#and I got a lead position - low-key the top ish spot | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sunnyjae · 3 years

Note

hey! im actually obsessed with your writing (its so good omg, youve got me going CRAZY) so maybe #34 & #44 with dom!jake x sub!reader and maybe it being like enemies but lowkey fwb? and well you can do wtv with nicknames (pretty girl and those along those lines has me going insane tho)

sorry if its too detailed! you can do whatever with this req !!

lmao me crying 😩 anything with pretty in front of it is a yes

i hope this one was a vibe lol i think i enjoyed writing this one a little too much

also thank you for reading! I’m super surprised i get you guys riled up like that haha ;)

prompts: #34 "get on your knees," + #44 "you want my cum?"

pretty girl [part one] ♡ sjy [req]

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT. I put my smut strictly under the smut tags on here to protect you guys so don't open anything with a warning like this one. Please.

pairing ♡ jake x fem!reader, strict-ish soft??dom!jake, sub!reader

genre ♡ non-idol!au, suggestive, smut, fluff

warnings ♡ dumbification, overuse of petnames, riding, lots of dialogue (bc i'm a whore for dirty talk but we all knew), low-key breeding kink, so much teasing oh my, finger sucking like twice??, dirty talk ofc, low-key ddlg, very unrealistic scenario lol

word count ♡ 2.9k

summary ♡ jake's a tease in your frenemies (sort of) relationship, little did you know he's a tease inside the bedroom too

You cursed yourself at the mental image of getting on your knees for Jake, his fingers gripping your chin as he fed you the tip of his hot, fat cock, desperate for some relief. The way you drooled, imagining him calling you filthy names, making you swallow his big load - one that he had been saving just for your pretty mouth.

Grumbling at the thought, you remembered the time he’d teased you in front of the guys, even going the extra mile and calling you in class several times just to say he found your spot cream in the fridge. The boy heckled you, embarrassed you and made fun of you whenever he could, and yet you were still so affected by his presence it made you want to swear aloud sometimes.

And when you were in the middle of washing the dishes, your brother's best friend lazily ambled in, taking notice of you in all your pajama-ed glory. Jake gritted out an internal ‘Shit.’, feeling his dick stiffen in his sweats (as if it wasn’t the first time you did that to him). He stalked around the kitchen island behind you, and his voice broke the silence.

"You look nice," he lilted, and with a clatter, you dropped the utensils you were holding.

Opting to leave them now that they were sinking into the water anyway, you mumbled a weak, "Go away,".

Jake only chuckled in response, letting his eyes graze you up and down shamelessly. He eyed the way your spaghetti top hugged your boobs, accentuating your waist and leading to the hem of your shorts, which clung deliciously to your ass as if they were made for you. You just looked so breakable yet so soft.

Jake couldn't help but groan internally. And by God did he want to absolutely fucking wreck you.

He found your diary around a week ago, in which you wrote your frustrations out (including your sexual ones), and Jake had noticed something incredibly interesting as he was casually flicking through - he noted it was for your own safety, not his mind-boggled curiosity.

You liked a lot of the same...niche...things he liked. Although Jake had never brought it up to his past girlfriends, the idea of you allowing him to take the role of the carer, you being his baby, in whatever silent feud-slash-lust thing you had going on, had his knees buckling under him.

"Calm down, I'm just giving you a compliment." he sidled up beside you, lips pushing outwards into a cute duck-like pout.

You had to gulp down your saliva, legs already trembling at his proximity. The way he leaned over you, deliberately making you feel tiny, had your head positively spinning.

"Please, give me some space." you yelped out, voice nearly breaking because of the tension in your lungs.

He raised his hands in defence and leaned against the kitchen counter, watching you finally wash and dry your hands - one of the cute things he noticed about you too, was that they were significantly smaller than his.

He smirked when he noticed you trembling with the bowl in your hand.

"You need help?"

Your fingers were white from how hard you were gripping the ceramic, and you couldn't help but whine under your breath from the intensity of his gaze. It was like he was actively trying to make you submit to him, but the power in that - without him having to say a word - was what made you wet.

"Uh, no. I'm fine." you replied unnecessarily sharply, feeling your cheeks warm with heat. Jake pushed himself away from the toaster and took a few tempting strides closer to you, watching you take out a can opener and a tin you needed to get some fruit out for the frozen yogurt you were tasked with making for tonight. Sunghoon had invited Jake to stay over for the night, since it was a Wednesday and your lectures were cancelled altogether - Jake Sim was thrilled at the information (for many reasons).

Leaning over your shoulder, his lip twitched at your struggle with the tool. "Dummy." he muttered, gently taking the items from you.

Your throat dried at his comment, but your pussy definitely wasn't close to being that. You chose not to pick up on it, for the sake of your own ego. Jake opened the tin with ease and poured the peach slices out into the bowl beside you, setting the tin down with a light thud.

What you didn’t expect, however, was when two of his fingers accidentally dipped into the syrup, and he lifted them to your lips expectantly. "Open." Jake muttered, eyeing your pretty mouth. He just knew you’d taste sweet.

You didn't know why you were following through, but it was like his words affected you more than you initially thought.

Watching your lips part, Jake smirked that same pretentious smirk he always did and waited for you to "Suck."

He found himself muttering “God, I wish you’d get on your knees for me.” with no real aim of having you hear it, but knowing your enfatuation with him, of course you'd perk up at anything he did.

You closed your eyes, lips eventually circling his digits without much thought. When your eyes opened again, Jake nearly swore aloud while feeling your tongue swipe at the pads of his fingers. Your eyes were wide and gazing into his with a deep longing that had him stirring in his pajama sweats.

He pulled his fingers out of your desperate mouth reluctantly, "Pretty." before stepping over to the fridge like he hadn't just caused you to nearly collapse onto the tiles your legs were trembling on.

The sweetness lingered on your lips, and you licked at them subtly, wishing it were Jake's tongue on them instead of your own. The way he would softly praise you, call you his, make you lie down all pretty for him like a gorgeous pillow princess.

"Making dessert?" he asked, casually taking out a banana milk bottle from one of the shelves inside. That question snapped you out of your reverie almost immediately.

You stared intensely at the bowl in front of you, not wanting to embarrass yourself any further by making any more unnecessary eye contact. Like this, you felt like dumb in front of Jake sometimes, and you knew he enjoyed seeing you in this way.

"Yeah." you breathed airily, swallowing hard to curb the whine that edged to escape from your throat - the reason being his eyes ; those dialated pupils roving over your tense body, coming up to meet your own every so often.

"Don't you uh- have anything better to get to?"

His lack of immediate response had you balking.

"You know," he took a sip of his milk, leaning back to set it aside - the action itself nonchalant, worryingly tempting. "If I asked you nicely to be kinder to me then you'd probably do it,"

"You're just dumb like that."

A soft gasp filled the air, and you realised it was you once his eyebrows raised in response. "Am I wrong?"

You watched as he pushed himself away from the freezer, edging a few steps forward to meet you next to the island. He was a whole foot taller than you, and somehow having your vision obscured by a certain Jake Sim gave you the dragon equivalent of butterflies in your tummy.

"Gonna be nice to me from now on?" he mocked, lip upturned. "Play on that goody-two-shoes personality for me? Be a good girl?"

"I-" you whined, words on the precipice of your tongue, teetering on the edge of a terrific, catastrophic plunge.

"Aw," he tutted, tilting his head back to take in your embarrassed, heated gaze. Your decreasing ability to speak, making him struggle to keep the (albeit tiny) space left between you. Jake felt the need to lean down to whisper in your ear, "When you decide to play nice, you come and find me."

And that was the end of your last anticipated conversation with Jake that evening, the air of tension in the kitchen merging with whatever Sunghoon's suspicious gaze brought with it as he strolled in. His sister and his best friend were polar opposites, so awkwardness didn't come as a surprise with two contrasting personality types, however Sunghoon sure had had enough of this bermuda triangle of fumbling words and strange energy.

Finishing rinsing with mouthwash after brushing your teeth was the highlight of your night time routine for sure. It was the very last thing you usually did before bed, other than applying some lip care and lotion to your skin. The bathroom door left slightly ajar opened a little more, closing behind the last person you'd expected to see. He leaned over the sink next to where you stood, his thumb barely brushing the material of your shorts over your hips as he gave his face a once-over in the mirror.

"I'm still using the bathroom."

"I know."

You mumbled, words coming out uncharacteristically pathetic to anyone who would have known you for you. "You um- could wait?"

His eyes caught yours, almost glinting in the mirror's LED light, glazing over at the mere sight of you. You curled into yourself, the drawer handle under the sink basin digging into your mid-thigh when he stepped behind you, arms caging you in further. The death grip you had on your vaseline tin had the metal warming in your palm, a discomfort settling in from the ridges indenting your skin.

Breath cool, heart pounding, knuckles white, your lips formed around his name in a whisper.

"Hm?"

Jake reached up to twist your head to face him, thumb just under your shiny bottom lip.

You just knew this was going to be a gruelling and difficult sleep.

Coming into Sunghoon's room (tonight, Jake's) was something you never thought you'd do. Duvet and pillow in hand, you stood at the door.

You sniffled, feeling overwhelmed from just twenty minutes ago when you were sucking on his fingers. With the softness in his touches, yet a hardness in his eyes that could be mistaken for malice, you recalled the names he'd called you.

"What're you doing here pretty?" Jake asked, noticing your figure in the threshold to his room as he scrolled through his phone. You brought your shoulders to your ears and looked down shyly.

"Come here." he invited, glancing down at his lap for you to get the message, his bulge was still painfully straining from earlier.

You mewled, crawling over to his bed, watching him peel the duvet and settle you onto his hips, moving his hands to your face, he stroked over your cheeks and lips with his thumbs, sighing.

He was so warm you couldn't help but put your stuff aside and melt into his body, pressing your cheek against his chest and your hands on his pecs. "Jus' wan'ed to sit." you muttered, not even coherent at this point.

"Dumb little baby wanted to sit on my lap?" he asked, smoothing his palms down the skin of your plush thighs.

"Yeah," you nodded, now moving your head so you were face to face.

"I thought you didn't like me sweetheart," he sighed, not being able to stop the smirk from appearing again.

"Hm," you huffed, face hot.

"Are you gonna be good and answer me?" he thumbed at your lips, eyes gazing at them shining under the dim light of Sunghoon’s desk lamp.

“You’re annoying, Jake. I don’t like you.” you lied, feeling his cock press into your crotch, hot under his pajama pants.

Jake sighed teasingly. “Well, pretty girl,” hands moving down to your hips, he pressed you down onto his hardness more. “That’s a shame, isn’t it?”

Chest tight, your nipples hardened under your flimsy crop top. “W-why?”.

He hummed, pressing his face into your neck softly. “I’m in a very giving mood right now.” he sighed, lips dragging across your skin until they reached your ear. “But considering your dislike for me, I don’t think you’ll want what I have to offer.”

“W-what do you have to offer, Jakey?” you whispered, shuddering. He smirked into the side of your face.

A pause. “Are you going to tell me the truth?” he lilted, “I don’t like lying little girls - they don’t get rewards.”

You swallowed, a strained sound escaping your throat. “I-I wasn’t lying.”

“Oh, but I know you were.” he nodded, nosing at you as you melted into him. “C’mon baby, tell me what’s going on in that dumb little head of yours.”

“I’m sorry Jakey.” you whined, “I-”

He stroked at your head with one hand, lips pouting at your jaw to press a featherlight kiss to it.

“I-I think about you sometimes.” you mumbled, breath hitching when he let out an affirmative sigh. “I’m listening,” he replied with a coy smile.

“Dirty things,” you added.

Jake was thrilled, cock hard and swollen under the confines of his clothes. “What kind of dirty things, sweetheart?” The words could have been so so innocent if it weren't for the hot bulge pressing into you as you melted into his lap.

You had to gulp, and it was audible. “Like s-sitting on Jakey’s lap.”

“Like now?”

You reached his ear with your lips, the sweetness of your scent making Jake want to manhandle you flat on the pillows and make you scream and cry in pleasure. “Yeah- but- I sometimes think about Jakey’s cock in me. A-and Jakey’s cum.”

“Hm. Such a good girl for telling me the truth.” with his mouth at the shell of your ear again, his voice reverberated delectably closer to you.

“What did you want to offer?” you mumbled, soft fingers playing with the fabric of his t-shirt.

The next words Jake uttered make your cunt throb shamelessly.

“Dumb baby’s princess parts must be feeling achy, huh?”

You felt yourself nod fervently, “Jakey was going to offer you his cock to sit on - to make that special spot feel better again. How does that sound?” he added with a whisper.

“Please let me on your cock,” you begged, bouncing on his lap a little in anticipation, and Jake halted your movements with steady hands on your waist.

He pretended to think, thumbs reaching the band of your silk shorts to just snap the elastic back teasingly.

“I don’t think my dumb baby’s princess parts belong to Jakey, though.” his lips twitched, fingers letting go of the fabric and pressing his fingertips into your hot slit.

“They do! T-they belong to you.” you hiccuped, completely drunk on Jake's words and teasing actions alone. You were worried before that if he were to make you suck on his fingers once more, you'd really probably cum with one touch.

He smiled, amused at your pleading. “Jakey’s princess parts.” you affirmed innocently, whimpering at the feeling of relief where his fingers just pressed.

“You gonna let Jakey slide his big cock into his princess parts?” He bit his lip, "All creamy, huh?"

“Yeah.” and with that approval, he pushed the crotch of the material covering your pussy to the side and pulled himself out of his bottoms.

“You like my cock, sweetheart?” he asked, his length hard on his stomach. Your eyes were wide at the new image, not really managing to process the situation.

You smiled shyly, pressing your face into his cheek. “Yeah.”

lmao this is giving ‘warm’ vibes

Finally pressing his tip into you, your pussy lips parted at the stretch, the fullness something you’d been waiting for so patiently since he first started to have such an effect on you. “Oh fuck-”

“Stupid girl, Jakey doesn’t like swearing. Apologise.” when he was fully sheathed in you, balls deep, his voice slipped deliciously into a lower octave.

“‘M sorry,” you drooled, face nuzzled into his shoulder. “Deep.”

“Fucked dumb.” he sighed, “All pretty for me.”

“Cum.” you pawed at his shoulder, the hands he had on your hips lifting you up and pressing you down onto his cock again. “Want cum.”

“You want to cum?”

“No- I want Jakey’s cum. In Jakey’s princess parts.” your voice was shaky and wrecked, and your thighs trembled at the feeling of being so satiated and finally filled to the brim.

“You want my cum?” Jake used his fingers to tilt your head up to be level with his so he could gaze into your eyes.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll give you a big load, sweetheart, don’t you worry about that.” he groaned at your tightness. “You wanna leak my cum?”

“All the time,” you pouted, teary eyes reflecting need and desperation.

"Bounce on it then sweetie, just like this." he lifted you by the hips so he slipped out, the tip just stretching out your opening before he pressed you back down again. The sharp fullness made you almost sob.

Complying with his instruction, you sat up and began to move. Jake's cock slipped in and out of you with lewd quelches and a repeated pap pap pap that should have been something out of a porno, along with your cute sounds and Jake's heavy breathing.

You moved. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. And the way he gazed into your eyes as you moved had butterflies erupting in your tummy.

"Such a pretty girl," he smiled at you, the genuinity taking you back a little, even in your wrecked and sensitive state. As you started getting tired, Jake pressed a few shushing kisses to your jaw. "Shhh, baby. Just sit, okay? I'll take care of you."

And he pressed you down into his lap, using his thumb to rub pretty circles onto your little clit. "Jakey's Princess feeling good?" he asked, cursing under his breath as he nearly felt himself cum when you clenched tight around him.

"Princess parts feel so good." you nodded, eyes half-lidded as you shuddered on top of him as your climax hit. "Hmmm."

"Coming around my cock so well," he shushed you with his lips, the mewling from your lips growing in volume at the stinging sensitivity. "You gonna let Jakey fuck his cum into you?"

"Please," breathless, you approved, and that's all it took for Jake to give you his load finally.

Wrapping his arms around you, he tiredly reached for the duvet and shuffled with you on top of him and him still inside you.

You were satisfied, and whatever you and Jake had to talk out would be saved for the morning when you were more coherent.

i'm so so sorry i've been away for this last week! i got a lot requests so it's been a matter of keeping up with that and schoolwork. because of something personal I am going through it will take me longer to complete all your requests. I'm really sorry once again lovelies ♡ i hope you guys enjoyed this piece 😊

#kpop smut #enhypen smut #enhypen jake smut #jake sim smut #jake smut #jake enhypen smut

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finleyfray · 3 years

Text

Bittersweet Memories

Part 2

Part 3

Huge thanks to @captain-josslett for helping me with English and making this have more sense

TW: smut(ish) just a little, some angst, laguage, think that’s all!

Finley struggles to open the door to their apartment. She was tired and her head was hurting so much. She just wants to snuggle with her girlfriends and fall asleep.

“Hey.” Fin looks over and sees Alex walking towards her and embraces her in a hug. “You look like crap.” Fin rests her head on Alex's chest and chuckles.

“Thanks darling, I’m happy to see you too. Is Maggie home yet?” She yawns and Alex leads her to the couch. “I have a killing headache.” Fin sits on Alex and rests her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“She’s picking up some food. Did you take your migraine medicine today?” The redhead asks Fin with a stern look on her face.

“Shoot, I forgot.” The black haired woman whines.

“Here we go again.” Alex sighs. “Did you drink water today? Eat anything?”

“Oh come on, don’t harass me like that. Of course I did drink and eat... we had breakfast, didn’t we?”

“That was yesterday, Finley, this morning you woke up too late and ran off to work. Making a huge mess. Leaving your clothes on the floor. And your wet towel in the bathroom on my clothes. I swear to God, how much water did you drink?” Alex scoffs.

“Well...I didn’t see your clothes, I’m sorry. I didn’t drink water... but I’ve had coffee! And a can of Monster! Or two…” Suddenly her girlfriend stands up, resulting in Fin falling off of her. “Ouch! That hurt.”

“That’s not... I swear I’m going crazy with you!” They hear the door open and Maggie coming into the living room looking at them.

“What are you yelling about?” She frowns and looks at Alex, who looks angrily at Fin. “Maggie, I’m glad you’re here.” The redhead says with a smile. “See, our girlfriend here was wondering why her head hurts so much! Fin, care to tell Maggie how you took your medicine this morning, drank plenty of water and ate three meals?” Her voice is full of sarcasm and Finley curses mentally.

“Oh come on. I’m going to eat now, and drink water and take meds, I swear I just forgot!” She tries to defend herself, but Maggie already looks at her with her stern mother look. “Don’t be mad at me.” Fin puts on her puppy face. “Pwaaseee.” She pouts.

“No, no, don’t give me this face, you know the deal. How can you forget to take care of yourself almost every day?!” Maggie growls flustered. “These are literally the basic things in life. You have to eat, and you have to drink water to survive, and you know after that mission where you hurt your head pretty bad, that you have to take your migraine medicine, otherwise you’ll be in pain. And you should remember it, how you keep forgetting to take care of yourself is beyond me.”

“I don’t know...” Finley looks down, because she did know. She wasn’t taught how to take care of herself. In the orphanage they didn’t care if the kids ate something, they didn’t care if they had something to drink, or walked around in dirty, damaged clothes.

So Fin learnt how to go days without eating, only drinking some sink water. It was normal for Fin. So she grew up, was then thrown out on her 18th birthday, and went to college. She didn’t think of that either. Having not enough money to eat every day, or buy new clothes, having to survive on minimum wage that she was earning with her job. It was hard to manage to study and work 16 hours a day, but she had to stay positive. So when Finley started working in the DEO and earning so much money, she decided she had to save it. Save it in case something goes wrong and she loses her job. But, this drove her girlfriends insane. How she couldn’t do the basic thing, like putting her dirty clothes away. How every time she tried to make laundry, it went wrong on some level. She’d mix dark clothes with white. Sometimes she forgot to add laundry detergent. Or she forgot she put the washing machine on but forgot to dry it. So the clothes stayed there until Alex or Maggie saw it. Finley really tries, she does, but it just escapes her mind every time.

“I’m sorry.” Fin sighs, she wasn’t going to tell them, she doesn't want their pity “I guess I’m just getting distracted.” Maggie scoffs, but goes to hug their girlfriend anyway. Soon Alex joins and they stay together for a bit.

“I did buy dinner, so let’s get you some food, and water, then you’ll take your medicine and we can go to bed.” Maggie kisses her softly and Finley smiles into the kiss.

***

Later as they were in bed, after eating and showering, Finley lay on top of Alex while Maggie was still in the shower.

“Are you still mad at me?” Fin asks, looking in her girlfriend’s brown eyes.

“I’m not mad Finnie.” Alex sighs cupping Fin's cheek. “I was frustrated, of course, I will still be when you do this. But I’m not mad.” She kisses Finley softly, her other hand going to Finley’s back holding her close. The blue-eyed woman sighs happily and wiggles on top of Alex to get more comfortable.

“Fin...” Alex breathes heavily “Stop moving.”

“Why, does it bother you?” Finley smiled devilishly, pressing her leg against Alex’s core and moving her hips. The redhead kisses her girlfriend hard and bends her leg so it was now against Finley too. The shorter woman moans at the sudden pressure, and moves her hips faster.

“Oh, I see you’re better.” Maggie stands there watching her girlfriends making out and humping each other for a few minutes. “So I’m glad I decided not to put any clothes on.” Her girlfriend’s stop and looks at her. Maggie's hair was still wet from the shower, and she only had her towel on. “Can you two just be naked already?” She drops her towel on the floor. “That was quite a nice show you did for me. But, I’m afraid I need to cuff both of you for breaking the rules.”

“B… But... “Alex’s face was almost as red as her hair “We didn’t… We still have all clothes on! We didn’t had sex without you!” She looked at Finley, who already had taken all of her clothes off, she sure was ready. “You’re such a bottom!” Alex scoffs, sure the black-haired woman was so ready for Maggie to cuff her, but Alex tried hard to remain her tough face.

“Agent Danvers, I’m afraid I insist.” Maggie smirks at her redheaded girlfriend, swaying her hips as she approaches the bed.

***

Finley yawns as she opens her eyes and looks at the sleeping face of her girlfriend. The redhead was snoring lightly and she looked so peaceful and cute. Fin snuggles closer and rests her head on her girlfriend's chest.

She knew Maggie had already left for work, feeling a cold spot behind her. The blue-eyed woman was tired after all the fun they had yesterday and didn’t want to get up.

“Shouldn’t you be training rookies at work today?” Alex’s sleepy voice asks. Fin gasps as she realises that the redhead is right, she springs from her bed and looks at the clock.

“Ohhhh shit, J’onn is going to kill me!” She quickly undresses by dropping her clothes on the floor and goes for a quick shower. As fast as she can she dries herself and drops the wet towel on the floor, puts on her combat clothes and runs to work.

It was no fun being at work without Alex, but her girlfriend deserved a day off. They were supposed to have lunch together, but after some robbery that Kara helped Maggie take care of, the blonde informs Fin that her girlfriends can’t make it, so the black-haired woman takes care of all her paperwork that is due soon, and heads to the DEO gym to train a bit.

Finley was getting tired from all the punches and running, so she decided to stop and go take a shower. Suddenly she sees a blur and her girlfriend’s sister stands before her.

“Kara, hey, something wrong?” Finley asks as the blonde frowns and looks at her.

“Ohhhh shit. I forgot, I left my phone at home this morning. What’s the time?” Fin facepalms and looks at Kara.

“Well Alex asked me to look for you, cause you didn’t answer your phone. You do know what time it is?”

“Where the fuck have you been!? We tried to call you thousands of times, why didn’t you answer!?” Maggie tries to stay calm, but her voice is full of anger.

“It’s 10:30, and your girlfriends are going crazy, come on.” She lifts the black-haired woman and speeds her home.

“Thanks Kar.” Finley sighs and opens the door quietly. It doesn’t really help her as she sees Maggie and Alex in the hall waiting for her.

“I’m sorry! I was in such a rush this morning, I forgot my phone! And I went to work out after sitting down doing paperwork and the time just flew.” Finley tries to calm her girlfriends, but she clearly saw that they were beyond pissed.

They turn and go to the living room, and Fin follows them waiting for their forgiveness. Alex sits on the couch and drinks the rest of her whiskey.

“Guys, come on, I’m sorry, you know I just forgot-”

“That’s it, that’s exactly it! You always forget. Forget to eat, to drink water, to take your medicine. You forget to put your clothes away, forget to do the laundry, forget to go to sleep! Forget to take your phone, to let us know you’ll be late, to let us know you’re okay! Forget to do the groceries, forget to buy some new clothes, to put your towel away instead of dropping it on the floor!” Alex was standing now waving her hands angrily. “Well maybe you got that from your parents, seeing as they forgot you at the orphanage!”

Finley blinks as Alex suddenly goes silent. Her blue eyes are suddenly wet and she turns around and rushes out of their apartment.

***

Maggie looks at Alex in shock. She can’t believe her ears. Alex did not just say that.

“Danvers, what the fuck was that!?” Maggie rushes to the door to follow Finley, and stop her, they need to talk, this is not a good situation. But as soon as she’s outside, Finley is gone, there is no sign of her. She goes back to their apartment and searches for her keys.

“Why are you just standing there like that?! Do you realise what you’ve just done?! That was way too low, I can’t believe you just said that!” Maggie yells at her girlfriend, she was beyond mad. Yes, Fin drives her crazy sometimes, but that doesn’t explain Alex’s behaviour.

“I... I didn’t mean that! It just slipped!” Alex tries to explain herself, but her mind is still processing what just happened. “I didn’t want to say that, I’m sorry!”

“It’s not me you need to apologise to. It’s her, but guess what, she’s gone! And we need to find her, and you really need to try hard, because that, Alex, that was just unbelievable.”

“Where do you think she went?” Alex asked, trying to calm down her nerves. Her mind repeats the words she just said and Alex realises how awful she’d been. But she really didn’t mean to, she wasn’t thinking at the moment, her mouth just shot out the words on its own.

When Maggie and Alex started dating Finley, the younger woman never said anything about her family. Of course the first one she met, outside of them, was Alex's younger sister. With it being autumn, and thanksgiving, she soon met Eliza and Maggie aunt Vivian. And she saw how Fin was in awe seeing how both women cared for their children. When Alex and Maggie asked her about it, she told them that she had spent most of her life in an orphanage, but refused to say any more. So they agreed they’ll just wait till Finley is ready and tell them on her own. This was 2 years ago, but Finley still hadn’t talked to them about it.

And now Alex fucked up, and told her girlfriend, an orphan, that her parents forgot about her. She isn’t sure how Finley is ever going to forgive her. Hell she doesn’t even know if she can forgive herself. Maggie looks at her, and Alex realises that she failed her too. Sure, the shorter woman tries not to give away her anger, but she sees her eyes, and the Detective is really mad at her.

“I don’t know, she doesn’t really have any friends... Kara? No, that would be too oblivious, she probably doesn't want us to find her now, she wouldn’t go there... You think she would go to any of our friends?” Maggie took a deep breath trying to calm herself enough to think clearly.

“No, I don’t think so. She can’t be that far, she just left. You think she went to a motel?”

“No, she hates spending her money. Doesn’t DEO have sleeping quarters?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah... it does...” Alex begins but her phone rings, she answers it “Danvers... Yes, we'll be coming in now.” She ends the call, and looks at Maggie “There’s an emergency at the DEO, your unit has been informed, J’onn said to bring you along.”

“Shit, alright. You’re good to go?” Maggie looks at her girlfriend, remembering Alex had been drinking earlier.

“I’ll be good, you drive.”

***

Finley walked to the DEO, trying hard to wipe her tears away. She didn’t want others to see her crying, that would be humiliating, but she couldn’t stop it.

Her mind kept repeating Alex’s words, she was not prepared for a woman she loves to hurt her like that. Why would she, she trusted them with her whole heart. Maybe that was her fault, maybe she should have kept that in mind. By now she would know that everyone in her life ended up hurting her.

It was like every time she was happy, it all came crashing down around her. She remembers the day she entered the orphanage for the first time, she was eight. There were so many kids there, just walking around, those kids were sad, but Fin? She was hopeful, she was actually happy that her father wasn’t there to hit her, she felt safe. But that feeling went away so fast, and her life was still a hell.

“Hey.” Fin jumps at J’onn voice. “You got here fast, where are your girlfriends? We have a debrief in five, we have to deal with this emergency quickly.”

Oh, so there is an emergency. That’s why he’s here. She nods and walks to the bathroom cleaning her face. Fin won’t let them all see her tears, she’s stronger than that. She enters the room and J’onn begins. Normally she would stand with her girlfriends but Fin hangs back.

“Cadmus is containing a shipment of hundreds of alien’s. We need to stop them. The NCPD unit is already informed, but it’ll take them a bit longer to arrive, so Detective Sawyer will go with you. Agent Danvers will be leading. Dismissed.” Finley avoids looking at her girlfriends, and walks as fast as she could to the armoury to prepare for the mission.

“Fin" Alex rushes after her.

“No!” Fin growls. “Right now I don’t have time for your bullshit Agent Danvers. We have a mission and that is my focus.” She didn’t mean to snap at Alex like that, but her sorrow was becoming her anger and she can’t be distracted. Distraction means slower reaction time, and that means injury or death. She wasn’t in the mood to die today.

***

The mission was going to plan and Fin kept up her professionalism. But with any mission, things can go wrong. It happened so fast, one second Fin is beating down a Cadmus agent when suddenly an explosion goes off above them. Finley hears the crack of concrete and looks up as a huge block of concrete starts breaking away. Right above Alex. Fin doesn’t think. Her only focus is on saving her girlfriend. Whatever it takes. So she sprints towards the redhead and pushes Alex as hard as she can out of the way. Fin falls to the ground as a huge bang fills the room. Fin tries to gasp when pain surges through her body.

“Fin!” Alex yells as she looks at her pinned girlfriend. She rushes over and is at Fin’s side in a second. “Why did you do that?!” Alex panics and tries to move the concrete to free her girlfriend, but it is too heavy. She looks at Finley, noticing that the concrete didn’t crush her whole. She allows herself to calm slightly. If her sister comes fast enough, it should be okay, Fin has a chance to survive. “Supergirl, come in, I need your help!” But she’s met with silence. “Supergirl! Maggie!?” Alex yells desperately.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Maggie responds worriedly.

“I can’t reach Supergirl, we’ve had an accident, Finley is trapped!” She hears Maggie gasp.

“I’m coming!” Maggie yells and Alex focuses on Finley, trying to comfort her. Soon Maggie is by their side. Alex looks up at her scared girlfriend and sees her tears as Maggie tries to suppress a sob.

“Fin. Finley talk to me.” Maggie kneels beside their fallen girlfriend.

“Hurts.” Fin chokes out.

“Alex, we need to move it! It’s crushing her!” They try to push it as hard as they can. “It’s not moving! Supergirl, come in! Please…” Maggie begs but she too is met with silence. “Damn it!” she pushes the block again.

Alex sobs and goes to sit behind her girlfriend, placing Fin’s head in her lap and stroking her short hair gently. She listens to Maggie as she yells trying to reach Kara.

“Why would you do that? Risk your life for me?” Alex looks at Finley’s blue eyes, and gently strokes her cheek.

“I... I’ll always save you...” Finley smiles sadly. She can’t feel her leg anymore and she feels dizzy. She doesn’t regret saving Alex, she would do anything to keep her girlfriends safe. But it’s getting harder to stay awake, and Fin doesn’t have the energy to try anymore. She is tired, so tired, she really hopes they would be okay, even without her. “I love you both… So much…” Finley whispers and her eyes flutter close.

“No. No, don’t close your eyes. Come on, Finley, please. KARA, COME ON!”

#sanvers x reader #maggie sawyer x reader #alex danvers x reader #sanvers x oc #maggie sawyer x oc #alex danvers x oc #alex danvers x maggie sawyer #polamory

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you-a-southpaw-doll · 5 years

Text

Lucille ~ A Negan One-Shot

Request: ZA!Negan and he has Rick and co. kneeling on the ground and there’s a beautiful girl next to daryl that looks familiar. but he can’t really see her. as he’s talking the girl keeps smarting off. he makes her look at him and it’s his wife who got lost from him in the beginning right after he made the leader of the savors. she knew it was Negan by the voice and the way he was talking. turns out one of the guys left her while on a run. PURE FLUFF AFTER HE FINDS OUT ITS HER. Also she’s badass and Rick has kept her safe after he found her.

Requested By: @mychemicalimagines

Summary: Negan comes across a familiar face that turns his upside-down world right side up.

Warning(s): Fluff. Language. Smut. Angst. Sexual tension.

Word Count: 5,920

Author’s Note(s):

So, @mychemicalimagines sent me this request, and after talkin’ ‘bout it for a hot minute, I couldn’t help but start writing this. And, bud, I hope this turned out how you were wantin’ it to.

Also, Negan doesn’t have a harem of wives in this story. We decided that he wouldn’t be a cheater, but rather, he’d be too distraught for a reason you’ll soon find out, that he wouldn’t take another woman to be his wife.

As for the title, I got it from the song “Lucille” by Kenny Rodgers, but the name itself does play a key part in the story.

Relationship(s): Negan x Reader.

Characters: Negan. Reader. Rick. Simon. Dwight.

Taglist: @negans-network @thamberlina @prettyboynegan @mychemicalimagines

Story Time:

Negan’s POV:

A Couple Years Ago:

“I’m sorry, boss. She didn’t make it.” Simon says.

I stop in my tracks and turn to look at my right hand man. My heart tightens as his words process in my mind. Even though my heart’s tightening at the moment, I don’t let my emotions show.

“What the ever-loving fuck do you fuckin’ mean, Simon? She didn’t fuckin’ make it?” I hiss, my fingers gripping my baseball bat tightly.

Simon has the grace to lower his eyes as he repeats what he just told me. Once the words leave his lips for a second time, I reach forward and grasp the collar of his shirt in my free hand. I jerk him towards me, getting up in his face.

“YOU HAD ONE FUCKIN’ JOB, SIMON! ONE FUCKIN’ JOB! AND THAT WAS TO FUCKIN’ KEEP HER FUCKIN’ SAFE! GODDAMIT!” I yell.

He doesn’t flinch, but lowers his eyes to look at his chest. I shove him away.

“I want you to fuckin’ go back out there and get her fuckin’ body! She deserves to be buried fuckin’ proper. Not left out there with those goddamn fuckers! Do you fuckin’ understand me?” I demand.

He nods. “Yes, boss.”

I storm off before the tears can spill from my eyes like they’re threatening to do. As soon as I’m back in my room, I slam the door slam so hard that the photo on the wall falls off and crashes to the floor. I lean against the door, and slide down till my ass hits the ground.

I pull my knees up to my chest, wrap my arms ‘round my shins and sob like a damn two-year-old child. The love of my life, my everything, my whole fuckin’ world, my wife, ain’t ever fuckin’ coming home now. I’m never gonna be able to wrap my arms ‘round you from behind as you’re cooking spaghetti again.

I’m not gonna be able to fall asleep with you tucked in my arms. I’m never going to be able to kiss your lips or your forehead. I’m never gonna feel your arms wrap ‘round me. Or feel you run your fingers through my hair as you try to calm me down.

You’re never gonna lay your head on my chest at night when we’re relaxing after hours of making love. I’m never going to hear you say “I love you” again. I knew I shouldn’t have let you go out on that run this morning, but you were just so fuckin’ stubborn and you pulled that puppy dog look that you know I can never say no to.

If only I had. Then you’d be here, safe and sound.

Present Day:

Since that fateful day a couple years ago, I’ve put up walls, distanced myself from others, and turned into a ruthless leader, ruling with an iron fist. I don’t take any shit from anybody. Which leads to me standing in front of Rick the Prick and a handful of his men.

A kid, ginger, an Asian, a sick looking woman, a couple of other fierce looking women, and one woman that looks familiar, but I can’t place why. They’re all kneeling in front of me. I can feel the fear radiating off of all of ‘em, ‘cept for one. That one woman that seems somewhat familiar.

“Pissin’ our pants yet?” I tease, but still keep my tone threatening.

Everyone in the lineup cowers. But one. My men, the Saviours, all stand behind the group kneeling on the gravel patch. Not a single person answers me, but that’s alright. I’m not expecting an answer. I strut ‘round in front of Rick and his crew.

“Do you know who I fuckin’ am?” I taunt, swinging Lucille up to my shoulder.

“Yea. A fuckin’ asshole.” The smartass woman says.

Normally, I’d be fuckin’ pissed at someone being a smartass to me, but for some reason, I can’t bring myself to be mad at this woman. There’s just something ‘bout her that’s piqued my interest. I just wish I fuckin’ knew what it was, but no worries; I’m sure I’ll find out before the end of the night.

I go through my spiel ‘bout how I’m the big bad wolf, and that they all work for me now. Their shit is my shit. The woman that doesn’t cower once at my actions keeps smarting off to me. Her voice sounds familiar as shit, but I don’t let it cloud my judgment.

There’s no way it could be you.

My mind must be playing fuckin’ tricks on me since it’s been two years since Simon told me that you didn’t make it. I glance at my right hand man, and he seems a little outta sorts. But, I’ll deal with that later. Maybe he’s dealing with his own shit too.

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you for fuckin’ killin’ my damn men, Rick. That’s shit’s not cool. Not cool at all. And, I’m gonna fuckin’ show you just how not cool that shit is.” I say.

Rick lowers his eyes, and I can see his body tremble in fear. The kid next to him just gives me a one-eyed stink-eye glare. It doesn’t take me long to realize that the kid is Rick’s very own fuckin’ son. I dive into a very eery version of “Eenie Meenie Moe.”

“You killed all my men, Rick.” I hiss at the man.

“Your men? How are they yours? You give birth?”

I jerk my head at the familiar-ish woman who just keeps one smartass comment after another coming my direction. I can’t help but let at out a deep-bellied laugh at her last remark. But, at the same time, it’s something you’d say, and it makes my heart constrict.

“Oh-ho. Looks like someone’s got a fuckin’ mouth on ‘em!” I taunt.

“Look who’s fuckin’ talkin’! I swear, you must really like the sound of your own voice.” She retorts.

I swing my bat, Lucille, in front of the woman that has yet to cower in front of me, and keeps being a total fuckin’ smartass. I notice a spot on the back of her neck, just under her left ear, and I stop everything. My breath catches in my throat. My heart stops beating.

I never thought I’d see that mark again. I never realized how much I’d miss seeing it until I couldn’t see it anymore. The tight grip I had on my bat, Lucille, loosens slightly, but not ‘nough to let her slip from my fingers. The woman still has yet to lift her head, so I crouch down in front of her.

I reach my leather covered hand forward, place two fingers under her chin, and tilt her head back. The woman’s eyes meet mine and it’s like life just fuckin’ pauses. My heart starts beating ten times faster than it has in years. The blood rushes to my ears.

My mouth goes dry and I lick my lips, while I struggle to form a single word.

“Lucille?” I ask, quietly.

You give me that signature smile of yours that I fell in love with twenty years ago when I met you for the first time at the school I coached at. I just stare at you, not believing that you’re actually in front of me. I shift from a crouched position and drop to my knees.

I move my fingers from under your chin to cup your cheek. You lean into my touch immediately. Your eyes drift shut as you nuzzle my palm. Lucille, my trusty barbed wire baseball bat that I named after you that day, since you’d given to me years ago, drops from my fingertips and I hear her clatter to the ground.

I hear a few of my men let out hushed murmurs and an even quieter “Uh, Boss?” from Simon. But, I don’t pay attention to any of that. My focus is on you. You’re alive. You’re fuckin’ alive.

“Lucille, baby?” I murmur.

Your eyes open and you look at me. “Hi, honey. Miss me?”

My heart swells and I instantly break down. I pull you off your knees and into my lap. I plop down on my ass, not caring ‘bout the gravel digging into me. I wrap both my arms ‘round you, and bury my face against your neck. As I sob, you just hold onto me tightly.

I feel a couple of wet drops against my skin, and your body shake in my arms. I realize that you’re crying too.

“I love you, baby. I love you so fuckin’ much.” I whisper between sobs.

You cling to me tighter. “I love you too, Negan.”

After a few minutes, I lift my head up, and look at you. I bring my ungloved hand up, and wipe away your tears. I lean forward and gently press my lips to your forehead. Once I pull back, I realize something. Simon fuckin’ lied to me years ago when he told me you were gone.

I look up at him, and see him swallow deeply. My eyes narrow.

“I’ll fuckin’ deal with you fuckin’ later, you fucker.” I hiss at him.

He nods hesitantly and gulps. I nudge you off my lap, for a second, but only so we can stand up. The rocks digging into my ass are starting to fuckin’ hurt. Once I’m standing, I pull you back into my arms. Your arms snake ‘round my waist and you rest your head against my chest.

I close my eyes as I rest my chin against the top of your head. I feel whole again. When I thought I’d lost you, I felt broken, incomplete even. My life was shattered. My world was turned upside down. Even more so than the fuckin’ world ending.

But now, with you in my arms, my world is right side up again.

“Uh, Boss? What would you like us to do with the Prick and his crew?” I hear Dwight say.

I let out a low growl which has you quietly giggling. I open my eyes, but keep you in my arms. I ain’t letting you go anytime soon. I look at Rick, and motion, with my head, for him to walk over. He hesitantly gets up and walks over to me. He looks at you.

“Uh, Lu? What’s goin’ on?” He asks, still unsure of what’s going on.

You turn your head to the side, but keep it resting against my chest.

“He’s my husband.” You say.

I feel my heart swell with love from hearing you say that. Before the world went to shit, and hell even after it did, you always took pride in me, and the fact that I was your husband.

Rick looks shocked. “Lu? Your husband?”

You nod and tighten your arms ‘round me. I tighten my arms ‘round you too, and bury my face against your neck, taking in a deep breath. Damn. You still smell like vanilla, lavender, and a hint of tobacco.

“I’m so fuckin’ sorry, baby. I thought I’d lost you. I love you, Lucille. So fuckin’ much. You’re the one and only. Forever and always.” I murmur softly into your hair.

I lift my head up after a moment, to see Rick looking at me.

“You saved my wife, eh?” I ask, hiding my emotions behind the walls I’ve built over the last couple of years.

Rick nods. “I found her a couple years ago. She was on her own, and she took down at least fifteen of those walkers by herself. I offered her a safe place with my people. She’s a badass.”

I smile, proud of you. You look up at me, and I gaze down at you.

“You are my little badass, ain’t you, sweetheart?” I tease.

You just grin and nod. “Mmhhmm.”

I look back at Rick. “I know I said I was gonna kill one of your men in exchange for you fuckin’ killin’ thirty of my goddamn men in their fuckin’ sleep, but since you took my wife in, I’ll let it slide, but don’t fuckin’ think for one goddamn fuckin’ minute that if you or any other fucker try any shit like that again, that I won’t shut that motherfuckin’ shit down in a fuckin’ heartbeat. Do you fuckin’ understand me, Rick the fuckin’ Prick?”

He nods, and lets out a breath of relief. “Yes. Loud and clear.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Crystal?”

He nods. “Crystal.”

“Good. Then get your fuckin’ men and women, and get the fuck outta my goddamn sight. I’m keepin’ the fuckin’ RV too. I’ll be by in a fuckin’ week to collect what’s mine. Got it?”

“Yes, Negan.”

I nod and wave my hand, gesturing for him to get outta my sight. He scurries away and rushes over to his son. I watch as you pull away from my embrace and rush over to Rick’s men. At first, I’m confused as shit, until I see you hug Daryl, Glenn, Abraham, and everyone else that I had kneeling on the ground.

I realize that even though I’m your husband, these people have become your family in the last two years. And, I know how you are ‘bout family. They mean the world to you. I don’t try to stop you from saying your goodbyes to these people.

When one of my men tries to stop you, I immediately shut him down by gripping his upper arm and pulling him back with a glare. Watching you hug Carl makes my heart swell with several emotions. Love. Pain. Guilt. Regret. Hurt. I know you’ve always wanted a kid, but that was the one thing I could never give you.

And it breaks my heart. If only I hadn’t have had that accident when I was 17, then maybe I could’ve given you at least one or two kids. Rick the Prick and his crew head out on foot. A couple of my men look at me questioningly. I raise an eyebrow and they turn away.

“Get our shit packed up, boys! We’re goin’ the fuck home!” I shout.

During the ride back to the Sanctuary, I keep you in my arms. I have Dwight drive the pickup truck since you wanted to sit in my lap, and I wasn’t gonna be the one to keep you from getting what you want. You have your legs on either side of my thighs, with your back against the dashboard.

My hands rest on your hips. You play with the zipper of my leather jacket, looking down at your hands. I manage to tear my eyes from your features for a moment to look at Dwight.

“D, I need you to do me a fuckin’ favor when you get back.” I say. “And keep it on the fuckin’ down low until I say otherwise.”

He glances at me before looking back at the road.

“Ok?” He asks, hesitantly.

“Throw Simon in the cells. Feed him that dog food sandwich that you made for Daryl once a day. And don’t give him anythin’ else.” I instruct.

He nods. “Yes, sir.”

You fingers still on my jacket. I look back at you. You look at me with a look of confusion on your face.

“Why?” You ask.

“The fucker fuckin’ lied to me and fuckin’ told me that you were fuckin’ dead. And, when I sent his ass back out to get your body so I could give you a proper fuckin’ burial instead of leavin’ you out there with those fuckers, he came back and told he couldn’t find you. It all makes sense now. You weren’t dead.” I say, lowering my voice to a whisper.

You reach a hand up and cup my cheek, shaking your head.

“No, honey. I wasn’t dead. That asshole left me behind. I had tripped over a fallen tree, got stuck in a hole, and broke my ankle. He told me that you were better off without me. That you didn’t love me anymore. That I made you soft. I didn’t believe him. I knew how much you loved me. After he left me, I managed to get to unstuck, I made a brace for my ankle outta some sticks and my belt. I headed out, in what I thought was the way back to the Sanctuary. I got turned ‘round and lost. I came across a herd of ‘bout fifteen walkers. I had just finished off the last one when Rick found me. I wasn’t in any condition to keep trying to go back home. To get back to you. I tried, honey. I fuckin’ tried. But, no one in Alexandria knew of the Sanctuary, or where it was located, so I couldn’t get any help. I’ve been trying for two years to get back home to you. I just happened to be traveling with them tonight ‘cause we were trying to get Maggie to the Hilltop since she’s pregnant ‘cause they got a doc there.” You explain.

“The fucker left you to fuckin’ die? He’s gonna fuckin’ pay for that, and for fuckin’ lyin’ to me. I wish I’d known you were out there, baby. I didn’t wanna believe Simon when he first told me. I even went out to look for you several times, just so I could either find you alive or find your body so I could give you a proper burial. After a year, I still kept goin’ out to look for you, but a couple of the communities under my control started pushin’ back, and I had to fuckin’ shut that shit down.” I say, placing my hand over yours against my cheek.

“Shh. It’s ok. We’re together now. That’s what matters.”

I nod. “You’re right. As always.”

You smile and my heart beats faster. I always was a sucker for your smile.

“I love you. You know that, right?” I ask.

You nod. “And, I love you too.”

I grin. You lean forward and brush your lips against mine. I sigh, happily into the kiss. This is our first kiss in two damn years. When your tongue traces the seam of my lips, I comply with your wishes, and open my mouth. Our tongues dance together.

After a few minutes, and a very heated kiss that gets me real fuckin’ excited, you pull back, giggling. I chuckle as I reach up to brush a strand of your hair behind your ear.

“I still have the same effect on you, don’t I?” I tease.

You blush and nod. “Mmhhmm. Seems like I still have the same effect on you too.”

I laugh. “Of course, you fuckin’ do, sweetheart. “

You grin and kiss me again. Softly this time. Pulling back, you rest your forehead against mine. I close my eyes as our noses touch.

“How’d you know it was me?” You ask, quietly.

“Well, when you first started with your fuckin’ smartass remarks, I thought I recognized your voice, but I just thought my mind was playin’ fuckin’ tricks on me, since today’s the two year mark since I let you go out on that damn run. But then, you made one specific remark that made my heart tighten and I knew it was somethin’ you’d fuckin’ say to me, ‘cause you fuckin’ have before. Yet...I didn’t know for sure until I saw your tattoo.” I explain, finally opening my eyes.

You pull your head back a wee bit, and look at me. “My tattoo?”

I nod and bring my hand up to the left side of your face. I run my finger over the tattoo behind your left ear. It’s the mark I saw in the lineup that let me know it really was you. You blush once you realize what my finger is running over. A few years after we got married. you got a small tattoo behind your ear.

It was a simple N with an L overlapping the N. After you got it, you explained that it was a simple reminder of our relationship. You might’ve also gotten slightly tipsy the night you got it done, so afterwards, you got nervous ‘bout it, and felt like it was stupid.

I thought it was adorable and a sweet gesture. You’d always mentioned getting some sort of tattoo that represented our relationship. Lord knows I got one for us.

“That’s how I knew it was you, sweetheart. I’d recognize that little bit of ink any-fuckin’-where.” I say.

“I guess it wasn’t stupid that I got it then, eh?” You grin.

“Like I’ve told you for years, I never once thought it was stupid. I always thought it was adorable as fuck.”

You giggle. “I know.”

When we get back to the Sanctuary, Dwight parks the truck, and I hop out with you still in my arms. Seems like you don’t wanna be outta my arms any more than I want you outta ‘em. Dwight takes care of what I asked him to, and I carry you up to our room.

Even after Simon told me you were dead, I still refused to move anything of yours outta the room, or change it up. I barely notice all my people as they kneel before me. Before us. I do happen to catch a small group of people that look up at us in shock that quickly turns to happiness.

A pair of new people that came to the Sanctuary a few weeks go to stand up, but the older members who have been here since you were still here quickly tug ‘em back down to their knees. I catch a few words of what they quietly whisper.

“…she’s back.”

“Negan’s wife is alive!”

“That’s Negan’s wife.”

Normally, I’d give ‘em hell for talking while kneeling without my permission to go back to what they were doing, but right now, I’ve got more important things on my mind.

You. And getting you upstairs.

As soon as I get you to our room, I set you down on our bed. I kiss your forehead.

“Don’t move. Unless it’s to get naked.” I say.

You giggle. “Always tryin’ to get in my pants, Negan.”

I chuckle. “You wish. And, can you blame me, doll? You’re fuckin’ hot as shit. But, for now, I’m just gonna start you a bath.”

“A bubble bath?”

I smirk. “Maybe. I can’t give away all my secrets, now can I?”

You laugh. “No. I suppose not.”

I grin and make my way to our connected bathroom. I reach under the bathroom sink, and grab the bottle of bath bubbles. I walk the few feet between the sink and the claw foot bathtub. Turning the hot water on, I adjust it until it’s at the temperature I know you like.

As the water runs, I had the bubble bath liquid to it. Within a few moments, the water is full of bubbles. I light a few candles I had in the bathroom and place them along the ledge beside the tub. Once I have those small tasks completed, I make my way back into my bedroom.

I stop when I see you laying on my bed, completely naked. You still take my breath just like you did the first time I met you, and the first time I saw you naked all those years ago. I suck in a deep breath. The noise has you turning your head towards my direction.

You smile once you see me. You pat the bed next to you.

“C’mere, honey. Lay next to me?” You ask, grinning.

I walk over to you, but I don’t lay beside you. As much as I want to, I can’t. It’s not part of my plan. I stand in between your spread legs. You prop yourself up on your elbows, and look up at me.

“C’mon, sweetheart. Let’s get you in the bath.” I say.

“You gonna join me?” You ask, tilting your head to the side.

“Perhaps. But, I got a few things to take care of.”

“Good things or bad things?”

I chuckle. “Good things, baby. Only good things. I promise.”

You smile. “Ok.”

I hold my hand out towards you. You take it. I pull you up and hold you against my body. I brush a strand of hair behind your ear as I lean down as softly kiss you. You wrap your arms ‘round my neck and cling to me. I place my hands under your thighs and lift you up, pulling back from the kiss in the process.

Your legs wrap ‘round my waist, and I carry you into our bathroom. Once I get close to the tub, I slow my movements. I set you down in the tub as soon as my knees hit the side. You slide down my body as you lower yourself into the warm, bubbly water.

After you’re submerged in the water, you lay back against the porcelain white tub. You tilt your head back to look up at me. I can’t help but smile down at you. I reach over and turn the water off when the water’s high ‘nough and to your likings.

I give your forehead a kiss.

“I’ll be right back, ok, honey?” I assure you.

Your eyes close as you nod slowly with a grin spreading across your face. I chuckle as I walk back out into the bedroom and over to the record player you put on our bookcase a few years ago. I flip through our collection of records and find your favorite one.

The second I find it, I grin, and pull it out from between the two records it’s wedged between. I slide the vinyl outta its sleeve and set it on the wheel. Placing the needle on the edge of the vinyl, the music starts playing and drifts through the room.

I hear you let out a happy sigh and a giggle from the bathroom. I chuckle quietly. I’m glad to have you back here. In our home. With me. I grab my walkie-talkie from my belt. I bring it up to my mouth, and push the button on the side down.

“Dwight.” I say.

A second goes by before I get a “Yes?” in response.

“Have someone in the fuckin’ kitchen make a thing of chicken pot pie, mashed potatoes, and creamed corn, and have it sent to my fuckin’ room. ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.”

I clip my walkie-talkie back on my belt and unzip my leather jacket. I toss it over the arm of the couch, tug my red scarf from ‘round my neck, and slip my plain white t-shirt over my head. I set the two articles of clothing next to my jacket. I sit down, take my boots and socks off, and set ‘em at the edge of the couch.

Standing up, I buckle my two belts, unbutton my pants and push ‘em down my legs. My boxers go along with my grey jeans. I scoop ‘em up, and fold ‘em up. I know you’d smack me if I left my clothes laying ‘round the room. You sure did give me hell ‘bout it when we first got together.

The moment I have my clothes situated, I walk over to my dresser, find your favorite t-shirt of mine for you, and a pair of clean boxers for myself. I walk into the bathroom, set the clothes on the counter, and saunter over to where you’re laying in the tub.

I run my hand over your head, getting you to open your eyes. You look up at me with a big smile on your face.

“Hi.” You whisper.

“Hey yourself, darlin’.” I reply softly.

Your eyes drift down my body. The moment you realize I’m naked too, you grin, blush, and giggle. I just chuckle.

“Still room for one more?” I tease.

You nod, excitedly, and shift in the water. You slide forward, and I step in behind you. The bubbly water glides over my tanned skin as I skin down into it. With me having one leg on either side of yours, you scoot back against me. Your back presses against my chest, and I wrap my arms ‘round you.

You place your smaller hands over my much larger ones, and weave your fingers with mine. You rest your head against my shoulder and relax. For the first time in two years, I finally have you back in my arms, with nothing between us. My lips press against your temple and you let out a quiet giggle.

“What?” I ask, chuckling.

“Your beard. It tickles.” You say.

I laugh. “You like it? I can shave this shit.”

You quickly shake your head. “Uh-uh. I like it. Keep it. I wanna see what your scruff will feel like in other places.”

“And you say I’m the one trying to get in your pants.”

You laugh, turning your head to look up at me. I just smile down at you.

“Maybe I am trying to get in your pants.” You tease. “It has been a hot minute.”

I playfully growl. “Don’t tease me, woman.”

You laugh and sit up just ‘nough to kiss my cheek.

“Oh, but we both know you like it when I do.” You murmur.

I chuckle, and tighten my arms ‘round you even more. You just giggle even more.

“There ain’t a fuckin’ doubt in the goddamn world ‘bout that, doll.” I reply.

You smile and relax in my arms again. Yeah, we ain’t had sex, well, made love, if I’m gonna be completely honest, in two years, but that’s the last thing on my mind, regardless of what my dick’s saying. I just wanna make sure that you’re comfortable and relaxed at the moment.

That’s all that I care ‘bout right now. You are my top priority. Always have been since the moment I met you. When the water turns cold, and our fingers and toes look like shriveled up raisins, we finally get outta the tub. I drain the water before getting out.

I grab a fluffy towel and dry you off. After that, I slide my t-shirt over your head, and you just take a deep breath in the moment it’s on you. I smile.

“You good, sweetheart?” I ask, pulling my boxers on.

You step closer to me, run your fingers up my chest, and nodding.

“I’m more than good, Negan. I’m back home with you. In your shirt.” You say, before your lips meet mine.

My arms curl ‘round your waist as I hold you close to my tall frame. Keeping my lips barely against yours, I smile.

“Good. I’m glad you’re home, baby. I’ve missed the fuckin’ shit outta you.” I murmur.

“Mmm. I’ve missed you too.”

I peck your lips one more time before pulling away completely. You whimper the moment I do, and I can’t help but chuckle.

“Oh hush,” I tease. “You’ll be back in my arms soon ‘nough.”

You smile. “I’d better be.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I take your hand in mine and together, we walk into the bedroom. Sitting on my desk, is covered tray. I realize it’s your food. I’m not sure when you last ate, but I wasn’t taking any chances. You get settled on your side of the bed, underneath the covers, as I take the cover off the plate and bring it over to you.

You prop yourself up against the pillows, and happily take the plate of food. You scarf it down. Far too quickly for my likings. I frown as I sit next to you. You pause, the fork halfway to your mouth, and look at me.

“What?” You ask.

“You hungry, sweetheart?” I ask.

You nod. “Very much so.”

My frown gets bigger. “When’s the last time you fuckin’ ate?”

Your hesitation answers my question. It’s been a while. Or at least, it’s been a while since you’ve had a decent sized meal. You finally give me a shrug as you finish eating. Once your plate’s clean, I take it and set it on my desk. I look back over at you.

You just pat my side of the bed and look at me, expectantly. I chuckle and answer your unspoken command. I hop into bed next to you. You immediately curl up next to my side, tangling your legs with mine, laying your head on my chest, and draping your arm over my tummy, bending it at your elbow so you can play with my chest hair.

You’ve always loved the fact that I had chest hair. I drape one arm ‘round your shoulders, and let my fingers tangle in your hair. My other hand comes to rest on your arm, where my fingers dance across your skin.

“Negan…” You start.

“Shh…It’s ok, baby. We can talk later. Ok? For now, let’s just enjoy the fact that we’re back in each other’s arms. Yeah?” I ask.

You nod. “Ok.”

I kiss the top of your head.

“I love you, babe.” You murmur, sleepily.

“And, I love you, sweetheart.” I whisper.

I wake the next morning to an empty bed and my heart breaks. Surely yesterday wasn’t a fuckin’ dream. Right? I sigh as I feel my eyes start watering. The tears come, no matter how much I want ‘em not to. After a while, I finally get the motivation to get outta bed.

Sitting up, I swing my legs over the edge. Closing my eyes, I bring a hand up and run it down my face. I open my eyes and see a small sheet of paper on my nightstand.

Negan,

You’re still sleeping, but I’m hungry, and I didn’t wanna wake you. So, I’m going down to the kitchen to get some food. If you wake up before I get back to the room, I hope you’ll come join me?

I enjoyed sleeping in your arms again last night.

I love you.

Your Lucy.

I smile as I re-read the note seven times. You’re actually here! Yesterday wasn’t a fuckin’ dream. I can’t help but chuckle at your note too. Leave it to you to let your tummy dictate your actions. I quickly get up, setting your note back on my nightstand, and get dressed.

I do so in record time. I’ve got to see you again! As soon as I’m dressed in my pair of grey jeans, and white t-shirt, I bound down the several flights of stairs to the kitchen. I don’t even bother with my leather jacket, scarf, or my legendary baseball bat, your namesake.

In a happy mood, I shock a few of my people, but they quickly kneel when they see me. They’re not used to seeing me in such a good mood. I’ve been down in the dumps since the day Simon told me you weren’t coming back. I excitedly fling open the doors to the kitchen and dining room.

The area immediately goes silent at my presence, and everyone drops to kneel. ‘Cept for a group of people over by the line for the food. I wave my hand for everyone else to get back to what they were doing. I make my way over to where the commotion is.

I keep my eyes open, looking for you. That’s when I see that you’re in the midst of the commotion. I rush over to you.

“Always causing trouble, eh, sweetheart?” I tease you quietly.

I wrap my arms ‘round you from behind and kiss your cheek. You relax in my embrace, leaning back against me.

“I’m not trying to. This time.” You reply.

I frown and lift my head up. You turn ‘round in my arms. I look down at you.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

Your mouth opens to reply, but before you can, a male voice cuts in.

“Sir, she doesn’t have ‘nough points to get breakfast.”

I jerk my head to look at the man that just said that. My good mood instantly shifts. I glare the man.

“What the hell did you just fuckin’ say to me?” I hiss.

“She doesn’t have ‘nough points to get breakfast. Sir.” He repeats, stuttering slightly.

“Like hell she doesn’t. Do you know who she is?”

He shakes his head. “No, sir.”

“This, right here, this lovely young lady, is my fuckin’ wife! She gets whatever the hell she wants. No questions asked. No smartass fuckin’ comeback. Nothing. She wants it, she fuckin’ gets it.”

“But, sir. She doesn’t have any points, and she’s not listed on the points system.”

“Did I fuckin’ stutter, you fucker? She wants somethin’, she fuckin’ gets it. Now give her some breakfast.”

He hesitates. “But…”

“BUT FUCKIN’ NOTHIN’. GIVE HER SOME FOOD BEFORE I LET YOU AND MY DIRTY GIRL, LUCILLE, HAVE A NICE LITTLE DATE AND GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER BETTER.” I yell.

The man flinches and visibly shakes. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

He quickly gets some food on a plate and hands it to you. He gets one for me as well. I take and glare at him. I keep my arm ‘round your waist as we make our way over to the table where I normally sit whenever I decided to sit in the cafeteria.

You sit next to me, and look at me before eating.

“What Lucille were you talkin’ ‘bout, Negan? I ain’t ‘bout to date someone else.” You say.

“You know my bat? The one you gave me?” I ask, hesitantly.

You nod. “Mmhhmm.”

I look down at my food. “Well, after I thought I’d lost you, I named after you. I felt like you were still with me, through her. I know it seems stupid…but…”

You cut me before I can say anymore by placing your hand on my arm. I look up at you.

“Shh. It’s not stupid. In a fucked up kinda way, I think it’s sweet. It’s definitely somethin’ I can see you doin’.” You say.

“Really?” I ask, shocked.

I wasn’t sure how you’d respond to my baseball bat. Or how I do things now. You nod.

“Yes, honey. It’s very Negan-like.” You say with a smile.

“So…you’re not mad?” I ask, quietly.

You shake your head. ��Mad? Why would I be mad?”

“I named a fuckin’ baseball bat after you. I’ve changed. The thought of losing you broke me. I’m not exactly the man I was when you were here last time.”

“Shhh. Honey, it’s ok. Losing you broke me too. We’ve both changed. But, I can tell that deep down inside you, you’re still the man I fell in love with all those years ago.”

“Yeah?”

You nod. “Definitely. Plus, you’re more rugged, and I happen to find that really fuckin’ sexy.”

I smirk and bite my bottom lip. “Is that fuckin’ so?”

You blush. “Mmhhm.”

I lean forward and gently kiss you. When the kiss is over, we eat our food. You keep one hand on my thigh, and I keep one arm ‘round your waist. A few minutes later, I look up at the sound of approaching footsteps to see Fat Joey walking towards our table.

He nods his head in my direction. I nod back.

“Fat Joey! What can I fuckin’ do for you?” I ask.

“Nothin’, sir.” He replies.

My brow furrows. “Then what the fuck are you doin’ over here?”

He hesitates. “I came to see Lucille, sir.”

I glance down at you and see you jerk your head up from your food. You grin once you see Fat Joey. He gives you a soft smile.

“Hey!” You say.

“Hi, Mrs. Lucille. I just wanted to say that I’m glad you’re back. It hasn’t been the same without you, ma’am.” Fat Joey says, somewhat nervously.

“Well, I’m glad to be back. It’s good to see you.”

He just smiles. “Well, I’d better get back to it. I’ll see you ‘round.”

“See you later.”

Fat Joey nods at both you and I before he turns and walks away. When you were here last time, everyone fuckin’ loved you. But I can’t blame ‘em, ‘cause I love the shit outta you too. You might be a total badass, but you’re also a total sweetheart too.

“Besides, you’re still soft. You’re my giant teddy bear.” You say after a moment, and it takes me a moment to realize that you’re going back to our earlier conversation.

“How fuckin’ so, doll?” I inquire, glancing at you outta the corner of my eye.

“Well…for starters…you’re six foot two, extremely muscular, lean, and you look scary. ‘Specially with your tattoos and that scruff you got on your face. But, I know you. And, you, honey, are really just a softy. You’re gentle when you kiss me, or hold me in your arms. And, you look so fuckin’ adorable when you sleep. Even though you snore louder than a damn Mack truck barreling down the interstate at 75 miles an hour.”

I chuckle. “I do not fuckin’ snore.”

You laugh. “Yes, Negan. You do. I’ve slept next to you for well over twenty years. You do indeed snore.”

“You’re lucky I fuckin’ love you.”

“Oh hush. I love you too.”

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letitrainathousandflames-archive · 7 years

Text

Picking a Side

Rating: Teens and Up

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Drinking, Clone Angst, Rex trying to get Cody to escape order 66 with him

Characters: CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody, ARC-5555 | Fives (mentioned)

Additional Tags: a lot of dialogue, Rex can’t just spill the whole deal because he’s afraid everyone could be a spy, Cody is an honorable soldier, morality divergences, why is this story so sad

The first shades of a shy purple paint the horizon, entering the round-edged square windows of the 99 bar in Coruscant. The place is closed already, at 5:00 am, but a name like Rex’s could get the place just for himself for a couple of hours, so the owner had just left the bar keys with the captain and asked him to close the place when he was done. Rex holds his half-full glass to his eye level, slowly swirling it. The ice cubes clink softly against the glass and the bar door swings open. Rex takes a sip. The raw, burning sensation covers his tongue and he feels like he’s swallowing fire down his throat. It kind of wakes him up from his daze a little, which is good.

“Lock it.” He says out loud, and the men who’d just walked in locks the door to then walk between the tables with chairs piled on them towards Rex; on top of his table there are two bottles and his helmet with jaig eyes painted on it.

“So you really weren’t kidding” the other man says, and his voice sounds a lot like Rex’s, but it’s perhaps a little deeper “Why meet me here? Why not at the barraks? Why not literally anywhere else?”

Rex is back to looking at his drink, placed over the table and held between his fingers.

“Safer. Away from cameras and spies and stars know what else.” he pauses “Sit down, will ya?”

The man looks at Rex for a few instants, then he sinks into the chair across from him as Rex takes another sip, swallowing hard. Damn, the ice did nothing to water down this shit. Still scorches his throat on the way down. Rex places the glass back on the table and lifts up his eyes to the clone sitting across of him. He wears a commander armor with details painted in orange, and he places his helmet next to Rex’s. The two visors stare back at their users, Rex’s jaig-eyed helmet marked by the many tally marks he’d scratched on it and Cody’s black visor almost entirely covered by the orange piece over it. The other clone, Cody, rubs his temple marked by scars, one of them running over his cheekbone as Rex downs his drink at once.

“It’s still being required for all of us to wear our armors outside here in Coruscant.” Cody, says with a sigh “After all that mess…”

“’Elek.”

The agreement in Mando’ didn’t get Cody’s particular attention. The brothers all would slip some Mando’ in the middle of their Basic as they’d speak betweent themselves. They were raised on both languages, but Mando’ had always felt nicer on their tongues. Mellow and easier to speak. Cody looks up to Rex’s face.

“D’you bring me all the way here to talk about what happened? Are you finally gonna open up?”

Rex runs his finger on the rim of his glass. There was something to Rex, he wasn’t a man that would show himself in words, but in gestures. Each pause, each wordless moment said more to him than a ten-minute conversation would. Right now he thinks. Ponders. Wonders what he can say and how much of it he could say. Then…

“There’s something messed up going on, Cody. Something big, something…”

He trails off, still running his finger over the rim of his empty glass. Cody knits his brows.

“What are you talking about?”

“Can I ask you something?”

Cody doesn’t answer at first; he analyzes. Rex’s small gnawing at his lower lip, the way he increases his pressure around the glass in his hands. Something is eating the 501st Captain from the inside, he can tell, and it’s kriffing weird. Rex doesn’t let whatever’s troubling him show on the outside, ever. Cody was closed off himself too, sure, but Rex… He seemed to be always in peace with himself, despite whatever this war tossed on him. He walked out of goddamn Umbara with his squared shoulders and eyes straight ahead. Whatever is happening now, it has to be bad.

“Sure, Rex. Anything.”

Rex raises his gaze to Cody’s. The purple-ish light of the early morning is reflected on his bloodshot eyes, and for the way Rex is slightly swaying, Cody can guess he’d been drinking a lot. He confirms that when he actually looks at the two bottles next to him, one empty and the other halfway done.

“Do you trust me?”

Cody knits his brows to then snort softly.

“‘course I do, Rex. All those years and you even ask?” Rex nods a few times and Cody sighs “Is this about Fives? I really wish you’d talk to someone about what—“

“This is not about him.” Rex cuts him off abruptly in a harsh tone “I don’t... This is not about him.”

Rex hasn’t said Fives’ name ever since he died. When they cremated his body and destroyed his armor, something done to all dead clones whose bodies the Republic could retrieve, he kept his hand guard. Until then, Cody hadn’t noticed the symbolism. Right hand man. That’s what Fives was to Rex, and despite Jesse’s recent promotion to ARC trooper and his excellent work so far, Rex feels that the spot is still empty. No one could ever replace Fives’ advice, his intelligence and strategic way of thinking, his concern for his brothers, his undying bravery.

Cody sighed again.

“Rex, you asked if I trusted you, now it’s time for me to ask if you trust me.”

“Trust.” Rex pauses, frowning “Trusting has become complicated these days, Cody”.

“What do you mean?”

“I just… I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

Cody sees Rex’s hands still holding his glass so hard he doesn’t know how it hasn’t cracked yet.

“I’m sorry for asking again but this is about Fives, isn’t it?”

Rex turns his eyes away from Cody for a moment.

“No.” he hesitates “A little. I…” he inhales deeply “If I were to tell you something… Something about our enemies, something horrifying, would you believe me?”

Cody tenses up, squaring his shoulders.

“I prob’ly would, vod. I don’t think there’s anything about these seppies that would surprise me anymore.”

Rex looks to the locked door as if someone could walk in. The brighter shades of blood red replace the former purplish ones painting the sky in the horizon out of the window by their table.

“I think there’s someone trying to control us.” Rex says, and he hesitates at every word as if he regrets saying each one of them as soon as they leave his lips “All the clones, all of our brothers.”

Cody frowns. He sees the tension in Rex’s face and scratches his chin.

“Who would this someone be? Do you have a lead?”

Rex’s eyes dart back and forth for a moment.

“I don’t know. Someone from the inside.”

“One of us?” Cody snarls “I wouldn’t doubt you, not after Slick.”

“No. Not a clone.” Rex presses his lips together “Someone at a much higher position than any of us.”

“Higher than a commander? Do you mean one of the Republican high commands?”

“Yes.”

Cody tilts his head, tensing up.

“Well, do you have proof?”

Rex blows out a heavy sigh and opens his mouth two times, hesitating before finally saying in a quiet voice:

“I have what… What Fives told me before he died.”

Cody rolls his eyes to then rub his temple, his voice sounding aggressively tired.

“Ah, for the love of—” he slouched on his seat, sighing “Fives was sick, Rex, and so was Tup. They had this virus… and it affected their minds, the Kaminoans doctors said it so, we all read the report. They started seeing enemies everywhere, you see what happened to Tup did to General Tiplar. You can’t trust something that Fives said when he was… Well, in that state.”

Rex narrows his eyes, his tone suddenly very sharp.

“I can trust anything he says. He was the wisest man under my command. He saved my life more times than I can count, he…”

“Was insane, Rex.” Cody says dryly “After he got infected, he was insane. You can’t compare the soldier that devised brilliant strategies in Umbara to the madman that you met in tha warehouse with general Skywalker.”

The glass between Rex’s hands finally cracks in sharp glass splinters that cut through Rex’s gloves. He crushes the larger pieces of glass with his fists and the blood drips from his now soaked gloves on the steel table.

“He knew what he was saying.” he snarls “I trust him, I’ve always trusted him ever since he joined the 501st I knew there was something special about him. I trust him, Cody, and now I’m asking you to trust me.”

Cody put his tongue between his teeth, glancing away from Rex for a moment.

“Why are you so worried?”

Rex opens his bloody hands, pushing the glass shards off the edge of the table with his forearm and shakes his head.

“Havent you heard it when I said that there’s people wanting to control us?”

Cody nodded:

“Let’s say I believe whatever Fives said. Aren’t we under their control already? We are born from their tubes in Kamino, we are bred to fight and die for them, we are of property of the Republic.” Cody absently runs a finger over his scars “I don’t understand what’s your point.”

Rex frowned, running a hand over his head; his blond hair became reddened where his hand touched it.

“What… What if it’s someone form the inside who wants us to turn against our own people? I… I don’t know, turn us to the Separatists’ side? Maybe… Maybe even use us to attack the Senate, or the Jedi?...”

Cody interrupts him with a gesture.

“This doesn’t make any sense.” he says flatly “We have to trust our superiors, Rex, we have a code to honor. If a soldier doesn’t trust his generals, his higher ranks, then what’s left of him?”

“I trusted Kell.” “It cost me my men, and yours. I hope you haven’t forgot about Waxer, because I sure as kriff haven’t forgotten about Hardcase.”

The fist that Cody suddenly bang against the table makes the bottles on it clink, but Rex doesn’t even flinch. Cody’s voice is low and stained with anger.

“I haven’t. I’m not talking about blindly following orders, but I…” Cody clenches his teeth “Damn, Rex, this is complicated.”

Rex nods, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back away from the table.

“Ret. It demands us to think for ourselves, and it’s time we start doing that.”

With his fist still on the table, Cody leans in looking Rex in his eyes with a stern expression on his features.

“Look. If there’s something you wanna tell me, just do it now.”

Rex runs his hand over his head and just continues to rub it over, as if he’d be looking for a wound on his skull. He lowers his eyes and his voice drops to no more than a murmur.

“I… There’s something I need to tell you, but I have to know you are 100% with me. I wanna trust my brothers now, Cody. I don’t think I can trust anyone else. Not the Republic,” Cody’s eyes went wide at that “Not even the Jedi, not after what they did to commander Tano.”

Cody squints at Rex, hesitating.

“What do you mean?”

Rex lowers his hand to the back of his neck and then places it over his chin.

“I wanna go off the grid. Away from the Republic’s reach, away from our quarters. I want to… I want to make sure I get to the bottom of it and not end up like Fives.”

Cody’s confused expression turned to a tired, controlled anger.

“Fives was resisting arrest.”

“He found something--”

“He was clinically insane!”

Rex bares his teeth.

“I trust him!” he snaps, supporting himself on his hands placed on the table and getting up from his seat; his breathing is rapid and his face is red, veins popping up where his neck is visible under his blacks, meeting his tensed up jaw. “And if he says something is threatening my brothers, I will turn against whatever this is, and I don’t care if it’s the Republic or even the Jedi, I will protect them!”

Cody gets up too, looking wide-eyed at Rex as he runs a hand over his mouth and chin.

“You care more about your brothers than about your mission?...” he asks, raw anger dripping from his words “Than the Republic?!”

“Yeah.” Rex says as he stares at Cody’s eyes without blinking “You can write that down.” Cody walks to the table’s side but Rex blocks his way “They’re not only my brothers, Cody. They’re yours too.”

There’s scorn in Cody’s voice now too, but it doesn’t overshadow his anger.

“Your imaginary threat doesn’t scare me as much as your paranoia. You should get tested for the virus.”

Rex snarls, pushing him by the chest.

“Why do you have to be like this?! Why can’t you, for once, see that this republic is rotten to the core?! We are slaves, Cody! Bred, born and killed in slavery, and you--”

Cody is taken aback by Rex’s push and licks his lips. The punch he drives to Rex’s face comes so fast the Captain can’t avoid it. He staggers and grunts, feeling the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. Cody grabs him by the neck of his chest piece, pulling Rex closer to him and whispering close to his ear:

“In the name of our friendship… In the name of all we’ve seen… Of all we’ve lived so far…” his breathing is ragged and he swallows hard “I’ll pretend I haven’t heard thess words of high treason. Don’t tell me a single thing about your plans, because when they ask me where the hell has Captain Rex disappeared to, I don’t wanna know anything about this, and I don’t wanna have to lie, and if you really go through with this you better not get caught.”

Rex doesn’t answer. He’s looking at Cody’s helmet placed next to his. He’s remembering each mission they’ve worked together with their generals, the balanced Kenobi and the eager Skywalker, all the bombings and sieges and different planets they’ve been to. It feels like a goddamn lifetime. Cody doesn’t sound only angry, he sounds disgusted:

“Ni'duraa. I think what you’re doing is dishonorable. Shameful. But if you think it’s the right thing to do, Captain, go ahead. Just make sure that when the time comes, what happened with Fox and Fives doesn’t end up happening between me and you.”

He pushes Rex away, and the Captain looks at him wide-eyed. Rex looks devastated, and he half-whispers Cody’s name before he says:

“If you only tried to listen—”

Cody reaches for his helmet to then push Rex off his way with his shoulder.

“I am a soldier of the Republic, Rex. It’s who I am. Whatever you’re looking for, I hope it works for you.” he walks to the door, unlocking it.

“Ret'urcye mhi, vod.” Rex says between clenched teeth with his back still turned to Cody, his fists clenched by his sides.

The mandalorian farewell meant a wish to see the other again. Cody knows that, but he doesn’t know if Rex means he wishes to see him once again or if he wishes Cody to be the one to kill him, should it happen. Not even Rex is sure of what it really meant, and as the reddened skies turn to bright orange, the commander of the 212th pulls the door violently to then leave the bar.

#drinking/#violence/#angst #clone bois #my fics #sw #tcw #blood m/#captain rex #commander cody #arc trooper fives #long post/#hm i do gotta remember to post this on ao3 later #i'll probably forget #bc my life is a mess #but writing this distracted me from the mess so #yay

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kansascityhappenings · 6 years

Text

Joe’s Weather Blog: Imagine forecasting a tornado…with no “technology” (SUN-3/25)

Good dreary afternoon (again). Clouds…and raw winds are combining to create another day with temperatures well below average. As I start this blog we’re still in the upper 30s…there are some thin spots in the clouds out there so maybe…just maybe…we can nudge the mid 40s or so before the afternoon is down. There is also a falling apart disturbance moving through the Plains that created rain this morning…and that rain is falling apart. Overnight though things will be chnging with an increasing chance of rain before daybreak in the region.

Forecast:

Tonight: Cloudy skies with thunderstorms possible after 5AM or so. These storms may contain some small hail if they affect you. Lows tonight into the upper 30s

Monday: Rain/storms possible before lunch then just scattered PM showers after lunch. I’m hoping we could nudge or crack 50° on the northside with temperatures milder much farther south (60s). Some of the morning rain may be locally heavy as well.

Tuesday: Lots of clouds with some leftover AM showers. I think drier in the afternoon with highs only in the 40s again

Wednesday: Much better with highs near 60°

Discussion:

The weather continues to be on the cool-ish side and when you look at this satellite picture…you can see why…it looks very similar to the picture from yesterday.

The above is a mess of grayness.

Most of the moisture around the KC region is basically below about 4,000 feet or so. It’s trapped…the air above it is warmer and also MUCH drier too. As a matter of fact the morning balloon release into the atmosphere shows the temperatures at about 6,000 feet close to 50°. So IF you lived in a 600 story building…at the top…it would be bright and sunny and mild compared to below that!

Meanwhile the atmosphere tonight will be undergoing some changes. 1st is the development of a low level jet stream towards the west of the region. In time rain and storms will be developing west of here…and moving this way into Monday morning. This low level jet stream isn’t going to create the strongest lift locally…but it will do a better job farther west. Then as that lift creates rain/storms…that will move towards the KC area. This means we’ll likely have off and on rain for awhile tomorrow…especially in the AM. In addition, despite the dry atmosphere now just above 4,000 feet…the atmosphere will be getting VERY soupy before daybreak. So whatever forms and moves through may create some locally heavy rains as well. It also wouldn’t shock me to see some small hail form as well. These potential storms will be forming over a low level inversion…in other words in the AM tomorrow it will still be cold and raw at the ground but a couple of thousand feet off the ground it may be close to 60°. From there upwards is where the instability will be…and with the freezing level being around 10,000 feet up…any storms should be able to tap into that colder air…and potentially allow some hail to form and some may end up reaching the ground.

In addition to this low level jet…we’ll be in a persistent WSW flow of air that should allow a series of disturbances to ripple from the WSW to the ENE through Tuesday morning. Hence the additional rain chances off and on into Tuesday AM.

A cold front and shift in the WSW flow aloft should help things out after daybreak on Tuesday with drier conditions.

We’re really not the bulls-eye for this set-up actually. Areas farther south…towards I-44 and southwards are the area most vulnerable to heavy rain and flooding (again).

Those are 3-near 5″ totals down there…so flooding will be an issue needless to say.

Heavy rainfall likely and minor flooding possible Monday and Tuesday. Widespread 1 to 4 inches with isolated higher amounts possible. pic.twitter.com/cUAf8TpO9J

— NWS Springfield (@NWSSpringfield) March 25, 2018

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I remember it wasn’t that long ago that that area was in some rather serious drought conditions. Take a look at where MO started the year from a drought perspective and where they are now…much better towards southern MO than before. (Scroll bar left=now…right=then)

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=777d87d2-3055-11e8-b263-0edaf8f81e27

Another cool day is on tap for Tuesday and hopefully we’ll be milder on Wednesday!

Opening Day is still not set in stone as a cold front will be coming through it appears. The timing will determine the 1) rain potential during the day and 2) the temperatures in the afternoon. Slower front…warmer day but higher rain chance. Faster front…drier day…but cooler temperatures, especially for tailgating. So right now I’ve got the lower 50s in the forecast for gametime. I think I’m going to let that forecast breath for another day before changing or updating it.

Imagine that…as good of forecasts we can often create…days in advance…we’re still not 100% sure about rain timing a lot of times (amongst other things). We have all these great technologies…radar…sensors everywhere…computer forecasts…dozens of models to inspect etc. and we’re still not perfect.

Imagine being a forecaster back in the 30s and 40s when none of this data was remotely available really. You had weather conditions at various airports around the world…and you had atmospheric soundings. That was about it. Oh and you had your knowledge of weather. For some forecasters…there “knowledge” was amazing given the times. They couldn’t rely on computer models because those models didn’t exist. Heck computers themselves were essentially in their infancy. Computer model forecasts were being developed for the 1950s or so.

So there you are…a forecaster(s) for the Air Force down at Tinker AFB in the Oklahoma City area…and your knowledge of the weather was leading you to believe that something bad could happen at the AFB you forecast for. That was the case for Captain Miller and Major Fawbush on this date in 1948(!).

70 years ago today the 1st tornado forecast was created for Tinker AFB. If I remember a few days prior there were tornadoes in the OK area…and the 2 forecasters recognized that somewhat the same set-up was coming back into play that day/night.

Remember that the Weather Bureau at the time…wouldn’t even allow the word tornado to be used in a forecast! They were concerned that it would set-off a panic among citizens at the time!!!!!

So let’s pick up the story with that background via NOAA…

“Miller and Fawbush made this historic forecast with some reservation. Until March 25, 1948, tornadoes had not been forecast and many in the science community were uncertain that storms that developed so quickly and with such force could be forecast in advance.

A key factor in the command’s decision to issue the historic forecast on that day was a fierce tornado that swept through the same area only five days earlier, March 20, 1948. The storm left significant damage and some fatalities. Some wondered if that March 20, 1948, storm could have been forecast. A board that was convened to investigate decided that “due to the nature of the storm it was not forecastable given the present state of the art” and that “it was an act of God.” The board also recommended that the meteorological community consider efforts to determine a method of alerting the public to these storms and urged base commanders to develop safety precautions to minimize personnel and property losses in violent storms.

On March 21, 1948, the Commanding General of the Oklahoma City Air Material Area, Fred S. Borum, directed the Air Weather Service to have the Tinker Base Weather Station (under the command of Major Ernest J. Fawbush) investigate the feasibility of forecasting tornado-producing thunderstorms. For the next three days, Fawbush and Miller poured over surface and upper-air weather charts, and reviewed several other past tornadic outbreaks. They noticed certain similarities in the weather patterns preceding such storms. They also noted that others theories advanced by other researchers interested in the cause and behavior of tornadoes. “Using our findings and incorporating those of others … we listed several weather parameters considered sufficient to result in significant tornadic outbreaks when all were present in a geographical area at the same time,” said Miller.

The problem faced by the forecaster was to consider the current surface and upper air data, determine the existence of these parameters or the probability of their development, and then project the parameters in space and time in order to issue the “tornado threat area” with a reasonable degree of confidence and leadtime. The size of the threat area would cover 20-30,000 square miles. Such a detailed forecast procedure was time and labor consuming and required intensive and specialized analysis.

On the morning weather charts of March 25, 1948, Miller and Fawbush noted a great similarity between the charts of March 20 and March 25, 1948. After analyzing the surface and upper-air data, a prognostic chart was prepared for 6 p.m. local time showing the expected position of the various critical parameters. This chart resulted in the somewhat unsettling conclusion that central Oklahoma would be in the primary tornado threat area by late afternoon and early evening. General Borum was notified and shortly thereafter arrived at the weather station.

After hearing these helpful observations, the General asked what time would be the most critical. “Between 5 and 6 p.m.,” said Miller and Fawbush. General Borum decided the forecasters should issue a forecast for heavy thunderstorms during that period. He patiently explained that such a move would serve to alert the base and put in motion a brand new, and detailed, base warning system into effect. The thunderstorm warning was issued.

As the day progressed, reports confirmed that the weather pattern was indeed strikingly similar to the weather patterns that produced the tornado on March 20. Events were moving more swiftly, however, and any organized severe weather activity would occur during the afternoon. Stations to the west and southwest began reporting building cumulus clouds shortly after noon. At 1:52 p.m. the first thunderstorm echoes appeared on the radar scope 60 miles to the northwest and extended 100 miles to the southwest. By 2 p.m. the thunderstorms were beginning to increase in number and size and organizing into a squall line. When notified of this development, General Borum headed for the weather station at once. The General spent 10 minutes scanning the radar scope and commented on the rapid development and increasing intensity of the squall line. By 2:30 p.m. Fawbush and Miller determined the line was moving toward Tinker at 27 mph, which would place it over the base near 6 p.m. General Borum stood up, looked at the forecasters and asked the unsettling question, “Are you going to issue a tornado forecast?”

Miller and Fawbush hesitated, pointing out the possibility of a second tornado striking the same area within 20 years or more, let alone in five days. “Besides,” Miller said, “no one has ever issued an operational tornado forecast.” “You are about to set a precedent,” said General Fred S. Borum.

Fawbush and Miller composed and typed up the forecast and passed it to Base Operations for dissemination at 2:50 p.m. As base personnel began carrying out the detailed Tornado Safety Plan, hangaring aircraft, removing loose objects, diverting incoming air traffic and moving base personnel, including the control tower personnel, to places of relative safety, Miller and Fawbush worried about a forecast “bust.” If the forecast was wrong, public confidence in weather forecasting would be set back years, not to mention their careers.

The squall line was fully developed by 3:30 p.m and continued to move steadily toward Oklahoma City. There had been no reports of tornadoes nor any reports of hail and high winds, as yet. Shortly after 5 p.m. the squall line passed through Will Rogers Municipal Airport, bringing a light thunderstorm, wind gusts to 26 mph and pea size hail. A little after 6 p.m. it began to thunder rather quietly and rain began. There was very little wind. Shortly thereafter, radio broadcasts were interrupted for an urgent news bulletin. A destructive tornado touched down at Tinker Field.

The base was in shambles. Poles and powerlines were down and debris was strewn everywhere. Emergency crews were busy trying to restore power, clear the streets and, in particular, to restore the main runway to operational status. General Borum’s Tornado Disaster Plan had been just as successful as the first operational tornado forecast. Miller and Fawbush became instant heroes.”

end story/clip

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the first successful tornado forecast by Air Force Captain Robert C. Miller and Major Ernest J. Fawbush at Tinker AFB, OK. More details at: https://t.co/KOUkOAVg7R pic.twitter.com/sLVacc32CL

— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) March 25, 2018

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It really is a fascinating story…and to verify the forecast for a specific point is astounding and so gutsy as well.

Our feature photo is from Starr Hardwick of Eudora…

Joe

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports http://fox4kc.com/2018/03/25/joes-weather-blog-imagine-forecasting-a-tornado-with-no-technology-sun-3-25/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/joes-weather-blog-imagine-forecasting-a-tornadowith-no-technology-sun-3-25/

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vanbasten99 · 7 years

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This is the second part of an extensive breakdown of the troubled Hinrunde of Gladbach and Wolfsburg, you can find the first part here.

5. Regression in Midfield

Ranking Philipp Lahm as the best defender in the league probably undermines the prestigious German magazine Kicker’s reputation as the most accurate judge of Bundesliga performance, so the following may be taken with a grain of salt. Here are the 91 qualified midfielders who played a minimum of half the games – remember the higher the ranking, the worse they played:

So, as discussed previously, Wolfsburg have central midfield issues, partly because Guilavogui and Luiz Gustavo were first injured in the beginning – thus forcing Hecking to reinvent football by playing two players (Yannick Gerhardt #13 and Maxi Arnold #27) in the same exact spot for an entire half of football.

Seriously, look at their heat maps and tell me if this isn’t the bizarro N’Golo Kante 2 for 1 deal? (in case you don’t follow the EPL: Kante is famous for accounting for the work rate and positioning of two players)

Arnold (who was the one who finally attempted to press Marc Bartra as he crossed the halfway line to play in Guerreiro for the opener) was so poor (allowing Aubameyang to waltz in for the second) that Hecking replaced him with Paul Seguin, who of course played in the exact same spot right in Gerhardt’s face and then proceeded to allow Gonzalo Castro a free run down the middle for the third BVB goal.

I won’t even get into their pressing problems in that game, but a tweet will do:

https://twitter.com/BundesPL/status/778313126878076928

Browsing some defensive metrics, it’s quite staggering to see Daniel Caligiuri as the leading tackler for die Wölfe at 2.1 per game, with Gustavo and Guilavogui also at two-ish in 1400 combined minutes. Their CM replacements (Arnold and Seguin) have combined for just 2.3 tackles in 2000 minutes. Guilavogui’s importance really becomes obvious when it comes to interceptions, as the Frenchman has 37 total in 430 minutes (6.2 per game), SIX more than ANY OTHER WOLFSBURG PLAYER!!! (and more than any other Freiburg and Dortmund player, per Dustin Ward again!)

The defensive struggles are thus quite apparent, but it takes both sides of the ball to achieve true midfield futility:

In fairness to Yannick Gerhardt, he has performed better at left wingback and LB (which of course is weird, because it made Ismael use Ricardo Rodriguez, one of the best Bundesliga LBs as a CB or a LCB), but Arnold and Seguin have not gotten above one key pass per 90 minutes in a combined 2000 minutes. (Some guy named Julian Draxler has 2.1 in a “terrible Hinrunde”). They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and since I’ve got several thousands written here, this work of art titled “Wolfsburg (purple) most closely resemble DARMSTADT (orange) in Key Passes” shall do.

Borussia have a different sort of illness, one that is best described as the severe case of Sebastian Rodeitis. Its symptoms include: the total absence of risk-taking, key passes and any sort of forward progression of the ball and it manifests itself in the form of Tobias Strobl, who as we discover thanks to the wonderful work the guys at Football Radars is kind of a like a worse version of Rode! (Yup, I’m just as surprised as you are, and the news have put me in an existential tailspin…).

The 26-year-old was not part of Julian Nagelsmann’s future plans at Hoffenheim (and coincidentally TSG are thriving since Nags excised Strobl from the lineup in favor of the versatility of Sebastian Rudy and the attacking prowess of Nadiem Amiri) and came on a free transfer to Gladbach last summer.

BMG were of course desperate to replace the departed Xhaka\Nordveit duo’s excellent mix of tough-tackling (without the red cards preferably) and deep-lying playmaking. The trouble is that both Strobl and the reacquired Christoph Kramer have utterly failed at this. In fact, from a casual comparison via Squawka we can glean that they are actually playing way more conservatively and below their past levels.

Strobl presumably was supposed to be a safety blanket of sorts, being a tidy passer and solid in possession with just enough defense to fill in whenever Dahoud or Kramer weren’t up to it. Sadly, he has been a traffic cone on defense, as anyone with a modicum of speed is able to make him look like he is 36, not 26. Strobl is often so slow that he isn’t even able to attempt a tackle, which explains why he is tenth on his own team in successful tackles with one per game, and ninth in attempts, succeeding just 56% of the time. Kramer to his credit attempts double the amount of tackles than Strobl (4.5 to 2.3) even if he ranks fourth in the dribbled past metric totals and just 25th in successful tackles with an identical 56% rate. Attached is the rankings via Whoscored, with the last two filtered to include CMs only, while the first includes all players.

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On offense, Kramer famously has attempted one shot all Hinrunde, which, despite him taking 10-20 shots per year, is such an absurd number that it must be at Schubert’s request.

The four key passes all season (compared to 20-25) for Kramer and the three for Strobl (usually between 10-15) together with all the backward passing are quite damning evidence of Schubert’s aversion to progressing the ball forward. You can see what usually happens from the great passing maps of 11tegen11, of which the one against Schalke is the most extreme one, in which Gladbach CB Jannik Vestergaard attempted 92 passes in 45 minutes! Technically 51 of them were forward according to Statszone, but that’s extremely generous and you can see from the map, just how little impact these passes had.

Overall, Gladbach finished with 702 completed passes and 73% possession, but only 123 of those passes came in the attacking third and they actually lost the shots battle 15 to 12, not to mention of course the game as well to Schalke, 4-0.

You can check some of the other ineffective pass maps here:

#gallery-0-10 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-10 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-0-10 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-10 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

6.Failures in attack

Lack of pressing and counterpressing, general passivity in the buildup phase, and slow or non-existent through the middle for Gladbach, and inconsistent CMs for Wolfsburg were some of the issues that we covered so far. One consequence of those problems is leaving their creative attacking players and\or finishers like Julian Draxler, Mario Gomez or Lars Stindl and Raffael on an island. That would lead to a dip in their output presumably, and while that’s true with Gomez (as explained above in PP!) and Draxler – who has failed to score despite putting up a career-best per 90 1.6 shots from inside the penalty area with 1.3 on target! While it would be an overstatement to say that Draxler has been good, he has not been disastrous per the advanced metrics, as he’s at over 3 expected goals, and his shot locations have generally been decent. In fact, what’s happening with the now PSG attacker is quite fascinating: he is getting almost all of his long shots on target and saved, while having a career low number of shots blocked, but most of them seem to come from right around the penalty spot, where he is also missing often! https://public.tableau.com/shared/F6ZS8NM4Q?:display_count=yes

On the other side of the ledger (hey Matt Herrmann!) Gladbach’s duo of Stindl and Raffael (a bit of a Liebling among Bundesliga aficionados) are producing roughly identical raw shot numbers.

Stindl is even converting the same amount at 12.5% as last year and Raffael is down just 1.5% from last year’s 25.5 to 24 this season. There is not much wrong in terms of the expected goals, though Stindl is down about half a goal.

The big drop comes in terms of creating for others, as Stindl’s been struggling at this, with 17 chances provided for others compared to 54 for the 15\16 campaign. Raffael’s total chances created is at a whopping 25 already, partly because he is a freaking wizard, and when you adjust for the fact that he is on pace to play 600 fewer minutes already plus his age, 25 compared to 54 is actually quite good! Stindl’s lack of creativity and some conversion randomness for forwards (Andre Hahn is converting nine percent, quite a long way from the ridiculous 33% of last season, but on the flip side Thorgan Hazard has doubled up his 12% to 26% this year!) could explain some of it, but it’s the other guys who scored so many goals last year for Gladbach that are absent: There were 30 goals scored last season by the Octet of Fabian Johnson, Mo Dahoud, Granit Xhaka, Andreas Christensen, Havard Nordtveit, Ibrahima Traore, Oscar Wendt and Patrick Herrmann, who if we sub in Kramer and Strobl for the two guys now playing in England are at FOUR so far!

When so many players are MIA, it’s usually the coach’s fault, and Schubert has found that out the hard way.

7. Coaching malpractices

In Wolfsburg, Hecking’s failures to get anything out of Max Kruse, the immortal Lord Bendtner, Mario Gomez, André Schürrle and Julian Draxler kind of flew under the radar at the time, but of course it’s immensely funny that Gladbach have now hired him to presumably get more out of that group of eight above. He will of course try to do it via his crosses, which of course worked so tremendously in the absence of Kevin de Bruyne, as the following picture and the above-mentioned key passes into the box image illustrate.

SERIOUSLY, someone talk to Christian Trasch and Daniel Caligiuri!

But hey, at least Gladbach have players who are good at crossing. Traore,Hazard, Raffael and Wendt all seem pretty good at it, ole Lars Stindl not so much.

In case you were wondering about the league leaders, those are Vinny and Pascal Gs, who along with Johannes Geis are among the three players with over 50% accuracy on a minimum of 45 attempts.

It’s probably a bad sign that it took me over 4000 words to say something positive about the Hecking appointment, but that’s where we are. There are also positives about Andre Schubert, but they mostly center around the cliche of the team responding to a caretaker coach’s infusion of youth after quitting on a long-time manager. While I was surprised by the excellent performances of last year’s Foals team, I was flabbergasted by the idea of extending Schubert, especially in light of the articles like Conor Garratt’s at Bayern Central which eviscerated Schubert for his incompetence on September 25th.

Ironically, Gladbach extended the coach’s contract (which was scheduled to run out in June of 2017) just two days later on September 27th. At the time, Gladbach were fourth in the league with ten points from five games. Little did we know, that the Foals would get just six more points from the next eleven games, costing Schubert his job and opening the door for Hecking.

Not a lot of tears were shed, and it was tough to argue with the decision, though injuries for example could’ve been part of the playbook for Schubert apologists.

8. Injuries

This shows the two teams among the more injury-stricken Bundesliga clubs, but when you look at BVB and Eintracht or FC Augsburg on the bottom three, it’s hard to feel bad for VfL and BMG and\or to use injuries as an excuse, though that of course won’t stop people from doing it.

A deeper look at the absences is possible, thanks to Transfermarkt and it reveals Gladbach’s injuries taking place among the attacking players, as Raffael, Ibrahima Traore, Patrick Herrmann and Josip Drmic all missed over six games at least. The Raffael\Traore injuries did play a major part, as Gladbach lost a ton of creativity (most are aware of Raffael’s Key Pass numbers, but the Guinean was contributing a career best 3.4 per 90), dribbling (combining for six per game) with those two in attack. In addition, Traore’s work ethic was an integral part of their five back system, which is supported by the fact that Gladbach won just one game (vs. Mainz) when using a four back system. They were hardly amazing in the 3-4-1-2, earning three wins, one draw and five losses with an 11-16 goal difference, but at least they were able to score nine goals, versus just three in the other formations, which is probably at least due to Traore’s dribbling and key passes into the box.

It’s kind of a cruel joke that last Hinrunde, Gladbach had all kinds of defensive injuries and red card suspensions (Xhaka and Nordveit), forcing the coaches to play 13 different CB combos. For the fall, smaller injuries (three games or fewer) to players like Thorgan Hazard (who started the campaign in scorching form), Fabian Johnson, Andreas Christensen, Tobias Strobl and Christoph Kramer (who will miss a lot of time) didn’t help, but guys like Lars Stindl, Andre Hahn or Jonas Hofmann were healthy, but not useful.

Wolfsburg were without a good defensive CM for a while with Guilavogui and Luiz Gustavo missing a lot of games, and of course Daniel Didavi failed to stay healthy, because he is sadly the Holger Badstuber of attacking mids. They also lost Vieirinha to injury, which is probably a good thing given his performances (cue to Portugal fans who saw him play at the Euros nodding), which have been so awful that he is heading back to Greece. Long injuries to insignificant players like Sebastian Jung and Ismael Azzoui (both at 0 minutes so far) are good for driving up the days missed per day stat, but little else. Last season’s numbers are fairly similar as well.

9. Winter Moves

Gladbach have been quiet, signing an 18-year old Paraguayan and they also did this:

https://twitter.com/Yokhin/status/816701044138921985

Wolfsburg have made some major moves already in the winter break: the sale of Julian Draxler to PSG for 40 million has allowed the Wolves to sign four players – Yunus Malli, Riechedly Bazoer, Victor Osimhen and Paul-Georges Ntep who cost a combined 33 million. Malli is a proven Bundesliga commodity, an excellent dribbler who is capable of creating offense, though he doesn’t shoot enough and is very dependent on set-pieces for his key passes\assists.

https://twitter.com/FussballRadars/status/811972074545631232

Bazoer has been touted as a wonderkid and at 20 has already played 4500 minutes in the Eredivisie, while Ntep has 5500 Ligue 1 minutes and 18 goals at 24. If you’re an optimist, Bazoer has a pretty nice looking radar, but he has also fallen out with Ajax coach Peter Bosz and has barely played this season. Where have we heard that before?

Still, advantage Wolfsburg, though I’ve a sneaky feeling that Draxler’s production (though not his attitude) will be missed at some point.

10. Looking Ahead

Valerien Ismael got his caretaker job finalized until the end of the season, and despite some improved performances in the last couple of match days, it remains to be seen whether he is actually a competent Bundesliga coach. We’ve flogged Dieter Hecking enough, but Ismael’s not been much more creative, as Spielverlagerung’s German tactics expert Tobias Escher pointed out when discussing Wolfsburg’s switch to the 3\5\2 – 5\3\2 hybrid that’s been taking the European leagues by storm. The point is that you know a trend is played out when Wolfsburg are doing it, kinda like when your weatherman starts rapping. The optimistic scenario probably includes the new boys quickly fitting in and VfL hitting the ground running, with a couple of victories against HSV, Augsburg and possibly Cologne. The home game vs. Hoffenheim is sandwiched between two brutal trips to Dortmund and Bayern, and they will still have road games against Leipzig, Schalke, Leverkusen, Eintracht and Hertha, so I’d not expect all that much in the Rückrunde.

Dieter Hecking has enjoyed the winter camp in Marbella, as the coach got to know his team a little better and it looks like the Foals have had a good time. He has experimented with the three in the back formation, using the 3-4-2-1 in both exhibition matches. There are still several long-term injuries that are going to make life difficult for Gladbach, with Herrmann, Traore and Fabian Johnson still out, and now Nico Elvedi joining them with a pelvis injury. Timo Kolodziejczak should bring some experience at CB and is expected to compete with Vestergaard and Elvedi for the two other CB spots next to Andreas Christensen (who might be on his way back to Chelsea). It does not look like BMG managed to make upgrades at the wingback positions, despite Oscar Wendt and Julian Korb being below-average options. Hopefully, Hecking will ditch the Strobl\Kramer pairing in favor of more Mo Dahoud and our suggestion is to pair him with the World Cup winner, who has recovered from his scary-looking injury. Although there have been reports of Jonas Hofmann earning penalties and Josip Drmic scoring goals in these friendlies, Hecking should stick to the Hazard, Raffael, Stindl trio. The schedule is rather favorable out of the gates, with Darmstadt and Freiburg visiting Borussia Park with trips to Leverkusen and Bremen. A two-way Europa League tie with Fiorentina is interrupted by a match against Leipzig, then games vs. Ingolstadt and HSV might be tricky (especially if the early matches don’t go their way), after which Bayern, Hertha, Schalke and Frankfurt follow. The repeating of the 26-point Rückrunde from last season and a win against Darmstadt should easily keep Gladbach safe, though Frankfurt needed just 36 total points to snag the 16th spot last season. With six teams currently on 16 points or fewer, that number of 36 should be enough, though they might need the MD 34 victory over Darmstadt just to be on the safe side.

Gladbach and Wolfsburg fail to adjust and get left behind in the Hinrunde Part 2 This is the second part of an extensive breakdown of the troubled Hinrunde of Gladbach and Wolfsburg, you can find the first part…

#Bundesliga #Gladbach #Hinrunde #Wolfsburg

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