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blueskrugs · 2 years

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closure | Sidney Crosby

happy (belated) birthday sid, sorry your present is an angsty fic.

I started this one a year and a half ago, picked it back up a few weeks ago to try and get it done by 8/7, wrote 2000 words, decided to change half of it, went to summer camp for a week, got writer’s block for one last scene, and now we’re here. finally.

length: 4.5k words

It’s been a long time And seeing the shape of your name Still spells out pain

Margaret Thomas didn’t hate Sidney Crosby. No, that required too much energy. Margaret would just rather not think about him, which was easier said than done. He was no longer “Sid the Kid,” but he was still a force to be reckoned with on the ice. Sometimes he seemed inescapable—there were commercials featuring him running on ESPN, and it seemed like at least once a week he pulled off some ridiculous feat that only Sidney Crosby could do that was in all the highlight reels for days. It wasn’t for lack of trying on her part, though; Margaret didn’t watch much hockey these days, and her ties with the hockey world had been severed as abruptly as their relationship. Margaret hadn’t quite moved on, but she was okay again.

Margaret wondered sometimes who knew all of the details of their breakup all those years ago. Her relationship with Sid had been as quiet as Sid could keep it, but she had been there for the Cups, for the gold medals. Those memories, those pictures, would go down in history alongside his name, engraved in silver and gold. It had been a cute story once, the boy who saved the Penguins falls in love with a girl from Pittsburgh, settles down and sticks around. That’s how it was supposed to go, at least.

Margaret is surprised when she gets a letter in the mail, mixed in amongst junk and bills. Who sends letters anymore? The return address is unfamiliar, but the careful, spidery handwriting spelling out her name and the little “SPC” in the corner is as familiar as her own.

Of course Sid would send a letter, after all these years, after cutting off all contact after the break-up, stubbornly old-fashioned person that he was. She was annoyed that that thought was still laced with fondness underneath the bitterness. Margaret wondered, too, how he’d gotten her address; Margaret had moved since the breakup, and she didn’t keep in contact with anyone on the team or their wives enough to warrant ever sending a Christmas card.

Margaret carefully slides her finger under the flap of the envelope and pulls out the letter inside. It, too, was handwritten, because of course it was. Margaret takes a deep breath and begins to read.

I’m sure you’re surprised to be hearing from me after all these years. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve thought about reaching out, but I didn’t think you’d ever want to hear from me. I’ve even started writing this a few times, but I could never get the words right.

Margaret scoffs, more than a little bitter. She wonders what was so important to finally make him reach out after all these years. She briefly thinks of crumpling up the letter and tossing it in the trash, but her curiosity got the better of her. Margaret keeps reading.

I wanted to say that I’m sorry for the way things ended between us. It wasn’t fair to you. I wish I could’ve done it differently, or not done it at all, but there’s no way to change the past, is there? I didn’t realize it at the time, but I probably really hurt you. I should’ve apologized a long time ago.

Sid’s words were uncovering a hurt Margaret thought she’d buried deep long ago. He was right, though, there was no changing the past. She brushes away a tear before it can land on the sheet of paper in her hand. There was more to the letter.

I’ll be playing in my 1250th game soon. They’re treating it like a big milestone. Jen’s been talking about rounding up some people for interviews or something. I saw your name on a list and wanted to give you a head’s up before she called.

Margaret remembered the videos from Sid’s 1000th game. No one had reached out to her to make a video for Sid that time. She doesn’t know what she would’ve said, anyway.

I don’t know what she’ll ask you to do, but I want you to know that you’re not obligated to do anything. You certainly don’t owe me anything.

He had that right. He hadn’t even offered Margaret a proper explanation for why he ended a years-long relationship, or a proper goodbye.

It happened the day of Sid’s Cup party in 2017. Sid pulled Margaret aside as the party was wrapping up, nothing more than a few drunken stragglers and friends and family sticking around to clean up. Sid looked nervous as she followed him into a quiet room.

“What’s up?” Margaret asked.

Sid didn’t make any move to sit and neither did Margaret. He ran a hand through his hair.

“I think this needs to stop,” he said. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“What?” Margaret asked. Drunk on summer sun and champagne, she wasn't following.

“I-” Sid looked uncertain for a moment. “I think we need to break up.”

“What?” she said again. Margaret didn’t know what she was expecting when Sid asked her to come with him, but it certainly wasn’t this.

“I want to break up,” Sid said firmly. “I need some space.”

Margaret had lied. She knew exactly what she’d been expecting. A ring, a future and a life together. They’d talked about it, even. Margaret felt like Sid had punched her in the gut. She almost wished he had, actually. That would hurt less than this.

“I don’t understand, Sid,” Margaret said. She thought they were happy. She thought Sid loved her. She had been wrong about both, apparently.

“I’m sorry,” was all Sid said as he brushed past Margaret and went back outside. She faintly heard a cheer go up as he reemerged. Margaret slipped upstairs. Despite all the people milling around, Sid still valued his privacy, and he didn’t have anyone staying in any of the guest bedrooms. It was easy to move her things into one down the hall while the party wrapped up outside.

Margaret flew out from Halifax the next morning. Her things were cleaned out of Sid’s house and into a new apartment of her own before Sid was back in Pittsburgh for training camp in September. She deleted his phone number in October. She never saw him again. It was probably for the best that way.

Margaret’s hands shake. Frustrated, she throws the piece of paper, but it simply flutters to the ground at her feet. She isn’t sure who she’s more upset with—Sid, for still holding a piece of her heart, or herself, for still allowing Sid to break her heart after all these years. Margaret steps over the paper and wanders into her kitchen. She pulls open the fridge and stares aimlessly into it for a long moment. On the floor behind her, Sid’s letter sits, only half read, taunting her. Margaret slams the fridge shut. The rattling of the things on the door is only satisfying for a moment.

She walks back over and picks up the letter again. She slides to the floor to read the last few lines.

I’m sorry. I’m sure it’s too much to ask that you could forgive me one day, but I do hope that we can talk about it sometime. But I guess you don’t really owe me that either.

There was no closing, no autograph signature either, just “Sid” scrawled in messy cursive at the bottom of the page.

Margaret crumples up the letter and throws it again. It lands somewhere behind her couch. It, too, doesn’t feel as satisfying as she’d like.

Margaret carefully puts it out of her mind. Or tries to, at least. The letter stays crumpled on the floor of her living room, but it doesn’t matter because it feels like she's committed Sid’s careful words to memory, echoing in her head when her guard was down.

Margaret’s phone rings a week after the letter arrives. It’s a Pittsburgh area code, a number she doesn’t have saved to her contacts, and she answers it warily.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Maggie, this is Jen with the Penguins communications department, do you remember me?”

Of course Margaret remembers Jen. Jen was solely responsible for keeping the team from making fools of themselves most of the time.

“Of course,” Margaret tells her. She knows why Jen is calling.

“Well, I’m sure you know that Sid’s coming up on a new milestone soon, and we’ve been tracking down some friends from over the years for some more videos like we had for his 1000th game, and maybe to get some stories about Sid when he was younger,” Jen says, as businesslike as ever. She doesn’t mention the fact that Margaret had been left off the list of friends for Sid’s 1000th game, and neither does she.

“Yeah, uh, Sid gave me a heads up that you might be calling,” Margaret says without thinking.

Jen pauses. “I didn’t realize you two were still in touch.”

“Something like that,” she says wryly.

Jen continues. “We’d love to have you come out to PPG one day soon to get some footage, whenever it works for you.”

Margaret hesitates. Even with Sid’s heads up, she somehow wasn't prepared to be asked for an in-person interview. She had thought Jen would just have her record something in her apartment and send it back to Jen. It would give Margaret unlimited takes to cuss out her ex in the privacy of her own home before she could string together enough warm and complimentary words. Driving down to PPG came with the risk of running into Sid, and Margaret wasn't sure there was ever enough time to prepare herself for that.

“Can I think about it? It’s been a long time,” Margaret hears herself say.

She hears Jen’s sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line, but when she speaks again, she sounds unbothered. “Sure! I’ll leave you be for now, but get back to me in a few days, alright?” Margaret wonders briefly what Sid told Jen about their breakup. He had to have some explanation, some warning, for her, in case she’d taken the “crazy jilted ex” route and exposed him on social media or something. Lucky for him, that had never been Margaret’s style.

In the end, Margaret agrees. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find it in herself to feel so much contempt for Sid to not do this small thing. She wished she could. She hated that she couldn’t make herself hate him.

Margaret drove downtown to PPG Paints Arena on a Saturday afternoon. Jen had assured her that the players would be cleared out after film review and an optional skate, and that she had no risk of running into anyone. Margaret wanted to avoid Sid most of all, but she wasn’t sure she could handle having to make small talk with Tanger or Geno, or meeting some young player who didn’t even know who she was, after she and Sid had carefully erased each other from their histories.

Jen meets Margaret at the door and quickly ushers her into a small, dimly lit room. It isn’t crowded, just a couple of cameras, a camera operator, and Margaret and Jen. Jen shuts the door behind her and takes a seat across from Margaret. She spares a second to be thankful that she was staying, a familiar face. Brighter flights flick on, and Jen smiles as Margaret blinks a few times to adjust.

“It’s been a while since you’ve been around, how have you been?” Jen asks.

Margaret isn’t sure if the cameras are rolling yet. She forces a smile. “Things have been good,” she says. It’s not a lie. Things were better before she found herself back in the story of Sid’s life.

“We’ll start easy,” Jen says. “What’s a story about Sid most people don’t know? You two were so close when he was younger.”

That’s also definitely not a lie. Margaret had tried to prepare herself for anything Jen might ask her, but Margaret still takes a moment to answer, wracking her memory for something to say.

Margaret and Sid had met in a bar, just before the 2009-2010 season started. That wasn’t a cute or wholesome story to tell. Margaret takes a deep breath.

“There was this time I dragged Sid to the animal shelter because I wanted a dog.”

“Maggie, I don’t need a dog,” Sid is saying, gamely allowing himself to be dragged towards the doors of Humane Animal Rescue.

Maggie stops and turns to face Sid, hands on her hips. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve still got Sam back home, I know. But I want a dog, so we’re here.”

She pulls open the door and lets Sid walk ahead of her inside. He nervously touches the brim of his hat and looks around. A smiling volunteer makes her way over to them.

“Hey guys, what can I help you with today?” she asks.

Maggie smiles back at her and takes Sid’s hand. “I’ve been thinking about adopting a dog,” she says.

“Perfect, we have plenty of those, hopefully one will be your perfect new friend,” the volunteer says, already turning and heading towards the kennels. She asks Maggie questions as they walk—what exactly she’s looking for, what her apartment is like, if she has any other pets— and Maggie is suddenly overwhelmed. Sid trails a few steps behind, only half listening. Maggie can hear the barking dogs before the volunteer even opens the door to their part of the shelter.

Maggie glances over her shoulder at Sid. “You sure you don’t want to adopt one, too?” she teases, noticing Sid’s soft smile, always a sucker for a cute face. “I’m sure we could find you a good match.” Sid just shakes his head at her.

The next hour is a blur of meeting dogs and Maggie trying not to fall in love with all of them. Sid ends up on the floor with her, happily cuddling and playing with each new dog that’s brought out to Maggie. In the end, she falls for a sweet Pit mix named Biscuit. Even Sid seems enthralled by her when she licks his face.

Maggie’s got Biscuit on a leash, and she’s following the volunteer back to the front desk to fill out all the paperwork for adoption when Sid stops short. Maggie stops, too. Sid’s standing next to a glass door labeled Kitten Room, watching a little boy play with a kitten. The little boy notices Sid watching and looks up. Margaret can tell the moment he recognizes Sid as Sidney Crosby by the way his face splits into a grin. He carefully sets the kitten down and runs to open the door.

“Do you wanna play with the kitties, too?” Maggie hears him ask. Sid glances at her. Biscuit, eager to make a new friend, whines and tugs on her leash. The kitten the boy had been playing with is attempting to make an escape.

Sid scoops the kitten up and edges carefully into the Kitten Room. “Of course, bud,” Maggie hears him say. To Maggie, he adds, “I’ll catch up with you, yeah?” The door shuts behind him before she can answer.

By the time Maggie’s finished with the pages and pages of adoption paperwork, Sid still hasn’t caught back up with her. She and Biscuit make their way back towards the Kitten Room to find him. He’s sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the little boy, and there’s a kitten climbing on his shoulder, trying to eat his hat, another one curled up in his hands. Maggie stands next to the glass door and watches them, a smile on her face. Next to her, Biscuit wags her tail at them. The little boy notices them and waves. Sid carefully hands the kitten in his hands to the little boy and disentangles the claws of the other one from his hat.

He’s grinning as he makes his way back to Maggie, easy and relaxed. He drapes his arm across her shoulders for a moment when comes through the door, and Maggie leans into his side.

“Have fun making some new friends?” she asks.

“He asked me if I could score a goal for him tomorrow night,” Sid says, laughing a little.

“Y’know, a cat would probably be a better pet for you, with all the travel and stuff,” Maggie says.

Sid digs his elbow into her ribs, but he kisses Maggie quickly against the car before opening the back door for Biscuit.

Margaret’s eyes were wet when she finished telling her story. She twists around in her seat to dry them before facing Jen again. It’s not even a sad story. She’d almost forgotten the memory altogether. It’s been a few years since Biscuit had passed now, but that sweet little dog had been Margaret’s anchor during the aftermath of their breakup. She should look into adopting another dog, Margaret thinks absently. Jen seems unfazed by, but not unsympathetic to, Margaret’s crying.

“And what do you want to say to Sid?” she asked.

Margaret had thought about this part, too. She remembered someone saying that Nathan MacKinnon’s message for Sid’s 100th game was too personal to show on the broadcast. She’d considered saying something vindictive, something petty. Her relationship with Sid had always been personal, and a part of Margaret wanted this last message to be just between them, too. But she worried that Jen would just scrap the footage if she said anything too cruel.

So Margaret settled for sincere, or as sincere as she could muster.

“Hi, Sid,” she starts awkwardly. “It was such a privilege to be by your side over the years, to be able to watch you grow into an amazing leader. To be there for the Olympics and for the Cups…it’s not something anyone is going to forget. I know it wasn’t easy to get this far, but you did it and you’re still going. I’m proud of you, Sid,” Margaret says. She takes a deep breath.

There is silence in the room when Margaret finishes speaking. She clears her throat. “Right, is that all, then?” she asks, already standing up. The small room they were in suddenly feels claustrophobic, and Margaret needs out.

Jen stands with her. “It’s perfect, thanks so much for coming in. I’m sure it wasn’t easy…” she says. Margaret wonders, again, how many details of their breakup Jen actually knows.

Margaret was already opening the door and rushing back into the hallway. She didn’t stop to check if the hallway was clear first, which is how she bumps straight into someone walking down the hall.

“Oof,” she hears, from a voice that was once as familiar as her own. A hand reaches out to steady her elbow. Sid hasn’t seen Margaret’s face yet.

“No, it’s okay, it was my fault,” she says, carefully not looking up at Sid. She pulls her purse strap back up and tries to edge around Sid before he recognizes her.

“Maggie?” Sid asks

Margaret freezes. Sid’s still gripping her elbow tightly. “Margaret,” she says.

“What?” “It’s Margaret. No one really calls me Maggie any more,” she tells him. Sid’s grip tightens even more for a moment before he drops his hand back to his side.

Margaret stops peering down the hall behind him and chances a look at his face. Sid’s jaw is tight, and he’s looking at Margaret like he can’t believe he’s actually seeing her. A member of team staff walks past behind Sid— Tags, Margaret is pretty sure— and pats Sid on the back as he goes past. Sid startles a little.

Sid takes Margaret’s arm again, and she lets herself be led into an empty room a few steps down the hall. Sid pushes the door mostly shut behind them.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come out,” Sid admits.

“I was told there wouldn’t be any players here,” Margaret counters. Sid winces, and it’s satisfying to see, briefly.

“Maggie,” Sid starts, but he doesn’t finish his sentence. He’s still staring at Margaret like he doesn’t believe she’s real.

“Stop calling me that,” Margaret says. She’s drained after sitting in front of that camera for Sid, and she doesn’t have the patience, suddenly, for whatever Sid’s about to say next. “Look, I should just go,” she says. “I should’ve never even come in the first place.” She finally wrenches her arm free from Sid’s grip.

Sid blinks at Margaret, confused. “I just thought-” he says, but, again, he doesn’t finish his sentence. “Well, uh, thanks, I guess,” Sid says, taking a step back. “It means a lot, I know it’s been a while.”

“Yeah,” Margaret says. “Yeah, well, I guess now we can go back to pretending the other of us doesn’t exist.” She moves to brush past Sid and out the door.

“Wait,” Sid says. He reaches to grab Margaret again, but thinks better of it. He shuts the door all the way. “What do you mean?”

“What do you think I mean? You made it very clear you didn’t want anything to do with me when you broke up with me. We went our separate ways, and I did my best to forget I was ever in love with you,” Margaret says. She makes a move to push past Sid again, but Sid stops her with an arm around her waist. Margaret spins back to face Sid, now boxed in against the closed door.

“Everything was happening so fast, I didn’t know what to do,” Sid tries, talking fast like he can keep Margaret from leaving by sheer force of will.

“So fast? Sid, we’d been together for almost seven years, when all of a sudden you broke up with me instead of giving me a ring!”

“Exactly! You wanted a ring, and I wasn’t ready for that,” Sid argues. “It was just-”

“Just so overwhelming you couldn’t even talk about it? Fuck, all I got was a ‘I want to breakup,’ and then we never spoke again.” Margaret didn’t think she had it in her to be angry about this after so many years, but Sid standing so close to her was bringing out all sorts of emotions. Fury, longing, heartbreak.

Sid makes a frustrated noise. “You’re the one who cut me out of your life!”

Margaret feels like she could scream. “You broke up with me, what the hell else was I supposed to do?” she says, trying to keep her voice level. She isn’t sure if she’s going to scream or break down crying.

“I just needed space! I needed time to figure out where we were headed,” Sid says.

Margaret opens her mouth to respond, but before she can, Sid’s mouth is on hers, kissing her fiercely. She lets herself melt into it for a second—the way Sid’s lips slide against hers, once so familiar, her back pressed against the door, Sid’s hands on her body, one clutching her hip and the other resting on her cheek—before she comes to her senses and pushes Sid away. Sid goes, breathing raggedly and looking stunned.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Margaret asks. Her hand is on the doorknob.

“I- I don’t know,” Sid says honestly. “I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry.”

Margaret should leave. She knows she should leave. She can’t help but ask, “Which part?”

Sid makes a face at her. Margaret hates the fondness she feels for that damn nose scrunch. “All of it. Everything. I’m sorry,” he says again.

They’re both quiet for a long time. There’s footsteps down the hall. “I should go,” Margaret finally says.

This time, Sid doesn’t stop her. Margaret pulls the door open and steps back into the hall. She looks back over her shoulder. Sid hasn’t moved.

“Goodbye, Sid,” she says softly.

She doesn’t pass anyone else as she makes her way back to her car. She drives home in silence. She doesn’t ever hear from Sid again. It’s probably for the best that way.

A few weeks later, Margaret gets a text from Jen. The game’s tonight, it reads. Margaret still hasn’t decided if she’s going to watch the game or not. She hasn’t seen a Penguins game since they won the Cup in 2017, hasn’t watched one on TV in even longer.

She turns on her TV.

1250 games isn’t nearly as big of a milestone as 1000 games was, but they’ll still be showing some of the pre-recorded clips throughout the game, mixed in with highlights of Sid over the years, or so Potash is saying when Margaret finds the right channel. There’s no pregame ceremony, just Sid blushing when the PA acknowledges the milestone before puck drop. It’s easy to fall back into the rhythm of watching hockey, though Margaret has to keep the roster pulled up on her phone to keep track of who’s who. The team is very different than she remembers, only a handful of players left who’d remember her.

They play Margaret’s video clip just before the end of the second period. The words underneath her name simply describe her as “friend of Sid’s” which is a bit of a stretch. “Sid’s ex-girlfriend” would certainly have been funnier. She mutes the TV; she already knows what she said, doesn’t need to hear it again. They’ve interspersed the clip with pictures of Margaret and Sid, some she’d even forgotten existed— Margaret and Biscuit and Sid with his dog Sam one summer, one a teammate had taken of them in a rare moment of PDA with Sid’s hips pressing Margaret into a wall in a hall at PPG, Margaret’s arms wound tightly around his neck, and the last one is one from Sid’s day with the Cup in 2017. She remembers that picture being taken, poking fun at Sid’s sunburn to get him to give the camera a real smile. The memory is bittersweet now. Margaret wonders which poor intern had to dig those up, or if Sid had offered them up himself.

“I’m proud of you,” on-screen Margaret is saying.

Margaret clicks the TV off. She stands up, stretches. Sid’s letter hasn’t moved from its place of honor on the floor behind the couch. Margaret fishes it out before heading into the kitchen. She smooths it out on the counter. The words are familiar, imprinted on Margaret’s memory. She rereads it anyway, then again. She misses Sid fiercely, all of a sudden, something in her chest aching at the thought. She stares at the letter without really seeing it, Sid’s thin, careful handwriting blurring together until the letters are indistinguishable.

With a sigh, Margaret crumples the letter back up and throws it in the trash.

She pours a glass of red wine and starts over on putting Sidney Crosby out of her mind forever.

#cait writes things #sidney crosby fic #sidney crosby imagine #pittsburgh penguins fic #pittsburgh penguins imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #hockey fic #hockey imagine

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noirineverysense · 2 years

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Claw's detective agency - part nine

The path to Pewtree's estate was lined with enforcers. Some picking through the garden as others held scanners above. The large wooden door had two uniforms stationed in front of it

Seems like they have the same idea as us.

One walks up to her, he had a bald scalp and grey strands sticking at the edge, his uniform darker than the others with dots of colour from the many medals and patches pinned to it.

"Garrison's gone off again, do you know where he is?"

Talon raises a brow. She had assumed Garrison was the type who took orders like a dog waiting for a treat. Maybe he decided that he'd rather take orders from Claw instead.

"You seem pretty high-ranked. Why don't you ask your lackeys to help you instead of me?"

The man's large eyebrows furrow, "I'd heard we'd taken help from designates and now an enforcer goes missing. Doesn't look good, if you catch my drift."

She laughs, "Yeah, it doesn't."

She pushes past him and heads toward the door. The two guards move in front of her, using their rifles to block her way.

"Listen to me, designate." The old man starts, "You answer to law enforcement or you'll- "

She turns to him, "No I don't have to do anything. And you're going to let me in-"

"Don't order me around!"

"Have you gotten anything? Anything at all, in all your time here. Any clues, anything Melissa has said?"

Rage strike through his face, "Are you saying a couple of criminals can do a better job?"

"We can, and we have. Melissa hasn't said a thing to you, has she? Way I see it, I'm the only one who she might talk to. Maybe I'll get a confession too."

The man looks down sucking in his anger with a breath before sighing in resignation.

"Let her in." He commands.

The one to the left of her hesitates, "Sir, I don't think we should be letting criminals into a crime scene."

"That's an order! Let her in."

She decides to be petty and give a small smirk to the guards as they open the door for her. She steps inside and the door closes behind.

Looking around the once pristine mansion, the place has become almost unrecognisable. Couches turned upside down, dressers laying om the ground, tiles picked out and shards of them scattered across the floor. Desperation seemed to be more the motive behind this than any sort of lead. Then her ears pick up a small sound of sniffling and sobs.

"Melissa?"

The sounds cut off immediately.

"Melissa, it's me, Talon. I just want to talk."

She hears movement upstairs before something is thrown from the top of the stairs. She flinches as something smashes on the tiles. Talon walks up to it to find what appeared to be shattered parts of a small plate.

"Get out of here!" Melissa shrieks, "Leave!"

Talon places a hand on the bannister as she turns to the stairs.

"Melissa, I'm not here to hurt you. I know it's been hard."

"Leave!"

Talon sighs, "I know it wasn't you who did this. Let me help you."

Well, she didn't know know but it's good enough for now.

The house falls silent which Talon takes as permission to head upstairs.

She finds Melissa hunched in the corner of a room with pink walls, a dolls house stood in the middle of the room with the Princess Poncy doll sat in front of it. There a tea set next to the woman and by that, a small bed.

Talon looks around the room in confusion, "You have a kid?"

At that, Melissa breaks down into tears and her words become barely comprehensible.

"She's gone! And now he's gone. And the house is a mess, he'll come back to a messy house and no child and it's my fault!"

She falls quiet again, leaning against the wall.

"It's my fault." She murmurs.

"Melissa- "

"Talon. That's not your name, is it? Not the one your mother gave you."

She freezes.

"My daughter's the same. She went down the wrong path, did the wrong things, s-said the wrong things." She says the last part as a whisper, as if terrified someone else was listening.

"She talked to a man with lots of scars and another older man and she left. All because I tried to let her have some freedom. Richard said we had to keep an eye on her, teach her right but I just didn't want her to end up like me."

Her head falls into her hands, "But she ended up worse."

Talon shakes herself, ignoring the hairs standing at the back of her neck, "She got designated?"

"Richard thinks so. He said to never mention her again, we'd be safer that way. And to throw away everything she had here. I refused but he burned it anyway. But I kept the toys she had as a child in the attic, I took them out when he wasn't around. I love them. The last bits of my daughter that are still here. That still want me."

"Do you think this has anything to do with Pewtree's disappearance?

"I don't know. I just, had to say it to someone. But the older man came by yesterday. He was asking after you and that other detective, I think."

Talon frowns as dread rises through her, "Did he say his name?"

"No, but he had grey hair and green eyes. He said he was helping you two out. And he was expecting you to meet up soon.

"Shit, Claw!"

Taglist: @painful-pooch @winedark-whump

#claw's detective agency

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yamithediaperdork · 3 years

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Let’s Make A Star! (MHA)

Let's make a star!

To the surprise of no one, Mineta was spending his Friday night doing what he did well, just about every night in his room: Looking at porn online. the shameless pervert was proud of his status though even if he was finding increasingly weird porn to look at, and tonight he'd decided to look into a fetish to spice things up. 'Man does not exist on tentacle porn alone' He thought with a little giggle, going to his favorite my porn site. Hmm'ing and ha'ing for a second, he decided what the hell and typed in adult diaper and soon was browsing the kinky world of grown women and men acting like babies and crapping themselves, though it wasn't quite getting him the thrill he was looking for. Not ready to give up the fight yet (he prided himself on being able to get off to almost anything after all) he went into a chat room for the ABDL's and asked if anyone had any good video's or pictures to recommend, saying he was looking for a super red faced or embarrassed diaper boy or girl. the response's lit up and he was showered with links, though most of them he had seen already to his disappointment. the last link however was one he'd have to pay to unlock, but since it was only 5 bucks and the title of it was 'super embarrassing diaper mess while cleaning the potty' Mineta figured it would be worth it. As the video started and he saw who the star was the pervert grinned ear to ear, this was WELL worth the five bucks!

Katsuki was in a bad mood Saturday morning. Not only had he had to go to class despite it being the weekend to do a stupid make up test for one he'd flunked, He'd been getting non stop text messages from grape head about wanting to meet up. 'Because THAT'S what I wanna do, hang out with a pervert.' Katsuki thought, just ignoring the texts, and having to turn his phone off while taking the test anyways. After handing the test in Katsuki was free to go and found the fucking perv waiting for him outside of the classroom. "You know, Ignoring people is rude." The little shit said, wagging a figure at Katsuki. "all the fucks I give about what you think are in my hand.. Oh look! there's nothing there!" Katsuki said and kept walking. Mineta apparently wasn't to be ignored, and dashed to catch up to him. "You know, you should be nicer to someone who could get you expelled." He huffed. THAT caught Katsuki's attention, and with it being just the two of them in the hell he turned around and looked at the pervert. "Really? and how are you going to get me expelled? By pissing me off so much I blow you up? I'd likely get a god damn medal." Katsuki pointed out with a smirk. "well as i understand it, Hero's aren't suppose to have pay to see porn out there, though yours is more interesting then most." Mineta said, a evil smile on his face. The smirk instantly dropped from Katsuki's face and his jaw dropped. "I-I don't know what your talking about." he stammered. "Really, so your NOT 'stinky little diaper boy for pay'?" Mineta asked, a mock look of surprise on his face. "That's odd, you must have a twin out there then, but hey, maybe I'm wrong, let's bring up a video an-" And the little shit was bringing up his phone and indeed was going to his saved video's folder. "W-wait!" Katsuki whimpered, his cheeks bright red. "Ok ok it's me, what the fuck do you want?" "Well what I want is a few things, but I think we should go back to your room and talk in semi private don't you?" Mineta asked, a smug look on his face. "..Yeah ok." Katsuki huffed, and lead the way.

Coming into Katsuki's dorm room Mineta was shocked at how pleasant it smelled in there when about 70 percent of the blond's video's had him taking a dump in his huggies. 'then again he would of been busted long ago if he hadn't of learned how to take care of it.' The pervert thought. Strolling over and taking a seat on Katsuki's bed, Mineta pointed at the floor for Katsuki to take a seat, and chuckled as he meekly did so. "So I think it's clear by now that I could destroy you with little to no effort on my part. the higher ups don't want anther pervert hero out there making the hero community look bad." Mineta started, enjoying the look of worry on Katsuki's face. "But before I make my list of demands, I'd like to know what exactly prompted you to start crapping yourself in huggies for pay." "I uh..I.." Katsuki was turning SUCH a cute shade of red and Mineta found himself loving his power over the much bigger and deadlier boy. "yes? Go on.." Mineta chuckled. "I needed to make some money fast for a bike I wanted, and my mom was refusing to help. then some pervert old guy said he'd buy the bike for me if I crawled around in a diaper and sucked on a pacifier for 2 hours. I figured I could always blow him up if he tried to cheat me or do anything weird but the deal went off. After I realized they had to be A LOT of people like him, and it was easy money..S-So Next time I got some money from mom I got a pack of diapers and well.. You know.." Katsuki trailed off. "Set up a pay to view porn channel where you crap your diapers and do walks of shame. And your saying nothing you do is really YOUR fetish, just doing it for the money?" Mineta asked. "Well um..I.." Katsuki whined big time and was poking two fingers together. it was so unlike him that Mineta was having to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. "I Might of semi kinda come to MAYBE like it a little...but it's mostly for the money. A lot of what I do is actually fan submitted requests and I only do the ones that come with a tribute attached to them." He finished up. "well I think if your gonna keep charging as much as you do, you're gonna need to step up your game and your camera work. I know it's tough for you to film yourself so I'll be helping you with that from now on." Mineta said, and seeing a argument starting to form on Katsuki's lips he stopped it in it's tracks."That's part of my demands to keep quiet so don't even think of fighting unless you wanna be famous around school. Second item on my list is that half of what you make though being a diaper filling perv goes right into my greedy little hand. I'm not helping you and keeping my mouth shut for free after all." Katsuki glared but then huffed and pouted, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor. "Third part of my list of demands is that you wear a diaper to class at least twice a week, we'll get you some thinner ones and you won't have to use it but I think it'll keep you from getting any big ideas. That's all, for now." Mineta finished up and gave Katsuki a look that dared the diapered for pay boy to just try and argue. "Your a fucking bastard you know that?" Katsuki growled. "Just for that, whenever we're in private from now on you'll call me daddy. go ahead little boy, keep mouthing off." Mineta said. "..Fine you win.." Katsuki huffed and slumped, knowing he was beaten. "I'm sorry, 'you win' what?" Mineta asked and leaned down and cupped Katsuki's chin, making the blond look him in the eyes. "..You win..Daddy." Katsuki whimpered. "Good boy! Now let's go and get you all padded for a new video." Mineta laughed and gave Katsuki a condescending head pat.

Katsuki was thankfully allowed to pick his own outfit and diaper himself as Mineta was busy going though the fan requests that Katsuki had been giving, using Katsuki's laptop and also copying his login information. "If I go to log in later and you've changed the password.." The purple haired bastard had said, trailing off but his threat clear. "I won't daddy." Katsuki promised. Katsuki went with one of his teddy bear print diapers, with a blue back round and then picked out a tank top that was slightly too short and showed a little bit of belly so the diaper wasn't covered at all, Blue back round and a big teddy bear on the front. 'I might as well look stylish if I'm gonna be blackmailed.' Katsuki reason, and then opened up a locked drawer in his desk. inside was a selection of 5 different pacifiers and of course each one went with a outfit/ and or diaper print he had. So naturally he had a blue paci that had a teddy on the mouth guard and had a string of darker blue cord so he could wear it around his neck. (he'd tried using paci clip's with ribbon but had almost gotten busted when he'd caught his nipple with one and shrieked out in pain.) Finishing up the outfit was to no ones shock a pair of blue socks with a smiling bear on the ankles. "heh, adorable. So how much have you actually sunk into this? because getting a outfit that cute couldn't of been cheap if you had to get it mailed in." Mineta asked. "The uh.. first half dozen or so shows were all about shocking up supplies." Katsuki admitted then added. "There was one outfit a fan sent me along with 300 bucks to do a private video but I got nervous and trashed it." "Tsk, naughty naughty! what was it?" Mineta asked. "...A fairy costume, with winks and everything and a really short tutu. I just.. I wore it to do the video and then got rid of it, lying and said my mess had leaked on it while changing. the customer got mad and hasn't talked to me since and actually blocked me." Katsuki said, wishing he had kept his mouth shut. Actually he was wishing a lot of things at the moment to be fair. "I See, well thats a shame they blocked you. we'll have to get you a replica at some point so you can do a free video to make it up to them. I assume it's too late to go and get it out of the trash." Mineta said with a disappointed look on his face. "Y-yeah, that was 2 month's ago." Katsuki squeaked. "Hmm, do you have the video saved somewhere? I'd like to see it." "N-No..I just sent the clip to him and then..like i said, got paranoid and deleted it from my computer. I doubt he even kept it." Katsuki whimpered. "heh, actually I bet he just went and uploaded it onto a free porn site to show everyone the naughty sissy baby..But I'll look for it later." "I-I don't think he'd of done that! It would be breaking a rule an-" Katsuki started, he'd never thought of that possibly before and now was going semi pale. "If it's on the net, I'll find it. but as I said that's a matter for latter. for now I've picked out one of the fan requests that's been sent four times already but you've turned it down each time." Mineta said with a evil grin. Katsuki's gut dropped and he whimpered, already knowing what request it would be. the fan in question was offering a tribute of a extra 200 bucks if the clip got made, but what they wanted was one of Katsuki's limits. A stroll in the halls in one of his baby outfits during the day. "W-We can't you have t-" Katsuki started to whimper but Mineta just gave him a evil smile. "Relax, if we're nice and fast about it, there's no way anyone will catch us..they're all out having fun, visiting their folks or studying in their dorms. Trust me, I don't want you busted and outed, then i lose my hold over you and end up a scorch mark on a wall." Mineta said. Katsuki huffed but had to admit Mineta had a point and they started to plan out how they were gonna do it.

25 minutes and one diaper change later (Katsuki's nerves had gotten to him) and the pervert was out in the halls, his camera phone set and gave a gentle cry of all clear to the door, then started to record. Katsuki poked his head out of his room, and looked around, then slowly walked out holding a series of smallish pieces of white cardboard and waddled down the hall closer to the camera and with his paci in his mouth, held them up to the camera. 'Hi! I'm a big silly stinky diaper boy, and right now I'm at school.' Katsuki counted down from 20 in his head then switched to the next card. 'I've been getting requests to show off my diaper butt in the halls during the day. it's Saturday so almost no one is here but still..' And he grimaced and suckled loudly looking around as he counted down then swapped card. 'I REALLY hope no one see's me in the halls like this! I'm kind of a bully and this would RUIN me!' ruin had 3 underlies under it and Katsuki scrunched up his face and squirms, and when it was time... 'But I feel so excited and naughty out in the halls like this! Thanks Meaniesitter_345 for the request!' putting the cards under one arm, Katsuki used the other hand to rub the front of his diapers and then walked away from the camera, going down to almost the end of the hall and coming back. He was gonna go and do the same for the other side of the hallway when some loud voices were heard. "Mannn i can't believe you got us kicked out of the arcade Hanta!" grumbled the voice of Mezou. "hey, that little bugger was hogging the machines, Somebody had to do something!" came Hanta's reply. Katsuki's eyes went wide in fright and he shot a look at Mineta who nodded and pointed for Katsuki's door, both of them rushing and barley getting in and slamming the door before the other other boys could round the corner and see them. laying against the door in case they tried it and both the baby and the perv panting, they could hear the boys keep arguing, only pausing to ask if the other smelled baby powder. "nah, we have to be imaging it. I mean, who wears baby powder around here?" "I dunno, Izuku cries a lot soo.." Both boys laughed and kept going.

'Almost busted in the halls' was uploaded a hour later after some minor editing and with in the first 15 minutes it had been viewed 70 times. with the clip only being a dollar and shot much better then his others it was going like hot cakes and the comments were pouring in, Katsuki was more popular then ever. 'LOL bet baby crapped himself when he was almost caught!' 'Boooo! you should of stayed in the hallway and let them see you!' 'Was anyone else hoping his door was gonna be locked? LOL' 'OMG your so cute!' 'Hey, how do I request a clip? do I just PM or what?' It was that last one that Mineta answered first, telling people to send all and all requests to the inbox, Blondie baby had a new manager who would make sure as many of them could filled as possible, though tributes would help push certain ideas over others. Katsuki for his part sat on the floor, hugging his stuffie and rocking back and forth a bit, hoping that Mineta wouldn't notice the slight smell coming from that wasn't going away. when he'd almost been caught he'd started to mess himself but had clamped his bowels down, and had been told to wait till 'daddy' was finished with the big boy computer stuff before asking permission to use the potty. His tummy was gurgling and it was getting harder and harder to hold his back door bomb in and he whined and whimpered around his paci as he suckled it, then waved one arm trying to get Mineta's attention from where the perv sat up on the bed, using Katsuki's laptop. "-Sigh- what is it Baby butt?" Mineta asked, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice though mentally he was delighted. It was pretty clear that the blond diaper bitch had at least started to fudge his huggies, even if Katsuki shook his head no every time he was asked if he had. 'just like the fucking big baby your dressed up as.' Mineta mused. "I-I gotta go poo poo!" Katsuki whined, having taken his paci out and whimpered. "it's gonna be a BIG one! Please let me use the potty!" Dropping his teddy bear, Katsuki knelled forward, both hands pressed together. "..Allllright..but only because I don't wanna change a shitty diaper. off you go." He said, smirking and jerking a thumb to the bathroom. Katsuki nodded and smiled and relaxed a bit, and moved to crawl into the bathroom.Sadly as it would turn out, relaxing was the last thing he should of done. He barley moved when a loud gurgle from his tummy was heard and Katsuki gasped and whimpered. "N-Nooo!" he whined and grabbed at his tummy while going face down and ass up in front of the bathroom door, about to load his diapers. Never one to pass up a opening like this, Mineta grabbed the phone and started to record as Katsuki loaded the seat of his diapers, blorting out the back of the teddy bear diaper and making them vanish. 'heh, This is gonna be SUCH easy money." Mineta thought, then the smell hit him and he wrinkled his nose. 'Maybe not as easy as I thought...'

the end for now.

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chayacat · 3 years

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Devil’s Sweet Star (43)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut

***

A lot of things happened last night, a lot of revelation especially, the whole thing having been concluded by a... wild night. You could feel aches everywhere, it must be said that you did not go slowly, you and Jed... I mean Danny. It will take you some time to accept this reality. All this time, this dear Jed, this boy who seemed shy, adorable and very concerned about the others, was actually the one who at night, was going to commit murders, but also come to see you, under the name of Ghostface. It will take you time, but you will still have to adapt quickly. Because only one misstep and Only God knows what Danny will do to you.

You were still in bed together. You felt aches and pains along your body, and it's no wonder, with the beast sleeping next to you. He was wilder than when he was Jed. much wilder. He was turned towards you, his hair scattered all over his pillow, his face peaceful. You gently release a strand of hair from his face which made him react. And without having time to realize it, you find yourself glued to him, his arms blocking you like a child who hugs his teddy bear tightly. Luckily, you're not working today. But you still want to get up. You try to get out of your way but all you get is Danny's grunts and a slightly tighter embrace.

“Hmmm... stop moving.” Said Danny grumbling a little.

“You are slightly crushing me against you. And I want to get up.” you respond.

“Why? You don't work today, if I remember correctly.”

“Yeah, but I can’t stay in bed all day. Come on Danny...”

Danny grumbled again, letting you get up before complaining even more when he heard his phone ring. He got up, before taking the latter and looking at who dared to disturb him so early. It was his boss Mr Hembrook. You could notice that a twisted smile appeared on his face, as if he already knew why his boss was calling him. And in a sense... you also have your little idea about it.

“Hello? In 20min? Yes of course Sir why?... Are you serious? Yes, yes, I go there right now. Okay, he's going to be happy to see me... You too sir. Good bye.” said Danny before hanging up the phone and looking at you with a wide smile.

“What did he want?” you ask even if you already knew the answer.

“Wilhelm is at Hoggins' villa... they have just found his body. And my boss wants me to go there to get some information. And help Wilhelm if possible.”

“I suspected it a little. You must be proud, all this time you made everyone believe that it was Hoggins who killed McKellan and made up everything to make it look like a Ghostface murder... and there... You literally turned everyone's brain upside down.”

“That's what it's like to be me. I have had plenty of time to improve since my first murder. I made mistakes, adapted my modus operandi according to the situation, and I created my own signature. I confess that I didn't really like attributing MY McKellan's murder to Hoggins, but I had to draw attention to him. In addition, this moron brought me everything I wanted on a silver platter.”

“You mean everything you found on Hoggins was true?” you replied surprised.

“Honey, I am a criminal, but I am a journalist first and foremost. Everything I found and showed you on Hoggins is true. I can't really have fun falsifying documents that need to be published in the newspaper. Otherwise, my boss will suspect something. No one fools him so easily.” He responds before getting up and head to the wardrobe to pick up clean clothes.

“In this case I come with you.”

“Oh? Do you want to see in what state I left this bastard? You know that curiosity is an ugly flaw... but if you insist, I'm not going to say no. And that way you can reassure yourself about his death.”

You both have breakfast quickly; you get dressed and Danny took his bag that contained his journalist's belongings. You could see in his office another bag, surely the one in which he put his Ghostface’s outfit and others. You leave the apartment to get into Danny's van, setting off for Hoggins' house. It's going to be weird to go back there for a murder, when that's where the reception was held. An unforgettable evening. During the ride, you discussed everything and nothing as if it were one of your usual days. Once he arrived in front of the hoggins' house, Danny parked, turned off the engine and took your arm before you went down.

“Remember what was said last night. For everyone, I am Jed. So, no missteps, otherwise... I would be obliged to make you assimilate them... in a less diplomatic way. Oh, and try to pretend you don't know anything. Let us avoid drawing attention to ourselves.” He said before letting you go.

You leave the vehicle and join Wilhelm in Hoggins' office where his corpse is. When you arrive in the room, a vision of horror, and a desire to vomit, took you. You turn your head by refraining from vomiting, indeed, we can say that Hoggins is dead. Danny has accomplished his little revenge with perfection. The latter was talking with Wilhelm explaining the reasons for your presence. After all, in the eyes of the law, you are a civilian, and civilians do not have to be at the crime scene.

“Are you okay Miss? If you want to vomit, you have the toilet which is just the room after from the left. Anyway, the owner of the house is no longer able to do or say anything against you.” Said Wilhelm looking at you.

“Yes... Thank you.” you simply respond.

“Well... we can say that he was more than creative this time. I knew he had imagination but here, it's too much for me.” Said Danny.

“The worst thing is that this bastard leaves a little note. He was the one who killed McKellan! he used Hoggins as a scapegoat. Goddamnit !” replied Wilhelm, hitting the wall next to him.

“It cannot be said that Hoggins was a saint... there was quite a bit of evidence against him too. I think that Ghostface knew this and that he used it. This guy is always spying on his victims...”

“This is not wrong Olsen... this is not wrong. In the meantime, I thought I could end McKellan's murder, and in the end, not only it’s not the case, but I also find myself with Hoggins' murder on my hands! I'm going to smash that dirty little asshole if I catch him!”

You see Danny making a discreet but sneaky smile behind Wilhelm, something you shake your head slightly at. He had done this not only to take revenge, but also to make fun of Wilhelm. You wanted to hit him on the shoulder, but it would be useless. what is done... is done. And then, like Danny told you earlier, it's better to avoid attention on both of you.

“He literally crucified him. And turn that cross over to make him a demon. It’s really twisted. Maybe a follower of religion? One of these... Satanists? In a sense it would not surprise me. Given all the blood he sheds.” said Wilhelm.

“Maybe... or maybe not. That's the problem with Ghostface, he knows everything about everyone, but nobody knows anything about him.” said Danny.

“I find it strange ... he seems to appreciate you well Miss. Because all those who tried to harm you are dead.” Replied Wilhelm, looking at you.

You look at the two men, not knowing what to answer. Danny made you understand that you had to quickly find an excuse or something to say. Otherwise, suspicions will arise on you. It was inevitable and real, Danny killed everyone who got too close to you and threatened you. Think pickle brains, think!

“Great...as if McKellan and Hoggins hadn't been so... horrible, I had to attract the most twisted murderer in the city.” you respond, faking an annoying face.

“All we have to do now is know why. it's not like you've been living here for a long time, and Ghostface had started his murders long before you arrived. But here, it seems that he is tired of attacking small fish, he wants to catch the bigger ones.” said Wilhelm looking at the reverse cross.

“Go find out what big fish he's going to attack next time... Me... You... or the mayor.” said Danny, taking notes.

Wilhelm and Danny exchanged a look that meant everything. A cold settled in the room. Don’t forget that these two men do not get along at the base... If you didn't understand why with "Jed", now that you know the reality of things, with Danny, it didn't surprise you in the end. Still, be as close to the one who wants to capture you... you really have to be twisted to play so much with fire. Both took notes, observations of the crime scene, and recorded hypotheses about what might have happened.

It was demoralizing to see how Danny was making fun of Wilhelm, knowing himself that he’s the perpetrator of this murder. He knew how to lie, that's for sure. You were sure that he convinced himself of his own lies. After a few hours, you and Danny end up leaving the scene, Danny "promising" to notify the inspector if he ever had any information. On the way back, you look at Danny pouting like a child unhappy that he didn't have an ice cream.

“What?” Danny finally said.

“You should be given the medal for the best liar in the world. And the best actor too. You act as if nothing had happened and you provoke the inspector without thinking that there will be no consequences or that he will not suspect you by saying this.” you respond.

“Ha ha I know Honey I know. I was born with this talent as an actor. It's innate in me. And the same can be said of you.”

“Except that compared to you it doesn't make me happy to lie to people. And I pray that no one will ever discover the truth.”

“Oh, you can. Because if it happens... I'd know where it came from.” replied Danny.

You take a lunch break to eat, as usual, at the park and then around 1pm, you quickly stop at the newspaper, while Danny aka "Jed" or "Jeddy" according to Mattew, reports to his boss. It was fun to see the locals where Danny was working, you were the first "civilian" to go inside, at least to go up to the office. Usually, when you deliver the cakes for the newspaper, it’s the security guards who take care of receiving the packages.

Mr. Hembrook greeted you warmly it was the first time he smiled like this. From what Danny told you, he wasn't the type to joke about, he was someone very serious about his job. But, outside, no one knows how he is. After a few hours of discussion about the article to be published on Hoggins, a discussion in which you took part, you both leave the Roseville Gazette’s building and get back in the van.

“So? What do we do now?” you ask.

“Well normally tonight I had planned to... find a new victim. Or start this article. But you see, I don't want to. I want to spend a quiet evening, without work, without murder, just you and me. So... What would you say about a short trip to Zanesville just you and me? there are many more things to do than here.” Danny said with a bright smile.

“Oh, you're doing a rebellious teenage crisis again? the one who only wants to have fun and nothing else?”

“Ha ha. Really funny. I may have been a model student, but I knew how to have fun. Okay, so? it's yes or no, Miss Rainbow...” replied Danny chuckling.

“Hey! You promised me to not call me that.” you respond, hitting him in the arm.

“Correction, JED promised you to not call you that anymore. Not me. So?”

“...Fine. But promise me to tell anyone about that.” you said sighing before laughing.

Danny restarted the van and set off for Zanesville. The road was made in music, and even being himself, Danny still had the same musical tastes than when he was Jed. Indeed, Zanesville has more to offer in terms of entertainment than Roseville. A big city has everything, but it will never replace the tranquillity of a peaceful small town. You looked through the window at the various shops, restaurants, libraries, and even the arcades! there were also shops that sold CDs and films. Basically, there was everything, in addition to grocery stores and small supermarkets.

“Ready to have fun?” asks Danny.

“Ready!” You respond smiling.

I hope for you that you know how to hold out until late... very late. Because there, with Danny... you're not ready to go to bed anytime soon. Oh no you're going to be awake all night. Let the party begin!

Until your body lets you go.

***

(I think I'm at my... 6/7 run of Road 96 and I still never get tired of it! the good thing about this game is that each road is unique, even if we know the different answers we can give, we can create multiple situations that can lead either to our arrest, our death, or our freedom. It's a game with a gripping story and also very endearing characters. Well, I must admit that Zoe now... as soon as I see her, I want to kick her in the head. She's not a bad character, and I know she doesn't do it voluntarily, but she always puts us in danger every time we meet her. And after a while it's just irritating. I hope you’ll like this chapter like the other ones! Well, it's time for my brain to rest! Have a great weekend to you all! See ya! )

#dbd fanfic #dbd #dead by daylight #ghostface #danny johnson #jed olsen

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2460nodone · 3 years

Text

Trophies

Title: Trophies Category: Plays/Musicals » Les Misérables Author: AliceInSomewhereland Language: English, Rating: Rated: T Genre: Drama/Romance Published: 05-19-13, Updated: 05-19-13 Chapters: 1, Words: 3,671

Summary: They meet on their respective fields - his, baseball, and hers, soccer - and it changes everything. Enjonine modern AU for the Fic War on tumblr! Oneshot, rated T for language.

originally written for the e/e fic war and posted to ffnet. prompted with “soccer AU, baseball AU” by tumblr user samthenardier.

Chapter 1/1

He's not quite sure when he first noticed her.

Perhaps it was the weekend Courfeyrac hit the ball out of their diamond, and, as he played in the outfield, she reached him first to return it. He hardly paid her any mind, only nodding in thanks. She was clearly just as busy as he, covered in dirt and soaked with sweat, her shin guards smeared with grass stains.

Perhaps it was the weekend that it rained. Bahorel and Grantaire, playing on his team that weekend, were highly distracted when the women with whom she was playing declared their match to be shirts versus skins. She seemed to be the chief in insisting that it be the girls who played as skins, against the shirted boys.

The boys on his baseball team couldn't help but stare as the girls stripped, their shorts rolled low on their hips and clinging to their thighs in the rain, their tops bare, save for their soaked-through sports bras.

He noticed that she and her friends were frequently shooting glances in the direction of the baseball diamond, delighting and giggling when his teammates and opponents fawned over them.

Perhaps he noticed her the weekend that it was so hot they almost had to cancel – she, again, was shirtless, but this time her sports bra was soaked with sweat. They watched as she poured cold water over her face and head and shoulders – his teammates with hunger and desire, he with disinterest.

Perhaps it was the weekend he saw her running to their diamond, soccer ball under her arm and her hand entwined with another girl's, one with dusky skin and dark hair. They sat in the bleachers, watching and cheering and laughing. It was quite distracting. Afterwards, he watched as she made a beeline to Marius, just as Joly and Bossuet appeared to be racing to talk to her friend first.

He paid her little to no mind, though he did notice when she wasn't there sometimes, especially because his baseball team (and often their visiting competition) and the eternal pick-up soccer game that she participated in often went out for drinks together after their respective games were over. It seemed oddly quiet when she wasn't there, rare though that was, but it also irritated him when she was there, because she spent the whole damn time mooning over Marius and trying to get that freckled fool to pay attention to her.

He never bothered to interact with her; in fact, he didn't even know her name. Nor did he try to learn it. Whenever she came into his peripherals, he merely acknowledged her mentally as "Marius' Shadow."

However, everything changed when he was leaving the park one day, and came across her corned up against a tree, an older man who must have been her father screaming in her face as she cowed. When the man hit her across the face, he lost it.

He dropped his things, and suddenly he was next to her, then in between her and the man, then shoving the man away and shouting things that he didn't remember later. They tousled briefly, resulting in a bloody nose on his face and a black eye on the old man. The man stormed away, screaming and cursing at them.

When he turned, he didn't even have time to react before she slapped him sharply across the face. It left him momentarily dumb; he wasn't sure whether to pinch his nose to stop the bleeding or hold his smarting cheek. Then she was shouting at him.

"I don't want your help! I'm not some sort of damsel in distress that needs rescuing from some bourgeois knight in shining armor!" She shoved him, though it was hardly strong.

Her lip was bleeding and was starting to swell from where the man hit her.

Ten minutes later, he was in the dugout, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Hey," a voice said behind him, startling him. He turned, and there she was – fat lip, messy dark hair, long, thin legs and a torso hidden by an oversized jersey. She held a plastic bag in her hand.

He just sniffed blood, trying to keep it from running down his face more, and stared at her. He was hardly forgiving; if she resented his interference, he wouldn't interfere. He had a bloody nose and probably a black eye (try explaining that one at work tomorrow), all because he was trying to help her. So as far as he was concerned, they had no reason, especially now, to interact at all. He wanted nothing from her.

"Sit down," she ordered. Her tone surprised him; it reminded him of how his mother or his teachers would talk to him as a child. He wondered where she picked it up. Then he sat.

She put the bag on the bench beside him, digging around inside. From it, she pulled gauze, an ice pack, hydrogen peroxide, and band-aids. Without a word, she began mopping up the blood on his face.

"I'm sorry I slapped you," she murmured, keeping her eyes fixed on the blood that was still gushing from his nose.

He shrugged.

"It was my dad. It wasn't the first time," she told him quietly. He wondered why she was telling him this; from the look on her face, she was wondering the same thing. Then, "I'm Eponine. Eponine Jondrette."

He regarded her for a moment, and she finally met his eyes. They were a beautiful, bright brown, flecked with gold, but were dark and angry from the memories that were undoubtedly cycling through her mind. He looked at her lips; dried blood had trickled onto her chin, though she hadn't seemed to notice.

"Enjolras," he said. "Gabriel Enjolras."

Eponine's lips twitched into a small smile, then she got back to work on cleaning him up.

When she was finished, she threw the first aid supplies into her backpack. "I'll buy you a beer," she offered, "as a thanks – and an apology."

He's not quite sure why he kissed her.

It was several months after the day he fought her father.

They were heading off to the park together. His league's season was over, but he and his friends still met each weekend for pickup games. She had wormed her way into his friend group, and they had invited her along, eager to teach her how to play baseball. In return, she was going to teach them a little bit about soccer.

She met him on the corner near his apartment – it was more convenient for her to cut through his neighborhood to reach the park, as she lived a few blocks away.

"We need to run to my place," she said when he found her, not bothering to greet him. "I would've gone alone, but my phone was dead and I didn't want you to think I was ditching you.

Though they lived relatively close together, there was a marked difference between his neighborhood and hers. His was more affluent – he was a lawyer, the only son in a wealthy family, and therefore, his apartment was large and well decorated and safe.

Eponine's apartment, however, was one room of a giant, sketchy-looking complex. She joked that this was where the meth-heads came to die.

He worried for her safety.

Inside, however, she had done her best to make the place comfortable. It was colorful, but tasteful – very bohemian, but it worked because it was so Eponine.

She had hung curtains to separate her small bed from the rest of the room, and disappeared behind them for a few moments.

When she reemerged, she beckoned him over. "Enj, these are my soccer trophies from high school. I was being scouted for college, being offered scholarships and even full rides, but then I blew out my knee."

He hadn't known. He knew she was good, but not that she could have started in college. Nor did he know that her knee had ruined her opportunity to get out of – well, out of this life. It broke his heart; she could have truly been something quite incredible. She was smart, she was driven and talented, but lacking the resources to rise out of the life she so despised. To have come so close, only to have an ill-timed physical issue rip her chances away – he couldn't even imagine.

"That sucks, Ep, I'm so sorry," he told her sincerely.

She smiled warmly, though he could see a touch of bitterness in her eyes. "Whatever," she shrugged, "I have all these crazy trophies for my trouble!"

And she did. There must have been more than 30 of all colors and sizes, from participation awards to tournament placements to MVP's.

"My collection would totally kick your collection's ass," he teased, nudging her with his elbow. "I was given a partial scholarship to play in college. I wanted to go pro. I didn't have time for anything else, not even girls. My entire life revolved around baseball and school."

She looked at him. "What happened?"

He stared straight ahead at a trophy she had won her sophomore year of high school for most valuable player. "My priorities changed," was all he said. He could hear the hardness in his own voice; out of the corner of his eye, he saw her searching for something on his face before she turned back towards the trophies. He cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, reaching out and touching a medal, "all my trophies are at my parents' house."

"I like having mine home with me," was Eponine's soft reply.

He looked at her. There was a faraway look on her face, an absent smile on her lips. "They help me remember a time when I was happy." She seemed to be talking to herself now, and he wondered if she remembered he was there.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, all of a sudden, and he felt something building inside of him that was foreign and, if he had to admit it, a little frightening.

When she turned to him, a questioning look on her face and an inquiry forming on her lips, he kissed her, swallowing whatever it was she was about to say. She responded immediately against him, and he pulled her body flush against his instinctually when her lips parted against his.

He's not quite sure why he slept with her.

He had never been with a woman before.

And she was vulnerable; he couldn't shake the feeling that he had taken advantage of her.

Marius and his girlfriend, the perfect, blonde Cosette, had gotten engaged.

Eponine had showed up at his door, in tears and completely inconsolable. So he ordered pizza, and ran to the liquor store around the corner for a bottle of Jack.

Three hours later, she was straddling him on his couch and kissing him wildly, half the bottle abandoned on the table behind her.

The whole experience, as intoxicating and wonderful as it was, was like being with a hurricane. It was wet and strong and dangerous, but he loved every second of it.

When he woke the next morning, she was in his kitchen, dressed in one of his t-shirts, making breakfast.

She kissed him good morning.

He's not quite sure when he fell in love with her.

They were out all night.

It was a warm night, in the middle of spring, a summery breeze sweeping through her hair and toying with the hem of her dress as she skipped around him.

Eponine didn't want to go home, and had talked him into staying out with her all night and going down to the docks to watch the sunrise.

"I've never seen the city when it sleeps," she had said.

They weren't together, per se, but Marius was married and Eponine was putting him behind her and now whenever she saw Enjolras she kissed him. He didn't hate it.

They had sat on the docks, swinging their bare feet inches above the water.

She grabbed his hand, humming a song into the wind. She was being strange; it was that mix of happiness and sadness that he'd learned to associate with her. Like she's almost ready to be happy, almost ready to let go of her problems, but she just can't.

She took his hand as the pre-dawn sky turns purple.

She kissed his cheek and then his lips when it turns pink.

When it turned orange, its bright glow lights up her face.

When the sun broke free of the water, she laughed. He had never seen anything so beautiful.

And that was when he knew: he'd fallen for her.

He's not quite sure why she wouldn't let him save her.

Eponine was stubborn, and always refused his help. He frequently reminded her that it was his job to help people, that it was his calling, but she would just snap at him that "a calling is a thing for entitled bourgeois boys," and that those he was "called" to help did not always want it.

When her little brother died, hit by a car in the middle of the night, he was not sure she'd ever come back to him.

She pushed him away. Stopped seeing him, stopped meeting him for baseball or soccer, stopped coming to his games and stopped showing up to her own. She wouldn't even answer her calls. Nor would she talk to any of her other friends.

Musichetta, her soccer friend, and Joly were dating, and even Musichetta had not heard from her in weeks.

When he finally saw her again, her face was gaunt. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and hadn't eaten in weeks. Her already thin frame clung to her bones, her cheeks were sunken in, her hair was dirty and unkempt, and her hollow eyes had dark circles.

He didn't know how to save her, but for god's sake he tried.

He's not quite sure why she left him.

It isn't fair – that's the only thought that's cycling through his mind right now.

He's been sitting in this chair for, well, he doesn't even know how long. His friends keep coming to check on him, but he barely hears them. They can't say anything helpful anyway. They don't know.

All he can think of is her, of those precious moments by her side, as he stares straight ahead.

Directly in front of him is her casket. And he can't take his eyes off it, off her lifeless body laying there for those attending the wake to gawk and cry over.

He can't cry, he can't eat, he can't feel. He briefly wonders if this was how it was for her when little Gavroche was killed, and if that was the straw that broke the camel's back in her life.

He wonders, much more extensively, why he couldn't save her. He was always reminding her that saving people was all he wanted to do. He just wanted to help.

Why hadn't he been able to help her?

It was a sunny afternoon. They were sitting on the stairs of her fire escape. She was under his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Not everyone wants to be saved, Enj," she told him. "Not everyone will let you."

"As long as you let me save you, that's fine," he replied.

She said nothing for a long while. "It might be too late for that," she whispered, avoiding his gaze.

And it was. It was far too late.

She was gone.

The only woman he had ever loved, ever cared for, ever had time for, was dead.

This was a woman who had opened up an entire new world for him, and he would never see her again.

He's not sure what comes next; now that he's lived in this world of hers, he isn't sure if he can live without her.

When he's angry at her, angrier than he's ever been before, he curses her name, screaming at her ghost for leaving him behind, for ruining his life.

He hates her; she destroyed everything about him, everything he was, and left this empty shell behind. He was fine before - he didn't know what he was missing, and ignorance truly was bliss. He was settled in his life. But then she appeared in it, and turned it upside-down.

He tries to breathe.

Azlema, her younger sister, walks up to him.

She wraps herself around him, and he lets her, squeezing her tightly. She, of course, knew Eponine too (in a way that his friends didn't), and just as he lost the love of his life, she lost her older sister - and her baby brother. So she understands.

"She loved you, Enjolras," Azelma murmurs, her voice shaking with emotion and thick with the tears that spill from her eyes. "I know she never told you, but she told me. She loved you, and she would've wanted you to know."

He cries.

He's not quite sure how he picks up the pieces.

It's been forever, but it's also been no time at all.

His nights are cold and lonely, and his days are torture.

Grantaire has moved in with him, though perhaps that wasn't the best decision on the part of his friends, as the other man is so full of anger and sadness himself that all they do is spend their time drinking.

Combeferre seems to catch on, because then he comes to stay, too.

Suddenly, he's forced to eat the food Combeferre has cooked. He's forced to look at Grantaire's artwork and give his opinions, he's forced to go to work and do a good job again.

He's forced to look at her photographs every day (but that one he does to himself), too. In them, she seems happy. She's bright and beautiful and alive. God, she used to be so alive, even when she was miserable, even when she was depressed. She could be in the worst mood, but being around her was like being in the middle of a beautiful storm.

He misses that.

Eventually, Courfeyrac convinces him to come play a pickup game.

It feels good, being back on the diamond. The power of the ball as it flies from his hand, the feel of the wind in his face as he runs from plate to plate. He especially likes being at bat, because smacking that fucking ball into oblivion is suddenly the most therapeutic thing.

And then the game is over and his friends leave and he's slamming his stupid bat into the ground, raging in the middle of the field, screaming at her at the top of his lungs and undoubtedly causing quite the scene.

He collapses, and then someone is there – Jehan, perhaps? – speaking to him, trying to calm him.

But what does it is Eponine.

No, she's not there, of course, but he sees her team playing soccer on the next field. Or maybe it's a different team, he isn't sure if her friends play here anymore.

He looks up into the overcast sky, closing his eyes to the clouds, and can almost hear her laughter carried to him on the wind.

He goes home, pulls out the trophies he took from her apartment and those he took from his parents' house. He places them in pairs around the apartment, wherever they fit - his next to hers and hers next to his wherever he can find the room for them.

"They help me remember a time when I was happy," she had said that first time he kissed her.

And she was right.

There they were, once again – playing baseball, playing soccer together, just like when they had become friends. This time, however, their endless games were in his apartment. But looking at their trophies together was, for some stupid reason, extremely comforting. It made him feel like she was there, in these dumb objects she had been so proud of.

He sees her in them. They make him think of her. And he misses her, he does, but she would want him to be okay.

She would want him to keep on playing, because she wasn't able to.

And that's exactly what he's going to do.

Fin.

#enjonine #enjonine fanfic #enjonine fic #enjonine fanfiction #e/e #é/e #eponine x enjolras #enjolras x eponine

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trashfor-imagines · 4 years

Text

How I Met Your Mother Father: Haikyū Edition! | 2

Ft. Oikawa / Iwaizumi / Ushijima / Tendo / Semi

Summary: How you met your husband-o! Warnings: I took creative liberties regarding Ushijima’s story and how the Olympics work. Also I’m sleepy and going back in and editing my mistakes. :)

Part 1: Ft. Kuroo / Bokuto / Akaashi / Yaku Part 3: Ft. Daichi / Sugawara / Asahi / K. Ukai

Oikawa Toru

You and Oikawa met in university. You were studying for a degree in Kinesiology & Sport Science and your goal was to get into Sports Medicine and work for one of the National or Olympic teams.

It was by chance you joined the men’s volleyball team as their manager. You originally gunned for track and field, but a mishap with your train pass at the station made you late for sign ups.

On your first day of practice you arrived early to get a head start on things - ordering uniforms, getting sports drinks ready, gathering clean towels. You were coming back from the laundry room when a ball was headed straight for you. Fear reached your knees decided to lock them in place so your first instinct was to block, holding your palms out, but the sheer force and velocity caused your hands and the ball to be thrown back, still smacking you in the face and quite literally knocking you off your feet.

Lying there, you wanted the gym floor to open up and swallow you whole.

“Are you ok?! I’m so sorry!” Eyes fluttering open, you looked up into brown eyes, wide with worry.

“Well boys, this is your first year team manager. Oikawa! I thought I told you first years to stop showing off! Take responsibility and help her to the nurse’s office. When you come back you’ll be doing flying laps until I say stop,” the coach yelled, blowing a whistle and signaling the start of practice.

He picked you up easily in his arms, some of the boys who were out of earshot of the coach whistling at him. Now that you weren’t lying on the ground and he wasn’t so close in your face, you could really take in his features and god was he handsome. You really did wish the ground had swallowed you whole.

The nurse flashed a light in your eyes. “Well, you’re definitely going to have a bruise.”

“You don’t have to stay with me,” you told told Oikawa as the nurse looked you over for signs of concussion.

“I feel bad; I just want to make sure you’re ok,” he reasoned, giving you his most charming smile.

“If you feel bad, then you can make it up to me later instead of using me to stall facing your punishment.”

“It’s a deal. No take backs, my cute manager,” he sang, quickly escaping before you could rebut.

And that’s how you ended up going on a date with Oikawa Toru and marrying a year after he went pro.

Iwaizumi Hajime

You sighed, resting your chin in your hand as you watched Iwaizumi from across the library. While most girls at school fawned over Oikawa, you were absolutely smitten with his best friend.

Letting your shoulders drop, you turned back to your textbook, tapping your pencil eraser to the tip of your nose as you bit down on your lower lip, clueless that the boy who’d invaded your thoughts had noticed you.

Months later and graduation was today and it was official. You’d spent the whole year pining for a boy you’d never ever spoken to. In a month you’d be starting college and hopefully someone new would catch your eye.

The summer wasn’t exciting. You spent your time packing for Tokyo and wandering around town, hoping to catch even a glimpse of Iwaizumi in passing; no luck.

You were starting classes at UTokyo in a few weeks for two degrees in Creative Writing and Publishing. You wanted to write stories and if you couldn’t do that then you wanted to help people get their stories out there.

First day of classes were incredible. Everything was interesting and you were reignited with a new sense of excitement. You’d almost forgotten about why you were so mopey before.

It was Wednesday and you were on your way off campus to find lunch when you felt your heart skip. There he was just across the courtyard; Iwaizumi.

Was he seriously here too? Gripping your hands tightly around your book bag, you considered your options.

New school.

New city.

New you.

Right?

Breathing steady, you quickly crossed the courtyard. The closer you got the stiffer your body felt and the more your hands shook until you couldn’t walk anymore. Your feet were glued in place and you watched as Iwaizumi walked right past you.

Dammit.

As weeks passed it was like high school all over again. Now that you’d seen him once, he seemed to be popping up everywhere and it was driving you mad. You even saw him at a coffee shop off campus the other day.

You sat in the library, studying for your first exam. Nervously, you bounced your restless leg as you tapped your pencil’s eraser against your forehead, frustrated.

Things were supposed to be different.

You barely registered when someone sat next to you.

“If you aren’t careful, you’ll leave a mark on your face.”

Your face flushed and you dropped your pencil; that’s Iwaizumi’s voice. Almost mechanically, you turned your head and met his gaze.

He sat with his body turned toward you, arm propped up at the elbow with his cheek resting on his fist.

“I wasn’t sure it was you, but now I’m positive,” he said, smiling at you. Smiling at you. You’d only ever dreamed.

“You know... who I am?”

“Well yeah, we went high school for three years together.” His voice was teasing and everything you ever wished for. “I was always busy with school and volleyball, I never gave myself a chance to talk to you.”

“You wanted to talk to me?”

“I might have seen you looking at me a few times.” There it goes. Called out. You were a stuttering mess. There was no way you could play it off now.

Letting you flounder a bit more, he rested his hand on your bouncing knee, sending a jolt of electricity through you, and that expression on his face told you he might have felt it too.

“(Y/N) why don’t we go out and we can catch up for lost time?”

And that was how you and Iwaizumi Hajime became inseparable ever since, marrying a few years after starting your careers after college.

Ushijima Wakatoshi

The Olympics were almost every athlete’s dream.

You were raised to play, eat, breathe, and dream gold.

Gold medals that is.

All your life you’d been on national teams and qualified for the Youth Olympics in Track and Field at 14.

Now, four years later, you were off to the actual Olympics. You were boarding the plane to London for athletes who were heading over early. It was a long flight with a layover in Turkey.

Dressed in leggings, your Team Japan Olympic sweatshirt, and slipping on a pair of comfy house shoes you wore specifically on planes, you snuggled into your window seat, gazing through the small frame of glass.

You snapped out of it when you felt someone sit in the seat beside you. Turning, you felt your jaw slack slightly at the large and fit build seated right next to you.

Okay, full disclosure, you were boy crazy deep inside. Your parents didn’t allow dating and drilled into you that boys were just a distraction from your dreams.

“Go for gold. Boys come later.”

But holy shit. He was looking right at you too. Oh my god, was he talking to you? What was he saying?!

Oh right.

Smiling, you reached up and removed your earbuds. “Sorry, what was that?”

“My seatbelt.”

You felt your mouth run dry. His voice. Was life serious right now?!

“Sorry,” you laughed lightly, reaching under your thigh for the belt strap, handing it to him. You might have handed it to him in a way so that your hands touched on purpose. Maybe you didn’t. All you knew was that you wanted to keep talking to him and you definitely wanted to touch him.

“Thanks,” he spoke simply, buckling in before facing forward.

Okay, you mouthed silently, straightening up in your seat. Tucking a stray hair behind your ear, you turned to him again. “I’m (Y/F/N), Olympic Track and Field.”

He turned to look at you. “Ushijima Wakatoshi. Volleyball.”

A man of few words? “You know, I think I recognize you now.”

“We were featured in the same article in Number last month.” His voice was blunt.

Your eyes widened. “Wow! You remembered what article we were both in?”

He didn’t respond, but by god, he just said more than just three words to you and it was a full sentence. You gave a few more tries at making conversation, but he had no response. With a sigh, you shrunk into your seat and put your earbuds in.

You weren’t sure when you’d fallen asleep, but you were awakened by a jerking and shaking motion. An arm was wrapped tightly around you as the cabin continued to shake and rattle.

A ding sounded and the captain made an announcement: “Sorry passengers, but we’re currently experiencing some turbulence. We’ll be adjusting our flight pattern. Please stay seated with seatbelts fastened.”

The hand on your arm tightened, but you were tucked tightly into his side to where you couldn’t adjust your head to look at Ushijima’s face. Reaching over, you placed one of your hands on top of his and he adjusted to hold your hand tightly, as your other arm stretched across his torso, holding onto him.

Even when the plane moved into less turbulent air space, he continued to hold onto you and eventually you slept again.

He woke you up when you landed in Turkey and asked if you’d spend the layover with him in the airport while some of the other athletes left to explore. Though most of the conversation was one sided with you talking and him listening, there was a connection and when you finally made him laugh, you knew you wanted to always be the reason for his smiles.

When you finally reached London, you spent as much time as possible with one another before the events began; morning runs in the city, sightseeing, eating meals together, taking tons of photos together.

You’d won gold in the 500 meter. The volleyball team won bronze.

When the both of you finally returned home to Japan, the two of you stayed in contact as more than just friends, but he’d never label your relationship out loud.

That’s how you and Ushijima Wakatoshi, medal winning Olympians, ended up together, keeping your relationship on the down low and out of the press for two years and marrying just before the next Olympic Games.

Tendo Satori

As far as you were concerned, Tendo was an insensitive goof.

You had known him since you were babies, your mothers were best friends, and by god he was the most annoying force to ever appear in your life. Your childhood was filled with plenty of hair pulling and teasing.

It was embarrassing when girls started growing breasts and you were still flat as a board. His teasing was unrelenting. And when you finally grew some semblance of breasts? You didn’t even want to get started on that nightmarish period of life.

When high school came around, he was like a second shadow to you, never far. It was irritating, but you tolerated it.

He wasn’t an idiot, managing to also get into Shiratorizawa. He also knew when you were reaching your limit with him and he’d instantly change his behavior, turning into the sweet and gentle boy you first knew.

Hell, you even welcomed his attention at this point. There weren’t any other boys looking your way. As soon as you’d start talking to a guy, the next day they’d avoid you like the plague.

He was your best friend.

You hated him.

You loved him.

Second year didn’t seem to be any different from first year. Valentines Day came around and a boy you’d been crushing on rejected your chocolates. It was absolutely embarrassing.

You studied in the library, keeping yourself mentally preoccupied, while waiting patiently for Tendo to walk you home after school, you only hoped his practice didn’t run late like normal.

You heard girls whispering about your rejection earlier. It was so hard to not just break into tears. You’d been holding them in all day.

After a couple hours, you slammed your book shut, temporarily stopping the whispers while you packed and left, waiting for Tendo outside of the school gates.

“Hey washboard!” came his cheery voice.

Biting your lip, you kept your head down as you walked with him down the street. You hadn’t made it ten steps before stopping, trying to hold in your sobs. Reaching into your bag, you pulled out your thoughtfully wrapped rejected box of sweets and held it out to him.

“Weren’t you going to give these to that Suzukita guy on the swim team? Chicken out?” He turned the box over in his hands.

Balling your hands into fists, you snatched the box back from him. “Look Sato, if you don’t want them then just say so!”

He took a better look at your face, noticing streaks of tears down your face. With a small growl, he snatched them back before tearing into the box, eating a couple of pieces. “I didn’t say I didn’t want them!”

Shoulders trembling, you let yourself cry freely.

Tendo frowned, brows furrowed in worry. Stuffing the chocolates into his bag, he held your hand, pulling you along with him and walking you home silently. No jokes. No teasing. Just the sweet boy who always made you hold his hand when you were toddlers.

Your troubles weren’t over just yet though. White Day came along and you weren’t ready for the horror show of feeling alone again.

The day was uneventful. You hardly spoke to anyone. Even your girl friends avoided you so they didn’t accidentally make you feel bad.

White Day was lonely and it sucked.

Thankfully, the day didn’t drag out and Tendo didn’t have practice, just a quick team meeting, so you waited at the front gates like normal.

“(Y/N)! Ready to go home?” he asked, ruffling your hair.

You shrugged, running your fingers through your hair in an attempt to fix it.

“Hey.” He caught your wrist, gaining your full attention. Holding out his hand, he offered you a small white box with a white ribbon. “Here.”

Carefully, you accepted, removing the ribbon and handing it to him. You opened the box and a small smile made its way onto your face. Marshmallow chocolates. You got them once when you were little from your dad. You shared them with Tendo and hadn’t had them again since.

“Thanks, Satori,” you whispered, unable to meet his eyes.

He reached forward and grabbed a lock of your hair, clumsily braiding it before tying the end with the white ribbon from the box.

Reaching down, he took your hand, walking you home. As the two of you walked, the hand holding yours began to fidget. Glancing over you watched as he slipped a white beaded bracelet from his wrist onto yours.

Stopping, you let go of his hand to look at it. Peeking up at him, you caught the faint blush on his cheeks before looking at the hand made kid’s bracelet carefully.

SATORI <3 (Y/N)

“Sato...”

“It’s true. I... I love you, (Y/N).”

And that’s how you and Tendo Satori ended up attached to each other for life, getting engaged after high school and marrying after college.

Semi Eita

“What can I get you?”

Those were the first words you ever spoke to him. He was dressed casually and brooding at the bar you worked.

At night, you worked at one of the many tiny bars in Shinjuku’s Golden Gai, a huge tourist trap, and during the day you were a student at Bunka Fashion College.

He wasn’t much of a talker and wore an unmovable scowl, but he bought drinks all night and didn’t bother you unlike the other customers.

You were surprised when he showed up again the next night, and the night after that, and again after that.

When he stepped into your tiny bar for the sixth day in a row, on a Monday night, it was almost automatic the way you moved, pouring him a whiskey before setting the glass and bottle down in front of him.

It was pretty quiet tonight. And late. There wasn’t a ton of activity. In fact, your only other customer left within the next thirty minutes, leaving you and Mr. Serious alone.

“Let me know if you want something different for a change,” you said, laying out some books on the counter before hopping over the bar and taking a seat at one of the eight stools - the only seating in the whole place.

“What are you reading?” His voice surprised you. Honestly, you almost forgot he was there.

“Ah, it’s for one of my classes. History of sewing, basically. Kind of boring, but they say I have to learn it,” you shrugged, laughing a little.

“Where do you go?”

You smiled at him in a teasing matter, holding a finger up to your lips. “Can you keep a secret?”

He quirked a brow. “Promise.”

“Hmm... I guess I can trust you,” you teased, “I go to Bunka. Students aren’t supposed to have jobs so my life’s in your hands, okay?”

He scoffed, masking a laugh that almost escaped him. “Sure.”

From that night forward this was a common theme. He’d stay late and when it was just the two of you left, you’d have deep conversations and talk about anything and everything either of you could think of.

You learned quite a bit about him.

He was a musician in a band and a civil servant.

He was stressed about some projects he was working on, which was why he started coming to the bar.

He liked “your calm energy” and how you didn’t bother him; that’s why he kept coming back.

He played volleyball in school and was a setter.

His favorite food was tekka maki.

He was a Scorpio.

His friend used to tease him a lot in high school about how he looked in clothes so now he tried to be more conscious of how he dressed.

Soon your relationship evolved from just bartender-patron. He was inviting you to his concerts and asking to see you during your time between school and work.

You recalled him mentioning wanting to find a new casual jacket that didn’t make him look weird, so you spent a few days in your design class making him a jean jacket you thought would flatter him.

He met you outside of the school building one evening - the two of you had plans to go to a night market for dinner and try the different stalls. It was supposed to be chilly so it was the perfect time for you to give it to him.

“Semi! Here, this is for you,” you said, holding out a simple gift bag to him. You literally finished today, applying some patches and last minute details. “Go ahead and open it.”

“(Y/N)... This is exactly what I was looking for.” His normally grumpy expression was softer as he held it up, examining it. He noted there wasn’t a tag and he was pretty sure there was the tiniest bit of blood on the collar. “Did you really make this for me?”

You stuttered, “I-I know y-you were having a hard time finding something you liked so I thought you deserved something you wanted.”

“I... deserve what I want?” he repeated, looking you in the eye.

A blush flared across your cheeks. “Well... Yeah.”

He paused, taking in your face and how different you looked when you were flustered. “I want to date you, exclusively.”

And that’s how you became the musician Semi Eita’s girlfriend, marrying a year later.

#oikawa toru #oikawa x reader #iwaizumi hajime #iwaizumi x reader #ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima x reader #tendo satori #tendo x reader #semi eita #semi x reader #haikyuu!!#haikyū!!#haikyu #volleyboys #how i met your father #fanfic #reader insert #aoba johsai #shiratorizawa

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justjessame · 3 years

Text

Starting Over Chapter 18

The box took both Connie and me to drag out of my parents’ room because I refused to have this “party” she mentioned in their room. We pulled it into my bedroom and Bryn’s eyes lit up at the sight of the wrapped packages peeking out of the top of the box.

“Don’t you dare, little girl,” her mama admonished, “these are Brooke’s presents.”

The pout that popped onto Bryn’s face was worthy of a medal, so I asked if she’d like to help me with the burden of unwrapping my bounty. With a squeal that probably made dogs howl a few blocks away and an addition of hand clapping, she hopped onto my bed and waited patiently for me to join her while Connie rolled her eyes at the two of us.

“I’m pretty sure I only gave birth ONCE,” she squinted at the both of us, but her grin came back easily as she pulled out the first package and handed it to me. “THIS one,” she tapped its ‘Happy Birthday’ wrapping paper, “is the one that’s MOST important so open it first.”

It was kind of big, which made me curious about why it was on top. Mom hated things to be out of sorts. Big on bottom and angled to smaller on top, that way nothing got broken or squished. It was heavy too. Offering a side to Bryn, telling her to be careful of the paper, so she wouldn’t end up with a horrible cut, we worked to get rid of the paper first. The box under it gave nothing away, since it was just plain cardboard, clearly repackaged by my parents.

Opening it, I felt the breath leave me and my eyes started burning. “He didn’t JUST put out feelers,” Connie offered, sitting down on my other side, while Bryn’s tiny fingers were gently touching the shiny black and silver that was waiting inside. “There are cards inside of people who were interested in talking to you. And he went to EVERY single store, talked to ANYONE who claimed to know anything about the best equipment, this is the best camera and accessories, Brooke.” It was, I knew it was, because I’d coveted it during my school years, high school and college. The electives I’d allowed myself to play with had been photography and THIS camera was the dream.

The rest of the gifts were just as thoughtful. Mom had bought me the things that mom’s think to buy their daughters - perfumes, pretty clothes, and the silly kitschy stuff that dads don’t always think about. Dad kept picking up more accessories for the camera. Tripods, flashes, he even bought me antiques - things he knew I’d find joy in. Connie was right, my parents had known me more than I knew myself.

We had lunch, sandwiches and chips, before we moved to the shed. I had no idea what was waiting for me. I mean, what could my dad possibly have left to surprise me with after all THIS?

He had TWO things, actually. Because Dad was nothing if not an overachiever. Once lunch was finished, and Bryn was cleaned up and ready to go outside, I grabbed the key to the lock and we headed out.

“Still having Demetri do the yard?” Connie asked, taking stock of the hedges and the grass. I nodded. “He’s not doing too bad, but you might want him to pay more attention to that one -” she pointed to a side that I didn’t notice and sure enough it was a little off.

“You’re such a -” I snorted, but then sobered, because I was an adult now too. Shit, that was sobering. Unlocking the shed, I braced myself. The shed was actually basically a garage that my dad used as his workshop. So I knew it would smell like wood shavings and varnish, which was a scent I associated more with him than his cologne to be honest.

As the door opened, I was distracted by the dust motes dancing in the sunlight for a moment, but then the flashed on something shinier and my mouth dropped open. There, in the space where a car SHOULD have always set, but usually our family car had set at the curb was a car alright. Just not the car I remembered, since it had been totaled by the asshole who killed my parents after a night out on the town.

It was gorgeous, but I’d never seen it before. “They had Joey and his brothers working on it for awhile,” Connie’s voice seemed to be coming from down a LONG tunnel. “Your dad said you said something about liking this model -”

I’d been thirteen. Dad and I were out together, while Mom was having a girls’ day. He’d taken me to a car show and I was enjoying the day with him, looking at the different cars, the oldies and the weirdly macho looking ones too. I’d seen it from across a field and just lit up, or so he told the story that way anyway. A ‘66 Mustang GT Convertible in candy apple red. I’d been mesmerized and Dad had jokingly - so I’d thought - promised that he’d get me one, one day.

Well, here it was. In the shed. The same candy apple red, the same convertible top. And all I really wanted? Was my dad to be beside me to tell me that I was glowing and to laugh about it.

It took me a few more beats to get my shit under control so I wasn’t falling completely apart. The car was pointed out, so I could drive into the alley and onto the street and NOT into my backyard and through my damn house. Connie had the keys, but she told me there was a set in Dad’s bedside table too.

That wasn’t my only surprise in the shed. My dad had actually partitioned off the side, so the car fit perfectly, his workbench was still there, but he hadn’t really been in the creative mood while I was gone - saying he’d get back to it when I came home and got my damn car out of the shed. It was in this sectioned off part, a room of sorts, that my other present lived.

A dark room, in case, “you want to work with the photographs ‘old school’,” Connie offered, showing me the chemicals he had stored appropriately. “The paper is over here -” she showed me, and I was more than impressed. “Your mom helped, she looked it all up and came in here and set it up.”

All of this work, on the off chance I came back. A car, and a possible future - ‘just in case’. I looked around the room, the overhead lamp the only light since they truly understood the assignment of “dark room”. My parents were amazing and I - I felt like a weight was being added to my chest, like I was losing the ability to draw breath.

“I wish they were here,” it came out a breath, but I meant it so much. “I -”

“I know,” Connie came over, she was holding Bryn, but that didn’t stop her from hugging me too. “I know, Brookie.”

#bucky barnes/oc #the falcon and the winter soldier #alternate universe #fluff #slow burn #eventual smut

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hedwigstalons · 3 years

Text

High Expectations - Ch23

Yes, this fic is still being written. No, it is not abandoned despite the *gulps* month since that last chapter went out.

@willow-salix has been her usual amazing self with the editing (and extra amazing for helping me through the stuff that has contributed to the huge gap in writing).

Earlier parts: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One , Twenty-Two

AO3 chapter link

Chapter Twenty-Three

Thwack

Virgil’s eyes tracked the arc of the baseball as it made another short journey up towards the ceiling before landing in Alan’s waiting hands.

Thwack

He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the teen sprawled on his back on the couch. He knew Alan was only doing it to annoy him having been told he couldn’t start another game with the arrival of John imminent but it was taking all his willpower not to snap, he didn’t have the energy for the argument Alan was obviously spoiling for. As soon as the missing sibling turned up they would be settling down for dinner and Virgil had decided he would rather deal with a bored Alan than try and drag him away from whatever virtual world he was immersed in when the time came to eat. Except the expected ten minutes had already ticked closer to an hour and John still hadn’t appeared.

Thwack

It didn’t make the actions of his brother any less annoying in the meantime. It certainly didn’t help that he had a test to study for. Where had Alan even managed to get a baseball from in the first place?

Thwack

The door to the small apartment he shared with John clicked open and Virgil audibly sighed with relief as his immediate younger brother finally showed up. He closed up his books, giving the page a baleful glance as he did so; he hadn’t taken in a word in the last half hour and knew time was running out.

“Fiiiiiinally.” Alan caught the ball with one last thwack and sat up, popping the ball on the seat next to him. “Virg said you would be back by six.”

“Sorry,” John looked sheepishly at the clock that was now ticking closer to 7pm, “I got held up on campus but I treated us to take out take out to make up for it.”

Alan’s eyes lit up at the prospect of food. Delicious smells were wafting from the paper bag John carried and his stomach rumbled. Take out was a rare treat, hell, even eating in company was a rare treat; their father was increasingly slipping back into bad habits and didn’t often make it back in time for dinner. Since his shift to online school he could sometimes go three or four days without seeing another human being unless he ventured out of the apartment, it was one of the reasons he could be found so frequently on John and Virgil’s couch.

“What have we got, Chinese?” Alan asked.

“No, Thai. There is a nice little place two blocks away that does an amazing spicy shrimp soup and their pad thai is pretty decent too.”

“You went to the Mango Tree?” Virgil’s mood lifted at the prospect.

“Yes, I went to Mango Tree. Don’t expect me to do this every time, I just thought you could do with a pick me up seeing as exams are on the horizon and I don’t think we’ve introduced Alan to it yet. Plus, I’m late.” he said, placing the bag on the table on his way past to the kitchen.

The Thai place, a little gem they had discovered within their first month at Tracy College, had become a firm favourite but one reserved for special occasions, or apologies in the case of tonight. Virgil was quick to clear away his files to make space on the table that was currently doubling up as a desk and by the time John returned with an assortment of spoons, forks and chopsticks, the containers were already laid out.

Alan wandered over to claim his place between his two siblings, feeling guilty at the reminder that Virgil was meant to be studying for exams. He knew his actions had been irritating, he’d even been deliberately varying the gaps between his throws so Virgil couldn’t get used to the rhythm, but he was bored and it hurt that yet another person couldn’t be bothered to show up when they were meant to.

"So how are you getting on with freight transport law?" John asked between slurps of his soup.

"Slowly," Virgil growled, casting a frown towards Alan who at least had the good grace to look shamefaced.

The interaction didn’t pass unnoticed by John who directed his own frown at Alan. While the other brothers had, in turn, taken on the holistic care of Alan, John was more focussed on his education, especially knowing Alan’s determination to head into space one day. Finding out that Alan had transferred to online school had been a surprise but to find out it had followed a bout of truancy had left him furious. He wasn’t prepared to let Alan screw up his education and he certainly wasn’t going to let him drag Virgil down either, he knew this exam had been weighing heavily on his brother’s mind and the last thing he needed was unnecessary distractions.

“Didn’t you have any work to be getting on with?” John asked the recalcitrant teen.

Alan tried to stare John down but found that his most introverted sibling had learnt to hold his own under scrutiny, at least where family were concerned. He dropped his gaze on the pretext of picking a piece of chicken out of his pad thai and tried to sound nonchalant. “I’m ahead of myself so I took the day off.”

“That’s no reason to disturb others, Virgil and I both have some key exams coming up and you need to respect that if you want to keep coming here. And anyway, there’s no such thing as being ahead of yourself on your study programme, I know you picked one that lets you submit work at any time and complete your diploma at whatever pace you want.”

“Was hoping you’d be here,” the voice was small and dejected, all the fight gone before it could properly build. He didn’t really want to argue with his brothers but sometimes it felt like the only way to be noticed was by challenging authority. He was never going to win a gold medal, unlikely to win a scholarship and certainly wasn’t going to get military honours. With those more admirable routes to gaining attention taken away from him that just left being a problem; he had to remember that his brothers were not like his father and he could actually talk to them without needing to be summoned first.

John watched Alan visibly wilt under his gaze, crushed by the force of his disapproval and it took a moment for the words to sink in. The others had occasionally joked about Alan being his shadow or asked what it was like to be up on a pedestal but he usually shrugged it off. Now, hearing that simple hope voiced with such longing John was reminded that it wasn’t entirely a joke, that of all of them Alan strived for his attention and approval the most and with that came great responsibility.

“I know and I’m really sorry. The guy leading the seminar today was an expert in broad spectrum communication arrays and I wanted to run some ideas by him. I’ve been working on some theories on multi-frequency monitoring and didn’t know when I would get another chance to talk to him.” He paused, realising he was babbling in his attempt to make Alan see that this had been important, that he hadn’t wanted to be late and really did care. But Alan didn’t need his excuses, what he needed was his brothers. He took a sip of water and refocused his attentions. “Look, I don’t have any classes until 12 tomorrow so we can do something together in the morning. In the afternoon you can either stay here and do your own work or come with me and sit in on my lectures.”

“It’s not freight law is it? Cos that stuff sounds dull as anything.” He knew John was trying to make up for being late home and ordinarily he would have jumped at the chance to gatecrash some lectures but he was still hurting and not ready to forgive him so quickly. “I really don’t get why Virgil is even getting his space licence anyway, let alone for transport pilot.”

Both John and Virgil decided to ignore that comment. Alan had grown up a lot lately but they both knew he had always viewed space as the personal domain of himself and John and was still prone to the occasional flare of jealousy that Virgil was getting space rated too, seemingly on a whim. The news of Virgil’s first trip into orbit had been greeted with a flare of temper that saw Alan rejecting all calls for a week.

“I don’t have to take that one, although I do have a few units of my own I could do without. No, tomorrow is nutrition and physiology.” He noted the eye roll that suggested Alan wasn’t enthused with those topics either. “There’s no need to decide now, just see how you feel tomorrow, but you can’t spend all afternoon on video games , if you stay home you’ll need to get some school work done or Dad might stop you from staying over.”

Alan knew that was an empty threat. As long as he kept turning in grade cards at regular intervals and was on track to finish his diploma no later than if he had been in school then he was fairly confident their father wouldn’t even think of banning the trips to Kansas. If anything he seemed to be keen to have Alan out of town as much as possible as his overseas business trips became more frequent.

The prospect of getting to spend at least the following morning with John lifted Alan’s mood considerably and the rest of the meal passed without incident.

xoxoxox

John quietly pushed open Virgil’s door. The light spilled out, momentarily lighting up the tousle haired figure on the couch before it was blocked by John as he quickly slipped inside, leaving the door ajar behind him. He took in the piles of notes on the desk and the bucket sized mug beside them, now empty of the coffee he knew it would have contained.

“Anything I can help with?” he asked, perching on the edge of the bed that really ought to be occupied already.

Virgil spun his chair around. “No, thanks, it’s not difficult, just tedious.”

This was something John could empathise with. While they each had a different specialism and focus to their course, both had encountered topics that less than thrilled them; for Virgil freight transport law was a topic he was unable to feel enthusiastic about but it was a necessary component to his studies.

“Working through the night isn’t going to help.”

“I need to make up the time, I didn’t get much studying done earlier.”

“Alan?” John rolled his eyes in a way that suggested this was a statement rather than a question. The attitude over dinner had shown that Alan had been in a bad mood and he knew that Virgil was too soft to just put the teen in his place.

Virgil nodded then yawned, space law wasn’t a thrilling topic at the best of times and his focus was distinctly wavering. The effects of the coffee were wearing off and, much as he would like another, the coffee maker was loud and he didn’t want to risk waking the teenager currently sleeping in their living area.

“Why didn’t you just work in here?” To John it made absolutely no sense that his brother had set up at the dining table when he had a perfectly good desk in his own room where he could have gotten on with his work in peace as he was doing now.

“Couldn't you feel how much he wants our attention? He may have been a pain in the ass but I couldn’t disappear and ignore him when he’s only just got here. I’ve got time. The exam isn’t ‘til Thursday, I can study once he’s asleep.”

“Not tonight you aren't ,” John frowned as yet another yawn escaped his sibling, “and you haven’t been ignoring him, Alan said you took him flying this morning. Have you gotten any studying done today?”

“Not enough,” Virgil groaned, casting another glance at the scribbles on permitted loads and which cargoes needed to be registered with the Space Authority prior to launch. While his study time may have taken a hit he didn’t regret taking his youngest brother flying, the pure joy Alan exhibited while in the air was a world away from the loneliness he had confessed to on the ride back from the airfield. “But at least Alan still wants to talk to me.”

“Still nothing from Scott?” John sighed. He could see how much the growing distance between his two oldest brothers was preying on Virgil’s mind; freight transport law really didn’t stand a chance.

“Nothing worth mentioning.” He raked a hand through his hair in an action that had John raising an eyebrow. Virgil squirmed slightly under the gaze that suddenly seemed far too knowing and he was reminded that, while John might be guarded about his own emotions, that didn’t mean he wasn’t observant to the moods of others. He really didn’t want to be unloading all his concerns onto John, it was part of the unwritten code of older brothers to not burden the younger ones, but with his usual outlet and sounding board going awol being one of his issues he found himself leaning on his next in line.

“I’m worried about him,” Virgil confided, “we used to talk all the time but now I’m lucky if I can keep him on the line for three minutes at a time and my messages go unanswered for days.”

“Perhaps he’s just talking to Gordon more, ever since the whole WASP thing those two have been a lot closer.”

“Maybe, but since Gordon started on the bathyscape he’s been pretty busy. That’s one of the things Alan was telling me ; Gordon used to check in with him every couple of days but since taking command and starting his course he’s really cut back on contact. I’m worried that Scott isn’t talking to any of us. There is something going on and I don’t like it; you know how he can be when something’s bothering him.”

John had never had the kind of bond with Scott that Virgil had but he knew well enough that Virgil’s instincts for these things were generally to be trusted. It was almost uncanny how Virgil was able to sense upset and tension in his brothers and more than once during his time at Harvard John had found himself on the receiving end of a well timed holo-call or care package.

“Do you think it’s Dad?” While John might not have been explicitly confided in before he certainly wasn’t stupid, he’d picked up on the tone of his brothers’ calls before the topic of the future had become verboten. Even if he hadn’t there was no ignoring that fact that Scott hadn’t been attending the scheduled group calls with their father and the ire this raised despite Jeff’s thinly veiled attempts to brush Scott’s absences off as down to unavoidable Air Force commitments. It didn’t take a genius to work out that relations between Scott and their father had become strained.

“Could be. You know well enough that Dad still won’t even consider a plan that doesn’t have Scott as field commander, he talks like it’s a done deal and I know Scott hates that, he feels like he’s had all free will stripped away. If Dad has been getting at him again that would certainly be getting him down.” Virgil picked up his mug and tipped it back, grimacing when it only yielded a few cold and bitter drips, before setting it back down heavily. God he needed more caffeine but he wasn’t quite ready to resort to the emergency energy drink stashed in his desk and he had a suspicious feeling John wouldn’t let him have it anyway. He turned back to the problem in hand; now he’d started confiding in John he may as well keep going. “Thing is, that doesn’t explain why Scott has started avoiding me. I’ve been careful not to mention the whole business to him, I’ve had my head chewed off too many times and since Scott made it perfectly clear he isn’t joining we just agreed to not talk about it. No, I think there is something else going on, something more than just Dad, but he keeps shutting me out.”

“Try not to worry about Scott for now, or at least not until after Thursday. At the moment all you need to focus on is that exam.”

Virgil cast a rueful glance at the hated notes. He knew John was right, once the freight law was out of the way he could throw his energies at distant siblings a lot more freely, or at least he could until the next exam came along. The problem was, without Scott on the team, he wasn’t wholly convinced that the exam was going to mean anything. .

“Do you think we can do it? I mean really make it work. Cos with only the three of us I just can’t see how it'll be possible. Even with Scott it would be a stretch but without him…” he tailed off, unwilling to say out loud what he was really feeling, that the whole thing was a fool's errand. No amount of good intentions and determination would be enough to run the outfit successfully with just him, John and their father.

John could understand his doubts. He had plenty of them himself, none of which had been dispelled by the many calculations he had run, trying to find some tiny shred of evidence that said the dream could indeed be made reality. Looking at it logically he knew their father’s vision was an impossible fantasy but it was a fantasy he wanted to believe in. He wanted to live among the stars and the venture was nothing if not noble.

The notes on freight law lay abandoned on the desk as the brothers continued to talk through their fears, hopes and dreams, unaware that the figure in the next room wasn’t quite as asleep as they thought.

Xoxoxox

“So, what’s International Rescue?”

There was a splutter as John half choked on a spoonful of granola. Virgil set the coffee pot down on the counter and carefully schooled his features to a neutral expression before turning to face his brother.

“What was that, Al?”

“You heard me,” the nonchalance of the original question now gone, Alan’s voice was aggressive and challenging. “International Rescue.”

Virgil darted a look at John but found no help there, the latter was still wiping tears from his eyes having finally dislodged the clump of oats. Any hope of passing it off as nothing had been dashed by John’s unfortunate and very obvious reaction to the question. He sighed, reclaimed the coffee pot, and brought the whole jug over to the table. There was no way he was facing this conversation without caffeine and he had a feeling he was going to need more than one cup.

“You want me to get you some water?”

John gave another cough and shook his head. “No, I’m good, thanks.”

“Are either of you going to answer me or are you just going to ignore me like Dad does?” Alan was bristling with indignation which was coming across with a brattish pout.

“I’m not ignoring you, I just...you threw me, that all. How did you find out?”

“I heard you two talking last night.”

Virgil poured himself a mug of coffee and quickly drained half of it, despite it still being scalding hot. The thought that this was a problem of his own making settled like a lead weight in the pit of his stomach. He tried to remember just what he and John had talked about, he knew there had been a lot both about International Rescue and the family in general, and he wondered how much Alan had overheard. “We thought you were asleep.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t.”

“Look, it’s not that we don’t want to tell you it’s just Dad forbade us from talking about it.” Indecision and worry played out across Virgil’s features at the prospect of defying a direct order.

“Gordon made you promise you would tell him.” John cut in, a little unhelpfully in Virgil’s opinion. “If he heard us talking last night he may as well hear the full story, now is as good a time as any.”

Alan had heard Scott’s name crop up last night but Gordon hadn’t been mentioned in relation to whatever this mysterious plan was. Discussions on Gordon had been limited to WASP and the course he was doing with CalTech from what he had heard. The knowledge that the entire family was hiding something from him, including the brother he thought he could trust the most, came as a bitter blow, resentment that had been building for some time came crashing out.

“Gordon knows too?" he clarified, not wanting to believe it. "I hate this family sometimes, I hate that I’m just some afterthought. I thought Gordon was different, I thought he cared. Guess I was wrong.” Alan could see the hurt he was causing as the words hit Virgil like a whip, but he was too angry to care., if anything it felt good to see his brother feeling the same pain that he was.

“That’s not true, Alan, ” Virgil assured him, trying to soothe some of the hurt that was bubbling out of his youngest brother. “Gordon does care, we all do.”

“Yeah, well you’ve got a funny way of showing it. I’m always the last to know everything, it’s like I’m some massive inconvenience. I might as well just pack my stuff and get out of your hair.”

Alan pushed his chair back from the table with a scrape and started grabbing the belongings he had discarded around the room over the course of his short visit, shoving them into the open duffel bag at the end of the couch. He could deal with the others knowing stuff but Gordon was different. It had hurt so much that Gordon hadn’t confided in him about WASP and now it seemed that he had been betrayed again. Gordon had made that transition into adulthood, someone worth telling stuff to, and he was still some kid to be kept in the dark. Alone.

“Alan, please, it’s really not like that.” Virgil was after him like a shot, grabbing his brother’s arm in an attempt to halt the furious packing. The blue eyes that spun to face him contained a mix of tears and venom.

Alan tried to pull away, embarrassed at the emotion he couldn’t control, but hearing that Gordon had been keeping secrets again had stabbed him in the heart. The hand on his arm became a full on bear hug and Alan found himself wrapped in solid muscle with no hope of escape. He struggled for a moment then stilled, giving up on his attempt to get free.

Virgil never loosened his hold, warm and comforting, and Alan soon found himself returning the hug; he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually been held like this and hadn’t realised how much he missed the human contact. He became vaguely aware of an extra hand on his shoulder and unburied his head enough to see that John had joined them.

“Believe me, Alan, we’ve wanted to tell you. Gordon especially made it quite clear you shouldn’t be frozen out of all this but Dad was adamant that you weren’t to be told. No matter what Dad says we were going to tell you once Virgil qualified but I think we need to bring that forward.” There was total honesty in John’s eyes as he held his brother’s gaze.

Alan was slightly mollified that there had at least been a plan among his brothers to bring him into the loop and he could feel the sincerity in his brother's words. He was increasingly quick to anger at the injustices of being the youngest, more so now that he didn’t have Gordon around to share in the same treatment, but he knew deep down that his main antagonist was their father with his draconian rules. If their father had expressly forbidden something, rather than just choosing not to mention it, then he knew he was putting Virgil and John in an incredibly difficult position; witnessing Gordon’s defiance and their father’s reaction to it had shown that he wasn’t beyond making life intensely difficult for those who dared to disobey.

Feeling that the tension had at least partially ebbed out of his youngest brother’s body Virgil loosened his grip and sat down on the couch, inviting Alan to take the seat next to him. Ever thoughtful, John reclaimed the coffee pot and mugs from the table and set them up on the coffee table before grabbing a spare seat.

“I think it’s time we brought you up to speed. There are some big changes ahead although even we don’t know when anything is going to happen. And John’s right, Gordon isn’t to blame for this at all. We were shocked when he said you guys never got warned before the move to LA and we promised you’d never get another upheaval like that.”

“I’ve gotta move again?” As much as Alan had no great fondness for LA he also wasn’t keen on the idea of uprooting yet again, setting up goodness knows where, which sounded very much like where this conversation was headed. At least this time he wouldn’t have to worry about integrating into a new school.

“WE are going to move. I’m not sure when, but yeah, Dad’s setting up somewhere new. Once I get my space rating I’ll be moving back to LA then, a year later, when he’s finished his course, John’s going to be joining us, wherever we happen to be at the time.”

Alan looked across at John and received a slight nod of confirmation. “Yeah, I’ll be coming home too, at least until my space station is ready.”

Alan’s eyes widened.

“John, are you sure…?”

John just rolled his eyes at Virgil. “Believe me, it’s better to tell him everything than have him guessing, or worse hunting for the information himself.”

Virgil still looked unconvinced but decided to follow John’s lead. When the news had come out about Alan hacking the school administration systems he had been shocked at the youngest Tracy’s disregard for rules but John had merely shrugged and commented that he would probably have done the same. John had been more disappointed that Alan had been skipping school, the rest of the duplicitous behaviour hadn’t phased him and Virgil had received a surprising and uncomfortable insight into a shared characteristic of the two brothers currently sat with him. If John thought unanswered questions would lead to Alan seeking out the details for himself then he would much rather tell all. If their father found out this conversation was happening they would all be in serious trouble but if Alan was caught attempting to go through their father’s files, well, Virgil didn’t want to imagine the consequences of that.

“I guess you’re right, I mean the whole idea can only work if we trust each other and that means total honesty.”

The coffee went cold as Virgil, aided by John, told Alan all he could about their father’s vision for a rescue organisation with global capabilities, the aircraft currently being designed and the supporting vehicles and equipment that would be used on site to help those in need, and of course the need to relocate to a suitable base.

The conversation became decidedly trickier when it came to detailing the role each brother was expected to take in the organisation. Much as Virgil would have preferred to leave out the growing rift that was opening up between Scott and their father, there was no escaping the fact that the plans were not progressing smoothly.

He reached the end and waited, unsure how Alan would react.

“So this is why you’re doing this course , so you can help get John get to his monitoring station or whatever it is?”

“Yeah, and to help take stuff up there before things go operational.” Trust Alan to latch on to the space flight parts of the whole set-up, Virgil just hoped Alan would be less jealous of him getting space rated now he knew why it was happening. Until now he had never been able to give a decent answer for his sudden change in direction away from engineering. Despite Alan trying to hide it if it meant he could escape LA and come visit, he knew his brother resented what he saw as an intrusion on the domain he viewed as his and John’s alone. “Beyond supply runs I doubt I’ll be heading into space much. Life on the comms satellite doesn’t appeal to me so I’m hoping I won’t have to do too many rotations.”

“But Scott doesn’t want in?”

“Uh huh. John and I have been trying to figure out how it could work without him because Dad is just ploughing on regardless. He’s convinced Scott’s going to just resign his commission and fall into line the moment he gives the order.”

“I think I’ll make myself scarce when that showdown happens.” Alan hadn’t often witnessed Scott and their father butt heads, those sorts of disagreements tended to happen firmly behind closed doors, but he could easily imagine the two clashing, each as stubborn and determined as the other.

“Probably wise,” replied John. “And you can't let Dad know we’ve been speaking about this or we’ll all be on the receiving end of those fireworks.”

“Don’t worry about that, that would involve Dad actually talking to me and he barely even registers that I exist.”

That earned a frown from Virgil who was suddenly even more glad that he only had a couple more months left at Tracy College. With Gordon forging a new life in WASP he’d made a solemn promise to look out for Alan but what with the demands of his course and his worries over Scott, he realised he hadn’t been paying as much attention as he should. He certainly hadn’t realised their father had gotten quite so distant and aloof with the teen again. Still, in two months time he would be back in LA where he could give his brother some proper attention. In the meantime his freight law notes were beckoning; if he failed the exam and didn’t achieve his space rating then International Rescue would be even more of an impossible pipedream.

#thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #high expectations #John Tracy #Virgil Tracy #Alan Tracy

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commonalex · 3 years

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future ready

future ready by common alex

Listen/download: future ready by common alex

It was around three months after I've been fired. I didn't dare to talk about it much, but it wouldn't that much of a mystery for someone to figure out why the short chick with the plaited hair isn't on the cash register giving wrong change to the old ladies anymore. To be perfectly honest, I was pretty devastated that I managed to fail even at working at the supermarket, where all you needed to get a grip was knowing how to count, wearing an "Olga" tag like a war medal, and acting like everything's okay at all times. Maybe that's why I ended up sneaking into it like a thief that day, out of stubbornness. It was the last sense of routine I had while everything was going under outside the window.

I could barely get out the bed before four in the afternoon. And when I did, all I had planned was dragging my body before the tv to catch some telemarketing and dumb commercials until the sun was out again and I successfully forgot who I am and what I'm going through. Because what other choices did I have really? For the last two years I was jumping from one dead end job to the next, either until I get fired or until I quit. I was leaving on benefits and a sad amount of savings, and I was starting to accept the fact that this would be my life from now on. Like, what else did I really have to rely on? Studies? Big deal, the world wouldn't end with just one english teacher less. Friends? Don't get me started. Family? All I was left with was a mother with a mission to make me feel horrible every time we spoke on the phone because I wasn't bothering to go see her. But even if I did, what would I have to say to her? I was mentally collapsing. So I said "leave it for now" and kept the thought pushed back for later. That's the reason why on that particular day I didn't pick up whenever my mom was ringing this cherry ericsson I had at the time. It wasn't like I really needed to answer, I already knew everything by heart.

"Have you seen how this girl you used to hang out at school does lately, Olga?".

No, mom, I haven't. It's been like ten years since I finished school.

"She's studying this thing you used to like, she got settled, she even has her own house".

Well done for her I guess, and?

"And you?".

I don't know what the hell I'm doing with my life anymore, mom.

"But don't you ever think about your future?".

My long awaited future, huh? What a glorious future that was. It was so good, half of the people I used to know didn't make it halfway through.

Outside things were a bit more casual that the deep existential turmoil that was described by the news at the time, yet I was indeed shocked by that eerie amount of silence that was stretching through the cold winds that was piercing my purple coat. I could hear a tv screaming from two blocks away and the screeching roars of the phone lines echoing around the city, but there was barely any human voice left. I was only catching some mumbles and grunts here and there as I was jumping out of fear every time I had to turn around a corner. So it was just like everyday Athens, only with a little more of snow and fear of getting mugged. My social atrophy made me feel like I was being chased as the surrounding landscape was rapidly being stripped from anything that was reminiscing of a typical day. Like, that was the first time I ever saw people looting kiosks and butcher shops. I only managed to see like three to five people with their backs hunched, covering their faces while carrying those huge gray tv screens with the vhs player still attached or fifteen bags of chips, with their eyes moving around uncontrollably. All I had in my mind seeing these scenes was the word "brutalization". Maybe because all this time I wasn't fully aware of what was going on, or maybe because the news told the truth for once.

I snuck from the side door where the staff entrance was, because all the glass on the front of the supermarket was smashed to pieces and I didn't like the thought of my hands sliced open. It was a mess on the inside and the aisles stood empty like sad metal canyons. People must have broke in trying to get all the toiler paper and canned foods left in the previous weeks. From the expired milk bottles at the back to the unstoppable static noise of the refrigerators in front of me, there were all those special little touches to make me feel like I was working in this hole of a job again. And no, I did not bother searching for supplies. Instead, I walked around like I was out shopping with my mom, opening the boxes of the diabetes flavored cereal that no one bother to take, just to steal their toys. I also found a bunch of unopened boxes of the supermarket's very own faux chocolate milk (yes, the one with the dark industrial waste left on the bottom) that was probably expired as well. But, I was a lady, right? So I took some of them to the cash register, because Olga ain't no petty thief. I got around my place of work and scanned the bottles to find out that they cost something less than three hundred and seventy-five million. "Luckily, I don't have to calculate any change now", I thought. Never before have I ever experienced such relief while being there. I was sitting in the same place I was rotting for hours before the world turned to shit, and I was patiently waiting for a huge line of old ladies to pop out of nowhere just to ruin my vibe with their pension money bills. I almost started to miss all of those stuff. This must meant that things have really turned to shit.

The new millennium have begun just like any other year, against the disappointment and secret eagerness of some people. All that screaming about the revelation, the second coming of Satan, the aliens, and the revolution of the machines faded miserably as the days went by and absolute destruction was not to be seen. Yet, at least. Because the first planes that crashed mid-flight in South Africa and Indonesia didn't appear before the end of January, but all were like "okay, technical problems". And when missiles were accidentally landing on Iraqi cities, people were like "well, what to do, technical problems yet again". Only when the bank deposits got erased people started to cry and run like headless chickens. Young people now would call me cynical, but you had to be there to see it. It was crystal clear that people had all of their hopes and dreams for tomorrow stored into a single digit of a computer. A kind of tomorrow which was now failing to promise anything anymore in front of millions of simultaneous personal bankruptcies. Then the reactors in Italy exploded due to a system failure and tomorrow officially died. This tomorrow that we were told would bring everything to us, from cancer treatments to all of Britney's music stored in a tiny mini-disc. From flying cars to underground metros. From huge tv screens for each living room to the giant digital information highway better know as the INTERNET. Nowadays all of these sound so silly, but the pain in the faces of people from the betrayal of their dream did not seem to go away. Until mid-February, everyone lost their minds. Those who saw all of this coming ran away in fear of the new Chernobyl to leave the rest of us behind to die. Shops, services, offices, all ceased to have any actual reason to exist in from of the impending disaster. All you could see around anymore were padlocks, deflated bodies on the street from people that couldn't take it anymore, and some shadows of people left to wander like animals while pretending to be alive. Maybe that's why the tv was constantly playing commercials and other irrelevant bullshit during all of this, it was the last useful thing they could show to the people that were preparing for the grand finale.

But that grand finale wasn't so tangible for me. Everyone had this type of end predetermined, but this panic of theirs seemed more like a slightly less shallow version of the preexisting self-preservation to me. I wasn't convinced by those who screamed that the world was over simply because it already happened to their world. Like, just as Rome wasn't built in one day, their illusions weren't shattered overnight. I mean, at that time the supermarket was filled with those obnoxious promotional banners featuring the new slogan that was everywhere lately, before things change for the worse. They had the "FUTURE READY" catchphrase in large white letters that spread noisy and ridiculous lacking any particular meaning as everything was collapsing. What future exactly was that slogan referring to? The future in general, as a concept of time and space? They wouldn't have thought that out that much. Was it the future of humanity from now on? I wouldn't be so concerned for this with all those rich fucks that had already kissed as goodbye from their shelters, we were far from being extinct and in maybe less that ten years we could wake up with someone like Will Smith ruling the world. No, the catchphrase probably meant that future with the flying cars and the internet. The future only fools would believe it would come (and yes, people actually believe that). That future we lost just as fast as we were promised for it.

So in short, we were crabs in a bucket, pulling each other down in excruciating depths. This wasn't living nor surviving; we more or less kept on functioning like bio-robots with depression. But for me, things weren't looking so grim. "Look at me", I would say, "I reached twenty-nine and haven't done crap to be proud of, I drink expired chocolate milk and I'm secretly glad the world is ending because every day was borderline unbearable for me anyway, so how good would the future be for someone like me?". Nowadays the denial of any form of reality in this reasoning stands out, but at that moment I was reaching redemption. I was now reassured by the thought of the end, acting like a barrier that could block this endless loop that was running relentlessly against me. "So finally", I said to myself, "let's calm down once and for all". I was spinning around in the cashier's chair like a silly kid and was finishing up the bottles of milk like there's no tomorrow, while convincing myself that once everything goes to hell, my torment is over.

My phone’s vibrating through my coat cut me off the carefree twirling around my craziness. "Mom" was flashing on the screen again, but by that point I couldn't be bothered for explanations. Still, the dialogue kept running automatically like a script inside my head.

"I just can't get you. Do you keep on acting unbothered by the world? Even now? Who are you trying to convince anymore, Olga? Me? Because I know you have roughened up out of fear".

Well, truth is I was actually fearing you would start with that kind of shit again.

"You are getting more and more difficult to talk to. You are basically denying something we both clearly see at this point".

We seem to say the same exact thing, ain't that something? I guess I was kinda doomed from the start to be and look just like you.

"You really do me dirty with all these conclusions you're drawing out of anger".

Okay, so what? Did you get upset?

"Why are you angry at me, Olga? Can I hear you say it, just for once?"

I don't have the time for this thing again, mother, I need to enjoy my remaining days over here.

"How much do you think this will last for you? When will you stop stalling and start looking after you and your future again, Olga?"

What future do I have, really, are you kidding me?

-Are you talking to yourself, ma'am?

I almost slipped out of the chair. I had never experienced such horror before. I was barely held off the bench to help me get up again slowly with my heart sinking to my stomach, only to see a little girl with plaited pigtails looking at me half-frightened. She wasn't over nine years old, judging by the face and the childish dress she wore under this puffy purple coat.

-Why are you here? Where are your parents?

-Over here, come and take a look! But mom told me not to talk to strangers!

That of course made zero sense to me. Just like it made zero sense for a child to be left alone in a destroyed supermarket with the sun setting outside. I asked for the girl's name, nothing. I asked again, she hid her puzzled frown behind her pigtails trying to playfully imitate my posture with her hands on my waist.

-I'm Olga, I work here. And you?

She started to say something and suddenly changed her mind, running like hell to the back. I was confused thinking how would I look like to someone who saw me chasing a little girl in there, but then I reminded myself that probably nobody would be left to live to the end of this month, so I wouldn't be considered crazy for too long. I began running under the flickering ceiling lights and with each step I had to swallow my vomit. This little girl felt sorry for me in the end and stopped to wait for me at the end of the far right aisle, leaving one sleeve of her huge coat to stick out on purpose. I approached with an awkward smile and glanced at the strange grace she had on her face, with those weird baby hair that can't be caught for nothing in plaits pointing upwards. Despite my awkwardness, the girl stood unworried and expressionless as if I put her on timeout. I asked her name again. She slips away from a second time and runs like the wind, squealing something at lime while zigzagging the aisles.

-You should probably pick it up!

My phone was stabbing my pocket. It was "Mom" yet again, but I really wasn't in the mood for "Mama". I had to pick up my lungs from the floor at the top of my priorities, because this little devil wasn't running but galloping like a damn horse. I finally caught up with her in the aisle with the products of the day and tightly grabbed her by the shoulders. The little devil screamed and was banging her feet in pain. My hands had been too coarse for people after all this time.

-Hey, ma'am, did you get angry? I was just playing with you.

-I'm don't have time to play right now, please go to your mom.

-But I told you, My mom's right here.

"Where is "here"?

With just one finger sticking out of the sleeve, she pointed to the right middle shelf at the end of the aisle. She put her finger before her mouth to stop me from talking and I followed her on tiptoes. When we approached the end of the aisle and my eyes got used to the darkness I saw a woman laid inside the empty shelf. She was in her sixties and wearing an old black nightgown with holes on it. From her short hair down to her nails, there were ice flakes stuck everywhere as if she was just found buried in the snow. Her face with her eyes closed was carrying such an expression of pain and torment. I was so weirded out that something made me want to follow those ice streams that filled her skin's scratches with my fingers, however her body felt so stiff I jumped back. She looked more like a porcelain doll than an actual person.

-Ma'am Olga? Are you alright?

I threw up all the chocolate milk I drank. My body got the chills and my teeth were trembling so much that my breath was coming out in sharp puffs in front of the flickering lights of the refrigerators. I must have look like shit, because I scared the little girl for good and made her get five steps back from me while I was going crazy and trying to clear my eyes from the shock.

-Why is she here?

-Nobody wanted her. Nobody called to take her.

I didn't pay much attention. I pulled out my cherry ericsson to call for help, but the chaotic hum of the phone lines echoed in the aisle before I even put the phone to my ear.

-Who put her here?

She was just staring at me. I asked again and again. She let her lower lip half open. I grabbed her by the shoulders like before and she pulled out a choked scream due to my clumsiness. She started crying and feeling loose in my hands. It was then that I felt like something broke inside me and I crawled away from her because she would pass out in any second just by looking at the state that I was. I sat on the floor watching her wipe her tears from a distance, all while fixing her plaits and stressfully straightening the dress inside her coat. Every now and then she would throw these incoherent excerpts from conversations that seemed weirdly familiar, waiting for me to remember the answers I had given to each of the discussions. I felt sick, like my insides would explode at any moment. My mind was working overtime and I started seeing red. I understood, but I did not want to accept it.

"But how?" I was saying again and again. I can't just live through this stuff. I was thinking that maybe that's it, we are officially past this tomorrow. Maybe that was the end of the world and the time I had at my disposal. Only instead of cloud islands or pits with flames I was stuck inside this supermarket with a little girl and a dead woman. Was this fitting? Not really. It might be considered symbolic, but still not at all subtle. That's why I was stuffed with anger and distress. I couldn't digest what to feel after all that I saw. And what was the meaning of all of this? To make me feel remorse? To help me maybe? But how? So many questions hanging above my head I began to feel like I was melting from the uncertainty. Luckily, the little girl found some courage to pick me up from the floor.

-You still don't recognize her, do you?

-I recognized her just fine the first time.

-Are you sure, ma'am Olga?

-I don't know, what do you say?

-You tell me.

-We have to get out of here, kiddo. We can't get through it like this. Even now, with everything else going to hell with us.

-Do you really want me to come with you?

-I don't know. Maybe I want to, maybe I should.

The phone started screaming again. It was dimming "Mama" with small flakes of ice filling its broken tiny screen. The girl bent down and put this in my palm with no emotion on her face. I answered it. I waited for an eternity so thin you could fit it inside a moment like this. "Hello? Mom?". Eventually the same confusing static noise creaked from the other side of the call, and I stuck there waiting through the buzzing to find her smoker's coughing that she used to do before starting to complain about how I constantly forget about her. Waiting just to tell her that I was here, I was fine, and the world might not end there. Maybe, somewhere, somehow, there's even some future we can fit in it.

-So are we ready now, ma'am Olga?

-Ready for what?

She pointed at the banner hanging from the ceiling.

-Future ready.

I didn't catch my mother's voice at the other end of the line, of course. I hung up and weakly threw the phone on the shelf where the woman was laying, just to hear its dying snout. This felt way more fitting.

-Nah, not really. But it probably does not matter right now.

-But. I'm scared.

-I'm scared too, being in here and all.

-So when will we be back? When everything was normal again?

-"Normal" may no longer exist. We'll just have to see. For now, get up.

-You know better, ma'am.

-Ma'am my ass.

The little girl glanced just once at the self with the phone on and continue to walk with me, with her palm lost and warmed up somewhere inside my own palm. An analog clock on the wall pointed somewhere after nine o clock and the sky was bruised from the clouds that were pouring snow on everything around us. I put my hand with hers in the pocket of the miserable purple coat and lifted our hoods to escape the cold on the way home. I don't really remember how long we walked with our backs hunched over somewhere between the white and the gray. I only recall that we took the long way home, like a punishment of some sorts.

Thinking that I would never hear again the saltiness in my mom's voice was my most bitter torment. I never thought of such a possibility. I always had in the back of my mind that she would find a way to defy any rule of the universe, just so she could care for me. That's science fiction, after all. It seems I was holding on to my illusions for so long, so waking up hurts like hell even today. And if my mom died, I believe she must've left with that pain and concern during her last moments. "Look at me now", I catch myself saying here and there "I avoided her only until I had to mourn her". Until then, the only thing I had on my mind was working on what I should say when I would get asked about her, only to answer that we "fell off" with no emotion. What exactly happened to fall off with her would be like unnecessary little details. Still, to this day, that's exactly what I tell people when it's being brought up. I can't talk about it without sinking in remorse. I can't get the right words to come out anymore, not even by force.

Of course I tried to find her. Especially with the years that were to come upon me, I needed this to have my mind calibrated just to not go crazy over the batshit hysteria that was building up inside of me. Deep down, though, I knew I didn't have the courage to look at past trauma anymore, and I was secretly hoping I would never fine here. Maybe because the end of the world not coming anymore, at least as I thought it would, and now I have to live with it forever. Maybe because the worst that could have happened to me in the end was the postponement of the apocalypse. And this falls heavily on my shoulders to this day. Every day I have to justify why it was worth it to stay behind, either as punishment or by luck, trying to convince myself that there is something left to do with the leftovers of my future.

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dogmom-2 · 3 years

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Hey, everyone! This is my first story ever, so please be nice :) I've noticed we are seriously lacking on some Joe Hill fanfiction, and I had to do something about it. I'll most likely do another part to this story, so stay tuned. Feedback is appreciated. This takes place after the gun fight in the season 11 finale. Enjoy!

Joe was currently laying in a hospital bed. He was shot during a gun fight. Fortunately, the bullet was a through and through on his leg, and the doctors were optimistic about his recovery. He would be staying for a day or two just for observation.

"We're glad you're ok." Said Danny. "Yeah, you had us all worried." Added Jamie. "Do you want us to get in touch with your mom?" "Nah, don't bother. We had a pretty big fight when I told her I accepted an undercover job." Joe said. Just then, there was a knock at the door. In walked Frank Reagan, Joe Hill's grandpa, and the closest thing he had to a dad. "Would we be able to have a minute?" Asked Frank. Danny and Jamie nodded, hugged their nephew goodbye, and left the room. Joe sat up in his bed, as Frank walked up to him, and sat on the side of the bed. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Frank spoke. "I love you too, Joe." And just like that, Joe had tears running down his face. Instantly, Frank hugged him and did his best to comfort him. "I'm so sorry" Joe choked out "for everything. I'm sorry for not coming to dinner, and making you all worry. I'm so sorry." "It's alright. We're all just happy you're ok." Frank reassured his crying grandson. He just kept holding him and rubbing his back until the crying had stopped, and felt Joe's steady breathing. Realizing he had fallen asleep, he moved Joe so he was laying in a comfortable position. Frank gently placed a kiss on his forehead, and sat in the chair near the bed. He watched his oldest grandchild sleep peacefully, and thanked God he was still alive. Quietly, happy tears fell from Frank's eyes. Just then, Danny and Jamie walked back in. "We just spoke with everyone back home. Obviously it's up to Joe, but we would prefer it if Joe stayed at the house while he's recovering." Whispered Danny. Frank nodded his agreement. "Is he ok?" Jamie asked noticing the tears on his nephews face. "Yeah, he's gonna be ok. He just fell asleep a few minutes ago." Explained Frank without taking his eyes off of Joe. "We got a hotel room a few blocks away, figured we'd stay until he's discharged. Do you wanna room with us?" Jamie said. "Thanks, but I think I'm gonna stay here for now. Just for my own peace of mind." Jamie and Danny nodded their understanding. All three men sat quietly in the hospital room, and one by one, they all slipped into a peaceful sleep.

When Joe woke up, he felt more rested than he had in months. His leg hurt like hell, but other than that, he felt fine. "Hey, good morning." Jamie said as he walked in with a nurse in tow. "How do you feel?" Asked the nurse "My leg hurts, but other than that, I feel good." Answered Joe. "Well, that is great to hear. And your vitals are looking good, too. The Doctor should be in shortly to check on your leg, and change the bandage." Smiled the nurse. "Thank you" Joe said as she walked out. "Dad and Danny went to grab us some food. We figured after everything, hospital food is the last thing you would want to eat." Informed Jamie. Joe laughed "Yeah, you're not wrong there." They both laughed. Their relationship had grown ever since Joe went undercover and Jamie was in charge of him. "And, this is entirely up to you, but I just wanted to let you know that you are more than welcome to stay at the house if you don't want to go back to your apartment yet. It could be helpful having someone there to help out and keep you company." Joe smiled when he heard his uncles words. "That actually sounds awesome. I think I'm gonna take you guys up on that." Just then, Danny and Frank walked in with coffee and some donuts. "Delivery" announced Frank. Danny nodded to his brother, signaling that while they were out, they also managed to get their brother Joe's St. Jude medal turned into a necklace for their nephew. Jamie smiled, knowing both Joe's would love it. "Well, I didn't know you were having a party in here" joked the doctor as he walked in. "Just wanted to check on the leg, and show you how to change the bandaging. Your family's more than welcome to stay if you want them to." Joe looked at his relatives "If it's alright with them." All three nodded, knowing their nephew would need their support. As the doctor undid the bandage, Joe couldn't help but hold his breath. "Oh, wow, that's actually healing up quite nicely." Said the doctor. "You're definitely going to need crutches for a couple of weeks though. And try to keep any weight off of that leg. Im going to give you some pain medication, and I'll set up a follow up appointment with a doctor in New York. Other than that, you should be good to leave later today." "Thank you! Do you know what time I might be getting out of here?" The doctor looked at his watch. "Well, it's ten o'clock now, so hopefully around noon, we can get you out of here." "Thank you so much" Joe said gratefully. "Thanks, doc" Danny said as the doctor left the room. "So what now?" Asked Joe. Frank, spoke up "Well, it's Saturday. I think everyone is just at the house, waiting for any updates on you. Did anyone tell you?" "About staying with you and Pop? Yeah, I think I might do it honestly. I'm just not up to being at my apartment just yet." Confessed Joe. "And you're not gonna be with only Gramps and Pops, everyone wants to help out, especially Sean. And Nicky and Jack said they're gonna come out next week" Said Danny. "Sounds pretty good to me." Joe smiled.

The drive back was pretty long. They kept stopping so Joe could be in a little less pain although he was trying to hide it. In the end, they made it back to the Reagan house. Sean had been waiting by the window and ran to the car when he saw it pull up. He helped his cousin out of the car and onto his crutches. Before they went inside Joe hugged his cousin for a minute. Sean couldn't help but hug him back, feeling so grateful Joe was still alive and ok. The other Reagan members hugged their long lost relative and helped him up the steps and inside the house. "Here, let's just sit in the TV room for now". Pop said as Joe and everyone else followed behind him. Eddie took the crutches from Joe, while Jamie and Sean helped ease him down onto the couch. Everyone noticed the look of pain on Joe's face as he sat down on the couch. "How do you feel?" Asked Erin "Like I was shot" joked Joe. "But I'll be alright after a couple of weeks." He reassured everyone. They sat around the room, eating some pizza, and catching up. It wasn't until almost midnight that everyone decided it was time for bed. "If it's alright, I think I'm gonna stay here tonight. Just to help Joe." Sean said to his dad. "Yeah, of course. I'll see ya at church tomorrow." Danny said as he hugged his son. Joe and Sean remained in the TV room. After a while Joe fell asleep watching the movie. Sean thought about waking him up and moving him to one of the guest rooms, but figured Joe was pretty tired. He decided to keep watching the movie, and fell asleep not long after.

When Frank woke up the next morning, he couldn't help but chuckle at his two grandsons. Joe was fast asleep on the couch, and Sean was spread out on the floor. He went to start a pot of coffee, and Pops came down. Henry couldn't help but laugh at the two boys. "Well, that's something you don't see everyday" he joked. Frank chuckled in agreement. "I spoke with Danny while Joe was sleeping at the hospital. He said Joe and his mom had a pretty big falling out when he was first offered the undercover job. Turns out they haven't spoken in months." Henry couldn't help but frown. Hasn't his great grandson been through enough? "Well, he can't get rid of us that easily" Said Pops. Not long after, the two boys woke up, and everyone started getting ready for Sunday mass. After the service, Danny and Jamie took Joe and Sean back to Joe's apartment to grab anything he would want. Meanwhile, Erin and Eddie went to Joe's favorite Italian spot to pick up their Sunday dinner. Thankfully, the girls beat the boys back to the house, and we're able to get the food to the kitchen without Joe knowing.

Soon, everyone was gathered around the table, enjoying their family meal. Everyone could tell Joe was still pretty tired and in alot of pain. After the cleaning was done, the guests bid their farewells and went home for the night. The three remaining men sat at the table and played some poker. Afterwards, Frank helped Joe into one of the spare bedrooms. "This was actually your dad's room. And I get it, if you don't want to sleep in here, we can pit you somewhere else." Joe shook his head. "No, this is perfect, actually. Thank you." "Do you need anything?" Joe looked down at the ground. "Would you mind staying in here? Just until I fall asleep?" Joe asked, embarrassed. "I'd be happy too!" Frank reassured him. It didn't take long for Joe to fall asleep, his pain medication was pretty strong, and it usually knocked him out. Frank stood up, and kissed his grandsons head on his way out the door. "I love you, Joe. Sleep tight."

#Bluebloodsfanfiction #Joehill #jamie reagan #danny reagan #Bluebloods #Reagan family

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kessielrg · 3 years

Text

[KHUX] Honey Disguised as Vinegar

Summary: In which Brain meets a bitter child, and takes a shine to her. [oneshot for now][pre Keyblade War]

Rating: K

Word count: 2,913 words

If you like this story, please reblog!

---

It was barely noon and Brain had finished all of his missions for the day. Such a great feeling knowing he had the rest of the day to himself as he went on back to Fountain Square. He almost felt like calling upon his Chirithy just to brag a little. He wouldn't though, although Chirithy probably would have liked to chat with him; even he knew to keep a nuance of subtle pride. It still would have been nice to just chat with Chirithy, since it had been awhile. Fountain Square was a good place to relax if no one else was there. At this time of day, everyone should have still been doing their missions. Unless they were like him and finished early, of course.

Yet, somehow Brain still found himself surprised to see a girl sitting on the fountain's lip. She had scrunched herself into a ball, and was muttering things to herself in a darkened tone. Brain titled his fedora up a little to get a better look at her. The girl couldn't have been much older than 9 or 10 years old- that grouchy look on her face did add about five years to the perceived age, though. What a weird little talent to have.

Chirithy would have to wait a little longer, this kid needed a friend.

Brain adjusted his fedora a bit before making his way over to the fountain. He smoothed out the leg of his pants before taking a seat not far from the grumpy child. She barely even acknowledged him- just a slight turn away as she continued to bitterly mumble to herself. Admittedly, seeing it up close made it seem rather cute. Brain put on a wide smile before teasingly asking her;

“What's that look for? Did a Heartless call you a mean name?”

The girl let out an undignified 'humph' before grumbling under her breath, “The only Heartless around here are stupid party members.”

“I hear that.” Brain agreed with a sagely nod. He casually leaned a bit on the fountain before rambling, “Some party members can be your best friends. Others it seems like you can't get along worth anything- makes you wanna leave and find some other folks to hang with.”

“They're the ones that should leave.”

“So you're having party troubles?”

But the girl shook her head. “I got kicked out of my party.” she told him, her voice holding a quiet darkness to it. “Said I wasn't keeping up, so they got rid of me.”

Brain gave a small shrug of indifference- parties dropping members because they had outdated medals was nothing new. If anything, with the rumors of the Foretellers distrusting each other, parties were starting to kick out members even faster than before. Everyone wanted lux. It was only a matter of time before their hunger got the better of them. But that wasn't Brain's battle to deal with, he was occupied with something else at the moment.

“Did you get your missions done for the day?” he asked her. When the girl shook her head, he then offered, “Then let's pair up. Just you and me for today. What do you think?”

The suggestion certainly got her attention. She picked up her head and gave him a rather suspicious glance.

“I think you don't even know my name.” she refuted, even folding her arms in defiance.

“Fair enough.” he shrugged. “The name's Brain. What's yours?”

The girl sat up a bit straighter. “Sabrina.” she informed him. “It means princess.”

“I'm sure it does.” Brain teased as he started to stand up. “So allow me to be the brains of our operation, princess, and together we can be done with your mission in the next hour.”

He adjusted his hat a bit before offering a hand out to her. Sabrina cautiously looked at his hand; a hesitation that Brain almost expected. Carefully, and in her own time, the girl took his hand and got off of the fountain as well.

"Now," Brain then mused, tilting his hat upwards in a playful manner to humor her. "What did you say your mission was again?"

. . .

No matter how much each of the Daybreak Town wielders tried to deny it, Agrabah was just a breeding ground for all sorts of Heartless. No shocker that Sabrina's mission was to take place there. Or, at the very least, she insisted that it had to be done here. By the way she acted, it didn't feel like it was due to any personal preference of hers. Brain wondered if this was a world her old party used to work in. Coming here to finish her daily mission was just a habit.

"So," Brain idly said as the duo walked through the endless sands, "Do you have a grand plan on taking down the Heartless, or do you like to make it up as you go along?"

"Of course I have a plan." Sabrina spat back in disgust. "I like to lure the Heartless away from larger hoards to take them on in smaller pieces. Most of my medals are ideal for groups, so I could do it the other way around- I just don't want to."

"I can see that." Brain agreed with a knowing nod. "Not a bad little strategy either."

The girl nodded, but stopped in her tracks. Her eyes narrowed at something a little further ahead. Brain took her cue to see a group of monkey-like Heartless called Powerwild. Almost immediately after, Sabrina took Brain's wrist and forced the two of them off to the side. The noise gained the attention of one of the Powerwilds, leading it to go investigate. Brain gladly took a step back to watch Sabrina cut down each Powerwild without too much effort. She didn't tend to rely on the medals placed on her Keyblade, which wasn't exactly a bad thing. It could have been done a lot faster if she had, though. Brain only came out from his safety spot when it looked like the coast was clear.

"Well done," he said to Sabrina, almost surprising her. But instead of some sense of pride, her face detailed anger instead. Sabrina opened her mouth to tell him something before something shot a projectile at her arm. The small sound of hurt immediately gave Brain an instinct to help her.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he all but took her arm to look it over. Sabrina stepped out of his way to glare at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she sharply informed him. Her attention then turned to where the projectile came from, even pointing her Keyblade at the offending party. It was a new breed of Heartless that looked a lot like the Powerwild, but was colored purple and carrying a slingshot-like weapon. "But that Sniperwild won't be in the next few minutes."

The monkey-like Heartless gave her a curious tilt of its head before letting out an ear-splitting screech. Both Sabrina and Brain flinched at the noise. When the two were able to recover from it, they quickly found that the single Powerwild had called in for more of its kind. Sabrina and Brain were completely surrounded by other Powerwilds with no easy way to lure them away.

"Well," Brain casually mused as he brought his Keyblade out, "This can't be good."

Taking it as a sign to move onward, the Powerwilds aimed their slingshots at the duo and let their endless ammo rain down upon them. In order to minamalize the damage made to them, Sabrina and Brain found themselves almost back to back. A small flicker of fear crossed Brain's mind. Sabrina had been good at the single Powerwilds earlier, but with this many Heartless that held an advantage at being at every angle? There was no way she (or himself, for that matter) could take them all on at once. They did try their best to guard against most of the Sniperwilds' attacks, but it wasn't going to hold them off for much longer. The Sniperwilds were closing the distance between them, their attacks coming in faster and closer with each step.

"Hey Sabrina," Brain casually said as his mind was otherwise running a mile a minute, "You wouldn't happen to know any off medal magic, would you?"

"Off medal...?" the girl repeated in confusion before blocking a projectile that got rather close to her face. Taking a moment to think about what he meant, she then said, "Gravira. I know Gravira without medals."

"Perfect!" Brain declared, as if a light bulb had flashed on inside his head. "Do you think you can target the Heartless in an alternating pattern?"

"I guess?" she agreed with a good trace of uncertainty. Brain wasn't blind to this, so he linked his arm into hers to reassure her.

"Trust me. I have a plan."

For a small, fleeting moment, Sabrina held Brain a bit tighter before letting the two of them go. The young child focused her energy into the spell before letting out a bellowing cry of "Gravity!" and trapping half of the Sniperwilds in a weak, but focused, gravitational pull. Knowing that he didn't have much time, Brain also prepared an attack of his own. He raised his Keyblade, and as he focused, cracks started to appear under the Sniperwilds not being held down by Sabrina. As long as the Heartless didn't move too quickly...

"Take this!" Brain shouted as he unleashed the attack- strong pillars of fiery light coming up from the cracks and immediately killing the Sniperwilds. Fire must have been their weakness. Too bad he spent almost all of his MP for that attack.

"Brain..." Sabrina spoke up, her voice slightly straining, "I can't..."

Apparently, Sabrina was at her magical limit as well.

"It's alright," Brain quickly told her, "Let them go and we can beat them the old fashioned way."

Sabrina did not need to be told twice at the command. She immediately cancelled the spell, just as easily dropping her exhausted arms like she had been holding a heavy weight instead. For a moment, Brain feared that she was going to pass out on him; or at the very least drop her Keyblade. The tenacious child didn't do either, instead taking a quick battle stance and waiting for Brain for the go ahead for the rest of his plan.

"After this," Brain then said in a voice that indicated he was speaking a thought, readying his Keyblade as well, "Let's get some ice cream."

"I'm picky." Sabrina warned him. Her grip tightening on her Keyblade as the remaining Sniperwilds ventured closer to the duo.

"Then I'll just let you choose at your leisure, and I'll pay for it all. Sound good?"

The child nodded, the duo using it as their cue to head off in opposite directions to attack the Heartless. Brain's attacks were more from a distance, whereas Sabrina almost got hit several times over from how close she'd get before taking the strike. She must have still been tired from trying to hold the Gravira spell earlier because her swings seemed just a bit off from each intended mark. But since she fought so close to begin with, it looked to be almost intentional. Working together, Sabrina and Brain cleared the rest of the Heartless in a few short minutes.

"Done." Brain decided before dispelling his Keyblade. Sabrina soon followed at the gesture, her body then sagging a little as she looked over the area. When Brain walked over and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, the child almost fell headfirst in surprise and exhaustion. She looked up at him with diluted eyes that silently begged to be done for the day. Brain chuckled a little at it.

"I can carry you back if you want." he told her, partially joking. Sabrina immediately let out a sound of disgust before taking a rather large jump away from him.

"No way!" she spat. "I can walk back on my own."

Again, Brain laughed at her. "Whatever you say, little lady." he teased with a tip of his fedora. Sabrina gave him another little 'humph' and folded her arms in annoyance. Almost despite himself, Brain gave a small smile at it all.

. . .

Say what you wanted about Brain, but he always held true to his word. He let Sabrina pick out whatever ice cream she wanted then he paid for it without a fuss. They found a bench to sit at to enjoy their frozen desserts in a comfortable silence. When they finished their ice cream, Sabrina in particular looked like she was ready to go to sleep. For a moment, Brain how to appreciate just how much of a kid this... kid was. Sure, she knew a spell that nearly drained her, but her tenacity? It was almost something to be admired.

“I don't see how your party kicked you to the curb.” Brain smiled. “What you're able to do without medals is rather impressive. You've still got some pretty strong medals on you too. Well balanced ones, no less.”

The child looked away from him. Her eyes darted to the ground with a malice Brain thought had left hours ago. In a cold voice, Sabrina told him, “Medals are a sham.”

“Oh?” he curiously inquired back. “Do tell.”

At first, Sabrina only grimaced. She soon extended her hand to call her Keyblade. From there, she brought the keychain on the weapon close to her. She plucked out the medal placed in the third slot, then dispelled her Keyblade. Carefully, she took the medal with both hands and tightly held on to it. If she moved it in a certain way, she could almost get a glimpse of the hero it was meant to draw its power from. Beyond that, all that she really knew was that it was assigned as an upright speed medal.

“They say that these medals are drawn from heroes in the future, and the abilities they learned.” she carefully started to say. “Yet, we can't see who they are. We don't even know the name of the techniques they used. But the medals remember for us- we never need to know as long as we complete our missions.” A faint grimace appeared on her face for a moment. “That's what makes us different from the Foretellers. They were taught to memorize every technique from every era after ours, while we are told not to.”

“Fascinating theory.” the older boy nodded. “But not entirely right- we're still free to learn magic and techniques without the medals' help. We can also learn the names of the medals' techniques too. Once we use a medal often enough, anyway. It's like learning your best friend's name.”

“Best friend...” Sabrina repeated in a murmur. Her grip on the medal tightened a little as she contemplated telling Brain something, but ultimately kept it to herself. The moment's hesitation did not go unnoticed. Brain tilted his head at her before getting a closer look at the medal she was holding.

“You've used that medal a lot.” he casually observed. “Do you know the name of its ability yet?”

“Air Flair.” Sabrina summoned her Keyblade again to replace the medal in its slot. “It's a dumb name, but effective I guess. A bit too floaty for me.”

“And your old party said you couldn't keep up.” Brain snorted. “That medal's fairly recent.”

“Not when the Heartless get stronger every month.”

"You're not wrong." he agreed with a small nod. "But it's not the strength of the medal that truly counts. It's the strength of your heart."

Sabrina simply gave him an absent little hum of begrudging agreement. She slumped against the bench in what appeared to be the last of her will to stay awake draining away. Brain placed a hand on the back of the bench to make himself a bit more comfortable as well. Admittedly, at this point, he too was feeling more than a bit exhausted over the day's events. Not that he was going to regret it anytime soon. Getting to know someone new was always an exciting endeavor- let alone someone with as much spunk as this kid.

"Hey Sabrina," Brain mused- almost absently going to play with her hair, "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

The girl lazily looked over at him, her face in slight annoyance as she tried to swat his hand away from her hair. "Why?" she prudently asked. Even when she looked dead tired, this kid could still sass off whoever she felt like.

"You're still party-less, that's why." he informed her. He even gave her nose a playful tap. Brain openly laughed when Sabrina scrunched her nose up in disgust at the small gesture. "Besides, you haven't told me the story of how you even learned Gravira in the first place."

"You haven't asked about it."

"I didn't?"

"No."

Brain chuckled a bit before going to adjust his hat out of habit. “Then let's meet up again tomorrow.” he decided. “You can tell me how you learned Gravira, we'll finish our missions together, and maybe once we get done, I think there's someone I'd like you to meet. Sound like a deal to you?”

The girl lulled the idea over for awhile before finally looking at Brain. "Deal." she agreed with a nod of her head.

He couldn't help it, but Brain started to grin from ear to ear.

#kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfiction #union cross #kingdom hearts union x #kingdom hearts oc #kh oc #kh brain #brain #kh blaine #blaine #fanfiction #kh fanfiction #fanfic #kh fan fic #fan fiction #fan fic #kh union x #khux #khux brain

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atinytokki · 3 years

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Dreamer

i. The Cliffs of Ulso

(Warnings: Domestic violence, including depictions of child abuse ahead. Please read with caution and if you are particularly sensitive to this issue, feel free to message me for spoilers. It does improve after the first few chapters but the content is disturbing)

Every day was accompanied by the constant sound of metal. The clang, clang, clang of Father pounding out another weapon in the blacksmith shop was the song of Jongho’s childhood.

It was a rhythm, so he added his own melody.

Jongho had a good ear, so even his distracted humming as he sat in the house listening to the hammer and the furnace was a pleasing tune, a building block for a symphony.

He was his only audience, and for the rest of his life it looked like it would stay that way.

Jongho didn’t remember his mother very much. He knew she and Father often yelled at each other and that she was often bruised and tired and that one day she just left.

And Father had been so angry that he had struck Jongho for the first time. That had been some time around the age of four or five and he had sat in his room stunned for the remainder of the day.

He was young but he knew it wasn’t normal, that the other children had mothers and fathers that lived together and that no one hit them when they hadn’t done anything wrong.

Jongho didn’t even think anyone hit them when they had done something wrong.

He worked out soon after that the reason Mother left was likely related to Father’s fits of rage. And sometimes he resented her for not bringing him with her.

It was unlikely he’d find someone else to rescue him, with their neighbours all being far away and the people in the town being equally poor and burdened.

Ulso was nothing more than a backwater village, the smallest settlement on the edge of the peninsula, tucked away into the cliffs so tightly that you could miss it if you were sailing past.

But Jongho had never been anywhere else, and he had never known any other Father.

Days like this were good. Father worked on his weapons, and the bottle was far away from him. It was when he drank from it that he became a different person, and Jongho either made himself scarce or suffered the consequences.

By the age of ten he knew to lock up the smithy if Father ever forgot. There were sharp, hot weapons in there and they were the last thing a drunk Father ought to get his hands on when he was raging.

Today the sun was out and he hadn’t touched a bottle yet, nor had he found anything to blame Jongho for. So he sat in the house and worked on his reading while Father clanged away in the smithy. Not being enrolled in any school or taught by any tutor, he struggled through the lessons Father bought for him on his own, although according to him Jongho was “doomed to manual labour and nothing else” just like he was.

He had composed a little song while he listened to him, and he wished he knew how to write it down, but hardly anyone in Ulso even listened to music, much less knew how to make it.

The worst town in Jaecho could never afford such luxuries.

Just like every night, that dreadful feeling grew in Jongho’s stomach when he heard the day’s work stop and knew he would have to face his father.

Generally, he could avoid him. They both rose early and went about their own business until supper time, and even though Father cooked his own food in the day, he expected Jongho to prepare the evening meal or there were consequences.

Old woman Soomi made the best dishes at her food stall in the market, so that was where Jongho went in the afternoon to watch her like a hawk and memorise everything she did.

Father had generously given him money at the beginning of the month to cover the cost of ingredients, like he always did, and when he was confident he knew what he needed, Jongho approached her shop and made his selections.

“Stealing my shrimp stew recipe now, are we?” The old woman chuckled with a wink and Jongho instantly went red.

“N-No, ma’am, I didn’t mean to—”

“Oh, hush child,” she waved it off and handed him his bags. “You’re a very mature young boy to take an interest in little old me and my family recipes. I’m sure your father is very proud.”

Jongho bit his lip and nodded. Father never told him things like that, but he was sure he was proud. Father simply wasn’t a sentimental person, that didn’t mean he didn’t love him.

On his way back down to the house, Jongho passed the rice paddies as usual. There was still enough rice in the bag at home for two servings of dinner, so he passed by without purchasing any. He could come to the market early tomorrow and get it, he told himself, eyeing the sun as it met the waves in a golden flash.

There on the beach a group of people were huddled together, and Jongho paused in his trek to watch them for a moment. What looked like lanes were marked into the sand, with a finish line at the end, far enough away that Jongho had to squint to see it.

They were athletes participating in a race, and Jongho couldn’t help but drop his bags and sit on the rocks to see them run.

The sound of the pistol firing made him jump, but the tension bled away as he focused on the runners, springing into action and sprinting across the sand. One man tripped, and his sudden stop messed up another contestant’s momentum, causing a minor crash at the back of the pack, but one man up ahead used the distraction to take the lead.

He passed the man in first place with a sudden burst of speed and took the win, and Jongho jumped to his feet and clapped, excited.

The athletes didn’t seem to hear him over the sound of their own cheering, congratulating each other and setting up for another race from the looks of it, and Jongho jolted out of his calm and picked up his bags again, rushing home.

It was sundown and he needed to make dinner quickly before Father got impatient.

Jongho left the window open while he went about the precarious task of cooking the shrimp, sweltering in the summer heat and craving a breeze from the ocean. Thankfully all the commotion didn’t bother Father, who was likely washing up in the outhouse or napping in his room.

Jongho hoped it was the latter. He always liked it when he could leave his father a plate and take his own outside, sitting under the single palm tree that managed to grow around the cliffs and listening to the sea birds squawk. Maybe he’d catch a glimpse of the next game if he climbed higher up and looked down the beach in the direction of the town.

Father appeared and took a seat at the table, drumming his fingers on it restlessly and shattering Jongho’s fantasy.

Well, he spent enough time alone anyway. He could survive another meal with his father.

They ate in silence, except for Jongho’s whisper that he had made a sauce for the meat as he slid it over to Father’s seat.

Trying a taste of it himself, Jongho struggled to swallow and keep it down. It was much too sweet, and Father was sure to be angry when he had some. Jongho broke into a sweat as he watched him reach for it, dipping the shrimp in and coating it before bringing it to his mouth. Just as he opened up to take a bite, a knock sounded from the door.

Jongho deflated in relief before realising Father was staring at him expectantly with a warning glint in his eye and tripping out of his seat and over to the door to answer it.

Three tall strangers in uniforms were on the wooden porch, glancing around with minimal interest at the surrounding cliffside and the smithy behind the house.

“Good evening young man,” the one in the front said. He was the tallest of them all and he had some shiny medals pinned on his sash that gave Jongho the impression he was important. “Is the man who owns this business home right now?”

“M-my father...” Jongho stuttered, throat growing dry as he considered his options. Either he angered these men by refusing them entry, or he angered Father by allowing strangers inside.

“Would you mind fetching him for us?” The man asked gently, flashing a smile and tilting his head. “Tell him a Lieutenant Park from the Royal Navy wants to speak with him.”

Jongho blinked and nodded. The Royal Navy was very important, and their word was law in many places around the country, so he wasn’t sure he had a choice when the lieutenant asked him to disturb Father.

“Who is it?” Father snapped when Jongho returned to the dining room.

“Men from the Navy,” he explained in a reedy voice before trying to clear his throat. “Lieutenant Park wants to speak with you.”

His father sighed and tossed his napkin onto the table before storming out into the hallway and plastering a smile on his face.

“How can I help you gentlemen?”

“Do you mind if we come in?” The lieutenant asked, already peeking past Father. Jongho felt a chill come over him as he noticed how untidy the house was. Dust and dirt were everywhere, unwashed clothing strewn here and there...

Why did the cleaning lady have to take a summer trip to the archipelago now of all times?

“Of course,” Father answered, sliding the door open further and stepping out of the way, though Jongho could see his eye twitching.

He was getting angry now, and he couldn’t punish Jongho for the horrible food or the disordered house in full view of three government officers.

“Something smells delicious!” One of the other Navy men exclaimed as he placed his shoes on the landing and moved into the dining room. “I hope we didn’t interrupt supper...”

“Not at all!” Father rushed to reassure him, pulling out a chair for the man and playing the gracious host. “We have plenty if you’d like some.”

All three officers expressed their interest and Jongho flushed red, taking shaky steps towards the kitchen where he hoped he could break down in peace.

“We don’t have enough,” he whispered to Father as he joined him in front of the fireplace. “I used all the rice...”

“Foolish boy!” Father hissed, slapping him across the face before scraping every last grain into an extra bowl and bringing it out to the guests.

Jongho’s eyes filled with tears and he began feeling nauseous as he returned to his own seat, observing the way the officers all frowned at the sparse amount of food and the way Father clenched his fist below the table. “I’m not hungry,” he spoke up, sliding his plate over to the men. “You can have mine.”

Father didn’t look at him but the strangers seemed pleased as they dug in. Jongho scooped up the sauce and took it into the kitchen before anyone could taste it and have a coughing fit, further embarrassing him and sealing his fate for a rough night.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” He heard Father ask the guests while he began cleaning up, mostly wanting to stay out of sight.

“Our regiment has been routinely examining all forges in the area for potential naval use,” the lieutenant answered with his mouth full. “Am I correct that yours is the only smithy in this town?”

“Yes,” Father answered simply. “If you’d like weapons, we can discuss the prices in my workshop—”

“Not to get ahead of ourselves,” one of the other men interrupted, and the sound of chairs scraping back across the floor followed. “Of course we’ll need to inspect the craftsmanship. There are many potential smithies in the Tae district.”

When the sound of them leaving the room reached him, Jongho ran out in a flash to collect all the dishes and wash them quickly. If this visit ended as badly as it started, it would be better to have the work out of the way before the punishment began.

The men left rather suddenly ten minutes or so later, stuffing their feet into their boots and thanking Father for the meal, and Jongho reappeared to see them off.

“We’ll return if you’ve been selected,” one of the officers explained as he stepped onto the porch.

“And you, child!” The lieutenant bent down to look Jongho in the eye, addressing him directly again. “I have two myself, with a daughter your age. Listen to your father, and you’ll grow up fine like him!”

Jongho forced a nervous smile and bowed as the man shut the door behind him.

He could only squeeze his eyes shut and hope Father would just go to bed.

“Why was there no rice?” He snapped instead, grabbing Jongho by the shoulder and spinning him around.

“I’m sorry,” Jongho tried to say, but his voice left him halfway through the word and he bit his trembling lip to stop a sob from escaping. “I didn’t know we’d have company, so I thought I’d get more tomorrow—”

“Tomorrow?” Father scoffed, turning and taking a swig from his bottle. Jongho hadn’t noticed it in his hand until now. “If you weren’t in the market buying rice, would you care to explain what you were doing?”

Jongho opened his mouth but his throat went dry.

He had sat and watched the runners again. He had dreamed of running with them and never stopping.

If he ran until his feet gave out, how far from home would he be? Far enough that Father would never find him?

A blow to the head knocked him out of his daze and onto the floor.

“Answer me when I’m talking to you!” Father roared.

Jongho pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes to keep the tears at bay. Father always got angrier when he saw tears. Jongho didn’t know why but he guessed seeing him cry made Father feel guilty. And he was trying to blame everything on Jongho, so he was ruining things by accusing Father with his tears.

“I was trying to learn how to make supper,” he confessed. “The woman in the market was showing me...”

“What did you buy with my money?” Father yelled, spit flying into Jongho’s face as he shook his head vehemently. “You stole from me, didn’t you?”

“No!” Jongho cried. “I promise I spent it all on ingredients like you told me to, the prices just went up so I used it all.”

“And it was useless in the end!” Father scoffed, throwing his hands up in desperation before downing the rest of his bottle and pacing the room.

Jongho wasn’t getting away anytime soon.

“Don’t try to crawl off now!” His father yelled as he turned to face him again, kicking him down when he tried to get to his feet. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Jongho didn’t answer. What could he say?

“You’re useless,” Father groaned before smashing the bottle on the floor, shocking Jongho as he jumped away from the flying glass shards. “Clean it up!”

With that, Father stormed over to his room and slammed the door.

It seemed Jongho had dodged a more painful bullet. As quietly as he could, he gathered the glass and deposited it outside, only allowing himself to breathe— to feel at all— when he was out of earshot.

Even in private he kept a straight face, but he couldn’t help but gaze longingly down the beach, past the cliffs.

Tomorrow Father would either forget the whole incident or apologise with something small like letting him sleep longer or making extra breakfast for him to eat too.

But now all Jongho wanted to do was run until he couldn’t even breathe, then maybe he’d collapse and wake up a new person with a new life.

Maybe then he could just forget.

___

A/N: Welcome to Jongho’s backstory, Dreamer! Please heed the warnings in the notes and tags as you go (they are there to help you) and buckle up for a wild ride and a lot more Treasure universe lore! Don’t forget to leave a comment and a reblog if you enjoyed <3

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wftc141 · 3 years

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Blackwatch Chapter 7: Tainted Justice

04:50 AM, Local Time

Jakarta, Indonesia

August, 2018

Everything around him felt warm, his body embracing the hot smoke trapped inside with him. The darkness around him began to light up as his eyes slowly opened and found himself upside-down. Constable Fauzi Wijaya was surprised that he was still alive even after getting their patrol vehicle t-boned by a truck that caught them from the side after leaving from a secret meeting, pushing them off the dirt road. He doesn't know where they landed but he could feel the humid dirt's odour wafting towards him.

Looking around, Wijaya felt something warm streaming down his face and saw red slipping off his face. His legs were trapped below and the seatbelt was stuck. Wijaya then spat out blood and coughed, almost choking himself on it.

He glanced at his side where his partner Nonk was, only to find him with blood streaming down his face, eyes bloodshot red and body riddled with broken glass. He was in an unlucky spot. Wijaya knew he would be joining Nonk if he doesn't get out now. Reaching for the seatbelt with his aching arms, Wijaya tried to break the seatbelt off. The burning sensation of his fingers flowed as he tried to pull the seat belt off. Suddenly, the seat belt lock ripped off and Wijaya fell onto the surface, landing on the miniature glass shards. His sleeves ripped into the glass as Wijaya gritted his teeth to endure the pain.

Finally crawling himself out of the broken window, Wijaya gripped onto the ground tightly as he crawled over the puddle mixed with dirt and waste. Half of his vision was blocked out by the blood from his head. Wijaya did his best to ignore the unending pain as he crawled through the wreckage and the hidden glass among the ground while facing the darkness. His legs felt like paper. He couldn't move an inch of his foot. As Wijaya looked up slowly to at least see the moon, he froze.

In front of Wijaya and above the road, a figure walked down the ditch with the headlights of the truck illuminating behind him. Then Wijaya noticed a gun lying on the ground near him and desperately tried to reach for it, ignoring the steps closing in. His strained grunts echoed the eerie silence as the steps got louder. Heart pounding with the mindset of a tortured victim. Just as he reached it, Wijaya noticed black boots in front of him before a gloved hand reached down to yank the revolver off him. Looking up, Wijaya got a clearer look of the figure. Black mask and cap. It was the assailant, preparing to tie up loose ends. And there was no doubt it was the Four Arms' doing.

"Anda bajingan! (You bastards!)" Wijaya cursed as the assailant checked the gun. "Saya tahu kami seharusnya tidak mempercayai anda anjing jalanan sejak awal! (I knew we shouldn't have trusted you street dogs in the first place!)"

Suddenly, blood coughed out of his mouth as Wijaya helplessly tried to pull himself up with his bleeding arms. The masked assailant finished checking the revolver and looked back at Wijaya, eyes filled with little awareness of what he said.

「大丈夫。彼らは遅かれ早かれあなたに加わるでしょう。」

Wijaya stared at the masked assailant in silence. He wasn't speaking Indonesian.

"Jepang? (Japanese?)" He muttered.

Just as Wijaya said his words, the masked assailant aimed the gun in front of his eyes and everything went black to the loud crack of the gun.

24 Hours Earlier

Central Jakarta, Indonesia

Embassy of the United States

July, 2018

The elevator made its stop at the eighth floor of the Embassy. After the doors opened, Genji followed Lacroix and McCree out and down the hallway. They were all called in for a new operation a month later after their operation in Russia eliminating the remaining ISIS group. There, Genji had some time to train himself and chat with Angela and check up on her progress in practicing self-defence with her friend Fareeha from Helix Securities.

Genji alongside McCree and Lacroix were the only few people picked by their team leader for this mission for whatever reason. Once they reached the meeting room where their team leader was waiting, the group entered the room where they saw Gabriel standing by a board with some photos and files pinned onto it as well as a projector. Gabriel turned around and noticed the group.

"Welcome to Jakarta, team," he greeted. "Glad you guys could make it."

"I'm guessing this is something big since we're here." McCree said as the team sat at the large, round table.

"It is. As you could see on the board, these guys are the reason why Blackwatch has been summoned."

Gabriel then took out a pile of dossiers from a box and handed each of the team one. Once Genji received the dossier, he opened it up to see its contents and found some documents with photos of what appears to be police officers and their names and ranks beside it. Beside were some personal information and some notes on them. Genji noticed a staple on the top left corner.

"So we're just going after a bunch of dirty cops, huh?" McCree questioned. "Not that I have a problem with taking these scumbags down."

"Not just them. These people are under the pockets of a notorious street gang of Jakarta known as the Four Arms, led by Eyo Naki."

Genji flipped the document over and found the second document showing an old photo of a man in a military uniform with medals over his jacket standing behind the Indonesian flag. One of his eyes was pure white with a vertical scar slashed over the white eye. He looked up and saw the man's photo again on the projector with more info beside it.

"Former General in the Indonesian army in the 90s, he was arrested and scheduled to be executed after an investigation reported countless war crimes committed during his twenty years of service and reports of multiple deaths of his own soldiers who opposed his actions. However, the convoy escorting Naki the next day was ambushed and killed by those loyal to him. After that, he disappeared into thin air, never to be found. That's how he ended up as the most wanted man of Asia."

Gabriel then changed to a new slide showing a symbol of the Four Arms with some disturbing photos from the past. Most were either dead bodies, drugs or photos of gangsters posing.

"At some point, he started the Four Arms with what was left of his loyal army and began to rise to the ranks as one of the most deadliest organisations of Jakarta for the next ten years. Naki is an iron-fisted leader with no remorse for his past and present and he doesn't like to share. The Four Arms' criminal activities have left at least thousands of innocent people and criminals alike dead."

Another slide with more shocking context was shown but this time the pictures showed destroyed buildings with some news articles.

"Last week, several complexes across Jakarta were bombed, taking the lives of hundreds of innocent people but the police discontinued their investigation. Intel suggests that the complexes belonged to a rival gang and Naki and his gang bombed the buildings as a message."

Gabriel then picked up a cup from the table and drank from it.

"The police have arrested members of the Four Arms before but most of the time, they were released shortly due to 'lack of evidence' and often resulted in widespread protests from the public. This went on for the entirety during the Four Arms' rise."

McCree scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Lack of evidence, my ass."

Genji stared at the document showing the corrupt cops as Gabriel continued the brief. He showed nothing but disgust and contempt. These people must be shameless to be involved in these atrocities.

"That was until an insider provided intel that the Four Arms had Police Chief Yulis Katuuk and some of his units including the narcotics and patrol paid off to turn a blind eye on their operations as well as their willingness to assist in covering their crimes."

Genji looked up where the slide showed a photo of the police chief in uniform, standing by the flag with four stars. There were medals over his jacket just like the one with Naki. Medals for someone with little regard of justice.

"Sounds like this bastard's got some tricks on his sleeves to be able to get someone like the chief on their good side." McCree commented.

"I take it this is a kill order?" Lacroix guessed.

"That's right," Gabriel answered. "The government has had enough of their shit and wants them dead so they reached out to NATO for their help in dealing with this issue."

"So the Indonesian government's alright with taking out their own guys? Cos' I thought NATO and them have some issues of their own." McCree questioned.

"The government has put aside their differences and approved our operation on behalf of NATO. Other than that, we're on our own for this."

"Do we have a place to stay?" Lacroix asked.

"The CIA has already lent us a hideout for this mission since we're also here to sabotage their operations. Weapons and gear have been taken care of as well. Might as well head out right now and get prepping. Dismissed."

The team began to get up from their chairs and made their way out of the room. Genji closed the dossier and stood up in silence.

"Genji," Gabriel called, grabbing his attention. "A word?"

Genji stayed while Lacroix and McCree left the room. Genji approached Gabriel to see what he had to say.

"Don't think I'm sitting you out of this because I'm not," Gabriel said. "I think you're capable of handling this. You've done this dirty cop business before, wouldn't hurt to do it again."

"I'm fine, sir." Genji replied quickly.

Gabriel stared at him for a moment before nodding. He would assume he just wants to finish this operation and get this over with.

"Alright...just checking."

Genji left the room once Gabriel let him leave. As he made his way down the hallway, Genji felt the pictures of the chief and the corrupt cops flash before him. He remembered every detail and every difference in each one of those people. Of all people he hates the most, corrupt cops make it to the first place. The only reason these false protectors let the gangs run amok and allow innocent people to die is for some white powder and dirty money. Genji saw it with his own eyes in the Shimada Clan. These people exploit the system of justice for their own purposes and appease the scum of this land. They were destined to face the well-deserved justice and Genji was bound to make sure the corrupt cops here would learn their lesson like every corrupt cop he killed.

Present

5:43 AM, Local Time

August, 2018

After torching the truck used for the attack, Genji returned to their hideout near the canalised river which was an abandoned apartment used for Blackwatch's operations. Parking the motorbike near the gate, Genji entered the building and met up with Gabriel and McCree where they set up a makeshift operation board. The board was filled with photos and files on Katuuk and the Four Arms.

"How'd it go?" Gabriel asked.

"Fauzi Wijaya and Hanif Nonk have been eliminated." Genji answered.

"Good. Mark those two off the list."

"Now all that's left is the narcotics unit, Katuuk and the Four Arms," McCree said. "Hopefully this will convince the dirty cops that the Four Arms is turning on them which is gonna make things easier for us."

"I believe Widowmaker is still out handling the other narcotics officers, yes?" Genji asked.

"She is," Gabriel answered. "She won't be back until a few more hours."

10:00 AM, Local Time

Getting inside his car in the parking garage, Police Chief Yulis Katuuk finished his cigarette and took out his cellphone from the cup holder. He speeddialed Naki's number and held the phone up to his ear, waiting for him to answer. His fingers tapped on the edge of the seat impatiently. Finally, the beeps stopped.

"Saya sedang melakukan sesuatu yang penting, jadi lakukanlah dengan cepat. (I'm in the middle of something important so make it quick.)" Naki's voice hissed.

"Begitu penting bahwa Anda belum menonton berita atau repot-repot menjawab telepon saya? (So important that you haven't been watching the news or bothered to answer my fucking calls?)"

Naki scoffed. "

Apa itu? Seseorang meninggal? (What is it? Someone died?)"

"Ya, kamu tua bangka! (Yes, you old fart!)" Katuuk replied. "

Unit narkotika saya mati seperti bagaimana petugas patroli saya menghilang- (My narcotics unit is dead just like how my patrolmen disappeared-)"

"Dan mengapa aku harus peduli tentang antek-antekmu yang hilang? (And why should I give a shit about your missing lackeys?)"

"Karena mereka bersama kru narkoba Anda ketika semuanya dihancurkan! (Because they were with your drug crew when everything was destroyed!)"

Silence returned from the other end. Katuuk realized he wasn't supposed to blurt out the drug part.

"Apa maksudmu semuanya hancur? Apa yang terjadi dengan kru saya? (What do you mean everything was destroyed? What happened to my crew?)" Naki said in a tone that could frighten even the new General of the army.

"Gudang untuk produksi obat dihancurkan tadi malam, (The warehouses for the drug production got destroyed last night,)" Katuuk explained. "Kristal, ganja, semuanya habis terbakar. Sebagian besar orang saya di narkotika dan kru Anda terbunuh seluruhnya. Saya melakukan yang terbaik untuk memastikan penyelidikan tidak akan berjalan- (Crystal, cannabis, they were all taken by the fire. Most of my men in the narcotics and your crew were killed altogether. I did my best to make sure the investigation wouldn't go-)"

"Apakah Anda tahu siapa yang melakukannya? Apakah itu saingan yang bisnisnya saya bom? (Do you know who did it? Was it that rival whose businesses I bombed?)"

"Tidak, saya tidak percaya ini adalah pembalasan. Mereka tidak akan melakukan ini bahkan jika mereka mencobanya. Ini terasa seperti pekerjaan profesional. (No, I don't believe this is retaliation. They wouldn't pull this off even if they tried. This feels like a professional job.)"

"Lalu apa maksudmu, Katuuk? (Then what are you implying, Katuuk?)"

"Seseorang memperhatikan kita. Mereka pasti sudah tahu bahwa saya terlibat dalam bisnis Anda dan mereka mencoba menyingkirkan kita berdua. Dan saya rasa saya tahu siapa yang mengejar kita. (Somebody is onto us. They must've figured out that I'm involved in your business and they're trying to get rid of both of us. And I think I know who's after us.)"

"Betulkah? Katakan padaku. (Really? Tell me.)"

"Saya memiliki orang dalam di Kedutaan Besar AS dan kemarin, dia melaporkan bahwa unit khusus dari barat disewa oleh pemerintah untuk misi pembunuhan. Hanya itu yang dia dapat dari itu. (I have an insider in the US Embassy and yesterday, he reported that a special unit from the west was hired by the government for an assassination mission. That was all he got from that.)"

"Dan? (And?)"

Katuuk was certain Naki won't like his answer but the truth can stop them from stuffing Katuuk into an oil-filled barrel and setting him alight.

"Dari apa yang dia kumpulkan, tebakan terbaik saya adalah bahwa kita adalah target mereka. (From what he's gathered, my best guess is that we're their targets.)"

Silence. The incoming outburst was inevitable.

"Apakah Anda memberi tahu saya bahwa pemerintah saya menyewa sekelompok tentara barat untuk membunuh kami? Untuk membunuh saya dan menghancurkan apa yang telah saya bangun?! (Are you telling me that my government hired a group of western soldiers to kill us? To kill me and destroy what I've built?!)"

Katuuk let out a sigh and braced for impact.

"Iya. (Yes.)" he grimly said.

"Mereka bodoh, dengar aku ?! Bodoh! Saya tidak akan tahan untuk ini! Saya tidak membangun sebuah kerajaan hanya untuk membiarkan beberapa orang asing mengakhiri pekerjaan saya karena apa, pemerintah saya tidak setuju dengan metode saya! Aku akan menjadi Tuhan negara ini bahkan jika aku harus membuat setiap sistem tidak stabil! (They're fools, you hear me?! Fools! I won't stand for this! I did not build an empire just to let some outsider fucks end my life's work because what, my government disagreed with my methods! I will be this country's God even if I must have every system destabilized!)"

The voices were so loud Katuuk thought Naki's other end was breaking up. Shortly, Katuuk heard Naki exhale to calm himself.

"Saya ingin Anda segera menangani masalah ini, (I want you to deal with this issue immediately,)" Naki calmly ordered. "Kirim anak buahmu keluar untuk melacak orang luar itu dan bunuh mereka. Lakukan perburuan, bingkai, apa pun yang dapat Anda lakukan untuk menemukannya. Saya akan mengirim beberapa anak saya untuk membantu tim Anda menyelesaikan misi. (Send your men out to track those outsiders and kill them. Put out a manhunt, frame them, anything you can do to find them. I'll send some of my boys to help your team complete the mission.)"

Katuuk wasn't sure what he was thinking. Even a dirty chief like him has standards to follow. After all, he only took care of turning his police force away from Naki's activities and some minor operations.

"Anda pasti sudah gila jika Anda pikir saya bisa- (You must be out of your mind if you think I can just-)"

"Bahwa. Apakah perintah. Saya tidak peduli jika Anda harus melanggar kebijakan Anda atau kehilangan lebih banyak orang. Itu adalah prioritas. Atau Anda ingin saya memotong 90% dari pembayaran Anda? Karena aku bisa pergi lebih rendah jika kamu mau. (That. Is an order. I don't care if you have to breach your policies or lose more of your men. That is a priority. Or would you like me to cut 90% of your payment down? Cause I can go even lower if you want.)"

Katuuk's grip on the seat tightened as he sat in his own bundle of rage. His breathing intensified before he recollected himself.

"Tidak, aku akan menemukan tersangka. (No. I'll find the suspects.)"

"Baik, (Good,)" Naki said. "Jika saya mendengar mereka masih hidup pada sore hari, berdoalah agar saya tidak menelepon Anda. (If I hear they're still alive by afternoon, pray that I don't call you.)"

Once the call ended, Katuuk slowly lowered his phone, finding himself in the threshold of life and death. This time, he wasn't going to bribe his way out. Not with what money he has left. However, he did get information from his informant in the Embassy on the location of their hideout.

10:23 AM, Local Time

As the team waited for Lacroix who was still out, Gabriel's phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out and after reading the ID, he answered it.

"Go ahead, 2." Gabriel said.

"We're blown. The police are on their way to the hideout. Get out of there now." Lacroix warned.

Without any hesitation, Gabriel hung up and turned to the team who were occupied with their own activities.

"Team, drop what you're doing and pack everything up right now!" He ordered as he reached for the gear.

McCree looked up from a document he was reading. "What's going on? Something happened?",

"We've been compromised. Destroy all the documents and anything that could leave a trace to us now!"

The team immediately got into it and packed everything they could manage. McCree stripped the board of all the photos and files, dumped them into a bin and doused it with gasoline before lighting it in flames. Everybody frantically and hastily searched for anything to burn to erase their existence in this building.

Arriving at the hideout, several police cruisers and a black car stopped at the side with no sirens and everybody got out. Police officers on Naki's payroll stormed the front door with the Four Arms gangsters following them, slightly better armed than the cops. Some of the cops stayed outside to keep guard. Once they entered, there was no sign of their targets. As the group searched the building, one of the police officers made a call through a burner phone that exclusively connects them to Chief Katuuk.

"Apakah mereka sudah mati? (Are they dead?)" the Chief asked.

"Tidak ada tanda-tanda dari mereka, tuan, (No sign of them, sir,)" the cop said. "Mereka pasti tahu kita mengejar mereka dan melarikan diri. (They must've figured out we were after them and fled.)"

"Pak! Saya menemukan sesuatu di bawah meja ini! (Sir! I found something under this table!)"

The cop turned around and noticed his fellow cop holding up a side of a tablecloth, looking underneath it. Keeping the chief on standby, the cop approached the table and looked underneath. Through the dark, they noticed several red dots flashing. The cop's eyes widened just as he realized what it was.

"Sial! Kami mendapat- (Sial! We got a-)"

As the team headed down a hidden stairwell, they heard a muffled rumble from above and dust crumbled from the ceiling. Gabriel was watching the CCTV footage from the phone before detonating the emergency C4 the CIA had snuck in for them. There was no chance of both the cops and the gangsters surviving the explosion, especially when it collapsed onto their heads.

After reaching the tunnel underneath the safe house, the team stuffed their gear into a grey Mercedes before entering the car. McCree ignited the engine and drove off through the dark tunnel.

"Well that was a goddamn cluster." McCree said.

"No shit," Gabriel replied. "They must've found out we're here and what we're doing somehow."

"Sounds like we might have a rat in the Embassy."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Shortly, McCree drove the team out of the tunnel, leading them to a wide canalised river which happened to be outside their hideout. McCree took a right and drove down the river. Genji perched up after hearing faint sirens from behind. He turned around and looked behind the window where he noticed two police cruisers driving on the street beside them from a distance.

"We picked up a tail." Genji said.

Gabriel glanced at his rear mirror and noticed the police cruisers chasing the team. The cruisers drove down the hill and onto the river, gaining some speed. Genji then noticed a police officer point his gun at their car and open fire. Genji ducked down as the shots hit the back of their car and the window.

"I'll handle it!" Genji called out, reaching for the bag carrying the weapons.

After grabbing an MCX and loading it with a full mag, Genji waited for the gunshots to stop. Once there was a brief pause from the police, he sat on the side window and opened fire. Genji fired at the cruiser at the left, hitting the front as both police cruisers began to swerve around erratically. Genji then aligned his shots to the window where the unsuspecting police officers were, riddling them with bullets as glass shards projected onto them and blood splattered from inside. The cruiser then began to slow down with smoke wafting from the front and swerve onto the corners of the hill, coming to a complete stop. One down, one to go.

Genji turned to his right and noticed the last police cruiser aligning itself with the team's car. Genji opened fire at the cruiser before the police officer could aim his gun. Then, he heard a click from his rifle. Genji quickly disposed of the empty mag and burrowed into the bag for a new one. Gunshots erupted from the side and pounded the doors.

"Anytime now, Genji!" Gabriel shouted.

"Good thing those crooks are lousy shots!" McCree called.

Genji finally found the full mag, loaded the rifle and pressed the bolt catch before aiming for the drivers. The shots hit both the driver and his partner inside. Genji watched as the cruiser swerved away from the team and crashed into a garbage pile, flipping over onto its top. Genji noticed one of the police officers' launch out of the window and fall onto the ground. The sirens died down as the cruiser slid away and shrunk from the team's view.

"Targets down. They won't be after us for now." Genji said, getting back inside the car.

"Alright," Gabriel said. "Hide the gun."

The drive led them back onto the road and into the streets. The embassy was close by so it wouldn't take long to arrive.

3:00 PM, Local Time

Katuuk's feet tapped on the gravel rapidly. As predicted, Naki has ordered him to meet him through a phone call. A meeting Katuuk can't decline. Which was how he ended up at an isolated cliffside in the hills overlooking Jakarta. Just in case, he brought along some of his police officers for protection.

Then, the Four Arms arrived with three black cars stopping in front of him. The doors opened and gangsters got out with most of them armed with rifles while the rest were unarmed. Then, the door of the car in the middle opened and stepping out of it was none other than Eyo Naki himself in the flesh. Despite him being much older than Katuuk, Naki's deadshot eye and his face shaped by the war can make a combination of the army and the entire police force fear him. Adjusting his sleeve of his coat over his pinstripe suit and turtleneck, he approached Katuuk with every loud and slow step filling the dread before taking his hat off.

"Saya memperingatkan Anda, bukan? (I warned you, didn't I?)" Naki growled. "Saya ingin orang luar itu mati sebelum sore, namun saya dengar mereka masih hidup. Ingin mengatakan sesuatu? (I wanted those outsiders dead before afternoon and yet I hear they're still alive. Got anything to say?)"

Katuuk took a deep breath. "Itu tidak bisa dihindari. Orang-orang ini berpengalaman. Mereka pasti tahu kita sudah mengetahui lokasinya. (It was inevitable. These people are experienced. They must've known we figured out their location.)"

"Dan Anda mengatakan bahwa Anda tidak bisa melakukan apa-apa lagi? (And you're saying that you can't do anything else?)"

"Saya katakan kita harus berhati-hati! Orang-orang ini tidak menyukai penjahat yang Anda hadapi. Mereka memiliki tenaga yang cukup untuk melebihi jumlah kita. (I'm saying we should be careful! These people aren't like those thugs you've dealt with. They have enough manpower to outnumber us.)"

"Menurutmu teroris barat itu membuatku takut? Saya telah membangun karir saya dengan darah dan keringat saya! Saya tidak akan membiarkan beberapa orang luar menghancurkan apa yang saya buat! Aku bodoh karena mengira kamu mampu menangani ini. Anda tidak lebih dari buang-buang waktu yang tidak kompeten. (You think those western terrorists scare me? I've built my career with my fucking blood and sweat! I'm not going to let some outsiders destroy what I've created! I was a fool to think you were capable of handling this. You're nothing more but an incompetent waste of time.)"

At this point, Katuuk has had enough.

"Saya lebih baik menjadi orang bodoh daripada bekerja untuk teroris seperti Anda! (I'd rather be a fool than work for a terrorist like you!)" he snapped.

Naki glanced at him with an eye that could pierce through his heart.

"Apa katamu? (What did you say?)"

"Saya muak dan lelah mengambil tanggung jawab atas semua hal yang telah Anda lakukan, (I'm sick and tired of taking responsibility for all the shit you've done,)" Katuuk continued. "Tahukah Anda berapa banyak petugas polisi yang kehilangan tugas sejak saya mulai bekerja untuk Anda? Apakah Anda tahu apa yang harus saya tangani hanya agar Anda tidak ditangkap? Tidak. Karena Anda seorang teroris. Anda hanya peduli untuk memuaskan ego Anda yang membengkak. Aku seharusnya menangkapmu saat aku punya kesempatan! (Do you know how many police officers I've lost on the line of duty ever since I started working for you? Do you know what I had to deal with just to keep you from getting arrested? No, you don't. Because you're a terrorist. You only care about satisfying your inflated ego. I should've had you arrested when I had the chance!)"

"Perhatikan lidah kotormu itu. Kamu pikir kamu siapa, ya? Ketahuilah tempatmu! (Watch that filthy tongue of yours. Who the fuck do you think you are, huh? Know your damn place!)"

"Anda tidak menakut-nakuti saya lagi, Naki. Anda ingin membunuh tentara barat itu, lakukan sendiri. Dilakukan. (You don't scare me anymore, Naki. You want to kill those western soldiers, do it yourself. We're done.)"

Katuuk then ordered his men to get moving as he turned away. As he headed towards his car, Naki drew out his pistol from his holster and fired two rounds to each of his legs. Katuuk let out a cry and fell towards the cruiser. The police officers sluggishly reacted to the sounds of gunshots and Naki's men raised their weapons. They gave the police officers bzero chance to fight back as the bullets shredded into them, clearing them out in seconds. The gunfire ceased and the men lowered their weapons, leaving Katuuk the last one alive.

Naki approached Katuuk who sat up against the cruiser, unable to feel his legs. Naki aimed his pistol at Katuuk's head and shot him dead without hesitation. His hand fell onto the ground lifelessly and his eyes strayed away as blood streamed from his forehead. Naki stared at his body as he holstered his pistol with no remorse like how he treated his victims. He spat at Katuuk's corpse before turning away to his men.

"Ayo kembali. Kami akan berburu. (Let's head back. We're going on a hunt.)"

7:30 PM, Local Time

Embassy of the United States

The team watched the TV by the board broadcasting mostly unimportant news while waiting for Amélie to report back. Shortly, the news then showed a new report of a murder. The camera focused on a crime scene at a cliffside with the police surrounding it where the reporter explained the bodies of Chief Katuuk and some of the other police officers were found. Judging by the way the news is portraying Katuuk and the police, the locals wouldn't be surprised about it since they've lost whatever was left of their faith.

"Seems like the Four Arms did us a favor dealing with those dirty cops," McCree said. "Makes our job a lot easier."

"Would've been better if I had taken him out." Genji said.

"I know, Genji. Naki's next so you'll get your chance." Gabriel told him.

The sounds of the door opening behind them caught the team's attention, seeing Amélie entering the room, carrying some documents. She was tasked in finding the person who ratted them out and it was no surprise she was skilled in finding them.

"Who was the rat?" Gabriel asked.

"A local analyst of the embassy," Amélie answered. "Katuuk sent him here. I managed to squeeze the information out of him before handing him off to the CIA. They'll be putting him in a blacksite since they believe he has been a mole for other Islamic terror cells."

"So what's our situation with the Four Arms?" McCree asked.

Amélie placed the documents onto the table, with a picture of a satellite shot of a row of houses.

"The analyst gave us the address of Naki and his gang's hideout. They're at a townhouse in South Jakarta. He also told me that they're currently planning their next move. My best guess is that they're going to start a war against us."

After reading the documents and the map of the hideout, Gabriel got his hands off the table and faced his team.

"Well, if Naki's that pissed off, then who are we to decline his offer?" Gabriel stepped in. "If he wants a war, then we'll bring it to his front door. Get geared up, team. We move out in thirty mikes."

8:23 PM, Local Time

Twas the night before the chaos. Blackwatch has already made their arrival at the townhouse in South Jakarta where Naki and his men would be at. Turns out, they were near a town that was a hotspot for a night out. The townhouses itself resembled buildings from either the UK or the Netherlands. The team parked by the back alley between the townhouse and a bar. The sky was pitch black with some vague clouds hovering above but the townhouses were bright from the windows.

"Shadow 1 to Shadow 2, we're at the target's destination, over." Gabriel said.

"Copy, Shadow 1. Got visual on the hideout. No patrols. Possible hostiles inside the building." Amélie replied.

The sniper was positioned at a rooftop of a building across the townhouse where she would get a clear sight of Naki and his men.

"Copy, Shadow 2. We'll get the bastards. Out," Gabriel then reached for the door. "Alright, let's get this done."

The team got out, already fitted with plate carriers over their clothes, gear and balaclavas and their suppressed weapons and made their way to the alley. Genji paced after Gabriel, taking the lead as they walked down the alley to where the townhouse's backyard would be. He was particularly eager in taking Naki down, after losing his grasp on Katuuk. This time, nobody leaves this building alive.

Genji and the team arrived at the back gate leading to the townhouse's backyard. After a brief check of their surroundings, Gabriel led the team in after opening the partially closed gate. At the front was a glass door where they saw a group of Four Arms gangsters by a table, possibly setting up their weapons.

"Hostiles inside the building." McCree said.

The team moved quietly away from the door, blending in with the dark. Music was blaring from inside, making it easier for them to move without the gangsters hearing anything outside. They approached the wall beside it and stacked up.

"Shadow 1 to Shadow 2, we're breaching the building, out." Gabriel said.

"Bien reçu."

After getting off the comms, Gabriel turned to Genji.

"All yours, Genji. Bring in the heat."

Genji nodded and moved past Gabriel towards the door. McCree held out a grenade for the next hit. Getting his MCX ready, he reached the glass door and faced the gangsters still unaware of his presence. Just as one of them looked up and noticed Genji, he opened fire with full automatic rounds, dropping the gangsters in front of him as the glass shattered into pieces. The rest of the gangsters began to scramble while grabbing their weapons.

"Tossing frag!" McCree called out as he threw a grenade into the room.

Just as the team entered the room, an explosion erupted and debris flew outwards. The music began to die down, drowned out by the gunfire. Some blood spilled from the area. Genji took cover behind a kitchen as gunshots erupted from the front of the house. Gabriel and McCree took cover behind some tables. Most of the loud shots came from either a pistol or an SMG.

Genji moved out of cover and saw a gangster approaching him face on with a rifle. The full automatic rounds riddled into the gangster before he could react. As the body fell down, Genji dived and rolled towards a drawer table, taking cover from further gunfire before noticing a gangster hiding inside a room trying to fire through the narrow gap of the door. Genji shot his foot and the gangster let out cry and lost balance, leaving Genji an open view of multiple rounds to his body. Moving out of cover, Genji and the team took out the rest of the gangsters near a living room with a large pool table.

"Leading." Genji said as the team approached the stairs.

As they moved up the stairwell, Genji heard frantic footsteps and faint shouts from outside and above. He noticed a gangster appear from the left about to aim his gun. Genji fired first, taking him out with several shots to the head. His body then fell onto the stairs and tumbled down. Genji then noticed a pair of legs on the hallway of the next floor through the stair gap. Firing several rounds to the legs were enough to make the gangster collapse. Reaching the next floor, Genji finished off the downed gangster and headed towards the room to his left where he noticed a man running on the rooftops through an open window with two of his men following him. That has to be Naki.

"I got visual on the target! He's on the rooftops!" Genji reported.

"Shadow 2, HVT fleeing on the roof. Do you have a visual, over?" Gabriel asked.

"Negative, I have no visual on HVT," Widowmaker replied on comms. "But you got hostiles moving in to the front door. I'll hold them off as much as I can."

"I'll go after him." Genji suggested.

Gabriel nodded. "Go. McCree, with me!"

Genji headed into the room with the open window while both Gabriel and McCree stayed back to hold off oncoming gangsters. After climbing through the window, Genji moved towards a chimney and then suddenly, a gangster with a camo balaclava emerged from behind and swung a machete across him. Genji managed to dodge the hill swing and the attack after it. Then, he heard voices behind the masked gangster closing in.

Once the masked gangster swung his next hit, Genji let go of his rifle and grabbed onto his wrist before punching his throat. With the masked gangster unable to fight back with a broken windpipe, Genji held onto the base of the machete, stepped to the masked gangster's side and drove it into his stomach.

The blades protruded through his body with blood dripping from the tip. Pulling out his suppressed Glock, Genji noticed several other gangsters heading his way and used the masked gangster for cover as bullets hit the gangster's body, hardly going through to Genji. He managed to take out two gangsters before tossing the masked one aside and advancing further through the rooftop.

As Genji made his way over another rooftop connected to each townhouse in this area, he caught sight of two of Naki's men calling in reinforcements from the other houses to hold Genji off before continuing to escort Naki away. There were only a handful of them. Genji took cover behind a small garden as gunfire erupted after him. He leaned over to the left and took out one of the gangsters near a door before running dry. Getting back in cover, Genji ejected the empty mag and inserted a new one before hitting the bolt catch.

Turning to his right, Genji moved out of cover to find a gangster approaching his position amidst the gunfire. Genji shot his abdomen before aiming for his chest, taking him out in an instant. One of the gangsters behind him got distracted, leaving him open for Genji to take him out too.

He then noticed more from the other side, shooting at him. Taking cover once again, Genji took a flashbang from his battle belt and tossed it to the gangster's position. A loud bang erupted and sounds of pained cries followed up as gunfire ceased. Genji moved out of cover and took out the remaining disorientated gangsters before continuing his chase after Naki.

Reaching another rooftop of a different townhouse, he found Naki running into a door with his men helping close the door. Genji took aim and fired his rounds, taking both of them out. As he closed in on the door, his instincts flared up and Genji noticed one of the gangsters he shot grab onto his rifle. Genji kicked his leg, bringing him onto his knees and pulled out his Glock, firing several shots into his head until it ran dry. As the gangster fell away and his grip loosened, Genji swapped pistol mags and racked the slide before opening the door.

"Shadow 5, HVT entering a new building. Moving in with caution." Genji said as he entered a room with stairs down below.

Using his rifle, Genji went down the stairs with heightened sense, expecting an element of surprise. He made sure his steps on the wooden stairs didn't creak loud enough for anyone to hear. Genji found himself on a floor with several rooms. Every room he checked was empty. Suddenly, he heard something fall onto the ground downstairs.

Genji slowly went down the stairs and just as he stepped onto the floor below, he saw Naki at the kitchen and aimed his rifle. Naki ducked down behind the counter as Genji fired at him. The bullets shattered some of the glass and tiles behind the counter. Suddenly, he heard a click. His rifle was jammed. Genji glanced up and saw Naki now standing from the counter, drawing his pistol from a shoulder holster.

Genji quickly dropped his rifle and dove for the front counter as the shots zipped above him. Genji was able to get a good look of Naki and he looked much older than the photo with the grayed hair and distinct wrinkles, complemented with a black turtleneck and pinstripe pants like he was still reliving his 40s.

Genji pulled out his Glock and blindly fired back from the counter. The sounds of more glass shattered echoed across the room. Slipping to the side of the kitchen, Naki suddenly attacked him, slapping Genji's pistol out of sight. Genji managed to grab hold of Naki and pushed him against the fridge. He managed to pry the pistol off Naki's hand and toss it away from reach before getting kneed in the stomach and kicked back.

Looking back up, Genji noticed Naki take out a karambit and spun it as he got on his feet. For a man in his 70s, he was still able to hold off a punch. He somewhat reminded him of his father. Genji got into his fighting stance, not planning to pull any punches.

"Saya tidak akan membiarkan teroris mengakhiri warisan saya!" Naki growled hoarsely, charging at him with the knife.

Genji dodged Naki's rapid swings, including several lethal jabs. Genji managed to grab hold of Naki's arm, delivering an elbow to the forearm until Naki lost grip of his karambit before turning a heel and throwing him onto the counter surface. Turning around, Genji watched Naki slide off the table to the other side. Glancing down at the karambit, Genji swiped it off the floor as he moved towards Naki's position.

Naki threw a punch and Genji slipped below, getting behind the gang leader. Spinning around, he swung a hit to Naki's arm, leaving a cut. Naki was slow to react to Genji dodging his attack, further emphasizing his fading abilities through age. He wasn't going to survive this. Genji then let Naki throw another punch, pushed it away with his free hand and delivered a heavy cut to his forearm. At this rate, he wouldn't be able to use his vital amount of arm strength.

Genji stooped down and pierced the karambit through Naki's left ankle. This was enough to bring him to his one knee. As he let out a jarring cry, Genji felt Naki's hand force onto his face, with one of his fingers trying to reach his eye. Pulling the karambit out, Genji went for his other leg with a swift swipe. The cut managed to distract Naki enough for Genji to stab him in the stomach.

Twisting the karambit upwards, Genji forced Naki onto his feet while holding his arm. He noticed Naki can barely stand on his two feet anymore thanks to the cuts. Genji then turned the karambit to the left and drew a deep cut across Naki's body and stabbed his right arm after noticing his attempted hit. With the blade deep inside his arm, Genji pushed it towards the shoulder, leaving blood spilling onto the wooden floorboards. Finally, Genji has his sights on Naki's throat. He suffered enough. This is his final blow.

Genji thrusted the blade into his throat, deep into the skin and inside. He heard the sound of knees falling onto the ground. The movement stopped and Genji panted as he listened to Naki's gargling. Genji's eyes caught Naki's as he stared into the last eye slowly losing colour as Genji's deadshot gaze further pierced into his head. He then slightly leaned towards Naki.

"May God forgive you." Genji whispered before pulling the karambit out.

He stared forward as the thud accompanied the silence. After some time, Genji looked back at Naki's body soaked and drowned in a puddle of dark velvet red blood. The blood paid for the atrocities but he wouldn't expect it to be returned with grace. After all, people like Naki are beyond redemption.

"Shadow 5, status, over!" Gabriel's voice buzzed from Genji's comms.

Genji responded, tapping the comms. "HVT is KIA, over."

"Copy, Shadow 5. Target house is secure and all hostiles are KIA. Time to disappear."

Genji got off the comms and glanced back at the body, noticing the blood on his gloves and plate carrier. He silently bid farewell and placed the karambit on the counter before heading back on the rooftops and eventually meeting up with the team, surrounded by a load of bodies from the inside to the outside.

The Next Day

12:30 PM, Local Time

Rome, Italy

Embassy of the United States

The day after their mission in Jakarta, Gabriel and Amélie have been called in to meet with Salvatore at the Embassy for something important. Ever since the death of Naki and Katuuk, most international news channels have been reporting on this incident overnight. The discovery of both the missing war criminal and the sheer amounts of bodies left behind at the townhouse was enough to attract international attention, although they acknowledged they were part of the Four Arms which has apparently been crippled due to Naki's death.

Jakarta Police has also been on damage control after leaks exposed Katuuk and his followers' corruption. Some other officials have also been arrested after evidence pointed fingers at them while most were unaware of Katuuk's corruption, especially the commissioner. Being unaware is even harder to control when the public has already lost their faith.

After entering the hallway to the room where Salvatore would be, Gabriel and Amélie found the door open and allowed themselves in. As Gabriel entered the room, he turned to where Salvatore was sitting at and noticed something that caught him by surprise. Salvatore wasn't alone this time. There was another man sitting with him, wearing the same uniform as Salvatore's. His hat was placed by the corner of the table. Faded blonde hair and a familiar face. Of all times, Gabriel would've never expected his old friend from the Delta Force to be here, in this Embassy.

"Jack?" Gabriel muttered.

The colonel stood up, approaching him with a stretched hand. "Been a long time, Gabe."

Gabriel said nothing. He was still comprehending the situation and the possibilities of his presence. Gabriel raised his hand and shook Jack's just to not keep him hanging.

"It sure has."

Jack Morrison was a colonel back at Delta, as well as Gabriel's team leader. He learnt a lot from him, something he took into consideration when becoming a leader of his own covert team for NATO. They weren't just acquaintances in the military. Their friendship skyrocketed after meeting each other back at the army. Gabriel hadn't seen Jack ever since his enlistment for Blackwatch. Something between them began to change forward on.

"What's happening?" Amélie asked.

Jack and Gabriel glanced at Salvatore. Noticing the eyes on him, he sighed as he stood up from his chair and adjusted his collar.

"Well, I'm officially retiring," Salvatore answered. "Nothing bad about it. Just believe this soldier should turn in. Colonel Morrison will be handling future Blackwatch operations. Since you two know each other, I believe you'll get along real well."

"Trust me," Jack said before turning to Gabriel with a smirk. "We will."

The two continued to stare at each other, no words exchanged. Amélie glanced at them, noticing a sense of tension. She would be wrong to think they would still offer a warm welcome. Gabriel never talked about Morrison before. From what she knows, Amélie could only predict not just a change of direction now that Morrison is taking over but a divide between the two leaders. A divide that could shape Blackwatch's purpose.

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holidaywishes · 4 years

Text

All Roads Lead To You III

Part 3: The Island

Summary of series: JJ took a job at the old Samson Estate – mostly mowing lawns, cleaning Mr. Samson’s yacht and serving at his dinner parties – for the sole purpose of distracting himself from the fact that he seemed to be the only one left from the crew. Sarah and John B. were still “lost at sea” after almost a year and Pope and Kie were… well, they were becoming Pope and Kie, so he needed something to occupy his time. When a new girl comes to town, JJ thinks it’s the perfect way to let off some steam but it may be more difficult than he anticipated.

Summary of chapter: Everyone gets “stranded” on an island for Alexis’ birthday.

Warning: trigger warning for talk of abuse and alcholism, catcalling? Inappropriate flirting?, fighting, getting some hints of romance yay

Author’s Note: Hello, lovely humans, I’m feeling rejuvenated after watching the Leafs vs Habs game Tuesday night and I wanted to continue writing this series. For those that are reading this little series, I hope you’re enjoying it and that you continue to enjoy it.

masterlist

the other masterlist

JJ’s P.O.V.

After Addy had called you out on lying about teaching her cousin how to surf, you tried to think of a way to tell Alexis that you two had to come up with a new plan.

“ALEXIS!” you shouted when you finally found Alexis, “where have you been? we need to talk...”

“What’s going on?” she scoffed as you dragged her to the side of the house, pulling her arm away and furrowing her brow at you

“She knows.” you stated and waited for Alexis to catch on

“Who knows what?” she answered mindlessly

“Your cousin. She knows we’re lying. She knows I’m not teaching you how to surf”

“What makes you think that?”

“She wants to see how much progress you’ve made. At your birthday party.”

“What?” she said, leading you to roll your eyes

“She went on and on about how your parents would get you anything you wanted, including Gold Medal surf instructors, and how both your families were from Old Money--”

“She said that?”

“Can you focus for a second?”

“Fine whatever, continue” she scoffed

“I had to tell her that you were keeping it a secret from your parents until you could get better. So, now, she’s invited me to this... party for you so I can be there to show her how good you’ve gotten...”

“WHAT?!” she yelled before you shushed her, “why would you tell her that? Why would you tell her anything? Why were you even talking to her?”

“She was talking to me, I didn’t want to be rude. Her dad is my boss you know?”

“Shit” she whispered the same way you had when Addy had left the room after inviting you to the party

“What are you gonna do?” you asked, stepping back

“Me? No no no, you’re in this now. You’ve been invited to the party. We’ll have to.. tell her. The truth.”

“I can’t lose this job”

“Uncle Ben isn’t going to fire you,” she sighed, “not because of this anyway.”

“What does th--”

“Maybe she’ll back down if we paddle board to start with...” she interrupted, “maybe we can trick her into thinking that we’d already gone surfing?”

“How?” you groaned

“Switch boards whenever she sees us in the water?” she shrugged

“This is stupid. Just tell her.”

“This is your fault. I can’t believe you couldn’t keep this secret for one day!”

“My fault?” you scoffed, watching her emphatically nod her head at you, “this is your lie!”

“Alexis!” the two of you whipped your head around when you heard her mom call for her, “time for dinner sweetheart. Where are you?”

“I have to go.” she stated

“You better figure this out before tomorrow!” you called after her and she shook her head as she continued to run toward her mother’s voice. You knew she wasn’t going to tell her cousin but you weren’t going to either, so at this point it was just going to be a game of chicken.

Alexis’ P.O.V.

You hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night as you tried to think of a way to get out of telling Addy that you weren’t learning how to surf. Every time an idea came to mind, you’d just picture her face and her voice breaking as she told you she ‘couldn’t believe you lied’ to her. Nothing you could think up didn’t end with her being upset with you, but JJ had said she already knew so maybe it wasn’t as upset as you thought.

“Lexi!” you heard your cousin yell as she walked through the front door of your house, “Happy 18th Birthday, Lady! You ready to go?” she called from the stairs

“Go?” you questioned, popping out of your room just before she got there, “its like 9am”

“We have a bunch of stuff to get sorted before we get on the Yacht” she answered with a smile

“Like..?”

“We have to set up all the tents.” she replied, simply, before turning on her heels and walking back toward the staircase, “hurry up. Brody is meeting us up at the dock.”

“Brody?” you questioned, following after her as she skipped downstairs, “like Brody Langford? When did you see him? Why did you see him?”

“I went down to the dock to see if anyone knew of somewhere we could camp. Rafe Cameron is coming by the way?” she said plainly, “so I hope you’re okay with that.. he said he knew you, he gave me the idea for this island... it was a whole thing. Anyway, as I was leaving to come back home, I bumped into Brody and told him he should meet us at the dock before we get on the Yacht.”

“You’re just inviting everyone aren’t you?” you scoffed, crossing your arms as you stopped by the door frame, “Rafe, Brody, JJ...”

“Are you mad?” she asked, “I honestly thought you would’ve already invited JJ...”

“Why would you think that? Because you think there has to be something going on between us?” you sneered

“Whoa calm down,” she replied calmly, stepping toward you, “I just meant I thought you guys were friends and that you’d invited him because you wanted your friends there. That’s it.”

“Oh,” you corrected, relaxing your posture as you did so, “I don’t know if we’re really friends... I should tell you actually. He’s --”

“Not teaching you how to surf?” she interrupted and you shook your head, making Addy laugh softly, “I know, Lex. Why did you lie though? Did you think I would care?”

“Honestly? It’s going to sound so dumb”

“Well now you have to tell me!” she laughed, continuing to the car

“I just wanted to have something on you. You’re so... everyone loves you. Without you even having to try and I just wanted to have something that you didn’t. Like being a good surfer.”

“Lexi...” she cooed, tilting her head sympathetically at you, “It just looks like people love me. But I promise, it’s only here. And it’s only because I’m new. They don’t know me. For some reason, that makes me mysterious to them...”

“I think it’s more than that” you said, looking down at your lap while your cousin backed out of the driveway

“What can I do to prove it?” she finally said, “that they just think I’m a mystery and that’s it’s not the same in New York?”

“Tell me the truth why you left...” you said under your breath, hoping she didn’t hear. Addy’s departure from OBX had left Figure 8 with a lot of questions. The story was that she had been accepted into a prestigious boarding school that was letting her start mid-semester so she had to leave right away but that didn’t stop everyone from speculating.

Was she a problem child? Could her parents not handle her? Was the family giving up the Estate and moving to New York and wanted to give Adelaide a chance to settle in before they got there? Did her parents put her in an institution? Was she crazy? Or was she just going to visit her aunt for the summer?

Even within the family, the questions were never answered and her parents really didn’t have a lot of contact with her, which only fueled rumours of her being in a mental institution. You were the closest person to her and, still, you got the textbook Boarding School story that you could tell she’d rehearsed a million times before. You wanted to know why she left. You knew there had to be more to the story than a boarding school. When she didn’t reply to you, you took that as her not hearing you

“Tell me why you left,” you repeated, “the truth, Addy.” You saw her let out a deep sigh before pulling into an empty parking lot. She turned off the engine and turned her body to face you, pursing her lips side to side as she thought about how to start

“It’s complicated” she started

“I don’t ca--”

“So I need you to not interrupt. If you have questions,” she interrupted you, “I’ll understand but I need to get through everything before you ask any questions okay?” she asked and you nodded in return. “You remember how clumsy and... hyper I was as a kid right? Both of us, hell, all of us kids were like that. Always running around, often breaking things in our wake.” The two of you laughed but hers trailed off quickly before she had to clear her throat, “you remember Uncle Mike? How drunk he would get? How violent he could get?” A million thoughts were running through your head as she spoke but you could only nod as she spoke, “At one of our block parties, you had gotten sick from too many clams or something and went home, so I was the only kid left with a bunch of adults laughing at some golf jokes I didn’t find funny. So.. naturally, I tried to find ways to entertain myself. A lot of that involved me running around the Estate with balloons or blowing bubbles, or whatever kids do. While I was running around, I bumped into Uncle Mike, when he was already pretty drunk, and he dropped the bottle of beer he was holding. I went inside to grab the dust pan and some gloves to pick it up -- like mom and dad taught me --” she stopped just long enough for the two of you to raise your eyebrows at each other, since you both knew what she was talking about, “anyway, he followed me inside and started yelling at me. With this half broken glass bottle in his hand just pointing at me and I started crying, which seemed to only make him angrier. I called for my Dad, but he didn’t hear me, so I started to run to find them but Uncle Mike kind of grabbed my arm and I fell back... into the jagged edges of the bottle.” Your eyes went wide and your mouth dropped. Surely she was just exaggerating. He never hurt her. Your family would’ve said something so that no one else would get hurt. You wanted to ask but you were keeping them until the end, like she’d asked, “Mom and Dad finally found me, and I was losing a lot of blood. Really quickly. So they drove me to the hospital. After that, I didn’t really see Uncle Mike again. None of us did.” There was a long pause and you thought she was finished

“But I remember that Block Party, you were still here after that. You were gone the next summer...” you furrowed your brow and she scowled slightly as if to tell you she wasn’t finished

“Even though, he wasn’t around and I was fine, healed and all that. I kept having nightmares. Thinking that he was just going to show up again in a rage. I stopped sleeping. I missed a lot of classes because I was too exhausted to pay attention. So, my parents decided they’d send me to a shrink in New York. And I went.”

“But you never came back. They didn’t go with you.” you stated

“Alexis...” she sighed

“I know, I’m sorry” you replied, gesturing for her to continue

“It was only supposed to be a couple visits. They’d fly me out, I’d stay with Aunt Sally and they’d fly me back. But the shrink said that a lot of my fear came from knowing that the island is so small that Uncle Mike could still get to me if I was alone. So, the shrink suggested I move to the city permanently and that it would be best if mom and dad came as well. But they didn’t. Dad made some claim to Aunt Sally that the Estate needed someone from the family, from the Samson name, to take care of it or else it would fall apart. Mom... she wasn’t going to leave her husband. So, they let me leave. They let me stay away from all of this,” she gestured around her, “and then they stopped calling. Writing. They wanted me to get better but I could tell that it was like a ‘stain on the name.’ Like somehow, I had embarrassed them.”

“Can I..?” you started, gauging if she was finished and she nodded, “I don’t want to sound... How do I know that you’re not over exaggerating? That you didn’t just trip and go into the hospital for something else but you’re remembering it differently?” she smiled at you and you realized she’d expected this question for you. She turned around and lifted her shirt up, revealing a curved scar on her hip from where the glass had punctured her skin.

“Nothing was damaged. No organs or arteries or blood vessels. But I’ll have this scar forever to remind me that our Uncle was a mean, nasty drunk.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Honestly? It seemed so trivial.” she admitted and you tilted your head, “as far as I knew, Uncle Mike was gone. He wasn’t around anyone in the family. My dad had banned him from our property and it was his own brother, so that said something for my dad to do that. I just... I didn’t think you needed to worry if you weren’t in danger. I had made a life for myself in New York and my parents were trying to keep their reputation clean, you know?”

“But wasn’t this like an isolated thing?” you asked and she sighed, letting her shirt fall back down as she turned back to face you

“Sort of. This was an accident brought on by his alcohol abuse. He was a drunk and he was bound to hurt someone again, which is why my parents sent him to rehab. And that apparently didn’t take...” she dropped her head, “I should’ve told you and I’m sorry I didn’t. But now you know..” You leaned in to hug her and she hugged you back, letting out a scoff, “are we ready to go now?”

“Yes” you exclaimed, wiping a tear that had begun to fall from your eye and the two of you continued to the dock. You thought that she might consider staying in OBX know that you knew what had happened all those years ago because she seemed happy here. Happier than you’d seen her in a while. And you just wanted your favourite cousin back.

Addy’s P.O.V

Telling Alexis about your Uncle felt better than you’d expected but you could tell she thought this had changed your mind. It hadn’t. You couldn’t stay here. New York was home. OBX was... family. It didn’t matter how much you loved your cousin, your history with this place made you weary of staying for too long.

“Thought you weren’t going to make it!” Brody called as you and Alexis exited your car, “if we want to set everything up and get back here in time, we gotta book..”

“Get the boat ready!” you smiled as you yelled to him, running toward the boat with Alexis on your heels

“Brody,” she said, outstretching her hand jokingly as you got on the boat, “good to see you again...” He laughed at the interaction and Alexis broke her seriousness before they both got on the boat and Brody sailed the three of you to the Island.

“So, everything is out there. We just have to set them up. Can you two manage that?” he joked

“We’ll figure it out” you laughed. Shortly after, you’d made it to the Island and, you had to hand it to Rafe, it was the perfect spot to get away from the crowds. You took in all the tents that Brody had managed to space out perfectly along the island; leaving just enough space for a bonfire to be the centre of all the tents.

“Well holy shit,” Alexis said with exasperation, “how many people are coming?” You laughed as she looked around the island at all the tents the three of you began to set up

“Everyone is coming. I invited everyone. We invited everyone,” you gestured between you and her before going back to setting up the tent in front of you, “look, your mom gave me a guest list and you gave me a guest list. I wasn’t sure how many of the ‘country clubbers’ were gonna stay, so I just got enough tents that everyone would have somewhere to sleep.”

“That’s nice of you” she laughed and you smiled to yourself

“Alright. Very cute. Very nice. But now we have to rush to finish everything before your parents expect you, both, on the Yacht” Brody chided while you and Alexis mocked him when he turned his back, laughing when you caught the other teasing him. A few hours later, the tents were set up and Brody took you and Alexis back so you could grab everything you needed for the weekend before you’d meet back up.

“See you on the Yacht” Alexis joked to Brody

“See you there.” He laughed and waved goodbye as the two of you ran toward your car

JJ’s P.O.V.

You got asked, like you knew you would, to come along with Mr. Samson to hand out hors d’œvres to Alexis’ guests and you obliged. It didn’t take long for you to realize what Addy was talking about

“Once you have one, you’ll realize how truly overindulgent and pointless they are.” Her words about Yacht parties ran through your mind as you watched the Kooks drink entire bottles of Champagne or leave half empty bottles around the Yacht while completely ignoring your existence.

“Having fun?” Pope asked from behind you

“What are you doing here?” you asked, shocked to see your friend there

“Working, like you.” He replied and you rolled your eyes before making your rounds again, “JJ, we have to talk.” He added but you tried to ignore him, “Kie and I don’t want you to distance yourself from us. We love you. We’re worried about you.”

“Leave it alone, Pope.” You groaned as Kook after Kook emptied both yours and Pope’s trays

“We have to talk at some point. Why are you still clinging to the idea that he’s still alive? Have you heard something from him?”

“No, Pope. I haven’t.” You sneered, turning to him quickly as you went to refill the tray, “I just don’t think it’s right to give up on him. He wouldn’t give up on us.”

“Maybe he would.” He replied and you scoffed, brushing him off. You stood back from the guests, deciding not to walk around with the hors d’œvres for a bit until you saw Addy at the Bow, someone familiar hanging around her

“Hors d’œvre?” you asked, presenting the tray in front of her and she laughed

“Thanks Pogue” Rafe smiled sarcastically at you and you had to physically bite your tongue to restrain yourself, while Addy looked up at him and back at you

“What is it?” she asked, forcing you to stop glaring at Rafe long enough to answer her

“Crab Puffs, I think,” you answered, just as she was about to take one, “no sorry. Shrimp Puffs”

“Oh,” she giggled, “I can’t. I’m allergic.”

“Are you trying to kill her?!” Rafe yelled

“What?” you and Addy said to him

“Calm down,” she added, “it was just a small mistake. No one’s trying to kill anyone.”

“How could you not know what you’re serving?!” Rafe continued to yell, causing enough of a scene that Mr. Samson made his way over to the three of you

“What is going on here?” he said sharply

“Mr. Samson, I--”

“He tried to kill your daughter!”

“What?” Mr. Samson gasped, furrowing his brows at Rafe’s statement

“Stop!” Addy said, “nothing happened. Just something with the hors d’œvres, not a big deal.” He picked one of the Shrimp Puffs up and lifted it up to his nose to smell it

“Shrimp?!” he raised his voice slightly, “take these back! We’ll talk about this later.” You nodded at his response and made your way into the small kitchen space where the food was.

“JJ!” you heard Addy call to you, “wait! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. Rafe shouldn’t h--”

“You need to stay away from him.” You stated plainly, turning your body quickly to face her, your bodies meeting instantly and you could feel her breath on your exposed skin, “he’s not who you think he is.”

“And who is it I think he is?” she asked, stepping away from you

“A good guy?”

“Did I say that?” she said, raising her eyebrow at you

“I just assumed, because you were hanging around him..?”

“He was hanging around me. I haven’t been able to shake him since he boarded. Believe me, I’ve been trying.” she scoffed, “look, I’ll talk to my dad about the shrimp. He shouldn’t have gotten so upset. It could’ve happened to anyone.” Just then, someone clinked their glass and speeches began, “I should.. go out there. Find Alexis you know” she smiled at you as she skipped onto the deck, stopping at the door frame and you returned her smile with a bright one of your own. “See you around” she said and you dropped your eyes to the ground, trying to hide your smile that hadn’t seem to go away just yet.

“Our little Alexis is all grown up. 18! It seems like just yesterday, you and little Adelaide were climbing the trees in the backyard while your father and I were terrified that you’d fall.” Alexis’ mom spoke to the crowd, reminiscing on her daughter’s childhood. Bringing up stories from every year of her life, something you’d never be able to hear your dad do for you, “Adelaide, Addy, sweetie, we’re so glad you were able to come back for Lexi’s 18th birthday. You’re her favourite cousin. Her ride or die,” Alexis’ mom pointed at the two of them, so they could finish whatever joke they shared

“‘Til the end of time” you heard them return, giggling between themselves and Mrs. Carter continued with her speech, while you handed out Champagne flutes to the guests before she finished.

“JJ!” Pope whispered, you had almost forgotten he was there and you jumped at his voice beside you, “talk to me.”

“Not now, Pope.�� The two of you finished handing out glasses and made your way away from the crowd, where the other staff stood. You watched as Addy laughed with her cousin, sipping on the Champagne that she’d been given, and you realized that Alexis was right. You were falling for her. But you knew there was no way a girl like her could ever feel the same.

Addy’s P.O.V.

You watched as Alexis was showered with love from the country clubbers and her family’s friends that her mom insisted you invite. As the night drug on, it was clear to you that you didn’t belong here, in this world; ever more so evident when your dad had yelled at JJ for accidentally almost giving you shrimp. After you’d told JJ that you’d talk to your dad about it, his face seemed to soften toward you, more than it had in the short time he’d known you and you found yourself thinking about his shy smile. The party was winding down and the Yacht was making it’s way to The Island, so everyone began gathering what they needed and more or less threw it in the staff’s direction. You scoffed at their rudeness and asked if there was anything you could do to help as you organized the bags into a neater pile. They shook their heads as the boat docked and everyone exited hastily; you looked around to find Alexis, catching JJ’s eyes briefly before he looked away.

“I think everyone’s really drunk,” Alexis said, watching everyone rush to find tents, “maybe we shouldn’t have a fire...”

“If everyone sits down, maybe they’ll sober up.” You replied, knowing it wouldn’t work out that smoothly but wanting to help Alexis have a good birthday. As people popped in and out of their tents, you found a seat in front of the bonfire that Brody was slowly building

“How do you think it’s turning out?” he asked you

“I didn’t think the adults would let the kids drink so much” you laughed, looking at the drunk teenagers who began to sit on the logs in the sand

“They probably didn’t know, or care” he smiled. It didn’t take long until the entire group had gathered around the fire and Alexis made a toast with a bottle of beer she had gotten from a cooler you didn’t even know was there.

“Thank you all for coming out and celebrating my 18th birthday with me. Thank you to my beautiful cousin who came all the way from New York City to plan this for me. I don’t care what you all do the rest of the night or the weekend, just know that we’re stranded here until the adults come back. Keep that in mind before you do anything stupid.” You could hear the alcohol beginning to affect her as her words began to connect to each other and she fumbled when she sat down.

“I don’t think she’s going to make it very long,” Brody whispered to you as he leaned in, “maybe we should put her in her tent so she can lie down?”

“I’d rather keep her out here. Where I can watch her.” you added and Brody shrugged, straightening his posture. The night consisted of the kids yelling and drinking and settling enough for someone to play a few chords on a guitar.

“It’s been so long since you were here, Addy,” Brody said, the few beers he had causing his speech to slur and he moved closer to you, “why did you leave in the first place?”

“School. You know that Brody...” you said plainly, scooting to the side in an attempt to distance yourself from him

“But you could’ve come back to visit us in the summer...” he crowded your space once more, “we all missed you..”

“This guy bothering you, Addy?” You looked up to find Rafe in front of you with his arms crossed and you shook your head, not wanting anything more to come from it but that didn’t stop Brody from arguing

“Aww, Cameron thinks he’s a tough guy. Or a good guy,” Brody taunted, “too bad he’s neither.” Rafe clenched his jaw before pushing Brody back and you decided it was time to take your cousin to her tent and call it a night. You thought you saw JJ out of the corner of your eye but you couldn’t be sure that he even got off the Yacht in the first place, so you just let it be.

“See, I told you,” she mumbled, “everyone loves you. They’ll all fight over you and you don’t even have to do anything to get them to do it..” You furrowed your brow before shaking your head

“They’re just being stupid boys. They’re drunk. They’d fight over a torn shirt...”

“But they’re fighting over you..” she repeated and you shushed her, bringing the sleeping bag up to cover her, lulling her to sleep

“Addy..” someone whispered from outside the tent but you ignored it, “Addy!” Rafe whispered as he finally entered the tent, “he should never have been bothering you.”

“I’m fine, Rafe. I can handle myself.” you countered as he moved closer to you, closing the small gap that was between the two of you

“I’m sure you can...” you could smell the beer on his breath as he leaned in to kiss you, when all of a sudden he was torn away and out of the tent. When you rushed out to see what was going on, you found JJ and Rafe toppling over each other in a fist fight.

“JJ STOP!” A girl you hadn’t seen before yelled, “JJ! ENOUGH!” It didn’t seem to work or he didn’t hear her because he continued to throw punches at Rafe, connecting with his jaw hard enough that he was drawing blood. The crowd that was gathering larger around them cheered the fight on and you shook your head in disbelief, calling for the fight to stop as well

“STOP!” you cried, catching the girls eye as she called to JJ one more time, “BOTH OF YOU, STOP! PLEASE!” Rafe had managed to over power JJ enough to get him on the ground and punch him until JJ’s face was cut and bruised

“RAFE!” someone shouted but he didn’t stop, not until JJ took over the fight once more, pushing Rafe onto the ground and laying more punches to the boys face

“JJ!” you called finally, leading the blonde boy to look back at you with his fist pulled back, his hair flopping lazily in front of his eyes. He must have seen the worry on your face because he let go of Rafe’s shirt and got up from where he was, making his way to the end of the tents to wherever his was. You were breathing heavily at what all had just happened, looking at Rafe’s bloody face and the blood that seemed to stain the sand. When you looked up, you found the girl from earlier staring at you like you’d just been bombarded by fish on land; you furrowed your brow before checking on Alexis quickly and when you stood back up, the girl was gone. “Lexi?” you asked your now-unconscious cousin, “Lexi? I’m just going to check on JJ... are you okay?” She groaned and you bit your lip, contemplating whether or not you should leave her. Ultimately deciding you wouldn’t be gone for long, so you grabbed the first aid kit, zipped up the tent and made your way to find JJ.

“Who is she?” you heard a voice shout, you peaked from behind one of the tents to find the girl from earlier yelling at JJ

“She’s my boss’s daughter” he answered and the girl growled

“A Kook?!” she yelled, “not even just any Kook, though, no. A Samson. What are you doing?”

“Nothing Kiara!” he yelled back, standing up to gain more dominance on his friend, making you shift back so he didn’t see you, “I’m not doing anything. It was Rafe Fucking Cameron. I didn’t want her getting hurt”

“Why? Because you think that’ll cost you your job too?” Kie snarled, “you won’t lose your job over every little thing, JJ. You need to stop worrying about this family and start worrying about your own!”

“MY OWN?!” you could hear his anger start to overcome him and you dropped your eyes to the ground, thinking you should just go back, “I don’t have my own family. My best friend is gone. He’s disappeared and my other best friends have completely moved on. My mom is gone and my dad is... not worth it.”

“You still have us, JJ” she tried, her voice softening at his confession

“No, I don’t.” He replied, defeated, sitting down as she said her final words

“Why her?” she said and you peered back from behind the tent, “if she’s just your boss’s daughter, and nothing is going on between you two, why would you be so affected by her?“

“What are you talking about?” he looked up at her and she tilted her head before dropping her jaw

“I saw the way you looked at her. The way you stopped everything you were doing when you saw her face. But you wouldn’t listen to me. You didn’t even hear me. So.. why her?” JJ was silent, for longer than either you or Kie thought he’d be, making her scoff at his lack of response before walking away. You heard the unzipping of the tent and took a deep breath to bring yourself to walk over to where he was.

“JJ?” you called when you were outside of his tent, not wanting to disturb him more than you were about to

“Addy?” he answered, surprised to see you here, “what’s up? are you okay?”

“Me?” you questioned with a laugh, “I should be asking you-- that’s why I’m here. I wanted to check on you.” You lifted the first aid kit up and shook it lightly as you spoke

“I’m fine,” he said snidely, “you can go back to the Kooks.”

“What is all this Pogue, Kook, Cut crap?” you snapped, “I feel like an idiot because I have no idea what any of you are talking about...” He laughed at your outburst before inviting you inside his tent

“Pogue’s are me and my friends. The lowest on the totem pole,” he explained, “we live in the Cut. The South Side. The Kooks are... well your people.” You pointed at yourself and gasped, raising your eyebrows exaggeratedly, “the rich families who live on Figure 8. The north side.”

“So.. why the battle?” you continued, “I mean.. rich kids are obnoxious anywhere so why fight with them over this kind of thing”

“Spoken like a true Kook” he laughed while you prepared the antibiotics

“I’m serious. You could just... prove them wrong about you. Just because you come from two different classes doesn’t mean you have to play into those roles”

“Maybe not in New York City,” he joked, “but here. Yeah. You kinda do.” He replied. You unwrapped a disinfectant wipe and began to dab at the cuts on his face, when he winced suddenly you pulled back

“I’m sorry” you whispered and he smiled, letting you know that he was fine so you continued cleaning his wounds. “Thank you,” you added, “for what you did. You didn’t have to, and you probably shouldn’t have, but thank you anyway.” You caught his stare as you finished cleaning a cut on his lip with the disinfectant wipe, feeling your breath shallow in your chest

“Anytime” he responded when you tore your eyes away and you could feel a smile on his voice as he spoke. You asked him to hold onto some bandages so you could grab them after you put on some antibacterial cream; repositioning yourself so you were facing him more directly, pushing your hair to one side, exposing your neck; feeling his shallow breaths creep across your skin as he moved closer to you

“Who was that girl? Kiara?” you asked, suddenly and he leaned back, forcing you to stop what you were doing, “I heard you two arguing. Is she.. your girlfriend?” The words came out of your mouth more hesitantly than you expected

“No, Kie’s one of my best friends...” he said, drifting away from you even further, “she’s just mad because our friend... I haven’t... It’s complicated.” You nodded, raising your hands to bring his face closer to you again but he flinched so you put your hands up to show you weren’t planning on hurting him. He laughed and moved close to you again, you began dabbing small amounts of the cream on the cuts around his eye first, before moving to his cheekbone, placing a butterfly stitch on each as you finished

“Am I hurting you?” you asked when you saw his jaw tense and release

“I’ve gone through worse” he replied and you furrowed your brow

“That’s not what I asked,” you laughed and he looked up at you, clearly caught off guard by your response, “I don’t care if you’ve been set on fire before. What I’m asking is if you’re in pain right now. If I’m hurting you right now..?” He smiled at you before shaking his head and lessening the gap between the two of you before your fingers found their way to the cut on his lip, dabbing a small amount of cream on the outside of his bottom lip and placing a butterfly stitch there; wiping off any residue. He continued to move closer to you, your lips almost touching and you could feel the tension rising as your breath continued to shallow, staying solely in your chest as his eyes danced between your lips and your eyes.

“I don’t have any ice..” you shakily said, breaking the tension but not the eye contact that he’d worked so hard to keep

“That’s okay,” he replied, suavely, “I can get ice later...”

“I have an ice pack.. somewhere..” you mumbled and he shook his head, not caring about anything at that moment. He moved closer once more, this time bringing his hand up to your waist, until his lips grazed yours and you pulled away from him suddenly, “I-I’m sorry. I should go.” You stumbled as you stood up and made your way out of the tent, leaving the first aid kit behind so you could hide as fast as possible; ducking behind a tree as soon as you could. If for no other reason than to cool off. Shit, you thought to yourself. What are you doing, Addy? You can’t do this to Alexis. It would kill her. But he smelt so sweet, like watermelon, and his lips looked so soft. No, stop it! She’s your cousin and he’s... her crush. Leave this alone. You repeated the words to yourself as you made your way back to your tent, collapsing in your sleeping bag as soon as you got inside. You tried not to think of JJ but his lips crashing into yours was all you could dream about that night and you knew you were in trouble.

#JJ Maybank #JJ Maybank Fic #JJ Maybank series #JJ Maybank Imagine #Outer Banks #OBX #JJ Maybank x you #JJ Maybank x reader #OBX Fic #Outer Banks Fic #OBX Imagine #Outer Banks Imagine #Outer Banks Series #OBX Series #masterlist #the other masterlist #tag list #Outer Banks Tag List #taglist

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dsmroleplay · 4 years

Text

#BeautyAndTheBeast #BtVS #SPN Crossover #RP Part 1

Writers: @HuntersGirlBaby @DeadlyJager Julian Duval (Ghosted by Graham) @DeanWinchester_ (Comes in play later on in the story.)

Ali is going for a week getaway before college starts for her friends and is grabbed by Julian Duval a part of a mob type family of werewolves kidnaps Alyson Winchester to gain some leverage with Blackwater. Blackwater had been taking out a lot of werewolves and the Duval family wanted immunity from the hunters. Graham will be an operative working for Blackwater that discovers the Duval's have taken a hostage but has no idea who she is or who her father is. He will save her and bond with her because of their differences.

___________________________________________________________

Alyson:

The sound of her alarm pulled her slowly from sleep. She was tired and it was early. Sneaking out her hand from the covers, she fumbled to shut it finding it with her fingers. She snoozed it, not wanting to wake from the best sleep she had in the last five years. No dreams she was thankful. Burrowing under the covers once more. She fell back asleep. It felt like seconds more then minutes. The alarm was blaring again.

With a groan, she sat up, rubbed her hands down her face, shutting off. Pulling herself from the bed. She showered and got ready for her trip. She was packed already. She had to be there early. Check-in, security, and all the fun stuff.

She dressed in jeans, a jacket, and boots. Grabbing her bags and walking out of her room. Ian was gone, she would she send him a text later. Leaving her bags she walked over to the main house. Slipping inside it was still silent. She walked down to her daddy’s room. Slipping inside she walked over to his sleeping form. Bending down she placed a soft kiss to his cheek. Whispering against his cheek. “I love you daddy. I’ll be home soon. Miss you while I’m gone.” Placing a piece of paper next to his cell phone. It read.

“See you soon daddy. I’ll miss you. And I promise I’ll call every night.

Love,

Baby Girl”

She slipped back out of his Heading back over to the cabin. Waiting for the cab. She didn’t have to wait to long. Before it was pulling up. They packed up her bags and she was off to the airport.

Before long she was looking down at the city of New Orleans, below. She was ~ excited. Never being here before. And most of all. She would get to see her friends! Yeah, she missed them.

They landed and she got off the plane. Walking out, she headed and got her bags. This was her first time traveling alone. She did miss having someone with her. Getting her bags. Grabbing a cab, she headed to a hotel. Right in the middle of the Big Easy.

Once there, they pulled out her bags and she stood on the street, bags at her feet. As she texted her daddy a picture of her self smiling, telling him she landed safe. And she would text him tonight.

:::::::::::::::

(Julian ghosted by Graham) Since the hunters had gotten so organized and military-like, it was hard for his kind to exist and survive. The military contracted firm "Blackwater" had been sending operatives to infiltrate the older monster families in the Chicago area. Julian Duval now the head of his family was getting tired of the hunters and their medaling. Once upon a time, the families had greased the hands of politicians along with taking care of their own dirty laundry but times had changed. He'd been doing research on the Winchester family, they were more screwed up than his family for damn sure. Tight nit group, they'd seemed to always work as a unit. Would be hard to get there hands on any of them.

He'd sent a private investigator to watch them just the same though and something interesting had turned up. Apparently the eldest son had two kids, a set of twins who had recently come to live at the Winchester Ranch. Alyson "Ali" Winchester had just left the ranch unescorted and got on a plane to New Orleans. Julian had moved quickly having his paid police detective Grady work his magic. Julian had beat Ali to New Orleans and followed her cab. Getting out of his car about a half a block from her looking the part as a lost tourist, he drug a suitcase along and stopped to added the little honey for "directions" There were people around and he didn't want to draw to much suspicion by just grabbing her right here on the street corner. "Excuse me miss, I'm totally lost. Could you help me?" Julian had put on his most innocent face, giving her a huge smile. As he looked at her he thought "she was gorgeous" and had things been different he'd been asking her out not planning to kidnap her.-

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Alyson:

*She put away her phone, bending at her knees Ali started to pick up her bags. Hearing a voice she looked around. No one could be talking to her. None of her friends due to arrive in next ten minutes.

Letting go of her bags, she turned and met face to face with a guy. He was cute! And he was talking to her. Ian was protective of her, not that she minded, but it made it hard to talk to guys. Daddy? Yeah can’t date for a long while. Dad, not as hard as the others.

Ali as she was, never could not help someone. Smiling at him.* “I would be happy to help. Though I’m new here myself. Where is it you need to go? I’m sure with the both of us we can get you there.” *Stepping our from between her bags and moving a little closer.*

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Graham (Julian) - Easygoing smile.- Thanks! I'm looking for the Royal Sonesta... Everyone who'd been to New Orleans said that was a must-see. I heard they have some awesome parties here as well, not the obvious boob flashing but behind closed door parties that are out of this world. I'm Julian by the way. -Extends his hand out towards her.-

::::::::::::::::::

Aly - *She pulled out her phone. Typing in the destination that he was looking for in map app she had. Her faced flamed bright red. A soft gentle embarrassed laugh floated from her lips. God, she hated how shy she was at times. But there was nothing that she could do about it. Ali had friends sure. But with the things that she saw, she had hard time going out from time to time. She chewed her lip, as she looked up to the man, clearing her throat a little.* Never been to a party before. *She could have kicked herself. He didn’t need to know that. He might think her a freak or something. Funny, she laughed to herself she was.

Pushing those thoughts aside she smiled and slipped her hand into his large one.* Its pleasure to meet you, I’m Ali. *she gave a gentle shake to his hand. She should let go of his hand. She was social awkward all the time. Looking down she slipped her hand from his. Saying softly.* Sorry. * looking at her phone. She drew up the address and put it on from where they stood. She was a wiz when it came to searching and finding things.* It’s not far from here. *she bite her lip softly.* I can show you..if..if you want. So you won’t get lost. *what was she doing? She told her daddy she would be safe. And this might not be safe. But he didn’t seem like he would hurt her. Maybe this would be ok. Just this time.*

::::::::::::::::::::::

Graham - A beautiful woman to be my entourage? Of course. -He holds out an arm for her to take and helps her with her luggage.- I'm Julian by the way.

::::::::::::::::

Aly - *Her cheeks burned a deep red. Did he call her beautiful? It sounded different coming from a stranger. Then if her family said it. She couldn’t explain it. It was just..different. He was a gentlemen too. You don’t find those very often.

She stepped closer and slipped her tiny hand around his arm. Her phone held in her other hand. She smiled softly at him.* Pleasure, friends and family call me Ali, but my name is Alyson. *To keep from staring and making a fool of herself. She kept her eyes in her phone.* if we go up two blocks and turn right we will be on the shortest path. *she spoke softly as she started to walk. Ali was a little nervous. And that made it hard for her to think of things to say. So she did the only thing she could. Focus on the task at hand. And making sure he didn’t get lost on the way.*

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Graham/Julian: Julian: Want to know where to go? Ask a lady. -Walking along spotting her, his men in the car following from a distance. He was confident this plan was going to go off without a hitch. Asking her about her plans as they crossed the intersection and got into a less crowded area he waited by dropping his phone to stall. No one around a large man who worked for Julian got of of the car quick. Cloth soaked in chloroform was put to her face to add with sedating her. Julian tossed all the bags in the trunk as she was put into the car, none the wiser.-

:::::::::::::::

Ali: *A gentle blush rose to her cheeks.* You’re...very..sweet. *her voice soft as she spoke to him. When he asked of her plans, her whole face light up. She launched into telling him. Telling him that she was going to spend time with her friends, before they went off to college. How they were going to see everything they could while here. Have spa days and taste all the wonderful food that the city had to offer. She was excited to get to spend time with her friends. Even if she was a wallflower. As he dropped his phone, she took the chance and looked around.

New Orleans was such a beautiful city. So full of history. And she had to admit that she wanted to learn it. Her eyes lit up on everything that she saw. But that was short lived. When she felt large arms wrap around her. Stunned, her eyes wide a scared. A scream fell from her lips. But it was muffled by the cloth that covered her mouth and nose. Her phone dropped from her hand to the ground. Tiny fingers clawing at the man’s arms. She tried to fight, but it was no use. As her body started to fell heavy. So tired. Her body going lax as her world went black. Her last thoughts of her family. Scared that she would never see them again.*

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Graham/Julian: -It had gone easy, they were aboard a private jet to Chicago and he was glad this mascarade was to be over. He was mafia but kidnapping young women was not anything he wanted to do. This was coming out of a need to keep the hunters at bay, their numbers were dwindling rapidly. At first they'd been happy the hunters were thinning the packs which made taking over pretty easy. The older were gone to provide guidance having went to war with the hunters and not winning. As he sat there sipping brandy he glanced at the young woman there on the bench. Something made me think giving her back to the hunters would never be an option, no he couldn't see these Winchester's letting go one of their own being captured and used to bargain. Another planned started to formulate, he'd push her to marry him. Just like the old packs used to do occasionally to gain land or suppress war... Yes this seemed like a much better idea. But... would these hunters kill their /family/ if Julian turned her? He'd have to see how things progressed by either way Alyson Winchester would not be going home ever.-

#DSM SPN BtVS Crossover RP

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