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#and that he was an assassin before the titles like it’s giving me THOUGHTS

etherealyoungk · 6 months

Text

—⟡ covert desires | kim mingyu

summary: the mission is simple - infiltrate a high-stakes auction that the top leaders, businessmen, women, and politicians of the world attend every year and steal one of the most highly guarded and hidden-away paintings from the target’s collection. the only downside, you had to work with kim mingyu, whom you absolutely hated. and to make it even worse, you had to pretend to be his wife for this mission to work.

pairing: spy!mingyu x assasin!reader (fem!reader)

themes: spy au, mafia, enemies to lovers, fake marriage, mutual pining, spies, angst, fluff, killing

warnings: suggestive, kissing, use of curse words, weapons, guns, knives, violence, use of drugs/painkillers, blood, gore, killing, death

wordcount: 19.5k

a/n: i had so much fun writing this! thank you so much to @fairyhaos to listening to my random ideas and helping me with the title and just being really helpful, ily. and tysm to @gyuswhore for beta-reading this and giving me valuable feedback, lifesaver honestly. tysm! i'd love to know your thoughts on this ^^

full fic under the cut!

— character guide

seungcheol - underground mafia leader

jeonghan - manipulator, gets things fabricated like documents, ids etc.

joshua - keeps a log on the accounts/transactions and assets

jun - spy

hoshi - spy

wonwoo - in house doctor

woozi - in charge of gadgets and other necessary equipment

the8 - in charge of weapons

mingyu - spy and your partner for the mission

seokmin - gathers informations and intel

seungkwan - negotiator and works behind the scenes

vernon - hacker

dino - spy

you wipe the last of the blood off your hands and carefully move the body, manipulating the crime scene to make it look like it was a suicide. with a carefully crafted suicide scene, the police wouldn’t even blink an eye and just close the case as a suicide, not wanting to bother investigating further. you just had to leave around the right clues and bait them. once they’d find it, they’d conclude the case without thinking any further and your job was done. you were sure no one would even miss the bastard that you had just sent to hell anyways. after scanning the room, you make sure everything is in place before exiting quietly and disappearing into the shadows.

when you reach home to your apartment, you swiftly change out of you soiled and bloody clothes. that idiot decided to put up a fight, making things harder for himself really. you planned on killing him quietly, but the fight he put up was unnecessary and he wasn’t going to stand a chance against you regardless. you would have finished earlier and your clothes would have been significantly less bloody. sighing, you peel off your clothes and they fall to the floor in a heap as you step into the shower. the hot water offers some sort of relief and relaxation, your muscles relaxing under the hot water. wrapping a towel around yourself, you step out and hear the faint ring of your burner phone fill the room.

“hello?”, you say as you put the phone to your ear.

“did you get the job done?”, the voice on the other side asks.

“yes, you didn’t hire the best for no reason, did you?”, you scoff back, offended he’d even have a sliver of doubt in your skills.

“good. we have another urgent matter on hand and it has to be discussed in person. you know where to meet me”, the voice adds.

“i swear if it’s another-“

“you’ll love this one, trust me”, the voice says, cutting you short and hanging up as you begin to say something. you curse under your breath; that idiot never had manners. you huff, throwing the phone on the bed and changing into something comfortable before you crash into bed, too tired to complain or think about anything else.

you were an assassin or a hired killer you could say. but you liked to call yourself an assassin - because let’s be real, it sounds cooler. you were trained, skilled, and good at what you did – which was killing people, bad people specifically. when you weren'’t out hunting people down, you were working as a barista at a local cafe. it was somewhat therapeutic compared to your other occupation. but you had to if you wanted to survive in this world. if you wanted your life to have some semblance of normalcy. the world was a cruel place and somehow you ended up doing this for a living but hey, at least it paid well.

the next morning you’re sitting in the hall of seungcheol’s fancy office, or what you liked to call the safehouse.

“you’re here! let me tell seungcheol”, dino says upon seeing you, flashing you a friendly smile. you give him a small smile as he retreats, making his way to look for seungcheol.

seungcheol walks in a few moments later, and his presence can be felt in the room immediately. no one messes with him – everyone knew that. he was the most feared man in the underground mafia and a threat to the government as well. his connections and dirt on powerful people ran too deep with secrets only he knew and used as leverage. hell, even the government would hire him to do their dirty work so he was practically untouchable.

“what’s this urgent matter that needs to be discussed in person?”, you ask, once he sits down opposite you.

“no hi?”, he prompts, raising his a brow as he looks at you.

“no thank you for yesterday?”, you prod back, challenging him. you were really the only person seungcheol let speak to him like that. he’d pretty much raised you and he didn’t seem to mind, especially since you did most of his dirty work.

“we seem to have gotten ourselves another lucrative mission”, he starts off, treading carefuly with his words. “it’s something worth millions if not billions, so this is a really high-stakes operation”, he tells, observing you. “and we’re getting paid handsomely for it and so will you if it goes well”, he completes.

“alright, that seems like a piece of cake. what are we stealing?”, you ask.

“a painting”, he tells, as he takes a sip of his bitter black coffee in front of him.

“it’s going to be displayed in the national museum of culture and arts”, he says as he continues briefing you. “but that’s not all. the annual auction takes place in three weeks. many if not all the influential, powerful people, businessmen and politicians are going to be at this event, so it’s expected that the security is going to be very tight and advanced. they’ll be bidding for art and plenty of other stuff there but not this painting. this painting is special because it’s not for sale, it’s only on display and it’s the first time it’s being shown to the public in twenty years. the mission is to steal this painting, while also making sure no one finds out – so we place a knock-off”. he explains.

“all right, that doesn’t sound too hard”, you say, calculating everything in your mind.

“oh, don’t underestimate this. this painting is going to be highly guarded and anyone can’t just enter the auction either. you need to be specially invited to the auction otherwise you cannot enter, and you can’t go alone, it’ll be suspicious”, he adds.

“what do you mean i can’t go alone? how else am i going to do this?”, you ask, confused.

“mingyu’s going to be your partner for this mission and the only way it’s going to work is that you pretend that you both are a married couple”, seungcheol completes, making you whip your head up. your jaw drops to the floor upon hearing the words that came from seungcheol’s mouth, absolutely appalled.

“did i hear that right? i need to be mingyu’s wife?”, you repeat, leaning forward and seungcheol doesn’t say anything, only looks at you with a knowing smile.

mingyu and you don’t exactly get along together. he was always somehow getting on your nerves and you hated him.

“seungcheol, you know i don’t like him”, you say, annoyed already. “and i work alone”, you add, glaring at him.

“it’s for the mission and we don’t have any other option. everyone else is busy with other missions and mingyu was the only one who’s free at the moment, and i trust him on this one”, seungcheol explains. you can’t really argue with seungcheol because, at the end of the day he was your still your boss and he called the shots.

“i suggest you get friendly with mingyu because we don’t have a lot of time on hand. the auction is in three weeks and you and mingyu need to play a convincing husband and wife role starting today”

“today?”, i repeat. that was really short notice.

“mingyu has it sorted out”, he says, and your burner phone pings. “that must be him”, seungcheols says.

“please try to get along with him”, is the last thing seungcheol tells you before he stands up to leave. he emphasizes his words with the look he gives. it was a ‘don’t mess this up’ look and you sighed. he gives you a small ‘good luck’ before turning around and walking out, getting busy with something else.

you stand up to leave, opening your phone and reading mingyu’s text.

“meet me at the fountain park at 11am”.

you grumble as you make your way to the park and see mingyu sitting on one of the benches. there aren’t many people, but the sun shines warm and the sky is blue - a complete contrast to your mood right now. you’d very much like to walk away but you can’t. you drag you feet and will yourself to walk towards mingyu, who smiles when he spots you. you don’t reciprocate the smile, giving him a stern looking, already annoyed at the sight of him.

"you know, most people don’t scowl when they see a handsome face”, he says when you’re close enough. you roll your eyes and mentally flip him off, crossing your arms across your chest as you glare at him. “handsome my ass”, you mumble under your breath.

“long time no see”, he greets. you don’t sit. “i’ve been busy”, you tell him.

“you look good”, he adds, gesturing for you to sit.

“seungcheol briefed me on the mission, so what’s next”, you ask, getting back on the topic, not wanting to indulge in small talk with mingyu.

“i found us a house to move into until the mission is over and-“,

“wait, why do we have to move in together?”, you ask in horror and he just looks at you like the answer is obvious.

“because we’re husband and wife? and i don’t think i can come by your apartment and suddenly tell all the neighbours that the poor girl they thought was lonely and single is actually married, now can i”, he says.

you scowl again. “they won’t even care!”

“it’ll be a problem if they become suspicious. it’s better to move in elsewhere and you can move back to your apartment when it’s all done and they won’t even blink an eye about what happened. you can also avoid questions about your husband who mysteriously appeared and disappeared”, he explains. “unless you want to explain why you kept such a handsome man a secret and-“

“shut up”, you cut him off and he chuckles.

you weigh out all the options in your head and mingyu’s idea was the best and most promising, even though you didn’t like it very much. you hated the idea in fact. but sometimes desperate times called for desperate measures.

“fine”, you huff, gritting your teeth. “what else?”, you ask.

“jeonghan’s working on getting us the invitation to the auction. we can start by moving in. pack only your essentials. i’ll pick you up by 2 pm tomorrow so you can move your stuff into the new place”, mingyu tells.

you stack the last box with all you stuff and things that you’d need in the new place, dusting your hands on your shorts. if your neighbors asked, you were away, traveling back to meet family who lived in another state. you’d be back soon so you were sure you could get away with that excuse.

mingyu arrives at 2pm on the dot as promised. you start to carry the boxes out. he carries the other two effortlessly and follows behind you. the elevator ride is quiet, with neither of you saying anything. you’re sitting in his car as he drives you to the new house. you look around, all the houses looking more fancy, manicured and elite. that’s when you realize you’re entering the richer part of the neighborhood.

“how’d you manage to get a house here?”, you ask mingyu, knowing the rent or prices would not have been cheap.

“i invested in some land here and once they announced that they’re going to develop this area, the prices skyrocketed and i got rich. i own the house now and i thought it would be nice to finally use it.”, he explains.

“cool”, is all you can say as you look around at all the villas and large houses occupying this space. if anybody lived here, they definitely came from the wealthy and posh side. in hindsight, it was a good cover for you and it would make it easier for you to blend in if you had to pretend to be from a wealthy background.

you finish unloading and unpacking your stuff in the room when mingyu knocks on the door. you both thankfully had separate rooms because there was no way in hell that you were going to share a bed with him. you’d rather sleep on hot coal than do that.

“jeonghan’s finished gathering some documents so i’ll just go over and pick them up. do you wanna come along?”, he asks.

“sure”, you say, because you really didn’t know what you’d do here alone, plus it had been a while since you last saw jeonghan and oh he was a real menace.

“jeonghan!!”, you say upon seeing him, going up to give him a hug. “y/n! it’s been a while huh, you look great”, he says, a small smile on his face.

“that’s not fair, you didn’t give me a hug when you saw me now did you, baby”, mingyu complains.

“what did you just call me?”, you ask, not sure if you’d heard that right.

“baby”, he repeats casually.

“don’t call me that”,

“i have to if we’re going to play a lovely doting husband and wife couple”, he says and you give him a glare, lasers practically shooting out from your eyes.

“we’re not playing husband and wife right now so watch your mouth, mingyu”, you warn and he just shrugs as you fix your attention back on jeonghan.

“it hasn’t even been 24 hours and you guys are already arguing? i just hope you survive the mission and don’t rip each other’s throats by the end of this”, jeonghan says, amused.

“speaking about that, here’s your marriage certificate. i made it so you’ve both been married for a year and a half, less suspicious that way”, jeonghan explains. “oh, and i also sneaked you both an invite to a party hosted by yeonjun. it’ll be a good opportunity to gather connections and intel. it’s tomorrow night”, jeonghan adds as he hands you the invitations.

“damn how’d you manage that?”, you ask. “i have my ways, you should know that by now y/n. i'm the man who can get away with anything”, he replies giving you a wink. you chuckle at his words. “how could i forget, you’re called a menace for a reason”, you tease, laughing along with him.

“and i’m still working on getting the invite for the auction, it should be done in a few days”. jeonghan later says and you both leave after chatting a bit more.

that night you lay in bed, barely managing to fall sleep. the hours fly by and you check your appearance in the mirror one last time before stepping out of the room. you’d worn a simple black dress and just lightly styled your hair. you didn’t want to go overboard since this wasn’t the actual mission, so you kept it pretty but to a minimum, but still enough to make it look like you were wealthy and could blend into the crowd at tonight’s party.

“are you ready? we’ll be late”, you say, calling out to mingyu who was in his room.

you hear the shuffle of his shoes as you do a quick check of your small handbag – tissues, lip gloss, phone and most importantly, a pocket knife. when you look back up, mingyu is staring at you.

“what? hurry up, we haven’t got all day”, you add, walking to the front as you slip into a pair of matching black heels. you know our cover when we’re out yeah?”, mingyu asks as he comes up to you.

“yup, we just moved in the neighborhood, you’re an ER doctor, and i’m a lovely housewife who spends her time shopping, relaxing and spending your money”, you say with a fake smile.

“but do you even know anything about being a doctor, you better not mess up if someone asks you medical terms and shit”, you say, pointing a finger at him.

“don’t go underestimating my skills y/n, i’ve got it covered”

“you better”, you snap back, walking ahead of him towards the door.

the party is high in security but you make it through without a hassle. you had gone through the files seokmin had sent on the people attending and memorized everyone’s name, face, job, and even what they eat for dinner. you had to know everything in order to blend in. you step out of the car and mingyu offers you his hand to hold onto. you smile and take it because you do have to act. you put on your friendly face and enter the party, your eyes scanning the crowd. you spot a few people you recognise from the files you’d read last night, the connections forming in your head. just then mingyu sees someone and whispers that’ll he’ll be back, parting ways with you and you’re left alone.

you take this chance to mingle with the other women that you spot in a corner – who were all your new neighbors. this was a good time to introduce yourself, so you walk towards them and smile.

“hello!”, you say brightly and they turn around to look at you. one of them seems to recognize you and smiles.

“hi! you’re new to the area, right? i saw you moving in the other say”, she says.

“yes, i just moved here with my husband”, you explain as a waiter comes by, offering you drinks on a shiny tray. you take one and so do they.

“where’s your husband?”, one of them asks.

“oh, he’s just talking so an acquaintance over there”, you say, looking back as you nudge your head in mingyu's direction.

“what does he do?”, another one asks excitedly upon spotting mingyu in the crowd. you already knew what they were thinking at the way they were looking at him.

“he’s a doctor, he works in the ER”, you tell.

“oh you poor thing. he must be working late often”, she adds and just then you feel a hand wrap around your waist and the whiff of cologne in the air.

“hello ladies, i don’t think i’ve introduced myself. i’m mingyu, nice to meet you”, he says and all the ladies smiles, shamelessly checking him out. but like you cared.

“your wife was just telling us that you work at the ER, it must be tiring, coming home late every day. i’d hate if my husband came late every day”, one of the women says in mock pity.

but mingyu only smirks. “i may come home late, but i always make it up to you in bed, don’t i baby”, he says, looking at you and you almost choke on your drink.

you clear your throat, changing the topic, and all the ladies giggle. after you finally manage to separate from them, you walk around, assessing the situation.

“i can see a lot of people from soyeon’s side”, you say and mingyu agrees. ”jihyo’s here too”, he adds. she was the it woman in business right now and she was rising up the ranks quickly. “jihyo is definitely going to be at the auction”, you add. “should i get friendly with her?”, you ask and mingyu thinks for a few seconds before answering.

“be careful, if you approach her suddenly she might be wary”, he says softly. “you’re not drinking?” you ask, noticing how his glass has gone untouched. “gotta drive us back, so no, i won’t be drinking tonight”. of course, you had forgotten about that. at least he had some manners, unlike seungcheol.

after managing to gather enough intel and make some connections, you and mingyu decide to retire for the night. you both walk out hand in hand and just then your stomach growls. you were hungry, you hadn’t eaten anything there, not wanting to get distracted and also maybe drinking that glass of champagne on an empty stomach wasn’t such a good idea.

“hungry? we can grab something on the way”, mingyu prompts.

you see a mcdonalds’ drive-thru on the way back and tell mingyu to stop by there. “you don’t want real food?”, mingyu asks. “what do you mean, this is real food”, you declare.

“do you eat this often?”, he asks.

“that is none of your business, just get me some nuggets, fries, and a mcflurry”, you say.

he doesn’t get anything, saying he’ll make himself something at home and you don’t complain. you offer him a nugget and some fries but he declines, just driving as he tells you to not spill anything as you munch on the nuggets.

“i’m sure i can make better nuggets than that”, mingyu finally speaks.

“good for you mingyu, i don’t care”, you say, plopping the last bite of nugget into your mouth.

“yeah i’m sure you’ll start caring when i make you breakfast tomorrow and then you’ll never want to eat anything else, only something i’ve cooked”, he boasts.

“is that so? you’re going to spoil me, looking forward to it”,you add, going back to your mcflurry.

the next morning, mingyu does in fact get up early and makes breakfast for the both of you. it would be a lie to say that it wasn’t good, it was actually the best thing you had eaten in a while. over the course of the next week and the days building up to the auction, you attend a few more events together, getting to know more people and making connections. you make yourself friendly with the neighboring women and go shopping together. with all the new intel gathered each time, you pass it over to seokmin.

mingyu and you stop by the safehouse again to collect the invitation to the auction that jeonghan finally got and to update seungcheol on the mission’s progress. you both had somewhat managed to get along…well, almost. if mingyu didn’t make some snarky comment or say something to get on your nerves once in a while it would be better, but he should just be grateful he was alive right now. the urge to strangle mingyu was immense.

“what’s the progress?”, seungcheol asks.

“it’s good. we know for a fact that jihyo is attending the auction and maybe some people from soyeon’s team might attend on her behalf”, mingyu tells.

“im glad you guys seem to be getting along”, seungcheol tells, surprised.

“barely, i need to tell him to shut up and not spew stupid stuff, it really gets on my nerves. and please tell him to stop walking around the house shirtless. it’s damaging to my eyes ”, you complain.

“i didn’t even do anything, i’m just looking out for her well-being, she has some really peculiar habits and also it’s hot? and it’s literally my house? i can do whatever i want”, mingyu defends.

“excuse me?”, you cut him

“you heard her mingyu”, seungcheol directs your words to him. and just then seokmin and jeonghan enter.

“here’s the auction invitation, keep it safe”, he says, handing it to mingyu.

“here’s how the painting looks. it’s called the great fields done by the 18th-century artist lily lee. it’s been hidden away from the public eye for twenty eyes and it’s supposed to be one of her best paintings. it’s worth billions from what i know”, seokmin explains as he shows us a picture of the painting. it was pretty indeed but it was weird why it had been hidden away for so long.

“i already have someone working on the knock-off for the painting”, he adds.

“it better be a damn good knock-off”, seungcheol warns, raising his eyebrows.

“it will be. the guy i asked will get it down to every detail and even mimic each brushstroke. the historians wouldn’t even be able to tell a difference”, seokmin assures.

“good. now y/n, i have a small task for you, it would be great if you can complete it by tonight. it’s for a high-priority client and i’ll pay you extra”, seungcheol says.

“sure, what do i need to do?”

and that’s how you were now on the balcony of a 7th-floor apartment, trying to break in by unlocking the window. the guy you had to kill was a traitor. he took money from innocent people and then threatened them. he was getting in the way of business for the client so he had to go…forever. you opened the window and jumped in, landing soundlessly on your feet as you crouched down, scanning the room. you didn’t like to drag things out so you were going to make this quick.

you hear the hiss of a shallow breath and you quickly realize you’re not alone. someone else is here. you turn around and hide in the corner, peeking out and that’s when a man comes lunging at you with a knife. you dodge and grab his arm, twisting it as you push him against the wall, the knife falling from his hands as you bang his head against the wall. he grunts in pain and falls to the floor and you quickly move to locate the target, who’s heard all the commotion and is coming downstairs. he sees you and his eyes widen as he turns around and starts to run back upstairs. you run after him, placing your foot in the door before he can close and lock it. you push the door with all your strength, willing it to open and he stumbles backward. you waste no time in getting out your gun and shooting him in the chest. the silencer on your gun made sure no sound was heard as he fell to the ground with a thud, clutching his chest and gasping for air as blood oozed out of the wound, staining the wooden floor crimson red.

but just then, something hits you on the back of your head with a sudden force and you clutch your head in pain, falling to your knees as you try to look up. you grit your teeth and get up, dodging the other attack but your head is still ringing from the hit. you see how the man grabs the near-empty wine bottle and smashes it against the wall, creating a sharp glass shard, almost like a dagger. you get up as he attacks, swiftly trying to move out of the way. unfortunately, you end up tripping on the carpet that folded over and you miss the way his other hand lunges out, and the sharp glass shard pierces into your skin, just over your waist as it drags along your lower abdomen, digging into your flesh. you hiss in pain and raise your gun, aiming at his leg as you shoot him and he yells out in pain and falls down. after you torture him a little and find intel on him and who sent him before putting a bullet straight through his head.

fifteen minutes later, you kick his body, adjusting the position and plant information in the room and his phone to look like this was done by his employees who were tired of his threats and doing all the dirty work for him. you climb out the window and use the window ledges to climb down. you discard your coat in your bag and cover yourself with another coat, adjusting your outfit before walking out of the alleyway and onto the sidewalk. you walk straight ahead, not looking back. the dull pain of the stab starting to sting as you walk as you clutch your coat tightly around you.

you reach back home, ignoring mingyu in the kitchen as you go straight to your room, the door slamming unintentionally behind you.

“y/n?”, mingyu calls out. you ignore him and go to the bathroom and locking the door, sitting down against the bathtub as you lift your shirt up to access the wound. it was a deep cut no doubt, thankfully no vital organs had been hit. you don’t know if you should say that you were lucky or if the bastard just had terrible aim. but the cut was messy and well bloody.

“are you ignoring me now?”, you hear mingyu shout out. he knocks on the bathroom door.

“y/n what happened?”, he asks, a sudden shift in his tone.

“nothing i’m fine mingyu, i can’t use the bathroom in peace?”, you counter.

“stop lying, i saw the drops of blood trailing to your room. open the door now”, he demands.

you sigh. why did he have to be so aware of his surroundings. talk about occupational hazards.

“i’m fine mingyu, stop overreacting”, you say, not hearing a reply, thinking he must’ve left.

after a minute, you hear the door lock rattle and unlock, mingyu pushing the door open and once his eyes land on you they darken.

“what the fuck, mingyu? i could have been naked, you can’t just barge in like that”, you say, annoyed and shocked.

“i can if it’s an emergency and did you forget i have the keys baby, this is my house so my rules”, he counters as he walks over to you and sees you cover the wound with your hand. not that it helps because your hand is all bloody too.

“shit baby, you’re bleeding bad”, he tells, kneeling down so he could match your height so he can acess the wound, seeing the blood ooze out from the side of your palm as you pressed against the cut, trying to put some pressure on it.

you glare at him at the mention of that stupid nickname. “i told you not to call me that and i don’t need your help”, you grit out, pushing his hand away when he moves to help you.

“you either take my help like a good girl or you can shut up, your choice sweetheart”, he says, staring you down.

and before you can even protest or say anything, he’s lifting you off the edge of the bathtub and sitting you down on the countertop beside the sink.

“are you deaf? i said i can manage on my own, i don’t need your help mingyu”, you say, trying to move but the movement causes pain to shoot up through your left side, making you let out a soft whimper of pain.

mingyu wastes no time in fetching the medical kit and his hand is already moving to lift you shirt so he can see the wound. you side-eye him as you lift the shirt, bunching it at your ribs.

“you’re so annoying”, you mumble as he assesses the wound.

“you should look at yourself in the mirror”, he says, making you lean back a bit so he could see the cut fully. you hiss in pain when the disinfectant comes in contact with your skin, biting your lip as it burns. this was the one thing you could never get used to.

“ow, just make sure there are no tiny glass pieces”, you mumble and he snaps his head up. “glass?”, he asks and your nod confirms his suspicions. he takes his time, making sure no tiny shards of glass are left as he cleans your wound. you close your eyes as he cleans the cut and wipes away all the blood, but your heavy breathing wasn’t helping, making a little blood seep out every time you took a breath in and out.

“relax baby”, he coos, his hands resting on your thighs as he looks at you, standing between your legs as he discards another piece of bloody cotton to the side.

“i would if you just left me alone”, you snap out.

he rolls his eyes. “you’re so stubborn, it’s infuriating”, he says, leaning closer

“i could say the same thing about you, you’re so fucking irritating”, you answer back.

“i really don’t know why you’re acting like an idiot when i’m trying to help you”

“i never asked for your help did i, mingyu?”

“so what? i’m doing a favor and being nice”

“by helping me when i said i didn’t want your help”, you emphasise, as you move up to sit up straighter, not realizing how close you had ended up getting to him.

“just stay still”, he demands and you don’t bother talking back this time as he cleans up the cut.

“whoever did this, i’ll kill him”, he mutters as he wraps a gauze around your waist to cover the cut.

“already did”, you confirm and wince a little as he tightens the gauze.

“there, you’re all set”, he says once he’s done, looking at you, and he’s still so close. your gaze flickers down to his lips before flickering to the side. maybe a part of you hated him because of how attractive you found him…god. you didn’t want to make things unnecessarily complicated. it was easier to hate him than admit he had an effect on you.

you’re walking back home after just killing someone (yet another side assingment seungcheol put you on) when you notice a car following you from behind. shit. did they place someone to guard the house? you had to think quickly and shake off the tail otherwise things would get complicated. but then the car speeds up and honks, the window opening, and to your horror, it’s mingyu. what the hell was he doing here?

“what are you doing here?”, you nearly shout. “were you stalking me?”

“i’ll explain later, but get in”, mingyu says.

“i can get home myself thank you. i need to stop by somewhere too”, you say, which was a lie. you just didn’t want to listen to him given you weren’t playing house right now.

“it’s going to rain”, he adds, as you start walking and he follows you with the car.

“it’s not going to rain mingyu”, you say, walking ahead, ignoring him.

and not even a minute later, you feel the first few drops of rain fall on you. dammit.

“see, i told you it was going to rain”, he says.

“i have an umbrella, i’ll manage, just go”, you tell, annoyed that he was right.

you pretend to look in your bag because, of course, you don’t have a fucking umbrella. the rain starts to pour down heavier and if you don’t make a choice now, you were going to get drenched.

“i know you don’t have an umbrella, y/n, so stop being stubborn and get in the fucking car”, he yells louder, getting impatient.

you stop and look at him. “did you just yell at me?”, you ask, narrowing your eyes at him.

he rolls his eyes and sighs. “you’re so stubborn god, what are you going to lose by getting in the damn car. you’re already getting soaked,” he adds.

“ask me nicely”, is all you say as you stare back at him, challenging him.

“y/n get in the car because it’s raining”, he says giving you a fake smile too.

“you didn’t say please”, you add and he sighs, gripping the steering wheel harder.

“y/n please get in the car”, he repeats and you shoot him a small satisfied smile as you open the door and get in the car.

“okay now care to explain why you were following me?”, you tell.

“care to explain why you’re so damn stubborn?”, he counters.

“i am not stubborn, stop being an ass and just tell me why you were following me”, you say.

“i’m the ass? like you weren’t acting like one by not getting in the car”, he says making you scoff.

“fuck you, mingyu”, you sneer, looking out the window as the rain poured harder. the rest of the car ride is silent but you’re glad. if you had to talk to him for another minute right now you’d end up strangling him on the spot.

the rest of the few weeks goes by with you going to a few more events to socialize and familiarize yourselves with the environment, the people and also gather valuable information and intel. mingyu and you seem to play the husband-wife role pretty convincingly. you both come back home late that night but you barely manage to sleep. since you were up early, you decide to hit the gym. one of the perks of this house was that it had a fully equipped gym room, courtesy of mingyu of course.

when you enter the room, you quickly realise you’re not alone and mingyu was there too. great. you were almost going to exit but you catch yourself. you didn’t do anything wrong, so why run? you walk in to see mingyu doing some pull-ups. his back was to you but you’re sure he noticed your presence - of course he did. you watch as he does a few more pull-ups, the muscles on his back and arms flexing with each move.

“stop ogling me”, mingyu’s voice floats in the room, breaking the silence.

“im not ogling you, gross”, you scoff, disgusted. “i thought seungcheol told you to stop walking around shirtless”, you add, giving him a look.

“relax, baby, i’ll put on a shirt later, i know you’re enjoying the view”, he smiles back as he jumps down and turns to face you. asshole.

“yeah, right”

“you were literally ogling me right now”, he deadpans.

“I WAS NOT! stop calling it that. i was just assessing where i need to strike first in order to kill you, you know, for research purposes”, you snap back, only for him to smirk back at you.

“yeah? i’ll choose to believe that little lie for now but i’d like to see you try”, he provokes, walking closer to you.

“oh yeah? i’d love to. the moment this operation is done, i’ll be coming for you, so you better watch your back”, you tell, playing along as you cross your arms across your chest.

“hm, whatever you say, baby”, he says, stepping closer until he’s towering over you. you look up at him and stare back. not that pet name again. you told him countless times not to call you that, it was infuriating, but he just didn’t get it, did he? he needed to be taught a lesson. in a blink of an eye, you grab your knife which you kept concealed and grab mingyu’s arm, swinging him so his back hits the wall with a thud, the cold metal of the knife to his neck.

“if you call me baby one more time, i swear i will actually strangle and kill you”, you threaten, staring right up at mingyu. mingyu’s surprised and amused. it would be a lie to say he didn’t find you hot right now.

“always carry a knife around with you?”, he prompts, raising his eyebrow.

you smile, leaning closer to him as you whisper in his ear. “it’s my favorite one, it’ll slice your neck and you wouldn’t even know it until you’re choking and gasping on the floor”, you tell.

“yeah, baby? i can’t wait to see you try”, he whispers back, his hands grabbing your waist, spinning you, his other hand reaching up to hold both your hands up by the wrist, pinning you to the wall. you try to move but his grip was solid.

“so, how are you going to kill me now?”, he mocks, pushing you against the wall, his body pressing against yours. he looks at you, his nose almost brushing against yours.

“i could maybe snap your neck right now or still slice your neck, your choice”, you say, blinking up at him innocently.

“yeah? care to show me how?”, and so you do, bringing your leg up to knee him in the shin, swiftly wrapping your arm around his shoulder as you kick his feet, making him lose his balance. you push him down and knock him to the ground and he falls on his back. he’s lucky he lands on the foam mattress that was on the side and you waste no time in bending down and straddling him, holding your knife to his neck, and adding a little pressure this time for fun.

“any last words?”, you ask and he just smiles up at you.

“i’ll spare you for now because we have a mission to complete”, you add, getting up as you push off him but he grabs you, flipping you over in the blink of an eye so that he’s hovering over you now.

“i take it you want me to stab you anyway?”, you ask, the knife still strong in your grip.

“why do you hate me so much?”, he asks, looking down at you, his body caging yours.

“you really want to know?”,

“im so curious”, he tells lowly.

“because you’re so fucking cocky about everything and too full of yourself”, you tell, looking up at him. “and you’re an idiot who only thinks he’s handsome and just everything about you is infuriating”, you spit.

“really? i think you forgot to add the part where you have a small crush on me?”, he adds with a smirk and you’ve had enough. you place your hands on his chest and push him off you, sitting up.

“that’s the biggest lie i’ve ever heard”, you say.

“i just know it baby…oops i mean, y/n”, he says, getting up to fetch his bottle of water as he walks to the side.

“but you did just call me handsome”, he points out as he takes a sip of water.

“i did not”, you grit out. “and i do not have a crush on you. if you were the last man on earth i would gladly die single”, you grit out.

“lies, you spew such lies, y/n”, he says, laughing.

the next morning you see mingyu in the kitchen and he smiles, fucking smiles at you.

“i was expecting you to sneak into my room last night and-“ “slit your throat? oh yeah i was so tempted but i thought that would be too painful”, you tell innocently.

“or you’re just scared to do it”, he says.

“i think you forget i’m a trained assassin. i know more than 20 ways to kill a man so you should be careful. you should start by hoping i didn’t poison the coffee you’re drinking right now”, you say before turning and walking away.

you hear him chuckle but it fades away after a few seconds. “wait…you didn’t really spike my coffee right…y/n…”, mingyu asks and you smirk to yourself, not giving him an answer as you make your way back to your room. 1 for y/n, 0 for mingyu.

things are starting to get serious now. it’s two days before the big event and you have a meeting at the safehouse with seungcheol, dokyeom, dino and vernon, who are all going to help you in pulling this off by working behind the scenes. seokmin told you that he’ll get you the knock-off painting in a van that evening and dino would help assist you while vernon be there to hack the security systems and cameras when needed.

the plan was that you’d leave to the auction and watch around. you’d have to make a few bids too, so you’d blend in and seungcheol had given you the money so you were free to bid on anything you liked. then there was a 45-minute break between and it was in that break that you had to steal the painting without getting caught. dino would be waiting down in a van, pretending he was a driver and he’d take off with the painting. the only thing left was pulling this off. with the level of security that this event was going to have, you needed to do everything right to pull this off. you were excited.

it's finally d-day. you’re getting ready in your room, due to leave in 15 minutes. you spent the entire day figuring out what to wear. it was a posh event, so you had to wear something pretty, something that would make heads turn, something that would make me look like you fit in there - something exquisite. you decided to go buy a dress earlier because you didn’t have anything fancy to wear with you, since you’d left most of those types of dresses back home, only bringing essentials along when you moved in with mingyu for the time being. you ended up buying a pretty sweet and head turning dress, something fancy in your favourite color too. it was a maroon, satin dress, which went all the way down to the floor. there was a slit for the leg that stopped just short of your thigh. the highlight of the dress was the back – it was backless, with a criss-cross strap that had to be tied. the only problem, you couldn’t seem to reach back to tie it tight enough that it wouldn't unravel during the night.

you wore your heels - white glitter ones to contrast the red dress. you checked your makeup in the mirror one last time and tried to tie the strings on your back again but you couldn’t seem to get the crisscross pattern right and you were struggling to tie it up. just then you hear a knock on your door.

“y/n are you ready? we have to leave in five minutes”, mingyu says from outside.

“okay!”

and five minutes later, you’ve given up, groaning as you bring your arms down, knocking your arm on the table in the process. “ouch”, you say in frustration and mingyu knocks on your door again.

“y/n? are you okay?”, he asks again, opening the door slightly. you get up to open the door and mingyu looks at you. you watch as his eyes rake all over your body as checks you out. you stare back at his face and he’s still staring at you, his eyes moving over every part of your body. you ask him something but he doesn’t reply, still staring, devouring you with his eyes as he takes you in.

“finished eye fucking me?”, you ask, annoyed, bringing his attention back to you. he looks at you and smirks. “i wasn’t done but i can continue later”, he teases.

“whatever, can you help me tie my dress in the back? i just can’t seem to reach it”, you ask him and he stands up straighter and you realize this wasn’t the sort of question or help he was expecting you to ask.

“sure”, is all he says and you turn around, holding your hair up so mingyu could tie your dress.

“you have to crisscross it and then tie it”, you explain, looking at his reflection in the mirror in front of you.

as he ties your dress, his fingers rub your bare back occasionally, sending sparks all over you body. he pulls back the threads to make them tight. you watch from the mirror as he tries his best to carefully tie it. he looked…so fucking good tonight. the suit was tailor made for him, making him look crisp and sharp. you’d have to painfully admit that he did indeed look hot tonight but you catch yourself and swat those thoughts and any other intruding thoughts away immediately. you’re about to move a bit forward when he pulls back again, securing the knot, and then his eyes find yours in the mirror reflection.

“you look gorgeous”, he whispers against your ear, making a shiver run down your spine.

“i know, thanks for the confirmation though”, you say, not willing to be swayed by his comment and how much he seemed to be affecting you right now.

“let’s go steal a painting”, you say with a smirk.

you drive to the event, and somehow mingyu managed to snag a limo to the event. don’t ask how, it was probably seungcheol’s doing but now you’re driving there. you put your in-ears on for further communication with mingyu and the others on the mission. woozi had designed it so it look like an ear cuff, making it look less suspicious on you. mingyu’s was transparent in the front, so it blended in.

“relax”, mingyu says after a few minutes of silence in the car as he sits opposite you.

“i am relaxed”

“you look tense”

“i’ve stolen plenty of stuff before so this is a piece of cake”, you tell.

“we got this”, he assures.

you reach the venue and get down, mingyu offering you his hand as you step out of the car. you take it and you automatically wrap your arm around his as you both walk in together. you stand behind a few people, all waiting to move inside and everyone is holding the same invitation you are holding. when it’s finally your turn, mingyu shows the person your invites and after scanning it for a few seconds he hands it back to us, telling us to enjoy our time here. you’re handed a number picket from the counter the moment you enter, for you to make bids.

the auction starts in an hour since people are still coming. most of the vvip and vip guests coming later for security reasons. you walk to the hall and scan the crowd for anyone you know or can recognize. mingyu does too. you agree to split up and scan the hall so it would be faster, mingyu going left while you go right. after you’ve confirmed who’s coming and who’s yet to come, cross checking with the guest list that you’ve memorized that jeonghan managed to get his hands on. there were still a few guests and vips left to arrive. all the vvips or vips who did arrive were on the other side of the hall, with higher security. jihyo hadn’t arrived yet and you couldn't see anyone from soyeon’s team either. but you did spot hwasa; she had multiple businesses and was a trendsetter. anything she touched, ate or wore was sold out, she was that good, and everyone loved her. it was going to be interesting to see what she bids for here.

after gathering all the information you needed, you’re turning around when a man bumps into you.

“oh, im so sorry”, he says, turning around.

“it’s no problem”, you say, putting your hand up. he looks at you again, shamelessly checking you out and you roll your eyes as you turn to walk away again, but he grabs your hand.

“wait, i don’t think i’ve seen you around, are you new here?”, he asks, hopeful, but you had no interest in entertaining him.

“yeah, i just moved here”, you say, quickly, pulling you hand out of his grip. “i have to go”, you add.

“see you at the auction? which number are you, i’ll try to sit at your table”, he asks, getting desperate.

“that’s all right, im fine”, you say again, trying your best to be nice.

“come on, don’t be shy”, he adds with a chuckle. “girls are usually falling all over me”, he adds, maybe not liking how you were not falling for his tricks.

“can’t let beautiful women like yourself be alone at an event like this, can i? which table will you be seated at? i can show you around if you like”, he asks again and now you’re really starting to get irritated. you would have knocked him out by now if this was any other circumstance but you hold back, not wanting to cause a scene or mess anything up.

you’re about to say something when you feel a warm hand encircle your waist and from the smell of the cologne, you already know who it is – mingyu.

“there you are baby, i was looking for you”, he says sweetly, kissing your cheek as he pulls you closer to him. there’s a hint of possessiveness in his voice as he looks at the man who was talking to you.

“who’s this?”, mingyu asks, looking at you, his grip getting tighter around your waist.

“oh i’m sorry i just bumped into her and was apologizing”, the man fills in.

“i see. next time i suggest you watch where you’re going”, mingyu tells, glaring at the guy as he pulls you away, telling you that he wanted you to meet someone.

as you walk, you notice a few heads turn and people look at you but you just ignore it and walk like you belong there. you hear mingyu faintly curse under his breath.

“what?”, you ask

“you shouldn’t have worn that baby, everyone is staring at you”, he grits out lowly, jealousy evident in his voice.

“excuse me? are you sure you’re not the one staring? it doesn’t matter to me, as long as we steal the painting and get the job done”, you say, lifting your dress up slightly as you walk up the stairs to the auction hall.

“that idiot is following us”, he adds, spotting him from his peripheral vision.

“well, that’s annoying, we don’t need him tailing us. should i knock him out and throw him somewhere?”, you ask as you walk, smiling at a few people who welcome us at the top of the stairs.

“i’d have knocked him out myself if i had to but that’s a risky move for now”, he says. we reach the upper floor and mingyu holds your hand as he leads me to the left side of the hall, where there are fewer people. mingyu’s back faces the people as you look ahead.

“is he still looking at us?”, mingyu asks, his back facing the man who was still following you.

“yeah but what do we-“, you’re cut off by mingyu’s hand tilting your chin as he leans in to kiss you, his lips pressed against yours. he pulls away ever so slightly as he looks at you.

“mingyu-", he kisses you again, this time moving his lips against yours and your move my lips too, kissing him back. he pulls away a few seconds later.

“what are you doing?”, you finish your sentence, shocked.

“now look, he’ll be trying to find a new target to woo”, he tells and you look, seeing the man already talking to another group of women, hoping to find a different date.

“worked like a charm”, he says, with a satisfied smirk. and that’s when the action of what mingyu just did hits you, but you decide not to say anything, not wanting to yell at him or draw any more attention to yourself. you’d give him hell about this later.

the auction is about to begin and you find a table to the front, and sit down. you mentally make a note of where a few other vips are sitting and scan the crowd. you spot jihyo in the front, surrounded by a few bodyguards who are off to the side.

“good evening ladies and gentlemen! welcome to the annual auction hosted by the national museum of culture and arts. we are pleased to have you all here. we will be starting the auction and the rules are simple – the highest bidder wins, so have fun. we would also like to mention that part of the funds collected from the auction will be put aside to aid in cultural growth and in preserving national treasures and artifacts. we will also be partnering with Vision to offer scholarships to five students. your contributions will be deeply appreciated.", the host welcomes and explains.

"and the most anticipated part of the night, the beautiful painting ‘the great fields of sorrow’ by lily lee will be unveiled to the public after 20 years. you do not want to miss this, it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we are so glad you are all here to witness history in the making. now, let us begin”, the host announces, gleefully.

the auction begins and the first few bids go by fast, people bidding left, right, and center. but it’s towards the end that the most valuable artifacts and paintings start coming out. you have your eye on this one painting, you’d seen it in the auction catalog earlier and you were determined to get it. the moment the painting comes up to be bid, you grab the picket from mingyu and raise you hand, making a bid.

“what are you doing?”, mingyu asks.

“bidding?”, you tell like it wasn’t obvious to mingyu right now.

a few more people bid on the painting but you bid again, raising the bid higher and higher each time. but some women keeps bidding along as well and you weren’t going to lose this. you raise you hand, making the bid higher and now it’s just you and the other woman raising hands as you both try to outbid each other.

“what are you doing? drop it”, mingyu says next to you.

“no, that painting’s mine”, you grit out, raising your hand again to raise the bid. anyone could be able to feel the tension in the room right now.

“y/n, we don’t have that much money to spend, are you crazy?”, he asks, turning towards me.

"i don’t care, i want that”, you tell, raising your hand to make another bid, raising the price impossibly high. people who were bored and had no interest in the auction were suddenly watching us carefully, eager to see who would finally win the bid.

the lady falters, wondering if she should raise the bid and no one else raises their hand to make another bid. you smile to yourself.

“going once”, the man says, hoping the lady would change her mind and raise the bid.

“going twice….and sold”, he declares, the wooden hammer hitting the wooden plate and you’re smiling in victory.

“i won”, you tell mingyu.

“yeah and you better be explaining to seungcheol why his assets suddenly depleted” mingyu tells.

“at least seungcheol would let me have it, unlike you, sitting here and complaining, it’s so annoying”, you add, clicking your tongue.

“you’re the annoying one”, he says without missing a beat and you kick his leg from under the table, giving him a fake smile. “shut up and don’t get on my nerves”, you tell through gritted teeth, making a few heads turn. you clear your throat and sip on your champagne, smiling at the few people who turn to look at you.

that was the last bid and the auction had now ended. people start getting up to either grab a drink and talk or to go make arrangements to collect their paintings or artifacts that they just bought. this was indeed a good way you could sneak the real painting out. you quickly intercom with dino and you coordinate with him, vernon listening in too so he’d know which cameras to hack and take down.

“we should go, we have only 45 minutes before the painting is revealed”, you tell, getting up and walking out to the outer hall. there is music playing and someone is singing. the host announces that people can dance if they like and a few people do, couples peppered across the floor as they dance and sway together. you steer right away from the crowd and start moving downstairs when mingyu grabs your hand, blocking your path.

“care to dance?”, he asks.

“no i don’t dance”, you tell but mingyu ignores you and holds your hand as he guides you to the hall where the crowd was, choosing a quiet corner and pulling you closer to him, his hand resting on your waist as his other hand is intertwined in yours.

“mingyu i said i don’t want to dance”, you tell, slightly annoyed.

“i know, but i do”, he says and you find yourself moving closer to him as your rest your other hand on his shoulder, trying not to bump into the person behind you. you both sway to the soft music that plays and mingyu locks eyes with you, a small smile playing on his face and you don't realise how close you've gravitated towards him.

“we’re wasting time, let’s go”, you tell after two minutes.

“a little fun never hurt, you need to learn to let loose a little, sweetheart”, he tells, looking at you and you don’t miss the way his gaze flickers down to your lips.

“but you really should have worn something else”, he whispers near your ear. “i’m starting to get jealous at the way all the other guys are starting at you."

"it's a pretty sweet outfit isn't it”, you say softly and the the corner of his mouth lifts into a faint smile.

“hm let’s go”, he says, pecking your cheek as he intertwines his hand in yours. you walk down together and walk towards the restrooms. when the path looks clear, you take a detour to the staff room, which would give you access to the basement and other private areas of the building. jeonghan had given you copies of the access key too, so you could now slip into any room you liked without having to break any alarms.

you’d already memorized the layout of the room and knew exactly where the safe room would be located.

“you brought a gun right?”, you ask.

“what do you think baby, of course, i did”, he answers raising his brow. it was hidden using a chip that emitted waves and would not be picked up by any electronic scanner, which is how it got sneaked in successfully. another one of woozi’s genius creations. you reach the safe room but there were two guards up ahead.

“vernon, can you hack the walkie-talkies? tell the guards to move to the upper level”, you ask.

“on it”, vernon responds immediately and in two minutes the guards start walking away and turning around the corner.

you run up and unlock the door using the key card, opening the door and quickly shutting it behind you. you unlock another door and finally head inside the safe room, where the painting and other treasures were stored.

the painting is easy to find, it’s kept in a bulletproof glass box but that’s when you realise something is wrong.

the painting is bigger. it’s not the same size seokmin had told you. you panic because this would now hold you back and you had to think on your feet to figure something out quickly.

“what the fuck?”, you tell. “how are we supposed to discreetly steal this huge painting?”, you almost yell at mingyu who’s looking at you, confused as well.

“i don’t know, we just take it and walk out”,

“and let everyone know we stole it, mingyu? that’s just genius. why don’t we just announce it to the whole world then”, you yell back, annoyed.

“i thought seokmin told us it was going to be smaller? this isn’t the same size he mentioned”, you tell, running a hand through your hair.

“i think he forgot to add one digit in the dimensions”, mingyu tells and you mentally face-palm yourself.

“so now what do you want me to do?”

“i don’t know just take it and we place the decoy and leave”

“the decoy isn’t even the same fucking size mingyu”, you yell, getting impatient.

“fuck”, he curses under his breath. “let’s just take the painting and go”,

“how do i just take it, mingyu? do you want me to shove this painting up my ass and leave? how the hell are we going to walk out with it? didn’t you tell dino was waiting down in the van? how can we possibly walk with this huge painting all the way to the basement and give it to dino without anyone seeing us and not put the knock-off.”, you tell, getting more and more impatient with each passing second.

“jesus, y/n im trying to figure it out so please calm down”, mingyu snaps back.

“is everything okay?”, vernon’s voice fills your ear.

“wait guys, seokmin just told me that he has the proper decoy size in the van downstairs”, vernon tells after a few minutes of silence.

“wait what do you mean?”, you ask.

“he just told me saying he put the correct decoy painting size in the van, and that he realized he’d messed up the dimensions and got it remade. he said his printer had ran out of ink and missed printing one digit”, vernon explains calmly.

“then send it in, we have like 20 minutes before the painting gets showcased!”, you yell at vernon.

“dino’s on his way with it, just hold on”, vernon assures, going back to intercom with dino.

meanwhile, you and mingyu try to figure out how to unlock the box. the box had a passcode and three wrong tries and it would alarm the security, so you had to be careful. woozi had given you a decoder which mingyu had hidden outside and you grabbed on the way to the safe room. mingyu attaches the decoder and you watch as the numbers scramble, trying to decode the pin and unlock the box.

“what’s taking so long”, you groan, clicking your tongue.

“y/n calm down. we’re fine”, mingyu says as he locks eyes with you.

“if seokmin hadn’t realized we’d have been fucked over big time mingyu, do you understand? we could have gotten caught. do you understand how big of a fucking problem that could have been? and you’re acting all high and mighty asking me to just take this painting and go like it won’t be so fucking obvious that it’s not the same painting. and dino needs to hurry up because there are only ten minutes left, and we need to take this and transport it all before they come in to take the painting out to display, so we’re short on-", you’re cut off by mingyu’s hands cupping your cheek as you feel his soft lips on yours, again.

“you really need to shut up sometimes”, he mumbles against your lips. maybe it was because you were in the heat of the moment, but you kiss mingyu back, grabbing him by his tie to pull him closer, closing the gap between you both.

“guys?”, vernon’s voice fills my ear through the in the ear but you both ignore him. “dino’s almost there”, he adds but none of you bother to reply, too busy kissing each other.

the safe door opens and closes in silence and dino steps into the room. (it had a anti slam and quiet door so it would be discreet and safe)

“i hope i’m not interrupting something?”, dino asks, making you break away from the kiss and the look on dino’s face is mischievous.

“n-no"." shit.

"did you get the proper knock off? hurry up we have to be out of here in ten minutes”, you tell, pushing mingyu off you and walking up to the box, which had successfully unlocked.

dino handles the real painting carefully, wearing a pair of cloth gloves before taking out the painting from the box with care and placing it on the wearable rack, and replacing it with the knockoff that he streathly managed to bring here; courtesy to vernon for hacking the camera footage and security walkie talkies. if you were asked to play spot the difference between the real painting and the fake one, you wouldn’t have been able to guess shit, the fake one was just that good. dino quickly covers the real painting in a satin white cloth and you quickly walk out. dino disguised as one of the staff and security members, so it would look like he was just taking the painting you had just bought to your car so you could take it home. thankfully the painting you bid on and bought was around the same size too and you bring it along as you leave. no one gives you any suspicious looks as you leave and you walk out with confidence, your arms locked in mingyu's as you both walk together.

you make it back up to the upper level and back to the hall before you take the elevator to the basement. dino loads the painting into the van and he and vernon take off. mingyu and you bounce as well, getting in the limo and telling your driver to take you back home, making the excuse that you weren't feeling to well when someone approached you, asking why you weren’t staying back to see the painting that was going to be revealed shortly.

as soon as you get in the car, you kick off your heels, relief flooding through your feet as you sit. you let out a big sigh and take the chance to open the bottle of champagne that’s in the car, pouring yourself a glass and mingyu one too, offering him the glass.

“to successfully stealing a painting”, you say, raising the glass to make a toast and he smiles. you down the glass in one shot, the adrenaline still pumping in your veins. placing the glass down, you look at mingyu, who’s still watching you.

“what?”, you ask mingyu, who looking at you like he wants something.

“nothing, you’re just…gorgeous”, he says.

“you flatter me too much, mingyu”, you say, getting up to move, picking up your dress slightly as you move to sit on his lap, straddling him. his hands find your waist immediately, pulling you closer against him as your hands rest on his shoulders. his hand cups your cheek as he leans forward to kiss you, moving his lips against yours, slow and long, kissing you like he’s been craving this all along. he deepens the kiss, biting your lower lip teasingly, making you let out a soft moan, your mind too fuzzy to care about what you were doing right now.

“fuck, you’ve been wanting this, haven’t you?”, he groans, kissing your jawline.

“i know you wore this dress on purpose baby, to rile me up”, he says and you kiss him in response and he kisses you back, this time with more vigor and passion.

“maybe”, is all you can say as mingyu’s lips are on yours again.

“i’ve been dreaming about this for so long, to kiss you, to have you”, he groans as he kisses your neck, your eyes fluttering shut at the sensation. your hands busy themselves with loosening his tie and undoing the first few buttons of his shirt.

“look at you, i thought you hated me baby”, he mumbles against your neck.

“i still do”, you tell, your voice coming out breathy and soft as he leaves a trail of kisses along your collarbone, his hands roaming your body, his touch sending shivers and sparks throughout your body.

“what if dino tells on us”, you realise, whispering softly as he continues to leave soft kisses on your neck.

“you’re worried about that baby? worried he’ll run his mouth and tell everyone you were kissing me? the person you claimed you hated?”, he teases, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

he kisses you again, trailing more kisses to your jawline before his hand reaches over to cup your cheek as he pulls you in, capturing your lips with his again, making butterflies erupt in your stomach. you kiss him back, and somehow you couldn’t seem to get enough, getting dizzy on how he feels and tastes. he was driving you crazy. he pulls you closer against him, his grip on your waist tightening with each kiss and you start to lose track of how long you’ve been at it, making out. thank god for the partition between the driver and you was tinted. the car finally comes to a halt in and mingyu breaks away. “we’re home”.

and just like that, mingyu guides you home and wastes no time in kissing you again once you’re behind closed doors, guiding you to his room while he never breaks away, kissing you breathlessly.

the next morning, you wake up tangled in mingyu’s arms and the events of last night come crashing onto you. you turn around to face mingyu and he lazily pulls you closer to him, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck.

“go back to sleep”, he mumbles and you push away a few stray hairs from his face.

“you’re so lazy”, you say, as you move to get out of his arms, but he tightens his grip, not letting you leave.

“don’t make me slit your throat mingyu, let me go”. you say teasingly, poking his arm and he finally loosens up. just then the doorbell rings. you get up and take a peek, seeing seungkwan standing outside. you open the door but the expression on his face tells you that something is wrong.

“what’s wrong?”, you ask, as he steps in.

“dino- he- the painting…dino is…”, seungkwans stutters out, making no sense.

“what happened?” you ask again, putting your hands on seungkwan’s shoulders to try and calm him down.

“dino, he got intercepted by another gang and they’re holding the painting and dino hostage”, seungkwan spills out.

fuck.

after hearing that you waste no time in going back to the safe house with mingyu.

“how’d they contact you? how did they know we were going to be there”, you ask seungcheol. with him are joshua, vernon, seokmin, and hoshi.

“we’re not sure”, seokmin says.

“but what i’m sure of is either they had a tail on you or you told them our location”, seungcheol says, looking at you straight in the eye.

“what the fuck are you implying?”, mingyu defends immediately.

“no i would never do that seungcheol and you know that”, you tell, staring him down.

“how can you even say that”, mingyu adds.

“because they want you in exchange for returning the painting and dino back safely y/n”, seungcheol tells and you pause, trying to process what he just said.

“what?”, is all you can say after a few seconds of silence.

“that’s what they negotiated with seungkwan”, seungcheol tells. “and if you two had responded to vernon then we could have maybe sorted this out earlier. there was no response from the both of you after last night”, seungcheol adds, looking between you and mingyu. you gulp, hoping he can’t possibly guess what you and mingyu were up to last night.

“here are the terms of negotiation”, seungkwan adds, sliding over a piece of paper to you.

if you want to get back your precious painting and friend, do the following. tell anyone or try to pull anything funny, otherwise the only thing you’ll be getting in return is your friend’s dead limp body and a police raid. so, follow the instructions carefully

1) we want the girl in exchange for the painting and your friend

2) come to the abandoned warehouse by the paddy fields tonight at 8:00pm

3) the girl comes alone and that’s it. once she comes, we’ll have the painting and your friend released.

4) no guns, or weapons, and don’t try or even think to act smart in any way unless you want to be responsible for your friend’s death.

the letter was signed off with a stamp of the gang seal, which you faintly recognized for some reason.

“i’ll go”, is all you say because it doesn’t look like you have any other option right now. you didn’t care about the painting but you did care about dino and you had to make sure he’d come back safe.

“there’s no way in hell she’s going alone”, mingyu interjects, cleary upset.

“mingyu, stop it”, you yell at him. who was he to tell you what to do?

“mingyu stop putting your emotions into the mission, we have a problem, and i’m going to deal with it accordingly, or else im putting you out”, seungcheol says.

“what is wrong with you? you’re just going to let them have y/n?”, mingyu asks, getting up, frustrated, running a hard through his already messy hair.

after a few more arguments, things start getting heated between seungcheol and mingyu, seokmin pulls him away from the room and you manage to finish the rest of the conversation with seungcheol. back home, mingyu’s still tense and he hits the gym to try and take off some of his anger and frustration.

you don’t know why he was acting like this to be honest. you could manage perfectly well on your own, it wasn’t like you were going to die or anything. he seemed to be making a big deal about this and it was getting on your nerves. you’re in your room and you can hear the sound and impact of mingyu’s punches on the boxing bag through the walls. what the fuck was he so worked up for? you try ignore the sound and get back to getting ready for tonight.

you know they said no weapons but you weren’t going to go in blind. your pants had a secret pocket where you could hide my small knife easily and it was undetectable. you decide to carry a few more, concealing them in secret pockets so no one would even know. you had everything planned and you weren't going to let the person who took dino off so easily. just then you hear mingyu’s footsteps as he leans against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. you ignore him, getting up and checking the time. you had to leave in five minutes if you were going to make it there in time. you look at mingyu’s who’s studying you closely.

“what mingyu? stop staring it’s annoying”, you tell, breaking the silence, walking towards the door so you can leave, but he blocks your path.

“you’re not fucking going anywhere y/n”, he grits out.

“what the fuck? who are you to tell me what to do? i know what i’m doing okay and you need to chill out”, you say, trying to push past him but he doesn’t let you.

“mingyu move, im getting late”, you say in a stern voice.

“i’m coming with you then”, he hisses, grabbing you as he pushes you against the wall.

“no you’re fucking not, stay out of this mingyu, it’s none of your business”

“it is because it involves you”, he says, without missing a beat, leaning closer.

“mingyu, don’t let what happened last night make you all soft for me okay, whatever happened just happened. don’t try to use that to determine what our relationship is now”, you say, trying to sound stern but your voice falters a bit when his hands dig into your waist tighter. he crashes his lips into yours, and the kiss is hot and heavy and angry. your lips move on their own, kissing him back, grabbing his arms for support.

“just promise me you’ll come back to me…alive”, mingyu mumbles against your lips.

“are you doubting me?", you scoff but he ignores the threat.

“and the first thing you’re going to do when you come back and see me is that you’re going to kiss me”, he demands.

“that’s so cheesy and cliché”, you tell, rolling your eyes.

“i’m not taking no for an answer”

“fine oh my god, you’re so stupid”, you mumble, kissing him one last time as he lets you go.

you reach the abandoned warehouse on time, with two minutes to spare. you look around but see no one around, the place dark and deserted. you decide to wait and stand outside to see if anyone shows up. after two minutes of waiting, you hear a rustle in the grass, standing alert, only to see a stray dog appear, but it had something in its mouth. the dog drops the things it was holding in front of your and runs off without warning. you carefully bend down to pick up the things, seeing a piece of paper and a black face cover that was meant to cover you entire face.

put on the mask on and be a good girl and wait

you crush the paper and scan your surroundings one more time before putting the mask on. after a few seconds, you realize the mask is laced with something, something strong and it’s too late because you’re already getting dizzy. your hand slips down as you fail to remove the mask and your knees give in as you fall to the ground, unconscious.

you wake up with the mask still over your head and groan, shaking your head, trying to get rid of the dizziness that’s was still lingering.

“she’s awake”, you hear someone say, immediately getting alert.

“call boss”, another voice adds.

you try to move but your hands are bound together tightly with a rope that’s painfully cutting into your wrists. you can faintly make out the light in the room, it must have been dimly lit. you hear a door open and footsteps, as they come closer to you and suddenly, the mask over your face is harshly yanked out. you close your eyes shut at the sudden intrusion of light and look around, trying to gather your surroundings as your eyes adjust to the light. you manage to look up, seeing a figure looming over you.

“hi there pretty girl, remember me?”, he asks menacingly. you blink your eyes as you scan his face, trying to remember who but you don’t.

“who the fuck are you?”, you lash out.

he clicks his tongue in response. “i’m disappointed, i thought you’d remember me after what you did, that’s a shame. but no worries, we still have time”, he says, one of his men dragging a chair and he takes a seat in front of you, leaning forward to get a better look at you, at your state.

“look at you. you’re supposed to be highly skilled right? but here you are, tied up for me to play with. i’m excited”, he tells laughing, a grin forming on his face.

“fuck off, where’s dino”, you spit out and you see the flash of anger that courses through him.

he grabs your face harshly, making you look at him, his hand gripping your jaw.

“behave or else i’ll get angry and slice up your friend. you don’t want that do you?”, he warns, putting pressure on your jaw as he squeezes your cheeks tighter. you squirm in his grip and he finally lets you go, your head hitting the wall in the process.

“where is he?”, you ask again, breathing hard. “i kept up my end of the deal”, you grit out.

“oh i will tell you where he is, but i just want to have a little fun with you before that happens”, he says, a glint in his eyes. he gets up and walks away, saying something to the other men in the room which you don’t quite catch.

that night, you’re alone, only with one guy, whom you assume was supposed to keep an eye on you. you try wriggle out of the rope, and even though it burns, you brush the pain away as the rope digs into your wrist. you smile to yourself once your wrists are free. people really had to learn how to tie secure knots really. you stealthily get up while the guard is pathetically snoring. you roll your eyes and get up, stretching and grabbing a stone from the floor as you walk towards him. he opens his eyes just as you stand in front of him and he doesn’t get the chance to speak as you crash the stone into his skull and he falls to the ground, unconscious. you knocked him hard enough to knock him out but not kill him. you’re eyes have been trained to see in the dark and you make your way across the room, putting your ear to the door to hear for any voices or signs of life. your hands encloses on the doorknob and you slowly turn it, opening it and peeking out. the coast is clear and you step out and, your footsteps silent as you make your way to the end of the hall. the place abandoned so debris and dust was everywhere. after a few steps you faint voices coming towards you and you still against the wall, peeking your ear out to pick up on the conversation.

“how much do you think seungcheol would pay to have her back? i think he’s her most valuable asset”, the voice says, which you recognise as the boss’s voice. “hm let’s see if he wants the painting or her”, another voice chimes in and you furrow your brows. first of all you didn’t need seungcheol protecting you and secondly you were getting pissed at these thugs. you move your foot and knock into something on the floor.

“what was that?”, you hear the voice ask. you mentally curse and get ready to strike, coming out of the shadows and landing a kick right in the chest of one of the thugs. he falls to the ground with a grunt and loud thud.

“oh my, i see you seem to have escaped”, the boss man tells, looking at you, chuckling.

“where’s dino”, you ask, gripping the broken pipe you picked up on your way.

“I think it would be wise to drop that and not do anything stupid, unless you want your friend chopped up in pieces, i’ll glady do it and you know it”, he says, raisng a brow at you.

you study his face and you can tell he would. you’d dealt with enough people in the years you’d taken up this job to be able to read people like a book and this guy was not fooling around when he said he would indeed chop up dino. you grit your teeth as you drop the pipe and it rattles as it hits the ground, echoing in the empty hallway.

“good girl”, he tells condescendingly, smirking, satisfied. “now let’s get you back”, he adds, and this time you’re cuffed in chains, but you’d figure a way to get out.

two days go by and this boss guy is nowhere to be seen. you can tell he’s trying to weaken you by starving you but you could handle this. you’ve been through worse honestly. it’s the third night now and you’re getting impatient and a little tired of this waiting game.

“where the hell is your boss? did i scare him off? ask him to come here right now”, you demand

“he’s busy”, the guard tells, not even bothering to look at you, dismissing you completely.

“busy doing what? chickening out? tell him to come here right now”, you yell and probably because you kept belittling his ‘boss’, you hear him send another man to give the message. and sure enough, a few hours later the boss man comes walking in.

“i hear you were causing a ruckus”, he tells.

“where’s dino”, you demand.

“don’t worry about him. i’d worry about you because”, he says, getting down on one knee to come at eye level with me. “i’m going to take my time killing you slowly”, he says.

“yeah i’d rather enjoy killing you first”, you say.

“you really don’t recognize me, do you? stupid girl”, he spits out.

“uncuff her”, he says, getting up.

“boss but-“

“DO IT”, he shouts, the men cowering and one of them immediately scrambles down to undo the chain on you. as soon as you get free, you leap up, swaying your foot as you kick him down.

“why the fuck should i know who you are”, you say, reaching in your concealed pocket for a knife, but only feeling an empty space instead. there was no knife.

the boss chuckles and looks at you, laughing as he gets up, dusting himself off.

“looking for your precious knives? i thought i said not to bring anything. you thought you could fool me? i think not” he tells, smirking.

“how”, you whisper.

“you’re not the only one who has tricks up their sleeve”, he says in sing song voice, making you narrow your eyes at him.

“i’ve dedicated my whole life to this moment, to seeing you and killing you and you have the audacity to not even remember me”, he sneers, coming closer.

“cloud 9 enterprises, does that name ring a bell?”, he asks, stalking closer to you.

you wrack your brain. cloud 9 enterprises. that name was familiar and that case was famous too. the owner was supposedly making drugs, and disguising them as medication to sell, making people addicted and in plenty of bad ways too. lots of people died, innocent children and adults died because of those drugs he had disguised as a harmless medication. and you remember because you were the one sent to kill him. you look at the man’s face, looking at his features that somehow resemble the man you killed and it hits you.

“you’re his son”, you say.

“bingo”, he says smiling before landing a punch to your gut, making you fall down. “did you know i watched you kill him. i was hiding under his desk as i saw you slit his throat. can you imagine what that does to a child?”, he spits out. “after that day i’ve sworn i would get my revenge and now that i have you, it feels good”, he explains. he kicks you again but you dodge, swinging your leg and tripping him. you kick him again but his men come forward, grabbing you by the arms, holding you back. you thrash in their hold as he gets up. you knee one of the men and get loose but a few more men come forward and hold you down as, pushing you to your knees. he holds his hand out and someone gives him something – a syringe.

“this is a special concoction i made, just for you. i can’t wait to see how long you can last”, he chuckles coming forward and stabbing the syringe in your arm. the stab of the needle is sharp as he pushes the contents of the syringe inside your arm. you thrash even more, angry and they finally let you go. you yell out in frustration and try to land a punch but you miss.

“fuck you, i’ll kill you with my own hands”, you snap out, getting up and looking at him but your vision was playing tricks on you. you shake your head in an attempt to regain yourself and grab a metal stick that was thrown off to the side and jump to hit him, but you miss again. you groan in frustration.

“what did you do”, you shout as you get up, regaining you balance.

“you’ll die a slow painful death, as your organs and body start shutting down. you’ll probably last 36 hours or 48 hours if you manage to pull through”, he tells with a smile, stepping forward and you move to grab his arm, but before you can do anything you feel a sharp piecring pain in your abdomen and he looks at you and smiles as he pushes the knife furthur into you, stabbing you. you whine and yelp as he roughly pulls the knife out.

“how does it feel?”, he asks as you headbut him, not giving up yet. he groans as he pushes you off him, your back hitting the wall as you slump against it. he looks at you angry but chuckles as he looks at your state as he wipes his bloody nose with a cloth. you vaguely hear him say something like “dispose of the body where nobody can find it” and you hear dino’s name too but he’s already out the door.

you try to sit up and stop the bleeding, covering the torn flesh with your palms, and applying pressure to stop the bleeding. you’d managed to tear a part of your long sleeve shirt and use that to tie up the wound, putting the knot tight to somehow slow down the bleeding. you try to move and locate an escape route. there is a window but it’s too high up with no way for you to get to it unless you managed to move the stack of old wooden boxes. but in your state, you don’t think you could.

you don’t know when you fell asleep, it was probably the effect of whatever the drug he had injected you with. you sit awake, pain shooting through your abdomen in the process. the cloth you tied around is now soaked in blood and it’s starting to pool next to you. your hand is heavy as your try to lift it up and tear off your other sleeve to wrap it around the area.

in the far distance, gunshots can be heard and an angry and determined man is making his way into the hideout. “where the hell is she?”, mingyu shouts, the gun digging into the skull of a man who’s on his knees, his hands cuffed behind his back. his henchmen are all knocked out and scattered on the floor.

“she’s probably half dead by now”, he says, smiling, showing no remorse. this riles up mingyu even more and he pulls the man up and smashes him against the wall, his hand closing around his neck.

“what did you do?”, he asks, putting pressure on the man’s neck as dino stands behind him with jun.

he only half laughs as he starts to choke. “go find out yourself”, he mumbles and mingyu throws him to the ground and points his gun at him, shooting him point blank in the head, twice.

“mingyu! seungcheol wanted him alive”, jun rasps out, seeing his limp body.

“he was going to kill him any way i just did him a favor”, mingyu tells, only earning a look of disapproval from jun. “i’ll explain it to him”, mingyu adds.

mingyu searches the entire building, looking for you, until he stumbles across a room that’s been locked from the outside, and something familiar glints in the corner – knives, your knives. mingyu grabs a broken-off stone from the side and uses it to break open the lock, hammering down on it till it breaks. the door swings open and he spots you slumped on the floor in the far corner of the room.

“y/n”, he shouts as he rushes towards you and kneels down in front of you. “fuck fuck fuck”, he mumbles as he sees the blood pooling on the side.

your body stirs awake again at the familiar scent of cologne and you open your eyes. mingyu? were you hallucinating? was this a side effect of the drug?

“mingyu?”, you ask, not sure if this was real.

“y/n, hey, it’s okay, im here now”, he says hurridely, pulling you onto his lap and you yelp in pain.

“shit sorry, but we need to get you out of here”, he explains.

“what are you doing here?”, you ask stupidly.

“i’m here for you, y/n. you didn’t come back and we got another threat and i knew something was wrong. fuck, i should have come earlier”, he explains.

“w-what about dino?”, you muster out with whatever strength you had.

“he’s here and he’s okay. we have the painting too. the van is down, i just need to get you out”, he says.

he tries to carefully scoop you in his arms but you whimper in pain again.

“i’m sorry but we’re almost there okay”, he assures, carrying you out. the jerks from the way he was running caused pain and you whined as he kept saying we were almost there. you hear dino’s faint voice as he opens the back of the van and mingyu rushes inside, gently laying you down on his lap.

“drive drive go!”, mingyu shouts, getting anxious.

“she’s hurt. badly”, dino adds.

“we should’ve brought wonwoo along, dammit. call him and ask him what to do to stop the bleeding”, mingyu commands.

“he-he injected something in me, some drug. said it would stop my organs and body functions within 36 hours”, you mumble out and mingyu’s face pales.

“how long as it been?”

“i don’t-maybe 24 hours”, you mumblr out, your memory hazy.

“here, wonwoo’s on the line”, dino says, holding out the phone so mingyu can speak on speakerphone.

“wonwoo, she’s bleeding out, she’s already lost a lot of blood, what do i do”, mingyu asks helplessly.

“just apply pressure to the wound and get her here”, he says, stern.

“fuck and he injected something in her, supposed to stop a person’s organs and body functions within 36 hours”, mingyu adds. “you can stop that right”, mingyu asks desperately and the line is silent for a few seconds.

“i don’t know it depends on how long it’s been-“

“24 hours”

“get her here, i’ll see what i can do”, wonwoo says, and the line drops.

he keeps talking to you so you can be conscious but after a ten minutes, you eyes start to close, and your body falters. your head starts to spiral and you get dizzy, seeing two mingyu’s above you.

“why are there two of you”, you ask no one in particular, starting to get delirious.

migyu’s pressure on your wound falters and you shrivel up in pain, the burning pain getting too much.

“it hurts, everything h-hurts”, you cry out softly and mingyu wishes he could do something to help ease the pain.

“i know baby you’re going to be okay, it’s going to be okay”, he says, panic evident in his eyes.

“hey hey y/n, don’t-“ mingyu pleads looking at you.

“mingyu”, dino says but he ignores him.

“y/n look at me”, he pleads, pulling you into him. your grip on his shirt loosens slowly and mingyu notices the way your hand falls down.

“fuck no no no, stay with me baby, i’m right here”, he pleads, almost crying but all you see is black as you lose consciousness.

(you were recovering in mingyu’s house since you couldn’t risk going to the hospital with an unknown drug in your system, it would cause a red siren everywhere and bring unwanted attention)

wonwoo tried his best to help save you but you were still lying unconscious after ten days. most of the drug had been flushed out of your system but it was taking some time for your body to recover from its effects.

“go get some rest mingyu”, wonwoo says as he walks in, seeing mingyu beside your bed.

“i need to be here when she wakes up”, mingyu says, his eyes red and his face tired from the lack of sleep.

“she’ll wake up, right?”, he asks for the tenth time today, hope reflecting in his tired eyes.

“i can’t make promises like that mingyu, it depends on the way her body is recovering”, wonwoo tells.

“this is all seungcheol’s fault”, mingyu declares, suddenly seeing red.

“where the fuck is he, he didn’t even come to see her once.”, mingyu adds, getting up.

“mingyu, you need to calm down.”

mingyu ignores wonwoo and shoves him to the side as he leaves for the safehouse in search of seungcheol.

“WHERE’S SEUNGCHEOL”, mingyu yells as he enters, causing seungkwan and vernon to jump and turn around.

“mingyu-"

“where the fuck is seungcheol?”, mingyu asks again, angry.

mingyu stalks ahead and bursts open the door to seungcheol’s office.

“this is all your fault”, mingyu says as seungcheol stands up from his desk and walks out a few steps before mingyu grabs seungcheol by the collar of his shirt.

“if you hadn’t sent y/n alone like i said, she’d be okay, she’d be okay”, mingyu spits out, seething in anger. “did you even go see her, do you know what he did?”, he adds.

“i know what happened and it’s unfortunate”, is all seungcheol says, making mingyu even more upset. in blinding anger, mingyu brings his hand up and lands a punch to seungcheol.

jeonghan runs in. “what-“, he asks but stops upon seeing the scene in front of him.

“im only letting this off because we got the painting”, seungcheol says, wiping his busted lip.

“fuck you, i bet you don’t even care if she dies”, mingyu spits stepping front again but jeonghan blocks him.

“she’ll live, she’s a fighter”, seungcheol tells before seungkwan comes along and he and jeonghan guide mingyu out.

that night mingyu is back home, laying next to your bed as wonwoo administers another round of IV.

“her wound is healing but slowly. it’s still a good sign that her body is functioning and working. otherwise, she would have gotten another infection if the drug had really affected her”, wonwoo says, hoping to bring some sort of relief to mingyu.

“you really love her don’t you”, wonwoo adds as he observes the way mingyu holds your hand.

“i should’ve insisted she doesn’t go alone, but she said she’d come back”, mingyu says defeated.

“if she doesn’t respond in another week, we’ll have to really do something then”, wonwoo tells, and by the way mingyu’s jaw clenches, he doesn’t like the sound of that.

mingyu stays by your bed that night, falling asleep and holding your hand.

you’re dreaming, someone is chasing you. you’ve been running for so long and you’re getting tired. you don’t even know where you’re running, you’re just running and running, hoping to find something.

mingyu stirs awake when he senses your grip on his hand tightening and he’s super alert.

“y/n?”, he asks softly.

someone is calling out to you. you can’t figure out where it’s coming from but you hear the sweet voice calling out my name again. you run towards the voice.

“y/n”, mingyu calls out again as he looks at you, trying to see if you can hear or understand him.

you’re running and running, trying to follow the voice and you vaguely make out a figure standing in front of you. the man stands out with his arms open as he calls out your name one last time and your eyes flutter open.

mingyu lets out a small gasp.

“mingyu”, you try to say, but no voice follows and you close your eyes again.

mingyu wastes no time in calling wonwoo, telling him the news and soon wonwoo is at the house.

“just keep an eye on her”, wonwoo explains saying he'll be back in the morning for a checkup.

in the morning, you wake up, a bit hazy but conscious. what woke you up was the pain and something cold and when you look down you realize your bandage had bled out, probably from sleeping on your side. you try to sit up but your arms give out, and your eyes close. you hear the faint steps of mingyu walking in and he says your name, rushing up to you. he gently sits down next to you, the bed dipping.

“you’re awake, you’re awake”, he says, his hands fumlbing for his phone as he dials wonwoo. you slowly manage to turn and face him, blinking up at him in a daze. he looks down and see’s your bandage that’s bled out.

“im just going to change your bandage okay y/n”, he says to you and you weakly nod. he helps you sit up, lifting your shirt up ever so slightly so he can take off the soiled bandage and replace it. he gently cleans the wound with a wet cloth and you slightly hiss at the pain, your hands clawing at the bedsheet. you take a moment to look at mingyu as he carefully tends to my wound. the way his hair falls over his face, the way the light bounces off him, the way his brows are furrowed in concentration, the way his hands are gentle so that he doesn’t hurt you.

“mingyu”, you say softly and he looks up worried and surprised. this is the first time you talked.

“do you want something? water? or are you hungry? i made some rice porridge earlier i can just-“

“thank you”, you weakly say and try to smile at him, and at this, he crumbles. he gently moves his hands to envelope you as he slowly pulls you into him for a hug.

“i thought i’d lost you there”, mingyu admits softly and you can hear the fear in his voice.

“i’m a fighter”, you mumble out and he laughs.

“‘im just glad you’re awake now. i thought- i was really preparing myself for the worst”, he says, pulling away to look at you. his hand cups you cheek, his thumb gently caressing my cheek. you lean into his touch and rest your head on his chest.

over the next few days, mingyu makes sure you’re comfortable and okay. he’s always checking up on you and you start to feel better. you’re able to get up and walk a little and your wound is healing too. you’re in less pain and wonwoo is impressed and satisfied with the way you’ve been healing.

“where’s dino? i hope he’s okay, i never got to see him afterward”, you say later one night. “do you want me to call them over?”, mingyu asks and you nod eagerly.

you walk over to mingyu and sit down next to him on the couch, looking up at him as you lean against his arm and suddenly you remember - you owed him a kiss when you came back. you sit up a bit and mingyu seems to have caught you staring.

“what?”, he asks, looking at you lovingly. “did you want something?”, he adds.

you simply move so that you’re straddling his lap and before mingyu can say anything, you’re kissing him. he kisses you back a few seconds later and his hands rest on your waist. he moves his lips against yours and his hand tilts your jaw closer to him. your hands wrap around his neck as you tangle your fingers in his hair and mingyu lets out a soft groan as he pulls away.

“fuck. i missed that. i missed you”, he mumbles against your lips.

“i promised you a kiss when i came back right”. you say and he smiles.

“you remembered”

“a little too late if i have to say”

“i’m glad you’re back baby, i missed you so much”, he says again, leaning forward to kiss you again, chasing after your lips. his lips are soft against yours, but the way he’s kissing you is like he hasn’t seen you in years. he kisses you with yearning and emotion, with a sort of urgency. his hand grips your waist tighter but you let out a small yelp since the pain is still there as the wound was still healing and his grip softens.

“shit sorry”, he says, looking to make sure you was okay, only to kiss him back, wanting to get lost in the feeling of his lips on yours. you’re too busy to notice that wonwoo opened the door and the rest of the boys walked in on you both kissing.

“y/n i got your favorite-“ seungkwan starts but stops dead in his tracks upon catching you both.

you pull away and turn your head around to see seungkwan’s mouth hanging open before he smacks a hand over his mouth in shock. dino just gives you a small shy smile and smiles when you smile back at him. you’re about to move off when mingyu pulls you in for one last kiss, just to tease you as you whack his arm and he pulls away chuckling.

wonwoo looks at us as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “i thought i said no strenuous activities for y/n”, he says, looking straight at mingyu.

“she started it”, mingyu says, throwing you in the fire as he gently slides you off him.

“what no! i–“, you start but falter, the words crumbling.

hoshi is immediately by your side, asking you if you’re okay and what happened before he starts pestering you for more details about how mingyu and you started liking each other because in his knowlege you hated him so now he need to know all the gossip and details.

after a few more months, you’re all healed but wonwoo still makes you do a checkup once every month, to make sure you were healing okay and that there were no leftover effects of the drug in your body.

2 years later

“baby i told you not to wear that fuck”, mingyu groans in your ear as he pulls you into a tiny room to hide from the security guards looking for you both.

“concentrate, we still need to get the gold bars”, you say, adjusting his tie as he pushes you into the wall.

“you look so fucking hot i told you that you’d get in trouble if you wore that”, he says, whispering against your ear.

after you healed and got back in the field, you and mingyu had been on countless missions together. this time you had to steal some gold bars from a corrupt politician, and once again to build connections and friends, you had to pose as a married couple. so here you were.

“my wife likes to be a brat sometimes”, he mumbles before pecking your lips.

“watch it, im not your wife”, you say, poking his arm.

“not yet, but i can change that”, he says, giving you a wink.

you stare up at him tilting your head to the side. “are you proposing to me, mingyu?”, you ask.

“maybe”, he says with a goofy smile as he leans in to close the gap between you with a kiss.

and yes, you did successfully steal the gold bars and you maybe tortured the corrupt politician a little, but everyone needs to have a little fun right?

— taglist

@daisycheols @naaaaafla @slytherinshua @weird-bookworm @idubiluv @qaramu @n4mj00nvq @itsveronicaxxx @joshuaahong @fallingforshua29 @frankenstein852 @lvlystars @fairyhaos @rubywonu @aaniag @junniesoleilkth @m1ngyuc0re @wheeboo @hyunyin @minhui896 @fancypoisonapple @raggedypansexual @k-ajla12 @asyre @ilovesungjun @jyiiscool @tis-niki @foxinnie8 @nobraincellmode @ne0c0r3 @nishloves

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ghcstao3 · 8 days

Text

haha wow guys…. can’t believe you’re making me write a part two of this…… haha ok if you insist….

the sting of soap’s disappointment following the most recent assassination attempt is shortly resolved when only a week later, as he reads in the candlelight, he feels the cool press of a blade gentle against his throat.

he’s smiling before he can stop himself. there could only be one person silent enough to manage such a trick.

“back so soon?” he asks the shadow. he closes his book, careful to keep still. the blade wasn’t meant to hurt unless he moved.

a low hum. “thought i might catch you off guard the second time.”

“sorry to disappoint.” soap feels the pressure disappear, and slumps back in his seat. he lolls his head back to peer up at the assassin, who looms over him, staring with that same dark, piercing gaze.

“don’t worry,” the assassin consoles. “you could never disappoint, your majesty.”

soap laughs. “isn’t it too early to be making assumptions like that? we’ve hardly met.”

a gloved hand, still partially curves around the hilt of a blade, draws a line across soap’s jaw. a gentle caress, met by the bitter kiss of cold steel as his assassin shifts his hold.

“that’s all i need,” the assassin teases. “you’re an easy read.”

soap scoffs, letting his head fall back forward. the assassin makes his steps audible as he backs away.

“well, at least give me a name before you disappear again,” he pleads. “so i know whose title might leave my lips when you inevitably succeed.”

a pensive silence, consideration that soap should not be allowing such a man.

“ghost,” he finally offers.

“ghost,” soap echoes, almost wistfully. he isn’t surprised, when he turns in his chair and sees that ghost is gone yet again.

soap sighs, though his disappointment this time is brief. a second visit is no coincidence—something tells him ghost would most certainly return.

and the prince already finds himself anticipating that very moment.

#simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghost x soap #ghoap #alternate universe

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razzle-n-dazzle · 2 months

Note

- hi ! 💌,,

ISTG you’re writing is so well done and creative I had to contain myself from like spam!!

I hope you’re still taking request and if you’re not that’s totally cool, I’ll wait ‘till next round.

Adam reincarnates in hell and oh, would you look at that? the s/o is the only one trying to help and not making him feel worse that he already is. (i just need wholesome content, exam week is killing me rn).

AGAIN, love you’re writing thx for reading so far!

ᯓ★ Let's Give This Another Shot (and not fuck it up this time) Sinner! Adam / Sinner! Reader | Drabble

‗ content / trigger warning: fluff, swearing, Adam being Adam, not proof read (we die like Adam) ‗ author's note: this is for everyone who's dealing with exam weeks, it sucks but I believe in all of you any you're going to kill those exams! (don't let them kill you!). Also thank you so much for the compliments Anon <3, I write for the people and myself, so I'm glad everyone is enjoying the crazy shit I've posted here!

ᯓ When you fall from grace, it's not a pleasant feeling; That Adam knew - or at least he thought he knew - well enough from hearing about Lucifer falling, hearing the horrific things the others whispered about it, mentioning it in passing before the thought disappeared and dispelled into the air as though Lucifer had never held a place in Heaven. As though he was nothing that what he was now, demonic figure that wore a crown made out of skeletons and bones fashioned to mimic horns. Adam never cared about the stories that were whispered, about the horrors he sometimes heard through passing, about Sera recalling how she heard Lucifer scream on the way down, about how Michael watched with horror as Lucifer tried to shield Lilith and himself, about how Gabriel heard his pleads and couldn't do anything; No one could save him from the fate that had been weighed on his shoulders as soon as he had fed the apple to Eve. And partly it was because Adam blamed Lucifer for ruining his paradise, for infecting the mind of both his (ex) wives and causing him grief and pain. Dying alone is almost just as unpleasant as falling from grace; almost.

ᯓ You see, while Adam had died alone on Earth, at least his soul went to somewhere pleasant and he was able to continue living; To make a name for himself and, he guessed, make some friends and live a rather worriless and carefree life in the clouds. He was able to have fun, rock out, and be known as the first human soul ever being able to reach Heaven - that was something not even Eve managed to do, and he took it with pride! It was his title. It was partly who he was. Maybe it was all he was. That much became more clear to him when he found himself waking up in Hell again, the stabbing pain of a dagger striking his back still their along with the weight of his wings. At first, he had thought he managed to survive the assassination attempt, that Lute had just left him in Hell on accident or because she thought he was dead. It caused some sort of pride to well in his chest, a flame that sparked his need to go boost and scream at the top of his lungs - he had survived an angelic weapon! He was immune! He was the strongest angel there was, because Sera would totally fall and die in a sad crumble after being stabbed with angelic metal! He was . . .

ᯓ And that's when Adam happened to pass by a mirror, or well more of a reflective glass on the street of Hell (as he walked, not questioning the odd ball looks he got), and that's when he saw it; What looked like a stranger to be staring back at him, engulfing and taking over his reflection like they owned it, like it was there own. That wasn't him! Well, it looked like him, he could admit that, but it wasn't as sexy or as handsome as him! The reflection would copy his movement, snarling as he did and grinning all the same. With his same fluffed up hair and piercing eyes, the reflection wore no mask yet still held the horns of his all the same; Even the way they slowly curled back before dipping down, forming and L for the gold spikes to rest at the end. The reflection wore his exterminator uniform, yet it was the darker version with the yellow having somehow been dulled and deepened and faded out all at once. His wings were still golden, still tucking at his sides from under his arms all the same, though there was no halo to accompany them this time. And Adam almost wanted to laugh, maybe it was hysteria or maybe it was disbelief, yet he watched to cry and laugh and break the glass all at once; Denying that this was his fate, being unable to stomach that he, First Man Adam, was not only double dead yet in hell. Hell! The first man cannot be in hell, he had created everyone on Earth; All of them came from his nuts and in turn all of them should be praising the fucking land he walked on because if it wasn't for him he wouldn't be here!

ᯓ And yet the Reflection looked back all the same, teasing him with a distorted grin; Like it could feel his distress in the way he curled his fist, pulling back before he slammed it against the glass. It gave a crack, a small one at first, before completely shattering. Adam could care less what shop or business had that glass, he could care less how he effected them or how he was going to be painted in Hell, because this was some crazy mistake! He was not supposed to be down here and he was not going to stand for some stupid mistake that happened because some small crazy bitch decided to back-stab him! Literally! And yet, if Adam wanted any of the answers he so desperately craved, he would have to suck in some of his pride and trudge along to the damn Hotel and talk to the residence who had taken his life. It would take him a while before he accepted such a fate, taking the chance between deciding and doing to walk along the Pride Ring before stumbling into the wrong town and being chased out by crazy demons who wanted to bite him! Maybe even eat him . . . What crazy place is this?!

ᯓ When Adam had begrudging and reluctantly knocked on the new Hotel door, which he would never admit to stopping and marveling at for a second, he would feel that ever irritating dread weigh in his stomach. Who wouldn't feel such a feeling after coming to the front door of a group of people you had tried to exterminate only, Adam didn't know how long, prior! Maybe, silently, somewhere inside Adam knew if he were in their shoes, having faced what they had, he wouldn't accept him either; He would throw him to the curb. Yet, he didn't exactly like that thought, and it wasn't very on brand, so he shoved it down and away and deep until all the could think about is: How in the hell would they not accept me? I'm Adam, I'm the first man! And yet when the door opened, allowing Adam to come face to face with none other than Vaggie, he felt that dread creep in a little. But, not enough to stop him from greeting Vaggie in a less that desirable way, "What's up Vagasaurus?" The sneering comment left his mouth, "I love what you did with the place. You know, it looks slightly less like a destroyed pile of Sh-" Yet the door would only slam in his face before Adam could finish his thoughts or his words; Leaving him standing outside, a tad awkwardly, waiting for the doors to open again. He, also, would never admit giving a glance behind him, making sure no one was standing there to watch him standing in front of the doors.

ᯓ "Vaggie, who was that?" Charlie would call to her girlfriend as she walked away from the door, coming towards where Charlie sat on the floor organizing new activities that everyone could do. All while Nifty rushed around nearby, cleaning Sir Pentious' and Dazzle's memorials in the new Hazbin Hotel. She muttered to herself quietly, not bothering Angel and Husk, who sat at the bar. "No one important." Vaggie would mumble, not being able to catch her tone before it could reveal that it was someone less than desirable. Possibly another sinner choosing a path of redemption after the last extermination! Which the thought caused Charlie to gain a burst of energy, barreling onto her feet so quickly that she knocked around the carefully organized slits of paper on the floor. Vaggie tried to protest, saying it was truly no one at the door and Charlie should just leave it alone! But she was never a really good lair, "Oh calm down Vaggie, I'm sure it's no one bad!" Charlie would grin with a wave, her hand touching the crisp and cool metal of the door handle before swinging the door back open. "Hi, welcome to the Hazbin Hotel! How can I-" And yet her words fell flat as soon as her eyes were locked onto Adam's - who quickly spun around, pretending like he hadn't just been looking behind him - and was also welcomed by his light groan of annoyance. "Oh fuck me." ". . . help you." Charlie's voice flattened, dropping as her eyes widened. You know, she's never felt this shocked to see someone at the steps of the Hotel before since Alastor had came along without warning.

ᯓ "Adam?!"

ᯓ "BITCH CAN YOU NOT SHOUT MY NAME?!" Was the next words that were exclaimed out of the ex-angel, the now outcast, as he seemed rather eager to push Charlie inside of her own Hotel and walk in after; Quickly shutting the door as though there was someone outside waiting and stalking him, watching him with all their attention. "Hey no, you cannot just let yourself in here this isn't Heaven!" Vaggie was swift to march her way over to the two, seeing as Charlie wasn't doing anything to discard of Adam she might as well do it herself! No way was she going to let some two-timing exorcist angel not only push her girlfriend around yet also push his way into the hotel. Who did he think he is? And yet Charlie waved out a hand, stopping Vaggie in her tracks. There was confusion, and the two at the bar would turn their heads, before scowling seeing the fallen angel. Adam was sure he could hear Angel's accented voice loud and clear shouting out, 'oh what the fuck is this bullshit!' before Charlie began to talk to him again in a rushed fashion; One he remembered quite well during the meeting that Lucifer subbed her in for instead of coming to it himself, and he was still annoyed by her voice. "What are you doing down here? I thought you-! You know . . . " Charlie rushed out, trying to make it quick as though the others at the hotel would jump and kill Adam again with no remorse, finishing the job that clearly didn't stay permeant the first time; And, honestly, Adam wouldn't put it above anyone here to do that. Adam, who had been picking at his teeth with his pinkie finger, would turn away from Charlie and shrug his shoulders, "Yeah, well, I fuckin' did and ended up down here for some fucking reason, probably a mistake and mix up of souls. I'm sure you have plenty of those down here, pft!- I mean who else would want to stay in this charity case!-" "We're not entertaining you Adam!" Vaggie would cut off the ex-angel, causing his interest to peak over at her. Though he relaxed quickly enough, maybe too quickly seeing as Vaggie had drown out her own weapon and that . . . nasty little creature stood beside her with the dagger made out of angelic metal; Now that little one-eyed demon could give Adam the creeps, maybe even a little (lot) fright, but not Vaggie. "You know, I thought were all trying to redeem souls in this junk box of yours." Adam scoffed, quickly crossing his arms with a tilt of his head. "Are you fucking discriminating against me wanting to return to where I rightfully belong just because I was an angel before this? Wow, that's a low blow, especially for someone light you." Adam's voice dripped with sarcasm mixed with malice, maybe even still a little pride. "You literally tried killing up like- 2 weeks ago!" Vaggie would gesture to the side, as though trying to compare time to the length of her arm. "Oh shit it's been too weeks?" Adam paused, thinking about it yet drawing a blank and shrugging in result, "Shit, didn't know, pft! That shit must still be fresh for you then, huh? Well, let me remind you all that you weren't the ones who DIED!-"

ᯓ "Adam?" Your voice would slip out into the common space of the lobby of the hotel, honey sweat to Adam's ears; Filling them with a melody that could match the songs of Heaven, running down his spine with the comfort he didn't know he needed until now. But even then, you knew he wouldn't break his 'tough man' exterior until you managed to snag him along, away from the prying eyes of everyone else. "Holy shit, hey Babe!" Adam was quick, rushing past and slightly pushing Charlie out of his way to make his way over to you, over to his love. "What the fuck are you doing in a dumb like this? I thought you said you had your own fucking spot near Cannibal Town!" - It had been the only reason why he had tried traveling to that cursed town, even while knowing its residents might try and take a bite out of him or his wings. He craved for the familiarity of someone in this new world, as he had never felt this vulnerable since his first days on Eden; Earth. God's Earth. "Babe?" A chorus of confused, slightly concerned, and baffled voices followed as Adam came to your side, swinging an arm around your waist and instantly drawing you closer. You swore he was fighting off the urge to flick off the others, a casual fuck you for trying to push him off and out. You could feel their eyes as you leaned up to pepper a kiss into Adam's shoulder, to which he squeezed your waist slightly tighter, adorning a snicker upon his face. "Wait, wait!-" Vaggie started, taking a staggering step forward as her arms laid limp besides her. One of her eyebrows were cocked up, her eyes narrow, "What do you mean Babe?" Your name left her lips, "Don't tell me you're dating that fucker!" She would soon exclaim, tossing her hands out as they finally regained the life they had lost. To which you would turn towards her confused, and then remember oh yeah . . . the battle. The one you hadn't been present for though heard about through Channel 666 News; In all honesty it's why you had came here, to the Hotel, to see if you could try and get to Heaven and find Adam again - praying he didn't actually die but was taken back to Heaven to heal or was revived in some way. "Uh, yeah. Adam's my boyfriend-" You would start with a wavering smile, nerves tugging at the edge of your lips. "Oh, this couldn't have gotten worse." Angel would groan, slamming his head down onto the bar countertop, acting like a disappointed parent; Silently telling you that you could have done better. To which you placed a hand on your hip, about to tell Angel off, only to be cut off by Husk tsking and shaking his head, "I would not put you as an Angel and sexist fucker, but whatever rows your boat." His tone came off dry, uninterested, and a little hostile. And with Charlie's silence, you couldn't help but feel the weight of everyone's words a little heavier.

ᯓ And Adam noticed that, with one glance down at you and your face, his wings would flare defensively and his glare was snapped back at the other demons. He couldn't care less that they had been talking shit about him, he couldn't care less on how they saw him or the reasons they thought you could do better than him; They shouldn't care about whether or not someone was out of their friend's league if they were clearly happy with the person! That, Adam knew - or maybe he believed it more. "Hey, what your fucking mouths!-" He would start, trying to draw you away from the others. Sure, he was no longer an Angel, but he was sure as hell he could take any of them in a fight anyways! And yet, his anger was snuffed like a candle as soon as you placed your hand on his chest, gently pushing in and pushing him back. The breath of ire was caught in his throat, not even being able to reach his lungs, as he glanced down at you, noticing the spark that you had seemingly stolen right out of his chest and placed in your eyes. He knew your reservations of fighting with friends, or with anyone in general, so he couldn't help but feel pride swell up in his chest watching you stand up for yourself, for you and him: "I will not let you speak about me, nor Adam that way!" You defended, shooting a star through your eyelashes that the group; Who seemed just as taken aback as Adam had been before the warmth spread from his chest. Vaggie would scrunch her face, much more concerned that irritated or disappointed, but also all of that at the same time. Your name slipped from her lips, "You can't be serious! He's . . ." She stumbled for a moment, trying to grasp her words, "He's led genocides on Sinners all over Hell! He's like really gross and he doesn't respect people. He's a douche and a dick!-" "Dick master," Adam would correct Vaggie just to piss her off, earning a slight jag in the gut from you and a snarl from Vaggie. Vaggie, who, tossed out her hands once more, yet pointed at Adam this time, "See what I mean?!"

ᯓ "And tell me how you felt when you first lost your divinity?"

ᯓ The question lingered in the room, drifting and sticking in the air, as Vaggie stared at you with disbelief; Her mouth slightly open, her eyes wide, and her stance rigid. You noticed how Charlie grew nervous behind her, how she seemed rather uncomfortable in the atmosphere that been created in the room since Adam had arrived than you. She would place a hand on Vaggie's shoulders, attempting to comfort her, yet failed to pick out any words to say in response. "It's hard enough to leave somewhere you've called home," You would continue, frowning, "To be tossed out like you had meant nothing, like one mistake had deemed you unworthy despite everything great you have done in your life. Vaggie! . . . out of everyone, I would have thought at least you would understand something like that." Seeing as she had gone through the same process herself, yet had always had Charlie there by her side to walk through everything with. Was she implying that Adam didn't deserve the same because of what he had done? Sure it was crude and cruel, but everyone deserved another chance to mistake their wrongs and that was what this hotel was about; And you voiced such concerns to not just Vaggie but to Charlie as well. What makes Adam so much different from Lucifer, or say another Fallen Angel that managed to wind up down here? What makes him less worthy to be redeemed? What made him less of a human soul as say Angel or Alastor? Everyone fucks up in their life and as long as they're trying to better themselves, understanding what they did wrong and why it was wrong, they should be given a chance!

ᯓ It wasn't long before Charlie said that everyone should take a break, and as such you would lead Adam away from the crowd of people and up to your own room in the Hotel. You could feel Vaggie's eyes linger, you felt like she wanted to say something yet let her words fall short before they were ever given a chance. But, even if they had, you were too pent up to even discuss anything logically with her at the moment. And you think she could feel or at least tell and that's why her words fell short, yet you would never know - you're not Vaggie nor would you ever think like she does.

ᯓ You and Adam found yourselves in your bed after settling some matters, such as a change of clothing for him and whether or not you wanted to try and make the trip back to your apartment today; Luckily you had some of Adam's old T-shirts and joggers you had stolen from him from one of the few trips where Adam had snuck you into Heaven - and yet on the same note, either of you felt like going downstairs to face anyone to leave to your apartment. So, with not much to do, you set the TV on as background noise and brain fuzz as you snuggled up to Adam's side. You felt as his claws, at first, scratched gently at his side, pairing with a kiss on the forehead, and then they began to tap the flesh there; Like you were some little drum that made no noise, yet Adam continued until he switched to rubbing his thumb against your hip. "What's wrong, Adam?" Concern dripped from your lips, forcing Adam to draw his eyes away from the mindless television and down to meet you, and your eyes. He had known your attention had been up at him for a while, at first admiring his face (as you didn't get to see it much) yet it had shifted to concern the more he played with the plush flesh of your waist. He wondered if you could tell he was nervous from the start. Adam's eyes would falter and glance off to TV again, his words causing a lump in his throat as he tried to play through them; Trying to find the best combination to spew out instead of talking without thinking - vomiting whatever first came to mind and not thinking about it later. And maybe you could tell the trepidations that filled his head too; Seeing as you shifted your position from his side, pushing yourself up, and instead onto his lap, effectively blocking his vision of the television. Your hands rested on his chest, something so natural at this point yet something that still caused Adam's lungs to halt for a minute and for his stomach to flutter. Even so, he would give you a curious glance up and down, trancing the curves of your body with his eyes as he has done countless times before - yet every time, you managed to take his breath away. "If you wanted to fuck, babe, you could have just said so!" The snarky remark left his lips, meeting your amused yet disapproving face. He knew that's not what you wanted, yet he couldn't help but entertain yourself when you were basically straddling his waist; As such, his fingers would drag along the calf of your leg before his hands would trail up your thighs before tailing back down and up once more. He saw the flutter in your breath, yet you tried to keep your composure. Even if Adam was making it ever so hard.

ᯓ "Adam," You would start, your tone causing Adam to stop caressing your thighs. It stuck his eyes to yours, and he couldn't look away no matter how much his nerves pulled at him to. "I want you to know, no matter what happens . . . I'm here for you, okay? We're in this together. You're not a solo act anymore, we're a duet . . . or, well, more a duo act." Your words sunk down into Adam's skin, they infected through his lungs and ran to his heart before infecting all his blood and his veins. His hands, which had ran up to hold your waist, gave a gentle squeeze as he swallowed down the saliva that built up in his suddenly dry mouth. A duo act? Sure, he knew you two were dating, that you had been for a while, yet even then he had a silent thought in the back of his head that you would leave him, much like the others; So he never considered himself no more than what he had: A soloist. First Man Adam! . . . but now he was able to add being 'Yours' to his list with some sort of fire-like confidence; Burning and bright. It made his heart catch fire, even more so when you would stretch out lightly and lean down to lay down on his chest; Your warmth infecting all of him you touched, allowing his arms to wrap around your back and for his wings to fluff out and wrap around your frame. It was like he wanted to shield you from the world, shield you from Heaven, shield you from everyone and anything that wanted to hurt you. Sure he had the urge before, but now? . . . "You heard that big man?" Your voice broke through his thoughts, your teasing smirk had him fighting for a breath. You would playfully nudge his shoulder, "You're stuck with me, I'm stuck with you're, we're stuck together so you better be getting used to it! I'll fight for you, you fight for me, and we'll get back to that stupid place that outcasted you in the first place!" But he would like to stay here, with you, forever. "And we'll show Charlie and Vaggie that it can be done and that even if you fucked up you have a good heart in you! . . . Because I know you do under all the gunk." And your laughter had never sounded so sweet, and you touch has never felt so soft and loving.

ᯓ A duo act, huh? With you? Adam could get used to and stand behind that thought; Perhaps, even after all this time, he wanted nothing more than to hear those words, or well the meaning of those words, from your mouth since the start.

ᯓ But even then, with the emotions that swelled Adam's heart with nothing but pure love, he couldn't help but nuzzle his head into the crook of your neck. Your scent filled his nose with a warmth he missed, the soft skin of your neck flushed against his smirking lips, a feeling he longed for and couldn't forget. You were perfect, you always had been! "Fuck, Babe, when you say pretty shit like that, it's hard not to fuck you right here and now." Adam would groan before a loud cackle left his lips as soon as you smacked his back. All too used to his ways, you couldn't do much yet shake your head against Adam's shoulder, like a parent scolding their child for saying something offensive. "You ruined the mood Adam!" The huff escaped your lips, it hit Adam's neck and made goosebumps spring up his arms. "Again!" And yet, you didn't protest as Adam tossed you both into your sides with a fever, still cackling as though this was the funniest joke in the world - and you couldn't deny, you loved the sound of his laughter so much. Even as his stubble would tickle your neck as he did so, causing you to start laughing soon after and trying to push his head away from your neck. "Adam! Oh my god, Adam stop that tickles!" You gasped between breaths, struggling to push your boyfriend away as he found joy in your lighthearted misery. Though he would only curl around your frame, not answering your desperate calls of a truce and a stop, and trap you in his arms and wings with no remorse. "You're stuck with me Babe, you said it yourself! Now come here, let me kiss that pretty fucking face of yours until you can't breath!"

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hoshigray · 1 year

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Let me get this out of my system before I forget: toji x fem! reader, both assassins who take each other's missions. But on the one occasion you work together, Toji feels that no good deed goes unrewarded. Cw: dom! toji - fem! reader - mating press - praise - toji acts cocky the first half but is a soft menace in the other half - pet names (baby, sweetheart, sweetie, darlin', good girl, princess) - drool/mention of sloppy kissing - mention of overstimulation (fem! receiving). Cw: 708

You and Toji are the top assassins in the league, and titles like that spark competition. You constantly outdo each other, taking up his missions because you need the money, and taking yours because he's a petty bastard. Flashing a snarky grin at you whenever he walks by, his canine peaking under the scar on his lips. He knows you hate him and finds it adorable how you roll your eyes whenever you see him.

But you two make an excellent team when you go on missions together! Not that it matters to you two because you both argue about the other's performance; he's too messy and carefree, and you're way too cautious and like to take your sweet time.

Exhaling a heavy sigh, exhausted from the mission and his reckless behavior, you turn on your heel to head home. But Toji calls out to you, "I'm gonna grab somethin' to eat, wanna join?

The quirk of your brow doesn't go unnoticed. "Relax, it's on me. Think of it as a reward for not being a complete thorn in my side today."

You scoff. "Yeah right." After Toji's multiple pleas more like teasing than pleading, you agree to accompany him to dinner. However, you keep your guard up while you're with him. Even if it's past work hours, that doesn't mean he can't pull something out of his ass.

Well, that promise did nothing for you as you're crying, panting, and making the most embarrassing noises you never thought you could make.

Folded into your life's most intense mating press, Toji surveys your disheveled appearance in relish. Sweat and cum connect your bodies together while drool slides down from your mouth. His hips go at an irrational pace that has you see stars, and the sounds of his balls smacking your wet folds make you hide your face in shame. Why the hell did I get myself into this situation? I could've just turned and gone home!

"Haaaah, shit..." His hoarse groans compel you to squeeze around him even tighter. He jolts a bit, smirking at your body's reaction."Haha, damn, baby. Had I known I'd see you like this earlier, I'd — hnngh! Oh shit" Toji moves your legs further with his shoulders, his body weight pushing onto you and making you feel so helpless being trapped under him like this.

"Hey, c'mon now," He chuckles when he sees your face is still covered up. He uses one hand to remove them, trapping them above your head. "Don't wanna miss the perfect view, sweetheart."

Through watered eyes in a haze, you stare up at the man making you feel so fucking good tormenting you. The bedroom lights behind him make Toji appear so deliciously alluring, his tanned skin bathed in sweat that some strands of his hair stick to his forehead. With blatant lust looming over his eyes, you feel small under his sharp emerald orbs.

A small chuckle escapes his lips. "Damn, sweetie, lookin' so beautiful fr' me, ya know that?" He surprises you with a deep thrust, and a sudden yelp becomes sweet music to his ears. "My beautiful darlin'."

You immediately turn to the side, biting your bottom lip before he sees it quiver. "Aht aht, don't do that." He's quick to grab your chin to face him again. "You can't hide from me, not like this." He draws closer to press his lips onto yours and you melt on the spot. You instantly become a mewling mess, his sloppy kisses turning your brain into mush.

And it doesn't stop there, of course not. He then slithers his hand down to your clit, giving it unnecessary yet gracious attention for being disregarded.

That was it for you, your walls spasming around his cock as you cream onto him, your euphoric orgasms taken by his ravaging mouth. He breaks the kiss to see a trail of spit still linking the two of you.

"Good girl," He praises you as he lets you ride out your high, admiring how pretty you look. However, "Sorry, baby, but I still gotta finish here." He grinds his hips into your messy cunt, the overstimulation nearly choking you in your own spit. "Stay with me for a few minutes, okay, princess?"

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unknowndrone · 8 months

Text

Yelena’s Diary

Yelena Belova X Fem!Reader

Prompt: Natasha finds Yelena’s diary which results in the contents of the diary getting revealed to you.

WC: 1.7k

Warnings: siblings threatening to kill each other

__________

She should’ve known better. As the greatest spy and assassin in the world with a sibling with a similar title, she should’ve known that unless that diary was sewn to her body, Natasha was somehow going to get her grubby hands on it.

“Give it back, Natasha!” She hisses.

They were like school girls, things that Yelena would only ever see happening in the American TV shows, not between two assassins. Natasha flips through the pages, while simultaneously dodging Yelena’s efforts to retrieve the book.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. How many chapters are you going to spend complaining about the team and complimenting Y/N?” she questions.

“Natasha, I am not afraid to stab you!” the younger sister threatens.

“Do it,” Natasha challenges. “I bet you’d love to explain to Y/N why you felt the need to stab her favorite Black Widow.”

“-you are not her favorite Black Widow!”

“Just because you wrote it in your diary doesn’t mean it’s actually true-”

“Stop it!” Yelena screams once more. This time she pounces on to her sister’s shoulders. Natasha wildly spins knowing that Yelena was seconds away from putting her into a choke hold before throwing Yelena on to the bed.

Natasha paces away, flipping through the pages and gaining a few more paragraphs before her sister would rush to attack once more. “Who taught you to draw a heart like that, Lena?”

The younger widow pouts. “Give it back, Natasha!”

That’s the thing about older siblings. They’re a menace.

At this point, the two widows were running through the compound. The blonde chasing the red head with no one to stop them. No one except-

The elevator door opens, revealing you. You just returned from your mission only to see Natasha trying to evade Yelena who looked ready to murder her. You raise your eyebrow, noticing how they were far too busy trying to fight each other that they didn’t hear the elevator door.

Your eyes dart to see Steve walking past you with a book in his hand. Tapping his shoulder to get his attention, you gesture towards the widows. “What happened?”

Steve only lets out a laugh, shaking his head. “Yelena’s been chasing Nat for hours.” He explains before leaving you to your thoughts.

As amusing as it is to watch the two widows play a game of cat and mouse, you figured that it was time for the two to reconcile as you carefully approach them, making sure not to get too close just in case Yelena decides to throw a knife at Natasha and you aren’t able to dodge it in time.

Eventually you get close enough, crossing your arms, fighting the amused smirk that was forming at your lips. When you let out a cough, the fight instantly stops. Natasha smiles brightly when she sees you, almost too brightly. Meanwhile, Yelena looks more horrified than she is happy. Part of your heart wrenches as to why she looks so disheartened to see you. She was always happy to see you.

“That’s enough fighting for you two, don’t you think?” You suggest, eyes darting between Yelena and then Natasha.

Natasha glances at Yelena, nodding, “I agree.” Her response only earns another glare from the blonde widow.

“How was your mission?” Yelena asks you.

You shrug, “Standard.” Your eyes catch at what seems like a journal in Natasha’s hand. “I didn’t know you journal, Nat.”

Natasha holds the book up, the smile on her face becoming more mischievous. “Oh me? Oh no,this isn’t mine. This is-”

“Natasha stop! Don’t you dare ruin this for me!” Yelena hisses.

But just before Natasha can say anything, Yelena pounces on her. Your eyes widen at the violence and Yelena’s sudden persistence. You knew if you didn’t act now, the floors of the Avengers facility might be painted red. So your arms grab Yelena’s shoulders and you pull her until her back is flushed against you.

“That’s enough!” you bark, trying to get the two siblings to stop.

Yelena almost instantly relaxes in your hold. It wasn’t your first time holding her. In fact, you’ve hugged her many times before whether it be before missions when you return home from missions or whenever she’s upset. Your touch was like an instant sedative.

This one especially.

Natasha sighs in relief, but her hand was still clutching the book. When she meets eyes with her sister, she notices how Yelena almost looks like she melted into a pool of her own love for you. Regardless, you pull Yelena away, dragging her to her room before things get worse.

“Oh here’s your book Yelena…” Natasha teases, handing the book to her sister. Yelena quickly snatches it before you could get your hands on it. You know better than to ask questions seeing how pissed Yelena was. You figured that you would have a chat with Natasha as to why she’s going through her sister’s belongings later. For now, you need to make sure Yelena has cooled down.

The two of you are now sitting in your room. Yelena is laying in bed while you are getting changed into more comfortable clothes. The book is held protectively over her chest. It seems to be super glued to her like she didn’t want anyone seeing what was inside.

“So…is there anything in that private journal I don’t know about?” you tease while slipping on your pajamas.

The blonde blushes profusely, “no,” she speaks a little too quickly.

“I’m not pushing, Lena. I was just curious,” you shrug. “You’re allowed to have your own private thoughts.”

Yelena looks at you for a while. She’s been doing that a lot recently where you would notice her gaze on you seemed to linger longer than expected. It made you curious at what was going through her little head.

Eventually, you plop yourself on the bed next to her and, like many other nights before, you two bask in each other’s presence. You found her shoulder comforting, so you lay your head there, too, observing her reaction intently. To your surprise, you feel her muscles visibly tense for a moment before easing into your warmth.

“Is everything okay?” you ask her suddenly.

“Everything is fine,” the assassin dismisses. “Just stop talking…”

Of course, her dismissive attitude made you just slightly more worried. Yelena was your best friend. The only time she was ever like this is when she’s afraid of something but she’s too scared to tell you. Just like the time she was secretly afraid of the sound of thunder so she actively avoided Thor and also tended to blast your music louder than usual during a storm. You knew just as well as Natasha when something was wrong with Yelena.

“You can tell me,” you whisper in the silence.

“I can’t.” Yelena whispers back, her voice small. “This is different. I-I can’t share it with you.”

You pout, looking over your shoulder to see her expression. “Why?”

“Because it’s not a good idea.”

You frown, “Do you not trust me?”

“This is different,” Yelena emphasizes more. “It will change how you look at me.”

A sigh escapes your lips as you lean into her shoulder more. “If it’s another assassination regret, you know I would never-”

“No…it’s not that.”

“But it’s bothering you,” you reason.

“No it’s not.”

You know better than to keep questioning Yelena knowing she wasn’t going to relent so you two continue to sit through the silence. You would give many things just to see what was going through her head right now or what was written in that journal of her’s that she wasn’t allowing you to see.

Part of your heart might know, but your brain looked at your denial and turned it into cold hard facts.

“If you started dating someone else, would you leave me?” Yelena asks suddenly.

“What?”

The blonde assassin nods slowly, “Would you forget about me?”

“Why would I forget about you? You’re my best friend-”

The word ‘best friend’ seems to only upset Yelena further in the way her eyes fall. You see it right away and you stop talking.

Yelena sniffles. “I don’t want to be your best friend. I want you to like me. You know? The one where you draw hearts around our names!” she blurts.

Your jaw goes slack for a moment in complete disbelief. “Y-Yelena…”

The blonde turns away from you, not wanting to face you or the consequences of her words. But you are quick to put a hand on her shoulder.

“Lena look at me…” you whisper gently.

Slowly, she turns, but her eyes don’t quite meet yours. “I ruined everything, right?”

A soft laugh escapes your lips as you shake your head. “No…no you didn’t. Would it be hard for you to believe if I said I liked you back?”

It takes a moment for the blonde to process. She didn’t even think she heard you right the first time. “M-me?”

You nod slowly, “yes you, dummy.”

If she wasn’t so enamored by the realization, she would be pouting, but hearing you say those words cause her eyes to light up like a Christmas tree. You pull her close to you.

“I like you too, Lena. I was also scared that if I told you I would ruin things,” you admit.

“Really?” Yelena questions in disbelief.

You nod slowly, “Really…”

You feel Yelena lean into your touch which allows you to press a soft kiss to her forehead. You couldn’t help but notice the smile that paints the blonde assassin’s face. It was like a schoolgirl who just found out her crush liked her back.

As you both enjoy each other’s company, another thought crosses your mind. “Wait Yelena what did you put about me in your diary?”

Yelena starts blushing as she buries her head into your shoulder. “Nothing.”

“Do you draw hearts around our names?” you tease.

“Stop it-”

“Will you let me see what you write about me in your diary?”

“No.” she says firmly, burying her head more into your shoulder.

For the rest of the night, the two of you enjoy each other’s company. A smile painted on both of your faces.

__________

OKay guyyysss i got hella lazy at the ending bc I couldn’t think of shit, but I hope you enjoy this anyway. Also, I totally havent had this sitting in my files for like 8 months...I hope everything is well with yall. Have a great day/night and rest well!

#yelena belova x reader #yelena belova imagine #black widow x reader #black widow imagine #yelena belova x fem!reader #marvel imagine #marvel x reader #fic: medium #fix your window idiot

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envysparkler · 16 days

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hugs

It’s not that nobody else’s hugs are good. Dick is the master of cuddling, Cass always knows when to go for a hug and when to back off, and Damian’s hugs are the most adorable thing in the world. Tim does hugs like he thinks they’ll disappear if he doesn’t grip tight enough, Steph hugs like she’s trying to break ribs, and Bruce, as always, is warmth and love and home.

But. But a Jason Todd Hug is special.

Jason is still prickly, still determinedly straddling the line between outsider and family no matter how many people want to pull him back, and he rarely ever attends the family dinners or parties or any get-together when he’s not in the mask.

But sometimes he forgets, forgets that he’s pretending not to be their brother, forgets that he’s keeping them at arm’s length. Sometimes he wraps his arms around them – easily, because he grew up to be the tallest, grew up the most like Bruce – and envelops them in warmth and leather and gun oil and protection.

A Jason Todd Hug is special because it means he cares. Because it feels like a victory. Because it feels like family, like returning home after a long vacation, like sleeping in their own bed and knowing that nothing will ever get them.

Nobody makes the colossal mistake of daring to say this out loud, lest they get cut off forever.

Until Damian squirms out of Dick’s grasp and snaps, “You’re not Todd, you can’t hug me.”

Dick’s mind goes blank. Tim, on the Batcomputer, stops typing. Steph pokes her head out of the medbay, eyes wide.

Dick recovers and then immediately scans the Cave. No Jason in sight, thank god.

“You can’t just say things like that, Dami,” Dick hisses, “Do you want him to sulk and never come back here again?”

“You’ve gotten a Jason Todd Hug?” Steph asks, eyes wide and betrayed, “How? How did the baby assassin get a hug? I’ve been trying for months!”

“You’ve been trying to get a hug from Jason?” Tim blinks at her, while Dick mouths ‘months?’.

“Sure, after I saw you practically melt into it,” Steph says, pouting, “You never do that with Dick’s hugs. I thought it must be something special.”

“That’s because you never encourage Dick, he will hold on and never let go,” Tim says, eyes dark as he grumbles over his coffee. Dick magnanimously chooses to ignore that statement.

“It isn’t that difficult,” Dick smiles at her, “Either you go for the ‘looking pathetic’ route, or you ambush him.”

Steph looks like she wants to take notes. Damian huffs, “Who made you the expert on Todd’s hugs?”

“Well, I get the most hugs, so I should be the expert,” Dick explains reasonably.

Damian and Tim eye him speculatively. Oops.

“Care for a friendly wager?” Tim asks with a shark smile.

That’s when the whiteboard goes up.

Steph’s in favor of writing ‘Jason Todd Hugs’ on it, but Dick convinces her to keep it to initials because if Jason ever finds out, the competition will be over permanently. They all add their names to the list.

“Alright, any time anyone gets a hug, we add a tally mark,” Dick says, “No maiming, bribery, or blackmail allowed.” Standard rules.

“When do we end the competition?” Tim asks.

Dick frowns. If Jason’s in a Mood then it might be weeks before anyone gets a hug from him, and he wants this to be fair. To give the munchkins a chance.

“First to ten?” Steph suggests.

“Sounds good,” Dick agrees, “Though if we’re getting Jason’s hugs, we’re already winners.”

They all shake on it, and the whiteboard goes up near a board of other miscellaneous stuff, not hidden but definitely out of visible line of sight for anyone who enters the Cave through the garage entrance and spends only five minutes before leaving again.

~#~

C is added to the list of participants the next day, without any notice or explanation.

~#~

There is a little scribble of a bat on the whiteboard by the end of the week. There is also a W squeezed in between the T and H in the title.

The competitors look at each other across the Cave and nod. The battle is on.

~#~

Cass is the first one who gets on the scoreboard, mainly because she drops in on top of Jason on one of his rare visits to the Cave.

Jason was arguing with Bruce, his jaw tightening, his expression shifting from irritation to frustration when the Black Bat drops from the rigging and knocks him flat against the mats.

Jason stares up at her, bewildered. “Did you fall?” he asks. Cass widens her eyes in lieu of outright lying, and flops on top of him. Jason automatically wraps his arms around her and she relaxes into the hug.

“You should be more careful,” he says quietly.

Cass hums, and lets her head rest against the thump-thump of his heartbeat.

When Jason has left, motorcycle roaring away, she takes the marker and draws a single line below the C.

Tim shoots her a dirty look.

~#~

“It’s not fair,” Tim glowers at Dick, hair half-sticking up on one side, as Dick dramatically and pointedly adds another tally to his score, bringing it up to four.

Jason nearly stabbed him, but it’s worth it.

“I gave you my secrets, baby bird,” Dick laughs, “What more do you want?”

“You and Cass just. Attack him with hugs,” Tim waves his hands to make his point, “That’s not fair!”

“You could attack him with hugs too,” Dick points out.

Tim gives him a flat look. “Somehow I have a feeling that won’t go over well.”

Dick shrugs, hiding his smirk. “That sounds like a you problem.”

~#~

He notices it on a visit to the Cave, a whiteboard that’s clearly a new addition, emblazoned with JTWH in Dick’s handwriting. The W is smaller than the rest, like it was squeezed in after.

Underneath it is a long line of initials with tally marks underneath. D, T, DW, S, C, and a little stylized bat. The whole gang. (Except him.)

Dick is clearly winning, with five tallies under his name, though someone seems to have scrawled in ‘cheater’ underneath those. Cass is in second place with three, Replacement and Batgirl have tied for third with two, Babs has one, and Damian has a half for some reason. Bruce, he’s happy to see, is losing.

He doesn’t mention it. He’s distracted by the case they’re working on, and then by patrol, and by the time he remembers it, he’s irritable and sleep-deprived and bitter enough that the idea that they left him out of their competition fits right at home with his aching heart.

~#~

“What’s JTWH?” he asks, because the whiteboard is in his line of sight and it never stopped bothering him. Jason tries to keep his voice casual, tries to not ruin the pleasant mood in the Cave, but his next words are a little too sharp. “And why am I not on the scoreboard?”

Everyone goes silent in a way that’d be freaky if they weren’t all piled on top of him. He can practically hear the looks being exchanged around him.

“What, afraid I was going to smoke all of you at your competition?” Jason asks. More looks. Jason tenses, waiting for it – the ‘you said you’re not part of this family’ and ‘you never asked’ and ‘we forgot’.

“You are,” Cass says simply, patting his head.

“I am what?”

“On board.”

Jason squints at the whiteboard. Nope, he can’t see his name on it. “No, I’m not. And no one told me about any competition either.”

“Silly goose,” Cass says, which has become her favorite phrase ever since Bruce used it once, “You are. Top.”

Jason frowns, because he still doesn’t – JTWH. Oh.

“And what do the rest of the letters stand for?” Jason grumbles, wondering what they’re tracking. How many days since he killed someone. How many days since he’s threatened them. How many times he’s yelled at them. “Jason Todd Was Here? Jason Todd Water Hose? Jason Todd –”

“Wayne,” Bruce says quietly from next to him. “Jason Todd-Wayne.”

Jason swallows. He can’t quite look at Bruce. “What does the H stand for?”

Everyone gives each other shifty looks.

“Oh, wow, that bad, huh.”

“Hugs,” Steph rolls her eyes, “Jason Todd-Wayne Hugs. So, no, actually, you can’t win, because you can’t give yourself a hug.”

Jason blinks at her.

“Steph,” Tim whines from somewhere near his elbow.

“I said that no one was allowed to tell,” Dick sighs, “I said it explicitly. I warned you all.”

“Tt. If the competition ends because of you, Brown, I will take my vengeance.” Damian’s grip tightens on Jason’s leg.

“Well, it was either the truth or whatever his imagination was coming up with,” Steph shrugs. She’s looking at him like he’s going to disappear.

“Wait,” Jason croaks, because he lost the thread of this conversation somewhere, “You’ve been having a competition…over hugs?”

“Over your hugs.”

#my snippets #jason todd hugs #there was supposed to be more in here #about the competition #but I got bored #and now I don't remember the rest of it

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vinvantae · 10 months

Text

Unmasked

Part 10/16

<<< Previous part

Word count - 4.5k

Between Australia and Imola, Sebastian decided not only were you going to go through your contract but he was going to get you both over for dinner - using his friendship with Charles as a facade for why the two of you would be spotted in Germany during the time off. You weren’t even sure if you would be spotted but you could never really be too careful, not wanting to make Team Thirty suspicious. They knew you and Sebastian had remained friends after his departure from the team but this would be the first time you had been around his place since he left Ferrari.

But, even if they saw you with Sebastian, they would have no idea what you were really doing there - that once you were in your former teammate’s home, he had dug out every highlighter and post-it note he owned to make notes on the copy of your contract you’d brought. Getting a spare copy was easier than you thought, Charles’ keeping the general office distracted whilst you used the photocopier. It felt almost thrilling sneaking around but you knew it had to be done.

The three of you were currently all sitting on the floor around the coffee table, their living room was cosy - toys strewn about, family photos decorating the walls - you always felt at ease here. Hanna was also privy to the secret, having learnt the truth one night you’d broken down on Sebastian, and never wanting to see you struggle like that again, she always went out of her way to ensure whenever you visited she took care of you.

“Thank you.” You smiled at Hanna as she passed you a mug of coffee, your legs crossed as you watched Sebastian at work. “Sorry for the mess.”

She waved her hand a little dismissively before giving your shoulder a gentle squeeze, her eyes kind as she studied you. “Y/n, you’re a friend. This means as much to us as it does to you.”

“You have no idea how grateful I am for you both…”

Sebastian gave you both a compassionate smile before pushing a page of your contract in your direction, a section highlighted - he lent across the table a little. “This is interesting.”

You raised a brow, both you and Charles moving forward to get a look at the paragraph your mentor had highlighted. Your teammate shuffled a little closer to you to get a better look at the small text.

Ferrari are liable for any character assassination or defamation caused by mistruths and lies used to help in the fabrication of the mystery driver.

“I remember Isabella, my lawyer, insisting they put that in now…” You let out a sigh. “I knew they’d have to lie but I didn’t want my character getting destroyed y’know? Not sure they really thought about that before they put me in a media relationship with their golden boy.”

The German man simply nodded, adding the page to a pile he was creating - you believed that it was points in the contract he could use to defend your case if necessary. He wasn’t really giving anything away, keeping his head down as he focused but as you turned away you heard him drop something on the table. Charles frowned and you turned back to Sebastian, he had a hand over his mouth as his eyes flickered over the same bit of page over and over.

“...am I screwed?”

He looked up at the page, his eyes a little wide. “They had you throw the F2 championship?”

Your teammate’s frown only deepened as he turned to face you - your head now lowered as you picked at your fingers. It was a secret you had kept for so long you’d almost convinced yourself that you’d genuinely lost the championship for real. But instead you’d let your rivals slip past you and clinch the title as per their request. Looking back, it was probably stupid, but Ferrari had offered you an F1 seat at 18 and you’d have done anything to get it.

You opened your mouth to speak but no words escaped. Charles ran a soothing hand up and down your back. “I can’t believe they asked that of you… surely… why wouldn’t they want a champion?”

“It was part of the plan. It would be harder to conceal me if I was a champion so I lost and then my seat was gone.” Your voice was quiet, letting your head lean on your boyfriend’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t be believable enough that a champion would just quit racing just as a mystery driver was revealed.”

“How come you never told anyone?” Sebastian asked, no accusatory tone to his voice.

“Who would believe me, honestly?” You laughed sadly. “I was just a kid… and then after a while I kind of convinced myself that it was true. It’s kind of hard to explain, part of my contract to not tell people either. Because, tell me honestly, would you believe Ferrari let a girl who didn’t even win a championship in F2 on their team?”

Charles winced. “When you say it like that…”

“Wow.” Seb whistled low. “I’m sorry to hear it, y/n. It’s crazy they asked that of you.”

You shrugged and carried on digging through the contract, highlighting anything that you think could be helpful - leaning forward, sticking the tabs on the pages. Charles muttered quietly in Italian and French to himself as he read the pages he had, his brow furrowed in concentration. You started to feel a little hopeless, Ferrari had a really air-tight contract. Of course they did, they had dealt with a 17/18 year old girl who didn't know any better. Your lawyer, Isabella, tried her best to get you a good deal and at the time, it was, but coming up on 8 years later things weren’t the same anymore.

“...So. There’s nothing super solid in here.” You and Charles both lifted your eyes from the pages of the contract you were studying, Sebastian was looking straight at you - determined look in his eyes. “But I have an idea.”

****

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***

“I’m not particularly worried about Thirty to be honest.” Max stood tall in the media pen that weekend in Imola, eyes fixed on the reporter in front of him. “They may not even be on the grid next year.”

The reporter’s eyes widened, and several other members of the press turned to look at the Dutchman. “Why would you say that?”

“Well, they’ve not won the championship since 2018 and that performance in Australia?” Max grimaced a little. “I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, that's for sure...”

Max hated saying these things about you, knowing they weren't true - but Sebastian sounded so confident in his plan and he trusted him, trusted you. The way you’d sat so quietly whilst your former teammate had explained what he wanted from the Redbull driver, only lifting your head to look at Max when he questioned you. You simply smiled and nodded. “It’ll force Ferrari’s hand… I know it’s risky but I’ll try anything at this point.”

So there he was, standing in the media pen in Imola, talking shit about you. Even at your lowest points fighting each other - he had never done something like this. Sure, he’d made a comment here and there but implying your seat may be gone was crazy. He just had to hope it made it back to the right people, that maybe just one team - hopefully more - would take the bait. And it made the most sense to come from Max because, to the media, Thirty was one of his biggest rivals so they would never suspect it was one of you who had told him to say it.

All you had to do was show the other teams that you were worth the risk. And that meant getting your first win of the season, easier said than done but you just had to show them you weren’t washed up. You were determined to prove that you still had that fighting champion spirit but you wanted to earn it and that meant making your boyfriend promise he wouldn’t throw the race to let you win if it came to it.

“Amour, you know I wouldn’t.” He said, but you could see right through him.

You rolled your eyes before circling your arms around his middle. “Promise me.”

“I promise, cherie.” He tutted softly, before pressing a chaste kiss to your lips, the two of you were currently in his driver’s room. “Do you know what I’m a little surprised by?”

“What’s that?” A soft hum left your lips as you stepped away from him to gather up some of your things.

“Max… I mean, Carlos’ contract runs out this year. He’s putting his own teammate at risk by doing this and he didn’t even hesitate.”

You frowned a little, turning back to face him. “Carlos will be fine, Charles. I’m not going to take his seat and he’s a fantastic driver, Redbull would be daft not to keep him.”

Charles sighed a little. “I know that, I just… What if they offer you a really good deal.”

It wouldn’t be fair to lie to him, but you didn’t know how you felt about another team actually offering you a worthwhile deal, despite all the shit they were putting you through - you loved Ferrari, you always had - even as a kid you wanted to drive for the prancing horses. But Redbull’s car was special, and you’d always been curious how it drove. So, instead of speaking you just shrugged your shoulders at first. “At this current moment in time, I have no intention of leaving Ferrari. I may not even get an offer, let alone something better than what I get here.”

The Monegasque laughed. “How very media trained of you, cherie. Right, get yourself ready before that sac de merde Ferrari calls your handler, has my head. See you soon.”

You shared one more kiss before you slipped into your own room to get into your kit and get ready to go down to the track. You took a deep breath as you held your helmet in your hands, the large 30 staring you back in the face.

“It’s show time.”

***

“Beautiful day today, Crofty. Tifosi are out in their thousands - a good weekend so far for their team, Thirty and Charles qualifying 1st and 3rd. Hopefully they’ll put on a good show.”

“Despite the sun beating down on us, there’s a bit of a frosty atmosphere down on that track today, Martin, could you feel it when you were down there?”

“I wouldn’t want to be on that front row, that’s for sure. Verstappen versus Thirty with Charles, Lando and Carlos following close behind.”

“And with our mystery driver having everything to prove, this is definitely going to be an interesting race.”

***

For the briefest of moments you forgot what was to come as you climbed on top of your car, feet braced against the carbon fibre beneath your feet as you pumped your fist in the air. You had done exactly what you’d set out to do and won the race by over 10 seconds - you turned to the crowds and pressed your hands to your helmet before bellowing air kisses to the Tifosi who were screaming for you.

Almost as soon as your feet touched the ground, your handler and another member of Team Thirty ushered you away from the track - bringing you swiftly back to earth and their stupid body double plan. You recognised the girl as she held a copy of your helmet in her hands - nodding at the team before pulling it over her head. Your handler stepped away from you to join her as the other staffer ushered you into a small bathroom to change back into your kit.

You pulled your cap over your head to hide your messy hair and splashed your face with water before being told to hurry up. This was stupid. Your first win of the season and you weren’t even going to be the first to lift the trophy. Your trophy. Instead you had to go out and play the part of the good girlfriend.

The team parted to let you up to the barricade just as Charles finished up his interview, thanking and waving to the Tifosi - his trademark smile on his face. “Grazie Tifosi!”

As much as Charles was happy to see you after the race, he could see it in your eyes that you wanted nothing more than to be up on the podium with him. Celebrating your win. So, he did all he could, wrapping you up in his arms and squeezing you tight - your arms looping around his neck as you buried your face into his neck. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’m so proud of you, Cherie.”

He pressed a sweet kiss to your lips as he pulled back and you gave him a loving smile, letting your hand cup his cheek for a moment. You giggled a little “So proud of you, amour.”

You watched fondly as he hugged the rest of the team before leaving to head up to the podium to join your double and Max. It stung a little watching her step out onto the podium, and you had to hold back from recoiling as she celebrated - it should’ve just felt like an out of body experience as you listened to your national anthem over the speakers but it was just wrong. Charles winked at you from atop the podium, spraying champagne in your direction with a cheeky smile on his face. God, you were fond of that man.

You had no doubt that it wouldn’t just be you who noticed how Charles and even Max seemed different around Thirty, the way they seemingly focused much more on each other than the other person up there with them. To you it seemed so obvious that it wasn’t you up there from the way Charles seemed too awkward to touch Thirty for the podium photo, a hand hovering awkwardly around her middle instead of hauling his teammate into his side like he usually would. You had to use your hand to cover the almost smug smile on your face watching the interaction above you. Surely, someone would notice… right?

***

You tilted your head a little at the collection of brown envelopes that had landed on your desk at the headquarters that week, each one stamped with the logo of a rival team. Some not quite as interesting, Haas, Williams… but right at the top of the pile… Redbull, Aston Martin, Alpine, Mclaren… more than half the teams on the grid had approached with offers. What those offers were, you weren't sure yet exactly but the fact that Seb’s plan seemed to have worked so flawlessly. You were expecting one, maybe two offers but even teams with seemingly no available seat next year had approached you. Well, not you, but your lawyer.

Part of you knew that you shouldn’t even open them, just take them straight to Team Thirty and throw them on the desk but you just had to see what they had to offer. You pushed Redbull’s to the side and slid your finger under the opening of the Alpine envelope, you knew Fernando’s contract expired at the end of the season but you were either expecting him to stay on or Oscar to take the seat so you were interested in what they had to offer. Your wage was no secret so when you saw the number you simply nodded your head, it was only a little more than what you were on but you weren’t sure if they knew about your other offers because you had a gut feeling that whatever was in the Redbull proposal would knock your socks off. But you were wary about looking, you liked Carlos and he deserved to keep his seat so for now you put it at the back of your mind as you grabbed the Mclaren proposal.

This one was a surprise to you because as far as you knew, both boys were contracted until at least the end of 2023 so as you opened the document your eyes flickered across the page. Daniel. You didn’t even consider it, shoving the paper back into its envelope. It was then it really hit you - you shouldn’t look through these, other people’s seats were at risk. Carlos, Daniel, Yuki… Seb. Instead you bundled up the envelopes in your arms and held them to your chest.

You had finally convinced Team Thirty to at least talk about your reveal after you’d won the race in Imola, but they had no idea what was coming as Charles rounded the corner with Sebastian - who had insisted on coming as your GPDA rep. “That’s an awfully big pile.”

“...seven teams.”

“Who didn’t bite?” Charles asked, as your mentor took a couple envelopes from you to help ease the weight.

“Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and of course Ferrari.”

Seb frowned. “Mclaren did? But both of them are in contract until at least ‘23, right?”

You sighed. “Daniel. They’d buy him out of his contract…”

Both of them shook their heads disappointedly before following you towards the boardroom - your handler’s eyes widening as you stepped into the room with your current and former teammate in tow. Sebastian didn’t even spare the man a glance as he tried to greet him, instead placing the envelopes on the table. Mattia frowned as he noticed the opposing teams logos printed on the brown paper you laid down in front of you as you sat.

“What… What is this? Did you go to other teams?” You could hear the panic in his voice, the rest of Team Thirty just staring the three of you down. Your lawyer stepped into the room and sat beside Sebastian, she’d instantly been more than happy to join your side in this after you told her about your handler’s threat. They’d had one too many meetings without her present and that was going to stop.

“She didn’t have to” Isabella spoke up, her jaw clenching a little. “After Max’s comment in the media and a couple of loose-lipped staffers… I was practically chased through the paddock by the other teams.”

Isabella was one of those people you didn’t want to be on the wrong side of - she was loyal to the bone but if you crossed her she wouldn’t go quietly. “And honestly? Some of these deals look pretty good.”

You knew she was aware of the content of each offer, you wanted to make sure that the offers were at least enticing enough to scare Ferrari. She narrowed her eyes when a random member of the team tried to take the Alpine offer from her. “Sorry, only important eyes.”

“What do you want, y/n?” Your handler finally spoke up, eyes narrowing his dark eyes at you a little as Isabella handed stripped down versions of the copies of the offers to him and Mattia. “Are you saying you’re leaving us?”

“I think you know what I want… I just won a race despite you saying I didn't deserve my seat and now I have 7 other teams interested in me. I want my reveal. Simple. And if you continue to say no, that Redbull offer looks pretty interesting to me.” You hadn’t even read the offer, you weren’t even considering it right now, but they had to think you were.

Mattia sighed. “May we have the room?”

Charles and Sebastian each took a handful of your proposals and the four of you left the room and crossed the hallway into the small room opposite. Isabella turned to you and smiled. “I think we’ve got this, y/n…especially with that Redbull and Aston proposal.”

You frowned a little, not meeting Seb’s eyes. “I really hope we do, I… I don’t like the idea of someone losing their seat because of me.”

“Kid.” Sebastian put his hand on your shoulder, and you finally lifted your gaze from your feet to meet his eyes - he gave you a gentle smile. “I’ve not really told anyone yet but, you wouldn’t be the reason I didn’t have a seat anymore… I’m planning on retiring at the end of the year.”

“Sebastian.” You gasped. “Wh-what?”

He put his other hand on your other shoulder, giving you a gentle squeeze. “So if you need to get out, please consider my seat. I know Aston isn’t performing this year but it's something new.”

You threw your arms around him and hid your face in his neck, your voice cracking as you spoke. “You can’t leave… I…”

The German man rubbed your back. “I’m always going to have your back, y/n. Regardless if I’m on the grid. Besides, you’ve got a pretty good teammate these days.”

Charles blushed a little as Seb winked at him. “I also have a feeling why Alfa Romeo didn’t offer you anything.”

You pulled back from your mentor to turn to look at your boyfriend, a curious look on your face. “I just thought they were happy with their line up.”

The Monegasque hummed. “I mean, they are, but I’m pretty sure Fred would kick himself if he let you move to another team when he wants you to stay here.”

The curious look on your face morphed into a frown, why would Fred want you here? But before you could ask him anything - there was a gentle knock on the door, and the four of you looked up to see none other than Mattia opened the door. There was a look in his eyes you didn’t recognise, something new. “We’re ready for you.”

Isabella gave you a nod and the four of you followed Mattia back into the conference room, your handler no longer present. You decided not to speak on the matter, sitting back down in your original seat opposite the team principal, trying your best to keep your cool. Charles placed his hand on your thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“For too long we’ve kept your talent under wraps and, aside from a certain someone who has now been let go, we believe you’re right. It’s time for you to reveal yourself.”

Your breath caught in your throat and you could’ve sworn your heart skipped a beat - you placed a hand over your chest. “R-really?”

He smiled a little. “Really. You’re right… you’ve been right for a while. I know you and Charles are happy together but trying to use a fake relationship to cover this whole mess up was never going to work. A lot of people were very confused by the body double… And, we’d actually like to match Redbull’s offer. We want you to stay with us, y/n.”

You laughed a little, wiping away a tear that threatened to escape. “And he’s really gone?”

Mattia nodded. “Yes. I should’ve spoken up the other day, how he treated you was unacceptable… But, we’d like to do this the right way. A way where both parties come out as unscathed as possible.”

“You do remember in her contract that you are liable for any damages to her character, correct?” Isabella spoke up. “So if it comes to it, you will need to defend her or we can file a lawsuit.”

“Understood.” His smile at her was forced. “But, I’ve got a contact at GQ who I think would be perfect for this. We’ve worked with her before and she’s very professional and we can tailor the questions that she asks. And, as your contract states, we’ll be keeping the fact you threw your F2 championship secret… we’ll defend you, you defend us.”

“Everything okay?” Sebastian had noticed you’d gone eerily quiet, he placed his hand on your shoulder - giving it a gentle squeeze. “This is your moment, y/n, if you want to do this in a different way you should speak up.”

You took a deep breath. “No, I think the article makes sense… I always pictured it being more of a spectacle but I think doing it this way gives us more time to gauge the public response y’know?”

“That’s what we were thinking” your PR manager spoke up. “I know we’ve messed this up but we do want to do the best by you and we think having the upper hand will work here.”

“...I hope so. Uhm, I know we’ve had our disagreements recently but thanks. I need this more than you know.”

Mattia chuckled, nodding towards the German man sitting beside you. “The fact you brought Sebastian for back up made me know as soon as you walked in that you meant business. I hope that being unmasked frees you up enough so you can start winning some more races for us, hmm? We haven’t won a championship since you and we’d like that to change. Whether that’s going to be you or Charles, I don’t know yet but hopefully this will give us a fighting chance.”

“Thank you, sir.” You smiled and stood up, shaking his hand. “I look forward to working with you going forward.”

He shook your hand. “You can be honest with me now, were you ever considering taking any of those offers? I mean, I’m not even a driver and they were tempting.”

“Was fully dependent on how this meeting went to be honest… I hadn’t even read them in full but some of them were very generous.” You admitted.

Isabella stepped forward. “I’d like to get that raise you mentioned in writing as soon as possible, please. Shall we schedule a meeting for before or after the US?”

“We can do it before.” The curly-haired man hummed, nodding towards the two lawyers on Team Thirty before turning back to face you and your company. “Enjoy your weekend off. Nice to see you Sebastian, Charles… Isabella.”

The four of you walked in silence back to your office, but as soon as the door closed behind you - you threw your arms around Charles’ neck. “Oh my god. It’s happening Charles… It’s really happening.”

He laughed and wrapped his arms around your middle, squeezing you tight. “I’m so proud of you. I don’t have the words to describe how much I think you deserve this, cherie.”

You sunk into his hold, taking a deep shaky breath, fisting the fabric of his shirt up in your hands as you sobbed quietly. Isabella excused herself from the room, allowing you to have a private moment with your boyfriend and mentor, the latter lent against your desk with a smile on his face - a stray tear had escaped and he reached up to wipe it away. Charles pulled back just enough to press a kiss to your lips before resting his forehead against yours, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Your years of fighting had finally paid off.

You were going to be free.

***

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***

Next part >>>

And here it is! Sorry for the lil delay! So happy with this chapter so I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it ❤️

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#f1 fic #f1 x reader #f1 x you #f1 #formula one #x reader #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x reader #unmasked fic #leclerc x reader #Charles leclerc x you

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deliciousangelfestival · 5 months

Text

Undying Love || Bucky

Character : Assasin!Bucky x Assasin!Reader

Words Count: 1,490

Summary: Bucky, a famed assassin, retired to his hometown after a mistaken cancer diagnosis. Unbeknownst to him, his nemesis followed him, determined to claim her place as the number one assassin.

Main Masterlist || buy me Ko-fi 🥹💓

Thank you to anyone who gave a like, reblog, and left a comment. It motivated me to write more.

Bucky Barnes, the world's most feared assassin, felt a sinking dread as he read the words on the medical report: "Cancer." His life of shadows and violence had finally caught up to him. He decided to return to his quiet hometown, seeking solace in his childhood memories before the inevitable.

Little did Bucky know his nemesis, Y/N, had followed him. Clad in sleek leather and a steely gaze, she was determined to claim the title of "Number One Assassin" by taking him down. She shadowed Bucky relentlessly, a constant ghost reminding him of the fight he couldn't escape.

One day, Y/N finally cornered Bucky. Knives clashed, sparks flew, but Bucky's movements were sluggish, his strength sapped by the illness. He knew he needed to end this fight, but not with violence. A sudden idea struck him.

With a swift movement, Bucky closed the distance between them and kissed Y/N. The kiss was unexpected, electrifying, and disarmed Y/N completely.

"Why did you do that?" she sputtered, her cheeks flushed.

Bucky smirked. "You're my type, Y/N."

Y/N narrowed her eyes. "Don't try to charm your way out of this. You're not getting away with this, Bucky."

Bucky's smile faltered. "Please do," he whispered. "Release me from this misery."

His words made her caught off guard, she had never seen him give up this quick. "Are you alright?"

"I'm sick," he confessed, the words heavy on his tongue.

The revelation hung in the air, a bridge built between two sworn enemies. Y/N saw the pain and vulnerability beneath Bucky's hardened exterior.

From that day on, a fragile truce settled between them. Y/N, unable to bear watching him suffer, found herself becoming his caretaker.

As the days turned into weeks, Y/N's presence in Bucky's life became more than a duty. He looked forward to her visits, shared meals, and their quiet moments. He began to see her not just as his nemesis but as a woman who made him laugh, soothed his soul, and made him feel alive again.

One day, he gathered the courage and made an appointment for another checkup. He needed to know for sure. As he sat in the sterile waiting room, anxiety gnawed at him.

What if the results were the same?

What if he had less time than he thought?

The doctor finally called his name. Bucky felt his heart pound in his chest as he entered the room. The doctor's expression was grave, his voice solemn as he spoke.

"Mr. Barnes," the doctor began, "I have some good news. It appears there was an error in your previous tests. You do not have cancer."

Relief flooded Bucky's body, so intense it almost knocked him off his feet. He could breathe again, truly breathe. He had a second chance, a future to look forward to.

But amidst the joy, a new fear took root.

If Y/N found out, would she leave?

Would she feel betrayed, used, or lied to?

The thought was unbearable. The woman who had become his lifeline, his reason to smile, could vanish instantly.

So, Bucky made a choice. He kept the truth hidden. He returned home, a silent struggle raging within him. The joy of his health was tainted by the guilt of his deception.

He saw Y/N waiting for him, her eyes filled with concern. She had prepared his favorite meal, a small act of love that tore at his heart. He sat down, a mask of normalcy plastered on his face.

As they ate, he forced himself to smile, to laugh at her jokes, to pretend everything was fine. All the while, a part of him withered, the weight of his lie crushing him from the inside.

He knew he couldn't live like this forever. He had to tell her the truth, no matter the consequences. But until then, he would savor each moment with her, each stolen laugh, each shared sunset. He would hold onto the fragile peace she had brought into his life, even if it was built on a foundation of lies.

One day, Y/N stumbled upon a discarded medical report. The truth hit her like a bullet. Bucky wasn't sick. The doctor had read the wrong file.

Y/N was furious. She felt betrayed, lied to. But as she looked at him, sleeping peacefully in his bed, her anger melted away. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "I'm so relieved you're healthy."

Bucky woke up to her touch. Guilt washed over him. He had been so afraid of losing her that he had kept the truth hidden.

Bucky felt tears prick his eyes. "I...I was afraid," he choked out. "I was afraid of losing you. I thought that if you knew the truth, you would leave me."

Y/N looked at him, her anger slowly melting away into understanding. "Bucky," she said softly, "why didn't you just tell me you were afraid? We could have faced it together."

Bucky shook his head. "I didn't want to burden you. You were already taking care of me, doing everything you could to help. I didn't want to add to your worries."

Y/N placed a hand over his. "Bucky," she said, her voice gentle but firm, "you are not a burden. You are the man I love. And I would do anything for you, anything at all."

Bucky looked into her eyes, his heart filled with gratitude and love. "I love you too, Y/N," he whispered. "More than words can express."

As their lips met, a tear escaped Y/N's eye, tracing a shimmering path down her cheek. Bucky felt it against his skin, a testament to the depth of her emotions. He chuckled softly, the sound warm and inviting.

"Funny," he murmured, pulling back slightly to look into her eyes. "Who would have thought it would come to this? You, wanting to kill me, and now...saying you love me."

A playful glint entered Y/N's eyes. "Didn't you say I was your type?" she teased, rolling her eyes playfully.

Bucky grinned, his heart overflowing with a joy he had never known. He had faced death and lived in the shadows, but it was Y/N who had indeed shown him the light.

Bucky pulled her closer, his arms wrapping around her like a warm embrace. Y/N leaned into his touch, her heart beating perfectly with his.

At that moment, they were two souls intertwined, their pasts forgotten, their future a blank canvas waiting to be painted with love and laughter.

-The End-

Author Note :

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#bucky x female reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky barnes #bucky #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #james bucky buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky fanfic #assasin!bucky barnes #the winter soldier

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james-winston · 9 months

Text

omfg I am so behind on this (and yes I’ve only become aware of it because Nicholas Galitzine offof rwarb is in it) but they’re making a fucking Duke of Buckingham series!!!

And you’re all sitting there like “who??” well let me tell you about this absolute fuck.

George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham was the favourite of King James VI&I and by favourite I do mean it in the gayest of ways. (He started life as Sir George, the shittest of titles, and fucked his way to a Dukedom.)

Long story short, here’s a list of things I need to see in this series or I will SUE:

George slut dropping his way into James’s bed. (I mean, he danced for him, but whatever the 17th century equivalent to slut dropping was you can bet George was doing it.)

The exasperation of James’s advisors when he picks yet another beautiful young man to fuck and give totally unreasonable amounts of money and power to.

Even funnier if they show them actively helping George overthrow James’s old favourite before realising “oh shit this one’s worse.”

George failing consistently at every job he was given. (Yes I know he didn’t actually but where’s the comedy in competency? Give me himbo George or give me death.)

Parliament calling James to task on George being a fucking useless nuisance and James standing up in front of parliament and literally saying, “You may be sure that I love the Earl of Buckingham more than anyone else, and more than you who are here assembled. I wish to speak in my own behalf, and not to have it thought to be a defect, for Jesus Christ did the same, and therefore I cannot be blamed. Christ had his John, and I have my George.” (Huge points for throwing Jesus under the gay bus too.)

James practically arranging George’s marriage for him and then riding his horse around the park crying because George, shock, got married.

What better be the dirtiest sex scenes ever broadcast on British television that lead to the “master and dog” letter.

The consistent drama queenery from James, e.g:

I refuse to tag this as a spoiler because it happened 400 years ago: George smothering James and then playing the heartbroken widow to his son. (Historically debated, if anyone wants details shoot me an ask.)

George getting stabbed to death in what was probably the justified climax of him being the most irritating man alive.

George’s assassin getting the warmest send off ever given by any crowd at a public execution cause the people hated George so fucking much.

#Nicholas Galitzine #literally zero interest in historical accuracy beyond these points #I do think the series is going to focus on George being evil tho #which is a shame #cause he was James’s favourite for 10 years and I genuinely think there was affection from George #I also hope they don’t try and hammer home that he was totally straight #I know there’s a chance he was but I still don’t find it very likely at all #lots of straight men at court didn’t fuck the king for power #also to be clear I love George and will be defending him to the death #but he was also useless and stupid and possibly a murderer #but also he’s my baby :) so :)#and he died 400 years ago so he’s essentially a fictional character and therefore he’s allowed to be my problematic fave #AND HE PROBABLY DIDNT KILL JAMES ANYWAY #George and Mary #History #George Villiers #James I #LGBT History #Gay History

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makethatelevenrings · 1 year

Text

First Failure // D. Grayson x gn!reader

Requested? Yes!

Warnings: blood, gun violence, canon typical violence, reader has thoughts that could be viewed as suicidal, self hatred, ANGST

Summary: The prequel to First Christmas, or, how Dick saved you.

This is part of the Assassin!verse that you can read here

The roof was solid under your feet, but it still felt like the world was shifting and sliding out from under you. Nightwing stood in front of you, his brow furrowed at your words.

“I failed the mission,” you repeated. One month out of the cages and your handlers were getting twitchy. They were recalling you for reprogramming and extra training and sending a new agent to take over your case. This would be your last chance. To do what, exactly, you weren’t sure.

You realized you were slipping four days earlier when your neighbor, a friendly guy named Dick Grayson, invited you over to join him and his little sister, Stephanie, for dinner and to watch a movie. The plot seemed so contrived and random, but you found yourself seated on the couch with your knees pulled up to your chest and your eyes fixed on the screen. The Princess Bride, they told you it was titled. By the end of the movie, Steph was fast asleep in between you and Dick, and you were horribly confused.

“Why would he go through all that trouble to save her? I mean, he practically died. She can’t be worth it that much.”

You could see him staring at you out of the corner of your eye so you rested your chin on your forearms and tilted your head towards him. The light of the TV flickered over his handsome face, those kind eyes and smile that seemed to be glued onto his face. He studied you and in that second, you felt for a brief moment that this was the life you were supposed to always have.

In all of the movies Dick had shown you, the main character always seemed to win in the end. Did your life feel like winning? Spending your days pacing the length of your cage until they let you out to train or study targets or sharpen your skills before being placed back into that cage with a measly bowl of watery soup? That was winning?

“What do you mean you failed the mission?” Nightwing asked. He stepped closer to you, his escrima sticks hanging loosely in his hands. You took an involuntary step back and he raised his hands to signal peace before he slid his weapons back into their holsters.

“You. You were my mission. I thought that was obvious.”

He huffed out a low laugh. “Yeah, I figured from the amount of times you tried to kill me. But you’re still here. Aren’t you going to keep trying?”

The black fabric of your balaclava and hood hid most of your face from view, but your eyes still peeked out from behind your mask. Tightening your hands into fists, you suddenly relaxed them and shook your head.

“I…I’ve been compromised,” you admitted. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, but I wanted you to know so you could be prepared.”

“Why?” The question was bordered with anger and maybe a tinge of sadness. “You’ve been trying to kill me for a month. Why tell me this?”

“Because they told me you were my target. That meant you did something to deserve death. But I have seen the way you take care of this city, these people, and I cannot conceive of a single reason as to why you should die by my hand.”

He faltered, his lips pursing, and you wished for just a moment that you could see underneath his mask and know the man that hid behind it. Was he as kind out of the suit as much as he was inside of it?

“Let me help you,” he finally said. “I know people. I can get you to safety, get you away from whoever is giving you orders, and I can get you your life back.”

A miserable moan escaped you. “There’s nothing for me to go back to, don’t you understand? This is all I know, this is all I’ll ever know.”

“You won’t survive.” His words reminded you of a quote from that movie Dick showed you. A small smile lifted your mask slightly and you shrugged.

“Nonsense. You only say that because no one ever has.”

“Please. Let me help you.” He said it so softly, with such desperation, that you wished you could take his outstretched hand and let him whisk you off into a new world. But that could never work.

“I can’t be saved, Nightwing. I can’t be redeemed.”

A glint of metal reflecting off of the numerous lights of Bludhaven caught your eye. Shit. They must have sent someone already to eliminate the threat.

Nightwing hadn’t appeared to notice the sniper rifle which meant he didn’t react when you hurtled yourself towards him and twisted your body to stand in between man and machine. A startled gasp escaped you as the bullet entered the fleshy part of your abdomen and you immediately fell to your knees as your body absorbed the shock. Fuck, you had been shot before but it hurt like a bitch everytime. Fucking hell, fucking damnit. You needed to move. Needed to get out of the line of fire.

Lying flat on the ground, you tried to shake off the ringing in your ears, but it seemed like your body was just intent on betraying you. Something grabbed your arm and you whirled around, aiming a knife for whoever touched you, but they quickly pulled away. You stumbled to your feet and clamped a hand down over your stomach before stumbling towards the edge of the roof. Inhaling deeply, you turned to look back at Nightwing one last time before you let yourself tip over the edge into the safety of your zip cord.

You practically fell into your apartment once you crawled to your fire escape. Briefly, you wondered what Dick was doing, but you brushed that thought away. By dawn, you would be dead or in a truck being transported to be tortured into submission by your handlers. There wasn’t time to think about the people you would leave behind.

Russet streaks and fingerprints marked the walls as you stumbled towards the bathroom. Your head was fuzzy from blood loss and black spots crowded in on the edges of your vision. Everything smelled and tasted vaguely of iron and your hand was soaked with your own blood.

Your knees gave out mere feet from the bathroom and you crawled on all fours to the cabinet that held your first aid kit. The sopping viscous liquid that coated your hand made it damn near impossible to open the wooden door and you nearly cried out in success when you were able to nudge it open.

“Pliers, pliers, pliers,” you chanted as you threw the massive bag down and began to sift through it. The adrenaline had worn off about now and fiery hot pain licked up through your side and into your lungs. Every breath felt like an elephant was sitting on your chest and your temples pounded with each thready heartbeat. You needed to get this damn bullet out and then you could pack the wound and apply pressure.

Was this all even worth it? What would happen if you succeeded in patching yourself up? You would just be sent back to kill again. The blood on your hands now was freshly painted by the same people who had sent you to do the same thing to others time and time again. If Nightwing was innocent, who’s to say your other victims weren’t unjustly murdered?

That’s who you were. An assassin. A machine. You were a gun loaded and pointed by your handlers. You were simply a weapon.

They wouldn’t cry if you bled out on this bathroom floor. They would simply toss your body into an unmarked grave and drive off to find some other child to snatch in the night and train into their perfect little soldier.

“Damnit,” you hissed under your breath as you fumbled with the zipper on the bag holding gauze patches. In a fit of rage, you threw the kit into the bedroom and watched as the various bags and first aid supplies scattered across your room before falling to the ground with a muted thud. Your chest heaved with wild, strained breaths and then you were sobbing. Shit, you were weeping.

The cries wracked your already weak body and you let yourself slip down until your cheek was pressed against the pool of blood that had gathered underneath you on the shoddily tiled floor. You pulled your knees up to your chest as best as you could, the fetal position they called it, and waited for the reaper to claim you.

A banging noise faintly registered in your mind, but you were too tired to consider who it was they sent after you. Perhaps they would be kind enough to toss a dandelion on your grave. You wondered for a moment what your headstone would read if you were graced with one.

Agent 2327. Failure. Killer.

“Hey, hey.” Someone was speaking. A hand slapped your cheek and you tried to open your eyes, but heavy weights were pulling you under. First things first, to the death, you recalled the quote from the movie. No. To the pain.

Everything was a fuzzy, blissful feeling. It was like waking up from the best dream, but then you realized with a start that you shouldn’t be waking up at all. You let your eyes adjust to the dim lighting in whatever room you were in and tried to take in your surroundings. A popcorn ceiling, a Black Canary poster on the wall…where the hell were you?

“You’re awake.”

You let your head fall to the side and met kind blue eyes. Dick Grayson sat beside you in a chair that didn’t look terribly comfortable, but he didn’t appear to be in any discomfort as he leaned in closer to you. It was then that you noticed the familiar black and blue uniform that you had been tailing for a month clinging to his body.

“You…” The words failed you and he offered you a small smile.

“Yeah, me.”

Why did he save you? You had been hunting him down and trying to kill him for the past month. Was this some kind of sick ploy for him to extract information from you? You knew he worked with Batman occasionally in Gotham. Was he going to turn you over to him?

But that wasn’t Nightwing. That wasn’t the hero you had watched over the past month. That wasn’t the man who snagged kittens out of trees, took down trafficking rings, and faced enhanced threats that tried to destroy his city. That wasn’t the Dick Grayson you had met either. Dick was kind, welcoming, and always made an effort to be…well, neighborly.

You had a choice to make here, but it looked fairly obvious what path you should take.

“Please help me,” you whispered. He leaned closer, his arm stretching out over your head and his thumb stroking along your temple. His eyes were hard and you missed the warmth that usually effused from them. Shutting your eyes, you waited to hear him reject you. To inform you of what he would do with you now that you were defenseless and broken before him. Would he send you to Arkham?

“You’re safe now,” Dick assured you. “I’m going to help you, I promise. You’re safe. You’ll never have to go back there.”

And for the first time in a long time, you truly believed that you were safe.

Tag List: @someoneimsure @perpetual-fangirl900 @visagebrise @cursedandromedablack @alexxavicry @the-wayward-daughter @raging-trash-of-mind @bunny-kawa @khaylin27

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson imagine #assassinverse #dick grayson #nightwing x reader #nightwing imagine #nightwing

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dragonclaw29 · 1 year

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Top Ten Manga

It’s been a minute since I last uploaded a top ten of any kind, Grad school will do that to you. However, now with my studies almost over I thought I would revisit my top ten manga and see what new titles have amazed me!

-Note I am not including Webcomics so if you want Manhwa and the like let me know and I will make a separate list.

10. Sakamoto Days

Starting off with a bang we have Sakamoto Days. In a world of assassins even a mild mannered fat store clerk could be a tough challenge. That is definitely true for Sakamoto the former top assassin in Japan. Watch as Sakamoto is targeted by Esper's, Triad members, and old friends as he battles to protect his home and his daughter. It’s a fantastic read and great for the action lover and comedian a like.

9. Claymore

Claymore tells the tale of an elite class of women tasked to fight off monsters who plague the land. Clair the last member of this group must protect the peace, her new friend Rakka, and her self. However, dark secrets lurk in this world and the shadowy organization that dispatches the Claymores may not be as kind as they appear.

8. A Story about a Droid

I debated about including this because it is such a short read. But it is also a very good and cute read. This story is about a droid who finds a baby and decides to take care of him. In order to care for the child the droid puts on a human disguise. The story follows the droid and her child as she raises him in a post apocalyptic world.

7. Berserk

RIP Muria I will always be heartbroken that you passed before finishing this wonder of a story. This manga has always been one of my favorites and for good reason. The art is fantastic, the story is gripping, and the characters are dynamic. However, this manga is shocking, cruel, and depressing- not for the faint of heart.

6. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun

Monthly Girls Nozaki is the tale of a girl in love. Chiyo has been in love with Nozaki for a while and she finally decides that she has had enough. Working up the courage she confesses to him, only for him to give her an autograph. Turns out her class mate is world famous in the realm of shoujo manga and has never been in love. Chiyo’s confession goes right over his head leaving her dumbfounded but not hopeless. This manga is a great romantic comedy including some of my favorite characters in fiction. Definitely worth a read if you want to laugh a night away.

5. Dungeon Meshi

Have you ever been playing DnD and been like “hmmm I wonder what a Mimic tastes like?” If so I have the manga for you! Dungeon Meshi or delicious in dungeon follows a group of adventures as they venture into a dungeon to save the main character Laos’s sister. However, with no supplies they are forced to eat their way through to survive, much to the disdain of the party except for Laos he loves it.

4. Sousou No Frienen

We all know elves live a long time but sometimes it doesn’t hit an elf until they have seen their old comrades fade away. Frenen is old even and has wandered the world in search of rare magic, and I mean rare not necessarily useful. Only after being recruited to aid the hero’s party and defeating the demon king does she come to realize that human relationships are complex and that time is fleeting. This is a great fantasy manga with great magic and quirky characters as I write this I am rereading the manga for the fourth time.

3. Yotsubato!

Man aren’t five year old's hectic little animals?! Yotsuba is a young girl in a new neighborhood who isn’t afraid to wander off, get into trouble, or of anything except for maybe scary statues. This manga follows her life with her dad living every day to the fullest. If you are feeling down this is a great pick me up. I reread during finals and it really helped.

2. Tongari Boss/ Witch Hat Alter

Witches are born with the ability to use magic and normal people aren’t. At least that’s what they say but what happens when a young girl gets a glimpse at the secret of magic. What if the reason magic is solely for witches because of the great danger magic can place not only yourself but the world in. Witch hat alter is one of the best fantasy manga out there right now and I want the next chapter to come out already!!!

1. Chainsaw Man

I remember the conversation that led me to read chainsaw man years ago. It went something like

“Hey dude you should totally read this manga it’s badass!”

“Really? What’s it about?”

Insert a few seconds of silence

“Well.. It’s about a dude who turns into a chainsaw and kills devils”

“That’s insane”

“Trust me it’s sooo good you have to try it! It has a section where he rides a shark into battle while on fire!”

And with that fateful line I decided to give it a read. All I can say is thank you for telling me to read it because I love this manga. It is so funny, and crazy, and sad, and mind bending, and so many other things. I never thought a story about a dude who literally has a chainsaw growing out of his face would make me cry but life works in funny ways.

Well that’s my list. I hope you find some of these recommendations helpful. If you have any questions, or want more let me know!! Have a great Summer!

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dangermousie · 5 months

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I am living for the gender reversal trope where she's the perfect killing machine who doesn't know normalcy or feeling and considers emotions a burned out nuisance and he's the functional one who actually values relationships. And the thing is she has decided he's breedable (sorry, will never be over that! :P) because he's competent and smart and good at killing but emotionally she is being drawn, without even realizing it, because he combines competency with still keeping a soul. If he was just a weak person she'd just assume he's incompetent or deluded. But he's clearly good at what he does and can kill quite competently and defeat his enemies quite competently. And yet - he treats his companions as friends and they do the same and she is fascinated by it the way an alien would. She knows she's lacking and she is trying to figure how to remedy, how to stop being a machine.

I mean, he tells his men they can laugh at him but to treat her with respect and something in her softens (especially since it's clear he didn't say it to impress her.) She has always been treated with disdain or fear and has always been an implement of seduction or murder. But he treats her as a person.

It's like that conversation she has with the princess, where she says she and he are the same and both left any ability to feel behind and that if princess really disobeyed, he'd kill her, same as FL could. She ends that convo on this piece of advice:

But the thing is, the narrative is clearly set up to show she's wrong. Not just in terms of ML - he may be ruthless and smart but he still hasn't lost his ability to feel, because his life has been so much more normal than hers, but also to allow her to trust others at some point. The English title, "A Journey to Love" really is apt for her, isn't it? It's her going from being a perfect instrument to being able to feel. This reminds me a little of Romance of Red Dust with Shu Qi and Wallace Huo. The latter is a lot darker and grittier and bloodier because it was made a long time ago before restrictions but the tale of a tired lady assassin who is drawn to something she can actually care for is similar.

I mean, look at this convo - she does not talk as a flesh and blood human who wants a baby to love or even desires ML - it's once again an alien trying to understand how humans interact and why.

God, I love him. It's an odd thing to say about a character who calmly stabbed a man in the neck with a pin within ten minutes of us meeting him but he is so damn decent.

This cracked me up - talk about gender reversals...

But the thing that I really loved about this conversation is that he turned her down while letting her know he finds her desirable and giving her his true reasons as well - which is it's not safe for people with their personalities and jobs to be entangled. This was pretty amazing.

I love that she genuinely asks him about how he's friends with the men under his command because she realizes her lack (she said empress called her a sword and she wants to change because she always feels a distance even with her, but she doesn't know how) and that she doesn't want to be distant from her own child. It's actually a huge thing that she realizes that there is something missing and she wants to remedy it. I don't think the woman at the opening of ep 1 would have thought so.

(I am WILD for the gender reversal of him being the softer one to make the perfect murder machine understand and develop emotions!!!)

But this was my favorite part, because isn't this the crux - she should think for herself; does she even want children, does she even know why the empress wanted her to have one? If it's just another order she's carrying blindly what is the point?

It makes sense for a man with his line of work, but he actually thinks things through and I love it. There is that scene where he explains why he doesn't want to be with her and it's so logical - she's the perfect assassin but she has a bloody life and he just wants to retire so what future is there (any time a character talks about a last mission I freak out btw, but also it's telling he's thinking relationship when all she asked for is ONS. You developed feelings, spy boy!)

But also, there is this bit. Where he says he feels pity and it's very insightful but it reads much more as sympathy and understanding than pity.

I love that he knows her true self - assassin, sex spy etc and his main reaction "but she's never had free will, it must have been hell."

God, I love this drama!

#cdrama #liu shi shi #liu yuning #a journey to love

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delimeful · 7 months

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give me mercy no more (1)

G/t July Day 1: Enchanted

(Full Prompt List)

patron prompt: virgil hugging a crying janus!

warnings: arguing, tension, betrayal, mentions of assassinations, offscreen character thomas, it's a g/t fic but i didn't actually get to the g/t yet LOL, self sacrifice, crying, angst

“You can’t do this.”

Janus paused for the briefest moment at the sound of his closest friend’s voice, before continuing to pack away rations.

“Can’t I?” he asked airily, not turning around to face Virgil.

He’d known this confrontation was inevitable since they’d come up with the only possible solution to their kingdom’s problem. He hadn’t realized how unprepared he’d feel even now, with the hour of tribute rapidly approaching.

“It’s not right. Thomas needs you,” Virgil insisted, stepping closer.

Without even looking at him, Janus could picture the scowl he was wearing. Terrified and defiant in the face of impossible odds, as always.

Bringing up the heir apparent was a low blow, however.

“Yes, he does,” Janus snapped, a bite to the words. “Do you think anything else on this continent or any other could possibly move me to do something like this?”

A short, stagnant pause as Virgil struggled to find a retort.

“His Highness will be alright,” Janus added, softer. “Of course he will. You’ll be there at his side.”

A year ago, the idea of trusting any of the knights of this kingdom would have been laughable at best. The Sanders kingdom was a pit of vipers, and Janus had blended in with the best of them, climbing the ranks to the position of advisor through means that would make any moral man weep.

He’d still only barely been in time to prevent Thomas from perishing in a political assassination, one initiated by the same mage faction that had orphaned the young boy originally.

Janus didn’t have to do any investigation to learn that particular tidbit; it was an illuminating and concerning letter from the queen, an old friend of his, that had brought him back to the kingdom.

He’d been too late to save her. He’d made sure that the same couldn’t be said for her son.

Back then, he and Virgil had constantly been at each other’s throats, both expecting the other to betray the prince at any moment. Virgil saw right through Janus’ sly facades, and Janus knew that the rank and file of the kingdom’s army were only loyal to the highest bribe.

That was what they’d thought, anyhow.

When the next attempt rolled around, Virgil had been forcefully diverted from his usual patrol route, and was halfway across the grounds when the alarm was raised.

He’d torn through any opponent in his way in a desperate frenzy, and burst into the prince’s quarters expecting to see the worst.

Instead, he’d found Thomas whole and unharmed, positioned solidly behind Janus, who stood ready with two narrow, poisoned blades. The room already had a handful of would-be assassins collapsed on the ground, some in the same exact livery Virgil wore.

“Come and try,” Janus had hissed, keenly aware of the slash along his side and the way blood was already darkening his doublet.

Virgil, bigger and stronger and less winded even after a sprint across the kingdom, had taken two steps forward and knelt before him, head bowed.

The fool. Janus had almost stabbed him on reflex alone.

“Thank you,” he’d said, the back of his neck well and truly exposed, “for protecting him.”

Janus wasn’t used to being trusted. It had thrown him off for long enough that he’d stayed his blade, and before he knew it, Virgil had managed to worm his way under his defenses and become not only a trusted ally, but a snarky, paranoid, invaluable friend.

They grew to be called the Two Hands of the Future King, a title probably invented by some of the more pretentious court nobles. Virgil hated the attention, and Janus leaned into it just to annoy him.

They’d have to come up with something different, after Janus was gone. He wondered if his death would be referred to as something garishly insensitive, like The Amputation. Hopefully not; Virgil might actually come to blows if he heard that sort of thing.

He dragged his mind out of the past, sliding another ration he would likely never eat into his bag with the same smooth calculation he’d done everything else in his life.

“Besides, there’s no cause to be dramatic. I’ll be fine,” he said, voice full of a certainty he didn’t feel.

He held his breath as Virgil stood silently at his back for a long moment. His lies had never worked on the knight, but now he silently begged that for once, Virgil wouldn’t shatter the illusion. That he wouldn’t make this harder than it needed to be.

“Tell me how you plan to convince them,” Virgil finally said.

Janus let out a breath, his shoulders sagging in relief. “I already went over my strategy at the council meeting, didn’t I?”

“I was too pissed off to pay attention,” Virgil replied bluntly. “Tell me again. The way you’ll tell the beast.”

It was a rare occasion for Virgil to want to embrace a lie instead of the painful truth. Janus could grant him that, at least.

“With the damages from the invasion, we find ourselves unable to provide our usual tribute without starving to death ourselves,” Janus began, the speech long-memorized in the agonizing past week of waiting. “In order to preserve the existence of our kingdom, and by extension, the existence of your future tributes many years to come, we have provided an alternative offering that we hope will please you.”

He turned and spread his hands in an elegant flourish, his posture loose and pointedly unwary. “Along with precious heirloom riches, you are offered His Highness's own most trusted advisor, with vast wisdom and knowledge gathered from this continent and others.”

To do with as you please, he completed silently in his head. That would be no comfort to Virgil.

After all, everyone knew what most dragons pleased to do to humans that inconvenienced them.

Virgil stared at him with a deep wrinkle in his brow for a moment, and then snorted. “I should have guessed that you would flatter yourself even in a time like this.”

Janus smirked, repeating his favorite retort. “I speak only the truth, Honored Knight, and I’d thank you not to imply otherwise.”

Virgil smiled despite himself, but as the silence stretched it collapsed into an expression much more desolate.

“I’ll be perfectly fine,” Janus lied, and then, after a beat of hesitation, lifted his arms in a wordless offering.

Virgil crashed into the hug with enough force to nearly bowl Janus over, but he didn’t bother with a single complaint, only savored the warmth of his best friend safe in his arms.

He was doing this for both of them. His two most important people.

They stood like that for a long moment, and then with a low, pained sigh, Janus began to pull back.

Only to find that his limbs had gone strangely numb.

A jolt of surprise went through him, but all Virgil did was slowly shift them over to the nearby armchair, giving him somewhere to sit heavily as the prickling feeling spread further through his body.

“Something’s wrong,” he managed through lips he could barely feel.

Virgil, usually so quick to check him over at even the slightest sign of injury, spent a moment longer with his head tucked over his shoulder before withdrawing.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and his eyes were eerily lit up from within by magecraft. “But we both know who Thomas needs more. And it’s not me.”

The enchantment didn’t hurt. It settled soft and heavy on him like a blanket with the weight of stone, keeping him stuck in place even as his mind began to shriek.

“How?” he managed.

“I was born into a bloodline with the gift. Got kicked out. I didn’t want anyone to know,” Virgil said, letting a few sparks flick off his fingers. “I probably could have told you, I was just… afraid, I guess. I know it’s not fair to ask, but don’t tell Thomas? I don’t want to bring back bad memories for the kid.”

Janus had moved rapidly from shock to anger, not at the secret of Virgil’s nature, but at what exactly he planned to do with it.

“Don’t,” he said, a desperate tilt to the word even as it came out slightly mangled.

“You were right, Jay,” Virgil said with a wry tilt of his lips. “You’ll be fine. So take care of him, okay?”

Janus managed the slightest shake of his head, and whatever expression he was making was enough to make Virgil’s own composure crack slightly.

“You hypocrite,” he said, voice choked, and pulled him into another hug.

Janus hadn’t wept when he’d realized that the only way to keep Thomas safe was to sacrifice himself.

Now, with Virgil’s arms wrapped around him, he felt his stinging eyes spill over.

His breath hitched, the only version of a sob that could make it through his body’s current stasis.

“I know,” Virgil murmured, clutching him tightly. “I know. I won’t change my mind, but I’m sorry. I don’t— I don’t want to leave. But I have to.”

He couldn’t do anything to stop this, Janus realized blankly. He could only clutch back at his best friend’s arms with the barest curling of his numb fingers. He could only see the slight tremors that shook through Virgil’s frame, the pallid cast to his skin.

He could only watch as Virgil released him, picked up his bag and walked to the door, stopped to look at him with fear and stubbornness in equal measure.

“I’ll see you around,” he said simply, giving him a simple salute and a small smile.

And then he was gone.

#sanders sides g/t #ts virgil #ts janus #fantasy au #g/t july #g/t july 2023 #my writing #writing #give me mercy no more #gmmnm #posted late again. sory.#“why are you posting g/t july in september” this is an ADHD task completion simulator and you're all invited to participate

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clovermarigold · 7 months

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Smoke & Ice Chap.2

Italicized & Bold= spoken in Greek

Masterlist

“Sister Calla!” The blond-haired boy yelled running through the Mangrove, halting Calla’s meditation. “Miche, what did I tell you about yelling” the woman opened her eyes to see the fear plaguing the young boy “Miche, what’s wrong?”. “Strangers! By the gate clearing” he finally comes in past the doorway. “How many?” Miche stammered “I don’t know! I didn’t count”.

“Were there a lot” she asked, if it was anywhere above 30 she doubted most would survive a conflict. “I don’t know… Maybe. There were around 5-10”. The woman thought for a moment, looking him over that he didn't have any injuries. Most would applaud Miche’s ability to flee, but not against a party that size with any basic training, “And they didn’t hurt you? Chase You? Threaten you?” Miche shook his head.

“You were wise to come to me. Go to Cypress. I will handle it from here”, “But-” Miche blurted before she put a hand to his mouth. “All will be well. Go” Reluctantly, Miche made his way to the training grounds, leaving her to deal with the Mangroves' new unscheduled visitors.

She had done well in giving her people a fresh start, the Mangrove, though young, was a haven to the Hamadryad. Secret from all except those who knew of the truth concerning magic and the existence of the other realms. The sound of men told Cala she had found the intruders.

“The matron is the leader of the Hamadryad. It is usually a title to be inherited, like that of grandmaster. However, the last matron did not have children. And it was instead given to the oldest of them” a voice said. So, the intruders were not lost, they came with purpose. They were in search of her. Part of her mind told her to rid the Mangrove of them, to strike before they knew she was even there. However, they had not attacked Miche or given chase. In fact, at the moment they remained still, sitting, waiting… for her.

Looking at the group, there appeared to be six of them. Four of which were dressed in Shaolin dress, the bright orange contrasting the shades of green surrounding them. The other two, however, were more difficult for her to read. Both dressed in different uniforms, standing separate from the others, both wearing masks that conceal their face.

As foreign as the group was, they showed no signs of hostile intent. That did not excuse them for entering the Mangrove, even if it wasn’t anywhere close to the main camp. Choosing to assert authority rather than to lurk in the shadows, Calla stepped out from her hiding spot. “Woah, who is Ms. Smokeshow” one of the men dressed in orange said. She was beginning to question if she was correct in her belief that these were Shaolin.

It was a questionable group to be sure. The man who spoke was most certainly an American. And the two not dressed in orange concerned you. It was obvious by how they held themselves/ mainly the one dressed in blue, that they were the seniors of the men, but beyond that. Their clothes told that they were assassins. “You are not welcome here, Shaolin. Leave”. One of the Shaolin, dressed in a bamboo hat, moved to the front. “We mean no ill intent. Were sent by Lord Liu Kang to speak with the matron of the Hamadryad”.

Liu Kang… She should have known. That snake finally sent his followers to offer their “aid” in exchange for servitude. “You are speaking to her. I have no interest in entertaining a word from Liu Kang” the man who spoke showed visible shock before recentering himself. “My apologies, matron. I am Raiden, we have been chosen by Lord Liu Kang to represent earth realm in the upcoming tournament against Outworld”.

Her eyes narrowed at the mention of the tournament. Nothing good had ever come to the Hamadryad from that cursed tradition, “I will not tell you again, lea-�� the blue ninja pushed forward past Raiden causing the younger man to nearly lose his balance. “I have no time for this. The Hamadryad have neglected their duty for a near century. Are you not ashamed? ".

Reactions differed from the man’s words. Raiden as well as the gray-haired ninja reacted with shock. “Brother!” The latter was quick to grab his shoulder, only to be shrugged off. The other Shaolin, however, instead chose to place poorly hidden hands-on weapons or in fists. No doubt sensing the hostile end of their companions' verbal assault.

“What did you say to me, Shaolin?” Sounds of cracks from the earth began to grow, but it did nothing to intimidate the blue adorned intruder. “I am no Shaolin, woman. I am the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei”. “Bi han, that is enough!” The Grey ninja finally broke through to his brother, forcefully grabbing him and pushing him back so he would be in the front. “Matron, please forgive him, my brother is merely tired from our jou-”.

A loud crack followed by a whip was sounded as in a second a large spiraling root erupted from the ground, crashing into the gray man. With a crunch he landed side first into the trunk of a tree. “I warned you” With a scowl the man called Bi han lunged forward nearly landing his fist into Calla’s side. Shards of ice splintered from his hands as it collided with a tree behind her. Bi han’s recovery was quick, as he pivoted in an instant to launch forward, knee colliding with her back.

“Agh you gotta be kidding me” the man with the sword said, unsheathing his blade and rushing forward, followed in tow by the man with a steel hat. “And here you were thinking I was going to be the one to screw this up”, “Shut it Johnny” the American smirked following.

“Ahh” Calla was sent forward as pain shot through her back. Before she could hit the ground face first, she stretched out her arms to momentarily handstand, landing back on her feet with a summersault. “This is the matron of the Hamadryad. Pathetic” Bi han closed his hand encasing it in cold magic, ice vapor seeping off in plumes.

Calla’s nostrils flared at that. Young for her title? Perhaps. Limited in experience in combat with individuals of his skill caliber? Yes. But pathetic? Oh, he would regret that. She would make sure of it.

The sound of ringing steel as a katana sliced the dirt in front of her, just narrowly avoided. The swordsman pulled back, swiping repeatedly from side to side, up and down. Calla twisted and parried, struggling to dodge the onslaught of attacks. One particularly placed swing left her with no choice but to balance on one foot with the other in the air to avoid its cut. Gritting her teeth, she flipped her wrist, commanding a root to break through the ground’s surface and wrap around his legs and waist before spinning quickly and burying them both into the ground, the swordsman chest deep in soil.

The singular victory was short lived as the hatted man running approached, as did Bi han. Choosing to focus on the cryomancer, a wall of vines, thick as Forearms barreled out from the forest to separate the new threats from distracting her from him. “Winter will always bow to spring” Bi han’s eyes narrowed. “But I shall be your fall” a trail of ice coated the ground allowing Bi han to slide towards her at breakneck speed. Before he could get close enough to swipe at her, the ice shattered, long and sharp thorns piercing through at an angle. Bi han jumped back to avoid its edge.

Wet. Something liquid just rolled off his hand. Looking to his right arm, Bi han’s eyes widened to see a trail of red sliding down his arm. A cut, not one to cause worry of blood loss, but enough for a good third of his arm to be coated in blood. She had cut him. This woman had pierced the skin of the Lin Kuei’s Grandmaster. Rage was all he felt, she had spilt his blood, and he would return the favor. In one swift motion, his foot was planted into her stomach, forcing her to the ground, his food still planted on her stomach. From his hands ice gathers, swirling and vicious. And with a guttural animalistic scream of rage, he pulled back his hand to-

“That’s enough!” The man in gray pulled back Bi han’s arm causing him to misfire, finally recovered from his surprise attack. “Mind your place, Tomas! -”. “Lord Liu Kang sent us here for diplomatic reasons! Not to kill the last Matron of the Hamadryad!” Bi han’s eyes looked down at Calla in anger. “...” Slowly, he lifted his foot off of Calla and released the magic in his hand.

Almost scrambling, Calla rose to her feet, taking a few steps back. He could have killed her just then. She had been too careless, she could have died, left the Mangrove without her! “Matron Calla, I beg you to forgive our transgressions” Tomas pleaded. With a crack, the wall of vines untied itself and receded to the brush, revealing the three other Shaolin who were trapped on the other side. “Go” it came out quiet, almost… afraid? “...Lord Liu Kang instructed us not to return until we convinced you to return” the way he said it was sympathetic, understanding… soft. “...You can remain here. But you are forbidden to enter the Mangrove’s heart” Tomas nodded in agreement. Calla turned, she would return home. The others would need to know, a meeting would need to be called.

#mk1 #mk1 2023 #smoke and ice #tomas vrbada #sub zero x reader #smoke x reader #bi han x reader #bi han

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milf-cinematic-universe · 1 year

Text

“I can go anywhere I want, just not home.”

Relationships: Avengers x Reader (platonic)

Inspiration: my tears ricochet by taylor swift

GIF: @buckywiththegoodhair86

Summary: You are a product of a HYDRA experiment. Years after being held captive by them, you are saved by SHIELD. You join the Avengers in hope of finding a family in them, but what are you supposed to do when they don’t treat you the way you expected them to?

Warnings: angst w/o happy ending, allusions to suicidal thoughts, death, bullying

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

“You’re joining the Avengers.”

“What?” you blurted out, staring at Nick Fury with nothing but pure incredulity in your eyes. “With all due respect, I’ve barely been here for a day, Mister Fury.”

“Please, just call me Fury,” the director of SHIELD sighed in exasperation. “Drop that habit of adding titles before people’s names, Y/L/N.”

“Sorry. I can’t help it, you know. I’ve had to do it for the entirety of my time with HYDRA,” you responded. “Still, don’t you think that it’s a little bit too... soon for me to be joining the Avengers?”

“Nonsense,” Fury immediately shut you down. “Your ability to manipulate the elements, along with your resourcefulness, will be beneficial to the team. You’re joining them whether you like it or not.”

“I know that you’re worried, Y/N,” he continued, his tone softening significantly, “but I really believe that joining the Avengers would be a good choice for you.”

“I trust your judgement, Fury,” you offered with a small smile. “I just don’t trust the people.”

“They’re good people, Y/L/N,” Fury assured. “You’ll do great there.”

“I know. They’re Earth’s mightiest heroes,” you told him. “Fine. I’ll give it a shot... but only because I technically owe you a favour for saving me.”

“Thank you. I know this is difficult for you.”

You hummed in affirmation, following Fury as he led you out of his office and consequently into your new life.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ 2 years later ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Fury was wrong.

Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong. Joining the Avengers had been a good thing. It’d helped you clear out some of the red that you had gotten on your ledger during your time with HYDRA. However, the Avengers certainly didn’t seem to think the same. If anything, they detested you to their very core.

When you first moved to the compound, the Avengers avoided you like the plague. But, if they were so unfortunate as to bump into you, they would glare daggers at you until you were out of their sight. At first, you’d told yourself that it was alright, that they would eventually warm up to you. You had been a HYDRA assassin, after all. Their hostility towards you was rather understandable.

But things never got better. If anything, they got worse.

Slowly, their hostility began to intensify. It ranged from Steve forgetting to cook you meals (when he cooked for the entire team) to Natasha purposely sabotaging you on missions by violently slamming you into walls or tripping you. You’d tried to raise your annoyance to them a couple of times, but they always brushed you off coldly, telling you that you were overthinking things.

So, now, there you stood in front of Fury, a resignation letter in hand.

“I’m sorry, Fury, but I can’t do it anymore,” you told him, finality evident in your voice. “I’ve tried my best to tolerate their malevolence but it’s been going on for months and… and I’m done.”

“I’m truly sorry that they treated you that way, Y/N,” Fury apologised, a regretful look in his eye. “If I had known that they would—”

“No,” you quickly interjected. “Joining the Avengers was a good thing. Don’t regret telling me to do so. It’s their fault for treating me like utter scum.”

“Where are you going to go now? What will you do?” Fury inquired curiously.

“I don’t know,” you responded honestly. “I guess I didn’t really think that there’d be a day where I will be free.”

“I can get you an apartment somewhere in New York and secure you a job, ” Fury offered.

“That’d be nice, Fury, but you’ve already done so much for me.”

“I don’t mind doing more,” he assured you. “You deserve a break.”

You immediately broke into a small smile.

“Thank you,” you breathed out, gratitude written all over your face. In the blink of an eye, your arms were around Fury, locking him in a warm embrace. “Thank you.”

“You’re lucky you’re not someone else,” he mumbled, earning a chuckle from you as you pulled away. “Take care, Y/N.”

“I will, Fury.”

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧ a year later ✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

“Tell us what the code is, or else I’ll kill her.”

“Okay, okay! Just… stop aiming at her for now,” Tony exclaimed frantically as he struggled against the ropes binding him to the chair. All around him, Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Bucky were also tied to chairs and rendered useless.

The masked man cackled maniacally before aiming the gun away from Natasha’s forehead.

“Don’t tell him the code, Tony,” Natasha rasped out. “Don’t.”

“How noble of you, sacrificing yourself so that I won’t have access to his technology,” the man taunted. “But, I think you’re forgetting that I have all of you tied up here. If I wanted the code, I’ll just kill all of you one by one until Stark crumbles under the pressure and tells me the code.”

“Depends on whether you have enough bullets,” a foreign voice piped in from behind. Turning around, the man narrowed his eyes when he realised just who it was.

You.

“I see that you’ve returned, Y/L/N,” he growled. “How was your life as a journalist?”

“Pretty good, actually,” you hummed. “Fury chose the right job for me.”

“That’s good to hear, but you’re still going to die,” the man snarled, pulling the trigger.

“Y/L/N!” Sam and Natasha cried out, but you remained unfazed, simply staring at the perpetrator with a raised eyebrow. His eyes widened to the size of saucers when no bullet emerged from the tip of his gun. Angrily, he pulled the trigger again, but still no bullet came for you.

Feigning a look of surprise, you reached into your pocket and pulled out six unused bullets, dropping all of them in front of him in a taunting manner.

“It’s funny how you were the one who conducted the experiments back when I was still with HYDRA, and yet you always forget that I have powers,” you said.

In the blink of an eye, the HYDRA agent was pinned against the wall by an invisible force. You let out a breath of laughter as he struggled.

“Let me go!” he commanded repeatedly. “You’ll regret this!”

“I can assure you I won’t,” you told him as you picked up the gun he dropped and loaded it with the bullets you stole. “Any last words?”

Without waiting for a response, you shot him right between his eyes and let his body crumple to the ground. Moving quickly, you went to release the Avengers from the ropes binding them.

“How the hell did you even know where we were, Y/L/N?” Natasha rasped out.

“Most people usually thank the people who save their lives, you know,” you said. “You’re all over the news. Everyone was talking about the Avengers being taken, and I knew where HYDRA’s last base was, so here I am.”

“Well, thank you, Y/N,” Steve said sincerely.

“Oh, we’re on the first name basis now, Captain?” you gasped in mock surprise. “Because the last time I saw you, you wanted absolutely nothing to do with me.”

“Why’d you save us then?” Bucky piped in. “Did you want a favour?”

“First of all, Mister Soldier, I do not need favours from anyone,” you retorted. “Secondly, can’t I just save you out of good will?”

When Natasha let out a grunt of pain, you knew your banter with them had to end.

“Well, you’d better return to the compound and get her some medical assistance,” you pointed out, motioning towards the struggling redhead. “I have a quinjet waiting outside.”

“How do we know that we can trust you?” Bucky demanded skeptically.

“You’ve had more than two years to figure that out,” you snapped, finally unable to tolerate their endless questioning. “I am being very kind even offering to bring you back to the compound. Do not test my patience.”

They all fell silent, reluctantly following you as you led them to the quinjet you’d arrived in. In less than two hours, you’d landed outside the compound. As you got up from the pilot’s seat, you realised that most of them had succumbed to their exhaustion, with only Natasha barely awake.

“Come on,” you said softly, gently putting Natasha’s arm over your shoulders and making sure that you didn’t aggravate her injuries whilst helping her up. “I’ll wake them later.”

“Why are you helping us?” Natasha queried, her voice barely above a whisper. “We treated you like shit.”

“I know,” you breathed. “But you were the closest thing I had to a family, and I just wanted to see you all one last time.”

“One last time?” Natasha repeated. “What do you mean?”

“I’m sick,” you finally admitted as you reached the medical bay. “I won’t live to see next year.”

“What?” Natasha blurted out.

“Seems like having superpowers doesn’t stop you from inheriting cancer,” you sighed, giving Natasha a sad smile. “My mother had lung cancer, and I’m just as unlucky.”

“Tony can probably help you, you know,” Natasha tried to help. “His technology is beyond this world—”

“It’s the final stage,” you admitted. “The doctor said I have less than a month left. If I had started treatment earlier than maybe I would have a chance with Stark’s tech, but it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter?” Natasha demanded as you helped patch her wound. “Do you not want to live?”

“Not since I got taken by HYDRA, no,” you replied. “Don’t give me that disapproving look. You know damn well you guys didn’t help.”

“I…” Natasha trailed off before lowering her voice, switching to a tone of remorse. “I’m really sorry.”

“A bit too late for that, hm?” You hummed. “It’s okay. I came to terms with it a long time ago. I’ll get to see my parents again anyway.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Natasha inquired, her eyes shining with concern. “Tell us. We’ll help you.”

“Stop getting yourself into trouble. I’d rather live the rest of my living days in peace,” you deadpanned, shaking your head. “Will you be able to handle this wound alone? I am going to wake the rest.”

Natasha nodded, and you left immediately, heading back to the quinjet and waking the other Avengers from their deep slumber. However, by the time they were all fully awake and aware of their surroundings, you were gone. Back in the medical bay, Natasha watched wistfully as you jumped from rooftop to rooftop, fading into the dark of the night.

#avengers #marvel #avengers x reader #avengers x you #reader #mcu

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