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icerosecrystal · 3 years

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Jasonette - A Second Chance Pt. 1

This one-shot contains major character death as well as blood and violence. BTW, to clear up their ages at the beginning of the story.

Alfred: IMMORTAL, MY CHILDREN

Bruce: 44

Dick: 29

Jason: 24

Marinette: 23

Tim: 21

Damian: 14

(Marinette’s POV)

Ladybug had failed all of Paris. She had gone into today’s battle, thinking that she and her partner Chat Noir would work together to defeat Hawkmoth. But, right when she had asked Chat Noir to take Hawkmoth’s miraculous, he froze. He then did the worst thing she could imagine he laughed. Chat then walked up to Hawkmoth while Hawkomth chuckled, “Little Bug, even your partner doesn’t support you anymore. Just give up.”

Ladybug froze, her mind racing. Her partner had betrayed her. He had decided that the cause they had been fighting for the last decade was no longer worth the fight. (I was going to make you’ll do the math, but then I saw I already told you Marinette’s age above, lmao.) She screamed in frustration and then shouted, “ Never!”

Ladybug or Marinette was a great fighter, especially after having been in the superhero gig for so long. But, Chat Noir was also pretty good, and he was allied with both Mayura and Hawkmoth. It was safe to say that the odds weren’t looking well for Marinette. She was growing tired, and Tikki didn’t have much energy left within her.

That’s when it happened, Marinette made a mistake. The next thing she knew, Hawkmoth had her pinned to the ground and had pulled off her miraculous, consequently revealing her identity. Hawkmoth handed over her miraculous to Chat Noir, who put it on. Chat, then turned into a deep purple, and a voice asked him, “What do you wish for, oh young one?”

Chat replied, “I wish for the rebirth of my mom, Emilie Agreste.” Marinette’s heart stopped. Her ex-partner was Adrien Agreste. And if he’s assisting Hawkmoth, that must mean that Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste, her idol. Then Natalie Sancoeur must be Mayura. Marinette came to those conclusions in a matter of seconds. But, after a minute, she started feeling sluggish. She felt her heartbeat slow down. She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep forever. She didn’t feel so good at this point. Through her blurry vision, she saw a woman that looked like Adrien’s Mother appear. As Emilie returned to full consciousness, that’s when Marinette started losing consciousness. The last thing that she heard in a whisper was, “ A life for a life, that was the price.” Before she closed her eyes, succumbing her body and mind to the darkness that lay ahead.

(Talia POV)

Talia Al-Ghul was expecting a lot of things today. What she was not expecting was to find Paris in a mid-battle, for one of the heroes partners to betray them, the villains winning, and then said hero dying. She looked at the body of the girl that everyone was staring at and thought she didn’t deserve to die like this, plus she might be useful to the league. Talia pulled up her mask to cover her face and then blended in with the shadows. No one actually so her until she grabbed the girl and disappeared. Her actions prompted a lot of commotion back at the battle location.

Talia boarded her plane, carrying the body in her arms. She was slightly worried about the potential effects the Lazarus pit could have on her. She had experienced the worse side-effects, courtesy of one Jason Peter Todd-Wayne. Talia could still remember his screams as he clawed his way out of the Lazarus Pit and started to attack all the assassins with the intent to kill anyone and everyone. They had barely managed to restrain him. She hoped that this girl would not receive similar side-effects. But, based on the amount of trauma and betrayal she held within her like Jason, it would be inevitable.

Once Talia arrived at the league with the dead girl, she walked out of the plane got some bandages. Talia then took the girl, or rather Marinette. She found out from a face scan that pulled up all her legal documents as well as her background information, to her father, Ra’s. Once she arrived before her father, she bowed her head in respect for him.

“Ahhh, daughter, you’ve returned. And who is this you’ve acquired.”

Talia answered, “Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, twenty-three-years-old, and an excellent fighter. She lived in Paris, France, and was the main hero. Today was the final battle, and her partner ended up betraying her, getting her killed in the process.” She then handed over all of Marinette’s legal documentation as well as her background info to her father.

Ra’s looked through it and then asked, “How would she be a useful asset to the league?”

Talia responded, “After what happened with Marinette, she would have a thirst for revenge on the people that wronged her. I’m enunciating that we can use that to our advantage. The only problem is that Marinette carries around a lot of trauma, betrayal, and loneliness like Jason Todd. I’m concerned that she might have the same reaction for dipping in the pit.”

Ra’s nodded, considering the idea and agreeing that a person with the thirst for revenge would be a useful addition to the league.

Talia watched Ra’s, hoping to get an idea of what he was thinking. He then beckoned for her to follow him. He leads her to the Lazarus Pit, and Talia now knew that Ra’s supported her decision. She put Marinette down and wrapped her in bandages before dipping her in the pit. What happens next is alarming.

Marinette has the same reaction as Jason. This time though, everyone was ready. Talia quickly took hold of her and started whispering how she got to her destination and how she came back to life. Unlike Jason, though, Marinette doesn’t have as much of a temper, which helps Talia efficiently calm her down faster. Talia then tells Marinette, “Would you like to be an Assasin and fix those who have wronged you?”

Talia wasn’t asking. They would force Marinette if she refused, but they wanted to be her ally rather than as her foe. But what would she choose?

(Marinette’s POV)

A burning sensation was all Marinette felt. But she was supposed to be dead. So, what was she doing alive she got out of the green ooze that she was inside. Marinette frantically looked around while clawing the bandages on her to get rid of the burning sensation. When it didn’t work, she tried to claw her way out of the goop to ease the burning until someone caught her around her middle. The same person took her out of the green goop and started whispering reassurance in her ear. Marinette relaxed until the women asked a question that would change everything, “Would you like to be an Assasin and fix those who have wronged you?”

The logical side of her brain argued that she shouldn’t yield herself to killing others, that it was wrong. The other side of Marinette’s brain felt hazy from dipping into the ooze. It was also hazy because of her grief, pain, betrayal, trauma, and loneliness argued that revenge was the only way to go. She slowly let the murky part of her brain take over until revenge felt like eating ice cream on a hot summer day, great. She nodded her head in agreement with the proposition. The woman smiled and then introduced herself as Talia Al-Ghul, the demon head’s daughter. She spent the rest of the day explaining everything about the league to Marinette. Talia also explained rules that applied specifically to her. By the end of the day, Marinette had an outfit that she would use on missions and during training. Talia then left Marinette to settle in. Marinette looked around the room and sighed, getting ready for experiencing this every day from now on.

(Four months time skip)

It had been four months since Marinette became a member of the league of assassins. And as expected, she was a valuable member of the order. Her need for revenge drove her to work harder on missions.

One morning, Talia awoke Marinette with some news. “You will be going to Gotham to check on my son, who should be 14 now. You will observe how he communicates with his family, and if there any problems arise, you will assist them. Report back to me every day, understand?”

Marinette nodded, “Yes, Mistress.” Talia nodded back and then left to get the plane ready. Marinette wore her usual assassin outfit.

Marinette then went outside and stood before Talia. Shed waited for Talia to give her to okay to board the plane. Once she did, they both got on and reviewed everything they knew about Damian and the Waynes. By the time they arrived in Gotham, Marinette had memorized the information of every single Wayne. She said goodbye to Talia and tracked down Damian, watching him from afar in the shadows.

(Time Skip of a Week)

It had been a week since Marinette started observing Damian. She had to say that he was growing soft. Although, it had been four years since Damian was under league supervision. Everything was going all right on the bat’s patrol until it wasn’t.

The bat family was fighting some thugs at the docks when a thug snuck behind Damian, or rather Robin, and shot him in the stomach. Damian fell to the ground in pain, but still alive. This action provoked Marinette to let out a deep, feral growl. She then grabbed some of her throwing stars and launched them at the thug, effectively killing him in the process. Her actions lead the bat clan to shift their attention to her. They quickly fought off the remaining thugs. They then walked up to a bleeding Damian and Marinette standing in front of him as if to guard him.

Batman then asked, “Who are you, and why are you here?”

Marinette answered, “My name is Dark Angel. I was sent by Mistress Talia to look after Damian for a little bit and see how he’s fitting in.”

Batman then stated, “You killed the man.”

Marinette shrugged, “It comes with the job description. I’m an assassin. You know, a murderer who targets people that would be better off dead?”

Batman sighed, “Nobody is better off dead.”

Marinette shrugged again, so done with this conversation, “Speak for yourself.”

(Jason’s POV, sorry for the abrupt change)

Jason stared at the woman in front of him, who must be his age. He recognized her behavior from somewhere. Jason suddenly realized where he had seen this behavior before he exhibited this demeanor after he came back to life. That meant that she had died, and Talia was using her want for revenge like the league used his.

Jason asked, no stated, “You died.”

Dark Angel stiffened, “Who wants to know?” Yup, her reaction confirmed his suspicions she had died and was then brought back by the Lazarus Pit. Most likely recently by how raw her emotions still were.

Jason walked up slowly to her and remarked, “You died and later brought back to the Lazarus Pit. You probably have a thirst for revenge. I can see a lot of you in me. I can help you.” He tried to be as gentle as possible, which was hard considering his character.

Dark Angel backed away while shaking her head, frantically", No, you know NOTHING ABOUT ME! YOU DON’T KNOW THE BETRAYAL, THE TRAUMA. YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!“ She then ran away, trying to get away from the Bat Clan.

Jason looked over at Bruce, or Batman, with determination clear, in his eyes, "I’m going to go find her.”

Batman nodded, “Take RR and Nightwing with you. I’m going to take Robin back to the Bat cave, where Agent A can patch him up. Once you find her, bring her to the cave so that we can talk with her.”

Jason then nodded and grappled in the direction that Dark Angel went, with Red Robin and Nightwing following in his wake. After running for a little bit, they caught sight of her blending in with the shadows. They decided to split up to cover more ground. Jason ran as fast as he could along the rooftops when he finally caught sight of Dark Angel. She looked to be crying. When she saw him, she jumped off the roof and opened a portal falling through. Jason jumped after her and barely went through in time. He then fell on top of something and groaned. Jason got up and looked around. He realized that he was standing on the Eiffel Tower, was he in Paris?

(Marinette’s POV)

After Jason or Red Hood confronted her and tried to compare herself to him, she ran. She started crying, the emotions too overwhelming to not cry. Marinette cried for a little bit. But, she then caught sight of Red Hood running up to her. She glared at him and asked Kaakki to open a portal. A week after she had managed to become an assassin, she had returned to her room and got the miracle box back in her possession. Talia had no idea, and Marinette had no desire to tell her.

She jumped through the portal, she landed on the Eiffel Tower, and took a deep breath. Behind her, she heard a loud thud and then a groan. She whipped around to find that the idiot Red Hood had followed her through the portal. She saw him get up and look around before a look of realization spread through his face. Marinette saw him look at her. She quickly ran away. She felt him running after her. But she had a mission, and she wasn’t going to stop until she accomplished it. Marinette’s mission the demise of everyone that ever hurt Marinette.

She ran to the Agreste Mansion and went through Adrien’s open window. She saw him sitting at his computer happily looking at something. That asshole, he killed her and was enjoying life himself. “Adrien,” she crooned sweetly, “How are you? Are you having a good time since you got your mother back by killing someone else?”

Adrien looked frightened, “How do you know that?”

She walked up to him, hips swaying. She then pulled out her dagger and slid her finger across the blade, “I know a lot of things about you. Like how you are a selfish, asshole.” She then pulled him closer to her and put the dagger to his neck. “You deserve to die, slowly and painfully, and I will happily help you.”

Before Adrian could scream for anyone, Marinette had already stabbed him in the stomach where his lungs were. She was going to do his heart or behead him, but that let him off too easy. The look of pure horror etched onto his face as he fell on the floor with blood all over him, and the floor had Marinette smirking. She grabbed the cat miraculous off of Adrien’s finger and the ladybug miraculous off of his ears. She knew that Red Hood was behind her, but she couldn’t care less.

Next, Marinette went looking for Gabriel and Natalie. It looked like Emilie was out right now. So, Marinette wouldn’t kill her. She also didn’t take part in killing her. She found Gabriel and Natalie in the house’s atelier. Once they saw her, they prepared to attack her. But she had already whipped out a gun and had shot both of them. She had tried to shoot them approximately below where their heart was. As Marinette got closer to examine them, she realized that she had damn good aim. The bullets had hit them directly in the area she was hoping. Close enough to kill them, but far enough to cause them pain. Their blood was gushing out of them, and Marinette could tell that they would die. She grabbed the butterfly miraculous and the peacock miraculous. She brought Adrien downstairs to lie next to his family. Marinette then went back into the shadows with Red Hood following her right as Emilie arrived.

Marinette watched as Emilie looked at her dead family and started sobbing. Emilie then took notice of the note next to them.

It read:

THEY TOOK A LIFE, AND NOW I DESERVE TO TAKE THEIR LIFE FROM THEM IN TURN. EMILIE, YOU ARE SPARED BECAUSE YOU TOOK NO PART IN ANYTHING.

~DARK ANGEL

Marinette watched Emilie drop down to her knees and continue wailing while crushing the note in her hand. Marinette watched closely, and she wondered if her parents did the same or if they replaced her like everyone else. She shook the thought off and then went to another house, the house of Liar Rossi.

Marinette her house, and went around it trying to find the liar. She found Lila in her room, practicing her crying. Marinette smirked to herself. She always knew that Lila had to practice crying with how many crocodile tears she let loose every day. She snuck up behind Lila and whispered, “I’ll give you a real reason to cry.”

Lila stopped her tears and turned around, scared out of her mind. “Who are you?”

Marinette snickered, “I’m Dark Angel, or more specifically, you’re worst nightmare.”

Lila started crying again, except this time, her tears weren’t as fake as her life. “PLEASE DON’T HURT ME, I’LL DO ANYTHING! I HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT THIS COUNTRY’S GOVERNMENT!”

Marinette took a knife out and ran it across Lila’s skin, causing a scream out of her, “Here’s the thing, Ms. Rossi. You are extremely selfish. You were willing to sell out your country just like that. Plus, I know you’re lying. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. So, here’s the deal, the more you lie, the more I torture you.”

Lila spent the next thirty minutes telling lies. When Marinette knew she would be confessing, she gave Lila’s phone to Red Hood so that he could film her confession. Lila then broke, “OKAY OKAY, I AM SO SORRY!!! I DON’T KNOW ANY OF THE CELEBRITIES I CLAIM I DO. I DON’T HAVE TINNITUS EITHER! MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG WASN’T BULLYING ME, I BULLIED HER. I THREATENED HER IN THE FIRST PLACE WHEN SHE FOUND OUT MY LIES AND THREATENED TO TAKE AWAY ALL HER FRIENDS. I SUCCEEDED. I WAS ALSO WORKING WITH HAWKMOTH AND HELPED MAKE ADRIEN WHO WAS CHAT NOIR BETRAY LADYBUG!!! NOW PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!!!”

Marinette sneered and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.” Lila looked at her in hope until she stabbed Lila in the stomach, saying, “Oops, I lied.”

As Lila died, Marinette went to Red Hood and took the phone from his editing the video before sending it to all of Lila’s contacts. When she sent it to Alya, she asked her to post the video on the Lady blog before watching it. She then looked over at Red Hood, who was looking at her in shock. “Don’t worry, pretty boy. I’m not assassinating anyone else. Just torturing them.”

She then went to each of her classmates’ houses and tortured them, depending on how loyal they were to Lila. The person who Marinette tortured the least was Juleka, and the person that she tortured the most was Alya. Once Marinette had finished torturing all of her ex-classmates, she looked over to Red Hood and said, “Okay, I’m ready to go now.”

Red Hood looked at her, confused, “If you were going to go with me either way, why did you run?”

She shrugged, “Your clan had found me out. I wanted people dead. Plus, I was emotional as hell after your whole speech. I also still need to check up on Damian.”

(3rd Person POV)

Red Hood nodded and beckoned for her to open a portal. Marinette did so, and they both dropped through, ending up in the Bat cave. Their sudden appearance surprised all of the current occupants of the cave. Marinette walked up to Damian and asked him, “Are you okay?”

Damian replied, “Tt, ” and then nodded in affirmation.

Before Marinette could say anything else, Batman told her, “I now want you to explain to us who you are, why you’re here. Got it!” He then gave her the Bat glare in case she wouldn’t listen to him.

Marinette nodded and then spoke, “Hi, my assassin name is Dark Angel. My birth name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” A flash of recognition flashed through everyone’s faces. Unbeknownst to Marinette, Hawkmoth had been broadcasting the final battle. Everyone had seen when Hawkmoth had revealed her identity and when she had died. “I was a superhero in Paris. My partner and I were in the final battle when I found out that he had betrayed me and Hawkmoth’s side and was playing me this whole time. The villains won, and they made a wish to revive a dead person. In return, someone else had to die. In this case, it was me. The next thing I know, my whole body feels like it’s burning, and I’m inside of a pit full of green goop. Mistress Talia promised me revenge for the people that had hurt me. I excepted her offer. Since then, I’ve been an assassin for four months now, training every single day for hours. Talia told me to watch your family for a little bit as a mission, which was what I was doing until Damian got shot. You know the rest.”

Red Robin looked at her skeptically, “Where did you and Red Hood go when we tried to find you.”

Marinette looked at Red Hood before carefully answering, “I had some business in Paris, so to speak.”

Nightwing then asked, “And what was this "business” and how the hell did you get to Paris?“

Marinette sighed, rubbing her forehead to ease the throbbing, "You’re not going to let this go, are you?” When she saw everyone shake their head, she answered, “Fine. I was able to get to Paris because I have a miraculous that can open portals.” She showed them the miraculous and then demonstrated it to them. “Once I got to Paris, I committed my revenge. I killed my old partner, Hawkmoth, and Mayura. I also killed a liar who took away everything from me and was also working with Hawkmoth. I also exposed the liar. Finally, I tortured all of my old friends. Yay, I told you everything. Can I go now?”

Everyone looked at her, horrified that she was talking so casually as if she hadn’t just admitted to murderer and torture. Before anyone could say anything, Red Hood shouted, “No!” While taking off his helmet.

Marinette looked at him in irritation, “No? And why fucking not?”

Jason looked over at her, “Because I’m not letting Talia use you anymore.”

Marinette sighed, knowing he was right. Now that she had gotten her revenge, her mind was a lot more clear, and she realized why Talia wanted her to be an assassin in the first place. “Fine, so I’m staying here?” Everyone nodded, still in a daze from everything they just learned.

Marinette shook her head, and Alfred (THE AMAZING GOD THAT HE IS) came into the Bat Cave when Marinette was going to ask someone to lead her upstairs. As Marinette walked upstairs, she hoped that things would work out for her.

(one month time skip)

Marinette had been staying with the Bat Fam or rather Waynes for a month now. She honest to kwami had no idea how they were still alive. The number of times they pulled a weapon on each other was frightening, to be honest. As she got to know each of them, they felt more like her brothers and father, except for one person, Jason damn Todd. She really liked him. He was so gentle with her, and at first, she didn’t understand why. But one day, Jason told her his backstory. To her surprise, it was similar to hers. Once she figured that out, they connected on a whole other level. In fact, they had both sworn that they would try not to kill again. And naturally, the one guy who will probably ever understand her, she had to have a crush on.

Another problem was Talia Al-Ghul. She still hadn’t come to find Marinette. So she was either planning something big. OR SHE WAS DEAD! What, a girl could dream. Marinette then heard a crash downstairs. She ran downstairs and what she saw had her reeling. Talia was in the middle of the living room, playing with her dagger. Once she saw Marinette, she smirked, “Marinette, you’re here. We can go back to the league now.”

Marinette shook her head, “I like living here, and I don’t want to leave.”

The smile that was on Talia’s face disappeared, “Even if you do like it here, you still have to get revenge on the people that wronged you.”

Marinette clicked her tongue, “That’s the thing, I already did revenge on them. I killed the main ones and tortured the rest.”

Talia yelled in defeat, “Well, if you won’t come back, then you’ll just die!” (I know I made Talia super sweet at the start of the story. But let’s face it. She’s a manipulator and a bitch) She then charged Marinette with her dagger in hand. But before she could reach Marinette, she was dead on the floor with multiple bullet holes going through her.

Marinette, with a gun in her hand, sank to her knees sobbing. The Wayne family, having heard the gunshots, hurried to the first floor. There they found a sobbing Marinette and a dead Talia. Jason hurried to Marinette and pulled her into his arms. “Hey, Pixie, what’s wrong?” Marinette shook her head, still sobbing. The rest of the family, seeing that Marinette wasn’t calming down, decided to give some words of support before taking Talia out of the room and cleaning the blood.

Jason picked up Marinette, who was clinging to his leather jacket and took her upstairs to his room. He whispered soothing words in her ear the whole way. Once they arrived, he put her down on the bed and cuddled her, “Marinette, Pixie, Baby, I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can help you.”

Marinette’s sobbing started dying down. Eventually, it was only an occasional tear with some hiccups and sniffs. “I made a promise that I wouldn’t kill anymore. I broke that promise. Deep down, I really am a murderer.” She started sobbing again.

Jason sighed and crooned to her, “Oh, baby. Do you really think that? I used to murderer people all the time. Does that still make me a murderer? No! It doesn’t make you a murderer either.”

He then started kissing her cheek, her eyelids, her button-nose, her forehead, her head, her jaw. He trailed kisses down her neck while speaking, “I- love-you-so-much. And nothing-is ever-going- to change-that. You- are not- a- murderer.” He then planted a fervent kiss on her lips, which she deepened.

They continued kissing until Marinette broke away to say, “I love you too. You helped me so much when I was broken.”

Jason looked at her in the eyes with a raw intensity, “Then if you love me, never blame yourself for what happened to you.”

She smiled softly, “I promise”, before kissing him once more, with a deep passion.

He pulled away this time and told her, “You have a chance to have a second chance at life. Not many people get that. Use that second chance to fulfill everything you ever wanted. Leave the past behind. Be who you really are. Who you were before everything. But move into the future, with me by your side.”

“A second chance,” Marinette whispered, “A second chance.” Before kissing him once more. She was going to be okay. They had each other, and they were going to get through everything together. Together no matter what, they were going to give themselves a second chance, and they were going to spend every second of it together.

#mlb x dc #maribat #batman #miraculous ladybug #jasonette #jason x marinette #marinette x jason #marinette dupain cheng #jason todd #talia al ghul #league of assassins #batfamily #salt #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #lila salt #marinette died #revenge #assassin marinette

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deliquescentnightmare · 3 years

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Easy Come, Easy Go- CH 3

~Coffee, guns, and disappearing doctors~

“So you’re Lestrade’s daughter then?” John asked as the two walked side-by side towards the main road.

“I am indeed. Have been since my birth- an impressive career of nearly 25 years,” She smiled, pulling her hair down to cover her ears- attempting to combat the cold England winter.

“You’re only 24? And have a PhD?” her companion seemed borderline incredulous, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was saying.

“Yes, I finished high school early, and got my bachelors within a year after that,”

“You’re awfully clever, then,”

“That stands to be seen. I still struggle to spell the word necessary,” she joked and they both laughed, “So you’re a doctor too then?”

“Yes, military actually,”

“Oh, well I don’t know how things works here in the land of cool accents, driving on the wrong side of the road, and the queen, but in America we thank Armed service members for their service,” She smiled, “So thank you for your service,”

“Oh- I’m- Uh, thank you,” John replied, stumbling slightly over his words as they came to the main road. A telephone booth near them began to ring and Delila gave it an odd look.

“Do- telephone booths normally do that?”

“Ring?”

“Yeah-”

“No, not normally,”

“Huh, alright,” Delila replied, startling slightly as her pocket began to vibrate and a tune could be heard from it., "Guess ringing phones just like us," she joked and he smiled a little. She pulled it out and hissed a curse, “Do you mind if I just step away to take this real quick? I won’t be long,”

“Go ahead, take your time. I’ll try and flag us down a cab,”

“Perfect, thank you,” Delila stepped away, ducking into a quiet alley, and answered the phone.

“Hello?” a voice crackled on the other end.

“Mom.. how- uhm- How nice of you to call..?”

“I heard you’re visiting your father,”

“I am indeed doing that,” she replied

“Well I just wanted to call to check in on you,”

“Well… that’s nice of you.”

“Have you talked to Jameson lately? He’s always been too busy to talk to me, but he likes talking to you,"

“Is that what you really called me for?”

“I was just wondering! No need to get so defensive,”

“No mom, I haven’t talked to him lately. Have you at least talked to Theo then?”

“Yes, actually. He mentioned something interesting,”

“And that is?”

“You are considering moving to London?”

“I’m considering it. Nothing is set in stone,”

“Listen, Delila. I know it’s been very difficult for you considering your previous situation, but I don’t think up and moving to another country is going to help much,”

“Mom, I know you’ve had it great and all, and you care about my well-being, but I don’t know how much of a say you really have in this,”

“Delila, I am much older than you- I’ve lived double your lifetime,”

“Please don’t pull the seniority card again mom. You don’t realise how stressful dealing with this has been,”

“You’re right, Delila. Just- don’t forget to come back to visit, okay?”

“Mom it’s really late there, you should get some sleep,”

“Oh don’t worry about me, I’m about to go out with some of the girls from work,”

“Mom, you mean the girls who are about 30 years younger than you?”

“Yes, actually! Oh- that must be them! I’ll call you back later, Delila!”

“I- ugh, stay safe please,”

“No promises!” her mother laughed and hung up. Delila sighed and stared at the contact photo for her mother for a moment as if it would tell her how to deal with her. After a silent moment, she shoved her phone into her purse and returned to the street, where John was no longer standing. She looked around in confusion, but didn’t see any signs of the doctor.

“Looking for someone?” Delila turned to see a woman in her late 20’s, with kind, dark almond shaped eyes and dark hair cut in a pixie cut.

“Yeah I was, actually,” Delila furrowed her brow, “I just stepped away for a moment to take a call and he’s gone…”

“What did he look like?”

“About yeigh tall, blonde, cable knit sweater, black jacket, cane,”

“Walked with a pronounced limp and looked like he was under too-much stress all the time?”

“Sounds like him, yeah”

“He stepped into the telephone booth, looked around a bit, hung up and got into an expensive looking car as it pulled up,” the woman said, looking down the street, “Odd fellow, your friend,”

“Yeah…”

“I’m guessing that wasn’t a part of your plans then?”

“Not really,”

“Do you think he’ll be comin’ back?”

“No, honestly I don’t know. I just met him today,”

“Well that’s a shoddy friend if you ask me,”

“I guess so. Would you know where I could go for a cup of coffee or tea?”

“They make a good cuppa at the cafe two stores down,” The woman explained, “Could I treat you to one? My treat,”

“That would be nice, actually,” Delila said and the duo walked to the coffeeshop. Li held open the door and Delila thanked her, grateful to be out of the cold.\

“Of course,” The woman smiled, “I never actually caught your name,”

“Oh, Lestrade, Delila Lestrade,” Delila stuck her hand out as they seated themselves at a booth.

“Ji-Li Hart, but you can call me Li,” The woman shook Delila’s hand, “So you’re American?”

“Yeah... well, my dad is from London,”

“Wait, is he the suicide-gating bloke from the papers?”

“I’m sorry what?”

“You haven’t heard? He did this interview about these serial suicides- three of ‘em so far- and when he was asked what people should do to keep themselves safe he said ‘don’t commit suicide’. Caused quite the uproar, it did,”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Delila sighed and buried her face in her hands, “I love my dad but he’s not the most soft-spoken or sensitive person,” She let out a small laugh, “At least he tried,”

“That’s one way to look at it,” Li laughed as well. Delila wasn’t quite sure how much time passed after that. A cup of coffee later, she was laughing along with Li to a story when her phone buzzed. It was an unfamiliar number and her heart stopped as she raised the device to look at the message.

Tell John to check his phone as soon as possible.

-SH

“Everything alright?” Li asked as Delila struggled to register the message. After a moment, however, the words sunk kin and she let out a breath, shaking her head slightly as if dispelling the panic that she unknowingly wore clear as day.

“Yes- I just-” Delila stared at her phone, “just seeing ghosts I guess,” she chuckled drily.

“What do you mean? If you don’t mind me asking,”

“A new acquaintance of mine spooked me by texting me out of the blue,” she shook her head and smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, “guess he didn’t know I don’t have his number yet,” Her hands shook slightly as she clicked the power button to darken the screen and she slipped it into her pocket. Time felt like a train that had slammed on the breaks, and she struggled to keep the panic from rising as a blush into her pale cheeks.

“Ah, I see,” Li said, gaze dancing across Delila’s face, “well I’m sorry he worried you,”

“It’s nothing big, it’s just something an old… friend… of mine used to do,” Time seemed to jerk to a start as she heard a familiar voice.

“Delila?” Her head snapped up and her face broke out into a bright smile of relief. She pulled herself out of the booth and nearly crushed him in a hug.

“John! There you are! Where were you?”

“It’s a long story that I don’t think I can tell you right this moment,” John explained, “listen. I can’t stay. Sherlock texted me and he said it might be dangerous and I-”

“Was wondering if I’d come along?”

“Well erm-”

“Are you kidding? Of course I’ll come. You owe me a cup of coffee though,” She smiled before glancing back at Li, “I’ve gotta blast, but I can call you later?”

“Sure! Here’s my card, just text me whenever!” Li passed Delila a crisp black business card, and in one fluid motion, the orange haired young woman had slipped into her jacket and shoved the card into her pocket. With a wave, she and John had left the cafe.

“There’s a lot to tell you, but I can’t really until we get to somewhere safer,” John started to explain as he held the door open for her.

“I’m going to guess it starts with ‘That sketchy black government-looking vehicle is our transportation’?” Delila cracked, running her fingers through her curly hair and pulling it up into a ponytail as they approached said car.

“Well, yes, but,” John sighed, “I’ll tell you when we get to Baker Street,”

“Sounds like a plan,” Delila thanked the chauffeur and slipped into the car, startling slightly at the woman already inside.

“Hello again,” John said as the door closed behind him, “This is my friend, Delila,”

“I know,”

“Oh um- hi?” Delila waved awkwardly, “And your name is?”

“Hello Dr Lestrade,” The woman remarked, ignoring the second half of the young woman’s statement, “We should be at baker street shortly,”

“Okie dokie, well then,” she turned to John, “this is a fancy car. Do you always travel like this?”

“Not usually,” John replied, “This is actually a first for me,”

“Friend of yours?” Delila asked, gesturing to the woman.

“Not particularly,”

“Any use in asking who this car belongs to?”

“A friend of your friend,” the brunette supplied and Delila furrowed her brows. John shook his head as if to say not me, and she let out a frustrated huff. The rest of the ride was completed in silence, and as soon as they came to a stop, she nearly scrambled out of the car, unable to shake the feeling of unease that had settled on her skin like summer heat. She approached the door, and then halted as she realised her companion had stopped to talk with the woman in the car. After a moment, he sighed and shut the door, limping over to where Delila stood. He reached for the door but her hand reached out to stop him; she stayed silent as she watched the car pull away from the curb and into the flow of traffic before she reached under her coat and behind her to retrieve the gun she’d holstered there.

“What are you doing?”

“He said danger, right?”

“Yes?”

“So we’re going in prepared. Have you ever cleared a building?”

“Not in the middle of London in the dead of night,”

“Well there’s a first time for everything I guess,” Delila smiled, checking the gun magazine before clicking it into place, “Now stay behind me and don’t move until I give the signal. Unless you know something I don’t, there’s no telling what we’re heading into,”

“You know everything I know,”

“Where’s the main apartment entrance?”

“Second floor, first door you see when you reach the top of the staircase,”

“Right. Okay, follow behind me,” Delila instructed, opening the door of 221B before clicking the safety off. She moved quietly and cautiously, but with an air of confidence and trained precision; she knew what she was doing and she knew she was good at it. Moving up the stairs with a look of steely determination, she gestured with her head for John to follow and he did so as quietly as he could, shutting the front door tightly and silently behind him. Finally, his companion reached the door to their flat, which was wide open, he took a deep breath. She swung into the doorway, gun trained on whatever awaited out of his sight.

12 notes · View notes

not-playable-character · 3 years

Text

Edit: new link https://archiveofourown.org/works/32099263

ITS DONE!!!! Finally, the RE8 meets RE7 fic is finished and posted! so for everyone wondering and if you didn't figure it out already. The image I posted earlier is the seating arrangement of the gang as they play the game. As always its posted on AO3 and under the cut. I hope you enjoy @ibest14 I never actually played RE7 but I watched a walkthrough to write this.

It was a normal Saturday afternoon when the Winters family got a very strange package. It was addressed to the whole family and had no return address.

“What the heck is this?” Rose wondered aloud carrying the small package inside, “Hey mom! Did you order something online?”

“Not that I remember, why?” Mia asked curious why her daughter was asking about the mail, “Who is it addressed to? Maybe your dad ordered something.” She went and stood next to Rose to look at the package.

“Hmm, I think we should wait for dad to get home to open it, I mean it is addressed to all of us.” Mia agreed with her daughter and went to continue making dinner.

Ethan got home a few hours later and was greeted by his daughter with a warm hug, “Haha, hey there kid how was your day?” He asked returning the hug and picking Rose up.

“It was good! We got a weird package in the mail, mom and I decided to wait for you before opening it.” Rose said leading him into the kitchen after he put her down.

“Welcome home, Hon! How was work?” Mia asked kissing Ethan on the cheek.

“Ugh, Williams was an absolute pain again. He somehow unplugged all of his equipment and disconnected his computer from the ethernet cable again.” Ethan complained sitting down at the dinner table next to Rose. “Chris somehow changed his computer to Arabic and Sal’s computer was changed to have wingdings as the default language and it bricked the whole thing, he said it was an accident, but I think it was one of the dicks that keep harassing him. I told Chris and he’s looking into it.” Ethan picked up the package and looked at the outside.

“Ugh why can’t these douchebags see that Sal is way better than them. Probably just jealous of him.” Rose said frustrated at the harassment her uncle was receiving.

“We should invite him over for dinner sometime, lift his spirits some!” Mia suggested placing a glass of juice down for Ethan. He agreed and thanked her for the juice.

Ethan handed the package back to Rose who tore into the packaging. Inside was a video game box, “Resident Evil? Isn’t that a game from the nineties?” Rose asked confused.

Ethan leaned over to get a better look, “Yeah it is, I played almost all of them, but I’ve never seen that one. It looks like its supposed to be the seventh one, but they only made six that I know of.” Ethan became confused taking the box from Rose studying it, it strangely didn’t have a back cover.

“Weird, maybe they are rebooting the series, but why wouldn’t there be a lot of news about it?” Rose asked. Ethan’s face lit up at the possibility of a reboot of his favorite childhood series.

“Man, I hope so, I always loved Craig Bluemarsh and Leo C. Harrison. They were the best! The whole M.O.O.N.S squad from Badger City. Special Ops turned paranormal investigators was the twist of the decade! And the whole thing with Egbert Walberk and how he possessed himself with countless demons to become basically a god.” Ethan sighs as he reminisces.

“You clearly have bad taste honey because Julie Easter was the best character in the series. The ace of the M.O.O.N.S squad, the one that Walberk kidnapped to force demons into her with a mind control amulet. Oh, and don’t forget Chloe Bluemarsh, college kid turned aid worker for those affected by the demons.” Mia added as she chopped vegetables for dinner.

“Ahh yes, how could I forget! Anyway, this looks like a cheap bootleg or fake. Probably just a prank from Dani or Angie.” Ethan said tossing the case further on the table looking upset.

“Aw man…. That’s lame dad.” Rose says dramatically throwing herself over the back of the chair. “I’m keeping it anyway; the box looks cool.”

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A month after the whole package incident, Rose bursts into the house beaming. “Dad, Uncle Chris just told me that we are having a meeting with the whole gang! We should totally bring that janky game we got and show it off!”

“Whoa, slow down Rose! You’re gonna hurt yourself running around like that.” Ethan says watching his daughter bounce in place. “Why do you think we should bring that thing anyway? I doubt there will be anytime to just sit around and play a game, if it’s even real.” Rose rolls her eyes at him.

“Dad, I’m sure Uncle Chris can pull some strings so we can have a little get together. We never get to see each other all at once!” Rose states, putting on her best puppy dog eyes, “Don’t you want to see the gang, Dad. It would be so much fun. You know how much I miss them all.” She begs.

Ethan can physically feel his resolve crumbling at his begging daughter, always caving into her once she pulls out the puppy eyes, “Fine, I’ll talk with Chris and we can bring the game with us, but you are responsible for the PlayStation and if it gets damaged or broken you have to buy the new one.” He says in his dad voice, trying to be stern. Rose squeals and jumps into his arms hugging him.

“You’re the best dad ever!” She says running off to prepare for their long weekend at Blue Umbrella.

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“Ok, is everyone comfy, I’m about to start the game!” Rose said excitedly setting up the PS4 in the Blue Umbrella lounge room. Everyone was present, Rose even convinced Miranda and Elena to join them after Milena was put to bed.

“I am unsure of what we are even doing sweet thing.” Alcina said settling into her chair near Donna.

“Well, I’m gonna play this weird game I got, maybe Dani can take over if I get tired. We are just gonna check it out, if its good, Great! If not, we can make fun of how bad it is!” Rose explained sitting down on the couch wedged between Daniela, Angie, and Heisenberg with Bela and Cassandra on the floor in front of them. Alcina wasn’t convinced that it would be fun, but she couldn’t deny Rose’s request considering how excited she looked. She sighed and pulled out her reading glasses seeing the small text on the screen.

“Psh, what are you a grandma?” Heisenberg teased. Alcina growled at him.

“Oh, please grow up you child.” She replied trying to de-escalate the situation knowing Rose and her daughters hated when they argued.

“I see making your head bigger didn’t help your eyesight.” He continued to tease sensing her anger.

“I grew proportionally you ignoramus, becoming larger would not fix my farsightedness.” She growled out becoming angrier.

“Guys….” Rose said sadly at the two arguing. Heisenberg immediately stopped his next sentence and turned to give Rose a side hug.

“Sorry kiddo, I forgot you hate it when we fight. I’ll stop, I promise.” He says sincerely as Alcina nods looking guilty, Rose smiles accepting their apologies.

“No more sappiness get to the action I’m getting bored!” Angie cried out from Daniela’s lap. Rose rolls her eyes at the doll’s bratty attitude and begins the game.

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The game begins with a very familiar video to Ethan and Mia and the sight of Mia recording her warning message on the ship.

“What the…. How is this happening? It showed the recording from my eyes, but I never recorded that…” Mia says stunned.

The next scene starts with the sound of a phone ringing and the overhead video of a car driving down a highway. Ethan begins to speak to and unknown man in the voice over explaining how he was contacted by Mia and that she wants him to come and get her.

“This has to be a sick prank! How did these people get that phone call!” Ethan shouts getting more and more upset as the clip plays. Mia places a hand on his arm to comfort him.

“Maybe there will be an explanation later. There has to be….” Mia says trying to calm Ethan.

Rose pauses the game as it shifts to Ethan’s perspective in the car, “We don’t have to keep playing if this is making you guys uncomfortable.” She says to her parents.

Ethan takes a deep breath, “No, no… it’s fine, you were really excited for this. I was just shocked. I’m okay to keep going, as long as you are okay too Mia.” She nods in agreement with her husband clearly rattled but pushing through. Rose nods continuing the game as she walks Ethan through the thick Louisiana swamp towards the Baker house.

The first obstacle they encounter is a locked gate. She moves him down a path leading to a trashed car with camera equipment scattered around it. Looking in they find a scrip proposal for Sewer Gators Ep. 17.

They then come across a broken gate with a sign that says, “Accept Her Gift”, “Oh yeah definitely just walk through that incredibly ominous gate into the disgusting swamp.” Heisenberg says gesturing towards the screen, “I’d just say, ‘sorry lady I’m not that desperate for a wife’ and dip.”

“He has a point dad, I mean really its been three years. Just move on.” Rose says to her father.

Ethan blushes, “Hey you can’t judge a man in love. I had to know what happened.”

“Nah man, just accept the death bro. Totally not worth it.” Daniela says interjecting.

“I’m right her you know.” Mia says scolding them. Rose giggles and continues on. They come across the remains of a fire with Mia’s purse laying there. They then enter the Guest house finding it to be disgusting and in disrepair.

“God, I forgot how gross this place was.” Ethan says wrinkling his nose.

Rose looks around the living room area, finding a hidden chain that opens a hidden room they go through. Exploring further leads them into a flooded basement they are forced to crawl through.

“Oh, please Ethan, I know you are insanely stubborn but the corpse in the flooded basement should have been an indicator to leave immediately.” Alcina says as the dead body floats up in front of them.

“Ok, Ok I get it I’m a crazy person for going on, but can we please stop commenting on it. I’m aware of the insanity.” Ethan replies as Rose comes up into a basement room with a jail cell containing Mia as well as other information on people who were listed as turned or dead. They pick up the bolt cutters and break open Mia’s cell. While they are being reunited Mia acts strangely warning him of the dangers and of Daddy.

“Pft, seriously? Daddy?” Dani snickers at Mia.

“Don’t start. I was possessed by a child obsessed with family.” Mia says glaring at Dani.

Rose follows Mia through the basement where she and Ethan stop to talk about the last three years.

“Come on! This is a life or death situation, get a move on!” Cassandra yells out at the screen.

Rose continues to creep through the basement following Mia as Ethan learning more about her capture as they walk. They come across a living room type area where Mia starts to act strangely, talking about family and when Ethan leaves, they hear her crash through the wall revealing a staircase to the house. They move through the house looking for Mia. They hear crashing coming from the stairs they came from and return to find Mia on all fours crawling up the stairs. She attacks Ethan looking monstrous as she throws him back up with superhuman strength. She then attacks him with a knife stabbing him through the hand. After a struggle she regains control rambling about a strange her as she slams her head against the wall.

“Jesus man, that is hard core…” Heisenberg says in awe. Mia grimaces at the memory. Rose continues on wandering before they are attacked by Mia once again. They fight her off with an axe. “Ethan, my friend, you always have to double check that your enemy is dead. She is definitely gonna get up again, classic horror trope.” Heisenberg says wisely.

“Karl, this actually happened. I wasn’t thinking about ‘horror tropes’. I was focusing on surviving.” Ethan says to him.

“Also, of course I’m going to get up, I’m sitting right here. I’m clearly not dead.” Mia says exasperated.

Rose moves on with the game ignoring them and answers the phone that had begun to ring. “Dad why did you answer the phone? Just leave.” She says as Zoe gives her warning to Ethan. “Oh yeah let’s listen to the random phone lady and not just break a window.” She says rolling her eyes.

They move on solving the puzzle for the stairs catching a glimpse of the not at all dead Mia. Replacing the fuse, they are jumped by Mia again who attacks him with a screwdriver pinning him to the wall before chopping his had off with a chainsaw.

“My god man! How did you keep going!” Sal exclaims looking at Ethan who just shrugs.

They find a pistol in one of the rooms and use it to take care of the attacking Mia as she rants crazily. Finally taking her down, they are ambushed by Jack Baker who punches him in the face.

“See I told you that you should have moved faster, now ‘Daddy’ caught you.” Cass says as Ethan falls over and is stomped on by Jack. They see him being dragged and Mia being carried by Jack, the scene changes to Ethan strapped to a chair with Zoe staples his hand back on. He finally fully awakes to a disgusting family dinner with the whole Baker family.

“Ugh, I miss Momma’s cooking so much.” Mia says reminiscing happily. Everyone stares at her as they see the disgusting meal on the table in game. She blushes, “Before she went fully crazy, she was an amazing cook. Her gumbo was to die for, oh and Daddy’s fried chicken, mmm.” She explains to them. No one seems convinced as the scene continues with Lucas throwing food at him and Marguerite tries to get Ethan to eat, and Jack cuts off Lucas’ hand. Jack comes over and forces the rancid food into Ethan’s face as Marguerite rants and leaves angrily, Jack then cuts Ethan’s face before being interrupted by the doorbell. They escape and flee through the house trying to find an exit. They find a key and are chased by Jack before escaping to the crawlspace.

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They explore the house before a police officer tries to ask Ethan questions.

“Man, that officer is kind of a dick…” Heisenberg says realizing how rude and unprofessional the officer is.

“He was a massive dick.” Ethan says frustrated at the memory of their interactions. They make the way to the garage to meet the rude officer who refuses to take the situation seriously which leads to his death and Ethan’s continued entrapment. “See, massive dick, we could have escaped, but noooo.” He says.

Rose nods in agreement as she avoids Jack in the garage and tries to defeat him with the car. The car crashes and catches fire revealing an on fire Jack who is knocked down by the resulting explosion. They collect the items in the room before climbing up the revealed ladder. Jack stops Ethan and shoots himself in the head with Ethan’s gun.

“I’ll say it again, he ain’t dead. He’s coming back sooner or later.” Heisenberg says again.

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock. This game’s been full of tropes so far.” Cassandra responds to him rolling her eyes.

Rose continues on solving puzzles and making their way through the labyrinthine house avoiding the obviously not dead Jack and the molded that are scattered around the house. They see Jack mumbling to himself about being “her” and talking about how he is going to kill Ethan.

“God he’s so cool.” Dani says as he leaves the room getting looks from the others, “What? He’s a cool villain.”

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The fight with Jack was a bit of a struggle for Rose, but she made it through with Heisenberg, Dani, and Cass cheering her on.

When he finally exploded, both Heisenberg and Dani called out in joy, “Now that’s how you kill a villain!” Heisenberg shouted out with a laugh and high fived Dani over Rose’s head. As they make their way through the house again completing puzzles and finding Grandma in random places.

“She is the one who caused all this.” Alcina says pointing at Grandma. Ethan and Mia looks shocked.

“How did you know that?” Mia asks. Alcina scoffs as if it is obvious.

“She hasn’t had the focus at all, yet she appears at random seemingly following Ethan, who we know is the next victim in mind. She is clearly Eveline.” She says smugly to everyone’s shocked faces.

Rose moved on ignoring the gloating. She came across a trailer in the yard, exploring it revealed that it was Zoe’s home containing some useful items that she ignored moving to leave as the phone rang. Zoe explained about the mold and how to progress.

“Why are you so trusting of this woman, you don’t know her, and she has admitted that she is a part of the family trying to kill you?” Bela asked turning to face Ethan. He opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out, he paused thinking and shrugged. Bela rolled her eyes at him, “Typical man thing.” She mumbled out returning to her original position.

They move on to the old house and Marguerite just as Zoe instructed. Coming across baby dolls strung up from the rafters of the bridge. “Whoever made those should be killed.” Donna said quietly. Everyone looked at her confused. “The look like such poor quality dolls, anyone who cares would never let them fall apart so easily. Cheap plastic is the worst fate a doll can experience.” She explains confident.

“You aren’t upset at the fact that they are strung up, just that they suck?” Rose asks her.

“Of course, you can do what you like with them, but the craft must be respected. These cheap factory made ones are a disgrace.” Donna explains upset at the virtual dolls. Rose mumbles an ok before moving on into the bug infested old house. They make their way through the house avoiding mutant bugs and solving puzzles.

“Gotta say girls, these things really remind me of you three.” Heisenberg says as Rose burns her way through the nests of bugs.

“How dare you compare my girls to these disgusting things! They are clearly superior in every way.” Alcina says angrily defending her girls.

“Thank you, mother, but he has a bit of a point.” Bela says to her mother with Cassandra nodding in agreement.

“Momma has a point though too! We are better than those things!” Dani says beaming at her mother. Cass mumbles suck up under her breath and is smacked by Dani.

Soon after they find Mia in game again, she explains her amnesia and is taken away by Lucas. Not being able to help they continue on through the house again. Eventually they are found by Marguerite who begins to stalk them through the house attacking them with her swarm of insects, insane rants, and vulgar obscenities.

“This lady is something else…” Heisenberg says cringing at Marguerite.

“For once we agree on something Karl.” Alcina agrees cringing as well. The others nod in agreement with them.

They make their way through a secret passageway revealed by the spider shadow puzzle. The wall space was infested which had everyone cringing at the writhing masses of centipedes. They collect the crank and the crow key and try to enter Marguerite’s room before she throws him down the stairs and through the floor. After a short encounter, she falls into the hole and melts into black goo. They collect information on the D series pieces and Zoe calls again, and she mentions they only need the arm piece as she has the D series head. They return to the hole to see the goo gone and a long spindly arm take the lantern needed to progress. They follow the monstrosity to well in front of the old house returning to Zoe’s trailer. They return to a new section of the old house where they are attacked by a mutated spider like Marguerite.

They run around the house, avoiding her swarms and attacks while burning her with the flamethrower and peppering her with shotgun shots to the disgusting nest on her lower half.

“I take it back; you girls are way more similar to the bug lady.” Heisenberg says once she finally dies. Alcina slaps the back of his head and growls at him.

“Momma can we mutate like that too!” Dani says excitedly as Bela and Cass cringe.

“Absolutely not. Do not even think about trying.” Alcina scolds while Heisenberg and Rose chuckle at them.

“Why would anyone want to have a gross bug vagina?” Cassandra turns around asking her sister.

Dani shrugs, “I don’t know, I just think it would be neat.” Rose shoves the controller into Dani’s hands and takes Angie from her.

“No more bug talk, you play, I’m getting tired.” Rose says stretching.

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They find their way into Eveline’s secret room and collect the arm. They go to meet Zoe in her trailer only to find that no one is there. They answer a call from Lucas where he tells Ethan that he has both Zoe and Mia, and that Ethan needs to play his game to save them and get the head. They make their way back to the main house’s dissection room where they pull the snake key out of the dead deputy’s neck hole. Lucas’ voice come out through a speaker explaining they need to find two keycards so they can meet.

“Ohhh, I love this guy! I’m getting so many ideas for new games, hehehe!” Angie says excitedly bouncing in Rose’s lap. Donna glares at the doll chastising her through their mental link. Angie pouts at the scolding.

They make their way through the increasingly molded main house solving Lucas’ puzzles and dodging the molded shambling around. They find the blue keycard and make their way down into a secret room containing the red keycard. Lucas calls again at the phone in the main hall, leading Ethan to a party in the barn.

They enter the barn to thumping music and glowing paint under a black light. They come across a room with a television showing Lucas ranting and waving the D series head around, ranting about how he doesn’t want to give up his gift and that they can only get the serum from him before the television explodes. They make their way through the barn avoiding trip mines and coming up to a locked gate with a passcode. Lucas makes an appearance taunting Ethan and giving him incorrect passwords before a trap springs and a secret door opens up.

They wind through the barn avoiding the traps and taking out the molded arriving at Lucas’ arena where they fight off a giant molded. After the fight they find the correct passcode to enter the birthday room. They solve his puzzles and escape through the hole created by the dynamite. They see a television with Zoe and Mia, Zoe explains where they are before Lucas cuts the camera to himself ranting about nothing. They collect the D series head and leave the barn making their way to Zoe and Mia. They release Zoe and Mia before collecting the completed serum. Just after they are ambushed by a fully mutated Jack.

“Wait he isn’t dead?! I can’t believe I didn’t call it!” Heisenberg calls out as Dani fights Jack.

After a long grueling fight, taking out Jacks many swollen eyes and using one of the two serums to calcify him at Zoe’s request. Walking down the pier they are faced with a choice to cure either Zoe or Mia.

“Well clearly we are supposed to cure mom. Its what dad did in real life.” Rose says.

“True, I did. I did feel bad though, Chris ended up saving Zoe and her uncle, so it all ended up good.” Ethan says.

“Yeah, sure choosing Mia is what really happened but what if we chose Zoe?” Dani asks hovering over Zoe in game.

“No! We can do it later right now we are choosing mom.” Rose says sternly.

“Fiiiiinnnnnee.” Dani whines out giving Mia the serum. They take the raft down the river listening to Ethan and Mia talk about the situation before they come across the wrecked boat Mia and Eveline arrived on. They are attacked by the mold, and they switch to Mia’s perspective as they hear Eveline speak to her through their mental connection.

“Well, this is going to be interesting, I’ve never seen this before.” Ethan says as they move into the ship. They find an unconscious Ethan who is taken by the mold deeper into the ship. They move through the mold infested ship as Mia, getting flashbacks as they move on. They follow the phantom Eveline to a room containing a television where they watch a video tape that blends into them playing through the situation leading to the crash of the ship and the infection of the Baker family.

They see Mia’s partner Alan who explains he is the reason Eveline escaped he explains that she needs to fix his mess and they begin to track Eveline through the ship. They finally come across Eveline in the engine room before she runs off again. They find Alan again in the room next to the one where they started the video tape. As he explains that Eveline is deteriorating, he insults her, and she overtakes him with the mold. The mold then spreads to Mia infecting her. They then see Mia recording the warning video from the beginning of the game. The section ends with Mia being blown off the ship and floating unconscious in the water, before returning to the present with Mia and the Phantom Eveline talking. Making their way to the bridge they use the surveillance cameras to find Ethan trapped in mold in the engine room. On the way there they are impeded by the phantom Eveline and the remaining molded.

As Mia finds Ethan, the perspective swaps back to Ethan’s mind as he speaks to a sane Jack. He explains that Eveline is the cause of all the murders and kidnappings. He says that they were infected when He rescued her from the crashed tanker. Jack also explains that stopping Eveline will stop the mold. Before Ethan awakens to Eveline and Mia arguing. Mia rips him free from the mold prison and gives him the tissue sample before locking him out of the engine room urging him to kill Eveline. They continue through the bayou to a salt mine near the Baker house. They hear a military broadcast explaining a team was sent in to take down Eveline. They traverse the salt mines finding an underground lab with information on Eveline and the E series mold. They use Eveline’s tissue samples to make the E- Necrotoxin that is used to kill her permanently. As they exit the mine, Ethan sees flashes of Eveline as she sends the molded to kill him. They exit the mine into the original room Ethan found Mia in where he has a vision of Mia panicking. He continues to see visions of Mia’s attack on him and Eveline controlling her. They stab Eveline with the serum, and she reveals her true form as Grandma before melting away and mutating into a large monstrosity.

As Dani fights the massive face of Eveline, Miranda mumbles to herself, “Absolutely fascinating. How she responds to different stimuli and the delayed injection of the Necrotoxin.” Rose and Dani scream forgetting that Miranda was sitting behind them.

“Jesus Christ! What is wrong with you! You scared the living hell out of us!” Rose yells at her turning to face Miranda who has a notebook open in her lap. “What are you even doing?”

Miranda blushes at being caught, “I was taking notes on how E-001 reacted and how the family responded to the infection. It is incredibly fascinating that the whole Baker family mutated without becoming one of the shambling molded.”

“Trust me she was about to run off and work more before I stopped her.” Elena interjects into Miranda’s rambling. “Don’t worry, I won’t let her work on the Eveline project outside of simply watching videos.” Miranda’s blush deepens and she looks embarrassed at being called out by her lab assistant.

“Good, no more mind control children allowed.” Dani says rudely turning back to the screen continuing the final fight.

Ethan is thrown from the house and sees helicopters arriving at the house as he is attacked by Eveline. He uses an unknown gun to shoot Eveline calcifying and crumbling her finally. After the battle, Ethan and Mia are rescued by Chris. The final shots of the game are Ethan speaking over clips of marshlands and the reveal of the Blue Umbrella helicopter.

“Well that certainly was something….” Ethan says as the credits roll. Mia wide eyed and shocked nods in agreement.

“So, all that actually happened?” Rose asks her parents, they both nod. “Ok well that doesn’t explain how the heck this got made or why we were sent it or by who!” Rose rants.

“Who cares, it was awesome!” Dani exclaims high fiving Angie who cheers with her.

“Can we leave now? My back is beginning to hurt.” Bela complains standing up and stretching.

Rose boos her, “Fine be boring. What did everyone else think?” She asks everyone left in the room.

“Amazing! Fantastic! Ten out of ten!” Dani exclaims clinging onto Rose.

“It was interesting, very cinematic. A bit tropey at times but it works in its favor. Especially since this technically happened. The villains were enjoyable and empathetic at the same time.” Heisenberg critiques.

“Yeah, whatever it was fine.” Cass says getting up and leaving the room.

“I had quite a nice time, I’m glad you suggested this, Rose.” Alcina says picking up the sleeping Donna. “I’m sure Donna will apologize for falling asleep tomorrow morning. Have a good night.” She kisses the top of Rose and Dani’s heads and leave the room.

“It was quite informative, thank you for inviting me, Rose. I truly appreciate it. Now I must go and review my notes.” Miranda says looking at her notebook as she slowly leaves the room.

“We are actually going to bed, but thanks for inviting us, Rose. We’ll have to do it again soon!” Elena says grabbing Miranda’s arm and taking her notebook.

“I think your mom and I have some talking to do, but you guys have a good night sweetie.” Ethan says getting up before kissing Rose on the head.

“Yeah, outside of the horrifying content of this ‘game’ it was fun. Have a good night honey.” Mia says following her husband to their room.

“Alright seems like the party is dying down and someone has to get Sal to his room. Seems like he and Donna can’t stay up late like us cool kids.” Heisenberg laughs out shaking Sal awake. Sal stands up groggily and leans ion Heisenberg as they leave to their respective rooms.

“Lame everyone left. You want to stay up or are you hitting the sack too?” Dani asks Rose.

“I think I’m going to bed too. I have a lot to think about.” Rose says hugging Dani, “See you in the morning Dan.” Dani decides to follow Rose and they head to bed.

In his assigned quarters, the Duke watches the group scatter to their rooms for bed, “I’m glad they enjoyed my little gift. Hopefully, it answers some questions for them.” The Duke says to himself chuckling.

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lonestarbabe · 3 years

Text

Waiting Without Patience

(A03)

Carlos and Grace together as they wait for their partners to come home after fighting the wildfire.

---

Carlos and Grace are stuck in Austin as their respective significant others have gone to San Angelo to fight a fire that has broken out. They’ve been texting back and forth all day to cope with their worries, and neither seems to be able to get much done, so they decide that they might as well be miserable together because there’s no point in sitting around alone when they know it will be hours before their loved ones return.

Grace comes over in the evening to Carlos’ with a casserole dish in her hand and a bag of goodie in her arms. Carlos greets her warmly and takes the stuff from her hands to bring it into her kitchen. “Thanks for coming out here, Grace,” he says.

“Anytime,” Grace says.

They settle in the kitchen, and they work together to heat the meal and put it on the table. They don’t say much as they prepare, but the sound of preparations and kitchen speak soothes them, and before they know it, the meal is on the table, and they’re eating it as they talk about their weeks at work to try to distract themselves from the fears that are building in each of them.

When they’ve finished their dinners, Grace settles down on his couch. Carlos offers her some wine and then sits down himself when they both have drinks in their hands. They try to talk about anything not related to their significant others, but the conversation always seems to loop back to their others. That’s love, Carlos thinks, not being to stop thinking about a person even when they’re not there. Grace seems to feel the same way with how unabashedly she talks about Judd. They’ve gone out when they’ve both been alone for the evening before, but that had always been during normal shifts, so they could talk about their other interests more freely, but with more at stake with the wildfire, their attention couldn’t stay on any other topic and trying to ignore that one topic was more agonizing than helpful.

“So, how have you been?” Carlos asks her, seeing the fatigue on her face. He’s not just asking in the casual small-talk way. He’s asking to make sure she’s okay. They’ve both talked about the lingering trauma they have from watching people they care about be in life-threatening situations. After the explosion, Grace had been in the hospital for days as she waited for Judd to wake-up. It had been longer after that for his burns to heal, and the mental trauma had taken even longer to address. She hated having to inform him that his whole crew was dead. The fear she felt taking that call still kept her up at night, sometimes, but she never felt right burdening Judd with her worries because he had enough healing to do without having to take on her problems too. She’s better now, but she still has bad days, and it’s nice to have someone she can talk to about them.

Carlos, for his part, still has the image of T.K. being shot looping in his mind. He was there, taking care of the call, so he feels like he should have somehow known that something would have gone wrong. He had sat by T.K.’s hospital bed, and they hadn’t even been an official couple then, but Carlos had still felt so much for T.K., and he thinks that if there was such a thing as love at first sight, he would have it with T.K. Something just told him that T.K. was the one— the one worth chasing, the one worth getting to know, the one worth a long future. Carlos had felt so helpless seeing T.K. in a coma, and he still worries that something like that will happen again, but this time it might be worse. They both had their anxieties about their partners, and they were each uniquely positioned to understand the perspective of the person on the other side of trouble.

She shrugs, “I’ve been better. I keep checking my phone for any news or sign of Judd, but it’s been several hours since we’ve talked. How have you been holding up.”

“About the same. It’s been a hard day. I almost wish I had work. At least that would keep me busy.” Carlos hasn’t known what to do with himself. Nothing seems to keep his mind off the dangerous fire that T.K. has gone to fight, and it’s not just T.K. that Carlos has to worry about. He’s come to know the whole team, so losing any one of them would be devastating, but he tries not to think about the worst.

“Oh, I feel that,” she says. “You know our boys are out there causing trouble, and if we don’t stick together, we’ll both just end up thinking about all the bad things that could be happening to them. I reckon they’re doing something that they shouldn’t be doing right now.” Grace knows her husband well enough that he’s going above and beyond for the people he’s trying to help. He puts his whole self into his work, and that quality is both admirable and fear-inducing all at once.

Carlos lets out a nervous chuckle. He’s been imagining T.K. running too close to the fire to save lives. He worries that T.K.’s actions are reckless more than brave. “Yeah, who knew having a firefighter boyfriend could be so anxiety-inducing?” he says dryly. “I think I have a better idea what my poor mother must feel whenever I’m at work.” His mom requests that he call her at the end of every shift, no matter how late he gets home.

Grace smiles knowingly. “Oh yes, I’m sure you’ve got your mama real worried. I sure hope you aren’t the type to impulsively dive into dangerous situations.”

“It’s hard to resist being that type when the chance strikes, but no, not really. I like to think before I dive into a situation.”

“That’s true. I’ve wanted to reach my hand through the phone several times. Most days, really. You just want to do something physical to help people. Being in a call center makes it hard to give in to impulse, but the want is still there.”

“It takes a lot to be the person who can’t reach their hand through the phone to help them up. T.K. would not have the disposition to be a dispatcher.” Carlos laughs. “For all his good traits, he doesn’t have the patience or the ability to take a step back from a situation.”

“Judd either. He’d run out of the call center to fo put out a fire with his bare hands.” They’re both chuckling now at the thought of T.K. and Judd in a call center.

“At least the fire can’t shoot at them,” Carlos says offhandedly.

Grace shakes her head lightly. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Your boy gets in trouble just by looking at the morning the wrong way.”

Carlos can’t help the way his lips curl up with fondness. “He sure does, and Judd would jump right in to fight that trouble with him.”

“It’s terrifying, but that’s why I love him. He’d do anything for the people he loves. Once he becomes loyal, there’s no getting Judd to back down. He’s used to being the biggest guy in the room, and he uses that to his advantage.”

“T.K.’s used to being the biggest personality in the room,” Carlos counters.

Grace chuckles, “I believe that. Those two are alike in too many ways. It’s no wonder like they get on like a house on a fire.”

“Not at first,” Carlos recalls. “When we first started dating, T.K. complained about Judd the whole night.”

“I’m sure Judd was the same. They needed that fight to become closer.”

“And look at them now!”

She sighs, “Look at us, we got together to be each other’s distraction and we can’t help but talk about the men we’re trying to distract from.”

“It’s kind of all I can think about until I know he’s safe, but it helps to have someone who gets it. My mom knows that she wants me to stop putting myself in danger, but that’s not the same. I don’t want him to stop because I know that he wouldn’t be himself if he did. I just want him to be safe, and I can’t help but worry until I know he is.” They both understand that they cannot change their partners, and they know that if they want their relationships to work that they have to learn to manage the feelings they have.

“I hear that. When Judd and I first married, I thought I’d get used to worrying. I thought the more he went to work, the less fearful I would be, but the truth is that I didn’t get any less fearful. All that changed was I learned how to not let that fear debilitate me. It helped that I’d been practicing that already with my job.”

“I’m glad they’re saving lives, but I can’t wait until they’re home.”

Grace lifts her glass and clinks it with Carlos’, “Cheers to that,” she says, and they sit together for the long hours of waiting.

#text #911 lone star #911 lone star fics #my writing #Carlos and Grace friendship #my stuff #quick fics #Elise writes

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maree-ff · 3 years

Text

Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

CAMILA

Opening the blinds to let in the slightest amount of light I glanced over my shoulder. Andre’s been out for four days since the surgery and I’m growing impatient. I’ve prayed every morning and night since the shooting with hopes that he will wake up soon. The kids have been rotating their stays here with me but I always send them home before their bedtime rolls around. I can’t fathom staying home right now so Divya is taking my place.

A soft knock on the door reverted my attention from Andre to the entrance of his room. Elaine, the night shift nurse, walked in the room with a fresh set of towels, linen, flowers and medication.

Smiling gently at her I met her halfway to take some of the items off of her hands. “Good morning and thank you for bringing these in.” I began.

“Good morning to you. Don’t mention it honey, any updates for me?” She inquired.

Inhaling soundly I shook my head and parted ways with her to put the towels aside. “I’m doing all that I can to stay positive but I’m starting to worry.” The uneasiness in my tone earned me some encouraging words from Elaine. After I adjusted the temperature in the room I took a seat, watching in silence as she finished out her shift. She prepped Andre with a new morphine bag, took his vitals and tidied up the room. As Elaine began to wrap up her work a thought came to me.

“Elaine..” I called out to her. Rising from my chair I set my journal and planner aside, walking to her side of the room. “I know your shift is pretty much over but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind praying with me? It would mean the world to me.” I twiddled my fingers awaiting her response.

Elaine’s prayer over Andre’s health, recovery and my willpower brought me to tears. I said my temporary farewell to her and did my part in Andre’s upkeep. Once I was all done I sat down beside his bed studying the monitor watching his heart beat steadily. My mind must’ve gone blank for quite some time. I found myself listening to my cell phone vibrate within my bag and the rain began to downpour.

“I remember when you came down with the flu and Zoe stayed up all night trying to take care of you. She was yawning every two minutes..” I chuckled lightly at the memory. “She kept trying to convince herself that she wasn’t tired and you were too weak to argue with her. That’s when Kenja stepped in to drag her out of our bed and into their room. I listened to them bicker for a solid twenty minutes or so about how best to care for you when they got home from school the next day.” Using my thumbs to dab underneath my eyes I made the slightest turn of my head surprised at what I’m seeing.

Andre’s eyes fluttered open and closed before settling on remaining half open.

“Andre..” I said gently. Turning around I minimized the distance between us to get a closer look at him. His gaze met mine and a very shy smile set itself up on his face. I’m bubbling over with inquisition but I can’t overwhelm him at a time like this. “Andre? Honey, if you can feel this..nod your head for me please.” Tucking my hair behind my ear I exposed one of his feet to run my fingernail along his sole.

He nodded reluctantly prompting me to keep testing his senses. We went five rounds of this, easing my nerves about serious loss of sensation. “Can you hear me okay? Am I being too loud?” I asked.

“Yes and no.” He mumbled with ease. “How long have....I been here?” He shifted around, rotating a tad on his side. A tear rolled over his right cheek as he took a deep breath in and out.

“Four days.” I sighed. “Tell me what you remember.” I pulled my chair up to his bedside, leaning forward to clutch his hands. He struggled but successfully managed to intertwine our fingers. “I’m not rushing you. Take your time, sweetie.”

“Where’s Jo? Is he hurt? Are the girls okay?” I can see the deep concern for our children in his eyes and I can feel it passing through me.

“Jo is doing just fine baby, not a hair missing or a scratch on him. The girls are alright too. You can’t get your heart rate up or you’ll go into shock. Deep breaths okay? Can you tell me what you remember?” I asked again.

“Jo and I were outside getting the mail. Next thing I know, I heard the shot. I didn’t let him go.” Caressing the back of my hand, Andre fidgeted from underneath the blankets. “He was asking for you.”

I lowered my head as my brain flooded itself with the scene I was faced with when I walked out of our front door four days ago. To see my son shielded by his unconscious father who was bleeding out on the concrete scared me nearly to death. My mother’s voice flooded my brain to advise me against killing April point blank. My lawyer told me that if I had aimed just centimeters off of where I did shoot April, she’d be dead and I would be behind bars. That’s a mighty uncanny coincidence being that if the bullet from April’s gun had ended up just centimeters from where Andre was shot, he’d be dead. I owe God my never ending faith and obedience for sparing the lives of my boys.

“Hey..” he called out to me. Andre found some strength to squeeze the fists my hands turned into. I raised my head to see him kissing my hands. He bore into my eyes to say, “my hero yet again. When do I get the chance to save you?” He smirked.

I blinked rapidly to rid my eyes of tears. “I was so scared. My mind froze and my heart was racing but my body was doing all of the work. I didn’t think to pay attention to my surroundings because I was so focused on you and Jo.” I took a moment to reign in my feelings before continuing to share my point of view. “I didn’t even blink when I fired. I shoved the gun in the back of my pants, ran over to you guys and balled my eyes out trying to get Jorden from underneath you. The look on his face is burned into memory. The girls were screaming on the phone with 911, Jorden was foaming at the mouth with questions and your mom...she was hysterical.” I explained. The last thing I want to do is freak him out or upset him but I’m confident that he wants to hear my perspective.

“Come here, lay with me..” Andre created as much space for me on the bed as he could allowing me to stretch out beside him.

“I thought you died. For eight hours my mind had convinced me that I lost you. That we lost you.” I confessed. More tears sprang forward admitting the truth. “After Jo was finished being monitored he kept asking for you. Not one answer that I gave him was good enough.” I told him.

“Camila,” Andre ushered me to look him in the eye. “Thank you for saving our son’s life and mine. I don’t take the sacrifice you took regarding your freedom lightly.”

I nodded graciously. “How do you feel?” I quizzed.

“I’m worried about you more than myself right now. I can hold a long conversation. I’m not that weak.” Andre’s familiar snicker put a smile on my face. “Talk to me.” His hands on my face brought more tears to my eyes. “Baby, I’m okay and I’ll heal just fine. Our family is safe thanks to you. Where is my little boy?”

“He’s at home with your mom. You want me to call her and have her bring him here? It’s his day. He and the girls have been taking turns staying here with me. He needs to see you. He’s been very distant, curious and angry about what happened. He doesn’t understand why April did what she did.” I sniffled.

“Call her.” He uttered sharply. I urgently called his mom and she answered on the first round of rings.

“Camila? Is everything alright?” She panicked.

“That mommy? I wanna talk!!!” Jorden exclaimed.

“Hey mama, he’s awake.” I smiled. Divya began to cry and repeat her vocalized gratitude for Andre coming out of his four day coma. We agreed to talk later as she handed the phone to Jorden who’s still babbling with anticipation. “Jorden, baby, take a breath for mama please. Talk slow.” I advised him.

“Mommy, where’s papa? I wanna talk to him.” Jorden said boldly. Not arguing I handed Andre my phone.

“Jo?” Andre began.

Jorden went quiet on his end. “Are you okay?” He spoke up after a brief pause.

“Yeah, I’m alright. How are you feeling buddy?” Andre looked down at me, lowering his eyebrows to minimize the tension in his face.

“Sad. I want to see you papa, can I come back? Please. It’s my turn.” Jorden begged.

“Of course you can. Mama and I are waiting for you.” Andre spoke briefly to his mother agreeing that she would bring Jorden back to the hospital. In the meantime we shared our last moments alone before I had to bring the nurse and doctor in to examine Andre. They tested him to the fullest extent, talked in grave detail about the surgery and the blood transfusion. By the time they were done, I heard Jorden rambling from outside the door. I invited Jo and Divya inside, shutting the door behind them.

Jorden clung to me once he saw his father. It saddened me because I know Jorden is just confused by his dad’s current health status. He doesn’t quite understand the complexity of this matter. While I emphasize with him, I also want to comfort my little boy.

“Mommy..” Jorden pulled at my sweater, asking to be held. I hooked him on my hip holding him close. He and Andre stared at one another in silence. “Is daddy okay?” He whispered.

“Daddy’s okay. He’s been waiting to see you.” Looking down at my son I searched his eyes, confident he would settle down. Cautiously I walked over to the bed, sat down and waited for Jorden to let go of me.

“Hey man, you’re not scared of me are you?” Andre went to stretch out his bad arm, wincing in pain.

Jorden’s face twisted up in agony watching his dad reorient himself back to comfort. “Where does it hurt, dad?” That was Jorden’s cue to play doctor and tend to his father as best he can. Stepping away to allow Andre and Jorden their long awaited reunion, Divya and I stepped into the hallway. The minute I shut the door I threw my arms around her needing a moment to be selfish. She consoled me with the utmost love and empathy. She didn’t speak either. My mother-in-law simply allowed me time to cry, count my blessings and openly praise God for saving Andre’s life.

I used another couple of minutes to finish releasing these emotions before backing up to stand on my own two feet.

“I bet you feel so much better now.” She smiled warmly. A tissue appeared and she used it to dry my teary eyes.

Nodding with a growing smile on my face I fixed my sweater. “Much. I still have more left in me but I’ll be okay for now. Has Jo been terrorizing you or the house?”

“He’s been hostile but I know it’s only because he was confused about what happened. I’m sure that not seeing Andre for days after what went down has scarred Jorden to some capacity. It has scarred the girls and I, too. How are you feeling now?” Divya was quick to stop me from going back into the room. I know why and I’m grateful that she wants to check on me. I’m grateful that she cares for how I’m feeling mentally and emotionally.

“I just feel relieved. I hope that I never again have to answer the question of “where’s daddy” or “any updates on dad” or anything close to it. I’ve been telling Andre for quite some time now that I want the drama to be over. The girls have been through enough, Andre has been through more than enough and now Jorden…” shaking my head in disbelief at the trauma this family has faced I straightened out my top. “This has to be the end of it. I can’t take any more police reports and hospital visits. I may even talk to Andre about relocating. I think it would do all of us good.”

“Moving? Where to?!” Divya’s shock ruffled my feathers. I found her concern humorous.

“Not too far away mama I promise. Besides, it’s just an idea for now. Just to a better city where no one knows us. I just want the kids to be safe. I want for all of us to feel safe and at ease.” Divya and I went back into the room to find Jorden and Andre chest to chest. They look like they're asleep but I know this is how they are all the time at home.

Andre opened his eyes to smile at us.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Divya asked. She set her purse down to go over and greet her son.

“A little out of touch with reality but having you guys here is helping a l-lot.” He stumbled over his words freaking me out to the max. With Jorden front and center I have to remain calm. Jorden picks up on the slightest adjustment in attitudes and tones.

“Dre..” I hesitated to ask because I also don’t want to freak his mother out. Andre must have caught my drift because when he met my stare he smiled again.

“I’m okay. I just got tongue tied. I promise.” His sentence was crystal clear this time around so I had no choice but to take a deep breath and enjoy this time. God has yet again shown this family never ending mercy. Now is not the time to be ungrateful for God’s effort to bring the love of my life back to me. Back to earth and this family.

#maree-ff #short reads #short story #fiction

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pjm-com · 4 years

Text

Deep Red

soulmate!au

In a world where you see black n white until you meet your soulmate, you’re noticing that Jungkook isn’t putting in the same effort he had been before. The relationship feels dead now, unmoving. His best friend Taehyung is trying to move you into a positive direction; one that leads to him.

( Listen to Deep Red by Movements)

Saying ‘no’ has never hurt anyone.

You’re repeating that to yourself as you pull up to the party. Well, party is an understatement, considering it was just the friend group. Namjoon and Jin’s roommate was away, and he wanted to get the everyone together; inner circle only. College only gave you so much time to mingle with your friends so you guess you can’t complain, even if you wanted to stay home. The only reason you’re really opposed is because you seem to be an extra in the movie that is Jungkook’s world.

It sounds idiotic and maybe a little dramatic, but he was the deadbeat boyfriend all the girls hoped they’d never have. The first two months you had together was like it was a script. He’d take you on dates, pick you up and drop you off before curfew, while walking you to your door. Come over and help you study, cuddle you on the rough days. It was a relationship most were jealous of, where he was not only your boyfriend, but your best friend.

Everyone said you guys wouldn’t last and you’re thinking maybe they’re right. He barely spends time with you anymore, always drags you out to parties and has you home late. Crying every night cause he’s putting in the bare minimum. Jin, your best friend, always asks why you put up with it and you give him the same delusional answer.

He’s your ‘soulmate’.

“You ready?” He hums softly, hand tapping your thigh as you park in front of Namjoon’s house. The soft light from the streetlamp is hitting his face in the right way, making him look ethereal, even if it was in black and white.

You lean forward to press a hope filled kiss against his lips, one that he returns gently. “Yeah.”

Getting out of the car, you’re nearly hoisted into the air by Namjoon that has you squealing in excitement. He was crazy strong, throwing you over his shoulder as he walked inside his own house. It was roomy inside, the living room already set for everyone to hang out. You can see the opened beer cans across the table, some even tipped over and you look at your Apple Watch, seeing it was only eight.

“Starting early huh, Joon?”

You can practically hear him grin as he sets you down, but of course the alcohol in his system has you tipping backwards into a tall figure. It was a small bump, but you’re giggling because Hoseok and Jimin are acting over dramatic. They practically throw themselves onto the floor like a couple of bowling pins which has you laughing even harder.

“Y/N!” Hoseok whines, rubbing his elbow while Jimin lays on his back pretending to be knocked out. You roll your eyes, grabbing his hand to pull him up before pushing the top of your foot into the blonde’s side. “How could you just kill Jimin like that!!” That makes everyone groan sarcastically as you push your hair behind your ear and kick Jimin lightly.

“She still loves me,” Jimin swoons playfully as you kick him, making him hold his heart before jumping up. “How are you, babe?” You accept the hug that he gives you, holding him tightly. You shrug, looking at Jungkook who is already downing shots with Namjoon. The bond between all of them was unbreakable, and you didn’t feel like starting anything tonight, so you lie.

“I’ve been good! Classes have been kicking my ass, but that’s just the usual for all of us anyways. How’s the new dance class?” The look Jimin gives makes you think for a second that he doesn’t buy it and you feel your stomach drop. Thankfully, he doesn’t press further.

“It’s been okay,” He starts before Taehyung emerges from the kitchen, with two drinks in his hand.

Laughing, he replies with a, “What he means is the kids are actual devils.” Jimin cries, talking about how they were kicking his ankles but you’re focused on the raven haired male as he hands you a drink.

Kim Taehyung was nothing, if not the most wholesome person in the group. As Jungkook’s best friend, you guys had gotten close over the years you had been together, which means he has also seen the uglier side of the younger. Whenever Jungkook would drag you out somewhere and then blatantly ignore you, Taehyung was quick to make sure you felt included. It was something you loved about him, and devoted as you were to your boyfriend, the thought remained heavy in the back of your head. What if Taehyung was your boyfriend instead?

You shake to the recesses of your memory, not wanting to think about that as he pulls you into a side hug. You almost miss the sound of him asking how you are, and you let the question roll around in your head. You feel like you could be honest with Taehyung, considering he knows you as well as Jungkook does, more so right now. Leaning your head on his shoulder, you sigh.

“Honestly I could be better.. Ju—“

“Cmon guys, we’re starting the drinking game!”

Jin’s voice cuts you off loudly and Taehyung throws you a small look, like he was waiting for you to say something but he doesn’t ask again as you both walk deeper into the living room. You feel a weight lifted on your shoulders as you’ve dodged another attempt to talk about something you’re avoiding deeply. You smile at him, nodding as if to tell him ‘I’ll tell you later’ while moving towards the couch where your boyfriend sat. Jungkook pats the spot in front of him and you kneel down into the spot, glad that you chose sweats and a baby doll tee rather than a skirt. Leaning back into the space between his legs, he tilts your head back a little to catch your lips in a kiss that’s soft and slow. He smiles into the movements, letting you up before brushing his fingers through the tangles in your hair.

It’s a kiss that should make you weak, but the flame, unfortunately, is gone. He holds you and kisses you like you’re his, but the verbal actions don’t say the same. Now you’re the one downing your drink in hopes to get your mind to slow down.

“What game are we playing again?” You ask, sipping the last of your drink before setting it to the table on your left. Jin bends down to take the vacant spot next to you, throwing you a ‘hey girl’ before settling into the cushions. You felt a hell of a lot better with Jin by your side, hand folding with his as he squeezes it softly. He was the only one who truly knew how you felt, which is why he probably raced Hoseok for this certain spot.

Jin snorts. “Uno?” His head turns as you all watch Yoongi emerge from the hallway holding a stack of cards. You’re really hoping it isn’t uno, or go fish. Those, of all games, were boring. Okay, maybe you’d let UNO slide but ‘Sorry!’ can go.

Suga takes the spot next to Taehyung on the rug, setting the huge deck on the floor before cracking open his four loko.

“No. When I was thinking of games to play, I figured.. what? You’d drink every time you had to pick a card?” Yoongi hands everyone one card faced down before handing them another face up and you finally understand.

“Black jack!” You and Taehyung say in unison, making you both laugh softly. You can practically feel Jungkook behind you, tensing as he rubs your shoulders softly. You can’t care less.

Yoongi gets the game started as the dealer, trying a new way as he used three decks to play. You’re not sure how that even worked, but everyone was having fun, and you had long forgotten about Jungkook and school. It seems everyone else had too, because the cards were set aside and everyone was talking, drunk off the beers the game forced them to drink. You, as well, are feeling a little tipsy considering you busted way too many times leaving Yoongi to fill up your cup three times. You’re almost feeling a little tired too, but you listen to everyone talk, not really paying attention until you hear Jimin and Taehyung’s convo.

“No guys, stop,” Jimin whined as Namjoon and Taehyung laughed. “I think she might really be my soulmate.” You feel the mood go somber at that word, but you know its only for you, even if you and Taehyung briefly share a look.

Namjoon lets out a groan of frustration. “Dude, you guys fucked like… once? She can’t be there’s no way.” Jimin launches into a huge spiel about how when the time is right he’ll know and the connection is too good to pass up but even that leaves you stumbling.

You remember stories that your mom told you of her friends finding their soulmate, even how her and your dad met. She said your world stays black and white until you truly connect with your soulmate, then you’re weirdly connected to them like a magnet. Even after being with Jungkook for two years, you haven’t had the connection and your faith in the concrete foundation of your relationship is slipping. Right through your fingers it seems. You wonder what the hell it takes for a couple to truly connect? How long it takes?

You think it’s sweet. It’s refreshing to hear someone talk about someone they love, and You catch Taehyung’s eyes. You both share the same dumb expression with silly smiles, watching Jimin pour his heart out to people who are barely listening. You watch Taehyung move from his spot to come sit on your other side, laughing as his drink spills a little. No one is really paying attention to the cards, and you start yet another random conversation about the weather or something.

You and Taehyung were avid sim players, and if anything, it was easy to move to a sims related topic just of the Seasons expansion pack. You feel Jungkook tap your shoulders, and you nod at him to give you a minute. He keeps calling your name, louder.

“One second,” you mumble irritated, feeling as his small poking turns into painful jabs. You turn on him, flinching into Taehyung at the aggressiveness fo the motions. “What do you need, jungkook?” You can tell he’s angry, but you’re just lost on why.

“Get me another drink? Thanks,” he huffs, pushing his empty cup into your hand that was already full, causing the contents to spill.

The silence after that sentence is damaging your ears as you watch everyones faces turn. The way it was so abrupt and how the tone descended onto your ears. The boys’ faces around you seem shocked, considering Jungkook barely interrupted you. Interrupted literally anyone. You feel your chest tighten as you look up at him and there’s no emotion in his eyes, no warmth. He’s just waiting while you feel a thousand eyes on you before Taehyung clears his throat.

“You know uh.. I need a refill too, I’ll come with.” He’s suddenly right by your side as you both walk into the kitchen, glad that it was a completely different room. “You okay?” He asks quietly and you set both the cups on the counter as you take a deep breath. The moment you hear Jungkook laughing in the other room has your breaking down over the counter, screwing your eyes shut as your hands balled into fists.

You’re not sure why you’re even crying.

Because Jungkook asked you to get him a drink, and didn’t say please? Because he interrupted you? Because he was a dick about it, but you’re used to that. You think you’re crying because the relationship wasn’t the same and it won’t ever be. He would’ve done it himself and offered to fill yours. He would’ve been showing you affection and holding your hand while you guys went out. Offering to spend the night so you guys can hangout. Every time you guys text, it’s because you texted first. You have to beg him to FaceTime, beg him to hangout. You’re crying over something small, but it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Hey.. You okay?” Taehyung says softly, hand pressed to the lower portion of your back. It’s the question that makes everyone cry at least a little bit harder, almost forcing you into the arms of the brunette (you assume) standing next to you. You hold him tightly, body shaking as you let out all emotions into his hands. To be honest, he’s not sure what to do, considering he’s never had a crying girl in his arms before. He’s almost thinking he should get Jungkook, but goes with his better judgement.

Bringing yourself together, you finally catch a break, to breathe deeply before pulling away and wiping the makeup from your eyes.

“It’s j-just…” You hiccup loudly, hand on your forehead as you take a deep breath into your stomach. “I know it se-seems like a small thing, but everything a-adds up, Taehyung.”

He pouts. “I know it does, Y/N… I can tell.” He’s rubbing your back in circular motions to keep you breathing steadily. “We all can tell how much this is really affecting you.” You nod with him, eyes darting to the doorway of the room every now and then, hoping that he doesn’t come in here. You honestly were just so fed up with how he was acting.

“I put one hundred and ten percent into the relationship, Tae. I give everything and he keeps taking and taking, and I can’t do it anymore… I love him, but what if he isn’t my soulmate? We’ve been together for three years and haven’t connected yet? W-what a joke,” you sob, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand. Taehyung isn’t having any of it, shaking his head like he was disappointed in you. And he was. He often wonders why the hell you can’t see your own worth. Why you’re still with Jungkook. He’s his best friend, but god he isn’t blind. Neither is the entire friend group.

“Y/N. I can promise you right now that he is not your soulmate, and if you can’t see that then you’re missing out on the obvious.”

By now he’s pushing some of your hair out of your face and wiping the black smudge of the mascara from your cheeks.

“Even if you guys started seeing with each other, I would still pray you find someone who loves you Y/N. Someone who wants to put all their time into you, and your life.” Hearing those words fall on your ears was like a relief. You wanted to believe so bad that there was someone out there for you like that. That would want you as much as you wanted them. You’re even wishing it was Taehyung.

After a while, you nod. “That sounds nice…. Your soulmate is sure g-going to be lucky,” you laugh softly before looking back towards the door. You decide not to waste anymore tears, wiping your eyes for— hopefully— the last time. “You’re right.. The tears really aren’t worth it.”

“They aren’t. The baddest bitch I know doesn’t need to be crying.”

Thank god, you’re laughing now. Sniffling your nose like the baby you are, you’re shoving him playfully with a dumb smile on your face.

“Shut up.”

He smiles softly, a little laugh exiting his mouth. “See? You know it too… c’mere-“ He motions for you to fall into his arms, and you do. He was right. If Jungkook wasn’t going to put in effort, then who were you to even try? Not the one. Jungkook’s hugs didn’t even feel the same. Taehyung’s were warm and filled with meaning. He wanted you to know that he cared, and you wanted to stay there for as long as you could. Like you couldn’t even get out of the embrace, but you knew Jin was bound to come looking for you sometime.

Pulling away, you’re ready to thank him but you find yourself looking down at the color of the red vans you sport on your feet. You almost want to puke on them, eyes bulging at the sight. You blink a couple times, the last of tears dripping from your eyes to the fabric of your shoes. They follow them to your ankle with a purple beaded anklet resting on your tan skin. All these colors you never knew existed. Snapping your head up, Taehyung wears the same expression you are, eyes ready to burst from his head. You know he sees the color too, his hands still enclosed around yours. You’re seconds away from pointing out the color that you finally see, but you can’t breathe. Not one bit.

A huge dizzy wave hits your head, making you stumble back a little bit as Jin enters the room. You always figured Jin had some sort of tie to you, considering he always knew when you were in trouble or felt distressed without you having to say a word.

“Hey.. Y/N. Jungkook says he’s getting ready to leave, so….” You shake your head, unable to rip the gaze from Taehyung’s face. You finally scan him quick, a tan undertone to his skin. Cheeks red, eyes a dark brown. Now you notice his hair, which was in fact… not brown like you had figured. It was dirty blonde, dark roots at the beginning of the strands. You felt your stomach wobbling, hand holding it in place. Maybe it was the alcohol or the sudden shock, but you’re running to the bathroom. Jin follows you closely, throwing an apology over his shoulder to the newfound blonde.

“What the hell?”

Jin’s voice comes soft over your ears as you wretch over the toilet, nothing but pure alcohol and the small half of a ham sandwich. It tasted foul, making you wanting to throw even more up, but your stomach contracts to signal there isn’t anything left. Sitting down next to the toilet you shake your head as Jin shuts the door.

The first thing you say is, “red… red.” You breathe heavily over the toilet, watching Jin with a wild expression on his face, like you’ve grown another head. You feel like you have. “Is Jung— is he gone?”

Flushing the toilet, the raven haired boy shuts the lid and sits on it, moving your head to lay softly on his thigh. Jin doesn’t know what the fuck just happened, but he’s texting Jungkook to go considering you’re puking all over the bathroom. He gets the read receipt, and knows Jungkook is probably halfway to his car. Maybe something happened with the two in question, and Jin is hoping so. He never liked Jungkook one bit. He used to be the golden boy. Straight A’s, always smiling, making plans and cheering up the group as best as he could.

No one knows what turned him. Maybe it was the frat he joined, the parties he went to. Maybe he did some coke but you weren’t too sure. Something changed Jungkook, and you have no clue what it was. Maybe you’ll never want to know.

“Yeah, I think he left. Baby… you okay?” It felt like a loaded question, and you were finally breathing regularly as you looked up at him, tears in your eyes. This was Jin. He’d have advice for you. You lean your forehead forward into his lap, shaking your head. You feel the warm hand on your back, rubbing in rhythmic circles.

“I think…” You start, looking up at him and restarting more slower. “I think.. No, I know Jungkook isn’t my soulmate.. And I’m stupid for thinking so.” Saying those words out loud had your head spinning, Jin’s eyebrows cocked up as he scoffs in disbelief.

“You didn’t figure this out sooner?”

You whine. “Jin.. this is serious!”

“Okay,” he laughs, hand running through the tangles in your hair. “How did you come to this realization?” You honestly don’t know where to start, leaning back so you could see him better as you stand up, leaning against the bathroom counter. You’re wondering where Taehyung is, hoping to catch him to talk. You’ve never been this fucking confused in your life.

“Because, wh-when me and Taehyung were in the kitchen, I was ranting to him and he was comforting me and just being there. And the entire time I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I wanted Jungkook to act more like him.. When we pulled away, everything just bursted into color, Seokjin.” His brown eyes got serious as you used his full name, mouth dropping open. Jin, for once, didn’t have a comment.

“I know.. god, I fucking know. Who would’ve known? I’d been chasing Jungkook for so long, who the hell would’ve known Taehyung would’ve been my soulmate… and what the hell do I do about Jungkook?”

Jin takes a deep breath. “I think, that you should sleep it off, Y/N. Maybe… how about we just relax for the night you know? Even if it’s hard, I want your mind off of this. You deserve a breather,” he said softly, standing to kiss your forehead before grabbing a couple facemasks and dragging you out of the bathroom. He was right. You definitely weren’t going to decide on anything tonight. Your brain was on the brink of exploding, and it would be foolish to think you could even come to a conclusion. After a good nights rest and a couple of days, you’d decide what to do.

Putting your trust in Jin for the night, you breathe freely.

“Alright, lets do it.”

It wasn’t hard to get you distracted from the elephant in the room, sitting in the living room with weak ass martinis since Jin can’t mix drinks for shit. They were on the fruitier side which you were thankful for, but you took it one sip at a time, mind slowly drifting to funnier things. Like Jin’s current love interests.

The house was much more comforting when it was just you and Jin under the roof, (with the exception of Namjoon). You had slipped into some shorts and a sweater, thanking the lord that Jin already had a pair of your pajamas here from the other nights you spent together. The best thing about having a guy as your best friend is that he won’t wear the clothes that you happen to forget. However, the worst is that he will tell you the truth about anything— no matter how it’ll make you feel. Jin wasn’t the one that liked to hurt feelings, but he did when he needed to.

Jin, being your best friend, could tell when something was up. He knew about the fights that you and Jungkook would get in. The days where you wanted to do nothing but cry, he was by your side. He knew the look on your face when something was wrong.

You were both parked on the couch, lights dimmed and some random movie on Netflix playing. Jin wouldn’t stop talking about the secret crush he always had on Namjoon— gushing about the way Namjoon walks around the house shirtless.

“That fucking tat—“ Jin stops in his tracks when he sees Namjoon trudge into the kitchen. Shirtless, of course.

The black sweatpants rested on his waist, his V-line visible to anyone with eyes willing to travel that far down his figure. The dragon tattoo that wrapped around his arm was now a deep red to you. His hand ran through the messy black hair that laid over his bloodshot eyes. If it wasn’t for the smell of weed, you’d think that Namjoon hasn’t eaten in a week. He scavenged through the cabinets, collecting a few of each snack there was. After being satisfied with what he took, to your surprise he decided to sit down with you and Jin.

“What were you guys talking about? I know you weren’t watching this dumb ass movie,” Namjoon unwraps his first Hostess cupcake, almost taking the whole thing in his mouth within the first bite.

Jin stared at him, drool basically coming out of his mouth at the sight in front of him. “Uh, nothing just talking about Jungkook,” he stumbles over his words.

“Oh, boring. Want a cupcake?” Namjoon waves one in front of your face. In response you shake your head, causing Namjoon and Jin to share a glance with one another.

“What’s wrong? I bought these with you in mind because you always clean them off of our shelves,” Namjoon ponders. Jin decided whether or not to save you from Namjoon’s questions, but let you decide for yourself considering your face looked contemplating.

While Namjoon waited for your answer, thoughts on what to say raked your mind. Should you even trust Namjoon about what you were about to say?

Deciding to take a sharp left turn, you ditch Taehyung completely. “It’s just.. Jungkook being.. Jungkook.”

Namjoon scoffs, scratching his chest lightly. He nods like he understands… because he does.

“Lately he’s been getting irritating. Why haven’t you just dumped him yet?” You and Jin both lean back at the small outburst, Namjoon staring at you dead serious. You open your mouth to respond but Namjoon is all over it. “Seriously, Y/N. Fuck him. He’s so blind. If I was into girls, I would’ve tried to get with you a while ago. You need to move on to someone who appreciates all of you. There’s gotta be somebody.” You sit there, braindead as you unpack everything Namjoon said.

Jin laughs. “Damn. Well good thing you’re into boys cause I think I know the perfect guy for Y/N.” You know Jin has the fattest fucking grin on his face the travels from ear to ear. Meeting his eyes, you laugh loudly as he practically stares dreamily at Namjoon. “But seriously, Y/N. Just dump him.”

You nod, hyping yourself up for a bit. You didn’t need him. Taehyung or not, you didn’t deserve to be treated like that. Downing the rest of your martini, you smile at the two idiots.

“Thank you guys.. I really needed this.”

Namjoon cracks open his coke, downing it before burping acidly. “Yeah yeah… who’s the mystery man?”

You groan while Jin makes you another fruity drink. Namjoon is going to get an earful tonight.

——————

The next few days felt like a fever dream, moping around the house. You’re not sure why, but you feel no motivation. Your room is a mess, the small kitchen in your apartment is dirty but you leave it. You’re trying to hard to wrap your head around the situation at hand, even the small weed handouts from Namjoon aren’t helping.

Now it’s a Wednesday night and you have no plans, and a boyfriend who is out with Jimin at some gaming arcade. They haven’t gone out together in a while, but you were happy for them to get one on one time. You knew deep down, Jimin missed hanging out with the dark haired idiot, and they were probably having a blast. You smile at the thought of them playing video games together, Jungkook laughing collectively with the bleached blonde as they shoot at the screen.

That being said, you’re still fucking bored so you decide to dial Namjoon to see what he was up to. The energy and words he gave you the other night was something you needed more of. Joon had this chill, laid back vibe to him where he goes with the flow and tells it like it is. You think it’s the weed.

“Hello?” Namjoon answers through a mouthful of food. Fat ass.

You respond. “Watcha up to?”

“Ohhh,” He snorts. “You wanna hangout with me as a last resort huh?” Rolling your eyes, you hear him laugh as he switches it to his other ear, the sound of chips crunching coming through the phone.

“Stupid. You’re the first one I called.”

He falls silent. “Right. Well anyways, I’m about to go on a weed run. I got deals to make. Wanna join? I got Trizzy Tae with me.” Even if your stomach drops a little at the sound of his name, you laugh at the nickname along with the other two males. You sigh.

“Why the hell not. I’m looking a little busted,” you hum, looking down at your leggings and tight sweater. Okay maybe you rocked this fit a little bit. “Come pick me up.”

The boys holler. “Be there in five.” The line goes dead as you set your phone in your lap, nose to the ceiling. You weren’t sure how you felt seeing Taehyung again. You were definitely not ready to see him, but you were bored out of your fucking mind. That, and you needed to rip off the bandaid before it got the best of you.

Pushing off of the couch, you stand up and decide to shut off the lights in the living room, grabbing a water before moving towards the door. You glance towards your phone while slipping on your shoes.

You : hey, im goin out with joon and taehyung. how’s the night with you and jimin?

You know he isn’t going to read it for a while so you just pocket the phone, and heading out the door so you can lock it behind you. You make your way down to the lobby of your apartment, stepping out the huge glass doors to see that Namjoon was pulling to the curb. A wave of relief washes over you as you climb into the passenger seat. Taehyung sat comfortable in the back as you nod both to them, eyes lingering on Taehyung’s face.

“Why are you sitting in the backseat, you dork?”

He laughs, shrugging. “Cause I know you wanted shotgun.” You smile at him, snorting as you agree. You would’ve wanted shotgun, and you can admire the deep red interior of Namjoon’s Tesla; a gift from his father. Strapping yourself in, you notice the huge bag at your feet as you scoff. Picking it up, you pull out a couple pre-scaled bags of weed, eyeing them closely as you turn to namjoon.

“What?” He whined, pulling away from the curb and driving towards the main roads. He pushes the contents back into the bag and onto the floor, clicking his tongue. “You gon’ learn tonight.” Looking back at Taehyung, you roll your eyes at the idiot behind the driver seat. Taehyung shares your gaze, returning his to his phone as The Chain by Fleetwood Mac comes on the radio. Perfect, you think. A song about not feeling the same like you used to. That was something you knew a little too well. Still you sing along, Namjoon belting out all the notes loud as hell, and for what.

The ride was relaxing, making you forget about Jungkook and the Taehyung situation. You were with your best friends, laughing loudly and enjoying the cool night air that was provided. It was maybe the best you’ve felt in a long time, and you had a feeling that nothing could ruin the high you were on. You do admit, you were a little worried considering Jungkook hasn’t texted you, but then again, he’s with friends.

As you guys made stops for weed, you felt more and more relaxed, eyebrows shooting up when Namjoon said he was tired.

“Cmon… I haven’t been outside all day, lets just make one more,” you whined, pouting at him while he laughed. Putting the car in drive, he shrugs.

“Yeah, the next one is only a couple of blocks over, so lets hit that before going to get food. A bro is starving.” You laugh at Taehyung agreeing, and sit back in your seat, checking your phone again for any texts. The more deliveries you guys made, the less you had to worry about stupid Jungkook. The less you had to sit and stare at the phone.

You turn at the sound of Taehyung laughing at his phone, raising your eyebrow.

He snorts. “Jimin just sent me the funniest photo of his dog.” You want to laugh along but you stop, doing a full 180 in your seat at that sentence. He shows you, and you see with your own eyes that Jimin is home, and not at the arcade. You calm yourself down, pushing your hair behind your ears.

“Oh uh,, did he just get home?” Taehyung shakes his head, saying that he’s been snapping him from home the whole night. You heart sinks, but if that wasn’t enough, Namjoon throws the car in park.

“We’re here, but…” He trails off. “That car looks a lot lik—“

“Jungkook’s.”

As Taehyung finishes the sentence, you whip your head around to find his chevy cobalt sitting in the driveway of a house you didn’t recognize. Okay. Okay, maybe he’s hanging out with another guy friend that you don’t know.. But why would he lie? Getting out of the car, you slam the door shut before storming to the front door, namjoon in tow with the small bag in his hand and Taehyung silent. You can feel how tense the air is now, like a hand around your throat. Knocking on the door, a girl answers the door within seconds. Namjoon tries to explain that she’s gonna need to step back, but you push past the girl gently.

You weren’t mad at her, how could she have known? As you made your way to the living room, you notice various pairs of his shoes on the shoe rack, multiple of his jackets and hoodies hung on the coat rack. You feel rage as you slam open the door to the living room, Jungkook shirtless on the couch. It was obvious that he has been comfortable there for a while.

“You’re such a fucking dick,” you say calmly, fist in balls at your sides. You feel the girl standing next to you, arms crossed as she looked at Jungkook. “If you were sick and tired of me, you should’ve fucking said something.”

Jungkook turns white at the sight of you guys together, getting up as he shakes his hand. “It’s not what you thin—“

“It’s exactly what she thinks… You’ve been dating me for two months, and her how long?” The girl next to you says loudly, obviously angry. Your heart shatters. Tears fall freely from your face, knowing that the last three years you’ve been together must have not meant anything if he was willing to cheat.

“For three years,” you answer her, voice cracking. She throws you a shocked look, hand on your shoulder before you see someone run past in the corner of your eye. Within seconds, Taehyung is lunging over the coffee table to tackle Jungkook to the ground. You scream for him to stop, but it falls on deaf ears, watching them scuffle on the floor. Everyone in the room is watching, Jungkook rolling them over and getting a few good punches to Taehyung’s face. You move to separate the fight, but Taehyung is grabbing Jungkook by the neck and pushing him into the floor.

“Piece of shit,” he practically growls, knuckles connecting with the side of his face. The sound is sickening, and you watch as he pummels Jungkook’s face. You can see blood forming on the skin of Jungkook’s face, from Taehyung’s cracked knuckles. Namjoon moves quick to pull Taehyung off of him, which results in the blonde to push Joon back a few steps, storming off to the car. You’re floored, Watching Namjoon apologize to the girl before dropping the bag into her hands and pulling you out of the house.

The sight of Jungkook on the carpet, face bloody had your heart wrenching into many pieces. Sure, he was cheating, but he looked wrecked. You didn’t have any time to even wallow even if he deserved it, because you’re moving into the backseat next to Taehyung. Namjoon fires the engine and pulls away from the curb, watching the injured boy in the back as he high tails it to Taehyung’s house. Your eyes avert to the man in question, looking at his balled fists. Wincing at the blood on the knuckles, you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

He just kicked his best friend’s ass.

Your boyfriend’s ass. You’re smiling a little on the inside, but you can’t cheer right now. Something felt wrong. You wanted to get home, and you were bringing Taehyung even if he refused. You notice a small part on his forehead is split too, and you were itching to patch him up. You had a feeling that Taehyung would go on a bender, and the last thing you wanted was him to go back out to get revenge or… something, considering he was literally fuming right next to you.

Namjoon pulls to the curb next to Taehyung’s house and you shrug. This will have to do.

“Hey, just uh… just drop us off here,” You say softly to Namjoon as he throws the car in park. “I’ll call you later, yeah? Tell Jin not to wait up for a text or anything..” With that and a small wave, you scoot out of the seat and follow Taehyung to the complex of his apartments, trailing behind him quietly as you reach the second floor.

You don’t even know what you’re going to say, or even ask him. It wasn’t his place to take care of Jungkook for you, although you appreciated the gesture. But the fight had left so many questions unanswered. Why did Taehyung feel compelled to do that, and why was he so angry for you? Does he even want to discuss it, or the realization you both came to the other day? Does he feel something for you, and if s-

“Y/N?” Taehyung laughs softly, holding open his apartment door while you stand like a dormant idiot in the hallway. You apologize softly, the questions running rampant while you step into his house and kick off your shoes by his much larger ones. Once he shuts and locks the door, he starts to walk towards the kitchen. “You hungry?”

You deadpan to yourself. He was really thinking about food???

Grabbing his arm, you pull him in front of you. “Hey, just slow down for a second okay??? You act like you just didn’t beat the fuck out of Jungkook… cmon, we can think about food in a sec,” you say quietly, looking at how the scratch on his forehead is starting to dry. He stays in place as he holds his stomach. He looks like he doesn’t want to talk about what just happened, and naturally you want to pry but he moves away from you into the kitchen.

Maybe he regrets fighting Jungkook, or maybe they had beef for a while, you’re not sure. You watch the dirty blonde move towards his cabinet as he pulls out instant ramen, motioning the cup towards you in a gesture of offering. You wave him off, rejecting the noodles but he pops the cup into the microwave anyways.

“Sorry,” he apologizes, watching the cup turn in the little box. You raise a brow.

“For?”

Taehyung shrugs, lower back against the counter as he crosses his arm. Taehyung didn’t know where to start, so he decides to not say anything while waiting for the three beeps to go off. Once the cup his done, he carefully takes it and brings it to the table where you’re also sitting. He forks the noodles into his mouth, making you laugh a bit at the messy way he is eating. Even then, you’re hanging on his word, waiting for something.

“Sorry,” he repeats. “For a lot of things… I was super hungry and just wanted to eat. Also I’m sorry for getting so crazy like that. I’ve never done anything like that before..” You watch him as he continues eating, polishing off the cup in less than a couple minutes. You watch him, trying to read him but you never could. Not like you could Jimin or Hoseok. Taehyung’s face was hard to try and decipher.

“You wanna get changed and stuff?” You ask quietly. Nodding, Taehyung shuts off the kitchen light and moves towards his bedroom while you follow suit. His bedroom was nice, much cleaner than you expected. It had a grey and tan theme to it, knowing he was one to dress in nude colors like that. Or black. Either or really suited him.

Either way, the air in his room changed as he put on some music from his playlist; stuff to calm him down you’re assuming. You pull off off your hoodie, leaving you with the cropped tank you had underneath. You stand idle waiting for him as he changes, pulling his own beige jacket from his frame, following the tight sweater he wore. You try like hell to not stare, but who the hell wouldn’t? He stayed in his nike sweats while the vast expanse of his back was toned, muscles moving under his skin as he picked out a clean hoodie and threw it over his head.

The look was simple, and unintentionally sexy. Your mind flashes to cuddling with him in those clothes, making out with him in those clothes. Hoping the connection would be more vibrant than anything you’ve felt with Jungkook. Unfortunately, you’re not sure where you and him stand, and you’re not sure you want to know yet. You think about asking him as he moves back in the direction of the kitchen, motioning for you to take a seat. Taehyung returns with a damp rag and a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide, laughing weakly.

“This is all I have…”

You shake your head. “Thats okay, dork.. c’mere before the blood gets all crusty.” He sits in the kitchen chair across from you, scooting the wooden legs towards you until your knees are closed in by each of his bigger thighs. You wince as you notice it’s starting to bruise a little yellow, purple rimming the outside of the impact site. You press the rag to his forehead, letting it rest a little. His eyes close slowly, wincing at the feeling of the hydrogen peroxide working against the small gash, but you don’t hold up.

Looking down at his knuckles, you sigh. “They look like they hurt… how did it feel? P-punching him?” The volume of your voice gets softer at the last word, not knowing where the boundaries were on the subject. Taehyung shrugs slowly, looking down at the knuckles that were cracked, bruising forming on the skin. His other fingers rub the area before his hands go limp in his lap.

“Honestly,” he breathes. “I hated every moment of it.”

That was an answer you didn’t expect, considering he went WWE on Jungkook’s ass, but you wanted to hear him out either way.

“He was my best friend, and I hate fighting with him. I’ve known him longer than any of the other bro’s and we got a bond that I can’t match with anyone else…” You can hear some regret in his voice, but you feel there’s something else. “It’s just crazy. I never thought I would’ve ever hit him like that.. Hit anyone like that!” He seems surprised with himself.

A short breath leaves you. “Then why did you?”

“Huh?”

“Why did you attack him like that?

Taehyung shrugs, eyes averting your stare. “I’m not really sure why, but I don’t regret it.” Your stomach drops at the sound of those words. “Jungkook is my best friend, but you never deserved to be treated like that. I hated to fucking see it.” You smile a little bit, remaining silent as you continue to tend to his wounds. Now you’re even more confused on what you guys are. Does that mean he’s been mad over it for a while? Did he wish you had a different boyfriend than Jungkook? Perhaps even Taehyung himself a—

He’s quick to strike up conversation. You stumble a little on your train of thought, laughing as he made fun of Namjoon’s new steering wheel cover that was “a little too fruity”, in Taehyung’s own words. You guys talk smoothly for what feels like hours, about everything and anything. Fruits, types of chicken, even the busted ass alcohol selection at the party you both attended. But not once did he mention the obvious elephant in the room, even if it’s not uncomfortable.

Taehyung tells you a lot about his life.

His mom, recently became sick, and they’re closer than ever. His grades are thriving, and he’s making good money working on cars. It makes you realize how much you don’t know about him. Rather, how much you haven’t been around him. You feel a little guilty, considering he’s been dealing with his mom. You had wanted to rewind and be there for him in ways Jungkook never was. In a way, Taehyung wanted to return the favor. The conversation keeps flowing, the music changing every couple minutes before a deep base line that you recognize moves over the speakers, and you both look up and laugh.

Movements was one of the first bands you had really seen in concert. You begged Jungkook for weeks to go with you, but he was more into rap. Taehyung, offered to go with you and you both had the time of your lives. ‘Deep Red’ was the closing song they preformed, and you remember that night to this day. Jumping around, care-free. Taehyung keeps your gaze in an air-tight lock.

Soft skin, hard stare. Feels wrong, but all’s fair.

I try but I can’t seem to look away and you don’t care. Instead you meet my steady gaze and we go from there.

You watch in astonishment as Taehyung gets up, head banging like a complete idiot. He grabs the salt shaker off the counter, using it as a pretend microphone. You turn to the clock, time almost hitting one in the morning. Damn, we were talking for a while. You, of course, follow his lead and jump around with him in the living room of his apartment. Something about it is nostalgic, reminding you of the actual concert.

Taehyung takes your hands, leading you in circles, the biggest smile you’ve seen on his face in maybe forever. Your expression matches his as well. You feel better with him, something you’ve said maybe a thousand times to yourself. You feel naturally happy, and you’re reaching for more. Desperate for more of this feeling.

Stay up, all night. Real love for the first time.

And I can’t tell if this is all a dream or if I’m really here, but as long as I can feel you I don’t really care.

He has you close to his chest, hands on your waist as you spin in deformed circles in the living room. Cloud nine was an understatement, your smile staying permanent on your face. You’re seeing Taehyung in a whole new light. Nothing else even mattered to you at this moment.

Can we pretend like it’s just you and me?

I wanna act like I can feel something.

You both slow down a little, taut gazes glued together like your life depended on it. You watch your world slowly brighten into more brighter colors as Taehyung brings you closer, your hands on his upper arms. They’re placed weirdly so you move them around his neck. You feel like you’re shaking with excitement. Jungkook long gone in your mind as Taehyung swings you slowly.

He’s hesitant, but his lips just press to your forehead. Taehyung knows he’s testing out the waters. His first spot was your lips, but he felt it was too soon. If you ask him? He was ready, more than ready. An instant connection like this made him lustful to be with you. Not fucking you, or wearing you on his arm like his former friend had done in the past. Taehyung felt overwhelmed with the urge to hold you, play with your hair. Other things he had been wanting to give you for a while now, that Jungkook never could.

He takes a small breath, confidence pooling out into his chest as he closes his eyes and leaps.

And you don’t have to give it back to me, but I can’t promise much of anything

Your body stalls, but you’re kissing him back in seconds. His lips are warm and soft, moving slow as he pulls you flush against his body. You become putty in his hands. Desperation gets the best of you as your hands tangle in the shorter strands of the hair on his neck, stopping your dancing as your feet plant flat on the floor. Taehyung’s ready to end the small kiss, and talk about it awkwardly after but today you were rolling with it.

You catch his lips quickly after he tries to move back, and you’re getting a little distracted now. You couldn’t get enough of the contrast. Jungkook had no idea what chapstick was, and he was always trying to get to the point. You can tell Taehyung was just as timid as you were, hands moving from your waist down a little lower to test the waters. You invite him carefully, pushing back into his hands. Lust washes over your body, like you’ve been waiting for him to touch you for a while.

“Sorry,” he groaned, lips disconnecting yours in a way that made your second heartbeat go crazy. He hadn’t moved away from them, talking against them as he wet his own lips with his tongue. Something you had wanted to taste.

“Why are you sorry?” You question it, pulling away to look at him.

He shrugs, and you sense some guilt. “I don’t know... you guys just broke up and— God I just want you, Y/N. Physically and mentally I want to have you…” You knew you felt the same, watching his eyes closely.

“Then have me… screw Jungkook. He never deserved me like you do,” you hummed, pulling your lip into your teeth as you grab his hands and nudge him back into the table to where he rested on the edge of it. He grabs the back of your thighs to bring you in-between his huge legs, resting there for a while. You end up with a dumb little smile on your face, arms around his neck. Taehyung’s expression seems a little shy, but he’s finding himself moving forward to kiss you again.

It’s more fast paced than before, lips upturned into every movement as he deepened it. Your head titled back, letting it become more lazy and sloppy while he pushed his lips hard agains yours. He was holding everything back; this is something he had dreamt of for a while. A little teen fantasy of stealing you from Jungkook and treating you right.

Your hands moved towards his lower back, running up his shirt to feel his warm skin. His back immediately broke out into tiny goosebumps, but his tongue was moving into your mouth and who were you to object it. You take it in, exhilarated as he took control of the kiss.

Taehyung breathes. “Do you, uh-“

“Yeah,” you whine, feeling his hands getting a grip on your legs to pick you up. You continue kissing him while he brings you to what you assume is his bedroom, feeling the bed bounce as he settled you both down a little rough. You laugh softly, legs wrapping around his hips while you resumed kissing. The blonde above you had his hands moving under your shirt, and you were in no position to protest, top coming over your head and onto the floor.

You had no bra, so you were already exposed in front of him. The soft panting is filling up the room as he runs his hands up your stomach, the rough pads of his fingers making your skin ripple in goosebumps as well. You watch him as he just feels the smooth plane of your skin, no underlying intentions as he trails up your chest to cup the mounds of flesh. He lowers down, kissing the skin gently, and you head starts to spin.

I see in shades of grey, I’m going blind again, but when it comes to you my world is red.

You watch him take care of your skin, noticing how Jungkook never took his time like this. He always wanted to fuck, and rush, and get it over with. Taehyung wanted to preserve the time, take his time and make sure he savored every single moment. Something you had never experienced before.

“You’re so beautiful,” he mumbled into your skin, moving from your chest to your sternum. Your hands tangle in his hair, and you push the soft strands out of his face, watching him as he stares at you through long eyelashes. He was so ethereal, and he knew it too. You felt like you could finally relax.

All the doubts you’ve had about your previous relationship, washed free from your hands. You didn’t have to worry about him cheating on you, or not really loving you. You could tell that he wasn’t going anywhere, and that you could finally relax.

I see in shades of grey, I’m going blind again, but when it comes to you my world is red.

#bts #bts smut #kim taehyung #Kim Taehyung smut #taehyung smut #v smut #Kim Taehyung x reader #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #Min Yoongi #jung hoseok #park jimin #jeon Jungkook

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thedramaclubs · 3 years

Text

Zazz

Summery: shits going down after prom and if you’ve seen the musical/movie be prepared for a gay panic from Patton

Warning: does get a little heated with one of the ships, and of course homophobia in the beginning

Ships: Logicality, Prinxiety, demus/dukeceit

When singing

Janus-orange (tumblr doesn’t have yellow)

Patton-blue

Both- purple

A few days after prom and things are going crazy. On Monday after school the news went to James Madison high to interview the school and Mrs Greene about what happened. Mrs Greene was now being interviewed.

“I’ve been told to say something. The courts said that Patton would not be safe if we allows him to attend prom with the other students because the uncomfortable truth is there are some people in our community that are offended by his life choices. We thought this arrangement was the only course of action.”

Suddenly news reports ask so many questions

“Mrs Greene are you homophobic?” “Are you saying sexuality is a life choice?” Then she exclaimed “ This is uncomfortable for me! To be infront of a camera like this. To read horrible things about my town. And I am just a mother. I am not any kind of a spokes person and I love all the students at James Madison high as much as my own son.” She walks up to Logan who was watching his mom being interviewed. “We are in this situation because of a group of people, privilege people from New York!”

She sighed

“They are the villains. You should be writing about them not us.”

Back at Patton’s house he and Janus we’re watching the interview on his computer. Patton had been in his room for days hiding from it all. He wore his cat onesie that Logan got for him on their 1 year anniversary of being together. He wore it because he wanted to feel like Logan was giving him a hug and he wanted to feel like Logan was their with him.

“Ugh that women totally doesn’t make my skin crawl!”

“I can’t wrap my head around all this. This is a nightmare. I’ve never been so alone in my life.” Patton started to cry a little. Janus pulled him into a hug.

“Your not alone you have friends.”

“Yeah, well where are they?” At that moment, Remus, Thomas, Joan, and Roman came in.

“Hey, we brought Haagen dazs.”

“It’s fancy ice cream.” Thomas Said as he had the bag

“I know what Hagen dazs is hand it over.” Patton grabbed the bag out of Thomas’s hands and Remus sat on the bed next to Pat.

“Are you Okay?”

“I’m amazing, the whole world is talking, making it sound like I’m the one responsible for it but no one is talking the hate there’s just so much hate. There’s so much hate.........I’m gonna need more of this shit.” Patton got the ice cream open and started eating his cookies and cream. Remus then started talking.

“Listen I know you said you don’t want our help anymore but we can’t let them get away with this. That pta women who the hell does she think she is?! I want her to get run over by a bus!!!”

“She’s a monster that’s what!”

Remus inhaled to calm down “Joan what can we do?”

“I don’t know. She’s spun this whole thing herself to make her look like the victim she’s good if she didn’t shop at dress barn she could work in P.R.”

Roman was just standing in the corner but felt like he should say something and so he did.

“I know everybody’s angry but we have to face the facts. We made matters worse. So the best thing we can do is disinfect our things and go home.”

Everyone said at the same time “NO WE ARE NOT LEAVING!!”

“We are always not leaving!! Please I want to leave this horrible place”

“No we are staying here we gotta turn this thing around. We gotta take back the press!”

“But how darling?” Said Janus as he was still on the bed.

“Patton you gotta be the face of this story you gotta go on tv and show the real asshole is!”

“And that will give him a prom?”

“This isn’t about prom anymore. This is about right and wrong you know what you have to do this right.

“I don’t know what I know.” Patton continue eating the ice cream.

“We need a national audience....what about Jimmy Fallon?”

“I can’t just pop Jimmy Fallon out of my ass!!” Exclaimed Joan. “If we want an audience we gotta go big and to to go big we have to use that one call to Eddie Sharp!” Everyone was in agreement except for Roman “No I am not calling that basterd!!”

“Just ask for a favor!”

“If I ask him for something he will want something in return and what he will want is the hamptons house. He trying to get it for years. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DISNEY AND BROADWAY CRUISES I HAD TO PAY FOR THAT HOUSE!!!!! I would rather pluck my eyes out and put them in a vacuum and call that even!”

“If that will work just pluck your eyes out then!! *sigh* Joan just get the boy on tv. I don’t care if it’s a cut on family guy just do your magic.”

“Aye aye.” Joan left to try and get Patton on TV

“This is great.” Patton then decide to say something

“No not great. I’m sorry but their is no way I’m getting in front of a camera and telling my story. I cannot do that just no. Just accept it we lost deal with it.” Patton went to a corner and stood with his arms cross. Then Thomas came up with and idea.

“Ya know there might be a better way to rid of this community by extension of nation of this cancer of intolerance!” Everyone was dead silent

Eventually Remus asked “Why are you still here? I thought you had a tour?”

“Indianapolis was canceled and so was everywhere else. But I’m thinking feature forth and seek out the younger people and rap in a non musical sense. And soon understanding could lead to, dare I say it......love.” Thomas left and now there was Roman, Remus, Janus and Patton.

Patton turned around to see their faces and Remus broke the silence again “Listen kitty cat, I know this is hard but if you don’t do something, they will.”

At that moment Janus got an idea. “Don’t worry he’s got stage fright. I’ll talk to the kid.” Roman had already walked out leaving Remus and Janus outside the door.

“Are you sure about this Jannie?” Janus put his hand on Remus’s check and kissed him.

“Of course darling.” Said Janus very seductively. Remus couldn’t help himself he had been touch starved so and picked up Janus and pinned him against the wall.

“Damn why are you so hot?!” Remus passionately kiss the smaller man as Janus put his hands on Remus’s face pulling him in closer. Sadly, it came to an end because their was a another short man waiting for Remus.

“REMUS CMON!!” Remus put his husband down and gave him one last kiss “See you tonight Jan.” Remus left leaving him and Patton alone.

“You two really love each other huh?”

“Yeah I love him so much. He may be an idiot sometimes but, he’s my idiot.” Patton laughed a little then got back on track.

“Now before you lecture me or....kick me to death with those crazy Anatlope legs.....or whatever it is your gonna do, I know I should do something. I just can’t.” Janus walked back to the bed.

“Look kid, not everyone gets a chance to step out of the chorus. You gotta do this for all the those people who used to be gypsies.”

“I’m too scared.” He hid in the cat hoodie and Janus got an idea.

“Let me tell you a story. 1975 and the original company of “Chicago” was in previews. Suddenly the worst outbreak in history hit the cast and their down to the third cover for Roxie Heart and he’s scared just like you.” Patton took the hood off of his head to listen to the rest of the story.

“So, fosse was a real ball buster puttin him through a pain an he’s petrified. Even worse he’s performing the routine like a robot. So the boss pulls him aside and says “hey kid, snap out of it. You got the steps, you got the notes, but where’s the Zazz baby.”And although he had never heard that word before he knew exactly what it meant and he crushed that performance. The audience screaming bloody murdur.”

“And that boy was you?” Janus gave him a blank stare

“Yes it was me how fucking old fo you think I am!? It was 1975. But the point is every fosse boy knows that story. All about finding your inner strength.”

When a challenge lies ahead and you are filled with dread and worry

Give it some zazz

If your courage dissapers what’ll get you fears to scurry

Give it some zazz

Zazz is style plus confidence, it may seem corny or kitsch

But when scared or on the fence you’ll find that zazz will soon make fear become your bitch

And if folks say you can’t win what’ll will stop them in a hurry

Janus layed on the bed and kicked his leg up high that gave Patton a gay panic

Give it some zazz

There’s no contest for a boy who has some razzmatazz

So call their bluff

And strut your stuff

Like no chick in this hick town has

Instead of giving up

Give it some zazz

“I just don’t think I can do it. The thought of getting in front of all those people look at my hands their shaking”

“If your hands are shaking....”

Just turn’m into jazz hands

“Doesn’t that feel better?”

“No”

“Try this. Close your eyes.” Patton stood up and closed his eyes

“Zazz doesn’t just come out, it comes from within. Now think about Mrs Greene.” Patton put his hand across his face.

“Think about that fake prom!” He took his other hand and did jazz hands.

“Now think of finally doing something about it!” Patton started doing moves and it filled him and Janus with joy.

“Oh I’m seeing it! I’m seeing your Zazz! Now follow me!”

Do like the brave and bossy do

And if they tear you apart

Ask what would Bob Fosse do?

He’d make the people have a step ball change of heart

Ball change!!!

And if folks say you can’t win what’ll stop them in a hurry

Give it some zazz!!

There’s no contest for a boys who has some razzmatazz

So call their bluff BAM!

And strut my stuff BAM!

Like no chick in this hick town has

Instead of giving up

Give it some zazz

Now that you’ve found your zazz it’s time to show it to the world. You think you know how?

YEAH!!

People to tag @artissi-jam @patt-off @frogsandcookies @icantthinkofacreativeurl @actingonimpulse @purplestarrystars

I’m back!!!!

#sanders sides #livy writes #sanders sides the prom au #logicality #prinxiety #demus #dukeceit #patton sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #c!thomas #ts joan

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goldandbluesmiles · 4 years

Text

Nickname Game

Summary: Bruce wakes up with a drug in his system and shenanigans ensue.

Ao3

XXX

Jason was about to have lunch when his phone buzzed. He was going to ignore it until he saw who was calling him.

"Oracle," he said after picking up the phone, "Why're you ringing me during daylight?"

"Bruce has been kidnapped,"

A beat of silence.

"What?"

"Bruce-"

"Yeah. Yeah. I heard you," said Jason, "From where?"

"Lunch break," said Barbara, "Only a few witnesses and they've been kept quiet,"

"Okay," said Jason, already switching the call to Bluetooth and grabbing his keys, "What's the plan?"

"All the other Robins are out of town. You're with Cassandra on this one,"

"Okay," said Jason hopping on his cycle

"Jason?" said Barbara

"Yeah,"

"Good Luck," she said, "And be careful,"

xxx

There was no ransom demand. The kidnapping was done by a disgruntled former employee that Bruce and Tim had personally seen the termination of. Jason didn't need to know why it had happened. Neither Bruce or Tim was in the habit of firing people for no good reason. There had probably been something fishy going on.

He was more worried about how long it was taking them to find the man. Cassandra's taut muscles showed him she was worried too.

He's batman. He's fine.

It didn't help.

They did find him thirty-seven hours after the kidnapping. He was chained to the warehouse ground, covered in cuts and bruises. There were needle marks on him showing that something had been given to him.

He was unconscious, resembling a dead man more than an alive one.

It took all his will power and Cassandra's firm hand on his shoulder to keep from beating the perp to a pulp.

"Take him home," said Cassandra

Jason took a deep breath and steadied himself. She was right because of course, she was. The only bat with at least some common sense.

"Okay," said Jason, "Okay,"

xxx

The good thing about keeping the kidnapping out of the media was that they were able to bring Bruce home without raising too many questions. He was instantly taken to the med bay where Leslie did her tests as the various children of the manor slowly trickled in.

"He's stable," said Leslie, "From what I can tell he's on some cocktail of sedatives and pain mediation. I'm not sure what they were trying to do but it's nothing overly harmful. He'll probably just be a little loopy when he wakes up. If he's not up for another 48 hours, we should probably do some more tests,"

Jason can hear Tim and Alfred asking more questions but all he can do is stare at the nearly lifeless body was his da-former mentor.

"You did good," said Dick, gently squeezing his shoulder.

Jason tried to nod, tried to give any reaction. It didn't work.

He wondered how long it would take- how long it would take for this oily dark feeling in his stomach to go away this time around and if he would ever stop feeling it every time he saw the older man laid up in bed.

He wondered if he even wanted to stop feeling it.

xxx

When Bruce started to stir awake thirty-two hours after the rescue, Jason was the only one awake, the rest of the bats having dozed off at different spots around the cave.

"Hunghhhh," said Bruce as he stirred awake

"Hey," murmured Jason gently touching the man's shoulder, "You with us, B?"

Bruce blinked slowly, looking as if he was having a hard time focusing. Jason gave him a few minutes to adjust. Once he stopped blinking, he noticed that bruce was looking at him with an odd tilt to his head and a confused look in his eyes.

He frowned. Maybe the injections had some side effects.

"Hey Bruce," said Jason, "Do you know who I am?"

Bruce frowned in concentration and then a bid dopey smile spread across his face.

"Murder Baby," he said

Jason couldn't believe his ears, "What?"

"Murder Baby!" said Bruce, this time a little more enthusiastically

"What?" this time his question came out in a screech and prompted everyone in them cave to wake up. Dick fell off the chair, Timmy and Duke accidentally elbowed each other from where they were curled up together. Everyone also looked ready for a fight. Cass was the only one who looked even a little calm.

Bruce grinned and waved when he saw all fo them.

"What's wrong Little Wing?" asked Dick, "Everything okay with him?"

Jason didn't know how to answer.

"Uh, B tell me again who I am?"

Dick frowned but Bruce answered without missing a beat.

"Murder Baby!"

There were a few murmured 'what the hell's around the room?'

"Father what's wrong with you?" asked Damian, coming to stand beside Jason

Bruce grinned again and bopped Damian on the nose "Little Cutie!"

"Oh my God," said Dick gleefully, "It's the drugs,"

Bruce turned at the sound and smiled at Dick, "Birdie!"

"Well okay then," said Tim.

Bruce grinned and made grabby hands at Tim. Tim carefully came closer only for Bruce to bodily haul him up on the bed.

"Hi dad," said Tim, a happy grin on his face. Jason thought it looked good on him.

"Coffee boy," murmured Bruce, gently poking his cheek.

"Ain't that accurate," scoffed Stephanie

"Eggplant girl!"

"That's also accurate," said Tim, "Hey B who's that?"

Bruce followed Tim's finger to Cass and smiled, "Dancey girl,"

A few chuckles were heard around the room and a game was made of it.

Duke was dubbed 'little mister light'

Kate was 'Kit Kat', apparently a childhood nickname by Bruce

Barbara was 'Little Red', another childhood nickname

Selina was still called 'Cat'

Harper was 'blue brat'

Cullen was called 'Cute bug'

But the real kicker came when Alfred finally came downstairs.

"What ever is going on down here," he asked

A few voices went up to explain but it Bruce's words that cut through everything.

"Hi, Dad!"

Silence. You could have heard a ghost pin drop.

"Master Bruce?" asked Alfred

Bruce held out a hand and made an impatient motion, "Dad!"

Alfred quickly came to his side and squeezed his hand, making Bruce smile a big dopey smile all over again.

"What is happening here?" asked Alfred, sounding both bewildered and happy

"He's giving everyone nicknames," Jason told him, "We think it's the drugs. He keeps calling me Murder Baby,"

"And apparently you're dad," said Dick, a soft smile on his face, "Makes sense really,"

Alfred smiled, a little wetness in his eyes, "I see,"

"You should hear what he's calling the rest of us," said Stephanie, "Hey Bruce, who am I?"

And then the nickname game began all over again.

"I didn't think he would use the word murder in association with me so...affectionately," said Jason

"You guys have come a long way," said Dick

"He's high on drugs," said Jason, trying not to let hope swell in his chest, "Probably doesn't know what he's saying,"

"He called Alfred Dad, Jay,"

Jason didn't have anything to say to that.

The real shock came when Leslie came over to check up on Bruce.

"Mom!"

Leslie stopped in her tracks.

"What?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"It's the drugs. He's giving everyone nicknames," said Tim

"And I'm..."

"Mom!" Bruce finished for her

"Well, baby," said Leslie, voice suspiciously rough, "Let's get you checked out,"

Bruce complied with a grin and nod.

Half an hour later, Bruce had dozed off again while everybody settled down around him.

"You all should really head upstairs," said Leslie

Nobody moved

xxx

Bruce woke up again two hours later but this time everyone was alert. Kate, Selina and Leslie had left while Alfred had gone back upstairs but the kids had all stayed.

Jason was once again the first one to notice that he was waking up.

"Hey, B," he said, "You with us?"

"Hmm, Jay?" said Bruce, prompting everyone to surround him once again.

Jason smiled, "Yeah. Yeah. It's me. How're you feeling?"

"I'm okay," he said, carefully, "How long was I out?"

"The first time nearly two days after. You woke a couple of hours ago and then fell asleep again," said Dick

Bruce frowned, "Please tell me you all haven't been here the whole time,"

"Don't worry about that," said Tim, "Do you remember anything from when you first woke up,"

Bruce frowned, "No, Should I?"

Everyone in the room shot each other looks, trying to but not succeeding in hiding their grins.

Bruce gave a resigned sigh, "Just show me the video,"

Four different phones were extended towards him. Bruce took Stephanie's and played the video displayed. They all watched him carefully as he cycled through very different emotions. Surprise, amusement, happiness and then utter bewilderment.

"I called Leslie, mom?" he asked, looking up at them

"Yeah," said Dick, "We were a little surprised,"

"I'm gonna have to talk to her aren't I?" he asked

"That's probably a good idea," said Duke

"Have you ever called her that before?" asked Tim

"Once," said Bruce, "I was around ten. I ran away and hid in my room for a full two days,"

"Wow,"

"Yup,"

There was a beat of silence and then Damian spoke up.

"Father, now that all this sentimental commiserating is over, I would like to bring up a complaint about the nickname you gave me,"

"Really brat?" said Tim, "Bruce was drugged for god's sake,"

"Quiet Drake," said Damian, "As I was saying, my nickname should not involve the work cute. I will allow little as I am the smallest right now but not cute,"

"But Dami," cried Dick, "You are cute,"

"I am not-Grayson! Get off of me- Father! Help!"

Bruce just shook his head and smiled.

Eventually, everybody wandered away from the cave, leaving only Bruce and Jason behind.

"So," started Bruce, conversationally, "What about this is bothering you? The murder part or the baby part?"

Jason stared at him, "I have no idea what you're talking about,"

Bruce raised his eyebrows and yeah, that was about eight on the Did you forget I'm Batman scale.

Jason sighed, "I don't know,"

"Is it a bad thing?"

Jason thought about it and landed on 'no'. Hearing it threw his for a bit of an emotional loop but it wasn't something that needed talking about. He would probably forget about it the minute he started eating Alfred's cookies.

"Nah. I'm good,"

"Okay," said Bruce, "Jay?"

"Yeah,"

"I love you,"

"Love you too, Old man,"

Yeah. It was good.

xxx

A few days after the incident, the family were all gathered in the den, having a rare night of pizza and movies. Well, the pizza was the rare part, not the movies.

Damian was grouchy about something like usual and talking-well complaining-Bruce's ear off.

Bruce was looking at his phone though and at one point pulled Damian close while shushing him absentmindedly.

"Hush, Little Cutie,"

There was a moment of silence and then the room exploded with Damian's screeching and everyone else's amusement.

Poor Bruce just looked bewildered.

"I-I didn't mean to say that," he muttered

It made Jason roar and double over.

"Your face!" he said between gasps

Bruce glared.

"Shut up, Murder Baby,"

It only made Jason laugh harder.

#bruce wayne #Jason Todd #batfamily #batdad #fluff #humor

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hatsukeii · 4 years

Text

Okay so regarding the thing I reblogged from @saturnmoon last Sunday >:)))))

I thought it’d fit better as a scenario instead of hcs, so apologies if this isn’t what you wanted exactly-

Thank you, daddy// Tsukishima x reader

Word count: 1700+

Warnings: None, tiny bit suggestive at the end, but I’m gonna let your imagination do the job.

Summary: Questionable names should stay in the bedroom.

Your face burns scarlet as you walk through the empty streets, white box in hand and a very, very flustered Tsukishima next to you.

“I’m sorry, okay? I was joking!”

No reply. All you get is a side glance behind his steel black glasses.

How did you get into this situation, you may ask?

Well.

It all started when Tsukishima decided to get the two of you matching headphones.

You see, Tsukishima’s pretty subtle when it comes to affection. He doesn’t want people viewing him as soft, or as Nishinoya says, a simp. He shows the absolute bare minimum amount of affection, pda never happens, and he doesn’t like to talk about his private life with classmates. Some may argue that he dates you out of boredom or pity, and doesn’t give a flying shit about how you feel about him. Others might not even know of your relationship. However, regardless of what everyone else says, the two of you care for each other deeply. You were like a bunch of helium balloons in his hand, flying as high as you can, seeking out opportunities, dreaming of possibilities, bringing up his spirits whenever he was down. In return, Tsukishima was the one holding you down, bringing you back to Earth whenever you were too carried away. Contrasting personalities mixed to form an amazing relationship. It was quite literally the definition of opposites attract.

However, the two fo you are very different when it comes to your views on normal things couples do. You don’t like being cheesy. At all. Just the thought of someone making a grand confession, or asking you out in an extravagant and crazy way in front of people was enough to make you want to shove a finger down your throat and retch. On the other hand, although Tsukshima doesn’t show much affection towards you around his friends, he’s secretly a big fat romantic dork. The only reason why he didn’t confess to you in front of the entire school was probably because he wasn’t about to sacrifice his dignity and ruin his image. He’d always see couples in the hallways sporting matching accessories. Whether it be promise rings, or keychains, or even glasses, and secretly think it’s adorable. Knowing how you dislike cheesy and cliche moves however, he holds back and keeps those thoughts in his deepest fantasies, never to be seen by anyone else but himself.

Anyways, back to your tricky situation. When I said he shows the absolute bare minimum amount of affection, that means that he only rarely holds your hand in places with people that know the two of you, almost never kisses you in public, and at last, but not least, rarely gives you gifts. He always thought his affection for you was enough, and it wasn’t like you’ve ever gotten him any presents either. He simply didn’t care about materialistic gifts. You don’t really mind that he doesn’t get you gifts either. As long as he treats you for food, you’re all good. Once in a while, you’d try to treat Tsukishima, but he would never let you pay for him. He would always reach the cashier first and pay for whatever he was getting. He didn’t want you to pay for his stuff, not when you didn’t want him to pay for yours either. That would be unfair. It was a weird relationship, to be frank. Not having mementos of your partner wasn’t a usual thing.

It wasn’t until his headphones broke, did he finally succumb to the idea of matching with you. He’s been using his headphones for years without any problems. He wore them to school every day, used them while doing homework, and has slept with them on at some point. It was no surprise the speakers would eventually give out. When they broke, Tsukishima was beyond miserable. These were his headphones. His most prized possession. He treasured them so much, it was almost heartbreaking to have to replace them. Not even you understood how much they meant to him. You were beyond confused when he called you at night, crying. You thought he got hurt or something, when in reality, it was just his headphones breaking. If someone asked, you could still repeat the entire phone conversation word for word. You thought it was both hilarious and a bit heart wrenching, to say the least. You promised to bring him headphone shopping today, even insisting on paying for them, which he immediately refused to let you. Instead, once he got to the store, he basically zoomed to the headphone section, looking through it excitedly. When his eyes landed on a pair of black and white headphones, he swiftly grabbed two of them, shoving one of them into your hands.

What?

“Hm? You’re getting two? That’s really expensive, plus a pair will suffice for like another five years!”

“No, dumbass, this is for you, I’m just making you hold onto it while I grab my wallet.

You looked down at the box in your hands, then back up at your boyfriend, eyes wide in disbelief. He was getting you a gift? For the first time in the few months you’ve been dating for? And you haven’t given him anything at all? Ever? There was no way. You knew your boyfriend like the palm of your hand. He would never just buy you a gift, let alone such an expensive one. To say you were shocked would be an extreme understatement. His face was dusted a light shade of pink that was almost unnoticeable in the dark store, where the only light sources were the LED lights that were set to white.

“Kei, you’re for real right now? I don’t want you to waste your money for me-”

“I want to match with you. I love you and I don’t like that it seems like I don’t put in effort at all.”

Tsukishima was now a blushing, flustered mess. He wasn’t even able to look you in the eyes. His heart was racing, anticipating your reaction. Did you hate the idea? Were you freaked out? Grossed out, even? What if you hated the thought and decided to break it off with him? What if he just screwed up big time and embarrassed himself? What if-

“OH MY GOD! KEI SWEETIE THAT’S SO CUTE! THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE ACTUALLY INTO MATCHING!”

You went silent for a moment, before continuing.

“But... I feel bad. I’ve never gotten you anything, and here you are, gifting me a pair of expensive ass headphones.”

Tsukishima’s blush faded, a tiny smile gracing his face.

“The only thing you have to do is wear them with me. Promise me that.”

Sending him a cheeky smile, you linked your pinkie with his playfully.

“Promise.”

Pinkies still linked, the two of you headed towards the cashier, where a line of people were waiting to check out. You continued to show your gratitude towards your boyfriend, hugging his arm and cuddling it like a teddy bear. His heart melted at the sight of you being an absolute cutie. This is the most pda he’s received in public. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he thought it was. He could try it out sometime. Poking your nose jokingly, he smiled, mocking you playfully.

“I’m getting you a pair of headphones shorty, can I get another thank you? It was cute when you said it just now.”

Smirking at his subtle joke regarding your height, you retorted, puckering up your lips.

“Thank you dadddddyy~”

The store went silent.

Tsukishima’s mouth hung wide open, his eyes frantically looking around as his face went bright red. Customers stopped what they were doing, some of them in the middle of paying for their products. From the corner of your eyes, you could see a child’s ears and eyes being covered by his mom, who was glaring daggers towards the two of you. A couple of old men sent judgemental looks your way, silently discussing how teenagers this day are corrupted and unreliable. The cashiers were clearly shocked, staring at the two of you, brows either furrowed, or raised. The store was so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop. You let go of Tsukishima’s arm instantly, letting your arms fall, the headphones still in hand. Recovering from the incident, customers continued to chatter amongst themselves, cashiers continued to check items out, however you and Tsukishima stayed dead silent. The tension in the store could have been cut with a knife. Customers were avoiding your gazes, shuffling along towards the exit as soon as their products were in the bag.

“I definitely said that too loudly didn’t I.”

Tsukishima didn’t say a word, his face still crimson as he tightly shut his mouth, pursing his lips.

Approaching the cashier, he grabbed both boxes, not saying a word as he handed them to the cashier along with the money. Once that was done, he shoved one of the boxes into your arms, grabbing your vacant hand and dragging you out of the store, legs moving as quick as they could.

So now, you’re stuck in an awkward ass situation, with a flustered, silent Tsukishima. He hasn’t said a word since the two of you left the store, and that’s making you feel all sorts of ways.

His house is mere miles away. You can see the lights in the living room illuminating the area around it. Speeding up, you struggle to catch up with him, your shorter legs starting to sprint desperately.

Pulling you into the house, he slams the door behind him, locking it.

You don’t even have the chance to catch your breath, when a hand tickles your neck, before gripping on it tightly and pushing you harshly, your back forcefully hitting the wall behind you as the impact makes you hiss in pain. The headphones in your hand drop to the ground, toppling over. You open your eyes, only to be met with Tsukishima’s shit eating smirk.

“K-Kei?”

Forcing you into a harsh kiss, he assaults your lips, biting and sucking occasionally. You grasp at his hand, panting and gasping for air, but gave up as you came to the realisation that you enjoyed this. You enjoyed being choked by him.

The blond chuckled at your struggling figure, eyes going dark.

“If you really wanted to call me daddy, you could’ve told me long ago sweetheart.”

You were in for a long, long night, and honestly? You weren’t complaining.

Tags:

@izzyphantomgamer @sunshines-and-tatertots @just-another-bored-writer @burnt-tomato @tiger1719 @macaronnv @random-fandomlover @poppirocks @kaylacinderella @for-ests @bokutokoutarou @ewfilthymundane @inlwlevi @thirstyvolleyballhoe @sakusasgarbage @agentvicinity @animebsposts @emsvegetables @talks-a-lot-of-stuff @tiredgr3mlin @itmekisuu @trashcanweeb @mariechan123 @justachillgirl

I hate myself lmao this is TERRIBLE HELP-

Okay imma sleep now gn kiddos

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superfandomdqueensnook · 4 years

Text

Checking In On You

For @jatp-week. Day three: favorite ship. I couldn’t choose and I accidentally thought of these two, and now these two might just be my faves. If anyone is interested in a continuation, please let me know.

Read on AO3

~~~

“I hope Nick is alright,” Julie confessed as they sat in the studio, her head resting in Luke’s lap. Luke was trailing his fingers through her hair. Not even an hour before she had separated Caleb from Nick.

Even Reggie could see how much that took out of her. Magic was still something she was working on getting under control. It came as a surprise to all of them, though Reggie had called it, that Julie was part-witch. It had come from her mom.

Reggie sat up, watching Luke and Julie being cute was more difficult that he would’ve thought. He didn’t have claim on Luke, no matter what his feelings were Luke liked Julie and that was that. “I’ll go check on Nick.”

“Really?” Julie asked tilting her head back to look at Reggie.

Reggie nodded. “I’m sure.”

“Okay.” Julie’s eyes slipped closed as she tilted her head forward. Reggie stood up, giving a slight wave to the others and popped out.

A few weeks ago, he would’ve stumbled upon landing but not anymore. Pushing away the hurt feeling of seeing the person he liked with someone else, Reggie invited himself into a small one story house. Roughly the same size as his old house.

As he entered, looking around the differences were obvious. The interior was warm and lived in, rather than the cold feeling his house had. Walking through the living room, right past the kitchen where five people were eating.

“Isn’t Nicky coming to eat?” a little blonde boy asked, looking around. He looked maybe a year or two younger than Julie’s brother Carlos. Reggie figured that was probably Nick’s younger brother.

“No, Jimmy, Nick isn’t feeling well,” a man answered, he had the same blonde hair. Right next to him was a dark, curly haired man with brown skin. Reggie could see their hands were linked. How there was a squeeze from the dark haired man as the blonde spoke.

Stopping, Reggie watched the five interact for a few minutes. Besides the parents and little boy there were two girls. One girl had brown skin and short curly black hair, she was sitting next to a dark blonde haired girl. Reggie wasn’t sure on ages but he was pretty sure the dark haired girl was older then the blonde.

They were bumping and nudging each other, laughter floating all around the table. Reggie wished he had siblings like this. That he had siblings period. Maybe then his house wouldn’t feel so lonely.

Shaking his head, Reggie focused on his mission again. He followed the hallway down to the end, popping his head through each door on the way until he was in front of the last one. As he stepped through it and looked around.

The bedroom was covered with ribbons and posters, even a shelf full of trophies. More books then he had expected. Then his eyes landed on Nick. Who was scrambling back with wide eyes.

“Who -- who are you?” Nick asked, his face was pale. “How did you get in here?”

Reggie looked around for who Nick was talking about. There was no one around him, alive or dead. “Who is he talking to?”

There was just him.

Reggie’s head snapped back around, his eyes bugging out. “You can see me?!”

“Y-yeah,” Nick stuttered, he was now not moving. Reggie couldn’t help but to stare. He had never really taken the time to look at Nick, beyond teasing Luke about his competition for Julie. He had sky blue eyes and fluffy blonde hair. Reggie wasn’t sure if he was just seeing things or if there were actual freckles. “You’re… you’re part of Julie’s band.”

He’s cute , Reggie thought as he looked back at his freaked look. “Uh, so I’m Reggie! I’m part of Julie’s band.” Sitting on the end of Nick’s bed, Reggie kept talking, “Julie was worried about you after all what happened with Caleb, so I came to check on you. And man, I know hard Caleb can be to deal with--”

“You do?” Nick asked, he appeared to be less freaked and more tired. “All he wanted was to get back at you and Julie.”

“Yeah,” Reggie said, nodding. “He cursed us so we would join his little club. But it didn’t work.”

“He cursed you?” Something in Nick’s expression made Reggie want to hug him so badly , but he had only been able touch Julie.

“Long before you got possessed by him, he didn’t use you to do that,” Reggie tried to reassure. Yet there was still more hurting in his eyes. Reggie felt like it was when he had died, that first hour. “What did he do when he was possessing you?”

“I don’t even know. I was only present for some of it,” Nick said, his shoulders hunched. “But I’ll be amazed if Carrie will ever talk to me.”

“Why do you say that?” Reggie turned to him.

“What Caleb said to her, things that she trusted me with.” Nick swallowed, his eyes on his bed cover.

Reggie reached over to touch Nick’s wrist without thinking, not noticing what his hand was doing. “I’m sure she’ll still talk to you!”

“Really?” Nick asked. “This is probably odd for me to talk to you about this so openly, but you’re a ghost and… probably one fo the few who actually know about what actually happened.”

“Really! She came to Julie and Flynn looking for help to figure what was going on with you! I’m pretty sure that she thinks of you as like her best friend!”

Nick’s jerked up. “She really thinks that of me?”

“Is there literally anyone else she would go to Julie and Flynn for help to help?” Reggie inquired.

“I can hardly believe she did that for me,” Nick admitted. “I didn’t think she cared so much about me.”

“Dude! She was there! The only she wasn’t actively talking to you was because she was loopy after the drain on her energy from the magic it took to kick Caleb out!” Nick didn’t seem to know how to take the information. “Just talk to her when you have the chance!”

Nick nodded slowly, digesting the information.

#jatp week #nick/reggie #julie and the phantoms #angst #fluff #end of s2 feel #day 3 #day three

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vagrantblvrd · 4 years

Text

Watching the Rimmy Tim GTA Garage Tour video and omg.

Spoilers under the cut because reasons, but talk of AUs and ridiculousness also because reasons.

(In hindsight, the spoilers are like. A smidgen of this post/AU, but yes.)

I’m just.

That One AU with Jeremy who comes from a wealthy family but there’s, idk, Issues or some such associated with it that has him join the military as soon as he can?

His mom passed away when he was a kid - barely remembers her, really - and his dad threw himself into his work and Jeremy’s childhood wasn’t the greatest, you know?

Decides to go by his mother’s maiden name or something because his father’s name is so well known and he’s trying to get by on his own merits and such?

(Prove to himself he can after the last Big Argument with his dad over taking over the family business and having all his doubts and insecurities thrown into his face because born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he’s always wanted to be “norrmal” whatever that is, so. Yeah.)

Goes into the military and takes to it like nothing else. Gets thrown into a special forces group where he meets Ryan and the whole Battle Buddies thing happens, right?

Couple of idiots who don’t get along at first because Ryan’s been in spec ops for a while and he’s maybe a little jaded about rookies like Jeremy (even though Jeremy’s not shiny new at the time, but yeah).

Some rough spots until there’s a mission or something happening on their downtime/at HQ wherein they learn to look at one another in a different light?

Ryan thinking Jeremy’s a by the book kind of guy because hey, pretty new to things and he’s great at the “Yes, sir,” and “No, sir” and “Understood, sir,” shit and doesn’t yet realize what a little bastard he can be?

But yeah.

That mission where things go to shit really early on and Jeremy gets tired of playing the good little soldier - their usual handler replaced for the mission by some asshole from an letter agency who clearly doesn’t give a fuck about them, and just.

“Oh, shit,” Jeremy says, plucking his earpiece out and dropping it in the mud. “Fuck.”

Ryan watches as Jeremy brings his foot down on the earpiece, grinds it into the mud where he won’t have to listen to the weasel’s voice anymore and maybe get some shit done with minimal casualties.

Jeremy slides a look at Ryan who’s got his own earpiece in hand about to toss it into the jungle somewhere. (Always a jungle setting because anywhere ese is just not Cool Enough I guess?)

Ryan shrugs, feels his mouth twitch into a smirk because hey, maybe this Dooley asshole isn’t all bad after all?

And then the two of them go on to wreak havoc like whoah and fuck up the baddies to rescue the innocent civilians or whatever that got caught up in all this. (Ones the letter agency asshole told them were acceptable losses and to set the charges that would bring the building they’re being held in down and just. Yeah.)

Everything after that is just overall terrible for Jeremy and Ryan’s regular handler and superiors as they get along like a house on fire and things explode everywhere all the time.

After a while Jeremy feels guilty about not telling Ryan who he really is although he’s 99.9% sure Ryan’s figured it out by then? (Ryan’s kind of an idiot, but he’s not dumb, so.)

Talks himself up into Confessing to Ryan (the fact he’s in love with the asshole is a major motivation for it) but then they get that shitty mission that leaves Jeremy thinking Ryan’s dead.

Wakes up in a little clinic in a little country somewhere. No ID because the kind of mission the government would have to disavow and all that and anyway, anyway, better this way?

Problem is, okay, problem is the government thinks he’s dead too?

Helpful as he unravels the conspiracy that nearly got him killed and sure as fuck killed Ryan and also, okay, because I’m terrible like that, has Jeremy drawing on all the contacts and resources he’s made over the years in spec ops.

More than a few are ones he met through Ryan, and all of them are super fucking delighted to lend a hand when Jeremy tells them what he’s doing, you know?

Getting revenge on the assholes who killed Ryan and tried to kill Jeremy and anyway, okay. They’ve got a lot of friends out there.

Once Jeremy uncovers the conspiracy/baddies he has the choice of going back into hiding or taking his life back?

And at first he thinks it won’t be that hard of a decision because his old life was never something he wanted?

But his supposed death changed his father or made him realize how he’d been pushing Jeremy away and there’s this.

Jeremy’s old superiors give him this phone while giving him time to make his decision. (Figure he’s earned it, and they’ll make sure whatever he chooses he won’t get trouble from them and all that?)

And there’s voicemail messages he doesn’t intend to listen to, doesn’t want to know what they are because he’s definitely made up his mind about going into hiding/creating a new identity for himself?

But there’s a night in his motel room, shitty little thing close to a highway and the kind fo place he’s been staying in for the last however long it took him to get the assholes behind the conspiracy that fucked his life up beyond repair?

This night where everything that happened, everything he lost, hits him hard and he’s sitting on the edge of the bed with this stupid phone in his hand, you know?

Unremarkable flipphone deal, burner phone written all over it and it shouldn’t even be a problem to toss it in the trash and disappear, start a new life, but.

Jeremy listens to the messages on it.

A few from former friends and coworkers wishing him well and the like? But also a few from his dad.

He almost, almost deletes those messages right off the bat, but something makes him sit through them and he’s glad he did, you know, because, okay, because.

It’s clear some of the messages were left before The Mission, his dad all stiff and awkward checking in on his son? Doesn’t get why Jeremy left to join the military and there’s disapproval and condescencion galore in them, but after the first few messages the tone changes significantly.

Start just after The Mission, his dad angry at first like he thinks Jeremy’s put his superiors up to pranking him with a dead son (Jesus fuck) and the other stages of grief?

A few where he’s obviously accepted Jeremy’s death and is telling him the things he wished he had the chance to before he died. Has a whole change of heart and apologizes - he was tough on Jeremy because he wanted to prepare him for th world and all that bullshit? Did everything he did out of misguided love and apologizes and Jeremy, okay.

Never got to know his mom, but he’s got this chance to get to know his dad so he decides to reclaim his old life.

No interest in staying in the military after everything that happened, and they’re grateful enough for all he did he gets a dishonorable discharge and all that.

Goes back home and gets to know his dad, thinks about taking over the family business even though he’s not 100% sold on the idea just yet.

Which is good, because his dad isn’t pushing him to do it even if he wants Jeremy to?

Is trying real hard to let Jeremy make his own decisions and suchlike. (Has someone in line to take over some day, bright kid from the midwest and a degree in aerospace engineering. Which. Kind of not the right degree for this, but his dad doesn’t seem overly bothered and anyway, anyway, Jeremy likes Trevor pretty much from the start, so it’s all good.)

ANYWAY.

Jeremy doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life at the moment, pretty much content to let it come to him in time.

He’s got his own money - trust funds and/or the whatnot his mom set up and investments here and there, not to mention his time in the militray - so he’s covered on the financial front.

Gets a decent place of his own and starts working on figuring out who he is outside of the military and all that? (Tries not to think about shit like that he talked to Ryan about for hours, the things Ryan promised to show him/introduce him to One Day not knowing it would never come and all that, because Delicious Angst.)

Is finally starting to make good headway on figuring his shit out when his dad - who, by the way, Jeremy’s building a good relationship with - gets into trouble.

Finds out one of his trusted people in the company’s been making shady deals and the whatnot on the side for a while now. Profiting off other people’s suffering and keeping it secret until there’s a lip up. Discrephancy or soemthing Jeremy’s dad notices, looks into.

And then things go to hell again, because it gets Jeremy’s dad killed, you know?

Supposed accident - plane crash or something while he’s touring a facility and the press talking about it for weeks/months/however long, because.

Jeremy’s dad and the multi-billion dollar company their fmaily built up from nothing over several generations and just.

Yeah.

At first even Jeremy thinks it was an accident, but then he gets these phone calls and messages and realizes it totally wasn’t.

That someone killed him because he knew to too much and he’s like, fucking Christ, not this again?

But yeah, this again.

Can’t quite disappear to investigate on his own with how high-profile everything is and all that?

SO.

(This is where things take a turn for the are you fucking kidding me??? with my Plot Reasons, so bear with me???)

Jeremy goes vigilante.

Totally Batmans the shit out of things.

Digs into the money he had under his previous fake identity that he never told anyone about because who knew if he’d need it again, you know? (Don’t bother asking where he got that money because you don’t want to know? Also. A fair amount of his contacts/resources have warrants out for their arrest, so yes.)

Uses it to fund everything, and maybe puts some of his real identity money into things when his fake identity money isn’t enough, which.

Good idea?

But has the unintended result of drawing the attention of Trevor, who’s got his hands full handling the business side of things since Jeremy’s father died.

Has feelers everywhere (and a very, very good hacker in an old buddy of his) and confronts Jeremy about it.

Not sure what’s going on - thinks maybe Jeremy had something to do with his father’s death because rocky relationship ~conveniently mended not too long before his father’s death?

So, yeah.

Thinks Jeremy’s a murdered or at least capable of arranging a murder, and Jeremy’s like !!! and ??? and “What the actual fuck are you talking about, Trevor?”

And that’s how Trevor basically becomes Jeremy’s Lucius Fox???

The two of them working together to figure out what the everloving fuck happened.

Realize it’s something big, fucking huge. (Possibly connected to The Mission and the baddies responsible for it, although they’re not sure how at the moment.)

Trevor taking a specific interest in the R&D department to create gadgets/vehicles for Jeremy’s use in this private little war of his.

Matt taking on the side-gig of being Jeremy’s Oracle-ish person.

And Jeremy taking up the job his father wanted him to because it makes him a nice, shiny target, doesn’t it?

Feigns stupidity because actually great tactic? And also allows the conpirators to underestimate him to the point they expose themselves and just.

Yes.

ANYWAY.

In all this - Jeremy Bruce Wayne-ing/Batman-ing his way through things he meets this reporter type.

British bastard who’s recently moved to the states and not at all intimidated by the Dooley name and just.

All these dinner parties and Events, comments and the like over a flute of champagne on a balcony while the elites mingle inside and all that?

Feeling one another out because Gavin is totally looking into the same conspiracy that got Jeremy’s father killed (and possibly Ryan?) for his own reasons and just.

You know the careful back and forth that goes along with all that, right? The sly looks and double-speak and Intrigue that slowly gives way to mutual respect and even this friendly verbal sparring.

And then, okay, and then.

Gavin’s asked to do a piece on Jeremy for the paper/whatver news outlet he works for. More of a puff piece than anything - his last article whatever got him in big trouble because it was too critical of powerful figures in the city. (The piece on Jeremy is either a bid to keep Gavin out of trouble until things calm down or punisment, but yes.)

Jeremy’s gotten a reputation for having A Thing for fast cars (and bikes and planes and so on) and he takes Gavin on a tour of some of them.

The one thing Jeremy really spent his money on before things went to hell and his father died, and since he’s Bruce Wayne-ing the fuck out of thing he’s gone a little overboard.

Has this entire fleet of vehicles he’s given ridiculous names to - and okay. Most of them didn’t have names until he and Gavin were walking through the garage and Jeremy was capitvated by Gavin’s laugh and honest joy at the ridculous names he had given some of them that he just made the rest up on the fly.

At which point Jeremy realizes he’s kind fo fucked because oh shit, he’s got FEELINGS for Gavin???

Has a little freakout over that because the whole Ryan thing and when did he stop thinking about him? (Guilt like whoah and thinking he’s betraying his memory even though rationally he knows Ryan would want him to move on, and anyway, anyway, Ryan never liked him liked him, so. Yes.)

Still.

He keeps freaking out until Trevor and Matt notice and have A Talk with Jeremy, get him to get his head out of his ass and realize that while his life is a shitshow - honestly, only so much Tragic Backstory one guy can have, you know? - he still deserves to be happy.

And then, okay.

Just as Jeremy realizes they have a point and he’s going to Do Something about his FEELINGS he runs into this little shit while out Batman-ing.

Thief, because of course, and breaking into the Dooley business tower for Secrets and there’s.

Fighting with the acrobatics and flexibility and Major Flirting. Rooftop chases and all that with Jeremy being like (oh no, he’s hot) because reasons, okay?

And then!

Just as he’s about to catch the thief the bastard hits him with a superhero/supervillain tazer-ish gadget. Enough to knock the wind out of him, have him drop like a ragdoll while the thief crouches beside him, something like concern (oddly familiar?) on the bit of their face he can see as they make sure he’s okay.

Little smirk when he catches Jeremy’s scowl aimed at them and a, “Next time, hmm?” before they make their getaway while Jeremy watches helplessly.

And, okay.

I think we all know Gavin’s the thief, right?

Only not so much thieving at the moment as he’s been hired by another party to do some digging into the Dooley business files because Plot Reasons.

Something Jeremy, Trevor, and Matt figure out after several weeks/months/however long of running into the bastard (Jeremy not realizing it’s Gavin all that time because of course) and such.

Jeremy fail!flirting with reporter!Gavin and the two of them kind of sort of dating? (Certainly end up in the tabloids with all this speculation surrounding them and such.)

And then, okay, and then.

Some situation where Jeremy catches Gavin in the act of Thieving at a Dooley business (it really needs a name, huh?) and thinking he’s finally caught the little bastard?

But then the real baddies, or rather some goons hired by the real baddies show up and the two of them reluctantly teaming up, because of course.

(All this time the two of them have been butting heads they’ve formed mutual respect for one another and such. Know they’re not the actual baddies of this plotline but can’t fucking get their shit together to team up on exposing the main conspiracy together because Plot Reasons???)

Anyway.

They team up and manage to beat the baddies, but Jeremy’s got a bullet in him and the cops are coming and they think Jeremy’s just as bad as the acutal baddies and it’s a mess, okay? Huge fucking mess.

Gavin dithers for a bit before he decides the hell with it and drags a Jeremy to his base of operations or whatever. Jeremy tries to protest because hey, what if this is a ploy to unmask him/kill him and Gavin ignoring him because good God, idiot, no.

They end up in a pretty involved lair - totally a lair - that’s clearly been in operation for a while now. (Years, maybe.)

Gavin sitting Jeremy down and telling him to stay put for God’s sake as he bustles off to get a medical kit to patch Jeremy up.

Fusses over him, Jeremy watching quietly because look, okay, look.

He’s known for a while who this thief must be, but he’s just.

Jeremy’s a fucking spectacular liar, you know. Best there ever was, and he’s gotten fucking great at lying to himself over the years.

So yeah.

He’s known Gavin’s the thief for a while now, just didn’t think about it. (Because then he’d have to face the truth and his life has been enough of a fucking roller-coaster without that revelation.)

And Gavin, alright.

Knows just as well the idiot he’s patching up is the same damn bastard he’s maybe a little in love with. idiot with his name on the side of a building and target painted on his chest and just.

They know.

But!

Before either of them can admit any of that, the asshole who hired Gavin to do the Thieving for him shows up.

Fucker Jeremy’s had the misfortune of running into a few times over the last however long he started Batman-ing around.

Stupid skull mask and all those goddamned knives and of course, of fucking course Gavin would not only be the thief he’s been trying to catch for forever, he’s also working for the goddamned Vagabond.

And, like.

Ryan (totally not dead, but don’t tell Jeremy that just yet) also ended up in a little clinic after The Mission.

Thought Jeremy was dead and decided to get revenge for him (them), but while Jeremy did the whole vigilante/Batman deal? Ryan went a little darker, got his hands dirtier.

Ended up picking up a mask and reputation the likes of which has hardened criminals looking over their shoulders.

Took an unplanned detour or two looking for the truth behind everything, and just as he thought he had everything figured out Jeremy resurfaced and brought it all tumbling down.

And then like.

Disbelief and anger and all that at finding out Jeremy was alive? (And guilt, for not looking for him hard enough, thinking he’d die that easily, who knows.)

Wanders about aimlessly after that for a while as Jeremy’s putting his life back together. Ryan did some shit he doesn’t think even Jeremy would forgive him for, and anyway, anyway, it’s better like this, you know? Not like Jeremy ever like-liked him, and other bullshit reasons.

Just when he’s about to set himself up for a life as a miserable bastard he runs into this little thief.

Has zero (0) plans to get to know the little bastard, but Gavin’s curious and persistent and before Ryan knows it Gavin’s carved a spot for himself in Ryan’s life.

Also, to his horror, Ryan’s gone and got FEELINGS for the idiot.

Mutual Pining, because of course?

idiots being idiots, and Gavin dragging Ryan out of that pit he’s tossed himself into bit by bit. And just when it seems like maybe Ryan can find some peace of mind?

The whole Thing of Jeremy’s father’s death and Ryan still having FEELINGS for Jeremy that make him want to find out what the fuck’s going on with that. (Because FEELINGS, but also they get wind of some terrible rumors surrounding the whole business, and also people wanting Jeremy out of the way, and just. Yeah.)

Still.

Ryan’s too dumb to know Gavin would help him out in a hearbeat if he asked like a normal human being because friends? So he goes and fucking hires Gavin, and then the thing with Jeremy’s Batman-ing and various things that end with the whole Jeremy being shot and Dramatic Reveal and yes.

Suspicion and paranoia (~broken trust that’s just them being dumb, but with good reason) and Delicious Angst and Drama as the three of them try to work together to find out what the fuck is going on.

Also?

Mutual pining like whoah because of course Jeremy and Ryan are still in love with one another after all this time? But now they’re also in love with Gavin and Gavin’s in love with them and they’re all super fucking dumb about it.

Trevor and Matt figure out the whole complicated ~love triangle (it really isn’t that, though, like wow, no) almost immediately and are just like jfc, why all the time the three of them are painfully oblivious about things?

Lots of fights with the baddies and minor injuries that allow Jeremy, Ryan, and Gavin to fuss over one another and have quite confession times about shit.

(Jeremy telling Ryan he wanted to tell him who he was before The Mission. Ryan wanting to ~reveal he was still alive to Jeremy but being afraid what might happen if he did because emotional constipation? Jeremy and Gavin and the whole situation they’ve been dealing with since they met, because omg, idiots. And then, like. Ryan and Gavin and this whole Thing neither of them have face up to between them that’s been brewing for forever. AND. The three of them being really fucking stupid about things.)

And then!

Final Confrontation in which they finally uproot the conspiracy/baddies responsible for The Mission and Jeremy’s father’s dead and this ??? moment where they’re not sure what’s going to happen now that everything’s dealt with?

Like.

Gavin’s still a thief and Ryan’s done some things (he thinks) Jeremy would never forgive him for and fuck knows what’s going on with Jeremy and his Batman-ing now.

Ryan and Gavin are about to take off - better that away and obviously Jeremy doesn’t have FEELINGS for them - when Trevor and Matt have ahd enough and engineer a situation where the three of them have no choice but to figure their shit out.

Lock them in a room/wherever together and refuse to let them out until they fucking talk to one another or something simlar and then it’s just.

Jesus Christ it’s awkward. And painful. And honestly kind of horrible, but they do the Talking and realize holy shit, they do have FEELINGS for one another and realize they could maybe actually do something good about it if they fucking tried, so.

Yes.

The three of them getting their shit together and Jeremy continuing to Batman.

Ryan and Gavin sticking around, although now they’re working (mostly, although there are times they Thief when it comes to pretty shinies or just a unique challenge rather than for crime’s sake. (But that’s actually okay, because it means cat and mouse games with Jeremy in which outrageous cheating methods such as kissing Jeremy stupid are employed or vice versa and just. Yes.)

Jeremy takes a twisted sort of delight in confusing the fuck out the tabloids because he’s seen out and about with Gavin or Ryan. It’s assumed he’s shamelessly cheating on one with the other? But then the three of them are caught on what’s clearly a romantic night out or whatever and is the Dooley heir in a poly relationship or just that shameless???

And so on.

But really, it’s the three of them being complete assholes who are totally ~in love with one another taking perverse joy in tormenting the tabloids and all that.

:D????

#ragehappy #jeremwood #jerevin #jerevinwood #idek #technically not a fic #vagrant fic #¯\_(ツ)_/¯#vigilante/batman(ish) au

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always-and-forever-a-killjoy · 4 years

Text

Hey fuckers! So I wrote this all today and liked it enough to post, please enjoy this minimally edited mess of a fic! But read the warnings carefully!! You also may want to read the other fics in the series to understand this? But it's not super necessary. (First three fics here, here, and here, mind the warnings.) Also shoutout to @wishiwasthemoon-tonight for encouraging my angsty bullshit, for this fic and many, many others.

Title: the last thing i see

Wordcount: 1734

Summary: Cherri Cola has died before.

It’s not a big surprise to him when he dies again.

Warnings: blood, violence, major character death, implied self harm, referenced suicide and suicidal thoughts, and a fuckton of swearing as usual. (How did I fit that all in less than 2k words? Talent.)

Taglist: @wishiwasthemoon-tonight @sleevesareforlosers @stressed-depressed-emo-mess @tasteofamnesia @dagger-queen (message me, send an ask, or reblog/reply to one of my posts if you want to be added or removed)

AO3 Link

(Actual fic under the cut)

Cherri Cola has died before.

He remembers what it was like, his breaths growing more difficult as the hot sand burnt his skin and everything hurt-hurt-hurt. He remembers how cold the darkness felt, the oblivion it promised. He remembers fighting against it, remembers the fear and the pain and the voice in his head screaming ‘I don’t want to die alone’. The helplessness, he remembers, too, his arms aching from the cuts he put there himself and the way he had forced them to try and drag his weight. Helpless and alone, and scared. He knows what it’s like to die in the desert.

Cherri Cola has died before.

It’s not a big surprise to him when he dies again.

The Girl leaves him by the water cooler, saying she’s going to Dr. D’s for the night. He doesn’t believe her, not after her words at the concert, but Cherri Cola is wise enough to know that he has to let her go. Much as he would like to hold her and protect her forever, he’s already failed to do that when she really needed it. So all he can do now is support her in what choices she makes and not think about how he’s failing to protect her like he failed to protect the killjoys who died to save her.

She doesn’t come back, and Cherri knows he’s already failed. He leaves to help her anyways, that day, when the dreadful news comes that mom and dad are coming home at last. It’s broadcast on every radio station, a cry, a call, a desperate scream for help.

For the first time in over ten long years, Cherri picks up a ray gun, the weight familiar in his hands. He flicks the safety off, ready to shoot, and flips the switch from stun to kill. Although it takes precious moments he can barely afford to waste, he takes the time to fire a few practice shots before he tucks it away in the holster. He can’t afford for his skill to be compromised at all for this mission- a single slip could cost the lives of many of the young ‘joys of the desert, hardly more than children. So once his ray gun is ready to fire, he pulls on his mask. Die with your mask on if you've got to, just as Dr. Death Defying said all those years ago.

He will die with his mask on, that day.

Cherri arrives to chaos, and he doesn’t hesitate a second before jumping into the fight. Within moments, he can see Motorbaby crouched, looking like she’s been hit by a stun shot as a Draculoid stands over her. There’s not a single second to think, so he doesn’t. He just acts, taking down the drac with a single well-placed shot. Cherri ignores the stares of the ‘joys around him, every ounce of his focus on the Girl.

“Cola?” Her voice is weak, but it’s present, and he breathes a tiny sigh of relief.

“I’ll take care of this.” He’s failed her so many times, he won’t fail her this time.

“Cola, Val killed D. I didn’t get there in time to stop him, I-“ Cherri’s heart breaks at the anguish in her voice as she steadies and goes on. “I shouldn’t have left you like that. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” It’s more than okay; it’s his fault, really, but he doesn’t have the time or the words to express that. “Dr. Death Defying will be with our other friends soon. Now stay down!”

It’s all the reassurance he has time to provide her as plasma bolts shoot past his head. Drac after drac falls to his ray gun, as easily as ever. Killing comes far too easily to him, or did. Now, it’s not quite the same, but he soothes the guilt that rises to choke him with whispers of ‘it’s for Motorbaby’.

And he hardly has time to think, hardly time to breathe, before the Girl is trying to warn him. “Cola…behind you…”

There isn’t a second to move or dodge as a bolt hits him squarely in the back, and he knows he’s dead. Out of all the ways that he could have died, this one hasn’t been in his head for a long time, now. In his earlier days, in the Analog Wars, ‘in a fire fight’ would be a probable way for him to die, one he thought about often enough that he wouldn’t have been surprised. But by now, he’s been thinking he’ll fall at his own hands, not a scarecrow’s, for long enough that he’s still surprised as he topples to the ground.

Dying in a firefight is nothing like the ways he’s died before. It hurts, of course it does, but in the detached way that means he’s already dead or close to that. It’s not a slow, painful death, it’s quick and fiery. Pain arcs through him, and he’s dead before he hits the ground. And despite the hint of surprise, he knows that he was never going to survive this fight. Like the Fabulous Four before him, he knew he would die for the Girl.

Cherri Cola dies, and he does not regret it.

The only thing he regrets now is that he can’t be there for the Girl as she stands up- or, rather, her spirit does. The Phoenix Witch scooped his mask off his face, and so Cherri is there too, but she keeps a firm grasp on his soul. There’s nothing he can do, nothing he can say, to the Girl his friends loved so and he loved just as much. They are not in the spirit world, nor even the borderlands, and Cherri is helpless once again. Helpless to speak, helpless to comfort her, helpless to resist as the Phoenix Witch sweeps away with him and countless other souls.

This time, there’s no Newsie to save him. She fell some three years back, and Cherri was not brave enough to quest into the Phoenix Witch’s domain as she did for him. Newsie wouldn’t have been able to save him anyways, he knows. This was his last chance, the Phoenix Witch told him oh-so-many years ago. His last shot at life, granted to him by the love of his sibling.

There may be no Newsie to save him, but when the Phoenix Witch crosses the last boundary of the borderlands where he once stood, there is a Newsie to welcome him.

They laugh, presumably at his stunned face, running over to give him a tight hug with a “Finally, fucker!”

“Newsie? Newsie, I’m sorry-“

“Why the fuck are you apologizing? You’re finally fucking here!” Newsie freezes. “Cherri, you didn’t-“

“I died fighting Better Living Industries,” he promises.

“Oh thank fuck. How is it out there?”

“Bad, Newsie, it’s bad. Motorbaby is alive, which is a ray of hope, but some asshole named Val killed D-“

“Oh, yeah, we know. He showed up and immediately started giving Pone shit for making the afterlife glittery.”

“I don’t understand it!” Dr. Death Defying is there, all of the sudden, looking quite distressed. “How do you even make the spirit world glittery?”

“Ey’s Pony, D.” Cherri can’t help but smile. “Ey can’t just not glitter-ify places.”

“That’s because I’m the gayest Pony in the desert!” Show Pony flashes him a smile as ey skates up.

“Sure are, Pone,” Cherri says softly.

Next is Hot Chimp, grinning as she gives him a small wave. “Hey, brother-in-law.”

“Hey, sister-in-law. Nice to see you again."

And finally, four familiar figures who he hasn’t seen in far too long step out, looking exactly how he last saw them but minus the grim determination. Instead, Party Poison is grinning as Kobra Kid gives him a small nod, and Jet Star’s gentle smile is just as wide as Fun Ghoul’s toothy grin.

“I’m sorry,” Cherri tells them.

“We forgive you,” Poison says with surprising gentleness. “We never resented you much to begin with, even if you are an insufferable bastard. We’d never ask you to die for us.”

"I would have." It's important that they know that; he never go to tell them when they were alive.

"We knew that." Poison cracks a small grin. “Pepsi.”

Cherri isn’t even sure if ghosts can cry, but they must be able to because his cheeks are wet and words suddenly seem very difficult as he takes a few shuddering breaths.

“Oh Witch, I think I broke Pepsi,” Poison mutters.

Newsie flips them off and gives Cherri a playful glare. “Come on, don’t start crying now, asshole! We’re finally all here, or mostly, anyways!”

That only makes him cry harder, burying his face in his hands just as he did the day the Fabulous Four died. It's been a long time since he's cried like this, utterly vulnerable but happy for once, a bittersweet cry as opposed to one of sheer pain.

As it turns out, ghosts can’t only cry, but also hug, and Cherri finds himself wrapped in so many sets of arms he can’t even tell whose are whose. He thinks it’s Newsie’s shoulder that his face ends up buried in, is pretty sure that the hands rubbing his back are Jet’s, but he really doesn’t know. It doesn’t really matter, in the end, because he’s here with his family and that’s all that really matters.

Later, they’ll trade tales of what happened while they were all apart and Cherri will tell the Fabulous Four everything about the Girl he can remember, from her cat to the fight with the exterminators. He’ll pretend not to notice Poison sniffling or how choked Ghoul’s voice is, and they’ll pretend not to notice how his voice breaks when he talks about the day they died.

Newsie and Hot Chimp will update him on all the ‘tea’ of the land of the dead and how Newsie almost punched the Phoenix Witch, and D will give him a surprisingly (given the fact that they’re both dead) warm hug, and promise that it’s not his fault for failing to stop Val. And of course, Show Pony won't let him get away without a little bit of shittalking his fashion sense and catching up on what's happened since eir death.

But all of that will come later. For now, Cherri’s family holds him tightly, and that’s all Cherri needs.

#cherri cola #the girl #ttlofk #auri writes #danger days #the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #newsagogo

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despressolattes · 4 years

Text

CONSEQUENCES | CHAPTER THIRTEEN | LEGACIES/THE ORIGINALS

BOOK THREE IN THE SIDE CHARACTER/LILAH SERIES

book one masterlist » book two masterlist

this book’s masterlist

< previous

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Lilah had felt sluggish when she woke up, and she hadn't shaken the feeling. Everything for the rest of the day just felt off.

An entire summer's worth of looking into Lorelle's revival and the White Oak Coven had gotten the Mikaelsons nowhere.

Lilah felt sluggish when she woke up, and everything just felt off for the rest of the day. Kol and Lilah helped the best they could, the two Mikaelsons still missing their former lives as witches.

"Perhaps we just let it go," Kol suggested, sighing as he shut another grimoire. "Lorelle is alive, this psychotic coven is nowhere to be found, probably dead to resurrect Lorie. Why can't we just leave it be? Why go searching for trouble?"

That was a question that Lilah had been wondering herself. Did she really want to know why the coven resurrected Lorelle, or did she want to know if there was a way to bring back others as well?

"Maybe Kol's right," Davina sighed, stepping away from the table to grab a drink. "We're spending all this time chasing literal ghosts."

Lilah and Freya shared a look. Before Lorelle even came back, the two were trying to see if there was some mystical loophole to bringing back Klaus, Elijah, and Hayley. This coven and Lorelle's revival seemed like the only solid lead they had, but even this one went nowhere.

"Okay, we can break for today," Freya nodded, shutting the grimoire she had been looking into.

Lilah walked up the staircase of the compound towards her bedroom. After she and Rebekah had made amends, Rebekah had gotten sentimental about how Lilah should be living in her family home. On her and Josh's next free day, they emptied their apartment, both of them moving into two of the spare rooms in the compound.

Lilah swung the door to her room open, her eyes settling on the blond. Roman was just lounging on her waiting, as if he was waiting for her to come inside. She smiled at the sight of him, but he was yet another thing that felt off. Any sense of deja vu she had with him around didn't lead to the girl in the photo, only made Lilah more confused about her and the Sienna boy.

Had they have been together before? Or perhaps, he just strongly reminded her of someone she repressed when she was a ripper? The little visions she was having didn't get clearer, instead, they stayed blurry and confusing.

"This is an evasion of privacy, Mr. Sienna," she rolled her eyes at him. She went over to her bed, shoving him a bit to make room for herself. She propped herself down next to him, wondering when she had let herself get so comfortable with a guy. "What's up?"

"Caroline called me a few hours ago," he explained, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and letting her fall into his chest. "There's someone she and Alaric need me to pick up, with school starting and everything."

"Hm, I thought that Alaric guy wasn't headmaster anymore?" she hummed.

"He's not, but he and Caroline still kind of own it? I guess. I don't know, the person I'm going to get is special to them I guess, to their friend group."

She nodded and grabbed one of his hands, just playing with it. "This was fun while it lasted, eh?"

He gave her a look and said, "I'd still like for this to continue to be fun."

"You're going back on the road," she sighed, sitting up. "We can't possibly be together when you're not even here."

"You don't do long distance relationships?" he asked.

"I hardly even do relationships," she shook her head, ignoring the flutter in her heart when he said the word 'relationship.' They hadn't even actually had a real conversation about what they were together, and now he was throwing around the word relationship.

She moved his hair of of his face, staring down at him adoringly. "Like I said Roman, this was fun while it lasted."

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"The boy who sweats diamonds is gone, huh?" Freya asked, coming out onto the balcony late that night, and Lilah nodded, taking the cup of coffee that Freya offered her.

Lilah found herself out there often, staring out onto the city. She loved everything about New Orleans, but she felt like this wasn't the place she was meant to be.

"Everything still feels wrong, Aunt Freya," she confessed. "We can't figure out why Lorelle is back, we don't know who the girl in the photos is, and I just feel like something isn't right."

"What part feels wrong?" Freya asked.

"Everything."

"I wish I knew who the girl was, too. She obviously meant something to all of us. Any theories?"

"Mass compulsion?" Lilah shrugged, but she knew that couldn't be it because she, Rebekah, and Kol couldn't be compelled. "I dunno. This seems impossible."

"Our family is the definition fo the impossible being possible."

"Yeah, well, at least before we had explanations for things. Dahlia took us, Grandma Esther turned them, their loophole was a white oak stake, I don't have a loophole. Dahlia kept us apart to prevent you from rebelling against her. Things had explanations," Lilah sighed.

"Not everything," Freya shook her head, wrapping one of her arms around her niece. "You said you still don't know how you got out of that cave."

Lilah's eyes widened for a moment, and she nodded. A thousand years later, and she still had no idea who broke her free of her desiccation. Despite blood on herself and the floor, she had never found a body.

"I think for now, it's okay to just be grateful," Freya said to her. "Not everything needs an explanation, and we might just drive ourselves mad trying to come up with a solution we're never going to find."

"We're the Mikaelsons, we're always going to be mad."

Both of them turned around to see Rebekah standing there with Kol. The remaining Mikaelson siblings walked onto the balcony, Rebekah standing on the other side of Lilah, and Kol on the other side of her.

"You had the promise of always and forever without us even knowing who you were," Rebekah said. "And you'll continue to have it so as long as we live."

"Soon it'll just be the two of us, Lilah Rae," Kol said, his dark joke hitting each of them a little different.

Freya was a witch, she was mortal. Rebekah wanted to take the cure once Damon Salvatore was ready. Davina was a witch. Marcel would likely take the cure as well. Soon, the only thing left would be Kol, Lilah, and hopefully Josh.

"You didn't need to go there tonight, brother," Rebekah laughed, smacking her big brother on the back of his head.

"I'm just saying!"

"Well, stop saying things!"

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

F I R S T D A Y O F S C H O O L

"Thanks Davina, I appreciate it."

Roman ended the call on his phone, placing it back into his pocket while he drove.

"So, where are we going exactly?"

Arianelle Victoria sticking her head outside of the car since Roman's convertible top was down.

She expected to see signs that said Mystic Falls or even a bridge marked Wickery Bridge, or whatever landmarks her dad once talked about.

"We're going to pick someone up before I take you to a safe place," he replied, "And we have to go fast, first day of school is already today."

She rolled her eyes, pulling her head back into the car.

"And yet we're taking a detour? Aren't we supposed to be in that town my dad grew up in?" she questioned, before saying in a mocking tone, "The wondrous Mystic Falls, from where my mom ran from, and she ran like hell."

Roman glanced at her through the rearview mirror, but didn't respond. Caroline had warned him that the girl might be a bit snarky and sarcastic given her current situation.

"So, who's the girl you were on the phone with? Got a girlfriend?" she asked.

"No, I don't have a girlfriend," Roman replied.

"She dump you?"

"Please be quiet," the vampire told her, and she raised her eyebrows with a feigned scared look on her face.

"Jeez, just tryna make conversation. If my dad's sending me here, might as well know what I'm getting in to," she shrugged.

"And what does me being in a relationship prepare you for exactly?"

She shrugged again, leaning back. It felt like hours before they pulled into New Orleans. She was confused, knowing that Lousiana was a long drive away from Mystic Falls. She gawked at the architecture, but stared long and hard at the large building they parked in front of. This place was known for it's Crescent pack, it's witches, it's Bourban, and one thing her dad used to warn her about: The Original family.

Roman pressed his phone to his ear yet again, stating, "We're here."

They waited about ten minutes before a small group of ridiculously hot people walked out. Of the group, a girl was dragging another girl by her upper arm, and one of the guys was carrying out a small luggage.

Roman smiled, getting out of the car to help put the luggage in his back trunk and wrap the girl in his arms. Arianelle watched suspiciously, wondering who these people were. Her eyes landed on the blond adult with pink lipgloss, recognizing her from some photos with her dad. From the stories she learned growing up, she was Rebekah Mikaelson, a vampire her dad was once in love with.

She stared at them in awe once she realized they were the original family—or at least, what was left of it.

The girl that Roman was hugging got into the car, staring back at the blonde girl sitting in the back. Roman joined them after slamming the trunk shut, and there was a knock on the brunette's window. The girl rolled it down, a bald man sticking his head inside.

"You better take care of her, Sienna," the man warned, giving Roman a scary serious stare.

"I will, Marcel," Roman nodded.

Marcel kept his glare on him, staring for a moment longer before nodding and taking his head out of the door. A girl came next, another brunette. She looked she nice and innocent, the smile on her face wide.

"Have fun, Lils," the girl said to the girl inside of the car.

"I can't believe you guys planned to send me away, Davina," laughed the girl in the car.

"It's not sending you away, it's sending you on a trip," a boy said from outside of the car.

"Oh yeah? And how are you going to handle Rousseau's alone?" Lilah asked as Davina moved away from the window, sticking her own head out.

"We'll manage," shrugged Josh.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"So, when did this get planned?" Lilah asked Roman as they began on their drive.

"I called Davina, asked her to pack your things," he explained. "You said that your memory loss began when you woke up near Mystic Falls, and since I need to take Arianelle over here to the Salvatore School, might as well see if we can jog up some of your memories."

"Well, I'm glad you did. It's been boring around here without me."

"Did a Mikaelson just tell me that New Orleans was boring? Your dad is rolling in his grave," Roman snickered, shaking his head.

Lilah playfully shoved his shoulder.

Arianelle watched with wide eyes, wondering just who these two were. When her mom had all but threw her into his car, saying he was taking her to a better place, she hadn't imagined that he'd be anyone important other than some supernatural creature that worked for the fancy boarding school. Instead, he's friends with the original family, he knows one of their kids.

She was even more confused, knowing that an Original couldn't have kids. Vampires couldn't even procreate.

As if Lilah felt her eyes on her, she turned around to look at the blonde.

"Sorry for the detour to your new school," Lilah said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Lilah."

"Arianelle," the blonde said sheepishly, pressing her lips to an awkward line. She looked to Roman and said, "I thought you said you don't have a girlfriend."

"I don't," Roman said as Lilah said, "He doesn't."

"She doesn't do relationships," Roman explained to the fifteen year old in the back of his car, glancing at Lialh with a knowing expression.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

They pulled up to a huge campus, parking in front of it. Lilah and Arianelle both gawked at it, for different reasons. Arianelle had heard stories of the things that had gone down in the house or because of the previous owners through her father, but Lilah's expression was sorrowful.

"Normally, there's a welcoming committee, but there's a different headmaster this semester," Roman said as he took off his seat belt, getting out of the car.

The two girls followed after him. The blonde let out an audible groan when she heard a police car approaching. She turned around irritated, watching as a dirty blonde got out of the driver's seat. Why he was still in his police uniform when he was running for mayor of Mystic Falls, she had no idea.

"Aria," he said, sending her a conflicted smile as he got closer.

"Why are you wearing that?" she asked.

"I'm still Sheriff until I get a replacement," he said. "And it's not like I actually have the mayor position just yet."

"Yeah, whatever," she said, spinning on her heels and walking towards the strangers.

"C'mon, let's get you inside," her dad said with a smile. He looked to the two who had driven his daughter, smiling at them. "Matt Donovan."

"Roman Sienna," Roman smiled, shaking his head.

"Lilah Mikaelson," Lilah said, shaking Matt's hand. She saw the surprised look on his face.

"Mikaelson?" he asked.

"Mikaelson."

"Like... Original family Mikaelson?"

"The one and only."

He attempted to regain his posture, a million questioned running through his head about who she was, why they had never heard of another Mikaelson girl, wondering who she was. Instead, he just nodded.

"Let's go find the headmaster, Dorian, and the Saltzman twins, shall we?" Matt questioned, walking towards the school's entrance, a front door that once led to some of his closest friends' house.

He never imagined it would be a boarding school for supernatural, or that he'd ever be sending his daughter there.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Well, her papers seem to be all well, just a day late, but that's all right, she won't be behind in any of her classes" Headmaster Vardemus said, snapping Arianelle's file shut. "Miss Donovan, I can have two students here in a second to escort you to your room and give you a proper Salvatore School welcome."

"I go by Arianelle Victoria," she added, earning a scowl from Matt, but he didn't say anything.

Roman grabbed Lilah by her arm, motioning with his head that they should head out. The two of them walked out of the room, leaving the father-daughter duo with the somewhat creepy headmaster.

The Saltzman twins and Landon were called into the room long after Roman and Lilah had left to the dorm room Roman got to stay in whenever he came by after his recruitment travels.

"So... what are you?" Landon asked, before his eyes widened. He stammered out, "I-I mean, I'm not—I'm not tryna be rude or anything... wow, that was really upfront. I meant... what species are you?"

He scratched the back of his head as they walked through the halls of the school, looking embarassed. Lizzie rolled her eyes, looking at her sister with a ridiculous glare as Josie smiled at Landon's actions.

Seriously, Jo? wondered Lizzie, unable to believe her sister liked Landon of everyone.

"Vampire... witch... werewolf...?" Josie added, aiding Landon in his question, but saying it softer than he had.

Arianelle laughed, and she said, "I'm a werewolf."

And immediately everyone thought about how she killed someone.

"We're gonna need Jed here," Josie said to her sister.

"Raf's alpha," she replied, earning a confused look from the new wolf.

"And he's also stuck in wolf form... soo... I'm with Josie... we'll have to tell Jed," Landon said.

"Of course you're with Josie," Lizzie chuckled.

"So, what's up with Mr. Recruiter and his not-girlfriend?" Arianelle asked.

"Who? Roman Sienna?" asked Lizzie, making a face as she spoke since she was sure Roman was single. "Roman doesn't have a girlfriend."

"There's some girl he picked up on our way here," Arianelle responded.

The twins looked at each other before nodding, "Huh..."

"So, Vampire Captain America finally found a girlfriend, that's interesting," Landon added.

"She's pretty," Arianelle responded, "But oddly quiet."

"Well, first stop, here's our bedroom," Lizzie said, opening a door. "You can always just come here if you need something, chances are, you'll find one of us here."

Arianelle walked inside, looking around at their room. Her eyes zeroed down on a picture frame.

"Oh, you guys know her," Arianelle stated, pointing at the picture. "The girl Roman picked up."

"He brought Lilah Desmarais back with him?" Lizzie asked with surprise, Josie and Landon sharing a confused but rushed expression as they wanted to hear more.

"Uh... She called herself a Mikaelson," Arianelle explained. "But yeah, Roman brought Lilah. Why? Do we not like her?"

"Mikaelson?" sputtered out Josie, and Landon seemed to be in his own world, trying to remember where he had heard that last name.

"She's here, right now?" Lizzie asked.

"Yeah...?" Arianelle responded, confused why her tour guides seemed so freaked out over Lilah. She understood the weight of the name Mikaelson, but even her dad hadn't reacted with this kind of proportions.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"You wanted to see us, Dorian?" Roman asked, walking into the library with Lilah close behind.

Her eyes were bugged out as she took in her surroundings. The Stefan Salvatore Memorial Library. She felt out of breath the whole way, looking at old photos, looking at textbooks. She paused when she got to one about her father, then another, and another, a few about her aunts and uncles as well.

"Yeah," a man said, stepping down from a step ladder and sitting down on one of the tables. "I heard you brought a New Orleans vampire back with you, wondered if I could pick her brain."

"Sure," Lilah nodded, stepping in front of Roman. "What is it that you need help with?"

Dorian stared at her with surprise. He scanned her face up and down, like he had just seen a ghost. It was her, the girl from the files, the girl from the photos. Lilah.

"So, we have this wolf here. He's sort of the alpha of our school's pack. We had some problems last semester, and he had turned into a wolf to help with an attack. We don't really know how he got into his wolf form when it wasn't the night of a full moon, and we also don't know how to bring him back from this form," explained Dorian, shaking his head softly as he tried to get himself to stop staring at her so hard.

Lilah blinked a few times at the information, "I'm sorry... he's been in wolf form this whole time?"

Dorian nodded.

"Did any of the witches put a curse on him?" she questioned, remembering the last time she had heard about a wolf only being in wolf form. "Can he change back into human on the fill moon?"

Dorian shook his head no.

"Okay, well, in my experience with the Cresent Wolf Pack in the bayou... my Uncle Klaus had these reverse kyanite rings made, meant to help a wolf change on command, but it was meant for that specific line of wolves. I don't know the logistics of it all, but I can only assume that whoever gave him a ring like that can be the one to change him back, someone with Crescent blood."

Dorian listened with wide eyes as that information got thrown at him, nodding as he understood what she was trying to say.

"I'm sorry... did you say Uncle Klaus? You're a Mikaelson?" Dorian asked.

She nodded.

"Mass compulsion?" he said under his breath, but with Lilah and Roman's vampire hearing, they heard him.

"Pardon?" Lilah asked.

"Nothing," Dorian shook his head. "Don't mind me, it's nothing. You just... uh... we have files on you... here..."

"What?"

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

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@akshi8278

people on my wattpad have been asking for a “lilah in tvd” alternate storyline, so i started one! it’s currently only on my wattpad, so let me know if you guys want that story here, too.

you guys asked for a "lilah in tvd" fic, so... I wrote it! To differentiate this alternate storyline from the original one, it's getting it's "own" series name, SIDE CHARACTER CHRONCILES — LILAH DIARIES.

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