#and my parents. i think. just seem to have faith that whoever's been fighting it will keep doing do and they don't have to worry | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

loveanoutcast · 3 years

Note

ok but I read games and I am ADDICTED and I just thought I could maybe request something like-

Eren meeting the reader through a simple comment and a timeskip to them being v close until they eventually end up in a fight because reader was ranting to eren about how perfect their crush (who is actually eren) is and him just exploding and them getting into a fight until the reader eventually goes "that person is you, dumbass!" Or smth like that and from there it all just turns into a lot of kisses and smut👀

only if you're comfy/in the mood of writing smth like this tho! just had this random thought last night and thought I'd request a little erenxfembodiedreader

Anyway have a nice day, night, afternoon, morning, you're amazing :D

Oh my gosh, this is my first request ever and I am so incredibly excited to write this and I really hope I did good in writing something you would want. Thank you so much for submitting this request, please feel free to send more! I love writing fanfics of any aot character and will do my absolute best to embody them in these. Sorry for the long wait, when I say the last chapter had me all the way FUCK3D up. EreMika is canon and I haven't been able to stop saying "He loved her, oh my god he loved her" in that "and they were roommates" vine way because that's my coping mechanism and it's cheaper than therapy. Anyway, I give you-

"Assumptions."

Pairing: Eren Yeager x Fem!reader

TW: nsfw, smut, angst, jealously, swearing, yelling, a bit of fluff, unprotected intercourse, breeding kink, a bit of voyeurism, a bit of sexism, eren being denser than a rock, Levi having health issues because he's old

Other: aot world if the mess of season four never happened and eren didn't fall to sad bitch hours, reader is a regular girl with family issues, all characters are over 18, Erwin never died and Floch never went insane

It wasn't that Eren hated going into town, but he wasn't exactly used to going to town alone. He always had Mikasa and Armin flanking either side of him but since the discovery of the world outside the walls and the decreased threat of titans, scouts were needed more than ever in the recovery of the lost districts. Mikasa was the second strongest soldier alive and Armin was expected to take after Erwin. Eren was useful when it came to being the one who possessed the attack and founder titan, but lately there was no big threats that required his titan abilities.

That didn't stop Hange from poking him, nor did it stop Captain Levi from keeping him busy with even the most minimalist of tasks. Today was no different and when the options were given to him and Jean, who was still asleep in his bunker, on shoveling horse shit or going into town to stock up on supplies and check to ensure all market suppliers weren't being capitalist pigs to the local vendors, Eren all but hauled ass through the door, hand swiping the grocery list off the table and yelling, "Good luck Jean-boy!"

Everything seemed to be going just fine, none of the local vendors had any troubles and most seemed happier with the drastic improvements of the living situations for Eldians. The fear of being eaten any day now or losing a loved one to war had seemed to be the driving force that had led to problems before. Some people recognized Eren, but no one seemed to want to approach him. He had had encounters with people who thought of him as a god, but he usually ignored them or kept a level-headed composure. Despite knowing that he had a power no one else had, outside of being a titan-shifter, Eren didn't really know what he had to offer. Armin was smart, Mikasa was strong, and he couldn't exactly claim titan-shifter seeing that Armin was also the colossal and Ymir had been the jaw.

He let out a sigh, kicking a rock in his path and silently yearning for something beyond his knowledge. Despite knowing that he was never really alone, he felt lonely a lot of the time. He had never given much thought to settling down, with the clock running out on him he often thought what was even the point? He wasn't sure if he wanted to keep being a soldier or if he wanted to go back home one day, he didn't really try to dwell on the future, content with being in the present and having Mikasa always on the verge of tears when she was reminded that he would one day die, didn't really give him room to think of much else.

You weren't oblivious to the tales and rumors that went around the town about the scouts and their secret weapon in the form of a shapeshifting man and how him and his comrades were able to plug the hole in the wall of a district your family had come from long ago. Your father had long since escaped the walls of Maria before it fell, he made an honest living being a construction man, and your mother was a nurse who happened to catch his eye when he had a roofing accident. They built a life for themselves within Wall Rose. You weren't the richest family, nor did you have a name that was well known. Nonetheless, you were all hard working. Your brothers worked for the respect they got, one being a weapon maker and the other being a bar keeper was enough for the part of town you were in. Even their wives did well for themselves in being a seamstress and bar waitress. As the youngest, you were loved and cared for. You weren't the most beautiful girl in town, but you turned heads nonetheless, well until one of your brothers decided to glare or promptly hit whoever doted on you too long for their liking.

The people who knew you, thought you were trouble. Mostly the elders spewed of you and your ways of thinking being a disgrace to everything Eldians stood for and bringing only shame to your gender, you were a woman ahead of her time and they couldn't stand it. Like your mother you had entered the medical field, but even when you were small you claimed you would be a doctor one day. You shadowed and worked under the supervision of the town's doctors. Many amused at your antics, some who didn't care about you being a girl and just grateful to leave such responsibility on someone who was genuine in the intent, and others not caring one way or another and not willing to hear your screeching pleads to observe what they did. Your mom had spoken with you more than once about settling with being a doctor's aide, today being no different and you let out a sigh as you looked to your mother's pained expression.

"I just don't understand why you insist on making your life so difficult? It was bad enough when you proudly exclaimed your goals in front of the entire church, but now this?"

You could only look away, looking towards the fields where you saw your third brother grooming the horses. You hadn't said anything bad, you were approached with a job offer that would give you the title and respect you had been desperately craving, and it would bring greater honor to your family...or so you thought before your mother reacted the opposite in which you hoped.

"I will not have any daughter of mine chasing dreams and fantasies off in some other place where no one can protect you. This is a suicide mission and I for one will not stand by and watch you march forward to your downfall."

Your father stood behind your mother, not really saying anything and not even looking at you. You felt especially bad for the commander and captain who stood on either side of you and were bearing witness to the absurd exchange between your family.

"Mrs. Y/L/N, you have to know that if Y/N were to accept this offer, she would never be in the front lines. We have bases located all throughout the walls and she would do what she did best and be our primary doctor." Commander Erwin spoke with such calm words, his demeanor kind and patient.

"So you expect me to let her run off with a bunch of men whose brains are broken from the wars they fought and not worry? She is not even married!"

You grit your teeth so hard upon hearing that, you were sick of the standards put forth on you since your birth. You were sick of the expectations you were in no hurry to reach and you were especially tired of the lack of faith your family had in you to be independent and strong. Your fists clenched and you felt a steady gaze on you.

"I'm not an expert or anything on parenting, nor will I act as if I am, but instead of yelling at her, why don't you try asking your daughter what she wants to do?" You didn't silence the gasp you released, looking at Captain Levi in confusion and admiration.

All eyes turned to you, your mother crossing her arms as if asking you to try and defy her. Erwin looked a bit expectedly and Levi looking indifferent to the entire conversation. It was your father who beat you to it before you could even open your mouth to answer.

"You have a choice, my daughter. If you choose to stay, you'll make your mother and brothers happy. You can continue to help people but you will never be acknowledged as a doctor...but you'll have your family. Or you can choose to leave and live your life to your own accord, but you will lose the respect of the town and your mother will never speak to you again. Are you willing to put yourself above your family?" You expected this from your father, always neutral and never judgmental, what he was saying was true after all. Were you willing to lose your family over your dreams? Would you be able to survive on your own with only the scouts to rely on?

Your head was hurting and your frustration only grew when your brothers decided to come home and after your mother wailing at them about your plans to leave, they were quick to overwhelm you with their own opinions. The commander and captain apologized but they had to leave and return to headquarters.

"Take your time on making your decision. We will come back in a few days for your answer." Commander Erwin told you, giving you a smile as he continued, "I know its a lot to ask you to choose us over your flesh and blood, but if you do. You have my promise that we will protect you, and we may never be able to fully replace your family in your heart, but the scouts will be a family on its own for you."

"Tch," Captain Levi shook his head, "Look brat, you will see and do things that you won't always like. People will die no matter how hard you try to save them, but call Erwin and Hange delusional--they see something in you. Don't walk into this half-assed, if you choose to be our doctor and you choose to take on the title and everything it carries with it, you have to dedicate your heart."

You only nodded. Two days had passed as you walked through the market, the small basket in your hands carried apples and some citrus fruits. Your mother still wasn't talking to you and your brothers seemingly assumed you wouldn't be leaving, only your father knew how frantic your mind was, and one morning he admitted that he would be delighted to have at least one of his children carry the family name on a military standing. So you had his support.

You even spoke to the animal doctor you had been shadowing for the past few weeks, his eyebrows had rose in an impressed matter and he promptly asked when you would be leaving.

"I haven't made a decision, yet." You said.

"You would be an idiot not to take it." Was all he replied before asking you to give the cattle their medicine.

Idiot, huh? You wondered. You knew deep down he was right. Your mind continued to play in endless loops of thought before you heard a commotion to your right. Turning your head you saw a group of men, their huddling seemed a bit more frantic and it was not until one of them yelled that you noticed one man in particular on his knees.

"Help! Someone call a doctor!"

The man on the floor was bleeding rather profusely and you didn't have time to question what happened before you quickly made way.

"Sir, let me see."

"Hey! Woman don't touch him!"

"Make yourself useful and go get a doctor! What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"I am a doctor." You calmly said, inspecting the gash on his side and seeing the edge of what appeared to be a broken pipe sticking out from the building behind them. The drips if bloods glistening in the sun only confirmed what you thought.

"We were-" The injured man rasped out, "Just horsing around."

"It's okay." You reassured, grabbing a roll of gauze and stack of medical napkins you always kept in your basket. You apologized before applying pressure to the wound, and you heard the patter of rushing feet.

"A doctor is on his way! A real one!" One of the men sneered, and you did your best not to roll your eyes and focus on stopping the bleeding. You asked the man to lie on his back and he surprisingly complied, he didn't seem to care about you being a girl and only seemed thankful to not be alone and scared.

"Do you hear that? Move before you kill him!" The first man hollered, the hand on your shoulder causing you to sharply inhale.

"Excuse me for one moment." You told the man, and you were quick as you hand shot up to grip the disrespectful ass by his wrist and twist it in one fluid motion, you wasted no time in using the building wall as leverage, quickly running up and using his weight to stabilize yourself before you roundhouse kicked him so hard it sent both of you flying back. You landed on one foot, balancing yourself before going back to the patient.

You couldn't deny how satisfying it was to hear the impact, or the groan of pain coming from him. Your eyes met the others.

"If any of you touch me, I'll do exactly what I did to your buddy there, but ten times worse. Now shut the hell up and let me save this man."

Eyes widely stared at you as you resumed caring for the injured, a few minutes passed by the time the doctor got there.

"Oh!" His eyebrows rose, "Hello Y/N, didn't expect to see you here. If I would have known, I wouldn't have left the hospital on its own."

"Hi Dr. Goodwin," You looked up, two fingers on the injured man's wrist and the other held up four fingers from your counting. You blushed slightly from his confidence in you and you noticed the men who bullied you all sport faces of confusion.

"His pulse is stable. I wrapped the wound tightly, but he needs stitches."

"Thank you, miss." The injured man grabbed your hand and you smiled in return.

"Don't mention it."

"Actually, it's Dr. Y/L/N." Dr. Goodwin said, seeing your eyes widen and the smile he gave only made your heart swell that much more.

The doctor nodded, thanking you before asking his helpers to load him to the small gurney they brought. He could only thank you briefly before you waved them off. The other guys had stayed back, eyes wide in disbelief that the doctor not only recognized you, but acknowledged your work.

"Are you a nurse or something?"

"Are you morons deaf? Did you not hear Dr. Goodwin? I'm a doctor too."

The leader seemed to recover from the kick you gave him earlier as his lip curled in an ugly matter, "What kind of sick joke is that? No such thing as a woman doctor."

"Obviously there is if I'm standing right in front of you. Or did my kick knock a few more scews loose?"

Eren was walking buy, noticing the commotion from afar and as a soldier, his instincts to provide help in dire situations kicked in. He elbowed his way to the front. Seeing you standing defiantly in front of five tall muscular men. He stepped forward as the main leader got in your face, but when you shifted your foot, he seemed to coil back. Eren noticed a giant welt on one side of his face and wondered how the hell he got such an ugly bruise. It didn't stop their onslaught.

"Who the hell do you think you are? What makes you think you could do whatever the fuck you want?"

"Because in this world, I'm free to do whatever the fuck I please." Eren watched as your eyes narrowed in further defiance, the smile on your face sickeningly sweet and all he could think about was how he had never seen such a woman.

You hadn't even noticed the audience that gathered, you side stepped the group of men, going as far as waving a goodbye with a breathy giggle, you picked up your basket. You had a small hop to your step and despite not caring to even spare a glance to the onlookers, your eyes met a pair of pretty green ones. The prominent bone structure made you think, "Wow."

However, the tall muscular body you did a once over on had you follow that thought with, "Oh damn."

Eren seemed dumbfounded, your obviousness in checking him out made him flush. He had never felt self-conscious over his body. He knew even before he hit puberty that he would do well to grow muscles and abs, the necessary type of figure to have if one were to be a soldier of the scouts. He knew it was also something some females found attractive in the opposite sex but it's not like he ever had time to date much less dwell on what girls liked. Seeing the way you looked at him though, he couldn't deny that he silently hoped for your approval.

When you finally met his eyes once more, you had him floored when he saw you drop a wink at him.

The crowd murmuring as they watched you go made his own eyebrows furrow in confusion. He stepped to one of the members and demanded an explanation.

"Honestly, the little lady was crazy! She came in here claiming to be a doctor and helped patch up a guy who got cut by the pipe over there. Instead of waiting for a real doctor, she made a whole fuss."

"Where's the guy?"

"Dr. Goodwin picked him up. That doctor is mad too, he also said she was a doctor, but that's ridiculous. No woman can be a doctor. That's so many levels of wrong."

Eren felt the urge to punch the man in the mouth, but one glance at the ugly bruise his friend sported reminded him,

"What happened to your face?"

The leader grumbled a bunch of profanities, "That little bitch. I tried to get her off before she messed the guy up anymore and she kicked me."

"In your face?" Eren sounded impressed, and he was when he received a nod of confirmation.

He looked to the direction which you disappeared in and said fine words to the group, "Whether you men like it or not. The world is changing, everyone is free to be who they want. If women can join the military no problem, they can be doctors too."

He saluted before rushing off, not hearing the mutters of annoyance from the men. In all honestly, Eren had no clue on what he was doing.

You were scrubbing off the blood from under your fingernails near a fountain when you hear the shuffle of feet from behind you. You silently hoped it wasn't any of those morons asking for more trouble, but you were pleasantly surprised when your eyes met a pair of green ones from before.

"I'm Eren." You smiled at him, nodding and your smile turned quirked when he stuttered in, "Yeager. Eren Yeager."

Hmm, you had thought, His name suits him. You studied his demeanor, not missing the gear strapped to either sides of his hips or the green hood covering his shoulders. You knew immediately that he was a scout and you wondered if he knew Captain Levi. Before you got the courage to ask him, he beat you to it.

"What did you mean by what you said earlier? Do you really think that? That we're all free to do anything we want here?"

You smiled as you nodded, walking towards a vendors stand and Eren fell into step beside you, you felt nervous around him, but also safe with his company. He watched you as you picked up another apple to inspect.

"We have laws and rules though...so we're not technically all the way free?"

"I'm free to be me, just as you are free to be you...Eren...Yeager."

It was the way the sun hit your face in that moment, highlighting your strong cheekbones and giving a special glint in your eyes that made Eren want to hear your thoughts more. He spent the rest of the day asking you questions, never satisfied with the small responses you gave him and he even walked you home. The mean glare from your mother confused him beyond belief and it was your father's words that made you gasp in surprise that night.

"He's the titan shifter, the one who helped plug up wall Rose."

Your face had turned red in embarrassment, you were talking so casually to a literal titan and you even flirted with him. He even held your basket the entire trip to your house and you didn't even consider how informal you acted with your skirt. You had hitched one of them up your thigh to get better footing and hadn't missed the way Eren blushed at seeing so much skin. You knew the girls in the scouts wore pants, but even then they kept covered.

You were certain Eren wanted nothing else to do with a girl who held little to no morals, but you were caught by pleasant surprise when you saw him with Erwin and Levi the next day in town.

His eyes had immediately found yours and you didn't miss the blush on his cheeks as he gave you a small wave. You couldn't but laugh when Captain Levi suddenly kicked him.

"Who's got you turning red brat?"

"Uh-it's nothing, captain."

He didn't look convinced as you gathered the courage to approach. Erwin acknowledged your presence which Eren was grateful for, but his eyebrows still came down in confusion on how the commander knew your name.

"Y/N!" Erwin gave a polite smile which you returned, "So great to see you. We were actually just about to stop by your house."

"Really? What a coincidence, I was hoping to stop by headquarters today as well." Your smile was bright, and by the way the air around you seemed cheerful, Erwin returned your energy.

"Bearing good news I hope?" He still hesitantly asked.

You nodded as you laughed, "I would love to accept the offer if it still stands."

"Of course it does," Captain Levi scoffed, his arms were folded across his chest. You noted for the first time the soft grey color of his eyes and despite the deep scowl he was currently showing, he had chubby cheeks that made you want to squish, "We wouldn't be coming all this way for nothing."

"I thought we were coming to collect a new scout, Captain Levi." Eren asked, you felt yourself blush in realization that he had no clue it was actually you they were referring to.

"We are," Levi grabbed you by your arm and yanked you towards him as he pointed at you while looking at Eren like he was an idiot, "Meet the scout's new doctor. Dr. Y/L/N meet Eren-"

"Yeager." You finished, smiling towards Eren, "We've met."

Erwin and Levi exchanged looks as they watched you and Eren smiled at each other like a pair of idiots, the realization dawning over them and Erwin couldn't fight the smirk that crossed his face. Small world, he thought.

Six months had passed since the first fateful encounter you had with Eren. You had long since moved out of your home and besides the occasional secret letter from your father, you hadn't heard nor seen the rest of your family since your decision to become a doctor for the scouts.

It was a transition to go through as you lost one family and gained a new one, but everyone was so accepting and welcoming. The girls welcomed you with open arms, most notably was Sasha whose habit of eating everything and anything brought her to the infirmary on more than one occasion, Connie usually followed right behind her with a minor injury resulting from his carelessness. You had met Floch when he brought Jean in from a sparring session gone wrong and he immediately took a liking to you. Your level-headedness was like a breath of fresh air to him as he was constantly sorrounded by people he thought were idiots. Jean liked your confidence (The fact that you were easy on the eyes, didn't hurt either), Mikasa respected the way you didn't hesitate to put people in their place, and Armin admired that despite your obvious toughness, you were a kind and patient doctor who never turned anyone away. You were diligent and hard-working, yet your smile was always able to uplift any sour mood and you always put your best foot forward. The one time he had puked all over your hospital floor from eating too much undercooked meat was embarrassing for him, he thought for sure you were going to be angry and call him an idiot. Instead, you took his temperature, put a cold cloth on his head (despite his titan status guaranteeing a speedy recovery), and started a healthier diet plan for him. Armin was scheduled a weekly checkup with you, partly to ensure he was listening and partly for you to study him a bit more. Your research on the titan's ability to regenerate and recover from even the worst injuries was fascinating for you, you hoped to isolate the genes and figure out a way to maybe trigger it in regular Eldians without setting off the titan ability, the fact that Eren made it a habit to accompany Armin didn't hurt either.

Eren had grown attached to you, whenever he wasn't busy or in need of a place to hide from Captain Levi's wrath or Hange's insistence to poke and prod him, he would be hanging out around you or in your office. At one point you had to hide him under your desk when Commander Erwin stopped by to hold a meeting with you about providing first aid training to the scouts for excursions. You were always welcomed to accompany them outside the walls, but your work was enough to make you stay. You recalled the way Eren was pressed against your legs, the feel of his hands steadying himself on your calves and when your skirt had shifted up when you reached for one of the records, you felt Eren brush his fingertips along the muscle. You had stammered the rest of the meeting through and smacked him afterwards for putting you in such a compromising position. You were blushing furiously at the way he gave such a boyish grin and even that night while he walked you to your small cottage, he had a satisfied smile in place.

You always knew you liked Eren, you were also hopeful that the feeling was mutual. The both of you had grown close over the course of your stay, as the head doctor you were given your own living quarters, not too far from headquarters but not so close to the city that you would be given a hard time. Your cottage was fair in size and with the amount of income you were receiving, you were quick to furnish and decorate it to your liking. Eren had even helped by adding his own touches to the interior. The times you would go to the city with him was always met with many curious stares. Your age and gender made many turn heads when you walked in, the fact that you were the youngest and by far prettiest doctor the scouts had ever had made people naturally gravitate to you. Your ability to make friends quickly also made it that almost every weekend you were entertaining guests at your house. Sometimes it would be dinner with Sasha, Niccolo, and Connie. Other times you would be knitting and embroidering with Mikasa and Armin, there was even game nights with everyone until Jean and Eren became too competitive with one another. Other times when the higher ups had meetings (All of which you had to attend since you technically held an officer position within the military branch) you would offer your house where you all shared cups of tea and your famous baked goods. You had even seen Captain Levi grab seconds on your sugar cookies.

It was the times when Eren would swing by alone that caused your heart to flutter, he would walk you home almost every night now. At first he would find the poorest excuses to see you like needing a bandaid for his wrist from the biting (even though by the time you gave him the gauze it would be healed over completely) or try to "casually" be around the area when you would get out at three in the morning. Eventually your amusement turned to you asking him to walk you home every night under the guise that you were afraid of being targeted or hurt, even though everyone had seen you body-slam Reiner the one time he tried to hit on you when you were stitching up his eyebrow from an ugly gash. Nonetheless, Eren accepted. You would invite him in for tea every time and he would even bring you lunch on days he failed to see you in the cafeteria. It seemed like everyone under the sun knew about you and Eren's crushes on one another, so it was also a pain in the ass that neither of you had yet to make a move on one another. Even Erwin had assumed you two were together the one morning he stopped by your house on your day off to ask for your aid for a soldier who had broken their arm from a training exercise, his eyes had grown wide upon seeing you open the door in only your nightgown, you were rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you invited him in for breakfast.

Upon walking in, he immediately saw Eren exiting your bathroom in his casual jeans, his hair was wet and sticking up from the steam of the shower. Eren wasn't wearing a shirt and before Erwin could excuse himself completely you quickly explained how you hadn't wanted him to walk outside so late so he slept on your couch. You were washing his clothes and had left them out to dry and Erwin could only nod and stop himself from suggesting for Eren to bring spare clothes to yours, remembering that it wasn't his place to push or even encourage his team's doctor and titan-shifter to date even though by the way he saw you put jelly on Eren's toast while he made your cup of tea with three sugars was enough for him to almost just order the two of you to date. Instead, he gave a long rant to Levi, wondering aloud whether Eren was either oblivious to your affections or just an idiot, Levi only replied with, "Did you happen to bring any of the toast she made?"...he did and Levi later on answered, "He's just an idiot." while licking the excess jelly off his fingers.

It was another day at headquarters, the mid-summer day was hot and since the flow of traffic had been slow inside the infirmary, you found yourself mostly in the officer's lounge. You had opted to wear a long sleeve empire waist dress, the top had ruffles along your collar and the soft pink of the dress complimented your skin tone. It fell around mid-thigh and the black shoes you wore with them completed your overall look. Eren had stared at your bare legs for a while until he noted your haircut. You had only cut off the ends but your heart did a flip as you blushed from him noticing. You had been chatting with Hange about your research while Moblit spoke to Eren about the new set of routes to be taken during their next trip beyond the walls when Captain Levi walked in. Hange waved him over and he fell easily beside you.

"Hey." His arm brushing against yours and you hummed in response, leaning a bit towards him which didn't go unnoticed by Eren.

"Levi, did you take your medicine this morning?" About two weeks ago you had caught the captain asleep at his desk for the fourth time. You knew he overworked himself and refused to sleep in his bed no matter how many therapeutic pillows you got him, but while he was out like a light you decided to check his blood pressure, only to find it alarmingly high. You figured the amount of stress and cups of caffeinated tea were to blame. Levi kept in good shape, but considering his age and the fact that he never even considers laughing, you prescribed him medications to be take every morning and cut him off from his usual tea leaves. The former was easier to push as the calcium and magnesium capsules were easy to swallow, it was getting rid of all the tins in his desk that made him a bit unbearable to the new recruits.

He let out an annoyed grunt as he nodded. Your smile was soft as you put an encouraging hand on his arm and Eren was officially not listening to Moblit anymore.

"Thanks for sticking to your diet, Captain Levi. As a token of my appreciation, I got you these." You didn't let him reply, quick to act as always as you reached into the small basket you had brought and grabbed his hand to put the gray tin of loose leaves that you took out in his palm.

As usual, the captain was unfazed by your lack of appreciation for personal space. The past few weeks had done well to teach him how despite being yelled at, threatened, and even outright ignored at times, your cheeriness was impossible to diminish and you did whatever the heck you wanted even when it was at times impulsive.

"What is it?" He looked between you and the tin, the slight sneer on his upper lip making you release a giggle before you tapped the bow you tied on it.

"It's tea leaves." He raised a slim eyebrow which made you roll your eyes, "Decaffeinated tea."

"Let me guess, it tastes like shit." His eyes flickered to the purple bow, "Or it'll make me shit."

You laughed, you upper body leaning on his as you attempted to catch your breath. The joke wasn't that funny but the face he made was. You giggled as you shook your head and Hange watched in bemusement as you elaborated,

"It's the tea I always serve and judging by the three cups you had last time, I'm positive you'll like it."

Levi let out a nod, he hadn't even noticed that the tea you served had no caffeine but the heavy notes of honey in it probably explained its sweetness. He gave a quiet thank you before his scowl returned,

"So that's why I was on the crapper all night after the last meeting."

"With a potty mouth like that, it's not wonder you don't have a girlfriend." You deadpanned.

"I feel bad for the poor bastard who falls in love with you."

You let out a small tsk, smiling at him and hoping Eren heard as you said, "Well that depends if he admits he feels the same way."

Captain Levi quirked an eyebrow at you, his eyes knowing and you blushed under his stare. Your fingers fiddling behind your back and Eren hated the way Levi suddenly chuckled at you. His smile was a rarity and to have him giving it to you only meant one thing to Eren; the captain liked you.

"So there is someone you like? Who's the poor brat?"

When you were about to make another snide remark, Hange cut in and excused herself and Moblit.

"As fascinating as this is, there's a captured titan waiting my arrival and if I don't get to use this research Dr. Y/L/N just gave me before nightfall, I will lose my mind."

"I hadn't heard of us ever finding it to begin with." Levi sighed, taking a lock of your hair between his fingers and letting the curl bounce back before he excused himself to tag along with them.

"Someone's got to make sure four eyes doesn't get killed."

"That's why Moblit is going with her." You noted.

"And who do you think will make sure Moblit doesn't get killed?" He smiled once more, "Laters doc."

You waved goodbye to the three, the door clicking behind them and you turned to see Eren with his arms crossed. He was pouting like a child and you wondered what his deal was. You figured with your earlier comment, he would be over the moon to hear you hinting at liking him. You skipped up to him, getting on the tips of your toes as you poked his cheek.

"What's the matter? You look like a scolded child."

"Nothing." He muttered, looking away as his jaw clenched and you only poked him once more.

"Liar." You called him out, "Talk to me."

"You didn't answer Captain Levi's question."

You were sure that there was a giant question mark on top of your head, the gear in your mind shifting as you tried to recall what the captain asked before your mouth opened in realization. You couldn't help but smile as you looked down at Eren's shoes and he only seemed to grow angrier as he watched you blush.

"About my crush? Oh! Well I wouldn't call him a brat, but I guess his attitude could often warrant that title. He's got this sort of this determined mentality that I guess some people can find...overbearing." You played with the cuff of your dress, "But I personally find it charming."

"So he's charming?"

You hummed as you smiled, "He's a bit rough around the edges, but he always means well. He's easy on the eyes too. Got really nice hair and pretty colored eyes that makes me swoon around him. Not to mention his body looks like Zeus could be his father." To add emphasis, your body leaned side to side as you laughed.

Eren snorted, his eyes rolling as he thought of any guy he knew that was like you described. All he could think of was Captain Levi and Erwin. He hated to think of Levi as charming, but he was rough all around. Erwin had eyes that Historia had once described as pretty, but to think of you being attracted to someone as old as him made his stomach flip.

"Want to head back to my office?" You suggested, not wanting to leave Eren's side until he figured it out but also not wanting to stick around in case other officers walked in. You got a stiff nod and wanted to giggle when Eren still opened the door for you. As the both of you walked through the large building, you added a hop to your step as you continued,

"He's also such a gentleman. He respects me, he's never intimidated by my sharp wit, always opens doors for me, waits until I'm sitting before he starts eating, and he almost seems proud of me being a doctor. He's just so understanding and sure of himself as a man that I guess the idea of having a girlfriend in my position would never make him feel inferior." You turned to look at Eren sideways and noticed his shoulders hunched, you knew it was cruel how you kept teasing him but were hopeful that it would click for him soon, so you went on.

"Wow, sounds like a real keeper." He grumbled, now thinking of Jean or even Connie. Armin was too occupied with Annie and Reiner was too obsessed with Historia to hang around you. There was no way Beruto/Borrito/Bertoto would catch your eye as you had made it a point to always get his name wrong, but Connie made you laugh and Jean was always extra nice to you.

"I'm telling you, I think he's perfect. He's dependable, strong, and we share so many of the same ideas. I could talk to him for hours and never be bored and when I'm not with him, I feel...sad. I just constantly want to be by his side and if I'm not I want him to be thinking about me because that's exactly what I do."

You both entered your office, you walked up to your desk as you spoke, turning around and leaning against it to look at Eren. He had closed your door a little harder than necessary, the wood shaking against the frame as he crossed his arms and leaned his back on the door. He looked downright irritated and you bit your lip to keep from laughing.

"So why haven't you told him?"

You shrugged, "I think I've been pretty obvious about it, I'm always smiling when he's in the room, I always want to be with him, there's never a day where we don't walk together. I even wore this dress for him today."

You waved down at your figure, Eren's eyes looked over you twice and you jumped up on your desk, your thighs parting as you let the short skirt cover your panties and barely cover the tops of your thighs.

"I'm sure he'll love it." Eren spit out.

"I don't know..." You tilted your head, "Do you?"

Eren pushed himself off the door, going to your bookcase and letting his fingers brush the spines of the books, "It doesn't matter what I think. I'm not Mr. Pretty eyes. Sounds like a simpleton to me."

You let out an actual deep sigh and Eren met you with furrowed brows.

"What?"

"You're so fucking dense, Eren."

"What did I say?" He threw his hands up, "Just because I called him simple? I'm so sorry I don't care to hear you go on and on about this guy. I never thought I'd see you bend over backwards for some guy who opens doors for you. I thought you would have higher standards than that."

You let out a snort, "Keep talking Yeager, and I just might higher them."

"I mean I never thought looks would be so important to you. It's so-"

"So what?" Your tongue had a sharp edge that did not go unnoticed by Eren. He stood only a few feet from your desk, but you saw the awkward shift in his posture.

"Shallow." He spit out.

"Excuse me?" You gave him a look that said if he wouldn't apologize in the next ten seconds, he would surely live to regret it.

"What I mean is...what guy could possibly have this head over heels and you're just now telling me? I thought...I thought we-" He stopped, looking to the side and you relaxed before saying,

"We what, Eren?"

"I thought we had something special." He muttered. He looked to see your mouth opened in a small gasp and he began to turn to exit when you quietly beckoned him over.

"Eren...come here."

"No, I should g-"

"Please." You begged and the look in your eyes brought him to stand in front of you. Your hands reached for his shirt, yanking him forward and you hooked your legs around his calves. Eren gaped at you, not knowing what to do and say as you put one hand on his shoulder and the other cupped his cheek.

"You are such a dumbass." You laughed, "The person I've been going on and on about, that simpleton you bashed, is you. It's always been you, Eren."

It was like watching a light flicker on very very slowly, but once it was on you watched as embarrassment flooded Eren. His smile was sheepish and stupid as he stuttered over his words. His hands rested on your hips and you stroked his face from his temple to jaw as you asked,

"Do you maybe feel the same way?"

You didn't get a verbal answer, the sudden kiss Eren laid on you was an answer enough. His lips were soft and warm as they moved against your own, his tongue enveloped yours and you felt him lean more onto you. The moan that slipped out his mouth when you bit his bottom lip made something tighten in your stomach.

When you two finally broke apart you didn't miss the trail of saliva that connected the two of you and you whimpered for more. The second kiss was heavier, a clash of teeth and tongues as Eren feverishly wrestled to touch you everywhere his hands could reach. You felt him press against your core, the loud gasp you let out made him look at you in concern.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll stop if you want me to."

You shook your head as you met those green eyes that held you captive since day one, "More. I want more."

The smirk was something you had never seen, his eyes became half-lidded as Eren kissed your nose. Then your chin, then your neck. When he reached your collar, his finger hooked onto the top of your dress, pulling the fabric down as he kissed just above your breast.

"She wants more." He said to himself, the soft rasp in his voice made you attempt to close your legs. His hands pushed what little that had covered your legs up and Eren's fingers brushed your core.

The jump you gave made his smirk grow, "I haven't even touched you yet."

He saw the small patch of dampness on your panties, and before you could ask him what he was doing, you let out a sharp gasp when his fingers pushed the fabric to the side and he plunged two fingers into your pussy.

The moan he ripped from you was like music to his ears and as he began to slowly pump his fingers in and out he watched as your face became hot and red. It was uncomfortable as first, you could even say it hurt but that didn't stop you from rocking your hips up to meet his eager hands. You weren't entirely prepared as you felt a bit tense as Eren kissed your neck, the suckling on your flesh making small breathy whimpers leave your mouth. His other hand's fingers hovered over the buttons on the back of your dress and his eyes asked for permission as he glanced up at you.

A small tentative nod was all he received before he took out his hand from between your legs, his tongue skillfully licking the digits cleaned and you didn't think you would find such an act so erotic. You arm hooked around his neck as you brought him down to a kiss, you could taste yourself on his lips as he kissed you back eagerly, his fingers skillfully working the buttons on your dress and you wondered for a brief moment if he had ever done such an act before. You pushed the thoughts away, not wanting to lose focus or confidence while in the middle of being with Eren by letting unnecessary insecure creep into your heart. As if being able to read your mind, Eren said-

"Stop being in your head," A hard kiss against your lips, "Be here with me."

His nose rubbed sweetly against yours, fingers tilting your head up as you gave a hesitant nod. Your eyes wanted to focus anywhere but his eyes and you could felt warmth spread across your cheeks when the sleeves of your dress fell down your arms. The idea of letting Eren see all of you was as exciting as it was nerve-wrecking, the most he ever saw was your legs and back from that one time you walked out of the bath in only a towel. Seeing him shirtless was not new but you still felt your breath catch in your throat as you watched him yank the material off. Your hands explored the newly exposed skin, fingers dipping in every curve of muscle and your hand rested just above the waistband of his jeans. You noticed his breathing grow heavy, Eren's head falling forward on your exposed shoulder where you felt him nip and suck on the soft flesh. You returned the favor by kissing him on the chest, your eyes still casted downwards as you fumbled with the buckle on his belt, you let out a small curse from how hard your hands were shaking and Eren placed a gentle hand on top of yours, his eyes alight with amusement as his lips curved into a soft smile.

"Baby, relax." He murmured, he pushed your hands aside as he took over the task. You let out a deep breath as you heard the sound of his zipper being tugged down and you decided to be bold. You lowered the upper half of your dress, the cotton falling off your arms with ease and you blushed furiously once you remembered that you hardly ever wore bras and today was no different.

Your nipples were taut as you shivered from the cold air in your office and Eren stared at you in wonder his eyes raking your body as you looked to the side and brought your bottom lip in between your teeth.

"Fuck, can I touch you?" Eren blurted, his hands still near his trousers and you giggled when he added a last second, "Please."

Nodding, you figured it was time to stop feeling so shy. You had been dreaming about this moment for months, yet as the man you loved stood before you, eager to be with you, all you could think about was how scared you were that you wouldn't be enough to satisfy him.

One more glance at the way he watched you was enough for you to think, If he really didn't, he wouldn't be looking at me as if I put all the stars in the sky.

You felt the second wind of confidence hit you and you took Eren by surprise as you hooked your fingers on his belt loops and tugged the fabric down. You palmed him through the thin material of his briefs and his hips jerked from the contact before he melted against you. Lowering the elastic, your small hand wrapped itself around his shaft and you took a moment to admire his dick. It was something new and foreign to you, for a moment you wondered if all male penises looked like that but you pushed that thought aside as you found yourself not really wanting to ever know, as long as Eren's would be the only one you saw. You hand moved up and down, your thumb brushing across his tip as you swiped some of the liquid leaking out to use as lube.

You knew he was a few inches above average, the thickness was also enough to make you worry for a moment whether he would be able to fit in you as his fingers struggling to push inside of you were of any indication of how tight your body was. Either way you were determined to satisfy the both of you, the idea of him using you and watching his face come apart as he milked himself dry using only your pussy had your head feeling fuzzy with want. He rested his head on you, causing your body to lean back and you pressed one palm on your desk behind you and the other jerked him off a bit sloppily. His moans filled the space of your office, you secretly prayed to the gods that the scouts could be smart enough for once to not be injured or to be able to at least handle it themselves and your eyes flickered to the door for a moment.

"Eren," You murmured to the shell of his ear, his heavy breaths fanning across the span of your chest and you felt both your bodies getting hot. "The door, we need to lock the door."

His groan was the only response you got as he trailed kisses up your neck and shoulder, and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes, he was such a guy sometimes. You began to lower yourself from the desk before his hand on your leg suddenly halted your movements and he gave you a lazy smile, his half lidded eyes softly rolling as he let out an obnoxious groan of annoyance.

"I'll do it." He didn't even bother to tuck himself back into his briefs, his dick fully erect as he made way to your door. You felt your hand falling to your side and you bit your lip as you thought about what you wanted to do twice before letting your own hand push the fabric of your underwear to the side once more. You rubbed at your clit lazily as you softly moaned, your eyes closing at the sensation and you smiled when you heard the soft, "Shit." coming from a few feet ahead of you. Eren's eyes were transfixed on you, the way your head rolled back as your moans became louder and higher pitched was making him painfully hard and he wanted-no needed to be inside of you before he was sure he would come right then and there.

Your eyes were still closed when you felt him settle between your legs once more, eyes hazy and smile lazy as you felt him tug your panties down your legs. Your ass lifted briefly to help and you giggled when he grunted in annoyance from having to shuffle backwards to slip them off completely. He laughed with you as his hand cupped you by your jaw, lips finding yours in a tender kiss and the hand that had been rubbing at your clit was used to steady yourself by his shoulder. His muscles flexed under your touch and your breaths intermingled as he stared at you with such an intensity that you felt your stomach flip. You looked down to where he rubbed his length along your folds and gulped.

"I-I'm nervous." You admitted, cheeks blushing and Eren kissed your temple.

"It's okay, I'll take care of you. Do you trust me?" You gasped at the intensity in his eyes, Eren Yeager was one who never beat around the bush and you felt tears pool around your eyes as you nodded. Everything leading up to this moment overwhelmed you suddenly, losing your family, gaining your dream job, becoming independent so quickly, and falling in love with a man who turned into what so many feared but who let you place` flower crowns on his head during tea parties. He continued to maintain eye contact with you, your lips parting and eyes partly closing as he began to push past your labia. It all felt too much, but you wouldn't want to be anywhere else in that exact moment Eren pressed his tip into your passageway. There was a bit of resistance and the guttural moan he released made your eyes widen in an audible gasp, he looked ethereal with reddened cheeks, a slacked opened jaw, eyes that looked close to tears, and thin layer of sweat making his dark brown locks stick to his forehead.

He pushed another inch in, trying his best to not act too quickly or too harshly. All he wanted to do was fucking ruin you. Mark you as his by impregnating you and watching as you took every drop of his semen. It seemed you wanted it too as your hips jerked forward and took in another inch.

"Eren, please." You had no idea what you were asking for, he was being slow and gentle and as much as you appreciated his mindfulness, it had been six long months and if you had to go through another night of humping your pillow or rubbing one out with only fantasies of Eren touching you (Sometimes even Levi, depending on how much alcohol you had consumed) you were gong to scream.

Another inch and a deep chuckle was his response. Your eyes were set ablaze as the realization that he was teasing you.

"Please what baby?"

"Give it to me." You whispered, your hand tugging at his hair harshly and the hiss of pain he released was simultaneous when he completely thrusted his entire length into you. Your thighs jerked at the sudden intrusion and the cry you let out was loud enough that if anybody were nearby, the would have assumed someone struck you. Your hand smacked against his chest, your breath ragged as you attempted to give Eren an angry glance but your pussy betrayed you as it clenched hard around him.

You both released a gasp when Eren fully bottomed out inside you. His hips flush against your parted thighs and your foreheads pressed against one another, lips brushing but not kissing yet as you two came to terms of what was being done. You and Eren were one, there was no going back from what was about to transpire and you silently prayed that he wouldn't regret it later.

"Stop being in your head," He murmured against your mouth, eyes looking into yours, "Be here..."

He gave a heavenly thrust and you felt his arms wrap themselves around your waist as he forced you to fall back onto your desk with a small uff and your hands fell onto his shoulders. Your legs locked around his waist and the new angle caused him to be deeper inside you, but he continued to stare at your with that same admiration from that day he had met you.

"With me."

You nodded slowly, kissing Eren for what felt like the first time. A bit shyly and unsure as your mouth moved against his slowly, you savored the taste of tea and something sweet from his tongue and you let one of your hands hold him by his face as the other found solace in his hair.

Eren began to thrust into you, the rhythm a bit off at first as you two tried to find what worked and when he dipped his hips a little and heard the string of filthy words leaving your mouth, he gave a knowing smirk.

"Hmm, right there princess?"

You panted, your tongue lolling out as his began to go faster. One of your hands shot out to the side to brace yourself on something when Eren began to fuck you harder and instead you turned to see you hand knocked your bottle of ink over, the deep blue liquid was spilling everywhere but before you could let your brain process the mess, Eren began to suck on the flesh of your neck that you exposed when you moved your head. You moaned as you closed your eyes at the overwhelming sensations of it all, your hands grabbing at the muscles in his back and you arched your own and pressed your chest into him.

"Oh fuck," Eren moaned out, "This pussy is so good. You're taking me so well, princess."

"Yeah?" You panted out, "Going to cum in me, baby?"

Eren picked himself up on his forearms, too preoccupied with how pretty your tits looks bouncing with each thrust to notice the your hair was sprawled all over and the upper part of his arm was touching something wet, he figured it was the sweat you two were producing with your coupling.

"I'm gonna get you pregnant, make you mine forever."

"I'm yours!" You screamed as his hips slammed particularly harder down onto your own.

"Choke me, make me a mommy, cum in me, just please don't stop fucking me." You cried out, and a new sort of excitement showed in his eyes, his hand cupped just below your jaw and the light pressure he put on you made you moan louder.

The sounds of skin smacking, panting breaths, and heavy moans filled the air. Eren coaxing you to come all over his dick as you begged him to not pull out of you echoed of the walls of your office. You went on like that for a good while and you giggled in realization that your silent wish for everyone to leave the two of you alone for a while had come true.

Unbeknownst to you two, there had almost been three interruptions. The first being Captain Levi who wanted to ask if mixing his blood pressure medicine with wine would be too dangerous, but when he heard you scream he almost barged in before the unmistakable moan that followed made him fully come to a halt. He didn't even think twice about what was transpiring, briefly remembering that Eren was in fact with you this morning before quickly turning around and hauled ass as far from the hallway as he could. He wasn't sure where he was heading before he stumbled into Erwin's office, the commander looking up to see his captain look like he just ran a marathon.

"Levi? You look like you just saw a ghost?" His eyebrows creased, "Are you okay?"

"Yeager isn't as dense as we thought."

Eren stood to his full height, grabbing at your ankles and moving your legs onto his shoulders to they were fully parallel to his body. You let out another giggle at how your ankles were now on either side of his head, but the small kiss he gave your right one made you let out a noise of adoration. He gripped your hips, smiling as he noted the streaks of something blue all over your chest and neck but decided against telling you as your pussy began to pulsate around him. There was no way in hell he was going to stop you from orgasming.

The second time was Sasha and Connie as they wanted to ask if eating candies with the wrapper still on was anything they needed to worry about, but the sounds of your desk scraping across the floor with Eren commending you for being a good girl and taking him so well made the both of them stare at each other with wide eyes. The "Huh?"'s they exchanged were amusing to anyone else and Sasha grabbed Connie by the collar before they hightailed out of there. Connie wanting to see if Eren had really been capable of pulling you and Sasha calling it bullshit and stating that the real reason was that he wanted to see you naked.

His thrusts became wild and sloppy, the slushing sounds you two were making was the hottest sounds you ever heard. You held onto his wrists, your smile wide and beautiful and Eren knew he wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer.

"I'm not gonna last long," He let you know, you nodded as you reached down to rub your clit in circles.

"Fuck, you look so hot." He blurted, his cheeks a deeper red and you gave him another soft smile.

"Thanks, baby. You too." His abs were going to be the death of you and you hoped you would get the chance to suck him off later to lick them one by one in foreplay.

You felt him begin to twitch in you and you knew you were so close, your rubbing speeding up as Eren's thrusts were becoming more sporadic. The way his eyes began to roll upwards had you chanting,

"I'm-I'm cumming!" Your moan was breathy and high as you felt your release overwhelm your senses, you felt euphoria as you moaned so loud that Jean and Floch who didn't believe Connie when he said that Eren had managed to bed you stared at each other with wide eyes and gaped mouths as they stood outside your door. Their cheeks red as they rushed down the hallway as if their asses were on fire, not even halfway down the stairs when they felt their collars yanked at so harshly they almost trampled down, Captain Levi's glare knowing as he began to reprimand them for being nosy pricks.

Eren's cock dove into you hard and you felt him pulsate as he shot long ropes of cum into you, his essence overflowing as he filled you to the brim and painted your insides white.

His moan was unbelievably loud and low, the "I love you." That followed didn't go unnoticed by you and the smile he gave, made you realize how much he meant it.

"I love you." Your answered back, he pushed your thighs to your chest when he lowered himself to kiss you. His cock softening inside you and he slowed his thrusts down and milked himself dry. He tapped his tip on your sensitive clit, making sure he was empty before tucking himself back into his boxers and jeans. The creampie in you was beginning to ooze out and he used his two fingers to push it back in, your hips bucking at the intrusion and you whined about your sensitivity.

You sat up, your hand going to fix your hair, only groaning slightly when you felt the ink on some strands already drying. You huffed before jumping down and fixing your dress. Eren was putting his shirt back on, his back slightly turned to you and your eyes widened in embarrassment at seeing the blue ink in what was obviously your finger prints streaked all over. You looked down and saw that it had well faded from your hands, transferring to your lover who put on his jacket. You shrugged, figuring no one would see it and you could wash your hands later. Your hair would be a bit tricky to explain but you would be home to shower soon anyway, which reminded you-

"Do you want to stay over tonight?" You blurted, scaring Eren as his eyes widened, you bit the inside of your cheek and fumbled with your fingers.

He smiled, walking up to you and kissing you on the lips before replying, "I would love to. I have to do some work today, and pack an overnight bag but I'll be home by dinner." His eyes looked you over, stifling a laugh when he saw the marks of blue ink on your neck, debating on telling you but not being able to deny how cute they looked on you, a gentle reminder of what happened just moments ago and an odd turn on for him to think of it as him marking you as his, the lovebite also on the side making him watch you with love.

You nodded before giving a follow-up question, "Chicken or fish?"

"Fish." He nodded, you grabbed a few papers from your desk drawer and Eren asked if you were all set before taking your hand into his as the two of you began to walk out the office, you mentioned having to speak to Erwin about the cadet recovering from a broken limb and Eren listened patiently, your hands swinging in between the two of you and you both relished at how easy it felt to transition into a life of domestication together. He walked you to Erwin's office, his knuckles knocking on the door before a loud, "One minute!" replied.

You both shared a look of confusion before shrugging and stepping to the side. You fixing his hair and Eren's hand resting on top of your hips when the office door opened. You both turned to see Jean and Floch who sported sullen faces, their arms swinging in front of them as if they were children just denied a cone of ice cream.

"Boys?" You called, your free hand interlocking with Eren who stood in place as you took a step toward the pair. "Everything alright?"

They looked between you and Eren, Jean seeing the ink marks on your neck and seeing Eren's hair haphazard was enough to make him look to the floor, his cheeks reddening and Eren could only smirk. Floch was the opposite, he couldn't take his eyes off you as his face held a permanent grimace and you wondered if he was constipated.

"Baby," Eren called, tugging you back to him and Jean scoffed, Possessive ass is already showing her off. He thought to himself.

"They just got yelled at by Erwin, whatever they did was obviously bad, just leave them be."

You nodded in understanding, giving them a comforting smile and Floch didn't miss the knowing look in Eren's eyes.

"Sorry to hear about that. If you two ever need anything, you know where my office is."

"Yeah, that's the problem." Captain Levi's voice came from the doorway. Jean and Floch mumbled a quick goodbye before scurrying away and you couldn't help but fall into deeper confusion.

The captain and Eren exchanged looks before Eren bent to kiss your cheek.

"I got to go. I'll see you later, princess." You blushed at the nickname and public display, murmuring a soft okay in reply as your boyfriend? walked away from you.

You gave Levi a smile which he didn't return, you didn't miss the small blush on his cheeks and you figured it was from seeing such intimacy from Eren. You were almost positive Levi was still a virgin. Walking into Erwin's office, you all but skipped the man's desk, falling beside him and giving him a bright smile which he returned.

"Hey Erwin, just wanted to update you on the cadet's recovery plan. He should be back in training in a few months if he listens to my instructions, think you can help me?"

"Sure what do you need?"

"Well, I'd need you to sign these release forms first." You shrugged putting the papers in front of him, you looked at his desk and grabbed the pen, "Where's your ink?"

The chuckle the two men gave you made your eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What?"

"Seems like you're wearing it, Doc." Levi's eyes flickered to your neck.

You let out a gasp and your hands slapped to cover you and the laughs that followed only made you blush furiously.

Dammit, You thought, Eren you idiot.

320 notes · View notes

sweeethinny · 3 years

Text

Second son

Summary: ‘You ran away from home?’

‘When I was about sixteen,’ said Sirius. ‘I’d had enough.’

‘Where did you go?’ said Harry, staring at him.

‘Your dad’s place,’ said Sirius. ‘Your grandparents were really good about it; they sort of adopted me as a second son.’

Sirius runs away from home, and we see it through Euphemia Potter's eyes.

kind of inspired by @questions-forthe-marauders perfect art! HERE

AO3

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December 23, 1976 - 5:25PM

Euphemia did her best not to cry when Minerva's letter arrived at her house.

‘’Mia,

I know what I'm going to ask of you is totally irrational and you have every right to ignore my request and yell at me, but I don't see any other way out.

I've been noticing for a few weeks that Sirius has been acting weird and seems to be distant from everyone. A few days ago I noticed a bruise on the corner of his mouth, but I can't tell if it was a fight with his brother or someone else, you know how boys are at that age.

Anyway, I've noticed that it's been a few months since his detention has been signed by his parents anymore, and I've tried contacting them but Dumbledore keeps saying there's nothing to worry about - you know him, he's terrible at times.

I think there's something wrong with him, and I know Sirius comes to your house during the holidays because I always hear James talking about it, so I came through this letter asking that if you notice anything strange, please tell me. Or talk to Sirius to see if you can find anything.

I'm very worried.

Love, and I'm sorry to bother you with this,

Minerva.''

It hurt her heart more than she thought it would, noticing that the signs Minnie had said were all right there under her nose. James hadn't said anything about Sirius coming for Christmas, and he'd been there for two years now, even though she felt a little bad that he wasn't with his parents on that date. And James looked weird too; he was angrier than usual, and reluctant to talk to them and getting locked in his room.

When they were at the station, Mia noticed that Sirius had got off the train alone and looked guilty, not even looking in their direction as he walked over to where his parents were - who didn't look at all happy with his presence there.

He had already told Monty a few times that his parents didn't like him going to Gryffindor, and James had once told her that Sirius didn't get along with Regulus. But Euphemia always thought it was silly things that teenagers took too seriously, but now, she felt she should have given more importance to the signs.

“Sirius isn't coming?” she asked when she saw James coming down the stairs, an unusually sulky look.

"I don't know," was all he said, walking into the kitchen and leaving her alone in the living room. Her heart clenched, a bad feeling burning in her chest.

"Didn't he tell you anything?" James always liked to talk about everything with Euphemia, Monty said he was a big mama's boy, but she didn't mind at all. As long as he was going to look for her to get her opinion, Euphemia would be only too happy to help him.

"He just said he didn't know if he was coming." James walked out of the kitchen, a glass of milk and a cookie jar under his arm, but when he threatened to go back up to the bedroom, she stopped him.

"Come here." James didn't like being confronted, he'd inherited it from her, and he used to frown when someone demanded answers from him. But Euphemia had no choice but to do that, so he was going to need to spit it out. ‘’Is something going on? Did you guys fight?” she asked, folding the letter and placing it on the coffee table with Minnie's name down, not wanting James to know she already knew. This made it difficult for him to speak.

"No." He sat up, sullen as he always was when she did that. James didn't meet her eyes however, and that was a red light for her. He was one of those people who didn't mind looking anyone in the eye unless he was lying.

‘’You know you can talk to me, don't you? I care about you two.”

"We don't…" He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back against the sofa cushions, the glass of milk and cookies forgotten on the coffee table. ''He was being an idiot the last few days, I don't know what got into him, but I was ignoring it because I don't know, he gets like that sometimes when he and Regulus fight, but then the christmas thing came up and I said if he continued in that mood he wouldn't be welcome here,'' James denied, pulling his hair angrily. ''I thought he'd know I was joking, of course he's welcome here, but then he got mad and told me he wasn't coming to bother me this year, and I yelled that it would be great so… I got mad, I wasn't thinking… so he got out of our wagon and went to Merlin knows where. I only saw him when we got off the train, and he was already going with his parents.'’

‘’Oh, son…’’

''I know I shouldn't have said that, but he was being an idiot, and now... I hope he doesn't hate me.'' Euphemia wanted to go to that hideous Black house to drag Sirius under her wing, force him and James to talk and make up, and bring him in with them. But Monty had already told her that this was illegal.

"He doesn't hate you, son." She opened her arms for James to hug her, stroking his hair and thinking about what she could do with the situation. "Did you say he and Regulus had a fight?"

"They...um," Of course James was too faithful to tell her about that. Too noble to betray his best friend. ‘’Kind of a fight.’’

“Does Sirius often fight with him a lot?” She remembered when they had once met Walburga and Orion at an event, and only Regulus was with them.

"Where's Sirius?" she had asked, because it didn't make sense to take just one child. And Sirius was what, twelve or thirteen at the time?

"He preferred to stay with my sister," Walburga said, smiling bitterly at Euphemia as if silently telling her not to meddle where she wasn't called.

She swallowed, thinking maybe she was seeing trouble where it didn't exist. Maybe he really wanted to stay with his aunt, she couldn't prove otherwise.

‘’Send him a letter later inviting him to our Christmas, okay? If you want,” she said, looking once more at Minnie's letter on the table.

"Fine."

December 24, 1976 - 10:54PM

It was snowing like never before outside, probably the coldest night this year so far, and the house was silent when she woke up to noises outside.

Monty jumped out of bed, wand in hand, just as she had, heart pounding in her chest and a motherly fear of protecting James at all costs from whatever was out there.

Ever since they declared support for muggleborns and as she and Fleamont began to increasingly advocate for minorities and help organizations of students who couldn't afford to buy supplies and clothing for the Hogwarts school years, they were marked as a target for the other traditional families, carrying a huge red flag where ''traitors'' was written in bold letters.

Euphemia couldn't care less about that, she was more than happy to be considered a traitor if it meant she was doing good.

“What was that?” James muttered, haunted brown eyes staring like he was going to war.

Her son didn't go to war, though, not when he couldn't even drink yet.

‘’Stay in the room, and get the portkey. Anything, use it!” She instructed him, but James seemed too stubborn to accept that. "James, enter your room now, and stay there."

“Three is better than two.” He continued to follow them, Monty further along and having already made a protective barrier between him and her and James.

‘’Not when one of them is fifteen. Now come in and stay there, me and your dad let's see what's going on.'

''Mom-''

"Don't make me need to use magic to get you to do what I want." She said authoritatively, and that caused James to fall back a few steps, looking at her startled. Euphemia mentally thanked him for that and walked downstairs, thinking that later she would apologize for talking to him like that, but that's because she wasn't risking her boy in that situation.

Monty raised his wand and opened the door, ready to attack whoever was there on the other side, but before he could, Sirius raised his arms and closed his eyes as if he too was waiting to be attacked. ‘’Sirius?!’’

‘’I'm sorry, I-’’

''What did we do on our last trip?'' Fleamont asked, and as much as Euphemia thought it was unnecessary - please just bring the boy inside he'll freeze! - she knew they were in the middle of a war.

''You tried to learn to surf with me and James, but you nearly broke your ankle when you fell.'' Sirius kept his arms raised, and she noticed that his lips were purple from the cold, and that jacket didn't seem to warm him. She didn't even wait for Monty to lower his wand and went over to him, pulling Sirius into their house and hugging him tightly, wanting more than anything to take away whatever inner pain seemed to haunt him.

He looked too terrified for a sixteen-year-old boy.

"What happened, Pads?" James ran up to them, looking worried about him too. ‘’You didn't even answer my letter and-’’

''I...I ran away from home.'' He shrugged and avoided looking her or Monty in the eye, Euphemia realized he had a backpack on his back. Her heart ached so much that she couldn't stop the tears. She pulled Sirius even tighter against her. "Mia, if I can't stay here, it's okay, it's just that I came walking-"

‘’Did you walk all the way here?! It's almost an hour and a half of walking, boy!” Monty yelled. "Someone could have tried something against you."

''It was okay, I,'' Sirius looked at James, and she knew he wasn't telling her all the details and he'd probably done something against the law to not die in the snow, but she didn't care about that now. "It was the first place I thought of coming."

‘’Of course, dear, of course. James, make him a hot bath, and Monty heat up dinner… are you hungry, Sirius?” He nodded, cheeks burning with embarrassment. ''Here, come sit in front of the fireplace… And of course you can stay here, please, I don't even want to think that you thought I wouldn't accept you.'' She sighed, walking with him to the sofa and taking off the wet jacket he wore, waving her wand so that the nearly extinguished fire began to crackle again, warming the room. "You can live with us Sirius, don't worry, you don't have to go back to those horrible people anymore." His gray eyes blinked with tears, and it was probably the first time she'd seen Sirius cry. ‘’Don't worry honey, you're fine now…’’

----

‘’Minnie,

I'm so glad you warned me about this, and I understand your concern.

Sirius ran away from home last night, he didn't want to tell us what happened and I think at some point I'll know, but the boy looks terrified now.

He's not okay, but he's going to be. And I've already sent a letter to Dumbledore telling him that now anything that happens to him is to call us.

I don't think Walburga or Orion will complain, they let their son run away in the middle of a blizzard and so far they haven't looked for him. But it's better this way, Monty would probably kill them if they showed up at our door.

You know that we always wanted to have one more child anyway.

With love,

Euphemia.’’

#james potter #marauders headcanon #marauders era #moony wormtail padfoot and prongs #sirius black #my fic #the marauders era

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whatifxwereyou · 3 years

Text

The Oncoming Storm Part 8: Visions

Liu Kang x Reader and Kung Lao x Reader (gonna do both, two paths!)

help lol. this was actual torture. We haven't even gotten to a point where it splits and holy moly. Enjoy! Next update is Tuesday! Much love and gratitude, guys. Hope you like~

Part 7 Part 9 Chapter Index

You woke up with a splitting headache. You stared at the ceiling of the infirmary and as you shifted and sat up, you could feel the bruises from the past two days rearing their ugly heads. It had been ages since you’d been so bruised up from practicing. It was fine. Nothing you couldn’t walk off. One of the monks returned to you upon seeing you awake. An older woman took the seat next to you and without a word, took your pulse and checked your eyes and fingernails.

You were used to this by now. The monks were good at what they did, better than some doctors that you’d seen over the years. You had faith in their knowledge and care. “I’m worried, Y/N.” The monk spoke carefully, motherly. You avoided eye contact. Your mother had used that tone when you’d first gotten sick. It was a tone you hated. Pity. “Since you’ve arrived, you seem to have trouble clotting. We’re running some tests.” You sighed but nodded and the monk gently clasped your hand, aged fingers over your bruised ones. “Don’t worry too much. It’s probably from the poison.”

“You’re probably right.” You had this sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that it wasn’t the case. You had to be optimistic but that wasn’t always easy. “Thank you for everything.”

“You can stay here if you’re worried. Your old space is still furnished.”

“No, no. I should head back to my room and get some rest.” You stood and stretched. You’d spent more than enough time in the infirmary. Your side was stiff and sore. Still, all things considered, you felt better than you had expected to. Other than the annoying headache, you were as good as new. The monk wished you well and then you left the infirmary and blindly walked back to your room. Even as you opened the door and stared at your bed, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not without having nightmares at least. It was cold that night and the gust of wind coming through the window made you shiver. You pulled one of the coats from your collection of hanfu over your shoulders and then left your room.

There was no sleep for you that night. You walked through the temple and unconsciously made your way to the fight pit. It had been cleaned up since you’d last been there but was abandoned for the night. You walked through the sand to the other side and sat on the edge of the cliff. Reaching into the folds of your clothing you pulled free the flower that Kung Lao had given you earlier.

You admired the petals again and brushed your fingers over each of them, counting them. Ten. You contemplated that children’s game of plucking petals in wonder of love but would have hated to ruin the flower. Then you tucked it inside of your hanfu for safekeeping. The wind made you shiver even as covered up as you were and while you were weary, you tried to familiarize yourself with the layout of the other side of the temple. It was like counting sheep, you supposed except you were counting windows and judging distance.

You felt his energy before you heard the footsteps approaching. Kung Lao. It was the middle of the night. What was he doing awake?

“You should be resting.” He stood next to you, hands behind his back. You didn’t look up at him. You didn’t need to.

“I am resting. This is resting.”

“It’s cold out. Liu Kang’s going to try to kick my ass if I let you freeze out here.”

“That’d be fun to see.” You yawned. He sat down next to you, resting his hat to the side of him against the wall. Silence followed and you shivered, pulling the hanfu tighter around you.

“You didn’t tell me how badly I hurt you.”

“I didn’t realize until I was getting changed. I don’t blame you or anything. Seemed silly to try and chase you down.”

“I forgot that I hit you. You just… took it. I should have been more mindful.”

“I told you that it was fine. I forgot. We were excited about my arcana.”

“The monks said you lost a lot of blood.” Kung Lao stared out at the temple, just as you did, avoiding eye contact. Why? You wanted the answer but didn’t want to ask. “Takes time to recover from that.”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it. I’m fine.”

“It is a big deal. I’m not one to make a big deal out of it if it isn’t, Y/N. You should know that. From what they told me you shouldn’t have lost that much blood in the first place even with the circumstances. It was stupid to go into the springs afterward, by the way.”

“Don’t judge me. I haven’t been thoroughly clean since you left me here. Excuse me for wanting to relax.”

“You lost so much blood. I’m judging a little.”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Depends on the secret, Y/N.”

“They think the poison did something to make me bleed that heavily. Not sure if it’s true or not.” You considered that maybe it wasn’t just that. As you stared down at your folded legs, you remembered a time as a child where you’d scraped your knees and they had bled and bled into the night. You’d gotten sick and then in trouble for getting sick. Your parents had only been worried but it had felt like you’d done something wrong as a kid. This was all too familiar. “I haven’t told Liu yet.”

“And why not? I thought you two had become close friends.”

“We have but I haven’t seen him since I found out for one.”

“…and?”

“He worries about me too much, perhaps.” You didn’t think that was a bad thing, but you didn’t want to be his burden either. You knew your own limits. Besides, he’d had that nightmare the other night of you dying. You didn’t want his worry for you to keep him awake any more than it had.

“I can see why he’d be worried. You’re precious.” Kung Lao’s voice was serious and that instantly set you on edge. Even as kids, he had rarely sounded serious.

“Kung Lao…”

“I know that it’s been years since we last saw each other, Y/N. We don’t really know each other anymore but I would very much like the chance to get to know you again. I’ll try not to worry about you too much but I can’t make any promises.”

“I’d like that very much.” You smiled and then closed your eyes. The wind whipped over the edge of the cliff and you shook off the chills.

“You really should rest. That’s the best medicine or this sort of thing.”

“I told you, I am resting.” You yawned. “You should rest too. It’s late. Why are you awake, anyway?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Took a walk. Found you. Liu Kang would kill me if I let you stay out here alone.”

“I’m a grown woman and I’ll do whatever I want, Kung Lao. I’m not ready to go back yet. I’m enjoying the chill and calm.”

“Then I’ll keep you company.” They sat peacefully for a time. Then Kung Lao talked to you, told you about his trip to search for the flower that he’d brought you. He really had gone well out of his way to find it. You were glad that you’d kept it so precious and safe. It would fade, you’d press it in a book again, and keep it for as long as time would allow.

Then he yawned and you saw him falling over and falling asleep. He leaned against your shoulder and you laughed and gently shook him awake. His weight was knocking you over. He sat upright quickly, blinked away the sleep, and then wiped his mouth. He’d even drooled.

“Go to bed, Kung Lao.”

“I don’t want to leave you here alone.” He yawned and placed his hat in his lap.

“And I don’t want you drooling on my shoulder.”

“…you know, that’s fair. I’ll go to bed.” He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. “Sure you won’t join me?”

“You go. I’m still enjoying the quiet.”

“Could be fun?” He teased and you swatted at his leg at the suggestion. “Your loss. Promise me that you’ll get some rest eventually, Y/N.”

“I promise. Go to bed. Cold and alone.” You teased without looking back at him. He walked away, leaving you alone on the edge of the fight pit. You waited until his energy was out of reach and then took the flower from within your robes again and smiled. He really was sweet, even if he was a bit abrasive. You tucked the flower away again and leaned against the stone of the wall nearby. A few more minutes and then you’d get up and you’d go to bed. Kung Lao was right. You shouldn’t have been out there alone all night. It was frigid.

Before you knew it, you were being shaken awake. You jumped and grabbed the wrist of whoever was shaking you but your vision was blurry.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Liu Kang’s voice soothed you but it was laced with worry. You blinked desperately but there were black spots in your vision. Liu was crouched before you, searching your eyes, and pushing your hair from your face. “Focus on me, okay?”

Your ears were ringing and your heart was racing.

“What are you doing out here? You’re freezing…” Liu brushed his hands down your arms to try and warm you and then he stopped to take your pulse on your wrist. “Your heart is racing, too. Are you okay?”

His voice was drowned out by a high-pitched screeching, ringing from one ear to the next, then completely deafening you. You grasped your ears to try and force the sound away and skittered away from Liu Kang’s grasp. You couldn’t feel his touch anymore, couldn’t see him. Closing your eyes tight, you willed away the sound, the discomfort, the sudden fear, and pain.

Then there was silence.

You opened your eyes and when you did what met you was hazy, as if a violent sandstorm raged in front of you. There was blood splattered across the fight pit, and behind the pillars you could see people fighting. Darkness rose from the ground, filling the gap between pillars with swirling, thick smoke. From the shadows, a man emerged, regal and terrible, long dark hair, gold armor, dark cloak fluttering behind him. There was a wicked smile on his face and as he stopped, he turned to look right at you.

The whites of his eyes went black and with a raise of his hand, armies of horrid warriors with rows of teeth exposed on their faces, all the way up to their ears rushed forward. They shrieked and charged through the temple. You tried to scream, to cry for help, to run at them but you couldn’t move. It was as if you weren’t there. Yet the man with the dark eyes looked right at you. He saw you. Panic gripped your chest and you tried to close your eyes, but there was no closing them, no looking away. There were flashes of pain, of agony on the faces of people you knew and others that you didn’t. They were losing.

The darkness of the fog surrounded you and when you blinked your eyes open, you saw the lantern lit halls of the temple. You were being carried down the hall in Liu Kang’s arms. Panic gripped you and you struggled to ground yourself. “No! No!” You shouted and tried to get out of his arms and onto your feet. “Liu!” Ink was dripping down your arms and over your fingers. Liu Kang’s arms and chest were soaked in it.

Liu nearly lost his grip on you and he stumbled, the first time you’d ever seen him lose his footing. You wriggled free out of his arms, needing room to breathe, to feel less confined. Liu let you go and you fell to your knees then scooted away from him until your back met the pillar. You leaned your head against it, trying to catch your breath. Ink stained the stone beneath you with every move and you willed the magic to fade. You didn’t remember summoning the ink. It had a mind of its own.

Liu made his way to you and grasped your arms as if he needed to touch you. He searched your eyes, his face rigid with concern. “Are you there? Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you,” you whispered and he breathed a sigh of relief, hanging his head. “I… I saw something.” The harsh reality of those words shook you to the core. You had never wanted to say that again, never wanted to think that you would again see things that were beyond your sight.

“You were having a fit, you were… shaking and struggling to breathe and…” Liu Kang didn’t seem to hear you. He was panicking, something you didn’t think that you’d ever live to see. “Then you exploded with ink.”

“Liu, listen to me, please…” You made to touch his cheek but he was still holding your wrists.

“We have to get you back to the infirmary.” He made to lift you up and, arms free, you grabbed his hands and forced him to stop.

“No!” You shouted in desperation. “Liu, listen to me.” He stopped and relaxed just enough that the panic left him.

“Y/N, please,” he whispered, worry thick in his voice. “You’re freezing and…”

“Please, listen to me, Liu. I saw… a man with dark eyes and he… he burst through a wall of shadow with an army.” You tried to recall the rest of what you’d seen but your brain was buzzing again with panic. The visions were tangled like a mess of Christmas lights.

“…you had a vision?” Realization was thick in his voice and yet it was laced with wonder.

“We were in danger. You were in danger.” You weren’t sure how you knew he was in danger. The vision had been fuzzy, but your worry for him was exceptional. “Kung Lao was… and there were people I didn’t recognize, Liu. You were all in danger.” Liu Kang stayed quiet as though there was a war raging inside his head.

Then he pulled his hands free and held his right one before you and lit it on fire.

“You’re freezing, Y/N.” He was still worried but his nerves seemed to have calmed enough for him to stop trying to drag you away. “I need you to go to the infirmary for me. We can go from there.”

“Just stay here for a moment with me. Please, Liu? Then I’ll do whatever you like.” You breathed a sigh of relief. The heat from the flame was too much. He was right. You were too cold. The fire felt like an assault. You kept your eyes fixed on his face. “I need to see you. I need to know you’re okay.” It was true. Besides the panic of having seen something like that for the first time since you were twelve, you had found yourself worried about him.

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

Liu Kang extinguished his flame, picked up your hands and urged them to his cheeks. Your ink-stained fingers left smudges on his skin. “I’m okay.” He assured you. “I’m right here. No one is attacking anyone. It’s just us.”

“Just us.” You repeated, searching his face. He was covered in ink but no worse for wear. You brushed your fingers over his face, down his jaw and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pulled him close in a hug. He’d put his worry, his panic aside to comfort you and you couldn’t have been more grateful. His arms slipped around you in return, pulling you tighter to him. “Promise me that you’ll be careful.”

“I promise.” He pulled back just enough to be face to face with you, voice a calm whisper. His hand rested on the side of your neck, tips of his fingers against your cheek. “What else did you see?”

“It’s a jumbled mess.” You furrowed your brow. You didn’t want to see it again. The panic you’d felt had been the kind of panic you hadn’t felt in years. You’d felt helpless, useless. Like a prisoner of your mind. “I don’t know where to begin explaining it. I wish I could just show you.”

“Lord Raiden will help you make sense of it.”

You let your hands rest on his strong upper arms and nodded. He was warm and you were absolutely freezing, it was better than the fire he’d used. Liu’s eyes were searching your face and he pushed your hair back, hands tangled in your tresses. The danger you felt still clutching your chest was immeasurable. You grasped his arm and in your mind’s eye you could see his face, filled with anguish and pain. You wanted to keep him from that. Liu Kang didn’t deserve that sort of pain.

“Y/N.” His voice was soft and concerned and you focused again on his eyes, wide and staring at you with worry. He was only a few inches away now and you held your breath, for fear that you would disturb him. Liu’s fingers brushed up over your cheek and his thumb brushed over your lower lip, parting your lips just slightly.

Heat rose from deep within your stomach, through your chest, and right up to your cheeks and the agonizing few seconds that passed afterward nearly killed you. Time stopped as his lips met yours, smooth and perfect, a slow and deliberate kiss that made your whole body ignite as though Liu’s fire had passed through you with that touch of his lips. If you hadn’t been seated, your knees absolutely would have given out.

His warm fingers ran up your cheek, through your hair, and to the back of your head, where he held you ensnared in his kiss. Breaking through the panic that had rendered you useless, you allowed your lips to part further, tilting your head into that gentle kiss, the intoxicating scent of soot and ink colliding between you. Your hand had found his shirt and your fingers tangled in the cloth, pulling him just a bit closer.

The soft and tender thing that the kiss had begun as shifted into something deeper, more primal. A desperate display of affection that you had both resisted for far too long. His hands moved from your hair, over the sides of your neck, down your shoulders, the coat of the hanfu falling away, but getting stuck behind you as you were pressed harder against the pillar.

Your lips collided, and a soft, deep half growl half moan emerged from deep in the back of his throat and you felt the pressure of his kiss, pushing your bodies closer together. You found your hands at the back of his shirt, pulling him closer, your heart racing so hard you were light-headed. Nothing else mattered. Nothing but his lips, his hands pulling you closer, traveling down your arms, over your sides, grasping you tightly.

Tilting your head to the side, you invited him to kiss you deeper, more intimately, but then pain shot through you side beneath his touch so completely that you bit his lip and pulled back with a gasp. It was like breathing for the first time, like the world suddenly came into view as Liu Kang pulled back in surprise, sucking on his lower lip that bled just enough for you to notice the color of blood on his flesh.

“Are you okay?” He seemed to struggle to breathe, to find words. As he urged his hands to pull away from beneath your hanfu he stared at his hands. One of them was stained with blood. Your blood. You shivered and with the loss of the heat of Liu Kang you were again freezing. The kiss felt like a distant memory already, a memory that was too far away, that you wanted to once again be lost in.

“I’m okay.” You finally managed words but they felt out of time. Your heart was beating so hard in your chest that you swore that you would stop breathing and die right there. If your last moment was that kiss with Liu Kang then you were okay with that.

“Your lips are blue.” He brushed his thumb over your lips again and you felt your stomach twist back into knots. Then he pulled back his hands and lit both of them on fire, holding them closer to you to warm you. The heat was overwhelming. “We need to get you to the infirmary and speak with Lord Raiden.”

“I’m exhausted, Liu.” You couldn’t think of walking anywhere. You weren’t sure your legs would work. Between your vision, the blood loss, and the recent memory of Liu Kang’s lips, you weren’t sure you’d ever walk properly again.

“We can sit for a minute. But not for long with you bleeding like this.” His whispers were still so intimate; for you and you alone. You nodded and let him warm you until finally you stopped shaking. Even so, your thoughts were still racing. Focus was nearly impossible, all things considered, and yet the thing that kept racing to the forefront of your thoughts were his lips. Liu Kang was watching you but when you looked back to him, he averted his eyes.

There would be plenty of time to wonder what the hell this had meant, but for now you had a laundry list of things to do.

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roger-that-cap · 3 years

Text

once upon a december

knight!steve x reader (sort of an anastasia au type thing!)

word count: 4.09k!

warnings: i think swearing! but other than that this is good for everyone!

did not check her for errors, sorry!

part two!

You rode for about fifteen minutes at medium speed on the huge horse that felt like seconds to you by the time you were coming into town. The way the horse stopped startled you, because just as fast as he started his trot, it felt natural to you. It would have brought you all the way to sleep, if your mind hadn’t been so wary about who was right in front of you.

“This is our stop,” he muttered, getting off of his horse and turning to you, and you reached your hand out to be helped down, landing softly on your feet. “You good?”

“I am, thank you.” You said out of politeness, and he nodded. You looked at where his eyes were looking as he tied his horse to the tree, and you immediately recognized it as a bar. “A bar?”

Those were forbidden back at the orphanage. You had been told that only low people went there, people with no class. As far as you were concerned, orphans were the lower class. You couldn’t get lower than that in the kingdom. Right above you were the common bargoers, you believed.

“There a problem with that?”

“I don’t speak to drunk men.” You surely didn’t. You had learned from others that men who were drunk wanted one of two things at all times, and that was to start a fight or to make children. At first, you had faith in the men that people talked so down on. But you learned. Like all other women, you learned. “If he wants to speak to me, he’ll have to come outside.”

“It’s cold,” James said, giving you a face.

You weren’t going in a room full of rowdy people. You much rather preferred hushed, passionate conversations and whispers. It was just… better. “If he’s a good man, he won’t make me go in there.”

“What does him being a man have to do with that?”

“Men are nasty,” you said boldly, and he gave you a slightly amused, slightly agitated look. “And they’re all in there,” you said, grimacing when you heard boisterous laughter. “If you want a good seamstress, you’ll bring him out here to talk.”

“Where are you from?” He asked out of nowhere, and you were both shocked at his blatant attitude and relieved by it.

“Why?”

“You don’t sound like you’re from around here.” He per his horse twice before looking back at you. “So, where are you from?”

You took a deep breath and then exhaled, watching it leave your body with an intense curiosity before you answered his question. “Would you believe me if I told you I didn’t know?”

A slow smile spread across his face, and then he was grinning, a shallow but true grin. And then, he shook his head once. “No.” He turned around and walked straight into the bar.

You had no idea what to do. Were you supposed to stand there and wait, possibly even freeze? Or was that a sign for you to follow him or go on your own way? You had already tried to be on your own, and that didn’t work well at all. Maybe you were a team player before you were an orphan.

You stood with your arms wrapped around your body, swishing back and forth and bending your knees every so often, locking eyes with the horse every now and again before finally turning away from the bar and throwing your head up, giving out a groan.

“Hey,” you tilted your head back down. “Buck tells me you’re a seamstress for cheap.” You turned around and faced the direction where the sound of boots slapping snow came from, and immediately you were stunned.

A blonde man, even taller than his brunette companion, was standing there, his steps long stuttered at the sight of you. You could see his blue eyes clearly even through the flurries of snow that were still coming down. You frowned subconsciously, something about the sight of him tugging at your mind.

He took a few steps closer, and you stayed put. You could have sworn that his head was going to pop right out of his neck when he pushed it forward, trying to get a good look at your face. He was close enough where you could see the looks of surprise, confusion, and anger morph into one. His jaw slacked, and as quiet as the wind, he said one word. “Alexandra?”

Just like that, your enchantment with the second grown man that you had seen during your journey dropped. You shook your head at him. “Who’s Alexandra?”

His slight joy dropped, plummeted so far that you couldn’t have caught it even if you tried. “Who are you?” He questioned harshly.

“Y/N,” you said cautiously, narrowing your eyes on him. “I make clothes. You said you needed help,” you said, and you looked towards the hole in his pants and how they were shorter than what they needed to be, and you also caught sight of a huge hole under his arm. You gave him a look. “And it seems to me that you do need help, so don’t be so hostile.”

“Buck, who-”

“I found her. She sprained her ankle.”

The blonde man had you on the receiving end of a harsh look and then yanked his friend to the side, seemingly for a private conversation that wasn’t so private because of how loud he was, and how good your hearing was.

You could tune into nearly anything, and tune out of nearly anything. It was the perk of being the oldest for most of your time at the orphanage. Some kids were fighting while another needed some help, and you couldn’t listen to both. And so, you adapted.

“This- who is she? Who is that, Bucky?” Bucky? His name was Bucky and not James?

“She says she’s-”

“I know, but she sews, too?” The man’s voice was quiet. “She- she looks like an older version of Alexandra.”

“I know.”

Whoever this “Alexandra” girl was, the blond man was not happy about you resembling her. It was all over his face and in his body language. “So, why did you bring her here?”

“He brought me here because your pants are too small,” you chimed in, and they jumped. “What? I have good hearing. What can I say?”

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop.”

“Guess my parents never taught me that,” you joked, knowing that they wouldn’t get it. “I can fix your clothes. I just need money, and quiet. All the whispering freaks me out, and I can hear it.”

“Who are you really?”

“I’m Y/N, I’m an orphan, and I’m a seamstress in training.”

“You’ve never worked in a shop?”

“W-well, no, but I- I know how to sew,” you said, getting tripped up on your words the second he started to ask you about what you could do. “In fact, I did all of my clothes myself.”

He looked you up and down. “How did you learn?”

You had a feeling that I always just knew wasn’t going to be enough for the blond man, especially because he already didn’t like you. “I… it’s a natural talent.”

“Ha!” His laugh was more of an exclamation than anything as he looked up to the sky and shook his head. “When will I be done paying for the past?”

You made a face at him and waited for his dramatics to subside, tapping your foot in the snow despite your utter freezing. “So, are you going to give me your pants to work on…?”

“What’s your rate, girl?”

“Don’t call me that.” You retorted. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Sir Steven,” he answered, and you saw James give him a look. “What pay do you want?”

“Enough to get a train ticket to Auren.” They both looked at you strangely, and it was for long enough that you took a step back and crossed your arms over your chest. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“Why are you going there?” James asked carefully, almost as if he was walking on the thinnest sheet of ice over a lake that he was standing in the middle of. You didn’t like it.

“Because I want to.” You didn’t even consider trying to explain to them about the pull you felt. They looked rich. They looked like they had never experienced loss before. You hadn’t met many knighted men, but you felt like they were too pretty to have seen much at all. “So, if you can’t trade me some new clothes for a ticket, then, I’ll find someone else.”

“We were actually heading that way.”

“That way?” You asked, a brow cocked. “You mean to get there by horse?”

“It’s no more than a three week ride from here, if we’re fast.” James explained, looking to his partner, who was still staring holes in your face. “The trail is already made.”

You knew what he was insinuating. Was it wise to agree to it? Probably not, and at the same time, it may save you money and time. It would take you a long time to work up what you needed for a ticket, but if they were offering to let you ride with them if you fixed their clothes every so often, that could be it. On the back of a horse could be the way you got to Auren, away from the snow, away from everything you’ve conditioned yourself to know again.

“Are you offering for me to come with you?” The huge, blond man looked horrified.

“If you’re comfortable with riding,” he said, ignoring the lethal look that “Steven” gave him. “We mess up our clothes a lot, we could use someone who knows how to fix them. How fast are you?”

“Very.” And you were. You were quick and accurate, and you only got quicker with every passing month.

“I’m sorry-” the glowering man gave you a fake smile and turned around to his friend. “We need to talk.” He pulled him off to the side, way too far for you to hear, and sighed and shook your head.

“Hey, horse.” You muttered, petting him a few times. “Do me a favor, would you?” There was no verbal answer, of course. “If you think I should go with them, stomp your foot twice.

You didn’t even need for him to stomp his huge feet for you to know what you were doing. The men seemed more honorable than the ones you were warned about, and for some reason, you knew that you could trust them more, even if the blond one was angry. The time it would take for you to earn the money would be past three weeks, and in three weeks, you could potentially already be in Auren. It made no sense for you to not take the deal, so you decided that you would make sense.

Minutes later, a red faced Steve and a frustrated James came back over, only to find you talking sweet to James’ grey horse.

“What do you need to sew?” James asked, hands on his hips, near his sword though you knew that he wasn’t going to be using it. “Supplies?”

You tried not to smile. “I have everything but cloth and string that matches the colors of your clothing, really.”

“We don’t care much for looks,” Steve muttered and turned to his own horse, giving you his back. “Just do what you do, and we’ll pay you.”

“We’ll pay you and,” the brunet added, giving his friend a dirty look. “You can ride with us, but you’ll have to share horses with someone.”

“You,” you said automatically, making Steve turn his head your way. “You seem to be the one most on board with me coming, so… you. Please.”

“Fine by me,” He said, shrugging. “We should get you out of the cold and set up camp.”

You nodded, and your shoes crunched on the snow as you walked forward. Right before you hoisted yourself up on Bucky’s horse, you heard the other man call out at you. “Don’t try it if you can’t do it yourself-” you interrupted him by effortlessly swinging onto the horse, scooting back to give the man enough room for when he got up himself.

“You ever rode a horse before?”

Not to my knowledge. “No.”

Steve gave you a long look, scrutinizing and breaching into the rude factor. He nodded his head after the lengthy stare and then looked towards Bucky. “We riding out?”

“She’s going to freeze if we don’t set something up, and a fire, too.” You agreed with that mentally. Bucky hoisted himself up and then tapped his horse quite lovingly before the both of you started on a trot, your legs trembling against the backs of his from the freezing cold.

§§

You didn’t realize that you had fallen asleep until you felt yourself hit the ground. Not a sound came out of you as you roused yourself from your sleep, blinking slowly as you registered the cold, and the sound of shouting.

“Shit!” You felt yourself being picked up by the arms and you sighed, feeling your wet clothes get even more damp. Your shoes were as good as gone. Your shirt was barely salvageable and your pants were probably better off if you took them off. “Are you-”

You were traded off into another set of arms, and you nearly flinched when warm hands touched your neck. “Is she alive?”

“Yeah, but we need a fire. Now.”

You shook your head and opened your eyes, blinking once you saw the night sky above you being halfway blocked by Steve’s face while he peered down at you, that same suspicious and questioning look that he had before on his face again. You raised your arms up and put your hands together, rubbing them to get some friction going, and hopefully some heat. You were cold, and hardly awake.

Before you even knew what you were doing, you stood up on your own, reaching for the bag on your back and pulling it in front of your eyes, your hands digging for something.

“What are you doing?” Steve asked, his tone annoyed. “Take it easy.”

You ignored him easily as you took out the thick quilt that you made that was folded up and nearly done. You grunted when you realized that you never quite finished it, and then you pulled out your scissors. Your hands shook as you found where you left off and realized that cutting and tying would do nothing but ruin it.

“Are you seriously trying to knit right now?” Steve asked, irritation leaking into his question as Bucky worked on starting a fire not too far away, diligently blowing and running stones against each other.

“Gotta finish,” you mumbled, and then you shook your hands out.

“Just put it on, worry about finishing later-” he was cut off by your hands working rapidly, threading the thick material through your largest needle at what was almost your top speed, never missing once. He stared down at your hands and your face as your concentration never broke. You finished the last line, grabbed scissors, and ended it before you wrapped it around yourself. “How… I thought you said you were never taught.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Fire’s ready,” Bucky called, and you stumbled during your first two steps only to fall forward and be caught by Steve, who made an exasperated sound. “Don’t put the blanket in the fire, Y/N.”

You were freezing. You were tired. You had just finished a knitting project that you assumed would take you much longer than you thought. And you had a feeling that everything you were feeling was going to be a constant thing on the journey that you had barely begun.

The morning after you felt better, and the sun hitting your skin made you glow like a golden flower. You were back to the slightly bubbly attitude you naturally had, waving to Bucky when you woke up and saw him still on watch, immediately starting to knit something.

“Those socks?” He asked I’m a raspy voice after watching you for a few minutes, and you nodded.

“I’m making a few pairs for all of us.”

“How much material do you have?” He looked at your bag, and you laughed. It seemed small, but you lived confined all your life. You knew how to compress things to make them fit, and you knew that to anyone else, your bag probably seemed like a magic trick.

“A lot,” You mused, looking to the side as Steve woke from his sleep at the sound of your voice. “All my life’s savings have gone to material to sew, fabrics of all kinds.”

“Why didn’t you save to get a train ticket?” He asked softly, almost like he knew that he probably shouldn’t have asked.

Your fingers stopped moving as quickly as you thought, your movements much slower, slow enough for them to see what you were doing with them. “I could live without making it to Auren, I suppose,” you replied just as soft, looking back down to your hands. “But… sewing? No. I couldn’t live without doing that.”

“You love it that much?”

Your expression of nonchalance turned into muted confusion when he asked that. Did you love sewing? You weren’t sure. You weren’t sure if you loved it or if you knew it, and those were two different things. It was your way of life that you would never abandon, but did that mean that you loved it? “I… I know it, I think.” You dropped your arms onto your lap. “It’s the only thing I have, I guess.” You had sewing and dancing, the kind that all the commoners learned to do.

Steve frowned, too. “Have from when?”

A small scowl formed on your face, the same one that you hid from the younger kids when they pressed on for you to remember something that you clearly didn’t. You wiped it off of your face and just gave a shrug. “I don’t know. But it’s the only thing I have in this world that is mine, so I’ll keep it.”

“Okay,” Bucky said, giving Steve a look when he saw that the ever persistent man was about to keep pressing. “Do you think you can sew and ride at the same time?”

“Probably,” you answered.

Steve stood up. “Then let’s get it moving.”

You had been given Steve’s pants to work on while you rode, and you started with the hole first. You found a fabric that matched the color relatively closely and went with it, finished within forty minutes. You couldn’t do much about the length other than estimate how much longer he needed them, and your guess was two and a half inches or so.

By the time you were almost done with the first leg, you looked at the sun and realized that you were going in the wrong direction. “Uh…” you started softly, and you felt Bucky tense up. “Where- this isn’t the direction we’re supposed to be headed.”

“We have to make a short detour, pick up a friend.”

“How far is your friend?”

“Shouldn’t be more than twenty leagues from here,” Bucky answered, his strong voice louder than the cutting wind. “He’s good people.”

“Does he live where cloth is available?”

“I thought you spent all your money?” Steve asked from beside you, his eyes watching your every move, like they had been the whole time.

“I did,” you confirmed, and you smiled when he looked confused. “I can basically talk my way into getting anything,” you said, and you watched him roll his eyes. “Except for someone to adopt me, I guess.”

You felt Bucky’s snort more than you heard it, and Steve had a look on his face that said that he didn’t know if he was allowed to laugh at the joke or not, but you shrugged. “Is that one of your talents?”

“What?”

“Sweet talking.”

You made a face. It had been something that came slower, like a memory that was in the part of your brain that was much less quicker than the rest. It was the reason some didn’t ever warm up to you at the orphanage, especially the adults. They called you charming, they said that the combination of your smart tongue and your “accent”, whatever it was, was telling a different story than the one you remembered.

“If I hadn’t seen you being brought in by that man myself, I would have called Marta a liar. You’re no orphan. You- you were something else. Someone else.” The Warden’s words haunted your mind every so often.

“It’s something I think I might have known how to do before.”

“Before what?” Steve asked, and you breathed in through your nose, ignoring the sting of the cold air.

“Before I lost my memory.” The world froze there. “I woke up in the snow, someone brought me to the orphanage, and I don’t remember anything before that.”

“What do you mean, you don’t remember?”

“It means that I don’t know,” you said. “I don’t even think Y/N is my real name. I didn’t remember what it was, so I picked it. I knew how to read, and I saw it in a book, so I took it.”

“Holy… when were you put into the orphanage?”

“I was… I think I was fifteen or sixteen. It’s hard to say, no one could tell my age without giving me an exam and I said no to that one,” you chuckled, but neither man was laughing. You hadn’t even realized that you stopped riding, and that Steve had turned his horse so that he was looking at you head on without having to turn his body.

“You don’t know who you are?”

“I know who I am,” you said, getting a little defensive. Even though

“You just said that you didn’t remember what happened to you through the first sixteen years of your life, that’s a huge chunk of time.”

“Well, I know who I am now.” Steve frowned deeply. “I’m Y/N, I like to knit, and I’m good at talking. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. That’s all I know.”

“Have you tried to find something out?”

“What do you think going to Auren is about?” You quizzed, feeling oddly satisfied when that shut him up. “I think someone’s there.”

“Who?”

“Someone who knew me,” you said.

“How do you know that they’re there?”

“I just have a feeling,” you said, your voice slightly whimsical as you thought about being reunited with people who cared about you, the people you had guilty lost recollection of. “And I also have nothing to lose.”

“None of us do,” Steve said, and then he snapped the reins on his horse and began trotting forwards.

“Steve, Buck!” You had fallen asleep and woken up to the enthusiastic shouting of a man. “That was much faster than expected.” You wiped your face with your hand and straightened your posture, attempting to stop your teeth from chattering like they previously were. “Do you have someone- oh, Holy Hera.”

A man with nearly the same look of shock that you had was looking at you, eyes wide. You would have assumed that what he felt was terror, if his lips weren’t slowly curling up into a smile. The world stood still again as you both analyzed each other, him with much more confusion and enthusiasm than you.

“Alexandra!” He nearly shouted, and he bent his body downwards, into a deep kneeling position. You tilted your head to the side, so confused by his sign of respect that you didn’t see the looks of panic on the other men’s faces. “I always-”

“Y/N.” Steve said sharply, interrupting him and catching all three of you by surprise because of his hostility. “Her name is Y/N.” He was the first to climb off of his horse, and he gave the man a pat on the back before entering the house like he had been a thousand times and lacked the need for invitation.

“Who is Alexandra?” You asked again, upset at being mistaken for someone for the second time.

“She’s um, she’s no one.” Bucky said, shooting his friend a look. “This is Sir Sam Wilson. He’s a great man, very honorable.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Sir.” You responded, helping yourself off of the horse and ignoring the icy air that surrounded Steve’s sharp actions.

You saw him look at your quilt, and then at the bag that had needles dangerously poking out. “You sew?”

“I do,” you responded, and he smiled. “I think I’m hired to be their seamstress and accompany them to Auren.”

“You have interest in going to Auren?”

“Yes,” you answered, drawing out the last letter to make it sound like less of a short answer. You smiled at him and moved to get off of the horse, ignoring the way that he rushed forward, hands outstretched to help you down. You swung both of your legs around and hopped right off without problems, prompting for the knight to give you an impressed look.

“You’ve ridden before?”

You knew you looked like you couldn’t even afford a bucket to put the horse food in, and that was why he was asking. It didn’t bother you at all, because the assumption was painfully true. “Actually, before I met them,” you nodded towards Bucky and Steve’s horse, “never.”

“Never?” He echoed. “Even the noblewomen request help from getting down off of their horses. I’ve helped probably every noblewoman who ever stepped foot in the palace walls by horse, besides- yes,” he cut himself off, brushing his hands on his pants and nodding sharply, like he had just remembered something. “Well, I’m sure you’re starving and in need of warmth. I think Steve has already seen himself to the food.”

Sam was right. There were already bowls out, and Steve had filled them with soup and was waiting for everyone else to start eating, even though he looked like he was using all of his strength to do it. His hands were hidden under the table and his leg was bouncing up and down as he stared at his bowl, hunger evident in his expression.

“What have you been eating?”

“We’ve only come across rabbits and squirrels,” Steve muttered, clutching his spoon.

“It’s been an unfortunate season,” Bucky added, giving Sam a look. “And you know that Steve doesn’t operate on an empty stomach.”

“Oh, do I,” He said, a grin on his face as he said it. “Help yourself, Y/N! Don’t be shy.”

“If you insist, Sir.”

“So polite,” he teased, and you cracked a smile. “Where are you from?”

You almost grimaced. “A small town, a ways away from here. Yakir.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s not very fun, nothing much to do.” That was the grossest understatement ever. There was quite literally nothing to do, and even if there was something to do there, you were restricted by the operators at the orphanage. “Except for learning manners, I suppose.”

That gained you a smile, and you took your own spoon, first putting it on the other side of your bowl before eating, and folding the napkin out on your lap, crossing your legs and sitting up straight in your chair, leaning over slightly to blow on the soup that you picked up with your spoon.

“This is very good, thank you for making it,” you said after having a bit of it, and you were being honest. It was good, even though you were sure that anything would have tasted good at that moment.

“You’re welcome,” Sam dragged out, eyeing you oddly as you ate the soup in your bowl, which put the attention on you at the table.

“Um…” you trailed off, trying to get at least one of them to explain why they were staring at you like you grew a head and cut it off and then went back to business.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Bucky assured, and he picked up his own spoon and waved it around, making a big show of starting to eat and hoping that the others would do the same. You raised your brows and then put your lips together before parting them again to drink from the spoon, figuring that whatever weird exchange that was, was going to eventually be explained.

You finished first, and you felt weird about it. Your stomach was full, though, so you watched the fire crackling in Sam’s fireplace with a far off look in your eyes as you thought about Lucas, and what he could be doing.

Did he miss you already like you missed him? Did his young mind offer to spare him some pain by forgetting you were ever there? You almost preferred it to be that way, because you knew that the kid didn’t sleep without you feet away from him. He didn’t eat if you didn’t, he didn’t go outside if you weren’t watching him. You prayed that he wouldn’t remember you.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

The words that came from Steve took you right out of your mind as you kept your eyes on the burning fire, a small smile gracing your face as you thought about him again. “Nothing.”

****

hey junebugs!! how are y’all? this is entirely self indulgent at this point- and i love this! can’t wait to do more with this steve! we’re gonna build a relationship here with this miniseries, no love at first sight this time! i don’t think anyone’s vibing with this rn but i at least hope y’all liked it! if you did like it, please drop a like or reblog or a comment! i loveee comments omg

#marvel fanfic #knight!sam wilson #knight!bucky barnes #knight!steve rogers #steve fluff #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #marvel au #anastasia au

44 notes · View notes

whencallstheheart · 3 years

Photo

We’ll find out tonight if our predictions are correct!

Responses to the written questions are under the cut.

Where is Ned and what is he doing?

No idea

Business trip

Dealing with some financial issues.

Doing business in UC or Hamilton. Nothing major

He stayed behind next episode and will be back in the finale.

I think planning something for Florence, maybe expansion for the mercantile?

I don't know

I have no idea, wth!?!?

Yo i have no idea. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say he's trying to contact Florence's daughter who wasnt there for the wedding

Maybe he's visiting his daughter? Or expanding the Mercantile somehow

With Mike. Oil pipeline

Hiding

It sure

I have no clue honestly, maybe planning a surprise for Florence?

Perhaps...expanding his store? Or ordering something new to begin to be shipped to his.

something related to factory

Sussing out suppliers

Maybe something to do with the Wyman guy?

visiting his daughter

Buying a new house or a surprise for Florence

Visiting Abigail

Planning something special for Florence

He is doing something with his daughter

No clue

With his daughter

Planning to expand the mercantile to include deliveries (Hope Valley Amazon) lol

Not sure

I really dont know!

Made out a Will since he now is married to Florence

Business in Union City

Business, but he’ll be back

I don’t Know

I dont know. This one threw me!

Literally have no idea

maybe he will come back with his daughter who will come to live at HP

some sweet surprise/gift for Florence

He is involved im some growth in HV.

Taking care of business.

He's making a business deal somewhere

I have no idea. I think it was a weird to put in o.O

Making purchases for the store.

Business stuff somewhere

I don't know

i don't know

ned things

He just took the long way home...

Adopting Flo's son

Hiding

He is picking up a surprise order gift for Florence, and it’s taking longer than expected.

Fighting attempt to take over mercantile

Talking to a divorce lawyer. Or putting a pillow over Abigail's mom's face so she can bury her already and come back to Hope Valley for his buddy Henry's sake.

Honestly I’m not sure but interested to find out!

Idk honestly. Probably actually doing something sweet for Florence but she doesn't know it.

What's up with the Pinkertons?

Not sure

A storyline to bring a change of pace to the show.

I really Don’t know

Not sure, but I don’t think it will be resolved this season, maybe it’s the cliffhanger?

I don't know

They’re hired thugs like they were in S1, just there to show Walden is a bad guy despite appearances

Factory related

Up to no good! Don’t trust them.

Yo i dont even know. They look totally sketch but they are probably the good guys actually. I'm predicting they are after someone who's been wanted for a long time. I think it may be too easy to link them with the guy who took Jesse and Clara's money

Not sure yet

Working for Waldon

Railroad

Sneakily buying land

I couldn't care less about them

Perhaps something is in the cabin/someone they don't want found.

No idea

Something to do with the mine disaster (even though it's been ages).

we will see in season 9

Setting up a good storyline for season 9

Not sure maybe something to do with the new factory that might be built

Maybe it has to do with Henry

I have no idea, but I do not like them!

No good

Buying all the land

They have Jesse. Someone wants to reopen the mine and seek revenge on Elizabeth for his son going to jail (Spurlock).

Looking for some kind of hidden good

Shady dealings going on

Guarding the future factory site. But something extra at the cabin connected with Spurlock.

Trouble

An even bigger I dont know on this one. Like, what in the world???

Holding Jesse captive

I think they kidnapped Jesse because he found out what they were up to but I have no idea what that is

stumped on this one

That is difficult. He is apparently connected to S1 Spurlock. Is he there for revenge? Or, just a heavy hand like his relative?

Revenge? They want to take over Hope Valley.

Something sketchy, probably bigger than just whatever is going on with the cabin though.

Land grab

No clue but they'll be one of the big bads next season

They are probably the goons of the Industry dude

They are working for somebody bigger.

They want to take over the town

I don't know

i'm worried about Nathan

idk they are the bad daddys of the season

they can only be there to cover up a crime, or some valuable find

No clue

They’re wanting to uproot Hope Valley for better business by destroying the town.

Keeping identity of mastermind safe from townspeople.

Maybe looking for Ned, who alternatively is a serial killer and now on the run. Possibly for the murder of Abigail's mother?

I’m so confused lol

Creating a monopoly & doing some villain nonsense (as it would seem the show is hinting).

Any other thoughts going into the finale?

There will be at least one surprise- not sure what

There are too many loose ends to tie up in one episode and I just want Elizabeth and Nathan together (and perhaps quickly married in this episode!)

I’m honestly really nervous, I’m rooting for Nathan but I have a feeling she’ll go for Lucas, I really don’t mind Lucas as a character but like what storylines can they do with them as a couple? The manuscript is finished, they’ve gone on every sort of date at this stage and she’s been in his office. What else can they do? With Nathan they can do the being scared because of his job again but making it different, there’s children involved now, it’s not just Elizabeth. Jack won’t understand but Allie will 100% feel worried for him. Also Allie having a mother figure, especially at this stage in her life, how could you not want it! The blended family as the main family would be so nice for this show, I know it’s been done before but they will be fairly front and centre in the show. Sorry for the rant, I love your blog so much! I don’t have tumblr so I can’t leave comments or like your gifs but I thoroughly enjoy all your theories and opinions!!

Just ready for this stupid love triangle to be over!

I’d love to actually see Henry meet up with Abigail, but doubt it. I hope they have Clara do something heroic for Jesse, but also doubt it. Henry will definitely be putting Hickam in charge at least temporarily. I think Ned will return but we won’t get a full explanation yet. And the dramatic ending won’t be the triangle choice, it’ll be Elizabeth losing the school.

Allie’s adoption finalized and reaction to Elizabeth choosing Nathan is something we should see.

Glad the triangle will be DONE!!

I hope that Elizabeth follows her heart and not pick someone who is a safe option.

I wish Faith were leaving instead of Carson. Also, I think there will be lots of set up for problems with the school board and Elizabeth. Also, I want more little Jack scenes but i don't think we'll get much since child acting laws and covid combined make that difficult

Excited for Elizabeth to move on from her past and enter a new adventure with either of the two men and really just everything else (Rosie and Lee, Fiona, Henry.)

I hope Faith doesn’t end up with whoever doesn’t get chosen by Elizabeth.

hopefully the finale will clear up the drawn out love triangle

The triangle was waaaaay drawn out. Be done and choose.

Nathan and Faith......would be great......

No matter who Elizabeth chooses I'm SOOOO READY to get this over with!

Kindness matters - no matter who she chooses. Isn't that why most of us watch the show

I am so over the love triangle and just want to know who Elizabeth picks.

Worried about the fandom more than anything

Elizabeth please pick Nathan

It's just a TV show and no matter what , it's there for our entertainment. I do think they're setting things up for the return of Abigail in some way.

The must be a Season 9!!!

I hope Fiona does not get involved with Mike.

Hopefully things get back to normal for Elizabeth and Rosemary

Interested to see the other storylines. I want Elizabeth to choose Nathan but I think JT will throw us off. From the promo pic, it looks like they will try to put Faith with Nathan.

- I just want Elizabeth to chose so that this storyline can come to an end and we can finally get to see her marriage and functioning has a wife. - Wonder what will become of Lucas once her choice is made. - I would like Lucas to have a proper storyline that doesn't involve Elizabeth or the love triangle. - I would love to see Rosemary and Lee finally become parents however that may happen. I feel like the writer just left them in limbo about it and keep teasing but never delivering on anything.

Hopefully will end with Nathan but the very last minute. I would prefer more romance before the finale

Elizabeth will have to decide on what’s important with school.

Jack might make an appearance in a dream scene?

So excited! I hope I don't wake up my kids while watching.

I hope they don’t pick Lucas

CLARA DISCOVERS SHE IS PREGNANT

Just excited for this to be over. I know we needed it and I think overall it was handled decent enough, but I'm glad to finally move on.

Why is everyone so scared?

The whole season has been about getting over your fear. Elizabeth doesn’t have to deal with her emotions or real life with Lucas because school is out for the summer and she is working on her book. She needs to make up with Rosemary and get over the loss of Jack and fear to be with Nathan.

this season has been totally not what I expected...I thought the hug at end of season 7 was definitive and we'd get at least some Nathan courtship, not a complete U-turn to Lucas (with hopefully a turn to Nathan at the very end). I now think Season 9 will be what I expected season 8 to be, and I am very much looking forward to that.

Something sudden will allow Elizabeth to bring her feelings to light for everyone...Nathan. I think she will have decided by the time she takes of the rings, but will not have the opportunity to share with the man until later. Until she faces the prospect of him being in danger again? Full circle from the end of S7.

I need Elizabeth to really apologize to Rosemary. Rosemary has always been there for Elizabeth.

I’m so afraid :(

Hated the triangle

I am so ready to finally move on from this triangle!

They put waaaay too many storyline in the last 2 episodes, they will never manage to conclude them all and we'll have another weird random cliffhanger which will not tie in with the Christmas episode (If we're getting one ?)

I hope the guy who loses, has a good life in later seasons

The annoying love triangle will finally end. Elizabeth/Nathan are endgame, unless Jack suddenly comes back from the dead. But, I doubt it. I hope Lee/Rosemary are pregnant, or decide to adopt children. I just want Lee/Rosemary to have children. Can't wait to see how this season ends. Hopefully, it won't be a cliffhanger.

Nervous as hell

Elizabeth and Nathan get married

i kinda hope someone dies tbh it would make everything more interesting

Elizabeth was so tiresome this season, they could have told her story of overcoming grief in a much more relatable way. Why did they not just have her talking to Rosemary about how sad or exhausted or numb or angry she feels all the time? You know, something a widow would actually go through. At the very least she could have been stoic, instead she was just kinda bitchy.

Faith and Nathan will have some sparks; Elizabeth will choose Lucas and they will kiss twice one being at bridge one being at her home inside with baby jack present.Carson will leave; Jessie will be found; Ned will come back safely.

Lucas endgame, Nathan and faith have sparks, Rosemary paper, Jessie and Clara make up.

I think Henry will take his own advice and leave to find Abigail to see if there is still any hope for them. Though I like his character, I want him to finally be happy, and if that means staying with Abigail, then that’s what it means. I don’t think TPTB will bring back Lori soooo.... that means Henry would be the one possibly leaving. I also think some scare will happen with Nathan between him and the Pinkertons. Then it may come full circle at the end where Elizabeth runs to him like she did last season, but instead of hugging him, she’ll kiss him instead.

Hallmark execs dictated ending and will cut salaries to bring back Abigail, hence Paul leaving.

My condolences to whichever guy gets to look forward to being bored by Elizabeth for the rest of his life. Are we sure Jack's death wasn't a suicide?

Ready to see how it ends and already looking forward to next season!

I will be really disappointed if she chooses Lucas but I’m afraid that’s where it’s headed. Either way I don’t understand how they’ll end in “the healthy place” they’ve said it will be with so much left for one episode.

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 3 years

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Boku no Hero Academia - wear your heart on your sleeve (and treat mine gently)

I apparently only wrote two drabbles for my Patreon in 2020, but given the state of the world at the time, I hope I’m forgiven for that. A new year is here, however, and that means last year’s writing can now be seen by all of you! If you want to see more stories like this before next year, then consider pledging to my Patreon!

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Characters: Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Rating: Teen Audiences

Alternate Universe: Magical Descent and Mythical Creatures

Summary: Original Prompt (Given by Patron Istas): And, hmm, for something different. Aizawa/Yamada Selkie AU. I've been loving the mermaid stories starting to float around, but you can never have too many Selkies. Wasn't there a post a while back about someone who casually gave a person their coat back and ended up Selkie married?

Word Count: 2,626

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Check out my writing commission information here! Pledge to my Patreon to get exclusive content! Or buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi!

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Yamada Hizashi liked to think of himself as a remarkably unbothered teenager who didn’t often feel self-conscious when it came to his day-to-day life. Why would he, after all, when he was confident in himself, his abilities, and who he was and what he could do? He was a selkie who attended U.A. -- the best school in the country for those of magical and mythical descent.

While U.A. wasn’t the only school, it was by far the most popular one, as well as one of the few who helped students control and harness their powers instead of just teaching them how to hide them away. Hizashi had made it into the school on his own merits, too, even with his… unique family heritage. He had nothing whatsoever to be ashamed or embarrassed about.

At least, he thought he didn’t, until he had gained a best friend in the form of Kayama Nemuri, a classmate and succubus who enjoyed seducing people way too much and had no filter whatsoever when it came to destroying his hopes and dreams.

“Seriously, Yamada, you’re such an idiot.” As it was, Kayama was once again yelling at him as they ate lunch, Hizashi picking at this food more than actually eating it. “You can’t just go around dropping your coat everywhere and hoping someone will find it and enter into some magical true love spell with you!”

“Okay, first of all, that is not how it works at all.” Hizashi stabbed viciously at one of his sushi rolls, wishing he could throw it at Kayama’s head. He would if he knew she wouldn’t just try to kill him for it. “And besides, it’s not like I lost my coat or dropped it. I just… strategically draped it somewhere where someone was likely to see it and return it.”

“Dumbass,” Kayama snorted, stealing one of his sushi rolls for herself. “You’re a selkie. You need your coat to use your most basic powers. The teachers are gonna keep getting pissed at you if you keep ‘draping it’ somewhere and not having it for classes.”

Hizashi huffed, looking down at the spotted, fur seal coat that he had tossed across his legs after giving up hope for the day. It seemed to be radiating as much defeat as Hizashi felt. “Well, then, excuse me for trying to find my true love.”

“Hey, did I ever say there was anything wrong with trying to find your true love or mate or whatever?” Kayama looked insulted, pointing her chopsticks at him with a scowl. “I am in full support of true, absolute love, but in your case your coat just magic mind controls whoever picks it up-”

“It does not!” Hizashi snapped, fearing his glare looked more like an upset pout than anything else. Kayama’s smirk certainly seemed to make it seem like he was pouting rather than glaring. “That’s not how selkies -- or selkie magic -- works. Yeah, sure, there are stories about it, but a selkie’s coat can’t be stolen.”

“Really?” Kayama blinked, looking surprised before she set down her chopsticks and gave him her full attention. While anyone else would be a babbling idiot at having the full attention of a succubus -- even a teenage one -- Hizashi only rolled his eyes. “Alright, then, explain it to me. Why do you keep leaving your coat around like that?”

“It’s… We can give our coats to other people to hold onto, if we choose to, but only a few people can touch a selkie’s coat without experiencing extreme pain.” Hizashi pursed his lips, crossing his arms as he thought back to when he had first been told about what having his coat really meant. “I think Mom described it like lightning if you touch a selkie’s coat without their permission and aren’t meant for it.”

“Alright, magical matchmaking coat. I’m with you so far,” Kayama laughed, which, alright. That was a lot better than her mocking him or accusing his coat of magical mind control. “So only you and your ‘true love’ can pick up the coat without feeling that pain?”

“And the parents of the selkie,” Hizashi put in. “Sometimes siblings, but only close siblings, I think, and only when they’re young. But, yeah, it’s- It’s destiny. Our coats… They’re like a part of our hearts.” A part off their heart and a piece of their soul; that was how their coats worked.

Hizashi dropped his hands to run through the fur of his coat, feeling warmth and safety and home as he closed his eyes and took the feeling in for a moment. He couldn’t help but to remember the stories his Mom had told him about what would happen when the one he was destined to be with picked up his coat.

It wouldn’t just be warmth and safety, but it would be fierce devotion, and understanding, and the knowledge that this person, whoever they were, would want to stay by his side; no matter what. It wasn’t ensnaring someone, but it was finding the one person that he knew he would be able to love with no fear or doubt.

Looking back up at Kayama, Hizashi lowered his voice to something more serious, “It’s not just ‘true love’ or ‘my mate’ it’s…” Hizashi trailed off, fingers digging into his coat more tightly. “It’s the one person who will never doubt me, or leave me, and always stick by me for me, no matter… no matter who I am.”

There was a moment of silence, Kayama clearing her throat and patting his shoulder lightly, “Well, hey, then you’re in the perfect place to be looking, don’t you think? U.A. is full of cute, sweet little nerds who would love to be your one true love. Why, I bet the next bubbly-eyed, gap-toothed cutie that we see will be your true love, no doubt about it.”

“You think so?” Hizashi knew he sounded weak -- vulnerable -- but he couldn’t stop himself from asking the question. Kayama could be a lot, but she was also one of the few he could call an honest friend. She knew what it would mean to him to have more of those, even if she joked about it.

“Absolutely,” Kayama said sincerely, giving him a small smile. “Have a little more faith, lover-boy. You’ll find your true love before you know it.”

It was just what Hizashi wanted to hear and believe in more than anything else.

It was also, he knew, something that wasn’t likely to happen soon.

Not considering who he was.

Not at U.A.

“Well, hey, if it isn’t our favorite little mutt.” Hizashi grunted as his back hit the wall hard enough to force him to bite back a yelp of pain, instead putting on his best glare. “Aw, what’s the matter, mutt? Aren’t you happy to see us?”

“Yeah, c’mon, Yamada, isn’t it nice to finally have someone who’ll talk back to you?” The three who had him surrounded were all upperclassmen who Hizashi had never bothered to learn the names of. They were also complete and utter assholes who believed he didn’t deserve a place in U.A. Well, not many did, but most chose to at least not say anything about it. “Not many want to talk to a siren, after all.”

“Hey, now,” one of them frowned mockingly, voice ‘sympathetic.’ “He’s only half siren, you know.” The look aimed at him turned cruel, but it was nothing Hizashi hadn’t seen directed at him before. “Then again, considering the other half is some dopey little fuck who can barely do anything, I’m not sure if that’s better or worse.”

They all laughed, as if something hilarious was said, Hizashi gritting his teeth as he glared down the one holding him, growling out a quiet, “Let me go.”

“Oh! The mutt has some balls!” With that he was twisted around and thrown to the floor, Hizashi swearing as he felt a jolting pain from his wrist where he caught himself as his coat slid off his shoulders and bunched around his arms, tangling and trapping him on the floor. “Come on then, mutt. You gonna finally fight back for once?”

The laughter started up again, one of them grinning widely, “Think he will? If he fights back, we can get him kicked out so fast. What’d that look like to the parents, you think, a siren mutt attacking a bunch of kids?”

“I think it’d look pretty bad,” the obvious leader said, taking a step forward. Before Hizashi could panic and try to scramble away he, and the other three it looked like, were all startled by the black cat standing in front of Hizashi and giving a warbling cry. “The fuck is this?”

The cat looked like any other cat at first glance, but a closer look screamed magic. Hizashi doubted it was a shapeshifter student, since shifting wasn’t allowed in the halls, but a familiar, maybe? He didn’t know any kids with a cat familiar, though-

“Oh? That’s unfortunate.” A new voice echoed down the halls, the bullies whirling around in surprise while Hizashi leaned to the side to peek around them. Half a dozen feet away was a kid he had never seen before, maybe a first year or possibly even a second year like him. His hair was long, shaggy, and black as the cat in front of Hizashi, red eyes piercingly looking between each and every one of them as a sharp smile climbed up his face. “Looks like a black cat crossed your path.”

“Yeah? Is that a fucking threat?” Jeez, how unoriginal. Hizashi couldn’t believe these were the bullies he got stuck with in the drama that was his life. Couldn’t he have gotten tormented by someone with at least two brain cells? “Doesn’t seem like you know how things work around here.”

“Really? Seems just like any other school to me,” the kid drawled, eyes flicking over to once more look at Hizashi. “A bunch of self-entitled kids with rich, demanding parents with expectations that can’t be met, so instead they take it out on whoever makes the easiest punching bag.”

Damn. That was harsh, but, well, it wasn’t exactly untrue. Stigma worked against Hizashi just enough that anything blamed on him would usually be believed. Looking back at the cat, Hizashi blinked at seeing the cat staring back at him with equally red eyes. A soft purr left the cat a moment later and Hizashi had to resist the urge to coo and draw attention to himself.

“-if you don’t get the fuck out of here, kid.” Ah, verbal threats. So effective and witty, truly. The new guy, whoever he was, seemed to think the same, giving a snort of laughter.

“Am I supposed to be scared?” That smile was nothing except threatening, not even fading in the slightest when the main leader of the trio raised his hand, palm extended outwards, with a smirk. Hizashi didn’t bother hiding his wince as, while he didn’t know what the kid was exactly, he knew he had fire powers. He had felt them far too many times to not know how much they could hurt.

Whoever this new guy was, Hizashi made a note to find him and try to help heal his burns after he ran off -- except he wasn’t running off. He wasn’t getting burned, either. He was just staring at the bully in front of him, smile growing while the bully looked more and more terrified as the seconds passed.

There were no streaks of flashing fire and there was no smell of burning air and ash. There was only a terrified face and gleeful red eyes followed by a quiet, “I’ll ask you again. Is that all?”

Just like that the trio of assholes were running off and disappearing around the corner, Hizashi not too surprised by their reactions. He’d be pretty terrified, too, if he had someone angry at him that could block his powers. Actually, he might still end up being terrified, depending on how the kid felt about mutts.

Hesitant in looking back at him, Hizashi frowned to himself as he noticed the boy had gray eyes instead of the red ones that he swore he had seen. Maybe that was a part of his power- “You alright?”

“Huh? Oh-! Yeah.” Hizashi raced to stand up, tripping and struggling over his coat before he managed to get himself free. “Sorry- Sorry, uh, yeah- Thanks, I mean. For, um… helping.” Hizashi tried to keep his head up instead of turning around and slamming his face into the wall like he so desperately wanted to do.

“Good to hear,” the kid laughed, a smile twitching on his lips as his cat -- familiar? -- raced over and up his side before curling around his shoulders. “Aizawa Shouta. I just started here.”

“Hell of an entrance,” Hizashi laughed, wincing at how breathless and smitten he sounded -- which he shouldn’t. The guy was just being nice- Aizawa Shouta was being nice. “I- Yamada. Yamada Hizashi.”

Clearing his throat, Hizashi fumbled over his words for a few moments before nervously approaching Aizawa and skirting around him, “I’ll just, uh, go. You know. To class. And stuff.” He was a disaster. Why was Hizashi allowed to exist around others? He was half-siren and the only thing he could charm were the neighborhood cats when he fed them tuna!

“Yamada.” Freezing in his steps, Hizashi hesitantly looked behind him, eyes going wide as he saw Aizawa heading towards his coat which he had stupidly left on the floor after standing up and letting it slip off him. Before he could even open his mouth to warn Aizawa to not touch it, he was bending down and picking it up and…

His mom hadn’t even begun to explain the feelings of the right person touching his coat. It was warmth and safety, but it was as if every good feeling at once was swirling through him, heady and overwhelming and enough to take his breath away. It was every bad feeling he had ever had brushed away, wiped clean from his mind like they had never existed in the first place.

It was peace and the simplicity of being and sand spilling between his toes and ocean water lapping at his feet and salt sharp and bitter on the tip of his tongue and a fire roaring away in a hearth and the moon rising far across the waves where the sun had disappeared long ago.

It was a shy, soft smile with fingers that brushed against his own as his coat his skin his heart his soul was given back to him with such care and concern. It was Aizawa Shouta, his husband his true love his mate his friend, greeting him with a soft, “It was nice to meet you.”

“Ye- Yeah… You, too.” Hizashi watched as Aizawa gave him another smile before walking past him down the hall. Hizashi didn’t waste a heartbeat before he was ripping his phone out and pulling up Kayama’s number, texting her desperately and they needed to go ring shopping as soon as school let out because he had just met his husband and his husband was amazing and deserved the best ring that Hizashi’s, admittedly, small allowance could buy.

Looking up from where Kayama was texting him and calling him an idiot, Hizashi felt his heart skip half a dozen beats as his husband, starting to round the corner, turned to look back at him. When he saw Hizashi looking, he gave him another small smile and a little half-wave before he disappeared, and, yeah…

Hizashi was so in love.

#boku no hero academia #bnha #erasermic #selkie!au #present mic #aizawa shouta #yamada hizashi #mha #my hero academia #original #my writing #my patreon

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weasleydream · 4 years

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Gone

How are you guys?

I’m sorry my posts are so irregular these days, but with school it’s a bit more difficult to find the time to write.

However, here is my participation to @omgrachwrites writing challenge! Again congrats love 💜 I’m sorry this is so late!

As usual, feel free to like, comment and reblog, and I hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

(gif not mine)

It had never happened that the Burrow seemed to be that empty. Bill was with Fleur in their house, probably trying to live one more day as a happy couple, pretending their newly obtained bliss wasn’t threatened by the ongoing war. Ron had disappeared months ago, gone with Harry and Hermione for a mission, a dangerous task that his family couldn’t even imagine. No one had any news coming from Percy, and everyone was worried as he was as threatened as them. Ginny was at school, put in danger because she had to keep up appearances, she had to make sure that her family wouldn’t be more watched than it already was. Arthur had insisted he should go to work for the same reason. George was gone with Y/N, who stayed at the Burrow with her boyfriend as her parents were hiding, both joining Lee Jordan in Dean’s forest to participate in Potterwatch.

The Weasley family seemed to be torn in all directions, and no one suffered more from this situation than Molly. She was trying to remain strong, because everyone needed it, her children as much as Arthur and herself, but every night, terrible nightmares would keep her awake. Charlie was far away in Romania, gathering wizards to support the Order’s side, what if he stumbled upon Death Eaters charged with the same task for their master? And Percy, since the day he had left his family, Molly’s heart shattered every time she thought of the eventuality of him dying without knowing how much he meant for his family.

However, all these worries, although terrifying, were nothing compared to the feeling she had deep in her stomach that something would go wrong for George and Y/N, and Fred’s constant agitation wasn’t helping her. The boy didn’t want to let them go alone in the first place, playing the “I want adventures too” card before admitting he wanted to make sure everything would be okay for them. After a while, though, Fred had reluctantly accepted, and Molly was pretty sure his twin had found a way to convince him, though she didn’t know which one.

It should have lasted three days. George and Y/N were gone for almost a week.

Plenty of explications were possible, maybe they needed to hide a bit longer, maybe they were staying for another emission. In Molly’s head, everything was good to ease the constant burning sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Fred felt like he was dying from anxiousness. Two members of his family - because to him, Y/N was his sister in the very same way as Ginny - were missing, and he couldn’t help but think he should have been with them.

“Don’t think that,” would say his mother, “you know the three of you would have been an easy target. Don’t worry for them, I’m sure they are okay.”

She was lying though, and Fred knew it as much as Molly did.

The next morning, the very first thought occupying the Weasleys’ minds was that it had been a whole week. Seven day of George and Y/N being somewhere out there, none of them giving any sign of life, except the emission in itself. After that, radio silence.

Fred dragged his tired body to the kitchen to find that Bill and Fleur were here. His brother tried to smile at him, but the grimace he showed made Fred’s guts twist a bit more.

“I’ve received a letter from Minerva.” announced Molly. The relief was earable in her voice. “Ginny is okay, Minerva managed to ease her punishment.”

Fleur murmured it was a good thing, Bill nodded and Fred stayed silent. Of course he was glad Ginny was right, but something felt worse than usual. Without even being able to put words on it, he knew something had happened, and it could only be George and Y/N. Who else?

Suddenly, someone banged at the door. Molly jumped, almost dropping the plate she was holding. Bill got up and crossed the kitchen in a few steps, followed closely by Fred. The eldest opened carefully and immediately lowered his wand. Remus Lupin was behind the door, and it wasn’t his apparent tiredness that immediately hit Fred. It was the incredibly pained look in his eyes. Without saying a word, doing such things on your doorstep having become dangerous lately, Lupin stepped forward. His gaze fell on Molly, who had left the kitchen to see what was happening. Fleur joined Bill, who wrapped an arm around her, and Fred joined his mother.

“We’ve found George and Y/N,” announced Lupin. He couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence, and hearing the sighs of relief around him made his heart clench.

“And where are they?” squeaked Molly. “When will they come back?”

“I’m sorry Molly. They- they are gone.”

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

First POV

“Keep each other safe. Keep faith. Good night.”

Lee lightly hit the radio with his wand before sighing loudly.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m lying to them,” he admitted. “I keep trying to bring everyone hope, but things certainly don’t look like there’s hope anymore.”

“Don’t say that, mate.” George, who was sitting next to me, patted Lee’s shoulder. “You are not lying, you tell them the truth as it is.”

“Everyone needs hope, and especially now.” I added.

Lee smiled slightly and waved his hand above the dying fire. In a second, it gained a new vigour and a wave of warmth hit us. It was welcome as the nights in the end of february were absolutely freezing. The three of us were sitting on the floor, our clothes wet by the humidity of the night. Only the fire brought us some comfort.

“I won’t stay long.” announced Lee after a short silence.

Indeed, Lee had warned us that he would leave shortly after the emission. “Safety precaution.” he had said before explaining that we would have to stay a bit longer to make sure no one had found him. “This way I can keep moving with my mind at ease.”

“No problem mate. Be safe.”

George and Lee shared a quick embrace, I waved at him and he disapparated with his radio.

“Now it’s just the two of us, isn’t it?” asked George while wiggling his eyebrows.

“Don’t hope too much!” I laughed. “It’s way too cold to do anything beside cuddling.”

“That’s exactly what I had in mind, who do you think I am?”

I rolled my eyes and sat between his legs. He wrapped me in his arms and we stayed like this for a while. I drifted off a few times and so did George, sometimes I felt his head falling on mine. After what felt like an hour or so, the forest seemed as empty of human presence as it had been since our arrival.

“I think we can leave.” eventually declared George, much to my relief if I had to be honest.

We extinguished the fire, hid its last traces, and prepared ourselves to leave. I grabbed George's hand and I felt him tensing like everytime he apparated. However, the world never turned around us and George stayed tense as ever. For a good reason: I was pretty sure I had heard footsteps too.

It was still late at night and I highly doubted this person was here for a walk in the park. That left only one solution… A Death Eater was after us. For a split second, time seemed to stop and George and I exchanged a panicked look. Then the Death Eater yelled.

“I know you’re here! Whoever you are, you can’t apparate. Show yourself!”

It was the warning signal. Dropping our belongings, we rushed far from the Death Eater, George holding my hand as firmly as he could. He was faster than me, way faster, and I tripped a few times on the roots strewing the ground. All around us, the trees were only huge dark shapes. Some were uprooted and I couldn’t help but fear all that could hide between them.

The first spell hit the floor a few centimeters away from George’s feet and he dived behind a felled trunk, leading me in his fall by grabbing my waist. I was lying on him yet the only thing I could think was that we were going to die.

“You won’t die here Y/N, I promise.” whispered George.

It was as if he had read my mind, and the darkness prevented me from seeing his expression. Everything around us was deadly silent, and if George’s words of comfort had come under his breath, it had made me fear the eventuality of the Death Eater hearing him.

“I’m scared…” I trembled.

George’s hand found the back of my head and he pulled me all against him. His frantic heartbeat was matching mine, proof of the state of panic we were currently in.

“It’s not over for us.” It felt like George was trying to reassure himself as much as me, and I wanted so badly to do the same for him… But I was unable to say anything. My brain was focused on the death that was probably waiting for me. “We still have too much to live. I’ll marry you one day, you’ll be my wife, we can’t-”

“Show yourself, traitors! Show yourself and maybe you won’t die right now!”

He was only a few meters away. He was here, and he knew where we were. Without either of us realizing it, my tears were soaking George’s jacket and he was trembling under my body. He murmured Fred’s name followed by a shaky sorry before whispering in my ear.

“Whatever happens, I love you.” He gently pushed me aside and let his hand on my shoulder a second, as if he wanted to make me understand he would deal with this alone. “I won’t go quietly, you bastard.” he muttered, and I heard him perfectly even though his voice was covered by the Death Eater’s swears.

“I offer you a chance to fight loyally! Fight, traitors, fight or you’ll die!”

And George got up, his shadow dominating me from all its height. I immediately did the same and grabbed his hand.

“Here you are.” smiled the masked man.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

It had never happened that the Burrow was so silent. Lupin was gone after having held Molly in his arms for hours, only letting go of her when Arthur had come back from work and collapsed next to his wife. Now, every now and then you could hear a sob or screams cried out to the skies, screams of agony, questions that would never have any answer.

Fred was going insane. He had almost ripped Lupin’s head off when he had said they couldn’t see them yet. Now, he was locked up in his old room, and there was no doubt the loudest and most painful sobs were coming from this place he had shared with George for all his life. He didn’t know what to do to get all this pain out of him, pacing, hitting the walls, screaming, nothing could ease the sorrow that was suffocating him, and nothing would never ease it, Fred knew it. He had lost two members of his family, his twin, the other part of himself, gone and leaving a gaping hole in his heart. It was his fault, he knew that too, he was supposed to be with them, he could have saved them, or died instead of them. George and Y/N. The most joyful people, the bravest too. Another wave of insufferable pain hit him and he fell on his knees.

“Why? Why them? Why?”

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

The least I could say was that the stone floor wasn’t the most comfortable. Next to me, George groaned, still unconscious, and with his voice died the only sound I had heard for hours. Even though the sun was probably high in the sky by now, we were still plunged into darkness. I hadn’t dared to move from where the Death Eater had pushed me, and I was curled up against the nearest wall.

“The hell…”

George lifted his head weakly and his face froze when he realized where we were.

“George!”

“Y/N!”

Without paying attention to his own pain, which I saw with his grimace, he suddenly got up and engulfed me in a bear hug. I tightened him as hard as I could, trying my best to ensure that he was alive and okay with me, having feared the worst since the moment one of the several Death Eaters that had been hiding the forest had knocked him out.

“It will be okay my love, it will be okay.” he whispered before laying a gentle kiss on my lips. “I swear I’ll make us leave this place as soon as-”

“I don’t think so, lovebirds. We have some questions for you.”

It was the masked man we had seen first in the forest. His clothes weren’t dirty anymore but he still looked like he was in his natural environment, his sordid appearance somehow matching with the damp walls and the smell of rot. Only at this moment did I realize I didn’t have my wand anymore, and George came to the same realization as he placed himself in front of me.

“You volunteer? Brave boy, but you’ll soon beg us to take the girl instead, you’ll see.”

The disgusting smirk never left his lips as he pointed his wand on me to make me step backwards, the bastard delighting in my screams. George was tense and his head was high, he was determined to be the hero of the story, and that was what I feared the most.

“George! No, George! Please, let him go! George!”

No one listened to me and the door closed after the Death Eater and George, the latter’s face disappearing as he was trying to smile at me. But I had seen the terror in his eyes, he knew what was waiting for him. We both knew it. And I couldn’t help but feel it was because of me.

I had no way to know how much time had passed since the moment they had taken George, but it felt like it had been hours. Now alone in what seemed to be a cellar deep down underneath the ground, I was trying my best to keep a bit of warmth for me even though it was difficult. I was curled up in the tightest ball with my arms wrapped around my knees, yet my teeth were chattering and shivers shook me every now and then. I hadn’t heard any sound, which had made me foolishly hoped George was okay, but all this time spent alone had also made me imagine the baddest things. Not knowing what was happening was certainly the worst, way worse than fearing what could happen to me in the near future.

It was only when my eyes threatened to close and the exhaustion was on the verge of taking over me that the heavy metallic door opened and something fell on the floor. Initially frozen, fearing another danger, I however got on my feet as fast as my numb limbs let me and rushed to George, who was lying on the floor and trying to catch his breath. In the dark, I struggled to see in what state he was, but when I got close enough I gasped and fell on my knees next to him.

“George, oh, love…”

A sob died in my throat, desperately contained not to worry George. He was half asleep - or unconscious, I didn’t even know - and only moened with pain when I lifted his head as gently as I could.

“You okay…”

His voice was weak, but he still managed to open his eyes completely and to smile at me. It was tiny, just the corner of his lips lifting up, yet a bubble of relief exploded in my chest.

“You shouldn’t be the one worrying for me…” I whispered, sniffling slightly before running my hand in his hair. They were wet, some strands seemed to be glued to his skin or to each other, and I felt like throwing up when I understood it was blood.

“I’m afraid it comes with the package.” A small wink finished persuading me George was relatively okay and I helped him sit.

“Always something funny to say, don’t you?” I said with a weak chuckle, which came out muffled by his neck, in the crook of which I had hidden my head.

“It comes in the package too.”

And with that, George wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on mine, a lot of unspoken things remaining between us as we enjoyed this little moment together, the both of us secretly fearing it could be the last.

“They tortured me.” George eventually whispered, his voice shaky as his hands gripped a bit tighter the back of my jacket. “At first they wanted to know why we were in the forest, but then-” his voice broke, and he breathed loudly before continuing. “Malfoy recognized me. They want to know where Harry is. I- I’ve tried Y/N, I swear to you I’ve tried but- it was too painful, it was too much and I said- I told them he was at the wedding. They know Ron’s with him and- and-”

George was now fully sobbing, his tears making shining trails on his dirty cheeks. My heart was broken in a million tiny pieces and all I could do was pull him against me and try to hold back my own tears as I did my best to calm him. He was persuaded he had betrayed his family and Harry, persuaded that now they would be kidnapped because of him, and he would be the cause of their death. He wouldn’t listen to me, and no matter how hard I tried to tell him that the Death Eaters already knew that, he never stopped blaming himself, once or twice crying out that Fred would have been stronger than him, and he eventually fell asleep, his exhaustion being more than welcome as it plunged him in a deep sleep.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

One of the thoughts that regularly crossed Fred’s confused mind was that George would have handled this way better than him. Fred was convinced that his twin had always been stronger than himself, never seeming affected in a way or another by whatever situation. Of course, Fred knew better than that, but he knew George’s first reflex wouldn’t have been to get himself drunk hoping it would get easier. He would have been disappointed for sure, but this thought only added to Fred’s pain and he eventually stopped thinking about this. Instead, his mind drifted to a dark place, which he believed was quite similar to the one George and Y/N had been locked up before dying. It was what Fred always imagined since the moment Lupin had told them what the Order knew of their death.

He imagined them both trying to protect each other, George pushing Y/N behind him, wanting to save her at the risk of his life. Of course he would do this, thought Fred. Saving Y/N, being the hero to her. But she would have wanted to be the heroine too.

And then the same question, the one that always pushed him to grab another bottle of alcohol.

“Did you- were you together?”

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Someone had thrown two pieces of bread on the floor in front of the door while George was sleeping, and I hadn’t had the heart of waking him up, nor did I have enough appetite to eat. Instead, I stayed in the very same position, his head resting on my shoulder, trying my best not to think. It was probably the night now, and only now did I realize it was really silent, that during the preceding hours I had heard faint noises that I missed more than anything now. I was unable to sleep and not only because of the fear that was obsessing me. All my body hurt from the cold and the stone, but my exhaustion was so strong that I eventually fell asleep too.

“Y/N, wake up love. You have to eat.”

I opened my eyes and found out I was lying on the floor, George’s jacket spread out on me. My head was resting on my arms and as George’s fingers brushed lightly against my cheek, I almost forgot what had happened. Almost.

“I’ve already eaten, that’s for you.” I muttered.

The only thought of these pieces of bread was enough to make me want to throw up, and in anyways George needed it more than me. I watched as he frowned and got up, a grimace of pain briefly deforming his features.

“Wait!” I exclaimed before jumping on my feet, the only thing preventing me from falling because of my numb legs being George’s arms.

“What a pitiful sight we must be!” he chuckled bitterly. “That’s not exactly how I imagined our little trip.”

“I know… And it’s cold here.”

George grabbed his jacket, which had fallen on the floor, and wrapped it around me. He shook his head when I insisted he should put it on, pretending he wasn’t that cold and I was looking like I would freeze on the spot. Then we sat back on the floor and stared at the door in front of us.

I was so lost in my thought I almost didn’t react when the door opened. Only the fact that George immediately put himself in front of me alarmed me, and I mimicked him half a second later. It was the same man as the previous day, with the same sick smirk.

“You were a fun boy, but now I wanna play with your girl.”

The pleasure in his voice was undeniable, and it made my blood freeze in my veins. The Death Eater had his wand pointed on George, but he didn’t move.

“George, please…” I whispered, both my hands on his back, fearing he would get killed. “I’ll be okay.”

“No, you won’t.” he muttered between his clenched teeth. “They’ll torture you. I won’t let that happen.”

“Step aside boy, or else I’ll have to kill you.” It didn’t seem like it was bothering this bastard, though.

“George! George please, don’t worry for me!”

“No!”

“Step aside!”

“George!”

“Avada Kedavra!”

George tensed for a split second before falling limp on the floor. He was dead. It felt like all the blood had stopped running through my veins and my eyes fell on him. His lifeless body lying at my feet, his eyes still open but not expressing any emotion, his lips I had learnt to know by heart losing their sweet colour. George was dead. Only a few seconds later did I scream louder than I had ever done, I screamed to try and wake him up, but I knew there was no use.

“Come on, you’ll join him soon, shut up, would you?”

The Death Eater grabbed my arm and dragged me outside, ignoring my screams and my attempts to get rid of him and join George. My heart seemed to be broken on the floor, just next to George, and my throat was already sore from yelling. Never in my life had I thought something could hurt me that much. This physical agony, this pure pain coming right from my heart, from that same place where George had been for years and where he would be until the end, it was overwhelming and suffocating me.

But when the Death Eater pushed me in an empty room with only a chair, when he forced me to sit down and tied me, I knew it was the end. I knew whatever he would ask me, whatever I would answer, I would die and this thought didn’t even scare me. I wanted to die. I wanted him to kill me, because living in a world where George wasn’t anymore wasn’t something I wanted to do. The only regret I had was being unable to kill this bastard that was standing in front of me with the disgusting smile I could barely see through my tears.

“Your boyfriend didn’t tell me what I wanted to know. Where is Harry Potter?”

My only reaction was to contain another sob. I didn’t know where Harry was and even if I had known, I wouldn’t have told him. Even when the cruciatus spell hit me, when my bones burnt my whole body and my voice broke after screaming too loud, even when I felt like life was beginning to leave my exhausted body, I never said anything.

“Maybe I would have left you alive if you had told me what I wanted to know, but you leave me no choice.” shrugged the Death Eater. “Avada Kedavra!”

#rach'swritingchallenge #Harry Potter #harry potter imagines #harry potter imagine #george weasley #george weasley x reader #george weasley imagine #george weasley x y/n

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dirt-cup-draco · 4 years

Text

Sirius x Reader- Mistakes

Sirius was left stumped as you spun on your heel, tears filling your eyes as you brushed past Remus and James with a quiet, “excuse me”. He hadn’t see the tears however, so he assumed you were mad at him. Maybe you weren’t feeling well? Maybe it was that time of the month? How was he supposed to know?

James’ frowned, sitting beside Sirius on the couch as Remus shook his head. “What did you say to her that made her cry?”

“She wasn’t cryin’ Moony, she’s just mad at me,” Sirius shrugged, but he paused. Had you been crying? Why would you cry over something so silly? Worry filled his veins but he played it off, pretending like the thought of you crying didn’t make him want to beat whoever was the cause to a pulp. And it seemed he had been the cause.

“No, she was definitely crying,” James added and Sirius rolled his eyes, swatting the back of his friend’s head.

“Her back was to me, how was I supposed to know turning her down would make her cry?”

Remus and James went pale, heads snapping to their idiotic best friend. “What do you mean you turned her down? What was she saying to you?”

Sirius narrowed his eyes, standing. He felt like he was in the wrong now but didn’t understand why. He’d been nice! Or at least he’d been trying to be.

“I didn’t mean to upset her!” He defended, “She asked if I wanted to be her date to the yule ball and I said she should go with someone better, who wasn’t just a friend, what’s so wrong about that?”

“Merlin, you are dense!” Remus groaned.

As James sighed, “You really messed up this time. Y/N doesn’t want to go as just friends,”

You sniffled into your pillow but quieted once one of your housemates came in. You felt pretty pathetic at the moment. Of course Sirius wouldn’t want to go with you. You must be like a little sister to him. You knew quite a few girls had already asked and he had politely turned them down, what made you different? You scoffed and sat up, rubbing at your eyes. You had been so excited after talking to Remus, he had reassured you that Sirius would love to go with you and it had given you the courage to ask but now you were dreading even going.

You peered at the dress that was hung up neatly. It was so pretty, your parents had sent it not too long ago and it made you feel like a different person. It made you feel beautiful and interesting. You couldn’t let it hang and collect dust! You would find another date, and you would wear the dress and it would still be a great night, you decided.

The next day you were in potions, fiddling nervously with your robes. You wanted to have this done before Sirius came in. Otherwise you would lose your nerve. Thankfully, he was almost always late. You slid out of your seat and made your way across the room to the handsome hufflepuff, Edgar Bones, that you had been friends with all year. “Do you mind if I sit here?” You asked and with a grin and a nod he was clearing a space for you.

“So, are you excited for the yule ball?” You questioned, trying to be sly but probably coming across very obvious. Your cheeks were already stained pink. After just being rejected, you were very worried that Edgar would say no as well, making you the least wanted girl in Hogwarts quite possibly.

“Um, I don’t actually have a date,” Edgar admitted, a shrug to his shoulders. “Besides, it seems a bit stuffy.” You deflated a bit. “Are you going with anyone?”

“Not yet, S-sirius turned me down, so no date either,” You stumbled over his name, head hung low in embarrassment.

There was a commotion at the front of the class as Sirius scrambled in just moments before class started and you had to look away to keep your self sabotaging thoughts to a minimum. You had to be at least a little confident to get Edgar to go with you.

Edgar noticed the sudden tension in your shoulders and flung his arm over your shoulders. He kissed the side of your head and then his lips were close to your ear, hot air tickling your neck as he said in a low voice, “Don’t worry I’ll be your rebound for the night,” You looked at him in surprise. He winked and focused back on the teacher. You wanted to correct him but he wasn’t completely wrong. You hadn’t thought to ask him before Sirius had said no.

Sirius Black was pouting. He had been pouting since he arrived in potions and say stupid Edgar with his arm around your shoulder. You’d just asked Sirius to the ball why were you flirting with that hufflepuff anyway? Sirius liked Edgar, they were friends but why had he been so close to you? You liked Sirius. Or, thats what James had told him a couple of days ago.

Right. He had turned you down. He had fucked up and missed his chance, as his friends had been more than happy to enlighten him about. How was he supposed to know you’d fancied him since first year? You were nice to everyone for Merlin’s sake! You’d had those big, starry doe eyes since you two met, he had no clue that to everyone else it was clear you had it bad. Sirius released a grumpy sigh and flung himself down on his bed.

“Regretting all your life decisions?” Remus asked, strolling in with a smug look on his face.

“Oh fuck off,” Sirius seethed, aiming a pillow right for his friends head. He ducked right in time and James released an “oof” as the pillow hit him square in the face instead.

Peter scrambled around them and sat on his bed, silent for a moment but piping up eventually. “I saw Edgar and Y/N walking around by the black lake during lunch today, they looked like they were having a good time. Lily told Marlene who told me that they are going to the Yule ball together,”

“She told Evans and didn’t tell us?” James scoffed but he hadn’t really been paying attention to Peter until Lily was mentioned.

“I-I guess it just happened earlier today when they had class together,” Peter squeaked.

“Who bloody cares who Y/N is going with!” Sirius finally exploded, leaving the dorm room with a whirl of his robes.

The Yule Ball approached much sooner than you had anticipated but you had renewed your excitement. You and Edgar had been spending more time together, just so that it wouldn’t be awkward when you two had to dance. You’d been friends before but not as close. Now you could happily say that he was as close of a friend as the marauders are.

You touched up your hair as your friends shuffled out of your dorm, giggling and smiling. Everyone was so excited. You met up with Edgar and couldn’t fight the smile that lit up your face. “You look great!”

“And you look even better than that,” Edgar complimented, placing a kiss to your cheek. You had learned he was a very affectionate person. It didn’t bother you, you knew he was just being friendly. He led you into the great hall and another compliment and you were beaming. This was how tonight was supposed to go, all smiles and wonder.

It was much later in the night, a slow song was playing. Edgar’s hand was warm against your back, the other one gripping your free hand gently, as you swayed to the music. “He’s staring,” He said, lips close to your ear once again. “Sirius, I mean,”

Your heart jumped in your throat, “He is?” You croaked. Edgar nodded.

“I don’t think he has a date, he’s been looking at you all night though. Hell, half the people here have been,” Your cheeks burned at the compliment. And Edgar laughed softly.

“Have more faith in yourself, love. You’re stunning,” His fingers fell away from yours and tilted your chin up. You weren’t able to meet his eyes but you nodded, knowing he was being honest. Edgar was truly kind. You almost wished you had feelings for him.

You were startled when Edgar let out a bark of laughter and you looked up to him in confusion. “I don’t think Sirius likes me being so close to you, he looks like he wants to rip my head off,”

You felt some anger surge through you. If he was jealous it was his own fault! You had asked him to come with you and he’d said no. It was his loss. “Well, I don’t care what he thinks,” You said, stepping closer to Edgar so you were hip to hip, chest to chest. You let your nails slide down the back of his neck as you leaned up to kiss him. Edgar kissed back but after a moment pulled away, hands sturdy on your hips.

“Y/N... You don’t want me, love. Lets not do anything you’ll regret just because youre mad at Black, yeah? You’re....very attractive and I hate myself for stopping you but I know your heart isnt in it.”

You were ashamed of yourself. He was right. “I’m so sorry Edgar, I really like you,”

“And I like you too, you’re an amazing friend, now go get him before he hexes some poor kid out of spite,” You laughed softly and kissed Edgar’s cheek, stepping away as you saw Sirius bolt out of the great hall. Taking off your heels you chased after him.

“Sirius wait!” You hollered as he sped off down the corridor. Damn his long legs. He spun around and an unreadable look passed over his eyes.

“Y/N...” He spoke softly, not giving away anything except for the tense position of his jaw. He was certainly wound up about something. Edgar had given you some hope it was you. “Why aren’t you back in there with what’s-his-face?”

Sirius knew Edgar, he really liked the kid but he was feeling petty. He was surprised that you had even noticed he’d left. You’d seemed to enjoy snogging Edgar just moments early. Your lips were still slightly plump and red. Your dress was amazing, that couldn’t be denied. But the dress wasn’t what made you beautiful. You always had been and Sirius was cursing himself for not saying yes.

You rolled your eyes at him and some anger sparked in him. “I wanted to talk to you, is that alright?” You said with a surprising amount of sass.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“It just seems like you’d rather be anywhere else right now,”

“Well, wouldn’t you rather be snogging Edgar? Maybe if you ask nice you’ll get laid and loosen up a bit!”

“What is your problem!?” You seethed. “Where did that even come from? And who I’m with is no concern of yours whether we are kissing or more or doing nothing at all, you prick!”

“Well Prongs and Moony told me you fancy me, but now your attached to the hip with some other guy! You’re more fickle than I thought,” He sneered.

Angry tears were already beginning to spill. You had wanted to talk to him but he was being impossible. How could he say those things about you? You’d done nothing to him.

“Fine you bastard! I don’t need you anyway, maybe I will go back to Edgar. At least he cares! I was going to tell you that I hadn’t wanted to go to the yule ball together as just friends but now I don’t even want to be your friend...” You sniffled, all your anger gone.

Before Sirius could say anything you were gone. With a frustrated groan, and tears of his own fighting to be released he sagged against the stone wall of the corridor. He really had messed up big time.

#sirius #sirius black #sirius black x reader #sirius x reader #marauders #feeling the marauders era right now not gonna lie #angst #harry potter angst #remus lupin #james potter #peter pettigrew #more like peter petti-ew you nasty ass lying rat how could you betray my sweet potters

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alirhi · 3 years

Text

new Bucky fic

Title: Toy Soldiers Chapter: Prologue/? Fandom: MCU Rating: 18+ Focus: James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes Summary: Wounded and delirious but grateful (and shocked) to be alive after his fall from the train, Bucky thinks he's been rescued when he's pulled from the snow. It doesn't take long for him to realize he would have been better off dead. WARNINGS: Language, references to (and possibly graphic depictions of; we'll see how it goes) torture, brainwashing, violence, rape Notes: This is what happens when I read too many Bucky metas and spend too long thinking about how the writers have failed our boy recently. I make no promises about my attention span, but the intenthere is to dig deep into Bucky's trauma and his time as The Winter Soldier. This will not be an easy read. You've been warned.

Steve had always liked to play with toy soldiers. The memory of his diminutive friend planning battle strategies on the living room floor bubbled up unbidden to the surface of his mind. He liked to fight; to play the hero and swoop in to save oppressed peoples all over his imaginary world. Bucky preferred going outside and talking to girls, but he humored his sickly friend. Steve couldn't always go out, so Bucky sat with him and played the 'bad guys'; the evil oppressors that General Rogers and his Howling Commandos would beat to a pulp.

Bucky loved to make that joke. Beating wooden toy soldiers 'to a pulp.' Steve would always roll his eyes and complain about his stupid puns. Bucky would never hesitate to counter with a jab about calling his troops 'Howling Commandos.' As if that wasn't the dumbest name, ever!

He knew that was why Steve had them actually howl on missions. The smug grin on his stupid face said it all.

“Told you, Buck.”

“Shut it, shrimp. You didn't tell me shit.”

The grin widened. “Told you I'd have my Howlies one day.”

Refusing to acknowledge this, Bucky only shook his head and gestured for Steve to go on. “Just don't get your star-spangled head blown off, alright, Cap?”

“I thought you liked the outfit!”

“Doesn't change the fact that it makes you an easy target.”

Smile fading, Steve shrugged and glanced around. “What else is new?”

What else is new, indeed... He was right, of course. Small, skinny, and often barely clinging to life, Steve had always been an easy target. Now that he was healthy and strong, he was just a bigger target.

But Steve wasn't the one who'd nearly died. Funny, in all the years they'd been friends, under all his affection and faith in the tenacity of his tiny friend, Bucky had always secretly braced himself to be the last one standing. To bury the last Rogers alongside his parents and say his goodbyes. It was a relief to be proven wrong.

As he faded in and out of consciousness, he clung to that thought the way pre-serum Steve had always clung to life. No matter what happened to him, at least Steve was healthy. He had a chance to actually live a life... if he didn't go getting himself killed, the reckless bastard. At the end of the day, Bucky had been wrong. He wouldn't outlive Steve; he wouldn't have to deal with the pain of burying his best friend.

Fuck, he was cold! His left hand was itching like crazy. He tried to frown, but didn't quite have the energy to. There was something off about that... Something about his left hand that he couldn't quite remember... It was too cold to think. He was chilled all the way through. Where was he? This wasn't the snowy ravine he'd landed in.

Somebody was talking. He couldn't make out the words. Something about them seemed... off. They weren't... This time he thought he managed the frown of confusion. What was going on?

Wrong language. The problem with the words finally filtered through the haze: Whoever these people were, they weren't speaking English. What was it? His head was pounding and he let his face relax, too tired to keep frowning. Whatever was happening, it was no concern of his. He was pretty sure he was dying. It was a fucking miracle that he'd even survived the fall. If his body could just get on with it, he'd appreciate it, though. He was so done with the rest of this. Pain and fatigue and delirium, and that maddening itch...

Someone lifted his left arm at the elbow, still speaking whatever the hell that language was, voice low and oddly gentle. Since death appeared to be taking its sweet time coming to claim him, Bucky figured he might as well try to satisfy his curiosity. He forced his tired, aching eyes to open and glanced around, wincing at the harsh lights overhead. There was something familiar about the setup, but he couldn't quite place it. Whatever it was, it was somehow comforting; like his memories of Steve, the sterile atmosphere reminded him of something...safe. Helpful.

A hospital. The equipment around him, the lights and instruments and the slab under him, it was all medical. Had he been rescued? Relief flooded through him and he relaxed back against the table, or whatever it was he was lying on, just letting the doctor probe at his arm.

His arm. Right. What was that thing about his left arm?

“OW, FUCK!”

The doctor jumped away from him, startled, as Bucky gaped at the empty space where his left hand should have been. Oh. That's what was wrong. His hand and half his forearm were missing. Too fucking tired for the grief and panic he was sure he should have been feeling, he registered this fact with a sort of cool detachment and returned his attention to the room around him.

Empty hand out in front of him, the doctor slowly approached again, still murmuring in whatever the hell that gibberish language was. He set down the syringe he'd been holding in his other hand; the syringe he'd used to inject Bucky's bloody stump, which had caused his unpleasant little outburst. Looking as though his patient might leap off the table and attack him any second, he crept ever so slowly closer.

“Look, pal,” Bucky grumbled, letting his eyes drift shut again. Whatever had been in that thing, at least his arm – what was left of it, anyway – was starting to go numb. That was nice; took care of the worst of the pain. “I ain't gonna hurt you. I don't even have the energy to wave at you. Just... do what you gotta do, alright?”

He was safe. He was being taken care of. Relieved all over again, he let all his confusion and all his half-formed questions fall by the wayside for the moment and relaxed. Everything else could wait. He'd been rescued; he was in a hospital, and either they'd fix him up and send him home, or he'd die. Either option was okay with him at the moment.

At least he didn't have to fight Nazis for a little while.

#fanfiction #bucky barnes #the winter soldier #captain america the winter soldier #captain america the first avenger #bucky barnes fanfiction #winter soldier fanfiction #toy soldiers

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five-hxrgreeves · 3 years

Text

I Won’t Back Down - Five Hargreeves x OC

Word Count: 3,597

You can stand me up at the gates of hell But I won't back down I'm gonna stand my ground Won't be turned around And I'll keep this world from dragging me down

1 | 2 |

Pt. 1- 10 Days Until Apocalypse I, 2019

Lola Gimbel was a very peculiar child and it wasn’t because she was one of the forty-three children born on that fateful day in 1989. Instead, she was strange because at the ripe young age of fifteen, she had already started her autobiography. It wasn’t that she was famous and needed her life written down, or that she was planning on dying anytime soon; on the contrary, she planned to live a long and fruitful life.

(One must be careful with what they wish for.)

Instead, her inspiration came from an eleven-year-old girl who’d lived over seventy years ago in a fictional work called The Book Thief. Lola admired Liesel’s perseverance and survival skills during war-torn times and the romantic part of her wanted someone like Rudy to stay by her side. This created the urge to pen down her own life story, first by asking her family members about the early years beyond memory until she could rely on her own.

Then, she spent many, many nights hidden in her basement writing by the aid of flickering candlelight. Of course, she didn’t need to use such old-fashioned ways, but the atmosphere helped set the mood and was a replica of how her book-hero wrote. Unfortunately, Lola didn’t think she had anything interesting to write even in the two and a half notebooks and counting. So far, she had:

My name is Lola Gimbel and I was born August 1, 2004. My family consists of my mother, Diana Gimbel, my father, Edmund Gimbel and my uncle, Edward Gimbel. I go to the local public high school in downtown Toronto, Canada. My father and uncle own a department store downtown called Gimbel’s Brothers. (An original name, I know. Don’t tell them I said that.) This is where I spend most of my free time after school. My mother works long hours as a nurse and apparently, I can’t be trusted enough to stay home alone after burning eggs one morning.

I’m getting ahead of myself; I was born in Toronto General Hospital at 9:15 a.m. According to my birth certificate, I weighed five pounds, five ounces. Tiny, I know! My mother was in labor for almost nine hours and when I finally arrived, she named me Delores. I hate my name because it sounds so old fashioned and it means sadness. I’d like to think I was a gift to my parents, but maybe not? and I know they love me, so instead of telling them that, I call myself Lola, which is better. It’s still a derivative of Delores, after all. As for appearances, I have shoulder-length brown hair with mid-length bangs and blue eyes.

The writing continued on for pages and pages, detailing everything she could- and couldn’t-remember from her life. There was one thing that she did not include, however, as it would give her parents a heart attack: the mansion the next block over, home of the long-forgotten Umbrella Academy, housed the biggest library she’d ever seen, and she stole books from it.

Three Years Ago

It had really been a coincidence that she’d taken any interest in the building at all. While it was the biggest thing in the city practically, the old man who lived there was an eccentric recluse who never left the house. And, despite it’s past grandeur, the once-grand entrance had faded with time and memory. Even those who’d grown up in the golden years of The Umbrella Academy had let their passions for the group of crime-fighting children go by the wayside as they grew up, leaving the large house to sit without audience for years on end.

Still, that didn’t stop some interested passers-by from peering in occasionally and Lola was among them. One night, she’d been passing by on her way home from a late-night walk and had travelled by the house on her way home. She’d passed by the house hundreds of times before, but that night she’d seen something. Or, someone. A slightly stooped figure had lingered in the window until they’d sensed they were being watched and had disappeared.

Since then, curiosity had plagued her to go check it out. Maybe, just maybe, she’d have something interesting to add to her life’s story. Her mother would cluck her tongue and say curiosity killed the cat, but her Uncle Edward would wink at her and chime in with but satisfaction brought it back. So the next night, Lola didn’t hide in the basement. Instead, she donned all-black clothes and crept to the house.

She’d never broken in anywhere but she had an inventive, quick mind and could almost always come up with a solution. The first-floor windows and doors had been locked and secure but after a few, terrifying minutes of climbing- luckily, the old stone had great places to cling on to- she’d reached the second level. Despite the ache in her fingers from grasping the side of the building, Lola had pressed on, hoping for luck, which arrived in the form of a second-story window being unlocked.

The brunette pushed it open carefully and dropped in, keeping low. A young girl would hardly trigger any alarms, but she wanted to be cautious anyway. The room she’d landed in was dark and with only the faint filter of light from the street lamps, she made her way into the hallway. A part of her hoped to find the figure she’d seen, but the other part- the larger part- hoped she wouldn’t meet anyone.

Despite the age of the house, the floorboards were in excellent condition and made no sound as she walked down the hallway. After trying a few doors to find them all barred, Lola hesitated at the back staircase. She should really stay on the floor with the escape, but something was encouraging her exploration upward, so she climbed.

There, at the end of the hallway, stood two large, double doors. Her anticipation heightened and it took everything in her not to sprint towards them. Instead, Lola continued at the same pace and, with bated breath, tried the handle. To her surprise, the door swung open immediately. The room was dark but her eyes had gotten used to the lack of light by now and she could make out towering, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. She gave a squeak of excitement. Books! Now she could really be like Liesel Meminger!

Sure, there were libraries, but this was so much better. Her feet moved quickly, closing the distance between the door and the books. She ran her hands enthusiastically along the spines of the volumes, unable to read their titles due to the dim light. Which one should she take first?

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Someone was outside the door. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but the air suddenly felt… charged.

Quickly, she pulled one volume off the shelf and close to her chest. At the same time, a shadow appeared in the open crack of the door.

Oh no, oh no, oh no- Lola shook her head furiously, clutching the book. Panicking wouldn’t help. The room was dark enough that whoever it was probably hadn’t seen her, so she could still get away. Her eyes darted around the mostly open space.

There was a couch with side tables, a working desk, library nick-nacks and- aha! she thought triumphantly, soundlessly making her way to the window.

The figure in the door entered the room, peering cautiously around before backing out again, closing the door with a sharp click!

Lola, from her hiding place in the curtain, let out a relieved breath. She took this as her queue to leave, exiting with her prize out the same window she’d come in. While she was triumphant in her first heist, her mind was whirring. The figure had been obscured by darkness, but the outline had been clearer than when she’d seen them in the window- that, she was sure of- and it seemed like the person wasn’t actually a person at all, but a- monkey.

9 Days Until Apocalypse I, 2019

After school hours usually found Lola en route to her father’s department store where she would spend time until closing working on homework or hanging out with the staff that was on break. While the back room wasn’t the most ideal place for studying, she’d become used to the constant comings and goings and the noise that came with the workers.

Now, she was sitting at a table in the cluttered space at the back of the store working on her math homework while the daily news played on a small, old-fashioned TV hung up in the corner of the large room. Three of the staff members, Sam, Eric and Brittany were sitting at the table with her. The first of the workers’ attention was fixed on the small TV while the second two where scrolling through an app on their phones looking as bored as Lola felt as she completed her assignment.

With a loud sigh, she looked up at the trio hopefully, “do you guys want to see a magic trick?”

Brittany rolled her dark eyes, “what, are you gonna pull a quarter from my ear?”

Lola grinned, “nope!” she said cheerfully, shifting slightly in her seat to pull out a deck of cards from the back pocket of her jeans.

Sam huffed, “are you going to do the ‘pick a card, any card?’ schtick?”

“You guys have no faith in me,” the brunette complained, pulling the cards from the container and proceeding to shuffle them, “I’ve been practicing.”

Eric sighed, “fine, I’ll bite. Hold ‘em out.”

Discreetly, the brunette flipped the bottom card of the deck over and then fanned them out to the other teen, careful not to let the different card show, “alright, pick a card, any card,” she said this part sarcastically with an eye roll towards Sam.

The blonde boy reached forward and pulled out the card he wanted.

“Show it to everyone but not me,” she commanded, “make sure you remember it.”

“Aye aye, Cap,” Eric said, flipping the card to reveal his choice.

While he did so, she flipped the deck casually in her hands, feigning nonchalance. She took it back from him, placing it carefully in the middle of the deck, “now, I’m going to find your card without looking.”

Lola hid the deck behind her back, flipping the top card over. At this point, even Brittany had put away her phone to watch. She revealed them again showing a face-up deck and carefully shuffled through the cards to reach the only face-down card.

Flipping it over, she showed the eight of hearts, “is this your card?”

Eric let out a low whistle, “well, I’ll be damned. You have been practicing.”

The dark-haired girl beamed happily, pleased that she’d pulled it off. The first time she’d tried this with her uncle, she’d accidentally revealed the workings of the trick as the deck slipped out of her hands.

“That’s definitely better than a quarter,” Brittany said begrudgingly.

Before anyone else could say something though, the jingle of the breaking news broke through the work room.

“This just in! Moments ago, police reported the death of the eccentric billionaire, Reginald Hargreeves. More on this story after the break.”

Sam’s head snapped towards the TV, “Hargreeves- that name sounds familiar.”

“That’s because he ran that Umbrella thing, idiot,” Brittany said with an eye roll, “they were all the rage during the early 2000s. My brother went nuts over them.”

“The Umbrella thing?” Lola questioned, curious.

“Oh yeah,” the older girl said, “there was this group of crime-fighting children that was run by Hargreeves. They became famous after stopping a bank robbery but they went downhill after one of their members went missing. Tommy was heartbroken.”

“Went missing?” Lola asked, “as in kidnapped?”

Brittany shrugged, “no one knows what happened to him. Hargreeves isn’t exactly an open book, either. There were several unsolved documentaries but they flopped since there’s not a ton of information. You can look it up if you wanna to know more. Personally, I was more of a Disney fan.”

“Of course you were,” Sam said in amusement.

The dark-haired girl glared at him, “what’s that supposed to mean, moron?”

The blue-eyed boy shrugged, “just that it’s a girly thing.”

Lola rolled her eyes as Brittany shot something back at the boy, tuning them out as the attention shifted away from her. She made a mental note to research The Umbrella thing, as the other girl had said. Standing, she stretched and made her way into the main area of the store to take a break.

Despite all the time she spent in here, Lola didn’t think she’d ever tire of looking at the constant rotation of styles and colors. Her favorite thing to do was run her hands along the racks, feeling the shifts between soft, scratchy, wooly and a hundred other different cloths.

Her favorite section was the formal wear for the vast amount of sparkly dresses that her father decided to sell. She particularly liked the sequins because of the shine they gave off and the unique texture that passed under her fingertips. While she wouldn’t necessarily consider herself a girly-girl, she did appreciate a nice dress and the occasional accessory, even owning-and wearing- an assortment of hats and dressy items containing her favorite material.

This was the section she made her way over to now, immediately reaching her hand out to touch the slightly-rough, slightly-smooth fabric of a long, strapless dress covered in a layer of silver-and-gold sequins.

She jumped when a gentle, warm hand came to rest on her shoulder, “hey, Sequins.”

Lola rolled her eyes, “Uncle Ed, I thought I told you I hated that nickname?”

Her uncle smiled goofily at her, “what, I can’t call you something that you love?”

She huffed, “it’s dumb.”

“That’s what your mother said when you wanted to go by Lola but you did it anyway.”

“Ouch, I think I need ointment for that burn.”

The man laughed loudly, attracting some stares from other customers. They both ignored it, Lola being used to her uncle’s easy, hearty laughter, “I thought she was going to have a conniption when you told her.”

Lola’s face warmed, “are you ever going to let me live that down?”

He gave her a bright smile, “no way, Dolores.”

The brunette gave him a half-irritated, half-playful glare, “please, Uncle Ed.”

8 Days Until Apocalypse I, 2019

That evening before dinner, Lola sat herself down at the computer in her room and typed in the first part of a search inquiry: The Umbrella and then Google helpfully suggested the rest: Academy.

Clicking on the first result, her blue eyes widened in shock as an image appeared on the screen. The building she stole books from almost every night was home to heroes. Good god, what if she’d been caught? She would be dead for sure. She thanked her lucky stars that she’d only met the slightly-stooped figure a handful of times and had never spoken to anyone.

She scrolled further down to read about The Umbrella Academy.

On October 1, 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth simultaneously, despite none of them showing any sign of pregnancy until labor began. Seven of the children are adopted by eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves and turned into a superhero team that he calls "The Umbrella Academy." Hargreeves gives the children numbers rather than names, but the public gives them codenames. Spaceboy, Kraken, Rumor, Séance, The Boy and Horror. While putting six of his children to work fighting crime, Reginald keeps the seventh apart from her siblings' activities, as she supposedly demonstrates no powers of her own.

Intrigued, she clicked on a few more links that showed poor-quality pictures of six kids in domino masks and black uniforms after complete missions. Sometimes they’re covered in blood, sometimes they’re not. The group visibly diminishes in number after 2002, a few years before she was born. Then, when they’re in their teens, it shrinks again before all articles about the group cease to exist.

Frowning, Lola then typed in Reginald Hargreeves. There are, unsurprisingly, few articles about the man himself. There were a few about his notable achievements including his knighting and entrepreneurship but most involved The Umbrella Academy. There was even audio recording of one of the few interviews he’d done, showing the man standing outside of a bank as he introduced the group to the world.

“Our world is changing. Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted six such children. I give you the inaugural class of The Umbrella Academy!”

Abilities beyond the extraordinary? Lola thought, weren’t they just regular crime-fighting children? She snorted at that. There was no such thing as regular crime-fighting children. She entered her next search: Umbrella Academy superpowers.

Many articles were speculations of the full extent of the powers the children possessed, what-if questions and potential side effects or results of their use. She did learn, though, that the six powers were as followed: super strength, super accuracy, altering reality, ghost summoning, teleportation and time travel and summoning inter-dimensional beings. Lola could barely believe what she was reading. Children like this existed? And here she was, writing down her autobiography like she was someone important!

She shook her head, forcing her jealousy to dissolve. The media tended to sugarcoat everything; these kids probably didn’t have a very fun life if they were constantly on the job. And besides, of course she was important, she had time to do something noteworthy. Still, it felt like she’d entered an alternate universe and couldn’t believe she hadn’t been aware people with super powers even existed.

A part of her wanted to stop searching then and there with how muddled her mind was currently feeling but an almost morbid curiosity forced her to continue. As her final search of the night, she typed in The Boy disappearance.

Here, even less credible evidence popped up and she sifted through what she found until she had enough of a framework for a story. Apparently, he disappeared on November 10th, 2002 and his adoptive father proclaimed him dead. There were several conspiracy theories but nothing concrete, causing her to eventually give up on finding information. There was more to be found on the other siblings, she knew, but her curiosity had been satiated and she had other things to do tonight.

Standing from her desk, she went to her bedside table and opened the drawer, pulling out the two hardcover books she’d hidden in there. Tonight, she’d return them to The Umbrella Academy’s library- that was hard to believe- and get two more. Placing them in her bag, she wondered about the lack of security for such an at-risk family, but she’d seen pictures of Hargreeves; he was old, and despite being incredibly smart, he probably had difficulty with technology like any older person. It wouldn’t matter much now that he was dead, though.

Turning her feet towards the door to head downstairs for dinner, she wondered if the stooped figure she’d seen had been Hargreeves before quickly discarding the thought. While the man had appeared old, he’d always stood straight and proud, never bent with age.

During dinner, she let her parents and uncle talk around her while she puzzled over the mysterious Umbrella Academy. They seemed to have a fairly large fanbase in their youth, but all information on them was practically made up or guessed. Lola had always liked puzzles.

Finally, towards the end of dinner, she broke her silence, “mom?”

Diana turned towards her daughter, pushing back her short, brown hair behind her ear, “yes, Dolores?”

The younger girl winced. Her mother insisted on using her formal name, “do you know anything about The Umbrella Academy?”

Now she had both of her parent’s attention as Edmund cut off the conversation with his brother, “The Umbrella Academy?”

Lola nodded, “the superhero children of Reginald Hargreeves?”

Her mother shook her head, “a bit after my time, dear.”

The brunette girl rolled her eyes, “you’re not that old, Mom.”

Diana shot her a look, “I never said I was old, just that I didn’t know them.”

She grumbled under her breath, crossing her arms and pouting. She’d only been trying to give a compliment. Unfortunately, the dark-haired woman leaned over and gave her daughter a firm smack on the back of her head, “don’t grumble, Dolores. You sound like a caveman.”

There was just no winning with her. Thankfully, her Uncle Edmund came to the rescue by changing the subject, “any progress on your autobiography, Sequins?” he asked with an amused twinkle in his hazel eyes.

The brunette sighed and uncrossed her arms, using one of her hands to push her hair away from her face, “I don’t know what’s even the point anymore,” she complained, “especially with super-powered kids who are more interesting than me.”

Her father gave her a fond look, “you’re just as important as they are, don’t think that you’re not. And besides, this Umbrella talk reminds me- one of the children of the Academy published an autobiography a few years back, you might want to take a look at it.”

She shot him a surprised look, “really? Exposing superhero secrets?”

He shrugged, “I’m not sure of the extent of what’s written, but it’s probably worth taking a look, right?”

She chewed her lip in thought for a moment before nodding, “okay, thanks Dad.”

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bronte-deserves-better · 3 years

Text

Hi fuckers welcome to a really sad fic. I take no responsibility for what happens if you decide to read this, that's on you.

Title: and we fade in the dark

Wordcount: 2597

Summary: Bronte dies and everything is awful

Warnings: death, injury, graphic violence, blood, implied past suicidal thoughts.

Other Notes: Credit for the headcanons about how Oralie senses emotions goes to TheDarkChocolateLord on AO3.

Also, some important and necessary context for this fic: Fintan and Bronte are siblings, they were adopted by two elves called Serenel and Ramil.

A Keepsafe is a Councillor designated to protect their own safety no matter the cost so that there will always be at least one Councillor left alive to take charge in event of an emergency.

Also feat. nonbinary!Bronte

Actual fic under the cut

This was it, Oralie realized. This was the end. Whoever won the battle today would win the war- and it had to be them.

Grateful for her decision to wear more practical clothing today, she rushed through the flurry, hitting any black-cloaked figure that got in her way with her heels. Why oh why had she not taken Bronte up on their offer of proper weapons? Speaking of Bronte, where were they? Where were the rest of the Council? Over a few people’s heads, Oralie watched Clarette summon a few of her favored animal companions, reckoning the polygot would be fine on her own. Emery seemed to be doing okay as well, mostly because he and Darek had teamed up and were using telekinesis to their advantage, and Ramira was nowhere to be seen, as usual, so Oralie presumed she had fled. Ramira was by far more faithful to her job as a Keepsafe than the Darek.

Too occupied in thoughts of the others’ safety, Oralie barely noticed the blond elf in front of her until she had almost run into him.

“Why hello there, Oralie.”

That voice would haunt her dreams. “Fintan.”

“I see you and your lot aren’t doing so well.” He wore his trademark smirk, scanning the battlefield with that sharp gaze.

“I think we’re doing quite fine,” Oralie countered, knowing that to show weakness to Fintan meant death.

Fintan laughed, a snake of flame curling around his shoulders as he did so. “They all won’t be once you die.”

She stared at the fire, trying to keep her breathing level. “I’m by no means the most valuable member of the Council.”

“True, true, but you are the most loved.”

“I doubt that.”

Fintan took a step forward.

Oralie took a step backward.

And before either of them could make another move than that, Bronte was standing between them with a dagger leveled towards Fintan. “Get away from Oralie. Now.”

“What a way to talk to your brother.”

“Get. Away. From. Her.”

“Fine, fine.” Fintan rolled his eyes as he took a step back. “You’re such a protective asshole, you know.”

Bronte visibly flinched, but the dagger they had pointed at Fintan’s heart didn’t waver. “I protect the people I care about.”

It was Fintan’s turn to flinch. “Now that was just harsh.”

“Stop trying to kill my best friend and I won’t have to fight you.”

“No can do, I’m afraid. Leader of a rebel organization and all.”

“Then it comes down to us.”

Oralie could only watch helplessly as Bronte lunged forward, striking like a snake, only to be countered by a dagger of Fintan’s own. The fight ranged across the field, going right and left, back and forth, Bronte and Fintan trading blows as Oralie stood helplessly with high heels in hand, not daring to interfere in case she hit Bronte. Both of them hadn’t fought like this in years, she could tell, and they were as even a match as anything. What Bronte lacked by being slightly smaller, they made up for with precision, and what Fintan lacked in precision he made up for with strength. Watching them duel, Oralie realized that the fight should have been over a while ago. If either of the siblings dared use their ability, it would be easy enough to catch the other by surprise and incapacitate them. But both of them were holding back, only striking at each other with weapons. Determined to win- but unable to bring themselves to truly harm the other.

Thump, thump.

Oralie snapped out of her thoughts in time to see Gethen heading towards her, sword in hand, and thought quickly enough to dodge, leaping out of the way of his blow. He didn’t get her last time, he wasn’t going to get her this time either.

This time, Bronte was there, turning from their fight with Fintan to block another blow from Gethen. Their small dagger wasn’t a proper match for Gethen’s lumenite sword, but it was a blade and it did its job of blocking Gethen’s attack.

Oralie could feel determination radiating off Bronte, rough and strong like wood that hadn’t been sanded, watched Gethen’s smirk grow as Fintan’s eyes widened and his dagger, which would have been blocked by Bronte’s had they not turned, slashed across Bronte’s torso.

Oralie might have screamed. She couldn’t tell who was screaming, and for all she knew it could have been Fintan. His horror was strong enough to reach her, guilt prickling across her skin as Bronte collapsed.

“Bronte!” That was her voice this time, Oralie thought distantly, her scream ringing across the battlefield as she reached desperately for her best friend.

“Ora- Oralie.” They reached back, weakly, painfully.

Their dagger was laying on the ground next to her. Their blood was already coating her hands.

“Why?” Oralie pleaded. “Why would you di- get hurt for me?”

“Because I love you. Idiot.”

Oralie could feel Bronte’s pain surge through her, a phantom slash all the way down her chest as sticky sorrow poured across her hands, but their sentiment was genuine, the warmth of friendship radiating through. “I think- I think you’re the idiot.” She might have been crying, the sticky warmth of tears indistinguishable from the sticky warmth of love mingled with sadness. “You saved me, you saved the one who’s always been so weak.”

“Fucking nonsense. You’re- ah!” They gasped, and Oralie flinched as the pain doubled in intensity. “You’re stronger than anyone I know,” Bronte finished weakly. Their bangs fell across their face, strands of brown tinted red with blood as the rest fanned around their head like a halo but plainer.

“Bronte,” Fintan whispered from somewhere nearby.

Oralie would have killed him, if she could, but Bronte just stretched out a trembling hand. “Brother.”

“Bronte,” he repeated. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to!”

Bronte’s emotions shifted, damp regret scratching against Oralie’s heart like wet wool. “I was the one who failed you from the start. I’m sorry.”

“Big brother,” Fintan whispered, and Oralie’s hands were sticky with his sorrow and Bronte’s blood.

“I forgive you. I forgive you.”

And Fintan was sobbing now, that she could be sure of, the enormity of his guilt crushing her and making it hard to breathe. Was she breathing? She couldn’t be sure.

“Oralie.” Buried under waves of pain, soft prickles of concern reached Oralie, and she drew a shuddering breath as Bronte tapped her hand lightly. “Oralie.”

“Y- yes?” Her voice failed her, wobbling under the weight of Fintan’s guilt that might have been her guilt that might have been Bronte’s worry.

“Don’t let go, okay? Don’t give up, just because- just. Just don’t give up. Please. You deserve to be happy and you will be.”

“It gets better someday,” Oralie whispered, remembering what she had told them so many times.

“It gets better. Someday. Promise?”

“Promise what?”

“Promise you won’t give up.”

Oralie took a shaky breath. “I promise.”

In some corner of her mind, she was vaguely aware of the fact that one of Clarette’s creatures had thrown Gethen away from the three of them, that a familiar grief- Emery’s- was prickling the back of her neck, but all she could see was Bronte’s chest rising and falling too quickly as their breathing grow shallower.

“Good. Tell Sophie I’m proud of her. Tell the rest of the Council that I cared about them- except. Except tell Alina to get fucked.” They pressed a leaping crystal into her hand weakly. “Tell. Serenel. Ramil. My parents. I loved them. And never- never forget that I love you. So much.”

“This isn’t goodbye. This isn’t!”

“It has to be.” Bronte smiled painfully. “I’m sorry.”

And suddenly Oralie was drowning in the absence of their emotions, all the sticky sorrow vanishing from her hands and leaving only blood. “Bronte. Bronte! Please, don’t go!” She knew it was futile already, knew there was only one thing the lack of emotions could mean, but she begged anyways, holding them close like she hadn’t been able to do for Kenric. Kenric. Words and oaths and memories spiraled through her mind, leaving one final grief, which she screamed to the world. “You promised me, Bronte! You promised! You said you’d never leave, not like- not like Kenric!”

I’m sorry. The memory of those words echoed through her mind, the pain behind them tearing through any remaining numbness. I’m sorry.

It took her a moment to realize that someone was saying them out loud too, a different voice and a different sorrow clinging to her heart. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Oralie.” Emery’s golden voice was rough, the sentiment in it more real than anything he had said as Spokesperson.

His sorrow drowned her as he pulled her into a gentle embrace, and Oralie let it. It was easy to let the pain of others wrap her up tightly just like their arms, far, far easier than facing the rage and grief and guilt pooling in her chest. For once, Oralie embraced the numbness.

There was blood on Emery’s shoulder.

That was the first thing she noticed when she could notice anything but grief. The bloody spot was small, but seeping outward slowly, and just as sticky as his pain. Focusing in on his emotions, Oralie narrowed down a phantom ache in her shoulder, right over where the blood on his was.

“Emery’s hurt.” Her voice didn’t sound like hers, rough and distant. “Left shoulder.”

“Shit, nice catch, Oralie!” That was Livvy’s voice, her usual cheer strained and cracking. “Handy uh, having an empath around, I guess.”

Oralie stared at golden embroidery of Emery’s tunic, watching it slowly become stained with blood. “Yeah.” She didn’t know when Livvy had gotten here, didn’t bother to wonder.

Livvy’s worry was prickly. “I’ll fix that up, if you don’t mind moving back, Councillor Oralie?”

“Okay.” Oralie stepped back and wondered how her voice could sound so dead while her chest was rising and falling still. She was vaguely aware that Livvy was fussing, vaguely aware that Emery was sighing, but it all seemed very far away even though they were right next to her.

The next thing she was aware of was someone putting their hand in hers softly, a pearl ring shimmering on the middle finger.

“I heard what happened,” Liora said quietly.

Oralie said nothing.

“I don’t know you well, and I didn’t know Bronte well. But I hope you know we’ll all stand by you.” Liora’s concern was less prickly than Bronte’s had been, more like flannel than felt, but just as real.

Oralie didn’t know what to do with the knowledge that Liora cared enough to worry about her, had no way of discerning even what she felt about it. “Thank you. They- Bronte- told me to tell you- you and the others, that is- that they cared. Even though it didn’t seem like it.”

“Even though it didn’t seem like it,” the other Councillor repeated softly. “Sounds like Bronte.”

“It does.” Oralie’s words felt fragile in her mouth.

Liora squeezed her hand. “Don’t hesitate to knock on my door if you need. I don’t talk to people much, but I do care.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

Oralie let the other Councillors shunt her around for the remainder of the day, let Emery take charge as always. Liora stuck by her most of the time, a quiet, stable presence that Oralie was grateful for, or would have been if she could feel anything but numb. Livvy tried futilely to cheer her up once or twice once the doctors had finished fixing everyone up, but it did no good. Oralie could barely process the jokes, let alone find them funny.

Finally, they were leaping home, but it seemed that Oralie’s trials weren’t over for the day. Waiting for them were the members of Team Valiant, worry apparent in their stances.

Sophie scanned the line of Councillors, not meeting Oralie’s eyes as usual. “Where’s Bronte?”

No one answered her.

Sophie’s gaze was as prickly as her fear when it landed on Oralie. “Where’s Bronte?”

Oralie couldn’t say it. Wouldn’t say it.

“Did they get held up? Did something happen? Are they hurt? Please, what happened?”

The anguish in Sophie’s voice broke Oralie’s heart, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

Emery did so instead, steady voice tinged with sorrow. “Bronte was killed in the fight against the Neverseen.”

“They were defending me,” Oralie whispered. “It was my fault.”

“No!” Sophie’s emotions were too many textures at once, all tempered with sharp disbelief. “Bronte can’t just be dead! They were like, a million years old! That’s not fair!”

“Our world very rarely is,” Emery murmured.

“Well fuck that all!” Sophie burned with anger, voice sticky with sadness as she turned to Oralie. “And you just- and they were saving you?”

“There was nothing Oralie or anyone else could have done,” Emery put in quickly. “I don’t know the full details, but it was a dreadful fight.”

“I want to hear it from her.”

Oralie didn’t meet Sophie’s gaze.

“Councillor.”

The world was too bright, the green of the grass too vivid for such a sad day, Oralie noted distantly.

“Oralie,” Sophie snapped, and the genuine hatred behind it was almost enough to make Oralie crumble on its own. “What the fuck happened?”

“Don’t talk to your elders like that,” Emery scolded.

“I don’t care! Bronte is dead and Oralie won’t talk and- and maybe it should have been her!”

Oralie could feel the horror and regret the second Sophie’s words left her mouth, the uncomfortable dampness of those emotions brushing her skin in the silence those words left, but regret didn’t change what had been said. Or the fact that it should have been Oralie. “She’s right.”

“No!” That was Terik, from the other end of the line of Councillors. “No, Oralie, no. It shouldn’t have been any of us. Let alone you.”

“If it came down to Bronte or me, it always should have been me who died,” Oralie whispered. “They deserved better. They always did.”

“No,” Sophie said quietly. “No. I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry! I didn’t think- it wasn’t right! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Oralie.”

Her name sounded safe in her daughter’s mouth for the first time since Sophie had learned the truth.

Oralie drew a shuddering breath. “Bronte told me to tell you they were proud of you. Before they died. They wanted me to pass on the message.”

“They- they were?”

“They were. They were so proud.”

And Oralie was crying, and Sophie was crying, and even unflappable, unshakable Emery was crying a little bit because it didn’t matter who ‘should’ have died, Bronte was dead and it was left to the rest of them to pick up all the broken pieces and try to make them beautiful again.

“I’m sorry,” Sophie whispered into Oralie’s shoulder, sadness more sticky than her tears on the already-ruined gown. “I’m sorry.”

Emery offering “I’m sorry” as a condolence.

Bronte’s last words of “I’m sorry”.

Fintan desperately apologizing for hurting them, a pained “I’m sorry”.

“I’m sorry,” Oralie whispered back, feeling the weight of the others’ words behind her own. “For everything.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry- I’m sorry for what I said.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

And they held each other and knelt on the too-green grass of Eternalia and cried until even Oralie had no more tears left. Only then did they get up, wipe their faces, and decide to go on, one way or another.

#councillor Oralie #Councillor Bronte #semp writes #sophie foster #KotLC #councillor Emery #blood tw #death tw #gore tw #angst

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ethelphantom · 4 years

Text

it’s a WONDERful day

Maribat March 2020, day 2: Training. Because we do not have enough WW & LB solidarity. Or friendship. Or fucking anything.

Ao3

This is Maribat -- don’t like; don’t read

__________________

“Aaahh, finally done. Never again. Chat, did you get the Peacock Miraculous? I need to get them to the Guardian,” Ladybug said, reaching out her open palm for Chat to give the pin to her. She already had the Butterfly in her other hand, so now as long as she got the Peacock from Chat, it would be great. He did hand it to her, after a moment.

“Do I— Do I have to give my ring away too?” he asked, hesitating. There was uncertainty and sadness in his voice, and it just broke Ladybug’s heart.

“I don’t know. I’m not taking it away from you, if that’s what you’re asking. If you do need to give it away, the Guardian will come to you and take it himself, just like he was the one to give it to you. I certainly hope he doesn’t want them back, I would hate to have to give Tikki back,” she replied. Ladybug put her hand on Chat’s shoulder and rubbed it with her finger. “But whatever happens, remember what we agreed on doing if we or one of us loses their Miraculous.”

Chat simply nodded before he took off, saluting to her and the woman standing behind her. Ladybug watched Chat go, a sad smile lingering on her face. Then she turned around to face the woman clad in red and blue armor, along with golden accents and a golden lasso. The woman smiled at her warmly.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you, miss Ladybug,” she said and bowed to her. Ladybug was taken aback. She knew this woman was strong — after all, she had helped them defeat Papillon and Mayura, and she kept her emotions in check rather easily when Ladybug had told her how Papillon could and would use emotions against them, but she didn’t really know her. The woman continued speaking. “I am Wonder Woman, the champion of the Amazons, and the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, a previous—”

“Your mother was a Ladybug?”

Ladybug’s eyes were filled with fascination as they widened. Maybe there was a chance she could meet a previous Ladybug after all, if this woman indeed was Hippolyta’s daughter. She’d heard a lot about her from Tikki.

“Yes, yes she was, and when we heard there was a new Ladybug, we thought we would like to meet her. I was sent here to see how you were doing first, since the Ladybug is never brought to the world unless there is a great threat, and it seems I came at a good time. That man was your threat, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah. Papillon’s been a pain for too many months, but I’m pretty sure defeating him would have taken far longer had you not come and helped, so thank you for that!”

“It was no problem, I was happy to be able to help Ladybug. It seems you hadn’t managed to complete your training before being thrown into the war, so I would like to offer you a chance to train with my people. They are one the best warriors there are, so I am certain you would benefit of that,” Wonder Woman said and smiled at Ladybug.

Kwamii, the woman was gorgeous and she was offering her help, their help. There was absolutely no way she could say no.

Except, she was still barely 14 and had not finished school. Also, she was rather certain that they would not be here in Paris, so she would also have to come up with a reason to leave her parents, which was going to be much more difficult.

“I would love to do that, but… I’m not really sure I can? There’s school, my parents… I don’t think I know a way to avoid all that to be able to come,” she admitted, and Wonder Woman’s face hardened a little.

“Parents? School? Are you still in university?”

“No, I’m in middle school still. And I live with my parents — I’m not an adult yet.”

“You’re what? Were you put in the middle of war as a child?” The tone of her voice, while calm, radiated cold fury, but Ladybug got the idea that it wasn’t directed at her and rather at the person who’d chosen her — so Master Fu.

“Yes…?”

“I would certainly like to have a word with whoever your teacher is. They must have known that a child is not to be put to fight adults’ war, not when the evil you’re up against is far older than you are. You did wonderful considering that, though. Good job, I am proud of you.”

Wonder Woman was, for the lack of a better word, seething. She definitely wasn’t happy with Master Fu, but the reassurance she wasn’t angry with Ladybug (no, instead she was proud of her and said she’d done well!) brought a smile on her face. To be complimented by someone who certainly knew how to fight better than she did was an intoxicating feeling.

“Thank you!”

“Regardless, the offer of training stands. If it is a requirement, I live in the United States and know rather many influential people, so I could come up with something that would allow you to come with me. I understand revealing your identity is something you aren’t comfortable with, and shouldn’t be either, but that is likely necessary. If I know what you’re interested in, I could contact a person who could be responsible for you in your parents’ eyes while you trained with my people. Education would not be a problem either, that can and will be provided to you should you ask for it.”

Ladybug considered it. It was a wonderful opportunity and she didn’t want to miss it for the world. Besides, she had a feeling she could trust this woman. She was actually pretty certain that little voice in her ear telling her it was alright to have faith in her was Tikki.

“Alright, in that case, yes! Will you follow me so I can detransform somewhere safer? And if you could wear something more… civil, that would probably make things easier. My civilian self probably shouldn’t be seen near Wonder Woman,” Ladybug laughed nervously. She hoped it wasn’t too much to ask, but regardless she hurried to add, “it’s okay if you’re in a disguise even then, it’s just that I don’t want others to know my identity. My privacy is violated enough as it is.”

“Of course, Ladybug. Lead the way.”

Ladybug led them to a quiet alley where she could let her transformation fall. It was relieving to feel Tikki slip out of her earrings, and her suspicions about it being Tikki whispering in her ear were confirmed when Tikki didn’t complain about revealing herself to someone and instead flew to Wonder Woman and happily greeted her. “Diana! It’s so great to see you again! How long has it already been, at least two millennia, right?”

Wonder Woman — Diana — smiled and offered her hand for Tikki to land on. She did. “Yes, it has certainly been far too long. Is it alright if I take your Soul to Themyscira? It seems she hasn’t completed her training yet, which is unacceptable for a Ladybug.”

“She never did get any training. We didn’t have time before Papillon appeared. But yes, if she wants that, it’s all good with me. After all, I’d love to see your mother again, and all the others as well, but you know. She was my holder at some point too. Also, how did you know?”

“She what? And do you really think I wouldn’t be able to sense who the Soul you created belonged to? Tikki, you underestimate me. I’m no longer a child — she’s clearly the Soul of Creation,” Diana laughed and flicked Tikki’s head gently. It was rather adorable, if you asked Marinette.

Except.

Wait.

The soul of creation?

“It means you’re the true holder of the Ladybug Miraculous, Marinette,” Tikki said, suddenly floating in front of her. “I created your soul — it seems it decided to be born as you in this time and this place. I didn’t know when you were to be born, just that you would, one day.”

Oh. She’d said that out loud.

Diana changed her appearance as well, and then they were ready to go.

It… It didn’t take too long to convince her parents. It worked even better since Diana found out she loved designing clothes because Diana herself owned a fashion company and knew a few people who she could create a collaboration with to give Marinette a chance to try her hand at creating an actual line. The fact Diana was going to be the one responsible also felt better since that meant she wouldn’t even need to lie to her parents, really. Diana would actually let her do it.

The flight to the States to first get to Diana’s boutique and to have one of her acquaintances in on her plan (Marinette was rather surprised how quick Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen were to create a collaboration with her but Marinette decided she didn’t want to question it. She felt like there was a story behind both she wouldn’t be too happy to know), and then they left to find the Paradise Island, the new Themyscira. Diana advised her to transform into Ladybug because the Island could exist anywhere and anywhen, so being Ladybug when entering would make it much easier upon finding it.

The Amazons welcomed her warmly and gave her a small bow as well. This time Ladybug had been expecting it as Diana had explained that any Ladybug would be held high in their eyes as their Queen had been Ladybug once upon a time. It didn’t make it any less weird, though. It was wonderful to be welcomed so well, though. It made her happy (and maybe a bit teary-eyed but that was another thing.)

While Diana went off to talk with Queen Hippolyta, Tikki and Antiope who had come back just because she’d heard Ladybug was back, Marinette took it as a chance to get to know Artemis of Bana-Mighdall and Donna Troy, as well as one of the Honorary Amazons: Cassie Sandsmark. It was nice to have (relatively) younger company, and she ended up especially liking Cassie who was the closest to her age. They’d all come just to meet the new Ladybug as well, all having at least heard the stories of Hippolyta as an Amazon.

Artemis had taken another look at Marinette when she offhandedly mentioned school and just stared at her before speaking, slowly, as though she couldn’t comprehend it (Marinette doubted it was that — it was more like she was just as scandalised by it as Diana had been earlier), “Gods damn it, why is the new Ladybug a literal child? Considering you aren’t an Amazon, that is far too young to be actually fighting in a war with the strongest Miraculous there is. Please tell me the Cat was an adult so you had someone supervising you, at least.”

“Nope! Just me and Chat, who is of my age, fighting against Papillon and Mayura, both definitely adults.”

“You did get to at least start proper training before you started fighting, though, right?”

“Again, nope. I got my Miraculous maybe twenty minutes before I had to transform for the first time because Papillon had attacked Paris.”

Artemis had buried her head in her hands and groaned something that sounded like “kids aren’t supposed to be fighting adults’ wars, what the hell.” Marinette just shrugged. Then, just as Cassie was about to take her to a tour around the Island, Hippolyta turned to look at them.

“Are you actually telling me you have no training? And that you were thrown in the middle of war with absolutely no training by your teacher?“ Marinette nodded; Hippolyta sighed. “Alright, we’re most certainly going to give you a proper Amazonian training so you will never again be the inferior one in a fight. Any Ladybug deserves that much, especially one with the Soul of Creation. Cassie, take her to the tour because you already managed to promise it to her, but afterwards, we’ll start your training. Artemis, if you can stay for a while to train her as well, that would be wonderful, but if you have to get back to the Outlaws, go ahead.”

Artemis stayed.

And yes, Marinette got her training, from the Amazons, but also a few superheroes both Artemis and Diana were in contact with, namely the Red Hood and Batman, since neither of the two had superpowers and the Amazons thought it would be good she got some training from people who were only human, like her. Superman was roped into occasional training sessions as well. All of the training sessions with Superman, Red Hood and Batman always happened outside of Themyscira, though.

Needless to say, the next time anyone dared to rise against Paris and especially the new Ladybug, it didn’t take long to end it all and return the world to its natural balance.

______

@freshbark @maribat-march2020 @catsandfanfic @fertileleaf @kris-pines04 @thethirdwheelfriend @daminett4life @abrx2002 @persephonebutkore @eat0crow

#Maribat #maribatmarch2020 #ml x dc #dc x mlb #dc #ml #miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #fanfic #ethel's writing

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nitewrighter · 4 years

Note

Some OW Fankids domestic fic? Just the gang hanging around and stuff at the watchpoint? Like the halloween fic with the fankids you did before!! :DDD

I never did any fics surrounding Jaime joining the watchpoint. I should fix that.

Oof this one ended up long.

In Loco Parentis

------

The mid-morning sunlight streamed through the slats of the watchpoint boardroom.

“We’re not a homeless shelter,” Jack’s arms were folded, “Or an orphanage.”

“You know the situation is more complicated than that,” said McCree, “If he’s fleeing Vishkar---”

“There are thousands of people displaced by Talon, Null Sector, and the Siberian Omnium,” said Jack, “We barely have the resources to sustain ourselves. If we start taking on civilians...”

“Even at the peak of Overwatch’s power, there wasn’t a whole lot they could do about 30 million crisis orphans,” said Sombra.

“But with Marti--” McCree looked over at Sombra, who had several screens open around her head.

“I’m Marti’s legal guardian,” said Sombra, scrolling through one of her screens with a flick of her wrist, “It’s different.”

“So what, we just throw him out?” said McCree.

“Not ‘throw him out,’” said Winston. He cleared his throat and set several pamphlets on the table in front of McCree, “His associating with us also potentially makes him even more of a target for Talon. While I do believe Overwatch is meant to help everyone, we have to be able to delegate what that help looks like.”

McCree picked up one of the pamphlets and his mouth thinned. There was a picture of a handful of kids of varying backgrounds in front of an idyllic suburban house. “...Foster care,” said McCree, “You’re talking about foster care.”

“I can cover his tracks,” said Sombra, “Keep Vishkar from scooping him back up.”

McCree opened up the pamphlet and his eyes glazed over it. Clean. Homey. Normal. He deserved normal. All kids deserved normal.

He’ll be clawing at that pretty flowery wallpaper within two weeks, run off again within a month, thought McCree, He’s too angry. Too scared. Too hungry. He’s seen too much to think he can--No. Shut up. Shut up. You’re projecting. You’re projecting. You’re projecting.

“It’s best if you talk to him,” said Winston, “From his perspective, you’re the closest thing he has to ‘In Loco Parentis.’”

“In local what now?”

“It’s a legal term meaning--” Winston caught himself, “Er--”

“‘In place of a parent,’” said Sombra, she gave McCree a slightly pitying look, “McCree, we all know your story. We know what you’re thinking.”

“What? What am I thinking? That it’s wrong to give him back into a system that just tossed him into Vishkar’s jaws before?” McCree folded his arms. “I’m just saying, even if we put him in completely anonymously, you know Talon and Vishkar comb through the poorest and most desperate for...their ranks.”

“We have to demonstrate some cooperation with the proper channels,” said Winston.

“Look, we get your concerns but try to see it from our perspective. He’s only a few years younger than you were when Reyes picked you up,” said Sombra, folding her arms, “This is personal for you, we get it---”

“You think I’m emotionally compromised,” said McCree with a scoff.

“Yes,” said Sombra, flatly, “But, it’s because of that compromise that we also trust you to do what’s best for him.” Sombra insistently tapped a finger on the end of the pamphlet McCree was holding for emphasis as she said ‘do what’s best.’

McCree looked down at the pamphlet.

“He’s at a stage you were at once, and I get wanting to help him through that,” Sombra went on, “But we’re fighting against a global corporate-backed terrorist collective and a robot invasion. The best thing we can do for him is get him as far away from it as we can.”

McCree looked at a photo of several children around a table with plates of pancakes as a human and omnic pair of foster parents proudly beamed at the camera. Normal. He deserved normal.

“I’ll... I’ll talk to the kid,” said McCree, itching at the brim of his hat, “I guess... all that matters is getting a roof over his head, right?”

He looked at Jack and found no sympathy in that visor. All that matters is stopping Talon, he could almost hear Jack’s voice.

“Of course,” said Winston, “We have complete faith in you.”

“I mean, unless he’s already stolen everything he could and dipped already,” said Sombra with a slight chuckle.

McCree shot her a dirty look.

“Crisis Orphan mentality,” said Sombra with a shrug, “It’s what I would have done in his place.”

“We ain’t treatin’ him like a criminal!” said McCree.

“He’s literally here because he stole Rei’s backpack,” said Jack, flatly.

“Hanzo’s been keeping an eye on him,” said McCree, “Last I checked he was still asleep. It’ll be fine.”

----

“You lost him!?” McCree was pacing back and forth in front of Hanzo as they stood in an empty watchpoint dormitory, “How do you lose a whole-ass 14-year-old?!”

“I wasn’t going to have him wake up with me staring at him, I thought it prudent to fix something for him to eat for a late breakfast!” said Hanzo. He was holding a now-cold plate of a neatly folded omelette flecked with chives.

“...of all the times for you to switch gears from ninja to Uncle Hanzo...” McCree huffed but Hanzo just furrowed his brows at him. “Sorry--” McCree caught himself, “Sorry. We gotta go find him. Athena?” McCree called and looked around the dorm room. There was no response.

“Did he disable Athena in here?” said Hanzo, shocked.

“If he could run away from a Vishkar orphanage...” McCree pulled out his comm, “Athena, you there? I need Watchpoint surveillance feeds on my comm.”

“If we don’t want him to feel like a criminal, perhaps activating all Watchpoint security isn’t the best way to go about this,” said Hanzo, “We’ll look around for him first. Give him time to come back.”

“In that time he could hop another freighter or--or get hurt! He’s cleared with Satya’s turrets, right?” said McCree.

“Of course he’s cleared with Satya’s turrets, we aren’t savages!” Hanzo retorted, “Every moment we spend arguing is a moment we should be spending making sure he’s all right. Come,” said Hanzo, already briskly walking out

“You gotta be kidding me,” muttered McCree, following behind him.

----

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Jaime was hunched over a pried-open panel to see nothing but empty black space. The scent of his own new clothes threw him off, distracted him. The fact that he couldn’t really smell himself anymore was definitely an improvement, but he was wondering how much the stress of getting out of here would undo that. He rooted around in the space, trying to feel for wires, but then huffed.

“The whole watchpoint’s been cannibalized several times over. Any copper or palladium in the walls here has probably been stripped for Mei’s or Athena’s servers,” a voice that seemed to be trying to jam too many syllables in at once while hitting its consonants a little too hard spoke up from behind Jaime, and Jaime glanced over his shoulder to see a familiar girl with thick eyebrows and wild dark hair tied half-back in a yellow ribbon. “There’s no way you can try to get them without getting caught, though,” she added.

“...Psycho,” said Jaime.

“Thief,” said Rei.

“I already said sorry about your stupid backpack,” said Jaime, pushing himself up from his knees and dusting himself off, already walking away.

“And you’re already trying to steal again!” said Rei, huffily pacing after him.

“You know most people don’t steal because they have anything against whoever they’re stealing from, right?” said Jaime, “It’s not about you, or your watch...thing.”

“Watchpoint,” said Rei.

“It’s about survival,” said Jaime.

“So ask!” said Rei, “They’re Overwatch! You think we don’t care about people’s survival?!”

“I really don’t care about your weird army cult thing,” said Jaime, continuing to walk.

“Cult?!” Rei blustered.

“Yeah. Big compound, lots of guns...weird kids who were born here and don’t question the giant weird compound or the guns---”

“Overwatch is trying to save the world from Talon and Null Sector! Trying to save the world isn’t a cult!” said Rei.

Jaime just gave her a semi-pitying look that made her blood boil.

“Well fine! If you want to go back to being a scuzzy little thief, be my guest!” she said, throwing her hands up.

“That’s the plan,” said Jaime, continuing to walk away, “Not like I’m dumb enough to wait for them to hand me off to the police or another orphanage.”

“Fine!” Rei said again, folding her arms, before suddenly catching herself, “Wait---”

Jaime stopped and looked over his shoulder at her.

“If you need things before you go, we can give them to you. No stealing,” said Rei, “I mean, obviously you can’t strip Athena or any of the tech, but... clothes and soap and food...” she trailed off.

Jaime’s stomach audibly growled at the word ‘food.’

“...Have you eaten yet today?” said Rei, suddenly alarmed.

“What are you, my mom?” said Jaime with a scoff before his stomach growled again.

“Come with me,” said Rei, briskly stepping up alongside him. She looked to his wrist, fully healed from the sprain thanks to biotics, and took his elbow, “Come on.”

“Is this the cult love-bombing?” said Jaime, being half-dragged behind her, “I’m not going if it’s the cult love-bombing.”

“Oh my god, it’s not love-bombing, I’m just taking you to the garden so you can grab some fruit,” said Rei continuing to drag him along, “It’s closer than the mess hall. You’re less likely to run into the adults there.”

“You have guns, a compound, and a little mini-farm, and you want me to believe you’re not a cult,” said Jaime, flatly. They rounded a corner and walked a narrow path between the hangar and the seaside cliffs.

“I don’t have guns. And Bastion actually does most of the gardening,” said Rei, as they walked.

“Who?” said Jaime, but he blinked several times as the ground opened up to a wide grassy area bordered by Gibraltar’s rocks and the hangar. There was a line of orange trees up against the hangar, and a significant section of the grass had been carved out to form a small victory garden growing tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, carrots, and corn. Opposite the orange trees were several thrumming beehive boxes, and at the far end of the garden was an apparently well-loved old greenhouse that had gone through several patch-ups over the years, and a knobby little olive tree twisting up next to it, canvas laid out at its roots.

“Thwuh-wheet?” an inquisitive beep came from behind them and both Rei and Jaime quickly turned on their heels to see Bastion looming over them, . Jaime’s breath caught in his throat and he stumbled back. Bastion tilted its boxy head at him.

“...that’s a Bastion unit,” said Jaime, his voice tense in his throat as he took several steps back.

“Bastion doesn’t like to fight,” said Rei, as several birds fluttered around Bastion’s head. Bastion gestured at Jaime with its hand.

“Oh um--he’s.... from school!” said Rei, “He’s just visiting.”

“Right,” Jaime repeated hesitantly, “From... the school.” But then Jaime jumped about a foot in the air as a bright blue teleporter opened at the end of the line of orange trees. Rei stepped in front of Jaime, half-expecting an adult to step out of it, but instead it was only Samir, looking more rumpled than usual in a baggy tank top, basketball shorts, and sandals. The only thing that kept Jaime from breaking out into a dead sprint out of that garden at the slightest sight of hard-light was both Rei and Bastion’s complete non-reaction to the appearance of a teleporter. Samir didn’t seem really aware of them as he materialized a large basket and a hard-light telescoping fruit picker.

“I thought you said Overwatch was against Vishkar!” Jaime hissed from behind Rei as Samir hummed and picked oranges.

“We are,” said Rei, “Samir’s mom--I mean, one of Samir’s moms---well, long story short, you’re not the first person to leave Vishkar.”

Jaime blinked several times, “I’m... I’m not?”

“Rei?” Samir’s head turned toward her as an orange thudded to the ground at his feet, “Who are you talking to?”

Jaime leaned out slightly from behind Bastion and Samir squinted a little.

“Uh...Hi. Jaime. I’m Jaime, from... from school. The school. That I go to. With her,” said Jaime.

“Rei,” Rei said quietly under her breath.

“The school with Rei,” said Jaime, nodding.

Samir gave them both a skeptical look before resuming picking oranges, “You’re hiding,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What? No!” Rei and Jaime’s voices were overlapping each other as they stumbled over several half-thought out excuses.

Samir gave them an impatient ‘Don’t assume I’m dumb’ look and Rei’s shoulders slumped. “Look, it’s complicated,” said Rei, “Okay?”

“Is he a secret boyfriend? You aren’t cheating on Jaz, are you?” said Samir, squinting at her.

“Oh gross! Barf! Like I would cheat on Jaz with Backpack Thief McPubertystache over here!” Rei blurted out, but then she caught herself and looked at Jaime, “I mean.... uh... no.”

“...real flattering,” said Jaime.

“Wait--You stole Rei’s backpack?!” Samir’s face lit up.

“Uh...” Jaime itched at the back of his neck.

“So you outran a ninja and Marti?” said Samir.

“He didn’t outrun me!” said Rei, indignantly.

“I out parkour’d her,” said Jaime, folding his arms smugly.

“Did not! You caught me on an off-day!” said Rei.

“I out parkour’d her,” Jaime whisper-spoke to Samir and Samir snorted slightly.

“So... you’re still here?” said Samir tilting his head, “I thought Overwatch would have just sent you to your parents or....”

Jaime glanced off and his lips thinned.

“...Oh,” said Samir and he looked to Rei, “Did they say what they were going to do with him or...?”

“I can take care of myself,” said Jaime, firmly, “Rei’s just helping me grab some stuff before I go.”

“...oh,” said Samir, his shoulders slumping slightly, “So you’re going.”

“I’m a wanderer,” said Jaime, putting his hands on his hips, “Erromes.”

“Erro...what?” Samir started.

“A pilgrim,” said Jaime.

“...you’re fourteen,” said Rei, flatly.

“Better than being in a cult,” said Jaime with a shrug.

“We’re not in a---!” Rei huffed before looking at Samir, “We’re just grabbing some food, that’s it.”

Samir shrugged, “Fine by me,” he pulled an orange from his basket and materialized a hard light knife, cutting the orange into neat sections. He held the cut orange out to Jaime. Jaime gave a wary glance to Rei before stepping over to Samir and taking the cut orange.

“Rei said you escaped Vishkar?” said Samir.

“...yeah,” said Jaime, trying to eat the orange slices as casually as possible despite how hungry he was.

“What was it like?” said Samir.

Jaime just paled slightly and Samir caught himself, “Sorry just... Mom hates them too, but she’s never talks about it, you know?”

“They always try and leave us out of that kind of stuff,” muttered Rei, interlacing her fingers behind her head.

“What’s the cowboy’s deal?” said Jaime, in-between bites of orange.

“Uncle Jesse?” said Rei,

“Like... why is he a cowboy?” said Jaime.

“Why are you a pilgrim if you keep freaking out and calling us a cult?” said Rei, arching an eyebrow.

“Pilgrims understand there are no easy answers,” said Jaime, airily.

“The way we live isn’t an easy answer,” said Rei with a scoff, “I’m scared of my parents dying, or my uncles dying, or anyone else on this Watchpoint dying. Like, all the time. And I’m scared of losing my home. All the time.”

“...oh,” said Jaime.

“You thought this was easy?” said Rei.

“...you go to school, and you have lunches and...” Jaime trailed off. Rei was glancing off, too.

An awkward pause passed between the three of them. Bastion at this point seemed to occupy itself with weeding the garden.

“No one knows why McCree’s a cowboy,” said Samir, at last, “That’s just how he is.” Another long pause passed and Samir cleared his throat. “You know, you’re probably going to want food with a longer shelf-life so..”

“Mess hall!” Rei blurted out.

“Right,” said Samir, spinning another teleporter into existence.

Jaime visibly tensed at the sight of another teleporter and Samir quickly waved it off into sparkling oblivion with a flick of his wrist. “Or we could walk! Walking is good!”

“‘We?’” said Rei.

“Well it’s not like we get a lot of visitors,” said Samir, hefting up his basket of oranges and stepping up next to them. Samir and Rei gave a wave to Bastion, who only briefly glanced up from a butterfly resting on a tomato flower to wave back at them as they left the garden.

“...so you live on the Watchpoint too?” said Jaime, walking with Rei and Samir. The three of them walked another cliffside path to a road that needed some re-paving ribboning through the watchpoint. Jaime was periodically grabbing oranges out of Samir’s basket, peeling and eating them as they walked.

“There’s just four of us,” said Samir, “There’s Rei, Marti, me, and my brother, Rajeev. We actually all go to the same school, but Rajeev and I are in lower grades.”

“Ah...” said Jaime, now feeling a little foolish for trying to keep up the ‘I’m Rei’s classmate’ lie, “...and your parents just... teach you being about being a ninja or using hard-light?”

“It took forever to convince Dad and Uncle to let me start training,” said Rei with a huff, “Dad was okay with me learning Kendo, but he and Mom were so weird about me learning any actual ninja stuff. But I was climbing everything on the Watchpoint anyway so Uncle started teaching me stuff ‘so I wouldn’t hurt myself.’”

“For me, my Mom just uses hard-light for everything,” said Samir with a shrug, “It’s just kind of how we do everything. Cooking, cleaning, exercise---”

“Basketball,” said Rei as the road opened up to the watchpoint tarmac.

“That falls under exer--oh,” Samir was cut off by the pang pang pang of a basketball on blacktop glanced up to see a large hard-light basketball hoop set up in front of the watchpoint mess hall. Marti was guarding the hoop, in a tense cat-like position while Rajeev was furiously dribbling the ball in front of her, trying to get past her. Marti glanced over her shoulder at them.

“Rei?” Marti blinked a few times and looked at Jaime, “Isn’t that the--”

She was cut off as Rajeev dipped to the side of her and jumped up to make a slam-dunk, only to have the entire basketball hoop dematerialize with the impact of his weight. He stumbled to the ground and the basketball smacked against the pavement and went flying. Jaime caught it out of the air.

“Boom!” Rajeev threw his arms up into the air, “Dunked it too hard! Too powerful!”

“I’m pretty sure the basket only dissolved because you need to dial up the shock absorption,” said Samir, with a huff.

“Details,” said Rajeev with a hand wave.

“What’s going on?” said Marti, looking between Rei and Jaime, “What’s he doing here?”

“I’m just helping him grab some stuff before he takes off,” said Rei with a shrug.

“...he’s taking off?” said Marti, “What did McCree say?”

“Well...” Rei trailed off.

“Rei,” Marti folded her arms.

“I mean he’s going to run off anyway!” said Rei.

“It’s true,” said Jaime with a shrug, still holding the basketball.

“And go back to stealing and dumpster-diving?” said Marti.

“What do you care?” said Jaime.

“You’re just a kid,” said Marti.

“So?” said Jaime a bit more stiffly.

“And you ran away from Vishkar,” Samir piped up.

“You ran away from Vishkar!?” Rajeev’s face lit up.

“And he outran Rei and Marti for like, 3 hours,” said Samir.

“He didn’t outrun me, he cheated,” said Rei.

“He outran us,” Marti confirmed.

“Woah...” Rajeev looked back at Jaime. He pointed at the basketball still in Jaime’s hand, “Wanna play a round?”

“What, just like that?” said Jaime.

Rajeev shrugged. “It’s just basketball. We don’t get a lot of visitors to the Watchpoint.”

“...I don’t know if that’s a good idea...” Jaime said quietly, bounce-passing the ball to Marti.

“It’s a good idea,” said Marti, bounce-passing the ball back to him.

Jaime looked at her.

“I get what it feels like to not feel safe anywhere,” said Marti, “But...this place...”

“This place is about as safe from Vishkar as you can get,” said Samir, finishing her thought.

Jaime looked down at the ball and then his eyes flicked to Rei. “You don’t actually want to play with me,” he said, bouncing the ball to her.

“I don’t know about ‘play,’” said Rei, dribbling the ball thoughtfully, “But I gotta show the twins that you outrunning me was just a fluke somehow.” She chest-passed it so hard to him he rocked back on his heels.

“Oh it’s like that?” said Jaime, passing the ball back to her.

“It’s like that,” said Rei, bouncing the ball back.

“We can play guys vs. girls!” said Rajeev.

“That’s three on two,” said Samir.

“Two on two, each team gets a twin,” said Marti, “Rei and Rajeev vs Jaime and Samir. Sound fair?”

“What about you?” said Rei.

“I’ll be sneaking stuff out of the mess hall,” said Marti with a slight smile at Jaime, “Just for good faith.”

“How is it good faith if we’re still stea--” Rajeev started but Samir elbowed him.

“I shouldn’t stay that long,” Jaime said,

“First to five?” said Samir, as he and Rajeev materialized a new hard-light hoop.

“...I’ve got time for first to five,” said Jaime.

----

“I meant to ask,” said Hanzo as the two of them briskly walked out of the hangar, “Did you and the others come to a consensus about what should be done?” McCree fished the foster home pamphlet out of his back pocket and held it out to Hanzo. “...Ah,” said Hanzo.

“I mean, it’s obvious, ain’t it?” said McCree glancing off, “It’s not like he actually wants to be here...”

Hanzo studied McCree’s profile for a few seconds. “You’re not okay with this,” Hanzo said quietly.

“What?” said McCree, “I mean, I’ll be okay about it. I just gotta...” he trailed off, “Y’know.”

“He’s a lot like you,” said Hanzo, as they walked through one of the watchpoint’s cannibalized server rooms.

“You know, this would be easier if people stopped sayin’ that,” said McCree, pausing to examine a panel which had been removed from the wall.

Hanzo glanced off, “Do you remember when we would look after Rei when Genji and Angela were busy?”

“Oh don’t start---” McCree pressed the brim of his hat down.

“You loved it. You loved her. You listened to her babbling like it was the most important and interesting thing in the world.”

“That’s---”

“You even volunteered us for helping out with the twins when they were born. And when Marti came to the Watchpoint you were constantly checking in to make sure she was settling in all right.”

“That’s babysitting! That’s kids you can walk away from!” said McCree, as they both walked out of the server room.

“But none of the children on this Watchpoint forgot that. They go to you when they feel like they can’t talk to their parents about something, you haven’t noticed that?”

“Well, maybe that’s because they don’t see me as an authority figure like everyone else--not a good ‘In local parentals’ factor,” said McCree.

“In loco parentis,” said Hanzo.

“See? I don’t know shit!”

“It’s not a matter of them not respecting you, it’s a matter of them seeing you as someone who respects them,” said Hanzo, “You’re coming from a childhood where you were largely relying on yourself... the adult figure you are to these children is the one you wish you had in your life. And it’s why Jaime was able to trust you enough to get his wrist looked at rather than just run off.”

“Hanzo, what are you gettin’ at, here?”

“You want to be a father--You’ve probably wanted to be a father ever since Rei was born. Possibly even earlier.”

“Well yeah, but there’s wanting something, and then knowing you’ll be shit at it,” said McCree, “I’m not like you, all... together.”

“You think I would be a good father?” a laugh rippled Hanzo’s voice and he noted the apparent hurt in McCree’s expression, “Oh... you actually...”

“You were a got-dang wizard with Rei! She still idolizes you! You’re always... prepared!” McCree furrowed his brow and thought for a second, “Did you ever want kids?”

“...In a sense, but...” Hanzo glanced down, “I didn’t think it would be fair to them. My father spent my childhood molding me into another, well, him. And as Genji can probably tell you, he wasn’t a good person. I don’t... I don’t want to inflict that on a child.”

“You would never,” said McCree on reflex, “Me on the other hand...” he shuddered, “If I became another kid’s Reyes...” he trailed off, “...we never really talked about this, did we?” he said at last.

“Well, given the fact that Overwatch is throwing us into near-constant danger and we never had to worry about pregnancy...” Hanzo trailed off, “Let’s just focus on finding him.”

“I hear that,” said McCree, “It ain’t about us. It’s about him.” McCree’s boot hit an odd texture and he glanced down.

“Orange peel,” said Hanzo, plucking up a bit of the waxy rind from the blacktop. They looked at the small trail of bits of orange peel like breadcrumbs through the watchpoint.

“Could be another macaque,” said McCree.

“Too clean,” said Hanzo.

“Welp, it’s a lead,” said McCree, following the trail. It lead them on a meandering path through the watchpoint, a fairly straight line towards the mess hall.

The trail of orange peel tapered off to nothingness and McCree frowned, but then his head jerked up at the sound of Rei shouting. He gave a glance back to Hanzo and both of them picked up their pace, rounding the corner to see Jaime, Rei, and the twins all involved in an intense game of basketball around one hard-light hoop. Rei was passing to Rajeev, getting intercepted by Jaime who would shoot for the basket, only to be intercepted by Rajeev. They didn’t even notice McCree and Hanzo coming out from behind a building’s corner, but McCree hung back. He fished the foster home brochure out of the back of his pocket, he glanced down at the photo of the smiling family at the table laden with pancakes, then glanced back up at the four kids laughing and shouting at each other as they scrambled around the basketball hoop.

The sensible voice in his head spoke up, saying, Do what’s best for him. He deserves normal, but then an angrier voice spoke, What the hell is normal anyway? There hasn’t been a normal ever since the goddamn Omnic Crisis. It’s not about ‘normal’ it’s about ‘home.’ And when the hell has ‘home’ ever been normal for anyone?

“Jesse?” Hanzo’s voice cut through McCree’s train of thought and McCree glanced over at him, “Do you think we should...?” He looked back at Jaime intercepting a shot from Rei and then laughing about it.

“...I mean, he doesn’t have to go right away, does he?” said McCree, watching as Jaime managed to snatch the ball back from Rajeev and get an assist from Samir.

“Not... right away,” said Hanzo.

I never did any fics surrounding Jaime joining the watchpoint. I should fix that.

Oof this one ended up long.

In Loco Parentis

------

The mid-morning sunlight streamed through the slats of the watchpoint boardroom.

“We’re not a homeless shelter,” Jack’s arms were folded, “Or an orphanage.”

“You know the situation is more complicated than that,” said McCree, “If he’s fleeing Vishkar---”

“There are thousands of people displaced by Talon, Null Sector, and the Siberian Omnium,” said Jack, “We barely have the resources to sustain ourselves. If we start taking on civilians...”

“Even at the peak of Overwatch’s power, there wasn’t a whole lot they could do about 30 million crisis orphans,” said Sombra.

“But with Marti--” McCree looked over at Sombra, who had several screens open around her head.

“I’m Marti’s legal guardian,” said Sombra, scrolling through one of her screens with a flick of her wrist, “It’s different.”

“So what, we just throw him out?” said McCree.

“I can cover his tracks,” said Sombra, “Keep Vishkar from scooping him back up.”

McCree opened up the pamphlet and his eyes glazed over it. Clean. Homey. Normal. He deserved normal. All kids deserved normal.

“It’s best if you talk to him,” said Winston, “From his perspective, you’re the closest thing he has to ‘In Loco Parentis.’”

“In local what now?”

“It’s a legal term meaning--” Winston caught himself, “Er--”

“‘In place of a parent,’” said Sombra, she gave McCree a slightly pitying look, “McCree, we all know your story. We know what you’re thinking.”

“What? What am I thinking? That it’s wrong to shove him back into a system that just tossed him into Vishkar’s jaws before?” McCree folded his arms. “I’m just saying, even if we put him in completely anonymously, you know Talon and Vishkar comb through the poorest and most desperate for...their ranks.”

“We have to demonstrate some cooperation with the proper channels,” said Winston.

“Look, we get your concerns but try to see it from our perspective. He’s only a few years younger than you were when Reyes picked you up,�� said Sombra, folding her arms, “This is personal for you, we get it---”