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nejiraez · 3 years

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one day, you all will know true peace when i stop making bakugou the default character to the maladaptive daydreamz i write. but until then...

get well soon! | bakugou katsuki

pairing: bakugou katsuki x reader // 2.9k words

genre: fluff — contains spoilers from mha chap 298; includes kissing, thats it!

summary: free bakugou until it’s backwards!!! but until then, he appreciates having your presence around as he takes the time to properly heal.

the way i haven’t written a full fic since oct </3... but i needed to post this b4 aquarius season ends tmrrw...

He’s never had to stay this long in a hospital before.

Sure, there were minor check-ins that he had to tend to at the clinics every so often from the injuries he’s received, but he never had to stay more than a few days at hand.

“Only a couple more days until you’re discharged…”

The sound of your voice prompts Bakugou to shift his gaze away from the TV screen stationed at the corner of his hospital room to focus his sights on you. Deep shades of scarlet watch as your hands absent-mindedly pick at the white petals from the bouquet that his mother had gifted him.

Carnations, a ‘get well soon’ present that would prompt him back to wellness. They were becoming quite the eyesore. The stems were beginning to droop and dull in colour with how poorly maintained they had been kept for the past week.

“That must be exciting for you, yeah?”

Bakugou shrugs, but he’s quick to regret his slight movement due to the small wince that follows shortly after. Despite being placed in the hospital for a little over a week now, a great mass of Bakugou’s body still aches. “It’s whatever,” he mutters, dismissing the subject matter altogether, “I’ll be back to doing the same crap over again anyway, so it’s nothing special.”

Closing your eyes, you sink yourself further down into your seat near his bedside and sigh. The windows a few steps away from Bakugou’s left allow for the sun’s late afternoon glow to beam into his room. You’ve sat here with him for the past two hours and a half from when you first came.

“You’re so pessimistic, you know that?” You announce, resting your arms against the bed’s side rails, which promote access to you, propping your cheek onto your hands with your face turned towards Bakugou. “Always thinking so negatively.”

Choosing not to respond to your comment, Bakugou soaks in the brief silence shared within the confines of his room.

For the past few days, other than his immediate family, who was relentless about visiting him as much as they could- save for the days where work would pull them away- your regular visits were something that became apart of Bakugou’s daily schedule.

Wake up. Eat whatever shitty food the kitchen staff has to offer for the day. Wait through numerous check-ups and appointments, while the nurses examine the vital state of his internal organs. And then, he has a bit of free time to himself before either you or any visitor arrives at Hosu General hospital.

“I’m just telling it as it is.”

Bakugou would be lying if he said that he didn’t look forward to your visits.

Like Pavlov’s law, he’s grown conditioned upon awaiting your arrival every day, always finding himself sitting a bit straighter in his bed whenever 15:00 rolled around on the clock.

Growing bored with not much to do, Bakugou allows his eyes to wander the room, skimming each object with little to no thought before his eyes would drop down on your form once again. With your eyes still closed, Bakugou takes this chance to absorb your presence before him fully. Watching the tiny twitches that would happen every now and then on your face out of curiosity.

The amount of fear and dread that washed over you the moment you caught news of how Bakugou jumped in front of his childhood friend, Midoriya, to spare his life, in turn, putting his own on the line had you aching to the bone.

You were scared and couldn’t bring yourself to the thought that you would lose him, and there wasn’t much that you could do about it since you and a few others were far from where the main fight had gone down.

Regardless of whether Bakugou had a chance of waking up or not, you were still adamant about swinging by his hospital room as often as you could until the second day where he miraculously woke up. And caused an uproar as he did. He had to be restrained as he tried to check up on the others’ wellbeing as he did so.

To be placed inside of a room alone, with no one around to tell him what the fuck exactly went on, Bakugou was on edge. Hands down, that day would take the cake as being the most overwhelming experience he has had at his time here. Where were was Deku, for starters? And where did you disappear off to?

He really didn’t deserve you.

Pulling himself out from his thoughts, Bakugou breaks the silence to pester you with something. “Pass me that, will you?” He asks, nodding his head over to the sole snack that sat on his bedside table. Something that one of the nurses left behind for him after his physical exam.

You blink, snapping yourself back to reality. You crane your next behind you, following his line of sight to the bright Tarami packaging. “Sure,” you grab and toss it for him to take.

Bakugou grunts out his gratitude. “Getting to eat normal food again will be the pinnacle of my life,” he states, rolling the Tarami around in his hands. “They feed us nothing but literal dog water and bland shit. “

“I’m sure the staff is trying their best. You aren’t the only mouth they feed in here after all,” you say, referencing the fact that your other peers, such as Todoroki and Midoriya to name a few, found themselves in the same situation as he did.

“I fuckin’ guess,” he mutters in response, his focus shifted onto trying to rip open his snack but to no avail.

“Want me to - ”

“Don’t need it,” he says, cutting your sentence short. His bandaged thumbs are still fumbling to get a good grip on the plastic seal that stood in the way between him and his fruit cup. “This stupid gauze is just - ” The cup tumbles out from his hold and rolls out onto his lap. “Dammit!”

You smile at the display in front of you. Bakugou glaring at the container as if it had crossed him wrong was quite the sight to see. The fact that he has shown no signs of making another attempt at opening the seal gave you an indication that it was your turn to step in.

What a dork.

“Jesus, Katsuki,” you say, shaking your head at his stubborn nature. You take the fruit cup off his lap and, without issue tear the seal off before passing it back to him. He was too headstrong for his own good sometimes. “Nobody’s gonna bite you if you ask for help once in a while.”

Bakugou scoffs - losing steam now, he tips the rim of the cup against his lips, knocking back as many diced peaches he could fit inside of his mouth.

A mix of wonder and admiration suddenly crosses you as you study how quick he is to swallow down his food. Not even bothering to make use of the silver spoon left astray on the stand.

Bakugou silently chews. His cheeks have bulked up in size for the time being until all traces of food have been gone. Cute. “You’re so - ” You start but cut yourself short, wanting to enjoy the serene atmosphere rather than spurring him to the edge towards nagging at you.

You reach your hand out towards Bakugou, thumb grazing the corner of his mouth to clean the small mess he has made, to which he gently swats your hand away. His mannerisms were still the same as ever, never changing.

“I’m so what?” He asks, flicking his attention onto you as he watches the way your eyes linger on his face.

“You’re so amazing, was what I was going to say.”

“Damn straight.”

You half-heartedly roll your eyes at his narcissistic response and reach for your phone, checking the time. “Wow, it’s now getting to 18:00?” You exclaim, swiftly entering the passcode to your iPhone and so that your fingers could scroll to the Tokyo Train Navigation app to check the times of when you should catch the next ride home.

Bakugou brows bump together in confusion at your surprise. “What about it? That means you’re ditching me already?”

“Only for today though, the next train is coming in 30 minutes, and I gotta catch it before it gets dark out.”

As much as Bakugou isn’t a big fan of having your time spent together but abruptly short, he understands where you’re coming from, mentally putting himself in your shoes.

At hours like these, when the begins to sun hide behind the city’s tall, towering buildings, it isn’t an ideal situation to have you walking out alone in the middle of dimly lit streets where villains may lurk at any corner. Especially after the shit show that went down this past week with the jailbreak.

He’d have no problem walking you home at times like this, but he can’t. Not when he’s on a “house arrest” list with the staff of the hospital.

“Fine,” he replies, dropping his head into his hands, which then finds purchase through his hair. Pissed with the cards he’s been dealt with. Feeling like he should clarify about your safety, Bakugou pipes up, “Make sure you ask the front desk to have one of their idiot guards walk you to the station. I hear that they do that.”

“Yeah, of course,” you say, collecting your belongings from the ground. “Not trying to be edited in with the clouds.” A remark that was supposed to prompt a lighthearted, humorous feel to the conversation, but Bakugou remains tight-lipped as ever. A fitting expression for your grouch of a boyfriend.

“I’m serious. Text me when you get home too.”

“And so am I! I love my life.”

And he loves you-- was something that Bakugou refrains himself from saying. It was something that he still had trouble saying verbally but had no difficulty expressing.

You walk towards the door, ready to bid your counterpart a farewell, but he beats you to the punch.

“The hell are you doing?” Bakugou’s voice halts you from making your grand exit.

He stares at you sharply from his bed. Glowering with jaw taut as he eyes your hand placed onto the sliding door. “Cut that shit out, come back.”

“For why?”

You hear Bakugou breathe out a hushed hiss, becoming peeved at how evasive you were when he knew for a fact that you were aware of what he wanted you to do for him. “Come and do the thing.”

At his sudden inquiry, you finally turn around to face him. “What thing?” You prod, wanting to hear him say what he wanted out loud. To be straightforward with you for once rather than dancing around the topic like he always does.

Sidestepping the multiple wires and the IV tube that he was hooked up to, at last, you close the distance between you both. Finding yourself back beside Bakugou’s bed, and now settle yourself down onto the small space that he has created for you on his mattress.

You feel giddy. A hazy warmth exudes from your chest that spreads down to your toes as you watch the slow change of pigmentation in Bakugou’s face. Blotches of a soft, rosy pink littered his exposed neck, indicating the effect that had over him.

Caving in, Bakugou swallows down his pride and utters, “Kiss me…” His tone is wavering in the slightest.

There it was.

Propping your hand near Bakugou’s face to steady yourself, you nod. You’re gentle in the process as you move much closer to Bakugou, attentive as not to brush up against any of his wounds. “Okay,” you murmur.

You think to yourself about how pretty looks from your point of view. Admiring how Bakugou's plush and soft skin was despite the light bruises and scratches he’s gained from the fight, he looked very well-maintained for a hospital patient.

The more time that you take, you become aware of the fact that Bakugou isn’t above taking a fistful of your shirt and tugging you down so that you could meet his lips. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise you if he were to do so right now.

But he doesn’t.

Instead, he waits. Patiently, for you to make your move and just fucking kiss him already. Though there’s only so much he can take before he breaks.

Feeling the bed dip beside him, Bakugou could damn near feel his heart hammering against his chest. “Hurry up and get on with it will you,” he chides, his striking features already beginning to twist into an unreadable expression.

You laugh, unable to bite back your giggles as the male fixed you with his signature scowl. “Look at you, being a bully to the person you want a kiss from...” You say, leaning in close, now only hovering a few mere centimetres from his lips, both of you desperate for what would come next.

“You’re so mean, I swear.”

And that’s when you decide to close the distance, pressing your lips together.

It was quite sweet, literally, for his lips tasted of citrus.

Bakugou does a poor job at suppressing down his groan the moment your fingers wind themselves into his hair. The pads of your fingertips adoringly dance across his scalp.

The kiss starts off relatively chaste, both of you relishing in each other’s warmth as you pepper several small kisses against him—your stomach ties into knots as you experience how gentle he was being with you.

Despite the dull aching pains that Bakugou could still perceive whenever he made broad movements with his arm, his hand steadily finds its way to reach up towards your neck, pressing you further against him to deepen the kiss, swiping his tongue upon your lower lip.

When your tongue comes into contact with his, it’s tentative and quick. And then it happens a few more times before fully feel comfortable enough to full-on kiss Bakugou.

Your thought process was growing muddled. Not a clear premise came to mind as his bandaged hand trails to the small of your back and back up again.

With every sound or hum of approval that you made way past your lips, it fed Bakugou’s desire to satisfy both you and his needs even. His thumb smooths over the curve of your jaw, easing your nerves each time you shyly pull away attributable to the great intimacy that swirled between you both.

He chases your lips, fervent on returning your energy that you were relaying to him, back tenfold. He loves you. So fucking much, and he only hopes that his appreciation and devotion may reach you.

You choke on a tiny gasp. “Katsuki - ” And that’s when he feels it, right in his chest. It’s as if he has been jump-started back to life, his heart quite literally skipping a beat at the sound of his name tumbling past your lips. It was adorable, and he wanted to hear you like that again. Say his name like that again, on loop without end.

Fuck.

With adrenaline coursing through your veins, your breathing was starting to grow laboured now, and you decide to break the kiss before things can escalate and before you miss your train.

Pulling away from Bakugou, the traces of confidence that you once had prior to the kiss have all but flung itself out the window, completely gone now. “I’ll, uhm -” You stammer over your words, brain trying to compose a proper sentence in spite of your current dazed state. “I’ll be back to see you again, with the others.”

With how flustered and scatterbrained you were acting, it stroked Bakugou’s ego beyond belief. A wicked smile threatens to split upon his face, but he bites it down along with his greed to ask for one more kiss before you go. “Tomorrow,” he affirms, flicking his eyes back towards the TV—an entirely new show publicized on its screen.

You hoist yourself up from the bed and stand to your feet, ignoring how your knees almost buckle. “Right,” you say. No fucking way were you this beat up over making out with your own boyfriend, for crying out loud- you thought as you wander towards the door, almost taking out one of the monitors in your trail.

Sliding the door open you step out, but you poke your head back in, stalling a bit so that you could look at the blonde for the last time that day. “But until then, get well soon, okay?”

Bakugou’s eyes stay glued to the screen, trying to distract himself from how damn sweaty his palms were, that or how he could feel the beat of his heart pick up in tempo. Its incessant pounding was all too much for him.

It’s so stupid how whipped he found himself to be nowadays. “I know,” he dismisses, a bit all too quickly. He wants your ass out before you have a chance to glance at the heart monitor he was wired up to.

Fortunately enough for him, you don’t. You wave and close the door behind you, your smile being the last thing he sees.

With the coast clear, Bakugou throws himself back onto his mountain of pillows. “Shit,” he curses, panting out a sigh of relief seconds after you were gone.

That was amazing, you were amazing, he thought, recounting the kiss. He swipes his palms against his sheets, being sure to get rid of any nitroglycerin that may linger to activate his quirk successfully.

Bakugou can’t stress how much he’s aching for nightfall to come, knowing that he would be one sleep from getting to see you again, and again, and again, until he would finally be let free.

But until then, as you had said, he had to heal.

And with the knowledge of you being around whenever he needed you the most, Bakugou was most definitely on the bright path to a speedy recovery.

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #bnha x reader #mha imagine #bnha imagine #bnha scenario #original #cress to charlize for snagging this screencap from a twt thread mwah

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corie-the-writer · 3 years

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Come As You Are - Prologue

Prologue ---

Four Years Ago --

Hannah Walker stood behind the bar with her book displayed out in front of her as she was waiting for the beer and liquor to be delivered to the strip club that she had currently worked at. The dark haired woman had never in a million years pictured herself as a stripper or bartender at night while she attended college through the day to get her final credits to earn her bachelor's degree. When her parents had passed away almost two years ago, she had put her college life on hold, not having enough credits to graduate with the rest of her class. She could have blamed anyone under the sun for the circumstances that life had thrown at her, but she knew that it would do no good. She took time to grieve the loss of her family, while working at a small coffee shop to make ends meet while she coped with this new life that was thrown at her.

That is where she met Tamila, who had told her that her boyfriend managed the strip club, and told her that she would be a good fit because of her dark hair, piercing green eyes and curved but slender body. Hannah had laughed off the compliment but when she had went home she had been curious as to how much a dancer could make in a night.

She had a few bills that she couldn't catch up on due to the cost of college. She had thought about transferring colleges to finish up her credits, but she would have to spend longer finishing out her work if she had decided to transfer and Hannah did not want to chance losing any of her earned credits.

The next time she had spoke to Tamila, she had sat the spunky redheaded woman down and told her about her situation, wondering if her boyfriend would be willing to work with her and Tamila had agreed to speak to Tyrone. She was surprised that Tamilia had shot a quick text to her boyfriend, and he had agreed to sit down and talk to the woman later that evening.

Once Hannah had sat down with Tyrone, she was extremely grateful that the man had agreed to hire her as a bartender at first, knowing that the tips would be hers out right, that she would be paid under the table so it would not effect her chances of becoming a teacher once she was able to graduate from college. Hannah had never been more thankful for the understanding and compassion they had shown to her.

"Girl...you about done with that college shit?" Hannah heard the familiar voice of Tiffany, a dancer who was a lot to handle majority of the time.

"I have final exams coming up in about a month. Hopefully then I can graduate." Hannah explained as Tiffany plopped herself in a chair, "Need something to drink?" Hannah questioned politely.

"Nah sweetie, I'm good." Tiffany answered, "Have you seen Brittany anywhere?" Tiffany questioned as she looked to her nails, "She was suppose to meet early to go over a dance routine."

"No, I haven't seen her." Hannah glanced to the blonde woman and then turned her attention back to the book in front of her.

At first, when Hannah had started working, there were a few girls that felt extremely threatened according to Tamilia, so they were incredibly catty towards her, but after a while, most of the women had grown to like the dark haired woman. A couple of the women had even taught Hannah how to dance so she could make a little extra cash a couple of nights a week which had helped her catch up on bills, and was now able to live comfortably without worrying.

"Are you dancing tonight or bartending?" Tiffany questioned.

"Just bartending." Hannah replied not taking her eyes off the book as she answered, completely missing Tyrone and two unfamiliar faces walking into the bar room.

"Tiffany. Hannah." Tyrone spoke.

Hannah still didn't bother taking her eyes off the book as she greeted her friend, "Hey Ty...still waiting on the delivery." Hannah stated as she flipped the page.

"She's got final exams coming up..." Tyrone's explanation had the woman lifting her head and noticed the older gentleman with silver hair and piercing blue eyes, noticing the police badge displayed on his hip, and then the other man who was African American and rather tall, with the same badge on display, "These men have some questions for you, don't be a hassle Tiffany." Tyrone explained, "I'm gonna go call everyone in..." Tyrone added and Hannah furrowed her eyebrows at the sight of Tyrone's face noticing that something was extremely wrong.

"I'm Sargent Hank Voight, this is Detective Kevin Atwater..." The older man introduced himself and his co-worker.

"I'm Hannah..." Hannah spoke gently, looking down to her book to mark the page before shutting it and looking to the Sargent, "Is everything okay?" Hannah questioned.

"We were wondering when the last time Brittany Lincoln was seen?" Hank questioned as the Detective took Tiffany a few feet away at a table.

"Uhm..." Hannah thought for a moment, "I wasn't here last night, but I think she was scheduled to work, so the last time I saw her was Wednesday evening." Hannah explained, "Is she okay?" Hannah questioned quietly.

"Unfortunately no. She was murdered last night."

"Oh my god..." Hannah frowned deeply.

"Has there been anyone who has shown particular interest in Brittney while she has been here? Has she mentioned anything about a boyfriend, problems she was having with someone?" Hank questioned.

Hank Voight had been under a lot of stress with three murdered women who had ties to local strip clubs that had shown up across Chicago within the last week. The bodies had been tortured and assaulted, so Voight realized quickly there was a serial killer on the loose and he needed to get ahead of the person doing this. He had split the team to check all three backgrounds of the women, and when he walked into Links Club, he did not expect to see the dark haired woman behind the bar studying. He especially did not expect to stumble over her beauty and the instant pull he had towards her.

The man noticed that the woman was wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with her dark hair tied into a messy bun on the top of her head. He had to clear his throat for a moment when Hannah began to speak again.

"No, I wasn't really that close with her to know details of her personal life. She was sort of private when it came to that stuff, not wanting to mix work with her personal life." Hannah cringed when Tiffany began to sob, feeling like she wasn't close enough with Brittany to have that sort of reaction, "Brittany hung out with Tamila a lot I think and a new girl that just started here, uhm..Candace." Hannah pointed out, "They might know more than I do about any of that."

Hank gave a nod in understanding, jotting down the names that Hannah had given to him, "Has there been any issues here at work?" Hank questioned.

"I mean not that I've noticed. Tyrone tries to keep me at the bar as much as he can unless one of the girls doesn't show up, but I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary and no one has really said anything." Hannah explained trying to think back of the past couple of weeks.

"If you can think of anything else, please, don't hestiate to call." Hank stated, handing her his business card and taking a pen from the bar counter and scribbling down his personal cell phone number on the back.

Hank wasn't quite sure what had possessed him to write down his personal number, but he had decided to just go with it as he excused himself to speak with Tyrone in his office.

Hannah looked to the card and slipped the paper into her back pocket. Her mind was replaying every night she had worked, wondering if she had overlooked something. It was hard to tell because the bouncers were extremely good on keeping the women protected from men who had drank too much and got a little too handsy, then she remembered that she had taken the trash out and saw Brittany in an argument with a new bouncer that was around their age. Making her way out from behind the bar, Hannah headed towards Tyrone's office.

"Look, we have reason to believe that there is a serial killer targeting dancers. We've had three women's bodies come up within the past week." Hannah frowned at Voight's voice and gently knocked on the door.

"What is it Hannah?" Tyrone questioned as the woman opened the door a little.

"I uh...I just remembered I saw Brittany and that new bouncer arguing outside Wednesday night." Hannah explained looking to Voight, "I didn't think anything of it because Brittany gets a little crabby the later it gets, but I just found it odd because he's sort of distant and cold, unlike the other guys." Hannah stated.

"Can you get me any information you have on file of this guy?" Hank questioned to Tyrone.

"Yeah, absolutely." Tyrone answered opening his desk drawer, "He is suppose to be at work tonight." Tyrone replied handing Voight the file.

"Look, we are going to have to people a couple of people undercover here. We have zero leads on what this person's motives are, what their next move is going to be." Hank explained and Tyrone nodded his head in understanding.

"Whatever you guys need, we are more than willing to help as much as we can." Tyrone stated.

Hannah stood awkwardly for a moment, realizing the severity of the situation that was happening in Chicago, feeling so badly about the women who lost their lives. What she didn't realize was how much her life would be changing moving forward now that Hank Voight had entered her life.

#nbc chicago pd #hank voight #hank voight chicago pd #hank voight imagine #hank voight one shot #hank voight x reader

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nikadoesanart · 3 years

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Why I think Bones animated the light novels in the order they have so far

Before I start, I will preface this by directly quoting Asagiri as he did say himself:

“...each of the plots in [novel] Volumes 1 through 4 are independent with their own timelines that follow different protagonists, meaning you can start them in any order.” (55 Minutes, Afterword, Yen Press translation)

This was of course written at the time of 55 Minutes being written (which was first released in October of 2016), but this has so far held true for all of the following light novels except for Storm Bringer. So officially speaking, you don’t necessarily have to read the bsd light novels in numerical/release order or chronological to the story order either, though you’d probably want to have read or watched 15 Years Old before Storm Bringer. Also, considering that 55 Minutes and Dead Apple are the only ones that take place during the main story, you may want to have at least finished season 2 or read up to the end of ch 37 in the manga so that you’re familiar with the characters (because these two take place shortly after where s2 left off).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to why I personally think that Bones has decided to adapt the light novels that have been animated so far in the order that they have. Seeing as Dead Apple was pretty much requested by Bones for Asagiri to write (according to his afterword in the novel), I won’t really be going over it.

Anyway, my theory is that they chose to adapt Entrance Exam>Dark Era>15 YO because in that order the light novels are most relevant to which part of Dazai’s past and mental state are tied to the current main story arc being animated. This doesn’t make Dazai the protagonist in the main story, in fact he never has been as of yet, but this is how the audience is able to slowly uncover Dazai’s past and try to learn about how his mind works. Keep in mind that even the novels with Dazai’s name in the title and even what few scenes there are focused on Dazai and his POV in them, they are not actually from his POV and we are given the absolute minimal clues as to what he may be thinking.

In s1 we don’t know much about his past yet but Entrance Exam/Azure Messenger helps to highlight his eccentricities while also showing his cunning, but also addresses the question of how Dazai and Kunikida are able to work together. Atsushi himself starts the arc off by questioning how two people with seemingly such incompatible work ethics and personalities are able to work together and even became work partners in the first place.

This was cut out from the anime but the novel also shows how Dazai can act sketchy at times and acts on his own behind people’s backs. There were also a lot of overall changes from the Entrance Exam novel to the point that I find it more fitting to refer to the novel as Entrance Exam and the animated arc as the Azure Messenger arc due to how much was cut and changed, but that’s not the point here.

Next, Dark Era shows not only that Dazai used to work in the Port Mafia, but also some of his closest connections within it and why he left, which becomes relevant during the Guild arc. It also introduces us to the Lupin bar, which Dazai is later shown holding a match box from there as a relic of Oda, who he always thinks about/remembers in difficult situations. Dark Era is also where we’re introduced to Ango and what led to Dazai pretty much despising and refusing to forgive Ango.

15 Years Old mainly shows us the relationship between Dazai and Chuuya. This includes how they first met, the earliest instance we know of when Dazai can act his age, but also touches on the topic of Mori’s leadership. It takes place shortly after when Mori became leader, so the choices Mori makes during this time are crucial to both him and the PM. The importance of Mori’s leadership is later mentioned again during the Cannibalism arc, and we see Chuuya respecting Mori as a fellow leader at the end of 15 YO. We also see in 15 some of Dazai’s mentality as a strategist and leader when directly under Mori’s influence, and it is Mori’s teaching that got Dazai to a point that the only reason Fyodor was able to be found in s3 was because Dazai claimed that it’s how he would act in that situation. This is shown in some of Dazai’s unnecessary cruelty and use of excessive force during the arc (ie. continuing to shoot a dead body). 15 also shows not only how Dazai and Chuuya first met but also how they are both able to act their age around each other. Their constant bickering shows that they can both act like the teens or young adults that they are (depending on when we’re looking at) but also that they already have at least some respect and trust for each of them being their own person and each having their own strengths. They’re both being used as very important and powerful tools by their respective groups during 15, but they still realize that the other can each make their own decisions. Dazai is the one that tells the Sheep that Chuuya is his own person and Chuuya assures Shirase and Yuan of the captured members safety and he later realizes the extent of Dazai’s foresight after asking him to spare the kids, which Dazai mentions was part of his original plan anyway.

What’s interesting to me is how during the Rimbaud fight, Dazai claims that he’s started to become interested in living again yet only 1 year later in Storm Bringer, he is at his absolute worst in terms of what we’ve seen so far of his mental health. In regards to everything that went into Dazai’s mental health plummeting between 15 and SB and then improving again between SB and the Dragon Head Conflict, for now we can only hope to one day learn more about the DHC, how Dazai and Oda first met and what happened to Dazai during Chuuya’s first year in the PM. Also do keep in mind that 15 Years Old was originally written at Bones’ request (you can read the full afterword here).

In my opinion, when you think of these as some of the reasons for the order of the light novel adaptations so far, it makes sense to me. I do still question why we got Dead Apple instead of getting 55 Minutes animated, as they take place at around the same time on the timeline. However, if Dead Apple and even the Walking Alone OVA have proved anything, it’s that Chuuya’s mere presence alone brings in the money. Entrance Exam and Dark Era are respectively light novels 1 & 2 but #3 is Untold Origins of the Agency, which has a short story about Atsushi’s entrance exam being planned (A Day at the Agency) followed by the story of how Ranpo and Fukuzawa met and how this led to the need for the ADA to be founded. Personally, I don’t think Untold Origins is too necessary to the main story until Bones gets to animating chapter 71 onwards. In fact, if you want to look at the order of the Japanese release dates for the novels, Gaiden (January 2016) came out between Untold Origins (May 2015) and 55 Minutes (October 2016), yet with the official translations for the novels it’s been skipped over. But at the end of the day, the order Bones has chosen so far is by no means wrong or right. I’m not sure if the information regarding who chose which novel to adapt when is available to the public (if it’s in an interview or one of the guidebooks, hopefully there are translations available so please lmk if you know anything!), but hopefully Asagiri was involved in that part of the decision making as bsd is originally his story.

If you want to see my more in depth predictions for when the remaining light novel anime adaptations would take place (as in which order they’d be animated) and my estimated screen time for each, you can check it out here.

Also last minute thought/realization but they probably could’ve animated A Day at the Agency instead of Entrance Exam and achieved almost the same goal? I think I’ll revisit this idea later after rereading the novels eventually.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd analysis #bsd spoilers #bsd theories #bsd light novel #bungo stray dogs #bsd anime #bsd dazai

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flymyhp · 3 years

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Birds to Spell books Pairing: George Weasley x Hufflepuff!reader Summary: George spends all his time showing his affection in the wrong way, only to ask her to the Yule Ball 6 years later Words: 2,163 Warnings: Mostly angst, fluff at the end tho ;) and the timeline is a little bit wonky at some parts A/N: Hi! This is my first time writing pretty much anything. Give me feedback! Much love, stay safe x Sixth year was exceptionally ordinary for y/n. Nearing the end of November, the Hufflepuff was sat near the fire in the Gryffindor common room with her younger sister, Hermione and the youngest of the trio, Harry. The topic of discussion among everyone at Hogwarts had been the Triwizard tournament, along with the Yule Ball. Although, the trio had seemed to push the ball completely out of their minds, only focusing on Harry’s name being drawn from the goblet of fire. Panic had struck her underclassmen friends due to these events, while recently y/n had been struck with panic for a different reason. “Pipe down, Lee.” Y/n knew the voice coming from behind her, but she didn’t take notice of it until she felt a pair of eyes boring into the back of her head. Her eyebrows furrowed as she attempted to focus on the conversation carrying on between her own group. Nobody seemed to notice the discomfort on her face, being too enveloped with their own issues. This didn’t bother her, the only thing that did was the voice she couldn’t take her attention from. “You haven’t researched the dragons at all, have you, Harry?” Hermione lectured Harry. There was an all too familiar tone in her voice. One that y/n shared with her, and one that she flinched at. “You have no idea how dangerous this is, do you?” “I’m sure he’s figured that bit out himself,” She jumped at the voice, and turned around, only opening her eyes once she was fully facing its owner. “haven’t you, Harry?” George Weasley. Kneeling behind the couch, right next to y/n, grinning. George Weasley. The boy who’d once transfigured her spell books into birds during their third year. The boy who, on multiple occasions over the course of 6 years, used the amplifying charm to make her robes shout during exams. And last week, the boy who’d asked her to the Yule Ball. She was completely sure it was a joke. What she wasn’t sure of was what made him target her the most out of everybody he and his twin played pranks on. It seemed to usually be gullible, younger kids who they went for. Y/n was an exception for six years, especially with George. It also had seemed like a harmless joke that everyone could laugh at. The joke felt nonexistent when it was her turn, as she was the only one not laughing. “I’m only joking, of course, Harry. There’s nothing to fret about.” George let his teasing die down a bit as she decided to zone back in. Just then, y/n felt a tap on her shoulder. Her face turned to meet George’s own. “Mind steppin’ out for a bit?” Y/n’s face went red. She’d hoped her sister didn’t hear him, or she’d be getting a lecture as well. Although she doubted she would, considering Harry’s was likely to continue until he stepped into the arena with a dragon. She reluctantly stood to her feet, her legs shaking slightly as she did so. “Why not? It’s nearing twelve, I’d better head out, anyways. G’night, Mione.” Y/n excused herself. Hermione stopped talking long enough to tell her goodnight and to be careful heading back to the basement with a kind smile which y/n gladly returned. Y/n followed George out of the common room and into the halls. The moon shone bright through the windows and she shivered in the cold of the fall night. “Am I correct in assuming you’re walking me to bed?” She asked, teeth chattering. He chuckled. “Of course I am,” Then he sighed, insinuating that wasn’t all he was here for. “Bird,” George started. The nickname made y/n want to hide in her hoodie the rest of the way back, and possibly the rest of term. “You never gave me an answer about the Yule ball.” He wasn’t asking anything, just stating the fact that weighed on y/n’s shoulders since the minute the question left his mouth a week prior. The question she didn’t exactly have an answer to. This wasn’t a cliché, y/n didn’t like George. She didn’t like the embarrassment he’d put her through for six years. She didn’t want to say yes. She didn’t want to say yes out of fear that it would all be a joke when it came down to the dance. She didn’t want to get her hopes up. On the other hand, she didn’t want to say no and end up going alone, or not at all. “I don’t have one.” This simple sentence left George kicking his feet a little as he walked. He lowered his head, and lifted it up again, his hair flicking out of his eyes as if he’d lost all confidence and then gained it back again. “Not even no?” He was looking at her now. She kept her head straight. “I could take rejection without an explanation, but can you tell me why you just don’t have an answer? Just curious is all.” Y/n swallowed. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to explain it to him. Was she being ridiculous? Overdramatic? Overthinking? She didn’t know what to think anymore. They’d already gotten to the entrance to her common room before she could think of what to say to him, so she just let everything out at once. “I can’t give you an answer. My heart sank when you asked me because I know it’s just a big joke. You’ve embarrassed me enough the past 6 years.” She began. She couldn’t control what she was saying, she just spoke. “Y/n,” He started, but was immediately interrupted as she couldn’t stop speaking. “But I can’t say no either, because if I don’t show up, or if I show up alone what am I to say? It’ll be equally embarrassing. I can’t win with you around, George.” When she finished she was out of breath. What she said didn’t hit her until she saw the look on his face. “I didn’t realize you felt that way.” George looked absolutely crushed. She didn’t know until then that he was being completely serious when he’d asked her to go to the Yule Ball with him. She’d ran from him and ignored him for a week, just to break his heart the moment he questioned her again. But how was she to know he genuinely wanted to go with her? She opened her mouth to speak, and George was going to let her but she closed her mouth as soon as he looked up at her. His eyes were watery, and she didn’t know what to do to fix it. Her silence gave George his answer, it was a big no. The twenty-fourth of November was the next chance she saw to speak to George, the first task of the tournament. He hadn’t been as bubbly as he usually is since the night before when she poured her heart out to him. She couldn’t stand to look at him and see hurt in his eyes. All she could think to do was find him in the crowd and force herself to fix things, even if it meant she had to look at his face and see the pain she caused. She walked to the arena with Hermione and Ron. Ron still wasn’t happy about the situation with Harry. He’d caused a few scenes in the common room and the courtyard. Both Hermione and y/n had tried to convince him that Harry hadn’t put his name in, but he couldn’t be convinced. Ron was easy to find his brothers, they had been having students place bets on who they believed would win the task and were walking through the pathway to the arena counting their profit. “Ron, would you mind bringing Fred along with you to find us seats? I have to fix something.” Y/n knew Ron wouldn’t mind, even in his sour mood. “As long as you manage to stop them taking the piss out of me, no problem.” He had a foul look on his face as he glanced at his brothers. She knew that his brothers had been giving him a hard time about Harry, but her first priority was to fix what she messed up. Ron, Hermione and Fred started off toward the arena. George didn’t look at y/n as he began to follow them, so she grabbed the sleeve of his jumper gently telling him to wait. He turned with his head down, he didn’t want to look at her. He was afraid if he did he would cry. “I’m not very good at this, obviously. But I need you to hear me out.” She began. He finally looked at her. She took a breath and started again. “You’ve never shown any sort of fondness towards me, no kindness, no apologies, for six years I’ve been the brunt of all of your jokes. You never gave me any explanation for that. How can you go from tormenting me for years to asking me to the first dance Hogwarts has had since we’ve been here? I couldn’t be a last option, there’s tons of girls who’d gladly go with you if you asked. Why me?” He stared at her for a moment, his eyes searched hers for some type of strength to get him to respond, and he found it. “As I said the other night in the basement, I didn’t realize you’d felt the way you did until you told me. I’ve been beating myself up since you told me how you felt. I’m not upset with you, I’m upset with myself.” This time, y/n began to tear up. “Freddie knows I’ve liked you for ages and he tells me to go for it, but I never could. I singled you out because I thought by doing something funny I could see you smile in the process instead of having to outright tell you how I felt about you. Then we came back to school to find out that they’re holding a dance, and I knew that was my opportunity. That’s why I asked you to the Yule Ball, I went for it as Freddie always told me to. He’s a lot better at going for it than I am, obviously, as he asked Angela the first day.” George finished with a chuckle, his eyes still sad. She blinked, her mouth opened and closed, and opened again. She was speechless. It was hard for her to admit to herself now that even though she didn’t have any romantic feelings for him, it would be easy for them to develop. “I can’t say I feel the same about you, considering I’ve spent my entire time at Hogwarts either crying or avoiding you. My friends are my little sisters’ friends because I’m laughed at due to your pranks.” She told him the truth. Even Ron, their little brother, was nicer to her than he had been. “I understand the way you’ve treated me, and I forgive you even if you aren’t willing to apologize because of what I said the other night.” He gave her a small smile. “Bird, of course I’m apologizing. I never meant to make you cry, or avoid your own classmates, or me. All I’m hoping for now is that I get a proper answer now that we understand each other.” “I have an answer for you. But it’s not exactly a proper one.” He looked at her with curiosity. “I’ll go to the ball with you, even though for now I don’t have any sort of feelings for you.” His head fell slightly at her statement and nodded, still not fully content with her answer. “Don’t look so down, George. If you’re lucky, you can change that. I did say I didn’t have feelings for you for now, didn’t I?” It was her turn to give him a grin. This time, he smiled. The first genuine smile he’d ever gave her. It wasn’t caused by his pranks, it was hopeful and warm. “I do have a tendency to be quite lucky.” The smile still bright on his face, he took one of her hands in his. “I’m sorry, genuinely. I’m sorry for your robes, I’m sorry for transfiguring your spell books into birds in third year, and I’m sorry for making you believe I wasn’t serious with my asking you to the ball. By Christmas, the ball, you’ll be happy to be attending with me. No one will laugh at you anymore, and you won’t have to only have my git brother for a friend. I promise.” She laughed, the first time he’d ever heard her laugh, and it was him who caused it. “Once again, I forgive you.” She took his other hand in hers and looked from their hands to his eyes. “Besides, I prefer birds to spell books anyways.”

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plus-ultra-oof · 3 years

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Break Time! | Bokuto & Kuroo | Haikyuu!! | Tickle Fic

A/N: This is one of the fastest things I’ve ever written lol. I love Bokuto and Kuroo’s friendship a lot but this could be read as Bokuroo too.

Disclaimer: Includes swearing and minor spoilers for the timeskip (Kuroo’s future plans are vaguely mentioned)

Summary: Kuroo’s working himself to death with exam season on the horizon and Bokuto has just the idea to “help.”

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Upon a third glance at Kuroo in just a few minutes, Bokuto had determined something was wrong. He could hear him sigh and shift in his seat from where he was sat on his bed. It wasn’t in the restless way that Bokuto was feeling right now though. It was a lot more tired. He narrowed his eyes at his friend, taking in his stiff posture and tense jaw. Rubbing his eyes with one hand Kuroo scrubbed an eraser across his paper with the other, the movement far harsher than necessary. He craned his neck to read something out of a textbook and his lips pressed into a thin line as he tried to comprehend it. The near silence in the room aside from his friend’s quiet frustration was honestly freaking Bokuto out.

When he’d shown up at the other captain’s front door, he’d been ready to go get food, screw around in his backyard, and maybe see an action movie or something. They’d planned this for weeks in advance —their schedules were both pretty packed— and as far as Bokuto knew they were both really looking forward to it. He’d prepared to just mess around and have some simple fun, so he was really surprised when Kuroo opened the door with a tight frown on his lips and not at all dressed for a day out.

“Bo?” Kuroo furrowed his eyebrows as his arms came up to cross over his chest, “what are you-“ Realization took over his features and after a few mumbled curses to himself, Kuroo opened the door further and let him in. The house was the same as Bokuto remembered it: Clean, but still clearly lived in. The mild clutter was charming in its own way and Bokuto had seen it when he’d visited his friend in the past. Kuroo himself was actually the only thing that seemed different.

His hair was messier than usual somehow and the beginnings of dark circles were smudged under his eyes. Instead of his usually clean and neat clothes, he was in a ratty white t-shirt and some old looking red sweats with “Nekoma” written down the sides in faded white block letters. It wasn’t just that though, all of his apologies and attempts at conversation also seemed off as he led Bokuto up the stairs to his room. Like his heart wasn’t really in it with his mind so preoccupied.

“Sorry man, I completely forgot, my bad it’s just-“ he cut himself off with a sigh as he heavily dropped into his desk chair. Bokuto felt overwhelmed just looking at the numerous stacks of heavy books lining the desk, so of course he hadn’t protested when his friend asked for another hour to finish up. He hadn’t been excited to sit and do nothing for an hour, but even he wasn’t going to complain when the usually cool and collected guy seemed so frazzled.

So after running back down to the kitchen to grab some snacks, he’d settled down on Kuroo’s bed to wait, scrolling aimlessly through his phone to try and quell his boredom and keep his restlessness at bay for a bit.

That, of course, didn’t work for long. After maybe 50 minutes —a new record!— he started stealing glances at Kuroo over his phone and as time continued to pass he became more and more concerned. He could practically feel the stress rolling off him in waves as he flipped through another workbook, so Bokuto did the only thing he could think to do at the moment, with what little information he had on whatever was happening; He messaged Kenma.

After tapping out a simple “whats wrong with Kuroo?” he’d set his phone down, not expecting much from it. Even though he barely contacted the guy on his own, Bokuto knew Kenma was terrible at responding to anyone who wasn’t Hinata. This obviously meant his chances of getting a reply before the day ended were slim. He practically jumped to grab his phone when it lit up again, only minutes after sending the message. Pretty damn fast for Kenma of all people.

From Kozume Kenma:

entrance exams. he’s been like that all week.

Ohhhhh. That made sense. Bokuto looked over at Kuroo again, as he glared down at his calculator, a new kind of disdain burning in his eyes. Bokuto hadn’t given the exams much thought honestly, but to Kuroo they surely mattered a lot.

When Kuroo told him that he was going to be quitting Volleyball once they graduated to pursue a career in the marketing side of things, Bokuto’d both understood completely and not gotten it at all.

He’d never really know how anyone could give up something that gave him such a thrill and brought him such joy. Sure, Nekoma wasn’t exactly a powerhouse school, but Kuroo was still a damn good blocker. He surely could’ve made it onto at least a division 2 team if he tried. Still, his friend was different. He wanted something else and that was okay. What wasn’t okay was the fact that he seemed set on working himself to death for it.

To Kozume Kenma:

k im gonna fix him

This time the reply was instantaneous. A simple “good luck” that felt suspiciously like Kenma doubting him. He scoffed, looking over at Kuroo again. The guy was probably even more tired than he looked. Koutaro could definitely take him in the messed up state he was in. Then again, he was incredibly stubborn when he wanted to be.

Bokuto glanced down at his phone. He’d already gone 20 minutes over the promised hour. That plus the whole week Kenma described had to be enough time for now. Going for that long without a real break sounded insane to Bokuto, and there was no way it was healthy either.

“Hey Kuroo,” Bokuto called, sitting up and grabbing his phone after sending a final text off to Kenma (An assortment of emojis portraying his confidence and competence at the given task). When his eyes fell on Kuroo, he hadn’t moved at the sound of his name.

“Kuroo?” He tried again. Still no response. It seemed the blocker was lost in his own world of textbooks and pages on pages of meticulous notes. Bokuto practically shuddered at the sight. He didn’t know how his friend could stare at all of that for so long.

Standing and taking a few steps away from the bed landed him right behind the desk chair. He frowned. Kuroo still hadn’t even noticed him moving around. Then he reached across the desk to retrieve a different colored pen and an idea popped into his head. Bokuto, always quite the impulsive person, followed it without question.

He quietly set his phone down on the opposite side of the desk to free his other hand and then reached out and jabbed him in the ribs on both sides. The action was instantly rewarded with a jolt and a squeak from Kuroo, a clatter from his pencil when it fell from his hand, and a loud triumphant laugh from Bokuto himself. Kuroo whipped around, scowling, “What the hell, man?”

“Your hour is way up bro,” Kuroo raised an eyebrow at him and scrambled for his phone. Once he found it beneath a large stack of colorful print outs, Bokuto saw the suspicion and slight annoyance in his eyes turn into guilt.

“Shit,” he turned to actually face him and Bokuto could see the way his shoulders sagged and his hands fidgeted in his lap in a very un-Kuroo-like fashion, “I’m sorry Bo,”

Koutaro gave him a bright smile in an extra effort to assuage his guilt, “It’s no problem, we can just go now!” He exclaimed, straightening and nodding at the door. Kuroo hesitated at that but before he could say anything, Bokuto’s phone chimed from its place on the desk. It lit up for both of them to see and Kuroo’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Why’s Kenma texting you?” He asked. A hint of his usual smirk flashed across his face as he peered at the deadpan emoticon, familiar and characteristic of his childhood friend. Bokuto bristled at the question. Why wouldn’t Kenma text him? Sure they weren’t exactly close, but Kuroo didn’t need to look so smug about it!

“I text a lot of people!” He replied, tucking his arms to his chest petulantly, “and you were busy,” he added before he could think better of it.

Kuroo immediately deflated at the reminder of his work. The glimmer of his usual playful self vanishing as he looked back over at his collection of practice booklets and papers and whatever else was strewn across his desk. Then he bit his cheek, and Bokuto knew he was going to argue before he even forced it out.

“Bo, I should probably keep going,” Kuroo frowned, his words almost pained, as if just the idea of going back to studying hurt him. That was what really solidified everything in Bokuto’s mind, “Maybe we can-“

“Nope,” Bokuto said succinctly before launching his attack with the overwhelming energy of a hyperactive athlete who’d just sat in one place for way too long. Kuroo squirmed in place as the spiker snuck a hand up his side. He was unable to stop from giggling already, too caught off guard by the suddenness.

“W-Whahahat the fuhuhuck, Bokuto?”

Bokuto shrugged and used his other hand to scribble at his neck. He made no effort to hide his shit eating grin when his friend squeaked in response, attempting to lean away in the chair, “You’ve been doing this for wayyyy to long,” he chuckled, grin only widening when the best defense Kuroo could muster was to slap at his wrists. Weak at best, but compared to his usual struggle, it was even more lackluster for the self proclaimed provocation master, “You can barely even fight back!”

“Shuhut uhuhup- Bohoho!” Kuroo’s volume went up in slight alarm. Bokuto grabbed onto his arm, using it to pull him out of his chair while simultaneously continuing his attack on his waist. Then he sent him falling back into his bed with a gentle shove, easily maneuvering him into a semi-pinned position with a practiced grace. Now with one of his arms held firmly away from his side, Tetsuro was feeling a lot more vulnerable. The shift was evidenced in the more frantic giggling as he tried to muster enough energy to pull away from Bokuto’s playful torment.

“Don’t worry, we can get you some barbecue! It’ll fix you right up!” Bokuto exclaimed, as if he wasn’t currently digging his wriggling fingers into Kuroo’s stomach to make him shriek louder. Still, he shook his head wildly.

“Ngh- ahahah ihihi- ihihihi neheheed to stuhuDy!” He tried, his voice shooting up an octave when Bokuto decided that the dips in his hip bones were a suitable place to grab and squeeze. Damn Bokuto and his stupidly extensive knowledge of this particular weakness.

“Mmm no,” Bokuto responded, slowing his fingers to fluttery circle to let the other captain breathe, “From what I hear you’ve already done way too much of that! It’s break time!” Kuroo took in the extra air greedily. As he did, he leveled his friend with an incredulous stare.

“How did you even-?” Kuroo started before his expression dropped and his eyes darkened in realization. His gaze went back up to Bokuto’s face where he was leaning over him curiously, “Kenma,”

“Yup,” Kotarou laughed boisterously and nodded his confirmation, “This is an intervention man,” The blocker scowled and started to say something that sounded like the word “traitor” but he was quickly cut off by his own hysterical giggling. The break was over, and Bokuto had decidedly shoved his hands higher to scratch at his friend’s ribs at the sign of continued resistance.

“He- aHA shihit! Hehehe’s lying!” Kuroo yelled through his laughter, desperately trying to catch Bokuto’s wrists as his hands seemed to continue crawling their way up his torso, “Lehehehet mehe uhuhup!”

Bokuto scoffed and smirked at his panicked movements, “Not a chance,” His hands didn’t pause for a second as they avoided Kuroo’s grasp. When they honed in on the space between his top two ribs he threw his head back with a helpless cackle. Bokuto had to bite down on a fond smile at the sound, “Now come on! Just say you’re gonna stop overworking yourself and come get food with your best friend!”

“KehenmahaAh’s my behest friehehend!” Kuroo jeered defiantly, apparently still sassy despite everything. Bokuto narrowed his eyes and dug into his ribs harder, making him throw his head back with the force of his laughter.

“Rude,” If Kuroo wasn’t so busy dying, he would’ve teased Kotarou for the childish pout on his face, “but fine, your second best friend,” he corrected laboriously, as if the Nekoma student was in any place to properly respond to him.

“Gahahahah yohou’re ridihiculous!”

“Blah blah blah, let’s go get food Kurooooo!”

“I hahave to- wahahait! No no no Bo DoHON’T!” The resounding screech that Kuroo let out when Bokuto’s fingers finally made contact with the soft skin of his underarms was priceless. He fell into a fit of insane laughter as the other captain watched proudly. His hyena laugh even made an appearance, sending Bokuto himself into manic giggling as he set about driving his friend crazy. “BWAHAHAHA NOHOHO NAHA BOHOHO!”

“What was that?” He teased watching as any final hope of escape fell away, leaving Kuroo a laughing mess. His hair was skewed all of the place along with his clothes that had ridden up in his struggles. His face was bright red, from embarrassment, laughter, or both Bokuto didn’t know, but it was entertaining any way. It was also comforting to see that even in his almost catatonic pre exam state, his friend was still capable of loosing himself in something as simple as tickling.

“FIHIHINE! FINE FINE FIHIHINE!” Kuroo screamed, giving up his pride at last. Anything was worth it at this point just to stop the sensations taking over his brain. All he could think of was the way Bokuto’s deft fingers were scribbling over his underarms and how no matter how he jerked or squirmed or squeezed his arms to his sides it just wouldn’t stop. He could never handle being tickled there long and Bokuto was taking full advantage of that information, “AHAH YOHOHOU- GahHAH YOU WIHIHIN DAMNIT JUHUHUST STAHAHAP!”

Bokuto shot up from the bed, stopping to throw his arms up in a cheer. His loud shout of “HEY HEY HEY!” in victory was lost on Kuroo though. He was too busy trying to catch his breath where he laid K.O.ed on his bed. Still, when Bokuto finished celebrating and turned back to him he looked better. Still tired, but significantly less stressed out of his mind.

Even as he punched him in the shoulder in revenge, his posture had relaxed and there was a wide grin left on his face. And as the last of his giggles faded away, Bokuto was inclined to believe that it was genuine.

“Come on bro, I wanna go check out the new Rec center by the park!” Bokuto yelled, earning a raised eyebrow from Kuroo as he moved around his room, picking out new clothes for their outing. He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into his laundry basket before turning to face him.

“I thought you said we were getting barbecue?” He asked, amusement coloring his tone as he picked up a new shirt. Bokuto smirked.

“Both,” he replied, squeezing Kuroo’s sides as he lifted his arms to put it on. He laughed loudly, batting his hands away and shaking his head.

“Ahaha enouhough!” He giggled, taking a few shaky breaths. Then his taunting tone returned at last, “As long as you’re paying man,” His usual smirk was now secured back in its place, for better or for worse.

Then he ducked into the bathroom just in time to avoid Bokuto’s distressed groan. Rest In Peace his wallet.

Still though, he was admittedly happy that Kuroo was back to normal, even if that meant that he was back to being a stingy jerk.

#Bokuto Koutaro #Kuroo Tetsuro #ticklish!Kuroo #haikyuu! tickle fic #tickle fic #tickle #tickling #tickles #fanfic #thanks for reading

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stardust-walker · 3 years

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World on Fire: Chapter 2 {Loki x Sigyn)

Summary: Sigyn was supposed to have died almost 100 years ago. A peace mission to Migard gone wrong and she had never returned. Everyone had thought she was dead until Loki is shown someone who looks too familiar when he comes to Earth on a mission. Sharon Odell. Shannon Orwell. Sidney Orwell. No matter what name she goes by, it’s all the same. Now that Gods and heroes are real, there’s no use hiding who she really is anymore.

Masterlist

Chapter 2: Start a war

Sidney hated the fact that she was stuck without much of a choice. She had to trust SHIELD and that meant she had to trust Nick Fury with her life. A heavy sigh left her lips right as she heard a branch crack in the woods somewhere behind her. The blonde squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She couldn’t get turned around right now when she was so close to getting out of here.

Sidney’s eyes popped open as she heard a jet flying overhead. She was off again, but this time she didn’t even care. She pushed her way through the brush and branches before she stumbled into a clearing. As the wind whipped around her, she faced the woods. Those rogue agents could still be after her.

“Miss Orwell,” a voice shouted over the whir of the engine. She had been so in her own world, she hadn’t even heard them land behind her. A small smile appeared on her face as she turned and met the gaze of Phil Coulson. “How nice of you to join us,” Coulson called over the roar of the engines. Sidney stomped past him as the jet began to ascend again.

As the ramp began to close back up, they could just see the two SHIELD agents stumble out of the woods. “So those bastards were still following me,” Sidney grumbled as she shrugged off her leather jacket.

“Some branches in your hair,” Coulson smiled as he motioned towards the back of his own head.

Her eyes narrowed and a sarcastic remark was cut off by another voice.

“Anymore detours?” That voice.

Sidney turned quickly. Her jaw nearly dropped as she finally realized they weren’t the only passengers on the jet. She swallowed hard as Coulson stepped forward to make introductions. She could practically feel the excitement that radiated off of the older man. “Steve, this is Sidney Orwell. Sidney, this is-”

“Steve Rogers,” Sidney interrupted as she took a step forward and held out her hand. Steve stood and squeezed a little too tight as they shook hands. “Pleasure to meet you, Captain.” She smirked as she pulled her hand from his grasp and straightened out her green sweater. “I have to say, I’ve been dying to meet you since they thawed you out.”

“It’s a pleasure, ma’am. I wish the circumstances were better,” he smiled at her. She couldn’t help but notice how terribly sad he looked. “I knew an Orwell.” Sidney’s shoulder stiffened as Phil’s eyebrows shot up.

“Shannon,” Sidney stated after a few moments of silence. Her mind worked quickly. “My grandmother,” she answered Steve’s unspoken question. This seemed to comfort the man somewhat. The two of them were silent for a second.

“You mean to tell me that your grandmother knew Captain America and you held out on me?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be working right now, Philip?” Sidney responded in a cold voice. “Call me old-fashioned, but sometimes a girl would like to know who’s trying to kidnap her. Along with what they want with the Tesseract.”

“Hope you’re a quick study. There’s a final exam when we land,” Coulson dead-panned as he picked up a tablet off of the seat where Steve had been along with a folder. “This will tell you all that we’re working with so far.”

Sidney lowered herself onto the bench across from Steve as the two men moved closer to the cockpit to talk. She was grateful they weren’t closer when she opened the folder. It felt like all of the air left her lungs and she just couldn’t bring herself to breathe as she stared at the image that had clearly been printed from security footage. There was Selvig on the right and Barton on the left. They hadn’t been lying about agents being compromised that was for sure.

It was the man in the middle that had caught her attention. He looked tired and sickly, but it was him. The person who had tried to kidnap her was Loki. She could feel the whole charade starting to crumble down around her already.

Coulson had realized a few minutes before they landed that he needed to make sure Sidney knew exactly what she was getting into. She quickly recited a shortened version of the notes she’d read about the others. Banner was a genius who turned into a monster due to gamma radiation. Natasha was a former Soviet spy, current SHIELD spy. She had tried hard to repress any emotion in her voice when she stated all she knew was that Iron Man was a man with more money than God.

Steve had laughed at that one. “Sounds like something your grandmother would say about his father,” he shook his head as the small jet jolted.

Coulson clapped his hands together. “Alright, everyone out of the bus.”

Sidney rolled her eyes as she slapped her hand down on the folder one last time before she turned to stand up. Steve had his hand held out in front of her. “What a gentleman. This must be what it was like in the good old days,” she joked as she allowed him to help her to her feet. The blonde still felt far off in her own world as she shrugged her jacket on and followed the men out onto the deck.

The salty sea air relaxed her as she took a deep breath and allowed herself to get lost in the sensation of it for just a few seconds. The dampness in the air felt nice after being cooped up in a jet or running through the woods for most of the day.

It felt like home.

“Welcome back, Sidney,” a familiar voice called out.

A smile spread across her face as she reached out an clapped a hand on Natasha’s shoulder. “Don’t get too cozy, Romanoff. I don’t plan to make this a regular thing.”

Natasha rolled her eyes as she motioned for the two of them to follow her. “It was quite the buzz around here when they found you in the ice.” The red-head addressed Steve as Sidney continued to survey her new surroundings. “I thought Coulson was gonna swoon.”

Sidney snorted.

“Did he ask you to sign his Captain America training cards yet?”

“Natasha,” Sidney scolded jokingly. “Let’s not scare away out new friend.”

Natasha smirked at the blonde woman as Steve stepped forward to greet another new arrival.“Dr. Bruce Banner,” she interjected, “this is Dr. Sidney Orwell. Her family’s been with SHIELD since the beginning.”

“Very nice to meet you,” Banner waved at her as he smiled awkwardly. His hands tugged nervously at his jacket as he seemed to study her warily.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your research is just absolutely incredible.”

“Sidney was brought on to help with the Tesseract…once we get a hand on it, anyway.” She didn’t miss how Steve seemed to tense up at every mention of the cube.

“I expect we’ll be spending a lot of time together then,” Sidney grinned. “Don’t worry, I pride myself on being a very calming person.”

Bruce let out a short laugh. Sidney couldn’t shake the feeling that things were going to go downhill very fast. She had heard of the Hulk. Everyone had after what happened in the Bronx, but the only thing she could do was try. As long as she did what SHIELD wanted her to do, she could go home.

Home.

Maybe she could even see—No. She wouldn’t even let herself think about that even as her heart beat a little faster and her stomach turned.

“It must be strange for you. All of this,” Bruce motioned around the deck. At least Bruce seemed like a nice person; she wasn’t too sure she wanted to meet the other guy yet.

“Well actually, all of this is kind of familiar.” Steve sighed.

“We might want to step inside for a minute. It’s gonna get a little hard to breathe.” Sidney didn’t miss the smirk on Natasha’s face as she turned to face her.

“God I hate planes,” Sidney whispered to herself as she jolted slightly when they rose up out of the ocean and into the sky.

The bridge of the plane was impressive that was for sure. If SHIELD was anything, they were efficient. Her stomach turned just a little bit as she spotted Nick Fury at the helm of everything.

“Gentlemen,” the older man called out as he turned around. “Sidney,” he nodded at her. The blonde responded with a sarcastic smile.

“Hello, Nicholas.” She patted the man on the shoulder as he passed her to greet Bruce.

“How long am I staying?”

“That’s exactly the question I had, doctor,” Sidney chimed in.

“Once we find the Tesseract, you’re in the wind,” Fury replied. Was that supposed to be reassuring?

Sidney narrowed her eyes slightly as Coulson spoke up from the lower deck. “We’re accessing every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet.”

Sidney suddenly became very aware of her own phone in her pocket. She would have to make a mental note to dump both of her phones when she was done with this place. Bastards.

“It’s still not going to find them in time,” Natasha sounded worried. That couldn’t be good.

“How many spectrometers do you have access to,” Bruce frowned.

“How many are there?” Fury raised an eyebrow.

Sidney pursed her lips as she watched Banner shrug off his jacket. “Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I’ll figure out a tracking algorithm. Basic cluster recognition.”

“Dr. Banner, I’m impressed.” Sidney smiled as she nodded her head. She figured it went without saying that she would help him with that. “Do you have somewhere for us to work, Fury?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Agent Romanoff?” Fury called out. “Could you show Dr. Banner and Dr. Orwell to the laboratory?”

At least she trusted Natasha enough to follow her.

“So what’s your specialty?” She didn’t expect Bruce to be one for friendly conversation and if anything this proved her right. He was trying to be nice, she could tell. It seemed like he hadn’t had a normal conversation in years. Sidney knew what that felt like a little too well.

“Astrophysics,” she sighed. “Kind of runs in the family,” she smiled as she brushed her hair from her eyes.

The two of them were silent as Sidney began to busy herself. SHIELD’s technology was advanced past what the general population had access too but, thankfully, she had somewhat of a grasp on it. As her hands extended along the touch screen that hung in the middle of the room.

“Are you one of them?” Bruce spoke up suddenly. Sidney’s dark eyes narrowed as she surveyed the man.

Sidney hated to say it, but she’d been asked that question many times. Maybe not in the same context but still. “A spy? Oh no, Bruce. I’m far too much of a talker to make a good spy.” She laughed at her own poor excuse for a joke. “I’m more of a quiet observer if anything.”

“Sounds a little like a spy to me,” Banner retorted. Sidney let out a small peal laughter.

She dragged her fingers along the screen. All the humor disappeared from her expression as her face went pale. “What the hell,” she whispered as she tapped the screen again.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Sidney shook her head as she gulped.

“What the hell is that?” Bruce raised an eyebrow as he stepped closer.

Sidney shook her head. “Nothing! I…I was just trying to see what they had on Loki and Thor. I guess I just ended up in the wrong section or something.”

“Why Thor?” Bruce frowned in confusion.

Sidney crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at the image on the screen. “Because they’re brothers. Haven’t you heard the stories?” She wasn’t surprised to hear that Bruce lacked knowledge in the Norse mythology department.

“So if you were looking for them, why-”

He trailed off as Sidney swiped the image off the screen and hurried from the room. The text on the screen was still burned into her mind’s eye.

Alias: Sidney Orwell

Threat Level: Neutralized

There was no time to corner Fury as she intended to. No time for anything, in fact, as she stomped her way onto the bridge of the ship.

“We found him. 67% match. No…79% match!”

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the image on the computer. He didn’t look quite as sick as he did in the photograph, but something still felt…off.

A chill went down her spine as Loki cast a brief glance at the security camera.

He knew they were watching him.

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Hello friendos, here’s another chapter. I’m just out here tryin my best so feel free to give me any feedback. I really appreciate it! Let me know if you would want to be added to a taglist! Hope you continue to enjoy!

#loki x sigyn #marvel loki #loki #loki x reader #loki x oc #loki odinson #loki odinson fanfiction #loki odison x reader #loki laufeyson #loki laufeyson fanfiction #sigyn #bruce banner #steve rogers #natasha romanoff #u know what i love? bruce banner and sigyn being soft but very angry friends #being dramatic is a quality loki's wife needs prove me wrong #tom hiddleston

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tundrainafrica · 3 years

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Title: A Tale of Two Slaves (10/17)

Summary: “Soulmates don’t exist. Fate doesn’t exist. Everything is a choice.” At that moment, Levi could only watch as she made the choice for him.“

Reincarnation AU. Levi remembers everything from their past life. Hange doesn’t.

Note: This took a while. I had this written out for a while, I just spent a good amount of brain cells trying to figure out where to cut this. It’s almost done actually. I’m expecting like (at the most) 5 more chapters so maybe I can get it done by the end of March if I muster up the courage and the effort to do all the final revisions to the last few chapters.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Other Chapters:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Link to cross-postings: AO3

As Levi soon found out, Hange kept a folder online tagged ‘Levi Ackerman.’

The oldest pictures were dated more than three years ago and the first had been one of his cool down after his performance at his first tournament. There was variety in the pictures and they covered everything, all the way from warming up on the bench, positioning himself to run and those few moments right after launching himself in the air to the peak of his jump. She had even snuck pictures of his interviews.

The first time he opened it, he had first checked the dates to make sure he hadn’t been dreaming or assuming she of all people had been a fan. The weirdly strong emotions he had felt at the realization of the existence of such a folder had only made him all the more vulnerable and the last thing he had wanted to do was an act on an illusion or trick of the mind.

The experiences he had on the field clearing jump after jump had become routine over the five year period. Despite the changes among the faces in the crowd, the cheers that had only been getting louder and louder and of course, the oval that changed with the venue, sometimes the only thing Levi did remember was the blue sky staring him down and gravity pulling from behind.

Maybe that was why he had ended up in a state of disbelief the first time she had shown it to him.

How did you not notice her? Levi was sure he wouldn’t have anyway. She was a stranger, one stranger in a crowd of people. Although she may have been one unchanging face in a crowd of thousands of changing faces, she was still a stranger to him. And strangers just tended to blend in more easily.

A valid point. Yet the regret and frustration were still fresh inside him despite it having been weeks since she first gave him access to that folder

She had first showed it to him the morning after that eventful night, after having dealt with a hungover Nanaba. It was only in the evening that day after Hange had escorted her three friends to the station did she sit next to him on the bed and scroll through the pictures herself with Levi right beside her. Naturally, she was still hesitant to show that side of her, she scrolled a bit too slow at times, while a bit too fast at other times.

For a while their roles were reversed and Levi found himself prodding Hange for more details. Eventually, she did share the link to the folder in exchange for links to his story and Levi was quick to comply. They were both exposed anyway, there was no need for any more secrets between them. Only one condition that had seemed a little too frivolous at first glance, yet somehow Levi understood it.

Hange requested that he go through the pictures when she wasn’t around. And soon after she requested it, Levi realized he preferred that too. Despite the fact that he did trust her not to judge whatever she may find on the folders, there still existed an uneasiness at baring one’s heart out to someone in words one couldn’t control anymore having written the stories out too long ago.

Consequently, he requested the same thing from her. Do not read it while I’m around. When he told her the stories, he at least had control of his tones, his diction and the packaging of the overall story. Watching her read them, he knew he would find himself doubting the words he had written while at the same time vacillating between decisions to correct his previous writings or let her read. The constant self consciousness that came with the second option had just been too stressful of a prospect. He decided himself, he would rather have full control of the exposition or none at all.

The decision to have no control and no input, to be absent when he bares his heart out was not easy to make. And he continued to feel the traces of that struggle in the way he so easily lost focus and ended up mindlessly scrolling through the folder. His mind had shifted to other things more specifically the prospect of whether or not Hange was doing the same thing then and there.

She was only a phone call away. He could ask. But it had just seemed idiotic. Of course she wouldn’t be checking on it, she had been cramming for an exam that morning in between preparing for her mid semester thesis presentation. She hadn’t even bothered to say any greeting but an ‘I’ll follow’ before he left for the therapist that morning.

He looked through the messages in the waiting room, and up at the time displayed on the upper right part of the screen.

9:43. She was still in the middle of her exam. She won’t be checking on it.

Levi looked at the ceiling above him, allowing the plain white view above him to ease him back to his reality. How long had he been staring at the phone? He closely felt for the aches and discomforts around his body. The dull soreness that made itself known as he stared up at the white ceiling above him only served as a reminder that he had been a little too exposed to quick scrolls and the unnatural glare of his phone for a potentially unhealthy amount of time.

It was his first physical therapy session and Hange had pointed out that he should be early just in case. Consequently, he had shown up at 8:30 for a session at ten.

Just in case you get lost. Just in case there is paperwork which still needs to be filled. Hange would have done the paperwork already. He had ended up clocking that little doubt and that need for a little prophylactic thinking to caution on their end. First times tended to make people a little more cautious. And more importantly, what else was there to do on a Saturday morning other than sleep in?

Either way, that long wait had left him with eyes a little too tired yet at the same time, he was bored out of his wits. He looked around the waiting room finding something else to entertain himself with.

I only have seventeen more minutes to kill. It shouldn’t be too hard.

The atmosphere of the waiting room was nothing like getting lost in nature or on the road. It was stark white, bleak and a little too rehearsed. In other words, it lacked dynamic and consequently. it was too boring to find any amusement in. Of course, they wouldn’t want to stress out any patients with anything too fancy or overwhelming. Yet, the only thing which Levi could have found worth giving more than a passing thought to were the people around him.

And only when Levi started focusing instead on the people and not on the off-white plastered walls of the waiting room, he somehow was able to distract himself from the dragging motions of time.

There was an old man with a knee brace. A middle aged man with an arm in a sling and a girl with a casted right leg. There were others who could have passed up for nothing more than a visitor, until they stood up and Levi noticed in their gait the slight hesitancy to put one foot in front of the other. A small detail which Levi probably wouldn’t have noticed if he weren’t looking for it then.

As he preoccupied himself and reflected over the small details that could have told stories of the people around him, that natural reflection to one own’s self had him a little too focused, a little too fixated.

The door to the waiting room slammed behind him and the trance disappeared as quickly as it came and as silently as a bubble that had just been popped.

Levi found himself irritably following the sound of the footsteps that came right after the slam of the door. It reverberated across the quiet and tense room, so loudly that if Levi did look around him, he would have realized he wasn’t the only one who had been so abruptly disturbed by it.

“Aaaand... My rounds are over for today,” The man said looking not at all guilty for that rude awakening. He wouldn’t have known anyway, and as Levi looked towards the front where the man had settled by the nurse’s desk, he might just have been the only one in the room rudely awakened by that sound.

“Ah, Doctor Jaeger, That was quick,” the nurse commented a little too pleasantly for Levi’s taste.

“Not too busy of a morning.” The man said, or as Levi soon deduced, was Mr. Jaeger. He recognized that irritating voice and as he looked up at the man, taking in the gruff features, the blond hair and beard and the rounded glasses, he quickly grasped for the name.

Zeke Jaeger. He hadn’t even said the name out loud just yet, but somehow he tasted venom. Levi though had enough awareness of his surroundings and his own ability to quickly yet correctly guess names to have kept silent. Regardless, he continued to watch as Zeke lowered his voice, possibly whispering something about going out for a drink and some dinner with the nurse in front of him. He found himself silently judging that audacious invasion of privacy as Zeke looked over at whatever paper was on the teacher’s desk.

Ackerman?

If Levi had actually been a little more aware of his surroundings, he would have realized Zeke did not at all say the name loud enough for him to hear. It was the result of Levi having watched too closely as Zeke enunciated those syllables, having noticed as the nurse made eye contact with him and having heard peppers of conversations about a jumper and an injury.

“Oh… An Ackerman? Who does high jumps?.” Zeke confirmed it himself, as he once again spoke a few decibels louder, obviously with the intention of making himself heard.

It wasn’t anything new. The past few months, Levi started to realize that at the least, many people in the local scene were familiar with him.

“My brother’s best friend is an Ackerman too and she started jumping recently.”

“I don’t have any relatives who jump,” Levi answered, in an attempt to shoot that attempt of a friendly interaction down.

Zeke stared at him, looking surprised. “You sure? With how quickly she picked it up, I thought she should have been related to you.”

Levi kept silent, making no effort to look open at all to conversation. Somehow, Zeke didn’t seem to get the hint.

“She’s been sweeping their interhigh competitions since the start of autumn… With the pace at which she’s going, she might even replace you.”

Levi had gotten used to those types of comments, hearing them as whispers the few times he went out, seeing them on a few forums as people discussed his injuries. He shouldn’t have been at all bothered by the statement, having shifted his attention in life to things which weren’t jumping

The blond man in front of him had been crass and blunt and Levi was starting to feel the beginnings of a bad mood. The irritability only worsened even as Levi tuned out the blond doctor. His mind went elsewhere, as he instead decided to seethe silently at the insensitivity of that statement.

A Tale of Two Slaves

Eventually Levi did get a break from that one-sided conversation. But the countdown to that break was slow and painful. He only noticed as he struggled under the trappings of that long and excruciating wait how long it really took for minutes to count down on a digital clock.

An eternity could have passed before Levi was called from the waiting room. As soon as the clock struck ten, Levi could not help but be more than slightly annoyed that she had been late.

If you’re early then you’re on time. If you’re on time, then you’re late. Any other day, Levi would have acknowledged the hypocrisy of that statement since although he was always early to training, he was never that religious when it came to academics. Having just bounced back from such an excruciating exchange with Zeke though, everything had just been pissing him off more than necessary.

It was almost remarkable how he managed to nod in return at the woman who met him at the exit of the waiting room. But Levi soon realized, as the anger quickly dissipated from inside him, she seemed like an old friend more than a stranger and like for all people, as long as there was history between them, he could save a little more patience points.

The woman who helped him up and led him to the room ahead was shorter than him yet had a way of handling herself that made Levi guess that she was at the least, a university student.

Levi didn’t need to guess anything else. Somehow, her name, her personality and the familiarity had all been somewhere in his head.

She cocked her head to one side in greeting and spoke up. “You can call me---”

“Petra,” Levi said. Somehow, he just knew her name. He had been inclined to complete that statement, only to make more real the nagging feeling in his head as soon as he had noticed her enter the room.

Petra’s eyes widened in shock. “Yes, how did you know?”

“It’s on your nametag,” Levi answered almost automatically, thanking the heavens she was wearing a nametag.

“Yeah, my bad. I get a little absent minded at times,” Petra patted her own head and gave Levi a wry smile.

Petra was hospitable. And when Levi thought that exact statement, he couldn't help but think how the word 'hospitable' had fit her so well. It was in her presence. She had this special talent, of finding ways at least to add color to the stark white hospital walls and the overly sanitized tiled floors underneath.

It could have been the tone or it could have been her word choice as she rattled off what could have been an outline of his physical therapy regime. As Levi did figure out, it could possibly have been the unique enthusiasm she had towards the whole patient recovery process

"So you're my physical therapist?" Levi asked. He never really did pick up what she was saying. He had heard enough about leg raises, timings on when to remove casts and knee bends that he at least guessed she knew enough about them to be one.

Petra though was quick to shake her head. "No actually. After college, I have plans of taking the exam. Then after that, I’ll be a physical therapist. I’m just taking advantage of this internship to learn more about the occupation.”

“It suits you,” Levi said. He kept his own comments brief. At that point, he did start to lose a little bit of awareness of his surroundings. His thoughts flew slowly back to his dreams.

Those first two encounters in the hospital had been two missing puzzle pieces. The stories had been an incomplete puzzle set of words and pictures and as he put it all together in his head, he couldn’t help but note how vivid the memories actually were. It took all his strength not to react, not to bolt out then and there, and go back home, to fill in the gaps on his laptop.

He put two names on his phone.

Zeke Jaeger. Petra Ral. Levi could have sworn there was more to remember and to write about.

And who did Zeke mention then? The other Ackerman? The other jumper?

The dreams were faint, as faint as the image an incomplete puzzle would make. Some parts were clear and vivid like a scenery behind a newly cleaned window. Others were hazy, his mind having filled up those gaps with blurry images. But the other Ackerman was there, and she moved fast enough to justify those blurs in the scene. Back when they fought the war, she flew in those cables much faster than he and Hange had.

I am strong. I am stronger than all of you.

A Tale of Two Slaves

The pain that came with his first physical therapy session was excruciating and it only served to further aggravate the anguish and his eagerness to get home before the sceneries in his head faded into faint memories of something else.

He managed at least to keep himself in a good in-between, by repeating the mantra of that other Ackerman to himself as he went through each and every exercise.

They had started off slow, as slow as a walk in the park maybe, a few stretches here and there. While doing some of the stretches and the warm ups, he did wonder if he had attended the right therapy session. Some of the warm up exercises had nothing to do with his knee after all.

The actual challenge came when Petra and the physical therapist he had failed to get the name of, had him sit down. As soon as Petra unwrapped the brace and pulled it from underneath him, Levi felt the weight of his injury almost instantly. It didn’t help at all that he was looking right at it.

“We’re going to try bending it a bit. Maybe put some weight on it if we have some extra time” The physical therapist’s words felt ominous.

The surgical scars and the healed wounds on his knees from more than two months ago only served to rattle Levi a little more. He had avoided looking at the scars many times before during meetings with Erwin and Hange. The few times Hange did pull and prod at it, he had it stretched out on some pillow.

It was fragile. And it felt unnatural. There in front of him then, it was dangling from the exam table, gravity pulling it down from underneath. Levi swore that if he tried hard enough he probably could imagine it completely disconnecting from his body at that moment. And maybe if he did move it, attempt to stand up without the confines of a knee brace as support, it might just fall off.

“Hey, it happens to the best of us,” Petra said.

No, it doesn’t happen to the best of us. In the room at least, there were at least five other people struggling to do something so simple as to bend a knee. But Levi could have sworn, in the outside world he was surrounded by people who wouldn’t think twice about bending their knee.

“Just bend it as far as you feel comfortable.” Bullshit directions. Levi had to admit, he wasn’t comfortable having it bend at all. Just the sensation of having it dangle so easily in the air, at the mercy of gravity underneath was already unsettling.

Was it a challenge then? To get it to bend as far as he could?

The directions of the therapist were flawed and Levi naturally opted for a flawed response as well. The process of bending his knee had been slow and excruciating. Levi found himself closing his eyes a few times, finding some sort of a rhythm in the faint sounds of the heater in the room, the murmurs from all the way across the room.

Or maybe a mantra? From someone a little too familiar. I am strong. Stronger than all of you. Another Ackerman.

And the way Zeke had mentioned it was grating. Was it a challenge? A threat? Was it supposed to be pushing him to go further?

It could have been Zeke or it could have been that phantom Ackerman that had been a motivation at that moment. But something then had Levi’s heart racing, his mind going in circles.

I’m strong too. I’ll get out of this rut. He thought to himself, a weak yet still effective act of protest. It worked both as a catalyst for a burst of motivation and an odd source of rhythm. The flexibility of bending came in slow, steady but continued attempts. The rush of adrenaline came halfway through.

A few minutes later, he was sweating and maybe he had been shaking a bit before that. When Petra had mentioned the optimistic progress and the plan to at least attempt to put weight on his bum knee, Levi was quick to comply.

And maybe a little too reckless. They had least helped him next to a wall, a good place at least to lean his body in the off chance he did lose control.

“One foot forward then one back.” The therapist guided.

As he watched the therapist simulate that same position, Levi quickly followed suit. He remembered, he had put some weight on his leg. Back then the brace had kept his knee stable.

At that moment, the brace was off, and it would be his bum knee, exhausted from the prior exercises taking the full weight.

I’m strong. Levi repeated to himself. Bending wasn’t an issue before. He had been bending his knees, possibly before he even knew how to walk. It should have been nothing, The excitement of a while ago, the adrenaline rush, pushed him further. It had him so seamlessly balancing the weight from the back of his foot, to the foot in front.

And maybe his knee had been bending farther in, the weight of his body on it. Somewhere along the way he did start to feel the beginnings of a dull pain.

I’m strong. To keep going, Levi had to find an escape. Stronger than all of you. It was easy at least, to leave the movements to his procedural memory as he distracted himself with his own musings, willing himself not to forget what he had wished to write down.

Where did they all fit? The Beast Titan… The Survey Corps… The War… The Alliance?

“Levi, I’m sorry I’m late. The test ended later than I expected…” She came as a faint voice, but Levi was too far gone to hear it.

He had only felt her presence then, when the physical therapist called a break, when he had collapsed on the floor in exhaustion, his knee throbbing, his breaths coming in heaves. He only realized she had been watching for a good long while when he looked up to see the concern etched in her face as he caught her gaze.

“I’m fine…” He at least managed to say that much before he closed his eyes, allowing that few minutes of rest to gather his thoughts and steady his breaths.

“You shouldn’t have pushed yourself too hard. This is just your first session,” Hange said from right next to him.

He still had enough energy to process those words at least.

A Tale of Two Slaves

That night, Levi gripped his dream catcher a little tighter and pressed it close to the back of his phone as he scrolled through google links on the other Ackerman.

It hadn’t been hard to find her at all. Zeke’s tirade that morning had been more than a guide enough.

High school. Ackerman. High Jump. Those were the only three keywords he needed to figure out the whole name of that missing Ackerman. For a moment, he had expected to find his own articles, and had braced himself for the pain of sifting through old articles about himself in between looking at hers.

It turned out Mikasa Ackerman had been the talk of the high school high jumping scene for a while, and she had been the topic of at least 90% of the articles he was scrolling through on Google.

A few times they did allude to the other Ackerman. The older articles heralded her as a successor to the rookie Levi Ackerman, the newer ones that were dated past his injury called her the brand new Ackerman, a replacement.

A replacement to damaged goods. Levi had to add that part himself, an attempt to make a joke out of his shitty situation as he closed that last article. “Mikasa Ackerman,” Levi repeated those words so quietly to himself as he dropped the dreamcatcher haphazardly onto the table in front of him. It had been useless at that moment. Or maybe at the least it had been the reason he felt a little too frustrated at having looked through too many articles that evening.

He looked to Hange who was sitting on the dining table, looking deep in thought on something on her laptop. Mid semester presentations for her thesis proposal were coming up, along with a few new exams next week. She had been conscious enough to point that out at least and Levi happily gave her the space she needed.

The turmoil inside him at first seemed difficult to pacify. Just watching Hange so focused and deep in thought had helped somehow quell whatever unresolved tensions and feelings were settling in his stomach then.

Maybe if he talked to her, the tensions might just disappear altogether. Levi deemed it worth the effort at least. “Hange? You okay?” He asked

Hange’s head shot up and she looked straight at him almost instantly. “Sorry, how long were you calling me? I’ve just been a little too focused on my exam on Monday and the thesis presentations on Wednesday… I don’t think I’ve been in the right mind for a while…”

Levi saw it in the way she looked at him, she hadn’t been focusing on his eyes. It was as if she were still probably seeing whatever words or numbers she was studying. She had been like that the past week since the line up of the thesis presentations were released along with the midterms schedules for all the exams.

Their kiss, their one night in the bedroom almost forgotten. Levi was sure though there was something that had been bothering her, maybe something that extended beyond academics.

I can ask about that after finals. Levi thought to himself, pushing aside that bout of concern. He could start with a light question at least, which didn’t involve Hange too much. “Have you heard of Mikasa Ackerman?”

“Mikasa Ackerman? The high school high jumper?” Hange asked. “Maybe I have been following her too… Lately...”

“She’s really good apparently.”

“Her jumping positions reminded me a lot of yours, so she had been fun to watch. I always did want to ask… Is she related to you? I did some research but I don’t see much which connect you both other than a few articles comparing you as jumpers and maybe speculating a relationship.”

Levi shook his head. “I never heard of her… Until today… A doctor mentioned her back in the hospital before my therapy session.”

“She only started making waves last month when her school made it to the regional competitions. No one really follows the district and the interschools… And apparently she only started jumping recently, during summer and she only started breaking records during the regionals,” Hange said. “That is… According to what I’ve read up on her.”

“So, you have been following her?”

“I still watch videos during study breaks,” Hange admitted. “And she just broke a few records a few weeks ago, of course they’d show up in my feed.”

“And you didn’t feel the need to ask me about it before? About an Ackerman doing the same jumping positions I did? You didn’t want to talk about it?”

“I thought of asking you about it maybe after exams. Besides, do you want to talk about jumping? After everything that happened?”

Levi put his phone down beside him and looked up at the ceiling above him. Of course he wouldn’t have heard of her until then, he had purged himself of all track and field news since the injury. The tournament with Nanaba and Mike and the round of research on Mikasa have been two exceptions and the feelings after that had only reminded him why he had spent his days actively making the effort not to think of the life he used to have. "I told you I'm fine," he said. He half meant that part at least, the writing had helped.

"No you aren't.”

Levi found himself shocked by how certain Hange’s tone had been. And for a second, maybe he had been a little irritated at the audacity of it all. Who was she to assume how he felt? But the surprise and the irritability had him silent and listening. Hange always had a reason for her conclusions. She never made assumptions so easily, he had known her enough lifetimes to be sure of that.

“There's a certain sadness to knowing you can't do what you used to before.” Hange continued. “I think everyone feels it, even a bit."

"A certain... sadness?" Levi asked.

"Wait, that does sound vague... Lemme think of an example." Hange paused for a second, looking up in thought. "Like maybe if you imagine people who’ve been skating or people who've been playing instruments their whole childhood. When they stop training or practicing these things altogether, these people can feel themselves lose their motor skills or their thinking skills that got them jumping double axels or playing arpeggios or pulling off vibratos like they’re second nature. And when they come back to it years later, I’m sure everyone feels the sadness or some sort of a frustration, looking back at their old self and processing the realization that they can’t bring their body or their mind to do something as effortlessly as they had done it many years before. Processing how they ended up so weak, so stupid after abandoning their old passions for so long."

“What if I’m an exception?” Levi challenged, still a little annoyed at such an assumption and at such a long unsettling tirade.

Hange shook her head. “You’re not. For a while, I wanted to entertain the possibility that maybe you and I are exceptions, maybe we can easily jump from one passion to another. When I was watching you during therapy though. I saw the terror in your eyes, the frustration, the sadness. ‘Why isn’t my body moving the same way it used to?’ Maybe you don’t want to think back to jumping because you don’t want to see how quickly your body has forgotten the motions, how quickly it had lost the flexibility and the strength to carry you over the two meter bars…” Hange trailed off. She avoided his gaze and for a while she had been staring at the blank wall in front of her. For a second after that, she did look to him, and there was a glint of realization in that. Realization at what she had just implied possibly. "But you know what, you might just be an exception. Maybe I’m just projecting." Hange added a second later.

Levi was sure though from the quick change of tone that accompanied those last words that Hange probably didn't mean it. On top of that, having heard Hange's small lecture, Levi almost immediately realized he wasn't at all an exception.

Her voice had been light as she mentioned that last sentence. It could have been a thoughtless comment. Hange didn’t make too many thoughtless comments though. “Projecting?” Levi asked.

Hange let out a short light laugh “I’m talking too much, I should go back to work…” Her words seemed like a band-aid, a lazy coverup for whatever emotions had supported such a tirade in the first place.

Projecting? There was a reason behind that word use and Levi was more than eager to press on it.

Hange wasn’t listening anymore though. She was buried once again in whatever subject she had chosen to study for that night. She was in work mode again and she had gotten back to that mode as quickly as she had fallen out of it.

All questions can wait until after her exam week. Levi told himself. The word ‘projecting’ had stayed though. Hange’s words had left its mark and maybe it did have Levi reflecting on his own feelings, his own fear and his own frustrations at his regressing skills, the painful awareness of his body that was slowly forgetting the motions he had built over years. At the end of that tunnel of reflection, he did end up thinking back to that word.

Projecting. She had to be feeling something for herself to say something like that right?

Hange what are you projecting?

And that at least distracted Levi enough, enough for him to ignore the dull pain in his left knee, channel his focus elsewhere. The next few days, having been left alone in the apartment while Hange went about classes, lab work and library visits, Levi did manage to channel his energies to academics or to filling his gaps in his own stories: Levi Special Squad, the Beast Titan and something about some new rookies in the survey corps.

The pain in his knee never left though. It was nagging and annoying like a cavity. It was a pain Levi had assumed would disappear in time. His left knee had always been painful since the injury.

Yet, maybe his left knee had started to get a little frustrated at Levi’s negligence. Maybe it had started to get angry. It was a creature and Levi soon realized, it was a monster that demanded attention.

The night it demanded his attention so stubbornly, so angrily., it did it through sharp pains that coursed through him like bolts of electricity, it did it through a crushing sensation that left Levi almost unable to breathe.

And maybe it did have Levi hallucinating----Or could it have been dreaming--- of having saved one of his soldiers from being eaten by a titan.

A Tale of Two Slaves

“Connie!

“Captain!”

In his dreams, he had been too out of breath, or maybe a little too distracted to have reacted at the crushing pain that had spread through him like bolts of lightning. The dream was hazy that Levi doubted whether he had been completely rooted in anything or not.

He had been flying. He had been in pain. And he had been pushing past the pain, slicing at a titan in every direction. And when he had seen one of his soldiers unconscious, about to be eaten by a titan, he had jumped in between the titan and the soldier so instinctively, so desperately that the in-between had been a blur. He found himself in the midst of an excruciatingly painful ordeal. He gritted his teeth, biting back any attempt to scream. For god knows if he screamed, he might just run out of energy, he might just pass out.

When he woke up to the dark room though, he processed almost naturally the fact that the circumstances his reality had offered him were different. The view in the middle of the night, the faint sound of cars had been different. He wasn’t in a battle field and as if his body had been completely aware of that, it did push past his attempts to subdue any reaction.

Even before he realized it though, he had been screaming. Only when his throat burned and the sounds faded into a whimper, only when the tears started to run down his face, only when he closed his eyes and keeled over, a pathetic reaction to the bombardment of stimuli, did Levi realize the pain of having his leg almost bitten off by a titan was still there.

“Levi! I’m here. What’s going on? Are you okay?” Hange was right next to him. Beyond the pain, that was all he could process.

Hange hadn’t been there in the dream. God knows where Hange had been when he was flying from titan to titan. God knows where Hange had been when he found himself, jumping in between his fellow soldier and the titan that had lunged to eat him.

And god, it was painful. Even past the dream, even when he started to realize that Hange was right next to him at least in the dark room at 3am. The pain stayed and it was crushing his knee, it was leaving him unable to even take any sort of a decent breath, his own coping mechanism reduced to ragged breaths in between tears.

“Levi, breathe…”

How pathetic where his own breaths sounding for Hange to have to coach him like that?

“Oh god, Levi, we might have to get you to a hospital?”

How pathetic did he look for Hange to have to suggest a hospital visit? When she helped him up at least, when she slung her free arm over his shoulder and helped him to a sitting position, he did at least feel the unnatural weight on his left knee. What was going on?

Everything after that, came as a hazy dream. As hazy as the fight against the many unnatural looking titans. In that dream, Hange had been absent for some reason he could not yet comprehend. And Levi found himself trying to push it away, instead focusing on the Hange in front of him who had put a blanket over him, who had dialed a number on her phone and who was rattling off medical jargon to someone on the phone.

“Erwin… I…” Why would you need to call Erwin at three in the morning?

After that, Hange had helped put a hoodie over him, she had called one more number. And within a few minutes, Levi found himself lying down on a taxi, half conscious, only hanging on by a thread at the view of Hange under the dim light of the taxi and the city lights.

Somehow, he was terrified of falling asleep again. Hange hadn’t been there in the dream. And she might just disappear if he closed his eyes. As he unwillingly held on to the crushing pain in his knee and the view of Hange who sat next to him on the taxi, he was awake. Only barely, but barely was enough to not fall into another world of dreams, a world of wars and a state of complete chaos and confusion.

Eventually, he lost consciousness but it had been a gradual process.

He had lost some sense of time along the way, his body having been too focused on Hange. The darkness in the taxi had quickly shifted to the stark white of the hospital as he was helped onto a stretcher. Then along the way, he may have heard Erwin’s voice rattling off something about a swelling knee that was crushing his joints and a knee aspiration.

Then there was something about painkillers, an IV, a slight pain in his hand before everything enveloped him again. Maybe at his peripherals, Hange had been by his bedside.

It was a huge improvement at least from the messages of his own dreams. And maybe it was relief that finally had him letting go of his tight yet weak grip on reality. The crushing pain on his knee hadn’t been from a titan biting it off. Hange’s absence in the war had only been a dream.

The last few things he had processed then before completely letting the darkness enveloped him, may have been the sound of a laptop opening next to him, a few wires pattering on the floor below, the sound of the mouse and finally, the relaxing rhythmic clacking of the keyboard..

Hange was right next to him and she wasn’t leaving anytime soon.

A Tale of Two Slaves

“Sorry.” It came out as a croak but Levi was still hoping she heard it. Despite the haziness of the first few moments as he opened his eyes to the light streaming into the hospital room, despite the discomfort which came with a dry throat, it had been Levi’s first instinct to apologize.

Hange looked worse off than last night. He at least picked up enough images of her to know that there was a stark difference between the Hange of a few hours ago and the Hange then. The laptop hadn’t moved, it was still on the table next to his bedside, just like he had guessed it to be having fallen unconscious to the sound of the clacking of the keyboard.

Right then and there, Hange’s hair fell in chaotic waves, her glasses askew. And compared to last night where he saw panic, in front of him, he saw calm etched on her face, an ominous calm that somehow seemed even more alarming.

“Hange,” Levi said a little louder. The concern he felt only gave him the motivation to push past the discomfort of having just woken up. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you saying sorry? Hadn’t everything to this point been my fault?” Hange’s voice was soft, reflecting the ominous calm. It was cold, maybe even frozen. “"The reason the fluid built up in your knee was overexertion apparently. They’re guessing it was the physical therapy session last Saturday." Hange looked away. "I can't help but think... If I didn’t bring you to the tournament or talked to you about jumping , maybe you wouldn’t have pushed yourself too hard."

Levi had listened closely and he could have sworn he heard a crack in her voice. “But the fluid is gone right?” He asked. He noted that his knee was numb and to his relief, the pain had devolved into a dull ache, similar to the one he had been dealing with the past month. Not at all as alarming as it had been the night before.

Hange shrugged. “Maybe it’s the painkillers or maybe it’s the fact that they drained the wound. But don’t count your eggs before they even hatch. Your back to square one. All progress, out the window. Fuck this. Fuck all this. And you wouldn’t have been in this damn situation if he hadn’t fucked up way too many times. Was I pressuring you to jump? Was I pressuring you to recover quicker? Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned Elijah, or maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned MIkasa? Maybe I shouldn’t have let you go to that fucking meet in the first place.”

Levi kept quiet. Watching what had been Hange, leaving her laptop open on the table, watching her pace around the room, avoiding his gaze as she fell into her soft tirade had been unsettling. Even he couldn’t tell how it was making him feel. “It’s over. It happened. So many things had happened at once, it couldn’t have been anyone’s fault.”

“Fucking hell Levi, when I’m supposed to be writing about your injury, when I’m supposed to be writing every single bout of mini progress, writing out the mechanics of the injury… I can’t help but see… you were in no condition to jump. You were exhausted, your wounds from the first time we met were far from healed. But for fuck’s sake, if I had told you to wait it out a week, instead of letting you do jump after jump, maybe you’d be in class right now or maybe you’d be preparing for your next tournament… I don’t wanna write this anymore. I don’t wanna reduce whatever is going on inside you to a fucking case study.” Hange slammed her hand on her keyboard, and sat so violently on the chair, she had pushed it a few inches back.

“You need to graduate,” Levi said. What will Erwin think? What will your parents think?

“At this point, who cares? I’m miserable. I can’t fucking get anything written. I write a paragraph, I get self conscious and I delete it. I write out my interpretation of the numbers, of my findings, my gut wrenches then I delete it again."

“Take a break?” Levi weakly suggested.

Hange had laughed at that. The reaction came out of nowhere and Levi found himself speechless and maybe a little confused. Take a break? That had seemed like a natural suggestion. He had at least spent a good few seconds thinking in between listening to Hange’s rant to have come up with such a suggestion.

Either way, from the way Hange had laughed it off and slammed her laptop close, from the way she had sat back on the chair and looked at nothing in particular, the way she had avoided his gaze through the whole tirade and the fit that had followed, Levi was sure that had been the wrong thing to say.

A little ashamed at his own ability to have come up with something a little more comforting, Levi kept quiet. And for a second, he looked up at the own ceiling above him, and maybe distracted himself by appreciating the view from the wide hospital window, following the birds that were doing some sort of dance in the sky

For a moment, he did forget about Hange. She hadn’t helped at all to make herself any memorable, having kept silent.

The silence in that moment had been too peaceful, had been too otherworldly that it was only natural that it would be broken by even the softest and steadiest things.

Like an off-rhythm knock on the door.

“Hange?”

Levi recognized the voice even before his head popped up from behind the slightly opened door. “Moblit?”

Levi looked towards Hange. The latter sat unmoving on her seat, her head bowed down, her face unreadable. Even as Moblit opened the door a little wider and approached her, she hadn’t moved at all or even looked back to greet him. Levi bent over to get a better look at her and saw panic. A type of panic he had never seen before. Panic, confusion, maybe a little urgency. “Hange? Moblit’s here.” Levi managed to say. He kept his voice gentle, a natural gesture having to process Hange’s face at that moment.

“Hey Hange. Erwin told me you’d be here. The others were worried about you--- I was worried about you. You’re supposed to be presenting now."

Hange stayed silent. From what Levi could see, her face was frozen. Was that panic? Shock?

Moblit continued. "I explained your situation… They said they could push it back until this afternoon...You think you can make it?" Moblit paused as he got closer to her, as if waiting for her to say something. He had his phone out,as if ready to call the panelists at any moment.

"Hange. Go to the presentation," Levi said. It was difficult to bend over and make eye contact with her with her head bent down, her eyes downcast. He kept his words firm, hoping at least that was enough to reach her.

“I can’t…” She managed to say. She left her mouth half open, as if she had expected to say something after. She looked back up at Levi, then bit her lip. Levi could have sworn that was the first time he had seen her in such a loss of words yet at the same time, struggling to get something out.

“Hange, go. I’ll be fine…”

“You don’t understand, I can’t… present.”

“Hey, I’ll help you set up. We have until tonight.” Moblit scooched beside her on the table and typed out her password.

“No, you don’t get it, I have nothing…”

“Hey, I’ll help you get a powerpoint. We can revise your manuscript together. That’s what friends are for,” Moblit pressed as he pushed the laptop towards Hange. “Come on, type out your password.”

“No Moblit, there’s nothing in here. It’s over. I’ll try again next year.”

“It’s too early to give up Hange, remember how fast you got Elijah’s data processed? It helped me a lot.”

“You don’t get it do you?” Hange pulled the laptop towards her and angrily typed what could have been the password. The laptop booted to life and from where he sat, Levi made out the characteristic log in tone of the computer. “There’s nothing in the document. Just the introduction. No preliminary results. No observations. Nothing.”

Levi couldn’t see the screen from where he sat. But he did see the flashes of a changing screen through Moblit’s eyes. He could guess the results from the way Moblit’s jaw dropped and the way Hange just avoided both their gazes, keeping her eyes downcast.

Levi maneuvered himself to the side of the bed, getting Hange’s laptop at arm’s reach. His leg protested the action but that was the last thing on his mind. God forbid, what Moblit was seeing at that moment could have been Levi’s first assumption.

Hange… Didn’t you spend hours in the library getting everything written out?

Didn’t you spend whole days outside working in the lab?

Didn’t I fall asleep every night to the angry clacking of the keyboard?

Didn’t I wake up in the middle of the night to you in the dining room writing out your thesis?

She had been writing at least. The introduction, the review of related literature were all filled out. The methodology had been filled out. It was a far cry though from what she had made in high school. Each part had been furnished with links to sources, half completed sentences and maybe a few question marks here and there.

The observations and the results and discussions though, were all blank.

“Hange… You….” What were you doing? This can’t be it. Levi didn’t even know if he had said that last part out loud. His brain was on overdrive trying to prove his own quick conclusion wrong. He navigated through old versions of the document. His hands were quick, maybe they had been moving on their own and the PC couldn’t catch up.

A few times, Levi found himself tapping impatiently on the keyboard as the laptop loaded each version.

More links, more half completed sentences, and a very empty observations and results section. “We can get something written right? Help make a powerpoint? If we work together, we could get something presentable."

Moblit shook his head. He bent down next to Hange and spoke softly. “Does Erwin know about this?”

“I told him to just leave it to me… But I can’t. I can’t write this anymore.” Hange shook her head as she looked up at Moblit then up at him. There was some sort of a smile of resignation plastered on her face, reminiscent of the laugh of only a few moments ago.

That was what the laugh had meant when he had suggested the break.

Of course, she would laugh. There was no time for breaks. There was no time for work either. Hange was royally fucked.

Moblit left the room, neither Levi nor Hange asked for what. For a few more minutes, maybe for even an hour longer while Hange had been in her catatonic state, Levi did continue to look through her drafts, see what kind of sense he could make of the half complete sentences and the links to journals in her document with his limited knowledge on human anatomy.

His background had him very much unready to complete a thesis proposal on a technical subject he studied nothing about, let alone in the span of a few hours. Having been pumped with painkillers and sleeping drought only an hour before, his brain was in no state either to bullshit what he could. Despite all his desperate attempts to make sense of it, to write out something coherent, he found himself converting it back to the state he and Moblit had found it in.

Levi closed the laptop slowly and pushed it towards Hange. He was surprised and a little relieved to find that she did pull her weight, setting the laptop back on the table next to his bed.

Hange smiled at Levi and spoke up. “I appreciate you trying to do all this Levi but… I’ve given up already. I’m not getting this thesis done.”

It was a pained smile. A smile of resignation. A smile that was so clearly telling him that he had definitely wasted those last few minutes pouring through the versions of her document for nothing.

Levi took a deep breath and spoke up. “Then what’s your plan now?”

#levihan #levihan fanfiction

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Riding High

Chapter 12- ILY

Chapter Summary: Its Christmas…and we reach the end of a stressful year for Frank…but as he looks back he realises, it ain’t all been that bad.

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. Talks of SMUT but nothing major

Chapter Pairings: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 11

Frank looked up as Fliss walked into her parent’s kitchen and his mouth dropped open. She was dressed in a gorgeous long legged strapless jumpsuit along which the neckline was embellished with lace flowers which spread down the sheer sleeves. Her long hair was styled in loose curls and she’d done something to her make up that made her cheek bones stand out even more. Her eyelids were adorned with a deep green that shimmered and made her dark eyes pop and she had a clear gloss on her plump lips. Fuck, she looked stunning. But as he watched, he saw her face fall and she bit her lip.

“Is it…is it not ok?” She asked shyly “I can change…I mean…”

“Don’t you dare.” He said sternly, stepping forward, his hands falling to her hips “Honey, you look amazing.”

Her face lit up and she smiled at him, shyly “I wasn’t sure how posh to go or…”

“Lissy…” He chuckled “Stop it.”

“Sorry.” She wrinkled her nose as she stepped back slightly and looked him up and down, taking in his dark jeans, boots and light denim button down. “You look pretty good too Sailor.” she smiled, running her hands up his chest to his shoulder and he noticed then she was also wearing her Pandora. He smiled back, his eyes also spotting that her neck was bare and then had the perfect idea for a final Christmas Gift he had been struggling to come up with. With a soft smile he leaned down, taking in that she was slightly taller than usual thanks to her heels and he pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth.

“Get a room…” Bill shot as he walked into the kitchen, Mary in tow.

“Bore off.” Fliss shot back, looking at her dad as he sent her a grin before he did a double take.

“Wow, you look cracking Titch.”

“Thanks” she smiled

“You ready to go?”

“Sure you don’t mind dropping us?” Frank turned to look at Bill “It’s no problem to get a cab.”

“It’s no bother at all, besides, I need to collect the Thai anyway.” Bill waved him off.

“You’re getting Thai?” Frank raised an eyebrow and glanced at Mary “Funny that just so happens to be your favourite…”

She shrugged “Verity asked what I wanted for dinner.”

Frank sighed and looked at Bill “You spoil her.”

Bill shrugged “And?”

Frank rolled his eyes a soft smile playing on his face. The way that Bill and Verity had welcomed Mary, and him for that matter, into their lives still amazed him. Whilst he and Fliss had only been officially together four weeks or so now, they’d opened their doors to him the day they had met pretty much back in August and he was eternally grateful. Mary got a sense of family, something he had wanted her to have all her life. It had even been brought up at the Court Hearing earlier that week where the paperwork had been signed awarding him legal guardianship status, the woman from the Child services department commenting in the court room that Mary had been gushing about Bill, Verity and Fliss, and seemed extremely settled.

Frank was simply relieved all of it was more or less over.

The last two weeks had been stressful as Greg had been handling the main discussions with the state for him and when they’d sat down one night to go over the notes for the settlement they had proposed, Greg told Frank that 2 major conditions would be set. Firstly that he found a home to allow Mary a room of her own and secondly that she was given access to a higher, more challenging form of education. After a bit of discussion with Mary, who had insisted she didn’t want to go to a posh school, Greg had done a little research into previous cases and come up with a suggestion that Child Services agreed with. They would provide a scholarship grant that would allow Mary to attend a number of University classes a few days a week and then her normal school the rest. It was a middle ground, giving Mary the mental stimulation she needed but also allowing her to be a normal kid. It was agreed she would return to normal school when term started in January and the arrangements would be made with the University to start there when their term picked up the middle of the same month. Frank had insisted that she wouldn’t be taking any exams or anything like that, just doing the work, keeping herself occupied. The judge had accepted the proposal, giving Frank 6 months to find alternative living arrangements, and had then awarded the Guardianship temporarily with the instruction it be awarded permanently upon a review in 6 months. So whilst not 100% complete, it was almost there, and Frank knew that as long as he did what they said, there would be no problem. The other good thing was nothing had legally been awarded to Evelyn, after she had remained completely absent from the proceedings. Which meant that if she did reach out, Frank would have total control over where and how often contact took place. Which suited him fine as he could ensure it was on Mary’s terms completely.

“Hey…you ok?” Fliss asked, rubbing his arm. He jerked round, realising he had been completely elsewhere and gave her a smile.

“Yeah, sorry, was just thinking.”

“Did it hurt?” Mary asked and Frank shot her a look as Fliss and Bill laughed as Mary left with the drink she had come in to the kitchen for.

Frank followed her into the living room as she perched on the large sofa next to Verity, the pair of them looking at something on the laptop.

“Behave.” Frank looked at Mary. “Go to bed when V and Bill tell you, no back chat or arguing…”

She saluted him and V looked up smiling. “Stop fussing Frank, she’s never any trouble.”

Frank nodded and then headed out to Bill’s Range Rover catching Fliss up.

“You do realise she’s gonna be up until midnight, pigging out on junk and watching movies right?” Fliss said as he reached her side, looping an arm round her waist.

“Yup.” Frank said “But she’s staying over there and not in the Annex, which means she’ll wake them up at stupid AM in the morning after no sleep and not us so I don’t much care…”

A little while later Frank guided her into Bongos Beach Bar and over to a booth at the far side. Fliss smiled as she recognised Greg, and Frank introduced her to his wife Zara, then his friend Jake and his fiancée Lisa. Finally she smiled at Simon who then excused himself heading off to meet his date at the door.

“Date?” Frank raised an eyebrow

“Yeah he’s been seeing her for about three weeks.” Zara supplied “He invited her tonight…”

“Huh, must be serious.” Frank mused and Jake looked at him.

“Could say the same about you.” He teased and Frank shoved him on the shoulder.

“Prick.”

Jake laughed and then raised his hand “They’re here now.”

Frank turned to see Simon making his way over towards them with a familiar brunette in tow.

Oh for fucks sake…

“Bonnie…” Fliss smiled at her as the woman stilled when she saw her and Frank.

“You know each other?” Simon asked, frowning slightly.

“Yeah, errr…” Frank began, wondering how the hell he was going to get out of this when Fliss spoke up.

“Bonnie is, was, still is I suppose, Mary’s teacher.”

Bonnie shot her a grateful look and Fliss simply smiled as Simon made a noise of comprehension.

"I should have twigged!” Simon smiled, as they all took a seat at the booth. Zara handed out a few glasses of prosecco from the bottle that sat on the table to Bonnie and Fliss who both thanked her, the men grabbing a beer from the bucket.

“Thank you.” Frank whispered into Fliss’ ear as she turned to look at him. “I didn’t know he was seeing her, or that she was gonna be here, I promise…”

Fliss frowned and shrugged “It’s fine.” she said, almost as if she was puzzled as to why he was apologising. The confusion on his face must have shown as she smiled and lay her hand on his knee. “Frank, I don’t have a problem with Bonnie. I still think it was a stupid thing to do but…” she shrugged.

He smiled at her and dropped a kiss to her cheek. “You’re fucking amazing you know that?”

“Yep…” she popped the p, grinning at him as she took a drink from her champagne glass.

Fliss kept up with the conversation, but she soon realised that as nice as they were, Zara and Lisa were just not her type of people. With both their husbands having well paid jobs, as a lawyer and a bank manager, both were stay at home mums with a lot of money to spend and time on their hands. Plus they clearly spent a lot of time together so a lot of the chatter they made between themselves, leaving Fliss to simply listen.

At one point she glanced at Bonnie who was sat, nervously twisting her fingers together before she excused herself and headed over to the bathroom. Fliss gave it a few seconds before she too did the same, Frank moving so she could squeeze past him, hands falling to her hips as she went.

“Hey…” Fliss looked at Bonnie who was stood leaning on a sink. “You ok?”

“Yeah, I err, well, I don’t know about you but I feel a little out of place. I mean they’re nice enough but…“

"Kinda feels like we’re outsiders.” Fliss nodded finishing the sentence for her.

Bonnie snorted “I feel like they’re judging me a little. Like I’m a teacher…who has to work, and it’s not a great job…”

“Dude, I shovel shit for a living and Frank’s a grease monkey.” Fliss shot causing Bonnie to snort. “It’s not that at all, they’re just friends and we’re…well…”

“Strangers…” Bonnie nodded.

“Exactly.” Fliss shrugged “Trust me, I’ve done the whole awkward social circle thing before, this…well, this is actually kinda nice in comparison. I met some real ass hats when I was with my ex. These guys are ok”

Bonnie smiled and then she grinned cheekily "Wanna go do tequila?”

“Fuck, yes.” Fliss nodded and they left the bathroom giggling, heading straight to the bar. Bonnie placed her order and slid a note over the bar as they both settled on a stool. Fliss glanced round to the booth where Frank was sat talking to the rest of his friends before she turned back to Bonnie who slid her a shot over. Without a word they both had their salt, downed the shot, then bit into the lemon, both grimacing and laughing as Fliss ordered another two and asked Bonnie what long drink she wanted. Turns out she was also a gin and tonic woman.

“I’m glad you and Frank ended up together.” Bonnie smiled at her. “It’s nice.”

“Thanks.” Fliss grinned. “Kinda crept up on me a little, you know? I wasn’t looking for anything but...”

“I’m glad me and him didn’t ruin it.” Bonnie said gently “That entire night was a huge mistake…I could tell the day after he regretted it.”

Fliss shrugged “Well we all do dumb shit.”

“Say that again.” Bonnie mumbled as their second shots arrived along with their gin.

“You know when he told me he’d told you it was a mistake I went mad at him.” Fliss snorted “I mean, talk about a shitty thing to say.”

“Oh that’s not the half of it, he-…” Bonnie trailed off and shook her head as she took a drink of her gin. “Forget it, doesn’t matter.”

“What?” Fliss pressed.

“Nope.” Bonnie shook her head firmly.

“You can’t just say that and not tell me!“ Fliss whined as Bonnie downed her shot, before she sighed

“He called me by your name, twice.”

Fliss choked on her gin, her eyes wide “What, when you…”

Bonnie nodded.

“Ok, so I feel like I should be apologising…” Fliss snorted, “Not sure what for but…” Bonnie chuckled as Fliss shook her head and continued “How did you not rip his cock off…I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad you didn’t but…”

Bonnie laughed loudly as Fliss sprinkled more salt onto her hand “It’s not a big deal, he was mortified when I told him.”

“So he should be…” Fliss shook her head, as she picked up her tequila.

She turned to look at Frank who was now looking round the bar, questioningly. He spotted her at the bar and raised an eyebrow and she met him with a look of her own. “I’m dating an ass hole.” she said, turning back to Bonnie “He’s cute though.”

There was a pause before they both laughed, and Bonnie gestured to the empty glasses. Fliss shrugged and Bonnie, with a grin, ordered another 2 shots.

****

“So, how’s the new job Frank?” Simon looked at him and Frank smiled, taking a pull from his bottle.

“I don’t start until January.” he swallowed his drink, “But yeah, looking forward to it. Full time wage, benefits…what’s not to like?”

“And a boss.” Greg said, and Frank laughed.

“Well, be kinda nice not to have to think about where the next job is coming from.” he shrugged, “I still get to do what I enjoy but less stress…”

Greg, Simon and Jake all exchanged a look which Frank didn’t miss. He gave a sigh. “What?”

“Nothing…” Jake smirked “Just watching you finally growing up is bringing a tear to my eye. I mean, you brought a girl to our Christmas gathering, the first one ever…in the history of the Circle of Truth holding Christmas gatherings…”

“Yeah, I imagine this is what it’s like waving your kid off to university.” Simon nodded.

Frank raised his middle finger at them all, causing them to laugh.

“We’re only joking.” Simon winked at him. “In all seriousness, it’s nice to see.”

Frank shook his head “You make it sounds like I’m some kind of utter disaster case…”

They all paused and once again looked at each other. “Oh fuck you.” Frank snorted as they all laughed again.

Anyone seen the ladies?” Greg looiked around suddenly.

“Oh, I think Zara and Lisa are on the dance floor…” Jake nodded.

Frank glanced round the bar, looking and saw that indeed they were but there was no sign of Fliss. Or Bonnie for that matter. Fliss had gone to the bathroom a while back but surely it couldn’t be that long to pee, even if you were a girl.

“Oh, looks like our girls are getting on…” Simon jerked his head to the bar. Frank turned in his seat and glanced over and saw Fliss laugh at something Bonnie said, before she licked a line of salt off her hand, downed the shot, and bit into the lemon. He couldn’t decide if he was relieved or a little weirded out at how cool Fliss was around the woman he’d almost ruined his chances with her over, but as he watched her cutting loose, talking to Bonnie, the two women locked in a very friendly exchange he felt his chest warm. Fliss had openly admitted to him not long back she was a little lonely, her own friends being in England and the ones she had in Boston, well, they’d not really been her friends, more his. He supposed it was nice to see her with someone like that, even if it as one of his one night conquests. As he watched Fliss spluttered on her drink and looked at Bonnie, another exchange was had before Fliss picked up her next tequila and looked at him. He raised a questioning eyebrow but all she did was smirk and turn back to Bonnie. With a slight shrug he turned to Simon.

“Wanna join em?”

Simon nodded “Yeah, why not.

They excused themselves from the booth and headed over. Fliss smiled as Frank slid an arm round her waist and dropped a kiss to her neck, before Simon grinned and nodded as he added another 2 tequilas to their order.

Several more shots and gins later Fliss was drunk. So was Frank. Which was the reason the two of them had ended up on the outside beach dancefloor, dancing to some random Christmas shit. It was also the reason Frank’s denim button down was now un-done revealing his white sleeveless which he had on underneath, giving Fliss a perfect view of that collar bone tattoo she loved so much. It hadn’t surprised her in the slightest when he had explained where the words were from, being a man of philosophy and all that. She also loved the reason behind his Taurus tattoo, it being Mary’s zodiac sign. Basically her sailor underneath all his bravado was a huge sentimental sap. A huge, sentimental sap whose hands were once again now cupping her ass as they swayed together to the music. Fliss had long given up reaching around to restore them to the bottom of her back and simply smirked to herself slightly as she looked round the dancefloor and out across the dark ocean

“Still not right.” she murmured.

“What?”

“This…” she made an elaborate gesture with her arm and hit a guy next to her. “Whoops…sorry.” she grimaced as Frank snorted, the guy simply shrugged and carried on his way. “I mean…no snow at Christmas…”

“Yeah but, you’re outside, on a Christmas dancefloor, on the beach” he shrugged “I mean it’s kinda cool…”

“Suppose…” she shrugged, and then she paused, and Frank watched as a gorgeous grin spread across her face whilst she cocked her head to the music. It had just morphed into Fairy Tale of New York and she let out a whoop “I fucking love this one!”

There was a loud cheer from someone and suddenly the two of them were squashed together as Simon and Bonnie appeared, followed by the rest of the group and they found themselves in a circle, arms tangled around shoulders, the girls singing the girls part and the boys singing the boys part. At one point someone dressed as Santa muscled into the middle of the group, simply giving a loud cheer before he exited and moved elsewhere, causing Fliss to snort hysterically, hanging onto Frank’s arm as she did. As the song ended, everyone belting out the last line the group descended into giggles and Frank just watched his girl. Her cheeks were flushed, hair was slightly frizzier now thanks to the humid outdoor air and she was absolutely the wrong side of wasted but god did he love that woman.

Oh.

He loved her.

Frank Adler, one time self-proclaimed bachelor, king of the Friday night fucks was in love. When did that happen?

As he watched her lean in and say something to Greg who burst out laughing he realised he couldn’t pin point it. It had crept up on him, like a slow burn, a deep fire in the very core of his belly. And damned did that fire feel hot.

Frank reached for his girl and pulled her away from Greg. She stumbled slightly into his arms and she looked up at him, giggling a little and he cut her off with a deep kiss. And before he could stop himself, he blurted it out, right there in the middle of a temporary beach dancefloor

“I love you.”

If anyone else in the group had heard they were tactful enough to all turn away, pretending not to, but there’s no way they could have missed Fliss when she pulled back, a look of shock on her face which morphed into a grin and she pointed at Frank

“Youuuu loooooveeee meeee!” she sang and Frank felt himself blush.

“Yeah, do you hafta announce it to the entire of South Pass?” his Boston accent dripped off his tongue.

“Youuuu loooooooveeee meeee!” she said again and he groaned, pulling her closer. She leaned up so she could whisper into his ear, and damned the touch of her lips against his ear aroused him far more than was appropriate for the middle of a public dance floor.

“Wanna know a secret Sailor?” she asked. He turned his head to look at her and she smirked at him “I love you too.”

Well fuck.

Despite the fact they were both trashed, they both knew this wasn’t just a heat of the moment thing. Both felt it, both knew that whatever it was they had was different, special, a part of them now and Frank felt himself mimicking the stupid smile on her face. He leaned down to kiss her again, and her hands tangled into his hair, the feel of her delicate nails on his scalp sent hot pokers to his belly and his already half growing arousal was, well, aroused even more.

“And that’s even though you’re an asshole who calls someone else’s name during sex.” she pulled away. With a groan Frank hung his head as her arms linked around his neck, his hands locking behind her back.

“You know about that?” He asked with a little hiccup. “She told you?”

“Yup.” Fliss narrowed her eyes “And FYI you do that to me I’ll cut your balls off and feed them to Thor.”

“Harsh but fair.” Frank conceded after a short pause. She grinned and leaned up to kiss him again before she pulled away.

“Can we go now ‘cause I’m kinda horny.”

Ok, so Drunk Fliss was another Fliss to add to his list of favourite Flisses. Along with Sassy, shy, stern, sleepy, just fucked, just woken up…basically all the Flisses

“Nope.” He teased “I’m good here.”

“Really?” She asked, pressing closer to him, tilting a little and he grunted as her hip bone pressed into his groin “Sure about that?”

“Yup.” He managed to squeak out.

“That must be a spanner in your pocket then. Or a screwdriver, or some other form of pointy tool…” She was hardly able to finish the sentence she was laughing that much.

“Yeah, those…damned pointy tools…” He shook his head as he leaned down to kiss her. It was sloppy, open mouthed, full of tongue and absolutely filthy and left the pair of them in a bit of a daze. Frank pulled away and looked around, taking a deep breath “Ok, we can go now.”

Somehow they made it home in one piece. It took Fliss three attempts to get the key in the lock, the pair of them giggling like a couple of school kids, before she finally managed it and Frank leaned over and pushed the door open. Fliss stumbled slightly and Frank caught her, laughing.

“Shhh” He said.

“What for?” She asked, kicking off her shoes.

He paused for a moment and then shrugged “Actually I don’t know…”

“Idiot…” She sniggered, pushing his undone shirt down his arms before pulling at the bottom of his sleeveless underneath. He moved so she could pull it over his head and as her fingers started to undo the button at the top of his jeans he reached round and gently found the zipper on her jumpsuit, sliding it down, his fingers gently skimming her back as they backed to the couch. Fliss fell over the arm with a thud, Frank following, before the momentum tripped him and he rolled onto the floor, pulling her with him, landing with a thud on his back. She fell on top of him, her elbow catching him in the ribs and he gave a loud huff, before she laughed and leaned over kissing him. His hands tangled into her hair, keeping her head angled perfectly, the kiss searing, leaving them breathless. Fliss pulled back and he brushed her hair back with both his hands, smiling softly at her.

“I meant what I said you know.” He looked at her

“Remind me again what that was.” She teased.

“I…” he leaned up and pecked her lips “love…” another peck “you.”

“Tell me when you’re sober.” she sassed back and gave a squeal as he whipped her over so she was on her back on the rug by the coffee table, framed between his strong arms and legs.

“In vino veritas.” He quipped and she propped herself up on her elbows, the front of her jumpsuit fell forward slightly and Frank blatantly stole a look down it at her lacy strapless bra, giving a groan.

“Yeah, and in vino a load of non-sensitas too…” She grinned and he gave a snort, as he dipped his head.

“Shut up.” he mumbled, his lips pressing onto hers again.

*****

Frank groaned, blinking against the light that was streaming in through the crack in the curtains. Jesus Christ his head hurt. Rolling over he was met with a face full of hair and he blew it out of the way, smoothing down Fliss’s wild locks which were splayed all over the pillow. Gently sliding an arm under her neck he dropped the other one round her bare waist and pulled her into him, her back pressing to his chest as he snuggled close, screwing his eyes closed against the painful daylight.

“What year is it?” Fliss groaned and Frank chuckled slightly.

“Feeling rough, baby?”

“Rough?” She croaked “I feel like I have a smurf in my head with a pick axe. This is all your fault.”

“My fault?“

“Yes you let me drink tequila with Bonnie.”

“Ok, first off I didn’t know you were doing that until I saw you at the bar…”

“Yeah, and then you and Simon joined in…

“…and second off, you’re a grown ass woman. You make your own decisions.”

She groaned again and then stilled “Fuck, we had sex last night…”

“Wow.” Frank laughed. “Way to ruin my pride, Sweetheart…”

“No I mean…” she shuffled onto her back and looked at him. “Did we…use…“

Franks eyes went wide. "Oh, erm…”

No, no they hadn’t… fuck, fuck, fuck.

“I mean, come on, surely, we’ll be fine right?” he asked, “I mean, one time…what are the chances of…”

“No, it’s not that I’m worried about.” she shook her head “I’m on the pill…I just..” she trailed of

Frank propped himself up on his elbow as he cottoned on to what she was saying “Are you being serious?” he snorted.

“Well I don’t know where you’ve been!” she shrugged indignantly “well, ok, maybe I know some of where you’ve been, but…”

Frank snorted and shook his head “What do you take me for?”

“An ex ho?” she shot back immediately.

He fell onto his back laughing “If you must know I’ve never had unprotected sex with a one night stand in my life. And the other week I went and got tested, just for you. And I’m clean so…”

“That’s so romantic. ” she grinned at him.

“Well I try.” he raised an eyebrow.

“Still love me?” she quipped and he turned his head to look at her.

“Fraid so.”

“Too bad.” she teased, shuffling over to him “Coz that means you’re stuck with me…”

“Oh no…” he said sarcastically as he turned onto his side, glancing down at her bare breasts “How will I ever cope?”

“Sure you’ll think of a way.” she arched an eyebrow before she suddenly went green. “Oh shit…” she mumbled, before she shot out of the bed and into the bathroom.

Frank listened to her barfing and snorted a laugh before he swung himself out of bed, glad to find his boxers on the floor by his feet. Although where the rest of his clothes where he had no idea. He knocked on the bathroom door.

“You ok?”

He heard the toilet flush and she emerged, wrapped in a robe and looked at him. “I’m never drinking tequila again. Ever.”

Frank had to hand it to his girl, despite her raging hangover she still managed to teach four classes of kids that day, and made it through to nine that evening before she completely crashed on the sofa, falling asleep as the three of them sat in the apartment living room watching The Grinch, Mary’s choice. As the film finished at little after ten, Mary, who was lounging on Frank’s lap looked over to where Fliss lay, her head resting on the other arm of the couch, her feet nestled under his thigh, and nudged Frank.

“I know.” He smiled softly “Leave her be.”

Mary grinned and reached up to run her hand through his beard “you love Fliss.”

He looked at her for a second, eyebrow raised “What makes you say that?”

“Roberta.” she shrugged.

Frank snorted. “Well, she’s not wrong.”

“Did you tell her yet?” Mary looked at him.

“Yeah.”

“What did she say?”

“That she loves me too.”

Mary grinned “Lissy and Frank, sitting in a tree…”

He rolled his eyes as she chanted off the rest of the ridiculous rhyme and then looked at her. “You finished?”

“Yup.”

“Good, bed time.”

“Awww Frank….”

“No arguments. Bill told me what time you stayed up till last night.”

“Grass.” she narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah, you better believe it. Go on, wash your face, clean your teeth.”

“Shower?”

“Quit stalling Stack you had one when you got back from the stables…”

With a groan she pushed herself off his knee and he stood up as she headed into the bathroom. He pulled a fresh pair of pyjamas out of the clean pile of laundry he needed to sort that was on the chair at the back of the room and lay them on his bed before he moved over and knelt down by Fliss’ head.

“Honey,” he said gently, pushing her hair back off her face, “Lissy…“

She made a noise as she wrinkled her nose, and he smiled as she blinked and looked at him.

“Oh, shit. Sorry…” she yawned as she realised she’d fallen asleep. “What time is it?“

“Not too late.” He smiled “Just about to put Mary to bed. You staying here or…”

“Yeah if that’s okay?”

“Course it is.” he smiled and dropped a kiss to her lips before she sat up running her hand through her hair as she blinked, yawning again.

“Fuck I’m so tired.” She stood up, stretched and then smiled as Mary came back into the room. The girl shot Frank a filthy look and stalked past him into his room. “Ok, wow…”

“She doesn’t want to go to bed.” he shrugged, “moody little madam.”

Fliss laughed as she headed into the bathroom. Frank sat down on the sofa and a little while later, Mary emerged and shot straight for her bed.

“Can I at least read?” she looked at him.

“Ten minutes, tops, whilst I do the dishes…”

She grinned and he turned off the TV and headed into the kitchen, clearing away the remains of their takeaway, stowing the left overs in the fridge for lunch the day after.

In the bathroom Fliss was busy groaning to herself as she realised she’d come on. She knew she was due, but still, this was a pain in the ass. Sorting herself out, she washed her hands and walked into the kitchen. Frank looked up and raised his eyebrow, misinterpreting the look on her face.

“You been sick again?” he asked.

“No… ” She shook her head as she bit her lip. “Look, Frankie, I think I’m go home…”

“Why?” He frowned.

“I errr…” She flushed “I forgot…I…” she trailed off and his frown deepened as her hand moved instinctively to her stomach before a look of realisation crossed his features.

“Oh…” He nodded. “Well, ok, if you’re more comfortable going home then that’s up to you.” He dropped a kiss to her head and she looked at him, confusion flooding her brain.

“You don’t want me to go?”

“Why would I want you to go?” he frowned.

“Because…” she looked at him, unable to voice what she was getting at. Another memory flooded her mind, one of John screaming at her for the sheets being marked, she was jerked back to the here and now as Frank closed the distance between them, tipping her head up to look at him.

“Lissy, talk to me…”

“Sorry, I err…” she rubbed at her head “He used to make me sleep in a separate room.”

“Are you for real?” Frank blurted out, and she could see the anger flooding his system. “Seriously?”

She visibly recoiled a little at his tone and Frank cursed himself as she looked at him, eyes wide as she began to apologise.

“Hey.” He said gently, reaching out to her. “Stop. You’ve nothing to be sorry for I shouldn’t have shouted I just….” He took a deep breath.

“That’s fucked up.”

She looked back up at him, her eyes now had a fierce spark. “You think that’s fucked up? When he was trying to get me pregnant, every month he’d stop me taking pain killers when I came on. Told me it was my own fault for not managing to conceive.”

“Jesus Liss…” Frank shook his head, as she shrugged, her head turning to the side. “Baby…”

“Don’t” she shrugged “I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.”

“Ok.” he nodded. “Look. If you wanna stay then it’s up to you. Whatever you wanna do.”

“I do.” She nodded, smiling softly.

“Good.” He dropped a kiss to her forehead before he moved away from her and reached over, filling the kettle.

“What are you doing?” She asked from behind him.

“Making you a tea.” He shrugged “Used to help Diane…”

“Thanks…” she smiled after a short pause.

“You got everything you need or you need to go the store?”

“I’m good. Ex Girl Scout, always prepared…”

Frank gave a laugh.

“Think I might take another shower though, if that’s…”

“You don’t need to ask.” He looked at her. “You’re my girlfried. I want you to feel like you’re at home when you’re here.”

At that she gave him a soft smile as she moved over and wrapped her arms round his waist, nuzzling into his chest. He gently rubbed at her back, before she leaned up, kissed him and headed out. The kettle boiled and he leaned on the side, dropping his head slightly. What kind of fucked up asshole did that to his own wife? To a wife he was supposed to love and protect no less. It broke his heart to think anyone could be so callous, so mentally and physically abusive to someone so soft, so gentle, so damned amazing….he looked up as he saw her making her way into the bathroom, bag in hand and she smiled at him, shutting the door.

Once he’d made them both a hot drink and grabbed the Advil, he made his way through to his room, placing one mug on the bedside table on the side he slept on and then another on the sill behind Fliss’ side and leaned on the doorframe, looking at Mary. She was still reading.

“Please just the end of this chapter.” she held up the Harry Potter book. Frank took a deep breath, then decided fuck it. She’d fall asleep at some point, there was no school.

“Lights off after that. I’ll be out to check.” he instructed as he dropped a kiss to her head. “Night Stack.”

“Night Frank.”

Back in his room he stripped off, tossing his t-shirt into the hamper before folding his jeans and dropping them on his dresser. He settled on the bed, stretching his legs out as he kicked the duvet down and flicked on the small TV, flipping through the channels looking for something to watch. Grinning when he found an episode of Family Guy, he turned the volume down low and had been watching for about five minutes when he heard Fliss talking to Mary who mentioned something about the book before he heard her bid her good night, and as Fliss opened the door he saw Mary’s light flip off.

He smiled at his girl who had her hair pulled back in a braid and was dressed in a pair of bed shorts and a tight camisole type top, her shoulders bare, long legs stretched as she dropped onto the bed besides him.

“You okay?” he asked, dropping a kiss to her shoulder as she reached round for the drink. She paused as she saw the Advil and then picked it up, smiling at him as she turned to face him.

“Yeah.” she assured him as he kissed the bridge of her nose. She tossed down two pain killers and sipped her drink, her legs bent in front of her as they sat in a comfortable silence, watching the TV, both laughing softly at the show. Eventually she placed the mug down and snuggled closer to him. He reached down for the duvet and pulled it up round their legs as her head lay on his chest, his arm falling round her, fingers lightly brushing down the back of her neck, shoulder and then up again. It was an action he knew she found comforting, and he was proven right as little over fifteen minutes later he looked down to find her fast asleep.

With a soft smile he turned off the TV and gently moved her so that they were both lay flat and she gave a soft hum of contentment and snuggled into him closer. With a yawn he pressed a kiss to her head and closed his eyes.

The rest of the two weeks remaining to Christmas was spent in a whirl of tree-decorating, paper-chain making, shopping and eating more crap than Fliss had thought humanly possible. Steve and his wife Sian arrived on the 22nd and Verity cooked a huge family dinner where Mary was introduced to their twin boys. Frank watched her with interest, they were both her age and he was pleasantly surprised to see she actually seemed to mingle with them quite well. Steve was also noticeably warmer towards him too, which was a relief, and Frank was more than happy to take him out for a beer with Bill one evening whilst the women stayed at home and wrapped presents whilst drinking copious amounts of champagne. A Gallagher tradition Frank was informed, a tradition he eagerly told Bill he could fully get on board with, especially when Fliss had offered to wrap Mary’s presents as well.

By the time Christmas Eve rolled round Frank noticed that Fliss was ridiculously excited and was happy to admit it was because she was looking forward to spending it with him and her family. When Verity had invited him to join them for Christmas dinner he’d been reticent to accept at first, not because he didn’t want to, but because he didn’t want to put her out. When she’d told him she’d be more offended if he refused he’d relented and made the mistake of telling Mary who hadn’t let the subject drop for the last two weeks. Fliss joined them in their traditional Christmas Eve celebration with Roberta, where they exchanged gifts, Roberta made up with the chunky silver bangle Fliss had spotted in a shop and the photo frame which Mary had made one evening with Bill by glue-gunning sea shells onto a plain wooden one she had gotten from Target. Once they were done, they packed Fliss’ jeep up and headed off to the annex. After watching “Elf” in the cinema room with the rest of the family, wearing her new Christmas Pyjamas (another Gallagher tradition that all the kids in the family got new ones to sleep in on Christmas Eve) they three of them headed back over to the annex and Mary shot up to bed with no fuss at all, leaving Frank and Fliss to enjoy the rest of their evening which they spent making out like a pair of horny teenagers on the couch until they’d ended up fucking like a pair of horny teenagers on the couch too.

Christmas morning Fliss cracked open an eye and grinned as she sat up, listening to Mary who was calling from the spare room, before she started to sing We Wish You A Merry Christmas, which was punctuated by barks from Thor. Besides her Frank gave a groan and she nudged him.

“Wake up scrooge.”

“Fuck off.” he mumbled.

She laughed and nudged him again before she climbed out of bed, wearing his T-shirt and pulled a pair of denim shorts on “I reckon you got about two minutes before Mary barrels through the door…”

"Fucking Christmas…” Frank scoffed, but Fliss caught the smile on his face as he swung his legs out of bed and stretched, the muscles on his back rippling as he did so. Standing up Fliss watched as he moved, his ass looking pretty damned fine in his boxers as he headed to the bathroom, banging on the spare room door as he did. Fliss heard it fly open and a few minutes later Mary came shooting into her room and bounced on the bed, a half-eaten chocolate Santa in her hand which she had unwrapped from her Stocking. Thor followed, taking up position on the foot of the bed and Fliss hugged Mary, grinning. She loved Christmas, she always had done as a kid. Granted, it hadn’t always been fun with he-who-shall-not-be-named, but the last two since leaving him she’d gotten that childish excitement back, and today was no exception.

“So, I just stand here do I?” Frank asked as he leaned on the doorway, gesturing to the now full bed. Fliss grinned at him and shrugged.

“We’re not staying here.” Mary looked at him “We got presents to open downstairs…”

“Hmmm not sure we do.” Frank teased as he pulled a shirt from his bag in the corner of the room “I mean, does Santa know you’re here and not at the apartment?”

Mary rolled her eyes “I haven’t believed in Santa since I was five, Frank.”

“What?” Fliss looked horrified “I still believe and I’m like thirty three!” Mary gave her a scathing look. Fliss shrugged. “What can I say, I believe in Christmas magic”

“I did…” Mary shrugged “Until he didn’t bring me a puppy.”

“He doesn’t do live animals.” Fliss reasoned.

“Or a piano.”

“Too big to fit on the sleigh.”

“Or an algebra book I wanted.”

“Yeah, why the hell would he bring you maths books?” Fliss snorted “That’s school work.”

“I like it. "she shrugged, before she shoved the rest of her chocolate in her mouth and jumped up, bouncing on the bed. "Come on! Get up!”

Thor looked up giving a huff as Frank told her to stop bouncing. She flopped down and looked at him, folding her arms and Fliss laughed.

“Ok, let’s go!”

The two of them raced down the stairs, Frank following as Mary burst into the living room to see her presents piled by the sofa, and her eyes immediately went to the large wooden box which wasn’t wrapped that had her name painted on the side, and a large painted white pony on the top, resembling Monty. She moved to it and opened it, giving a squeal as she began to pull out the various grooming products that Fliss had bought her to make her own little pony box. As Mary began to hastily rip the wrapping paper off the rest of the pile of gifts, Frank moved to the tree and pulled out two boxes. One large, one small.

“Merry Christmas baby girl.” he said, dropping a kiss to Fliss mouth. She grinned and sat down on the couch, opening the little box first. Inside was a silver necklace a pendant in the shape of a Daisy which Fliss beamed at.

“I love daisies!” she smiled at him “They remind me of home.”

“I know.” he smiled as she looked at it again before she moved to the next box. This was the one Frank was excited about. They’d cost him a small fortune but, turns out when you don’t spend every Friday night in Ferg’s you actually saved a fair bit of dough. Who knew?

“Oh my God…” she whispered as she cleared the paper away from the contents and glanced down at the tan Cowboy boots. She took a deep breath as she picked one out of the box to examine the detailing on the leather before her eyes widened as she saw her name ‘Lissy’ stitched on the top.

“Do you like them?” he asked softly, although he could tell from her reaction that was a stupid question.

“Frankie…” she looked at him with tears in her eyes, God this man really did listen to every damned word she said. “I can’t…” she leaned over and gave him a kiss. “Thank you…”

He smiled as she slipped them on and stood up, giving Mary a twirl. There was something about her wearing them along with denim shorts that Frank wasn’t ashamed to admit he found a little arousing.

Frank laughed when he got his presents from Fliss, a new Paul Smith shirt, a Red Sox Cap and a new Samsung Smartphone as she informed him his Nokia had gone out of fashion in 2009. Which was before Mary was born, she pointed out. But it was the gifts they both got from Mary that surprised and reduced them to tears of laughter.

Fliss held up the cowboy hat, grinning from ear to ear as she slipped it on whilst Frank held the white Navy Captain’s hat up and shook his head. “Where on Earth did you get these?” he asked, laughing.

“Bill helped me.” Mary shrugged, looking up from where she was now jamming a pink Ariat baseball cap which she had just unwrapped on her head.

“Remind me to thank him later!” Frank rolled his eyes as Fliss snatched the hat from him and stuck it on his head.

“Mary, get in…” she patted Frank’s knee and Mary hopped up, as Fliss held her phone away from them, snapping a selfie of the three of them. Frank watched her as she smiled, inspecting it and he had to admit it was a pretty good snap. All of them were smiling, all wearing some form of head gear, and for the first time in as long time he realised he was enjoying Christmas morning because HE was having a good time, not just Mary. To him it normally meant a fuck load of expense and the fact another year was rapidly drawing to a close. But he was more than happy to draw a close on 2017. Not simply to shut the door on a mentally draining court fight, but also because he was looking forward to the future. He was starting a new job, would be in the market for a new home and moving through all of those changes with his girl by his side excited him instead of filling him with dread.

As Mary slid off his knee to examine another present he turned to Fliss who grinned, knocking his hat off his head.

“Merry Christmas cowgirl.” he grinned,

She smiled, leaning over to kiss him “Merry Christmas Sailor!”

**** One Shot- Whamaggeddon Chapter 13

#riding high #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted #gifted fan fic

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imjustthemechanic · 3 years

Text

A Romantic Night at the Museum

Happy valentine’s day to @tytythepilot, who wanted a Pepperony HSAU in which they start out hating each other!

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It was a requirement for graduation: every senior at Triskelion High had to do thirty hours of volunteer work at one of a number of school-approved venues. It was a duty a lot of students complained about, but Pepper Potts had known right away which she would choose. There was a soup kitchen, a retirement home, a recycling centre, the humane society, and a few other places, but on sign-up day her eyes had gone right to the bottom of the list: the Empire State Museum of Modern Art.

It seemed ideal. Pepper was planning to major in accounting, but she was interested in art and art history, and enjoyed visiting the ESMMA. She was already familiar with all their permanent exhibits, so she probably wouldn’t even need an orientation. The people who worked there would doubtless be impressed with her dedication. When she put her name on the list, she did notice that nobody else had chosen the museum yet, but since she was one of the first to choose a venue, she didn’t think much of it.

On November first, Mr. Coulson the history teacher called the seniors down to the gymnasium to get the permission paperwork for their assignments, and to hand out the lanyards and tags where they would log their hours. Pepper set impatiently in the folding metal chair while the various venues were called out. Red lanyards for the humane society were popular, as were green ones for the recycling centre. By the time he got close to the bottom, there didn’t seem to be very many people without lanyards, and Pepper was starting to wonder if there would be anybody else volunteering at the museum at all.

As it turned out, there was one other.

“Finally, for the ESMMA,” Mr. Coulson read out at last, “Potts, Virginia, and Stark, Anthony.”

Pepper bounced to her feet and looked around, blinking in surprise. Tony Stark? She knew he went to Triskelion High School – who didn’t? – but so far she’d only ever glimpsed him from afar. From the gossip that surrounded him she knew he was the son of a wealthy and powerful businessmen, that he’d dated most of the cheerleaders but couldn’t remember their names, and that his picture had been on the front of the October issue of the Triskelion Shield newsletter because he’d won some sort of state science prize. He wanted to work at the museum?

She didn’t see anybody else standing up, though. The other students were all chatting together and comparing lanyards… maybe Stark wasn’t here today? Pepper grabbed her canvas backpack, covered in pins and buttons for various causes she supported, and hurried to the front. Mr. Coulson was waiting at the bottom of the stage, holding out the orange lanyard for her.

“There’s nobody else for the museum?” she asked.

“Word gets around,” he replied, ticking her off on his list. “You and Stark were the only two who signed up.”

“Great.” Pepper hung the lanyard around her neck with a grimace. “I get to babysit the rich kid all by myself.” From what little she knew of Stark, she had no illusions that he would do anything during their volunteer time. As far as Pepper had ever been able to tell, he didn’t even do anything in his classes – she’d seen him sleeping in Ms. Hill’s Calculus course. He probably paid somebody to take his exams for him.

“Depends on where the museum needs you,” Mr. Coulson said. “You might not even see him.”

“God, I hope not!” Pepper snorted, and turned around… only to find herself face-to-face with a boy. He was about her own height, with unkept dark brown hair that needed trimming and brown eyes, and wearing an expensive-looking blazer over a Pink Floyd T-shirt. She recognized him immediately, of course. It was Tony Stark, in the flesh.

The colour drained from Pepper’s face. How much had he heard?

“At least the babysitter’s cute,” he said.

That answered her question – he’d heard all of it. Pepper stepped past him and walked away as fast as she could, shaking. Now she was in for it. The whole school knew everything Stark said and did… it would be a miracle if they weren’t all talking about her by this time tomorrow. And she was going to be stuck with this guy at the museum for two hours a week, the rest of the semester! Maybe she could catch pneumonia or something and be excused from the rest of the school year.

Her friend Betty was waiting for her at the gym exit, wearing the red humane society lanyard. “You’re going to be volunteering with Tony Stark?” she asked.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Pepper informed her, and kept going.

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Tony watched the girl disappear in a huff of ginger hair and oversized sweater, then turned to Coulson for his own lanyard and badge. “What crawled up her butt?” he asked. There were lots of girls in school who didn’t like Tony – there were lots of girls outside school who didn’t like him – but most of them at least knew him. As far as he could remember, Tony had never spoken to that one before.

“I don’t think she believes you know anything about art,” said Mr. Coulson.

“Yeah?” Tony asked.

The truth was, he didn’t really. Tony’s parents were patrons of the ESMMA, along with several other museums in the city, so he’d figured the employees there would be nice to him – but he wasn’t into art for its own sake. Tony preferred things that could be quantified and figured out, while art, particularly modern art, was the exact opposite of that. He’d signed up on the assumption that the museum would give him flash cards or something so he could lead tours and answer questions. He could memorize things like that in a few seconds and be fine. Now, however, he’d been given a challenge. Who was this girl to judge him when she’d never even met him properly.

“Well,” he said, “she’s gonna find out how wrong she is.”

That evening, Tony sat down in front of his computer – he’d built it himself, out of parts of several others – and pulled up the museum’s website. With a can of Red Bull at one elbow and a package of pretzels at the other he sat up almost until dawn, going through the online collection and reading about artists, movements, and styles. Tony could handle being called a lot of things but nobody was going to think he was dumb.

By Friday afternoon, after a couple of additional trips to both the public and museum libraries, he felt he was more than ready. He’d even dug out an old ESMMA t-shirt he’d gotten for free at one of Mom’s fundraisers, and was wearing that and his lanyard as he leaned against one of the metal pillars outside the museum entrance. The museum wasn’t expecting them until four, but there was no way Tony was letting the girl be earlier than he was.

It worked, too – he’d been waiting nearly fifteen minutes when she finally got off the bus. Her long ginger hair was in two braids, and her slender figure was absolutely lost under an enormous camo-green cardigan. Tony was gratified to see her surprised to find him there.

“Afternoon,” he said.

“Hi,” she replied warily.

Tony smiled at her. “What’s your favourite piece in the ESMMA collection?” he asked, as if making polite conversation. “I’m partial to Csaky. Picasso’s a little too abstract for my tastes.”

She frowned for a moment, then shrugged one shoulder. “I’ve never thought about it. Probably the Water Lillies.”

“Monet, cool,” Tony nodded. “Nobody else I asked at school had signed up for the museum. It’s good to know there’s somebody else around who’s got some taste. What do you think of Monet’s red paintings? Are they artistically interesting, or just medically?”

The girl began to smile. “They can be both,” she said. “With impressionists it was all about how they saw the world, right? It was their impression. Both Monet’s cataracts and the removal of them affected that, so it should be reflected in his art.”

Tony had expected her to be squirming by now, having realized she was wrong about him, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He tried to go a little deeper. “What do you think of the idea that after his surgery he could see into the ultraviolet?” he asked.

“I hadn’t heard that before,” she replied. For a moment Tony felt triumphant, but then she continued on, apparently oblivious to the fact that he’d just shown he knew more about impressionists than she did. “I wonder what effect that would have… could we even see it?”

Tony was about to cite a Journal of Art History paper he’d read on the subject, but then one of the big glass doors opened and a man in a blue shirt and white tie, wearing an ESMMA nametag that identified him, appropriately enough, as Art, looked out at him. “Are you two the kids from Triskelion?” he asked.

“Yes,” the girl said, reaching to took the guy’s hand. “I’m Virginia – people call me Pepper.”

“And I’m Tony,” he stepped up to do the same.

“Oh, I know who you are,” said Art, and shook Tony’s hand with enthusiasm. “I’ve seen you here with your folks. Come on in! We’re always happy to have kids from the school.” He held the door open for them. “We look forward to it all year.”

“I’ve been looking forward to it, myself,” said Pepper. “I’ve been to the museum quite often, and I know the layout pretty well.”

“And I can identify every piece in the place!” Tony bragged, not to be outdone as the followed Art inside. The foyer of the building was spacious, with high ceilings, white walls, and abstract-shaped red couches. “That one behind the admissions counter, for example, that’s Matisse’s Two Masks.” He snickered. “The one that looks like a mantis shrimp wearing cool sunglasses.”

Pepper looked at him as if he’d just sprouted a second head, but didn’t say anything.

“Man, it kinda does, doesn’t it?” said Art, grinning. “Great, now I’ll never unsee that! Right this way.” He led them to a door marked staff only, and touched his employee ID card to a panel to unlock it. The inner side had a complicated push-bar arrangement on it, the sort that would probably set off an alarm if somebody tried to open it without permission.

“Ohhh… are we gonna be working in the off-view collections?” Pepper asked in a reverent voice.

“Sort of,” said Art.

They went down the stairs to the basement level, and through a maze of rooms full of shelves and boxes and things carefully stored in glass cases, to a door with no special signs or locks on it, just an ordinary lever handle. Beyond that was a little room with one tiny, dingy window way high up in the wall, looking out on a parking lot, and a lot of metal shelves stacked high with what appeared to be garbage. There were cardboard boxes full of paper, trash bags bulging with heaven knew what, stacks of old magazines, packages of unopened paper plates and plastic forks. Tony frowned as he looked around. He hadn’t seen anything like this on the website?

“Is this art?” he asked.

“This is our surplus from last year,” Art replied. “Menus and leaflets and merch. We need you guys to sort it out – what we can still sell, what we can recycle, what we can donate, and so forth. We save it all year so you kids will have something to do.” He looked so proud of himself, as if he were expecting them to be excited about this.

Tony glanced at Pepper. Her mouth was open in astonishment.

“The café and vending machines will give you sodas and snacks at half price with your lanyards,” Art said cheerfully. “If you need anything, you can call somebody there.” He pointed to a set of buttons below a speaker on the wall. “See you at six!” And he walked out, whistling.

Pepper’s backpack fell out of her hands and landed on the floor. “Word gets around,” she said aloud. “Nobody told me.”

The look on her face and the mournful tone of her voice would have been full as hell if Tony hadn’t been feeling pretty betrayed, himself. “This is bullshit,” he declared. His parents had donated thousands of dollars to the ESMMA over the years. He’d studied for this, and they thought all he was good for was sorting garbage? “I’m going to call my Mom,” he said darkly.

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Pepper felt like the bottom had dropped out of her stomach and all her insides had gone splat on the gritty concrete floor. She’d been looking forward to this for a month, as a chance to work in the stimulating environment of the museum, enjoying art and helping other people enjoy it, too. Now it turned out they expected her to spend the whole time shut in the basement? No wonder nobody else signed u for the museum! Why hadn’t she asked around? Clearly somebody was telling the seniors to avoid the assignment!

It was Stark’s statement that snapped her out of her moment of shock. Pepper had kept her head down the last few days at school, waiting for the ridicule to start, but it never had. It seemed like nobody had overheard the exchange, and Stark must not have told anyone about it. She’d begun to hope that he just wanted to forget about it, too. Her hopes had risen even further when he’d actually seemed to want to talk about the museum and the collection, and when she’d noticed his parents’ names on the big granite slab in the lobby floor. Maybe they were going to get along after all…

Now it was clear after all that he really was just a spoiled jerk. He was here because he thought his family’s involvement would get him special treatment and he was pissed because it wouldn’t. Well, maybe it would do him good to live in the real world for two hours a week.

“Is that what you do every time you don’t get what you want?” she demanded. “Go crying to Mommy and have her fix it for you?”

Stark scowled at her. “Oh, and I guess you’re totally fine with it? You were geeking out a minute ago!”

“I am not fine with it!” Pepper informed him. “I am bitterly disappointed, but some of us don’t have rich parents who can make sure we get our way!” She looked around again at the room’s ill-organized contents, then picked up her backpack and set it on a chair. The sleeves of her cardigan wouldn’t stay up, but she made a show of rolling them anyway before she dug into the first box of magazines.

“What are you doing?” asked Stark.

“I’m doing what I was told to do!” she snarled. “Because I need the credit to graduate, and unlike some people I can’t just nap through all my classes and bribe the school to pass me anyway!”

For a moment Stark just stood there as if she’d slapped him. Then he drew himself up to his full height, which was not impressive when he wasn’t any taller than Pepper, and demanded, “what is your problem? I never even met you until the other day, and you already hated me! You honestly think I can’t do this?” He gestured to the piles of junk.

“I think you won’t,” Pepper replied primly. “I mean, look at you – you’re just standing there! Your parents are so rich you’ve probably never had to do anything in your entire life! I bet your Dad pays off the teachers to give you good marks!”

“I get good marks all by myself!” Stark huffed. “I happen to be a genius!”

If that were supposed to make her think more highly of him, it failed miserably. Pepper threw a magazine at him. “You’re an egotistical twit!” she said. “If you can work, prove it!”

“Maybe I will!” he said. He stood there a moment longer, looking around, and Pepper wondered if he would refuse after all, out of sheer spite. But then he grabbed a box of merchandise from a now-defunct special exhibit on Lichtenstein and started sorting them, rather violently.

Pepper smirked. At least she’d gotten him to participate.

“You’ve got no right to pass judgment on me when you don’t know me,” Stark said after a while.

“Maybe you shouldn’t worry so much about what other people think of you,” Pepper retorted. She opened a second box, and found it was full of old calendars. The guy named Art had said they saved things all year for the Triskelion volunteers, but these were fully three years old. Whoever had been conned into doing this in the mean time couldn’t have been very thorough.

“I don’t care what other people think of me,” Stark said. He was stacking souvenir water bottles into two pyramids, one of bottles that had last year’s date on them, and one that did not.

“Obviously you do, or you wouldn’t be mad at me for not liking you,” Pepper pointed out.

She looked around at the mess, and felt her jaw muscles tighten. This was clearly a job that desperately needed doing and, just as obviously, nobody wanted to do it. The museum staff didn’t want to deal with it, so they left it for the students. The students didn’t want to deal with it, so they didn’t sign up for the volunteer work. Pepper certainly didn’t want to do it… but that in itself awakened a weird form of rebellion in her. Fine, then. She would do it, and she would do a spectacular job, so that nobody else could ever do half as well! She dumped the calendars back in their box, and got out a marker to write the word recycle on the side.

“I’m not mad,” said Stark. “I couldn’t care less if you like me or not. I’m just saying you have no right to an opinion.”

“Of course I do,” Pepper said, “and you’re not making me like you any better by whining about it!” She grabbed another box.

“Maybe I don’t like you, either,” he retorted.

“Good thing I actually don’t care what you think of me,” sniffed Pepper. After their interactions so far, she would have been disappointed if he didn’t hate her. The last thing she wanted was to appeal to a spoiled brat like Stark! She looked over her shoulder at his pyramids. “What are you doing with those?”

“Seeing how high I can stack them,” he replied.

“We’re not here to play,” Pepper informed him. The next box contained multicoloured stress balls. For a moment she wrestled with temptation, then she threw one at Stark’s bottles, as if they were a setup pin a carnival game. They wobbled, then crashed down.

“Hey!” he protested.

“We’re here to work,” she told him.

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That interaction seemed to have set the tone for the entire evening, Tony observed. This girl was absolutely determined to do the job they’d given her, even though it was a stupid rip-off of a job, and if Tony hadn’t been so determined to hate her back he would have found it kind of admirable. If she had that kind of work ethic in her classes she might well end up valedictorian… and since the school was in the habit of choosing one valedictorian of each sex, that meant Tony might find himself sharing a stage with her in June. That sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.

Art had promised to let them out at six. He’d also told them they were welcome to go for snacks or bathroom breaks, but Pepper – why was she called that? Because of her freckles, maybe? She certainly was peppered with those – didn’t stop. Tony was getting hungry and cranky, but he didn’t stop, either. Pepper had thought he’d know nothing abut art and he’d proven her wrong. Now she thought he wasn’t willing to work hard, so he was going to prove her wrong on that, too.

Six o’clock came and went. Upstairs the museum was probably closing up, and Art would arrive any minutes. Pepper kept at it, though, tossing vaguely cubist plush animals around like she planned to do it all night, using her phone as a flashlight to peer into dark corners of the room looking for more. Tony wondered if he ought to say something, but if he did, she might think he was being lazy and he wasn’t going to let her have that. He continued taking bundles of pamphlets out of their elastic bands and dumping them in the ‘recycle’ box as his watched ticked past six thirty and approached seven.

Then the lights went out.

For a moment the two of them just stood there in the dark, blinking. A little bit of light came in through that high-up window, but it wasn’t really enough to see by. After a few seconds, Pepper turned her phone flashlight back on, which made Tony yelp as she shone it directly in his face.

“Hey!” he protested.

“Sorry!” She quickly moved it. “Did you do that?”

“What?” asked Tony. “Turn the lights off? Why would I do that! They probably went off because it’s way past six and the museum is closed.” He went and moved a box so he could stand on it and look out the window.

Pepper stared at him, then looked at her phone screen. “Why didn’t you say something?” she asked.

“Because you would have gone aww, is the little rich boy tired?” Sure enough, there was nobody moving out in the courtyard. The café tables had been put away, and he thought he could make out somebody on the opposite side locking a door.

“So you do care what I think of you,” she said, but didn’t seem interested in arguing the point. As Tony opened his mouth to reply, she turned away and shone the light around the room. “Which way to the stairs?”

“This way.” Tony hopped down from his box and turned on his own phone for extra light. A fat lot of good it had done him, he thought, to memorize those museum maps. None of them had included the basement! But by the light of the LEDs the two young people managed to wind their way through the maze of rooms.

“Oh, Jesus!” Pepper exclaimed, grabbing Tony’s arm.

“What?” he turned around, and nearly jumped out of his own skin as he saw what looked like a winged, humanoid figure looming over them. Then he realized what he was looking at was the shadow of a sculpture in dark stone, projected on the wall and ceiling by the light, and recognized it from the website catalogue – at least that had done him some good. “That’s Csaky’s Messenger,” he said. A black granite cubist angel.

“I knew that,” said Pepper, relaxing her grip.

“No, you didn’t,” he teased. “What did you think it was, Mothman?”

“Shut up and let’s get out of here,” she said. “This place is creepy in the dark.”

It had been kind of creepy in the daytime, Tony thought, with all the old sculptures covered in sheets and so forth. When he moved his own light around the room the shadows seemed to come to life, and it did make the statues look terrifyingly animated. He tried not to think about that as they continued to the stairs.

It was an effort not to cheer when they finally sighted the red EXIT sign. Tony took the stairs two at a time and pushed on the bar handle, not really caring if it set off an alarm. It did not – in fact, the only sound was a dull clunk, and the door did not move.

Tony tried again, wondering if he’d simply pushed it too hard. He got the same result.

“Now what?” asked Pepper.

“It’s locked,” he said.

“What?”

“Don’t panic, it’s not like we’re gonna run out of air or anything,” said Tony, rolling his eyes. “It’s just a locked door.”

“Yes, but that means we’re stuck in here!” she protested.

“It’s not like the museum’s empty!” Tony put his shoulder against the door to rattle it. “Hey! Hey, we’re locked in!” he shouted.

“Help!” Pepper chimed in. “Anybody out there? Help!”

They continued shouting for a few minutes, but it got no reply. If anybody were out there, they couldn’t hear them – or they were just ignoring the cries.

“Why didn’t that guy come back to tell us it was time to go?” Pepper wailed.

Tony very much wanted to know that, himself. “I guess he forgot about us.” He rattled the door one last time and waited a moment, but there was still no response.

She grabbed his arm again. “You can call your parents!”

Tony pulled free of her grip. “Oh, now who wants to call my rich parents to fix everything?” he couldn’t resist saying.

She narrowed her eyes. “That was a tantrum. This is an emergency. I’m sorry I made fun of you, okay? Please call them.”

The apology was startling, but it didn’t change one important fact. “I can’t,” Tony said. “Or if I did, it wouldn’t do any good. They’re in Vienna this week.” He scowled.

The light on Pepper’s phone shut off with an unhappy buzzing sound, but by the light of his own Tony could see that she looked disappointed. “So you were just ranting when you said you were gonna have your Mom yell at the museum people?”

“No, I was gonna talk to her, it’s just that it’ll probably take ages for her to do anything about it, because she’s out of the country and she doesn’t like staying up all night to make phone calls,” Tony grumbled. “Why don’t you call your parents? At least they live here in town.”

Pepper nodded and looked down at her phone, then swallowed when she saw the screen. “Uh… actually, I don’t think I can. I’ve had the flashlight on too long and the battery is dead.”

He reached into his pocket. “You can use mine. You know their numbers, right?”

“No,” she admitted, squirming a bit. “We haven’t had a land line since I was twelve. I’ve always had their numbers in my phone.”

“Well, that’s just great!” Tony kicked the door and then went to sit down on the top step. “So what do we do, just sit here all night?”

“You said you were a genius! Can’t you figure something out?” she asked.

Tony huffed. There she was again, thinking he was dumb. He knew that she was doing it on purpose, and that if he kept reacting the way she wanted, she would quickly come to decide that she could make him do anything she wanted by saying she thought he couldn’t or wouldn’t… but at the same time, he couldn’t let her think she was right. He thought back to the museum maps he’d looked at… this stairwell hadn’t been marked on any of them, which meant the public wasn’t supposed to use them. All the exits probably locked the same way. What he needed was a way to pick the lock, which was going to be difficult when it was inside the bar apparatus.

“Well?” Pepper asked.

“Shut up. I’m thinking.” Tony turned and directed the light from his phone onto the bar. There were some screws that would be easy to take out, but they were in the push panel at the hinge end of the door… he’d need to reach inside somehow. “Okay,” he said, standing up again. “There’s gotta be some tools in that basement, right? I need a screwdriver.”

“Is this a good idea?” asked Pepper.

“I won the Pym Prize for Robotics last month!” Tony reminded her. “My picture was on the cover of the school newspaper, and you don’t trust me with a screwdriver?”

She threw up her hands. “Okay, okay! Do your genius thing!”

Tony checked the battery on his own phone. With the flashlight on it was draining fast. If they didn’t want to be in here with no light but the EXIT signs, he was going to have to find another source of illumination. “And a proper flashlight,” he decided.

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all evening,” said Pepper, and followed him down the steps.

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Pepper realized she was being mean and snappish, but she couldn’t help it. How was she supposed to feel when they were locked in a basement? They couldn’t just stay here all night. What about dinner? Her stomach was already growling. She’d been ignoring it earlier because she had wanted to show that she was willing to work. Where would they sleep? There was nothing soft down here to lie on. And good lord, what was going to happen when one of them needed to pee?

All that nervous energy had to go somewhere and the only possible target was Stark – and he was doubly convenient in that capacity because this was his fault. He’d noticed the time passing while she had not. He couldn’t have said something. If he’d spoken up, they could have decided it was time to go and done so, but he hadn’t, the staff had forgotten about them, and now they were stuck down here!

Back at the bottom of the stairs, Stark located a janitor’s closet. This seemed a good place to start looking for emergency supplies – there was a first aid kit and a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall, and on a shelf above them he found a utility flashlight. He gave the latter to Pepper, and had her hold it while he rooted around inside a cupboard, looking for something else.

“What are you doing now?” she asked.

“I’m looking for tools,” he replied. “A screwdriver. A hammer. Something. I’m gonna take the door apart and open the lock from the inside… and don’t ask me if I can do that,” he added, pulling his head out of the cupboard to look straight at her. “I told you, I’m a genius. I can figure it out.”

Pepper sniffed. She would wait and see how he did at getting them out of the basement, but she knew one thing for certain. “You may be a genius, but talking about it all the time still makes you sound like a jerk. Why do you care so much that people know how smart you are?”

“Because it’s important!” said Tony, going back to his rooting around. “Fine, I admit it: yes, I want people to know I’m smart, okay? I’m proud of it. Why shouldn’t I be?”

“It’s fine to be proud, but if you go around talking about it, you’re bragging,” Pepper said to his butt, which was the only part of him she could see. “What happened to humility?”

“False humility is just another kind of lying,” he said.

“It’s polite,” Pepper insisted. “You don’t see me go around bragging. I could be standing here going, oh, they gave me this job because nobody else wants to do it so I’m going to be awesome at it just to show them.”

This time, he actually wiggled back out of the cupboard and sat up, frowning at her in evident confusion. “Is that really what you’re proudest of?” he asked. “That you’re willing to do crappy jobs?”

“I’m willing to do them well,” Pepper clarified. “The people who left all those three-year-old calendars in the box sure didn’t do a very good job of it. Just because nobody wants to do something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it properly. I’m a Hufflepuff,” she said firmly. “I believe in doing things right.”

“Yeah, but that seems like a weird thing to brag about,” he insisted.

“I just said I don’t brag about it,” huffed Pepper.

“No, I mean, it’s a weird example of a thing you might brag about,” Stark said. “Most people would say something like, I’m good at math, or I can beat a new video game faster than anybody I know, or I’ve won prizes for my robots. Your thing is doing terrible jobs?”

His mention to the robotics prize made Pepper wonder if all three of his examples were things he personally considered himself amazing at. “No, they wouldn’t say that, because most people don’t go around bragging.”

“If you asked them,” Stark said, frowning in frustration. “If you go up to somebody and ask them what are you best at they’ll always tell you something! Like, my friend Rhodey is really good at building model airplanes. He’ll tell you all about how he changed them to be more accurate than they were on the box. Or there’s Janet from my physics class who’s really good at her fashion Instagram. What’s your ‘thing’?”

Pepper winced, wishing now she’d never spoken. Everybody had a ‘thing’, didn’t they? Something they were really into. With Jane it was astronomy – everyone knew she’d been accepted to Culver for astrophysics and she could take you out on a dark night and show you three planets, nine constellations, and tell you about how people could figure out the date of supernovas from tree rings. Pepper never understood half of what she said. With Natasha it was ballet and gymnastics, and the phys. ed teachers said she’d probably be in the Olympics someday. Pepper was madly jealous of both of them for having something they were so good at and so passionate about… because she didn’t.

She was silent for a moment – and her very hesitation must have told Stark all he needed to know. “Oh, come on, you must be good at something,” he said. “How about art?”

Pepper shrugged awkwardly. “I like art, but I can’t do it. I took art in freshman year but I wasn’t any good at it. I never felt inspired. I’m more interested in the history than in actually doing it, but that’s not really… not really something you can make a career out of. I guess I could be a museum curator, but…” She looked around the dark room, with that unsettling statue still looming in a corner of it. “A museum doesn’t sound like a great place to work right now.”

“I hear that,” Stark grumbled.

“I’m gonna do accounting in college,” she went on, “because I’ll be able to get a good job that way. I get decent grades in math, but they’re not any better than the grades I get in anything else. My Dad was always one of those if you put your mind to it you can do anything people, and he’s right, because I can do a lot of things well but there’s not really anything I’d say I’m good at.”

Pepper stopped there, because… why had she told him that? It wasn’t something she ever discussed, even with her friends or family. They wouldn’t understand. All of them had a ‘thing’, but Pepper was just… Pepper. She worked hard because if she couldn’t be good at something, she wanted to be decent at as many things as she could. Jill of all trades, mistress of none.

Stark was looking at her like he didn’t know what she was talking about. He probably didn’t. If he was so damn smart, he was probably good at everything and couldn’t imagine what mediocrity was possibly like. What would he know about insecurity?

“Look, just find your tools and get us out of here,” said Pepper.

He crawled back into the cupboard, while she knelt down to shine the flashlight over his shoulder. After a minute or two of sorting around amid cleaning supplies and a set of wrenches, he sat up triumphantly. “Aha!” he exclaimed, holding high a beat-up screwdriver with an orange handle.

“Finally!” said Pepper. “Let’s go!”

They returned to the main floor and Pepper continued to hold the flashlight while Stark knelt down to turn the screws. He tried for a few moments, then stopped and muttered a bad word under his breath.

“Now what’s wrong?” Pepper asked. She could feel her stomach sinking again.

“It’s a Phillips,” said Stark.

“What’s that?” Pepper wanted to know.

“It’s a Phillips head screwdriver!” He pointed it at her like a magic wand. “The screws are all flat heads!”

“Can’t you still use it?” she asked. Pepper admittedly knew very little about tools but she had assembled furniture with her parents, and she was sure her father had once said she could still use a particular screwdriver even if it was the wrong shape.

Stark appeared to disagree – he tossed the screwdriver back down the stairs, and she could hear it clink as it bounced off the concrete steps. “No. You could use a flat head screwdriver in a Phillips screw, but not the other way around.”

“The Phillips… is that the one with the plus, and the flat head is the one with the minus?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Stark sat there for a moment, then examined the screws again. “You got a dime?”

“Nobody carries cash in New York,” Pepper scoffed. She thought for a moment, herself, and then unzipped her backpack and started sorting through it, looking for her keys. “Here!” She pulled them out. “I have nail clippers on my keychain!”

“So what?” he asked, annoyed.

“So they have a flat end!” She took them off the loop and lifted the lever to show him. “Will that fit in the screws?”

Stark blinked, then snatched them out of her hand, grinning. “You’re a genius!” he said, and turned around to start removing screws.

“Oh, like you?” she asked, eyebrows raised.

“Maybe not quite like me,” he said, but he glanced back over his shoulder to smile at her, and something inside Pepper gave an involuntarily little flutter. Stark was clearly joking, but when he’d said you’re a genius, it had sounded so sincere and spontaneous she couldn’t help but think he meant it.

“There we go!” Stark dropped one screw on the floor, then removed another, and took the entire bar off the door. “Shine the light in here, would you?”

Pepper directed the beam over his shoulder, while he first peered in and then reached to feel around. For a moment he frowned, and Pepper started getting worried again, but this time he seemed to figure out a solution quickly.

“Another equipment run!” he declared. “I know I saw wire cutters in there… I need a coat hanger. I’m gonna snip a length of it so I can manipulate the lock from the inside.”

“There were coat hangers in the junk room!” said Pepper. “They had a box of souvenir sweatshirts that were already on them inside the plastic!”

She pulled open one such packet, and Stark cut himself a length of wire about six inches long. Pepper was starting to feel quite pleased with their collective problem-solving abilities. Stark could find, or at least make, whatever tools they needed, and Pepper had a good memory and could tell him where to find things. When they returned to the door, Stark stuck his makeshift lock pick into it, his hand disappearing into the bar mechanism right up to the wrist, and within a few second there was a clunking sound, and the door creaked open. The light that flooded in was faint, just the evening glow of the city and the fading November sky reflecting off the white walls and tile floors of the lobby, but Pepper was so happy to see it, she almost cried.

“Ta-da!” said Stark proudly. There was a clink from inside the bar as he dropped the piece of wire. “There we… ow!” he exclaimed, and quickly yanked his arm out… or tried to. Something clearly went wrong, because he stopped short and howled!

Pepper almost dropped the flashlight. What? What happened?” she asked. Her imagination offered up horrible possibilities. Maybe there was a mouse or a spider or something in there. Maybe he was going to need her to suck the venom out. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to do it, and she would be known as the girl who let Tony Stark die…

“I’m stuck! I’m caught on…” he gritted his teeth and swore again. “I’m caught on… I think I stabbed myself.”

Pepper felt herself go cold. She set the flashlight down on the floor so that its beam would still illuminate him. “Okay, well, don’t panic,” she said.

“Don’t panic? You’re the one who screamed because you thought the statue was Mothman!” he pointed out.

“Only for a moment! When you’re hurt,” she explained, “you shouldn’t panic because it’ll only make you freak out and do more damage. Now, take a deep breath.”

He breathed in, hard.

“Let it out,” said Pepper.

It came out in a woosh.

“Now tell me what happened.”

Stark grimaced in pain. “I dropped the coat hanger wire,” he said, “and I think it got caught on something. When I tried to pull my arm out it poked me, and when I tried to yank it out fast it went in really deep and I think I’m actually sort of impaled right now.”

In the dim light, Pepper couldn’t see his face very well, but he sounded like he was on the verge of passing out. She thought fast – if he did that, he would go limp, and the weight of his body would pull on that arm, and if what he’d just said was accurate, that could make things much worse.

“Okay,” she said. “Can you back your arm up so it comes out?”

He tried. “I don’t think so. The bar isn’t long enough.” Stark looked at her hands, held up in front of her as she tried to reassure him. “You’ve got small hands. You think you can reach in there and move it?”

“I’ll try,” said Pepper. She took off her cardigan and examined the situation… how would she do this? Stark was right up against the door and couldn’t exactly move over to give her space. She was going to have to practically sit in his lap. “Don’t get any ideas,” she said, moving into place.

He snorted. “I’ve got my arm stuck in a door! Getting ideas is about the last thing on my mind.”

She settled down, sitting on his knee, and wiggled her fingers in around his arm. Immediately she felt something wet and sticky. She pulled her hand back and held it in the flashlight beam, and was horrified to see the red on her fingers. “Oohhh,” she said.

“What?” Stark looked over her shoulder. “Oh, no. You’re not gonna faint, are you?”

“I don’t know if I’m the best person to do this,” said Pepper. She almost stuck the fingers in her mouth, but that wasn’t a good idea when it wasn’t her blood. She couldn’t wipe it on her clothes, either, it might stain. How much more blood would there be if she managed to pull the wire out?

“There’s nobody else here!” he protested. “That’s the whole problem, remember?”

“Yeah, but…” Pepper said helplessly, and stopped there because he was right. It was just him and her. Like sorting the garbage downstairs, it was a terrible job but nobody else was going to do it. It was up to Pepper.

“Right.” She tried to wipe her fingers on the floor, which didn’t work very well, then took a deep breath and tried again. Stark’s chin was on her shoulder watching as she stuck her fingers in between his flesh and the edge of the opening, feeling around for the problem. She could follow the piece of wire for about two and a half inches, the length of her thumb and index finger, and then had to stop. There just wasn’t room to fit the rest of her hand inside and go any further.

“Don’t tug on it,” said Stark weakly. “It’s definitely under the skin.”

“That’s so disgusting,” she whimpered. The blood had been pretty awful, but she could handle it. The phrase under the skin, however, was horrible. Pepper hated things like needles and IV lines.

“Can you get it out?” he asked.

“No,” was Pepper’s immediate reply. “That’s as far as my fingers will go. I’m gonna see if I can find the other end.” She felt her way back, trying to ignore the feeling of warm, damp blood between her fingers. The other end of the bit of coat hanger turned out to be stuck under a lip of metal at the edge of the piece next to the one Stark had removed. She tried to pick at it with her fingernails, to no effect. “I can’t. It’s stuck.”

Pepper wanted to pull her hand back, but realized if she did, it might be covered with blood. For a moment, she didn’t move.

“Okay,” Stark said in her ear. “If pulling it out won’t work, can we push it a little further in?”

“What?” Pepper asked. “No, I’m not going to do that! I wouldn’t do it even if I could!”

“I didn’t mean into my arm, I meant into the space!” said Stark. “I’ll push my arm in as far as I can, and you see if you can get the other end loose and hold it there so I can get out without it getting stuck again, okay?”

“I can’t do that!” she insisted. “What if it pierces something major and you bleed to death?” There was already enough blood on her. The idea of more made her feel ill.

“You won’t if you’re careful,” he said. “Even if you do, I don’t think there’s any major blood vessels in that part of an arm.”

“You don’t think there are? You mean you don’t know if there are? I thought you were a genius!”

“That doesn’t make me an encyclopedia!” he protested. “Being smart doesn’t mean I know everything. Intelligence is a stat – knowledge is a skill! You have to roll a check for it!”

“What?” Pepper asked. The statement made no sense whatsoever for the first few moments, until she realized what he was talking about. “Is… was that a Dungeons and Dragons joke?” His arm was impaled on part of a metal coat hanger, and he was joking?

“Yes! I’m trying to distract us,” Stark said. “Just do it, okay? Stop thinking about it. The faster it gets done, the faster it’ll be over with and we can both get out of here.”

“Right.” Pepper took several breaths in and out, the way she’d told him to do only a few minutes earlier. “Keep distracting me,” she said.

“How?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Tell me about… tell me about your parents.” It was the first thing that occurred to her. She worked her fingers further into the space, to press the piece of wire against his skin.

Stark snorted. “What’s to tell? My Dad’s the smartest guy in the world and nothing I do is ever good enough for him. Have you got it?”

“I hope so,” she replied. “I thought you said you were a genius.”

“I am a genius, just not as much of a genius as he is,” said Stark. He moved his arm a little further, but it wasn’t enough for the wire to come loose.

“Keep going,” said Pepper.

“No matter what I do,” Stark went on, “he’s like, oh, I did that when I was younger than you, and I didn’t have all this money or this fancy edu…” he hissed through his teeth as something hurt, and Pepper began to ease off the pressure she was putting on his arm. “No, hold it there!” he said. “All this fancy education. I didn’t even… oh shit… I didn’t even tell him I won that prize or that I was on the cover of the school newspaper, because he wouldn’t have… oh shit… wouldn’t have cared…”

“Am I hurting you?” Pepper asked. The end was still, just barely, under the lip.

“No, it just hurts!” he said. He moved a little further.

It was only a fraction of an inch, but it was enough. Pepper felt the end of the wire come free, and held it as tightly against his arm as she could. “I got it! Pull it out now!”

He yanked his arm out of the bar. The door, now free to swing, fell open and dumped both young people onto the lobby floor.

Pepper held up her hands. The lobby was semi-dark, but there was enough light to see that her fingers were smeared with blood. It was getting sticky as it began to dry, and the metallic scent stung in her nostrils. Her stomach lurched.

“Oh, man,” said Stark.

She knew she didn’t want to see his injury, but she turned and looked anyway. It wasn’t as bad as she was picturing. The end of the piece was very sharp, but it was only under perhaps half an inch of skin and so close to the surface that the dark metal was visible through the translucent layer of tissue. It was still horrible to look at, but impaled was an exaggeration.

“I gotta… I gotta…” Stark stammered.

“Lie down!” Pepper pushed him onto the floor. “Don’t you dare pass out on me. Wait right here, and I’ll be back.”

She ran back down the steps and grabbed the first aid kit out of the janitor’s closet. When she got back, she found Stark lying there with one cheek on the cold tile, but his eyes were wide and he was still very much conscious.

“I’m gonna pull it out,” she told him.

“Tie something around my arm first, so it doesn’t bleed too much,” said Stark.

“Got it. I think that’s what this is for.” Pepper pulled out a stretchy strap and tied it around his arm above the injury. “There… now like I said, keep talking. Your Dad isn’t impressed by you. Is that why you want everybody at school to know you’re a genius?” Honestly… it would explain an awful lot.

“I guess,” said Stark. “I didn’t think about it that way, but… yeah, probably. It’s nice to be able to brag a little without him telling me how much better he could have done it, you know? He actually wanted to send me to boarding school. Mom talked him out of it, but he just wanted to get rid of me.”

Pepper nodded. “You ready?” she asked.

“No,” he said.

“Me, neither,” she admitted. With her left hand she held his, while gripping the wire with her right. Should she pull fast or slow? If she were doing this to herself she would have done it at slowly as possible, probably crying the whole time, but this wasn’t for herself… so she decided to just yank. She held on tight so it wouldn’t just slide through her fingers, and pulled.

It came right out. Pepper tossed the wire aside and grabbed a wad of gauze out of the kit to press against the wound. “How’s that?” she asked.

“Way better,” said Stark weakly. “I don’t think I could have done that myself.”

“That’s my thing,” Pepper said, her voice shaking. “I do stuff nobody else is willing to do.”

“You sure do,” he agreed. “That’s a really great thing to be good at. Go ahead and brag about it, okay?”

Pepper of couldn’t wouldn’t do any such thing, but she nodded, giggling a little in relief.

“What the hell is going on here?” demanded a voice.

A light was suddenly in their faces. Pepper shrieked and grabbed Stark, as he hollered and grabbed her back. Both of them looked up, and then relaxed again as they realized it was just a museum security guard. He was a tall white man with a shaved head and a mustache, staring at them both in horror.

“Who are you two?” he asked.

Pepper couldn’t help it – she started giggling again. “We’re the kids from Triskelion High!” she managed in between bouts of laughter. “We were sorting the stuff in the basement, and they forgot about us and locked us in!”

“Why are you covered in blood?” the guard asked, aghast.

Pepper looked down – she’d now gotten blood from her hands all over Stark’s shirt where she’d grabbed him, and he’d smeared it on her arm. He was also now wiping his face, which got more blood on his cheeks and forehead, but whether because Pepper was setting him off or just because he was relieved, too, he was also laughing.

“I cut myself trying to take the door apart,” he said. “She helped me get unstuck.”

“Why didn’t you call 911?” the guard demanded.

Pepper blinked. That was a good question – why hadn’t they? They could have done that before they even started trying to open the door. They definitely could have done it when Stark first got his arm stuck. Pepper’s phone had been dead, but Stark’s had some time left on it. It just hadn’t occurred to either of them.

Stark laughed louder. “Yeah, why didn’t we do that?”

“I don’t know!” Pepper said. “So much for being geniuses!”

“We’re idiots!” he agreed.

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The security guard was not laughing. He dialed 911 himself, and summoned the janitorial staff to repair the door and clean the blood off it and the tiles. When the ambulance arrived – along with someone who had the front door key to let them out – the EMTs bundled Tony into the back for inspection. Since it was a chilly evening, they let Pepper sit inside with him while they slathered disinfectants on his arm.

“Are you put to date on your tetanus shots?” one woman asked him.

“Yes, absolutely,” said Tony. “I work with metal all the time, so I keep an eye on that.”

She nodded. “You said your parents are in Austria. Who is your emergency contact?”

“Mr. Jarvis, my Dad’s old butler. I’ll give you the number.”

The medic went to make the phone call, and Tony looked up at Pepper, sitting next to him. He smiled at her, and was gratified to see her smiling back. Apparently she… well, she obviously didn’t dislike him anymore. He’d take that.

“I have a confession to make,” he said.

“Oh, really?” Her thin ginger eyebrows roses.

“Well, you’re sitting there with my blood on your shirt, I figure you deserve the truth,” Tony said. “I don’t know anything about art. At least, I didn’t before last week. Mr. Coulson said he thought the reason you were upset was because you didn’t think I knew anything about it, and I decided to prove you wrong, so I did a bunch of research.”

“To impress me?” asked Pepper. “You didn’t even know me!”

“Well, as we established, I do kinda care what people think of me,” said Tony.

She shrugged. “If my Dad thought I couldn’t do anything right, I’d probably want everybody at school to think I’m a genius, too.”

“I bet everybody at school does think you’re a genius, if you work at everything as hard as you worked at sorting that garbage.”

“Then I’ve fooled them all,” she sighed.

Tony gave her another smile. “No fooling me,” he said, “you’re awesome. Maybe not as much of a genius as I am, but not every girl would get covered in blood to help you get your arm out of a door.”

Pepper shook her head. “Never ask me to do anything like that ever again, okay?” she said. “Next week, you tell me when it’s six o’clock!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” said Tony.

A car horn honked outside, and the EMT peeked back in. “Miss Potts?” she said. “Your parents are here.”

“Tell them I’m coming!” Pepper stood up and grabbed her backpack. “See you next week, Stark.”

“Maybe sooner,” said Tony. “We both go to the same school, after all.”

“Yeah, we do,” she agreed. “Maybe sooner, then.”

He reached out and took her hand, and pulled her a bit closer for a kiss. She ducked out of it.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she said, pulling her arm free. “I know what you’re like with girls!”

“Do you?” Tony asked. “You don’t know me, remember? Give me a chance!”

“Pepper!” a voice called from outside.

“Please?” He pouted and showed her his best puppy dog expression... the one that always worked on Mrs. Jarvis.

She hesitated a moment, then smiled. “Maybe. See you on Monday, Tony,” and leaned back down. She only kissed his cheek, and then she was gone in a hurry, her cheeks flushed as she ran off to meet her parents at the car. Tony, however, was grinning as he watched her go. As evenings when he’d nearly stabbed himself went, that one hadn’t been too bad at all.

#pepperony #valentine's day exchange #tytythepilot

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mydriases · 4 years

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Headmaster’s daughter facing a beast

Anon asked: Thanks for making my headmaster's daughter scenario it was awesome. If I can request a part 2 where there is a dangerous beast loose(like a chimera or a dragon) and she tames it and the reactions of the dorm leaders and pround papa bird(Crowley)?

Thanks everyone for the 200+ subs! I didn't post anything for a week because I was working on this request (which is almost a series for me now, I won't lie), and since a lot of you liked the first part, I thought it would be a good way to thank all of you. 💘 Btw, can I do a more obvious title? Words: 7k Read the part 1 here

Morning light comes through the window and lits up your office. You take advantage of the quarter of an hour you have left before going to class to revise your notes -so that you don't get your fingers slapped by Mr. Trein-. As Riddle has told you many times before : as the first female student of Night Raven and daughter of the headmaster, you had to be a model student. It don't bother you, you are doing well academically and can keep up with the work pace.

Even so, you would be lying to yourself if you said that everything is perfect. The school life itself is really nice but it is disturbed by the rumors that reach your ears when the students are not discreet enough. In itself, it is nothing, only futile discussions, but to see your place questioned is never pleasant. Although many supported you with a kindness sometimes too forced to be true, others excluded you in an obvious way.

It’s sad to admit but you can understand. Among all the girls in the world you were chosen and, conveniently, you were Crowley’s daughter. Besides, it’s not like there aren’t schools for girls here and there. Actually, you took the entrance exam for one of them and passed with flying colors. You would have gone there if the first day of school a carriage had not been waiting outside your house.

You remember perfectly : your neighbors were waiting around it, and you could tell by their stunned expressions that it was what you thought it was: the famous carriage that led to Night Raven. In front of your house, the dark beauty of the alloy was laughing at you. It whispered deceitful words that meant: it is not you that I have come for, you will not see your father again, you are not good enough. Your throat would form a knot at the thought that it was there for someone else.

Then, through your blured eyes, you saw a teenager approaching the carriage. You recognized him, he was an old classmate of yours. He was an excellent magician, the Mirror of Darkness had made a good choice, right ? No. You didn't know him personally, but the way he used to mock you because of your quietness was embedded in you and was saying that he didn’t earn the right to go there.

Bitterness filled your mouth as the boy's hand clung to the door handle. You were sure you were going to remember the self-satisfied expression on his face for the rest of your life. That the exclamations of joy from his family and the other neighbors would haunt your nightmares. He was a good magician, that didn't take away the fact that he didn't deserve to go to Night Raven. You didn't know that person so well, but envy gnawed at your heart and prevented you from thinking of anything else but this word: why? Why couldn't the carriage have come for you?

You came down from the stoop, opened the gate and found yourself a few meters from him. Surrounded by all the other onlookers, you watched as the boy was approaching the gate. You felt your pulse rate skyrocket as he moved his hand in its direction. That's it, he was going to cross it.

But nothing happened. His hand bumped into the reflective surface. No one had time to react as a voice from beyond the grave echoed through the carriage:

"You are not the person we came for."

The silence took over the crowd and you dared to start breathing normally again. The hope that left the boy's body rose into the air and filled you. The carriage was in front of your house, the boy was the only teenager in your adjoining neighbors. Maybe, you could rightfully hope.

He went down the running board with his head low, pride had no place left on his face. No one said a word. Confused silence reigned for what seemed like an eternity. Then, he lifted his head and his fiery gaze fell on you.

"It’s you, isn’t it ? It came for you. Must be nice to be dad’s girl, I can’t relate sorry."

The fire of his gaze spread through the crowd and lit fires that you would have liked to see extinguished. You didn't know what to say. How could you explain that it wasn’t the case, that his statement was false when you were not even sure yourself ? You didn’t see your father since a year and your mother didn’t receive much news, maybe he decided on a whim to cheat your way into Night Raven. You didn’t know, you didn’t know anymore.

"What the hell you’re saying, loser ! Night Raven never had a female student before, you think he’ll get away with that easily !" yelled someone at him.

You turned over the origine of the voice and saw with surprise the person who just defended you. A girl, who looked older than you, had stepped forward and looked at the boy in disgust.

" Shut up ! You seriously think the miror made a mistake ? Her and I are the only ones in age to go to Night Raven in this place !"

"Poor child, maybe the mirror realized you were worthless and went back on its choice. I must say she'd make a much better addition than you, girl or not."

Your were getting involved and it was gonna get out of hand sooner or later. Still, no words could come out of your mouth. At least, you now remembered who the girl was : when you were a child, your mother used to hang out a lot with another mother from the neighborhood. They would take care of each other child when the other needed to do something important. The girl was the daughter of that woman.

That still doesn’t explain why she would help you, you two didn’t know each other anymore. But she went ahead and took your side. You had watched with admiration this girl who had more self-confidence than you ever had. She turned to you :

"I don’t know. But everybody will know if a girl enrolls in Night Raven, right ? So we’ll end up knowing the truth one day or another."

The crowd, made up of so many familiar faces, seemed to take the fact that the coach had come for you as truth. Hesitant hands patted you on the back and voices congratulated you, but the majority of people were perplexed. The murmurs of the discussions buzzed in your ears and made you deaf to the meaning of the sounds you were hearing. Your hands were clammy, your throat was dry, and your heart drummed again and again in your chest, threatening to pierce it at every moment. You wanted to leave, you wanted to go back in your house and never see the light of the day again.

The girl. The daughter of your mom’s friend. You could see her walking towards you, she was going to force you to go through the "door" . You were not ready. You felt the intense need to push her away when she grabbed your wrists with her hands.

"Breathe in and out, girl. Show them what you're worth. It's been a long time since we've seen your dad in this town, say hi to him for us."

Your father. You haven't spent much time with him thoses past years. He'd come back for the holidays, but he'd always leave in the end. He often told you the stories of the students of the school when he would come back. He must be waiting for you beyond the door.

"I’ll… I’ll tell him, thank you for helping me."

"You’re welcome. Don’t worry we’ll explain everything to your mother."

You climbed into the coach and went through the "door".

Then the void overwhelmed you. All that followed was a flurry of fuzzy memories. Your senses went numb and your consciousness was lost in a fog, time seemed to have stopped. You don’t recall how it felt to be in that state, only the feeling of your body melting and dripping remained.

What seemed to have lasted both a whole year and a minute ended when your father opened the door. His big hands had caressed your cheeks and his arms had embraced you when your legs collapsed. It had been so long since anyone had shown you affection that you almost let your eyes water.

He guided you to his office and let you sit in his chair like you used to do when you came to visit. From the other side of the desk, he explained that transportation problems had occurred and caused some complications. You were still in a state of extreme fatigue and his words were taking a long time to make sense, although the word complication resonated in your head. You didn’t like that, you already had enough problems.

Noticing your state, he led you to his bedroom and told you that just for this night you could sleep there, he had works to do anyway. Though, he told you that tomorrow you should join a domitory and get a proper room. His voice lost clarity as you felt asleep.

You woke up alone the next morning. The diziness had disapeared and you almost could have thought that all you had been through was just a dream if a uniform wasn’t waiting for you on a chair. The expensive cloth slipped through your hands and its blackness seemed to bled in the darkness of the room. There was no more color than this black on the uniform which meant that you’ll be spared to be the only person sporting the ceremonial robe -and also that you’ll have your dormitory sorting-.

You showered, put on your new clothes and waited for approximately fifteen minutes before your father came to pick you up. What followed will likely stay with you forever. As you walked behind your father, you listened as he told you the surprise he had when he found out that his dear daughter was going to be the first girl at Night Raven. He explained that he was leading you to the dorm leader meeting he gathered just for the occasion.

The next events are still cristal clear in your memory. Your father asking dramatically

the dorm leaders to take care of you, the introductions of everyone and, obviously, the moment you said your name in front of the Mirror of Darkness. The latter left its mark on you the most.

You had never seen the Mirror before this moment. Floating by magic, the face in its centre was looking at you without really seeing you. Behind you, the dorm leaders and the headmasters had formed a semi-circle which added undesired solemnity to the ambiance. Their gazes weighed on your back and didn’t put you at ease. You will be fine said Idia, show them what you're worth said your defender. You took your steps thinking of theses sentences.

"It is thee… reveal thy name."

There was a deathly silence in the room as you stuttered your name.

"The shape of thy soul… harmonizes with the spirit of Scarabia."

So that was now official, you were now part of Night Raven and of Scarabia. The Mirror of Darkness had consented so no one could object.

"Well, it'll make it easier to invite you to the banquets", rejoiced Kalim under the hostile gaze of your father. "If you’ve joined Scarabia it means you're very resourceful, I can't wait to see where it takes you. Anyway, we need to find you a room. Hum, our only free room is not cleaned, would you mind sleeping in my room for one n-"

"The room will be ready before tonight, interrupted your father while staring icily at your dorm leader. Now, congralutations angel ! I’m so proud of you, your new life in Night Raven can really start now. I’ll let Mr Al-Asim explains you what you need to know, you can also come and ask me directly if you’re more at ease with me. Here is your magical pen."

He gave you your pen adorned with a grey crystal tinged with purple and winked at you.

"It's not exactly by the book, but I thought it would be a nice gift to give you the first magical pen I had"

And that was how you became a student at one of the most prestigious schools of magic. You never really had a clear explanation for the fact that you were the only girl chosen by the Mirror or for the state of trance that followed your transportation. All of which led to you to start the school year a bit late, which didn't help to go unnoticed.

You think about all of that as you’re walking to class. You really depended on Kalim and the others dorms leaders back then. You often needed directions or an explanation of how the school lifestyle worked. That is usually the kind of thing you ask friends or acquaintances, the fact is that it's hard to connect with people when you're shy and trying to escape the over-attention you've been subjected to for weeks. So, when you were in desperate need of help, you called the only people you knew a minimum of. It’s taken you forever to press the "call" button but at least, when it was done, you knew what you had to do. They probably didn't mind either, because your calls were only left unanswered a few times. Idia was of course always present and more comfortable on the phone than when you first met him, Riddle had to obey the duty of being dorm leader so he always answered, Leona went straight to the point but answered, Vil was the same, Azul was generally busy and Malleus seemed strangely pleased to chat with you, as if it was entertaining him to talk about your boring old life. And how forget Kalim? He was always by your side since you joined Scarabia, so much that you almost wondered if your father hadn't ordered him to watch over you, although if he had, Jamil would have made a better choice.

As you take out your notebooks to prepare yourself for the long hour ahead, you tell yourself that you would give a lot to go back to Scarabia's lounge and have fun with the animals that were basking there. They were probably the main reason you were so happy to be in that dorm. No offense, but Kalim's banquets... let's just say you've never seen one. His invitations have remained unanswered, and it was probably for the best. And the people ? You felt good with the dorm leader and the vice dorm leader but with the other students it was different. Their eyes stuck to your skin, like the sand of the surrounding deserts, and there was nothing more unpleasant.

"Miss Crowley, if you would be so kind as to pay more attention to my lecture, it would be my pleasure. Unless I'm boring you?"

The whole class turns its attention to you and you lower my head in shame.

"No, sir. I’m sorry, I… I’ll pay more attention."

"Good."

You hate how your last name sounds between his lips. Those syllables have never brought such a feeling of unease until now. You don't even know anymore if it's you who's going crazy or if every person voluntarily insists on that name when they call you. You just want them to call you by your first name.

You were going to take your pen to write down the new dates written on the board but a feeling of discomfort runs down your back. With your head still down, only your gaze travels through the classroom until you meet the green eyes of your observer. Sebek's pale, expressionless face appears in your field of vision. There's no animosity in him, yet you can't hold his gaze. You wonder if he thinks you disgrace your father, or Malleus, by your actions.

Sebek looking away, you start to pay close attention to the class, writing down everything even if your wrist starts to get tired. Only Mr. Trein's voice pierces the silence that weighs on the students. You want this class to end soon so you can move on to the next one. If you could skip the breaks and the lunch, everything would be fine. It's not that Kalim or Jamil's company bothers you, but the fact that you can't go unnoticed anywhere is bothersome.

It's like having your wish granted when a staff member enters the classroom.

"Excuse me for disturbing you in the middle of class, but I'm here to inform you that the evacuation plan has just been initiated. The bell will ring in a few minutes and in the meantime we're informing you that the regulatory procedure must be followed."

One moment the surprise appears on Mr. Trein's face, only to be replaced the next by a frightening indifference. He opens his mouth to answer, but the man has already left.

"All right, everyone please follow me in a line to the Hall of Mirrors. I don't want to hear from any of you, so save your questions for later."

The seriousness of the situation spread among the students who remain silent. In spite of the teacher's words, the students pack up their belongings before hurrying to follow the others out of the room. With a nervous step you follow your classmates in the corridor where other classes are already on their way to the Hall of Mirrors. You look on unfamiliar faces for a trace of understanding, but all you see is a general confusion.

At the front, Sebek is turning his head around like he's looking for someone. Sliding between the students of your class, you approach him and pull on his sleeve. His gaze that waltzed between the students lays on you but, as you were going to speak, a strident ringing resonates between the walls of the corridor. Before it's even over, he makes a gesture that orders you to stay silent. We’ll know later, he seems to say.

Forced to follow the movement of the mass, you shut up and stay by Sebek's side while the sweat runs down your forehead. He continues his search and you begin to do the same, your gaze passing nervously from person to person. The dorm leaders have to be there, it's their job to manage the students in their dorm. You're almost tempted to call Kalim, but now is really not a good time.

"-We will enter the hall, from there I count on you to follow the orders of your dorm leader and enter your domitory calmly. Some of the dorm leaders are absent, so please follow the directions of the staff in that case." a voice you don’t recognize says.

Your class comes in and you starts looking for someone who can give you answers. In the middle of the room you think you recognize your father's silhouette. You walk towards him but a firm hand grabs your arm and prevents you from continuing.

"The mirror that leads to Scarabia's dormitory is not in this direction." remarks Sebek

"I...I know, I want to go see my father"

"You're picking the wrong time."

You're too intimidated to respond anything when a familiar voice comes up:

"Let her go, Sebek. I need to talk to Mr. Crowley, she can come with me. Join the others, Lilia is already taking care of the students."

As if struck by lightning, Sebek lets go of your arm and turns in a flash towards Malleus. He hesitates, turns towards you, and finally leaves under the keen gaze of Diasomnia's leader. The latter, after making sure that Sebek is joining the others, starts to make his way in the crowd with no problem. Impressed and astonished by what has just happened, you quickly follow Malleus' great strides, using his wake to make your way. In a few seconds you're standing next to your father who’s giving orders to various strangers.

"Sir, it seems like your daughter would like to tell you something" interrupts Malleus.

Your father is quick to notice the imposing stature of the man at your side, his gaze slides towards you. Before you can even say something he speaks up :

"Sorry, I don’t have time to talk with you right now, darling."

"Dad, please, why the evacutation plan has been initiated ? Surely, I...I can make myself useful !"

"You’re a student, young lady, you don’t have to know this kind of thing. Everything will be explained later. Now please, I will feel better once I know you are in security."

"I understand, but please, I have to do something! Why are we leaving the school?" you insisted

"That’s enough ! I told you to g-"

"There’s a feral beast who has gone out of control, and it is on school grounds."

Malleus’ calm voice stopped your father mid-sentence. From his altitude, he observes you with curiosity. Before you or your father can answer him, he goes on:

"The first time we met, you seemed constantly uncomfortable, you still do. However, it’s crystal clear that you want -that you always wanted- to prove yourself. I heard that you’re quite good with animals, even with the beasts. Surely, you’ll be able to help though you’re still quite young…Kingscholar ! Can you lead her to the beast ? I’m sure that with your keen sense of smell it will be no problem for you."

Nothing make sense anymore. The dorm leader of Diasomnia is helping you. On the other side of the Hall you see Leona already on his way, he’s mumbling something under his breath. Leaving before your father can hold you back, you whisper :

"Why ?"

"I told you the first time we met : I want to see your skills in action."

You ran out of the room and away from your father.

In the corridors, you follow Leona, and in complete silence. You two haven't exchanged a word, if you take away Leona's constant grumbling which can be summed up as: "Malleus doesn't have to give me orders", "why would they take a kid to the front ?", "for once I wasn't going to have class even though I came; I could have slept in peace".

On your side, you didn’t say anything because you are scared of losing heart. You want to be useful, you want to not be seen as the Headmaster’s daughter anymore. It is time to show them.

"I can smell your fear. You stink." smirks Leona.

Oh well, it’s been long since the last time you wanted to bury yourself six feet under.

"I’m sorry, I can’t really help it. I don’t know what to expect, you know, how exactly the beast will be and all."

"Why did you come in the first place if you're already trembling just imagining what's waiting for you ?"

He didn't say that in a mocking tone, but it touches on sensitive points that you want to ignore. You didn't think much when you ran to your father. You wanted to make yourself useful, help others as best as you could, you wanted your dad to trust you enough to tell you what was going on, yes ; but you didn't want to fight.

"It’s dumb...I...I want everyone to acknowledge my skills. I can’t stand to be « Crowley’s daughter » anymore !" you hissed the last part, an unknow rage burning in you.

When Malleus had trusted you by revealing that a beast was in the school grounds, your heart skipped a beat. Beasts, that was your specialty. Malleus knew it and he gave you a chance to help. You're full of gratitude and you don't want to disappoint him.

Leona doesn’t answer, you almost wonder if you've shocked him. But he suddenly turns to you:

"You think it will change anything ? You can prove you’re strong, but in the end people will find a way to compare you to your father. Your efforts will be reduced to genetics, or to a privileged education. You can try to contradict them, but people like to put others in boxes."

You are surprised by his practical tone, you can tell he is trying to warn you. Still, you don’t want to listen to this kind of speech. You want to hear that you’ll make it, that they will see you for what you are.

"They don’t know who I am, they have their idea but that’s what it is : an idea. Nothing more than an illusion. I can’t change the fact they will never know who I am really, but I can change the box. I’ll...I’ll switch boxes. I’ll be the one who’s capable, who must be respected. I will not be the resigned person anymore."

You two stopped walking. You are looking at each other, it may only be on your side, but you feel a mutual understanding in spite of your awkward words. You feel that this time he won't contradict you.

"At first I thought you were, uh, sorry for the term, dull. I realize that I was wrong." embarrassed, you blush a bit at his words.

"I guess we all put other people in boxes, it’s fine" you mumble under his intense gaze.

You quickly start to walk again, hoping he'll follow you, which he does his laughter echoing on the walls. Your cheeks are burning as he catches up with you in a few strides. It's not just his confession that makes you blush, it's also what you didn't say. Unconsciously, you didn't have a good idea of Leona yourself. You resented him for not trying harder, you saw in him what you feared to become on day. Someone who had given up who, faced with too many failures, has not been able to continue. You didn't know what he had faced, but you recognized yourself in him and you were afraid. Afraid of him, afraid to look at youself and not being able to hold up your own gaze.

But here, the morning light coming through the windows. In the religious silence of the empty corridors. In his company. You tell yourself he’s a lot more than you thought he was. You want to tell him too, but you don’t know how to express what you’re feeling, so you keep silence and let this moment sink in.

You look ahead and think you're on the right path. Maybe it's crazy to go up against a beast, but you're not alone, and you've almost forgotten that. You wonder where the others are, the impulse to get your phone out to get news is strong. In the Hall of Mirrors, you saw the Heartslabyulst students lined up perfectly which probably came from Riddle’s presence ; you saw too the Ignihyde students hurrying back to their domitory, perhaps Idia was one of them. Were the others fighting already ?

You try to pay attention to every sound -though you know Leona would notice before you do if something was approaching-. It seems the talk with the lion calmed you down because you notice that you pulse calmed down. Your hands are still clammy, though. You never noticed how gloomy the atmosphere of an empty school is. You really don't feel comfortable there, especially knowing that danger is approaching with every step.

Leona comes to a sudden halt, raising his arm to block your path. His ears are pricked up and all his senses seem to be alert. You hold your breath and wait.

"I know where they are : the schoolyard. I heard a shout, let’s go. "

It was about time. Quickly you enter the last corridor that will lead you to the beast and the others. Your heart beats in your ears and you see red. Leona heard a scream, is anyone hurt? In several strides you'll know. Anger and fear turn your stomach as you almost start to run. Coming in like a cannonball isn't going to help anyone, especially if they have the upper hand on the beast.

Daylight dazzles you, but hearing don’t deveive: they're there.

You notice the beast first. It stands on its hind legs, its angular body in plain sight. Sharp, black claws plough the ground, while its tail flaps in the air like a furious cat. Saliva drips from its mouth and, like acid, kills the vegetation on which it falls. It's not a normal beast, something's wrong.

In front of the creature, their magic pencils as their only weapons, Vil and Azul are in a defensive position. Behind the beast, a shadow sneaks in discreetly, you suspect that it’s Kalim who‘s trying to take the creature by surprise. At this distance, it's hard to tell if one of them is injured or not.

By observing more closely, you notice other people hidden in the scenery. A multitude even. From the treetops, in the upper floors. Some of Night Raven staff members who had been waiting for several minutes for the beast to be brought into the yard by the dorm leaders. At that moment you understand that as soon as they will retreat, the beast will be executed by the flood of magic that will come rushing towards it.

You take one step forward, the first one that would have been followed by several others faster and faster in order to create a barrier between the beast and the prefects, in hopes of stopping the fight. But Leona's grip on your shoulder is holding you back.

"They’re fine, the situation is in control, they’re tired but not badly hurt I think."

That’s good, but that’s not the issue. They’re going to kill a beast in the middle of the school, in front of you. You don't want to see this. All your life you've loved the creatures of the world you were born into. You've tried to understand their behavior so you could tame them better. A beast would never have come to Night Raven on its own, it would have stayed on its territory unless one of its children was abducted or if it was totally disoriented. Besides, how did it get in so easily ? Does that mean it beat the guards ? Given the field of magic you feel running through the area, it's likely.

"There’s something wrong with the beast. I need to get closer so I could understand the situation and help it."

"And you're going to interrupt when the mission's about to be successful?" he stops a moment and observes you reaction, you make a point of keeping a determined expression. "Eh, suit yourself."

His hand lets go of your shoulder and you’re free to move forwards. You don’t waste time and rush to Vil and Azul. A voice orders you to turn back to safety but you ignore it. If they try to restrain you, there's a good chance they'll end up hurting you. So you have a chance to reach your goal.

The closer you get, the more magic flows through your body in an electrifying feeling. You’re now able to see that the silhouette behind the beast was indeed Kalim’s. You catch his eyes and, as you keep running, you see his expression crumbles and turns into one of pure distress. Vil and Azul too, just noticed your presence, but it’s too late for them to stop you. You’ll think about your excuses later.

"What are doing here ! I thought you were with the others, go back before it hurts you !" Azul exclaims

"Don’t attack, I can calm it, I swear !"

"Are you out of your mind ? This beast isn’t in its normal state, it almost hurt us badly ! You’re only a first grade, go away !" yells Vil at you.

They won’t listen, in a way you think they are right, you’re not strong enough to face the beast. However, if you play your cards right, no one will be hurt. If you don’t, well, this is a risk you're willing to take in order to help this creature. Your mother would probably tell you that you’re still putting your well-being in danger so as to help inferior beings, that it’s all good to be altruistic but that you have to be selfish to be happy in life. She may be right. But those animals are your life, as dramatic as that sounds. They are your second family, the one that gave you a reason to keep studying and you will not abandon them.

Despite your arrival, the boys manage to keep the beast's attention on them. You feel the weight of Kalim's gaze on you, you’re sure that he doesn't approve of what you’re doing but that he will have your back. The beast is now at only a few steps from you, you need to calm down and apply what you've learned.

You focus on your breathing and try to forget about the black claws that could shred at any moment. For a while, you bring up memories of happy moments: the summer picnics with your parents, when you finally managed to chat with a doe, when you spent an evening chatting with Idia on the phone and you both felt that feeling of mutual understanding, when Kalim showed you pictures of the animals from his home country, when Riddle helped you solve a problem and you were shoulder-to-shoulder, when Azul let you order whatever you wanted at the Mostro Loungue after you beat him at an animal language test, when Vil combed your hair one morning when you didn't have the courage to get ready, when Leona understood you and when Malleus gave you a chance.

You lift up your hand and let the magic flows in you.

"Outpouring of empathy" you mumur.

Your unique magic allows you to transmit what you feel to the being of your choice. It took you a long time to realize this ability because it was hard to discern. At first you thought it was just a normal reaction, a basic form of empathy present in every living being. Then, one euphoric day when you went shopping, the salesman let you leave without paying. The miser who, because he felt "good", hadn't asked you for a single coin; there was no room for doubt anymore.

Your power also manifests itself by making others feel emotions without you experiencing them. But this side is unstable and, in the present situation, could be very dangerous for you and your friends, so that’s a better idea to stay in your comfort zone.

You see that the beast is beginning to sense you intrusion. It starts to get more and more agitated and its drool starts to foam. The boys keep distracting her but if you don't get the upper hand soon it will turn against you. You don't know exactly what a connection between you and another being can do to you. You've always felt it was a one-way conversation. Maybe it was a mistake, you think as you feel a turmoil running through you. There's definitely something wrong, you've never sensed such negative energy in a creature before.

Trying to infuse calm into the spirit of the beast, you feel a force to push back and try to break the link. You hold on, trying to keep the connection with the beast's nervous system despite the unknow nuisance giving you no respite. Unfortunately, every second becomes more and more painful, the cries of the beast pierce your ears and the streams of magic from Vil, Azul and Kalim drain your energy. Continuing ardently to strengthen the bond, you feel your emotions being overwhelmed by rage.

Your train of thought is being parasitized by the magic that made the creature its host. Your field of vision becomes blurry, a constant whistling resonates in your skull and your legs can no longer support your weight. As you feel your power take the upper hand, you understand that in a few seconds you will lose consciousness.

It's with one last attack from Vil that you win and then collapse, someone’s arms catching you before you hit the ground.

"Why did you let her go ! She could have died, she’s a first grade, a first grade !"

"That’s what she wanted, Vil, and I don’t think you really helped her either. "

"Luckily, Kalim was there to catch her." You hear a muddled and preoccupied voice say. "I didn’t think that she was the disobedient kind, I'll get her to review the rules, maybe that'll keep her out of trouble."

"I-I had a bad feeling about this, w-when I learned there was a beast involved I went to look for h-her amongst Scarabia students but she wasn’t with them. I should have know…"

"It’s fine, Idia. I’m her dorm leader, I’m the one who responsible."

"You’re...you’re not, Ka..lim." you succeed to say.

You lift your eyelids with difficulty, and in the silence that has covered the arguments of Vil and Leona, and the laments of some, your eyes get used to the light of day. You notice a warmth coming from something on your forehead and understand that it’s Malleus’ hand as you see his concerned green eyes looking at you.

"Welcome back" he whispers "You gave the fright of a lifetime for some, it’s rare to see Vil loses his temper. Your father and the staff have gone to get your medical supplies, I don't know if they overestimated your exhaustion, do you feel able to get up?"

"I think...I’ll need one of you to carry me, hehe." Malleus giggles at your answer.

"I don't think Kalim caught her very well, she must have hit her head." laughs Leona.

"I’ll carry her if no one wants to !"

While Kalim is starting a friendly war, Azul comes at your side and helps you to sit down. Your body isn't in pain, but the exhaustion is getting you all bogged down. You've never used your magic so much before, let alone your only magic, and the repercussion is brutal.

Then it comes back to you: what happened to the beast?

"If that’s about the beast that you’re thinking, well, she’s fine. She collapsed a bit after you, her appareance changed drastically. Don’t worry, she will be taken care of" explains Azul.

"And she left this behind" continues Malleus, showing you a bright cristal tinged with black.

He puts it in your hands and you watch it, puzzled. That doesn't look good, you must show it to your father. And talk about your experience with the beast too, if he let you explain yourself in the first place.

Looking up, you wonder what might have happened to you if you had been only slightly less powerful. Suddenly, the light that dazzles you and burns your skin becomes like a treasure as you tell yourself that things could have ended badly for your life. But the boys were there, weren't they? Leona and Kalim were watching you, so they would have helped you before things got dramatic. The seriousness of the situation is hard to see in the way the boys talk to each other and makes you think you’ve just lived an intensive use of magic as it can happen. But Azul's hand on your back, Malleus's piercing gaze and the point of disarray in Kalim's eyes cast doubt on you.

You are not reckless, at least you’ve never seen yourself that way. You wonder if you weren't like that by choice, or if it's just a part of you that you were repressing. You don't think you're repressed, you are struggling with confidence and self-esteem, yes, but you're not repressed.

Your father must be shocked too, though, as he comes running at you, you can’t see his eyes because of his mask. The boys, silenced -for once- by the headmaster’s presence, are surrounding you and it only reinforces the image of weakness you're sending back to your father. Your eyes find the ground, you're used to avoiding conflict and that's not going to change anytime soon.

He lowers himself in front of you and at that point it would be very childish to ignore him :

"I’m sorry."

What else could you say ? Your don’t want to make things worse for yourself and, to be honest, your exhaustion doesn’t help to find the right words either.

You father doesn’t answer. His hand cups your cheek and you remember he always did this when you were younger. It was a gesture of parenthood that comforted you when you were troubled. It's strange to receive emotional gestures after all this time without any physical contact. You’d almost forget the dorm leaders around you who watching you two. In a surge of prudishness, you gently push your father’s hand away.

"I’m glad you’re fine."

Before you can react, his arms embrace you and hold you close to him. His sobs wetting your uniform jacket.

"Dad ! Not in front of everyone !"

"I-I was so scareeeeed ! I’m not letting you go, young lady ! Never !"

The fact that a person like your father was able to conceive a being as calm as you is still a mystery. No reservations are allowed for your father despite the entourage that has just increased with the arrival of the members of the infirmary. And while laughter makes you bury your head in your father's chest, you tell yourself that things could have been worse.

"Sir, we found this next to the beast after she collapsed."

Malleus' voice interrupts your little family reunion. Your father pulls back and you see the crystal, which you had dropped under the shock of your father’s grip, in Malleus' hand. Your father watches him with an inscrutable expression. As Malleus gives the crystal to him, he says :

"I’ll need you to explain me what happened with the beast, Malleus…I’ll inspect this later. Now, darling, we’re going to lead you to the infirmary. Sssh, you need to be taken care of. Shroud and Schoenheit, help her to get up, please. No time to lose, she may be hurt more severely than we think !"

Too focused on Idia's hands, which help you with an endearing clumsiness, and Vil's hands, which seem to be soaked with voluptuousness, you don't notice your father's satisfied smile.

At first I wanted Kalim to scream YEEEEES at reader-chan being sorted in Scarabia

When I did the first part the "you'll be fine" sentence was originally said by someone else but I thought that Idia had almost no line at all so I was like "yeah don't care he'll find out the courage to say it",that's why it's a bit out of character (since he needs more time to open up it was that or nothing lol)

Yes, your father cockblocked you (does anyone wants an alternative universe where you get to sleep with Kalim in a totally platonic situation? lmao)

The focus on Kalim is (a little bit) here since a very similar request wanted him to be more put in the front than the others, but it is also because I thought while reading the first part (man, I hate to read what I write once I published it, it's awful) that he was the more "noticed" by the "reader" because he restrained himself to talk to let her introduce herself

For once, I wanted to write in present tense but I still prefer to write in past tense lol, the pacing of this story is bad but at least I tried. My writing will hopefully get better with time.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #malleus draconia #malleus draconia x reader #vil schoenheit #vil schoenheit x reader #kalim al asim #kalim al asim x reader #idia shroud #idia shroud x reader #azul ashengrotto #azul ashengrotto x reader #leona kingscholar #leona kingscholar x reader #riddle rosehearts x reader #riddle rosehearts

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classicaltrashical · 4 years

Text

Okay I'm not pro-bakugou, but I'm not an asshole that's going to sh*t on you for liking him, but here are some reasons on why I really dont understand people shipping BakuDeku or liking Bakugou Katsuki in general. Not hating on you just stating some canon facts. By the way I tried to censor myself but I just stopped because I got so frustrated with the amount of abuse that Bakugou got away with in just the first few chapters of the manga.

1. Bakugou is abusive towards Izuku both physically and emotionally.

1. The first freaking page of the manga starts out with Bakugou punching Izuku (while probably using his quirk).

2. Page 12 of the first chapter Bakugou slams his hands onto Izuku's desk and uses his explosion to the point it blasts Izuku out of his desk.

- Also note Izuku's body language he is trying to be as small as possible because he already is acclimated to this treatment. He is also seen trying to be as small as possible.

3. Page 15 Bakugou destroys Izuku's notebook (destruction of property).

4. Page 16 Bakugou burns Izuku's shoulder. From the looks of this and Bakugou's attitude towards Izuku this appears to in some way be a common occurrence. Because obviously this is NOT the first time he burned Izuku.

5. Page 17 Bakugou tells Izuku and I quote from the VIZ My Hero Academia Volume 1 10th Printing September 2019 "You wanna be a hero so bad? I've got a timesaving idea for you. If you think you'll have a quirk in your next life... go take a swan dive off the roof!!" After this Bakugou makes small explosions on his palm in a threatening way and Izuku left in the classroom shaking in fear. Even his friends tell him that he went too far.

6. Of course you have the name Deku. Which when used in the context that Bakugou does in the anime means Defenseless Izuku and also uses it as the abbreviation of Dekunobou which roughly translates to "good for nothing."

7. In the flashback of Izuku and Bakugou after getting praised by their principal(?) Bakugou basically grabs Izuku by the collar of his uniform and shoved up against the wall all because Bakugou was jealous and mad that he was not the first and only student to go to U.A. from their middle school and mad because he thought Izuku was hiding his quirk all this time.

2. Izuku is still traumatized.

1. I've hinted at this above, but I don't think I would allow someone with a quirk that makes them sweat a nitroglycerin-like substance to put their smoldering hand on me. Seriously just that scene makes it clear that Bakugou has used his quirk to either frighten Izuku or to injure Izuku.

2. When going in for the entrance exam on page 2 of the third chapter Izuku is shown to turn away from Bakugou and appears to be even more nervous then before.

3. Izuku also thinks to himself about how he has to "stop flinching instinctively." Guys he flinches away from just hearing and/or seeing Bakugou. If you think this can become a healthy and stable relationship......??? Also a few pages after when everyone is gathering around their assigned testing locations someone says "he flinches at the slightest touch" after Iida grabs his shoulder.

- If you think that is freaking natural someone watching that unfold already freaking knows it's not f u c k i n g natural for some to be terrified of another person grabbing their shoulder when they even see the person performing the act. Startled perhaps, but not the way Izuku flinched. Once again in this scene (and like most throughout the first volume) Izuku tries to make himself smaller than he already is by tucking his chin towards his chest and looking away from Iida (who by the way is trying to meet Izuku's eye.) Izuku is so used to being physically abused by his peers that he flinches on contact.

4. Before entering the 1-A classroom for the first time Izuku prays that neither Bakugou or Iida would be in the same class and depicts Bakugou in a pretty demonic way.

5. After the meeting with the principal(?) Izuku instinctively raises his arms to try and block any explosions near his face.

6. After Izuku uses OFA through one finger in Aizawa's assessment test Bakugou is furious and when Izuku sees his barreling towards him he screams in fear. And guys this must be the first time someone has actually STOPPED Bakugou from tormenting Izuku because the look on Bakugou's face is pure shock. Meaning in the years (probably near a fucking decade) nobody has stopped anyone from bullying Izuku. Like that says it all, doesn't matter if you're pro-Bakugou or not Bakugou traumatized Izuku because his abuse and torment went from when they were just little kids after finding out Izuku was quirkless to right after the Sludge Monster.

Do I need to continue into Volume 2 with the whole Bakugou versus Izuku fight? But I will say this...

Izuku has started to heal.

As the manga and anime continue Izuku stops flinching everytime someone calls his name or touches him. He stops raising his arms to block a blow that won't come. He stops trying to sink in on himself. I think the best comparison of this is when Izuku first "raises" his hand in the first chapter to the one during Ectoplasm's math lesson where he stands up confidently and gives an answer.

But healing doesn't erase the past. Healing mentally doesn't erase physical scars (once again it is pretty obvious that Bakugou used his quirk on Izuku.)

Not to mention Bakugou has yet to confront what he did to Izuku. Hell he hasn't even changed much. The only change he did was not always call people somewhat derogatory names instead of their actual name. Don't give me that shit of "well he was kidnapped and felt guilty over All Might's retirement." That's just making a fucking excuse about why he should be forgiven. Was he held against his will for almost a fucking decade? No it was a handful of days and who got him out? Shockingly, but sadly not shockingly the one he decided to torment for years. Don't give me that shit about how apparently being a kid gets you out of trouble. Sure some of it was when he was a kid, but want to know something people age. Hell by the time he told Izuku to kill himself he would have been 14 and most likely almost 15. Which means he should have fucking known better! The only actual excuse I will allow to somewhat slide is the fact that as mentioned AIZAWA SHOTA WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST ADULT TO STOP BAKUGOU FROM HARMING IZUKU! Meaning every fucking adult that saw the way Bakugou acted didn't do jack shit which meant he was raised in a toxic system for years being told what he was doing wasn't something worth being punished for. But still Bakugou should have known better.

The fact that Izuku idolizes Bakugou shows how toxic even this "friendship" is. He is literally idolizing his abuser. And yeah Bakugou is an abuser sure he can be called a bully and a tormentor but he is an abuser. "A person who treats another person or animal with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly"- the fucking Oxford definition of abuser. I mean repeatedly throughout the series Izuku talks about how he has come to view Bakugou as an image of victory.

You want a character to be dating his past abuser? You really want that? I don't give a shit if you write a "they have a talk about their past" before they start dating in your story.

The fact that Bakugou's abuse and the trauma it did to Izuku hasn't been talked about yet in canon is also something that angers me a bit (hopefully Horikoshi has something planned for this). Because it's obvious from their fight during finals and their fight after the provisional license exam that they need to at least talk about it. And then get them both into fucking therapy because yikes they both need it.

And I do not fully agree with Bakugou being forced out of the Hero Course (as some people do), but at least some temporary removal. Mainly put him on probation for a while. Because I believe there are rules in Hero Society that prohibit even middle schoolers from using their quirks against someone(? Right these exist?)

Also if you think for one fucking second that Bakugou did not abuse Izuku and having them in a relationship is not toxic go read the manga and watch the anime both from the beginning because you are missing some cues.

I know that this is was supposed to be about why I don't see how people can ship this and it turned into a rant. I never really care about what other people ship but just think about this. I wrote this mainly because I have seen some people around saying that anti-bakugous overexaggerate and say that Bakugou want not an abuser when ah clearly he is. Like I could go onnnnnnnnn about how much damage Bakugou did to Izuku. We aren't exaggerating you just need to go back to the beginning and see how shitty Bakugou treated Izuku.

If you want to make an argument about how Bakugou is a good guy and how he has learned and changed and it's all good now come @ me I have volumes 1-23 and the other manga chapters on stand by and my Hulu is up and ready.

Not actually looking for an argument but I could have made this post longer but it's now almost 8am I haven't slept a wink and I'm tired.

#bakugou katsuki #bnha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #Bakugou is a bully #Bakugou is an abuser #midoriya izuku #not hating just stating canon facts #anti bakudeku #anti bakugou #anti Bakugou Katsuki

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nobodyfamousposts · 4 years

Text

Missing 3.4 Final

Good news: No more Lila!

Bad news: Cliffhanger.

Fair warning: This is a good 40+ pages.

Adrien arrived at school early that morning with a plan and a hope. He would have also had a speech already typed out if Plagg hadn’t forced him to go to bed. And it wasn’t like the akuma fight had left him with much time to really plot anything out, either.

That was the other thing taking up his focus. Ladybug had been acting strange recently, but it really showed last night. She didn’t cast her Lucky Charm. She had done nothing for Alya as the akuma victim despite having plenty of time to at least talk to her. She had also been particularly stand-offish with him during and after the fight, even disregarding their standard fist bump.

It was worrying. And Plagg’s strange silence on the matter wasn’t helping.

It threatened to eat away at his mind, and admittedly had to some extent. But if there was one thing Plagg had been useful for, it was keeping him grounded.

“You can only focus on one thing at a time. Focus on the here and now.“

In the here and now, Ladybug was not here and there was nothing he could do about her current state. Nor was there much he could do for her today, especially once he reached the school. However, Alya still needed him, and he would be going to school where he would be in a prime position to at least try to help her.

There was no way of knowing how much he could do or what he could accomplish. But he was bound and determined to try. For Alya. For Nino. Even for Marinette, despite her no longer being there.

“Mr. Agreste? The Principal will see you now.”

Adrien took a breath.

It was time to step up.

Damocles blinked in surprise when he entered.

“Mister Agreste, is something the matter?”

“Yes.“ He said, mentally preparing himself for the conversation. “I have something to tell you about yesterday‘s incident.“

To his credit, Damocles had listened to him this time. And he did seem rightfully angered when Adrien told him what he had heard. But his expression at the end of Adrien’s tale was apologetic and did not in any way suggest any sort of action would result.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Agreste. While that does shed new light on things, that does not in any way justify the assault of a student.“

“Sir, I don’t believe that Lila was assaulted in the first place. Or at least if she was, it was by her own hand.“

He appeared skeptical. “But why would she do such a thing?“

“Because Lila is a liar.”

The man’s eyes widened in shock. “What?!”

Adrien took a breath. Don’t back out now, he told himself. You’ve already started and gotten this far. Alya is counting on you.

“Lila is a chronic liar and has shown a tendency to target people who call her out on her lying. She first became an akuma after Ladybug confronted her in the park about her claiming to be her best friend. She became an akuma again and pretended to be me after I told her I would be happy to be her friend but asked her to stop lying the first day she came back to school. She had been making comments and spreading rumors about Marinette after she started pointing out issues with her stories. And now she’s claiming Alya attacked her during an incident when Alya was calling her out on her lies.”

“But you weren’t there for the actual assault.” Damocles countered, skeptical of what he was being told. “So how can you prove that she didn’t hit her?“

Adrien’s eyes narrowed. “With all due respect, sir, where is your proof that she did?“

The man appeared affronted at that. “Well, Miss Rossi did say—

“Lila Rossi is a pathological liar. Her word can’t be trusted.” Adrien insisted firmly. “And Alya just spent all of yesterday telling you she didn’t do it.”

“But Miss Rossi’s cheek was marked.”

“Which was at best circumstantial evidence, and something she could easily have done to herself.”

Now it seemed that Damocles had enough. “Young man, that is quite the accusation!”

“So was her claim that Alya struck her.” Not that they bothered to appropriately investigate it in the first place. “And that wasn’t the first wild claim she’s made.”

“Be that as it may, some minor stories don’t disprove this incident occurred.”

“But they do imply a trend.” Adrien argued. And really, it was more than just a simple trend by this point. If he had plotted it all out, he was sure this was probably her norm. And it made him all the more regretful that he hadn’t spoken up about it sooner.

He had failed to stand up for his friends before. First with Nino and his father. Then with his other friends and Chloe. Then with Marinette and Chloe. And then again with Marinette and Lila.

He wasn’t going to make the same mistake this time.

“Sir, she’s lied about Marinette before. You know this. Three lies in one day: Accusing her of stealing the test answers for a mock exam, of pushing her down the stairs, and then of stealing a family heirloom. All of which were lies used to wrongfully hurt and humiliate Marinette. And nobody listened to Marinette back then either, just like you didn’t listen to Alya yesterday.”

“She has a condition—”

“The condition is just her lying.” Adrien emphasized. “If you know this—if she told you about this supposed condition of hers, then couldn’t it have been a part of the situation yesterday?”

Damocles frowned at that, clearly having forgotten that matter. “But there was the mark!”

“And with Marinette, there was the test answers and the necklace. Lila still admitted to those claims being false. Why couldn’t this be false, too?”

He hesitated. Because yes, these were all things that didn’t add up. They were issues that the Principal and the school should have looked in to more, and really should have handled better. At least better than just disciplining each girl based solely on the word of one person. Especially when it’s the same person both times.

Damocles appeared uncertain, but still seemed unwilling to budge on his position. Emboldened, Adrien cut him off before he could try to make further excuses.

“Sir, with all due respect,” Disregarding that the man before him was far from deserving of any such respect at this point. “I understand that you want to be a hero. And as the Owl, you have supported people. But your actions as a Principal have been lacking at best and at worst, have been clearly biased and unfair. If you really want to help at making things better, wouldn’t it matter more to do so in the role you already have?

It was probably the meanest that Adrien had ever allowed himself to act towards an an adult—especially an authoritative figure. But it was also the most honest, and he for once didn’t regret it.

Damocles looked shocked. Possibly that he was being spoken back to. Possibly the fact that the one doing it was Adrien. He opened his mouth to respond.

Only to be cut off by the door to his office opening.

“Excuse me, is this where the meeting is supposed to be?”

Both Principal and student turned to the doorway to see a middle aged woman. She in turn seemed confused upon seeing them, glancing between the two uncertainly. “Is this a good time?”

“Oh, is the best time!”

Before either male could speak, Chloe Bourgeois appeared at the door, politely (and wasn’t THAT well out of the ordinary for her?) encouraging the woman further into the room and all the way to the Principal’s desk. To the further confusion of everyone besides Chloe, two police officers as well as a man in a semi-formal if not somewhat cheap looking jacket entered the room after. One of the officers quietly shut the door behind them.

Damocles frowned in a mix of bewilderment and annoyance from that bewilderment. “Miss Bourgeois, what is the meaning of this?”

Chloe merely sauntered to the desk, smirking.

“Principal Damocles, may I introduce Mrs. Rossi. Lila’s mother. She has a rather...interesting perception of what’s been going on at the school for the past few months...”

_______________________

“I was so scared! I had never been attacked by an akuma like that before. I’m just lucky that Ladybug got to me in time.”

Not even a day after causing the akuma in question (who had never even gone after her) and already she was back at it as bad as ever. Watching the ease with which she fluttered her eyelashes and quivered her lip was enough to make anyone want to break something.

Alix was finally getting a sense for how frustrated Marinette had to have been for all those weeks when she was the only one to have known the truth. Seeing the way Lila teased and manipulated her classmates with falsehoods and promises she clearly had no intention of keeping was infuriating and it took everything Alix had not to scream at times.

Nathaniel at least had been a comfort—a stable source of sanity and reason during this time. Someone to assure her that no, she hadn’t gone crazy (yet), everyone else was just being that stupid.

But Marinette...for all that time, Marinette hadn’t even had that much.

Given all this, part of her was wondering if what Lila had said was right and Marinette hadn’t decided to run away due to everything.

Part of her wouldn’t blame her.

As much as she wanted to call Lila out on her bull, she knew even without Nathaniel’s grip on her arm, that doing so at this point would be a bad idea. Lila would simply cry and act as the injured party, then Alix would no doubt find herself next on the list of people to suddenly be removed from the school thanks to Lila’s unsubstantiated claims.

It didn’t help that both Rose and Juleka were fully entrenched in Lila’s stories. Kim was there as well and seemed sympathetic to Lila’s fake tears. Ivan and Mylene were also present, though they appeared a bit withdrawn as they stood further away from the small group and were giving each other wary glances rather than respond to anything Lila was saying. Even Sabrina was there, though she was standing off to the side and was doing something on her phone.

Alix had to wonder what that was about, but was in no position to ask. At least, not without the risk of drawing everyone else’s attention. Especially Lila’s, whom was the one person Alix needed to not be noticed by at this time.

Because if Lila did notice her and try to speak to her directly regardless of the reason, Alix couldn’t promise she wouldn’t start verbally tearing her a new one.

Alix and Nathaniel agreed to try and discuss the matter with their other classmates. But with Lila present, that was no easy task. Especially since she would comandeer their attention. Trying to tell everyone the truth up front was pointless with Lila present and in a prime position to retaliate. And trying to get each of them alone would only get Lila suspicious.

Honestly, Alix just wanted to forego the subterfuge and out Lila anyway. And her stupid story and dramatics weren’t helping with that!

“She’s truly a great friend!” Lila continued, dabbing at her completely dry eyes. “Once she heard about the akuma, she came to check on me first.”

Alix rolled her eyes. It took a less than gentle nudge from Nathaniel to keep her from scoffing outright.

Fed up, Alix turned away and headed for the front hallway. She could wait for any of the others outside and away from all that drama. In particular, she had been hoping to talk to Adrien or Nino. Nino at least should be able to give an update on Alya. And Adrien could give Alix some peace of mind by confirming Alya’s version of events. Then maybe they could go to Damocles or work together to convince the rest of the class.

At the very least, they could make things easier for Alya’s return by ensuring their friends knew what really happened.

“Alix, you need to calm down.” Nathaniel’s voice cut into her thoughts as he caught up to her in the hallway.

“I am calm.” She retorted as she spun around on him. She wasn’t blisteringly angry like she was yesterday, at least. That was calmed down, right?

His deadpan expression made it clear he wasn’t impressed and certainly didn’t believe her. He was right and she knew it. She sighed and took a few seconds to clear her mind.

“You’re right.” She admitted. “But listening to that? Now that we know for sure, it’s just…”

Why had they ever believed her? How had they ever fallen for it? It felt like such a waste and hearing Lila keep it going made Alix want to start yelling.

“I know.” Nathaniel agreed, fists clenched tightly around his tablet. “I’m upset, too. But the only thing getting angry will do is attract an akuma.”

“And that would be bad because…?”

“It would give her more ammo.”

Oh.

Yeah. There was that.

Confronting Lila won’t work. They both knew that. Marinette had surely tried, and it hadn’t made a difference when none of them believed her. Granted, that wasn’t truly their fault for not knowing, but it did mean that repeated attempts even by other parties were not exactly guaranteed success.

Still, they had to try.

And it was fortunate perhaps that a certain genius arrived at that moment, offering the first one they could try to convince.

“Max! We need to talk to you about Lila!” Alix called out as he approached.

Max glanced to his bag, appearing uncertain. “Can it wait? I have something else that is rather pressing to attend to.”

“No, it can’t. It’s about what happened yesterday.”

He frowned, his gaze falling back to Alix. “You mean the akuma attack.”

“Are you okay? We heard Lady Wifi made a comeback and that she targeted you.” Nathaniel cut in. Alix would have been annoyed, but her friend had been kidnapped and she had been just as worried about him as well.

Max hesitated. Possibly due to the shock? Or trauma perhaps?

“It was...harrowing, yes.” He finally stated. “Fortunately, Ladybug and Chat Noir were able to restore her to normal and then Chat Noir escorted me home.”

“But do you know what caused the akumatization in the first place?” Alix asked him.

“I assumed it had to do with Marinette’s disappearance.”

Both of the other students blinked in surprise at that. It wasn’t quite what they expected, though it did make sense for Alya to focus on helping her friend.

Still, they needed to focus. “Yesterday, Lila got Alya suspended by making a false claim of being attacked.”

Max tilted his head. “You are certain the claim is false?”

She nodded. “Yes. I spoke with Alya after the fact and she not only insisted she didn’t do it, but that she wished she had.”

That seemed to get his attention. “But why would she regret that she hadn’t harmed Lila?”

“Alya found out that Lila has been making up everything.” Nathaniel told him.

“It was a bunch of lies. All of it!” Alix exclaimed. “From her charity work to her celebrity friends and even that whole napkin thing—”

“You mean her joke?” Max asked.

THAT made her freeze. “What?”

“She claimed to have saved me from a napkin.” He pointed out. “What was that supposed to be if not a joke?“

Of course. Of freaking course the class genius knew and completely mistook the entire situation.

Alix groaned. “It was a lie, Max.“

“Oh.“

A pause followed.

“It wasn’t a very good one, was it?“

Looking back, it hadn’t been. Which only made it all the more vexing that they had believed it.

Nathaniel seemed torn, looking like he wanted to laugh while also trying to hold himself back from slapping his forehead in exasperation.

Max glanced between the two, taking in their expressions and seemed to catch on.

“I apologize. I misread the situation.” He had thought it was a joke that everyone else was already aware of, and only played into that. He hadn’t realized that it was an actual manipulation tactic on Lila’s part and that everyone had been fooled, or that he had helped her to fool them. In a way, he blamed himself for this discovery coming too late.

“It wasn’t your fault, Max.” Nathaniel told him.

“Yeah,” Alix agreed. “We all misread things. Just...in different ways.”

“I guess the question now is what will we do about it?” Nathaniel asked.

That, they weren’t sure. The obvious thing to do seemed to be that they needed to inform the rest of their classmates about Lila. But would they be believed? And if they were, how would they react?

Lila had manipulated them all, yes. But other than getting special treatment for a time, there wasn’t much that any of them had truly suffered at her hands.

No. The ones who had suffered had been Marinette and now Alya, both of whom had found themselves targets of Lila’s more malicious tactics once they had called her out on her lies.

Looking back, the circumstances of Marinette’s expulsion from the school, however temporary, had been not only unfair but also clearly orchestrated. There was no way Lila could have known about the test answers and her necklace being with Marinette unless she had seen it or seen to it personally. Marinette had never been the type to willfully steal another person’s possessions as far as they knew. And she CERTAINLY had never cheated. Nor would there be any benefit to stealing test answers for a mock exam that had no real weight.

Marinette was smarter than that.

She was also smart enough to not just have the test answers plainly visible at the top of her bag the day after the exam. That was just sloppy work, and Marinette was often paranoid when she thought she was doing anything wrong. If she had done it, she wouldn’t have been so clearly surprised.

Lila had been the one responsible. She set Marinette up for no other reason than to hurt her. She had told lies and attempted to frame her.

Alix could have forgiven the girl for trying to play herself up. She was a new girl at a new school and surrounded by strangers who had been involved in amazing things. Alix could understand her trying to lie if she thought it would help her fit in. But Lila’s antics went well beyond simple self-praise, and she could not forgive her for trying to drag other people down. And especially not for trying to frame Marinette for things she hadn’t done and get her expelled just for not buying her bullshit.

And now that she had attempted the same with Alya, it was more than clear that Lila’s actions were dangerous and not simply a one-time affair. She’d attacked Marinette. Then Alya. And thinking back, that one creepy akuma Adrien-look-alike had probably been tied to her as well, meaning she’d had some issue with the blond despite whatever interest she appeared to have in him.

“We need to let the others know.” Alix stated. “And from there, we can work out what to do with Lila.” They would have to. Because her tactics would get notably worse once she was aware they knew the truth about her. And given the response from Damocles and Ms. Bustier…

Yeah, they wouldn’t be able to count on the school officials to actually help them.

To her surprise, Max backed up a step.

“I’m sorry.” He stated. “I want to help, but there is something very important that I have to take care of first.”

Nathaniel frowned. “Can’t it wait? It would really help us out with convincing the others if you were there with us to confirm the truth.”

Max shook his head. Whatever was going on, he was insistent. “I will join you as soon as I can, but this is something I must see to immediately.”

He looked back to the window, noting the approach of Alya and her parents to the school.

“It’s important.”

_______________________

Alya hadn’t known what was going on. Her parents had gotten a phone call requesting they come to the school for a meeting in regards to her suspension. Her hope was that Nino or one of the others had spoken to Principal Damocles on her behalf and perhaps he would be showing leniency regarding her suspension. Or that she would at least be given the opportunity she had been denied previously to actually be able to tell her side and reveal Lila for the lying faker she was.

To her irritation, only her parents were invited inside the Principal’s office while Alya herself was asked to wait. Whatever was going on inside, it looked like a full house. She noticed a number of people sitting and standing around the office, including a couple of police officers (which was concerning). She had maybe all of a couple seconds to notice Adrien was in there and see him give her a shaky smile before the door was closed in her face.

She sighed and took a seat. There wasn’t much else she could do. Whatever the door was made of was pretty good material, because at best she could only pick up some sounds of murmuring on the other side.

She just hoped that whatever was going on would work out. And that maybe if she could get a chance to actually talk, that would be real swell.

“Alya. You’re back.”

The whispers that had followed her and her parents through the halls indicated that news of her presence would no doubt reach the class soon enough. She was even expecting that one of them would approach her, hopefully to check on her or get her take on what was happening.

But it wasn’t Nino who was there to greet her. Or Alix. Or even Adrien.

It was Max.

Alya didn’t remember much from her time as an akuma, but it didn’t take long for her to hear how Max of all people had been her target.

“Alya. It’s good to see you back to normal.”

She winced. “Max, I am so sorry for kidnapping you. I don’t even remember what I did, but I’m really sorry—”

Except his words cut her off.

“I’m not.”

Startled, she drew back and frowned in confusion. “You...what?”

He pushed up his glasses. “Last night, you kidnapped myself and Markov and took us to the the TVi station. You then had us hack the cellphone tower located there.”

She jerked back in shock.

“I did...why?”

He looked up at her, his gaze a strange mix of sympathy and pride.

“You were trying to find Marinette.”

Everything. Everything just stopped.

She had...

Even as an akuma, she had done all that? Gone that far? Not to get revenge on Lila or the school like she’d thought...

...but to search for her best friend?

As if sensing her confusion, Max explained. “You had us hack into the cellphone tower to try and locate her cellphone signal. It was...weak. And strangely disrupted. But we found it. And once you had it, you vanished.”

“I see.” That was some of the night accounted for, at least.

“From what I gathered, there was something strange going on with Marinette’s phone. It wasn’t ‘on’ and wouldn’t let you teleport directly to where it was, so you couldn’t find it. However!” He raised a finger. “While her phone didn’t give off a physical location, the signal was still there. That was what you had us track and that what what you were trying to locate last night.”

On the one hand, Alya was impressed with herself for managing this as an akuma, as well as Max and Markov for their efforts. On the other hand, she had still been an akuma and kidnapped her friends—regardless of the reason.

“At least now I know what I did.” She admitted. “Still, I should never have put you in that position.”

“But if not for you, I never would have been in that position.”

She frowned, confused. He made it sound like her kidnapping him wasn’t actually a bad thing.

“Under your orders, Markov and I had hacked a cellphone tower.”

She nodded, still confused. He had already explained that. What was he trying to say?

Max gave her a rather odd look.

“I’m sure you understand, legally speaking, that such an act is a crime and not something I would do were I not coerced.”

“Of course—”

“So you understand, legally speaking, that anything I happened to find was only because an akuma ordered me to.”

“Well, sure—”

“And certainly not because I took advantage of an opportunity to look up some additional information the akuma did not necessarily ask for but would have wanted had she known.”

It took a moment for the full meaning of his words to register.

She gaped.

He coughed. “Legally speaking, of course.”

“Of course.” She echoed numbly.

Because Max was telling her something. It wasn’t something she was sure she wanted to hear or not.

“Now IF by some bizarre luck I had gotten access to some extra data, I could hypothetically have gained some intel that might be of interest to select persons who knew Marinette rather well.”

That certainly got her attention.

“And IF such data existed in my hands, those select persons would be better able to make use of it.”

Her eyes widened. He wasn’t really...was he?

“Especially if one such person was an investigative sort who would have the skills and inclination to use the data appropriately.”

Oh god, he was!

“Though if that person should get caught, they certainly didn’t get any data from me. And it would do well to remember that lest a number of computer viruses be needed to completely erase their blog and entire online identity to remind them.”

Alya nodded. She barely even took notice of the threat. Not that she had any intentions of ratting our Max. Or even letting anyone know she had it in the first place.

“Of course, that’s just hypothetical.” Max reminded her.

“Of course.”

Max gave a resolute nod. He glanced around for any possible witnesses, and upon ensuring they were alone, he gave her a keychain.

It was cute. A little cartoonish kitty that smiled up at her with such innocence. She recognized the type of keychain it was though. Beneath that adorable exterior lied a usb device.

“Good luck.” Max whispered.

‘Bring her home.’ He left unsaid.

_______________________

Nino sighed once he’d reached the school. He’d been hoping to meet up with Adrien first thing, just to have a buffer and friendly support if nothing else. But the blond was nowhere to be seen and his attempts to call him went straight to voicemail.

He hoped he was okay. While they had talked things out the day before, he knew Adrien was still pretty sensitive.

There was nothing for it, though. He would just have to wait and see his bro when he got there.

...and try to survive in the meantime.

Nino was admittedly less than happy when he arrived to the school knowing Alya wouldn’t be there.

But seeing Lila sitting on the bench surrounded by his friends and lamenting over the ‘horrible akuma that tried to attack her the night before’?

He could see why Alya had lost her cool yesterday.

“Oh, Nino!” She exclaimed when she saw him, sending the rest of the class looking his way. She seemed to actually draw back from him as if uncertain, something he could now tell was method acting and a play for sympathy. “I’m so sorry for what happened yesterday. I never wanted Alya to get in trouble.”

Of course she didn’t, he thought sarcastically. She only lied about Alya attacking her to make herself look like a victim when Alya called Lila out on her crap.

He couldn’t quite bring himself to speak out. It was like he couldn’t form the words. Both Rose and Juleka were staring at him warily. Kim was frowning, though his focus seemed to be on Lila. Ivan and Mylene were giving him sympathetic looks. Sabrina was there as well, close enough to be “with” of the group but far away enough to not actually be part of the conversation.

He clenched his fists around his bag straps.

“Lila, dude...er...ette.” He started, trying to be as polite as he could bring himself to be. “It’s early and I’m just really not up for talking about it if it’s all the same to you.”

Lila gasped. “You don’t think she was right to hurt me, do you?”

It felt like all the air was being sucked out of his chest as everyone around them gasped at that and stared at him in shock.

“What?! No! No one deserves to be hurt!” Rose insisted, coming up to Lila’s side. “Right, Nino?” She added, looking up at him expectantly.

“Whatever happened yesterday wasn’t cool.” He replied, neutrally. Hoping that she would simply leave it at that.

But that wasn’t good enough. She covered her eyes and gave a wail.

“You do blame me!”

“I didn’t say that.” He insisted.

“But you didn’t not.” She shot back with a small sob that drew the classmates close to her. Rose put a hand on Lila’s shoulder in comfort while Juleka sent him a clear frown.

Oh god. It was like nothing he said could be the right answer or even just left alone. Anything he tried to say would be twisted and turned against him.

Was this what had happened with Alya?

Was this how it was for Marinette?

Or hell, Adrien? It was little wonder he was so scared to speak up then! How could he when it was like this? When Lila made it this hard to even dare to speak.

That was why...

He took a breath and straightened his cap, readying himself for what he was about to do.

“I shouldn’t be expected to apologize for what other people do.” Nino stated flatly. “But even if that were the case, I would still stand by Alya before I ever bow to you.”

Lila reared back in (fake) hurt. The others all stared at Nino in shock or outrage.

“Nino!” Kim gaped.

“How could you!” Rose exclaimed, tearfully.

Juleka’s frown grew into an outright glare.

Ivan and Mylene though…

They were gazing at each other, hands clasped. On the cusp of a decision. One he hoped was in his favor.

“You’re just as bad as Alya!” Lila cried out, hiding her eyes behind her palms. “You and Alya both!”

“Say that to me without covering your eyes and I may actually believe you.”

“You may want to check her hands first.” Came a voice from behind him. Nino looked over his shoulder to see Alix and Nathaniel arrive, the girl giving Lila a particularly dirty glare. “I wouldn’t put it past her not to be using some sort of eyedrops to complete the look.”

“Please.” Nathaniel said with a roll of his eyes. “With her level of acting, she’s probably taught herself how to cry on command.”

Nino hadn’t been expecting either of them to speak up on his behalf, but he was certainly grateful as they both seemed to be in his corner.

The air wasn’t nearly as oppressive now. He could speak and let his voice carry. He turned back to the others, resolute.

“Lila’s a liar.” Nino announced to the group present. “She’s lied since the first day she came to our class. She’s not Ladybug’s friend and she never spoke to her about looking for Marinette—both Alya and I can confirm this when we spoke to Ladybug during the search we did two days ago.” Around him, he saw eyes widen in shock and Lila’s in fear.

Seeing the response, Nino felt emboldened. “Alya didn’t do a damn thing to her and I would bet my hat that Marinette never did either.”

“Just because she’s your girlfriend doesn’t mean she’ll tell you the truth!” Lila insisted.

“I trust her more than I’ll ever trust you.” Nino shot back. “Especially after what you’ve put her and Adrien both through yesterday.”

Lila’s head shot up in surprise. Sure enough, her eyes were glistening and Nino had half a mind to follow through with Alix’s suggestion to check her hands for eyedrops. “What...what are you talking about?” She demanded.

Alix actually let out a huff. “So she really did say it, then? That Marinette ran away because of us?”

Lila paled as the other students nearby gasped. Nino wanted to sag in relief. It seemed that Alix had spoken with Alya and was at least willing to consider her report on the events.

Nino nodded to her. “Yeah. Adrien himself confirmed it to me yesterday when he ran away after Lila told him that.”

“How cruel!”

“Why would you say that?!”

Lila coughed. “That’s not true! You’ve got it wrong! That is not what happened at all!”

Nino crossed his arms, glaring at Lila. “That’s not what Adrien says.”

“He misunderstood!”

“And his report matches Alya’s.”

“She’s twisting things!”

That seemed to get the others thinking. Ivan and Mylene both had heard Adrien’s account first-hand. They knew the truth of what Lila had said to instigate the situation even if they weren’t sure whether the attack itself had actually happened. As such, they both looked ready to speak up.

Except…

Kim stepped forward first.

“So, I wasn’t going to say anything,” He said, directing his words at Lila. “But there are a lot of things that haven’t been adding up here for a while.” He rubbed the back of his head, uncertainly. “Your injuries have been all over the place, and I’m talking literally. Your tinnitus would switch ears. You claimed a wrist injury but never wore a brace for it. And when you fell down the stairs, you didn’t have any scratches or bruising afterwards. There were too many and they were never consistent. There just never seemed to be a good time to ask and I didn’t want to make assumptions.”

He shrugged to the others, apologetically. “But if we’re getting everything in the open, I couldn’t help but notice how Lila’s injuries were suddenly not a problem during our search party for Marinette.”

Lila froze. “What?”

Kim frowned. “You went out of your way to join us, Adrien’s group specifically. And you had no issue keeping up with us until he left and you were suddenly too weak to continue. But up to that point, you didn’t seem all that inclined to help with the search. If it was your injuries, that’d be one thing, but instead of bowing out yourself, you kept trying to get the rest of us to drop it.”

“What? That’s not true!” Lila insisted.

“Looking back, she had seemed pretty intent on trying to stop us from helping in the search.” Nathaniel noted.

“Hey yeah! Weren’t you saying you had Ladybug helping in the search?” Alix questioned. “Was that even true?”

“It wasn’t.” Nino insisted. “Ladybug herself said she had only just heard about the case from Chat Noir.”

“That was before I talked her into it.”

“It was after you said you spoke to her.” Nino cut her off. “And what’s more, we outright asked and she said she doesn’t even know you!”

“She was lying!”

“Just like Alya was, right?” Alix mocked. “And Marinette. Tell me, Lila. How many people are suddenly going to become liars if they point out holes in your stories?”

“She was just trying to protect me!”

“If you needed to be protected, why announce your friendship and make yourself a target in the first place?” Nino questioned, glaring at Lila. “Wouldn’t a real friend of Ladybug’s not put her in that position?”

Lila glared at him with such hatred that Rose found herself backing away in fear. Even Juleka seemed surprised and uncertain.

“It sounds a lot like you didn’t want Marinette to be found.” Came a quiet voice, drawing eyes to Ivan. “If you lied about Ladybug looking for her, then telling people she ran away…”

“That’s not it at all!” Lila exclaimed, losing the hateful glare and trying to make herself look innocent. “You can’t take Nino or Alya’s word for it!”

“We’re not. We’re taking Adrien’s.” Mylene cut in, glaring at Lila in distaste. “He told us what you said. How you started the argument yesterday. Honestly, if Alya HAD slapped you, I wouldn’t have blamed her after hearing some of your comments.”

“And it says something,” Alix mused, “that NOT hitting you is the one thing Alya regrets.”

“So you’re taking her word for it then?” Lila demanded angrily. “She has no proof!”

“To be quite frank,” Nathaniel pointed out blasely. “Neither do you.”

Lila’s ire only grew at that. “What?!”

Ignoring the way everyone stared at him in bewilderment, he merely shrugged. “I mean, there’s no proof other than your word that Alya was the one who assaulted you.”

Lila gestured to herself, angrily. “I’M the one with the injury!”

“Yes.” The artist noted. “On your right cheek, from your report.”

She frowned in uncertainty, able to tell that he seemed to be leading up to something but not sure what. Many of the others appeared confused as well.

Nathaniel pointed to Lila’s face. “Alya is right handed. If she slapped you, her reach should have gotten your left cheek.”

Eyes widened and immediately sought out Lila’s face. Lila jerked back and covered her cheek, but the damage was already done. And if anything, her instinctual reaction only drew more attention to the placement of her right hand over the remaining mark on her face.

“Wait—you mean Lila did that to herself?!” Kim demanded, outraged.

“Of course not!” Lila cried out, but no one really listened.

“It’s circumstantial at best.” Nathaniel admitted. “But from an artist’s eye, the mark and scratch on her face fits more in lines with the awkward placement of her own hand rather than that of someone else.”

It was true. His attention to detail wasn’t definitive proof of anything. But it was enough to make the students doubt.

And sometimes, a little doubt went a long way.

Lila knew that full well.

“Y-you’re just making things up!” She hissed.

“It’s merely an observation.” Nathaniel stated. “I can’t prove it, of course. But your response is rather telling…”

Lila grit her teeth. She had to get things back under control. “Why wouldn’t I be upset? How am I supposed to respond when all of you are ganging up on me and accusing me of awful things!”

“We’re not accusing you.” Ivan stated flatly, uncomfortable but steadfast.

“I am.” Alix cut in.

An emotional appeal often worked in her favor. When someone would confront her with the truth, crying and acted as the wounded party would often draw the attention of others and gain her people willing to defend her.

She gave out a sob. “I thought...I thought you were my friends!”

“Funny.” Came a voice. “I thought you were mine.”

Everyone spun to see Alya arrive. Max trailing along behind her.

“Alya? What are you doing here?” Nathaniel asked, more confused than anything.

The other girl shrugged. “My parents and I were called in to talk to Principal Damocles. I don’t know why.”

Lila drew back in apparent fear. Though whether it was of the growing force against her or any genuine concern that Alya might supposedly hurt her was anyone’s guess. “You’re not supposed to be here!”

Alya simply stared down the Italian, undeterred. “I’m where I need to be.”

Max shifted his glasses. “We overheard the commotion from the Principal’s office and came over to investigate.”

That it sounded like the potential for an akuma in the making didn’t need to be said.

“Here to attack me again?” Lila asked, making her voice quiver. It was enough to elicit some sympathy and make a few want to move to her side to protect her.

They had to hold themselves back.

“Marinette was right. You lie as easily as you breathe.” Alya said with a roll of her eyes. “I never attacked you in the first place. Heaven knows I should have. At least then the suspension would have been worth it.”

Murmurs broke out around them.

“How could you?!” Lila cried out with a sob.

“No. How could YOU?!” Alya retorted angrily. “I trusted you! I believed in you! I stood up for you and defended you, even when you didn’t deserve it and I had no basis! I…” She choked, gritting her teeth. “I admired you! I wanted to believe you. And you made me want to do better. BE better.”

Nino reached out a hand to comfort her, but it was Alix who held him back, shaking her head slowly.

Let her speak.

She needs this.

“Every time you came to me, I listened to you and took you at your word. All the things you said. About yourself. About Ladybug. About Marinette and how she had been acting. I kept trying for both of you, even when I felt like I was being torn apart.” She clenched her fists, her muscles tightening.

“Do you have any idea what that’s like? Being stuck in the middle between two people I care about. Both of whom I care about. Both telling me bad things about the other? I didn’t want to believe either of you because I wanted to believe in you both. But I kept getting pulled in two different directions until I couldn’t take it anymore. in the end, I was forced to pick a side, and I chose you.”

She glared at Lila with disgust.

“I chose wrong.”

Alya shook her head, chuckling bitterly.

“All this time, I’d thought Marinette was the one being unreasonable, but she had you pegged all along, hadn’t she?”

She took a breath. “I wish I’d listened to her sooner. But the sick thing? The truly disgusting thing that I hate myself for is that even now, even more than that, I wish that she hadn’t been right about you.”

“Alya!” Lila cried out, scandalized.

“Don’t.” She shut her down. “You’re a horrible person and a worse friend. You’re not capable of even being a friend at all. Not to me. Not to anyone.”

And how sad was it that Alya wanted that to not be true?

Alya would have done anything for a friend. She would have moved mountains and scoured an ocean. When Alya put her mind to something, she put her ALL into it to see it through. It was part of the reason she had been so forceful with Marinette in her pursuit of Adrien. And in turn why she had been so adamant on Marinette having undeniable proof about Lila.

“Lila lied to us all. But I’m just as complacent in her getting away with it.” Alya admitted to the others. “I told Marinette to check her sources when she tried to warn me, but if I had checked mine, we would’ve known about this from the beginning.”

“To what? Bully Lila?” Rose asked, clearly uncomfortable.

She shook her head. “No. To know not to simply believe whatever she says without checking first.”

They never had to believe Marinette without question. Their “Everyday Ladybug” never wanted that from any of them. But at the very least, they should have listened and considered her point, if only enough to investigate matters themselves and try to discern the truth.

Marinette deserved that much, at least. Hell, THEY deserved that much. They all deserved better than to be fooled like this. They should have at least looked. That way, if Marinette had been wrong, they could have explained their discovery to her and worked things out. And if she had been right, they could have confirmed it. Either way, there had been other means they could have resolved things.

No one had to be hurt and this whole divide and drama never needed to happen in the first place.

Lila realized she was losing her influence. Individually, none of her classmates had enough to truly counter her. But now that they were all here and collaborating, it was becoming increasingly clear to them that her stories weren’t adding up. She could lose her standing. All the relationships and benefits she had put such effort into.

“I can’t believe it. You’re really letting Marinette corrupt you!” Lila wailed. “And I thought her bullying couldn’t get any worse once she was gone! Now she has you bullying me for her!”

Alix scoffed. “You’re really trying to say Marinette was the one bullying you?”

Ivan nodded. “Yeah, Marinette has been bullied by Chloe for years! She wouldn’t do it herself.“

“Actually, statistics say—”

“Max.” Alix cut him off, exasperated. “I’m sure your statistical information is very interesting, but it’s not the point right now. Especially if you know Marinette is telling the truth.”

He coughed. “Duly noted.“

With that, the pinkette turned back on Lila. “We’re not all completely blind. Even if I didn’t necessarily believe Marinette that you were lying, I could read situations. Marinette never liked you and never bothered to hide it, but the thing was, you clearly never liked her either. Only you tried to be sneaky about it.”

Lila gasped and held her hand to her chest, as if asking whether Alix could possibly be referring to herself.

“Don’t act shocked.” Alix snapped. “If you don’t like someone, you should be glad not to deal with them. Marinette was certainly less tense when you weren’t around, and she simply focused on having a good time with us. But you? You never stopped poking or trying to start something.”

“That’s true.” Mylene agreed. “If you weren’t bragging about yourself, you were complaining about her. In some way, anything that happened had to be about you.” And wasn’t she just kicking herself for being one of the ones to get onto Marinette for her attitude against Lila, now that she knew the truth?

“I was only trying to be part of conversations.” Lila countered. “I never meant to come off as self-absorbed. I just wanted to fit in—”

“That is by no means the point here!” Alya hissed out. “You’ve been lying this whole time!”

“No.” Ivan stated flatly, to Alya’s surprise. “The problem isn’t that Lila has been lying. The problem is that it is clear she has been doing so maliciously.“

“That’s right!“ Kim added in agreement. “Lila hasn’t only been lying about herself and her accomplishments to make herself look better. That at least would be understandable, even if still not OK. The problem is that she’s also been lying about other people to make them look worse. She did it to Marinette. And now she’s done it again to Alya.”

That got the other students thinking. About Lila. About her claims. About their interactions with her. And now Lila could see she was truly losing her hold on them.

Lila hunched over, looking wounded. “Guys, this is ridiculous! Doesn’t it seem strange that this is happening now? Alya is Marinette’s best friend! Of course she would have reason to be antagonistic towards me! Marinette’s loss has been pretty hard on her.” She said, sounding overly sympathetic. “But that’s not justification for her to attack me and accuse me like this! Are you all really just going to take her word for it and do the same? After everything we’ve been through?”

It seemed they were. Looking around to her classmates, she saw guarded expressions and wary looks. She noticed Max standing somewhat in the back and away from the rest, and her expression brightened at the realization.

If she could get the genius of the class to openly confirm her, surely the others would believe it. He was the smartest kid in class, after all.

“Max! Come on! You remember how I protected you, right?”

But the boy only narrowed his eyes at her.

“The throw of the paper napkin had neither the trajectory nor the force to touch me. Even if it had, it was a napkin. The probability of damage was minimal.”

Lila gaped, more shocked that he was against her than the logic he was pointing out.

“But...but your eyes!”

“I had incorrectly assumed your antics at that time to be a joke of some sort, albeit a poorly humored one I did not understand. It was a napkin. I was wearing glasses. It wouldn’t have scratched my lenses, much less touched either of my eyes. At most, it might have left a smudge—hardly life threatening to warrant praise for catching it.”

“I was only trying to protect you!” She insisted.

“Interesting, given that the napkin ball had clearly been targeted at you.” Nino commented.

“Which Marinette threw to intentionally agitate my injuries!” Lila accused, trying to shift the focus to Marinette’s wrongdoings in an attempt to deflect.

Kim frowned. “Yeah, injuries or not, that wasn’t cool of her. But it was a napkin and she was trying to prove a point. It was only once she announced what she was doing that you suddenly acted like you were in pain.”

“Also, I think we need to reiterate that it was a NAPKIN.” Alix gestured with her hands to emphasize the sheer silliness of the entire thing. “It wouldn’t have injured you if you hadn’t caught it. And if it was bad enough to cause you pain by holding a napkin, it should have been in a brace. So why wasn’t it?”

Lila huffed. “I hadn’t wanted to cause a disruption.”

“Like requesting the seating chart rearrange was? Or having us carry things for you?” Nathaniel asked, annoyed.

Kim shook his head, honestly disappointed. “You know, we’re a good group. If you had just asked for help, we would have given it. You didn’t need to lie.”

“I’m not a liar!” Lila shouted angrily.

Everyone took a step back at that, automatically wary.

Rose looked around at each of her classmates. All of them, every one of them seemed to be angry with Lila. Each of them seemed so sure of her being the one in the wrong.

“Rose, you don’t believe them, do you?” Lila asked, near begging with tears in her eyes.

The poor blonde floundered. She wanted to believe Lila. But they were her friends and they were all so very angry and insistent that Lila was lying. She didn’t know. She just didn’t...

A arm wrapped around her shoulder and gently pulled her away from Lila. Rose looked up to Juleka in surprise. The goth girl merely kept a heated glare on Lila.

“You don’t touch her.”

This was it. It was official. Lila had actually lost her hold on all of them in the span of a day, and the worst part was that she had no idea how it all fell apart.

“I can’t believe it.” Lila gasped out. “After everything I’ve done for you—”

“You really haven’t done anything for us.” Nino pointed out. “I mean, sure, you’ve made promises and offers...and they sounded great and all. But this ‘friendship’, if you could even call it that, was generally more about what we could do for you rather than the other way around.”

“Oh, I should be the one saying that!” Lila bit out angrily. “All you did was take Marinette’s seat to get to sit next to your girlfriend and carry things for me. That was hardly any real effort on your part. And in return, you were the ones only being nice to me to use me and my connections.”

“But we never asked you to, Lila!” Rose cried out, getting everyone’s attention. The blonde was still crying, and sounded angry for once. “You’re the one who brought up the people you knew and how you could introduce us! None of us even cared about your connections and famous friends until you started offering to introduce us to them!”

Juleka hugged Rose tighter.

“I just...I just don’t understand why you had to do this. We were happy to be your friends! You only ever needed to be yourself! You didn’t have to lie!”

There was silence.

And then a hiccup.

Lila dabbed at her eyes. “I’m sorry everyone. I was new and scared. You were all so amazing and I was trying to fit in. I only wanted to make friends.”

“Can the crap.” Alya snarled. “There’s trying to make yourself look good to be liked and then there’s the way you’ve been manipulating everyone and actively targeting anyone you don’t like.” She shook her head. “You wasted no time turning on me when I called you out.”

Nino’s eyes widened in horror as he remembered something else Adrien had told him. “That creepy Adrien-akuma was you! You attacked him and turned into him to make him look bad as payback because he knew you were lying and asked you to stop!”

Lila froze, panicked. “I would never—!”

“Don’t.” Nino snapped. “Adrien already told me how you lied your way into his home and got to his dad.” He was still kicking himself for his part in that and helping Lila to emotionally manipulate Adrien.

“You probably faked the accusations against Marinette, too!”

“You got her expelled!”

There were too many accusations coming from too many people all at once. Lila appeared overwhelmed and was clearly struggling to juggle them all.

“It was an illness.” She explained, trying to appear calm. “The Principal knows I couldn’t help what I said. I explained everything and helped her come back. Doesn’t that prove my intentions?”

“Not when you’re the one responsible for it all in the first place.” Alya snapped.

Max looked through his phone, frowning. “That only explains what you said. But that doesn’t explain how or why you got the test answers in Marinette’s bag. Or your necklace in her locker.”

Alix rolled her eyes. “And I’m pretty sure there is no illness that makes you walk down a flight of stairs and conveniently fall to the ground with no injuries before crying and accusing someone of pushing you.”

“Sounds like a whole bunch of lies. All targeted at one person.” Alya stated flatly.

“The one person who wouldn’t go along with you.” Kim added.

“How convenient.” Nathaniel sniped, feeling just a little petty after everything.

Lila crossed her arms over her chest as though she were trying to protect herself from physical blows instead of words. “I was only protecting myself.”

Everyone bristled at the sheer audacity.

It was Nino who broke. “No! You don’t get to make yourself the victim here! No one told you to lie! No one made you slap yourself and accuse Alya. And no one forced you to do those things to frame Marinette! That was all you!”

“You can’t even say they were threats to you.” Ivan pointed out. “We all believed you, remember? You knew that.”

“They’re the liars!” Lila shouted. “They’re the ones making things up just to hurt me!”

Nino stares at her incredulously. “Do you really believe your own lies that much?”

Finally…

Finally, a break in the mask.

“And now you sound like Marinette.” Lila scoffed. “Always with the goody two-shoes act. ‘We can only be friends if you stop lying, Lila!’” She sneered at the memory. “Are you all really that pathetic?”

“So Marinette was right!” Kim exclaimed.

“Yeah, we kind of already knew that.” Nathaniel reminded him in annoyance.

He simpered. “Well, it seemed right to confirm it.”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?”

“Make it official, you know?”

Alix groaned. “Guys, not the time!”

“It just goes to show that your friendship really is conditional.” Lila said, crossing her arms and looking away, appearing hurt.

“Honesty isn’t too much to ask for, Lila!” Alya shouted.

“Yeah, it’s kind of the basis for any sort of relationship.” Kim added.

“Don’t kid yourselves.” She scoffed. “If that was true, you would have believed Marinette, who had been nothing but honest with you.”

The class as a whole glared at her.

“We’re not going to forget who was the one instigating everything here.” Juleka told her, sounding cross.

“It’s not like it matters now anyway.” Lila stated, snidely. “Everything’s been said and done.”

“Au contraire!” Came a new exuberant voice.

Everyone turned in pure confusion to see Chloe approaching the scene with all the grace of a queen—or at least someone who seemed to think of herself as one.

Needless to say, the assembled students were mostly less than impressed. The one exception being Sabrina for obvious reasons, who brightened upon Chloe’s arrival.

Nobody was happy about this.

Except for Chloe, who approached the group with a smirk and stopped a few strides from Lila.

“Chloe Bourgeois, protector of the weak and Savior of Paris!” She announced pompously with a flourish. “You may bow at your leisure.”

Lila stared, more annoyed than anything. “Are you serious?”

“Chloe, this really isn’t a good time.” Kim started, only for the blonde to cut him off with a fierce grin.

“Oh, but it’s the BEST time!” Chloe said, downright gleefully. “I couldn’t help but overhear your mention of Lila’s antics and it made me wonder about one thing that stuck out to me in particular…”

The rest of the class frowned, glancing at each other in confusion before turning back to Chloe.

“You all said Lila had been lying about getting Ladybug involved in the search for Marinette. Which Ladybug, of course, denied. Then later, she said that Marinette had run away. She said this to Alya and to Adrien.”

Lila raised an eyebrow. “So? She probably did. It’s not my fault if they can’t handle the truth.”

Alya looked furious and even Nino seemed half inclined to start shouting.

Chloe, however, merely tapped her cheek, the picture of obliviousness.

“The truth? You seem so sure of this.”

Lila shrugged, uncaring. “What’s your point?”

“I just have to wonder if perhaps this little ‘Runaway Marinette’ story wasn’t something you told anyone else? Like say...the police?”

THAT got everyone’s attention.

“After all, everyone in the class had to have been called in for questioning by the detectives investigating her case. Since you’re all ‘oh so close’. And if that’s the case, Lila...was that the story you told them?”

“I never told them she ran away. I merely mentioned catching her with an older man and implied a couple of reasons she may want to leave together. Is that a crime?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure it is.” Max retorted, angrily.

Lila looked away, flipping her hair without any concern. “I only told them what they needed to hear. Isn’t that what I’ve done for everyone? It’s not my fault if they act on it.”

Alya stared in growing horror. “Wait...you lied to police about Marinette running away?!”

“What the hell, Lila!” Nino shouted, downright furious. The rest of the class wasn’t too far behind him on that, and it almost looked like a brawl was about to break out.

Lila, however, simply shrugged. “Well, why wouldn’t she leave? I mean, after the way you all treated her, who would want to stick around?”

The classmates winced at that. Several lowered their heads. A few others only glared more hatefully at Lila.

But Alya wasn’t taking it. At all.

“No. No, no, no. You are not turning this one around on us because there is nothing we’ve done that compares to you lying to police about our friend running away!”

“Wait, so not only did Lila lie about Marinette being a slut, she lied to police about it?!” Kim questioned, getting him many dark looks from the other classmates. But he took no notice of this, instead glaring at Lila and looking angrier than they’d ever seen him.

Which rather said something. Kim was often foolish, and at times hurtful. But he was never angry the way he seemed to be now.

Alya frowned at him. “Are you trying to imply something, Kim?” Because it sure sounded like he was minimizing the issue of spreading false claims about a girl in that fashion. Reputation and relationships can easily be destroyed by things like that, and Lila was certainly manipulative enough to try it. Whether police were involved shouldn’t discount that.

Kim shook his head. “Marinette is 15. If Lila had convinced the police Marinette was the type, they could peg her as a runaway and write her off as eloping.”

That certainly got everyone’s attention.

“That would result in her disappearance being deemed intentional and reduce the resources spent trying to look for her!”

“Lila, what the hell?!” Mylene demanded, shocking everyone. The girl never cursed. She never even raised her voice before!

“Mylene...”

“Who does that? What kind of sick freak even does something like that?!”

Ivan grabbed Mylene and pulled her into a hug as she started to heave. It hurt. It was sick.

This was...this was beyond what they had been expecting.

“And what can you do about it?” She smirked. “Nothing.”

Silence.

“Sabrina? Did you get all that?”

The red-head smiled and nodded, holding up her phone. “We got it all, Chloe!”

Lila froze, paling at the implications. “What?”

Chloe only smirked. “I should really thank you, Lila. Who knew you were one to brag so much? I think this should be more than enough evidence.”

Lila gaped at them in horror. “You...you can’t record me! It’s illegal to record someone without their consent! You—you could have edited that!”

But Chloe’s smirk turned downright devious. “It’s a good thing that this isn’t a recording then.”

“MISS ROSSI!”

Lila jumped and spun towards the direction of the Principal’s office, where Damocles and several other adults stood, all of whom were looking rather furious. Adrien was there as well, though he had separated from the group to make his way to his classmates, appearing relieved and disbelieving all at once.

“TO MY OFFICE NOW!”

The class glanced around in confusion, uncertain what had just happened. Looking to Sabrina, Alya noticed the other girl’s phone in hand, with the screen still on. Not recording, but rather in the middle of a call.

On speakerphone.

“Lila.” A woman said, approaching the girl and looking rather cross. She must be Lila’s mother. Their appearances were similar enough. “Young lady, you have some serious explaining to do.”

Alya’s eyes widened as it hit her. Sabrina had been on the phone this entire time. She had been on the line with Damocles’s office. Where everyone including Damocles, her parents, and all those people were.

Everyone in that office had heard them. Who knows for how long? But at least enough for sure for Lila to implicate herself.

Lila shook her head. This wasn’t it. This couldn’t be it. She could still find some way out of this. It wasn’t over for her yet!

“Excuse me.”

Everyone looked to the entrance to see a mostly professional-looking woman entering the room. What did not appear professional, however, was her purple hair. As well as her clicking of a pen, which may have been a habit or nervousness.

Juleka gasped upon seeing her, recognizing who she was. The other members of Kitty Section weren’t far behind, getting some looks of confusion from others in the class.

The woman took no notice of this, merely glancing around at the class.

“I am looking for a Miss Lila Rossi?”

Lila’s expression immediately shifted to something pleasant and seemingly innocent—at least to anyone who didn’t know better. She stepped forward with a polite smile. “I’m Lila Rossi. Can I help you?”

“Yes.” The woman replied. Her glance slid over to Mrs. Rossi standing next to her daughter. “Actually, am I correct in assuming you are her mother?”

Mrs. Rossi frowned. “I am.”

“All the better then.” The woman stated as she handed over a folder. “Your daughter is being sued for defamation of character.”

Everyone gasped at that, but none were more shocked than the poor mother herself. “I’m sorry?”

“Your daughter’s report to police implicated Jagged Stone in a crime. One he did not commit and one that was, quite frankly, disgusting to him.”

Whispers broke out around them. Jagged Stone? Lila had lied to police about Jagged?

Mrs. Rossi opened the file and read through the documents before her face paled and her mouth opened in horror.

“We will be seeing you in court.” Penny stated before turning around. Seeing the familiar teens nearby, she gave them a small smile before going on her way.

“Lila. Rossi.” The woman hissed, glaring at her daughter. Lila actually seemed frightened for perhaps the first time. “Come here. NOW.”

That was it. The final nail in the coffin.

And just like that…

It was done just like that…

Lila was clearly enraged, but forced herself to calmly walk by everyone and head to the Principal’s office where the group of adults and police were waiting.

Everyone moved aside to let her through, willing to watch her walk of shame and bear witness to her upcoming judgement. Lila refused to look at any of them, keeping her head straight and her eyes forward.

She passed Chloe last.

“I’ll find a way out of this, mark my words.” Lila hissed to her as she passed.

Chloe smiled back.

“After everything I’ve done, there’s no shovel that will unbury you.”

She leaned in close to Lila’s ear.

“This was for Adrien, you bitch.”

Because how dare she—HOW DARE SHE make Adrien cry like that!

Lila meanwhile marched to the Principal’s office, seething internally. She was guarded on all sides with no way to slip through or make an escape. And nowhere to go if she tried.

She was trapped. Finished.

Though there was one thing she could do...

Lila allowed her rage and indignation to build.

No doubt Hawk Moth would sense the emotion and send an akuma for her.

She still had avenues to change things in her favor.

_________________________

“It seems Miss Rossi has gotten into a bit of trouble.” Hawk Moth mused from his lair.

“Still...we might as well make some use of this.” He said, summoning a butterfly to his hand and about to infuse his power into it when—

“Sir,” Nathalie interrupted, appearing at his side. “Audrey Bourgeois is calling. The Style Queen magazine can’t seem to finish publication for the expose on the latest runway show. She says they’re missing key pieces.”

If he were a lesser man, he would have rolled his eyes.

“Can’t it wait?”

“No, sir. She is very adamant to speak with you directly on the matter.”

“What is the issue? Everything she needs should be available.”

“That’s just it, sir. It isn’t.”

That got his attention.

“What?”

The butterfly was released from his grip.

_________________________

The group watched as Lila trudged to the office where the Principal was waiting. She entered, but not before sending one final glare back at Chloe and the class. Damocles ushered her in fully and shut the door behind him.

Alya sighed, releasing not only a breath but all of the anxiety and turmoil she had been holding in.

Catharsis.

With Lila’s exit, there was an absence or at least a lessening of the tension none of the class had known they were being suffocated by.

“Does anyone else feel like a lobster that just escaped a boiling pot back into cold water?” Kim asked.

Several chuckled.

“That...is quite possibly the most apt metaphor for the situation.” Max said with a small smile.

His choice of words was silly, but he certainly wasn’t wrong in his description. Lila’s manipulations and poisoning of the class had been going on for so long and slowly getting worse over time. None of them had even noticed just how much more stressful and tense things had been getting with her there. Not until they were faced with the prospect of her leaving and found themselves feeling relieved. It wasn’t quite the sort they were hoping for, though.

They weren’t glad it was over. The relief was less a feeling of freedom and more a sense of uncertainty. Just because a poison is gone doesn’t mean a wound isn’t left behind.

It was sad, as she still had been someone they considered a friend. And there was also a sense of hollowness. They had been lied to, manipulated, and turned against a friend. Lila being revealed didn’t undo any of that.

All it meant was that they had lost a friend. A bad friend who clearly hadn’t returned the sentiment, sure. But knowing that didn’t erase the feelings they’d had. Because they had all cared about Lila. And it hurt to lose that, as one-sided as it may have been.

Now that the source of the toxicity was outed, all that was left was to clean up the pieces and try to work out which pieces were hers or theirs.

“You know this doesn’t fix things.” Nino said to her, tentatively. “That her being gone doesn’t make things better.”

“Yeah.” Alya admitted. “But at least she can’t make things worse.”

Because Lila had been actively sabotaging any efforts. Trying to limit their attempts to search and lying to police to put them on the wrong trail. Enough time had been wasted because of her. How far would it have gone if they hadn’t learned the truth when they did?

_________________________

Ultimately, Lila left the school not with a bang, but with a whimper. Granted, the whimper happened to come with a police escort, but the point remains.

When Lila first arrived at the school, she was surrounded with rumors and speculation. And now that she’s left the school, it was much the same.

Only the rumors and speculation were not nearly as in her favor this time around.

“I heard she assaulted another student.“

“It was sexual harassment, I think.”

“No, she had something to do with that girl who disappeared.”

“I heard she was involved in human trafficking!”

In the end, no one outside of the class and the administration knew for sure what had happened. Lila remained shrouded in mystery, but it was a much less appealing one than when she first came to their school.

Honestly, it was less than Lila deserved after everything. Alya wasn’t sure she was satisfied with that.

But with the ensuing investigation and charges against Lila that no amount of lies could pull her out of, she would have to be.

_________________________

“I’m sorry.” Adrien said, speaking just above a whisper and barely enough to be heard.

“What for, man?” Kim asked, concerned.

“I knew.” He admitted. “I knew all along that Lila was lying and I never said anything to anyone. If I had, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten this far.”

Nino immediately moved to stand next to his bro, placing an arm around his shoulders in support.

Several among the class glanced at each other, unsure. Yes, it would have helped to know, and they were admittedly put out that he hadn’t told them.

Alya shook her head. “Honestly, I’m not sure it would have changed much.”

Nino looked up at her in surprise. “Alya?”

“I mean…” She shrugged. “Lila was good at lying. Like...really good at it. Maybe it was our fault for not investigating more thoroughly, but if we had all known the truth, that would have just caused her to up her game.”

Adrien hung his head, remembering how Lila had been akumatized into Chameleon and abused his friends.

“If you think about it,” Mylene noted with a frown, “she went pretty far to implicate Marinette and get her expelled just because she knew the truth. If she’d do that to her, there probably isn’t much she wouldn’t have done.”

Max nodded in agreement. “Her methods were precise and well thought out. She performed a three-pronged attack to discredit Marinette. It was no wonder her lies were easily believable.”

Rose shuddered. “That’s scary to think about.”

“But Adrien, I’m trying not to be upset...but why didn’t you say anything?” Alix asked.

Kim frowned. “Yeah. I mean...I think a few of us suspected something was up, but we didn’t know for sure like you did. Why not tell us?”

Adrien winced. He opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. He just couldn’t find the words to explain.

It was all the more reason why he was so grateful for Nino, whose gentle presence kept him stable and who knew perfectly well when to speak up and what to say.

“It wasn’t that he didn’t think we’d listen to him, it was that he honestly believed he wasn’t supposed to say anything in the first place. That he wasn’t allowed to.”

The others stared.

“That’s messed up, man.”

Adrien winced again and looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“Look, Adrien.” Kim said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Chloe—and now Lila aside, we’re a pretty chill group. If something’s going on, we WANT you to tell us.”

“Yeah.” Nathaniel agreed with a gentle smile. “We don’t want you or anyone else to force yourselves to be okay with something when you’re not.”

Rose sniffled. She wanted to be supportive, but it was clear she was still hurt by the whole thing. “It kind of hurts to think that you don’t trust us.”

Mylene frowned at that. She understood Rose’s feelings, but at the same time, she understood Adrien’s as well.

“To be fair though…he wasn’t wrong to think that way.” She drew back when the others turned to her in surprise. “Well, if you think about it, we haven’t really been the best at listening to each other either.”

“Maybe if we had, everything would still be okay.” Juleka mumbled as she turned away, echoing what everyone else was thinking.

“No!” Came an unexpected voice.

She spun in surprise, and quite frankly everyone there was surprised as well to see Adrien glaring at her and looking angrier than they’d ever seen him.

“Their only fault was trusting and trying to help someone who never deserved it.” He forced a smile. It was hurt and frustrated, but it was still real. “You guys...you’ve been nothing but awesome this whole time. To me and to everyone you’ve met. You were kind to Lila because that’s how you are with everyone. Lila was the one in the wrong for taking advantage of that. But all of you…”

He raised his head. “Look, we fell for some lies and trusted the wrong person. We all did, even if we realized it sooner or later. That doesn’t make anyone here bad, it just makes you kids.”

They stared.

Nino gave him a side-look. “Speak for yourself. You’re more of a kid than any of us.”

Adrien blushed as the others laughed.

It was dumb.

It was silly and childish.

And yet for the first time, Adrien wondered if maybe things would be okay.

_________________________

Adrien sighed as he fell onto his bed.

After all was said and done, it had been a long...long day.

But at least the truth was known. Alya’s suspension was lifted. Lila was gone. Chloe...he probably owed her a new wardrobe. And Marinette was finally vindicated.

…

...Marinette…

“Kid? You okay?

“I wish Marinette had been there.” He whispered.

Plagg said nothing.

As his own eyes closed, Adrien never noticed how the kwami’s eyes glowed fiercely as he looked out to the city.

It was only once Adrien was asleep that Plagg phased through the window.

_________________________

Plagg was patient. But there was only so long he was willing to wait.

Seeing Adrien like that...trying for her when she wasn’t there? All while unaware how close she was? Uttering his wish like a shameful secret he wasn’t allowed to have?

Something had to give.

And his own curiosity burned for an answer.

He found her lazing on a rooftop. Not even her own balcony, but a random roof of no significance.

“What are you doing?” Plagg asked her.

It meant so many things.

Why didn’t she return home?

Why was she staying out as Ladybug?

Why was she letting everyone think she was missing?

But Ladybug seemed altogether unconcerned.

“I’m patrolling.” She stated.

Which was...not the answer he wanted. Or really any answer to any of the questions he wanted.

“What?”

“Since I have nothing else to do, I’ve been keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Being out like this now, I can try and locate any akumas before they affect someone. Perhaps I can even determine where they may have originated from.”

That was…

Well, it was smart, actually. At least in the sense that she could gather intel and was trying to track down Hawk Moth. He’d give her credit for that, at least.

But it was a simplistic plan littered with holes. Paris was a big city and it would be a matter of luck if she happened to be in an area close enough to catch the butterfly before it reaches its target—assuming she even sees it at all since akumas ARE butterflies and let’s face it, they aren’t the easiest things to pick out and keep track of in the first place.

Then there was the matter that if she was staying transformed, that was taking up a lot of time and energy on a plan mostly counting on chance. Tikki may be a being of energy and power, but she needed fuel to keep it up. And even transformed, Marinette was still human, and thus susceptible to normal human needs like hunger, thirst, and sleep.

And that wasn’t even getting started on the wave of upset that her disappearance had caused, which would just give Hawk Moth more potential targets to choose from like her friend. Alya had come close to track Marinette down that day. There was every chance that more of her loved ones could be akumatized into Champions with any array of powers that might allow them to locate Marinette.

Then if they find Ladybug in the process? He’d said people were blind, but it wouldn’t take that big a leap for someone to put the clues together. And the last thing they needed was for that someone to be Hawk Moth.

“Nice plan.” He deadpanned. “Very clever. Just one little problem: what about Marinette?”

He felt something. A tickle in his throat as he said it. But he shrugged it off and continued to focus on the girl in front of him.

Ladybug scoffed at that. “What about her?”

His frown only grew. “Don’t you think she should be making a reappearance at some point? You know...got a lot of people rather worried about her.”

His kid included.

But Ladybug…

She just shrugged it off.

“She’s just some girl who got lost and is causing people to worry. It’s not like it matters.”

Not like it matters? What foolishness! What outrage!

“Of course it matters! YOU’RE—”

He felt it in that moment. Like a collar around his throat. Unseen but clearly felt as it started to tighten in warning.

Plagg froze, his eyes wide in shock at the sudden sensation as he realized it for what it was. Familiar...but never in this way. Never like this.

But there was only one thing it could be.

“What is it?” Ladybug asked, frowning at him in confusion at his sudden silence.

No.

He opened his mouth, feeling the sensation again. Stronger this time.

Marinette.

No.

Marinette.

It shouldn’t be possible.

Marinette!

She was right there!

You are Marinette!

It was her! She was RIGHT THERE! She was the only one there with him!

“You are—”

He cut off, choking as that damned magical binding tightened and transformed his words while still in his throat. He knew this feeling. He knew this magic. He hated the feeling of it every time.

He didn’t want to believe it. There was no way it could be right.

But logic and possibility didn’t matter as he was forced to gag out the physical remnants of what only seconds ago had been her name. The true name of Ladybug. The name of a Miraculous user.

A name he could not speak to someone who did not already know it.

He gaped at the green bubbles.

This...this made no sense!

It was her. He could feel Tikki’s magic. He KNEW this was Ladybug. And Ladybug was Marinette.

So why…

Why would that binding activate now?

“Plagg?”

“I...I have to go!” He shouted quickly before taking off.

He had to get to Adrien.

He had to see Fu.

Whatever was going on…

It was worse than he’d thought!

#ml fic #missing #missing au #ml angst #cliffhanger #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #max kante #kim le chien #alix kubdel #nathaniel kurtzberg #miracuclass #lila sucks #lila the liar #karma is sweet

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vintagecoldcases · 3 years

Text

Story of Ted Bundy

TW: execution photos, details of deaths

**a more detailed victim list will be posted later, beware of this post if you are sensitive to blood/gore/other oddities of true crime as it will have crime scene photos**

Theodore Robert Cowell, was born on November 24th, 1946 to Eleanor Louise Cowell at the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers. Eleanor was known by Louise and Ted’s father’s identity is unconfirmed. His birth certificate states Lloyd Marshall, a salesman and Air Force veteran, as his father. Louise claims his father to be an old war veteran known as Jack Worthington, this is who the King’s County Sheriff’s Office has listed as such. A few family members believe that Louise’s father, Samuel Cowell, could’ve been Ted’s father but no evidence has been found to support this claim.

Ted was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by his maternal grandparents for the first three years of his life. He, family, and friends, were told that his grandparents were actually his parents and that his mother was his older sister in order to protect them all from the stigma of birthing a child out of wedlock. There are variations of how Bundy found out his true parentage. A past girlfriend was told that Bundy was shown his birth certificate by a cousin, Stephen Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth (both biographers) were told by Bundy that he found the certificate himself. Anne Rule (biographer and crime writer, who knew Bundy personally) believes he did not find this information until 1969. In 1950, Louise changed her surname from Cowell to Nelson and left Philadelphia to live with cousins Alan and Jane Scott in Tacoma, Washington. In 1951, Louise met Johnny Culpepper Bundy at an adult singles night at Tacoma’s First Methodist Church. Johnny and Louise later married that year and Johnny formally adopted Ted. Johnny and Louise went on to have four children together, and whilst Johnny tried including Ted on family trips and outings, he remained distant.

Teenage Ted Bundy

In 1965, Ted graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and enrolled in the University of Puget Sound where he spent a year before transferring to the University of Washington to study Chinese. In 1967, he became involved romantically with a UW classmate, most commonly known as Stephanie Brooks in biographies. In 1968, he dropped out of college and worked at a series of minimum wage jobs; even working as Arthur Fletcher’s bodyguard and driver during his Lieutenant Governor campaign. Brooks then ended their relationship due to Bundy’s lack of ambition. He also took one semester at Temple University after returning back to Arkansas and Philadelphia to visit family. In 1969, Ted moved back to Washington where he met Elizabeth Kloepfer (also known in Bundy literature as Liz Kendall, Beth Archer, or Meg Anders).

Ted Bundy & Elizabeth Kloepfer

In 1970, Ted re-enrolled at the University of Washington as a psychology major. During this time he became an honor student and was well regarded by his professors. In 1971, he took a job at Seattle’s Suicide Hotline Crisis Center, where he met Anne Rule who noted nothing disturbing or abnormal about Bundy. In early 1973, despite his average law school admission scores, he was granted admittance to UPS and the University of Utah. In 1973, he rekindled his relationship with Stephanie Brooks. He also continued to date Elizabeth Kloepfer. Neither woman knew of the other at this time. During this time period, Brooks had flown in several times to stay with him in Seattle. He had discussed marriage with Stephanie and had also introduced her as his fiancee at a point. In 1974, he abruptly broke off all contact. He did not return phone calls or letters. After a month of trying, Brooks was finally able to contact Bundy by phone, asking why he had so abruptly ended the relationship without an explanation. He responded with, “Stephanie, I have no idea what you mean.” and hung up the phone. She never heard from him again after that. He had just wanted to prove to himself that he could marry her in retaliation of her ending their former relationship before.

Ted Bundy and Stephanie Brooks

Ted had been skipping classes in law school by this point and had stopped attending all together by april when the first series of murders were reported. Circumstantial evidence points Ann Marie Burr, an 8-year-old girl, as one of Bundy’s first victims in 1962.

Ann Marie Burr, age 8

Washington/Oregon Murders

College aged young women started to disappear at a rate of about one a month in Washington and Oregon. On January 4th, 1974, shortly after midnight, Bundy snuck into the basement apartment of 18-year-old Karen Sparks (also known as Joni Lenz, Mary Adams, or Terri Caldwell in Bundy literature). He bludgeoned her with a metal rod from her bed frame and then sexually assaulted her with the same rod. She was unconscious for 10 days but survived. She sustained major permanent physical and mental disabilities. In the early morning of February 1st, 1974, Bundy broke into the basement bedroom of Lynda Anne Healy. He beat her until she was unconscious, dressed her in a white blouse, blue jeans, and boots and carried her away from the scene. On March 12th, 1974, Donna Gail Manson, a 19-year-old student at the Evergreen State College in Olympia went missing as she left her dorm to attend a jazz concert that she would never attend. April 17th, 1974, Susan Elaine Rancourt disappeared from Central Washington State College, on her way back to her dorm after an advisors meeting. Two female students later came forward with encounters with the same man. One was on the night of Susan’s disappearance and the other was three days before that. The man had his arm in a sling and had asked the girls for help loading his books into a brown or tan Volkswagen beetle. In Corvallis at Oregon State University, on May 6th, 1974, Roberta Kathleen Parks, left her dormitory to meet friends for coffee and she never arrived.

Police precincts were growing more and more concerned with each abduction. As they had no evidence or connection between each of the girls besides they were all young, attractive, college-aged, white women with their brown hair parted down the middle. On June 1st, 1974, Brenda Carol Ball, disappeared from the Flame Tavern in Burien, near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. She had last been seen in the parking lot with a brown-haired man with his arm in a sling. Not too long after that, on June 11th, 1974 Georgann Hawkins disappeared walking down a brightly lit alleyway between her boyfriend’s dormitory and her own sorority house. After Georgann’s disappearance was made public in the media, witnesses came forward reporting that they saw a man that night in an alley behind a nearby dormitory. He was on crutches with a leg cast and was struggling to carry a briefcase. Another witness had said that the man actually asked for her help. At this time Ted was working in Olympia as the Assistant Director of the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Commission. He wrote pamphlets for women on rape prevention here. He also later worked at the Department of Emergency Services (DES), which helped look for the missing women. This is where he met Carol Anne Boone, and began dating her (as well as Elizabeth Kloepfer).

Carol Anne Boone

Pressure was immense on law enforcement at this time. This was very frustrating as panic spread through young women of the area, with six disappearances and one brutal beating. Rates of hitchhiking in young women dropped drastically. Police could not provide reporters with what little information they had because they did not want to compromise the investigation. Similarities between the victims were noted by the police in their investigations: The disappearances all took place at night, each disappearance was usually near ongoing construction work, also within a week of midterm or final exams. Every single victim was wearing slacks or blue jeans; and at most crime scenes, there were sightings of a man wearing a cast or a sling, and driving a brown or tan Volkswagen Beetle. On July 14th, 1974, five female witnesses on a beach at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, Washington, described an attractive man in a white tennis outfit with his arm in a sling. They also described him speaking in a light accent, possibly Canadian or British, and was introducing himself as Ted. He asked for their help in unloading a sailboat from his Volkswagen beetle. Four of the girls refused but one accompanied him to the point of the car in view. When she did not see a sailboat, she fled the area. Three other witnesses saw the man, now known as Ted, saw him approach Janice Ann Ott. He fed her the sailboat story and she was seen leaving the beach with him. Four hours after Janice’s disappearance, Denise Marie Naslund, vanished after leaving a picnic to use the restroom.

Idaho/Utah Murders and Kidnappings

In August 1974, Ted moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, after receiving a second letter of acceptance from the University of Utah Law School. He continued to call Elizabeth Kloepfer as he lived in Salt Lake, but dated at least a dozen other women at the time. On September 2nd, 1974, Ted abducted, raped, and murdered a still unknown hitchhiker in Idaho. On October 2nd, 1974, Ted kidnapped 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox from Holladay, a suburb of Salt Lake City. On October 18th, 1974, The daughter of the police chief of Midvale, Melissa Anne Smith, vanished after leaving a pizza parlor. Her body was found nine days later, nude, in a mountainous area. Postmortem reports say she may have remained alive for up to seven days after her disappearance. On October 17th, 1974, Laura Ann Aime disappeared after leaving a cafe around midnight. Her body was found by hikers, nine miles northeast of American Fork Canyon on Thanksgiving Day. Both, Melissa and Laura had been beaten, raped, sodomized, and were strangled with nylon stockings. November 8th, 1974, Ted approached Carol DaRonch, introduced himself as Officer Roseland and used the story of someone attempting to break into her car and to accompany him to the police station to make a report. When Carol pointed out that he was not going to the police station, he immediately pulled over to the shoulder of the road and tried to handcuff her. In their struggle, he accidentally handcuffed both cuffs to the same wrist. Carol was able to throw the door open and escape because of this. On the same evening, Debra Jean Kent disappeared after leaving a theater production to pick up her brother. The school's drama teacher and a student told police that "a stranger" had asked each of them to come out to the parking lot to identify a car. Another student later saw the same man pacing in the rear of the auditorium, and the drama teacher spotted him again shortly before the end of the play. Outside of the auditorium, investigators were able to recover a key that unlocked the handcuffs on Carol DaRonch’s wrists.

In November, Elizabeth Kloepfer called King County police for the second time, after reading about the string of disappearances and murders in the towns surrounding Salt Lake. Bundy had risen considerably as a suspect among the King County Police, but the most reliable witness from Lake Sammamish could not identify in a photo lineup. In December, Elizabeth called the Salt Lake City police with her suspicions. Ted was then added to their list of suspects, but there were no credible forensic links to put him at any of the Utah crimes. In January of 1975, Ted returned to Seattle and stayed a week with Elizabeth. She did not tell him she had reported him to the police on three occasions. She also made plans to visit him in August of 1975 in Salt Lake. Unfortunately, Ted’s crimes moved to Colorado at this point.

Colorado/Utah/Idaho Murders

January 12th, 1975, Caryn Eileen Campbell disappeared walking down a well lit hallway between the elevator and her room at the Wildwood Inn in Snowmass Village, Colorado. Her body was found a month later on a dirt road next to the resort, nude. On March 15th, 1975, Julie Cunningham disappeared while walking to a dinner date with a friend from her apartment. April 6th, 1975, Denise Lynn Oliverson vanished while riding her bicycle to her parents house. Her bike and sandals were found near a railroad bridge in a viaduct. May 6th, 1975, Ted was able to lure 12-year-old Idaho native from Alameda Junior High School, Lynette Dawn Culver, to his hotel room in Salt Lake City, where he drowned and raped her. He disposed of her body in possibly the Snake river north of Pocatello. In Mid-May, three of Ted’s coworkers from DES came to stay with him for a week. This included Carol Anne Boone. They stayed for about a week. Subsequently, Ted visited Elizabeth Kloepfer in early June. They discussed getting married the following Christmas. She again made no comments about her talking to police on several occasions. Ted also did not disclose his ongoing relationship with Carol Anne Boone or his relationship with a Utah law student known as both; Kim Andrews or Sharon Auer. June 28th, 1975, Susan Curtis disappeared from the campus of Brigham Young University, forty-five miles south of Salt Lake City. In August of 1975, Ted was also baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints although he did not follow any of the religious practices and was not an active participant in services.

On August 16th, 1975, Officer Bob Hayward of the Utah Highway Patrol, arrested Ted in Granger. This was another suburb of Salt Lake City. Hayward had observed him cruising the residential area in the pre-dawn hours. Ted then fled the area at high speeds after seeing Hayward’s patrol car. After noticing the front passengers seat was removed and placed on the back seat, the car was searched. Hayward found a ski mask, another mask fashioned from pantyhose, a crowbar, handcuffs, trash bags, rope, an ice pick, and other burglary tools. Ted had said that the mask was for skiing, he found the handcuffs in the dumpster, and the rest were household items. Detective Jerry Thompson remembered a similar looking suspect and car description from Carol DaRonch’s attempted kidnapping. Police then searched Bundy’s apartment and were able to turn up a guide to Colorado’s ski resorts with a checkmark next to the Wildwood Inn. They were also able to find a brochure for Viewmont High School play in Bountiful where Debra Kent disappeared. They although did not find enough evidence to detain Ted and he was released on his own recognizance. Ted claimed later that investigators missed his collection of polaroid photos of his victims and he destroyed them after his release. Salt Lake police placed Ted under a 24 hour surveillance.

Detective Thompson flew to Seattle with two other detectives to interview Elizabeth Kloepfer. Elizabeth told them that in the year prior to Ted’s move to Salt Lake, she had discovered things that she "couldn't understand" in her house and also in Ted's apartment. The items she found included crutches, a bag of plaster of Paris that he had admitted stealing from a medical supply house, and a meat cleaver that was never used for cooking. Additional things she found included surgical gloves, an Oriental knife in a wooden case that he just kept in the glove compartment of his car, and a sack full of women's clothing. Ted was so far into debt, that Elizabeth suspected that he had stolen almost everything of significance that he owned. When she confronted him over a new TV and stereo, he warned her, "If you tell anyone, I'll break your fucking neck.” Elizabeth then mentioned that she would find Ted looking at her body with a flashlight under the covers on more than one occasion, and that he would get very upset if she mentioned cutting her hair. Which was long, brown, and parted in the middle. Detectives interviewing Elizabeth were able to confirm that Ted was not with her on any of the nights where the Pacific Northwest disappearances occurred. This is where Elizabeth learned about Stephanie Brooks and their brief engagement in 1973. In September, Ted sold his beetle to a Midvale teenager, but Utah police impounded it and dismantled it. They were able to find matching hair samples from Caryn Campbell. They also found “microscopically indistinguishable” hair strands from Melissa Smith and Carol DaRonch. On October 2nd, 1975, Police put Ted into a lineup and Carol DaRonch was able to identify him as Officer Roseland. Other witnesses were able to identify him as the stranger from the auditorium at Viewmont High School. He was able to be charged with aggravated kidnapping and attempted criminal assault in Carol DaRonch’s case. He was released on $15,000 bail, which was paid by his parents. He continued to live with Elizabeth Kloepfer during this time.

In February 1976, Ted stood trial for Carol DaRonch’s kidnapping. He waived his right to trial by jury because of the negative views surrounding the case and opted for a bench trial. After a four day trial, and a weekend of deliberation, Ted was found guilty of kidnapping and assault. In June he was sentenced to one to fifteen years in the Utah State Prison. In October, he was found hiding in bushes in the prison yard carrying an "escape kit". This included road maps, airline schedules, and a social security card. He spent several weeks in solitary confinement for this. Later in October, Colorado authorities charged him with Caryn Campbell's murder. He waived his right to extradition and was transferred to Aspen in January 1977.

June 7, 1977, Ted was transported from the Garfield County jail in Glenwood Springs to Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen for a preliminary hearing. He waived his right to a court appointed attorney and opted to serve as his own, and as such, was excused by the judge from wearing handcuffs or leg shackles. During a recess of the trial, he asked to visit the courthouse's law library to research his case. While out of view from his guards, behind a bookcase, he opened a window and jumped to the ground from the second story. He managed to injure his right ankle in the process as he landed. He shed the outer layer of his clothing. He walked through Aspen as roadblocks were being set up on its outskirts after noticing his disappearance, then hiked southward onto Aspen Mountain. Near the summit of the mountain, he broke into a hunting cabin. He was able to steal food, clothing, and a rifle. The following day he left the cabin and continued south toward the town of Crested Butte. Although, during this time he had managed to get lost in the forest. For two days he wandered aimlessly in the mountain forest, missing the two trails that led downward to his intended destination. On June 10th, 1977, he broke into a camping trailer on Maroon Lake, taking food and a ski parka; instead of continuing southward, he walked back north toward Aspen, eluding the roadblocks and search parties along the way. Three days later, he stole a car at the edge of an Aspen Golf Course. He drove back into Aspen, where two police officers noticed his car weaving in and out of its lane and pulled him over. He had been a fugitive for six days.

Back in jail at Glenwood Springs, Ted again ignored legal advice to stay put (not to try to escape again). It was said that the case against him, already weak at best, was deteriorating steadily as pre-trial motions consistently resolved in his favor and significant bits of evidence were ruled inadmissible. A quote stating, "A more rational defendant might have realized that he stood a good chance of acquittal, and that beating the murder charge in Colorado would probably have dissuaded other prosecutors... with as little as a year and a half to serve on the DaRonch conviction, had Ted persevered, he could have been a free man.” had shown that. But instead, Ted assembled a new escape plan. He acquired a detailed floor plan of the jail and a hacksaw blade from other inmates, and collected $500 in cash. This was smuggled in over a six-month period, by visitors, Mostly Carol Boone. During the evenings, while other prisoners were showering, he sawed a hole about one square foot, between the steel reinforcing bars in his cell's ceiling and, having lost 35 pounds, he was able to wriggle through it into the crawl space above. In the weeks that followed, he made several “practice runs”, exploring the space. Multiple reports from an informant of movement within the ceiling during the night were not investigated. By late 1977, Bundy's impending trial had become very high flying in the media in the small town of Aspen. Ted then filed a motion for a change of venue to Denver. On December 23rd, 1977, the Aspen trial judge granted the request, but he was sent to Colorado Springs, where juries had historically been hostile to murder suspects. On the night of December 30, with most of the jail staff on Christmas break and nonviolent prisoners on furlough with their families. Bundy piled books and files in his bed, covered them with a blanket to simulate his sleeping body, and climbed into the crawl space. He broke through the ceiling into the apartment of the chief jailer, who had been out for the evening with his wife. He changed into street clothes from the jailer's closet, and literally walked out the front door to his freedom.

Florida Murders and Assaults

Ted arrived in Tallahassee, Florida on January 8th, 1978, and rented a room under the alias of Chris Hagen at the Holiday Inn. Here Bundy tried to find work and leave his criminal past behind, thinking he’d be able to remain free if he didn’t bring police suspicion onto himself. He then was forced to leave his only job application after being asked to provide identification. He reverted to shoplifting and stealing credit cards from women’s wallets out of shopping carts. On January 15th, 1978, he entered Florida State University’s sorority Chi Omega. Starting at 2:45am, he bludgeoned Margaret Bowman and then garoted her with a nylon stocking. He moved on to Lisa Levy’s bedroom, who was beaten unconscious, strangled her, tore one of her nipples, bit deeply into her left buttock, and sexuallly assaulted her with a hair mist bottle. In the bedroom adjoining Lisa's, he attacked Kathy Kliener. He had broken her jaw and had a deep laceration on her shoulder. Karen Chandler was also attacked in her bedroom, she suffered a concussion, loss of teeth, a broken jaw, and a crushed finger. Kathy and Karen both survived and attributed their survival to the attacker being scared off by headlights illuminating through the window. The whole attack happened within fifteen minutes with thirty witnesses in earshot who seemingly heard nothing. Shortly after leaving the sorority, Ted broke into the basement apartment of Cheryl Thomas, eight blocks away. He dislocated her shoulder and fractured her jaw and skull in five different places during this attack.

On February 8th, 1978, he approached the daughter of Jacksonville chief of Police, 12-year-old Leslie Parmenter, introducing himself as “Richard Burton, fire department”. He only backed off when challenged by Leslie’s older brother who had shown up to pick her up. That day, he backtracked to Lake City. February 9th, 1978, at Lake City Junior High, 12-year-old Kimberly Dianne Leach was summoned to retrieve a forgotten purse in her homeroom class and was never seen afterwards. Her mummified remains were found seven weeks afterwards in a pig farrowing shed near Suwannee River State Park. It appears she had been raped (her underwear was found near the body with semen in them) and her throat had been slit. On February 12th, 1978, Bundy could not pay his rent and had the growing suspicion that police were closing in on him, he decided to flee Tallahassee. Three days later he was apprehended by Pensacola officer, David Lee, near the Alabama border. In Miami, June of 1979, Ted stood trial for the Chi Omega killings and assaults. The jury deliberated for less than seven hours before convicting him on July 24, 1979, of the Bowman and Levy murders, three counts of attempted first degree murder and two counts of burglary. In January 1980, six months after his first Florida convictions, Ted stood trial in Orlando for the kidnapping of Kimberly Dianne Leach. After less than eight hours of deliberation, Ted was found guilty again. During the penalty phase of his trial, Bundy took advantage of an obscure Florida law; providing that a marriage declaration in court, in the presence of a judge, constituted a legal marriage. As he was questioning former Washington State DES coworker Carole Ann Boone, who had moved to Florida to be near Bundy, had testified on his behalf during both of his trials, and was again testifying on his behalf as a character witness, asked her to marry him. She accepted, and Bundy declared to the court that they were legally married. February 10th, 1980, Ted’s was sentenced to death by electrocution for the third time. In October of 1981, Carol Anne Boone, gave birth to a daughter and named Ted Bundy as the father.

Ted Bundy died by the Raiford electric chair at 7:16 a.m. EST on January 24, 1989. Hundreds of revelers sang, danced and set off fireworks in a pasture across from the prison as the execution was carried out, then cheered as the white hearse containing Bundy's corpse departed the prison. He was cremated in Gainesville, Florida and his ashes scattered at an undisclosed location in the Cascade Range of Washington State, in accordance with his will.

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