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ynscrazylife · 8 months

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His Agent

Summary: When the Avengers save a team of kidnapped S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, they discover something new about their Captain.

A/N: I’ve been working on this fic for a little while and I’m proud of this idea/plot so I really hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

The first clue that something was off was the change in Natasha and Clint’s behavior. They could usually hide it, being master spies, but it became difficult to constantly put on a mask around the people you live with, people you saved the world with. Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Thor all noticed how the pair retreated into themselves like turtles would into their shells. They had always been reserved - Natasha especially - but it went to a deeper level now. They would talk in hushed whispers to each other, were always hunched over something, their backs to the rest of the team, and were distracted when it came to Avengers business.

The next clue was when Director Fury postponed his meeting with the Avengers. Since establishing the initiative, he had made a point to have monthly meetings with the team to discuss any recent updates, missions and threats. Fury was adamant that these meetings were very crucial to the Avengers’ success, so to hear that he was pushing it back right as they were gathering around the conference table was a surprise. Still, not enough for them to think it might be related to Natasha and Clint’s behavior. Fury said the meeting would be in a few days, that was all.

Then, things went from being off to being wrong. They all sat at the table, ready to see Fury’s face come up on screen, but he never appeared – Deputy Director Maria Hill did.

“What happened?” Natasha asked almost immediately, not even letting Maria get a word in as she leaned forward in her chair. It was clear that she knew more than what she was letting on.

“Director Fury cannot make it today, he’s dealing with a crucial issue, one that we hope we can call on you, Avengers, to help us with,” Hill said, her words flowing calmly, but there was still a spark of urgency, almost desperation, in her eyes.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked, wearing a puzzled look. If S.H.I.E.L.D. was coming to them for help when they had the best agents around the globe, and the Director was attending to it, they must be in some sort of crisis.

“A week ago, we lost contact with a six person team that had gone undercover to investigate an uprising organization who’s been trying to create their own superhumans. We received intel that they had been torturing people and creating illegal serums and devices for their superhuman projects. After being unable to contact any of them, we also found that none of their trackers were online,” Hill explained.

“So you think their cover was blown?” Tony guessed.

“We do, yes. We had a team scout the building the agents had gone undercover in a few days ago and found no sign of them. We think that they’ve moved them somewhere else,” Hill answered.

“Who’s missing?” Bruce asked.

A file flashed onto the screen, a list of names with pictures. Everyone leaned forward in their seats to get a better look, their eyes skimming the document. The sound of wheels rolling back caught their attention as Steve suddenly stood up, spun around on his heels and walked out of the room. The door slammed shut behind him.

“What the hell was that?” Clint asked, utterly confused - like everyone else.

Hill sighed. “It may have something to do with one of the Agents on the list – Y/L/N. She helped Steve a lot after he came out of the ice, they were good friends,” she said.

One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One–

Steve panted as he stared down at the punching bag which clattered to the ground, sweat coating his raised biceps.

“You know, if you really want to get your frustrations out, you should spar with someone,” a voice floated into his ear and Steve glanced up, only to see you lifting some weights.

He straightened his arched back, dropping his arms. “Oh, yeah? How do you reckon that?” He asked, curious.

You smirked. “You’re not the only one who’s broken the bag,” you said, shrugging. “Though, it took me a lot longer without the super strength.”

Steve raised his eyebrows, wondering what got you so mad, but not commenting on it. Then, he couldn’t help but fix you with a confused gaze.

“What?” You asked, still smiling at him.

“You’re not, uh, gawking at me,” he said.

You chuckled, asking, “Am I supposed to?” Before he could answer, you made a silly, dramatic jaw-dropped, eyes wide face, causing Steve’s laughter to mix with yours.

“Ever since I woke up, everyone’s kinda been . . . gawking at me. Except for Director Fury, that is,” Steve said.

“Well, I’ll admit, I kinda gawked at you at first when I heard about you . . . But I saw you one time, in the medbay . . . I don’t know how to explain it, ‘cause you weren’t just Captain America, you know? When I saw you, with all the blankets and the wires and stuff . . . I just thought about a guy who had been something traumatic. I thought about the Steve that your war buddies always described you as,” you said.

From that day on, you were a light in Steve’s life. You two became fast friends and, at least on Steve’s part, his attraction for you grew exponentially, and you even spent some time with him at the Retreat. After joining the Avengers, he had been so busy that he hadn’t seen you and now . . . Your name was on a list of MIA Agents.

He paced up and down the hallway outside the conference room, hand tangled in his hair. All logical and rational thoughts jumped out the window as panic seized his body, twisting his heart into a knot. His mind was filled with you: your name, your image, your memory. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from giving him horrible scenes of you being tortured or experimented on by these freaks. Hurt. Kidnapped. Scared.

The only way to get you back was to return to the conference room and face it, so that’s what he did. Thankfully, no one called out his abrupt departure, they were all focussed on Hill’s debrief. She was saying something about how she thought they were close to finding another base of the group’s, where they might have the captured agents, but could use Natasha’s hacking and cyber skills to decode their intel. She readily agreed.

“Can you guys suit up and meet us at headquarters?” Maria asked, to which they all nodded. She ended the call and the Avengers all spurred into action, splitting up to change into their suits and arm themselves.

On the way out, Natasha patted Steve’s arm. “We’ll save them,” she assured her friend, but he picked up on what she was really saying: “We’ll find Y/N.”

Steve realized pretty quickly, as he changed into his suit that if he wanted to get through this without falling apart, he’d have to switch to his Captain mode. He had to think strategically - they were saving a team of agents, not just you (even if you were the most important agent to him). He’d put Natasha, Clint, and Tony on fighting the kidnappers, Bruce would standby with the medical team in case they needed the Hulk, and Steve himself and Thor would recover the hostages. He also assumed they’d have S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to secure the base and to back them up. It was a solid plan, Steve told himself, and it was going to work. It had to work.

When they got to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s headquarters, Steve relayed this plan to the team. Everyone was on board and now it was a waiting game as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to crack the location. Steve was about to wear a hole into the floor with all the pacing he was doing, his heart hammering in his chest. Every second that passed felt like a decade.

After the location was found, it was all a blur. Coordinating with the agents, talking with Hill and Fury, and getting to the base seemed to just all pass by. The moment he woke up was when he was entering the base alongside Thor, the agents and Avengers ahead of them to take care of their enemies.

“I can handle the rescue, Captain. You can focus on your agent,” Thor chimed in as they walked down the hallway, towards the cells they were told the hostages were in.

Steve paused for a second to look at his friend. “Are-are you sure?” He asked – for once the mighty soldier was taken aback. He wanted nothing more than to devote all his attention to you, but he also knew he had a job to do as an Avenger and a leader. He owed it to all the hostages to give them his best self.

“He has me, of course he’s sure,” Tony’s voice came from behind them as he approached. Steve could practically hear the snark in his voice (Tony Snark, he should be named, but he’d have to save that quip for another time). “They’ve got it handled up there so don’t worry, Cap.”

Steve looked from him to Thor, who gave him an encouraging nod. “Okay,” he agreed, emitting an unspoken word of gratitude which both men received. For the first time in a long time, he felt a weight being lifted on his shoulders. For once, he got to abandon Captain America for a second and walk in there as Steve. For you.

The three Avengers walked down the rest of the hallway and turned, finding a row of cells. Thor and Tony took charge, allowing for Steve to glance through all the cells until he found you. Finding you was what he wanted but the sight he was met with when he actually laid his eyes on you shattered him. The urge to vomit and also send every person responsible for this to hell hit him in one fell swoop. You were sitting, slumped back against a dirty metal pole that your wrists and ankles were chained to. You were still wearing your S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, though it was dirtied, bloodied, and torn in places. So was your skin, Steve realized. He ached at knowing you went through pain. Your eyes were closed and Steve hoped to God that you were simply sleeping.

Steve quickly bent to his knees and used his shield to break the chains, the harsh clang rousing you from your sleep. You mumbled something he couldn’t understand and he hushed you softly. “It’s alright, I’m here. It’s Steve, can you open your eyes?” He asked.

It took you a couple tries, but eventually you got there. “S’ve?” You tried to say, struggling to talk.

“Yep, it’s me,” he affirmed, feeling a pang at the fact that you could barely even speak. When he had thought about when he’d see you again, this was never in the realm of possibilities. “I’m getting you out of here.”

True to his word, he hoisted you up in his arms. He had to put you over his shoulder like a Fireman’s carry in case there were any lingering enemies that escaped the team. Being upside down was surely uncomfortable for you, but he wouldn’t risk not being able to defend you. With long strides and quick glances, Steve got you out of there.

Stepping outside into the world, he slowly lowered you down and maneuvered you into a princess carry, not going fast so as to not dizzy you. In the distance, he could see your other teammates getting loaded onto ambulances, with some of the Avengers assisting.

“Hey, you with me?” Steve checked in, returning his attention to you. You were definitely out of it, eyes glazed over as you looked at him. You didn’t seem to really get what was going on, but you didn’t look panicked, so you must’ve known you were safe. With him.

For a second - Steve was taken back. The tired look in your eyes reminded him of the aftermath of the first time the two of you had sparred together.

“Are you sure you want to spar together, Y/N?”

“What? You don’t think I can take you? Prepare to have your ass beat, Rogers!”

With the super soldier serum running through his veins, it was actually you who had your ass beat by the blond man. You had probably known that would happen when you said it, too. Still, Steve needed to train and you were determined not to let his superior strength intimidate you like it had done with the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Afterwards, you had insisted you were fine, but Steve knew that the many rounds you guys went through had exhausted you. He tried to apologize, but you refused to hear it. You knew what the terms were and you agreed to it - he won fair and square. You had fallen asleep on his shoulder that night, much like how you looked like you’d fall asleep in his arms now, and Steve swore in that moment that you were the most precious thing ever.

“Steve,” you mumbled, blinking slowly at him like a cat. His heart thumped with such force in his chest - oh how he regretted drifting apart from you after he became an Avenger.

“Hang on a little longer. We’ve gotta get you to S.H.I.E.L.D. medical,” he said, shifting you up a little higher in his arms before heading over to the ambulances.

“S.H.I.E.L.D.?” You echoed grumpily, eyes half-closed.

Steve bit back an amused chuckle at the way you scrunched up your nose. Truly like a cat (or a kitten, but he knew you’d raise hell if he called you that). You never much appreciated the medical agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s. You knew they meant well, but something about the whole thing made you uneasy. Steve was well aware of that and he thought about it as you walked. The Avengers had a pretty good medical facility . . . Not to mention, the thought of leaving you again and walking away like he had done with the Avengers felt like a knife twisting in his gut. He couldn’t do that.

“Would you rather recover at the Avengers’ tower? I’m sure I can make the arrangements and I’ll, um, I’ll be around much more,” he offered, his eyes finding you again. He could never look away from you for too long.

Steve was still a little nervous about this. You had every right to say no, to be mad at him for abandoning you. If you did make the decision to go to S.H.I.E.LD., he’d show up in your room with flowers as much as you’d let him, he decided.

“Mhm,” you hummed, nestling your head against his bicep and closing your eyes.

That was like music to his ears. He knew that things between you weren’t 100% back to normal, but this felt better than what he had ever expected. With a newfound purpose and his feelings for you blossoming, he marched towards the other Avengers to tell them about their new addition to the compound.

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second-axis-point · 1 year

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Headcanon idea: Reader has had a bad week and ask his boyfriend (Pedros boys) to maybe look after them and sing to him. How would each character respond?

I’m just gonna do some of my favorite Pedro characters since none were listed. Hope that’s alright. Thanks for the request! 💚

Pairings: Pedro Pascal Characters x Male!Reader

Warnings: None!

Content: Headcanons, Fluff, Comfort

A Bad Week

Joel Miller

You came back to Jackson, beat up and tired. You opened the front door to see Joel reclining on the couch. He got up as soon as he saw you. You throw your pack down and prepare to be yelled at for being so reckless. But Joel would only pull you into a warm embrace. He looked upset. He moves his hands up to the side of your face and presses a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“Are you alright, darlin’?”

Joel asks and you shake your head.

“I feel like I was just hit by a bus.”

You said honestly, leaning in to hug Joel again. He accepted and started moving backwards to the couch. He lays down carefully, pulling you with him, and making sure to avoid any sore spots you have. He moves a hand up to run through your hair and trace patterns on your back. You would fall asleep in his arms and he would stay in and relax with you the next day.

Agent Whiskey/Jack Daniels

Jack had been gone for a month, off on a mission for the Statesman. You had been drowning in paperwork all week and you just wanted to go home and cuddle up with a bottle of whiskey and drink yourself to sleep. You finished your last paper, relief written all over your face, and got up from your desk. Your back and neck were sore and throbbing from sitting at a desk all day. You grabbed your coat before leaving the building and driving home. You pulled into the driveway and noticed that Jack’s car was parked in front of the house. You smiled before turning off the engine and climbing out of the car.

You walk up to the house and see that the door was already unlocked. So you walk in and put your keys away.

“Jack?”

You call out to your boyfriend. You hear rustling in the kitchen so you shuffle over. You see Jack standing at the counter with a whiskey bottle in hand. You grin and hug him from behind, nuzzling into his shoulder.

“Welcome home, sugar.”

Jack said, his tone playful.

“Did you miss me, sweetheart?”

He asked before turning around in your arms.

“Desperately.”

You said with a smile. You leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Jack’s lips before taking the bottle from his hand. You took a swig, grimaced, and set the bottle down on the table.

“Jeez, I can see you’ve had a rough day just by the bags under your eyes.”

Jack says, putting his hands on your hips.

“Rough week actually. Been drowning in paperwork for days.”

You roll your eyes and he kisses the tip of your nose.

“How ‘bout I try and make it better.”

Jack grins and moves in closer.

“Go ahead.”

You laugh and wrap your arms around his neck.

Javi Gutierrez

It has been a stressful week for both of you. You finally got a day off and it didn’t take much convincing for Javi to stay home as well. You woke up in an empty bed, Javi had already gotten up. You still felt tired but you probably couldn’t fall asleep without Javi next to you.You got up and lumbered out of the bedroom to see Javi making breakfast. He didn’t notice that you had walked in so you stood in the doorway and watched him with a smile. It took him a few minutes for him to spot you in the doorway.

“Buenos días cariño!”

You smiled at him.

“Good morning love.”

Javi jogged up to you and pressed a soft kiss to your temple. He gave you a bright smile before making you a plate and sitting down at the table with you. The two of you ate in a comfortable silence with Javi looking over at you every now and then. You helped clean up before Javi made you sit down on the couch.

“We have the whole day to ourselves. What do you want to do?”

You knew that Javi wanted to have a movie marathon for a while and you just wanted a break from work. So you suggested it.

“How about a movie?”

Javier lit up. That was the exact answer he wanted. He put on a movie and cuddled into your side on the couch. The two of you spent the rest of the day watching movies and relaxing.

Javier Peña

You flopped down on the couch with a huff. Another day. Another lead that goes nowhere. Being a detective was hard and Javier knew that you took your job very seriously. But he wished that sometimes you would give yourself a break. You had gotten home from the precinct an hour ago and you hadn’t moved from your spot on the couch since then. Javier looked up from the files on the table and saw that you still hadn’t moved. You hadn’t said a word either. Javier loved to hear how your day went and the silence was eating him up.

“Are you okay, baby?”

Javier asked, sounding slightly worried. You stayed quiet, not bothering to speak. You were tired and stressed and you just wanted this case to be over so you could get it out of your head. Javier got up and walked over to the couch. He knelt down and brushed a hand through your mussed hair. You kept your eyes closed and your mouth shut. Javier knew that you weren't asleep but he kept quiet anyway. He slowly rubbed circles on your back and whispered comforting things to you. He needed to make sure you were alright before he could do any of his work.

“You need me to get you anything?”

Javier asked, knowing he probably wouldn’t get a response. But to his surprise, you shook your head. No words but a response nonetheless. He smiled softly before kissing your forehead and getting back to the table. He turned on your favorite TV show before he got back to work. The small things Javier did for you always made you feel appreciated. You finally got up from your prone position on the couch and walked over to Javier. You kissed the top of his head and walked back into the bedroom. Although it was a stressful week, you were glad you had Javier with you to make it better.

Din Djarin

Another bounty caught. This one took you days to find. You turned in the bounty and started back to your ship. You could think of nothing except getting back to Nevarro. You missed your boys. Once you got back, Grogu was the first one to greet you. He babbled happily when you hopped out of your ship.

“Hey buddy. Did you behave while I was gone?”

You asked the little guy as he hobbled over to you. You picked him up happily and looked around, knowing that Din would be close by. He was sitting on the porch of your shared little house. He was watching you and Grogu and you knew he had a smile on his face even through his helmet. You put Grogu down, letting him follow behind you when you went to go sit with Din on the porch. You let out a sigh as you sat down next to him.

He turned his head to face you. Neither of you had to say anything. He knew you had a rough week just by the look on your face and the tone of your voice when you talked to the kid. You leaned your head back against the house and took a deep breath in. Din grabbed your hand and held it in his. He had taken off his gloves. You let the deep breath out and smiled. You were home.

I'm just now realizing that the request included singing. I am so sorry. I didn't read that until I went through my inbox. Again hope this is alright 😅

#male reader #x male reader #x reader #male reader insert #reader insert #joel miller x male reader #joel miller x reader #agent whiskey x male reader #agent whiskey x reader #javier pena x male reader #javier pena x reader #din djarin x male reader #din dijarin x reader #i love pedro pascal #request

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inkedobsidian · 2 years

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~ It doesn't mean shit S.R ~

summary: While on a case an officer hits on you, even though you're with Spencer.

pairing: Spencer ReidxReader

warnings: creepy men ofc

word count: 793

a/n: Requests are open! Prompt list is there if you guys want extra ideas!

Master-List - Prompts

The doors to the disgustingly damp police department open and the whole team steps inside trying to ignore the sweat building up in places they don't appreciate. They were guided into an open room full of blank boards and a water machine. As Y/N walked over to the machine she could feel her trousers slowly start to itch at her thighs. As she grabbed a plastic cup she felt someone stood behind her, spinning around and coming face to Spencer she smiles and offers him her cup.

"Hey sweetie, how you feeling?" Spencer says taking a sip of the water he was just handed. Y/N wipes the back of her neck with her hand and cringes as she feels the disgusting amount of sweat that has built up.

"I'd be better if this room was cooler in all honesty. I feel like I'm dying is there no AC or anything here." Y/N pouts as she takes another sip of her water trying to cool down. Scanning around the room to find only her team Y/N tries to find the sheriff, once again having no luck.

"I think we'd all work better if the AC was on, just go ask one of the deputies it will be okay." Spencer kisses Y/N on the forehead as she walks out the door towards one of the deputies, as she taps them on the shoulder trying to attract his attention. As the deputy spins around he smirks as he sees Y/N stood in front of him.

"What can I do for you, pretty lady?" The deputy asks still smirking.

"I was just wondering if you guys had any AC in the room the rest of my team are in. If not do you guys have any fans?" Attempting to be polite to the creepy deputy was hard but Y/N had to be professional and she was going to start ugly sweating soon.

"Our AC is broken right now if you couldn't tell but I mean I could take you out for a drink if you would like." As the deputy placed his hand on Y/N's lower back she took a step away and politely smiled at the deputy.

"Actually I'm spoken for sorry, thanks for your help." She says pointing at Spencer and smiling at the goofy genius who is currently attempting to find a working pen, with not much luck. As he spots Y/N looking at him and he smiles and waves.

"Seriously the nerd got you? You are way out of his league." Spencer hears the deputy and frowns and as Y/N turns back to face the deputy she gives him the stare from hell. Y/N bites her tongue to stop her from saying something she probably should, it doesn't work too well.

"It is none of your concern who 'got me' deputy. Your office may have requested my team here to help with an investigation you have failed to solve, but I imagine your Sherriff would take great interest to know how his deputy talks to the agents here to help. What do you think?" As Y/N stares more and more at the deputy she could see him falling into himself more and more out of embarrassment.

As she turns around she sees Spencer has dissipated but she can see all the team looking at her and the, now very uncomfortable, deputy. As Y/N walks off to try and find Spencer she sees Aaron start to walk towards the deputy. Spencer stood in the corner of the room looking out the window not hearing Y/N enter the room.

"Spence?" Y/N says trying not to freak him out by her sudden presence.

"He's right though, you're perfect and I'm just nerdy Dr. Spencer Reid," Refusing to turn around Spencer keeps staring out the window. Y/N walks towards the broken boy stood in front of her. Someone she loved with all her heart no matter what. "I've heard plenty of people say I don't deserve you and you could do better."

"I don't care what they said, it doesn't mean shit! You are the love of my life Spencer nobody else. Excuse my language but screw what anyone else thinks. You can't see you how I do, frankly, nobody else matters to me. If I wanted them I'd leave you. I'm still stood here saying I love you. Now actually look at me!"

As soon as Spencer turned around Y/N grabbed his face and attached her lips to his. As if in slow motion Spencer let out a massive breath and let himself relax into the arms of the woman he loved. All they needed was each-other and together in perfect harmony, they were reminded of how powerful love and how much they love each other.

#criminal minds #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x fanfiction #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid

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monstersdownthepath · 28 days

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A pair of new deities

Well, sort of new. One of them is entirely original, but the first one is actually based on a comedic aside found in Agents of Edgewatch: Assault on Hunting Lodge Seven, where he's listed among a few of the notable names to try and miserably fail to take on the Test of the Starstone. In both cases, however, these deities are involved with the Starstone, a bit of lore I've not really touched before due to my preference for cosmic horror.

In reality, both of these could be full articles on their own, but I feel like they're not 'big' enough to get two individual pages. Maybe one day I'll change my mind. For now, though, here's a look at Veelich, the God of Failure, and Wittiby, the God of Familiars.

VEELICH, THE UNWANTED Chaotic Neutral God of Failure, Outcasts, and Falling Forever In Bottomless Pits

Domains: Chaos, Darkness, Luck, Protection, Void Subdomains: Caves*, Shadow, Curse, Imagination, Solitude, Isolation* Favored Weapon: Club Symbol: A hole or trench with a goblin hand reaching out of it. Sacred Animal: None Sacred Color: Green and yellow *Followers of Veelich can modify either the Darkness or Void Domains with the Caves Subdomain, and the Darkness Domain with the Isolation Subdomain.

Veelich the Unwanted was once known as the unluckiest goblin in all of Absalom, if not the Inner Sea, or perhaps even the world. Not a day went by that he didn't stub his toe, slam his fingers against something, spill his drinks and food, bump into the wrong person, or open his mouth and accidentally insult the very wrong person. To many, it felt as though he couldn't have possibly been doing it on accident; no one alive could be so cursed! Certainly, he was doing this for attention! But Veelich repeatedly insisted, sometimes tearfully, sometimes full of fury, that he wasn't doing anything on purpose, and near as anyone could tell, he was being genuine. Things just happened to him, constantly, and perhaps his only solace (or perhaps his true curse) is that he hadn't been killed for it yet.

That all changed when he tried to take the Test of the Starstone, so people thought. Like every aspirant, Veelich had to first make it inside the cathedral, and to do that, he had to first bypass the bottomless pit which surrounded it. Like so very, very many aspirants before him, the first challenge proved to be insurmountable, and to his credit, he did go all out on his attempt. He had purchased a powerful potion of Jump to heroically leap into the air, a sturdy parachute to glide the rest of the way, and a sturdy security line attached to a powerful, magic stake in the ground in case his luck went sour (as it always did), and even a Ring of Sustenance to both avoid the risk of food poisoning AND assure that his goblin appetite didn't force him to do anything stupid once he finally got into the cathedral.

What he did not know was that his Jump potion was on a discount due to being largely expired, its effects not nearly as dramatic as they should have been, his parachute wasn't secured properly, and a citizen passing by as he set up had accidentally dripped some savory sauce on his safety line, attracting the attention of a voracious rat. Even if none of those incidents had occurred, the sheer number of good luck charms he had brought with him in the hopes of stabilizing his cursed luck would have weighed him down anyway, but fate did not have to work especially hard to send him screaming into the darkness, Ring of Sustenance assuring he wouldn't even die quickly, never to be seen or heard again... For about five or so years.

It was, perhaps, more surprising for Veelich than it was for the first of his unintentional Clerics, Oracles, Antipaladins, and the like to find out that he had achieved a measure of divine apotheosis as he fell endlessly in that pit; he had gotten so used to talking to figments of his imagination as he fell that it took his devoted several months to convince him that they were real, and that he had actually succeeded in his goal of becoming a god... But not in the way he had wanted. In a cruel cosmic jest, the cruelest yet, his attempts at becoming the God of Overcoming Adversity had cemented him as the God of Failure, a figure of mockery and a target of endless jokes, all of which he gets to hear every time someone mentioned him by name. He doesn't even get a proper divine realm, instead having been transported, at some point, to a dark pocket of the Maelstrom that perfectly imitates the pit he spent his final few years as a mortal falling through. His divine portfolio doesn't lend itself to any particularly major miraculous acts; he's mostly a sponge and scapegoat for misfortune and curses, which he then passes onto his followers so that they may then pass them onto their foes (provided they don't perish miserably from the influx of cursed power).

It's not all bad, though. In a way, his bad luck never actually killed him, and though his power isn't especially impressive when compared to that of a proper Ascended, it DOES give him hope that one day, he will be able to find out who or what worked to make him so miserable in his mortal life.

As a proper god, Veelich can grant Boons to any creature taking the Deific Obedience feat, but he does not possess a dedicated Prestige Class such as Feysworn or Diabolist. Boons are typically gained slowly, achieved at levels 12, 16, and 20, but by entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes as early as possible, they can be obtained at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. While normally a full god would grant three sets of Boons, Veelich isn't powerful or especially creative enough to come up with more than one. Perhaps, in time, he will.

Obedience: Either find or create a hole deep enough to hide your entire head inside, then do so. Spend at least half an hour making casual (though one-sided) conversation about what's been going on in your life so Veelich gets some respite from the deluge of frantic prayers, then you may devote the remaining time to redirecting any misfortune or accidents you have suffered or believe you will suffer to him. Benefit: Gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus to saving throws against curses, and to Climb and Athletics checks.

Boon 1: Cruel Irony (Sp): Gain Jump 3/day, Create Pit 2/day, or Curse of Befouled Luck 1/day.

Boon 2: Curse Sponge (Sp): Common faithful believe Veelich will soak up all their bad luck and misfortune, but you know that prayer isn't enough. Sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. Up to three times per day, you may cast Accept Affliction as a spell-like ability, except you may use it on any creature within 20ft rather than as a touch spell. If you've absorbed at least three separate afflictions from another being with this ability (whether it be all in a single casting, or one affliction per casting) within the same 24 hour period, Veelich redirects a portion of your suffering; once within the next 24 hours, you can cast Bestow Curse as a spell-like ability.

Boon 3: Screaming Into the Darkness (Sp): Once per day, you may give a foe a taste of what the God of Failure had to deal with. This acts as using the Maze spell as a spell-like ability, except instead of sending a victim into an extradimensional labyrinth, it sends them falling into a bottomless pit inside of which flight--magical or mundane--is impossible. As such, the victim does not make Intelligence checks to escape, but must instead succeed Climb checks (DC 15 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier): the first to catch themselves and stop from falling, then 2 additional successful Climb checks for each round they failed to stop themselves from falling (thus a creature that fell for 3 rounds would need to make 6 successful Climb checks to fully emerge from the pit). A creature that fails to escape the pit reappears at the location they disappeared from falling at terminal velocity, taking 20d6 bludgeoning damage the moment they hit a solid surface.

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WITTIBY, THE SAGE OF SMALL MAGIC True Neutral God of Familiars, Cantrips, and Arcane Study

Domains: Animal, Community, Knowledge, Magic, Strength Subdomains: Animal*, Cooperation, Education, Arcane, Resolve Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff Symbol: An animal-patterned spellbook with a pearl clasp Sacred Animal: Any familiar Sacred Color: Lime green *Followers of Wittiby may select any of the Subdomains under the Animal Domain.

Disparagingly called the Undeserving God by many, the tale of Wittiby is a strange one, a story tinged with hubris, tragedy, and lost friends. They were once the proud assistance of an archmage, a familiar created from a beloved pet and instilled with a grasp of the mystic and the arcane. Who their archmage was, and what shape they had before their ascension, are both memories that were lost to them during the trauma experienced within the Starstone Cathedral.

No one is ever prepared for the Test of the Starstone, no matter how great their power. The archmage was no different, confidently striding across the bottomless pit with a powerful Wind Walk spell and deftly avoiding the pockets of dead magic sent up to stop them before throwing open the cathedral's doors as though they were the doors of the mage's own tower. All the while, Wittiby was on their shoulder, cheering them on as the doors closed behind them, sealing their fates.

What, exactly, happened within the cathedral is something they will not say, though they obviously remember it with perfect clarity. All they reveal is that their beloved archmage, whose name was taken from them, survived every trial the Starstone Cathedral placed in their path... every trial but the last one, in the Starstone's own chamber, which took their life. Though, by all accounts, the archmage appears to have been a haughty, self-aggrandizing blowhard, their final act was one of pure kindness, sealing their beloved familiar--pet, associate, friend--in a bubble of force to protect them from the terrible backlash of arcane severance to try and teleport them out of the Cathedral, wishing only for Wittiby to escape the cathedral and the rest of their life free, but fate had other plans in store.

Someone touched the Starstone that day, after all. It just wasn't the one who opened the door.

When asked what possessed them to do such a thing, Wittiby claims that they planned to use their divine powers to turn their archmage into their Herald, restoring them to life. It was not to be, though, and for such a selfless wish, the familiar's cataclysmic ascension event tore all records of who the archmage was from reality so thoroughly that no one who was there the very day they strolled into town could even recall the mage's face or name. Going even further, Wittiby's form became protean and chaotic, shifting between dozens of animals in the span of minutes, to rob them of the shape their master gave them. All they have left is their master's spellbook, bereft of details of their life but cover-to-cover full of immense arcane knowledge.

Whether this apparent cosmic cruelty is some form of punishment from the Starstone itself for trying to bypass its rules, a price paid by all Ascended that they simply do not speak of or cannot remember (Wittiby's arcane bond to their master may be the sole reason they recall anything about them), the fate of any being to make it to the center of the cathedral but who failed the final test or, as many sneer, the price paid for Wittiby all but literally riding their way to the Starstone without doing any real work, is the subject of conjecture... even by Wittiby theirself, who isn't yet sure if they even deserve their position.

Still getting used to their place as a new god, Wittiby's dour mood has yet to fully lift, but they find joy where they can in their new duties as God of Small Magics. Every time an aspirant caster learns a new cantrip, casts their first spell, and forges (or deepens) a bond with their familiar, the world gets a little bit brighter for the Shapeless Sage. Their time as a god is a mere handful of years, their faithful a scant handful in number, knowledge of their very existence all but unheard of beyond Absalom, so time will yet tell what sort of god they will grow to be as the passing years heal their wounds and scars over their memories. For the moment they are content performing small blessings to protect mages and their bonded allies from danger when they can, and putting hopeful casters on the path to discovering and mastering their first spells.

As a proper god, Wittiby can grant Boons to any creature taking the Deific Obedience feat, but they do not possess a dedicated Prestige Class such as Feysworn or Diabolist. Boons are typically gained slowly, achieved at levels 12, 16, and 20, but by entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes as early as possible, they can be obtained at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. While normally a full god would grant three sets of Boons, Wittiby is too new to divinity to offer more than one.

Obedience: Practice magic with your familiar or animal companion for at least one hour. If you are not a caster or do not have a familiar/animal companion, spend at least one hour either researching magical theory or caring for an animal which trusts you. Benefit: Whenever you, your familiar, or your animal companion performs the Aid Another action, your target gains an additional +2 sacred or profane bonus to their check.

Boon 1: The Essentials (Sp): Gain Magic Missile 3/day, Levitate 2/day, or Tiny Hut 1/day

Boon 2: Hedge Wizardry (Su/Sp): The blessing of the God of Small Magic gives you mastery over the smallest magic there is: cantrips. Each time you complete your Obedience, select three cantrips from an Arcane caster class (Magus, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch, or Wizard). You may cast these cantrips at will as spell-like abilities for the next 24 hours. In addition, once per round as a swift action, you may cast any level 0 spell you know (be it a cantrip, knack, orison, etc) with a casting time of 1 standard action or less, including the ones gained from this Boon.

Boon 3: Constant Companion (Sp): The pain of losing one's treasured companion can be crippling, and Wittiby seeks to alleviate that pain as quickly as they possibly can. You may cast True Resurrection once per day as a spell-like ability, but only to return a creature's bonded companion to life. This includes familiars, bonded mounts (like that of a Paladin or Cavalier), animal companions and, if need be, eidolons. This does NOT include hirelings or cohorts gained via Leadership. You may use this ability to resurrect bonded companions other than your own. Using this ability as an excuse to repeatedly send bonded companions into danger against their will is seen as an abuse of Wittiby's gift and may provoke their wrath.

#original concepts #Pathfinder

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blainesebastian · 1 year

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away (ccg universe)

words: 3,539 ship: austin butler x reader summary: combination of two requests. anon requested: “first time austin leaves for work after him and ccg had luci” and @karamelcoveredolicity requested: “austin teaching his little one to make a PB&J sandwich for the first time” warnings: none notes: thanks for the requests :) tag list: @killerqueenfan, @karamelcoveredolicity, @elizabethrosecresswell, @gigisworldsstuff, @stylespresleyhearted

You knew having Luci meant that there were going to be changes—that probably seems fairly obvious. Yet it feels different to think about it, to consider scenarios, than actually living them out.

Both you and Austin thought about having a baby for what felt like such a long time, planning it out, doing your research, preparing in all the ways for expectations that would probably be a million times different than you thought. And that, you realize, has been the truest part. No amount of planning, learning, or anticipating wins out over experience. It’s good to have these thoughts and considerations on the backburner, but that’s all they are. Living with Luci, watching her grow up, has changed so many various parts of you and Austin that you practically feel like you’ve got different DNA. But to be clear, that’s not something you’d trade for the world.

You know how lucky you are, even when you hit bumps in the road you never saw coming.

This feels like one of them no matter how many times you’ve discussed it with your husband, attempting to plan ahead.

When Luci was born, it was a shared strategy that both you and Austin would take some time off from acting and everything that came with it to build your little family. Not completely stepping away but acclimating, figuring out how to operate with a new normal, seeing what the other needed in order to feel stable. It didn’t take too long, you both had plans for returning to work—Austin, picking up a film his agent had been filling him in on for a little over a year and for you, maybe writing another script. Possibilities were really endless, especially since neither of you were willing to trade one passion for another. You both believed that you could have successful careers and be great parents.

And it’s worked out for the most part, there have been no regrets. Luci is a bit older, two years old, and blossoming in the world around her as she figures out how everything connects. She’s been less self-aware when Austin has had work trips in the past and you feel like you’re on pins and needles as he packs his suitcase because…

It’s been difficult for you when Austin is gone, how much you miss him, how you count down the days until he’s home, and you’re a grown adult that understands the entire process. Luci? Who is definitely a daddy’s girl and so accustomed to having Austin at home? Is not going to understand why he has to leave and be away for so long, no matter how many different ways you try to explain it.

Ugh. You hate this.

You lean back against the headboard and smile a little as Luci wobbles around on the ground, running back and forth between the closet and Austin’s suitcase as she tries to help him pack. They’ve told her he’s going for a work trip, just two weeks for a table reading—it’ll be much longer next time, but you don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. She doesn’t get it…you don’t think she will until she sees Austin walk out the door.

Later that evening, in bed, you face Austin in that familiar darkness. He’s got his arm wrapped around your waist, keeping you close, legs laced together. You almost want to memorize how his body feels against your own, the scent of his skin mixed with cologne, the warmth of his breath as he presses kisses to your jawline and neck.

Only two weeks and yet it feels ten times longer already.

“I think Luci put sixteen pairs of mismatched socks into your suitcase.”

Austin smirks softly, “Yeah, think I saw her fold her stuffed dino in there too for safe keeping. Gonna have to take that out before I leave tomorrow.”

You rest your hand on his chest, playing with the fabric of his t-shirt between your fingers. There’s traffic driving by outside, tires on slick streets, thunder rumbling in the distance.

“I think it’s a good idea that we’re gonna do the first big goodbye here and not the airport,” You shake your head, thinking as you speak, “She’s gonna be crushed and that’s definitely going to lead to crying.” Possibly a tantrum.

You can feel Austin wince rather than see him do it, “Hate seein’ either of you upset.”

A small smile tugs the corner of your mouth, “I know, I’ll just keep having to do all of her favorite things to make her forget about you,” You start, your tone teasing, “You know—chocolate chip pancakes, cupcakes baked all the time—”

“Why you gotta start baking cupcakes after I leave?” He tries to interrupt.

“Blanket forts in the living room, copious trips to the park, even when it’s raining—”

“I’d be careful to distract her with that,” Austin laughs, “Knowin’ her, she’ll love it and then you’ll be goin’ while it’s raining all the time.”

“—sleepovers with Aunt Jillian, the works.” You grin, “Maybe I’ll even become the favorite parent while you’re gone.”

“Stop,” Austin huffs out an amused sound, rolling his body quickly to hover over top of yours. You can just barely make out the outlines of some parts of his face in the dark—the curve of his lips, the lines of his jaw and cheekbones. You reach a hand up and cup his cheek, running your thumb along the bone.

“You know she adores you.”

You hum, dipping your hand a bit to run your thumb along his lower lip, “Not as much as she adores you.” And…while it’s taken you a while to kinda get used to that, you can’t really blame her for how much she loves Austin. Definitely relatable. Besides, it’s totally normal for her to choose favorites, she’s learning boundaries and really figuring out each parent separate from the other.

Sometimes on bad days it stings for sure but on good days you know how much Luci loves you and that’s more than enough. A warm sound leaves your lips as Austin leans down to kiss you, nuzzling your noses before resting his body along yours, your legs opening a bit to accommodate him. It’s got nothing to do with sex but intimacy, the feeling of your bodies connecting, heated comfort.

“You gonna miss me?” He asks against your lips.

“Hmm—” You pretend to think about it, crinkling your nose even though he can’t see it. “I dunno.”

He laughs a little, his one hand moving to tickle your side where he knows you’re sensitive, right along your ribs. You squirm instantly, attempting to move but the weight of his body makes it difficult.

“Austin!”

“So you’re not gonna miss me?”

You laugh and force his hand away, tugging him down into a kiss instead.

Miss him? More than you can possibly put into words.

You kinda take several breaths in once Austin puts his suitcase by the front door. There’s still a small amount of running around this morning—breakfast being made, showers taken, dressing Luci to go to the park, packing a small snack bag for her of fruit and goldfish, juice boxes…and then it starts. Luci goes to put a particular snack in for Austin, because he loves these little yogurt granola bites and you gently take her hand and squeeze it.

“Daddy’s not coming to the park with us today, remember? He’s gotta go to work.”

“Go to work,” She repeats and her eyebrows draw together, “But later?”

Austin comes into the kitchen to put his coffee mug in the sink, turning a little to look at both of you once he overhears the conversation. He chews on the inside of his cheek, his eyes fluttering to yours as he moves towards his daughter,

“I gotta go to work for a while, bug. Remember you helped pack my suitcase last night? For the airplane?” He gently tugs one of her space buns that you put into her hair this morning, waiting for her to connect the dots.

“Bye-byes?” She asks and you can hear the strain in her voice.

Austin swallows before nodding and you can see the same emotion in the blue of his eyes, that not wanting to leave her—either of you. “Just for a little while. You and mama are gonna have so much fun when I’m gone though, okay? The park and maybe the aquarium—blanket forts, cookies.”

But Luci hears none of that, all she hears is part of her world crumbling as Austin confirms he’s going ‘bye-byes’. It’s like a slow drip, it starts with her eyes widening and her lower lip wobbling and then she kinda just bursts like a dam. You’d find it startling, and yet, you’re the same way. When something overwhelms you, you try and keep it together until you just can’t. Luci’s wait time is a lot shorter, she doesn’t understand how the world works yet or why Austin’s leaving so long for work, or why he can’t just come back sooner and go to the park with them.

“Hey,” Austin says gently and that one word springboards the wailing. Luci starts crying in earnest, big fat tears rolling down her cheeks, “Hey, hey,” He picks her up into his arms, attempting to soothe her the best he can by rubbing a hand down her back.

You feel a lump form in your throat, hate seeing either of them upset. Your hand gently moves to rest along Austin’s lower back, knowing that it must kill him to see Luci crying, especially since he’s the cause, regardless of how much it’s not his fault.

“It’s okay,” You murmur, brushing some of the strands sticking out of her buns back, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“S’okay baby,” Austin whispers, gently bouncing her before closing his eyes a moment.

You press a kiss to his cheek too—this isn’t easy for either of you to witness, especially since neither of you really know what to do to soothe her. Not only is this difficult for her, as someone who doesn’t understand, both of you and Austin know the gravity of being away for work. Though it’s one thing to consider and think about it ahead of time, to try and plan make the best possible choices, it’s nothing in comparison to actually doing it. Which is what this is, seeing what happens when you decide to go through with something.

It'll get easier, with more practice and getting Luci into a routine, but that doesn’t make this one time any less difficult.

His phone pings and you know before he even looks at it that it’s his driver, ready to take him to the airport. Austin sighs, running a hand through the wide curls in the front part of his hair, “I gotta go.”

“I’ll take her,” You offer and he passes her over, having to untangle her small fists from his shirt.

You follow him to the door and Luci’s still crying, not as hard as before, but definitely still upset. She’s watching him these wide eyes and you hold onto one of her hands, pressing a kiss to it.

“I love you both so much,” Austin says as he pulls his coat on, moving to kiss you. He cups your cheek, running his thumb along your cheekbone.

“I love you too,” Humming lightly, you look over at Luci, “Wanna say bye? ‘I love you daddy’.” You try but she can’t get the words out. Probably best given how much she’s crying—if Austin had to hear that with tears wrapped around every syllable, he might not leave.

There’s comfort in the fact that it won’t be this way forever—not only will Luci eventually get distracted that her dad isn’t home, but also that in time this will become a part of her life. Maybe even when she gets older, she can travel with. But for now? Just a very bumpy spot in the road.

It takes Austin about another five minutes to leave, off and on running through his mental checklist to make sure he has everything but also pausing every so often to talk to Luci or press a kiss to her cheek. Finally, he plants one final one your cheek before heading out the door, closing it behind him.

It takes Luci ten minutes to calm down completely and by the time you set her back onto the floor, she decides she’s gonna be angry and pouty instead, which…valid. For some reason if there was any doubt that this is your daughter? Certainly wouldn’t be any more after that kind of behavior. The funny thing is, when Luci gets like this, she doesn’t throw tantrums. Instead, you and Austin have taught her to reply ‘no thank you’ to things and she adopts that phrase when she’s mad.

She’ll have this adorable grumpy pout on her face and just ‘no thank you’ to absolutely everything—doesn’t matter what you say to her.

Taking her to the park melts the ice a little, but she’s still confused when she comes home and Austin isn’t back. You remind her he’s at work, and she seems to accept that, but after a few days pass she doesn’t understand why he’s not walking through the front door. Her routines keep her distracted but you kinda get the same question often: ‘dad coming home now?’

Facetime and phone calls definitely help but it’s never going to substitute for the real thing—you know that better than anyone.

Getting the tub ready for a bath, you sit on the closed toilet seat and move your phone from one ear to another, testing the water with the inside of your wrist to make sure it’s not too hot.

“And it’s been going well for you?”

“Yeah,” Austin replies and he sounds tired but all of his texts about the table reads have been good, so you know he’s excited about the project, “Gettin’ along with everyone, think that’s all you can ask for sometimes.”

“And your co-star?” You pick up a bottle of rose-scented bubble bath, spilling a bit into the water and watching the suds start.

“She’s new so she’s a bit nervous but her first read-through went well. Lookin’ forward to seein’ what else she’s got.”

You smile a little because that’s good—in your opinion that’d definitely be a buzzkill. How can you really develop a plot or your own character if you’re delt a bad hand with casting? Especially if it’s a coin toss of someone new but, how else are you gonna know someone has something to bring to the table unless you give them a chance?

“How’s Luc doin’?”

You run a hand through your hair, pulling a basket out from underneath the sink that has all of Luci’s bath toys in it so she can pick and choose what she’d like to play with.

“Good, less pouty,” She smirks, “Still asking about you and we’ve been sleeping in our bed so she can be on your pillow.” But all and all? Not too bad given how rough it was when Austin first left. You’ll take that progress.

“And you?”

You draw in a soft sigh, “Been writing a bit but it all sounds like crap.”

You can hear the soft smile in Austin’s voice as he speaks, “Don’t say that—you’ve been distracted, just let it sit with you a bit.”

You stick your tongue out a little, shifting to turn the water off in the tub. You know he’s right, despite wanting to just delete everything as soon as you’ve typed it. You’ve been busy and it definitely impacts your creative mind but you might be able to salvage something out of it if you save things as you go.

“Ten out of ten on the husband pep talks,” You tease and he lets out a soft laugh, “Let me call in the gremlin, she’s about to get a bath.” You pull the phone away from your ear, “Luci! C’mon, bath time! Daddy’s on the phone!”

You tap your phone on speaker, listening to the patter of feet running towards the bathroom. Luci runs straight in and throws herself onto your leg, a small oof leaving her lips. You chuckle, running your hand through her wild hair from a day of playing at the park.

“Say hi.”

“Hi daddy!” She sing-songs out, sitting down onto the floor and going through her bath basket.

“Hey lil dino,” Austin says in such a fond way that it makes you miss him even more than you already do. “Wanna tell me about your day?”

And she does. She dives into an entire ten minute dissertation about everything you and her have explored today, including a new part of the park that has a pond where you can feed the ducks.

“She’s named some of them,” You tell Austin as you help Luci into the tub, “Though not as good as the names you’ve given to the pigeons outside our apartment.”

“Hidden talent,” He grins, you can hear it in his voice, which makes your stomach flutter, “What can I say?”

The conversation continues while Luci’s in the bath, mostly just you and Austin catching up, but when it’s time to hang up the call, your daughter kind of whispers her goodbye—this small bye daddy that clenches up inside your chest.

It reminds you to count down time and hold that promise close; there’s only two more full days until Austin comes home.

Austin is insisting that someone can pick him up from the airport so that you don’t have to, but at this point you’re bursting at the seams to see him that anyone else is just not gonna happen. You know he’s trying to do you a favor since you’re looking after Luci, but you can manage it. Carrying her through an entrance and lingering towards the appropriate baggage claim, you check your watch—Austin should have landed already, it’s a waiting game.

You have no idea why it feels like you’re about to see him for the first time, your stomach flipping in circles and your heart pounding in your chest. You keep a sharp eye, only setting Luci on the ground once you see him collect his bag from the assembly line and begin looking for you.

“Look,” You smile at Luci, kissing her cheek as you crouch down, “There’s daddy.”

Luci’s head turns quickly and she definitely squeals out a loud ‘daddy!’ that instantly gets Austin’s attention. When he sees her, that’s when you let her go, chuckling lightly as she takes off at a run to him. Austin drops his bag, leaning down to scoop her right into his arms as you walk towards him.

Luci squeezes him around his neck and he chuckles, his one hand rubbing up and down her back while pressing a kiss to her head, “Think you’ve gotten bigger.”

“Total possibility,” You laugh, “She’s growing like a weed.”

Austin looks over at you and smiles, something genuine and warm, an expression you’ve only ever seen given to you. He moves to wrap an arm around your shoulders, drawing you close and into his chest. You let out a soft sigh of relief as your face finds the crook of his neck, breathing him in, your one arm sliding up and underneath his coat to hold onto his body.

Home is definitely a person.

Waking up naturally the next morning, you reach your arm out across the sheets in search of Austin’s body…and come up empty. Frowning, you lift your head, squinting. But no, the bed is definitely bare next to you and the covers are cold. Letting out a soft huff, you pull yourself from bed, tugging on one of Austin’s sweatshirts and a pair of leggings. Wandering down the hall, you hear soft voices in the kitchen, the clattering of silverware and cupboard doors closing.

“Yeah, just like that.” Austin says. “Hold on,” He chuckles, “We need a layer of jelly.”

“More!” Luci exclaims, very insistent and when you come to lean against the kitchen doorway, a soft smile tugs the corners of your mouth.

Austin is at the kitchen table, hair still unkempt from being slept on…and yet he’s still so handsome it’s kind of unfair. Luci is standing on a chair, helping him at the counter make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She’s got a butter knife in her hand and she’s spreading the peanut butter (very haphazardly) onto the bread.

But she’s so happy—Austin’s got this amused, proud smile on his face as he watches her, his eyes fluttering over towards you when he senses you’re there.

You smirk, “Breakfast?” You come over to the counter, leaning against it after Austin presses a kiss to your temple.

“Hope you like peanut butter.” Austin smirks because at this point it’s a peanut butter sandwich with some bread and jelly.

Chuckling, you reach out to swipe a bit of jelly off Luci’s cheek. Honestly, you can’t think of a better way to have it.

#austin butler #austin butler x reader #austin butler imagine #austin butler fic #elvis 2022 #mccall writes things #ccg

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smytherines · 2 months

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What we have as canon for Spies Are Forever is sparse. It's a spy comedy parody musical, it's ambiguous because that's all they have room for, leading to a lot of different readings that all have their arguments for or against. None of those are "correct" they're just interpretations.

So, keeping that in mind, we know Owen Carvour for around 10 minutes before the banana incident. A few minutes of that is him pretending to be another person, so I'll set that aside for now. Here are things Owen does in A1P1 in order of how I remember them:

Saves captured boyfriend from goon

Shoots goon in knees

Beats up a lot of goons

Reassures Curt's boss that the mission will be completed successfully, gets mildly insulted by a jealous Curt

Pushes Curt out of the way to shoot an armed guard that was aiming at him

Mildly chastises Curt for drinking on the job

Takes one swig after being teased and makes a face

Mildly chastises Curt for leaving a banana peel on the staircase

Agrees to four minutes on the timer

Attempts to re-lock the safety barricades to limit the explosion (I think?)

Gets cornered by goons

Building starts to explode, he finds out Curt set the timers for 3 minutes, they run

Slips, "dies"

Building explodes on him

The first part is the most ambiguous- when he's pretending to be a goon and Curt is being tortured. My personal read on it is that either Owen was already there for his own spy-related reasons and rescued Curt, or he somehow found out that Curt had been captured and went on a rescue mission. He does tell the goon to crush Curt's testicles, but I dunno immediately before that the goon tries to break Curt's fingers and gets his own fingers broken instead, so it feels like Owen is reasonably confident in Curt's ability to take care of himself? The worst thing that happens to Curt is that he gets tickled.

I do love the thought of Owen finding out Curt has been captured and packing a feather just in case he gets a chance to fuck with him. They don't establish who brought the explosives I don't think, but given that Barb doesn't say "use the explosives you already have" and that Owen spends so much time setting them, it was probably Owen?

Here's a list of things Agent Curt Mega does in A1P1:

Admittedly cool spy guy shit (breaking fingers, whatever was supposed to have happened with the pipe- its unclear to me)

Gets spotted by guard who hits the alarm

Talks to boss

gets annoyed that his boss likes Owen better, drinks, makes fun of Owen

Beats up goons

Eats a banana, leaves peel on stairs

Didn't wear rocket shoes because they didn't match his outfit

Ignores Barb explaining how the camera works to take the pictures they need

Suggests blowing the whole facility instead

Convinces Owen to try to beat their record of 6 minutes (Owen says to set for 4, I think)

Sets the timer for 3 minutes

Tells Owen they don't have time to do the safety barricade thing

Building starts to explode, tells Owen he lied, he set the timer for 3 minutes and they need to run

Tries to reach Owen when he falls, fails

Runs away before building explodes

What I'm saying here is that my read on A1P1 is that Curt sucks. Owen comes across as a decent enough guy, he comes off as a guy who cares about his partner and is looking out for him, and Curt is kinda the bad influence on him. Curt comes across as jealous and petty and egotistical, which is interesting because in so many pre-canon fanfics Curt is the pure precious babygirl and Owen is already a monster. I'm not saying it's wrong, I've read and enjoyed a lot of those stories and theories. It's just very interesting to me to see how the post-banana and pre-banana versions of Owen and Curt are sort of meshed together in a lot of fan imagination? I don't see it that way, but that's totally fine.

I wrote everything but this paragraph before the Mega bastards lore dropped. I already made a big big post about that, and it does sort of change my perception of Curt in some ways, but just on a basic level this is where I'm at

#cleaning out my drafts #spies are forever #tin can bros #agent curt mega #owen carvour #curtwen

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moralanxietystudio · 11 months

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Roadwarden - In Search of Urgency Through Limitations

(This is a repost of my Twitter thread that got quite a dose of love yesterday, so I figured you may be interested in it as well.

1/ Hi! I was invited to post a thread for #MAMG23 on a unique feature of my fantasy game, Roadwarden. I’d like to tell you about its most controversial design choice - the time limit. The expectation that you’ll finish the game without seeing some parts of what it has to offer.

2/ In RW, you play as a single character patrolling the roads of a distant peninsula, aiding or harming its tribes. This land has grown detached from any strong, governmental body, and you start the game as an outsider, an agent, a spy sent here by the city.

3/ You’re encouraged to travel, make friends, learn more, but instead of being The Chosen One, you’re just a rider, a traveling sheriff. And you’re meant to get back to the city soon - usually, in 40 days, after which you are held accountable for your actions and their outcomes.

4/ You start with a personal goal you can select from a short list, and a few other quests to guide you, but none of them are obligatory. You may shape the fate of various people, or even whole settlements, but that’s just a small dent in the grand scheme of things.

5/ I think the reason why it works is that RW tries to make you feel attached to its NPCs and villages. Most people are guarded at first, but open up as you prove your worth to them - or manipulate them. You get options to spend time with them, to share meals and ale.

6/ You see NPCs’ perspectives as you exchange news and rumors. You get familiar with the way people get by, with their routines, and their plans for the future. My NPCs may not have the most depth, but in many ways, you get to learn about their vulnerabilities.

7/ At the start of the game, you’re also vulnerable system-wise, and you won’t increase your stats much. Instead, you rely on others to help you get out of the loop of hindrances. You grow closer with people - by quests, trading, hanging out - and open access to convenient tools.

8/ You unlock new shelters, free supplies, free care, free advice, lower prices, even direct help during tasks. You collect favors. It’s no wonder you may grow attached to NPCs and their problems, and actually care about what’s going to happen to them.

9/ (It’s a very different approach to many older video game plots, where your character would get dropped into mid-apocalypse, saving the world they know nothing about, or trying to save their sibling/village after a brief introduction, relying on our real-life contexts.)

10/ Your character is weak, and travels between the “points of light” (villages, inns) and the threatening wilderness, seeking ways to optimize your journeys, avoiding threats until prepared to face them, sticking to the main roads at first, then exploring the more obscure paths.

11/ But the game needed tension to make this work, to let you game the systems while pushing you into taking an occasional leap of faith. Balancing between risk and preparations is where the challenge comes from. Hence - the time limit.

12/ In the core game mode, the character has 40 in-game days to explore the peninsula. They can complete the game before that, but once the time runs out, they are forced to return to the city - very often begrudgingly. Not many people get to finish all of the quests.

13/ Without save-scumming (reloading the game in hopes to get better results) or looking up a guide / seeking advice online, the player will struggle. I didn’t intend for them to see everything during their first playthrough. They’re meant to taste failure.

14/ RW is most rewarding when the player accepts their character’s shortcomings. When they decide that they need to leave a village to itself since they lack the time to help it. That they can’t rescue a traveler, or a place, because they’ve got to move on.

15/ Judging by RW’s reception, it’s an unintuitive, and not exactly welcome, design. Most people, myself included, expect to have the option to 100% the game from the get go. Despite my best efforts, it seems like I didn’t succeed at setting the game’s promises correctly.

16/ The tutorial section of the game tries to set the expectations straight. It promises that the peninsula is overgrowing, wild, filled with monsters, that the locals are *pagans*, that the time limit is pressing. But many players don’t treat these threats seriously.

17/ Oftentimes, they see these promises as the set up for a story of success, something to overcome with enough grind and wit. It seems like the game failed at making it clear that it tries to embrace human limitations, that it’s a part of the core experience.

18/ The game didn’t make it clear that by deciding what matters to you the most, whom you want to help, whom you leave behind, which mysteries you unravel, which conflicts you solve, and when you put your needs above others - you get to make meaningful choices.

19/ My ideas did resonate with some, and I saw people playing the game once on the “standard” mode, then again, on the “casual” mode - with no time limit - to experience the rest of the story threads. I think it’s even better to take a longer break between playthroughs.

20/ This way, you focus on your character, and encounter the realm beyond your grasp. You get to embrace your mistakes and choices. If you return to the game after a year or two, it will feel different, as you are also not going to be the same being.

21/ It may not be a reasonable expectation on my part. But to justify myself, I’d like to make it clear that the time limit is not just a gimmick, but rather a system I play with in many ways. You can’t travel during nighttime. You need to restore stats every day.

22/ Some quests disappear or show up on specific days. Some actions are available only at specific hours. Days get shorter. You can care for the roads to ride faster. In many ways, time is a resource, and various tasks can be solved by spending it.

23/ Take the wooden lantern, as an example. You can buy it from a merchant, or hang out with a friendly carpenter to make your own, chatting with his neighbors. What do you need more right now? Money? Coins? Friendship? Without the time limit, you’d get limitless resources.

24/ The world of Roadwarden is rotting, collapsing, fading away, reaching a new form. With no time limit, it’s a playground, a place to be tamed according to your will. And the time limit was meant to turn it into a mystery, an interactive adventure. #MAMG23

#indiedev #pixelart #gamedev #screenshotsaturday #fantasy #rpg #pixel art #indie game #gaming #roadwarden

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ashrillvenheim · 1 month

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Awakening Past

Chapter 18

pairing: Ashley Graham x Leon S Kennedy.

Content: (+18) romance, angst, gore, erotic/suggestive themes at some point, slow burn, violence, action, self-harm, death talk,

If you're a MINOR DON'T keep reading, thank you.

Archive of our own / WORK LIST / Awakening Past Masterlist

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The clacking of the screen was the only thing echoing in the room. With the only person currently there she scratched her nose with a sigh. She had yet to get used to the smell of the freshly bleached premises. She twirled the pen between her fingers, noting the results the DSO offices had provided her with.

For now she would have to make do with the photographs she took of the specimen until they brought the fossil in tomorrow. She pulled out the rest of the images she took of the caves, the catacombs with the inscriptions and the old fused body of Salazar.

For now the pictures of Salazar and what was related to the Illuminati would be kept secret from Narsson.

She hated having to do that but she wanted to protect you. She didn't want to drag her into her problems and have her end up on the wrong end of the stick because of her.

She held the red pen and began to make little notes and then transfer them to her notebook. She took a deep breath and caught the scent of visitors coming from the direction of the lab.

Leon stretched his arms out with a grunt as he yawned. Ashley had forced him to stay home and rest after his bad night. At first he refused, but then he remembered that he was no longer her bodyguard and didn't need to accompany her everywhere.

He sighed heavily scratching the back of his neck and remembering the warmth of Ashley's soft skin and in how they held each other.

This sleeping together thing was getting to be a bad habit.

He may have been her partner now, but...it was still inappropriate.

He sighed heavily as he walked down the hallway with Pepper and Mint on either side of him, each in their nice " Service Animal" harness.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching down the hallway adjacent to his, as he crossed the corner he encountered Maria and Narsson.

“ Good morning.” he greeted them with his perfect smile.

Maria returned the gesture.

“ How is everything?”

“ We're back in one piece.” joked the agent.

Enma looked at Leon with a smile and her eyes dropped to the badge hanging around his neck. She arched her eyebrows when she saw next to his picture the title "investigation agent" and not security agent like the one Maria was wearing.

Was he no longer Ashley's bodyguard?

“ Didn't Ashley come with you?” Narsson asked subtly, the demon of curiosity taking control of his words.

“ She came before me, I don't have to be under constant supervision anymore.”

“ And I do?” Enma scoffed.

“ You don't know how to fight.” said Maria.

“ Why don't you teach me?” asked Narsson looking at his escort. Vazquez sighed.

“ Because you are a danger to yourself and I refuse to let you break your neck trying to do something you shouldn't do.”

Narsson looked at her indignantly.

“ I know how to defend myself.”

“ Correction, Ashley knows how to defend you and it was thanks to her that you weren't kidnapped.”

Enma mumbled Norwegian words that none of the agents understood as they walked to the last door in the hallway.

The door opened and Ashley lifted her head from the photographs. She slid the mobile chair back just a second before the dogs jumped on top of her and knocked her to the floor.

The three newcomers laughed as Ashley tried to get up but to no avail. Pepper and Mint decided to let her go as they showered her with drool.

Ashley grunted wiping her face with her sleeve.

“ Thank you for taking care of them again.”

Maria waved her hand dismissively.

“ It's been a perfect excuse for Enma to go out and exercise.”

“ Hey, I'm fine.” Narsson said, turning on her heel.

“ Genetics won't help you keep your figure for the rest of your life.” Maria replied with a mischievous smile.

“ Oh for God's sake, Leon, switch with Maria, be my escort please.”

Leon tensed for a second, but let out an amused laugh before Ashley answered for him.

“ Believe me it's better Maria, you don't know how many times I've wanted to strangle him.”

Leon pointed accusingly at her.

“ Hey, you're no saint either.”

Ashley threw up her hands and turned around, back to her table. Narsson and Maria laughed, but the former watched the attitude between Ashley and Leon closely, as if she was looking for the origin of the fact that Leon was no longer her guard, but... she saw them as usual.

“ Where do we start?” the teacher finally said, putting on one of the white coats from the hanger and approaching Ashley.

She spread out on the center table the photographs of the specimen she found along with other images of the specimen Narsson discovered.

“ At the moment I was looking for characteristics of the fossil I found with the one you discovered.”

Enma nodded and got down to work with her former student.

It was as if time suddenly passed more slowly. They both spent the first few hours of the morning poring over each photo and making copies to hang on the board they had provided next to the table. The main reason Leon had come, outside of keeping an eye on Ashley, was to keep Maria company.

They watched as Narsson and Graham worked quietly among encyclopedias and reports. They could see how much the blonde looked like the Norwegian, but at the same time they understood why Maria, Graham and Sasha were picking on the teacher so much.

She looked possessed.

The subtle smile that always adorned her lips had vanished and now a deep seriousness, with the faint shadow of a frown, drew her expression.

They didn't know how long it was before Ashley suddenly raised her head and turned toward the door.

“ Leon?” she said in confusion, causing the agent to turn toward her.

“ Is something wrong?”

“ Did you call Chris?”

Leon arched his eyebrows uncomprehendingly for a moment and soon after began to hear the echo of footsteps approaching. He looked at Ashley just as confused and swiveled in his chair.

“ No, I didn't.”

Maria watched them both blankly, only to turn toward the door when someone knocked and two figures entered the room.

“ Hey, how's it going?” that male voice echoed in the lab.

“ Chris?” Graham blinked.

“ Jill?” Leon was surprised.

Redfiel and Valentine smiled and walked in to extend their hands to Narson and Maria, who didn't know them.

“ Surprise .” Jill said with a laugh. “ We've been sent to take part in the search for the fossil, so we'll be with you.”

Leon watched them, knowing that was the general explanation for Narsson, but he knew that after Chris's team was in Spain two years ago, the BSAA preferred to have agents in on the new plaga research.

“ Nice to meet you, I'm Enma Narsson.”

“ Chris Redfield and this is my partner, Jill Valentine.”

The three greeted each other and decided to take a little break to catch up.

“ Sorry we're late, Chris had entered the wrong address in the GPS.” Jill apologized, looking at her partner, who grunted with his ears reddening in embarrassment.

“ Are you going to start giving me a bad name so soon?” growled the dark-haired man.

“ Welcome to the club.” taunted Leon.

They laughed and then asked about the progress as they looked at the board full of photos.

“ Any news?”

Narsson sighed.

“ Nothing so far. That bug is a parasite that has attached itself to the fossil's shell, where the cephalopod's nervous system passes through. We're looking for any specimen from that era to which it might correspond, but so far nothing.” she pointed to the stack of encyclopedias she and Ashley were sharing. “ We still have articles to go through.”

“ Shall we break for coffee?” proposed Ashley, getting up from her seat.

“ I thought you'd never say, I'm falling asleep.” Maria said holding out her arms with a grunt.

Ashley laughed and headed for the exit with her former bodyguard. Chris and Jill preferred to stay to catch up on the board they had done so far, so Nasrson turned to Leon.

“ Shall we?” she said, starting to walk toward the exit.

Leon followed her into the hallway, seeing Ashley and Maria in the background.

“ Well, well, can I invite you?” the woman's voice made him turn to her with a sigh.

“ Enma, I told you-”

“ Coffee, can I buy you coffee?”

The man watched her for a few seconds and then felt and looked straight ahead again.

“ Okay.”

They went upstairs.

“ Well, now that Ashley has graduated and we're all officially teammates...is dinner still out of the question?”

“ Has anyone ever told you that you're incredibly stubborn?”

Narsson smiled.

“ A few, it's how I've earned my place in this industry.”

Leon let out another long sigh.

“ No, Narsson, I'm not going to accept a date with you.”

Enma walked beside him for a few seconds, watching the man's profile with a watchful eye.

“ Have you two slept together?”

Leon stopped in his tracks and grabbed her arm to turn her toward him, away from the ears of Maria and Ashley at the end of the corridor.

“ Can't you ask more discreetly?” he muttered under his breath.

But Narsson had grabbed the bone.

“ Yes or no?”

“ NO.”

- Umm... are you two dating?

Leon pinched the bridge of his nose.

“ Neither, may I know why you're asking me this?”

“ I need to test the waters and find out which foot you're limping on.”

Kennedy glanced quickly in the direction of Ashley and Maria, who were still chatting in front of the coffee machine.

“ I'm not limping on any foot and you don't have anything to test. End of conversation.”

Ashley glanced over Maria's shoulder, sensing Leon grabbing Narsson by the arm. What could they be talking about? it was odd that the lion seemed so... irritated.

A small prickle lodged in her chest - had something happened between them?

She stopped looking at them as they turned back to them and walked to the machine.

Maria turned to Narsson.

“ Go easy on the caffeine.”

“ Hey, I only had a coffee for breakfast.”

“ You had a latte made with two rounds of coffee.”

Enma rolled her eyes and pressed the brew button.

“ Happy? I'll take my theine then.”

Maria laughed as Ashley gave Leon a fleeting glance, averting it just before he spotted her.

“ I'm going back downstairs.” Graham announced, breaking away from the group. Leon watched her walk away for a few seconds and then turned his attention back to the other two women.

Why did he have the feeling that this week was going to be a long one?

They decided to take another approach and pulled out a world map. Between Ashley and Enma they decided to mark all the areas where similar types of ammonite were found. They marked out the area where Ashley found the fossil and spent the rest of the hours racking their brains trying to figure out how the hell that fossil got there.

Ashley knew that the "Queen Plaga" from which she had taken the sample had probably stored the fossil for a long time, but then why was there no trace of the parasite in the area of Norway where the ammonite was supposed to be from? did it come from somewhere else? but if so, from where? and how?

There were too many questions that occupied all his mental capacity and if that wasn't enough, he began to feel the fly behind his ear every time he saw Anderson engage in conversation with Leon. He also did it with Gray and Jill, but... for some reason it bothered him more when he interacted with his former escort.

It was stupid, he knew it was and that he shouldn't dwell on it, that it wasn't appropriate for him to feel... jealousy? was he feeling jealous?

"Don't be dumb Ashley, focus, he's your friend." she said to herself turning her attention back to the investigation.

Chris and Jill tried not to talk too much about the parasites because of Enma. But they all knew. Ashley knew. She was aware that sooner or later the existence of the plague parasite was going to be discovered by Enma. Either by herself or because Ashley would tell her.

Even if she didn't like the idea at all, she had to do it at some point.

In between musings and breaks for more coffee, Narsson sensed that this was something much bigger than he thought. Ashley had told her it was personal, but to what extent?

The two filled the world map with thumbtacks, then removed or changed half of it. They debated and weighed ideas as they had always done since they had known each other.

And yet it felt different.

This bug was something important, something deep and as she had rightly said it was related to her scar, and so Leon had to be in on it too.

They put more notes on the board with the prehistoric line they had established. And yet they still didn't understand how it had made it from Norway to Spain without leaving a trace across the rest of Europe. There were no birds suffering from the parasite of that era and that ammonite was native to the Norwegian area.

So... by land? but there was no trace in a fossil of later mammals. Yes, that was the theory Ashley held, but because they were only there and the only thing connecting the existence of the plaga elsewhere was that ammonite.

The rest had been buried in the mine caves.

And she didn't intend to go back there.

While Ashley and Narsson worked on the fossil, Leon, Chris and Jill examined the photographs of the catacombs. They noted the inscriptions so that they could translate them later to hopefully get some relevant clues.

For now those photographs were alien to Narsson, but if they got any new information, then they would have to find a way to explain it to him.

Even Chris and Jill wanted to avoid involving civilians in the whole thing.

With Sasha it was easy, he was working in the Campus Library, so Patrick didn't have to worry much, but asking Narsson for help made everything a hundred times more complicated.

Hours passed and the sun began to set behind the mountains in the distance. The lab was underground so none of the people present seemed to notice.

“ I'm going to move these canisters so we'll have room tomorrow when they bring us samples.” Ashley said approaching one of the shelves.

Enma nodded and picked up the other side of the table.

“ I'll get you a dictionary.” Jill mumbled as she watched Chris write with such spelling mistakes.

“ Hey, I'm not a Professor.” growled Redfiel as he finished writing the last translation of the photos.

“ But at least learn where the aitches go, please.

Jill dropped her head back in despair. That side of Chris hadn't changed a bit. In office matters, he was still a disaster.

“ I can give you a dictionary for your birthday.” Leon teased.

“ Kennedy, I'm going to-”

A rumble echoed through the room as a boat crashed to the floor.

Everyone turned with their hands on their guns and their hearts in their throats.

Only to find Ashley covered in gray dust.

“ Shit.” Said the blonde before the party started.

She sneezed once, twice, three, four, and five times the instant she inhaled the dust for prints.

Narsson rushed to grab a broom for the windows as Ashley shook between sneezes and shakes. Maria and Leon started laughing.

“ Is-atchoo! not-atchoo! fu-atchoo! funny!” growled Graham, sneezing incessantly.

Ashley was a mess. The dust mixed with liquid from another canister and stained all her clothes and skin. They managed to keep the dogs from rolling around on the floor and picked up the mess.

Narsson rinsed Ashley's head under the faucet on the cleaning table, but she needed a shower.

“ Be thankful it was only the dust from the footprints, at least you didn't get a jug on you.” Enma said to her, wiping the excess water out of Ashley's hair with her hands. The blonde grunted pulling her head out of the sink.

“ She would have broken the pitcher before her head.” Maria joked with a laugh.

Leon's eyes rolled back in remembrance of a punch.

“ I second that, she nearly broke my nose.”

Maria looked at him in disbelief one moment and the next she laughed too.

“ You guys are such-atchoo! shitty escorts," Ashley growled in irritation, trying to recover from the sneezing fit. She scratched her nose, hating that she couldn't smell anything while

Leon and Maria looked at each other and smiled.

They decided they would leave it there for today and continue tomorrow with more clarity. Leon took care of the dogs while Ashley got rid of the soaked and soiled robe. Her clothes were in the same state and she cursed in three languages as she picked up the bag.

“ A shower and a beer.” she said heavily as she walked out of the lab with the rest.

“ And a foot massage?” joked Leon with a laugh.

“ I'm not saying no.”

The group laughed as they ascended the stairs to the second floor, when suddenly Leon or I heard hurried footsteps.

“ Ashie!”

Everyone turned toward the voice and Graham's eyes almost popped out.

“ Casey?”

Her friend went to rush over to hug her, but stopped short.

“ Did you take a bath in cement or what?”

Ashley sighed.

“ A little accident.”

“ I won't hug you like that.”

The blonde looked at her friend wearily and smiled.

“ What are you doing here?”

Sergio and John approached.

“ A little celebration for your first job.” smiled Sergio.

“ And for your birthday, which we didn't get to celebrate this year.” added Casey.

Ashley blinked.

“ It's July, Casey.”

“ Better late than never, we booked a table at the bar we went to last time. Hey, guys!” she knelt down to pat Mint and Pepper, who had come over to say hello.

“ If you haven't noticed, I'm a mess, I can't go like this.” Ashley said, pointing to her outfit.

But then Casey smiled. And it was that smile that only Casey ever smiled.

And Ashley was alarmed.

“ Don't worry, I brought you an outfit.”

Ashley's eye twitched a millisecond.

“ What?”

Sergio and John sighed, aware that nothing could stop Casey when it came to fashion.

“ We're meeting at Emily's, who lives next door to the bar, so you can shower at her place and get dressed there.”

Ashley was still on the previous sentence.

“ What do you mean you brought me clothes?” she looked at John and Sergio. “ She planned this with Ems, didn't she? Because only she knew I was coming to work today.”

John and Sergio nodded defeatedly and Casey smiled victoriously.

“ I don't see your car, so you walked here and I refuse to let you go home to change into a tracksuit, so I brought you the outfit so you can change at Emily's and we can go downstairs for dinner and party.”

This time it was a muscle in Ashley's neck that gave a tug.

“ Should we be worried?” Chris whispered discreetly to Leon. The agent gave a lopsided smile and crossed his arms.

“ Nope. Just relax and enjoy.”

And the game started.

“ What's wrong with my tracksuits?” Ashley began.

“ They're fine for being at home.”

“ And for going out too.”

“ No, not for going out,”

“ What do you mean, no?”

“ No. Not if you're going out with me. I have etiquette requirements.”

“ I refuse to wear the stilettos.”

“ I brought a better option.”

“ Did you at least bring me some pants?”

“ No. I even brought you new underwear.”

“ You're insane.”

“ I know, because I'm your friend.”

“ Oh, that was a low blow, Casey.”

“ And I've got more up my sleeve Ashley.”

“ I propose a negotiation.”

“ Denied.”

" Whew, this is heated." Leon whispered to Chris, highly amused by the scene.

Ashley crossed her arms and said her final sentence.

“ If the heels aren't comfortable or I can't walk normally I'm going barefoot and you're not going to stop me.”

“ Deal.” she held out her hand.

Ashley was surprised at her friend's assurance and cursed again in three languages as she took his hand.

“ I'll hold this one for you.”

Casey smiled.

“ I was counting on that. Let's go to Ems' house and get you showered.”

Ashley was so tired from the whole day that she barely put up any resistance. She just grunted and walked to Emily's house with Casey, John and Sergio.

Leon, Chris and Jill took their vehicles to follow them later to Connors' apartment.

“ Did you fall in fresh cement?”

Ashley rolled her eyes when Emily told her the same thing Casey did.

“ I wish, then I wouldn't have to wear Casey's outfit.” grunted the blonde walking into Emily's apartment. Leon followed her with the dogs.

“ Where are Mint and Pepper's things? “ Ashley said looking for the bags.

“ They're in the trunk, I came in your car in the morning.”

Ashley sighed in relief.

“ Thank goodness I have you to remember.”

Leon smiled and removed the animals' harnesses so they could run around the apartment.

“ Are you sure you don't mind them staying at your house Emily?” Leon asked Ashley's friend who shook her head.

“ Don't worry, they've been out all day and are very formal. You'll pick them up when we get back from dinner.”

Leon nodded, hanging the straps on the coat rack in the entryway.

“ Where's your shower?” Ashley asked with the bag Casey had given her in her hand.

“ In the back on the right. We'll go downstairs with the rest while you shower, you have the keys in the kitchen.”

Graham nodded and went into the bathroom to wash off the mess. Leon smiled and prepared to walk out the door.

“ Wait a minute, Leon, Casey found some cute shirts and grabbed one for you.” Connors said, holding out a bag.

The people looked surprised.

“ Did she buy me clothes? She didn't really have to do that.” he said humbly, taking the bag.

“ Why don't you try it on, I'm sure Casey would be thrilled to see you wearing it.”

Leon hesitated for a second, reaching into the wrapper, but when his fingers touched the fabric he changed his mind. He looked around and Emily pointed down the hallway.

“ You can change in my room, there's a full-length mirror behind the door.”

He hesitated for a second, but then headed for the back room. Emily heard the sound of the shower and a soft humming of the tune Ashley always sang, her mother's tune. Then she heard a bag open and footsteps before she saw Leon's figure emerge from his room.

Emily was going to have a very serious conversation with Ashley.

The man walked into the living room smoothing out his wrinkles and pulling the buttons on his black denim button up shirt tight.

Casey had hit the mark.

“ I think it's my size, but I'm not sure.”

“ Nonsense.” Emily said, walking over to him and pulling the collar tight. “ It fits you like a glove. And this button, undo it too.” she said undoing one more button to expose some of Leon's collarbone.

“ Isn't that too much?” he became alarmed, not being used to wearing his chest so bare.

“ Not at all, you have the body to wear it like that, I'm sure even to your friend, what was he like... Chris? Yeah, I'm sure Chris would look great in one of these too.”

Leon laughed under his breath hopelessly.

“ I can tell you and Casey have been in this together from the beginning.”

Emily patted him on the chest after tucking in the hem of his shirt.

“ If it weren't for us Ashley would be wearing pajamas to class.”

“ Oh come on, it's no that bad.”

Emily warned him.

“ That stuff about not caring what people say is fine, but when it gets to the point where you don't care about anything , even the clothes you wear to class, no, I won't let it go.”

“ Then I'd better not contradict you.”

“ That's it, you're a quick learner. Come on, they must be waiting for us downstairs. Ashie, when you're done, close the door!”

A female voice affirmed and Leon and Emily left the apartment after saying goodbye to the dogs.

Ashley turned off the faucet and after drying her hair and body opened the bag Casey had brought her.

“ You're kidding me…”

“ I knew it would look great on you.”

Leon smiled at Casey's words, thanking her for the gift.

“ Casey has been telling us that you threatened her with a gun.” Chris said, crossing his arms with a smirk.

Leon scoffed and crossed his arms as well.

“ And did he tell you that they snuck into Ashley's house? Because I thought they were burglars.”

Chris turned to the copper blonde and she looked up at the sky.

“ Minor details.”

“ I almost had a heart attack.” Sergio said remembering the fear and stress Leon put them through. Jill let out a soft laugh.

“ That's good, if he didn't intimidate what a bodyguard he'd make.”

Leon gave the woman a friendly tap on the shoulder and then looked at the time.

“ When do we have the reservation for?”

Emily confirmed it in her notes.

“ Nine o'clock. Ashley shouldn't take long to get downstairs.”

Leon sensed footsteps on the stairs and a voice mumbling under her breath.

“ Casey, I'm going to kill you.” Graham's voice was heard inside the doorway and her friend smiled.

“ Oh come on, you sure look cute, come let us see you.”

“ Give me some regular clothes.”

“ Not your size?”

Ashley's voice fell silent in the hallway.

“ Yes, but-”

“ Then shut up and come out.”

Leon caught a few more curses before he saw a figure emerge from the shadows of the building's doorway.

The shock that coursed through his body might have been enough to light a light bulb.

Ashley looked down at the ground not knowing what to do. Her cheeks were the same color as the lipstick she wore.

Casey admired her handiwork. A light black satin dress gently cinched Ashley's waist and then fell looser over her hips to mid-thigh. The soft straps exposed her strong shoulders and scar and matched the Roman wedge heels tied around her ankles.

“ So, are the heels comfortable?” Casey said with a victorious smile.

Ashley grunted looking away and sensing Leon watching her. Her amber eyes were transfixed when she saw Leon's denim shirt and how it gaped open revealing his strong neck and collarbone.

When she realized she had been watching him so much, she looked away. The embarrassment was so strong she didn't know what to do.

Fuck, how good that shirt looked on him ajar. The fabric subtly strained his broad chest and made her have to restrain her most primal urges to undo the rest of the buttons and....

But what was she thinking? No, no and no. That was terribly indecent. He was her friend and now research partner... but also one of the most attractive men she'd ever met and he only had to throw his head back to make her want to bite that Greek sculpture neck....

“ Ashie!”

“ Huh?” she turned suddenly, stepping out of that forbidden garden her brain had dragged her into.

“ Are the heels comfortable?” the woman repeated for the umpteenth time.

“ Um... yes, yes, I can... walk without problems, yes.” she managed to make a halfway coherent sentence even though her mind was producing images it shouldn't. What the hell was wrong with her?

“ I've had good taste then.” Emily finally said with a playful smile.

“ Was it you? Why am I not surprised?” sighed Ashley rolling her eyes and looking away.

But Emily had seen it all.

Her caramel eyes rotated to the man beside her, who was still static. And even if she could get an idea, she wondered what had gone through Leon's head at the sight of Graham.

The answer was NOTHING.

The instant Leon saw Ashley's outfit his brain went blank. He simply looked at her. He watched the embarrassment in her gesture, in how the satin dress caressed her figure and revealed her long, athletic legs with those wedge heels with some platform...that made her the same height as him.

There had only been a second. One instant when she had tensed every muscle and it had been when Ashley had stared at her collarbone and chest. He'd had to clench his fists to appease a growing urge to grab her thighs.

God, the way that dress was riding up her thighs had to be criminal. He was lining to want to swipe a finger and lift the fabric up to.....

“ Leon.”

As if she'd been given a slap in the face, he turned toward the voice and saw Emily's amused eyes.

“ Mmm?” was all he could say as he was still unable to formulate a sentence.

“ What do you think?”

He blinked uncomprehendingly.

“ What do I think of what?”

“ Ashley's dress, do you approve it?”

Leon arched his eyebrows in confusion.

“ Me? Approve it? Why should I be the one to approve it?”

“ It's kind of a daring dress and as her former escort, aren't you worried about strangers approaching her?”

“ She can wear whatever she wants and if she gets close to anyone she can knock their teeth out. If she doesn't, all she has to do is ask us and we'll take care of it.” he answered without thinking.

Leon didn't realize it at the time, but Emily was testing him. She wanted to know if he would react negatively to Ashley wearing something more provocative than usual. She had chosen to ask him now that he was surprised by Graham's image and she had to admit that the answer had been to her liking. As her former bodyguard he could have stepped in and suggested she dress in something more modest, or failing that become possessive or aggressive towards others.

But she had only felt a protective air. If she was picked on, he would defend her.

“ I see.”

“ Connors said with a subtle smile, still watching him.”

She could perceive how those blue eyes tried to turn away, but every now and then her curiosity betrayed him and he couldn't help looking at Ashley's legs.

But she wasn't invisible to Emily's astute eyes either and he caught her glancing glancing at Leon from time to time and especially at the man's neck.

Emily smiled inwardly. They were going to have a good time today.

She was chagrined to admit that it was comfortable to walk in those heels. They weren't very high so they didn't keep her from her normal stride. But the dress...she wished Casey had been nice enough to put some short athletic tights underneath, just so she wouldn't worry about it riding up too high...in the rear.

They finally made it to the bar and when they went to their reserved area they had to pull another table together to get everyone in.

The music echoed as it had the previous time, enveloping them softly. They ordered dinner with laughter and their drinks were brought to them. The chatter was pleasant. They told each other stories and laughed and Ashley was glad that Jill and Chris fit in so well with her friends. She liked that group more and more.

But...it was getting hard.

She had Leon in front of her and her amber eyes were being terribly treacherous that night. Every time he laughed he couldn't help but watch out of the corner of his eye as the muscles in his neck tightened, as they defined themselves until they joined his broad collarbone and sternum....

At times she thought she had a strange fixation on men's necks and collarbones, but she never gave it a thought.

Now she had discovered that they were definitely her weak spot.

And God when Leon took his first sip of the drink.

The way his Adam's apple bobbed up and down made her throat go dry and she unconsciously swallowed as well. She had been so entranced that Leon had almost caught her staring at him.

So she decided to start drinking to take her focus off that divine chest.

“ Were you a real pilot?” John asked in amazement. It seemed that Chris had managed to get the attention of Ashley's stoic friend, someone who didn't show his enthusiasm so effusively, let alone with strangers.

“ Yes, when I started working, but after a few years I quit, I wasn't convinced by the atmosphere. “Chris said, taking a sip of his beer.”

“ He always says he left, but I'm convinced he got fired. “ Jill mocked, looking at her partner in front of her. Leon and Valentine had sat next to Maria, Narsson and John, and on the other side Ashley next to Chris, Emily, Casey and Sergio in front.

Ashley finished her first mojito while listening to the conversation.

“ Hey Jill, what did I ever do to you to make you tell them that?” Redfield said indignantly.

“ Snore. That's what you did, you didn't let me sleep a wink.”

Chris rolled her eyes and Emily interjected.

“ I know a home remedy that might help, but I don't know entirely.”

Jill looked at Connors carefully.

“ Anything to shut this mastodon up, I'm all ears.”

Discreetly, Ashley asked the bartender for another mojito while Chris grunted in embarrassment.

“ I'm going to ask to switch partners.”

“ Good luck finding someone to put up with you like I do.”

The rest laughed at the pitched battle that broke out between Chris and Jill, who only calmed down a bit when their dinner was brought to them.

Ashley looked back to the front and licked her lips unconsciously as she saw the drops of water from Leon's glass slide down his neck.

She picked up her mojito and drank half of it in one gulp.

"Ashley Graham, you're going to behave like a decent person, okay?" she said to herself turning her attention back to the rest of the group, trying to focus on something other than the man in front of her.

And so the minutes passed and the dinner went by.

“ Well, I could give you a little training for the gym if you're interested.” Jill said to Sergio.

“ I'm not very good at sports.” said the brunette, a little embarrassed.

“ Don't worry, it's not hard.” said Chris, finally finishing his beer.

“ You don't count, you're like one of those Renaissance sculptures. “ Casey said with a laugh.

And this time Ashley spoke up.

“ We'll have to be careful at the museum, you and Leon attract a lot of attention.” saw the blonde giving Redfield a gentle slap on the bicep. “ I'm going to put up a sign for you to get in line and I'm going to charge you.” she sipped her mojito again.

Leon subtly arched his eyebrow, noticing the slight change in Ashley's voice, as if... she was slurring her words a bit when she spoke.

He looked down at her glass. How many drinks had she already had?

He didn't know, but the answer was four. That was Ashley's fourth mojito and her flushed cheeks drew her face as she drank again.

“ Don't overdo it Graham.” Chris told her with a soft smile, nudging her. A gesture that made her lean back against him with a loose smile.

“ But have you seen yourself? You are the fantasy of many. If you were on my faculty I'd worry about you being kidnapped.” she paused thoughtfully. “ You're the perfect model for art majors, so I'd keep an eye out if you dropped by campus.”

Chris felt Ashley lean against him and began to notice the change in her tone.

“ Hey, how many drinks have you had?” he teased.

Ashley looked at the drink and was silent longer than one should take to answer that question.

“ Two.”

“ The first ones.” Sergio said mockingly.

Ashley stuck her tongue out at him and drank again to lean back against Chris.

“ I feel like it today.” she mused, leaning her head against Redfield's shoulder.

A gesture that made Leon stare at her.

His blue eyes were riveted on one of Ashley's shoulder straps that was threatening to slide down her shoulder and... show a lot more of her cleavage.

For a few seconds he stood static, his gaze locked on her like a Doberman, but when he saw her laugh and her shoulders shake, the strap eventually fell off.

All his muscles acted on impulse and he reached up to grab the strap. Ashley looked at him in surprise and felt her skin tingle as Leon's fingers caressed her shoulder to quietly reposition the garment.

“ Maybe you should be the one with an eye on the museum, I have not seen women as beautiful as you.” Maria said with a smile to Graham.

Ashley let out a giggle and leaned almost fully on Chris's shoulder to answer her former escort.

“ Well, let's see if it's true, I seem to scare them away.” She finished her drink and almost leaned back against the backrest towards the aisle. “ Bring me another mojito please!” she asked the waiter.

“ You shouldn't dri-”

Maria stopped Leon's sentence and the agent turned to her with a serious look on his face.

“She's drinking too much,” he said, but Vazquez just smiled.

“ Let her be, this time listen to me, I know this side of her better myself.” he said, glancing at Ashley, who had been brought her fifth drink.

Leon hesitated for a moment, but agreed with Maria.

But that didn't make it any more enjoyable for him to watch her lean back against Chris' arm more and more, giggling like a schoolgirl and whispering with an amused smile on those full lips.

He knew it was silly, that he shouldn't think about that, but through his mind wandered that little demon that sometimes appeared. The same little monster that came out at Ashley's celebration dinner with him and at her graduation party when that man tried to touch her.

He was a pretty annoying demon when he made an appearance.

And all through dinner it was the one who made her look sideways at her every so often or stare at his lips more than usual when he spoke.

He knew Chris was a good man. Fuck, he was her friend.

But there was something that scratched at him. That little devil was clawing at the back of his skull, causing a burning in his chest as he wasn't the one she was leaning against.

By the time more people started coming out to the karaoke, Ashley was pretty drunk and Leon was thankful he hadn't had more than a beer to drink and then drive.

Ashley had started to get more mellow and her tone had softened and subtly aggravated, tinging it with a more... sensual air.

Leon pinned his eyes on Maria, asking her with his gaze if she knew what she was doing, to which Vazquez only nodded with an amused smile.

“ And then it turned out that the person that employee had been talking to all day was his incognito boss among the workers.” Casey said, holding back the laughter that followed.

The table burst out laughing, but Leon didn't know what about, he hadn't been following the conversation.

“ That happens to me and I shoot myself, I don't wait to be called in.” Jill laughed imagining the scene.

Chris agreed with her this time and noticed the empty mojito glass resting next to her hand.

“ Well, Miss Graham, you've had enough alcohol for today.” Redfield said picking up the glass and pushing it away from the woman's grasp.

“ Oh dear, are you going to forbid me to drink anymore captain?” Ashley's voice was a whisper that made Chris's eyes widen in surprise and then look at Leon fleetingly.

“ I think we can all agree that you're pretty drunk.” the brunette told her and she smiled softly.

“ I just have a looser tongue, that's all.” he purred.

Maria sensed that tone and spoke.

“ How loose? to confess some secret?”

Leon tensed for a second, fearful that she was telling something intimate.

Leon tensed for a second, fearful that he was telling something intimate between them.

But what he heard was ...different.

“ Enough to drag someone into a warm bath with candles and champagne.”

Kennedy wasn't understanding those words, but unlike Jill, Chris and him, the rest were smiling.

They did know about that facet.

The beep of the mic echoed and they all turned to the small stage.

“ Anybody up for a chance to go next? It's a long night guys!”

Maria cocked her head to Ashley and smiled mischievously.

“ I would like a wine and blues session in the dark of a fancy hotel, what do you say?”

Were they talking in riddles? Because Leon was already getting very lost in the conversation. He looked at Ashley in the hope that it would clear up some of his confusion, but what he found was even more puzzling.

Those amber eyes had darkened and sparkled along with a seductive lopsided smile. This was not the Ashley he knew.

“ Marching, Miss Vazquez.” She purred in a deep tone and rose from the table raising her arm. “ Here!” she exclaimed towards the presenter who was looking for a volunteer and smiled at the sight of her.

Leon looked at her in surprise, since the previous time he almost had to convince her to sing.

Ashley got out of her seat and as she took her first steps she stumbled. She looked down at her feet and with a sigh, bowed. She untied her laces and removed her heels to walk to the stage barefoot. Something that made Leon tingle for some reason.

She moved her hips with a different sensuality, with more undulating gestures. Leon realized he was staring too fixedly at that waist and cleared his throat ordering a non-alcoholic beer.

He needed to entertain himself with something else, but... his eyes betrayed him.

He heard a soft chuckle from Ashley as he walked on stage and took the mic in her hands, Sergio and John got up to go plug in their cell phones for a cover they had been working on. They used a song titled "Almost touch me" by Maisy Kay.

Ashley was smiling with her friends with her cheeks flushed from the alcohol and couldn't help but think how gorgeous she looked and how good that burgundy lipstick looked on her.

Then the lights dimmed and a soft piano melody with a bluesy feel began to play.

The spotlight focused on Ashley's figure, who was subtly wiggling her hips with the smoothness of a snake.

Leon seemed somewhat confused by how different she looked compared to the first night she sang there. He leaned a little closer to Maria to ask her.

“ Hey, is this what you meant when you said Ashley was a show when she drank?”

Maria gave an amused lopsided smile without taking her eyes off her former protégé.

“ Oh, it hasn't even started yet.”

Leon arched his eyebrows.

“ What do you mean?”

"Baby, I've been longin'

For the darkness hidden past your grin

See the secrets buried in your skin..."

A shock jolted Leon's spine as that voice began to sing. An erotic, velvety tone that was in total contrast to her previous performances. Maria smiled when she saw those blue eyes widen like saucers and turn towards the stage. She decided to answer him in a whisper.

“ She sounds like she's making love to you when she sings like that.”

The song was softer than the original, deeper and... Seductive.

They were just lyrics, but Ashley made them sound like caresses.

The way she slurred her voice or sighed some words seemed to take them into a darkened room, where her voice was the burning caresses on the skin of the listener.

Leon took a very long swig of his beer, trying to calm his unbridled heart and dry throat.

"In the midst of flirtatious innocence..."

Ashley fixed her jaguar eyes on Leon. A strange twinkling glow and her darkened amber irises, which made the bottle static against Leon's lips.

"See your eyes in a darkened room

Look at mine, see where your thoughts stray to..."

His heart lurched so violently that his pulse trembled and a gasp escaped from between his lips.

She was drunk, totally, it was chance...that she still had her eyes riveted on him.

Those golden eyes did not blink as she sang. Her melody made a strange sensation wash over the man, almost as if...if he was being touched. As if there were hands slipping under his clothes and gently caressing his body. The sensation was so vivid that he held a faint gasp in his throat, almost like a moan.

The song was ending. The light reflected the soft beads of sweat on Ashley's skin, which moved her hand up to her thigh and began to ascend, tracing her silhouette as she intoned the last lines, as if she was reaching a climax.

"Hands on my waist

You make it so I can barely breathe..."

The pitch rose along with the pulses of everyone listening to her and they felt a shock break through their bodies as she held that heartbreaking note. Like a scream in the dark.

Leon almost dropped the bottle and drank to put something in front of his eyes unable to look away.

He felt sweat soaking his back and his pulse pounding in his neck. His breathing was ragged and he had to gulp down the rest of the beer to calm his burning body.

It had definitely been a show.

Maria hadn't been kidding at all. Everything about Ashley had radiated a sensuality and eroticism he'd never seen.

And she was only barefoot in a simple satin dress and lipstick. She hadn't done anything provocative, just subtly moved her hips and hands to the sound of the song.

And she had managed to silence the whole bar.

Suddenly a wave of applause boomed in Leon's ears making him grunt and lower his head.

Casey whistled loudly and Ashley made a reference then swayed as she walked down the small stage with heels in hand.

Leon cleared his throat looking up at the ceiling as his eyes betrayed him as he moved down to Asley's cleavage, shiny with sweat.

" Leon, swallow, breathe and try again" he said to himself calming down.

He looked at her again and this time he was riveted on her burgundy lips.

"Fuck."

“ You were great.” Emily said extending her arm towards Ashley. “ I still have my hair standing on end.”

The blonde smiled happily and then turned to Leon. She looked at him with intensity, as if she was waiting to know what he had thought of her.

Leon swallowed, in a hurry for her voice to come out choked.

“ You've done well.” he held back, his muscles throbbing. Ashley's smile turned into a pout of disappointment.

“ Just well? - she said in a slightly more childlike tone, as if her inner child had taken on more strength.

Leon felt terrible at her words and wanted to quickly make amends.

“ No, no! You've been... impressive Ash, really!” he told her with a slight blush on his cheeks, a detail that made Emily smile and John, who also noticed it.

Ashley took a second to smile again from ear to ear, jumping up and down.

“ Hey, be careful Graham.” Chris said pointing at Ashley's bare feet.

Leon's body moved too fast. Long before he could think what he was doing.

“ Let me.”

He took the heels from Ashley's hand and dug his knee into the floor to put them on.

She felt her heart almost break her chest and had to lean on Leon's shoulder as he lifted a foot to put the shoes on her.

No one said anything, but everyone thought the same thing.

Leon remained stoic and stood up again with a neutral expression.

“ There, let's go.” He sounded calm, but inside his other self was banging his head against a wall.

" Idiot, idiot, idiot..."

Ashley followed Leon with tingles in her legs.

His hands had been so soft and... warm. The way he had squeezed the cords had almost made her gasp and her mind had only imagined one thing.

In those broad hands moving up her calves and up the back of her thighs until they slid under her dress and....

“ Watch out for the step.”

Jill's voice snapped Ashley back to reality. They all went outside and started walking towards Emily's house, where the dogs were.

“ This one goes to the blog Ash.” Sergio said looking at his cell phone excitedly, where he had recorded the performance.

Ashley smiled and grabbed Sergio's arm, stumbling.

“ Do you have any other projects?”

“ John is working on a couple of original tunes.”

Graham jumped up and now clung to John. Her dress lifted a little more than it should have and Leon noticed.

“ Yes, I'll show them to you when I finish them.” John said to her just before he noticed Leon throw his jacket over Ashley's shoulders.

“ Don't get cold.” said the agent looking straight ahead.

She watched him for a second and then felt the edge of the skirt of the dress much higher. Her face turned red and she pulled it down, only to realize that the lion's jacket covered her rear.

Had he been staring at her? She turned to him, but he had turned to talk to Casey. For a second a glimmer of lucidity made her think of the gestures she had made that night.

Still embarrassed, she slipped her arms inside the jacket that covered her carelessness, and gently inhaled the cologne that permeated the garment.

Between that and the alcohol that was still creeping up on her, she pranced around with her friends, humming and gyrating like an ordinary schoolgirl.

For that night she wanted to forget her worries and limits.

She didn't want to think, just let herself go.

After discussing some more time with Casey, talking about future projects with Sergio and John, and telling Emily off for being a traitor, they went by Connors' apartment to get the dogs.

After Ashley threw a tantrum, Leon carried her off like a sack over his shoulder as the rest of them laughed and said goodbye.

Kennedy turned the key to Ashley's apartment and when she finally entered the apartment she let out a long grunt of exhaustion. All day outside.

He took the harnesses off the dogs and hung them in the hall closet.

Ashley stumbled in and unlaced her heels between snorts. She tossed them into a corner and turned on the kitchen light to get a drink of water. She offered Leon a glass and he obliged and then watched her walk down the hall to her room. He couldn't help but smile at the situation. In the end he had indeed ended up drunkenly escorting her back home.

He finished his glass as he listened to Ashley open and close drawers in her room. He poured the dogs' feed into the feeders and made sure they had clean water in the mangers.

Ashley went out in her summer pajamas to the living room, where Leon was hollowing out the large canine beds.

The woman looked at the broad shoulders of her now co-worker and the alcohol clouded any judgment that might have stopped her actions.

“ Is someth-”

Leon's words were cut off as Ashley climbed on his back with a giggle. He laughed as if it were a game, struggling with her gently as she was drunk.

And before he knew it Ashley tied her legs around Leon's arms and waist and stretched him out on the floor. He tensed as she sat on his abs and his heart raced.

“ Come on Ash, you're drunk, you're going to hurt yourself.” He told her in a subtle nervous tone, trying to pull his arms out of her tight grip on his legs. But he couldn't.

“ Oh, come on, play with me Lee. - she complained, resting her hands on his chest.

"Lee? that was new."

“ You should go to sleep.” he tried to convince her, noticing her soft tan pajamas with straps. “ Tomorrow we have to go to the lab.”

But Ashley wasn't listening to him. She just watched the way Leon's lips moved as he spoke, mesmerized. The sound became secondary and she didn't know what he was saying to her.

“ Have I ever told you that you have beautiful lips?”

That made Leon go completely silent. His mind short-circuited, causing him to stutter.

“ What?”

He almost bit his tongue when Ashley ran her thumb across his lips, caressing his mouth like one would caress a flower.

All of Leon's muscles tensed. A fire siren began to sound in his head and his inner self hammered his heart with a sledgehammer.

And yet he could only lie there.

Soft gasps came from him as Ashley slid her fingertips along the man's cupid's bow.

And he could hear her unbridled throbbing.

He looked into her amber eyes and saw them totally lost in her mouth.

Because she was.

Ashley was only able to focus on her full lips and then whisper.

“ How lucky the person who can kiss them.” she paused briefly, which almost made Leon gasp. “ I bet red looks great on you.”

Wait a minute.

Wait.

This wasn't happening.

Ashley was smiling at him still without having removed her makeup and still wearing that red lipstick. He saw her lean toward him and a growl caught in Leon's throat.

She wasn't thinking and he was unable to react.

No. This couldn't happen. It wasn't right, he had to stop her. Fuck, why wasn't her body moving?

She leaned closer and a gasp came out of his mouth.

" Ash, react, no, wait."

Ashley ran her thumb across his lips and painted Leon's with the smudged finger. She smiled leaning back to look at her handiwork and let out a childish giggle.

“ Everything looks great on you.” she said with such an innocent and happy tone that contrasted with the situation.

Suddenly she let go and stood up.

“ I'm going to bed, good night Lee!” she hopped away and went into her room.

For a second he didn't know if he had a heart attack.

He stared at the ceiling holding his breath. When he realized that his lungs were burning he took a breath of air and put his hands to his face.

What the hell had just happened?

He was almost panting from how fast his heart was going. He felt like a hurricane inside him and he didn't know how long he lay on the floor until he managed to breathe somewhat normally.

Finally it was Mint who got him to react by giving him a lick and earning an angry growl from Leon.

He hardly thought much. He managed to get up, grab his keys and walk back to his house still bleary-eyed.

When he reached the bathroom and turned on the light he saw the red stain on her lips. His mind ticked off a sprint of successive images that only made his blood boil.

The demon in his head came out and began to rummage through situations that hadn't happened but... could have.

He banged his head against the wall.

"Enough."

He stood there. Static and tense. How long? Long enough. Long enough to strangle that indecent demon that only made him feel like a dirty dog.

Long enough until Ashley's words echoed against the walls of his skull in stereo and other memories began to mingle.

Memories and people he didn't want to think about.

That night was the first in two years he'd spent staring at the ceiling for something that hadn't been a nightmare.And it was absolutely... confusing.

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noforkingclue · 1 year

Note

Hi, there. Since your requests are open and you write for the 007 franchise, I was wondering if I might request something. Specifically Skyfall era. Maybe something where the reader is a new employee of MI6 (not exactly a field agent but equally important) and of course James fancies her and uses his charm on her. But she plays hard to get until she can't take it anymore and gives in.

Sorry if it's really specific. Please do your best. I know I'll love it!

Thank you!

Note: requests are currently closed

Aww thank you! I hope you do like the fic :)

Title: Just One Evening

James Bond tag list: @mxacegrey

Everything tag list: @greenrevolutionary, @byebyebreezywrites, @spngingerbread21, @layazul, @lov3vivian, @simonsbluee

You looked to the side and frowned as you heard the door to your workshop open and close. People tended not to venture down there. The only regular person was Q and those shoes definitely didn’t belong to him. Handmade, expensive, freshly polished and most definitely belonging to a 00 agent.

The shoes belonging to the agent came to a pause by the car you were working on. Only your legs were visible and you paused as you waited for the agent to make his or her next move. After a second the agent walked to the front of the car and used his foot to drag out the mechanical creeper you were using. You folded your arms and looked up into the face of James Bond. You raised your eyebrows at him.

“007,” you said coolly, “Q isn’t happy with you.”

“Isn’t he.”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

“When it comes to Q I rarely am.”

You were one of the mechanics working for Q Branch. Despite only recently joining you had quickly become one of Q’s most reliable employees and the one who didn’t mind working on the mostly destroyed cars that the 00 agents brought back. It was a messy job, with all the oil and grease, but someone needed to do it. You blinked in surprise as you realised that Bond was holding out his hand.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting your suit dirty.” You said

“I’ve had worse.”

“I’m sure you have.”

You narrowed your eyes at his nails, trying to see you if you see blood under them. However, much like all 00 agents, he seemed to be meticulous with how he presented himself. He gestured towards you again and your lip twitched as your grasped it. You let out a gasp as he easily pulled you to your feet and you stumbled slightly. Bond wrapped his arm around your waist.

“Easy,” he said, his lips brushing against your cheek, “Can’t have you falling over can hurting yourself.”

“And why not?”

“Q won’t be very happy.”

“There are other mechanics.”

“But none that he keeps such a close eye on.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Bond’s grip on your waist tightened for a second and you swiftly pushed him away. You folded your arm as a surprising awkward silence fell between you. Bond was always so charming and smooth. Someone who had an answer for everything and seemed determined to win you over.

“He seems protective of you.”

“And you sound jealous.”

“Maybe I am.”

“There are plenty of other people who I’m sure would be more than happy to spend the night with you.”

“And there’s no one else I’d rather keep seeing again than you.”

You blinked at the sincerity of his words. Bond put his hand back on your hip and he leant down, brushing his nose against yours.

“All I’m asking is dinner.” he said

“Fine,” you said with a roll of your eyes, “But you’re paying.”

#fanfiction #james bond #reader insert #request #james bond x reader

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thatbadadvice · 2 years

Text

Help! What If A Person Has A Human Body At My Wedding?

Dear Prudence, Slate, 17 August 2022:

Q. Am I wrong to think his actions were rude and disrespectful toward me at their family BBQ? I recently met my fiancé’s family for the first time at the family BBQ which his mom and dad organized at their cabin at the lake. Everything went well overall until the end. They seemed like friendly people. The sister initially I thought was a bit stand-offish but by the end, we had a chance to chat and my perspective of her changed. Mind you I am a very intuitive person and I can usually pick up people’s energy. I am also an introvert, so it takes me time to warm up to people. As we were winding down to say goodbye to everyone, I was standing next to my fiancé and directly behind his brother with just a small space between myself and the brother.

The brother decided to let one out loudly. A huge loud fart. This is a full-grown, married man acting in this way. My fiancé’s reaction was to pull me closer to him. His family’s reaction was to scoff it off. I can tell his wife was not pleased but also smiled about it. I felt embarrassed and disrespected but I played it cool until a few days later when I attempted to talk to my fiancé about it, to tell him how I felt. And how I was concerned for this type of behavior to happen at our wedding. His brother had texted him the next day and stated he “felt bad for farting on me.” My fiancé became defensive and angrily stated, “I won’t invite them then if you are worried about your family being disrespected.”

He said I was getting too worked up about it. Am I wrong to think his brother was rude and disrespectful for releasing gas loudly on me? Whether he did it intentionally or not, that’s not something you do in the presence of a stranger you have never met before. I need some advice on how to move forward because I feel like the next family encounter will be awkward, especially if he is going to be my fiancé’s best man at our wedding. Please give me some advice.

-- Rude Welcome Into The Family

Dear Rude Welcome,

Wedding days are fraught enough without the threat of the possibility of a person potentially passing gas somewhere in the general vicinity of the proceedings, the all time worst thing that could ever happen at or to a wedding in the era of overlapping global pandemics and climate-change-induced extreme weather events.

So no, you are emphatically not too worked up about this -- of all the things that could go wrong on your special day, one guy doing a fart is absolutely at the top of the list. When people think of things that could absolutely fucking decimate the day they’ve spent months, even years, planning, they think of a man farting. Brides and grooms the world over lay awake at night, trying to game out every terrifying eventuality that could result in the total destruction of their wedding experience, but none looms so large as: a fart.

You are infinitely kind and patient to entertain the thought that the fart could have been accidental, but we both know that all humans everywhere can contain their gaseous emissions all the time, because all our bodies all work exactly the same, and everyone knows that a barbecue meal of greasy smoked meats accompanied by flavorful greens and soupy baked beans is unlikely to produce alimentary gas! The math simply does not add up! This man is coming for you directly and specifically with his butt! The call is coming from inside this full-grown married man’s rectal cavity, and you mustn’t answer it!

Trust your impeccable intuition for once. And indeed it’s lucky that this gastrointestinal, barbecudinal tragedy befell you, an intuitive person, before your future brother-in-law had a chance to raze an entire church with a toot. A person less attuned to the ~ vibes ~ of the universe might not have recognized this man as the agent of chaos he so clearly is, but you sussed out his nefarious flatus for what it truly is: the sheer essence of disrespect, an intentional and deliberate flatulative assault on you personally, and a warning shot across the bow of your future wedding vows. This man cannot be allowed anywhere near your nuptials, lest the force of his flatulence blow the entire wedding party to kingdom come, a thing he clearly intends to do on purpose because he had gas after eating barbecue one time when you were there.

In fact, you may consider retaining a notary to stand watch at the entry to your venue so that they can witness signatures for those guests who are willing to enter into a contractual agreement not to pass wind for for the following five hours. Attendees who are unwilling to show you this most basic sign of respect by shutting down the normal functions of their human body during an event that probably includes an elaborate sit-down meal could perhaps watch a livestream of the ceremony in the comfort of their own disgusting, fart-filled homes like the repulsive trash goblins they are.

#dear prudence #bad advice #farts #gas #passing wind #IBS #weddings #brothers-in-law #in-laws #barbecues #marriage #advice

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lavenoon · 1 year

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I have nonstop been thinking about the newest chapter of AU for a few hours and now its officially Brain Rot hours (1 am).

Sun and Moon getting transferred because of a promotion to get more money to help out their brother is something I absolutely love! The boys having to move out and Robin learns of their identities is just icing on the cake.

But I raise you this: Instead of a young couple moving in, its Eclipse.

Eclipse had been wanting to pay a visit to his brothers after being away for so long that he begged for a transfer to their building that he got under the condition of doing a big secret project along with being unable to transfer back for a few months.

Sun and Moon are unaware that Eclipse has been transferred and Eclipse is unaware of the two's promotion.

Eclipse is sad to not see his brothers and struggling to find a place to live only to see Robin's listing for a tenant/resident (idk how it works/what it's called).

Robin is shocked to see another celestial animatronic but doesn't turn them away. Maybe Eclipse mentions his failing battery and that this place is his best bet at safe traveling to and from work; not to mention that because of the battery his work hours constantly change. Robin agrees because maybe this will help them overcome their sadness of the boys (it doesn't but hey new friend maybe).

A week later Robin is at work and catches on to whispers of a new lab guy and decides to visit the sector to see how good this new tech is (maybe they can get an upgrade they couldn't do themselves) only to see Eclipse making another explosion of a prototype.

Eclipse is so proud of their little explosion writing down his findings only to see Robin and introduces himself as Eclipse then remembers "Wait its Horizon".

Robin is a deer in headlights like "what do I do, this guy is my neighbor". They talk a bit with them to see how different he is only to see that Eclipse is just the same, if just a tad bit more explosive.

Maybe they talk and one night they both walk home late from work together (Robin revealed they were neighbors and Eclipse is just so happy to have a genuine friend) and it's a good thing too since Eclipse has a crash in front of them and Robin panics. Give it a few minutes and Eclipse is back online and explains that that is what he meant by safer route home.

Robin makes it a point from now on to keep an eye out for Eclipse when out to make sure he gets home safe. Maybe they hangout a lot more during the day so Eclipse can go explore the city more once they find out what's happening.

Sun and Moon don't learn about Eclipse moving/transferring until they try to contact him about his battery upgrade only for him to gush about his new neighbor and how great of a friend they are (whether he reveals its Robin along with their identity or not is up for debate. Honestly if he hasn't revealed who his brothers are to Robin yet would be a miracle)

At this point my brain has died from needing sleep since its now 2 am and I am 90% sure none of this makes sense.

Sorry for the long rambles in your inbox.

Hope you have a wonderful day/night dear! Take Care!

This is amazing and while it wouldn't quite work in canon, I'm eating this up!

Just. Oh my god. The higher ups finally got their asses into gear to prevent the identity leak of three agents living next to each other, trick two into transferring, and then their brother moves into their vacated home? The absolute irony. The hilarity. HQ is just twitching at this point.

A reveal with Eclipse that early on would go over a lot smoother - mostly because Eclipse just makes any secrecy impossible from the start. He recognizes his landlord, sees they recognize him, and just goes "Hey! Well that's a funny coincidence! :D" while Robin is caught between dynamics - currently they're the star agent, but in front of them is their giant golden retriever of a neighbor and it's just.

It's a lot.

But they're kind of used to "a lot" by now. Click the door shut for some privacy, and make sure they're alone, before just heaving the deepest sigh and asking "Let me guess, you have two brothers?"

"Oh, yes! I actually came to see them, but I haven't caught them yet."

And Robin kind of... They feel for him. They don't know much about him, but he got left behind (unbeknownst to Sun and Moon) just like they did. The communication between the three of them seems to be lacking, and that pisses them off, too.

Protective Robin, activate.

It distracts them from their own pain, too.

So they're still angry at their boys - but they just mentally adopted another, and boy did that go fast. Despite everything, befriending Sun and Moon lowered their walls, and if Eclipse comes in soon enough after the transfer, they haven't built them up again yet.

Gently (as gentle as they can be) they explain. The two transferred - got a promotion, and everything else. Eclipse listens, not quite sure what to make of it all, and just lets their name slip -

Robin immediately winces and shushes him - "Call me Robin when we're at work" "Wait, you're Robin?" "What do you mean, I'm Robin?"

Cue more realizations, when it clicks for Eclipse just how stupid his brothers were - he's a little nicer to his newest friend, who seems pretty angry at them themself, and doesn't ask why they didn't notice for over half a year

(*Sun and Moon worked there for a few months before moving in with Y/N - they had a temporary accommodation, and rose the ranks to already establish a rivalry with Robin before Sun every visited the place)

It gets even funnier should Sun/ Moon come back - the absolute terror of asking Eclipse for his new address ("When did you transfer??" "You didn't tell me about yours, why should I tell you about mine?") and getting their old one in return.

And then there's Y/N, somehow in the know about their messed up little family, bristling and ranting at them for not even telling their brother they're transferring - there's not even any need for secrecy, they're all three agents!

Wait.

They know that, too?

"Oh yes, Robin helps me out in the lab sometimes during slow days!"

"Well. I sit there with the fire extinguisher and we talk."

"That's more than the others do."

And Sun (bc it's probably him) just stands there, staring blankly, internally screaming loud enough to wake up Moon, who is VERY confused and then sees the situation at hand - and oop, now he's screaming too.

They got a lot to apologize for, now - and it's very awkward to suddenly have your brother and former crush rival/neighbor be besties and getting chewed out by the latter while the former stands behind them with the smuggest grin because, well... He didn't leave them. Will have to, at some point, yes, but not suddenly and not in a "leaving you behind" way, and there's no secrets anymore so they can just keep in touch.

There's still a happy end for them all, with Eclipse speeding that along, too, because he just keeps nagging Sun and Moon about "You're treating them right, yes? You're not being idiots again?" "No, Eclipse, we're being nice and we still apologize every day. Pretty sure they're sick of it by now, actually" "Do it again just to make sure"

In parallel, Y/N is texting Eclipse to "STOP TELLING YOUR BROTHERS TO BE SO APOLOGETIC IT'S WEIRDING ME OUT IF THEY KEEP LOOKING LIKE KICKED PUPPIES I WILL HAVE TO KICK THEM AT SOME POINT" "Glad to be of service (:" "If you want to be of service, send me one of those modified smoke bombs you made. I'm feeling vengeful." "Done!"

So it's a little awkward, and there's still some bitterness to address, (and also some realizations about the true nature of the promotion), but they'll all be okay <3

#answer let luce #darklighthedgehog #accidentally undercover #aaaa I wanted to say so much more but #spoilers for the sequel drabble AND I'm on a timer gfhdjs #but this is very much fun and swings it all around to the comedy this is supposed to be #bc. uh. AU *was* supposed to be a comedy GFHDJS #whoops sorry about that #sleep well!! Hope you didn't wait for this oh my god

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dr-spencer-reids-queen · 1 hour

Text

Nameless, Faceless: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.4k

Summary: Not even four hours after the case in Canada, you're thrown into another one. This time, without Hotch. You have a sinking feeling he's not just blowing you off to get some sleep. There's something wrong.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: welcome to the first episode of season 5! i hope you enjoy this series just as much as i loved writing it! <3

I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated.

"A weak man has doubts before a decision. A strong man has them afterwards." - Carl Kraus

Four hours. Four hours of sleep you got after ending that grueling case in Canada. Four hours later, you are called into another case. JJ didn't disclose the details of the case since you'd get them as soon as you arrive. You and Spencer meet up with Derek at the same time, and Rossi and Emily greet you who are already outside of the newest victim's house.

You freeze in your tracks and put a hand to your stomach that grinds and churns painfully. You gasp and look at Spencer who puts a hand to your back in comfort.

"What's wrong?"

"Where's Hotch?" you ask.

"I don't know. He hasn't arrived yet."

"Are you okay?" Rossi asks.

"Yeah, my stomach hurts. It's probably from the lack of sleep. I'm gonna call Hotch." You take your phone out and call your boss but he doesn't answer. "He's not answering."

"He probably has it on vibrate. He'll show up eventually."

You don't tell them that you think something is seriously wrong with Hotch. If there isn't anything wrong, then you're going to worry everyone for no reason. You push down the feeling of uncertainty and focus on the case at hand.

"We're not working a case. Why call us to a crime scene?" Derek asks.

"I was hoping you knew."

"JJ said the police told her it was urgent."

"With four hours of sleep after what we went through in Canada, it better be," Derek sighs.

You five walk inside the victim's house where JJ, the detective, and the CSI agents are. Your stomach churns again and Derek notices the way you wince in pain.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Something is wrong with Hotch, you can feel it. You don't want to worry anyone without knowing more details.

"Oh, you guys are already here. Do you guys remember Detective Walker?" JJ asks.

"Thanks for being here. I understand none of you are working on much rest."

"Who's the victim?" you clear your throat.

"His name is Nelson Martinez. From what we can figure, he answered his door, was forced into the apartment at gunpoint, and then shot in the chest. It was all pretty sloppy."

"No disrespect, but I don't understand why you need us here," Derek says.

"Two days ago, a local doctor named Tom Barton found a note addressed to him at the hospital. It said the person was planning to kill his son. If Dr. Barton tried to keep his son hidden, one person would die every day in his place."

"You think this is connected?"

"There was a note on the body. It's signed L.C. Yesterday, we had another victim with multiple gunshots outside the apartment. The shooter wrote L.C. in white chalk next to the body."

"Unless Dr. Barton puts his son in harm's way, we're gonna keep having a victim a day," Spencer says.

"We're Barton now?"

"He's at home," JJ answers. "He doesn't know about this victim yet."

"Where's Hotch?" you ask again.

"He's not answering his cell. I assume it's on vibrate. He'll get the message when he wakes up."

You hope all he's doing is sleeping.

"Try him again. He can meet us at Barton's house."

You leave the house first and grab your phone to call him again. Like the half dozen times before, it goes to voicemail.

You've reached Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. Please leave a detailed message. Thank you.

"Hotch, it's Y/N again. Listen, we're gonna need you to meet us at a house in Mclean, Virginia. 120 Kensington Road. Call me when you get this."

The sick feeling in your stomach only gets worse by the time you reach Dr. Barton's house. He is eager to let you into his house because this whole thing has him freaked about protecting his own life as well as his son's.

"Barton, where is your son right now?" Emily wonders.

"I asked him to stay up in his room."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that there was a threat against me at the hospital. I told him the police didn't take it seriously, that they wanted me to stay here for a few days, and that I wanted to have him with me."

"What about Jeffrey's mother?"

"She died when he was ten from breast cancer. Would someone really hurt Jeffrey?"

"Two people are dead already. Whoever sent that note is obviously serious."

"If I don't let Jeffrey out of the house, then another person's gonna die? He's only fifteen. I cannot put him in danger."

"We're not asking you to. Even if you were willing, we can't send him to school knowing he would endanger every student in the building. What we need to do now is go over everything we know and piece together how this person fits into your life," Rossi says.

"I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt Jeffrey," Dr. Barton stutters.

"Whoever wrote that note was putting you on notice. This is personal. He wants you to remember who he is, and until that happens, he hasn't accomplished what he set out to do."

"I know you've been asked this before, but please think again. Do you know anyone with the initials L.C.?" you wince in pain.

"I've looked everywhere," he sighs. "In my day planner, emails, and patient lists. There's no one."

"Have you noticed anyone who might have been watching you either at the hospital or here in the neighborhood?"

"No. I'm sorry."

"Both the victims he's killed have been Hispanic men in their forties. Have you had a patient recently that fits the description?" Detective Walker asks.

"I'm a trauma surgeon in D.C. I have endless patients of all demographics."

"We're gonna need records of all your recent surgeries."

"Of course."

"I'll call Garcia," JJ announces and steps off to the side.

"I don't understand. If he's mad at me, why not just kill me?"

You leave the group and walk over to JJ who is texting Penelope.

"Hey, is there any word from Hotch?"

"No, nothing."

"That's not like him," you sigh and touch your stomach.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think it's from the lack of sleep," you lie.

Dr. Barton's phone rings and he eagerly picks it up thinking it's good news.

"Hello? ... Jeffrey? ... What's happening? Are you okay?" Derek immediately runs upstairs to check if Jeffrey is in his room only to discover that his window is wide open. "Jeffrey, what's going on? Talk to me."

"He's not up here."

"Jeffrey, where are you?" He hangs up regretfully and looks at everyone in the room. "He's at school. He says he's fine but for how long?"

"Let's go. JJ, you're with us. Prentiss, Y/N, and Reid stay with Dr. Barton and go through all of his case files. The unsub is in there," Rossis takes charge.

Dr. Barton doesn't give this two thoughts because as soon as half the group is out of the house, he goes running after them.

"Dr. Barton, please!"

"You need to go back inside," Rossi says.

"I'm coming with you. I'm gonna get my son."

"Sir, right now nobody is getting your son. Agent Prentiss or Y/N will explain it."

"I don't need an explanation. I'm getting Jeffrey."

"You need to listen right now. Once your son left this house, the safest place for him to be is at that school. We can control access in and out. Detective Walker will organize an evacuation as soon as the school day is done. If we incite a panic now and the unsub is outside, a lot of kids are gonna die," Derek explains.

"What if the killer is already at the school?"

"Then we'll be there, too. Let us do our job."

"Jeffrey knows better than this. He doesn't put himself in danger."

"I think he's just trying to do the right thing. He sees what his father does for a living. This is his way of trying to save lives, too."

"You'll be there?" Dr. Barton asks after a moment.

"Yes."

"Tell him I'm not mad at him. Tell him I love him, and I'm proud of him."

"We will."

Rossi's team leaves for the school while you, Emily, and Dr. Barton head back inside to where Spencer is. He's on the phone with Penelope going over the case files over a certain time period. This unsub started killing recently, so his case might not have been that long ago. The feeling in your stomach gets worse just as a new pain erupts in your side.

Something is seriously wrong with Hotch.

"This guy is a trauma surgeon working in a major metropolitan area. We are talking thousands of surgeries."

"Confine it to the last six months."

"That's still hundreds. Do you want biological information or full medical charts?"

"Can you get the full medical charts?"

"You know, for a smart boy, you still ask a lot of dumb questions. You'll have them in seconds."

"Ask her if Hotch checked in with her," you say.

"Did Hotch check in with you?"

"He's not with you?"

"He's probably on his way. Uh, thanks for everything. Bye." He hangs up on her. "She's going to email the files. We'll print them out from here."

"I could have my office send over the files."

"Trust us, this is faster. We need to dig through your life and try to figure out why this is happening. Let's start with the most recent cases first. Something set this guy off and odds are it's in your files. Let's concentrate on the note. For starters, we know that he's male."

"How do you know?" Dr. Barton asks.

"Women tend to add adjectives and very specific details to their notes. This has none of those," Emily explains. "Males are also more direct. The first sentence is 'I plan to kill your son'. Their notes tend to be more about themselves than the person they're writing to. For example, 'I watched you every day' and 'I will watch you lose everything'."

"We know he surveilled you and your son which means he either has enough money to be away from a regular job or he's currently unemployed. He's most likely a father because he's clearly grieving. He's taken great measures to make sure you feel his pain."

"Let's start with cases involving teenagers that were killed, but also anyone with a strong family presence. Just because your son is fifteen doesn't necessarily mean that his child is the same age."

"Have you had a lot of cases like this where someone taunts you with what they're gonna do?" Dr. Barton asks.

"A few."

"How did they end?" No one answers his question because it's not something he should hear. "Please."

"Suicide by cop seems to be an effective way for them to make their point while ending their suffering all at once," you answer.

"Jeffrey is leaving school in five hours. There's no way we can get through all these patients at this time."

"We already narrowed the list."

"We still have a hundred left." Dr. Barton is clearly upset with the way things are and he realizes he's lashing out. He takes a few deep breaths before continuing. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be callous but when you work in the ER, you don't remember names. You operate and you move on."

This is your opportunity to check in on Hotch. Please let him be sleeping.

"He's right. There are too many files here for us to profile in such a short time. I'm gonna go get Hotch. You two stay here and start filtering through the list. I should be back in half an hour."

"Who's that?"

"He's our supervisor. We weren't supposed to work today. We're having trouble getting ahold of him."

"We need more eyes. I'll be right back."

You kiss Spencer's head when you pass by him.

"The note doesn't say that he'll kill Jeffrey today. It says, 'If not today, tomorrow, or the next day'. Let's say he gets home safe. How long will you all be around to make sure he's okay?" Dr. Barton asks worriedly.

"Let's just get through today."

The principal of the school is more than happy to help the FBI once she hears exactly what is going on in her school. She wants to take action immediately but the team isn't so keen on the idea.

"I need to notify all the parents," the principal panics.

"We think that's a mistake."

"I'm in charge of keeping these kids safe, agent."

"Exactly, and there's a natural end to this day when buses and parents come to pick these kids up. Whoever's doing this is not an effective shooter. His killings are sloppy. So, if there's a panic, a lot of people could be caught in the crossfire," Derek explains.

"Can't you just take Jeffrey home?"

"If we do that and the unsub is watching, someone else is gonna be killed."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"We'll lock up every filter point except the front door. Nobody comes in. We say it's school policy so there will be no questions, and if someone needs to see a student, we bring the kids to them."

"I'll need a complete list and employment records of everyone already inside the building," JJ says.

"I'll brief your security guards and take care of all of the exits. After that, I need you to gather the faculty into small groups and bring them to me. We'll treat it as routine, and in the meantime I need you to get Jeffrey out of class as casually as possible. Can you do that?"

"Sure."

Derek, Rossi, and JJ follow the principal to the classroom Jeffrey is in and she steps inside alone.

"Jeffrey Barton. Could I see you for a moment?"

The other students mutter in curiosity as Jeffrey meets the principal in the empty hallway. He sees the three FBI agents and becomes worried.

"Hey, Jeffrey. My name's Derek Morgan. I'm with the FBI."

"I saw you in my living room."

"Listen, the first thing I need to know is if you've told anyone about what's happening?"

"No."

"Are you sure? Because even just one text message could set this place off."

"I'm sure."

"Alright. We're gonna keep you safe, kid. In order to do that, you're gonna have to stay calm and trust me. Do you understand? Every time you step out of class, I will be right here. Now, it's gonna look like I'm just another adult in the hallway with Principal Findlay, but I got your back."

"Is my dad okay?"

"He knows you were just trying to do the right thing. He just wants to get you home safe."

"Do you think somebody's trying to kill me to get back at him?"

"It's possible."

"Do you know why?"

"That's what we need to figure out."

Jeffrey goes back to class knowing he is going to be safe from whoever is targeting him. Even as he goes from class to class, he sees JJ and Derek right there watching him. He has no doubt that he is going to be safe, but the same thing can't be said for Hotch.

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#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid angst #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds angst #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds series rewrite #criminal minds season 5

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