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thefanficmonster · 3 years

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I’m Right Here

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Mentions of a car accident (minor), Injuries

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff

Summary: There is nothing scarier than those moments when every breath you take is shallow; when your heart is racing and your body is drenched in cold sweat. When you are rushing to the aid of a hurt loved one, knowing you can never be fast enough because your mind and fear are at least a mile ahead of you. Corpse has to experience these exact moments after a frightening call that informs him of his girlfriend’s car accident.

Requested by @sugiliteshadow . Hi! Thank you so much for you request, darling. Sorry to be posting it so late and I can’t thank you enough for your patience. I hope the fic itself makes up for the wait. Please enjoy! Stay safe! Love, Vy ❤

It’s been about an hour since I got off the phone with Y/N and my concern is through the roof. She called me from the parking lot of the office building where she works at, telling me she’s be home in less than half an hour and asking if I needed her to pick up anything along the way. I have been trying to brush away the worries, comforting myself with the fact that I did request a specific type of iced tea and knowing Y/N, she’s probably looking for it in multiple stores because she couldn’t find it in the convenience store that’s along her way back home. I should’ve told her not to sweat it considering I don’t need it right away or anything. I have tried distracting myself with editing just to hinder myself from picking up my phone and debating weather to call her or not. I may be worried but I don’t wanna put her life in danger by calling her while she’s driving.

I keep my hands on my keyboard and mouse, my phone halfway across the room just in case. Another thirty minutes pass by with no sound of the door being unlocked or even a car pulling up. My fingers are beginning to drum over the buttons on my keyboard anxiously. I have had to go back and redo so many things with the video I’m editing because my mind simply isn’t present. It’s wandering around the city, looking for that one familiar car that’s always outside our house, parked in the driveway. That’s currently being driven by my girlfriend of two years Y/N.

My phone’s ringtone snaps me out of the downwards spiral of my thoughts, simultaneously picking up the speed of my heartbeat. I basically launch myself out of my chair and towards the bed where the ringing is coming from. I feel a wave of relief rush over me when I see Y/N’s name on the lit screen.

“Hey babe, where have you been?“ I ask as soon as I answer the call. It feels like my whole body shuts down when I finally pick up on the sound of blaring sirens in the background.

“Sir, I’m sorry to inform you Miss Y/L/N has been in an accident.” The words the female voice on the phone says cut through me like a knife, sending chills of paralyzing fear all over my body, “You were the last person she contacted before the accident which is why we’ve stepped in contact with you. However, if you are not able to come collect Miss Y/L/N, please contact a family member of hers.“

The calmness of her tone is freaking me out of my skin and mind, “Is she ok?! Where is she?!“

“She’s alright, sir. She’s not completely conscious yet, though. But she will be by the time you arrive. Her injuries are not in any way life-threatening. She has a few cuts and bruises and a concussion. A medical team has already taken care of her.“

Before I know it, I’m already out the door, the location the policewoman gave me in my head as I get behind the wheel of my car which I rarely use. Thankfully, the road the accident happened on is less than fifteen minutes away. Due to the late hour there is close to no traffic on the roads so I make it to the scene in no time. Y/N’s car is surrounded by two cop cars and two ambulances. I barely even notice the black Honda Civic that is almost equally as beat up as Y/N’s Toyota. Speaking of the Toyota, its front bumper is completely obliterated - the headlights, blinkers and windshield in pieces and shards on the pavement.

In the first ambulance there’s a guy passed out on a gurney with an ivy rip connected to his arm. In the one next to it is Y/N, sitting hunched over with her head hanging low, her hair falling over her face.

“Y/N?“ I rush over to her, reaching out to touch her shoulder but withdrawing my arm in case she has a bruise in that spot.

She lifts her head, a look of relief and happiness flashing across her face. She lets out a sigh, a small smile appearing on her lips as her eyes fill with tears. “Corpse...” her hand reaches out for mine which is still hanging in the air. I give her my other hand and she uses me as support to slowly stand up. She lets go of my hands and wraps her arms around me in a tight hug as a quiet sob leaves her chest. “I was so scared when I woke up. I couldn’t remember anything.”

“It’s ok, you’re ok now. I’m here, I’m right here.“ I gently smooth her hair while carefully holding her in my embrace. She has a few purple bruises along her arms and cuts on her cheek and neck which are covered in white bandages with small dark red stains. The most major thing I can see is the cut on her left temple which is also covered up. I press a tender kiss to the right one. “Are you in any pain?“ I pull away to get a better look at her.

Thankfully she shakes her head, “No, I’m ok. My elbow hurts a little but that’s it.”

I nod, moving a strand of hair behind her ear, kissing her forehead. Just as I’m about to ask her what exactly happened one one of the police officers approaches us.

“A drunk driver. He ran the red light and crashed straight into her car.“ The officer says, judging by her voice it’s the same woman that called me. “You don’t remember that, do you?“

Y/N turns to her, “I just remember hearing a loud crash and then darkness. I didn’t know what had happened until you told me when I woke up.”

The policewoman gives us a sincere smile, lightly touching Y/N’s shoulder “It’s ok, sweetheart. You are alright, that’s what matters. And you have someone here by your side.”

Y/N’s eyes meet mine when she gives me the most loving glance, the one that I often catch in her eyes - the one that always melts me. “He always is.” she says, running her fingers down my arm, interlocking hers with mine when they reach my hand.

The policewoman tells us good night and walks over to the other ambulance. We stick around to see the cars get taken away and Y/N gives her info so they can contact her when the car is repaired. I know how much she loves that car - it’s the first and only car she has ever owned. She has had it for about seven years and calls it her child basically. I never thought I’d be jealous of a car in my life - just kidding. But my point has been made - she’s never been apart from it or driven another car.

Wrapping my arm around her while she watches her car being taken away, I turn her around, leading her towards my car. “Let’s get you home. You’ll be 100% under my care and no complaints will be accepted.”

She rolls her eyes playfully, snuggling up into my side, “Don’t make a big deal about this please. And, for the love of God, don’t baby me too much, ok?”

I grin down at her, “What was that, I didn’t quite catch it?“

“Corpseeee...“ She pouts, a frown on her face, making her look so childish it’s absolutely adorable.

“Save the whining, it ain’t gonna work.“ I open the door to the passenger seat, stepping aside so she can get in the my car.

Surprisingly enough, she actually doesn’t complain the rest of the way home nor when we arrive. Nor when I instruct her to stay in bed and not move unless it’s absolutely necessary. I basically bring all the snacks from the kitchen into our room while she compiles a list of movies we will be watching because no sleep will be had tonight. “I love you.“ Y/N says through a sigh halfway through the second movie.

“I love you too. But don’t fall asleep.“ I tickle her side, causing her to giggle and squirm in an attempt to get away from me.

“Ok, ok, but you’re gonna have to help me. If I blink, I’ll be a goner.“ She yawns, shuffling back towards me. When she flashes me that hinting wide smile, I know exactly what she’s insinuating.

I sigh, giving in with ease. “When you were here before...“

“Couldn’t look you in the eye...“ she backs me up just as I knew she would

“You’re just like an angel...“

“Your skin makes me cry...“

Needless to say, we end up duetting random songs - rap songs, heavy metal, pop songs, some of my songs, some Christmas songs, Disney songs - making it one of the best movie marathons we’ve ever had, the unfortunate events of the day far behind us and completely gone from our minds.

@maat-the-prescriptive @simonsbluee @save-the-sky @itsminniekat @hacker-ghost @bi-andready-tocry @imtiredaffff @jazzkaurtheglorious @hereforbeebo @fandomgirl17 @chrysanthykios @maehemscorpyus @loraleiix @letsloveimagines @annshit @i-cant-choose-a-username-help @enigmaticmaze @divine-artemis @waterlilypat @idontknowwhatthisisfam @evi-ka @classyandfabulous00 @redperson58 @lilysdaydreams @the-fuck-up-of-today @chiefwombathoagiepizza @solowheein @mythicalamphitrite @axen-gers @luckygirl144 @nj01 @buddyemily @the-albino-lioness @stardream14 @gdhdkfnn @nomadicgypsyy @preciousskye @fluffysuicideunicornsworld @symphony-butterfly @manacharlotte @awkward-youtube-trash @baby-iyania @bonky-beerns @meme-lord-and-savior-sebastian @strawbrinkofdeath @pinkhairedsapphic @teenloves @tams0527 @browneyespinkhair @starstruckllamapuppy @daisychains012 @y0ulooked @tinytacosuitcaseflap @maybe-im-dead-idk @supernatural-is-my-only-life @jula-pauline @melodykitty @just-that-bi-girl @crazybutconfidentaf @lowellshade @chaoticgayandnerdy @alphakees @bellero @weallneednamjesus @strawberrycheesecakekenzistuff @starryhanji @boiled-onionrings @husherstan @fockingwhore @melaningoddessthings @prettypastelpetals @haleypearce @godwhyamiawkward @y-napotat @daisychainyoonmin @little-miss-rebel3 @free-wheelin-bi-sexual @redmoon261 @amysingh2512 @wiseflamingoqueen @into-the-end @faepetersen @namikhai-i @nastiablr

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all-my-love-for-harry · 4 years

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Show off.

summary: artemis likes to show his daddy off and harry takes every opportunity to make his son proud.

word count:

based on these requests:

"for the single parent series, could there be one where harry and the reader go to artemis’ school for like parent teacher interviews or like harry goes for a school father’s day kinda thing? thanks!"

and

"wait so what about artemis like showing his daddy off🥺 cause that bb just knows how awesome his dad is and he wants everyone to know it"

and

"For my shy little boy can you write something were parents go to schools to talk about their jobs and Artemis chooses Harry and introduces him as his that and harry gets all mushy and happy to talk about his job and tells funny/cute stories about Artemis and Y/n while they were on the road with him. Please."

and

"hi I love my shy little boy series! could you write something about Artemis calling or telling his friends at school that Harry’s his dad or like Harry attends Artemis school event??"

a/n: hi! sorry for taking so long, i haven't been inspired lately but here we are again! hope you enjoy!

you can find more of my shy little boy here

*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･:

November, 2019.

Starting on a new school has never been easy, especially if school year has already started and you’re the last one to join. Making the decision of putting Artemis in another school wasn’t an easy one, but surely the most practical one. After moving in with Harry, Artemis’ school ended up too far from home, so his parents made the decision to choose another one that was closer to their house.

It was hard at first, the poor boy would cry trying to convince his mummy to let him stay, sometimes faking having the flu or a headache. Y/N would sigh and try to explain to him how he had to put on a little effort, she understood it was hard for him to leave his teacher, his friends, a routine he was already used to. However, closing off and refusing to talk to his classmates didn’t make things better.

Slowly but surely, Artemis started to accept the changes. He started talking to a few kids, opening up to the idea of making new friends. He’d talk about what he liked, disliked and, of course, he’d talk about his mummy and daddy.

“My daddy says we treat people with kindness!”

“My mummy packs me breakfast every day.”

Those were some of the things he’d usually say to his classmates. However he held back a little when it came to talk about Harry, having his mummy explain to him before how not everybody had the best intentions when it came to them, so sometimes it was better to not say too much. But Artemis couldn’t help it, he loved his daddy too much.

One day, he was at school sitting beside one of his friends, a little girl named Allison. The teacher had giving them permission to use the last minutes of the class to do whatever they wanted, and Artemis was coloring a book next to his friend.

"What's your daddy's name?" The girl asked.

"Harry," He smiled. "Harry Styles."

Much to his surprise, the blonde girl let out a high-pitched laugh while shocking her head. “No, he isn’t.” She stated. “Harry Styles’ a rock star. That’s what my mummy says.”

Artemis furrowed. At this point, he was well aware what his daddy’s job was, but to him Harry’s always been a normal person. The man who dated his mummy and now was his dad too. “He is!” Allison just shook her head again, making her pigtails move as well. It frustrated the boy how she seemed to not believe him, when he was obviously telling the truth.

So he crossed his arms across his chest, pouting. The teacher has noticed the little disagreement the kids had, and she secretly took the girl’s side. It had been a little over a month since Artemis had arrived to the school and she was yet to meet the boy’s dad, as Y/N was always the one who picked him up. Soon enough, the parents of the children started to show up, and the classroom became emptier.

There were a few kids left besides Artemis that were still waiting to be collected when Harry showed up. He was excited to meet his son’s teacher since he wasn’t able to before, he’s been pretty busy since the album release was approaching therefore his time was being consumed by meetings and last minute trips to the studio. He walked down the hallway with a big smile on his face, looking down at all the small humans with their parents. He must admit, if there was one thing he didn’t like about Artemis’ new school, it would be the uniforms. The tiny, navy blue polo his son had to wear under the long sleeve shirt with the logo of the school embroidered on his shirt was a little too formal on his opinion, but it was part of the rules.

Harry’s smile grew at the sight of his son waiting for him. “Daddy!” Artemis was the one who spotted him first, getting up from his chair and running towards him. “You came!”

“Of course I came.” Harry said, his hands ran through the mop of curls Artemis had. “Go for your bag, I’ll say hello to your teacher.”

Artemis did what his daddy told him, and when he passed next to Allison, he made an ‘I told you so’ expression. “Told you I wasn’t a bloody liar!” The little girl opened her mouth in offense, but to be fair she didn’t believe him when he told her.

“Hi, I’m Artemis’ dad.” Harry offered the teacher a smile as they shook hands. It was still surreal to him introducing himself as a father, and it never failed to put a smile on his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier, things have been a little hectic at work and I’ve been out of town.”

“Uh, It-it’s okay. It’s nice to meet you Mr. Styles.” The woman in front of him was nervous and he was sure she wasn’t aware who Artemis’ father was. “I don’t know if you’ve received the email yet, but we’re having a small gathering with the parents on Wednesday so they could come talk about their jobs to the kids and stuff.”

He nodded. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll talk to my girlfriend about it but you’ll see either of us here.” He gave her one last smile before he took Artemis’ hand in his. “Let’s go, baby. Say bye to your teacher.”

“Bye!” The little boy waved to her before turning his attention back to his daddy. They walked outside of the school at to his car, Harry listening closely to what Artemis was telling him. “Allison didn’t believe you were my daddy!”

“She didn’t?” He asked as he lifted Artemis to put him on his car seat. “Why wouldn’t she?”

“She said her mummy told her you were a rock star or something.” He shrugged. “But you can be both right? A rock star and my daddy?”

“Of course I can be both!” He exclaimed, kissing the top of his head.

Harry carried Artemis’ backpack inside while the small boy ran towards the living room, in look for his mummy. “She’s in her office, mate.”

“Is she working?” Harry hummed in confirmation.

While Y/N was working in her office, Harry helped Artemis clean up before they started lunch together. When the food was ready, she finally came out of the room and went to find her boys. “Hello, darlings.” She said.

“Mummy!” Artemis ran towards his mum and gave her a hug.

The family of three ate happily, conversation never dying down because of the small bubble of joy that couldn’t stop talking with his parents. He’d talk until he became too tired he had to be put down to his afternoon nap. Harry was putting everything in the dishwasher when Y/N came back down, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

“I met Artemis’ teacher today.” She hummed in response. “She uh, did she tell you about the parent thingy?”

“What?”

“You know, where parents go talk to the kids about their jobs.”

“Oh, I didn’t think they’d do that.”

“Have you gone to one?”

“Yeah, last year at Artemis’ old school. It was fun.”

“It’s on Wednesday.”

“I think it will be good if you go.” Harry turned around to see her, thinking she wasn’t serious. “What? You don’t think so?”

“No, no. It’s not that. I just thought you’d want to go.”

“I’m sure Artemis would want you there, your job is more interesting.” She joked, making hum frown.

“That’s not true.”

“You’re right. But i still think you should go."

Taking a deep breath, Harry entered the classroom. He has has a little wardrobe crisis trying to decide what should he wear to the event. He didn't want to be too formal, quickly deciding that a suit wouldn't be the his first choice. But he didn't want to be too casual either, his job might not require a tux and a tie but showing up in sweatpants and a hoodie wasn't a choice either. So he settled for a pair brown slacks that he paired with a white button up shirt and some gucci loafers.

He wanted to make his son proud so he has also prepared for any questions the kids might have. He didn't consider his job to be more important than the others, but the children would probably be interested when a man with an unconventional job walks in.

There were already a few parents standing in one side of the classroom when he arrived, and a man was in the middle of explaining what he did for a living while standing in the middle of the room. Harry immediately spotted Artemis sitting on a chair, however he was looking around the room trying to find his daddy.

When his hazel eyes met Harry's green ones, the little boy smiled widely, glad he was finally there. Harry made him a sign, silently telling him to pay attention to the other parents until it was Harry's turn.

It had been fifteen minutes since he arrived and he was finally next in line. Currently, a middle aged woman was explaining how she was an accountant and trying to make numbers sound interesting to a bunch of five year olds. Nonetheless, Harry clapped when the woman finished talking and that encouraged the kids to clap too.

The teacher made him a sign and Harry stepped in the middle of the room. "Hello, my name's Harry."

"That's my dad!" He heard Artemis exclaim from his seat.

"That's right." He chuckled. "I'm uh, i'm a musician, which means i make music for a living." He started saying. "We all like music, right?" The children cheered. "I love music, and the reason why i do what i do is to try and make people feel something through my music." Harry was actually trying to make it interesting, so he decided to add a twist. "My job also makes me travel the world constantly."

"Have you been to Japan?" One boy asked.

"I have, yes. I like to learn from the countries I visit, and Japan is one of our favorites. Right, pal?" He looked at Artemis for confirmation. "Last time I was there, I took my family to this beautiful place to eat. Unfortunately, they didn't have forks and we had to eat everything with chopsticks. My... girlfriend didn't know how to use them, and in one wrong move she sent flying a piece of sushi to the table next to us, can you believe it?!" The kids laughed.

"What else do you do?"

"I tour the world, and bring my music anywhere I can. Have you ever been to a concert?" Some kids nodded and some others shook their heads. "Well, concerts are a lot of fun, you'll see when you get older. One time i forgot my passport at home, and couldn't get on my flight. I had a concert to give!"

"And what did you do?"

"Artemis here delivered it, right son?" The curly haired boy nodded shyly at his dad.

"Where do you get your inspiration from?" One little girl asked, raising her hand before speaking.

He smiled, not expecting that question from a child. "From life, honestly. As you get older you try and find a way of expressing yourself and art is very important. You see, there's a lot of ways we can comunicate without having an actual conversation. It can be through a painting, or a poem, perhaps even dancing. I chose to do it on a song. What i write about? Things that makes me happy. And what makes me happy? Well, that's easy. My family."

☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁☁

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messymessyml · 3 years

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Sometimes a premonition is destined to happen

Hi all,

This is the craziest thing I’ve written in a long while and the strangest part about it is that my top three oddest pieces of writing have all had a Greek Mythology worldbuild. It’s what the ancient Greeks would have wanted.

This is my Secret Santa 2020 gift for @bunathebunny and my prompts were ‘Percy Jackson AU’, ‘turning into cats’, ‘no soulmate AU’, ‘Jason x Luka’, and ‘Stephanie x Marinette’. There were a few other requested ‘fors’ and ‘against’s’ I was able to include here, but I have to say, this was the most reader-specific thing I think I’ve ever tailored. I hope you like it!

FYI: “~~” indicate POV changes, and while I ended up breaking this into chapters, this is essentially a oneshot. I curse when Jason is the narrator since I can’t see Jason as Jason without it so if that’s not your thing be forewarned. This is also cross posted on AO3.

@maribat-secret-santa-2020

Chapter 1

The camp was noisy, with people’s inner songs reaching out to the treeline in a mess of chaotic synergy. Word had arrived that Artemis and her hunters had just reached the outer edges of the barrier around the camp and the camp-goers who were not busy with sentry duties or away from camp were frantically working to put the finishing touches on the new lodgehouse erected for Artemis’s feast. Artemis was one of the more frequent godly visitors to Camp Half-Blood, but it was rare that she deigned to make the visit official, much preferring to conceal herself as another half-blood or a visiting instructor under a different guise. As son of Apollo, Luka was aware of a more mischievous side of his father’s twin sister, and the grating cacophony of sound combined with the foreboding feeling he felt down to his bones stemming from this impending visit was just on the edge of overwhelming for him.

Finding a quiet area was relatively easy, all told, though his senses tried to disagree with him as they quailed from the near sensory overload all he had to do was move to the outskirts of the lake as he followed a very familiar and well worn path. As Luka approached his boyfriend’s House, that marrow-ache he always felt from prophesy tightened in tandem with the relief that enveloped him as blessed silence cloaked him in it's comforting embrace. It seemed that the adventures of today wouldn’t be as easy to dodge as he’d hoped, but it was comforting to know that his boyfriend would be along with him for the ride.

Jason was having a no-good gods-be-damned day.

He’d been woken by Emma and Darcy who had managed to get into what appeared to be no holds barred fight to the death a four in the fucking morning. Emma, the eastern screech owl he’d found a few years before making his way to Camp Half-Blood, was hooting up a storm and fluffed to Elysium while Darcy, the mustard-bellied snake Luka had given him about a year and a half into their relationship lunged at Emma’s clawed legs with his teeth extended. Suffice to say, he wasn’t happy to wake up like that, and it served them both right that they were now separated on either ends of his lodge by a verifiable army of skeletal mice. It made a sort of macabre justice to see them cornered and policed by their own undead meals as he had left his lodge after breaking up the fight.

He was currently in the mess hall grabbing food, but it wasn’t much of an improvement over his living quarters. The raucous environment grated on his ears after a less than full night’s sleep and the fact that it was mostly the higher pitches of the girls making most of the noise didn’t help matters. The porridge he’d grabbed was looking less appetizing by the minute.

He’d just decided to give up on his breakfast when Jason heard a familiar voice call out “Hey bozo, whatcha up to this fine morning!” at the same moment another body hit his side. Jason faintly registered the girl who hit him let out an “oops'' as this action pushed his hand into his spoon and sent mush into his face. Miraculously, not a drop landed on the perpetrator, which gave Jason enough of a clue to know the identity of both the girl hanging from his shoulders as well as the girl still approaching from behind him.

“What. The. Fuck.”, Jason deadpanned. Taking a napkin from the center of the table, he did his best to wipe up the mess even with his tag-along making the stretch all that more difficult.

“Aww, don’t be like that, Jay. Marinette didn’t mean to do it, you know that.” Saying that, Stephanie slid on to the bench on his other side, leaving Marinette to cage him in from the right.

“Sorry, Jason. Next time I’ll check my landing!” Marinette added with a cheeky little grin.

The nerve. Jason couldn’t really say this minor level of chaos was out of the norm for his friends, but after his early wake-up call Marinette’s clumsiness wasn’t appreciated.

“Why the fuck are you two so energetic today? For that matter, why are all the girls acting like Eros came for a visit?” Jason asked.

Marinette piped up stating, “Artemis and her hunt are set to arrive today! Steph and I aren’t on sentry duty so we won’t get to join the welcoming party, but that just means everyone who isn’t on duty can join Artemis on her hunt later today!”

“I think she’s looking to recruit some new huntresses, and after her last visit to the Amazons, this is the next spot scheduled.” Stephanie confided. “Obviously everyone only means all the girls, so that’s why you’re hearing mostly girls talking about Artemis’s visit.”

“Knowing your luck, you’ll be offered a spot and rope Steph here into joining too.” Jason directed to Marinette with a raised eyebrow.

“I may have luck on my side, but I doubt Steph or I will actually join.” Marinette responded, continuing over his head with a smile, “I’m too happy with you to give all this up.”

Jason could see Steph smile from the corner of his eye as he wiped the last of the oatmeal from his face as she replied, “Babe you and me both.”

“Not that this isn’t exactly what I want to hear before eight in the fucking morning, but I need to get back to my cabin; I left Emma and Darcy in time-out and I need to re-up the power behind the undead mice keeping them away from each other.” Jason reluctantly got out.

“Ha, what the fuck? I thought those two got along, did they decide to wake you up, Mister Grumpypants?” Stephanie teased him even as Marinette relinquished her vice hold and scooted to the side to let him up.

“Sure as the Underworld, they decided 4AM was the best time for it. I swear, good ole pops must have remembered I existed for once and decided to have E and D play messenger or somethin’.” Jason grumbled as he got up and grabbed his tray.

“Don’t be a stranger! You won’t like the consequences, Jay!” Stephanie called out.

“Yeah-yeah-yeah, I got it. See you guys.” Jason said as he waved over his shoulder and dropped his bowl off at the clean up station on the way out.

Jason made his way back home, not in a hurry to arrive but not making any stops on the way. His father didn’t do him any favors in the PR department, and most camp-goers avoided him on principle. It wasn’t like there were many demigods with Hades as a father, and most avoided children of the Big Three out of practicality if not fear. Jason soon found himself entering his cabin, pleasantly surprised to see his boyfriend Luka calmly sitting waiting for him on the bed, gently strumming his guitar. Less pleasantly, it seemed his broken concentration at breakfast cost him a few skeleton mice enforcers whose bones were strewn across the floor and a clear path of destruction was shown leading from the corners each animal were previously penned into to the center of the room. He couldn’t see any blood and it looked like Luka had been able to calm them down as Emma and Darcy were now perched on his shoulder and leg, respectively, but it didn’t take a genius to see that they both weren’t done fighting.

“Hey love, I didn’t expect to see you until later today, what had you up so early?” Jason queried.

Giving one last strum to his instrument, Luka pulled a hand away to capture Emma in one hand, preventing her from diving down to the snake anklet just visible from under Luka’s pant leg. Darcy seemed content to stay where he was curled around Luka’s warmth. Sometimes it was eerie watching his boyfriend’s knack for precognition in action. Mostly, it got him hot.

“There were too many conflicting songs near Apollo’s cabin this morning so I woke up early. I came over here for some peace and to see you.” Luka calmly replied.

Nodding, Jason moved over to the washbasin, washing his face and hands, a simple “wait a sec” enough for the time being. He wanted to hug his boyfriend, gods dammit, but he didn’t want to do it with porridge on his body.

“Marinette struck again.” Jason complained, “She managed to land on me without me hearing her or her shadow reaching me first and got me covered in my breakfast. Not a drop landed on her, Luka! Luck shouldn’t be that powerful, babe.”

Luka’s eyes twinkled as he grinned and said, “What did you expect, mon beau, she is the daughter of Tyche.”

“The minute she and Steph got together it seemed they were a match made specifically to punish me. I swear, if Steph uses her powers on me one more time to rig another prank in her girlfriends favor, I will fill her bed with dancing bones.” he said as emphatically (read: dramatically) as he could.

“Sounds like a plan.” Luka full-out grinned, hardly able to get the words out. Once he’d gotten a bit of a handle on his response, Luka continued, “What do you say about joining me on our date a little early? Since we’re both up, let’s try to get to the river fort a little early; we might be able to watch the hunt from that vantage without incurring Artemis’s wrath.”

“Ugh, yeah, lemme just…” Jason said as he pulled power from the ground, focused on the mice bones scattered around his cabin. Commanding the dead to do his bidding wasn’t all that hard, but he wanted to make sure both Emma and Darcy stayed away from each other so he also instructed the shadows to form a barricade, making sure that the shadows understood that they needed to remain opaque and in between his companions while he was gone. That done, he turned to Luka and caught the tail end of his softened expression which never failed to soften his own brow in return.

“Ready, love?” Jason asked.

“With you? Always.” Luka replied.

Chapter 2

Jason found himself following after Luka as he moved through the forest like he belonged. Most of the time, he found himself bringing up the rear as it was easier for him to keep in contact with the shadows a step or two away from his child-of-the-sun boyfriend. Jason felt more secure being able to keep in touch with his shadows as they acted as an early warning system for any ambush. His time on the run while he made his way to Camp Half-Blood gave him a healthy dose of fear for the unknown and a respect for the utility of his powers to keep himself and others safe. With how distracted people had been that morning, there was no telling what might have slipped past the sentries divided attention.

Luka was up ahead, likely channeling the song of the forest as he usually did on these hiking dates of theirs. Today’s melody was a bit more playful, with individual notes that rang out loudly every few chords. With one last set of instructions to the shadows, Jason left them and pulled abreast of his boyfriend.

“Were you able to eat before you made your way to my cabin, Luka? I didn’t see you in the mess hall.” Jason began.

Still strumming, Luka responded, “No, I had a feeling that we should stay together today and try to get to the fort by the waterfall as quickly as possible. It feels like one of those omen-filled days.”

Small chills went down his spine as Jason digested that information. The fort was pretty far away from the residences and probably the furthest training ground in Camp Half-Blood. They would sometimes go to it on their days off since the location was hardly ever visited so he hadn’t thought much when the spot was originally proposed, but Luka’s intuition was never to be taken lightly. Even though they’d been walking for an hour or so, talking or enjoying each other’s presence, there was still a way to go to reach the fort. Time to get a move on, then.

“In that case, babe, let’s get moving.” saying that, he placed his hand on Luka’s hand holding the guitar, making eye contact, and after a gentle squeeze he let go.

Luka knew that the music would have helped, but he was weak. They’d been dating for over three years at this point and friends for almost five and he was still weak to those eyes. Sometimes Jason seemed to reach inside his chest and squeeze his heart to pulp, the only thing left the breath in his lungs calling him to sing. Sing his feelings and leave all else to the wayside.

It meant he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going.

It meant he didn’t feel fate grab hold.

Jason with laser focus on the path ahead and him with his head in the clouds, it meant they stumbled upon the hunt in progress without realizing it.

Chaos. Stephanie couldn’t have stopped the trainwreck that just happened to save her life. Unfortunately, her friend’s lives might be at stake at this point, so that just wasn’t gonna cut it. Time for damage control.

Stephanie and Marinette had joined the hunt after Artemis called for volunteers for the day stating that a training session was in order. They’d been tracking the golden buck that was the star of the hunt for almost two hours at this point and it was getting close to midday. The sun was shining almost directly down on the buck as it paused in a clearing where the animal trail intersected with one of the paths more commonly used by camp-goers. Stephanie and Marinette were shadowing Artemis while Artemis’s third-in-command waved three other girls to fan out to surround the clearing, both groups moving in tandem to corner the buck and lead him on a chase to the river. The purpose of the training exercise was to learn how to pursue large prey and tactically block all escape rather than a simple kill the buck, otherwise their team of demigods and goddesses would have finished the hunt over an hour ago.

Unfortunately, it seemed her dumbass friends didn’t get the memo and stumbled directly on the clearing, obscured from view until they were directly in the sunlight. As they came into view, the buck stiffened and the game was up; the buck’s nostrils flared and the animal ran in the exact opposite direction as intended, straight for Artemis.

Artemis swiftly shifted from the red-haired youth she had chosen for the hunt to a body with an Amazonian stature, her hair shifting to a sleek brown and her features shaping into an adult countenance. The buck, startled, reared up and attempted to hit the goddess, hooves aimed to cut and bruise. Artemis swiftly moved around the buck’s shoulder, pulled a knife from its sheath at the base of her spine and slit the buck's throat as it’s feet came down, spasming as it fell to the ground.

Sternly, moving to face her friends, Artemis’s booming voice could be heard: “What nonsense goes here? Who are you to dare ruin this hunt?”

Stephanie bit her tongue to avoid speaking on their behalf. Her own powers beat with Artemis’s thirst to mete out her comeuppance on the boys.

Her eyes cut from Artemis’s back to Jason’s as he straightened his spine and stepped further into the clearing to state: “Apologies, Artemis, we didn’t intend to interrupt your hunt. I was hiding myself and my partner in the shadows to avoid startling your prey, but it seems luck wasn’t on our side today.”

“Son of Hades…” Artemis said thoughtfully. “Your father has been kind to my children lately. I may be lenient on your punishment because of this. However,” here, Steph could see Artemis’s head tilt to fully view Luka, “Apollo has been quite impertinent lately. You, I do not feel so kind toward. You, I may turn into a boar for today’s hunt and I might not guarantee your safe return to humanity.”

The threat hung in the air. Stephanie so badly wanted to intervene. Perhaps...her eyes cut to Marinette’s and a moment passed between the two. Darting her gaze to Jason’s, she mouthed the word ‘luck’ and ‘Tyche’ to her girlfriend, hoping Marinette would be able to pick up her plan.

“Artemis,” Stephanie spoke. “Perhaps a middle-ground would be satisfactory. Marinette over there is the daughter of Tyche and I am the daughter of Nemesis; perhaps she could help you verify their claim about luck and I could propose a suitable punishment?”

Artemis half-turned around to view her as she contemplated the offer, her eyes piercing as their color shifted with her thoughts. Stephanie could feel her breath catch in her throat as she waited for Artemis’s response.

“Hmm, I suppose you all are still young, perhaps my usual punishments for men who interrupt a hunt can be bent.” Artemis’s gaze turned in Marinette’s direction. “What say you, daughter of Tyche? Are your powers strong enough to judge their statement true?”

Stephanie could see her girlfriend straighten her spine and tuck her chin determinedly before she replied, “Yes, I can do that.”

“And you will answer truthfully? You know I will know if you lie.” Artemis warned.

“Yes.” Marinette swore.

“Hmm. Very well, show me your skills.”

Marinette stepped forward, circling around the fallen buck and towards the boys. Jason was leaning just the slightest bit forward, while Luka seemed at ease. Stephanie’s eyes caught Luka’s and the amount of Zen in them was calming. Hopefully, he was calm because he had foreseen this gamble pay off. Stephanie could see Marinette’s hand raise to face their friends and a light pink glow started to emit from her hands, forming the Greek words for ‘ominous end’ over Jason’s head and ‘bright mayhem’ over Luka’s. Below, a timer formed, showing Luka’s current luck to have started at sunrise that morning, while Jason’s was marked in years, days, and hours. It wasn’t clear from what Stephanie could see whether Jason’s timer was moving backward or forward. It gave her chills either way.

Marinette’s voice rang out with her verdict: “Their luck was at fault today. It appears the Muses found these two to be fun to play with. Chance was at play.”

Shaking herself out of it, Stephanie stepped forward and pulled that sense of vengeance and judgement to the forefront of her mind as she spoke, “Since the hunt was not interrupted maliciously and was due to bad luck shared between the two, a shared punishment would be best. I propose the boy’s take the place of the buck in the hunt, but ask that they fall to no harm and their punishment ends at sundown. Do you agree this punishment is fitting, Artemis?”

A mirthful chuckle left the goddess’s lips while a yelp exited Jason’s. Stephanie kept her eyes on the goddess’s; the boys were on their own if Stephanie let on she wasn’t as impartial as she wished to appear to be to the goddess.

“If a time limit is what’s called for, daughter of Nemesis, then so be it.” Artemis said. “I agree to your proposed punishment and am willing to ensure no permanent harm befalls them so long as they stay within the boundaries of Camp Half-Blood, but if we only have until sundown, they’d better work hard to keep the hunt challenging. You two won’t be prey animals, oh no, let’s see what predator’s you’ll be.”

Artemis didn’t wait to hear from any of the campers present, including the boys, waving her hands in their direction even as Jason opened his mouth to argue. Jason’s comically open mouth shifted along with the rest of his body into the form of a mountain lion, leaving a large cat with a panting mouth in his place. Luka’s form shifted to that of a European lynx, even that unflappable friend of hers looking ungainly and awkward from the suddenness of the change.

Both boy’s clothes and bags had disappeared in the shift and Stephanie couldn’t help hoping that they’d return with the boy’s human forms when they were changed back at sundown. She shuddered at the thought of leading two whining toddlers back to camp in nothing but their birthday suits, and if Luka lost that guitar he wouldn’t be able to play for her anniversary dinner with Marinette. There’s no way she’d be able to propose to Marinette without Luka’s musical help. Stephanie sent a prayer for continued good luck towards her soon-to-be mother-in-law, stepping back as Artemis said, “Let the hunt recommence!”

Chapter 3

This was worse than any stint he’d pulled in the Underworld. He’d lost Luka a while back when another hunting party found them. Luka had bounded for the trees and he’d headed in the direction of the river. His powers weren’t working in this form and it bit him pretty deep as it felt like an entire sense of his was missing. Since he’d ‘woken’ back up from his near perma-death after his mom had died and learned to access his control over the shadows and bones around him, he’d come to rely on them pretty heavily without realizing it.

That was probably why he’d gotten Luka and himself into this mess in the first place; he didn’t realize that the clearing was entirely devoid of shadows and it was too close to midsummer for the clearing to allow him to hide in the shadows like he was used to. He’d managed to escape the hunting party on his tail but he was worried for his partner; moving in a new body and effectively becoming prey wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Luka could tell that this series of events was what his intuition was telling him would happen when he woke up this morning. All told, it wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever gotten himself into, and it was kinda cool to be able to leap from tree to tree and traverse the forest at this pace. It seems like most of the hunters had moved towards the river, as he hadn’t encountered any other hunters after losing his tail near the cliff face further inland. He was currently making his way towards the fort, figuring Jason would manage to follow the river to their intended destination without too much worry. For now, he’d enjoy this new body and feel the new rhythm he could feel through his paws and his nose while he waited for sundown.

Fuck.

Fuckity fuck fuck.

Claws were not for him. Whoever (read: himself and most definitely Steph) got him into this mess, they’d pay. That was the fourth hunting party he’d encountered and the second time he’d had to cross the river and backtrack to hide his tracks and he was sooo not down for the feel of wet fur. This just went to show how feathers and scales were so much better and why Emma and Darcy were the only pets for him; he could tell he wouldn’t want to pet an animal with fur for months after this.

Currently, he was hiding in a tree, taking a page out of his boyfriend’s book and hiding in the trees rather than at ground level. He could see Marinette and another girl from a different hunting party conversing about 10 yards away; there was no way he was getting down or giving away his position anywhere near where Artemis’s party could be found. That psycho goddess had it out for him, lenient his ass.

Marinette could tell Jason was hiding in that tree, the water puddle slowly forming underneath him was a dead giveaway. She loved the goofball too much to actually hunt him though which was about the only bit of luck he’d seen today (she could tell). Honestly, he’d have been caught at least seven times by now if she hadn’t miraculously shifted the tides of luck surrounding him or redirected other hunters like she was doing now. Mirabelle was a nice girl, but a little too vicious to let her in on the game she was playing, so she was focused on sending her off on a wild goose (or cat) chase as soon as possible.

“If we pincer attack, we can pin him down. “ a branch broke off from Jason’s direction and fell on the ground, causing Marinette to pause and do her best not to glare and give away the game. “...does that makes sense?”

“Yeah, I think the best bet would be for me to go down and try to pick up the trail, and run him back to you. Sounds good?” Mirabelle said.

“Yep, let’s do this!” Marinette sweetly smiled in reply.

Mirabelle nodded, turned, and Marinette watched her go, waiting until she was out of earshot to say, “You are the absolute worst human-in-cat-form I have ever seen.”

Marinette marched over to Jason, seeing him freeze and look her dead in the eye. It wasn’t exactly easy to tell what Jason wanted to say, but she could fill in the gaps for him.

“You, monsieur, are going to give yourself away at this rate. I’d like to keep you in one piece if it’s all the same to you, so here’s what you’re going to do: head inland and away from the river. We were driving our prey towards the river to trap it, so any hunting party worth their salt will be crawling along the riverbed. You are going to head to the fort upstream and hide; not many other camp-goers go there as frequently as you and Luka do and it’s your best chance to stay out of Artemis’s sight. Stephanie and I will continue to run interference, but you are acting like a teenager going through a growth spurt with how clumsy you’ve been, and that’s saying something coming from me!”

The big cat scoffed at her, but leapt to the next tree, struggling a bit to land gracefully but not with too much trouble and continued on like that further inland as directed. Marinette didn’t watch for too long; she had a job to do.

Luka ends up outpacing most of the hunters he’s encountered, but one is hot on his tail, following him at forest level as he makes his way through rocky outcrops to the fort. He’s not sure if it’s an official member of the hunt or another camp-goer, but he tries his best to wind his way around boulders and choose outcroppings that blend in with his fur color to avoid his pursuer.

Taking a small break, he waits in the shadow of an outcropping, watching. His pursuer is good; that he can tell, and he doesn’t want to lead them directly into the fort and make it even hard on him and Jason to get through this debacle. It seems, it’s time to call for help.

“Apollo, hear me please. Your companions the Muses have struck a game between Artemis and I, and I need your help. Grant me aid avoiding my pursuer.”

“Luka, son of mine.” Apollo’s amused tone filtered through his mind. “You’ve gotten yourself trapped by one of Artemis’s hunter’s I see. Very well, I will help you this once, but I will be joining as a spectator for this one. Artemis’s main trouble is with me, after all, and I’d like to see her face when she realizes you’re under my direct protection.”

Soon after, a flash of light appeared, blinding his pursuer, and Luka moved onward while she was distracted.

It was close to sundown, and Jason was finally in reach of the fort by the waterfall. After his encounter with Marinette, he’d seen evidence that Stephanie was also redirecting heat away from his passage through the forest, but it was still slow going. His bulk had almost ratted him out more than a few times, and he’d taken to any groundcover he could when possible as it was almost impossible for him to figure out how to move through the trees without sound. He was stealthy enough on two legs to give assassins a run for their money, but put him on four legs and he was worse than a toddler was at stealth. He hadn’t seen Artemis since the beginning, but knowing his normally catastrophic luck, that was only due to Marinette’s aid.

Crawling forward, he inched his way around the watering hole below the waterfall in the direction of the fort, when suddenly an arrow passed in front of his paw and hit the stump he was crouched by….Clearly, Marinette’s blessing was wearing thin. Taking his chances, Jason bolted.

Arrows pelted behind him, and the aim they held was mocking in its accuracy. Just close enough to scare but not close enough to injure. The direction they came from was just as confusing as they seemed to originate from the water.

Diving behind another tree, this time close enough to the fort to see his boyfriend peering from the battlements, he peered out in the direction of the water to see none other than Artemis hovering in place, this time in a blended form that combined the youthfulness and agelessness of the two forms he encountered her in earlier. She was also holding a really fucking scary recurve bow, so there’s that.

“Come out and play, kitties. You know you know a good hunt is part of your deal with me.” Artemis crooned.

Jason wasn’t fucking moving, dying was not part of the deal. Unfortunately, it seems his slow arrival also allowed Artemis to set up an ambush as two women lept at him from the shadows (the traitors, he was going to train so much to overcome this dependency he’s built on them), forcing him to emerge. Jason kept his eyes pinned to Artemis, even as he heard others leave their hiding places to encircle the clearing at the base of the waterfall.

He was trapped.

Luka watched as his boyfriend was driven into the open. He was also being ushered out of the protection of the fort and into the open himself.

“Now would be a good time, dad.” he whispered his prayer.

Marinette was about to lose the game she’d decided to play, and she was NOT happy. Nothing she could really do about it; she could see that the balance of luck and fortune were too stable to shift.

She was so focused on trying to parse the threads of fate that she almost missed the flash of light that signaled Apollo’s arrival. Marinette did see Artemis whirling around to glare at the newcomer, though, a bright man in a Hawaiian shirt and chacos. Apparently, being a deity did not automatically give you god-tier fashion sense.

“Artemis, dearest, what’s this I hear about a grudge against my son and his partner? I thought you left the animal transformations back in the Hellenistic period.” Apollo drawled.

“You! I can’t believe you have the audacity to show up now of all times! Where have you been?” Artemis yelled.

“Sometimes a god has to go on vacation too; you — of all of us — leave Olympus the most, dearest, so I assumed you’d understand.”

“Sometimes?! Sometimes doesn’t happen midway through a war council when you’ve promised to share a prophecy pertinent to the fight at hand! Ares about had my head about wasting the council’s time on petty matters because you flaked out to — where, Tahiti???”

“What can I say? Sometimes the sun in this hemisphere just isn’t it. I’ve got to share the light with everyone.”

“Apollo, you — !” screeching, Artemis brought her bow to bear on Apollo, shooting faster than even the demi-gods present could see.

Apollo was shifting around, using the last rays of the day’s light to bend away from her arrows, periodically reminding her “This is Camp Half-Blood, dearest.” and “You don’t want to hit one of your precious hunters, do you?”

Giving one last yell of frustration, Artemis released her quiver and lowered her bow and arrow, pinched her brow and said through gritted teeth, “Apollo, you insufferable child. You. Are. Coming. To. Olympus. With. Me.”

With a brief glance at the sky and a one-handed vice grip on Apollos bicep, Artemis stated, “A fine hunt, your debt is repaid.” Then she waived her hand towards the big cats seemingly frozen in place and teleported away.

Stephanie was closest to Jason and saw as his form crumpled to the ground, shifting back into human form. Stephanie ran to help him up even with the shadows swarming around him as his powers returned in a sudden influx. She grabbed him and hoisted him up onto his feet, keeping her hands firm and grounding while he readjusted to his normal form again.

Stephanie just thanked the gods that her friends weren’t naked after returning to normal.

“You two need to stop getting into so much trouble; you’re lucky Marinette and I were there to help.” Stephanie commented, finally releasing her hold on Jason to let him stand under his own power.

“Yeah, fuck you too.” Jason growled out.

Luka picked himself off the ground, checking his guitar for any damage. He saw Marinette approach from the corner of his eye with her palm facing him, granting him good fortune, so he wasn’t too surprised that he couldn’t find any damage to his instrument on close inspection.

Luka glanced up at her and said, “Thank you, Melody. This day would have turned out much worse without your help.”

Marinette just smiled softly at him in return. “Let’s go home.”

#Jason Todd x Luka Couffaine #Stephanie Brown x Marinette Dupain-Cheng #maribat #maribat-secret-santa-2020 #gift fic #secret santa #fanfic #ML x DC #percy jackson crossover #mlb x dc

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what-if-i-imagine · 4 years

Text

“You’re so obsessed to find someone to love you because you can’t love yourself.”

Requested by my goddess: @a-single-drop-of-ink

Wally looked up from his home work the moment he heard the familiar feather light footfalls coming down the hall of his dormitory.

In barely a second he was at the door opening it up, smiling at his roommate whose hands were full of groceries. His roommate smiled back that perfect smile that could make any heart melt, and Wally remembered what he had told his Aunt over FaceTime the night before while he was out.

“He makes it feel like home.”

His Aunt had gone from her joking, bubbly happiness to a more subdued, love-struck but still happy state. She had given him that same smile she made any time they went through her photo albums of her and his uncle.

“Be careful,” she told him. Because she knew. Wally had told her all about his roommate, and she knew just as well as him where this would go.

“How was your date last night?” he asked with a mischievous smile, fighting back the thoughts in the back of his head.

“Well, I didn’t come back to the dorm, did I?” Dick, his roommate, replied easily. It was true, he hadn’t come back to the dorm at all the night before, shooting Wally a text around midnight saying this new girl he liked was letting him stay at her place. He pretended to rack his brain to remember her name, even though it was burned into his heart just like all the others.

“Kori, right? The foreign exchange student?” he asked.

“Yup,” Dick popped the P as a grin grew on his face. “She was great Wally, she was perfect. I think she’s the one.”

“You said that about Barbara G too. And Vic from sci. And Raya from the gym. And Roy from the coffee shop-”

“You’ve made your point!” Dick laughed, wacking him playfully with a box of plastic forks. “And for your information, all of them were the one, they just didn’t realize it.”

“You mean how Vic was too focused on school for commitment, Raya wasn’t looking for something serious, Barbara fell for one of her bandmates, and Roy was in love with your younger brother?” Wally asked.

“You know, you can be really mean sometimes,” Dick said with no heat.

“Just pointing out the obvious,” Wally shrugged. “What are we having for dinner?”

“Well you have the choice between the two greatest delicacies in the land,” Dick said with much flourish, unpacking the groceries into their mini fridge and food bin. “Either the Irish dish of Luck Charms cereal, or the Japanese dish of Ramen.”

“I think I’ll go for the Japanese option tonight. I had cereal this morning.”

“That shouldn’t stop you.”

Wally rolled his eyes and got out one of the disposable bowls they should probably not be using in a microwave and started on his food. As he and Dick watched the opening credits for the most recent cheesy romcom tv show Dick had gotten addicted to, Wally wondered if Kori was really going to be the one. The one was going to some eventually, obviously, but how soon was that going to be?

The actual one only showed up a month later, after Dick and Kori’s civil breakup. By Civil, Wally really meant explosive by anyone else's terms, but for Dick this was like a beautiful kiss goodbye.

Of course, Dick always ended up good friends with his exs and his exs’ new partner. There was even a joking group chat with them all, with one being added each time Dick made up with his most recent breakup.

But at the start, his breakups were always messy. And Dick, in turn, became messy for at least a week afterwards.

He stumbled into the apartment that night, obviously recovering from a hangover caused by morning drinking with Roy, a new set of hickies around his neck and a hand in his disheveled hair.

“It’s a Monday, Dick,” Wally pointed out, barely glancing up from his homework.

“I’m honestly over caring,” Dick snapped a bit, chugging down one of Wally’s protein shakes from the fridge. Wally didn’t react, either to the snipish behavior or the obvious disturbance of personal property. He was used to this. Trying to point out a mistake to Dick or tell him what was good for him automatically set off that same defensive part of his brain that came into play while fighting with his father.

“So who were they?” Wally asked, referring to the hickies.

Dick hummed in though, looking down at himself, “The older ones from last night are from Helena, Babs’s other bandmate. The newer ones were courtesy of Little Wing’s friend Artemis. I think she’s related to Donna somehow?”

“No follow up dates?”

“Shut up,” Dick snapped again. His expression softened after as he sighed, taking another sip of the protein shake and putting it back with the mercy of leaving at least half for Wally’s nighttime run. “Sorry. Just tired.”

“I can tell,” Wally said levelly.

As he watched Dick fall back onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow, he let a common thought when it came to Dick’s breakup cross his mind.

He always does this to himself. Subconsciously on purpose.

It wasn’t Dick’s fault. He had been like this as long as Wally could remember, and probably even longer than their friendship had been in place. The cycle was a vicious one that Dick had had on repeat since he was fifteen from what Wally knew.

Crush hardly, love wholly, hurt deeply.

Fall in love, get in a relationship, torture self when it ends.

Wally knew what a self destructive man looked like, and Dick was definitely one. It ran in his family based off of what he had seen of his father, Jason and Cassandra.

“I called in an order for pizza,” Wally informed him, looking back to his laptop. “It should be here in an hour. Got a new movie too while I was at the store that I think you’ll like.”

“Did you get ice cream?” Dick asked, muffled by his pillow.

“Three different kinds and a bottle of cheap wine.”

“You’re a saint.”

Once Wally finished the first draft of his thesis and the pizza arrived, the both crawled down to their little cozy spot in front of their tv that sat on the ground.

The movie was shitty. Most of the ones dick liked were, but Wally still loved watching them with Dick. This particular movie was a hallmark movie from the early 2010s, which should say enough about the plot alone, and it was Dick’s perfect brand of sappy that hit a little too close to home where the girl realizes her boyfriend was shitty and she belonged with the gymnast heart throb with a heart of gold.

“Hey Wally,” Dick whispered as the main character ran into the arms of her true love.

“Yeah?” Wally hummed, leaning back into Dick’s hand where it was gently scratching at his head.

“What’s wrong with me?” Wally wouldn’t have even heard him if he weren’t leaned back on his chest. He didn’t freeze, but his mind did stutter for a moment. He was shocked when he subtly checked the wine bottle to see it was completely untouched.

“What do you mean Dickie?” he asked, glancing up only for Dick to nudge his head back down to face the tv.

“You know what I mean,” Dick said. “What’s wrong with me? All these people in the movies, all of my exs and friends, it only takes them one or two tries before they find the one. Why can’t I?”

Something wet dripped onto Wally’s head as Dick pressed his nose into his hair. He was only slightly shaking, but Wally could still feel it at every point of contact.

Wally got up, gently fighting past Dick’s refusal to let him go too far and turned to face him. He leaned forward on his knees between Dick’s legs and cupped his face, stroking away the small streams of tears.

“Because you want someone who loves you,” Wally answered, staring into those deep, pain filled eyes. The pain he saw there he recognized, maybe not as his own, but still as familiar. A deeply rooted self depreciation that offered no room for growth.

“That doesn't explain why I go out every day when I’m alone looking for someone new,” Dick defended, more tears falling. “It doesn’t make sense, Wally. Wanting love doesn’t explain this mess.”

“It does, Dick. You’re so obsessed to find someone to love you because you can’t love yourself,” Wally knew he was crossing a few lines by saying this, but he couldn’t stop himself. IT was obvious in the way Dick found his identity in the people he loved. His family, his friends, and above all else his long list of past lovers for however long they lasted could testify to that. Dick looked like he didn’t want to believe what he was hearing and was more confused than ever. Wally took it as a sign to elaborate.

“You constantly go out looking for these boys and girls because you want them to love you enough that you forget how empty you feel. It’s not your fault, it’s just the way you and your family work. You don’t think you deserve love, but you can't stand yourself when you’re without it.”

“Wally,” Dick’s voice broke and hitched, his face flooding with the horror of how on point his words were. Tears spilled faster than before, and Wally leaned even further forward to wrap his arms around his friend. He tangled his fingers gently in his hair and rhythmically rubbed his back, letting him cry it out on his shoulder.

“You’re wrong,” Dick said, voice wet and heavy with his tears.

“How am I wrong?” Wally whispered, barely a breath against the nape of Dick’s neck.

“It’s not- the only- reason,” Dick’s voice broke up with soft sobs.

Wally held him a little tighter, rocking awkwardly back to sit on his legs as Dick moved to his knees too without breaking any contact. Dick was leaning more into him now, and Wally silently prayed he wouldn’t fall back with the weight into the that was now playing the ending credits,

“It’s because I love someone else,” Dick sobbed miserably. “I love someone else, but they don’t deserve the mess I am.”

“That’s not true. It’s just what your brain wants you to think,” Wally shook his head.

“It is true,” Dick was barely audible over his heart wrenching sobs. He clung to Wally tighter, his fingers digging almost harshly into the back of Wally’s shirt.

“It’s true because it’s you. You’re the one.”

Wally froze this time, his breath completely stopping.

How many times he had dreamt of Dick saying those words, and none of those dreams happened like this.

Wally regained his composure as quickly as he did everything else in his life and was back to comforting his roommate.

“It’s okay Dickie,” he said, pressing a ghost-like kiss to his hair. “You’re the one too. You always have been.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won't. But we are going to get you help, okay? You need help Dick, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s normal to need help.”

“Are you going to call my dad?” Dick asked pitifully, the sobs dying down to sniffles.

“Maybe. If that’s what you want. We will talk about it in the morning when you’ve had more rest.”

“Okay.”

Dick went quiet for a moment then spoke again, “Hey Wally?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s easier to love myself when I’m with you.”

Wally didn’t say anything in response. He just kissed his head again and rocked them back and forth until Dick fell asleep.

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annabethsgodcomplex · 3 years

Text

Hunters of Artemis Adventures: Two Hunters, An Empousa and a McDonald’s Happy Meal

(So I decided to go ahead with the Hunters of Artemis stories thing I was going to do. I present to you my first one. Hope you guys like it)

‘McDonald’s’ Bella said, while pulling her hair back into a braid.

‘Isy, that’s an incredibly random way to start a conversation.’ her friend Maria replied. ‘Would you mind elaborating?’

‘I was thinking that we should go to McDonald’s.’

‘Why?’

‘Normal, non-death related purposes?’

Maria sighed. ‘Like those deer bones we were going to leave behind and you tried to hide from me?’

‘No idea what you’re talking about’, the daughter of Hades grinned cheekily. ‘But the McDonald’s may be for death related purposes. Just a little bit…’

‘Do continue.’

‘You know how we visited Camp Half-Blood the other day and I was talking to my brother Nico?’

‘Half-brother.’

‘Same thing. Anyway, he was telling me how to summon the dead with Happy Meals.’

‘Let me guess, you want to try it. And you want me to help.’

‘Correct. If you help you can choose who I summon.’

‘How could I say no to such a tempting offer?’

‘Is that a yes?’

‘Of course.’

‘I’ll just grab my weapons and some mortal money and we can head off.’

‘Sounds good.’

Bella darted off to her tent and picked up her bow, her hunting knife and an axe she found in one of the trees and decided to keep. ‘I’m back!’ she called out to her friend.

‘What’s with the armoury?’ Maria giggled. ‘You planning a fight?’

‘Nah. Just wanna be prepared.’

‘Fair enough.’ Maria fiddled with the chopsticks she wore in her hair. They had been a present from her older brother in Italy before she’d joined the hunt in the renaissance period. They were all she had left of her brother other than memories. Bella slung her bow over her back and stashed her hunting knife in her belt. She struggled to find a place for the axe. Maria giggled watching her friend try to stuff it in various places before turning it into a silver brooch with a symbol of Hades on it.

‘Nice trick, how did you do that?’

‘Like my sister Hazel, I have control over precious metals. I prefer my death related powers but the metals thing always helps in a pinch. Let’s Naruto run to McDonald’s!’

‘Naruto… run?’

‘Right sorry. I keep forgetting you’re not from this century. It’s an anime thing. Watch me.’

‘Ok.’ Maria said, confusion etched on her features. Bella ran, leaning forward with her arms straight out behind her torso. ‘Now you try Mari!’ Hesitantly, Maria mimicked her friend’s actions as the ran through the woods. They ran to the edge of the woods and stopped. ‘So was that supposed to achieve something?’ Maria asked.

‘Other than fun? Not really. It’s just more fun than normal running.’

‘It’s certainly… interesting. I guess.’

‘You loved it.’

‘I didn’t hate it.’

‘Good enough.’ A cheeky grin took over her features, a glint of danger in her eye. As much as her friend liked to feign a cheeky sort of cheerfulness, Maria knew there was a certain darkness within. Bella had once confessed that she felt a constant pull to do something terrible. She scared even herself. She had been bullied relentlessly by a pack of boys in the mortal world and she joined the Hunt to get away from them and what she’d done. She’d found a new family in the Hunters of Artemis but Maria worried her friend’s darkness might come back if she could no longer control it. Maria pushed the thought out of her mind. She trusted her friend could control herself. Maria grinned back.

They headed into the shop. It wasn’t too busy, they had beat the lunch time rush but the few people in there didn’t seem like much to worry about. An elderly couple ate at a table in the far corner, some teen troublemakers who must have been ditching school hung around together casting glances in their directions before Bella pulled out her hunting knife and glared at them. ‘Bella!’ she hissed. ‘Put that thing away. We don’t need the police getting involved. We’re already sneaking away from camp. Imagine what would happen if we had to be escorted back in handcuffs!’

‘Ok, ok. But did you see the way they looked at us? Men. Ugh.’

‘True’ Maria giggled. ‘But they’ll have got the picture now thanks to you and your knives.’

‘You say the word ‘knives’ like it’s a bad thing.’

‘Well consider bringing knives out in public is considered a threat, it probably is a bad thing.’

‘Touché’

Maria rolled her eyes and went up to the counter to order. ‘Stay here and don’t cause trouble’ she told her friend.

‘No promises’. As Maria went to order, Bella noticed a young girl, around the age of 5 or 6, staring at them intently. She had a Monster High-Style fanged lipstick accessory in her hair. The girl’s gaze was piercing and sent shivers up her spine. There was something off about her and she didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out what it was. When their food was ready, Bella said to Maria, ‘There is a creepy girl staring at me and I don’t like it.’

‘You’ll live.’

‘Look at her! She’s creeping me out. I think she might be a monster.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course I’m sure.’

‘Then let’s get out of here before we get confirmation of that. Lady Artemis will be worried if she finds out that we’re missing and it’ll be worse if we come back dead. You know how she is.’

‘Yeah. I don’t want to get a lecture.’

They left the store and the girl followed. They quickly realized they weren’t going to get out of there without a fight. ‘Maria. Get your weapons ready. We’ll most likely need to fight our way out of here.’ Maria nodded. ‘Need a weapon Mari?’ her friend asked. ‘I brought 3.’

‘No. I’m good milady.’ She pulled the chopsticks out of her hair and pretended to rearrange her dark curls into a neater updo.

‘Excuse me. I’ve lost my mummy and I need help.’ A child’s voice called out. They turned around and saw the little girl. Instead of looking lost or worried, she was smirking and a sadistic light flared in her brown eyes. The smirk turned into a fanged grin. Her voice changed from child-like to demonic. Maria held her chopsticks in and ‘x’ position and they morphed into long swords. Bella on the other hand was having a crisis. ‘Mari which weapon should I use. It’s so hard to pick!’

‘Use your bow, it will give you a better range.’

‘Good idea.’ Bella unslung her bow and loaded it with an arrow. ‘Bring it on Empousa! Fight me like a woman! Or are you scared enough to fight like a man?’

‘Good one.’

‘Thanks milady’ she replied with a mock bow.

Unbeknownst to the girls and the Empousa, Artemis had appeared at a safe distance. She was prohibited from intervening unless necessary by the ancient laws.

‘Well, well, well.’ The Empousa snarled. ‘Let’s see how your so-called immortality holds up against me. I heard you can still die in battle. I’ve always wanted to hear the screams of a dying huntress being ripped to shreds by my talons.’

‘Oh bring it on! I haven’t had a good workout in centuries!’ Maria called out. ‘This is your last chance to turn back.’

‘You talk a big game huntresses. You amuse me.’

‘We’re used to big game. It’s what we do’

‘Your bark seems worse than your bite, Empousa.’ Bella chimed in. ‘Oh wait. That’s for dogs! You’re like what? One quarter donkey?’

‘And 50% chicken it seems.’ Maria smirked, preparing to strike.

‘Okay Maria. On three. You take one side, I’ll take the other.’

Maria nodded. ‘One…two…three!’

‘I normally go for men’, the Empousa growled, growing impatient with the smack talk. ‘But I must say ladies, you’ve earned your deaths as much as them’

A dangerous glint in her eye, Bella snarled. ‘We’re nothing like men!’

‘You just won a free trip to Tartarus Resort!’ Maria taunted. She advanced with her swords, slashing savagely at the Empousa. ‘Nice one Maria!’ Bella called encouragingly, firing arrows at the weakest points on the monster and avoiding its bronze leg. ‘How’s it looking? You got her other side covered Mari? I’m almost out of arrows and she’s still breathing.’ Maria slashes at the Empousa’s donkey leg, crippling it. ‘I’m ok!’ Maria called back, dodging the monster’s attacks and slashing her in several places. She chops the monster’s hand off and calls to her friend ‘Isy. End her! Now!’

Bella stashed away her bow and brought out her hunting knife. She lunged at the monster’s heart, landing a fatal blow that causes the monster to disintegrate into dust. Maria’s swords turn back into her signature chopsticks as she places them in her hair. ‘Good job kiddo.’ She smiles. Panting, Bella turns around. ‘You too milady. You were quite impressive out there. We should get back to camp before anyone notices we’re missing and starts to worry.’

‘We’ve only been gone for a little over an hour.’ Maria pointed out.

‘That may be so, but I’m incredibly noisy and it won’t take long for them to figure out why the Camp is awfully quiet.’ She retorted, flashing her friend a cheeky grin.’

‘Very true.’ Maria laughed. They turn to head back to camp after picking up their bag of food and spot Artemis. ‘Oh. Hello milady.’ She said with a curtsey.

‘Hi milady,’ Bella said awkwardly, attempting to look innocent. ‘How’s the… weather?’

Maria laughed at her friend’s attempt at innocence.

‘Where have you two been?’ Artemis fretted. ‘I was worried sick when I couldn’t find you!’

Maria attempted to explain the situation. ‘My apologies milady. We were just…’

‘Just what?’ Artemis countered. ‘No note. Bows gone! You could have died at the hands of that Empousa! Or worse men could have kidnapped you!’ They all shuddered at the word men.

‘In our defence milady. That wouldn’t have been likely for us but you’re right I suppose.’ Maria admitted.

‘Regardless of if it could have happened or not, I had no idea where the two of you were!’ They started off back to camp, Artemis chastising them.

‘So,’ Bella piped up. ‘Do we get a punishment or is this a first offence sorta thing?’

Maria facepalmed at her friend’s bluntness. Artemis cracked a smile. ‘No my dears. No punishment except for making me worried out of my mind.’

‘Milady.’ Bella said softly. ‘You worry too much. We’re very capable and you have trained us well.’

‘I know my dears. I just worry for you. You and the other Hunters are the daughters I will never be able to have.’

‘I understand milady.’ Maria replied. ‘But we know how to take care of ourselves. You saw that.’

‘I guess you’re right but I don’t have to like it.’ Artemis allowed. ‘Now I’ve changed my mind about not giving you a punishment. You are so cleaning up after the campfire tonight. But if you’re lucky, Thalia might pitch in to help the both of you.’ They all shared a laugh as they made their way back to camp, the sun starting to set behind them.

#fanfic #percyjackson #riordanverse #hunters of artemis #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #artemis

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angst-art-writing · 3 years

Text

Ah, Shit. Here we go Again

CW: Blood, violence, death, murder, reference to abuse/torture, poison

Grey curtains fluttered in the cool, night wind of the small apartment of Jacob Crawford, who was laying dead right under the window, with an arrow lodged into the side of his neck. Tiny drops of blood dripped from the fletching of the arrow.

On the other side of the bedroom was a quivering figure, cowering in terror. Jacobs roommate, Derek Perkins, was cowering away from Artemis.

"Please, please," he whispered, his voice shaking with quiet sobs as he stared up at the archer. "I won't say anything-"

Artemis remained silent as he pleaded. She frowned underneath the white mask, which only showed her right eye and nothing else. She merely blinked at him, ignoring his pleads. She didn't have a choice.

With a long sigh, she loaded her bow and shot him. Directly in the neck, in the exact same spot as Jacob. But it wasn't in a spot to kill. No, the arrow was the carrier of the poison. The poison did the killing.

Derek gave a cry of pain and fell back, and Artemis turned away from the man. He would be dead within minutes.

She walked back towards the window, and jumped up on the ledge, right over Jacob's corpse. She leapt out, rolling on the building of the next roof over.

Back on her feet, she straightened up and twisted the watch on her wrist. A digital lost sprang up, the list of targets she had that night springing up. She crossed out Jacob and Derek, looking at the last name on the list.

What was odd was that she didn't remember seeing the name on the list, but it felt familiar still..

Paige Neoma.

She couldn't remember. Must still be loopy from yesterday's training..

She tapped on the name with a finger, the address springing up with the directions to where she was located. The Reaper's did the locating, and she did the killing. She was the one getting blood on her hands.

Her eyes narrowed and she traveled by the rooftops, running quickly and jumping from each one with ease. She passed the glowing lights of her city below, wishing she could look at them for forever. But she had a curfew. She had to be home by midnight, with all the targets gone.

As she got closer to the place, the lights got dimmer. Until there was none at all.

She at some point had gotten back down to the ground, landing in front of an abandoned warehouse. It loomed over the yellow, dead grass around it which was overflowing with weeds. It honestly looked like something right out of a shitty horror film.

She raised one eyebrow and stared, her head tilting to the side. This was the warehouse she went to for peace and quiet during the day, when she could.. She hadn't been here in months, as she hardly had any free time anymore. She used to come here with a childhood friend.. But she hadn't heard from him since.

Why are the directions leading here? No one lives here. I barely come here. She chewed on her knuckle on her index finger, her foot tapping on the crunchy grass. It must be another one of his tests.. Her heart pounded a bit faster at that thought. Oh, God. If he finds out- if he found out I snuck out to here back then..

She held her breath and took a step back, looking back at the rest of the city. Her throat felt tight. It didn't matter how long ago it was, he would still be pissed.

I could get away. Her eyes scanned over the glowing lights of the buildings and cars. No, they'd find me..

She looked down at her nails next. There had been many times where Vincent ripped her nails clean off for trying to run away. So many things had happened.. She shuddered, but not from the cool autumn weather. From the memories.

She shook her head and swallowed, pushing the thoughts away. She looked towards the big doors of the warehouse.

Whatever happens.. I can take it. Whatever it is..

She exhaled slowly and lowered her hand, walking up to the doors. She then forced the doors open with a loud creak before she stepped into the old building.

Inside, it was dark. Only one light was turned on, but she couldn't see anyone inside. That just made her more nervous as she slipped in, the door shutting behind her with an echoing slam. It smelled of mold and dust. But it was.. comforting. Better than the cleanliness smell of chemicals, trying to mask the stench of blood and torture at the Reapers base.

Artemis sighed and walked towards the middle, towards the light. The rest of the warehouse was dark, and she hated the way it looked like the shadows were crawling towards her, threatening and evil.

She walked up to the middle of the room and stood there for a moment, looking around quietly. She had come during the day, when it was oddly welcoming. But now it was just menacing and.. honestly? Scary.

There was a light ruffling noise heard and Artemis jerked her head towards where the sound had come from, her hand instinctively moving to her bow on her shoulder. But she knew fighting against Vincent wouldn't help, so she lowered her hand, curling it into a fist and digging her nails into her palms, trying not to spiral into a panic mode.

But then she heard footsteps behind her and she turned, to see her.. target stepping out of the shadows and into the small, yellow glow the lightbulb above gave off. Artemis stared at her. Almost never were her targets expecting her..

As she stepped out, the girl unfolded her wings. They were black, but the outsides of her wings were white. She was dead serious, but there was a kindness to her face. "Artemis.." Her voice was calm, and warm.

Artemis just stared at her stupidly, her hand moving to her dagger now. She glanced at her wings. I'm not allowed to kill Mythics.. She shouldn't.. be on the list- What was happening here?

"I.." And then her brain clicked, and she understood. "Ah.. It's a trap, isn't it?" Her face broke into one of understanding and she smiled, oddly.

Paige nodded, moving forward. Over her shoulder, Artemis could see the handle of a sword holstered on her back. Artemis didn't move back, but the girl paused again. "That's right. You're pretty smart, then.. I didn't think you would figure it out that fast-"

"Nah. People have tried this before, that's all." She twirled the dagger in her hand, around her fingers. "Sometimes they catch me.. But they always end up dying when they try."

Paige's head tilted. "Oh yeah?" She didn't seem hostile, her arms crossed. "Look, Artemis.. I'm going to give you a chance to come with me willingly. I'm not taking no as an answer."

Artemis's eyes narrowed slightly. "Mmm.." Artemis hesitated, like she was actually thinking it over. She rubbed her chin with her other hand. "I.."

Paige stared at her expectantly, her eyebrows raised slightly. She smiled a tiny bit.

"Nah."

And with that, she reached into her pocket and threw down three marbles, which exploded into colorful smoke bombs. Paige gave a cry out surprise and staggered back, her arms going up to cover her face.

Artemis ran out the door, running out back into the city, where cars were driving in the road, the lights sparkly and bright. She ran directly into the road and leapt up onto a car with such agility, only to leap off and taking her grappling gun out from her belt.

A line shot out from the gun and connected to the building, and Artemis soared into the air, swinging up high. When she was really up there the line retracted and shot out again, as she flipped and continued to 'fly' around the city. She moved smoothly in the air, flipping up in the sky.

As she was swinging she glanced behind her and saw Paige, her wings spread, flying towards her quickly. Artemis grinned and turned back around, atattching to another building and making a sharp turn to the right. Her hair blew back out of her face, flipping and turning. She hadn't had this much.. fun in a while.

She was grinning, weirdly. When she was swinging around the city like that, it was like the wind rushing against her simply blew all her worries and issues away. And her heart sped up, but always in a good way. Not in fear or terror like usual.

The chase continued for a while, and Artemis glanced back once more, to find that the winged girl was no longer following her. Satisfied, but a little sad at the end of the chase, she turned back around in front of her-

To find Paige directly in front of her, slamming into her. Artemis's eyes widened and she let go of the gun. She squeezed her eyes shut as they collided, wind rushing through her ears. In the next second her back slammed down onto something hard, a roof, and she tumbled with Paige.

The two girls rolled on the roof Paige had tackled Artemis upon, and when the two finally stopped Artemis opened her eyes and wheezed, and the two girls scrambled up onto their feet, Artemis whipping out her dagger yet again and standing, the tip right by Paige's throat.

But the next thing she knew, she heard the shing of Paige's sword being unsheathed, and felt the cool, sharp blade against her own neck. Her eyes flit sideways to the blade. It was intricate, and the blue designs on it were so bright they seemed to be glowing. Futuristic and modern.

Artemis's eyes ran along the blade and back up to Paige's face. The winged girl had sweat running down her face, strands of hair sticking to her forehead and her wings ruffled behind her, curling and uncurling.

"Go ahead and do it, Neoma," Artemis said coolly. The wind blew small strands of her own hair into her face and she smirked. "You won't get what you want if you do. But I will. I'll get death so it's a win for me-"

Paige's eyes narrowed slowly. She was covered in bright colors from the smoke bombs. "And if you kill me, you'll create extra problems for yourself, wont you? You aren't allowed to kill me."

"No. But what makes you think I wont drag your ass back to my people? Huh?"

At that, Paige's eyes softened and she half smiled. "You won't. You don't even want to wear that uniform, do you?" With her other hand, she gestured to Artemis's stark white uniform. She moved her blade up and sliced the mask she was wearing. It fluttered to the ground.

Her eyes widened slightly and she flinched away from the blade slightly. She pressed the blade against Paige's throat. And yet, the winged girl didn't move an inch. Artemis glanced down at herself, to the mask, then at Paige. She held the blade tighter. "You don't know anything about what I want, lady. Honestly, I want some mental stab-"

Paige sighed, cutting her off. She looked exhausted. "Look.. one more chance to come willingly."

Artemis tilted her chin up and arched one eyebrow. "Mm.." There was a silence. She could only hear the wind blowing in her ears, and the noises of the city below. "...Sure."

Paige's lips parted in surprise, her eyes blinking stupidly. "Wait, really?"

"Sure." Artemis lowered her blade, and Paige lowered hers slowly, putting it back into her sheath as Artemis stored hers away as well. She smirked. "Hey.. You're pretty cute, y'know.."

The girl with the sword stared, her cheeks flushing pink immediately. "Wh-wha-"

But before Paige could even finish her 'what', Artemis suddenly darted forward and kicked her off the roof. She would be fine, she had wings.

Artemis turned away and ran to the other side so she could travel home by roof. She could never go with that girl. She leapt on to the next roof, the adrenaline vanishing and now replaced with that dark, awful feeling. Vincent would lose his shit if she ever left the reaper's (and she had of course tried before.) and it would put Paige and whoever she worked with in massive danger. Not that she cared, of cour-

When she was mid-leap, she heard a loud whooshing noise. In the exact same second, arms wrapped around her as a body slammed into her. Son of a-

Yet again, the two slammed onto the roof together. Artemis rolled again, coming to a stop on her stomach. She tried to push herself up, but then felt a knee crash into the center of her back, and she was flat against the rooftop again, the side of her face smushed against the cool surface.

"Girl, give up!" Artemis hissed, wriggling. "I'm not going!"

"I gave you a chance, Artemis." Paige sighed softly, taking her arms and cuffing them behind her back. She cuffed her ankles as well. "I gave you a chance to do this the easy way. You're just being difficult."

Artemis felt fear now. And anger. Why didn't this girl understand? Who even was she? And holy shit, what was Vincent going to do to her when he found out and got her back?

"Let me go!" Artemis spat, as Paige lifted her up, bridal style. Paige shook her head, that calm look on her face again.

"Can't." She walked to the edge of the roof and spread her wings out, flying off. With Artemis twisting and struggling in her grasp.

#writing #original works #oc #writeblr #whump writing #whumper #oc writing

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your-worst-knightmare · 4 years

Text

Red: Pt. 10

Masterlist here

Jason’s whole morning was a mess of bleary-eyed madness. Louis had left the safehouse with Bizarro long before Alfred had arrived in a limo to pick Artemis and Jason up. Both of them didn’t have many belongings save for weapons, which Alfred insisted that they let him take care of.

“Master Jason, it’s wonderful you and Miss Artemis are able to visit this time of year. Your stay will be busy, I must warn you, but everyone will be there.”

“Wait, what’s happening?” Jason asked, trying to shake the weariness from his brain.

“Have you really forgotten, Master Jason? The annual Wayne charity gala is tomorrow.”

“Well it seems that you won’t have to call the rest of your family now,” Artemis remarked.

Jason could only slap his forehead. “Alf, i came for business, not to party. We’re all in danger. I mean, we don’t know for sure, but–”

“Then it seems suitable that you wait until at least the gala is over. Most of the family hasn’t arrived yet anyhow. Oh, and Miss Stephanie has arranged a shopping trip for the two of you. She assumes you both hadn’t brought adequate clothing in advance.”

“Aw, Alfred–” he was swiftly cut off by a jab to the side.

“Thank you Alfred. I’m sure Jason can enjoy some time with his family without any talk of business.” Artemis gave Jason a look, and he knew better than to oppose both her and Alfred.

The old man chuckled to himself as he pulled up to Wayne Manor. A full house was always nice, if not a bit of a handful. “I’m sure he can, Miss Artemis, I’m sure he can. Try to enjoy yourselves for a while. In the meantime, let me show you to your rooms.”

In short, Jason was not enjoying himself in the least. He was hungry and tired, and of course stupid Stephanie Brown made him go shopping. And Replacement would never let Damian hear the end of it if Jason dared complain. He would get his revenge. Somehow.

The one person Jason wouldn’t mind seeing wasn’t even in the city. Yeah, because Damian’s got friends now. Like Jason wasn’t the first friend Damian ever had. The little brat left him a note apologizing for his absence, but its formality only made Jason laugh. The kid should be with his friends, maybe learning how to talk like a normal ten-year-old.

Naturally, Steph wouldn’t make Damian go shopping. It was dreadful, with Steph practically hijacking Artemis and leaving Jason and Replacement (Tim) stranded in high end stores suspended in utter confusion. It wasn’t that Jason didn’t know how to shop, it was that stupid Brown wouldn’t let him touch anything without her approval of the item first. That left very few items in the store left for Jason to choose from.

It was simply maddening. Steph finally brought him a green suit and insisted that it was the one. “It’s viridian. It’s so in Jason,” he mocked when she asked to see it on him. He didn’t even get to see what she had gotten Artemis.

He didn’t have to try it on. And hallelujah, he got to go home. Much to nobody’s surprise, he didn’t get much rest when he got back to Wayne Manor either. Jason had scarcely returned to his room when he was tacked by a ten-year old whirlwind. Damian. The boy greeted him in the formal dialect of the League, a habit not yet broken. “Akhi! You came back!”

“Well that’s obvious, isn’t it? Woah, okay, let me breathe here Damian.” The boy obeyed and sat on the bed. He clearly wasn’t ready to leave anytime soon.

“Where have you been?” he asked, crossing his arms.” You haven't visited most– if any of your safehouses lately. I… I’ve been worried.”

Well the kid had changed then. Jason had to give the little prince some credit. The kid would never have said that in his right mind had he still been with the League.

“I’ve been busy.”

“Too busy to not even go on patrol? To not answer any messages? You practically disappeared, Todd.” Damian wasn’t buying it. One thing hadn’t changed, that was for sure. The prince would get the truth out of him one way or another. Honestly, Jason was a little (okay, maybe a lot) embarrassed to tell Damian that he’d been caught and in custody for two months. He hadn’t even tried, really tried to get out.

But, Jason figured it was better to be up front. Especially with a family of detectives with a notorious history of using secrets as blackmail.

Damian only scoffed in response.” Tt’. Really, akhi? You’re getting soft.”

“Speak for yourself, brat. Now let me sleep. I’m tired.” He flopped onto the bed, with no regard for the assassin prince still sitting there.

Instead of leaving, Damian snuggled up into the crook of Jason’s arm and soon fell asleep listening to the rhythmic beating of his brother’s heart.

Jason’s next interruption (named Artemis) came too early into the next morning. Damian was still where he had fallen asleep, dozing softly. At the sound of a knock, Jason regrettably blinked himself awake. “Come in,” he yawned.

“I see you’ve been able to rest. I was going to ask if you wanted to come train with me.” Artemis raised an eyebrow at the scene. “ It seems that you can tolerate at least one of your brothers' presence.”

“It’s a love-hate relationship.”

The Amazon snorted. “So are you going to take me up on my offer or not?”

“Yeah, I’m coming Red.” He carefully shifted Damian off of himself. Thankfully, the kid’s eyes remained closed. “Wait, before you go can you help me with my shoulder?”

“Are you not capable?” she asked, nevertheless sitting down beside him. Jason pulled off his shirt to let her inspect the wound. Most of his torso was covered in bandages as well as his shoulder. Peeling them back to see how the wound healed was a tedious task. Enhanced healing made it even more annoying on account of never knowing what to expect.

“Ow. Easy, Arty.”

“ Oh, be quiet. You should be fine by tomorrow. Just keep the gauze on for compression,” Artemis said, starting to re-wrap the bandages.

Jason closed his eyes with a small sigh, glad to sit there and do nothing. Relaxing was a weird way to put it, but he couldn’t find any other way to describe it. The tips of her hair brushed his face, surrounding him the scent of her shampoo. For the first time in months, he felt… calm.

“I assume you’ll be able to take care of yourself from here. Meet me downstairs in five.”

“Thanks Princess!” he called after her.

As soon as Artemis left, Damian’s eyes flew open. Jason groaned.”You’ve been awake this whole time?”

Damian nodded, grinning devilishly. “You’re getting soft akhi,” he piped, poking his brother in the ribs.

“And I’m going to kill you if another word comes out of your mouth.” Jason pulled on some suitable clothes for training and shooed Damian out before going to join Artemis.

Surprisingly, the training room was empty. That was especially unusual for this time in the morning with the Bats. Then Jason realized that everyone was probably helping out Alfred downstairs for that night. Not that training was easy work either. But he’d go help after.

“Took you long enough.” Artemis said, smirking. “Warm up and then we spar.”

She was going to kick his butt. He knew it. But he wasn’t going to argue. “Yes ma'am.”

Jason had half a mind to say that being an Amazon was plain cheating. Yeah, he held his own, but barely. The strength of the Lazarus wasn’t always on his side. Then again, Jason didn’t always have the privilege of fighting people his own size.

“Another round?”” Artemis asked, helping him up from the floor.

“Yeah, give me a sec,” he huffed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his shirt. “Next round, I pick the weapon though.”

By the time Artemis was satisfied with the amount of training done, Jason felt like he was going to drop dead on the spot. Which–in a weird way– reminded him of how much he’d missed training with her. She didn’t let anyone get away with slacking off. Neither did Alfred, for that matter, which was why Jason needed to hurry up in the showers or else face the wrath of an all-powerful butler. A butler much too tired to deal with any kind of nonsense.

The evening came faster than Jason had anticipated. He examined his appearance in the mirror, doing his best at looking presentable. At first, he hadn’t been sure of Steph’s choice of colour, but he was surprised to say that he actually looked… good? Fingering the cuffs of his jacket, he eyed the ‘finishing touch’ that Bruce insisted he wear. A Rolex– one that Bruce had originally got Jason for his sixteenth birthday. He’d never gotten to wear it. Death tended to preoccupy a person.

After staring at the timepiece for at least five minutes, he finally made the decision to put it on. He headed downstairs, where a few of Bruce’s close friends as well as the boys were already present. The girls were soon to arrive, fashionably late, as Alfred had put it.

As if on cue, the doors to the hall were thrown open (a bit dramatically if Jason had anything to say about it). And Jason stopped. Wow. The girls all looked supermodel gorgeous. And Artemis– Just woah.

Her dress was clearly made to match his own outfit. Steph had clearly outdone herself there. It was green, high-necked and sleeveless, which flowed elegantly to her shins. Her red hair was pulled back, keeping the delicate curls out of her face and making the designs etched into her side-shave all the more striking. A gold armband circled her bicep, emphasizing her muscular physique.

“Good evening, Jason,” she said coolly, practically gliding across the floor.”Tell me, when did you decide to fulfill your dreams of being a statue?”

“This? Oh, this is a technique used to evade the reporters. You should try it sometime. Works wonders.”

The Amazon’s lips curled upward in amusement. “I see.” She reached across the table to steal an untouched patry from Jason’s plate.

“Hey! I was going to eat that.”

“It can’t possibly be that hard to get another,” she said, taking a bite. “Besides, you weren’t eating it.”

He gave her a look. Artemis shrugged, mouth full. “Ah, it’s fine. I’ll steal another one from the kitchen. Bruce wants us there for a briefing anyway.”

“Briefing?”

“Yeah, so the press doesn’t find anything fishy with us.” It sounded like a weird thing to do, but even when he was a kid, Jason had pre-gala briefings. What to say to the reporters, how to act (well mostly) what impression to give off. There was a whole science to it. Alfred didn’t teach the Bats drama in vain.

The kitchen, which seemed colossal while empty, slowly shrank as more and more people shuffled inside. Bruce quizzed each of them of their roles, and things they were not to do. Jason, for example, was not to get drunk and cuss out the press. Much to his own chagrin, Jason was expected to actually talk to some of the guests, and give off a good impression.

“Remember, you are all representing the Wayne name, even if you don’t bear it. Please act accordingly.”

On the bright side, Jason was able to sneak another pastry out. Man, he’d missed Alfred’s cooking. For all of his redeemable traits, Louis hadn’t been the best chef. It was a step up from the cooking at the correctional facility, but Alfred’s skillset was simply legendary.

The flash of cameras and clamouring reporters soon arrived to the manor. Limos that looked long enough to fit thirty people pulled up one after the other. He remembered watching them as a kid, in awe of the lavish use of their money. He remembered smiling so much at the cameras that his cheeks hurt. He remembered eating so much food that he felt sick afterwards- thereafter getting to wait the rest of the party out in his room. There was something satisfying about knowing there was a party downstairs and choosing not to be a part of it.

Jason was relieved once the guests settled into the hall and calmed down. Because he spent so little time with his own family, he felt like more of a guest himself. His brothers were busy talking to the elite, making small talk about whatever rich people were interested in. Artemis didn’t have much care to mingle, which was a small comfort to Jason. At least he could talk to her and not seem like a total loner.

“Bruce said I have to talk to some people this time.”

“Do you really plan to?”

“Well I’m talking to you now, aren’t I?”

“Oh quit your blather Jason. What’s on your mind?”

He leaned an arm on the table, sighing. There were so many things. Coming back to Wayne Manor made him enough of a trainwreck as it was. Add onto that the threat of lurking Owls and the thought of Biz and Louis by themselves didn’t help. And the gala? All of that was the perfect recipe for something to go wrong. Artemis was the one thing that kept him from losing his mind. Well, partially.

“So many things Arty. Everything just piles up, you know?” She nodded solemnly, silently telling him to continue. “And I just…” he stopped, shaking his head, his entire vocabulary ceasing to exist.

She took his hand and looked him in the eye. “I know. It really does happen at the worst times. Family is a difficult thing, Jason, but it’s better to keep them in your life, despite how much you may want to drop-kick some of them off a roof.”

He laughed dryly. “How are you so perfect with everything Princess?”

“Perfect? I’m far from it. But you may keep believing that if you like,” she smiled.

Oh, he was so glad she was back. Her presence alone was strangely soothing. She could say nothing and deliver a whole conversation. He hoped she understood his mess of a mind. Words alone couldn’t convey his thoughts. Life was hard, feelings more so. He’d have to unwind all of that later. Public settings weren’t the place to get emotional.

“How do you think Biz and Louis are doing?” Jason asked, taking a sip of whatever carbonated drink the waiter had given him.

“I’m sure they’re getting along. Louis seems likable enough.”

“I thought you two didn’t get along?”

“Yes, we may not see eye to eye, but I know a sincere man when I see one. He’s dedicated to doing right, and I respect that.”

Jason gave her a small round of applause, making the Amazon roll her eyes. “So glad to see my favorite people getting along.” He raised his glass. “To the reunion of the Outlaws, and you being friendly,”Jason toasted and drained the rest of his drink without another word. Artemis gave him an exasperated look before following suit.

Tipping his glass to the light, he could’ve sworn he saw something. Was that… an owl? There was too much evidence of the Court following them for it not to be. What did they put in his drink? Upon placing the glass down, he nudged Artemis, motioning to his drink. Thankfully, she got his message.

She swirled her own glass around in her hand, watching the last sips slosh around. Finally, she set it on the table. “We really must ask the waiter what mystery drink he is giving out. I simply must have some more,” Artemis said, throwing a little too much enthusiasm into her last sentence.

The guests started to file to the middle of the hall. What the elite of Gotham had with waltzes, Jason would never know. But it seemed like a good way to pass information around the room discreetly. Jason got up, offering a hand to Artemis. “A dance, m’lady?”

“Sounds wonderful.” The pair glided across the floor, Jason grateful for Alfred’s training in this type of thing. He leaned close to Artemis’ ear, scarcely daring to whisper. “We need to tell someone they’re here.”

“We’ll split up,” she breathed. “Find Barbara. I’ll find Dick.”

“‘Kay.”

Jason was just about to hand her off to another partner when Artemis winced. “You okay?”

“Yes, it’s just… my head.” She brought a hand to her temple, grimacing. “I’ve got to go.”

Jason nodded. He could tell Dick himself. “Go on, I’ll meet you later.” He saw her off, and sat down in the corner, trying to locate Dick. He managed to catch his attention, only– his head started to pound too.

“You okay, Jay? You look terrible.”

Jason sucked in a breath. “Some’n messed with–” his tongue felt like lead. Nope nope nope. He needed to leave. “–drink.” he managed, dashing out the door and to the nearest washroom.

#rhato #red hood #jason todd #artemis grace #batfam #rhato 2016 #fanfic #Red:pt10

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thereluctantherosrose · 4 years

Text

Creed of Blood (Alexios x Nyxera) Ch.7

Nyxera sat in the fields of grass that were near her home. She remembered how often she would go there to think and clear her mind of any troubles she faced. Sirius and Titos sat at both of her sides, watching the nature around them. It was weird that this would be the last time she would be in this spot, and even weirder that she would be leaving her home. Yet she knew that she needed to. Everyone on the entire island was at risk for their association with her. She would have innocent blood on her hands if she didn’t act quickly.

She needed to find out what made her so special, why her bloodline was special. It had to do with her visions, that much she knew, but was there something more to it? All her life she felt like her fate was being controlled by something. Her and Alexios’ meeting hadn’t been mere coincidence that day. Perhaps the fates would determine that they would meet again. If they did, she would need to warn him of what the Cult had told her. Did he know about them? Had they tried to kill him? She couldn’t help but feel worried for his safety. Yet at the same time, she knew that he could handle it.

Her fingers absentmindedly ran through the coarse fur of her wolves, and they looked up at her with curiosity. They were very perceptive of her mood and could sense the tension in her body. Something was wrong and they knew it. Sirius nuzzled his giant black head in the crook of her neck, causing her to smile softly.

“I'm alright sweet boy...Do not worry about me…I’ll be alright…As long as we are together”

*flashback*

“Sirius! Titos! Shh! It’ll hear us!” Little Nyxera whispered to her wolves as she snuck forward. They had been tracking a deer for quite a while, having been asked by her pater to bring something home if she could. She wanted to prove to her pater that she could do it, that she could take care of them. The small brunette girl had her bow in hand, ready to shoot at the right moment.

Slowly she raised her bow, knocking back an arrow against the string and taking a deep breath as she aimed. Quickly, she let the arrow fly forward and with a thump, it pierced right through its neck. A clean kill.

She ran to the deer’s corpse with a large grin on her face. Her pater would be so proud of her for this big of a kill. However, as she drew nearer, she noticed something sticking out from its side. A broken spearhead? She frowned and tilted her head in confusion. Where did that come from?

“What is this…?” she reached out to the spearhead but was interrupted as someone yelled, startling her.

“Hey!” a voice yelled out.

Sirius and Titos faced the direction of the voice and growled, causing Nyxera to turn towards the voice. A boy stood there, dark brown hair and brown eyes to match. He was on the skinnier side, clearly haven’t eaten much, yet still managed to be quite muscular. In her mind, he seemed to have an air of familiarity about him, yet she had never met him before. Who was he?

Sirius and Titos faced the direction of the voice and growled, causing her to turn towards the voice. It was a boy. He had light brown hair and dark brown eyes to match. He looked skinny but still muscular. Somehow, he seemed familiar to her, even though she had not met him before.

It came to her then. Her visions. Since she was young, she had dreamt of this boy, and yet, here he was in front of her at last. How could this be?

“That’s my deer!” he frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Is not! You malaka! I’ve been tracking this deer for a half-hour at least! My arrow killed it!” Nyx growled at him, the two wolves at her sides taking a step forward and matching her own growl.

The boy’s eyes widened and caused him to step back startled. To him, she looked like she was a reincarnation of Artemis herself. Who was this girl? Despite her size, she looked quite dangerous, and her wolves even moreso. How did she control such beasts? As his eyes met with hers, he could feel a pull towards her, feeling some sort of connection.

Despite the danger, he needed this deer. He hadn’t eaten in quite a while. He wouldn’t last much longer on an empty stomach. He didn’t have enough drachmae, even with the money he made with Markos. That was all dependent on whenever the next job came in. He had no parents to take care of him. He was on his own basically.

His belly rumbled and he looked down, holding his belly, catching the attention of Nyx. She could tell that he needed something to eat. She felt sorry for the boy and wanted to know more about him. Why had she been seeing him?

“What’s your name?” she tilted her head and looked at him sadly.

“Alexios…”

“Alexios…I’m Nyxera” her face turned into a smile and she put out her arm in greeting.

He looked at her hand for a moment, wondering why she was being so nice to him. He wasn’t used to it and was quite used to being either used or treated like some dirty urchin. Cautiously he took her arm in return and shook.

“You should come with me. Pater and I are making stew tonight. You’d be more than welcome to join”

His eyes widened and he had confusion clear on his face. He couldn’t believe what kindness was being offered to him. “Why...why would you do that? You don’t know me…”

“Because no one deserves to be starved...And there will be more than enough to share.” Nyx held out her hand. “Come with me.”

He looked at her hand and back up at her, before giving a light smile and took her hand. This was the beginning of something amazing.

“Nyxera!” Aegeus called out to his daughter.

Nyx stood up and began walking towards her “Right here, pater.”

Aegeus smiled and nodded. “Good. I suggest that you say your goodbyes to anyone you wish. Once you’re done? We will set sail to Athens.”

Nyx nodded in response, taking a moment of silence to pause and think. “Do you think we’ll be able to come back someday…?”

“Perhaps...You never know what the gods have in store for us...we may yet, pup. We may.”

Nyxera searched around Markos’ vineyard, trying to find Phoibe to say goodbye. She couldn’t seem to find her anywhere, which was odd. Was she alright?

Have you seen Phoibe?” she stopped one of the women who worked at the vineyard.

The woman nodded “She’s just up the hill. The poor girl…She seemed out of sorts today. Quite sad” Nyx looked towards where the woman was referring to, seeing her small form just barely at the top of the grassy hill near Zeus’ statue.

“Phoibe…” she sighed “Thank you for letting me know. I will go see her now.”

The brunette started walking up the hill, seeing the little girl sitting down with arms resting on her knees. Phoibe’s eyes met with Nyx’s, and it was evident that she had been crying earlier. Her face glistened from her tears.

“Hello, Phoibe”

“You’re leaving me too…” Phoibe whispered quietly as she sat next to her. Nyx frowned, her heart aching slightly at her words.

“I’m sorry Phoibe…I have no choice. There are dangerous people after me, and they have no qualms in targeting anyone who is associated with me. I can’t put you or anyone else on the Island at risk.”

Phoibe sniffled and wiped her eyes with her arm “I…I hate them! Why…why do people have to be so mean? They are taking everyone away from me. Kyna…Alexios…you…It’s not fair!” More tears fell down her face.

Nyx wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead gently. “I know…the world is cruel, and there will always be bad people out there. Yet…despite that…there are still good people. You can’t lose hope yet. You must hold onto the light and fight to keep it. You are still so young, Phoibe. You have your whole life ahead of you. It is hard now, but when you get older, I know you can do better than Kephallonia.”

“You think so?” she sniffled.

“I know it. You have a lot of potential…but you need to not follow mine and Alexios’ path. You can do so much better. A safer life”

“I’ll...try...I suppose...: Doesn’t sound very fun” she frowned for a moment.

“I know. But when you’re older, you’ll understand… Here…” Nyx rummaged through her pocket and brought out a coin purse with drachmae in it, placing it in her palm.

“But Nyx! You’ll need this!”

“I have enough to make my journey...and I will be doing different jobs along the way which will make me more...I need to know you are taken care of for a while…”

Phoibe wrapped her arms around her and sniffled, whispering a soft thank you. They held each other there for a few moments, enjoying their last moments together.

“Will you come back? Once you are done…?”

“I will...Promise. We will see each other again.”

“Oh...and if you run into Alexios? Tell him that I miss him! And he better come back too!”

Nyx took a breath in and bit her lip. It was a big world, but you never know what could happen. She hoped that she would. “I will tell him...and even if I have to drag him by the ear back to Kephallonia to see you...I will do it”

Phoibe giggled and let go “Thanks Nyx...I’ll miss you”

“And I, you”

#assassins creed odyssey #alexios #alexios of sparta #alexios x nyxera #assassins creed

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faveficarchive · 5 years

Text

The Babysitter

By WordWarior

Pairing: Xena & Gabrielle

Rating: PG

Synopsis: Teen Xena has to babysit kid Gabrielle right before the fall festival, and she’s not at all pleased.

Dear Diary,

It isn't fair. I'm supposed to be helping get ready for the harvest festival with all the other kids (not that I'm exactly Miss Popular, but I thought maybe this time I could do things differently and not have everyone hate me afterwards. Not like the Festival of the Moon when I had to punch out Bureous because he said that stuff to Mala. (And although the other kids said they understood, still, they all treated me weird for days after that), but instead I'm stuck here, taking care of some five-winters-old brat who's visiting the inn. I swear it's punishment for what I did to Lyceus last week, even though Mom told me that cleaning the barn was enough.

"Xena! Get down here -- now! They're leaving."

"In a second!" shouted Xena, her mother's commanding voice having little effect on the strong-willed teenager.

"I said now. I meant now. That means now!"

"Hades," Swore Xena, hastily hiding her diary beneath her mattress. "All right already! I'm coming."

Taking the stairs two at a time, the thirteen-winters-old girl jumped the last five steps landing lightly on her feet. Sullenly, she sauntered into the tavern where the visitors stood talking to Cyrene while their five-winters-old daughter played with a set of blocks. It was early, long before customers would fill the bar. Xena sighed, the weight of the known world on her shoulders.

"Here she is," Cyrene said brightly. "Xena, these nice people have a table to set up at the festival, so they need to leave their daughter here for a bit. I told them you were delighted at the chance to watch her while they're busy."

"Yeah, delighted," said Xena with a saccharine smile, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Cyrene pinched her daughter's arm, the action hidden from her guests' view, but Xena kept her smile in place, pushing the small stab of pain deep down. She had always been good at hiding what she felt and it drove her mother crazy.

"Well that's just wonderful! I can't tell you how much we appreciate this, Cyrene," said the woman with a genuine smile.

"Not at all. She loves doing this sort of thing. Why Xena is a natural with children."

A thousand scenarios for revenge flashed through the teen's mind as she stood quietly by her mother's side. She was already several inches taller than her mom and didn't look like she would stop growing soon. It had been quite a summer. Breasts had exploded from her chest garnering her undue attention from the local boys. Hair grew in the most bizarre places and once a month she had to deal with the infernal Wound of Artemis. Being a female sucked, she had decided.

"I promised the gang I'd help with decorations this afternoon. How long will I need to watch the kid?" asked Xena, sullenly glaring at the child who sported large green eyes and a splash of blonde hair.

"Oh not long, Sweetie," said the woman, already on her way out the door. "Just for a few candlemarks."

"Motheeeerrr!" whined Xena once the couple had closed the door behind them. "What am I supposed to do with her for candlemarks!!!"

"You'll think of something. Just stick close to home. With this many strangers in town for the festival it isn't safe to wander."

"Oh yeah, right," scoffed Xena. "Like some warlord is gonna say 'Ah perfect! A little blonde kid! Now I can rule the world.'"

"You have no idea how a warlord thinks," admonished Cyrene. "Now get to it. I have a lot of work to do to get ready for the traffic of a festival day. I don't want to have to worry about you or that little girl."

"Yeah, of course not," said Xena beneath her breath as her mother slipped into the back. "Why should you worry about me? You never have before." Ever since her father had disappeared, Xena had found herself more and more independent. Cyrene simply didn't have the time to run a tavern and keep a close eye on three children. So Xena had taken the responsibility of watching out for both herself and Lyceus, while Toris helped their mother with the business.

"If Lyceus were here I could make him watch you," Xena said as she approached the happy child. "But that weasel is off with Uncle Kortheer, probably having the time of his life. Boys get all the fun, don't they?" The girl looked up at Xena, her eyes shining. "Yeah, so, um... what's your name, kid?"

"Ella."

"Ella, huh? Weird name."

"S'not weird! Really it's Gabrielle, but Mommy calls me Ella. It's a nice name."

"Whatever. Okay, Gabrielle, let's--"

"Ella!"

"I don't do nicknames, okay?" said Xena, deciding to torture the kid in harmless ways to get out her frustration. Besides, she rather liked the name Gabrielle. It suited the girl. "Now, let's figure out what to do with you for a couple hours."

"Tell me a story."

"Huh? What story?"

"Any story! Tell me a hero story."

"I don't know any hero stories."

"Sure you do! Everyone knows hero stories!"

"Not me. C'mon, let's go see how the decorations are coming."

"Your mom said to stay here."

"Yeah? Well, I'm your boss, got it? And you don't question me. What I say goes," said Xena, one eyebrow raised and her most fierce expression on her face.

"You don't scare me," said Gabrielle, looking frightened.

Xena relented, realizing that she was acting out her frustrations on a little kid. "Yeah, well, good. I'm not really trying to scare you. I just want to see how my friends are doing."

"Okay," said Gabrielle, standing up and dusting off her dress.

"C'mon," said Xena motioning the child through the front door. Gabrielle smiled at the teenager and reached up to take her hand.

"Awww geez," Xena muttered, relenting as she took the little girl's hand in hers and walked her out the door.

Dear Diary,

The kid is driving me nuts. She's so curious about everything. It's her first trip outside of Potidaea and she thinks every stupid thing that's different is interesting. Man, she'd drive me insane if I had to spend more than one day with her. As it is, I can barely keep an eye on her. I was trying to talk to Maphius about the dance decorations and I hear this huge crash and there she is, covered in flour. Seems she got into the kitchen stores, saw a bug or something and was trying to catch it as a 'present' for me. Like I want a bug! Anyway, I figured I'd better take her home before she wrecked anything else.

I can't figure it out but she's decided I'm like some kind of hero. She just stares at me with those big eyes and thinks everything I do is amazing. The stupidest stuff and she thinks it's all so cool. Okay, so I sorta like that. But still, it's not enough to make up for the fact that everyone else is working on the hall for tonight's dance and I'm stuck babysitting.

"Xena!"

Now what? Xena asked herself as she put away her diary. "You're supposed to be napping."

The young girl was lying on Xena's bed, not the least bit sleepy, pointing at Xena's bedroom wall. "Look!"

"Look at what, Gabrielle?"

"You got a sword!" the child said, gesturing emphatically to the sword mounted behind the bed.

"Yeah? What of it?"

"Is it a real sword?"

"It's real. But don't touch it. Swords are dangerous."

"Do you get to touch it?"

"Of course! But I'm older. It's different."

"'Kay..." Gabrielle pouted, staring at the weapon.

Sighing, Xena said, "Tell you what. We'll go find you a nice stick and you can pretend it's a sword, okay?"

"Okay!" Bounding off the bed, the little blonde beamed in the direction of her hero. "You're really pretty," she said, out of the blue.

Xena laughed. "You think? Ah, what would you know."

"I know. You're pretty. I bet you're the prettiest girl in Amphipolis, huh?"

"Doubtful."

"Who's prettier?"

"Althea."

"Nah ah."

"You don't even know her!" said Xena, exasperated, yet oddly pleased by the compliment.

"Do so! She was at the place where the flour was. She's not near so pretty as you."

"Yeah, well, she's sure more popular," muttered Xena. Then, at the worshipful gaze of her newest fan, she said, "C'mon, let's go get you a fighting stick." Tucking her diary into her pocket, Xena stood up.

"Neato!" Gabrielle grabbed Xena's hand and yanked her toward the door. The teenager shook her head, smiling, and allowed herself to be pulled along. Hard to beat that enthusiasm, she decided.

Dear Diary,

Man, that kid loves that stupid stick. I mean, it's just a stick, but she's been playing with it forever. I tried to show her how to use it like a sword, but she keeps whipping it around like it's a staff or something. Oh well, she'd probably put out her eye otherwise. She was kind of awkward when she tried to thrust and parry and stuff.

"Careful!" said Xena, looking up from her diary and spotting Gabrielle banging away at a tree trunk with her stick. "You don't want to get bark chips in your eyes or something."

Immediately, Gabrielle pulled away from the tree. "I'm sorry, Xena," she said. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Oh for-- look, you didn't do anything wrong. I just want you to be careful, that's all."

"How come?"

"What do you mean, how come?" asked Xena, exasperated.

Gabrielle inched closer to the teenager, her glistening eyes fixed on the older girl's face. "How come? You don't care 'bout me..."

"What makes you say that?"

"Cuz you won't tell me stories and you act like you don't want me around, that's how come."

"C'mere," said Xena, motioning the girl closer. Gabrielle came within arms' length and Xena pulled her into her lap. "Look, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad. It's just that I've really been looking forward to today and I hadn't expected to have to babysit. I kinda wanted to hang out with my friends."

"I'm sorry, Xena..." said Gabrielle, sniffing loudly.

The teen looked into the little girl's face and saw abject sorrow there. "Awww, c'mon, I said that's what I had planned. Doesn't mean I'm not having fun with you. And sure doesn't mean I don't like you. For a little kid, you're pretty cool."

"For real?" asked Gabrielle, light pouring from her eyes.

"Yeah. I mean, other than messing up the flour you've been pretty good."

"Xena?"

"Hmmm?"

"When I get old like you, will I be pretty too?"

Xena leaned back and seriously assessed the young girl's features. "Well... you won't look like me, that's for sure. We're very different. But I don't think you should worry. You're cute now, so you'll probably look fine when you get older." Twisting suddenly, Gabrielle lunged into a deep hug, surprising the teen with the strength in her small arms. "Hey!" said Xena, laughing. "Cut it out, huh? It's no big deal."

Gabrielle relaxed her grip but remained snuggled against her babysitter. "You make me feel safe," she said.

"Safe from what?"

"From monsters and warlords and stuff. I bet you could kill them all with your sword. I bet you're that good. I bet you're like a hero or something, right?"

"Hardly. I'm just a kid. Kids aren't heroes."

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

"I don't know. Maybe a warrior or a healer or something. How about you?"

"A Hestian Virgin. They have pretty dresses."

Laughing, Xena said, "Okay, that's one reason, all right. But I think you should be a bard."

"How come?" asked Gabrielle, pulling away so she could look into the teen's bright blue eyes.

"You like stories so much. And heroes and junk. Bards love that kind of thing."

"A bard? Huh," said the child, an almost adult expression of contemplation on her features. "Can bards be Hestian Virgins too?"

"I dunno. But bards can wear pretty dresses. No reason why not."

Brightening, the child grinned. "Okay! That's what I'll be then."

"Good. Glad to have that settled. Shouldn't leave those decisions until too late," quipped Xena with a lopsided grin. "Hey, you tired?" she asked as the child snuggled back into the teen's arms. Xena was very glad no one was in the small forest glade, watching her. Too much mush, she decided.

"Nah ah," whispered Gabrielle, as her eyes closed.

"Right," chuckled Xena, pulling out her diary.

Dear Diary,

I never really thought about having kids. Always figured they were a big pain. Mom says it often enough. But just between you and me, this Gabrielle kid is kinda sweet. Talky. And too curious. And she says silly things, but still...

Awww geez, I'm talking a lot of nonsense, now. There's no place for someone like Gabrielle in my life. Not the life I want. Adventures, that's for me. Just me and Lyceus and our swords. We're gonna escape Amphipolis and just travel the known world, hanging out with Kings and other warriors. And I'm gonna have jewels and stuff and give them to my mother so she can stop running the tavern and just sit in a big house ordering around lots of slaves. (She always says she doesn't need slaves, cuz she has us. Ha. Ha.)

Mom keeps telling me I'm silly for saying things like that. She says I should worry about who I'm gonna marry and that's it. That's a woman's lot. Well, that and I'm supposed to learn to cook a whole lot better than I do. I suck at that. It's so unfair. Why should I worry about cooking -- something I suck at -- when I'm so good with a sword? Seems to me I should concentrate on stuff I do good, not stuff I'm supposed to do good just cuz I'm a girl.

"Well, well, well... what have we here?" said a gruff voice just behind Xena's shoulder.

Quickly, the teen slid from Gabrielle's sleeping form and hopped to her feet, the child's fighting stick in her hands. "Who are you?" she asked, glaring at the lone man. He was disgusting -- covered with grime, his clothes stained and the stench of stale liquor and unwashed male hanging on him like a noxious cloud.

"I'm the man of your dreams, Hot Stuff."

Xena knew she looked older than thirteen. People were always surprised when they found out her age. It was all that growth over the summer. Once again, she hated the fact that she was too tall, had too much chest and wasn't normal like all the other girls her age. But somehow she had the feeling that her age wouldn't matter at all to a guy like this. Her mom had been right -- she should have stayed close to home. "Get out of here," she said coldly, pushing away her fear and trying to act as tough as the warriors who passed through her mother's tavern. It was all attitude, she had decided at an early age. Act tough and people will see you as tough.

The man laughed. "Ooooh, a feisty one, huh? Good, I like it rough." Before Xena could respond, he spotted Gabrielle, who was just blinking open her eyes. "You gonna let your daughter watch, or do you wanna slip over into the woods a bit? Not that I mind, but some folks is sensitive about that kinda thing."

"You're disgusting," said Xena. "And I'm warning you for the last time -- get out of here or I'll make you wish you'd never found us."

"Xena? I'm scared," said Gabrielle, grabbing onto the teenager's leg.

"Shhh, it's okay, Gabrielle. Everything is going to be fine. This man was just leaving," she said, stroking the child's hair.

The man walked up to Xena and stared at her, eye to eye. He was only about an inch or two taller and the teenager was already mentally figuring out how to use his strength against him. She had spent her youth conning lessons out of the warriors who passed through Amphipolis. Discovering at an early age that she had a natural aptitude for the fighting arts, she had soaked up every piece of knowledge she could, using her younger brother as a sparring partner.

"Let me put it this way, Girlie. You give me what I want and I spare the kid. You even think about trying to fight me and she becomes my target. Got it?"

Gabrielle's grip tightened, tears flowing freely. "All right," Xena said with a feral smile, surprisingly menacing in a face so young. "Now you've got me mad. You're not going to like me mad." With eye-blurring speed, she brought the stick up to his groin, connecting with a resounding thud. As he bent over she elbowed his nose then slammed the stick onto his head, breaking the wood in two with the fierceness of the blow. The man fell to the ground in a groaning heap. "C'mon, Gabrielle," said Xena, urgently, gathering the child in her arms. She ran from the glade as quickly as she could with her awkward burden, overjoyed when she burst through the trees onto the streets of Amphipolis.

Dear Diary,

She's finally asleep. Took three stories and I had to make up half of them because I never paid attention to all that god stuff, but she closed her eyes at last. I wasn't sure what to do about the man, so I went to Thomasus, the smith, and told him there was a highwayman in the woods. He came back and said no one was there. I guess the guy ran away or something. Thomasus said that most likely he wouldn't be bothering anyone around here for awhile, cuz there was blood in the clearing. I suppose it was from his nose. I cracked him pretty good.

I'm mostly worried about Gabrielle. She's just a little kid. I don't like the idea of her seeing that crap. Such an innocent little thing.

"We're home!" wafted Cyrene's voice.

Xena bolted from her room, leaping down the stairs with a finger over her lips. "Shhh! I just got her to sleep!"

Gabrielle's mother had followed Cyrene into the tavern and smiled at Xena. "How was she? Did she behave? She didn't make you tell her any stories, did she?"

"A couple. But I didn't mind. She's a good kid," said Xena, her eyes downcast.

"You didn't have any trouble, did you?" asked Cyrene, examining her daughter's expression suspiciously.

Innocently, Xena met her Mom's eyes. "Of course not."

"Sorry you couldn't be with your friends, Dear," said her mom, her eyes softening.

"No biggie. Gabrielle and I went down there to check on stuff and it was all pretty boring anyway."

"I heard some highwayman attacked a woman and her daughter in the woods outside of town," said Gabrielle's mother.

"You're kidding? What happened?" asked Cyrene, the gossip lighting her eyes.

"Your smithy went out and bloodied his nose. Sent him running with his tail between his legs."

"Did you hear anything about this, Xena? I saw you talking to Thomasus earlier," observed Cyrene.

"Nah, I was talking about armor and junk."

"You and your swords and armor. What's going to become of you?"

"I dunno. Maybe I'll be a hero, like Achilles," said Xena, embarrassed.

"Well if so, Gabrielle will want to hear all about it. She's absolutely obsessed with tales of heroes," said the child's mother, laughing indulgently.

"Yeah, well, maybe I will tell her some day," said Xena, backing away from the two women. While they continued to gossip, Xena slowly walked back up the stairs to her small room. She sat on the edge of her bed, looking down at the sweet-faced blonde child as she slept. "Hey, kid, your mom is here," she whispered gently.

Gabrielle opened her eyes, yawning. It took a moment for her to focus but when she saw Xena she grinned. "Hi, Xena."

"Hi. Your mom is downstairs. You don't have to hang around me anymore, lucky you."

The girl sat up, rubbing her eyes then smiled. She hugged Xena, saying, "I liked hanging around with you. You're a hero. You beat up the bad man and everything."

"Let's not tell anyone about that, okay? We were sorta not supposed to be out in the woods." At Gabrielle's confused expression, Xena said, "Not that you should lie. Just don't, you know, tell anyone unless they ask you. Okay? It'll be our secret."

"A secret? Okay!"

"Good. Thanks, Gabrielle."

"I like how you say my name."

Xena smiled crookedly and picked up the child, carrying her weight easily. "Let's get you back to your mom."

"Will I ever see you again, Xena?"

"I dunno. Maybe. Maybe I'll come to hear you when you're a famous bard."

"And I'll tell stories about Xena, the Warrior Hero."

"It's a deal," said Xena, not quite understanding why the trust of this small child hit her heart in such a deep place.

The End

#xena #xena warrior princess #xena/gabrielle #xena/gabrielle fanfiction #author: wordwarior #fanfiction #femslash

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childrenofslumber · 5 years

Note

hey hi spartie for the kid meme!!

Name: Stella Conlon

Gender: Female

General Appearance: See FC. She looks most like her father but she absolutely has her mother’s smile.

Personality: Stella is a sweetheart spitfire. She’s no nonsense but she is also incredibly compassionate, empathetic and adorable. She has no flirting skills whatsoever - put a pretty person in front of her and she is a disaster. She’s a family first kinda person and that includes found family. She’s incredibly stubborn and hot headed but also a fantastic leader, she looks out for the underdogs.

Special Talents:

Who they like better: Daddy’s girl through and through.

Who they take after more: She’s a mix of both but she’s probably more like Artie.

Personal Headcanon: She has a very strange accent. It depends on the phrase which accent she has because both her parents have STRONG af accents.

Face Claim: Gia M.antegna

#( i was just used to being your girl; you’ll always be my girl ‣ artemis & spot. )#heartsunholy

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worseandworser · 5 years

Note

Oh! Just found you from some reblogging! Gonna go through your awesome stuff some more :3 in the meantime, since your ask box is open, would you mind doing something small for royed with magic?

hello, anon :3

I wasn’t really sure what kind of magic you were thinking here, but I tried my best! And… this is around 1,000 words-long so… it’s not a drabble…

Summary: It was kind of hard to take him seriously now, though. The blue uniform was loose over shoulders that were not that broad anymore, and he had to roll the legs of the pants up a bit so he wouldn’t trip. The slightly chubbier cheeks softened the arrogant demeanor he usually carried around, and earlier on Ed had spotted freckles on the bridge of his nose. He looked… well…

Not really that bad.

Rating: Teen and Up

Warnings/tags: teenage!Roy

read on ao3

Edward really hadn’t intended for this to happen. It was just a joke, dammit, he hadn’t even put that much time into the reading. How could he have guessed it would actually work? And yet, Roy Mustang kept glaring at him like it was his fault.

It was kind of hard to take him seriously now, though. The blue uniform was loose over shoulders that were not that broad anymore, and he had to roll the legs of the pants up a bit so he wouldn’t trip. The slightly chubbier cheeks softened the arrogant demeanor he usually carried around, and earlier on Ed had spotted freckles on the bridge of his nose. He looked… well…

Not really that bad.

Ed had always guessed that an awkward appearance was a mandatory part of being a teenager and, apparently, Roy had none of that. A bit lanky, yes, but the movements of his body lacked that clumsiness typical of the age. He kept the ladykiller air – girlkiller air now, Ed thought with amusement – and everything about him screamed mean cool kid and fuck Roy Mustang for being attractive even when he was younger.

“You are going to fix this, Fullmetal, I have a meeting early tomorrow and–”

Yep, still the same bastard, though.

“Okay, okay!” Ed said, throwing his hands up in an act of exasperation “I’ll fix it, I’m working on it!”

“Then work harder!”

“I would, if you would stop bitchin’ like a–” He cut himself before saying a highly indelicate offense.

Roy squinted his eyes at him. “Like a what, Edward?”

The blond ignored him and went back to the book. They sat on the man’s personal library’s floor, legs crossed and books all around. Ed was becoming increasingly annoyed at Roy’s behavior – snorting, rolling his eyes, complaining – and distraught because he seemed to be the only one committed to the research.

He really couldn’t understand any of it. The whole thing bordered human transmutation and sounded ridiculously like magic. Artemis, Chasca, Persephone, Blodeuwedd… The array itself looked like a ritualistic symbol. And yet, it flared with blue light the moment it made contact with the man’s – currently teen’s – skin.

So many go through life trying to achieve eternal youth and yet Ed had rewound Roy Mustang as a joke.

“Could you please stop staring at me, I’m trying to concentrate here.”

The raven-haired groaned. “God, I can’t talk, I can’t look, what do you want me to do? Hide in the basement?”

That would be a very good an idea.

“You can read this,” he threw a book in the other’s direction, “and see if it’s got something useful.”

And it was silent for around half an hour.

Then Roy slammed the book on the ground.

“Fullmetal, this is not alchemy!”

Ed sighed. “I know that already! It’s like reading instructions to some metaphysical–”

“That’s not– Edward, this is not alchemy, it’s a blessing!”

He turned to Roy, jumping like a scared animal, and the ma–boy was grinning widely, looking himself like the cat who caught the canary. “I am not so sure you’ll want to fix it, though.”

“A blessing?! You’ve lost your goddamn mind? What the fuck are you even– I do want to fix this!”

“Are you sure of that?”

“Yes, you asshole, it’s my fucking mess to fix!”

“I would totally understand if you didn’t want to.”

“What the fuck, Mustang? I already said I do!”

Roy stared at him somberly, but his cheeks were twitching as if he was restraining a smile. “Would you do anything?”

“Yes, you bastard!”

“Literally anything?”

“I already said yes, you id–”

Mustang was on him before the remaining syllables could be spoken, lips on his and knees on each side of his hips. Ed was static for a few moments before he tried to shove the other away and off of his lap, but the raven-haired circled Ed’s neck with his arms and pressed himself the closest possible to the boy underneath him. Ed let out a noise of complaint, and Roy took the opportunity to slide his tongue past the blond’s lips and deepen the kiss.

It really wasn’t the most unpleasant experience ever. Roy kissed with dexterity, and the feel of short nails scratching at his nape was… okay-ish. Ed fisted the other’s loose clothes and, finally, relented. They were kissing now, and that was way better. A nice and eager dance of lips and tongues that had Ed sighing in a good way, so he slid his hands around Roy’s slim waist and pulled lightly. Roy made a very agreeing sound and moved his hips slowly and oh shit fuck shitEd shoved him hard.

“What the actual fu–”

Roy pouted and Ed just wanted to bite his lips off. “You said you’d do anything, Ed.”

“Don’t you fucking Ed me, you shit, you never call me that!” He had to take a deep breath because Mustang on his lap was highly distracting. “And– and how the fuck does this has to do with anything?!”

The Flame Alchemist tilted his head to the side and frowned as if Edward had said something incomprehensible.

“Didn’t you get by the symbolism?”

Ed shoved him again but no results. “What fucking symbolism?!”

Roy giggled and fingered Edward’s braid loose, playing with the strands like it was the most natural thing.

“Really? The Goddesses? The flowers? You really have no idea?” Ed shook his head negatively and Roy smiled before carrying on. “It all goes back to the idea of purity and maidens, Edward, it means that in truth, you didn’t turn me into a teenager, but to a virgin.”

How could he say all that without blushing remained a complete mystery to Edward, who was blushing like a proper virgin.

“And now, to fix your own mess, you are supposed to purge me of all my innocence,” Roy slid his lips up Ed’s neck and then bit his earlobe, and Ed shivered from head to toe, “In other words, I need you to fuck me.”

Edward opened his mouth to protest but Roy’s lips got there before the words could.

#royed #safe royed #edward elric #Roy Mustang #fma #drabble

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sailoreuterpe · 6 years

Text

Specks of Spaghetti Sauce on a Spotted Tablecloth

For @sirazaroff. It’s brambly and rough, but it was a labor of love.

Do you ever miss it?” Mina asks casually as she stirs her spaghetti, speckling the table in bright red sauce. Mako might say something on a different day (or in a minute), but the forced nonchalance in Mina’s voice gives the taller girl pause.

“Miss what?” Mako has some idea of what Mina means, but over the years she’s learned that drawing Mina to voice her feelings generally leads to better emotional returns.

Those returns have been diminishing lately, and it scares Mako.

“Sailor duties.” Mina keeps stirring, her movements deliberate in their idleness.

“You’re spotting the table.” Mako says gently. She’s not avoiding the question, as Mina herself might. She’s just giving herself time to process.

“It’s been over a year. And Crystal Tokyo--well, who knows?” Mina stops spinning her fork and instead lets it clink onto her plate. “We’re not doing anything.”

“I’d say just being normal is something.”

“We’re not normal, Mako.” There’s an edge of bitterness that Ami and Rei would hear, too, if they were around. But they’ve taken Usagi on their annual “Original Trio” trip to the beach, to the no-longer-literally-haunted resort from their youth.

Mako feels a thread of envy wrap uncomfortably tight around her happiness for them. They go on all-team trips, too, and they all have their own pair-or-trio activities. Their relationship--this love they all share--wouldn’t work otherwise.

But only Mako understands most how abandoned Mina feels at times like these.

“No, we’re not.” Mako smiles through the pain. “But it’s nice to pretend, isn’t it?”

“I guess.” Mina is usually lively and vibrant, energy and gold. It breaks Mako’s heart to see Mina as dull as this. This defeated.

“I thought you wanted peace.”

“I do. I don’t know. I thought I did.” Mina finally looks up from staring at her plate. She’s flung one arm over her chair and has the opposite leg on Ami’s seat. Anyone other than one of her girls or Artemis would assume she was fine.

Mina is not fine.

“What do you miss?” Ami has been trying (with varying degrees of success) to get them all to analyze their thoughts more clearly. If they can’t get actual therapy due to secrecy, they can at least read books and try to untangle their thoughts. Mako remembers that concrete questions can help. Be direct. Don’t answer for the other person. Don’t let your own attachment get in the way.

Mako still doesn’t have the handle on that one.

“I don’t know! I shouldn’t miss any of it! I should be fucking ecstatic that nothing is trying to kill me and my girlfriends and the entire universe right now!”

Mako considers for a moment. Mina is still sprawled over her chair, but the look of pain in her eyes is clear.

“I miss using my powers.” Mako says as she takes her napkin and wipes away the spots of sauce near Mina’s hand laying on the table. Then she takes that hand in her own. “I miss being faster and stronger.”

“We’re still better than normal people.” Mina says with a glint of reluctant pride.

“Yeah, but we’re not as powerful in civvie form.”

Mina sighs then. That’s usually a good sign. “Yeah, we’re weaker like this.”

“I miss hearing the thunder and understanding it right away. I really miss being able to scare assholes by just showing up.”

“I miss mattering.” Mina cuts in, angry and ashamed. Mako’s face falls in dawning understanding. She puts her other hand over Mina’s, cradling the rough fingers like jewels. She massages Mina’s hand, trying to comfort.

“You always matter, Mina.”

Mina doesn’t pull away, but she does finally sit up in her chair, if only to pick at the tablecloth with her free hand. “I don’t matter as a civilian like I do as a sailor.”

“You’re still leader even out of uniform.” Mako tilts her head to better meet Mina’s eyes. “We wouldn’t last a day without you.”

“You did, though. Weeks and weeks. You survived without me.”

“Usagi literally almost died on a weekly basis.”

Mina does give Mako a smile then. It’s small and sad, but it’s still a win, damn it.

“I still can’t believe she almost got her ass kicked by a priest in booty shorts.”

Mako laughs and lets go of Mina’s hand, only to get up and circle the table to her blonde girlfriend. The rest of dinner can wait. The mess, too.

Mina has waited too long and too much over the years.

Mako sits in Ami’s freed chair, scoots forward, and takes Mina in her arms. Usagi claims that a Mako hug is like a soft piece of cake, sweet and warm. Mako tries to be as cake-like as possible for the woman hurting right now.

“I just miss being seen.” Mina says into Mako’s sizable shoulder. “It’s wrong and I hate it, but sometimes--”

“You wish something would try.” She’s answering for Mina and Ami would frown, but then they all do that from time to time for each other.

Because, deep in their hearts, they all feel the same shameful ache.

“Yeah.”

“I do, too.”

Mako’s shoulder is slowly wetting with tears. Mako feels her own eyes fill in answering pain.

“I really don’t think it’s wrong.” She says a bit later when Mina sniffles and pulls away slightly to wipe her nose on her orange sleeve. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be helpful, to be needed.”

“My mom would say I’m vain. Rei, too.”

“Rei says you’re vain when you spend an hour doing your hair.” Mako does look stern at that. “She doesn’t think it’s vain to want to help people.”

Mako laughs suddenly, her smile returning. “I mean, come on, Rei wants to be an even bigger deal than you.”

Mina giggles in response, and it’s like her golden sailor glow in audible form. “International Success Life--that’s Rei.”

“I think,” Mako says carefully, treasuring Mina’s laughter, “you can love the peace and still miss the fight. Miss the fame. I think you can want both.”

“I wouldn’t ever tell Usagi.”

“Maybe she’d understand.” Mako is surprised that she believes it. But Usagi can be selfish, too. Usagi wants the world, which is why she can fight for it so hard.

It’s why they all fight so hard for Usagi. Mina maybe the hardest of all.

Mina lays her head on Mako’s shoulder. There’s a peace now, a weariness with acceptance. They’re not fine, but they’re better. That has to be enough.

“I’m glad I have you, Sparks.”

“You’ll always matter to me, Love.” Mako hugs Mina tight. “To us all.”

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kafkasgods · 3 years

Text

Faaya and Phobos

tw abuse (somewhat graphic child, emotional & physical), physical punishment, body horror

[ FADE IN ]

EXT. GRAPEVINE NIGHTCLUB AND BAR - NIGHT

WE OPEN on the lit sign of the nightclub. An overcast allows only the street lights to shine on the street. It is empty, save for some drunk, stumbling stragglers and a line nearby for a taco truck. A security guard closes and locks the entrance.

[ CUT TO ]

INT. MANAGER’S OFFICE - NIGHT

FOLDERS AND PAPERS cover a desk. A well-manicured hand picks up an iPhone. It belongs to FAAYA (24), manager, aloof , self-assured, and engrossed in text in between work.

MYSTERIOUS VOICE (V.O.): Sporting a pretty nasty bruise, eh, Faaya?

FAAYA keeps typing.

FAAYA: I’ve had nastier. MYSTERIOUS VOICE: It looks good. Suits you.

Placing her phone down, FAAYA looks up. PHOBOS (16-18), a lean, teenage boy with a fiery eyes and a mischievous grin on his face, sits strewn casually across a couch, playing with a knife.

FAAYA: I’m sure it’s a genetic aptitude. You’d look just as good black and blue. PHOBOS: Go for it.

They stare at each other for a long second. [7:56 PM] FAAYA: So did you come to talk to me about something or were you just bored again?

PHOBOS: A little bit of this, a little bit of that. But mostly I wanted to shower you with praise. FAAYA: I’m good. PHOBOS (rolling eyes): Don’t be stupid, you’re great. I know Enyo’s been paying more attention to you. She even has half a mind to sprinkle you with a little more power. FAAYA: I don’t need anymore at the moment. PHOBOS: If you keep talking like that, I might feel insulted. At least I don’t have you breaking everything within vicinity like your friend, Luke. FAAYA: Speaking of that, any chance you can get Enyo to let him be? If she’s trying to get him to support her, the last thing he needs is daily reminders that his power sucks. PHOBOS: Listen, if you keep acting ungrateful to me or to any god that gives you the time of day—Exceptions if they’re a fuckwit, then I’ll cut your throat out.

PHOBOS’ knife is directed at FAAYA. Again, they stare—PHOBOS, darkly. FAAYA, unflinching.

FAAYA: Go for it.

A pregnant silence. PHOBOS laughs, tucking the knife away. FAAYA releases a breath she had been holding.

PHOBOS: I knew it was a good idea to give you that last tidbit of power. FAAYA: What do you mean? PHOBOS: Oh, you didn’t realize it when you were about to go scorched earth on the Artemis girl? PHOBOS (excitedly): You know? You wanted to bury her. Wanted to make her suffer, right? It made you feel strong, yeah? I thought, why not let Faaya get strength from fear? That’d be great motivation to make you like what you do a little more. FAAYA: I don’t need an— PHOBOS: Faaya. [7:58 PM] There is a warning in his tone. FAAYA folds her hands together in her lap. Standing, PHOBOS stretches before walking leisurely around the office, glancing at the walls. There is artwork, certifications, and a photo of the staff taken after FAAYA’s promotion. He pauses at the photo before moving on.

PHOBOS: You’re a good daughter, Faaya. One of my favorites, even.

PHOBOS picks up a picture frame on FAAYA’s desk. An image of a younger FAAYA, BENTLEY, and LUKE. There is distaste on his face. He places back down.

PHOBOS: I want you protected. I want you strong. Don’t you remember the bad things that happen when you’re not?

Before Faaya can protest, she is transported to another time.

{ if uncomfortable with the triggers, PLEASE skip to the end of the blacked out scenes }

[ CUT TO ]

INT. THE GARDNER’S RESIDENT - KITCHEN - EARLY MORNING

TWO ADULTS occupy the kitchen. The lights are off, but orange rays seep past the thin curtains. A cross overhead the threshold is visible. JANICE (32), religious, worn out, and clearly rattled, cups a mug of hot coffee tightly at the table. Nearby husband LOUIE (35), a stoic trucker, who has just come home from work, leans against the counter, rubbing his unshaven stubble. Unbeknownst to them, FAAYA (3) hides by the stairs.

JANICE: I can’t do this anymore, Louie. You don’t know what it’s like being home alone with her because you’re always out. LOUIE: Yeah, I’m working. I’m putting food on this table for you, me, and Brady. You were the one who wanted to foster in the first place.

faaya shah BOT 10/16/2020 JANICE: Because your paycheck isn’t enough! But she’s not worth the money we get for her. I’m going insane, Louie. She’s so quiet and she’s always there when I’m not looking and I just—I feel this heavy weight all the time. I’m scared of her. LOUIE (tiredly): She’s just a kid, Janie. JANICE: Brady won’t even go near her! And I’ve had to put Lila outside because she doesn’t stop barking at Faaya. You can’t tell me that there isn’t something wrong with her.

Tears form in JANICE’s eyes.

JANICE: And! And there’s this!

Pulling her sleeves up, JANICE reveals her arm. The skin is blank. Her face screws up as she frantically searches her body.

JANICE: I swear there were scratches here! They were here this morning! They’ve been appearing everywhere!

LOUIE steps forward, taking JANICE’s arms to stop her. JANICE focuses on LOUIE.

LOUIE: Honey, I believe you, okay? This is getting too much for all of us. This is what we’ll do, we’ll send her back and I’ll try to be home more. We’ll refinance the mortgage if we need to.

JANICE: Really?

No one notices as FAAYA enters the room.

FAAYA: I wanna stay.

Their heads snap towards FAAYA. JANICE covers her mouth and starts shaking. LOUIE grips her shoulders.

LOUIE: We’re...We’re gonna find someplace better for you, Faaya.

FAAYA steps forward, under the threshold, shaking her head.

FAAYA: I don’t wanna.

The air feels colder. Cracks in the house sound more clearer. The hairs on their arms and legs are raised. JANICE abruptly stands up, pulling a small bottle of Holy Water from her cardigan’s pocket. She holds it tightly.

JANICE: Go upstairs, please!

LOUIE (grunting): Faaya, go. [8:07 PM] FAAYA shakes her head, hands curled, clutching at the fabric of her shirt.

Distantly, there is a loud crying upstairs. BRADY, five, is wailing. Outside, LILA barks, muffled. LOUIE swears before running past FAAYA and hopping up the stairs to check on BRADY. JANICE stares, petrified, at FAAYA.

JANICE: You can’t stay here anymore. You’re not welcomed.

FAAYA (pleading): I don’t wanna go.

The barks are louder. Noise seems to be coming from every direction. Shadows move quicker than JANICE can spot them. There are faces. Above FAAYA, the cross tips, hanging upside down.

JANICE shrieks. Uncapping the bottle, she starts shaking it in FAAYA’s direction.

JANICE: GET OUT! GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT! DEMON! YOU’RE NOT WELCOME!

FAAYA stumbles back, covering her face.

JANICE (reciting): Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge! I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed!

[ CUT TO ]

EXT. LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - PLAYGROUND - DAY

MAYBEL (27), observant, kind, student teacher, walks along the edge of the blacktop. Small children are scattered, playing different games and running around. There is a smile on her face as she passes along. It is replaced by a look of curiosity.

Three boys (5-7) approach a lone FAAYA (6) eating lunch at a bench. MAYBEL cannot hear anything, can only see what looks to be teasing on the boys’ part. The frown on FAAYA’s face is not reassuring. Suddenly, the boy in the middle drops, screaming. MAYBEL reacts on instinct, running to him.

MAYBEL: What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Are you okay? MAYBEL (to the group): What happened?

The children have surrounded the crying boy on the ground. FAAYA remains unmoved, clenching her lunch as she stares ahead at the scene.

BOY 2: Faaya did it! MAYBEL (to FAAYA): What did you do?! FAAYA: They were being scary. [8:09 PM] MAYBEL kneeling, tries to console the boy. Tears are coming in streams and he is choking on air. There is an urgency to get him to stop crying. He won’t. The cries of other children start to spurt in every direction. MAYBEL cannot get it to stop. An unnatural anger starts to form in the pit of her stomach. As the crying increases, so does MAYBEL’s heartbeat.

MAYBEL (to FAAYA): Stop it! Stop it!

Rising to her feet, she reaches over and slaps FAAYA, hard. FAAYA drops her lunch and stops herself from falling sideways.

MAYBEL: I SAID STOP!

[ CUT TO ]

{ resume reading }

INTERIOR - THE GRAPEVINE BAR AND NIGHTCLUB - MANAGER’S OFFICE - NIGHT

FAAYA is breathing hard, eyes closed, and clenching the edge of her desk. The darkest moments of her past play in real time. Having her fears relived out for her shakes her completely. PHOBOS sits on the other side of her desk, lazily, watching FAAYA with mirth in his eyes. Finally, he ends the experience.

PHOBOS: That’s the kinda shit we don’t want to happen again, remember?

Recollecting herself, FAAYA unclenches her grip and takes deep breaths through her nose. There is silence between them. FAAYA sits eyes closed and PHOBOS gives an easy smile. FAAYA opens her eyes, leaning back in her chair.

FAAYA: Is it necessary to do that every time you visit? PHOBOS: I know you forget it. People like Luke and Bentley and all your other little friends make you forget. You can’t be weak or soft or any other of that other bullshit. You’re not built for it and if you forget that, then you’ll find yourself burned at a stake, maybe. You need me. You need Enyo. You need to be terrifying. That’s the only strength you’ve got, Faye. FAAYA: I know. I know. PHOBOS: You did good last time. [8:10 PM] PHOBOS reaches forward and grips FAAYA’s face. His thumb presses on her bruise. FAAYA winces at the pressure.

PHOBOS: Avoid getting hit next time. I hate to see you hurt.

FAAYA’s phone on the table lights up. Curious, PHOBOS picks it up.

PHOBOS: Oh, looks like Luke says you can’t give house tours. Hm.

PHOBOS begins typing.

PHOBOS: ‘Sure, sure.’

FAAYA is silent as PHOBOS goes through her phone. There is no secrecy between them.

PHOBOS: You’re having dinner with Bentley? Sounds like a good opportunity to sway ‘em the right way. You still remember what Deimos asked you, right?

FAAYA: You’re asking me to do something even a God couldn’t do. I’ll handle it how I need to.

Placing the phone back down, PHOBOS stands up.

PHOBOS: I believe in you. You’re good at knowing what’s best. Anyway, I know you don’t have time for your old man, so I’ll let you go now. Just remember to call every now and again. I always do like hearing from ya, Faaya.

The constricting feeling in the air is gone along with PHOBOS. FAAYA sits, still as night.

[ CUT TO BLACK ]

( END SCENE )

0 notes

lizartgurl · 7 years

Text

Waiting (Torpedo/Aquarocket)

Word Count: 1900+ Characters: Raquel Ervin/Rocket, Kaldur’ahm/Aqualad, Amistad Ervin, Zatanna Zatara (sort of), Nightwing (sort of), Artemis Crock/Tigress (heavily mentioned) Set during the invasion. Raquel knows Kaldur’s secret. Written for @sand-son and anyone else who’s wondering who the fate Raquel’s getting married to, whether it be lady or gentleman.

---

"You're getting married!?" Karen squealed.

Raquel nodded, grinning as she held up the hand with the diamond ring sparkling for all her friends to see.

"When's the big day?" M'gann asked.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Zatanna added.

Amistad burbled loudly, and spit out half a dozen bubbles from his spot on Artemis's knee. the women all laughed, and Zee turned on him, her fingers wiggling threateningly.

"Maybe you can tell us, Ami. Who's your new dad gonna be?" She tickled his ribs, and Raquel smiled as her little boy laughed.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

-------

Amistad was put to bed and Raquel poured over a draft with a critical eye, tapping a pen against her gritted teeth. She should be getting some rest too, Amistad rarely slept, but she had English homework to finish, and that was almost as important as sleep.

A tapping at the window made her jump, literally, out of her train of thought. And then she saw who was at the window and smiled.

"Hey, fishface," she said, helping him in the window. He'd ditched the suit, opting for an inconspicuous hoodie and jeans.

"Hello my dear," Kaldur took her hands in his and kissed her on the lips.

"Oh lord, I missed you," She gasped a moment later, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"And I missed you," Just as he was about to kiss her again, Amistad started whining.

Raquel was annoyed at being interrupted, but Ami was too cute for her to stay mad at him for long. If Kaldur was annoyed, he didn't show it. He obediently followed Raquel to the nursery helping her tend to their son.

"You are wearing the ring," he observed, handing her a warm bottle of milk.

"Well yeah, did you think I wasn't?" She asked, bouncing Amistad gently as she tried to coax the bottle into his mouth.

"Didn't people ask questions?"

"Well sure they did, but I didn't tell them. Look, I know it's a risk, but I want to wear it. I want people to know that I'm taken, that I'm yours," she squeezed his hand.

"Besides, it's fun to see the looks on the girl's faces when I refuse to tell them who I'm getting married to," she grinned.

"Raquel Ervin, you are too much."

"Don't pretend you don't love it," She sang, walking Amistad up and down the hall while she burped him.

Kaldur smiled to himself, watching her pace and coo at their son.

"Yes," he said quietly, "that is why I proposed to you."

-------

Zatanna had just called to tell her about Malina island the next time she saw him. She made up an excuse about Amistad being fussy, hung up, and quickly let him in.

"I just heard," she said, noticing his heavy breathing. She helped him stumble into a chair at the kitchen table and got him a large glass of water. Amistad was sitting in his high chair, and banged his tiny fists against the tray. He was always excited to see Kaldur.

"I couldn't save them," Kaldur said, staring at the glass Raquel placed in his hand. "I couldn’t save the Kroloteans.”

He raised his glass half-heartedly. “But at least Manta has sealed his place within the Light and I have won his trust," he said sarcastically. Amistad cooed, raising his arms like KAldur did and flinging food everywhere.

"I know, I know, don't beat yourself up, Kal," she squeezed his empty hand. "You did all that you could, I know you did. And that's all we can do."

Kaldur set aside his cup, and kissed Raquel, much to Amistad's delight.

"I love you, Raquel Ervin."

"I love you too, Kaldur'ahm. Even if you are a hopeless idiot. Now help me feed the baby before he tosses out all his food."

-------

The next visit was much shorter than the last two.

"I have to report to my father, but had to tell you-"

"Artemis and Wally are in on it and you had to win the trust of the other Light whackjobs. Nightwing told me." She told him, placing her hand on his chest.

Kaldur held her close, kissing the top of her head. "It's getting more dangerous. Nightwing thought that sending Artemis undercover would give me a boost, she has more knowledge of the criminal world workings than anyone else."

"Well you cost me my best babysitter, Fishface. You owe me." She warned.

Kaldur leaned down so that their foreheads touched. "Then let me make up for it."

-------

She felt guilty having the bridal shower Karen and Dinah threw at her, both keeping the identity of her fiance and the knowledge of Artemis's survival from them, from her friends, the ones who loved her so much they put together a bridal shower for her without even knowing when the wedding would be or just who the heck she was getting hitched to.

"To the bride!" M'gann cheered, wearing that same smile she used to give everyone years ago, back when she was still that peppy cheerleader that Raquel only found slightly annoying.

And as everyone toasted her a happy marriage, Raquel made her own silent prayer that she'd actually get to be married.

-------

She left Amistad with the elderly next-door-neighbor and barged into the team's makeshift base the moment she heard.

"What the heck happened, Nightwing, you tell me right now!" She shouted, lifting him by the collar of his kevlar suit. Rick looked to Connor for help, but the boy of steel was staying out of it.

Impulse, Beast Boy, and Wonder Girl had gathered at the commotion Rocket was causing, and long story short that's how Nightwing's plan came out to the rest of his team.

"Tigress- who is Artemis- took M'gann to help Kaldur. So long as the three of them have each other, I think they should be okay." He finished up. "All we can do is wait."

"You think!?" Raquel snapped as the freshman watched in terrified awe. "You're the freaking boy wonder, Richard John Grayson, you'd better darn well know that they'll all be safe the next time you try to pull a stunt like this."

-------

Zatanna visited that night, finding Raquel on the couch watching informercials with Amistad asleep on her lap, the two surrounded by unfinished homework and empty junk food containers.

"Oh, Raquel," she whispered, taking Amistad from Raquel to let her friend curl up and cry.

"I knew it was gonna be like this when I said yes, why did I say yes?" she sobbed as Zee rubbed her back in circles. "He could be dead right now! And so could M'gann and Artemis!"

"They aren't, you know they aren't!" Zatanna insisted. "Artemis is a fighter and M'gann is so incredibly powerful, they won't let anything happen to Kaldur. And now that we know that he's not evil, neither will the rest of us."

"So you know?"

Zee giggled, "You're not the only one with an affinity for bad boys," She admitted.

Raquel leaned her shoulder on Zee's head. "I miss when we were on the team, back when everyone trusted each other."

Zee kissed her forehead in a totally platonic but completely loving way. "I think I know just what you need."

-------

She came home from Zatanna’s suggested mission to Bialya tired and sore, pondering if she still had some ice cream left over in the fridge or if she had enough energy to take Amistad out to the frozen yogurt place down the street. She said good-bye to the sitter, and then the tapping came at the window.

With Amistad still propped on her shoulder, she ran back to the kitchen. And there he was, still there, still alive.

He opened the window himself, whispering her name over and over as he held her and their son in his arms.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she sobbed. Then Ami started crying too. Kaldur took him without hesitation, carefully bouncing him and rocking him as he'd seen Raquel do.

"So what happened?" She asked at the two sat on the couch, watching Amistad play on the blanket with his toys from Auntie Dinah and the rest of the League.

"M'gann was able to fix what she had destroyed, I feel fine, nothing out of place, and my memories are still intact-" he paused suddenly, looking at Raquel's hand.

"Why do you have a ring on your finger?"

Raquel grabbed pillow after pillow and lobbed them at him. "And you said I was a tease!" She spluttered as they both laughed. Amistad gave a laugh of his own.

Kaldur blocked her pillows with his arms, and grabbed Raquel, holding her in his arms.

"Soon, my dear," he promised soothingly, "The team is pulling Artemis and me out in a few days. You do not have to wait much longer."

-------

Like any good mother, Raquel made sure her boy was far from the danger of aliens threatening the world. She put him on the Watchtower with Catherine Cobert and Simon Carr to watch him, while she and literally every other League member, team member, and ally gathered outside of Lex Luthor's building, of all places, to stop the Reach's Endgame.

She stood by Kaldur's side, while Luthor droned on, holding his hand so tightly you'd think the heavy winds would suddenly carry him away from her again.

They were each put on different squads, Kaldur with his old friend Lagoon Boy, and Raquel with the, er, strange Doctor Strange.

"Good luck," He whispered, quickly kissing her forehead. Dang, he looked so good back in his old red-and-black uniform again.

"Go save the world, Fishface," she smiled at him.

And they did.

-------

Raquel had been waiting for six months. You'd think that two weeks would be easy.

It. Was. Torture.

Since they didn't really know when Kaldur would finish his job undercover, and since Raquel couldn't quite tell everyone exactly who she was engaged to without blowing his cover, plans that would have spanned over a few months or maybe even a year were crammed into those two weeks.

Raquel wanted to just have a plain and simple wedding to get it over with, but then Dinah and Oliver stepped up and offered to pay for the whole thing, and she couldn't refuse that. And then there were Atlantean and surface cultures clashing where both Kaldur and Raquel each wanted their partner to be able to have their culture represented as much as possible.

Somehow, it all worked out.

It was held in a small church in Dakota city, on the edge of the street where she grew up. Atlanteans and metas and normal human friends crowded the tiny white building, each fighting for a better view of Augustus helping Amistad walk down the aisle as the ring bearer, or Roy Harper carrying his daughter and her basket of petal bombs which she promptly pelted at the guests more so than the floor, and of course, the beautiful bride herself.

Raquel met eyes with Kaldur as she entered the chapel, watching his face glowing and his smile growing as she approached him step by step.

After all she'd been through and all the time she'd waited, the ceremony flew past, and soon enough they were kissing and people were cheering and Amistad was clapping his chubby little fists as he was handed back to his parents.

"So was it worth the wait?" Kaldur whispered lowly, kissing her again.

"Oh it was, Fishface," she grinned, "Worth it and more."

#torpedo #aquarocket #raquel ervin #rocket #kaldur'ahm #aqualad #i don't normally ship this #but raquel is cool and this was too good an idea to leave lying around #amistad ervin #young justice

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angst-art-writing · 4 years

Text

Sinners and Saints pt. 2

CW: death, begging for life, reference to past abuse/ torture. Poison. Chase. Getting caught. Forced to go somewhere against will.

Years Later-

On the other side of the bedroom was a quivering figure, cowering in terror. Jacobs roommate, Derek Perkins, was cowering away from Artemis.

"Please, please," he whispered, his voice shaking with quiet sobs as he stared up at the archer. "I won't say anything-"

Derek gave a cry of pain and fell back, and Artemis turned away from the man. He would be dead within minutes.

She walked back towards the window, and jumped up on the ledge, right over Jacob's corpse. She leapt out, rolling on the building of the next roof over.

What was odd was that she didn't remember seeing the name on the list, but it felt familiar still..

Paige Neoma.

She couldn't remember. Must still be loopy from yesterday's training..

As she got closer to the place, the lights got dimmer. Until there was none at all.

She held her breath and took a step back, looking back at the rest of the city. Her throat felt tight. It didn't matter how long ago it was, he would still be pissed.

I could get away. Her eyes scanned over the glowing lights of the buildings and cars. No, they'd find me..

She shook her head and swallowed, pushing the thoughts away. She looked towards the big doors of the warehouse.

Whatever happens.. I can take it. Whatever it is..

She exhaled slowly and lowered her hand, walking up to the doors. She then forced the doors open with a loud creak before she stepped into the old building.

Artemis sighed and walked towards the middle, towards the light. The rest of the warehouse was dark, and she hated the way it looked like the shadows were crawling towards her, threatening and evil. She walked up to the middle of the room and stood there for a moment, looking around quietly. She had come during the day, when it was oddly welcoming. But now it was just menacing and.. honestly? Scary.