what Tim Grey did to her.

"He cheated on me, but I never told you why." This grabbed her boss' attention as he studied her features, how her face dropped but still glowed.

"He cheated on me because he wanted to take my virginity, I never allowed him to. Tim called me a prude, too innocent for this bad world. I was only 16, I didn't want to be taken that early, especially by him. Yes, he was my boyfriend. But, everyone wanted to know whether the famous quarterback took the popular girl's virginity at prom." Belle glanced at Mr. Holland to see him infuriated to the point that anger was jealous of him.

"H-He cheated on me with Erika, your former assistant, and her friends. I yelled at him in the middle of our senior prom but knowing that dick, he enjoyed most of it. After that, he met me outside, attempting to rape me. But, t-thankfully, Antoni came to my rescue. He took me home, washed me up, and tucked me into bed. Weeks after that, graduation came. They posted a photo of me crying and bruised up from that night on Instagram and it went viral, my own principals were laughing at me. The only person who truly cared about me was my Antoni," she continued not daring any tears to fall.

"S-So when I saw him with you, I felt aggravated. You didn't know what he did to me at the time, you were just meeting an old friend. He comes for everything and everyone I love and care about, changed my parent's perspective on me, even my older brother. I studied the hardest subject not only because I'm interested, but also because I have an excuse to get away from the world," Belle looked down in shame.

The beauty didn't notice her boss kneeling down in front of her, placing both of his hands on her knees grabbing her attention.

"Please tell me there isn't any more, sugar."

"No."

"I'm going to beat up that son of a bitch, he really has a death wish doesn't he," Mr. Holland got up, furiously making his way to his seat. Buckling the belt meant that they were landing, and knowing Mr. Holland, that belt won't stop him one bit.

"It's not your fight, Sir. You don't need to put my stress on your shoulders," she whispered looking at him, at the side she saw how the plane already was on the ground and she had no anxiety what so ever.

"But, I have to," he demanded unbuckling her seat belt and grasping her hand with love and anger.

Belle hated when people fought for her, yes she was grateful, but she was strong enough to fight on her own. She wanted him to be quiet, and listen to her. So, she grabbed both of his hands and placed them on her waist, her arms snaking around his neck.

Belle got on her tiptoes making her lips close to his ear, he zapped shut, her knowing exactly what she was doing to him. "Is this the only way I'm going to get your attention, daddy," she tried her hardest not to laugh at the nickname.

He groaned in pleasure as she made eye contact with him, both pretty brown eyes staring at each other, both drowning in the chocolate factories that are their eyes. "Listen to me, don't fight for me. I can fight on my own, I've done it for three years, what makes you think I can't do it now?" She smirked letting go, walking triumphantly away from him she felt a force of her back colliding with his strong chest.

"Do that one more time, little girl. I swear to you, your beautiful cheeks will be redder than the ones on your pretty face," he whispered seductively in her ear making her lips part, a whine escaping her delicate lips.

Another car ride in one of his many cars was surrounded by sexual tension, after what he had told her, she had a knot inside of her. Looking at the beautiful scenery of Los Angeles from the window, she saw how the palm trees stood high and superior. She saw the Hollywood Sign, Belle saw it all as though she was watching a movie.

Her eyes scan a beautiful black building with windows filling every single box, Holland Industries stood high with a beautiful garden on the side, as though it was a house rather than an office. Damn, whoever took care of this building is doing a great job, she thought positively.

They entered the private parking, the car stopping at a reserved parking and Mr. Holland opened the door for his assistant. As they made their way inside, her boss slithered his arm around her waist, pulling her close. All eyes were on them, and all Belle could think of is how embarrassing it must be to have your boss' arm around your waist, he wasn't even thinking of it!

They made their way to the top floor, it was very familiar to the one they had back home which comforted Belle. She spoke to her boss about a few meetings he had to attend to back home but soon was stopped by a squeal.

"Mr. Holland! Tommy," the light caramel-skinned beauty ran up to Mr. Holland almost tackling him with full force.

"Hello to you too, Tabitha."

"Why are you making my name sound so formal, dumb ass! Oh my god! You must be Belle, did she sign the contract," she whispered walking them into the main office. Belle was just in awe, does she have the contract too? How does she know Mr. Holland? Why is Tabitha's boss so hot?

"Hello, I'm Sebastian Stan. You must be Belle, we've heard so much about you," he introduced himself snapping her out of her thoughts and how they were panicking.

"Oh, yes I am. Good afternoon Mr. Stan," she shook his hand.

"Tom, my man! We have much to discuss!" Mr. Stan announced allowing Tabitha and Belle to be alone on the other side of the office whilst their bosses went to the meeting table to discuss further agreements.

"I know I'm getting excited, but please have a seat! Tell me all about you!" The dark-haired brunette ushered Belle to the couch.

"W-Well, my name's Belle Lorems."

"Duh, we know that! Get to the juicy part! How'd you meet Tom, or what went through your mind when you signed The Contract" the short brown haired Latina exclaimed wanting her to spill everything.

"Wait a minute, are we thinking about the same contract?" Belle questioned Tabitha leading the girl opposite of her to burst into tears of laughter.

"Of course, silly! The contract where there are rules on what to call them, no masturbation, and only they can please you? I'll tell you one thing, B. Those to guys over there are really close, so close they can be boyfriends," the Latina smiled as the Italian's jaw dropped.

"You thought you were alone, sis? Hell no! Lemme give you a background, Tom and I grew up together basically siblings because our parents were so close. Then, when I was 18, I visited Holland Industries and met the love of my life, and my new boss, Mr. Sebastian-fuck me sideways- Stan! What about you, princess," she winked as she completed her very short summary on how she met Sebastian.

"Well, my dad works with Mr. Holland. So, I study as a microbiologist at the University of New York. I am 19 years of age, and my family hate me."

"Bro, you sound like an Instagram post that people relate to, shit," Tabitha spoke making both girls roar in laughter as they drank their lemonades they got a while back.

"Looks like our girls are bonding," a voice unannounced boomed throughout the office making both assistants try their hardest not to laugh at their bosses' solemn faces.

"Look at their faces," Belle screeched and fell on Tabitha's lap. Tears forming around her eyes whilst her now best friend hushed her but couldn't contain themselves.

"Tabby you ruined her!" Mr. Holland's voice rung with a slight smile on his face.

"Whatever, she's my best friend now!"

After a beautifully crafted memory, they all went outside and the boss and assistant of Los Angeles escorted the New York team to their very fancy hotel. Bidding their goodbyes, well Belle bidding her awful long goodbye to Tabby in the lobby, they went to the highest floor.

Mr. Holland opened the door allowing Belle to walk in, staring in awe she admired the 19th century decorated suite. Gold embellishments, light beige walls, and couches with separate rooms. One to the master bedroom, whilst the other was some sort of clash between a gym and an office.

"I'm going to take a shower," she softly spoke making her way to the master bathroom. Yet again, the bathroom was beautiful yet modern, unlike the main seating area. She stripped, walking into the shower the hot water pleasured her senses. Lathering herself with shampoo and body wash, she made her way out to the bedroom praying that her boss wouldn't be there.

To her luck, he was nowhere to be found. Belle let out a sigh of relief as she unzipped her suitcase, it dawned upon her that Luna had packed her suitcase for her, meaning all of what's in there is lingerie from her last shopping trip with her boss, and no pyjamas!

"Okay, Belle. We have to be confident, go and ask him if you can borrow a shirt or something like that," she whispered to herself walking to the office. Belle faintly knocked the door twice awaiting his approval to enter, once she heard it she twisted the doorknob.

"Sir," she asked in a hushed tone, her head peeking out whilst the rest of her body was covered by the mahogany wooden door.

"You can come in, Belle."

"B-But I can't."

"And why is that?"

"I just took a shower, and my sister forgot to pack me some pyjamas. I was wondering if I could borrow a shirt for tonight?" Belle replied, knowing exactly which territory she's in.

"I didn't hear your question, love. Come in, ask me again," she saw his lips laced with a smirk, how his voice was suddenly rougher, and how his eyes were fixed on her.

Belle was dumbfounded, how she had to enter in only a towel in front of her boss. But, now there's no going back. She opened the door slightly, slipping her wet body into the office with a deep red tint along her cheeks. The boss bit his lip, raking her body from head to toe.

"What was your question, babydoll?" Mr. Holland questioned licking his lips slowly making her glance at them every millisecond.

"M-May I please borrow a shirt, my sister packed me lingerie rather than comfy PJs," the beauty stared at the floor not making contact with the eyes that are burning through her.

"Why don't you want to wear them, sugar," she heard him get up from his seat, waltzing towards her with confidence. He then looked down at her, noticing how she doesn't make contact with him. Mr. Holland delicately placed his index finger under her chin, lifting it in order to meet with his favourite pair of eyes.

"I'm not comfortable with wearing such clothes in front of you, Sir."

"Anything you want, sweetheart. Don't be ashamed, I'm ready when you are," he smiled as she exhaled a breath of relief.

"My suitcase was next to yours," the brunette announced. He then moved his mouth towards her ears making her grasp onto her towel even harder.

"Next time, you don't need to ask. Anything that's mine is yours," he whispered in her ear making her jaw drop slightly.

"I-I'm going to sleep on the couch," Belle spoke abruptly moving away from him.

"No, love. You're sleeping on the bed, end of discussion," he demanded making her gulp nervously, so this is his dominant side? Belle then blinked at him, as though a lost puppy awaiting its owner. Mr. Holland's dominant tone forced her to stop fighting, she was really selfless he thought.

"Goodnight, Sir."

"Goodnight, little girl."

-

finally updated yesss

- a

#marvel #marvel imagine #marvel smut #mcu #mcu imagine #mcu smut #peter parker imagine #peter parker #peter parker smut #spiderman imagine #spiderman #spiderman smut #tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom holland smut

[warrentrash]

sign of the time’s (inspired by aquaman) (1/3)

warren worthington iii x reader

****ALL SPOILERS BELOW. PROCEED AT OWN RISK****

summary: you and warren weren't ever supposed to meet each other, and sadly, you happen to meet again.

a/n: i got my inspo of this from the story line of his parents (and of the actual movie in general i guess) okay i genuinely loved that movie also this is in no way shape or form related to dc so don’t expect aquaman to rock up. i’ve changed a few thing’s that yall saw in the sneak peek

warnings: angsty, ya spoilers too in case i didn’t make it clear, also you have long purple hair in this so just use your imagination ALSO ALSO V CLICHE WITH THE TIMING BUT HEY ITS WHATEVER

the '+' is always change of scene

~

"I don't know what love is like.. but I feel what we have is close to it. I just want to protect you, I need to protect you. Why can't you just stay? Here is so much better than there, you've said so yourself." The painful tone of his voice made Y/N duck her head.

The wind blew softly against the cheeks of the two teenagers in love. On the oceans horizon, the sun was setting leaving pink and purple clouds in its wake. It was spectacular, a rare sight, if you will. As if it was there just for the two.

"I know.. I know I did. But I have a family out there who need me to come home now." You mumbled and shook your head, putting your hands on his cheeks you looked him in the eye. "And I still have to marry Darya no matter how much I don't want to. I can't keep avoiding it.."

Warren shook his head, "it's wrong."

"It's tradition." You laughed lightly but his mood didn't improve. "Hey, Ren," you grabbed his hands. "I still remember when we met."

It took a little but Warren cracked a small smile, "yeah, you thought you had died."

"Because of the angel that rescued me." You smiled softly and watched his cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

He suddenly pulled you into a tight hug.

"Please don't go." He begged as he dug his face into your shoulder.

You closed your eyes and inhaled deeply. Warren's shampoo still lingered in his hair, and it gave you a warm, comforting, feeling. How you were going to miss this. Miss him.

Never in a million years would you ever think that you would fall in love with a land boy. An angel. You've spent the last two years sneaking around with him, slowly falling in love. You tried many things you never could have done in the sea. Like ride a bike. Poor Warren went through hell trying to teach you. But you will never forget it.

The past two years had been amazing. You told your father that for you’re seventeenth birthday you wanted a full year to see the world. With much persuasion, he agreed and let you go. Except you stayed a year longer because you met Warren. Your father wasn’t happy, but he knew you didn’t want to marry some prince just to bare a child and be forgotten about, so he let you stay longer.

"If I'm not home by tomorrow my father will feed me to the sharks." You look out at the ocean to see the tide coming in, it was almost time to leave. Soft fingers gently grazed your chin, and you looked at Warren with confusion.

Slowly, Warren leaned forwards and brought his lips to yours. Natural instinct took over and you closed your eyes, melting into his touch as his hands found your waist. His lips were soft against your slightly cracked ones, but the kiss was full of meaning. It meant so many different things. It said, I miss you, though you were still there. It said, I love you, though neither of you knew what love really was. It said, please stay, yet you had no choice but to go.

Pulling away, you fluttered your eyes open and only then did you realise how close you were to him.

"Will I ever see you again?" He asked quietly.

You felt the tears swelling up in your eyes and you slowly shook your head. "I fear not. The next time I am to visit your world would mean something terrible has happened."

He nodded once and swallowed thickly.

"I think I'm in love with you, Y/N." He told you with a shaky smile.

You showed him the same smile in return before saying, "and I am irrefutably in love with you, Warren. Don't ever forget it." You gently pressed you hand to his cheek one last time before pulling away.

Taking the first few daunting steps to the edge of the cliff, you turn around and send him one last smile. Your heart broke at the sight of Warren standing with slumped shoulders and wings, just watching you with a blank look. But his eyes told a different story. He was heartbroken. Anyone could see.

This time, without hesitation, you turned around and dove off the cliff.

Of course you two were only nineteen at the time. Merely young adults who didn't know any better. You fell in love, and paid the price for it. Twice.

+

Warren never forgot you. The memories of you are what got him through his darkest days. He didn't tell anyone about you either, everyone would have said he was crazy.

But he got on with his life, excepting that fact that he wouldn't ever see you again. He went down a bad road. He did cage fighting for years, then he almost ended the world by being a horseman for Apocalypse. It was bad. He found peace at Xavier’s School For The Gifted, where he now was apart of the X-men, he helped save people. Something he never thought he would do after all he had been through.

After Apocalypse, everyone had thought that the worst was over. But it was only the beginning of the end. The end of something that had been happening for decades. At both sea and land.

+

"That was intense." Scott laughed as he and the rest of the team walked off the jet ramp. Well, most of them limped but they still wore smiles of some sort.

Warren nodded, "yeah, how far did that guy throw you again? Three hundred yards was it?" He grinned widely as everyone laughed.

"It was not, don't tell lies." Scott huffed and dragged his bag on the floor behind him instead of carrying it like everyone else.

The team took an hour and a bit to have showers and then they all met up in one of the den's on the second floor. The mission they just got back from was a three day trip, so they all just wanted to come back and relax.

"Hey, I'm gonna' order a pizza, what does everyone want?" Peter asked as he took a sip of his drink and dialled the number of the pizza place.

Everyone replied what they wanted and went back to doing their own thing.

Ororo sat down next to Warren on the floor and pressed the power button on the remote and the TV lit up with bright red words saying, "alert." In concern, she turned it up and leaned forwards.

"A giant tidal wave has wash up several war ships this evening off the coast of Mexico, destroying several houses and taking the lives of seven. Meanwhile all the way in California, piles of rubbish have washed up on the sand, seeing as it is too much, the local police have closed it, deeming it, unsafe. Is this just a natural disaster? Or the godly work of Poseidon himself?" The news reported asked and swivelled to his right to talk to the other news reporter.

Scott scoffed loudly, "Poseidon? Yeah sure." He turned the volume down and put the remote on the couch.

"Do you not believe that Poseidon is real?" Kurt questioned him.

Warren wanted to hear this badly, he knew Poseidon was real, so to hear what Scott had to say would surely amuse him.

"You expect me to believe that there's some trident wielding god in the middle of the ocean that controls all the tides and sea life?" Scott asked as he stood up with his arms out. "Yeah right!"

"It can't be a coincidence that all this happened in the same day, Scott." Jean tried to reason with him. "If there's mutants like us out there, there has to be God’s, it's the only way for everything to make sense."

Scott shook his head and stretched his back, "Warren will agree with me, right?"

Everyone looked at the winged mutant who went a little wide eyed before stuttering out, "there could be a small chance that he does.. exist."

"You've changed." Scott frowned and sat down in defeat.

Warren rolled his eyes and threw his head back, letting out a loud yawn. "I'm gonna' skip the pizza and head to bed, night." He stood and waved before heading down the hall to his room.

He didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling about something. He thought maybe it was something he had eaten earlier, but the voice in his head told him to stay on alert.

Ignoring everything, Warren fell face first onto his bed and drifted off slowly, except the voice was still whispering to him.

Beware, for the end is near.

Warren pushed the unsettling feeling aside and continued to go fall into a dreamless sleep.

+

Everyone in the mansion all awoke one by one to the sound of loud banging on the front door of the mansion. It didn't sound like a normal knock, it was heavy. As if someone was trying to force their way in.

Warren sat up as his bedroom door opened.

"Get up! Now, quickly, up!" Kurt ran in and dragged the boy up by his wrist and teleported the both of them to the main foyer where the rest of the team were standing, confused and tired.

Charles showed up not even a second later and told everyone to move back. Warren spread his wings out and forcefully pushed the younger students back up the stairs before taking stance, ready to fight whatever was behind that door.

Hank pulled opened the door quickly and everyone waited for a large mutant to come barrelling through, but instead a large ball of, what seemed to be, water, broke and flooded the floor. Warren glanced down and watched how it splashed all the way up to the second step.

Instead of a huge mutant, they saw a woman. Not just an average woman, she looked like a literal Goddess.

You had a fierce look in your eyes, and your long purple hair was in damp waves. The blue crown sat gracefully on your head and matched the tight blue scaled bodysuit you wore. The trident in your hand screamed danger, but you looked beaten. Defeated. 

Little did anyone know, you were a sign of the times.

~

i’m v nervous about sharing this wow

tag list for sign of the time’s: @kurt-nightcrawler @the-brilliant-questioner@fistigones @screaminggalileochickenwrites @marequeenii 

#warren worthington iii #warren worthington iii x reader #warren worthington iii fic #xmen #ben hardy #sign of the times