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whentheresmoonlight · 1 year

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All the Way Home ch3

Read on AO3

rating: teen

pairing: bakudeku

word count: 20.8k/81.1k

summary: Four years ago, All For One and Shigaraki were defeated, taking One For All with them. At twenty years old, Katsuki and a quirkless Izuku are heroes, boyfriends, and partners. Until one day, they’re hit by a quirk that suddenly makes them fathers too. Now, with a newborn baby, they have to figure out who did this to them, and why it means the downfall of superhuman society.

This work is a part of the @bakudekubigbang 2022. Updates will be weekly.

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Chapter Three - Morning bells are ringing

“Wait downstairs. No, I’m serious—wait downstairs. Actually yeah, don’t wait downstairs—just leave the car and take the train ho—don’t tell me to shut up! I’m telling you just—hey!”

Katsuki growled as he pulled his phone away from his ear, grumbling a few choice words as he shoved it back in his pocket. Crafting a baby-appropriate vocabulary would have to wait yet another day.

“Hung up on you?” Izuku asked as he triple-checked his backpack. There hadn’t been much time for shopping that morning when they’d wanted to return to the hospital as early as they could get away with. Nevertheless, they’d managed to grab some essentials on their way out the door, as well as a few items from the corner store. All that rushing only to wait hours more upon arrival.

“The witch,” Katsuki affirmed with a nod. “Insisted on coming up here.”

At that moment, there was a buzz, sharp and clear from Izuku’s phone. Izuku barely had it out of his pocket before Katsuki was pointing a finger at him.

“Don’t you dare tell her the room number.”

Izuku began typing, conveniently not looking Katsuki in the eye. “Kacchan, I have to.”

“Like hell you do!”

It was already done. Izuku looked up at him with shining, know-it-all eyes. “You shouldn’t be surprised, Kacchan. Of course she’d wanna see Sugu.”

Sugu. The name had come to Izuku late in the night between hiccupped bouts of restfulness. Both men were decorated with bruised bags under their eyes, born from a nearly entirely sleepless night. Katsuki was only sure he’d slept at all as the clock on their dresser advanced from two a.m. to three a.m. to four between blinks. Meanwhile, he was awake for every moment of Izuku turning from stomach to side to back to side, his uneven gasps of air. Awake enough to agree to the name, anyway. Even as Izuku had said it for the first time, it had drizzled like warm honey over Katsuki. Coating quickly and sweetly from Izuku’s lips. Now it was on a birth certificate behind the name Midoriya, tucked into Izuku’s bag.

“Tch. Get up in our business, more like.”

Izuku chuckled. “I’m sure it’s not that. Besides, it’s not too much trouble to just give her what she wants.”

No, it really wasn’t, but only because trouble wasn’t the word for what was marinating in Katsuki’s core. This feeling wasn’t shame. It wasn’t guilt. It was self-defense. It was introversion, greed in the face of an invasion. His gut demanded privacy but instead he would be perceived by force. The threat of it poured saccharine and heavy down his throat, landing in the pit of his stomach with a flavor like cherry blossoms trampled into the concrete sidewalk. Once blush pink and open, now yellowed and brown, scenting the spring streets with sweet decay.

This wasn’t the first time. It had come last three years ago when they’d told people they were dating. Sticky reluctance in his gut at sharing something so intimate, so personal, even with his parents or closest friends. Before that it had been coming out. The words for it had been trite and rehearsed but still reluctant to be shared, snapping back at him with painful recoil.

It was an assault. It gnawed at his stomach when he thought of getting engaged, getting married. He strategized ways to get away with it, just him and Izuku. Keep the public at bay, convince their friends to keep their congratulations to themselves. Enjoy some peace and quiet.

It sunk into his stomach now as their bubble of privacy threatened to be burst with every step of his parents first across the sidewalk, then through the lobby, and up the elevator to the new postpartum room they’d been loaned.

“Hey,” Izuku said, putting a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder. They were lucky enough to be in their own plainclothes this time. Simple tees and jeans, so Izuku��s touch was softer today than the day before. It was warm over the thin fabric, stretched over large shoulders that always made it hard to buy off the rack. “They already know. They want to help.”

The concern must have been too obvious on Katsuki’s face. As much as Katsuki would attribute it to the nerd knowing him so well by now, Katsuki himself was just as much to blame. He was comfortable, had to be since they’d started living together. It had been a long time since his face was stony, trained for combat the way it always used to be.

“I don’t want their weaseling help,” Katsuki admitted, harshing his frown. “We’re not kids—they shouldn’t have to drive us home.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone needs help when they, you know. Have a baby.”

The feeling fermented in his stomach. “They should be grandparents. Not co-parents.”

Izuku laughed. “You just don’t want their say to override yours.”

That hadn’t crossed Katsuki’s mind. His own grandparents had died when he was young, so his parents had always had the first and final say. His mom, really. A montage of memories passed over all his senses. Little slaps, delicious food, yelling, threats—mostly harmless—avid support, chronic absence.

“We ain’t doing shit like them,” Katsuki stated, already combing through parts of his childhood he wanted to keep, foster and repeat, and those he was still trying to forget about. “They don’t get a say.”

The sound of high heels clacking echoed down the hallway and Katsuki’s spine tensed. The grip that had never released on his shoulder squeezed once, Izuku’s thumb rubbing over the ridge of his shoulder blade.

“Heels even to the hospital,” Izuku noted.

“Probably wants to make a fashionable impression on Sugu,” Katsuki returned dryly.

Whatever nerves or irritation or, dare he say, fear that had been roiling in his stomach damped back to nothing more than that sickly sweet feeling from before as his parents arrived in the doorway. It was strange the way they looked exactly the same as the last time Katsuki had seen them just a few weeks ago. His mother only betrayed a hint of her age and late nights working under her eyes, and his father was barely gray at the temples. Grandparents.

Katsuki put a finger to his lips just as his mother’s mouth was opening. He blinked with surprise when she didn’t speak, hunching down a bit as though making her body smaller would do the same to her voice, and whispered, “Congratulations, daddy!” It was perhaps the first time she’d ever obeyed him in his life.

“And to you, Izuku-kun,” Masaru added, his naturally quieter voice just down a few tones from usual.

“Thank you,” Izuku said with a slight bow. “Sorry, Sugu’s asleep right now.”

“Aw, Sugu,” Mitsuki said, a hand to her heart. “Bakugou Sugu.”

“Midoriya Sugu,” Katsuki corrected.

“Midoriya,” Masaru amended, turning a smile to Izuku. “Sleeping like an angel.”

“That’s most of what he’ll do for the first few months,” Mitsuki said with a wave of her hand. “Though it won’t feel like it. Sure didn’t with this brat.”

Katsuki glared at the thumb that was being pointed at him, but he had no defense. It had been apparent since birth, apparently, that he took after his mother in coloring, temperament, and volume. Maybe they’d be lucky enough to know what they were getting into with Sugu that early as well. Maybe they’d be lucky enough that he’d go the opposite way.

“Let’s go to the car,” Izuku suggested, dancing over the potential conflict with grace. “I’m sure we’ll be kicked out soon.”

“Then someone’s going to have to carry him down there,” Mitsuki decided before immediately raising her hand. “I volunteer.”

The car seat was installed already, and Katsuki met it with a glare. He should be the one in the know, with the instructions in his head about how to install it. He should be the one granted approval from the nurse trailing after them with a clipboard. Still, he grunted his agreement when Izuku thanked them both profusely for the purchase.

“The three of us are going to have to squeeze in the back,” Mitsuki said as the nurse investigated their car seat installation. “I know the press likes to talk about your thick thighs for some godforsaken reason, but you’re going to have to make room with all this shit.”

Katsuki watched a blush bloom on Izuku’s face, rosy and assuredly hot to the touch all across his cheeks and up his ears. He snorted quietly, loving his mom just a little bit more, since those teases had stopped working when they came from Katsuki ages ago. Because his eyes were trained on Izuku’s face, it was only when Izuku’s jaw dropped that Katsuki turned to the now open passenger door, where his mother was looking quite pleased with herself.

The floorboard was stacked with bento boxes, tied with ribbon so that they’d survive the car ride. It was too many to estimate at a glance, probably somewhere between one dozen and two. Enough to fill their freezer and then some.

“Just to give you a bit of a head start,” Mitsuki said, her voice more affectionate than Katsuki might have expected.

It was sweet. It was so sweet that his stomach gurgled and seized around it for a moment before settling, better than before. Instead, his throat tightened, and he tried to say something, one of the kind, gracious words that had been hammered in his head as a kid but were always so hard to deliver back. Instead he nodded stiffly.

“We’ll wash and return them as soon as we can.”

When he met his mother’s eyes, they were soft. People had always said to him growing up how harsh red eyes were. Aggressive, frightening, even demonic. How they made perfect sense for someone like him. He’d so often seen that reflected in his mother’s eyes as well, but not now. Not in hers, and not in his son’s, who wore nothing but softness behind those glowing, vermillion eyes. Maybe his own eyes looked like that too.

They must have, because as he looked at Mitsuki, it seemed she knew just what he’d been trying to say anyway.

Once the Bakugous pulled up to their apartment complex, Izuku and Katsuki were forced to give in to the car seat.

Supposedly it converted from a seat to a carrier, but with Mitsuki shouting directions over Katsuki’s shoulder while Masaru struggled with the instruction pamphlet, Katsuki grabbed Sugu, and then shoved the carrier in Izuku’s arms. It had taken a few shouts across the sidewalk to convince the Bakugous to let Izuku and Katsuki get settled on their own, but with a promise to visit soon, and a heap of bento boxes on the sidewalk, the two drove off.

Katsuki was through the lobby, and pushing the button to call the elevator before he even realized he was holding Sugu.

It surprised him in a way it probably shouldn’t have. This was what they had been preparing for nonstop over the past twenty-four hours. What had fueled every conversation, every action, every thought since he’d arrived at the hospital the day before. Yet with little Sugu now in his arms, he was hyperconscious. The crash course lessons with the nurse for feeding, swaddling, diaper changing, and even holding him for skin to skin were all bleeding together. Was he holding him correctly? Was he comfortable?

Katsuki gripped the baby tight. So long as he didn’t end up on the ground, it was fine.

Even twenty-four hours of research, however, couldn’t prepare Izuku or Katsuki for what they saw when they finally shoved their way inside their apartment.

“Deku,” Katsuki breathed, adjusting his hold on Sugu, resting the baby’s little chin against his neck instead of his hard shoulder. “Did you…give your mom your credit card?”

“We…” Izuku’s voice trailed off as he quietly dropped the carrier, stacked high with all the bento boxes on the floor just past the genkan. “We have a joint one.”

“Well, I hope it’s not attached to your savings,” Katsuki said as he stepped further in, looking around.

In their time living together, Katsuki and Izuku had managed to acquire very few things for their 1DK apartment. A sleeper sofa, a coffee table, a rug, a fully stocked kitchen, and not much more than a bed and a dresser in the bedroom. Aside from the All Might products that had slowly migrated from Inko’s apartment to theirs, the space admittedly didn’t have much personality.

Until now.

Now, the theme was A baby lives here, with All Might’s primary colors now only providing the tip of the Crayola box. And that was just the kitchen.

Katsuki was already identifying many of the products from the articles he’d read about bottles and formula and diapers and their ilk. The first two items were covering the entire kitchen counter, the bottles already kindly washed and resting upside down. They’d have to venture further into the house to find out about the rest.

“My baby!”

From the recesses of the bedroom, Inko came running, a tiny blanket in hand. Without a glance toward Izuku, she ran right up to Katsuki, standing slightly on tiptoe so as to be at eye level with Sugu, cooing as soon as she caught a glance of his chubby cheek pressed against Katsuki’s neck. Izuku chuckled, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“Guess I’m not your baby anymore?”

“Oh, Izuku!” Inko took a moment more looking at the baby before turning towards Izuku, throwing the small blanket over her shoulder before taking his hands in hers. Already, her eyes were watering, scrunching the rest of her face up as if trying to create layers of barriers—squinting eyelids, crinkled cheeks—to keep the tears from falling. They didn’t stand a chance. “Izuku.”

“Mom.”

It was one of those frowns that Katsuki could never make sense of. Where Izuku’s lips turned down as deeply as one of Katsuki’s worst scowls would, save for a small upturn right at the corners. It was a frown, it should have been a frown, but with Izuku’s soft eyes, round as ever, he couldn’t call it anything but a smile. And then it disappeared into his mother’s shoulder as she began to weep.

“O-Oh, look at all those bentos,” Inko commented through tears. “Let me help you with those, Izuku.”

She tried to pull away but was yanked back in a move that Katsuki knew only too well. “No, Mom, don’t worry about it, please. You’ve done so much already—look at this place!”

“I’m just…just trying to give you your best chance, Izuku.”

The tears that had never quite stopped picked up again, dripping down Inko’s face and darkening the sleeve of Izuku’s tee as they embraced.

“If you got their crying genes, kid, I swear to God,” Katsuki murmured as he walked around them.

It wasn’t a moment Katsuki needed to be a part of. So with Sugu still resting, slowly making a wet patch of drool on Katsuki’s neck, he walked to the counter. With one hand, he filled the electric kettle and set it to heat. They’d probably need some boiled water soon enough to make a fresh batch of formula, and everyone else could use some tea.

As the stovetop began to heat, Katsuki stepped away, taking stock of the rest of their apartment’s transformation. A number of pieces were still in boxes, yet to be put together, but beside the couch was some kind of a bouncer. There was a changing table against the wall with stacks upon stacks of disposable diapers next to it, as well as a diaper genie. There were bags of clothes and a large, flat box with the image of a dresser on it.

“I hope you like all this shit,” Katsuki mumbled as he did a three-sixty turn around the small room, “else it’s coming out of your college account.”

The little onesies were hardly bigger than Katsuki’s stretched-out crew socks. They’d have to be outgrown in a week, right? Or a month, tops? Then they’d just have to buy more and more until the little bastard finally decided to quit growing. Katsuki considered pressuring his parents into developing a clothing line for babies, or perhaps his and Izuku’s merchandise developers could. Something that would provide some samples before their closet became a reliquary for once-worn shirts and outgrown pants.

The sound of the kettle flicking off reached Katsuki even over the continued sobbing in the kitchen. He left it. He was going to make formula first, and he was pretty sure the water would have to be cooler. Instead, he sat on the couch and shifted Sugu to his lap.

He swore, even in just one day, Sugu’s face was different. He looked less like an old man whose face had given up on elasticity and more like…Izuku.

It was the hair, sure, but also the chubby cheeks and the eyes that, when open, took up half of his round little face. Maybe after a couple years of being kissed by the sun he’d have the same freckles climbing up his cheeks.

Still, he was all wrinkly and deflated like over-proofed dough, his skin dry in a couple patches. Katsuki softly pressed his index finger into one chubby cheek.

“Ugly,” he said with a smile. “Such a fucking lump.”

“Hey,” Katsuki heard coming into the room. He looked up from one set of squishy cheeks to another, Izuku smiling with sinisterly narrowed eyes. “Didn’t you say he looked like me? And now you say he’s ugly?”

Katsuki grinned, savage. “Exactly.”

Izuku reached out with grabby hands, flicking his fingers open and closed in front of Katsuki’s face. “Gimme.”

“Fine, see for yourself.”

Izuku hoisted Sugu from Katsuki’s lap, and held him out in front of him. The guy was so little, Izuku could fit his diapered rump in one hand, and wrap the other behind his back to keep him practically seated, holding up his head with only a few fingers. The nurse had said it was perfectly normal for babies to lose weight in the first days after birth, or “birth” in Sugu’s case, but he was just so tiny. Katsuki could hardly believe it.

“A very handsome man,” Izuku determined. “Just like his dad.”

“Only if you’re talking about me,” Katsuki quipped. The joke felt off, like it tilted reality sideways. But the truth was, reality had already been set that way and this was the best he could do to find his footing.

“Yes, definitely,” Izuku agreed. “The handsomest.”

Katsuki blinked at the sight before him. Izuku, grinning as he held a baby with unmistakable features of the two of them. He hardly breathed, the moment needing protection like museum masterpieces—a special glass box so that it would stay untarnished by breath or light. There was something so different in watching Izuku hold him that brought clarity to Katsuki. The three of them were one now.

“How’d you lose your mom?” Katsuki asked, nearly choking the words out as he forced himself to lean back on the sofa.

“Mom insisted on putting the bentos away—I couldn’t talk her out of it,” Izuku explained as he brought Sugu to the crook of his arm.

“She’s a goddamn madwoman.”

“Yeah,” Izuku agreed, looking back to the kitchen. “I hope…I hope that I can be just as good as her.”

His gaze drew back to Sugu like a magnet, bouncing a little in a way that made him look unduly expert.

“Forget that shit,” Katsuki said abruptly. “You’re not gonna be like her. You’re gonna be something else.”

“Yeah…Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Once they fell quiet, Sugu began wriggling in Izuku’s arms, obviously taking the lull as his opportunity to share. Little whines fell from his mouth, so different from any sound adults made, even instinctively when they were in stress. But the sound zinged through Katsuki’s bones, alerting him into action as quickly as a particular ping on his phone did for work.

Except when his phone sounded, he had immediate steps. Read the reported intel, prepare his costume if it wasn’t already one-hundred percent, and take off ready to fight. Now, those highly trained fight reflexes were left impotent, charging adrenaline through his veins, useless as he sat on the couch, watching Izuku’s eyes widen in similar alarm.

“Kacchan,” Izuku started, his voice serious. “Do not say anything.”

“The fuck did I do?” Katsuki asked, bewildered.

“Just…” Izuku held up a hand in wait. Then, with a twinge of regret on his face, Izuku yelled, “Mom?”

Izuku’s voice came like a flashback, inflected with tones from childhood. A voice that had once cried about long-forgotten fears—getting lost only four blocks away from home, being out too late after dark with dusty-winged moths flying up to their flashlights.

They were still fucking kids, the both of them. Katsuki thought he’d outgrown that designation at sixteen, risking life and limb for the world. Doing the job of adults when they’d failed to step up. But here they were, helpless in a new sphere, nearly as dependent as the baby on Izuku’s lap. Two generations crying out to the elder for guidance.

“Just in time,” Inko said as she hurried in, bottle in hand. “If you don’t smell anything, he’s probably just hungry.”

With only one arm, Inko took Sugu from Izuku and expertly led his mouth to the nipple of the bottle.

“Ooh, a good latch,” Inko cooed. “A very good boy. Sometimes it’s easier with bottles than breastfeeding. You boys are lucky in that way. And be sure to tilt the bottle so it’s not straight up.”

“O-Okay,” Izuku said behind a muffling hand, brows furrowed. He took a step back, knees hitting the front of the couch, and Katsuki stood up to put a steadying hand behind his back.

“You good?”

“God, I’m so not ready for this,” Izuku murmured as he sunk into the couch, his voice muffled in both hands as the other came up to squish his cheeks miserably. “So, so, so, so, so not ready for this.”

The words echoed in Katsuki’s own head, ringing true with sympathetic resonance. Izuku’s voice dug out those same thoughts from Katsuki’s head—ideas he was actively still shoveling under layers of research and rationale—and let them breathe. Breathe when Katsuki needed them to choke.

“Wow, and here I thought I was going out with the Deku who can do it,” Katsuki said, glancing slowly over at Izuku, eyebrows arched in challenge.

The words had their intended effect, bringing Izuku’s eyes, sharp and clear, right to Katsuki’s.

Those words, the words behind Izuku’s hero name, behind the simple act of reclaiming it—Katsuki never forgot, even though Izuku had not once mentioned it—had made this relationship possible. Katsuki’s whole life had been a front-row seat to Izuku, running uphill while Katsuki sprinted down a slope that declined gently and easily. That hill had been cranked nearly perpendicular to the ground when Izuku had lost his quirk, but he’d kept running anyway. Because if anyone could do it, Izuku could.

“We can do it,” Izuku shot back, as though Katsuki was the one he was arguing with. He whipped back towards his mother, jaw set and square. “Mom, can I try?”

Inko blinked up from her own little world with Sugu. “Oh—of course, honey.”

Katsuki watched as Izuku took the baby, mimicking his mother’s actions angle for angle. He was as quick a study as he was when he was pilfering hero moves from Katsuki. Studying and repeating the form.

“He has to suck, because then he’ll stop when he’s full,” Inko instructed. “Don’t let it just pour out or he’ll over-feed.”

“Got it,” Izuku said, tilting the bottle down just a little lower.

“You boys have a little angel on your hands,” Inko said. “So good with the bottle. I tell you, Izuku was so slow to latch—I kept having to have sessions with a lactation consultant every—”

“Mom!” Izuku interrupted desperately, face flushing.

“Sorry,” Inko apologized, if slightly disingenuously. “You’ll find a great deal of modesty fades away once you have a baby.”

“W-Well, it can fade a little later!” Izuku sputtered, indignant.

“Alright, alright,” Inko said, flashing a slightly chastened look at Katsuki before returning to Sugu. “Looks like he’s about finished.”

Sugu wasn’t suckling any longer, with little dribbles of milk falling from the corners of his mouth. Inko reached over with the cloth on her shoulder and dabbed them away.

“Already so sleepy again,” Izuku observed as he moved the bottle away. Sugu’s round little chest was moving up and down evenly, and those big eyes of his were closed. Only his mouth was open, left slack like he’d forgotten about it.

“The bassinet’s all set up,” Inko said, looking towards the bedroom. “I’m afraid a few of the bigger pieces still need to be constructed.”

“Please, Mom, you’ve already done so much,” Izuku said as he passed through to the bedroom. “So, so much.”

As the Midoriyas—all three of them—left the room, Katsuki’s phone went off in his pocket. As he turned the ringer down, he saw the contact calling him was an old man emoji, yellow and balding, and a flame. Yesterday, Izuku and Katsuki both had hastily called off for the next few days as a buffer before they figured out a long-term plan. Endeavor knew why, and therefore had virtually no reason to be calling them.

Katsuki flicked the green answer button with his thumb.

“What.”

“Dynamight,” Endeavor began, and just the mention of Katsuki’s hero name had him sharp at attention. The haze of the last twenty-four hours burned away like a dream the moment eyes flicked open in the morning and he was back in his old life. “Is now a good time?”

“If you’re calling, it must not matter.”

“Your villain was caught in another district, but we brought him here for questioning. I thought you’d like to know.”

“Bet your sweaty ass,” Katsuki replied, already patting his pants pockets for his wallet and keys. Wallet, check—the keys were by the door. “Deku!”

It only took a moment for Izuku to step out of the bedroom, head cocked in confusion as Katsuki clicked the phone onto speaker.

“We have some fucking questions,” Katsuki continued once Izuku was listening as well.

“I thought you might. We’ll hold him for you and send details in the meantime.”

“Peachy,” Katsuki replied. “We’ll be there.”

Katsuki hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket, mind already racing. There were no coincidences in heroics. That’s what the amateurs got wrong, and Katsuki was no amateur.

“Kacchan,” Izuku said disapprovingly. “We still need to work on your goodbyes.”

“If that old timer was ever number one, he can handle it,” Katsuki assured. “They caught yesterday’s hardhead.”

“Oh,” Izuku said, sobering immediately. “Good—that was fast.”

“Shoulda been faster,” Katsuki said, the bitterness corroding the armor he’d tried to build against it. Some two-bit hero shouldn’t have gotten his win.

“Work calling?” Inko asked nervously as she stepped out of the bedroom.

As open and joyful as Inko’s face had been upon seeing Sugu, now it pinched at the mention of heroics. Even her shoulders hunched, as if trying to make herself unnoticeable to it.

“Yeah,” Izuku said regrettably. “Don’t worry, Mom, you can go.”

“Okay, honey,” Inko said, grabbing her purse. “Be safe.”

Izuku gave his mother one firm hug, and she was out of the house with a whiff of cleaning product and warm milk.

After the war, Inko and Izuku had stopped talking about heroics almost entirely. After All Might passed, it only got quieter. Katsuki was never sure what factor Izuku’s renewed quirklessness had played into it, or even if the two of them had ever had an actual discussion about the boundary, but it had been firmly in place for years now. No talk of heroics around Inko unless she needed to know. Unthinkable as it was to Katsuki, when he remembered Izuku’s injuries—the broken bones, the coma, One For All leaving him for good—Katsuki was willing enough to go along with it.

“Okay, you heard him,” Katsuki said, making for the genkan. “They have the villain and he’s being questioned. If that fire-breathing circus act knows what’s good for him, he’s texting us a briefing right now. Let’s go.”

“Right,” Izuku said, spinning around through the colorful wreckage that had once been their home before he patted his pants and found his essentials. “Masks? Hats?”

Katsuki eyed the facemasks on the key hook by the door. He and Izuku took advantage of slight disguises at times when they were out, particularly if they were looking to be more discreet or in a hurry. And they were definitely the latter.

Before Katsuki could answer, though, Izuku gasped, whipping back to the bedroom.

“Sugu!”

Katsuki’s heart plummeted. Even if he was still an idiot at this, he knew that they couldn’t leave a baby alone, despite the fact that he was apparently fast asleep.

“Fuck,” he muttered before turning back to the front door. “Maybe Auntie is still here.”

He whipped the door open, but there was no one patiently awaiting the elevator. She was already gone.

“Okay, it’s okay,” Izuku said as though trying to talk himself down from a panic. He looked up at Katsuki with sudden confidence. “We bring him.”

“What?” Katsuki asked.

“Think about it—there’s almost nowhere more secure than a hero’s headquarters, and we don’t even have to be in the room with the villain,” Izuku rationalized. “It’ll be fine.”

Katsuki glanced at the failed convertible car seat by the door. Then back up at the key hooks.

“Then we definitely need the masks.”

“Deku, if you keep muttering those damn instructions out loud I’m gonna have them memorized.”

Izuku blinked out of the pamphlet for the car seat, looking out the windshield to uncross his eyes. Their surroundings were familiar, so the fuzz coating Izuku’s eyes faded quickly as he took in the streets coming up to Endeavor’s agency.

“I just don’t know why it’s so complicated…” Izuku muttered, turning back to the characters in his lap and then the rear-facing car seat beside him.

“Fucking finally,” Katsuki groaned as his phone buzzed in his hand.

“What’s it say?”

Katsuki glanced toward their driver—with the Bakugous long gone, and public transport still an unimaginable option, it had been their only choice—and held out his phone between the both of them in favor of reading it aloud.

The villain was confirmed to be a mutant, as Izuku and Katsuki had figured out. He had no prior arrests save for a general disorderly conduct one a year earlier. No evidence of chronic villainy and he was suspected not to be affiliated with any villainous organization. However, marked under accomplices was unknown.

“Fucking useless,” Katsuki grumbled as he shoved the phone into his pocket, brushing Izuku’s thigh as he did so. “I guess we’ll just find out ourselves.”

They were rolling up to the agency, and Izuku hiked up the diaper bag his mother had presciently packed higher on his shoulder. As Katsuki got out of the car, Izuku turned to the car seat, where a satiated Sugu was sleeping like a prince.

“Okay, so a handle, something is supposed to convert to a handle.”

He poked around the underside, but couldn’t see the bits that resembled the instructions, wondering if the Bakugous had bought the device in one piece or if they’d assembled it, perhaps incorrectly. Before he could look any further, the seat was ripped out of the car, Katsuki hefting it with both arms.

“No time to play Transformers, Deku,” he said before promptly kicking the door shut.

Izuku looked at the driver and smiled hastily. “Aritgatou,” he rushed out as he followed Katsuki.

As Izuku stepped onto the sidewalk, a tingle shivered down the back of his neck. Not Danger Sense of course, but not entirely dissimilar either. He glanced around the street in front of the agency and made eye contact with no fewer than five people, even from under the brim of his cap. He caught the eye of a few phones too and lowered his gaze.

“Masks seem to be working,” Katsuki groused sarcastically. “Let’s go.”

Izuku fell in step with Katsuki, murmuring from underneath his mask, “Have you looked online since yesterday?”

They’d both spent much of the last day on their phones, but Izuku had turned off his social media notifications years ago. They’d been too much to keep up with during the war and then afterwards…he couldn’t take the sympathy.

He hadn’t seen a thing on Twitter or from the press. And though there hadn’t been too many people around come the end of the fight, he had saved Sugu in public. He and Katsuki had gone home with him in public. Perhaps the Internet thought it knew something already.

Izuku jogged in front of Katsuki to open the door for him, earning him a dry, sidelong look. It wasn’t as though Katsuki had so much as a pinky finger to spare on the heavy agency door, so Izuku just grinned as Katsuki passed through.

The two of them had walked through that hobby in all manners of state. Late for a shift and sprinting past reception, Katsuki elbowing people as Izuku apologized. Dragging each other’s bloody, haggard asses on the way to a long shower and the first aid cabinet. Smug, following a victory where quirklessness had not stopped Izuku from saving the day.

Now they strolled through, Katsuki’s head held high underneath his quasi-disguise, carrying a baby in the most conspicuous way possible. Izuku lengthened his strides and reached in front of Katsuki again to call the elevator. They stepped in, the car mercifully empty mid-afternoon.

When the elevator pinged open on the upper floor, Endeavor was there. His eyes flickered to the baby and then between Katsuki and Izuku. He gave a stone-faced nod and little else. “Looks like you made it.”

“Have we ever missed a call before?” Katsuki asked, shouldering his way out of the elevator—a job made much more unwieldy with his arms wrapped around a large baby seat. “Just show us the bastard.”

Endeavor grunted, sparing one more unreadable glance at Sugu before leading the group to whichever interrogation room the guy had been stuffed into. As Izuku followed behind, he caught the eyes of their fellow heroes, all of whom turned to look at their unusual crew walking through the bullpen. No one said anything, and Izuku couldn’t parse if it was because Endeavor had said something or if perhaps HR had sent an email blast addressed to everyone but him and Katsuki.

“The villain is willing to talk,” Endeavor continued, bringing Izuku back to the case. “He’s looking for a lighter sentence in exchange for cooperation.”

“Good,” Katsuki grunted. “ ‘Cause he’s gonna whether he wants to or not.”

“You could hope so,” Endeavor said, coming to a stop in front of a pane of single-sided glass. “Right over here.”

Izuku only needed to glance to know they’d gotten the right guy. Despite most of the villain’s strength being in his upper body, his sheer size had his thighs dwarfing the chair in front of the interrogation table. He had a thick pair of handcuffs on with an equally thick chain. Whether they were quirk-canceling or not was anyone’s guess, since there wasn’t much one could do to deaden a mutant quirk. Those horns were as big and gnarled as ever, and Izuku was curious for more information about them. But before Izuku could consider any of those questions thoroughly, Katsuki was shoving the carrier in Izuku’s hands and had his thumb and forefinger on the mic.

“Hey, shithead!”

The villain’s head whipped toward the ceiling, where the lone speaker was.

“You didn’t steal anything, you didn’t injure anyone. There’s no fucking reason you should have to not be able to control your quirk,” Katsuki said, listing the arguments on his fingers, despite being unseen by the villain. Meanwhile, Izuku set the car seat down on the floor and unbuckled Sugu before taking him into his arms. “What, you just like chaos? If so, just look around Tokyo tower during tourist season and get your fill.”

The villain chuckled and Katsuki’s grip on the skinny microphone neck grew choking. Izuku shifted Sugu to one arm and patted Katsuki on the shoulder.

“Ooh, someone’s butthurt that some villain managed to get away, huh? A bit of a sore loser, maybe?”

The microphone crackled overhead, wires squeezed a little too tightly. Katsuki’s grip loosened, but the tension remained in his neck, in his shoulders. He took a hard swallow.

“Pretty fucking smug for someone locked in an interrogation room,” Katsuki continued. “So tell me, you just like wrecking people’s day? Scaring the shit outta people?”

“No,” the villain said, looking towards the glass, eyes aimed right over where Katsuki’s head actually was. “I like money.”

“I like money too. That’s why I got a job.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes you don’t have to go to the cash,” the villain replied smugly. “Sometimes it comes to you.”

“Who paid you off?” Izuku nearly shouted as he snatched the mic from Katsuki’s grip. “And why?”

“I dunno,” the villain said, and flippant though it was, it seemed sincere. Izuku pursed his lips, inclined to believe him.

The villain was being surprisingly loose-lipped, and Izuku could only assume that it was not just because of the promise of a lighter sentence, but also because he had nothing to gain by keeping things quiet. The guy must have gotten his money already, and, as stated in the report, he wasn’t associated with any known organization—that hadn’t been who had paid him off. If so, he’d keep the truth to save his life. But if he was willing to share, then his life must not be in danger.

“Do you know any details?” Izuku pressed. “Did you ever meet them in person?”

“They approached me,” the villain answered. “Talked at me from behind—”

“What kind of voice?” Izuku interrupted eagerly.

“Normal? Male?” the villain offered and Izuku mentally noted that down. “Talked at me from behind, told me not to turn around. He handed me money, told me to wreak havoc in that area at that time, said my quirk was perfect for it.”

“A distraction,” Izuku muttered off mic, looking at Katsuki meaningfully. His gaze fell to the face smooshed sleepily in the crook of his elbow. A very convenient distraction.

“What else?” Katsuki asked, taking the mic back.

“So I did!” the villain continued. “I’m taking classes I can barely afford as is. I wasn’t gonna say no to that wad of cash. And I didn’t kill anyone—just wrecked some cars. As you should notice.”

“We’re very aware,” Endeavor said. “Is that all you have to tell us?”

As the villain shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, Izuku heard soft chuffing against his arm. “Uh-oh,” he said, and a moment later the noise grew to a wail. He looked up at an equally wide-eyed Katsuki and Endeavor. “Um. Go on without me.”

Without awaiting a response as the cries only grew louder, Izuku stepped away from the interrogation room. He brought Sugu up to a more secure two-armed hold and began shushing the baby, rocking him lightly. Maybe it had just been a bad bit of sleep. Did babies get nightmares? What could be scary to an infant?

“Okay…” Izuku muttered as he rushed through the floor. He didn’t have a personal office to hide in—he wasn’t ranked highly enough for that. Abruptly, Izuku spotted one of the bathrooms and swept in with relief. “You just ate, so it shouldn’t be that…”

There was no changing table in this restroom. Not in the whole office, as far as Izuku knew. Izuku patted where Sugu’s diaper was hiding under his clothes. It didn’t feel heavy like it had been soiled, he didn’t think. Suddenly, he couldn’t remember how light the diaper had felt when it was fresh. He hooked his hands under Sugu’s arms and brought him up to eye level, taking in the reddening, bawling face. He’d taken on more of a beige color since Izuku had found him, but now he was returning to that ruddy newborn color.

“Is it your diaper, buddy?” Izuku asked, a slight dose of panic growing in his belly. He winced as the screaming grew louder, little fisted hands waving through the air. “Well, we know you’ll be a good fighter, huh?”

Maybe he’d change the diaper anyway. It couldn’t hurt, right? He could get a towel or something and just do it on the floor…maybe not in the restroom, but perhaps in a corner somewhere?

Izuku groaned, wracking his brain. This just wasn’t the place to have a baby. It was too raucous for him and yet the baby screaming intermittently was too distracting for the employees. And what was he supposed to do when he and Katsuki were back on the clock and called out to a mission? There wasn’t a nursery, no sitter that they could call. Izuku looked at that gummy mouth, screaming and gulping, and suddenly his eyes widened.

“Or do you need to burp?” Izuku gasped. He hadn’t burped after his last meal, not that Izuku knew of. “Let’s…let’s try that.”

Hesitantly, Izuku brought Sugu to his shoulder. He’d read articles about this. Babies tended to swallow some air while they nursed and it gave them bellyaches if they weren’t able to expel the gas on their own.

“Okay, buddy, let’s give this a try,” Izuku said, raising a hand to Sugu’s back. He gave a hesitant tap, then another. His hands were so thoroughly trained for violence; they’d been destroyed and rebuilt time and again in the pursuit of that violence. Now he had support item after support item to continue that cause. To enhance his strength in battle, give him a fighting chance against villains with physical quirks. He’d never used anything to make himself weaker. But his first few little pats didn’t seem to do anything.

Izuku cupped his hand. Less surface area, less force. With that buffer, he patted a little harder, and in only a few moments, Sugu gave a little hiccup, a drop of drool oozing from his mouth.

“Oh!” Izuku exclaimed as the crying stopped. He waited a moment more, but the bathroom remained silent. “Oh, good job, little man!”

Izuku wiped Sugu’s messy chin with his bare hand before running it under the faucet and grabbing a paper towel. He dabbed the damp towel around Sugu’s mouth and smiled. Good as new.

Just then he heard a flush, and a young man eyed him strangely as he walked out of a stall to the sinks.

“Uh, hi?” Izuku said awkwardly.

The man blinked. “You know how hard it is to take a shit when there’s a baby screaming?”

“Oh,” Izuku intoned, flushing. “Sorry.”

“What’d I miss?” Izuku asked as he jogged back to the interrogation room. Sugu was back soundly asleep, resting against Izuku’s shoulder.

Katsuki eyed Endeavor with a scowl. “You tell him.”

“What?” Izuku suddenly asked. “Bad news from the villain? Was he lying? I really didn’t think he was.”

“No,” Endeavor replied, glancing once more at Katsuki before returning to Izuku. “I’d advise you to—”

“He wants a DNA test!” Katsuki accused. “All three of us!”

“What?” Izuku asked again. “Why?”

“I actually didn’t get through explaining that,” Endeavor said, looking harried. “Of course, it’s smart for the obvious reason.” Katsuki scoffed. “But you also might want to know…if he has a quirk.”

The possibility of it poured like cold water over Izuku, rendering him heavy and sodden. A quirk. From the most obvious genetic perspective, there was a fifty percent chance that he had a quirk from Katsuki. And another fifty percent chance that from Izuku…

He was quirkless.

Memories tornadoed through Izuku’s psyche. Years of dreaming of a quirk, all for it to be crushed by a cold stranger in a white lab coat. His mother’s distress and the lifetime she’d spent making up for it, feeling like she’d had to, even during the brief period of time Izuku had been blessed with a quirk. The memories had Izuku biting old chapped spots on his lips, trying to keep it all in, in. And the weight of Katsuki’s gaze was on him the whole time.

After a moment, it faded away and Izuku watched Katsuki turn and bark to Endeavor, “Why?”

“Because,” Endeavor insisted, “Deku, you carried One For All. It was in your DNA. For all you know, it might still be there, and if it is then, well, it’s not a quirk that we’d want to be caught off-guard by.”

Izuku swallowed dry. “One For All?”

Endeavor stared. “It’s something you’d want to know for sure.”

“Tch,” Katsuki said, shaking his head at Endeavor. “Sure that’s what you think.”

Endeavor didn’t entertain a reply, keeping his focus on Izuku. “We’re all thinking the same thing here. If using this quirk on you was premeditated, then we have to ask why. What would a baby of yours do to benefit a villain?”

The question held in the air, thick and stuffy like a hot attic. When the weight of it grew unbearable, Izuku nodded.

“We’ll do it,” he agreed. Then he shifted his weight and looked down at his old, familiar red shoes. “And until we know what’s going on, Sugu and I are going to be staying at home. Indefinitely.”

#anjum writes #bkdk #bakudeku #katsudeku #ktdk #bkdkbk #bakudekubaku #dekubakudeku #dkbkdk

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actualbird · 3 years

Text

zak’s tears of themis masterlist of “works”

IMPORTANT: tumblr wont let me add any more links to this post anymore. apparently this post is “too long”, so this post is now dead!!!

i will now only be updating the gdocs version moving forward from april 19, 2023.

heres the gdrive version of the masterlist: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17zV05iqYmB8E2t2qHApiNSDi-KIbNq2s6rZ-1z8-nPM/edit?usp=sharing

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☕ and hey, if u like my stuff, consider giving me a tip on ko-fi :D

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last updated: april 19, 2023

legend: [NEW] r the 5 most recently written stuff in that category. 🐦 emoji r my personal faves. 🐦🐦🐦 emojis are my VERY MUCH LIKED THIS

fanfiction on ao3

🐦 [NEW] A Snake In The Grass?: Marius von Hagen and the Pax Civil War [no ship + speculative tabloid fic that purposefully misenterprets marius in the worst ways possible]

🐦 [NEW] feels like fireworks, feels like light [marius/luke + COMPLETE ONESHOT + fluff and pining and marius rides on luke’s motorbike with him]

🐦 [NEW] always here for oral support! i mean moral support. i mean—fuck. [marius/luke + COMPLETE ONESHOT + comedy smut all about luke’s mouth driving marius insane]

🐦 reviews for Time's Antiquities, South Stellis | Average Rating: 4.8 Stars [marius/luke + COMPLETE ONESHOT + short and silly genfic]

🐦 [NEW] yes, she’s my lover, yes, she’s half-dragon. any more questions? [luke/mc, CHAPTER 2 UPDATE, comedy + fluff au of SSR Looming Nightmare]

[NEW] take me to the limit, hold me down there [luke/mc, COMPLETE ONESHOT, mc pegs luke pwp smut with feels]

🐦 the existence of a top student implies the existence of a bottom student [marius/luke, 3 CHAPTERS COMPLETE, college au where the boys compete to be “top” student and then plot and feels happen, comedy + light angst + smut]

🐦 standard operating procedure (x4 speedrun) [nxx polycule ot5, 6 CHAPTERS COMPLETE, giann tries to shovel talk marius’ 4 partners, humor + light angst]

something of a home [marius/mc, COMPLETE ONESHOT, marius and mc spend the morning after together, fluff]

a certain angle, a certain calm [artem/mc, COMPLETE ONESHOT, artem tells mc about fountain pens, fluff]

an eye for an eye [luke/mc, COMPLETE ONESHOT, mc gets hurt protecting luke, angst]

break it into pieces small enough to understand [no ship, COMPLETE ONESHOT, artem emotionally represses and thats not great for 6.2 ptsd, emotional h/c + character study]

🐦 baby, you’re the man, but i got the power [no ship, COMPLETE ONESHOT, mc works out and the boys swoon hard about it, comedy]

sit, stay, (obey) [marius/luke, COMPLETE ONESHOT, marius and luke do kinky bullshit, + PWP SMUT]

wake me up before you go-go (maybe should've check our respective belongings before though) [marius/luke, COMPLETE ONESHOT, marius and luke wake up late for an nxx meeting, fluff + comedy]

🐦 excuse me, sir, i am this agent's emotional support babysitter [no ship, COMPLETE ONESHOT, aaron helps out a very drunk luke back in luke's early NSB days, comedy + light angst]

🐦 beautiful like a forest fire (admire from a distance, don’t get too close) [marius/luke, COMPLETE ONESHOT, omegaverse au and luke goes into heat, angst + SMUT]

🐦 product testing is important for the d (the d stands for data) (it also stands for dick) [marius/luke, COMPLETE ONESHOT, marius ropes luke in for “product testing”, comedy + SMUT]

🐦 ogling wet men constitutes as revolutionary praxis [gen, COMPLETE ONESHOT, mc pulls a reverse uno card and thus the nxx boys do a sexy car wash + comedy]

🐦 how to care for your dear friend who is currently stuck in his magical serpent form [gen + nxx found fam, WIP CH3 UPDATE, the von hagens are magic dragons and marius gets stuck as a dragon, light angst + comedy + fluff]

and i would walk 1,300 steps (just to be the man to fall down at...the reindeer workshop) [no ship, nxx found fam, COMPLETE ONESHOT, the team are having a great night then they get teleported into the reindeer workshop, comedy + crack kinda treated seriously]

🐦 designed to send mixed signals, one image made up of different pixels [gen, COMPLETE ONESHOT, artem goes to therapy, angst (not really but it’s the closest vibe genre) + character study adjacent]

it's only ever a seed planted from outside in [gen platonic mc & luke, COMPLETE ONESHOT, pre-canon luke’s childhood experience in SSR Shape Of You, angst + character study adjacent]

🐦🐦🐦 how Puppy Pierce© conquered the world [marius/luke, COMPLETE ONESHOT, marius doodles a chibi dog based on luke and then it becomes a popular mascot, comedy]

🐦 we know each other from top to bottom, every secret on every inch of our bodies [luke/mc, COMPLETE TWOSHOT, they go to a banquet for a mission and mc wants to Play. it has to wait tho bc theres danger suddenly, action + SMUT]

🐦 The NXX Investigation Team In Their Natural Habitat, Unhinged: A Documentary by DAVIS [no ship, WIP CHAPTER 3 UPDATE, team gets drunk and DAVIS films it, comedy]

🐦 got james bond as a bodyguard over here, lucky me [marius/luke, WIP CHAPTER 3 UPDATE, luke is marius’ bodyguard, comedy + light angst + action movie bullshit]

🐦🐦🐦 you can run, you can hide, but this email WILL find you! [no ship, COMPLETE ONESHOT, giann asks vyn to tutor marius. then giann goes missing, comedy + light angst + told entire thru emails]

🐦 go the fuck to sleep (and dream a little dream of me) [marius/luke, COMPLETE ONESHOT, marius sleeps everywhere n luke never sleeps, fluff + light comedy]

🐦🐦🐦 making out with your bro for fun and for profit [marius/luke, COMPLETE ONESHOT, comedy + light angst, marius makes out with luke REAL GOOD n then pretends it never happened]

🐦 it’s time for your routine system maintenance [artem/mc, COMPLETE ONESHOT, smut, android!artem has a GREAT TIME]

🐦 every breath you take, every move you make, peanut will be watching you [nxx polycule, COMPLETE ONESHOT, M rated, comedy, the team deal with luke’s pet bird watching them fuck]

definitely not teenagers anymore [luke/mc, COMPLETE ONESHOT, smut, luke has a school uniform kink, bless his heart]

🐦 but little do we know, the stars welcome him with open arms [luke/mc, COMPLETE ONESHOT, light angst + nice things, luke is trans and mc accepts him easily and wholly. but how can she do this? whats the catch?]

filler episodes of the lost gold [no ship, comedy, WIP, in between scenes of the mysteries of the lost gold event story]

instructions unclear, got my hatred turned into begrudging endearment [no ship, COMPLETE ONESHOT, comedy, marius hates luke but does he really?]

and i feel my past regrets slipping into present tense [luke/mc, COMPLETE ONESHOT, heavy angst, everybody learns about luke’s illness one by one]

🐦 in vino veritas, or something like that... [no ship, COMPLETE ONESHOT, comedy, artem is drunk and luke takes him back to his apartment and they end up bonding]

made that spy gadget a little too well, did you, sherlock? [luke/mc, COMPLETE TWOSHOT, comedy smut, luke hears mc in an intimate moment and Things Happen]

heavy is the chest that wears the— [artem/mc, comedy smut, WIP, artem cant stop thinking about his girlfriend’s boobs]

---

minifics

[NEW] i need luke to have an SR card where hes cringe

🐦 [NEW] luke underpacked during the blizzardous threads of red event

🐦 [NEW] luke has a DAUGHTER!?! (he doesnt)

🐦 [NEW] nxx team at a not-sleepover

🐦 [NEW] luke goes to the bank

🐦 nsfw, vyn/artem. beach episode where vyn is a size queen and artem has a big dick

🐦 artem infodumping about fountain pens as is his divine right

🐦 nsfw. nxx polycule. we love u artem but hes dumb n causes monumental sexual frustration for all involved. bonus marvyn part 2.

🐦 nsfw. artem gets railed in a church (bc 4 horny demons wont leave him alone

🐦 aaron is on vacation so luke needs first aid elsewhere

🐦 the stellis detective fandom ships luke and sphynx

🐦 marius and giann have matching tattoos

🐦 the forbidden backstory of the tot howling pumpkins event

🐦 “what a strange dream” tot alice in wonderland au

🐦 luke is a father

🐦 artem goes to therapy

🐦 luke/mc in high school and luke tries (fails) dating another girl

🐦 marius/luke. marius does a honeypot for a case

🐦 nxx team polycule. how all of them get together

nsfw. nxx team polycule. the team fuck the depressing thoughts outta luke pearce

nsfw. marius/luke, a/b/o au, theyre both alphas

🐦 marius/mc in the morning after

marius/luke and holding hands: part 1. part 2.

luke/mc. what if luke is a knight and mc is the dragon

nsfw. luke/mc. so luke pearce has some kinks...

mc gets hurt protecting luke

additional thoughts on mc getting hurt protecting luke

it’s a wonderful day at the national security bureau and you are a confused new employee terrified of Agent Raven

nsfw. marius/mc/luke rollercoaster of marius making so many bad decisions

the wingman/wingwoman alliance

---

analyses

🐦 [NEW] marius’ sweet chapter stories and secondhand experiences

🐦 [NEW] marius and emotional distancing. + PART 2 marius and vulnerability

[NEW] vyn & giann vs. vyn & marius: similarities, loyalties, differences

🐦 [NEW] SSR Under The Milky Way, luke pearce, and dichotomies that make him a wonderfully contradictory mess of a character and make this love story one i really adore

[NEW] rosa | mc playlist + song choice rationale

🐦 vyn, luke, and opposite methods resulting in a similar consequence

nxx boys eng name etymologies

🐦 some thoughts about artem, the value of work and duty, and emotional neglect

🐦🐦🐦 “The Journal of NXX Investigation Team Behavioral Studies” | a compilation of fan analyses on the ToT characters within the NXX Investigation Team.

tears of themis and memory

🐦 vyn & artem analysis about being the Perfect Person but having different methods to pursue that

🐦 what would have to happen for marius to punch the other nxx boys + scene snippets

🐦 nxx boys in ur intro to philosophy class: part 1. part 2.

🐦 marius von hagen’s inferiority complex

nxx investigation team, biological family, found family

🐦 marius has always been in giann’s shadow

🐦 all the nxx boys and “bad things”

marius von hagen: facade vs. sincerity, harsh truths vs. persisting hope.

🐦 luke pearce uses love as an excuse sometimes

vyn richter and control: a character THEORY

the difference between artem and luke’s stubborness

okay this isnt technically analysis YET im working on my real marius analysis but it’s not done YET so have this edit where im very emotional about “not what i meant” by dodie being THE marius von hagen song

luke pearce: on the burden of memory and the concept of “better if it never happened at all”

luke pearce: an enneagram type 2 with a twist

the difference between artem and luke’s self flagellation

headcanons

[NEW] nxx team ranked on how good they are at answering their phone

[NEW] marius/luke and petnames

🐦 [NEW] marius should be bad at driving cuz it’s funny

[NEW] SSR Dark Ripple couldve been funnier

🐦 [NEW] luke is banned from several stellis arcades

cervitaur!artem’s chilldhod

mc takes vyn’s jeep

🐦 additional hcs about my one fic where mc gets buff

🐦 nxx team in the academia rambles

🐦 hypothetical fights i want to see between the tot cast

🐦 what if luke wrote fanfic

🐦 marius gets interviewed while playing with sleepy kittens

festive games 2play with him? more like festive ways 2bully luke

the couches in marius’ office Suck

🐦 i dont think luke and mc have normal boundaries with each other

🐦 peanut gives luke some father’s day gifts <3

nsfw. nxx team and sex toys

🐦 i feel bad making mc drink energy drinks, heres more AP restoring items i want

vyn/artem “old married couple”

🐦 nxx team and their organizational apps/methods of choice

luke is doing resin crafts in sott

how do the nxx boys google

🐦 vyn/artem has been plaguing my brain, heres some THOUGHTS

rambles about relatively old tot promo materials cuz theyre gold

🐦 hey, who made the NXX logo?

giann is good at music, marius isnt, and then i get emotional

🐦 the nxx boys as songs that i think encapsulate how they first felt once they realized theyve fallen in love

🐦 vyn/artem. vyn Won’t Say (He’s In Love)

IS VYN NEIGHBORS WITH ARTEM’S PARENTS??

themeless assorted bag of hcs for the nxx boys

marius doesnt get chemistry

🐦 the nxx boys and their preferred (shitty) presentation method

does vyn richter wear shoes in households???

luke's contact names for the rest of the nxx and the grp chat

🐦 peanut is luke's ESA

a prediction on artem’s upcoming vday texts

🐦 luke did postgrad while in the NSB

🐦 vyn is lying about being a stellis citizen and visa expires

🐦 vyn sucks at driving

🐦 SHOW ME LUKE’S MOTORBIKE, heres 2 options i want for it

when and how each of the nxx team first drank alcohol

🐦each nxx boy is Not Like The Other Kids in elementary-middle school for diff reasons

who is most supportive of mc’s crusade against vikya pigeons?

🐦 marius/luke and their bedrooms

🐦 which of the nxx boys can haggle?

🐦 an embarrassing childhood story for each of the nxx boys. bonus vyn part 2.

marius the only extrovert

🐦 nsfw. deepthroat debate

marius makes luke a lego peanut sculpture

🐦 nsfw. vyn writes bad smut

mc’s contact name for marius

🐦 i think artem should be a bitch in german

nxx team as knives

nxx boys as questionable things i did in high school and college

🐦 the nxx boys’ bday gifts to luke!!!

🐦 these r related oki: vyn’s waist is snatched. nxx teams’ exercise and diet

n/s//f///w vyn richter is submissive and breedable

🐦 vyn is a horse girl and may be approaching relationships like how he approaches horses

artem/luke dynamics and lovey dovey headcanons

assorted marius/luke ideas spanning from silly to SILLIER

i love the page twins in SSR Peaceful Place, i want more past characters to meet luke’s current friends

luke pearce has read homestuck

nxx boys’ fave movie genres (and how it’s like watching movies with them)

🐦 can the nxx boys grow facial hair? if yes, what style?

🐦 the nxx boys draw a dog

nxx boys’ texting styles and behaviors (aka vyn why r u like this)

🐦 nxx boys’ skin.....care routines

🐦 artem is colorblind, cry about it

can the nxx boys dance?: part 1. part 2.

🐦 marius finds musicians hot and he cant play instruments

when the team gives marius a piece of art

nsfw. nxx boys after sex

nxx boys on social media: part 1 tiktok. part 2 vyn on twitter.

🐦 my takes on nxx investigation team sexualities

random stuff and habits of the nxx boys

marius von hagen gender: part 1. part 2. part 3 with mc

there was only one bed and the entire nxx investigation team: part 1. part 2.

marius/luke try (and fail) to matchmake vyn/artem

what are my thoughts on vyn/artem?

🐦 DAVIS is sentient and becomes mc’s bestie: part 1. part 2.

nsfw. artem/mc/marius and artem is great at threesomes

luke HATES formal wear HE HATES IT

🐦 marius/[insert nxx team member] tabloid articles

aaron is great but what the fuck?

marius/luke general ship dynamic hcs: part 1. part 2

nsfw. assorted artem wing spice hcs

the nxx crew go to an actually haunted house

artem wing, oblivious heartbreaker: college edition

what medias were the nxx boys watching growing up?

the nxx crew get a therapy cactus

luke pearce is trans because i trans and i kin him

🐦 the NXX boys capture a villain: part 1. part 2. part 3.

luke is TERRIFYING and it ISNT FUNNY ANYMORE

NXX team typing habits

how artem is when hes sick lol

luke is pretty scary and i think it's hilarious

nsfw. luke/mc and girllll u got a thing for uniforms huh

vyn why is ur codename like that

what makes the NXX Investigation Team laugh

luke’s cooking and food habits

additional thoughts on luke’s food habits

luke + the love language of oranges

additional thoughts on luke + the love language of oranges

the NXX boys and art appreciation

nsfw. luke pearce is not a sex god buuuuut

HAHA, LUKE PEARCE IS A GAMER!!! oh no, luke pearce is a gamer...

additional thoughts on gamer luke

the NXX boys financial situations

NXX roomba causes some people to realize things

luke/mc/artem boogaloo where luke panics about being bi

AUs

🐦 [NEW] tot pokemon au

🐦 [NEW] tot wingfic au part 1. part 2.

[NEW] i am imagining dragons: part 1

🐦 [NEW] marius/luke high school au

🐦 [NEW] nsfw. marius is an incubus and we're all horny about it: part 1. part 2. part 3. part 4

nxx team as genshin characters: part 1. part 2. part 3. part 4.

🐦 luke pearce is a werewolf awoooo: part 1. part 2 nsfw. part 3.

NXX crew as animal crossing villagers: part 1

dark!luke au: part 1.

NXX boys get turned into cats: part 1. part 2.

NXX crew but as an NSB agent team: part 1

misc enthusiasm kajsbfkj

🐦 [NEW] rating luke cards based solely on how handsome peanut is

[NEW] mayday! unintentional nxx friendship occurring!

🐦 [NEW] luke is Just Some Guy

[NEW] marius’ “amazing day”

🐦 [NEW] Appreciate The Stuff In Luke’s Apartment That Are For Peanut

🐦 Appreciate Peanut

vyn is The pretty boy

whAT is artem WEARING for 2nd anniv beach outfit

what are vyn and artem WEARING for 1st anniv

🐦 my thoughts on that one thing austin said in marius ps 4

my thoughts on luke ps 4

petpet luke

top 3 hottest things luke did in perso story 3

theyre in a jeep!! in the khaimit desert! marius is going to die

CHIBI LUKE IN RAVEN MODE

luke in every lounge gifset

🐦 saga of making fun of the sott exploration buffs: luke’s bombs. vyn’s brain. artem’s interdimensional pockets.

🐦 my top 5 luke cards

🐦 Artem’s Milk: a review

luke pearce is writing in his diary

luke pearce has a canon sample of handwriting and im gonna pick it apart

🐦 tot lore iceberg meme

🐦 nsfw. my unholy nxx polycule sex hierarchy dynamics hc

🐦 nxx scooby doo gang looking SO GOOD

mc’s dresses are gorgeous and i talk about them for 1.7k words

🐦 how it felt like seeing luke go agent raven mode for the first time

MARIUS WHAT IS THAT ON UR ANKLE

marius and a poem about a cat

🐦 luke bday2 ssr spoilers. luke is drunk and so puppy

🐦 luke bday2 ssr: one. two. three. four. five IMPORTANT KICK. six. seven. eight. nine BOND GIRL MC. ten why is luke LIKE THIS.

🐦 ARTEM’S MEATBALLS

🐦 my dream tot eng va cast

🐦 meowrius von nyah-gen

giann von hagen is going to be SO HOT

i hate luke pearce

🐦 marius von hagen best quality: his wiggles

luke pearce is CHOPPING some WOOD?

a day with...

the Lays Chips collaboration

dj vyn richter????

shitposts and memes

horse girl kiki bennet

do not separate them

luke is rlly sorry for burdening u aaron :(

the nxx boys’ mom situations

🐦 luke and artem have similar problems

marius are you okay???

🐦 about vyn’s svartish name...

lord, grant vyn patience

🐦 marius/luke relationship announcement

marius/luke proposal

🐦 nsfw-ish vyn text post memes but about his Manner Of Speaking

🐦 marius/luke. they dressed fancy for their date

dangerous to go alone...take this

goodmornings from the nxx group chat

how does cervitaur!artem wear pants?

LUKE’S HAAAAAATTTT!!!

assorted vyn text post memes

marius opening up

nsfw-ish. marius/luke. sometimes home is a person...

🐦 marius speaking to a beautiful woman

🐦 nsfw-ish. marius/luke wow ur playing elden ring?

🐦 marius “knife-magnet” von hagen

i love boardgame mini events

🐦 aaron puts up with a LOT from luke

🐦 artem’s soup intrigues vyn

vyn and marius’ tutoring sessions

🐦 marius: trauma? pshhh

luke meant what he said

vyn concedes that artem is right

nxx boys + that one hilarious article about heterosexual female desire

🐦 luke/mc. luke is doing the dishes

baldr legal professionalism

artist problems with marius

🐦 nsfw. i want that twink (luke) obliterated

marius: lol guess what

marius: hey can i call u?

mc and artem in ace attorney

🐦 luke is my comfort character

hot take about marius and luke

nsfw. luke stan moods

🐦 establish dominance in th convo w vyn

SR Vibrant Graffiti

marius: WAAAA!

marius in main story 2

🐦 want beautiful hair like vyn?

🐦 luke multitasks

🐦 austin von hagen is weird

extreme density

marius coping mechanisms

pigeon pokemon battle ft. peanut

🐦 the team needs a distraction

🐦 nxx investigation polycule

🐦 can luke find marius?

🐦 nsfw. marius/luke dynamic

artem where u looking at?

vyn does not have mental illness

marius is playing the long con

happy vday from the boys <3

austin von hagen is a Cool Dad

🐦 aaron yishmir’s business card

🐦 let’s give it up for the side characters!

🐦 it’s LUKE’S FAULT

luke is making a sandwich

EDM vyn my beloved

mc asking the hard hitting questions

what marius needed to hear

artem’s mom can make him follow orders cuz...

🐦luke is just a little guy! oh uh, wait...

if youre dating vyn...

🐦 artem is multifaceted

third base for vyn richter is...

marius says “hey, nerd!”

🐦artem tells marius about his childhood

marius is the boy who cried wolf

vyn goes bowling

🐦 mc wants a man like this

artem fishing is hot as fuck

the Vyn Nyan-agram (venn diagram)

in skadi, marius takes a selfie with mc and

🐦 mc’s thoughts on pathetic men

tot themed mutuals ask meme!

🐦 we could fix zangr but...

🐦 nxx boys + nsfw text memes

vyn’s private twitter account

marius and giann’s lunches get swapped

marius needs help with math

🐦 better luck next time, artem!!

luke is a spoonful of sugar

vyn tells the boys about the concept of traumatic events

🐦 artem wing: bringer of headpats

marius has made a mistake

mc messaging luke vs mc messaging marius

🐦 vyn "helping” luke realize hes bi

luke and vyn’s dating app profiles and theyre roommates

🐦 marius: hey, mc! nice tits!

marius’ personality gives off cancer vibes

🐦 nsfw. luke fucks HARD hard...

artem falls asleep

gamer alignment chart

teenager artem has a fake ID

luke is mad at marius

🐦 luke “mansplain” pearce

🐦 luke and marius r tired

🐦 happy birthday luke! heres ur cake!

artem has NFTs

take a break from hating everyone to...

🐦 people who like marluke

🐦 why artem is always winning against baldr legal

marius is making morgan’s life hell

🐦 vyn is scary good at video games

every nxx investigation team should include...

🐦 marius asks artem for permission

🐦 luke is teaching vyn to be nicer

marius falls down the stairs

the nice and naughty dog of the week

🐦 dont leave luke and marius unattended

🐦 marius/luke when your hands are bisexual

artem wants you to drink water

luke/mc and luke is making breakfast for his beautiful wife

🐦 marius is the most jealous man

marius/artem having a lover’s quarrel in the groupchat

marius is a grad student

artem: youre epic

🐦 nsfw. the saddest people...

luke is like “wtf people tell their crushes they like them?”

artem is playing basketball

nxx boys + the onion headlines

asshole of the year

marius is mc's hottest frie---

artem will kill marius one day

celestine will kill artem one day

when the class war is happening...

🐦 luke and vyn get locked out of the NXX building

artem was NOT that drunk last night

art and edits

[NEW] harpy!luke head feathers...

[NEW] woe, meme-y marius/luke gifs be upon ye

🐦 [NEW] tot drawing meme!!

[NEW] tot + carly rae jepsen songs edit

[NEW] luke/mc + a softer world edit

🐦 nsfw implied marius/luke edit hehehe

🐦 VERY NSFW marius/luke edit

🐦 marius/luke happy anniv!! edit

caught a tiny detective

steal her fit + skadi edition

nsfw, marius/luke. wow had a nice 2nd anniv?

🐦🐦🐦 “don’t worry you will” luke/mc video edit

NXX Investigation Team ID mockup

Stellis University mock materials

nxx pride <3!!

fanart for “Oh, Captain, Deal” by galena

fanart for “a picture is worth a thousand words (but a video is worth more, roll clip!)” by sam

🐦 marius/luke date <3

mushroom card luke outfit....

marius/luke. cat bf and dog bf

🐦 marius/luke. marius tests out pet names

🐦 tot fake products: Adjudicator Tea Tree Facial Cleanser

🐦 tot fake products: Raven Honey Lemon Tea

im never not over high school mc and luke

misc doodles

mc and luke, childhood friends!

luke and mc doodles, listen, i love doodling luke okay

🐦 marius/luke edit, they went on a date

luke doodles

🐦 mc | rosa photo edit

🐦 mc is arguing with pigeons

🐦 luke photo edit

🐦 ive edited a marius/luke image

little baby children luke and mc

high school luke and mc

happy 25th birthday luke!! also im crying, shut up

🐦 all the art i drew for “how Puppy Pierce© conquered the world”

fanart for sure_galena’s genderbend nxx au fic

🐦 miss tot mc rosa are u free friday night?

how the FUCK do you guys draw marius???

mc, luke, and marius go to the beach

🐦 marius/luke marius is a needy and clingy and thats okay

how the FUCK do you guys draw luke????

marius is a cat-maid! but i dont think thats safe

marius/luke holding hands

rosa

puppy luke, kitty marius, bunny mc

bonk ur marius today

fic recs

part 1: mixed bag of fics

part 2: nsfw smut smut smut

part 3: wips im following enthusiastically

part 4: nsfw vyn obliteration

part 5: fics with godly character understanding

others

[NEW] spotify playlist: marius von hagen in the limelight issues

🐦 [NEW] spotify playlist: vyn richter

🐦 [NEW] spotify playlist: marius/mc/luke ot3

🐦 [NEW] spotify playlist: luke pearce’s NSB trauma

spotify playlist: nxx team as found family

daily luke plush

spotify playlist: luke pearce

spotify playlist: artem wing

🐦 spotify playlist: marius von hagen

---

tot asks/request rules

i am open to tot asks/requests but please read above link about rules first

#i left soooome stuff out bc they didnt have enough Content TM in them or whatever #tears of themis #masterlist #uhhh this post is a mess actually I TOTALLY 4GOT ABOUT CHRONOLOGY UHHH. WELP. TOO LATE. im very stupid can you tell?

328 notes · View notes

jrob64 · 2 years

Text

For the Sake of Henry (Chapter 7 - Comfort)

I hope you have recovered from last week's chapter. Poor Henry really tugs at the heartstrings, doesn't he? This chapter is a little lighter and a lot more hopeful, and I hope you enjoy it! My thanks to @hookedmom and @spartanguard, as always.

Story Summary: Killian Jones is a third grade teacher concerned about one of his students, Henry Cassidy. When he has to make a report to the Office of Child and Family Services about the possible neglect and abuse of the boy, the person sent to investigate is Emma Swan. While both of them have Henry’s welfare at heart, there may be other matters of the heart involved neither one expected.

Rating: M

Words: 6408

Chapters on Tumblr: Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6

Story on Ao3 and ffn

*********

Comfort

Killian stood looking out his classroom window the next day, watching the vehicles go through the drop-off line and wondering if Ingrid’s car would appear. When the students began filtering in and only a couple of minutes remained until the tardy bell rang, he turned away from the window with a sigh.

He didn’t really expect Henry to be at school, but he was hoping to receive some sort of update about how he was doing. After checking his email and finding nothing there, he took attendance and entered it into his computer, noting Henry’s absence.

None of his students asked about their classmate because there had been a stomach bug going around, so they were used to a student or two being out every day. They dove right into their math lesson, and the next hour-and-a-half passed quickly.

When the students were dismissed for recess, Killian sat down at his desk and checked his email again. There were three new ones, but none were about Henry.

“Hi, Mr. Jones,” came a familiar little voice, and Killian’s head snapped up. Henry was standing uncertainly in the doorway, with Ingrid right behind him, a ‘visitor’ sticker stuck onto the front of her blouse. The boy seemed smaller somehow, like he had shrunken into himself a little.

“Good morning, Henry…and Ms. Fisher,” he greeted, rising from his seat and maneuvering through the maze of desks.

“Oh, please - it’s Ingrid,” the foster mother said, putting a hand on Henry’s shoulder to encourage him to step into the room.

“The class just left for morning recess. Would you like to join them?” Killian asked.

“Um, okay. Should I unpack my bookbag first?”

“Why don’t you let me take care of that, so you can go enjoy some sunshine and fresh air with your friends?” Ingrid said.

Henry nodded and glanced at Killian once more, then gave his foster mother a hug, before turning and heading down the hall toward the recess doors.

“Do you have a few minutes?” Ingrid asked.

“Of course, please come in and have a seat. I’m afraid the chairs aren’t very comfortable for adults.”

Ingrid chuckled. “No problem. I think I can manage sitting on one for a little while.”

Killian pulled two chairs out from the reading table and they settled into them. “How is he doing?”

“I couldn’t get him to eat any supper last night and I heard him crying until I went to bed at ten-thirty. I checked on him a few times and he kept telling me he just wanted to be alone.”

Killian pressed his lips together and dropped his head, sad to hear how much the boy was hurting, even though he expected nothing less.

“I let him sleep this morning because I figured he had to be exhausted from all the emotions he experienced yesterday. When he woke up, he came bounding into the kitchen, wondering why I didn’t wake him up for school. I told him he didn’t have to come today, and do you know what he said?”

“No, what did he say?”

“He said, ‘I have to go. Mr. Jones will miss me if I don’t.’ That’s the influence you have on him, Mr. Jones. He knows how much you care about him and doesn’t want to worry you or let you down.”

Suddenly, Killian’s decision about becoming Henry’s foster parent became a lot easier.

*********

Killian tried to watch Henry discretely as the day went on and, although he had moments where tears were close to the surface and a few found their way down his cheeks, he seemed to be handling things fairly well. Killian didn’t think Henry had told any of his classmates about what happened to his dad.

After lunch, they had writer’s workshop, which was Henry’s favorite time of the day. Killian provided prompts for those students who had trouble coming up with a topic, but Henry rarely needed one as he always seemed to be bursting with stories to be written. His teacher was convinced the boy would be an author someday.

Killian spent the forty-five minute block of time circulating around the room, checking in on those struggling to get words down, keeping students on task, and correcting grammatical and punctuation errors for what he felt was the thousandth time.

Just as he was preparing to wrap up writing time so they could move on to science, Henry approached him with his notebook in his hands. “Mr. Jones, could I…um, I wrote something I’d like to share with the class. Is that alright?”

Normally, Killian would have been hesitant to let a student share something they had written without reading it over beforehand himself, but he could see how important this was to the boy. “Of course, Henry. Go to the front of the room and as soon as everyone is settled, you can read your story.”

It took a couple of minutes for the other students to clear their desks and direct their attention to their classmate who was standing nervously in front of the smartboard. When they were finally ready, Killian gave a nod to Henry, who cleared his throat and fastened his eyes on his notebook.

“When I was in first grade, the teacher told us to write about our hero. I chose my dad. My mom had died the year before, and my dad was sad like me, but he took very good care of me. He was a good dad up until when he got a girlfriend and started having parties. Then he didn’t pay much attention to me, and I didn’t know if he even loved me anymore.”

He paused to turn the page and Killian glanced around at the other students, who were listening intently.

“I had to go live somewhere else because my dad wasn’t taking care of me, and I really missed him. A few weeks ago, I was able to have visits with him and he told me he was sorry and that I would be going home to live with him again soon.”

Killian’s throat began to constrict, knowing what Henry was going to say next.

“But yesterday my dad died, and now I’ll never get to see him again. I’m sad all over again, and now I have to find a new hero.”

Complete silence fell over the room as he finished and Killian wasn’t sure how they were going to move past such an emotional moment. Then Nicholas Zimmer got up from his seat and walked toward Henry, stopping in front of him for a beat or two, before giving him a big hug.

Grace and Violet rose and joined in, and Killian choked up further, watching as every student in his class surrounded their grieving classmate, giving him their support in the best way they knew how. He had never been as proud of any of his classes as he was of this one as they shared a silent group hug. He pulled out his phone and snapped a quick photo, wanting to commemorate the moment that his class taught him more in one minute than he had taught them in an entire school year.

*********

Emma’s soothing voice came across the phone line. “How was your day?”

Killian sat back in his desk chair, swiveling it to look over his classroom, now empty of students. “It was…a bit emotional, honestly.”

“Was Henry there?”

“He came in mid-morning. Ingrid was going to let him stay home, but he insisted on coming because he didn’t want me to worry about him.”

“You have quite a connection with him, don’t you?”

“Aye, and I think it’s pretty clear what decision I should make about being his foster parent.”

“I agree. If he’s placed somewhere away from here, you’re always going to wonder how he’s doing.” She heard him sigh on the other end. “You sound tired.”

“I am.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t come over tonight and let you get…”

“I need you, Swan.”

“Then I’ll be there.”

*********

Emma picked up Chinese food on the way to Killian’s, and while they were eating, he told her about Henry’s story and his classmates’ reaction to it. When he showed her the picture he took, she had no trouble understanding why it was such an emotional day.

After dinner, they took the dogs for a long walk along the beach. As they walked, she tried to steer the conversation away from either of their jobs and Henry, because she could tell he needed a break from everything.

It was a warm and breezy evening, so after strolling for almost half-an-hour, Emma pulled him down to sit with her on the dry, hard-packed sand. Since there were no other people around, they let Minnie and Coco off their leashes to explore amid the rocks and grass surrounding them.

Killian fixed his eyes on the horizon in front of him, mesmerized by the gently rolling waves of the bay. Meanwhile, Emma’s gaze was focused on her boyfriend’s profile and she couldn’t keep her fingers from straying to the fringes of hair at the nape of his neck. “I love you,” she hummed.

He reached over to run his hand up and down the calf of her left leg. “I love you too, Emma. I’m very glad to have your love and support right now.”

Grasping his hand, she pulled it over her shoulder and snuggled into his side. “You’re such a good man, Killian Jones.”

She felt the vibration of his responding chuckle against her cheek. “Why do you say that?”

“Because you care so much, for one thing; for your students, your friends, Minnie…”

“You.”

“Yeah, me. You’re strong, sweet, kind and passionate, and Ruby hit the nail on the head when she said you’re drop-dead gorgeous.”

This time he laughed out loud. “When did Ruby say that?”

“The first night you came to the bar. That day I went to investigate your report, she played twenty questions with me afterwards and found out Henry had a male teacher. Of course, she had to ask if you were an old codger…”

Killian’s laugh boomed out once more. “Well, at least the ‘old’ part is right!”

“Hush! You’re far from old, my love.”

They watched Coco follow Minnie toward the water, then come streaking back to them once it splashed onto his feet, causing both of them to laugh. “He’s such a chicken,” Killian commented.

“Hey, watch it, buster! That’s my baby you’re talking about!”

“He’s a baby, all right,” he quipped, watching the little dog run behind his owner and peek out at the offending waves.

Several more minutes passed peacefully while they let the ocean work its magic to relax them. When the sky began to darken, Emma glanced around, pressed a kiss to Killian’s cheek and jumped up.

His eyes followed her curiously as she kicked at the tufts of grass amongst the rocks, until she bent down and picked up a stick about three feet long. “Aha!” she crowed triumphantly, then turned and grabbed his hand to tug him to his feet. “Come on!”

“Where are we going, Love?”

“You’ll see. I’ve always wanted to do this.”

She led them onto the soft, wet band of beach, just beyond the reach of the tide, and looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. Without letting go of his hand, she used the stick to scratch a large heart into the sand, adding ‘E + K’ in the center of it.

When she finished, he reached for the stick and added ‘4 ever’ underneath the letters. Then he wrapped her up in his arms, kissing her with abandon until the light completely faded away, leaving them to walk back to the house in the dark; arms wound tightly around each other with their pets dancing playfully around their feet.

*********

“Are you asleep?” Emma asked, already knowing the answer as she laid across Killian, their bodies still cooling from making love. It hadn’t taken them long to fall into bed once they were home, the need to express their feelings overwhelming them.

“Mmm, not yet,” he murmured. “Something on your mind?”

She raised her head, settling her chin on his breastbone to look into his face. “When you wrote ‘forever’ in the sand, did you really mean that?”

His fingers brushed some strands of hair away from her face. “I don’t know about you, Emma, but I’m in this for the long haul. Perhaps it’s because of our similar backgrounds, or maybe we were just meant to be together, but almost from the moment I met you, I felt a connection between us.”

“I know what you mean. I tried to talk myself out of the attraction I felt for you, but failed. You’re it for me.”

He beamed at her, before his brow furrowed in seriousness. “We’re going to face some challenges in the coming months, if Henry comes to live here.”

“Are you afraid we won’t be able to make it work?”

“No, I’m just saying that it could get complicated.”

“It’ll be worth it, though. Henry deserves a good home and that’s what you’ll provide for him. He seems very accepting and has already met me, so I don’t think having me around is going to bother him.”

“I’m sure you’re right about that.” His fingers scratched along her scalp, causing her to lay her head back down on his chest, almost purring with contentment. A couple of minutes passed before he spoke again. “Ingrid said there won’t be any services for Neal, but Ruby is going to take Henry to the house in a couple of days to collect his remaining possessions. At least he’ll get a little bit of closure that way.”

“She’s been trying to go through closets and cupboards to see if they contain anything Henry might want. She told me they’re gonna have to have professional cleaners come in to try to make the house livable again, even though Neal was making an effort to clean it up so he could get his son back.”

“I wonder why he relapsed?” he asked thoughtfully.

“Ruby thinks it was because of his girlfriend. She just had too much influence over him, and it cost him his life.”

“Aye,” he sighed, “what a waste.”

Emma reached over to pluck her phone off of the nightstand. “It’s almost eleven o’clock, Babe. We better get cleaned up and get some sleep.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he groaned, reluctantly rolling them onto their sides, then kissing the tip of her nose just to see it scrunch up. “You’re adorable, Swan.”

“And you’re a charmer, Jones.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Most definitely not, as long as you don’t use your charm on any other women.”

“Are there other women in the world besides you? I hadn’t noticed,” he smirked.

Her responding giggle widened his grin and he couldn’t resist peppering kisses along her exposed throat, which turned her giggles into moans of pleasure.

It was after midnight before they finally settled in to sleep, completely sated after losing themselves in their love for each other once again.

*********

Emma hadn’t mentioned anything to Ruby about Killian’s intention to be Henry’s foster father, knowing it wasn’t her place to bring it up. He planned to speak to the caseworker at the beginning of the second week in May, since there would only be a month remaining in the school year and he wanted to allow both Henry and himself a chance to get used to the idea.

Henry had collected his remaining belongings from his house and was continuing therapy sessions with Mr. Hopper, now focusing on getting over the death of his father. As the days passed, Killian started to see glimmers of the happy little boy Henry had the potential to be more often, and he was eager to see the effect time and a healthy environment would have on him in the future.

When he arrived at the office of Child and Family Services in Augusta at the appointed time on Monday afternoon, he couldn’t keep from asking the receptionist if Emma Swan was in. She informed him that she was and hopped up from her desk to lead him to Emma’s cubicle, chattering away as she did.

“Emma, there’s someone here to see you,” the lady chirped, pointing him toward an opening in the partition.

“Is it an emergency, Anna? Because I really need to…”

“It’s just me, Love. I have an appointment with Ruby today, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right! It kind of slipped my mind. I got a new case a couple of hours ago and I’m trying to get some research done for it.” She stood and stretched, giving him a tantalizing peek of her bare midriff when her top rode up. Seeing where his eyes went, she winked at him, then turned to address the receptionist. “Anna, this is my boyfriend, Killian Jones. He’s here…”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Jones! I’ve heard Emma mention you from time to time and I was really hoping I would get to meet you eventually. I remember seeing your name down on Ruby’s schedule. Would you like for me to let her know you’re here? Or would you prefer to have some time with Emma first? What am I saying? Of course you would like to be with your girlfriend for a little while! Maybe I can tell Ruby you’ll be with her in a few minutes. Would that be okay?”

“Umm…”

“That’s what I’ll do - I’ll just tell her you’ll be along after you’re finished, uh, talking to Emma.” She giggled behind her hand, then pivoted and scurried off.

Killian turned wide eyes toward his girlfriend, who was struggling not to burst out laughing at the look on his face. “So, that’s Anna,” she said. “It took us a while to get her to come out of her shell.”

“Has anyone ever timed her to figure out how many words she speaks per minute?” he asked, still in slight shock from the verbal onslaught.

This time, Emma couldn’t hold back her laugh. “Sometimes when I’m around her for an hour or so, I go sit in my car just to let my ears rest.”

It was his turn to chuckle, before taking her hands and leaning forward to briefly press his lips to hers. “I got here a bit early so I could see my beautiful girlfriend, but I probably should go so I’m not late for my appointment with Ruby.”

“Mmm, Ruby can wait,” she murmured, and pulled him back down for a longer, more ardent kiss.

“She most certainly can not! You know what a stickler I am for punctuality!”

Emma groaned as Ruby’s voice caused them to break apart. “Seriously, Rubes? When have you ever been punctual for anything?”

“Apparently I have impeccable timing for keeping the two of you from doing it right here on your desk.”

“Oh, my god! We weren’t…you know what? Just go have your meeting with Killian; I’ve got to get back to work anyway. Some of us don’t have time to lurk around other people’s cubicles.”

Killian stood grinning at the exchange between the two friends, before Emma heaved a sigh and brushed her lips across his stubbled cheek. “See you later, Babe.”

“Come on, Babe. Let’s go see if we can figure out how to keep Jeff and Emma from finding out about our passionate affair,” Ruby spouted, linking her arm through Killian’s.

He threw one last look back at his girlfriend, who mouthed, ‘Good luck’.

“So what’s cookin’, good lookin’?” Ruby inquired, once they were seated on opposite sides of her desk.

Killian leaned forward, resting his forearms on the surface and linking his fingers with those of his prosthetic. “I want to be Henry’s foster parent when the school year is over.”

A grin stretched across her face. “You would be perfect for him! Do you want it to be short-term or long-term?”

“Actually, I’m hoping this would lead to adoption.”

Ruby sat up straighter in her chair. “You’re serious?”

“Aye. He and I already have rapport built with each other and I’d like to offer him a good, stable home. I don’t want him to get lost in the system.”

“What are Emma’s thoughts on the subject? I assume you’ve talked to her about it.”

“Of course we’ve discussed it, since it affects her, too. We’re aware that this will change the dynamics of our relationship, but Henry’s story is very similar to both of ours. We know what it’s like to wonder where we belong and we don’t want that for him.”

“Would you be open to having him over for a weekend visit to your house?” she asked, tapping some keys on her computer to bring up a form.

“Absolutely. I want to make sure he’s comfortable with me, well, with us. Emma isn’t planning on spending the night when he’s there, at least not for a while, but she and Coco will be frequent visitors.”

“It’s a good thing she’s not involved with his case anymore. That could raise some ethical issues.”

“She’s planning on talking to her supervisor, so there won’t be any questions about her intentions when she removed him from his house.”

“I hadn’t thought about it, but that’s a good idea. You don’t want any loose ends hanging around that could come back to bite you in the ass.” Her eyes focused on the screen while she spoke. “Did you want to get the paperwork started today?”

“I was hoping to. I figured it would take a couple of weeks to get the ball rolling.”

“Yeah, but there really aren’t any complications. No parental rights, no siblings or relatives found, no medical conditions or special needs. I shouldn’t list those as complications, but they do tend to make some extra accommodations necessary.”

Killian nodded in acknowledgement. “Do you think it will be a pretty smooth process, then?”

“I do. He’s not an infant, which most people who are waiting to adopt request, and if you foster him first, adopting him will be fairly easy.”

“I really appreciate your help, Ruby.”

“Hey, I’m the one who appreciates you. He’s a great kid and I was really hoping to get him a good placement, but this is even better than I imagined. I’m already picturing the Christmas photos with the three of you and your dogs!”

Killian chuckled, then settled back in his seat as Ruby began firing questions at him so she could start filling in the foster parenting form.

*********

After finishing with Ruby, Killian stopped by Emma’s cubicle again. She was engrossed in the paperwork spread out on her desk and startled when he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

“I’m sorry, Love,” he apologized.

“Don’t be. I welcome your surprise kisses anytime. How did things go?”

“Good. Ruby got the paperwork started and she’s going to arrange a weekend visit for Henry with us. I want to start looking for some furniture to put into that spare bedroom.”

“The one on the south side of the living room?”

“Aye. It’s a little larger than the other one, and I thought it would give him more privacy when he gets older.”

Emma hummed. “That makes sense. Was Ruby surprised?”

“Perhaps a bit, but she thinks it’s a great idea.”

“I figured she would. She hasn’t come right out and said it, but I know she’s been worried about where Henry would be placed once his time with Ingrid comes to an end.”

“This seems like a perfect solution for all of us.” He glanced at the time in the corner of her computer. “How much longer will you be working?”

“I’m almost finished with what I need for tomorrow morning, so maybe another fifteen minutes?”

“How about if I go to your place and take care of Coconut, then we can go out to eat before I leave for home?”

“That sounds good. Do you want us to come to your house afterwards?”

“Of course I want you to, but I know you like to get to work early when you have a new case.”

“I don’t mind getting up early to drive back; I would be less tired doing that, than staying at my place. For some reason, I have trouble sleeping when your arms aren’t wrapped around me.”

“I have that same problem too, although I wouldn’t really call it a problem,” he chuckled.

“Maybe we should start spending some nights apart, so we can get used to it before Henry comes to live with you.”

“Or perhaps,” he began, leaning down to nuzzle his nose behind her ear, “we should spend every night together until then.”

“Mmm, I like your plan better,” she murmured, tilting her head to encourage his caresses.

*********

“Mr. Hopper tells me your counseling sessions are going very well,” Ruby told Henry when she met with him the week after Killian came to her office.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he sighed.

“Is something bothering you?” she asked, sliding into a seat at Ingrid’s kitchen table, where Henry was sitting with his chin resting on his crossed arms.

His shoulders raised and lowered. “School is almost over for the summer.”

“You don’t sound very happy about that. Most kids are really excited about the end of the school year.”

He shrugged again. “Ingrid said I’m staying with her until school is out. What will happen to me then?”

“Well, that’s why I came to talk to you and Ingrid today.”

Ingrid placed the glass of milk and plate of apple slices with peanut butter in front of Henry, and sat down to join them at the table. “Have you found a place for him?” she asked, smoothing Henry’s hair fondly.

“Someone came to see me last week and asked if he could become your foster father.”

He perked up and fixed her with an eager look. “Who?”

“Mr. Jones.”

“My teacher?”

“That’s the one.”

“He really wants me to stay with him?” he asked, bouncing with excitement.

“Yes, he does. In fact, he wants to have you over for a visit this weekend, if that’s okay with you and Ingrid.”

He turned toward his foster mother. “Can I?”

“Of course you can, Henry.”

He whipped his eyes back to Ruby. “Will it be for a sleepover?”

“That’s the plan.”

Henry jumped up and started running toward the hallway leading to his bedroom. “I’m gonna go start packing my bag!”

“It’s only Tuesday!” Ingrid laughed, shaking her head at his antics. Then she directed her attention to Ruby. “I’ve been concerned about where he will go, and this seems like a good solution. How long does he want to keep him?”

Ruby lowered her voice. “He’s seriously considering adopting him, but I’m not going to share that with Henry.”

“I can understand that, but oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful? Henry thinks the world of Mr. Jones, and I’m sure he would be very happy with him.”

“Killian has quite a connection to him and hated the idea of Henry being shuffled around in the system.”

“I know, and I really wish I could offer him a permanent home, but…”

“Don’t worry about that, Ingrid. We knew from the day Emma brought him here that it was a temporary solution, and I can’t thank you enough for taking him. It’s clear from what happened to his dad that he was in a terrible situation and you helped him escape it.”

“I’m glad he won’t be going far so I can still see him from time to time. He’s such a sweet little boy, and I’ve grown very attached to him. I always say I won’t, but I just can’t help myself.”

Ruby gave her a beaming smile. “That’s what makes you such a great foster parent, Ingrid.”

“I packed my toothbrush so I wouldn’t forget it!” Henry announced, skidding back into the room.

“That’s the only toothbrush you have, Sweetheart. How are you going to brush your teeth until then?” Ingrid chuckled.

A thoughtful look crossed his face, then his eyes widened as he thought of a solution. “I’ll just put toothpaste on my finger!”

“Oh, Henry!” Ingrid laughed. “I’ll remind you to put it in your bag before you leave. Now go put it back in the bathroom!”

“Okay,” he muttered, then brightened again as he asked Ruby, “When will I be going to Mr. Jones’s house?”

“He’s planning to pick you up on Saturday morning and bring you back Sunday evening.”

He suddenly grew serious. “Am I allowed to talk to him about it at school?”

“I think so,” Ruby said, “but maybe you should do it when other kids aren’t around.”

He nodded his head enthusiastically and turned toward Ingrid. “Can you take me to school early tomorrow. Please?”

“Of course I can, as long as you don’t dawdle.”

“I won’t!�� he practically shouted. “I’m gonna go do my homework right now so I can go to bed early!” He threw his arms around Ingrid first and then Ruby, before scurrying out of the room again.

“Well, that’s one way to get him to agree to an early bedtime,” Ingrid said, her voice laced with laughter.

“I figured he would be excited.”

“That’s putting it mildly! I’ll be surprised if he gets any sleep at all tonight.”

“Did you, uh, did you know that Killian and Emma Swan are dating?”

“The investigator? No, I didn’t. Did they know each other before she worked on Henry’s case?”

“No, they met because of it and started dating after her role was wrapped up.”

“I think they would make a very nice couple.”

“They do and I’m really happy for Emma. She deserves a good guy like him.”

“I’m sure Henry will like seeing her again when he’s there this weekend.”

“Actually, I don’t think she’s planning on being there,” Ruby said with a slight frown. “She thinks Killian and Henry should have the weekend to themselves.”

“I don’t think Henry would mind, do you?”

“No, and I tried to tell her that, but both of them want to make sure he’s comfortable at Killian’s.”

“Well, it’s their choice, but I get the impression that Mr. Jones could have Big Foot living at his house and Henry would still be comfortable there!”

Ruby laughed as she nodded her agreement.

*********

Killian knew Ruby was going to talk to Henry and Ingrid Tuesday afternoon, so he was wondering how the little boy would act when he got to school the next morning. He didn’t have to wait long to find out, as Henry came bounding into the room a full ten minutes before he usually arrived.

“Mr. Jones! Ms. Lucas told me you’re gonna be my new foster parent and that I get to come stay with you this weekend!”

“Aye, is that alright with you, lad?”

“It’s great! I can’t wait! What time will you pick me up on Saturday?”

“I haven’t decided yet. What time do you get up?”

“I can be up anytime! How about seven o’clock?”

Killian chuckled. “I don’t think it will be quite that early! After getting up at five-thirty every day, I enjoy having a bit of a lay-in on the weekend.”

Henry’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Lay-in?”

“I mean I like to sleep in a little later.”

“Oh.” Henry’s face fell.

“How does nine o’clock sound?”

His countenance brightened. “Sure, that sounds good!”

“My house is close to the bay, so you might want to bring your swim trunks along. The water will still be chilly, but we can wade in it a bit.”

The cloud passed over his face again. “I don’t have any,” he admitted.

“Well, that’s no problem. We’ll just go shopping to find some for you.”

“Cool! I can hardly wait until Saturday!”

Their conversation came to an end when Grace and Violet entered the room, giggling together about something.

*********

Ingrid thought Henry was going to wear a path into her kitchen tile as he waited for Killian to arrive on Saturday morning. He had gotten up early, was completely ready by 8:20, and spent the next forty minutes pacing and looking out the window. She knew it would be pointless telling him to sit down, so she just sat at the table, sipping her coffee with an amused look on her face.

When Killian’s car pulled into the driveway, Henry nearly deafened her by shouting, “He’s here!” at the top of his lungs.

Before he yanked the door open and dashed outside, Ingrid quickly stood and put her hands on his shoulders. “Henry, I know you’re very excited, but you need to calm down a little bit, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll try,” he agreed. “Can I go now?”

“Go ahead, but keep your voice down. Some people in the neighborhood might still be sleeping.”

She barely got the words out of her mouth before he was tearing out of the door at breakneck speed. Picking up his forgotten duffle bag, she followed him at a more leisurely pace.

“Ready, Henry?” Killian was asking when she reached the driveway.

“Yeah! Oh, wait! I forgot my…”

“Here’s your bag, Henry,” Ingrid said, holding it out to him.

“Thanks, Ingrid,” he replied and flung his arms around her waist before taking it.

“Now, you behave for Mr. Jones,” she said, stepping back when he released his hold on her.

“I will! See you tomorrow night!”

Killian opened the passenger door and folded the front seat down so Henry could climb into the back. “It’s safer for you to ride in the back, okay buddy?”

“Sure! Are we gonna go shopping now?”

“Yes, that’s the plan. Fasten your seat belt.”

After closing the door, he turned to give Ingrid a wave. “I’ll bring him back after supper tomorrow, so he’s not late for his bedtime.”

“Okay. Have fun!” she responded.

He threw her a grin and walked around to the driver’s side. She watched him check over his shoulder to make sure Henry was buckled in, start the car, and back out onto the road. After one last wave, she went back into her suddenly much quieter house.

*********

It didn’t take them long to find a pair of swim trunks for Henry, and soon they were on their way to Killian’s house. He could practically feel the energy and excitement rolling off the boy as he tried to sit still in the back seat.

“I can’t wait to meet your dog!” he exclaimed. Killian had told his class stories about Minnie and had a picture of her as his wallpaper on the home screen of his computer, which the students saw whenever he hooked it up to the smartboard.

“Wow, cool house!” Henry said, craning his neck to look at it through the car window beside him.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.” As soon as he put the car in park and turned off the engine, the boy was unbuckling his seatbelt and grabbing his duffle bag. Killian hurried around to open the door and tilt the passenger seat forward for Henry to exit.

Scrambling out, he gave Killian a grin that had a lump lodging in his throat. To know that he could make this boy, who had been through far too much in his young life, so happy by offering him a home, confirmed the decision he made was the right one.

“Watch out for Minnie’s tail,” he warned as they climbed the steps to the front porch. “When she’s excited, it’s like a whip!”

He unlocked the door and used his arm to gently brush Henry back a couple of steps, knowing that his pet would come barreling outside like a whirlwind. Sure enough, Minnie dashed out of the house, barking joyfully and wagging her tail madly.

When she noticed Henry, she began sniffing his tennis shoes, then moved her wet nose up his legs. He giggled at the tickling sensation and dropped to his knees in front of her, encircling her neck with his skinny arms. Minnie accepted his hug gratefully, her body wiggling so hard, she almost knocked him over.

“I think she likes you,” Killian chuckled.

“I’ve always wanted a dog,” he admitted, looking up with a wide grin, “but…” Killian saw the grin fade and a flash of sadness wash over his face, “my…my dad always said dogs were too much work and that I wouldn’t be responsible enough to take care of one.”

“Well, Minnie does require a bit of work, but the happiness she brings me is worth it. I’ll teach you her routine so you can help take care of her, too.” Killian was happy to see the moment of pain pass as Henry’s smile returned.

The three of them went into the house and Killian allowed Henry to wander around, taking in his new surroundings. When he reached the window overlooking the bay, his mouth dropped open. “Wow! You almost live right on the beach! Cool!”

“Would you like to see your bedroom?”

“Sure!”

Killian led him into the room off to the right side of the living room. Emma had helped him choose some furniture they thought a boy Henry’s age would like. The bedroom set had a rustic finish that made it appear to be the worn wood of a ship. The twin-sized headboard looked like a captain’s wheel, while the dresser and nightstand had metal handles in the shape of anchors.

A lamp sitting on the nightstand looked like a large, old-fashioned lantern - the kind which would light the way along passages below a ship’s deck. The comforter and sheet set were light blue decorated with a nautical theme, and Killian had hung two pictures of ships sailing on the ocean on the wall above the bed.

Henry drank it all in with an awed expression on his face. “This is for me?” he squeaked.

“Aye, but if you don’t like the sailing theme or you want different colors…”

“It’s awesome! I love it! Thank you, Mr. Jones!” He dropped his bag on the floor and flung his arms around Killian’s waist.

Killian rubbed the boy’s head, thinking about how he hoped to change Henry’s life by taking him in; but suddenly realizing that Henry was going to change his life just as much. Possibly more.

*********

Thank you once again for the love you’re showing for this story!

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#cs ff #for the sake of henry #jrob64 #csfanfic #chapter 7 #CS fic #captain swan fan fiction #ouat captain swan fanfic #captain swan fic #cs angst #Angst with a happy ending #school teacher Killian #social worker Emma #Child Abuse/Neglect #cs fanfiction

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sashi-ya · 3 years

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{+18} - Law x Fem Best Friend ♥ CH. 4

♥ Daily living with the Heart pirates crew AU.

♥ Spoilers after Dressrosa Arc. Law´s backstory. Wano kuni arc.

♥ Female reader. Little physical description. Everybody is 18+, canon ages.

♥ TW: NSFW, violence. Drama (a lot of it). No further warnings. If you think I should include some feel free to tell me

♥If you wanna know when I’ll be updating the next chapters, you can follow me on Twitter @LawIsMyWaifu, come interact I love to have mutuals that love Law and One Piece as much as I do ♥

Word count: 3.9K

» List of parts: {CH1} {CH2} {CH3} {CH4} {CH5} «

Chapter 4.

The plate fell into the floor… Law showed no emotion at all, he looked at me as the words I’ve just said weren’t ever said. We remained silent for a long minute. I stayed strong, stronger than ever. No more tears. Inside I was broken, I knew he was too…. From the outside I decided to show nothing but a straight face, I was determined. His words have hurt me, and there was no return. Law knew it.

“Please, let me descend on the next island. A few days and this should be over. Don’t tell the rest of the crew, I’m gonna do it personally whenever we arrive at the next port”. I stated, firmly. “If that’s what you want, fine”. Said Law, and left the room, slamming the door.

The moment he was gone, I collapsed over the door. Snapped my fingers. “Silento”, I said, making a silent bubble around me. I screamed, cried, felt my heart break into a hundred pieces. I was a few days away of being alone, alone again. Alone for the first time since I met Law. I was about to leave my whole family, and the person I’ve ever loved the most.

What about everything we got planned? What about us making the world government fall? What about avenging our families?... what about us?...

I must have cried for a few more hours until I fell asleep. I was on the floor, with my back resting over the door…

The snow has wet my feet, but I don’t feel cold anymore. I am hungry, but somehow I know I’m not having any food, so I keep walking. My dress is ragged. My plushie, a photo of my parents and a little blue bow are my only companions, my only possessions. I keep walking and walking. Around me everything is blurry. A few people have asked me what it is with me. I don’t answer. My voice is gone, or maybe I’m just too weak to even pronounce a word.

My tears have dried, I don’t have any more left. I am alone, I am waiting for my life to end.

The last thing I ate some days ago was an apple, a fruit, I don’t know. I felt strange after eating it. I don’t really know what it is, but I feel different.

I get to the shore. Somehow being next to the sea makes me feel better. The waves relax me. Suddenly I am so weak I’m feeling as if I'm fainting… my vision got even more blurred… and the last thing I could see was a little boy coming my way, wearing a white hat and a blanket around him.

“Oi, Oi!!” The little boy with white spots that covered almost his whole face skin and bright grey eyes is now shaking me by my shoulders. He has a little piece of bread on his also spotted hands. “Take it, I’m a doctor, you should eat!”. I deny the offer with my head. He seems as hungry as me. “I hate bread, you should eat it. For real, I hate it”, the little boy insists until I grab the piece of bread and eat it. It was magnificent… somehow I feel the need for the very first time in days to speak… “Tha… thank you for the.. food. Wh… What is your name?”, I ask the young doctor. He looks at me considering if he can trust me. “Law. Trafalgar D. Water Law”...

My head hit the floor and I woke up. My face was wet in sweat. The memories of the first time I met Law were replaying while I was sleeping. I gazed at my watch. 11:02 am. Next to me, there was still the plate he dropped yesterday. The smell of the food made my stomach hurt, I got nauseous, so I went to the bathroom right away.

My reflection showed a pale face, my eyes were irritated and puffier than ever from all of the crying. My head hurt. I tied my hair on a ponytail, I didn’t even want to comb it. I felt once again queasy, so I knelt in front of the toilet and wait for my sickness to go away.

A few hours passed until I decided it was time to face my crew. Surprisingly no one has come to see me nor called me or knock on my door.

When I opened the door, Bepo, Shachi and Penguin fell over me. “What are you doing???” I screamed trying to gasp for air with three of my crew mates crushing me. “Sorry Y/n, sorry!!” Bepo begged for my apology as the three of them tried to stand up. “Y/n, we were concerned, you haven’t left your room in almost two days, you haven't eaten a single time since you came back from the island and Captain remained sitting on your door the whole night. What 's going on??” Penguin interrogated me while helping me to stand up.

“Guys don’t ask me any more questions; I am going to explain everything to you soon. I’m all right don’t worry. Bepo… do you know how many days will take us to arrive to the next island?”. Bepo looked at me intrigued, but being the good navigator he is, said “no more than two days, why?”. “Don’t worry, I just wanted to know”, I said and walked with them to the kitchen.

Shachi handed me a plate with some food. I hesitated if I should eat or not, because I was still kinda sick, but I decided to eat anyway. I didn’t want to bother the guys and besides, I had to eat something to stay healthy. I’m going to be on my own soon, I should start worrying about getting food and all that stuff by myself. Eating silently with my sight directed to the food, suddenly I remembered what Penguin said. Law was at my door the whole night?, What the hell was he doing there?…

A few jokes from the guys made me laugh, and my mood slightly got better until Bepo asked about the new necklace I had, “Ay ay y/n, how pretty is that, where did you get it? Oh, it has a heart, so cute!”. I gave him a little side smirk, that showed more pain than true happiness and told him Law has given it to me as a gift. My friends started laughing in a certain way, that somehow made my cheeks turn red. I asked them to stop, that it was just a friend’s present, and walked back to my room.

I started gathering all my stuff, putting my clothes on an old bag that I haven’t used in ages. I didn’t include my boiler-suit, it has our Jolly Roger on it, and sadly I wasn’t going to be part of the crew anymore. The blue box of memories also went into the bag. Of course, I was using my silent spell, I didn’t want anybody on the submarine to hear me cry, especially Law.

On one of the corners of my mirror I got an old photo of my best friend and I the day we visited Sabaody Park, two years ago. We were smiling -pretty weird of Law-, happy. I got a little froggie on my hands, that he has won on one of the attractions for me. I took the photo and sat on my bed, remembering how Bepo got a sugar crush from eating so much cotton candy. In between some tears, I smiled… Nothing ever brings me so much joy than the love and the adventures I’ve been through with my family.

I began to contemplate what I should do with the necklace. It was already noon when I found the courage to return it to Law. I did want to keep it, yet, it marked the beginning of the end... the idea of having it was making my heart squeeze.

I knew the surgeon is usually in the control room over the afternoon, he finds the place relaxing for studying new surgical techniques, so I headed there.

Over the operation control pad there is a big porthole that shows the underwater world. The sound of the water around us with the beep of the sonar makes the room seem so calm. I remained still on the entrance; I was still using my silence spell. Law was asleep over the controls and some books.

I thought the best way was to take advantage of the fact he was sleeping, I will only have to take off the necklace and leave it right next to him and then, leave.

I walked to the chair he was sat on and tried to unhook the gold rose chain. “God damn it, this has the best clasp I’ve ever seen, why is it ….”. Suddenly Law grabbed my leg, he was still with his head over the controls, a sleepy face, puffy eyes and almost black dark circles, looking at me, saying something I could not hear. I snapped my fingers to undo my calm spell and asked him to repeat what he had said. “I was just asking if you needed help, I can give you a hand…”. I nodded and he stood up.

Face to face, he passed his hands around my neck to grab the clasp of the necklace. Struggling, he got even more close to my face trying to unhook it.

Having his face so close to mine, made me lead my eyes to his neck, those earrings hanging so sexy from his earlobe, the hair, the beard that garnished his jawline… I felt an instant need to kiss and softly bite his neck, I did not care about the drama, I was leaving this place forever, this was the last time.

I slowly started approaching my mouth to his neck. I placed a kiss so softly, first caressing his flesh with the point of my tongue and then with my lips. I waited for his reaction, he gasped and remained still. It didn't seem he wanted me to stop. So, I proceeded to leave a path of sweet kisses through his neck to his jawline, following it until arriving at the left commissure of his lips, placing one last kiss there until he turned his head slightly to me and looked me in the eyes. I didn't want to separate my sight from his, and he didn't want to either. We kept looking at each other until he grabbed my face with one of his hands and kissed my lips passionately. It felt almost as if he needed to kiss me as much as he needed air to breathe. For this moment I have forgotten how hurt I was, how much pain I’ve been through until some minutes ago.

His skilled hands reached from under the skirt I was using, my sex. He confirmed how aroused for him I was, feeling how wet my panties were. Law turned me around, pushing me softly to the control desk, leaving me with my head and stomach over it, unzipped his jeans, moved away my panties and penetrated me. He did it violently, needy, he was desperate for it. And I was certainly too.

The surgeon grabbed my hair, pulling my head backwards while pounding me hard. Every thrust made me squirm. We were exposed, anyone could enter the room at any moment, but we didn’t seem to care. What is more, I was enjoying it. The risky sensation that someone could find us during the act, contributed to the arousal that this man was producing on me. His moaning, my groaning, our accelerated breath was heavenly. He was fucking me so hard, I almost lost full control of my limbs, thank God I was holding myself to the desk.

I was about to come when Law decided to turn me around. He pulled down his trousers and sat on the chair, tapped his lap and said, “Come here”. I sat over his lap with no hesitations, grabbed his dick and placed it inside me. Law put his hands on my ribs and accompanied the bouncing movement I did over him. Up and down, sometimes tracing some circles with my hips, sometimes moving them back and forth.

Beads of sweat falling from his neck, his groaning, him throwing his head back from pleasure, tempted me to put my hands around his throat. Me jumping on his dick and the pressure on his neck must have made him lose control, because a few minutes after he came, hard, inside me, filling me, pushing me to climax soon after.

We remained like that a few more minutes, feeling each other, enjoying how our breathing was getting slower. None of us wanted to say nothing…

But, reality hit me hard once the arousal was gone, and this time the only thing I could feel was guilt. Again, I’ve lost control of my impulses when it comes to Law, I couldn’t help it, I loved him. But as far as I knew, he didn’t. I hopped off his lap and ran to my room. As I was running I felt the necklace slowly fall from my neck. I didn’t stop, I kept running. Law was behind me, grabbed the heart pendant and said “Wait, please, let’s talk”.

“Leave me alone…”, I said in between tears, and closed my door. Law placed both of his hands on the door, not violently but almost as if he was begging for me to listen, hurt, heartbroken. “Please, I beg you, we have to talk”... “We have nothing to talk about, count what just happened as a farewell, I need to leave, I can’t stay here anymore. Tomorrow I’m leaving the submarine, forever Law, please emerge whenever we get to the island”, I said choking back tears. There weren’t any more bits of my heart that could break. I hated myself for what has happened once again. I hated him… but I loved him. Law remained silent, but I could hear him sobbing from behind the door. A few minutes after, I heard the steps of his black boots fade away.

I finished packing everything, and before going to bed I saw a little envelope slipped under my door. I knew what it was even without opening it… Several years ago, Law and I learnt about the vivre cards and how to make them. I gave Law mine, and he tried to give me his, but I denied it. What was the point in having his vivre card if I am always going to be with him? and even if I get lost, he will be searching me with mine either way… I was so sure of never leaving his side, how I’ve planned to live my life always next to him. But plans do not always turn out as we wish.

I picked up the envelope and it was in fact his vivre card. I could strongly sense his soul, even if it was a tiny part of it. In the little white square of paper, it was written “Law’s”, and it began pointing to the direction of his room.

I saved it on the blue box of memories and went to bed.

Morning came and I haven’t slept a single minute during the whole night. I was trying to find words to tell my whole crew, to gather the courage to tell them goodbye, to walk away, to bear the fact of the submarine leaving the coast without me.

I heard some knocks on my door. “Y/n-ya, we are about to arrive on the next island”, my -ex- best friend informed me. I grabbed my stuff, walked to the door, gave a last look at my room and left.

Walking through the corridor, I cherished the sound of my steps on the metallic floor for the last time, the boy’s room, fully untidy, the sound of the sonar mixed with the laugh of my nakamas…

I arrived at the kitchen; my crew mates were having breakfast until they saw me with my bags. “Oi.. oi.. Y/n where are you going?“, asked Clione.

“She is leaving the crew, so Penguin now becomes the first commander”. I heard Law behind me communicate to their subordinates. Everybody started screaming, shouting, asking, demanding an explanation. I tried as hard as I could to push my emotions really deep so I could talk to them, and expressed a simple excuse, “I’m sorry guys, my journey with the Heart pirates is over, I love you all, I’ll be fine. Please don’t get in too much trouble, ok?. Become the greatest pirates of all, take care of your captain, please”. And without even letting everyone else say anything, Law ordered them to prepare to submerge and dock on the port of the island.

The screech of the heavy metallic main door opening echoed on my head. Law said “if you leave through this door, you won't enter back. So, it’s your decision”. My nakamas shouted in disapproval for such rough words and begged me to stay. “There is no need to tell me that, you don’t have to hurt me anymore, you know? you’ve done enough”. I whispered to him, with tears on my eyes, and walked away.

“Y/n-ya!”, he shouted, and for a second I thought -wished- he was going to be sincere and don’t let me go, but he continued, “your coat, don’t forget it”. He handed me my white coat that is always hanging next to the door. This time he didn’t place it over my shoulders, as he always does. This time, he wasn’t taking care of me… I could hear the crying and weeping of my whole crew even after Law shut the metallic door behind me.

Once I made sure the submarine submerged, I let all of my emotions free. A stream of tears began to flow from my eyes, I fell onto my knees, I was alone on the shore of a new island, I had to start over…

A month had passed since I arrived on the autumn island. The citizens were really nice, they immediately trusted me, and the island doctor welcomed me as her assistant, after all I was still a physician, not only a pirate.

I stayed in a cozy rental room that had everything I needed. Sometimes, at night when I missed my crew, and especially Law, I checked on his Vivre Card. Whenever I put it over my heart, I could feel the warmth of my beloved soul. But what was pretty weird is that every time I got it on my hand it would always point to the same place. I thought it was because they were maintaining the curse to some certain place, but I didn’t really care, as long as the paper didn’t show any damage I was happy to know he was alright.

Some afternoon, I was walking through the pretty streets of my new home, the sun was slowly setting, and the shining of the golden hour tinted the whole place with orangey tones. The main street had a market where the local producers offered their products. I bought a pretty flower bouquet from Mrs. Ann, as I did once a week, and some groceries.

I headed home, through a long path surrounded by trees with red foliage, the land was covered with dry leaves that crunched every time I stepped on them. The subtle smell of the burning logs that began to heat people's houses, came to me with the wind that blew my white coat.

I let my hair flow with the wind as well. For the very first time in days, I felt at peace. I wasn’t happy, but I felt somehow better. But everything was about to change again. The peace would slip from me, like a fist of sand in my hands…

I felt a shiver that alerted me of some danger, my observation haki showed me something coming up to me, so I turned around quickly. I saw two kids coming my way, crying for help, “Doctor, please, help us!!, our little sister, she can’t breathe!!”. I dismissed what my haki tried to warn me and followed the kids as quickly as I could.

We ran downhill until a little cabin was visible. They pointed at the little house, stating their sister was there.

When I entered there was no suffering kid, but two big guys that looked, and indeed were, pirates. I wasn’t armed, I wasn’t strong enough, Law wasn’t there to protect me…I tried to run, but one of the thugs grabbed me by my hair. He pulled from it, throwing me to the dirty floor. I hit the side of my body on the hard floor. “What do you want?”, I screamed in pain. They laughed at me and said, “Don’t worry we won’t hurt you anymore, the slavery industry wants pretty girls like you without scars… but only if you cooperate”. Slavery… industry?... I was about to be sold as a slave?...

Suddenly one of my captors saw something that caught his eye more than I wished. “Oi, what’s that tattoo on your back?”, he said and pulled up my shirt. I was praying for them to not know but one of them said “Isn’t it the Heart pirates Jolly Roger?, are you a crew mate from that stupid surgeon of death that ruined Kaido-sama’s SMILE business?!”. “I am not, I'm not in that crew anymore, I have left it. I swear it”, I said praying for them not going after Law.

“Bitch, it’s your fault that I’m still waiting for my SMILE!!!!” the other man said kicking my stomach, making me spat blood. “Oi, call Hawkins, asked him what we should do with this bitch. It could be useful for Kaido-sama to get to Trafalgar Law and the damn Mugiwaras”. Apparently my captors were part of the army of one of the Yonkous we were planning to defeat, Kaido.

I was held captive in that cabin for about a whole day, wishing to haven’t ever left Law’s side. I wanted to return to the Polar. I put my whole crew in danger, I wished they killed me right here. “Listen bitch, you better start speaking right now, where is your captain?”, one of the hundreds of members of the beast pirates, demanded me to answer. “I don’t know, I swear it, I left the crew… a few months ago”. I lied about the time; I didn’t want them to go searching them through the next islands. “Liar!!! tell me right now where your stupid captain is!!”, the other guy shouted at me.

I could hear from the portable den den mushi the other guy had, that they had searched my room but found no clues of where Law was. That got him so mad that reacted by kicking me this time on my face. I grabbed my chest; I didn’t want them to know that I had Law’s vivre card on my bra. Somehow that day I felt the need to carry it with me… I was grateful for such a coincidence, if they happened to find the paper, they would be able to get to him in no time.

I was losing my consciousness from the repeated hits, felt a warming sensation of peace on my chest and the last thing I heard before passing out was “ROOM”...

Part 5 - Final part

» List of parts: {CH1} {CH2} {CH3} {CH4} {CH5} «

#trafalgardwaterlaw #one piece law #law x reader #law x oc #trafalgar d law x reader #trafalgar law x reader #one piece x y/n #onepiece #one piece x reader #trafalgar law x y/n

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luciehercndale · 4 years

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Intro Masterpost

Hi, I’m Tweety, and this is a masterpost with all the fan fictions and analysis I’ve written (you can find them under the read more). I also accept fanfiction requests, you can send me an ASK 💜 I’m purplebass on AO3, you can also check out my writing over there. 😊 Aside from writing TSC fanfic and analysis, I also make book edits, you can find them here 💙

The Shadowhunter Chronicles FF and Analysis (not updated) - Masterpost

Thomastair - Over Again // Right Here // Live For // Heart’s a Mess // Unexpected // Behind Those Hazel Eyes // Paris 1902 (Alastair’s POV) // Standing Still // Moving Forward // Warm Enough // What You Need // Snowed In // Valentine’s Day // Burning // Coffee Shop AU // Breaking The Record // Thomastair Week

Blackdale - If They Only Knew // A Shot In The Dark // Soulmates Never Die // Bright Lights // The Kiss of Dawn // The Starting Line (AU) // There’s nothing worse than feeling like a ghost // Lose my Breath // Something just like this // To Wish Impossible Things // Missed You // Dark Light // Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch 3 - Ch 4 - Ch 5 - Ch 6 - Ch7 - Ch8 - Ch9 - Ch10 (End) // Valentine’s Day // Teardrop // Return the Favor

Jesse Blackthorn + Cousins / Uncles / Aunts - How Does it Feel // I’m still alive

Thomas Lightwood & Gideon Lightwood - Why not me?

Christopher Lightwood - Fireworks Gracetopher - Valentine’s Day // Lab Partners

Matthew Fairchild - Second Dates // Road to Reconciliation

Thomas Lightwood & Anna Lightwood - Loving, Forgiving

Fairstairs (platonic) - Take Me Back In Time

Jordelia - Pain & Pleasure - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 // Close to the Flame Pt.1 - Pt.2 // Late // Bad Dream // Valentine’s Day

Fairondale (platonic) - Like a Brother // Insomnia

Herondale Family - Nothing Compares // A Walk In The Park // Happy Birthday Will!

Wessa - Afternoon // For the love of a daughter // Belong // Rush // Hues of Blue // Crushing Delight

Herongraystairs - It’s Time // Forgiven // Nothing Makes Sense Anymore // Amnesiac

Gabrily - Snakes and Worms // On Repeat // Sweet Rest // Third Time is the Charm

Kitty - Too Late

Emma Carstairs, Mina Carstairs, Kit Herondale - Girl’s Night In (AU)

TLH Gang + Kit Herondale, Mina Carstairs, Ty Blackthorn - Holograms

Haline - Eternal Bliss

The Merry Thieves - Wilde Dog // The Downworlder Device

Sizzy - It was always you

Shades of Magic FF

Kelila - Jade - Velvet - Anchor - Thunder - Feast - Epilogue // The Beach // Hard to Imagine // Ginger Mulled Wine // Nightmare // Silver Lining // It’s Just a Rock // Hair Cutting and Sunrises I’ve also written some Explicit Kelila FF. You can find them on my AO3.

The Last Hours Theories and Character Analysis

Lucie and Jesse and Romeo and Juliet Analysis

James and Jesse Analysis // Jesse’s Attire Analysis

Will and Lucie’s Relationship Analysis (What happens post COI)

Romantic Development in COI

TLH Parenting Analysis: Blackthorn // Carstairs // Fairchild // Herondale // Lightwood (Gabrily)

Of Forests and Fairytales: Lucie and Jesse Analysis

Jesse Blackthorn and Matthew Fairchild Analysis

The Maturity of The Last Hours Characters

Alastair Carstairs and Charles Fairchild: Uneven Love

James and Cordelia and 1001 Nights/Layla and Majnun

Cordelia Carstairs and Elias Carstairs

Golden Objects in Chain of Gold and CoG Themes

Matthew Fairchild and Will Herondale Character Analysis

Matthew Fairchild and Alastair Carstairs Character Analysis

Blackthorn, Lightwood, Herondale and their unions and unrequited loves

Lucie Herondale and Jesse Blackthorn’s future and their heritage

James Herondale and Grace Blackthorn VS James Herondale and Cordelia Carstairs Couple Analysis

Analysis on Herongraystairs

#lucie herondale #jesse blackthorn #james herondale #Cordelia Carstairs #alastair carstairs #matthew fairchild #tessa gray #will herondale #jem carstairs #herongraystairs #the infernal devices #the last hours #grace blackthorn #christopher lightwood #thomas lightwood #charles fairchild #my edits #Tweety.txt

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Leave No One Behind

Ch3- He Who Saves One Life Saves The World Entire Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

Episode Summary: Ari and his team embark on their first mission…and a certain secret is revealed which threatens to rock Ari and Hannah’s already strained relationship further.

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words.

Episode Pairings: Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

A/N: As always we strive to keep this as factually accurate as possible.

Leave No One Behind Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 2 Part 2

"Something happened along the way, what used to be happy is sad, Something happened along the way, and yesterday was all we had… " After The Love Has Gone by Earth, Wind and Fire

“Of course it was Germans.” Sammy snorted, shaking his head as Ari drove the truck down the dark sandy lane, Hannah perched in between them both after her brother had insisted she ride with them, much to her annoyance. “Germans, it's always Germans.”

Ari gave a smile, as Hannah snorted.

“Yeah well, historically they don’t really like Jews do they?” she shrugged, scratching slightly at her neck where it poked out of the dark green t-shirt she was wearing.

There was a pause where both men looked at her and Ari shook his head.

“Fucking hell Han!” he snorted as Sammy simply stared at her, his mouth gaping slightly.

“Sorry, that was bad taste” she accepted their chastising, plucking at the sleeve of the oversized black and navy plaid top she was wearing over her T-shirt.

“Bad taste…” Sammy looked at her and she turned her blue eyes onto her brother “That’s an understatement.” She turned her eyes back to the road, her expression unreadable as Ari stole a glance at her side profile, before he locked eyes with Sammy who shook his head again, snorting. “Alright, here we go.” Ari said as they reached a turnoff on the road, just before a sign informing them that Gedaref was 5km away. It was another hour or so down a twisting, bumpy road before Ari took a turning off the lane completely and they drove further into the desert. Eventually the small track opened up into a large clearing, hidden by hills and sand-dunes. Ari stopped and the 3 of them climbed out, Hannah pulling down the front of the plaid shirt which she had knotted just above her right hip.

It was a clear, but dark night, and there was no sound at all bar the odd howling or yipping from the wild dogs that clearly resided near. Ari moved a little in front of the trucks, looking around the dark clearing as Max stood up on the sill, his hands resting on the roof of their vehicle looking round before he hopped down and walked forward.

“You ok Cracker?” he asked, looping an arm round her shoulder as the 5 of them walked in a line further into the clearing. She nodded again, casting her eyes round once more.

“Too bad he's not here.” Sammy said, stopping with his hands on his hips.

“We're two hours late.” Jake said softly, looking around as Ari continued his pacing, his sharp eyes looking between the various rocky outcrops and dunes that his the clearing “Maybe they couldn't get out.”

“He got 'em out.” Ari said softly but confidently, he had every faith in Kabede. “They're here.” Hannah looked at him for a moment and his eyes locked onto hers and she gave him a small smile which he returned. Sammy leaned back against the bumper of the truck as Max hopped up onto the bars of the other, glancing around. Hannah continued to turn, her eyes roaming the dark horizon, falling upon the far away lights of Port Sudan which were shining in the distance. There were a few more moments of silent stillness, and then they all heard the ever so quiet sound of a rock rolling down the surface of one of the hills. Max jumped down from the truck and Sammy stood up straight, as all 5 of them looked in the direction the noise had come from, Ari taking a few tentative steps forwards to where Hannah was stood slightly in front of them her eyes squinting.

“There…” she said softly, grabbing Ari’s arm and pointing to a spot just above them to their left. Someone was moving in between two large rocks. Ari let out a sigh of relief, squeezed her shoulder and then strode towards the base of the rock face.

“Kabede…” Ari said softly, his hands falling out to his side as the man dropped down into the clearing.

“Where were you?” Kabede asked softly “I was afraid you were caught”

Ari embraced the man, both slapping the other lightly on the back.

“I'm sorry…” Ari said gently, “I'll explain later” and at that Hannah felt someone squeeze her hand. She turned to look at Jake who was nodding back up the hill as the refugees began spilling over the top.

“Let's get them on the truck.” Ari continued to speak to Kabede who nodded and turned, beckoning with his arm as he called to the people now hastily scrambling down the rock face.

Hannah looked at Jake, then Max and finally to Sammy who was wearing a soft smile, before they all sprang into action. Hannah and Sammy began directing the people to the back of the trucks, whilst Max and Jake hopped up onto the steep rock surface to help the less steady people down. Ari and Kabede headed round to the rear of the vehicles to begin to load everyone up.

As the last person headed past Hannah and Sammy, the siblings exchanged a quick hug before they followed on, reaching the rear just as Kabede was speaking to one truck in Arabic. He made a zip motion across his mouth, clearly telling them to be quiet and then Max and Jake pulled down the tarpauling cover at the back, securing it in place before they folded up the tail gate, bolting it shut.

Hannah moved to help Ari to close the wooden doors on the other but stopped when Ari paused as he was just about to shut the right hand side, his handsome face splitting into a fond smile.

“Hey…” he said, bending down to speak to a small boy in an orange and white T-shirt “Hey, pal.” he gently reached out with his right hand, thumb wiping away the child’s tears as he smiled at him. “You're going home.” he held up his large hand and the boy gave a toothy grin, hi-fiving Ari. “All right.” Ari smiled before he shut the final door and turned away. He caught Hannah’s eye and she nodded to him, turning away not wanting to seem like she’d been intruding on the clearly tender moment between Ari and the little child. But, she was curious.

“What’s with the kid?” she asked gently as Sammy drew up besides her.

“The one in the striped top?” Sammy asked.

“Yeah…”

“Oh, the last mission we ran…he was left behind, lost in a field. Ari went back for him…nearly got himself shot in the process…you know, standard Ari.”

Hannah looked at her brother for a moment, before Ari spoke quietly but clearly.

“Let’s hit the road…” he instructed. They all nodded and made their way back to the cabs of their trucks.

Ari could feel the shift in the mood within vehicle on the way back. It had gone from a light, tentative, adrenaline-fuelled excitement at the thought of embarking on a mission to out and out nervous tension now they had trucks loaded with refugees. If they were stopped, they weren’t going to be able to explain this away as a night scouting mission for diving spots. Bar Ari contacting base to say they were on their way back with the ‘cargo’, no one spoke a word. Ari concentrated on driving, Hannah and Sammy focussing on the road as they all listened to the conversation going on over the coms, every so often updating base as to their location. When they reached the point they knew that they needed to launch the lifeboats, Ari called it in, Hannah casting her eyes to the side, glancing out of the windows.

“Yacht One, Yacht One…taxis are on the way.” Base confirmed.

This was it, it was down to them now to make sure they reached the rendezvous point safely.

And for the most part it seemed like they were going to do it. The trip went smoothly, Ari feeling buoyed by the fact that the plan seemed to be working, when, on the final stretch they hit a snag.

Ari spotted it at the same time Hannah did. She leaned forward, squinting slightly at the ever distant lines of light that looked like they were forming some kind of lane in the middle of the road.

“What the fuck is that?” Ari asked. Sammy grabbed the binoculars and peered through them before he let out a sigh. “A roadblock” he said, still looking through the sights “We gotta turn around.”

Hannah glanced at Ari who looked at her for a second, before his eyes retuned to the road and he kept on driving, ignoring Sammy.

“What are you doing?” Sammy lowered the binoculars and looked at him.

“Thinking.”

“Can you stop the truck and then think?” Sammy pressed. Ari looked at him, then back to the road, his jaw twitching as he desperately racked his brains for the best course of action. “Guys, you seeing this?” Max’s voice cut across the radio and Hannah reached for the mic.

“Yeah, we see it.” She said, glancing at Sammy then Ari, rolling her eyes “We’re discussing it…” she said, placing the set down before she added “or arguing, whatever…” “Fuck…” Ari shook his head as Sammy looked at him “We can't fail on our first operation…”

“Dying on our first operation is an equally bad idea.” Sammy snarked back “Did I ever mention a dry run?”

“Once or twice. Every hour. For like 2 weeks.” Hannah shot back, looking at her brother “Is now really the time for fucking I-told-you-so Sammy?”

Sammy glared at Hannah, but she held his gaze meeting his glower back with one of her own.

Beside them Ari looked straight ahead thinking about how Hannah was right. It was not the time for ranting, they had to think straight. A decision had to be made, and everyone was expecting him to come up with the right one. But his mind was stuck somewhere in the past. Hannah's determination in shutting her brother up had brought him to a place he had been visiting far too much for his liking, if he had to be honest, over the last weeks. That fierceness in Hannah's voice at her brother over a mere comment had gotten him thinking she must have absolutely hated his guts nine years ago when he left her.

Leave no one behind... bullshit. Ari Levinson was a liar. Right, Firefly?

"Ari?" he heard Hannah's voice, jerking him out of his thoughts.

His eyes flicked from the road ahead to her, who was looking at him expectantly.

Making a decision, Ari reached for the hand set, snatching it up. “Jake, full speed ahead.” he instructed, replacing it, his eyes locked on the road in front of him. He felt Hannah and Sammy’s eyes boring into the side of his head.

“You’re fucking nuts…” Sammy said, disbelief in his tone.

Ari shot him a glare, before he pushed down on the accelerator.

“Yacht One, what is the plan here?” Max questioned again.

Grabbing the handset again, Ari instructed clearly “Radio silence, lights out.” before he replaced it with a slam.

“Okay, we'll stop at the checkpoint and talk our way out of it...” Sammy started to reason and Hannah gave a sarcastic bark of laughter.

“Yeah, maybe they won't notice the 174 Ethiopians in the back of the trucks.” she looked at him, her voice loud.

“Han’s right…” Ari said sternly glancing at her then over to Sammy. “We're driving through”

There was a moments silence as Sammy studied his sister then Ari, before he threw his arms out to the side.

“Okay.” he said, his tone indicating he was anything but as he glanced out of the side window, before he looked back at the ever nearing obstacle. “Sure, let's do it.”

He turned to his left as Hannah also twisted to her right, the pair of them looking back at the refugees in the rear.

“Hey, everybody…” Sammy spoke loudly, as Hannah made a motion with her hand, indicating grabbing onto something. “Grab hold. Grab hold of something. Hold on…”

“That’s it…!” Hannah nodded as one of the refugees gripped the side of the wagon “Like that, hold on yeah?”

They both turned back and Hannah looked out of the window, as the radio crackled back to life.

“Yacht One, status report, please….”

“What do you want me to say?” Sammy looked at Ari.

“Yacht One from base…”

In a lash Hannah reached out and pulled the line out of the radio, effectively telling Sammy that they were saying nothing, her jaw twitching as she sat back, staring straight ahead.

“Okay, then…” Sammy mumbled, sitting back, folding his arms, shaking his head. “You’re both fucking nuts…”

Ari glanced sideways at Hannah, pride filling his chest. This was the Firefly he knew and fucking loved having on missions besides him and exactly the reason he’d wanted her out here with them. She was fierce, brave, loyal and once committed there was no swaying her either way.

Ari pressed the gas pedal as far down as it would go, leaning forward, almost as if he was trying to surge the truck on. They gathered speed, now hurtling towards the road block which was growing nearer and nearer by the second. He swallowed, took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair as they approached along the final 100 or so feet towards the lane which was made by a number of small fires, and Hannah could just make out the dark shapes of two jeeps parked at the far end of the lines, and a man stood in front.

Sammy gripped the grab handle over the top of the truck door with his right arm, his left extending out across the front of Hannah as at the last second Ari flicked on the lights at full strength, sounding the horn of the truck. He felt Hannah’s left hand drop to his thigh and she squeezed tightly, almost painfully as both of the guards jumped out of the way the front of their truck collided with one of the jeeps, smashing it clear out of the way.

They made it through the blockage, but then gunfire rang out as the men began to fire at the rear o the trucks,

“Fuck…” Ari exclaimed, reaching out with his right hand to force Hannah down out of the way of any potential bullets spinning into the cab, as Sammy did the same with his left, the pair of them ducking as well.

The shooting stopped and Ari glanced out of the window into the side mirrors, running a hand through his beard as Hannah and Sammy both sat back up straight, looking at one another. Hannah twisted in her seat, casting a glance back at everyone in the rear of the trucks.

“Everyone ok?” she asked, making a thumbs up gesture. There were nods and returns of the hand sign which satisfied her that everyone was ok and she turned back to the front, letting out a loud breath, her head falling back slightly, eyes closing as she swallowed, regaining her composure a little.

“You alright?” Sammy looked at her.

“Yeah…fine…” she breathed out, nodding.

“Yacht One, do you copy? Yacht One, do you copy? Yacht One? Yacht One, do you copy?”

The repeated demands echoed over the radio and Ari reached for the mic but Hannah slapped his hand

“Concentrate on driving, idiot…” she said, as she plugged the handset back in and passed it to him, Ari grinning at little at her forceful attitude.

“Yacht One to base, we copy…” Ari spoke, replacing the set back down.

“Yacht One…what's your status? Why was there radio silence?” Ethan’s voice filled the cab and all 3 of them exchanged a glace.

“Make something up, quick…” Hannah urged. After a split second pause Sammy grabbed the radio.

“There's a... battery failure. Lesson learned.”

“Copy that…” Ethan spoke again.

Hannah, Ari and Sammy looked at one another again, before Hannah’s spoke.

“So that was fun.”

Ari looked at her as she stared straight ahead, her mouth twitching into a grin. She glanced at Ari who began to chuckle slightly, before her eyes returned to the front. Sammy looked at the pair of them and snorted, shaking his head.

“Fun, right…mad bastards…”

15 minutes or so later they drove down to the cove which was 7 miles or so away from the resort, the rendezvous point with the Navy Seals, who were ready and waiting. Quickly and efficiently they began herding the refugees over the sand, directing them into boats. When the first line of rafts were full they all waded into the water, helping them through the first bow of waves before returning to short to fill up the second.

“Come on, that’s it, careful now…” Hannah said, taking an older woman’s hand and helping her over the side of the boat. The woman gripped her fingers tightly, pressing a kiss to the back of Hanna’s hand, looking at her, tears in her eyes. Hannah smiled at her, fighting back her own tears at the woman’s emotion as she placed her other hand over the lady’s nodding to her as she let go. She turned to help the next person in, pausing as she saw the small boy clinging to Ari’s leg. Ari paused for a moment, his large hand falling to the back of the boys head, then his cheek tenderly as he smiled and swung him up, wading back over to the boat Hannah was stood by. He dropped the boy into the back and then they began to push the boat out to sea.

Once it was clear, Hannah straightened up, walking backwards out of the ocean before she turned, just as a wave hit her a little strongly causing her to stumble forwards, slightly. She felt herself pitching downwards, when two strong hands hooked under her armpits, preventing her from falling straight into the water.

“I got ya Firefly…” Ari said, setting her straight up on her feet again and he looked at her, hands on her shoulders. “You ok?”

“Yeah, thanks…”

“Come on…” he said, gently looping his right arm round her waist as they made their way out, their pants completely soaked from the knees down, shirts slightly damp from the splashing about, but neither of them paid it any attention. They both turned and stood, watching as the boats made their way out to sea, Hannah’s eyes filing with tears. Ari’s grip around her tightened slightly and she lay her head against his upper arm and shoulder, her left arm looping around his waist, as the rest of the group drew up alongside them, Max to her right.

No one spoke for a moment, they all simply stood watching, drawing their breath as each and every one of them was heaving with exertion and emotion. To the left of Ari, Jake glanced down the line, giving a small huff of happiness, his face curling into a smile and Max dropped his arm round Hannah’s shoulder as her right hand rubbed at his back.

They’d done it. They’d fucking done it…

“He who saves one life saves the world entire….” Max broke the silence with an old quote, and Hannah glanced at him before she looked back out over the ocean.

“We just saved 174…” she said, her tone one of happiness and disbelief. She glanced up at Max whose arm squeezed around her shoulders once more as he smiled at her. She then turned to look at Ari who gave her another squeeze around her waist, and finally her attention turned to her brother where he stood at the other side of Max lighting a cigarette. He turned and walked away from the line, Ari watching him go as did Hannah, the two of them sharing a glace. Ari gestured with his head and let go of Hannah and she nodded as Ari followed Sammy back up the sand, Hannah remaining with Jake and Max, both men flanking her, Jake’s arm joining Max’s around her shoulder.

“Hey, you okay?” Ari asked Sammy.

“What?” Sammy asked him softly, “Yeah, of course I'm okay.” he gestured to the ocean with his hand, smiling and letting out a quiet laugh. “Look.”

With that he turned to head back to the trucks, and Ari could tell from his body language he was pissed off, despite what he was saying. And he knew why too.

“Sammy…”Ari spoke to his back and Sam turned back to face him. “It was a random checkpoint. A dry run wouldn't have mattered.”

“Hey, it's all good. It's all good. We did it.” Sammy said, his tone still soft “I'm having the time of my life…” he smiled, gesturing towards Hannah. Ari turned to see her stood between Jake and Max, the 3 still stood in a line, arms round one another before he looked back at Sammy as he continued to speak. “..you two aren’t the only ones getting a huge buzz out of all this!”

Hearing her brother’s soft tone, and recognising the quiet anger it was carrying, Hannah turned to see him walking away, Ari’s hands dropping into his pockets. Giving the boys a quick pat on the back each she turned and made her way towards Ari as Sam spun back to face him.

“You know, it may have been a random checkpoint this time, but thanks to you, the next one won't be.” he said, his voice a little louder, carrying over the sound of the waves. “Maybe…” he threw his hands out to his sides as he walked backwards a few steps, before he turned and walked away.

“Leave him Ari…he’ll come round.” Hannah said gently. Ari looked down at her, before he took a deep breath.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I need a drink…”

“Fuck yes.” Hannah agreed, nodding solemnly. Ari smiled at her, before he turned to Max and Jake and told them it was time to go.

*****

They reached the resort in the early hours of the morning, Rachel greeting them all with a hug as she told them the life boats had made it out to the open water with no issues. They all sat with a drink, huddled in one of the huts, listening to the radio and when the notification came through that all boats had made it back with no issues everyone jumped up sharing a silent cheer, hugging one another.

“It’s ok Sammy…” Hannah spoke to her brother gently “We’re ok yeah, try not to think on it too much.”

“I know…” he said, gently touching the side of her neck “I know…I’m gonna go hit the hay.”

He dropped a kiss to the side of her head and turned, leaving the hut without so much as a word.

One by one they filtered out, Hannah staying behind to help Rachel pack away the radio and coms equipment before she too emerged, standing still under the soft strips of bulbs which hung from building to building along the resort, taking a breath and a moment to process what had happened.

174 people. Safe.

She glanced up at the Sky, wondering for a moment if her Dad and Andy for that matter could see her now, what they would be thinking. Deep down she knew the answer to that, they’d be proud, probably a bit pissed at how reckless she’d been but, well, what was new? Smiling softly to herself she turned to head to her own room when she spotted Ari was sat on the sand further up the beach, out of the way of the main buildings. She hesitated for a moment before she made her way over.

"Trouble sleeping, Firefly?" Ari asked without taking his eyes from the ocean. "I dunno. I'll tell you when I go to bed. Besides, fireflies don't sleep, Ari. We come alive at night." she sassed.

Drawn to the light, she thought.

Ari chuckled softly.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

He turned around to look at her and nodded as he watched her sit next to him, her movements smooth and light. She flexed her legs before she bent her knees and hugged them against her chest.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked side glancing him.

"Well, you're the most caring of them all. So if anyone was going to come out here to check up on me, it had to be you." Ari shrugged and smiled at her.

"What makes you think I'm checking up on you and not that I just want to enjoy the ocean before sleeping?" she asked smirking.

"You asked if I was ok, Firefly. Don't be a smart ass." he smirked back at her.

"Fair point, Lobo." she nodded gazing at his eyes for a few seconds before looking back at the ocean.

“I can’t get over how quiet they were…” Ari spoke after a moment, looking at her. She smiled at him and he took a drag of his cigarette. Hannah reached for it, taking a pull herself and exhaling, her eyes closed.

“Since when did you smoke?” Ari looked at her, arching an eyebrow.

“I don’t, not really…only when the occasion arises.” she smiled, “For fucks sake don’t tell Sammy.”

He gave a soft chuckle and looked at her as she passed it back to him, raising it once more to his lips.

Ari looked at her as she watched the ocean and they fell silent for a moment. Some of her hair had fallen free from her loose bun in the heat of the struggle to get the Ethiopians on the boats, and were now blowing in the gentle breeze of the night. He couldn't see all of her face, being as it was the darkest night of the month. But the lights from the bulbs hanging all along the resort buildings together with a bunch of stars scattered across the night sky all reflecting on the water surface allowed him to make out her profile and he could see her smiling slightly as she hummed some sort of lullaby.

The moment seemed so intimate and he felt so at ease he decided to share some of his most personal childhood memories with her.

“Did I ever tell you my mother was on The Exodus?” Ari said, breaking the silence.

Hannah shook her head, looking at him. “I thought she was from America.”

“My real mother.” Ari said, his arms were looped around his knees and his eyes focussed out over the dark water. “After they took my father, she boarded with the other survivors and set with nothing. Just clothes on her back and... “ he paused, raising his eyebrows slightly as he tapped the ash off the end of his cigarette. “A little four-year-old boy.” he looked down between his arms as he spoke again “They sailed for weeks. Finally reached the Promised Land, the Brits didn't let them in. They turned them away.”

He turned to see Hannah watching him intently, and gave her a small smile.

“Young British officer felt sorry for her. Agreed to hide me…” he took a deep breath, averting his eyes from Hannah’s “She gave me up.”

He took another drag from his cigarette and Hannah smiled softly at him. “No, she saved you.”

Ari looked at her, a soft smile playing on his face before he turned away again, once more looking back over the ocean.

“British officer met an American volunteer and we moved to New York when I was seven…” he shook his head softly “New parents, new life.” Ari concluded, smoking once more. He exhaled and finished his tale “Moved back to Israel the day I turned 18…”

Hannah noticed there was an underlying tone of bitterness to his voice, one that she could understand. He had been surrendered by his mother, taken from his roots through no fault of his own. He was bound to feel some sort of abandonment issues, no matter who good a ‘new life’ he had been given. Maybe even a shred of guilt, that he escaped when thousands others didn’t. Suddenly the reason why he did what he did made a little more sense to her.

“Well…we're all just refugees, aren't we?” she said softly, looking down at the sand. Ari glanced at her and she looked up at him giving him a soft smile. With the hand that wasn’t holding his cigarette he reached out and brushed her hair behind her ear.

“You were great out there tonight Firefly.” he said gently, his hand dropping back to his knee.

Hannah watched his hand travel from her hair back to his knee. Ari's touch had caught her off guard and it had sent a wave of goose bumps washing over her skin. She felt herself shiver, so she adjusted her plaid shirt over her frame and, after swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, she muttered

“Thanks."

"No. Thanks to you for backing me up." he said looking at her fondly "With Sam, I mean." he added.

He was about to tell her it had felt like old times but words got caught in his throat as he noticed her looking at him pensively, as if deciding whether to bring something up or not, and he realised the moment he had been dreading since she had accepted being part of the mission had arrived.

“I’ve never been able to understand what happened between us…” Hannah swallowed and Ari looked down at the sand. “I mean, I know what happened, obviously, we…well, you know but…then you disappeared, no explanation, came back complete with girlfriend and married her like 6 months later. So, you know, I moved but I still don’t understand.”

He had always known the time would come where she would demand answers, but he hadn't prepared himself to give them to her, not really. How can you answer something like that? How can you tell the girl you had loved that you left her behind because of what you thought was a good reason at the time, but a reason you knew she was going to absolutely flip her shit at.

“Do you want the long, self-pity version or the short one?” Ari asked eventually, deciding that he had to come clean if they were ever going to get past this and salvage something from the whole shitty mess.

“Well, it’s not like I got anywhere to go is it?” she shrugged.

"Remember the night of the party? At your mum's clinic?" he asked.

Hannah just nodded slowly trying to comprehend.

"Well Sammy somehow saw us, or maybe someone did and told him, I don’t know for sure…what I do know is he cornered me the following day, he was furious. Asked me how long had it been going on…”

Ari stopped to light another cigarette and took a long drag, waiting for his words to sink in before continuing.

"He told me... well, he forced me to break it off because I was no good for you." Ari said after breathing out the smoke. “He said the whole age gap thing was an issue and your training to be a Doctor was more important than whatever it was we had. I can still remember his word Firefly ‘It’s hard enough to train as a Doctor being a woman Ari. She doesn't need any distraction.’ And I believed him, Han." he finished with a sigh. "Few months later I met Sarah, and... you know the rest of the story" he said turning to look at her.

Hannah looked at him, her expression completely blank but he could see her eyes were flashing dangerously.

“Sammy knew?” she asked. Ari nodded. “How.”

“I don’t know.” Ari shrugged “Like I said, he just turned up the morning after…” he paused, swallowing “…the morning after what turned out to be the last night we spent together and punched me in the jaw, warned me off.”

There was a moment or so of silence before a bitter laugh escaped Hannah.

“All this time…” she shook her head, “All this time Ari, I never understood and I just thought, or wanted to, that you were being a typical guy, taking what he wanted for a few months and leaving when things started getting a little too serious , but in reality it’s because you thought I wasn’t worth the fight… and that’s even worse!” “No, Hannah…” Ari shook his head, she was so far off the mark it was untrue “That’s not true…”

He had tried to reach for her as he spoke but she slapped his hand off.

“Bullshit it isn’t true!” she blazed at him, shaking her head “I fucking loved you Ari…”

Ari swallowed, looking at her, his head reeling from her sudden admission. Fuck, she’d loved him. Like he had her. He had hurt her far more than he thought.

Yeah, you fucked up big time, Levinson. “It might only have been a fling to you but you knocked me off my feet when I first met you. You were my first, the first guy I ever slept with for fucks sake! I spent 5 years with you in my head and…now…”

“Hannah, it wasn’t just a fling to me, at all.” he shook his head, his eyes locking onto hers which were now brimming with tears. “You have no idea the times I thought about coming back to you, telling Sammy to go fuck himself…but then I got more and more involved with Mossad and…”

“Didn’t stop you with Sarah.” she snapped back and Ari dropped his head slightly, before he looked back at her.

“I know, and I won’t lie to you Firefly, I loved her. It was different to how I felt about you, I know that but…, well, it was good, good enough, and then she fell pregnant…” “No, you got her pregnant…” Hannah shook her head at him and he ignored her continuing.

“…and I couldn’t leave my child, not like my mother did…” “Then why the fuck are you here Ari?” Hannah scoffed “If Maya means that much to you, why on Earth are you in the middle of the fucking Sudanese desert running operations?”

“Because she’s safe with her mother.” Ari swallowed, looking at Hannah “And those kids in the refugee camps aren’t.”

“And I was safe with my mama Ari, that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss my dad growing up after he died.”

Ari had no response to that, because he knew she was right. The guilt of missing so much of Maya’s life ate him up on a daily basis, but so did the guilt of knowing about all those people out there who needed his help. He’d balanced his remorse over Maya, telling himself regularly that if he didn’t help those who needed it, then no one would and in his head it made sense…but here Hannah was, calling him out in the way she had always been able to and he was beginning to doubt himself.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, her next outburst left him reeling.

“You’re an arrogant, selfish asshole Ari.” she shook her head and he looked at her, frowning “You think you can do what you want, all of this…” she waved her hand around her “with no consequence. But look at the destruction you leave behind. Sam’s hand, Maya, Andy…me.”

Ari, who had been feeling shittier by the minute realised he couldn't possibly feel any worse than he did right there and then. He had hit rock bottom. Hannah was right and he knew it. She was right about the destruction he left behind. She was right about Sam. She was right about Maya. She was maybe right about her, what seemed the correct decision at the time was now nothing but a shitty excuse.

You didn't fight for me.

And she was right. He hadn't.

But what had shaken him the most was the fact that she had put Andy in the same bag. She had told him just a few days ago she didn't blame him for what had happened. But that was not entirely true, apparently. Why would she have brought up Andy if she didn't think he was to blame?

He felt his eyes start brimming up with tears and made a titanic effort to keep them at bay.

“Hannah…” his voice was thick as he spoke and she looked away, wiping her face.

“Sorry, that…” she took a deep breath “that was uncalled for…” “But not wrong.” he said gently, looking down, “You’re right. I am a selfish asshole...which makes me think Sammy was right, I don’t, or didn’t, deserve you.”

They both fell silent for a minute before Hannah sniffed and took a deep breath.

“Deserving or not, would you have still been with me if Sammy hadn’t warned you off?” she asked, looking at him.

“Hannah” he groaned “Does that matter now? After everything?”

“No, I suppose not.” her tone was blank as she stood up, and dusted herself down. “Goodnight Ari.”

Ari watched her go. Her movements smooth and light as always but she walked slower, with a heavy tread, carrying a burden she hadn't 15 minutes or so ago when she had come to check up on him. He had burdened her with an explanation, one that she deserved but hadn't anticipated. She was upset and had all the right to be, Ari thought as he saw her shoulders shake lightly. She was crying.

Exhaustion from the tension of their first mission mixed with the bitterness from the conversation with Hannah left him beyond emotional, and thus the tears he had managed to avoid were now running down his cheeks. He stood up with a sigh and started walking towards his bedroom building. He needed some rest. They all needed some rest.

Tomorrow, hopefully, they would see things in a different light.

**** Chapter 4

#leave no one behind #Ari Levinson #ari levinson x ofc #ari levinson x original female character #red sea diving resort #chris evans #chris evans characters

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swanslieutenant · 4 years

Text

a place in time - chapter xiii

Summary: Emma’s an agent working to reunite missing people with their families when the biggest missing persons case of all time appears in front of her in a flash of bright, white light. Thousands of missing people from throughout history, including one particular pirate, appear on the shore of a lake in the middle of winter: none have aged a day since their disappearance and, with no memory of their missing time, must venture into a strange and uncertain future. Loosely based on the TV show “the 4400.”

Rating and Warnings: Teen. For now.

Catch up: ch1, ch2, ch3, ch4, ch5, ch6, ch7, ch8, ch9, ch10, ch11, ch12

Read on AO3

Note: *shows up nearly 2 years late with a Tim Hortons hot chocolate* - apologies for the length it took for me to get this updated. It has been a hard/chaotic two years for me and this fic is a hard one to write, but things are settling a bit, so I will try not to leave it for that long again.

thanks to all the folks over at the @captainswanmoviemarathon discord channel for welcoming me in and helping me get this finished with the many many writing sprints it took!

___________________________________________________________

Neither Killian or Emma speak as they march back to her office, their steps quick and staccato against the polished floors. The world seems to be on a tilt, like Emma is walking through a funhouse with slanted floors, with the glass doors of the offices lining the hallway like the twisted and bendy mirrors of the carnival house, warping and distorting reality all around her.

Emma supposes she should be used to this feeling by now. After all, her entire world has been on a tilt since that night down at the lake, with the sudden appearance of thousands of people.

But this time it feels different. Like her normal life, or what has been her new normal at this point, has been shattered once again. What she thought to be true, who she thought she could trust and rely on – broken, once again.

I know him from my time.

When they reach her office, after unlocking the door, she gestures Killian ahead of her. He hasn’t said a word yet, and his face is solemn, the utter shock now an icy grit. His jaw is set, his eyes steel, the cold-hearted pirate that lurks beneath his charming veneer returned full force.

“This is his doing.” His voice is shaking with rage, the words more a growl than a sentence.

“This is crazy,” Emma says, swallowing the growing bile rising in her throat as she shuts the office door behind herself. She grips the side of her desk, her knuckles turning white, as she falls heavily into her desk chair. “How – are you sure that it’s the same guy?”

“Absolutely.”

He is still sanding by the door, hands curled into fists at his side, almost vibrating with fury. There is clearly some history here, and Emma remembers the vile that Gold spoke of Killian with when the returnees first arrived, how he had demanded for him to be locked up and kept away from the others.

“Who is he, Killian? How do you know him?”

“He’s a monster.” He spits the words, and then lifts his left hand, shaking his sleeve up his arm and rubbing at the scar that encircles his wrist, ragged and rough. “See this scar, Swan? He did it to me.”

She has wondered about the scar ever since she first saw it weeks ago, and now the shadow that had darkened his expression when she mentioned it then makes sense. She is truly sick now, her stomach twisting at the thought of her boss, the man she has sat across from in meetings and who controls this entire goddamn situation, literally attacking someone to the point of leaving such a horrific scar.

“He – dear god, Killian. That looks like he tried to cut your hand off!”

“It was no mere attempt,” Killian replies hollowly, eyes darkening. “He did cut it off.”

Emma blinks at him, and then stares at his hand, clearly attached to his arm. Now fair enough, she doesn’t know a lot about surgery or how re-attaching a limb would work, but Emma sure as hell knows there is no way Killian would have had his hand re-attached or be able to use it with 1700s medicine.

“He – what? I don’t understand. But your – your hand? How was it … fixed?”

“Magic.”

Emma’s heart stutters at the word. She leans back in her chair, stunned as if she’s been slapped.

“What?”

“A witch,” Killian continues, oblivious to Emma’s reaction, and he waves his right hand airily. “Or a fairy or some other manner of creature. I suppose I never actually asked her. My crew and I had come across her once before ever meeting Gold, and we retreated to her after his attack. She was a bit prickly, but she re-attached it for me after my crew begged her to. She had only a little magic left after running into trouble of her own, and she was no expert, hence the scar, but she did her best.”

Magic, witches, fairies. Her superpower remains silent, indicating Killian is telling the truth as he sees it, but Emma can’t believe it. Abruptly, Emma feels on the edge of tears. A hand re-attached by magic?

What?

Killian seems to finally notice her thunderstruck expression. “To you, Swan, magic is a myth. In my time, it was as common as your light switches. And clearly,” he adds, holding up his hand and flexing his fingers, “it worked.”

Seriously, what the hell is her life these days? Magic? Fine, she has no explanation for why Killian is standing in front of her, two and a half centuries after he should have died. But magic? No way. Aliens or scientific advancements in time travel make more sense than magic. But then she thinks of the video Anna had shown her of her sister controlling snowflakes as naturally as could be, and well, hell, magic at this point may make as much sense as anything else.

“I don’t understand,” Emma manages finally, wrenching her mind away from the literal concept of magic to the problem in front of her. Gold, Killian, time travel, his hand. “How – why did Gold cut your hand off?”

“I stole something from him.”

… Of course he did.

Her mind starting to burst at the seams, she can only gape back at Killian as he explains his history with Gold, utterly lost for words. In Killian’s time, Gold had been a powerful landowner in England, who ventured to the New World after making a bad deal and losing his fortune. He didn’t know how long Gold had been in America before Killian heard of him, but he did know was already successful and rich in his new surroundings, a dangerous businessman who no one dared cross.

Except Killian.

“As you may remember, Swan, at that time I was a wanted man by the English Crown, having stolen and burned many of their ships. They had done their own damage to me, and it was my utmost desire at the time to ruin them in any other way I could. So, when I heard rumours of an enchanted object that Gold had brought over from England, the last of his previous fortune and a gift from the king and royal family themselves, naturally, I wanted it. Besides, my crew and I hadn’t had a good heist in months. It was a hard, cold winter, and the stormy weather had kept many ships trapped in European harbours, and my men were itching for some action.”

Even amidst her shock at this whole situation, Emma has to resist the urge to roll her eyes – pirates.

“My crew and I were moored in a town called Newport, near where his new estate was. We were restocking the Jolly Roger when I heard he’d left the town for business and would not be back for a fortnight, leaving his mansion unprotected.”

“So, you of course just waltzed in and stole it. What even was it?”

He flashes her a devious grin, a glimmer of his charming, mischievous self breaking through his dark demeanour. “I’m a hell of a pirate, love, even on land. It was only too easy to sneak into his manor. We took everything we could get our hands on, and then I found this object, the king’s gift.” Killian cups his hands, as if he was holding several apples in his palms. “It was roughly this size. I couldn’t tell you what it was called, for I’ve never come across anything like it before. I thought perhaps a music box or a small chest at first. It was circular, with the sides plated in pure gold leaf. The top of it was beautiful, no doubt painted by the finest artist to represent a dark indigo sky with white stars emblazoned upon it. I wondered if it was only the case for the true treasure within, but I could never get the damn thing to open. My crew and I tried everything we could think of – prying it, smashing it, hammering it. Nothing. It seemed empty inside, too, for when you’d knock on it, it was hollow. After all the efforts for seemingly nothing, I thought about simply selling it. But, then I heard Gold was desperate to have it returned, that he had ripped his manor apart looking for it, so I knew it was something valuable indeed.”

Emma is trying to picture the object Killian describes, and she has no idea what it could be either. Sounds to her like a little box, like something you’d find in an old antique or knick-knack store. “Okay, so what did you do with it then?”

“I buried it, somewhere safe where I knew Gold couldn’t find it.”

The entire tale is the most Killian has spoken about his past as a pirate since appearing in this time, and Emma supposes she shouldn’t be surprised it ends with a tale of buried treasure. Typical.

“Besides that,” Killian continues slowly, and he rubs one of his upper arms absently, as if recalling a past chill. “My crew didn’t like it. Once we realized we couldn’t do anything with it or allow Gold to have it again, we needed it off the ship as soon as we could.”

“Didn’t like it?” Emma echoes, her skin rippling with goosebumps. “What do you mean?”

Killian frowns, and he rubs at his chin thoughtfully. “I know you don’t believe in magic, Swan, but if you saw this, you would. Even though we couldn’t get it open, the damned thing seemed to suck the energy of the area around it. People were grumpier near it, more prone to anger, and more likely to need hours upon hours of sleep after being around it for a long time. As if it pulled their energy into itself and made them weaker, less honourable versions of themselves.”

He’s right, she doesn’t believe in magic. The thought of a strangle little box, gifted to her boss in the 1700s that caused hardened pirates to want it out of their sight, is something out of a movie. But … after all Emma has seen and all she’s heard, even just in the last few minutes, perhaps she better start believing.

“In any regard, we buried it and forgot about it for a few months until we returned one day to Newport. Gold knew my ship – hell, everyone knew my ship, then – and he was watching for it. He surprised us and thought to kill me and my crew, but realized rather quickly if we were all dead, he’d have no way to find out where the object was hidden. So instead … he thought to teach me a lesson.” He holds his left hand up again. “Hence, this.”

Emma leans back into her desk chair, sinking into the old cushion and letting out a deep breath. She’s starting to get a tight, fluttery feeling in her chest she gets when she’s becoming overwhelmed, the feeling that usually spurs her to run, run as fast as she can.

But there’s no running from this. This, this twisted world with time travel and now apparently magic, is her reality.

Killian falls silent, finally taking a seat opposite her instead of standing, fuming, by the door. But Emma doesn’t know what to say back to him, so they sit in silence for several long minutes. After all, what do you say back to someone who is telling you about their adversarial meetings in the 1740s with your boss, who was the one to cut off his hand that was then re-attached with magic?

Emma has always been a logical person; she’s had to be. There was no room for whimsy or belief in the unknown during her childhood, not when she was burned too early by a world that only showed her its dark and cruel side. Her mind is so overwhelmed, she’s not even sure how to begin processing all this. If Killian wasn’t between her and the door, she may have started running.

“So, you buried this object,” she begins, forcing herself to focus on the tangible parts of Killian’s story, though it’s not enough to not notice the irony of discussing ancient buried treasure with a pirate. “Probably in a place built over by a parking lot, or so deep underground that its lost to history, or found by a random person and sitting on someone’s grandma’s shelf –”

“That seems unlikely,” Killian muses. “I would hazard a guess it has never been found. After all, that must be why I’m here, in your time. He’s after the object again. He couldn’t get it from me then, and for whatever reason, he’s brought me here to find it.”

Emma has come to the same conclusion herself now, but she shakes her head in dismay. “I just don’t understand. If he wants this thing back so bad, why not get it from you back then, not invent time travel and wait nearly three hundred years for it?”

He shrugs, but his eyes flash. “Only the devil himself knows what madness lurks in that monster’s mind.”

Emma sighs and rubs at her eyes. If ridiculous was a line crossed back when Killian first said he knew Gold from his time, this situation is so far gone, Emma’s not even sure what to make of it anymore.

“So where is it buried? The object?”

Killian doesn’t answer, idly tracing the scar around his wrist. She watches him, wondering if he’s simply trying to remember, but when the silence stretches on, she realizes he has no intention of answering her, and for whatever reason, that hurts.

“Killian … you know you can trust me.”

“I do trust you, Swan,” he says, and his voice softens as he meets her eyes. “It’s Gold I don’t. This object, whatever its value to him, has been safe for nearly three centuries. Its secret is safest with just one person.” He pauses briefly. “For now.”

Though still stung, Emma nods. “Okay. For now.” She lets out a deep breath, and runs a hand through her hair, combing out the tangles. “Well, if this object is really what Gold is after and you’re the only person alive who knows where it is, it makes sense why Gold wanted you arrested at first.”

“He what?” Killian’s voice is sharp, his eyes flashing with anger again, and Emma winces. She supposes she hadn’t told Killian that part yet.

As his expression darkens, Emma explains how Gold had first wanted Killian detained more formally than all the other returnees due to his reaction down at the lake where he first fought and argued with the Storybrooke agents, along with his past as a pirate and wanted criminal. How, now that she knows this history, it was most likely just a ruse for Gold to be able to keep a closer eye on Killian than the others.

“That slimy bastard.”

Silently, Emma agrees. She doesn’t know what Gold is planning, but she already knows whatever it is, it isn’t good. At her last meeting with him, when he’d asked her about ‘anything odd’ with the returnees, she’d left the conversation with a pit in her stomach, the root of doubt and suspicion that has now blossomed into fully fledged mistrust and, frankly, fear.

“We have to get you out of here. Out of Storybrooke, away from Gold. It’s not safe for you here anymore.”

“I concur.”

But then Emma frowns. Regina is away today, attending meetings offsite in regards to the returnees’ release, and Emma knows there is no way she is going to get Killian discharged from here without her permission. Any other returnee, maybe, but not Killian the media magnet.

She could attempt to sneak him out, but if they are caught … well, it was bad enough that Emma was seen by the media near him during his previous escape attempt. If they are caught again when she’s aiding him in an escape attempt … she’d be re-assigned to another returnee at the very least or fired at the very worst, and Killian will be kept here, in Gold’s clutches, for even longer.

“I can’t get you out of here tonight,” she says, swallowing down the anxiety that comes with the thought. “We have to wait until Regina is here, and do it all by the books or … well, I don’t know what will happen. She’ll be back tomorrow.” Emma sighs, and rises to her feet. “Come on. I’ll walk you back to the barracks. I think you may be safer there with the guards all around.”

They leave her office, walking carefully around the corner leading to the foyer where the media conference had been. But it’s over now, all the chairs and the podium cleaned up.

The walk to the barracks is mostly in silence, both of them lost in thought. When they reach the lobby, Emma grips Killian’s arm, pausing him in his tracks.

“Don’t get into any trouble,” she warns, her voice a whisper. “I’ll be back first thing tomorrow to talk to Regina about your release.”

“When have I ever gotten into trouble?” he replies teasingly, and he rests his hand over hers briefly before moving towards the staircase. “Goodbye, Emma.”

She watches him head upstairs to his room, until he’s gone through a door and out of sight. Emma should go back to her office and get some semblance of work done, but she pauses instead. The cafeteria is just ahead of her, buzzing with the hum of conversation. It’s lunch now, and the returnees are free to move about as the media are gone. An idea has occurred to her, and instead of heading back to her office, she walks into the busy cafeteria.

Near one of the wide windows at the opposite end, Emma spots David and Mary Margaret. As she’s walking over, Mary Margaret notices her first, brightening with a wide smile and shining eyes.

“Hi Emma!”

Their enthusiasm still makes her a bit uncomfortable, but she tries to smile genuinely as she takes a seat opposite them. They are smiling widely at her, clearly thinking she’s here for a friendly chat or at least a step in the right direction for their relationship, and suddenly Emma wishes that was all she was here for. A pleasant, light conversation with the parents she lost for 28 years, returned to her miraculously by (as it’s truly appearing to be) magic.

And yet here she is instead, a dark cloud of fear and suspicion hanging over her. She glances around before speaking, not really sure who she should be on the lookout for, but in any case, the other returnees and agents are pre-occupied with their own meal or conversation. And, besides, she supposes she has an excuse to be sat here talking with David and Mary Margaret – they are, after all, her parents.

“We’ve been wanting to tell you,” Mary Margaret starts brightly, before Emma can get up the nerve to speak. “Graham told us that once the first group of returnees start to be released, he thinks David and I will be allowed out for more visits. We were hoping, well …” she trails off suddenly, uncertain, and David grasps her hand tightly, squeezing it for support. Mary Margaret smiles at him, and continues, her voice much stronger now, “Maybe we could meet you and Henry somewhere for a meal one day?”

“Oh,” Emma says, taken aback. “Um, yeah, that that would be great.”

They smile in delight, and Emma finds she does truly mean that. If they had said something like this even a few days ago, she probably would’ve scowled and made up some excuse as to why it couldn’t happen, but instead, she is already imagining them at Henry’s favourite restaurant, with him showing them his favourite dishes and desserts. “Um, Henry will be so excited to hear about that. And I want to hear more about it too, but first – I came here to ask you for a favour.”

They nod, exchanging a glance with each other, plainly thrilled that whatever this is about, Emma has decided to ask for their help. Their willingness makes Emma’s heart twinge; they’re so happy to have anything from her, even if it’s an indication of a grain of trust, that it lights up their whole expressions as if she just agreed to start calling them mom and dad.

She gives herself a quick mental shake, and focuses again. She leans forward slightly, lowering her voice so they can only just hear her. “There’s something … weird going on around here, I’m still trying to figure it all out, but I need your help in the meantime.”

David and Mary Margaret trade worried glances at her tone. “Of course,” David says firmly. “What’s going on? What is it about?”

Emma hesitates. She wants to tell them what Killian told her, but it’s not her story to share. Besides, the less people who know about Gold, the better. Instead, she says, “Can you keep an eye on Killian Jones for me for the rest of the day? Make sure he’s doing okay and keeping himself out of trouble?”

David frowns, and crosses his arms across his chest. “The pirate?” he demands, and Mary Margaret glares at him.

“It’s important,” Emma continues, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “I – can’t really say much else, but it’s important.”

“Of course, Emma,” Mary Margaret says, and she elbows David, who, reluctantly, nods. “That’s no problem at all. We’ll ask him to have dinner with us tonight.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” She then gets to her feet, and disappointment flashes across their faces. She winces. “Sorry, I have to get back to work. But, I – uh, well I’m looking forward to that dinner one day soon.”

The disappointment fades a bit, and they say their goodbyes. Emma returns to her office for the rest of the afternoon, trying to get through her stack of endless paperwork, but it’s pointless. She gets nothing done, her mind on Gold and buried treasure and even when she gets home, she’s a nervous wreck all night, unable to focus on anything at all.

Henry is his usual chatty self, but Emma can’t keep focused on what he’s saying. She has no patience for cooking tonight either, so instead orders in pizza, much to her son’s delight. As he’s munching on his fourth piece of deep-dish pepperoni, Henry pauses mid-bite, glancing at Emma’s untouched first slice.

“Mom? Are you ok?”

“Sorry, kid,” she replies, and she forces herself to smile reassuringly. “Just distracted by work. Want to play a game tonight?”

He is satisfied with that answer, and playing Clue with Henry does help to pass the time, but her heart isn’t in it and she is soundly beaten in each of the three rounds they play. When it’s finally her son’s bedtime and he’s sound asleep, peaceful and warm in his bed, Emma herself gets ready for bed.

Sleep, however, has never seemed so far away. Her mind roils with the revelations of the day, her stomach turning with nausea and anxiety. With no wink of sleep in sight, Emma sits up in bed instead. She leans against the solid wood of her headboard, and hugs her knees into her chest, watching the tree outside her window sway with the cold wind.

It’s so simple, to watch the trees, illuminated by the street lights below. They are just as they were yesterday, unchanged by the revelation of magic such as controlling snow or re-attaching hands or transporting hundreds of people through time.

She watches the trees for a while, and at one point, Emma finally drifts off, her dreams a jumble of pirate ships and bright white light.

Those dreams, however, are abruptly broken by a shrill ring of her cellphone.

Emma jolts awake, and grabs the phone from the nightstand, answering it without reading the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Emma, it’s Anna!” Her colleague’s voice is frantic and harried, and Emma sits up, her heartbeat accelerating.

“Anna?”

“You need to get back here to Storybrooke right away. It’s – it’s about Killian Jones. One of the returnees was found dead and –”

Emma swings her legs out from under the covers, the floor cold beneath her bare feet, as icy as the shot of pure panic running through her. “What? Is – is Killian –”

“No, no, he’s fine,” Anna says hurriedly, as if just realizing the implication of her words. Emma’s heart stutters again, her emotions of fear and relief in whiplash. “Well, I mean he’s not hurt, he’s not quite okay as you would say, but –”

“Anna, what the hell is going on?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean – okay, like I was saying, I was staying here tonight with Elsa, and then – well, there was a commotion maybe an hour ago and when I went to see what had happened … well, one of the returnees is dead. It’s pretty clear they were attacked … like, with a sword.”

Emma’s heart sinks though she’s sure she already knows. If he’s not the one dead, and the victim was attacked with a sword …

“And what does this have to do with Killian?”

“He’s been arrested for the murder.”

_______________________________________________________

The drive back to Storybrooke is a blur. She’d woken up her neighbour across the hall and half-dragged her over to watch Henry and get him off to school in the morning, only telling her there was an emergency and she had to leave right now.

When she makes it onto Storybrooke’s grounds, she careens into an empty parking spot, half out of the vehicle before she’s stopped the engine. The main returnee barracks building is bright and illuminated, and Emma marches towards it, her heart pounding heavily with each step she takes.

On the steps leading to the building, outside the main doors, stands a group of several individual Emma recognizes as police and FBI officers from their emblazoned jackets. As she approaches, one holds her hand up to block Emma’s path.

“Hold up! No one is allowed entry right now. A federal investigation is underway.”

Emma’s hands curl into fists at her side, and she digs out her identification badge from her jacket pocket. She has no time to argue. “You don’t understand, I need to get in there.”

The officers’ frown at her badge, and she opens her mouth to furiously continue, when a voice calls her name from within the main doors.

“Emma?” The guards move aside, revealing Kristoff Reinsdyr, one of the guards at Storybrooke, looking pale and frazzled. “Thank goodness you’re here.”

One of the FBI officers scowls, and looks Emma up and down. “We have orders to not let anyone else in until Commander Hua says –”

“Emma needs to come in. She’s Jones’ agent in charge of his case here.”

Kristoff gestures her forward, and Emma doesn’t wait to see if the officers complain again, though they do move out of her way finally. She and Kristoff hurry inside, where the brightness of the fluorescently lit building makes her eyes sting as he leads her towards the back staircase.

“Glad you’re here, Emma. Anna told me she called you,” Kristoff says, as they take the steps two at a time up to the fourth floor to the isolation and interview area. Emma is reminded sharply of the first time she had come up here, when she’d met Killian the first night, when he’d been belligerent and thrown in here to cool down.

The thought sets her teeth on edge. “Kristoff, what the hell is this about? Anna said there had been a murder?”

He hesitates. “Yes, it seems like it. There was some commotion around midnight in the residences. We thought perhaps it was a fight, but when we got there to see what had happened …” He trails off, and shakes his head once. “It was awful, Emma. Truly horrific.”

He doesn’t elaborate, and Emma decides she doesn’t want to know. “And – they think Killian did it? Where is he now?”

“In one of the interview rooms upstairs. He was with a few of the other guards for a bit, until the FBI got here about an hour ago. Now he’s in with their commander.”

They reach the top floor, and Kristoff leads her down a cold, empty hallway to the cluster of interview rooms at the end of the corridor. Kristoff opens a small side door, into a small observation room that faces the larger interview room through one-way glass. Three FBI officers are in the room already and they frown at her, but she simply flashes her identification badge in their direction before looking through the one-way glass at the scene ahead.

Killian is seated in a similar room to the one she first met him in, his face smooth and impassive, as cold as she’s ever seen it. His wrists are bound with handcuffs, chained to the table in the centre of the room. Mulan Hua, the commander of the Boston FBI who Emma recognizes from the lake, is seated across from him, watching him with a careful, quiet gaze.

“Let’s go over this again,” she is saying, her voice strained with patience. Emma isn’t sure how long Killian has been talking to her, but by his sour expression, she knows they’ve already been over this conversation several times. “Tell me exactly what happened this evening.”

“As I have told you a thousand times since I was dragged from my bed by your deranged guards,” he snaps, drawing the words out so they are each peppered with a near growl. “I have no idea what happened. I was in my room all evening, save for dinner. All I know is what you’ve told me: a man has been found dead, and you suspect I had something to do with it.”

“Murdered,” Mulan corrects, her face solemn. “He’s not only dead, he was murdered.”

Killian rattles the handcuffs pointedly. “Not by my hand. If I’d done it, I’d bloody well confess. I may be a pirate, but I’m no coward. I’ve committed my fair share of atrocities, but I will not confess to something I did not do.”

“How do you explain the fact that your sword was found discarded nearby, stained with blood?”

It could be a damning statement, but Killian laughs, rumbling and low. “You think me fool enough to leave a murder weapon lying about where any bumbling twit can come across it? Not to mention that I haven’t had my sword since I arrived in this bloody time when your guards confiscated it, so how, pray tell, do you think I managed to get my sword back?”

Mulan sighs, irritation flitting across her features. “Well, we know how you did it. We have evidence. Video evidence of you removing the sword from the Collection Room.”

Emma’s eyes widen, and she feels abruptly like she’s been punched in the gut. They have what?

Killian, however, isn’t fazed by this bombshell; after all, he probably has no idea what a video is. “I don’t care what evidence you say you have. It’s all false, I didn’t do it and I haven’t had my sword in weeks. So, either arrest me and throw me in a dungeon, or let me go for I have nothing more to say to you.”

And at that, he falls silent. Mulan tries to get him to speak again, but to no avail. Eventually, she sighs and gets to her feet, the chair scraping loudly against the floor and making Emma flinch. “Okay. You think about things, and I’ll be back with something for you to eat and drink.”

As she heads for the door, Emma sees her chance to speak with her. She darts past Kristoff and the other FBI officers in the observation room, out into the hallway, catching Mulan just as she’s shutting the door behind her.

“Commander,” Emma calls. “What the hell is going on?”

“Oh, Agent Swan, I’m glad you’re here.” Mulan breathes out heavily. Now that she’s out of the interview room, she appears tired, her face pale, her eyebrows pinched together with stress. “I’ve been wanting to talk with you. Do you have any idea why Jones would want to kill Henry Jekyll?”

“No!” Emma replies vehemently. “Killian wouldn’t kill – who the hell even is that?”

“He is another returnee. Or rather, was. He was one of Jones’s roommates when he was released from isolation. He was found dead earlier by his current roommate. He’d been stabbed several times.”

Emma stares back at her, lost for words, as Kristoff peers out of the other room, as if making sure everything is okay.

Mulan nods at him. “Officer, can you get me a sandwich and water bottle for Jones?”

He agrees, and disappears back down the hall the way he had come with Emma. Mulan turns back to Emma, and at her expression, lets out another deep sigh.

“Emma,” she says gently, almost understandingly. “I know you must have gotten close to Jones while he’s been here –” Emma inhales sharply, but Mulan doesn’t seem to notice “– since you’re his agent and all. Obviously, you don’t want to believe he could have done something like this. But you have to remember that he’s a criminal. He was an outlaw and a pirate, wanted by the British Navy at the time for treason and murder. And that’s just the recorded crimes. We really don’t know anything about him, or what he’s capable of. I’m not surprised something like this has come up, honestly.”

“I am,” Emma replies bluntly. “There is no way Killian killed someone, not when tomorrow – I mean, we are trying to get all the returnees out of here not keep them locked up longer!”

Mulan pinches the bridge of her nose, and gestures for Emma to follow her. “Come with me, take a look at what we found.”

Emma follows her into a second interview room, empty save for a steel table with a laptop on it. Mulan opens the laptop, entering her credentials to log in. It seems to take an exorbitant amount of time, Emma’s nerves fraying further with each passing second. The screen opens to a generic Federal Bureau of Investigation backdrop, and Mulan clicks on a video saved to the desktop, labelled simply ‘surveillance footage.’

“This is from back in early February,” Mulan explains, as the video loads up to reveal a room Emma recognizes as the Collection Room in the basement, where she visited once before to collect Mary Margaret, David and Killian’s belonging, with its shelves upon shelves of boxes and plastic containers.

“Security pulled it for us once we identified the sword. Watch.”

The recording is of the deserted collection room for several moments, blurry and shrouded in shadows, the time blinking in the corner of the video as 3:30 a.m. Then, grainy white light floods the room, the main door swinging open to let in the hallway light.

Through the pixelated footage, Emma recognizes Killian as he strides into the room, confident as ever. He walks to the back of the room without hesitation, to a small area behind a chain link fence which reaches to the ceiling. He disappears off camera as he steps into the fenced-in area, but he’s only hidden for a few moments before he steps back into view.

In his hands, is a sheathed sword, its handle black and simple, apparent even in the poor footage. He removes it from the sheath, and holds it up to his eye level, admiring the blade. He then re-sheathes it and slips out of the room, the light fading from the room as the door swings shut behind him.

The video stops, and Emma stares at it, dumbfounded. There it is, plain as day. Evidence of Killian retrieving the sword.

But she shakes her head as she remembers her own visit to the Collection Room more clearly. “No, no, that’s not possible. Listen, I know he couldn’t have gotten the sword. It was checked out, I remember because I went and got his other stuff and saw it on the list.”

“The list?” Mulan frowns. “What list?”

“There was a list in the Collection Room, a list of each person’s items which weren’t allowed to be checked out, but his sword had a note that it was taken out. So he couldn’t have done it, because you needed special permission to get those restricted items out. I remember because I was –”

Emma trails off, because Mulan is watching her with a skeptical frown. She clearly doesn’t believe Emma, and after all, why would she? There’s video proof of Killian getting the sword himself.

Kristoff knocks on the door to the interview room then, opening it to show the water bottle and wrapped sandwich in his hand. “Here you are, Commander.”

“Perfect,” Mulan says, closing the laptop and striding towards him. “Thank you, officer.”

She’s already back in the hallway, food in hand, marching down to the Killian’s interview room, before Emma, still stunned by the video, springs into action.

She hurries out into the hallway and, before Mulan can open the door to re-join Killian, blocks her path. Killian may be her … well, Emma’s not sure if she could even call him a friend, but whatever he is, he’s her responsibility. Returnees are always given legal counsel if they require it for any reason, including an active criminal investigation whether they are defendant or plaintiff.

“Does he have a lawyer on their way?”

“No, he declined one.”

Mulan says it calmly, but something about it is the last straw for Emma. The last twenty-four hours have nearly broken her – the video of Elsa, the knowledge that Gold is from the 1700s too, that magic is the most probable reason why all these people have shown up here, and now this: her … returnee arrested for murder and being questioned without legal counsel.

“He’s from the 1700s!” Emma shouts, and Mulan flinches in surprise. Even Killian glances over to the door, as if he heard her too. “Of course he declined one, I don’t know if they had lawyers back then. He has no idea about our laws or processes or anything. Killian doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into, he needs a lawyer!”

Mulan regards Emma quietly, and she shrugs. “Well, I’ll speak to him about it again, but I doubt he’ll change his mind.”

She opens the door with the food, and as she does, Emma leans slightly around her, to peer into the room. Killian is watching Mulan enter, stony-faced, but for a moment, a single moment before the door slams shut behind Mulan, he catches Emma’s eye.

If only magic was real; maybe she could send him a telepathic message to ask for a lawyer. But, Emma’s no magician, and the door swings shut, the breeze catching her in the face and rustling her hair.

“Here,” Mulan says, her voice muffled by the door, and Emma hurries back to the other room, to the one-way glass so she can hear better. The other agents are glaring at her now with open hostility, but Emma ignores them, moving past them so she is standing directly in front of the one-way glass.

Mulan has resumed her seat, the water bottle and sandwich on the table between them, but Killian doesn’t move to reach for them.

“Listen,” she says, casting a pointed look to the one-way glass. “Before we talk anymore about this, I’m going to remind you one more time that you are allowed to have legal representation before speaking with me.”

Killian remains silent.

Mulan huffs a sigh. “Alright. Okay, so let’s go over this again, shall we?”

Killian leans forward, the handcuff chains jangling loudly against the steel table. “Commander,” he says, intently staring now at her across the table. His tone has changed, the defensive snarls replaced with a charming lilt, soothing and persuasive. “You are a smart woman, smarter than those oafs who were in here before you. You know I didn’t do this. Even if I was so idiotic to kill a man I had met only a handful of times on the eve of being released from this prison, you know as well as I that any criminal worth their salt wouldn’t leave a bloody murder weapon tied to them and them alone near a massacred body should they hope to get away with the crime. Whoever did this wanted you to find that sword, to know that it was mine so you would come to me right away and keep me locked up here.”

Mulan narrows her eyes, and she asks, only half-jokingly, “So what? Someone is setting you up?”

Killian’s gaze flicks over to the door, to where he had seen Emma, before he shrugs, as if the suggestion is ludicrous. But it’s enough to clue Emma in.

Of course. He’s right, he has no motive to kill Jekyll. But someone else does. Someone else, who has something to lose if Killian is released from Storybrooke with the rest of the returnees.

Gold.

He must’ve seen them at the news conference, must know Killian would’ve told Emma everything about their history together. Know that, of course, Emma would try everything in her power to get Killian out of here before Gold could do anything like lock him up like he had always wanted to. So he moved faster, found a way to keep him here, in his grasp where he hopes to get the location of the mysterious object out of Killian, once and for all.

“Emma?” Kristoff asks, reaching out a hand to her in concern, and Emma realizes he and the FBI officers are staring at her.

She waves them away, realization and horror roaring in her ears as loud as thunder. She is still trying to process this, when in the interview room, Killian leans back in his chair, his expression dark and cold.

“Perhaps it is time I speak with an attorney.”

#cs ff #cs mc ff #captain swan #ouat #cs fic #a place in time #hope people like this one!#it's been a long time so i'm grateful for anyone still reading

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jeonjeonggukenergy · 4 years

Text

Anti-Hero

summary ~ in search of wine at a party that’s so not your scene, you run into jungkook, the weeb from your film class, and become determined to learn just how much he lives up to his big reputation.

pairing ~ jungkook x reader

genre ~ fluff, smut (coming in ch3!) - college!au

wordcount ~ 2.3k

warnings ~ pretty much n/a, mentions of drinking and light smut

a/n ~ v excited for these lil dorks! i thought about combining this with the upcoming chapter but it felt right on its own and i wanted to go ahead and post an update for yall haha. ch 3 will most definitely have some serious smut to look forward to 👀 thank yall for reading, i love and appreciate any form of support or feedback so so much, so feel free to msg me or send me an ask abt whatever you want! 🥰 hope u enjoy this chapter!!!

previous: chapter 1 ~ next: chapter 3 | chapter 4 (coming soon!)

~ read on ao3 ~

CHAPTER 2 ~ cowboy bebop & chill

You couldn't stop thinking about Jungkook. Every time you brought the enamel of your favorite mug to your lips, teeth knocking the rim as you exhaled to cool off your tea, it called back the click of his earrings in your mouth. Whenever you reached behind your ear to tuck away the hair you'd impulsively cropped to your chin this year, it hit the same spot you'd sucked into a bruise on his neck and you shivered. Even your slight headache thanks to the shitty vodka from the pregame reminded you of the wine you'd sought out from him in the first place and never fucking got to drink.

You found yourself reading over your responses to each other's discussion posts from your film class, trying to find any more justification for this sudden crush than the drunken flirtation that mortified you as soon as you remembered it sober. He did seem to like your directness...but you could easily ascribe that to his similarly loosened-up state. Scanning through your reflections on The Shawshank Redemption and Casablanca, you painstakingly overanalyzed every smiley face and "I loved that part too!" Could he have been into you at all before this? Or had he just eyed you for another quick fuck at a party? Shit, what if he hated you for working him up and then leaving? If he wanted to, you knew he would have easily found someone else to finish the night with. But what if he still held it against you? The image of him bitterly turning aside to find another girl in the crowd, with your hickey still fresh on his jaw, turned your stomach more than you wanted to admit.

Shaking your head with a grounding exhale, you reminded yourself that whoever else he did or didn't hook up with was none of your business. Plus, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy and probably didn't hate you in the first place. Wow, the bar really was so fucking low. Maybe that was part of the reason you were never that bold with boys. Every classmate you'd fallen for so far at college had remained innocently unaware of your feelings, likely because you never worked up the courage to clearly express them. You hadn't even been trying this time, though—this semester had been so busy you'd barely had time for your friends, much less crushes. And now your one blowoff class had become your biggest distraction.

Jungkook, a communications & media major, couldn't afford to lose as much focus in this class as you. Normally near front-and-center, he sat all the way in the corner of the last row, wary of imaginary stares burning through the hopefully-opaque-enough curtain of his hair. Even the risk of zoning out staring at the back of your head stressed him out less than the thought of you doing the same to him.

You walked into class through the back right entrance today so you'd pass Jungkook in the front row, though you could have gone straight to your usual left-side seat from the main door. Knowing you'd never summon the courage to talk to him, you still couldn't help wanting to see his face. You didn't know just what you were looking for—some kind of confirmation or dismissal that would let you just move on with your dry-ass life—but any reason to catch a glimpse of Jungkook was a good one. Today, though, he sat far closer to the entrance than you'd expected, and his proximity stopped you in your tracks a few feet behind him. Eyes dragging down the sculpted form under his soft black sweatsuit, your stare traced the veins in his forearms to reach the hands in his lap. Catching a half-page cartoon ass in your view of the manga he gazed at intently, a snort-laugh escaped you, the sound setting him on high alert. He snapped the book shut, spinning around with eyes wide and still-long hair an understandable mess for a Monday.

"I'm so—"

"I'm so sorry!"

You both shoved out the words at the same time.

A pause swelled between you, eye contact maintained as your mouths fluttered open and shut like fish. Even awkward and off-guard like this, he was just so damn pretty. It felt unreasonable for him to seem as flustered around you as you were around him. Finally, you spoke again, solely to force the conversation forward and put you both out of your misery.

"W-what do you have to be sorry for? I'm the one who, like—ugh, I was drunk, I'm so sorry, I never would have been so, yknow, if I was sober, like that's not me I promise, I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or—"

"No-no-no-no-no!" Jungkook cut you off, dismissing your barely intelligible apology. Before you could cut him off in return and continue, he held up both hands between you, his eyebrows knit together in a pleading expression. "Are you kidding me? Seriously, I feel so bad, I was kind of drunk too, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable! Please, you have nothing to worry about, it was, uh...I was...good...if...you were." He grew shyer as he continued, drifting off as a hand reached back to rub his neck. A light laugh. "You did make me have to keep my hair long for another few days, though. It's gotten so annoying to take care of, I was planning on cutting it right after the costume."

This admission perked up all your earlier curiosities about him, and a cautious smile spread over your face as Jungkook unconsciously reminded you that he was, in fact, a total dork, rather than the fuckboy you'd irrationally feared him to be.

"Wait, hold up," you snorted again. Gently. "You're telling me you grew out your hair for three, maybe four, months...for a Cowboy Bebop costume?"

"Hey, it was free and way less lame than a wig," he defended himself. Crossing his arms over his chest, he fidgeted uncomfortably, face blushing into a grin as you continued to giggle at him.

"You are such a fucking weeb," you accused lightheartedly.

Jungkook furrowed his brows back together, an anxious hand grazing the spot where you'd marked him again. "Well, you recognized my Spike costume, at least," he pouted. "You're not all innocent."

"I watched one episode with my friend, and it was dubbed," you downplayed. "Isn't watching dubs instead of subs a crime for real anime fans?"

"Actually," his eyes lit up at your rhetorical question. "The dub of Cowboy Bebop is excellent. It's pretty universally considered better than watching the OG with subs. You're right though, that is the general rule."

"Oh man, who knew." Looking down, grinning, you tried to hide how endeared you were by his earnestness. "Well, it was pretty cool, not gonna lie. I guess I kind of get the appeal."

"Would you want to start watching the rest sometime? That's one I just never get tired of," he blurted, then blushed, closing his mouth and working his lips between his teeth as his eyes stayed wide and on you. Jungkook's heart accelerated in his chest, a fist opening and closing at his hip as he tried to decide whether he regretted taking a chance on the question.

You instantly diverted all your mental energy from hoping he couldn't sense your attraction to massively overthinking your response. This was a "Netflix and chill" kind of invite, right? If he wanted you, of course you wanted him, but you had to be sure before you did something else stupid and risked having to find another discussion board buddy.

"Um...yeah, sure," you accepted. "I have to ask, though, do you mean, like...Cowboy Bebop and chill?" You raised an eyebrow, trying to look bolder than you felt. "Or...Cowboy Bebop and just...Cowboy Bebop?"

"I..." Mirroring your playful grin, Jungkook shrugged, not wanting to look like a fuckboy if he answered with the first option but also wondering—were you actually interested in watching this anime with him? The possibility puzzled him, the same way it confused you how he could go bold and then back to his shy weeb-ass self within seconds. You shrugged too, with an anxious exhale of a laugh.

"That was...weird to just say like that, sorry. We can just see where it goes, whatever you want," you backtracked, full of faux-nonchalance. The Google Calendar schedule on your phone suddenly became very interesting. "We could do another day if that works for you, but I'm free after this class once I write my discussion post—I don't have any other homework or meetings today for once."

He nodded quickly, eyebrows up. Swallowing, Jungkook saw the opportunity to show a little more initiative and seized it. "We could do that together even, 'cause we usually jump off each other anyway. So you can come over right after class if you want." He glanced up and to the left for a quick mental inventory. "Oh shit, wait, but I seriously need to clean my apartment first, can we do more like dinner time tonight? You can just come over for ramen or takeout if you want, or eat first or whatever."

"Yeah, that's fine!" you agreed warmly. "Ramen and homework, two birds with one scone. I should probably, like...get your number? So you can send me your address when you're ready or something?" You didn't want to sound too desperate, especially since you knew he was used to it, but you found yourself weirdly excited to experience something he so obviously loved. If you got dicked down too, even better, but you were definitely willing to wait on that part, especially now that this first sober conversation had restored your inhibitions. He had this slightly shy sweetness about him that just made you want to make him happy somehow. You wanted to see more of his cheesy little smile. You wanted to hear the bright laugh that occasionally rang out at the most inappropriate times, during Citizen Kane or attendance. You wanted to watch his light pink lips fall open in bliss as you kissed down his sensitive neck to the trim of his worn-in hoodie...

"Yeah sure, here." The quick touch of his hand over yours snapped you out of your thoughts as he took your phone, ready to type in his number, and—

"Wait, did you say 'two birds with one scone'? Not 'one stone'?"

You blushed furiously. Somehow him calling you out on your quirks embarrassed you more than the indecent daydream he'd interrupted. "Okay, so I saw this tweet a while back where they said 'feed two birds with one scone' to replace 'kill two birds with one stone,' I think it was just some vegan troll being all like 'don't talk about killing birds!' but it stuck with me because I just really fucking love scones."

"You...really fucking love scones?" he repeated in slight sarcasm, eyes down on your phone. You grew even shyer, but continued.

"Yeah, I bake a lot and they're my favorite thing to make. The flavor possibilities are endless and they last for days so I just keep them on hand for breakfast and snacks and to give out to friends. And they go with tea, which is my other favorite thing." Ooh, was he a tea person? Should you bring some tonight? Something earthy, to go with your ramen. Your go-to green sencha, or maybe chrysanthemum? Chamomile?

Jungkook held your phone back out in front of you, but waited silently for you to notice, enjoying the view of wheels turning in your head as you pondered tea pairings. This was the you he was used to, daydreaming in class and going on tangents as dorky as his in discussions. Even from a distance, he'd noticed you consistently gave off a vibe somewhere between absentminded professor and grandma, and this confirmation made you even cuter to him. But the hair still falling over his ears wouldn't let him forget his new physical proof of another side to you.

You finally collected your phone with a mumbly "Oh right, yeah, cool, thanks," that you prayed sounded more chill to him than it did to you.

"I just texted myself, so I have your number too now, and I'll just send you my address when I'm ready, and, uh...yeah!" he rambled a bit in response.

You nodded, confirming. "I'll see you tonight!"

"Yeah, see you tonight."

Jungkook watched you walk to your desk, silently admiring your ass and allowing himself only a moment to savor the memory of half of it filling his hand. A strange nervousness tingled through him. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about you all weekend either, and now he had a chance to get closer to you than ever before. He hoped, more than he could remember hoping for anything else, that this would go well, one way or another. He had no idea what you wanted with him, but you had him questioning everything he'd thought he wanted. Easing open his laptop, he pulled up your last discussion board response to him, signed off with a smiley face but backwards.

I like the way you think. (:

He turned his head to read it right-side-up, letting his face scrunch into a smile you wouldn't see.

Meanwhile, though the film thrilled you, you struggled to stay facing forward for the duration of class. You suspected the plot of Rear Window was simply unsettling you, but you swore you could feel Jungkook's eyes on your back. No, he was probably actually watching the movie as usual, or reading his manga if not. You were definitely just being paranoid. Definitely. Probably. Right?

next chapter

#jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook x reader smut #bts smut #bts fic #college!jungkook #college au!jungkook #bts college au #jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts jungkook #jungkook imagine #bts imagine #bts fanfic #jungkook fanfic #my writing #anti-hero #anti hero

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cssns · 4 years

Text

We’re here!!! *SOBBING UNCONTROLLABLY* It’s time for the CSSNS20 Roundup!!!!

It has been quite a ride y’all...

I just want to take a moment here at the beginning of the post to thank everyone who has ever been a part of this event from 2018 to now. Y’all are the ones who made this event what it is and I cannot be more grateful to have had the privilege of manning the helm for the past three years. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!!! There’s been too many participants over the years to name everyone, but I have to give a shoutout to my personal support team and the mods from all three years. Each one of them has contributed in innumerable ways and this event never would have happened without each of them and their contribution. @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @katie-dub, @thisonesatellite and @profdanglaisstuff. Thank you so much ladies!!! I never could have done this without you all!!!

Now that the event is over, I want to let everyone know that I will be inviting other supernatural fic to the collection over on ao3. When I first started reading fan fiction, I stumbled across the Black Swan and Red Hooks Collection, a collection for smutty fics, that continues to grow today. I want to do the same thing with the Supernatural Summer Collection. As more supernatural fics are written, I will invite them to the collection.

We are now at the close, and it’s time to round up all the wonderful fics and art that we’ve been blessed with in this year’s event. At the end of the post, I’ll highlight all the fic from previous years that have also updated this summer. Active MC’s will continue updating until they are finished. And without further ado, HERE WE GOOOOOOO!!!!

Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

On June 1st, @itsfabianadocarmo dropped a vampire aesthetic inspired by the Countess from American Horror Story: Hotel. SOOO incredible! It gave me chills! You can find it here.

On June 3rd, I ( @kmomof4 ) dropped Of Darkness, Vampires, and Soulmates. I figured that since this was our last year, I should write for it for once. Breathtaking art by @spartanguard. Banner Prologue Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6 Ch7 Ch8

On June 6th, @demisexualemmaswan dropped By the Moon’s Rise, featuring CS as werewolves. Oh my WORD! The pack politics going on…It is off to a fantastic start and I can’t wait for more! Gorgeous art by @courtorderedcake. Killian Emma David

On June 9th, @snowbellewells dropped A Cottage By the Sea. An Enchanted Forest Lieutenant Duckling AU. The last chapter left me CHEERING and I can’t wait to see where she takes this! Lovely art by @searchingwardrobes.

On June 11th, @katie-dub dropped Awakening, her fic inspired by the TV show Being Human. I am not familiar with the show, but this fic, oh my WORD!!! I had no words, and so I reblogged with gifs. Can’t wait for more!!!

On June 14th, @lassluna dropped her fic, Swan’s Hourglass, a Legend of Zelda AU. I absolutely LOVE her use of the side characters and Emma is absolutely bad ass!!! Can’t wait for more!! Beautiful Artwork by @eastwesthomeisbest.

On June 17th, @hollyethecurious dropped her Vampire Diary’s inspired The Craving In Between. Fun, intriguing, and SPICY!!! Perfect Artwork by @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713.

On June 20, @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 dropped her original Angel!Emma/Demon!Killian aesthetic. Absolutely PERFECT!!!

On June 23, @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 dropped another aesthetic that I was inspired to write a fic for! The Moon… Tells the Sea is the tale of were-mermaid Emma and her mate. aesthetic on Tumblr

On June 25, @eastwesthomeisbest dropped original Vampire!Killian artwork His Sweet Kiss. BREATHTAKING and sooooo chilling!!!

On June 27th, @kymbersmith-90 dropped her Soliciting for Dracula: Outtake. So GREAT to be taken back to that universe first presented during CS Halloweek last year! Original fic on Ao3 Tumblr link with art

On June 29th, @imlaxdris71 dropped her Shadowhunters AU, The Price of Blood. I am not at all familiar with Shadowhunters, but this fic is so AWESOME already and I can’t wait for more!!! I was thrilled to provide artwork for this incredible fic!

On July 2, @ohmightydevviepuu and @thisonesatellite posted The Sword and the Heart, their retelling of all of s5. Let me tell you, THIS is what we should have gotten on the show!!! I can’t WAIT for the next chapter!!! Awe-inspiring artwork by @thisonesatellite and @profdanglaisstuff.

On July 5, @snowbellewells posted For Once, Don’t Let Go, her CS ghost story. Spooky and soooo SWEET all at once!!! Chill-inducing, perfect artwork by @hollyethecurious.

On July 7, @stahlop posted Making a Memory, her fic inspired by The Parent Trap. This fic is absolutely AWESOME, y’all!!! Lisa has sucked me in to this blending of one of my all time favorite live action Disney movies and Once canon and I CANNOT WAIT for more of it!!! Lovely and perfect artwork by @gingerchangeling.

On July 9, @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 posted her original vampire aesthetic. Mm mm mm mm mmmmmmm!!!

On July 13, @shardminds posted her Witcher AU, Silver for Monsters. I have been BESIDE myself waiting for this fic, even though I’m not familiar with the show and the first chapter did not disappoint!!! Can’t wait for more!!! Swoon-worthy artwork by @artistic-writer.

On July 15, @eastwesthomeisbest posted original Fairy artwork, Within You, inspired by Carnival Row. Absolutely BREATHTAKING!!! Then on July 26, she posted Fear Me Or Love Me… It’s All the Same, and reduced me to a screaming flailing mess!

On July 18, @lovelivingmydreams posted Labors of Love, her Greek gods AU. This fic is fantastic and I am LOVING every bit of it!! I’ve been told to strap myself in, so I have and am eagerly waiting for the next chapter!!! Beautiful artwork by @mariakov81 Banner Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5

On July 21, @jarienn972 posted La Sirena, her Siren Emma fic. A BEAUTIFUL mystery and I can’t wait to see where she goes with this!!! Gorgeous artwork by @courtorderedcake.

On July 23, @shireness-says posted A Fate Woven in Thread and Ink, her fic inspired by The Night Circus. This fic is pure magic. Absolutely STUNNING in its beauty and I am BESIDE myself waiting for the next chapter!!! Incredible artwork by @eirabach.

On July 29, @winterbythesea posted The Truth In a Masquerade featuring dueling CS at a vampire masquerade! WELL WORTH all the teasing we endured on the discord!

On Aug. 1, @profdanglaisstuff posted The Eternal and Unseen, an epic tale of fae, werewolf, and vampire coming together to defeat a common enemy. This fic is absolutely INCREDIBLE and I can’t wait for the next chapter!!! Beautiful artwork 1 2 3 by @carpedzem.

@xhookswenchx posted her werewolf MC, Waning Moon, on Aug. 2. I am soooo in LOVE with this beautiful fic and can’t wait for more of it!!! Beautiful and precious artwork Banner 1 2 3 4 5 by @mariakov81.

@whimsicallyenchantedrose posted her MC, More Than All the Jewels in the Realm on Aug. 4. Kinda a ghost/soulmate MC. You’ll see what I mean… Absolutely FANTASTIC already!!! Beautifully haunting artwork by @searchingwardrobes.

@thejollyroger-writer posted the first chapter of THE WASTELAND on Aug. 6, where the hero group goes on a magical journey to save Killian. This world she has built is INCREDIBLE and I am loving this fic soooo much!!! Incredible artwork 1 2 3 4 5 by @spartanguard.

On Aug. 8, @imlaxdris71 posted her werewolf MC, The Beast of Aurum. My heart hurts so much for Killian ALREADY!!!! I can’t wait for more!!! Artwork by me, @kmomof4.

On Aug. 10, @eastwesthomeisbest dropped original Demon Killian artwork, I’m Your Darkest Dream. Gave me CHILLS!!!

Aug. 13, @ohmightydevviepuu posted From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea as part of her writersmonth2020 project. A 3a divergence that is absolutely HEART WRENCHING and BEAUTIFUL!!! Beautiful artwork by @mariakov81

On Aug. 14, @spartanguard posted her fix it fic for West Side Story, Even Death Won’t Part Us Now, featuring CS as vampires. I am absolutely BESIDE MYSELF over this fic, y'all!!! I love it sooooo MUCH!!! Breathtaking and perfect artwork 1 2 3 by @thesschesthair.

Aug. 18, @hollyethecurious posted her Sleepy Hollow AU, Some Legends are Best Kept as Legends. This fic is MAGNIFICENT and I can’t wait for more!!! Artwork by herself.

Aug. 20, @darkcolinodonorgasm posted her Siren Emma MC, A Song of Sin and Desire. This is gonna be an INCREDIBLE fic, y'all!!! I love it already!!! Gorgeous artwork by @artistic-writer.

On Aug. 22, @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 posted fantastic original artwork for a fic by @teamhook that she posted in September, The Wolf and the Savior. The setup of this fic has me on the edge of my seat and I can’t WAIT to see what’s next!!!

Aug. 24, @courtorderedcake posted her demon MC, Majestically To Far Beyond. This fic really is fun and I am LOVING it, y’all!!! Can't wait for more!!! Artwork by me, @kmomof4.

Aug. 26, @cocohook38 posted her Dark Swan/Werewolf Killian MC, I’ll Be Waiting For You By the Blood Moon. This is a FANTASTIC take on the Dark Swan and I can’t wait for more of it!!! Breathtaking artwork by @eastwesthomeisbest.

And finally, rounding out our event on Aug. 30, @seriouslyhooked posted Lost Souls and Reveries: The Sequel, a continuation of her CSSNS18 fic, Lost Souls and Reveries. This first chapter was soooo precious and lovely and I can’t wait to see where she goes with this!!! Exquisite artwork by @clockadile.

Over the course of the summer, we had several fics from previous years update, in some cases, several times!

Until the Stars Are All Alight by @whimsicallyenchantedrose updated several times. Beautiful artwork by @clockadile. This is her LOTR/CS crossover and I love it sooooo much!!!!

@kymbersmith-90 updated both of her fics from CSSNS18, Slayer and Divine Intervention. Perfect artwork complements of @hollyethecurious (x) (x). Both of these fics are sooooo GREAT, even to someone who hasn’t watched either show that they were inspired by!!!

@courtorderedcake updated Hallow, her epic fic of Fae princess Emma and Dark One Killian. We have now journeyed to Sultana Jasmine’s court and we are closing in on the end of their journey!!! Latest Tumblr chapter link with art

@darkcolinodonorgasm updated One Day, her LadyHawke inspired AU that she kills me with every single chapter!!! We are now on ch5 of 7. Tumblr ch link Beautiful Artwork by @sherlockianwhovian

@eirabach rewrote her CSSNS18 submission Glow for the CS Rewritathon this spring and summer. It can be found in its entirety in the CSSNS20 collection on ao3 here. I loved it when she originally wrote it, and I loved it even more this time!!!

Well, that’s it, y’all!!!! Who would have thought when I came up with this idea almost three years ago now that we would have such participation and enthusiasm across this fabulous fandom? We have been blessed with EPIC, INCREDIBLE, GORGEOUS, BREATHTAKING, FUN, LOVELY, MAGNIFICENT fics and art these last three years!!! As I said at the top of this post, the collection on ao3 will continue to be active as well as this blog as more supernatural fics are written and shared. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for coming along on this ride with me. Y’all have all made it soooo worthwhile!!! All the love, everyone!!!

#cssns20 roundup #CSSNS 2020 roundup #event roundup

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brindlestorm · 3 years

Text

My Truth or Yours

CH1 | CH2 | CH3 | CH4 | CH5 | CH6

There were two bodies laid out for the vigil that night.

Featherwhisker had passed on earlier that day, likely while Tigerclaw was on patrol. With Spottedleaf being torn between caring for Bluestar and Featherwhisker, neither seemed to get the treatment they needed. Not that it was Spottedleaf’s fault of course, the molly was run haggard by trying to care for the whole clan’s ailments. She must have accidentally brought Featherwhisker’s illness to Bluestar’s den when updating her on the recovery of the other sick patients.

Not many warriors stayed out for the full vigil, half-starved and exhausted, most preferred to stay in their nests rather than braving the cold night.

Adderfang was still in the medicine den, though the old cat tried to insist he stay out with his old apprentice, he could barely make the walk into the clearing to share a few words about Thistleclaw.

Rosetail, a senior warrior and Thistleclaw’s sister tried to stay out all night, but her bones were too cold beneath her thinning fur and returned to her nest quickly, taking comfort in the warmth from the other warriors who had also chosen to sit out the vigil.

Lionheart had taken the spot on Tigerclaw’s other side. He and Goldenflower had been denmates with Thistleclaw as kits, he had shared a few stories for fallen clanmate. It was strange to think that his best friend was barely younger than his old mentor, who in turn had only been a few moons younger than their leader.

Bluestar managed to drag herself from her den in time to start the vigil, but she only performed the formalities of it before returning to her nest at Spottedleaf’s insistence, though she didn’t seem to need much convincing.

Dappletail and One-eye were prodding Goldenflower and Lionheart awake, Smallear was about to approach when Tigerclaw forced himself to his paws. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he gazed down at Thistleclaw once more, his body as cold as stone. Thistleclaw’s face was still twisted in a snarl like it was when his patrol found him, and though his eyes were dull Tigerclaw could easily imagine them alight with fury like they always were when he was in a battle.

Or was it pain that Tigerclaw saw, but masked so well that Tigerclaw saw exactly what everyone else did, an eagerness to battle left unchecked.

Lionheart bid his sister goodbye and returned to the clearing to have a meal before collecting those meant to join him on the dawn patrol while Tigerclaw ushered Goldenflower to the medicine den, with her being so close to kitting he worried that staying out all night could have been bad for her kits. She insisted she didn’t need him lurking there so he went back into the clearing in time to see off the burial.

Bluestar leapt up onto the Highrock, gathering the attention of only those who had stayed out for the vigil. There was no need to wake anyone else up before dawn. Once again, the clan thanked Thistleclaw and Featherwhisker for their services to their clan, and wished them a safe journey to Starclan. Rosetail and Patchpelt shared a look before approaching the base of Highrock.

“Bluestar?” Patchpelt called up to their leader. “Rosetail and I were talking last night and we’ve decided it’s time for us to retire.”

Rosetail nodded slowly. “Our bones ache too much in this cold, maybe I could have gone on for another season but after Thistleclaw...”

She shook her head sadly, choking on her words. “Now that my brother has passed on, I’d like to live the rest of my days in peace, sharing stories with my denmates and the young ones until Starclan calls on me as well.”

Bluestar blinked sadly but dipped her head, raising her voice, she called a clan meeting.

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!”

The warriors shuffled out of their dens, looking around blearily, those chosen for the dawn patrol seemed the most irritated as they fluffed out their pelts against the bitter morning cold.

“Rosetail, Patchpelt. Please step forward,” Bluestar said, the gathered warriors looked curiously at the two oldest warriors among them.

“Rosetail and Patchpelt, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go to join the elders?”

“It is.”

“Yes, it is.”

A gasp was heard from the medicine den and Goldenflower could be seen ducking her head back in, Patchpelt winced and looked down at his paws guiltily. But Bluestar continued the ceremony without stopping.

“Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest. May you sleep easily knowing your clan will care for you for all the coming moons, and may we continue to learn from you as you uphold our clan’s history.”

Rosetail and Patchpelt stepped forward and Bluestar came down from High Rock to rest her chin on both of their heads briefly.

“Rosetail! Patchpelt! Rosetail! Patchpelt!” The clan called out.

Dappletail and One-eye had just come through the gorse tunnel to hear the end of the ceremony, “We were wondering when you would join us! The elder’s den is sure to be warm now even if there’s a draft, it’ll be just like when we were apprentices.”

Rosetail purred and followed the two to the elder’s den, “There’s enough bedding to make two more nests, though we’ll have to be quiet, Halftail is still asleep, the lazy badger!”

Smallear snorted, “You’d better not be thinking about tearing apart my nest for them!”

Patchpelt shuffled his paws, “Uh, I’ll be in in a moment. I need to talk to Goldenflower.”

Dappletail gave him a nod, “You can have Adderfang’s old nest for now, I’m sure he won’t mind.”

Patchpelt dipped his head gratefully and went to Spottedleaf’s den, Tigerclaw got up silently to follow Patchpelt, though he didn’t enter the medicine den with him, he wanted to give them some amount of privacy after all.

Though that didn’t mean he couldn’t hear the whole conversation anyway, Spottedleaf should probably get someone to reinforce the bramble walls in there.

“Goldenflower? Can we talk?”

“... What’s there to talk about?”

Tigerclaw heard Patchpelt sigh, “I’m sorry for not telling you, I just-”

“No, do not try some sorry excuse! You promised to stay a warrior with me at least until our kits become apprentices, they aren’t even born yet!”

“Goldenflower, please.” Patchpelt’s voice cracked. “I know, and I’m sorry. I just can’t keep up anymore, I’m hurting and I have been for awhile now...”

Goldenflower held back a sniffle, “Your bones are hardly older than mine.”

“Maybe, but my bones are older than our leaders!” Patchpelt joked, “And don’t worry about our kits, I’m sure that you’ll raise them just fine. And I’ll be in the elder’s den so you won’t have to worry about them not seeing me too often.”

“If anything they’ll see too much of you,” Goldenflower quipped back.

“Only when you need a break dear, elders are meant to rest after all!”

----------------------------------------------------------------

Tigerclaw had decided to take a quarter moon off from his duties, allowing Ravenpaw to tag along with Dustpaw and Sandpaw for training sessions. Now he was leading a small hunting patrol just beyond their borders. Darkstripe and Brindleface had paired off earlier which left Tigerclaw with...

“You’ve been avoiding talking to me, want to talk about it?”

Tigerclaw snorted and kept his nose to the ground, “Hardly, now be quiet, we’re supposed to be hunting, remember?”

His hunting partner sat down beside him with a loud huff, Tigerclaw’s eye twitched when he saw the water vole he had been tracking disappear into the ferns.

“Hard to hunt when my partner won’t communicate with me.”

“Then hunt by yourself and stop scaring off my catches.” He replied shortly, stalking away from the irritating white tom.

“Talk to me, we haven’t shared prey in ages. Just tell me what I did wrong!”

Tigerclaw stopped walking and flexed his claws into the dirt, taking a deep breath before facing the other tom.

“Why didn’t you stay for the vigil, Whitestorm? He was your father, you didn’t even say anything during the ceremony!”

“... Oh, is that it? Tigerclaw, you know that my father and I have never agreed on well... anything before.”

“So, what? You just forgot he was your kin?” Tigerclaw spat back.

Whitestorm’s pelt bristled, “Of course not! We had an argument not long ago and I was in shock, okay?”

“An argument is no reason to skip out on your father’s vigil!”

“I know that! I-” Whitestorm’s words were caught in his throat. “He asked me to join him in a raid on twolegplace, he wanted to attack kittypets in their nests! We haven’t had an issue with kittypets in moons, he told me himself he was just bored and wanted to fight someone!”

“Was he bored? Or was he trying to reach out to his only kin?”

“What are you talking about?”

Tigerclaw glared at his paws, trying to not to let his emotions overwhelm him. “I think... I think Thistleclaw is dead because of me.” he whispered.

“... That’s a load of fox-dung. Thistleclaw is dead because-”

“Because we never noticed how much he was hurting.” Tigerclaw cut Whitestorm off.

“Why in Starclan’s name do you think that you’re to blame?”

Tigerclaw didn’t answer for a moment, instead staring up at the foliage in the trees. “You know, Bluestar mentioned, back when she was Bluefur, that leaf-fall was Snowfur’s favorite season. Do you remember that?”

Whitestorm blinked sadly, but smiled at the fond memories that came back to him, “I remember. The few times Snowfur left the nursery, she would come back with pretty leaves she found. You always ended up shredding them by accident.”

Tigerclaw purred, “I did, I felt bad every time too, but she also died in leaf-fall. Thistleclaw used to love leaf-fall because it was Snowfur’s favorite. Or at least that’s what my mother told me.”

Whitestorm frowned. “Thistleclaw has never been happy during leaf-fall, not that I can remember.”

“And why do you think that is?”

It didn’t take Whitestorm long to puzzle it out, “You really think? After all this time...”

“He never once stopped thinking about her,” Tigerclaw affirmed, resting his tail on his friend’s shoulders.

“So what does any of that have to do with you blaming yourself for his death?” Whitestorm asked, back to the point of the matter.

“... He indirectly insulted Ravenpaw’s idea to keep our prey to fed. He said that ‘hare-brained ideas like that’ must run in Bluestar’s family, so I asked him if he thought Snowfur was hare-brained.”

Whitestorm let out a breath, “That... definitely crosses a line,” he agreed.

Tigerclaw immediately jumped to the defensive. “Of course I don’t think your mother was hare-brained! And I didn’t mean to upset him when I said it, I was more focused on Ravenpaw. I didn’t want Thistleclaw heckling him later about it, my apprentice gets enough of that from his denmates.”

“Peace, Tigerclaw. I know you didn’t mean it like that.”

“I just... Maybe if I hadn't said that, if I hadn't brought her up, he wouldn’t have felt the need to blow off steam by fighting with Riverclan.”

“And I should have realized he was trying to reconnect with me, even if it was in the only way he knew how.”

Tigerclaw stared up at the sky, even though it would be sometime before the sun would come out and reveal the stars, he found himself searching still. Whitestorm leaned against his shoulder and sighed.

“He may have been a grouch, but he was still our father.”

“Our father?”

Whitestorm shrugged, “We’ve been as close as brothers for as long as I can remember, and I know you looked up to him as a father figure after...”

“I get it, you don’t have to say it.”

“Sorry,”

“It’s fine, it's in the past now.”

The silence stretched between them for several heart-beats.

“Would you like to visit his grave before we return to camp? I saw some snow-drops we could leave for him.”

“I’d like that, thank you Whitestorm.”

“I owe him that much at least, I’m sorry for not being there.”

“It’s okay, I’m sure he understands.”

----------------------------------------------------------------

“I don’t understand.”

It was nightfall by the time the two got back to camp with their catches, they stayed longer than they had meant to by Thistleclaw’s grave. Sharing memories they had of him, the good and the bad, like their own little vigil to make up for the one Whitestorm had missed.

They didn’t expect to find two more bodies laid out for vigil.

Patchpelt was crying silently next to his father’s body, Rosetail and Dappletail doing their best to comfort the new elder while One-eye washed the lavender into his pelt to prep him for the night’s vigil.

Bluestar was openly weeping next to Thrushpelt’s body, whispering over and over, wondering why Starclan had taken him as well. Lionheart and Goldenflower lay next to her, pressed up on either side to keep her steady.

Spottedleaf ended up leading the vigil that night.

Tigerclaw felt himself spiralling, was it their fault that the two elder’s died? If they had returned sooner, given the elder’s something to eat, would they have lived through leafbare?

Whitestorm bunted his head against Tigerclaw’s. “Hey, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t go blaming yourself for this, okay? Darkstripe and Brindleface got back long before us with fresh-kill, they may not have been able to keep it down anyway.”

“So much death...”

“So much death,” Bluestar unknowingly echoed from her place next to Thrushpelt. “So many deaths in such a short amount of time, will Thunderclan even survive to see the end of leafbare? Could this be the end of us?”

“Don’t say that,” Redtail chided her. “We’ve faced worse, I know it looks bad but I promise we’ll make it out okay. We’ll see Thunderclan through to the golden ages yet, I just know it.”

“I pray to Starclan that you’re right, Redtail.”

“Of course I’m right, have I ever led you wrong before?”

“Of course not, forgive me Redtail, it’s been a hard moon for us all.”

The leader and deputy’s conversation faded out as Tigerclaw gouged deep scores into the earth beneath his paws. Redtail. How could he forget? That traitorous no good fox-heart!

Tigerclaw’s head shot up.

Redtail had been working with Shadowclan for moons, giving up their prey and Starclan knows what else! Could Redtail be responsible for the food shortage?

If Redtail hadn’t been giving their prey to Shadowclan, those sick with green-cough would still be alive.

Featherwhisker would be alive.

Robinwing and Fuzzypelt would be alive.

Windflight would be alive.

Adderfang would be alive.

Thrushpelt would be alive.

Thistleclaw would be alive.

Tigerclaw curled up tighter next to Whitestorm and Patchpelt, eyes squeezed shut in rage. All of this was Redtail’s fault, it had to be!

He wouldn’t wait to bring it up to Bluestar, he knew he’d sound mad if he tried. No, Tigerclaw would deal with Redtail himself.

No matter the cost.

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This chapter was meant to be filler, but it ended up being the catalyst chapter, who knew?

Please please please comment down below!

#warriors #brindle writes #my truth or yours #I'll update the links later #Tigerclaw #Whitestorm #Goldenflower #bluestar #redtail #uuuuuuuh basically everyone pre tpb lol #any cats who haven't been mentioned in this story that are alive in Bluestar's Prophecy but aren't in ITW #are probably dead already #oh and in case it wasn't clear #Tiger blames Red for Thistle's death #because if there wasn't a food shortage #they wouldn't have had to look elsewhere for food #so their argument may not have happened #he's grasping at mouse-tails right now

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