#go right ahead!! don’t worry about if you can or can’t tag it like that idc if you interpret that way go vibe!! :D) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crypticreid · 7 months

Text

KINKTOBER DAY THREE

October 8 -- Begging

masterlist

author's note: this was supposed to be mutual masturbation, but I wasn't feeling it, so I switched it to begging. Thank you again for everyone reading and supporting. 💕💕💕 If you'd like to be added to the tag list, let me know! 🎃🎃🎃

summary: Spencer can't help but be upset with the choice you made, so he takes out his frustration in your hotel room later.

warnings: female reader, dom!spencer, begging, a little bit of 'good girl', hand job, fingering, female receiving oral, multiple orgasms

word count: 3.6k

this is adut content. 18+ plus only. minors do not interact!

His eyes flick over to you, and you can read him like a book. The anger and frustration battle across his features as he opens his mouth to argue against your suggestion. You speak before he can, “I know this is dangerous, but I trust all of you to keep me safe. We have to do this.” Spencer slams his mouth shut and forcefully turns his head from you. Your stomach drops, but you know you’re making the right decision. This case will be over in a couple of hours, and then you can talk this out with him, and everything will be fine.

If anyone notices Spencer’s reaction, they don’t say anything. Instead, most of the team looks at you with worried expressions. Hotch is assessing you, his arms crossed tight over his broad chest. “This guy is erratic and unpredictable.” He says in his calm and calculated tone.

“He’s going to attack tonight. We know that this vigil is going to draw him. He can’t resist it. All I need to do is distract him long enough for you to move in.” You explain rationally. “We can’t allow more people to die, and I’m the only one who hasn’t been identified as an agent by the media.”

You refuse to break eye contact with Hotch. You steady your breathing and straighten your shoulders. You’re confident in this choice, and Hotch knows you won’t back down. He nods, “okay.”

“Okay?” Spencer interjects, his voice breaking slightly from his heightened emotion. “You can’t be serious, Hotch.”

“This is her choice.” Hotch answers, and everyone in the room seems to hold their breath as they wait for you to reply.

Hotch clears his throat, “let’s get started. We’ve got four hours until the vigil.”

You level your gaze at Spencer, trying to telepathically tell him you’re sorry. “I have to do this.” Spencer’s jaw sets hard. You see the muscles flex against each other. He turns away from you and leaves the room.

“He’s just worried. We all are.” Emily reaches out for you and rubs a comforting hand up and down your arm. You nod.

You don’t see Spencer again until you’re in the SUV five blocks away from the site of the vigil. Morgan had spent the entire ride over repeating the plan to you and making sure you understood exactly where everyone else was going to be. You kept nodding and letting him start over again because you knew that this was how Morgan made himself feel better about the situation. Before he got out of the vehicle, he had reached over to the passenger seat and grasped your shoulder. “You’re brave. And you’re damn good at your job. We’ll catch this bastard.”

Now you’re alone, glancing at the watch on your wrist. In ten minutes, you’re going to get out of the car and walk toward the vigil. It’s chilly enough that you have a jacket on, and it doesn’t even look like you’re wearing a vest underneath your clothing. You let out a shaky breath and try to calm your nerves.

You jump when the passenger door swings open and you reach for your holster automatically. “It’s me.” Spencer says, and you take your hand away.

“You’re supposed to already be at the vigil.” You mutter and look straight ahead out the windshield because you can’t look at him. You can’t handle seeing any sort of anger on his face.

“I know.” He says your name, and you turn to face him. The anger in his eyes has dissipated, and only fear remains.

“Spencer, I’ll be –” You start, but you’re interrupted by his hands grabbing the side of your face and pulling you in for a kiss. It’s forceful and meaningful, and your hands find a tight grip on his shoulders. The two of you say goodbye to each other with your lips and tongues, neither one of you wanting to break apart, to face reality.

Finally, he pulls away from you and sets his hands on your shoulders. “Be safe. Please.”

You incline your head toward his, connecting your forehead to his. “I will.”

He kisses you again, with less force, but with the same meaning, and then steps away and closes the car door. You watch as he walks down the alley until he completely disappears. And then a few minutes later, you get out and walk the opposite direction down the alley.

Your hotel room is dark, and only the lights on the nightstand work, but you’re too exhausted to complain. After wrapping the case, Hotch had told everyone to head to the hotel for a few hours, and you would fly out in the morning. No one argued because you hadn’t even seen your hotel room since landing.

You’ve taken a shower, changed into pajamas, and started to get comfortable in bed when there’s a knock on your door. You climb out of bed and look through the peephole to see Spencer standing in the hallway. Quickly, you open the door and step aside for him to come inside. As soon as you shut the door and turn around, he has his hands on you, your waist, your hips, shaky hands traveling across your skin.

“I’m okay, Spencer. Not even a scratch. I’m fine.” You reassure him with a calm and steady voice. He doesn’t stop his hands and won’t look you in the eyes, so you reach out for him. Your own hands hold onto both sides of his face and force him to look into your eyes. “I’m fine.” You repeat.

He swallows and nods and blinks away the tears that were gathering in his eyes. “Don’t do that again, please.”

You know you can’t promise that, but you also know that Spencer doesn’t want to hear that right now. “Okay.” He kisses your cheek. “Okay.” He kisses your other cheek and then your forehead and, finally, your lips. His hands on your hips pull you tighter against him like he can’t have you close enough, like he wants the two of you to merge together as one person. Your hands move up into his hair, fingers tangling into soft locks, nails scratching against his scalp. His moan vibrates against your lips, and he deepens the kiss. His grip on your hips is vice-like. You groan into his mouth.

He mumbles your name, and you answer with a moan, suddenly desperate for every part of him. The stress of the day comes to a head, and you just want your mind to go blank. Spencer is the only person who can make your brain stop its constant ruminations.

“Please, Spencer.” You urge him with your words, but also a quick movement of your hips against him. You move your hands away from his hair and down the back of his neck toward his clavicle and then start to fumble with the buttons of his shirt.

You only get one button undone before he says, “stop.” He breaks away from your lips, and his hands wrap around both of your wrists and pull your hands off of his shirt. When you look into his eyes, the anger is back, not as fiery and passionate as it was hours before but low and simmering just below the surface. “You think you just get what you want after that?”

His voice is heavy with emotion, and it zings straight to your lower belly. You want to smile, but press your lips together instead and shake your head.

“Answer me.”

“No.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t give you anything tonight, huh?” He moves one of your wrists into his other hand so that he has both of them wrapped in one hand. The hand that's now free moves to your neck, a finger trailing down to your clavicle. You swallow against it. “I should leave this room right now. Leave you all alone and so needy.”

You swallow again. “Spencer, please.”

He lifts your wrists above your head and pushes you up against the door of the hotel room in rapid succession. You let out a sharp gasp at the movement. “Please, what? What do you want?” His other hand has found another place back on your hip, gripping it, his thumb rubbing back and forth on a bit of skin peeking out from your old Academy t-shirt.

“Please don’t leave.” You whisper. The hand on your hip slides underneath your shirt and up your stomach toward your breasts. His fingertips are barely there against your skin, enough to make your skin tingle, and goosebumps bloom, but not enough to satiate any need for his touch.

He drags one of his fingers across the underside of your breast, and your hands twitch in his grasp above your head. He twists his grip and tightens it.

The hand near your breast spreads across your breast and grabs it. You arch your back into his touch. “You need it so bad, don’t you?”

“Yes. I need it.” You don’t even attempt to play coy and press your thighs together, trying to get any sort of relief between them.

Spencer ducks his head against your exposed neck and kisses it roughly, nips at it without leaving a mark, and then licks and soothes where his teeth nibbled. “Are you going to listen?”

You nod before realizing that you need to answer verbally. “Yes. Yes. I will. I promise.”

He laughs against your neck. His breaths on your skin make you press your thighs tighter together. “You’re going to do as you’re told.” It isn’t a question.

“Yes.” You confirm.

His lips find yours again, and the hand up your shirt tightens on your breast, his thumb finding your nipple, teasing it back and forth. He kisses you slowly, pulling your bottom lip with his teeth and then racing to brush his tongue against it. A constant tug of war between a ping of pain and a rush of comfort. You take all of it, anything he is willing to give you, you want all of it.

When his thumb and pointer finger takes your nipple and rolls it between a pinch of his fingers, you let out a desperate noise.

“Spencer.”

He makes a deep noise from the back of his throat but doesn’t stop kissing you or pinching your nipple. A pulse all of its own begins in your core, fluttery and demanding.

“I’ll do anything, please.” He bites at your clavicle, the only place he’s marked you so far because he knows it will be covered by your shirt in the morning.

“You’re going to leave your hands above your head, do you understand?” He finally instructs.

“Yes.”

“You don’t get to touch me.”

“Spencer,” you start to protest, but you look into his eyes and stop yourself.

“You touch me, and I stop. Do you understand?”

You swallow. “Yes.”

“Good.” He goes back to your neck, teasing and tasting your skin, driving you crazy with want. But you don’t dare move. If he pulls away completely now and leaves, you think you might lose your mind.

In between his soft bites, he instructs, “I’m going to let go of your wrists, okay? But you’re not going to move them. Leave them exactly where they are. And then I’m going to get on my knees and make you come as many times as I want. But if you touch me at all, I’m going to go back to my hotel room and leave you here all alone. Okay?”

“Okay.” You nod feverishly. He lets go of your wrists, and you don’t move a muscle.

He smiles smugly and pinches your nipple one last time before sliding down to his knees in front of you. His fingers graze up the back of your calves and thighs and then to the front of your thighs. He pushes your legs apart, and you lean back further on the door for support as he pulls down your pajama pants, leaving your underwear on.

“Look at you,” he tuts. “Soaking through your panties just from a couple of kisses.”

You let out a frustrated breath. “It was more than a couple kisses.”

A muscle in his jaw ticks, and you slam your mouth shut. “Are you going to waste my time? Talking back with that smart mouth?”

“No.”

“I can think of better uses for that mouth. You can’t talk back with my cock down your throat, can you?”

You swallow harshly, and you feel yourself getting wetter. “No, I can’t.”

He leans forward, and you hold your breath, waiting, but he kisses your inner thigh instead. And then he starts the same pattern of kissing and nipping he’d done earlier, but now on your thigh. His hands are on your ass, massaging and rubbing. As he moves to your other thigh, he makes a point to incline toward the place you need him so desperately, but he only exhales across it. You whimper, and you feel the turn of a smile on his lips as he presses into your thigh.

It is basically torture, and it’s taking every single ounce of self control you have not to grab his head and put him exactly where you want him. You know you can’t, so you beg instead, “please, Spencer. I can’t take the teasing anymore.”

“Aw, my poor baby.” He taunts, and you grunt when he pulls away completely and removes his hands. He sits back on his heels and looks up at you. “Take off your shirt.”

You do what he asks rapidly and then put your hands back above your head without him asking. He smiles, “good girl.”

The room is dim, shadows play across his face, but he watches you as you breathe, your breasts rising and falling. He lifts hands and presses his palms up your stomach and then back down, causing more goosebumps springing up across your skin, toward your core, but he bypasses it and travels down your thighs instead. “I think you’ve ruined these panties, baby.” He laughs, mesmerized by the growing wet spot. Your clit is throbbing and you feel like you could fall apart with only one single touch from him.

“What would you do if I stopped now?” He wraps his hands across your thighs and squeezes and then looks up to your eyes. “Stood up and walked out of this room?”

You would probably spend the rest of your night touching yourself until you couldn’t handle it, but you don’t want that. “Please don’t.” You reply instead. “Please touch me, Spencer.”

He squeezes your thighs again. “I am touching you.”

You groan, frustrated. “Touch my pussy, please. I need it.” You give in. He can’t help his smile as he moves one hand over slightly and uses his thumb to touch the wet spot on your underwear. He presses into you over the fabric. It’s only the tip of the iceberg, but you moan anyway because you’re so desperate.

He presses deeper, wetting his thumb through the fabric, and then moves it upward, finally rubbing over your throbbing clit. You let out a shaky breath and lean forward slightly. His thumb rubs up and down on your clit lightly, practically a feather-like touch. He doesn’t use any pressure on it. You move your hips forward, trying to force some pressure, but just pulls away.

“Spencer.” You whimper.

He laughs, “so whiney.” He puts his thumb back and continues in the exact same way as before. You lean back fully back on the door with a small cry. “Do you want to come?” He asks.

You screw your eyes shut and nod furiously.

“Open your eyes and answer me.”

You force your eyes open. “I want to come, please, Spencer.” You try to get rid of the whine in your voice, but you don’t succeed.

“Yeah, I can tell you do.” He uses just a little more pressure on your clit and begins to circle it. You shiver and let out a pitiful moan. “So needy. So desperate.” He mutters and leans forward to kiss along your thigh again. Your hips buck against him involuntarily. “You can come whenever you want, baby.”

“I need more.”

“No.” He kisses your thigh again and looks up to your eyes. “You come from this.” You curl your toes on the floor and push your head back. “I’ll give you more when you come.” His thumb continues its barely enough circles on your clit and you exhale. “Don’t you want more?”

“Yes!” You huff.

“Then come.” He nips your inner thigh, moving closer and closer to your clenching pussy, but never actually reaching it. His other hand moves back to your ass and he kisses your other thigh. You can feel the deep pleasure at the base of your spine and you give yourself over to it. “That’s it, so good, baby. Come just like this.”

You come hard and force your hands to stay above your head, your hips bucking against Spencer’s hand. He moves his hand from your ass and holds onto your hip to stay your movements. Once you come down from your high he pulls down your underwear and sticks his thumb into your pussy.

“You're dripping, baby.” He murmurs and fingers you for a few seconds until swiping the thumb back up to your clit. You’ve barely had time to recover from your first orgasm and you let out a small breathy shout. “Ssshh, we can’t let anyone else hear how needy you are.”

You bit your lip to contain your whimpers. Spencer’s thumb circles your clit, using the pressure you need. Another wave of pleasure is already rising, gathering low in your belly. “Do you want my fingers, baby?”

“Please. Spencer. Yes. I need them. Please.” You ramble.

He takes the hand that’s on your hip and inserts his middle and ring fingers into you, immediately pressing into you, rubbing against the spot inside you that makes you want to scream. You swallow the shout that you can’t let out and instead continue to ramble to Spencer. Your legs shake as you give into another wave of pleasure.

“That’s it, give me another one. So good, baby.” You come against his hand again, but this time Spencer doesn’t let you come down from it. Instead, he moves the hand off your clit and grips your hip to hold you in place as his mouth replaces his hand. You ride his tongue through the aftershocks of your orgasm and let the next wave begin to crest. His fingers never falter as he fingers you. He pulls away for only a split second, “touch me.”

Your hands fall from the door instantly and tangle in his hair, grasping and scratching, finally getting to push him harshly into you. He moans against you, sending vibrations up your body. You come one more time with a small shout, as quiet as you can. Your legs are shaky and unstable, but Spencer holds you tightly as he takes his time licking you clean.

When he stands up to his full height, you pull him into a kiss and then lower your hands down to his belt. He breaks the kiss, “I don’t have a condom.”

You kiss him and continue to take off his belt. “I don’t care.” You get his belt undone, unbuckle his pants, and reach in to take him in your hand. He’s unbelievably hard. The feeling of him is so heavy in your hand.

He puts his hands on your shoulders as he takes a shuddering breath. “You should care. We haven’t talked about this yet. And you’re in the heat of the moment.” He rationalizes.

You stick out your bottom lip because you know he’s right. “Can we talk about it later? Cause I want you, all of you.” You squeeze the base of him. His eyes flutter shut and then flip back open as he licks his bottom lip.

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll talk about it.” Then he kisses you again as you pump your hand up and down on him, your thumb swiping at his leaking head. “Oh shit. Don’t stop.” He stutters against your lips. His kisses are sloppy and nothing like his calculated kisses earlier, but you don’t care. He’s pumping his hips into you, so completely lost in the feeling of your hand on him.

It doesn’t take long until he’s moaning into your mouth, “so good. You’re so good,” he rambles. One of his hands reaches for your hair and pulls your head back so he can look into your eyes. You bite your bottom lip, and he comes in his pants with a harsh grunt.

He kisses you, and you keep moving your hand until he’s hissing from sensitivity and pulling away from you.

The hand in your hair tightens and pulls you back into a deep kiss until you're both breathless. You subtly wipe your hand on his underwear because they’re already a mess, and then both hands hold onto his waist until his kisses slow down.

“I’m sorry for being angry.” He finally says.

“We’ll talk tomorrow. I guess today, technically. But at home, I mean.” He looks into your eyes, searching.

He nods. “Okay.” And he kisses you again, light and feathery. “I need to go clean up before we leave.”

Your fingers play with the edge of his pants. “Or you could stay, and I could clean you up.” You offer with a not so innocent smile.

“You’re gonna be the death of me.” He kisses you chastely and pulls away. He looks around for your shirt and pants and then helps you get dressed again. “See you on the jet.”

You step away from the door and let him leave. In a few hours, you’ll have to board the jet and pretend that the genius profiler on your team didn’t just give you three mind blowing orgasms, so for now you allow yourself to watch him walk down the hotel hallway. He scrambles to buckle his belt as he walks and then runs a hand through his hair, clearly flustered. You go back into your room with a smile.

tag list: @spenciesprincess @catalinasroom @tylevx @alicentswife

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #kinktober #kinktober 2023 #my writing

432 notes · View notes

minkdelovely · 1 month

Text

love and power

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

chapter three “is this the life that lies ahead now?”

Alastor x Fem!Reader ; MDNI 18+ ; [y/n] used sparingly ; Alias in Hell is Sylvie

tags/warnings: drinking on an empty stomach (do not attempt in real life, but this is hell baby), allusions to poisoning, reader is hungover and has a poor appetite, uh oh art thou pining?, slow burn eventual: smut

word count: 2.8k

prelude ; chapter one ; chapter two ; chapter three ; chapter four ; chapter five ; chapter six ; chapter seven ; chapter eight

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

After getting some water you tried falling back asleep to no avail, tossing and turning for at least an hour before deciding to call it quits.

Leaving the hotel in the middle of the night wasn’t the best idea, but you felt like you’d start tearing at the wallpaper if you stayed in your room. Cliche as it was, fresh air had always helped you relax while you were living. You thought back to the family garden and sighed. You’d give anything to be able to sit there now.

Your thoughts drifted to your father as you changed out of your pajamas. Things had changed so much in your day-to-day after coming to the hotel that you realized you couldn’t remember the last time he had crossed your mind. You felt a tightness in your throat when you tried to remember what he looked like. It was hazy, but he was mostly there; strong with a brilliant smile. How long would it be before you couldn’t remember him at all? Even the way you heard his voice in your mind didn’t seem completely right, an imitation of a memory.

Was he doing okay? Was he still mourning you? Or did he think you were just missing? Did the money go through? Did he know what you did for him to get it? There was no way to know.

“Can’t sleep?”

You jumped at the sound of Husker’s voice, so lost in thought and determined to get out of there that you hadn’t noticed him at the bar. It wasn’t surprising that he was still down here, though, being just before midnight. In fact, the real surprise was that he was here by himself. You decided to put leaving on pause and made your way over to him, taking advantage of the rare moment of privacy. Besides, what good would it do to dismiss Husker when he had been so discreet about this morning?

“More like slept too much,” you said, sighing as you took a seat across from him.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Husk jabbed amiably, turning to grab an empty glass.

You groaned. “Well there goes my hope of looking better than I feel. I was thinking maybe a walk would help, but—” Husk gave you a look, rightly making you feel sheepish.

“Didn’t go so hot this morning, huh? Thought you’d have better luck at night?” he said, half-joking, and passed you an amber-colored drink. The worry must’ve been showing on your face, as he cooly added, “Don’t worry, it’s been a ghost town in here for over an hour. It’s still only me and Angel who know about what happened.”

“Is he at work right now?” you asked, relaxing a little and took a casual look around. “I really don’t know how I can make it up to you both. This morning I…,” you sighed again and ran a hand through your hair, feeling the exhaustion seep back in. “I don’t know. Hopefully I’ll just forget about it, or convince myself it was a nightmare or something. But I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

You recalled your reflection in the mirror before you showered, unrecognizable to yourself under the layer of gore caked to your skin.

Husk waved his hand, but the softness in his eyes felt like a rock in your stomach. “Don’t worry about it, we’ve both seen crazier shit in our time. But yeah, he’s been gone for most of the day. Said Valentino was having an ‘emergency’ but I have my doubts. He’s always pulling Angel in for dumb shit.”

You nodded and finally took a sip of your drink, shocked by how much you enjoyed it. A pleasant bitter taste lingered in your mouth, and you had to actively fight the urge to chug down the rest of it.

“Valentino’s his boss, right? Alastor’s done a pretty good job of keeping me preoccupied, but I think I’ve heard you guys talking about him before.”

“That’s the simplest thing to call him, I guess, though I prefer to call him an asshole,” Husk grumbled and you both shared a small laugh, the alcohol already making you feel lighter.

A comfortable silence fell between the two of you, Husk refilling your glass as you rested your head in your hand, gazing through the windows to the city below. Would you be able to pinpoint the alley if you concentrated hard enough? Someone had to have stumbled on him by now, right? Like his little sidekick… Did he ever go back for Donny? Something else clicked into place as you thought of him and the events of the morning: unless someone came after you for retribution, you would get away with it. That’s just how life is here.

No missing person report, no investigation, no forensics, no trial, no jail sentence. Weren’t you already “doing time” by being here? It’s not like you could add on to it. Not that you intended to do it again, but it was a step in the right direction of making peace with yourself. Maybe you really would forget about it someday, maybe not. There were some things that stuck with you forever.

The image of your grandmother came to you then, the last time you had spoken with her. She was sitting in her favorite chair near the fireplace in the library, her face set in the ever-present scowl you resented so much. She really was such a miserable creature. You saw yourself place the tray of tea and almond shortbread cookies down on the dark-lacquered, antique coffee table between you, knowing it would the last thing she ever ate. And tried to fight the smile pulling at your lips.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

“It occurred to me in the night that you still owe me something from the butcher,” Alastor said casually, his face buried in the newspaper. Irritation shot through you quick as lightning, but you prevailed against the urge to dump the coffee you were bringing him all over his lap.

As the grandfather clock in Alastor’s room chimed the hour, the pulse in your head threatened to kill. Apparently hangovers were very real in Hell (because of course they were), and this one was a doozy. Husk had only given you three drinks, but since you had wrung yourself so dry it was enough to leave you feeling like absolute shit. Beyond some water, the only thing you managed to ingest so far this morning was a piece of plain, burnt toast to try and soothe your aching stomach. It had taken all you had to keep it down. Needless to say, you weren’t starting the day in the best of moods.

Not that you ever thought Alastor would take it easy on you anyway. The look he gave you when you showed up in your new dress was so self-satisfied that it made you want to crawl under a rock. And when he said that you looked like death warmed over, you wanted to use said rock to knock his teeth in. It was the first you had seen of him since the incident in your room yesterday, though you tried not to dwell on the fact that he had returned at some point while you were asleep. In the grand scheme of his behavior you’ve been exposed to, that was really the least of your worries.

Through the veil of annoyance you found yourself looking at the mug in his grasp, remembering the strength of his hand holding your chin. Your breath shallowed as he brought the rim up to his lips. Fuck. Tearing your eyes away, you did your best to swallow the lump in your throat. This couldn’t be happening.

He was just toying with you yesterday. Nothing new, you told yourself. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes how much he enjoys feeling superior. Not that you had ever seen him pull a stunt like that on anyone else, but who knows? It’s not like you were with him every second of the day. Even in this very moment, he was messing with you.

Was it your fault that he had only grabbed his clothes off the filthy floor of that alley and left the other bag to rot? Of course he’d see it that way, and if your headache wasn’t as terrible as it was, you might have told him exactly that. Especially considering that you were already out money for the liver, and he was more than likely expecting you to pay again.

“I’ll head out after I’ve finished with your room, unless you’d prefer I go now and clean when I get back,” you answered smoothly, hoping he’d give you permission for the latter. How he had even managed to track in the dirt you saw on the area rug was a mystery. You just knew that it would keep you busy for a decent amount of time and you weren’t looking forward to more scrubbing on your hands and knees. “And if the clothes are ready to be picked up again, I can get those, too.”

Alastor peered over the newspaper, eyebrow raised, his eyes and smile alight with mischief. “My, someone’s eager to be in my good graces today! No need to bother with the laundry, but I hope you won’t mind if I join you going into town. I don’t feel like staying cooped up in the hotel. Go ahead and clean now, I’d hate for those stains on the rug to set. Besides, you know how I despise coming home to a mess.”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

While he waited for you to return after freshening up, Alastor took a look around his room, admiring the results of your hard work. You were turning out to be much more resilient than he had anticipated. Though your expression was hardly ever enthusiastic, you’d never be able to tell by the way you cleaned. Someone taught you well, he thought to himself, breathing in the scent of cleaning products that nearly overpowered the floral almond you always left behind. So pleasant.

Though if he was being honest, he was starting to run out of ideas on how to keep you busy. He would mess up the bed, despite rarely sleeping in it, and leave his housecoat, shirts, and bowties draped over various pieces of furniture for you to pick up and put in their proper place. The mud and dirt on the rug had been a last-minute stroke of genius, but it wasn’t something he cared to repeat too often. God forbid he became predictable.

There was part of his room you didn’t have access to, and Alastor doubted that he’d ever let you see it — nor anyone else, for that matter. It’s not like it was a space you’d be able to clean in a traditional sense, anyway. After the hotel was rebuilt he thought it would be a nice idea to separate his serene bayou from the rest of the living quarters. Remembering how Vaggie had so rudely barged in on him in the past, it wasn’t something he was keen on happening again. And it was comical to watch you glancing at the locked door, pondering what could be behind it.

He knew he couldn’t keep you cooped up as his personal chambermaid forever though, unless he wanted to be hounded by Charlie and Vaggie about it. Which he decidedly did not want. And he could admit that this cleaning game was getting stale… How could he switch things up before he tired of you completely? How could he get you to show him another spectacle like yesterday?

A knock at the door snapped The Radio Demon out of his thoughts.

“Alastor? Can I come in?” Charlie said from the other side of the door. By the tone in her voice, he could tell she was here to discuss business. He sighed quietly to himself and went to the door, swinging it open with a charming smile.

“Why of course, my dear! How may I be of service?” Alastor closed the door behind them and led her to one of the chairs by the fireplace, taking the one opposite her and crossed his legs, neatly folding his hands over one knee. “It’s just the two of us. Sylvie left to go spruce up before we head into town,” he said, noting how Charlie was glancing around the room.

“Oh, good!” she sighed, putting her hand over her chest in relief. “That’s, um, kind of what I came here to talk to you about. I know you’ve been…,” she paused, hands dancing as she searched for the right word, “…acclimating her to working here — and I don’t want to step on your toes — but I think it would be really nice if she could join in on daily activities. No one has really gotten a chance to get to know her yet, and I’d hate for her to keep missing out on opportunities to bond with everyone.”

He had jinxed himself, but at least it was only the princess he had to deal with.

What to do? It’s not like he could say that your cleaning skills needed improvement when evidence to the contrary surrounded them; the room was pristine. He could argue that it would be prudent to keep some level of permanent staff unless they wanted to be in a never-ending state of training new hires, but something told him that wouldn’t be the best approach. At least not for now. Alastor had no intention of letting any souls under his contract be taken from him, for redemption or otherwise. Still, seeing the others develop their relationships with each other had been fun to observe. How would little Sylvie fit into the dynamic?

“I suppose I’ve been a bit selfish with her, haven’t I? I’ll be sure to leave room in her schedule starting tomorrow, but I hope you’ll understand that mornings are sacrosanct,” Alastor said agreeably, straightening his coat as he stood up from the chair. “Unless there was anything else, I’ll go and tell her the good news.”

Charlie followed suit, grin wide and eyes sparkling as they made their way back to the door. “Of course! Oh, thank you Alastor, you have no idea how excited I am!” It was impossible not to. Her enthusiasm was nearly contagious. “Vaggie and I are thinking something up right now as a surprise for everyone, but the details haven’t been totally worked out yet. I’ll let you know as soon as possible though — gah! I can’t wait for tomorrow!”

Alastor merely smiled in response and they parted ways in the hall. He wasn’t thrilled to be losing his monopoly on you so soon, but knowing that he now had to be more intentional with his time was invigorating. Curious to see how you’ll react to being invited to group activities, he made his way to your room, already hard at work thinking of new ways to push your buttons.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

You were surprised to see Alastor in the hall when you opened your door, since you had been instructed to return to his room when you were finished touching up. The quick jump-scare he caused sent a fresh wave of throbbing to your head and you hissed under your breath, unable to stop yourself from massaging your temple.

“You’re up to something,” you grumbled, walking past him to make your way to the elevators.

He feigned offense, easily stepping into stride with you down the hall. “Chivalry is lost on you twenty-first-century souls! I don’t know why I bother.”

You glared at him from the corner of your eye, taking in the sardonic look on his face as you stepped into the elevator. It was best not to push your luck with him, considering you still had an entire outing in Cannibal Town to get through. You were about to say something when the elevator stopped after going down a couple floors, the doors opening to Angel Dust. He looked exhausted.

When the two of you made eye contact, he glanced away, the air in the elevator quickly turning nervous as he walked in. Was it because of yesterday? Maybe Angel hadn’t been as comfortable with it as Husk made it seem… Suddenly he hit a button, stopping the elevator in its tracks. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, steeling himself.

“Hey, so… you know how you came home lookin’ like fuckin’ Carrie yesterday?”

You felt Alastor’s static humming in the space between you; the first reaction he’s had since Angel came into the elevator.

“I wanted to apologize sooner but—”

Angel waved his hands, cutting you off. “No, no, please, you don’t have to,” he said, a small laugh escaping him. “Look, uh… I’m only bringin’ it up cuz I just gotta know.” He was actively fighting a smile as he continued, “The trouble you ran into? His name wasn’t Donny, was it?”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

tag list: @fairyv-ice, @wat4r

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fan fiction #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor x reader #alastor x female reader #alastor smut #hazbin hotel smut #slow burn #song fic #if i can’t have love i want power #love and power #x reader #alastor the radio demon #the radio demon #hazbin hotel slow burn

205 notes · View notes

winchester-reload · 1 year

Text

Pairing: Dean/Cas

Tags: hurt/comfort, canon divergent, idiots in love

Read on AO3

All right, we’re officially outta gauze. We talkin’ about it?”

Cas sighed. His eyes swam along the ceiling, just as they’d been doing the entire evening. Through every stitch and wrap, he wouldn’t bring ’em down. “There’s nothing to talk about,” he said quietly. “It was just bad luck.”

“Uh uh. This ain’t bad luck. Bad luck is what Sammy’s gonna have if I lose you messy on a bad hunt. So how bout you go ahead and try that for me again.”

“It was just supposed to be one mimic—”

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation— You know better than that!”

“Things happen, Dean. Things outside of our control. This was that. Things happened. It was a bad lead, but I made it out. That’s what should matter right now.”

Dean shook his head, tossed an empty gauze roll, now just a cardboard skeleton, and watched it clatter against the tin garbage can. Roll away. Tip and settle on its side near the door. It felt like it’d wobbled into his gut. He fussed at a frayed string along the fresh wrap at Cas’ chest, red already weeping through the cotton. He waited. When Cas still didn’t look at him, he sloughed the whole nurse routine and slid gentle fingertips up the bruises on his neck. Kissed the rough turn of his jaw as he planted a knee on the bed and stretched over him, careful of where he put his weight. Stopping only as Cas reluctantly caught his eye. “Yeah, it does matter,” Dean agreed. “Which is why you can’t just rip your grace out and run, balls out, toward the first hunt you find. I don’t care how good you are. You shoulda told me. Or you should’ve at least told Sam.”

“I did tell Sam—“

“Before it was a 9-1-1, Cas! Okay? Before! That wasn’t okay, and I’m pissed at you for it!”

Tears cropped up in Cas’ eyes, the deep frown in his brow waning to worry. “I know,” he relented. “I’m pissed at me too. It was stupid.”

“It was stupid—damn stupid.” Dean felt it go, the little water balloon of emotions in his chest that used to have brick sides and no air holes. It was exposed now, popped easily with Cas’ pins. “I can’t lose you, you understand? Not again. I don’t think I could come back from it.” Tears ate down his face, and Cas urgently chased them, trying to thumb them away. Like the whole world would fall with them if they got down too far.

“I’m sorry.” His voice cracked, exhaustion, maybe pain, finally winning out in his stubborn body. Or maybe he just couldn’t handle seeing Dean raw. Maybe that’s what shattered him every damn time. “It was just supposed to be one Mimic. Just one Mimic.” His own tears escaped, rolled through his temples into his hair, then onto the soft pillow behind his head, and Dean suddenly felt compelled to stop those too.

“All right, that’s enough.” He kissed Cas’ cheek, the wet trail at his temple. Dragging the tip of his nose gently alongside Cas’ again, where it belonged. It was easy sometimes to forget he was a warrior. A real one, not like Dean. He was Heaven-forged and army-trained. At one time, he was the leader of his own battalion. An angel strong enough to crack God’s hold and receptive enough to learn to love. Wise enough to understand the weight of both. And all of that was tucked into a fragile human now, healing beneath the sheets of Dean’s bed. A thought that made Dean feel unbelievably tiny and incomparably huge.

“We’re okay,” he said as he kissed Cas' mouth. Then, “You’re okay now,” because that seemed even more important. A smile finally broke away from him, running wild against the heat on Cas’ skin. “I can’t believe you got all seven vamps on your own, you showoff.”

#happy canon day!#something small for you all 💙💚#destiel #destiel art #my art #my fic

2K notes · View notes

damn-stark · 1 year

Text

Chapter 3 I’d make a deal with god

Chapter 3 of Tragedy at the Miller’s

A/N- I hope you guys like the chapter

Warning- ANGST, violence, death and blood, swearing, long chapter, some fluff :)

Pairing- Joel Miller x daughter!reader, Henry x Fem!reader

Episode- 1x05-1x06 (only the beginning)

(If you want to be tagged let me know!)

————

The street was quiet. And as far as views go, it was the same way as it was in the tunnel, dark and eerie.

The stars overhead were tempting to admire, you felt grateful that you were out of the humid tunnel and breathing fresh air, but the cul-de-sac was too quiet, and you weren’t actually across the river yet. You knew better than to get your hopes up too soon; just like most of what you’ve learned from life, you learned that the hard way.

Yet it seems Henry and Sam don’t quite get that.

Then again how could they know? The farthest they’ve gone out of the city is being in that forest. They only know a small part of what the world is like.

“No,” Henry breaks the silence you had purposely left as you tried to make your way to the bridge. “No one is here. No one’s gonna be here because my plan worked.”

Your dad scoffs in annoyance, “so much goddamn talkin’.”

You look back at Henry over your shoulder and add on too. “We’re not across the river yet, let’s wait to celebrate then.”

“I’m just saying,” Henry continues smugly. “I delivered.”

You smirk faintly and roll your eyes to look back ahead.

“Make this right,” he points out. “Go down the street, embankment behind the last house, and we’re out.”

“So we cross the river and then what?” Ellie asks. “Where ya gonna go?”

You glance over at your dad, and even if it hasn’t been discussed you know that there’s no option but to travel home together now.

At least you hope that’s what he’s thinkin’ too.

“We’re going to Wyoming,” you share and blink to look at your dad for reassurance. “We can go together.”

But as expected when your dad meets your gaze he remains nonchalant. He then peers back at Henry though, and seems to look…unsure. “How about we cross the river and then talk.”

You swallow thickly and look back ahead. Would this really be it?

Ellie notices his look, he reads him like you do and comments on the matter. “Don’t worry he’ll give in. Trust me.”

Trust her?

How long have they been together?

“This is how it goes?” Ellie continues. “He’s like, No, Ellie,” she begins to mock him in a deep voice, causing you to blink in disbelief before you peer back at her. “Never, ever, ever happening.”

Regardless of what uneasiness you felt by his lack of agreeance, what jealousy just sparked, you can’t help but grin in amusement at her teasing.

“And then I’m like,” Ellie continues in her normal voice. “I’m gonna ask you a million more times. And he’s like—”

Before she can finish what she’s saying, she’s suddenly interrupted by the sound of a gunshot whizzing past your ear, and hitting the ground inches away from you.

“Fuck!” Ellie screams, while you cover your ear and throw yourself to the ground, losing that smile.

“Move, move!” Your dad yells and proceeds to grab your arm to yank you off the ground, and push you and Ellie behind a rusted car.

“Y/N,” you hear Henry from the ear that’s not currently ringing. “Are you okay? Did it hit you?”

You groan and shake your head. “No…no,” you pant. “Just went past me.”

“Where fuck is that coming from—”

“Shut up,” your dad cuts Henry off now.

You pull your hand away from your ear as the ringing begins to fade, and look over at your dad peeking past the top of the hood. A gunshot then breaks a car window though, so he ducks his head back down.

“How many?” You ask him.

Your dad shakes his head. “One, I think. I can’t be sure, not from here.”

You swallow thickly and snatch your rifle off your shoulder. You try to suggest a risky idea that comes to mind, but then another gunshot goes off and a hand wraps around your wrist instead.

“Shit,” Henry panics and looks away from the shooter to try and move with Sam at his other hand. “Alright, fuck. Let’s move. Let’s go.”

Without hesitance you yank your arm back and grab his wrist instead to pull him back down. “I’m not leaving my dad. And you can’t just get up like that or you’ll get shot,” you scold him as kindly as you can sound. “Stay down.” You then snap your eyes to your dad and share the idea you had in mind. “I can shoot them, I just need a distraction so he doesn’t end up shooting me.”

A bullet hits the car you’re behind, and your dad lets his gaze linger on you as he thinks about the plan you shared.

You want him to say yes so he’d see that you’re capable, that you’ve changed from that little girl he saw last time, years ago.

However, he shakes his head and sighs.

“Dad—”

“I’ll go,” he cuts you off before you can argue. “You two stay here.” He directs to Ellie and yourself.

“What?” Ellie asks in confusion.

He turns to face Ellie now. “If you don’t move, he’s not gonna hit you,” he tells her, and then looks to you. “I’m gonna go around, try to get in the house through the back, and then I’ll take him out.”

You shake your head and protest. “If you go out there, he’s gonna kill you.”

“It’s dark and he has shit aim. Nobody’s gonna kill me. Besides, I ain’t putting you at risk.”

“You just said—”

“Y/N,” he cuts you off sharply. “Do you trust me?”

You lower your shoulders from their tense position, you let your face soften from its hardened state and nod softly without as much as thinking about it.

Your dad proceeds to pull his gun out and looks to Ellie to speak to her. “If anything happens you stick with her, got it?”

Ellie glances at you and hesitates before returning her gaze to him and nodding in comprehension. After that your dad proceeds to scurry away through the cover of night, making the person in that house try to follow him with their gun to try and shoot him.

And now, while the person is distracted you lift your head over the car's hood to finally take a peek yourself. That’s when you catch only one light reflecting from a window before the bullet hits the ground in front of the car. You proceed to look around at the other houses to see if there were more, but your dad was right it seems to be just one in the house straight ahead.

Just one. Your dad will be fine.

You duck back behind the car and wait. Wait in anticipation. You hold onto your pendant around your neck and wait. A few more bullets go off and hit the objects around you, you wait for them to reload and shoot again, but a longer silence follows now, letting you guess that your dad might have reached the shooter now.

You slowly lift your head and peek out, and luckily this time you see no more reflection. Yet you can’t be assured that your dad has gotten to him, not until you can see him up there giving you all a sign.

However, a few seconds pass of more silence and he doesn’t give you any. Instead you hear one gunshot echo, it doesn’t hit anything nearby it just echoes, meaning one of two things; your dad shot the shooter, or the shooter shot your dad.

You can’t think of losing him just as you reunited, so you’ll go with he’s the one that shot the shooter first.

“It seems your dad got him,” Henry interjects.

You stop fiddling with the pendant and meet his gaze with hope. “Yeah,” you whisper. “I think so too. Let’s just wait until he gives a sign though.”

Henry nods in agreement, and silence follows again. Albeit the silence breaks soon thereafter with a distant scream from your dad. “Run!”

You blink in confusion, and hang your rifle over your shoulder again as you slowly push yourself up to try and get a view of him.

“Run!” Your dad yells again.

Why is he saying that?

And only seconds later is when you begin to hear the distant sounds of engines running. When you snap your eyes ahead you notice headlights down the street, getting larger the closer they get, and brighter as more than one begins to appear.

“Go! Go, go!” You bellow to the group, and push Ellie in front of you so she can get ahead of you so can you run behind her, Henry and Sam.

The closer the leading car gets, the more you hear metal clashing as cars blocking the street get shoved aside. Bullets ring against metal too as your dad tries to shoot the driver of the moving truck, and as Ellie tries to shoot back aimlessly.

You want to shoot at the driver too to at least get that car off your trail, but when you hit the trigger you come out empty since you haven’t given Henry his empty pistol back.

“Fuck,” you grumble. “Fuck. Fuck.”

As Henry and Sam get ahead faster, you mindlessly begin to run past Ellie to try and reach the other end of the street. However, it’s at that moment that you begin to get ahead that you suddenly hear glass clash, brakes then screech before you hear a crash through one of the wooden houses.

You try to look back at the sight, you try to look back even when you hear multiple cars brake behind you, even if it’s one thing you didn’t like to do while running away from dangerous shit, but you remember Ellie had fallen behind, so you look. That’s when you see her on the ground, and multiple people climbing out of their cars.

It’s a fucking risk to go back especially since they all have guns, but you can’t leave her behind, not even if you feel a smidge of jealousy towards her. Maybe giving her the slight cold shoulder is something that you can live with, but leaving her behind is something that would haunt you, so you quickly turn back around on your heels and sprint towards her.

She catches you running at her as she remains stunned on the ground and her eyes brighten before she pushes herself up and then runs at you.

“Come on!” You yell at her. “Come on!”

Ellie quickens her pace as best as she can, and just as you throw your hand out to reach for hers suddenly an explosion goes off at your side, and the force throws you both to the ground.

“Fuck,” you cough out seconds later, and flutter your eyes open, catching a bright raging light now brighten the street. “Fuck.” You snap your head up and see Ellie moving slightly. That fills you with relief over the fact that she isn’t badly hurt. Or at least that’s what it seems like.

“Ellie,” you call out between pants. “Ellie, are you—”

Before you can finish your question though, hands get slapped around your arms and begin to yank off the ground.

“Come on, come on,” someone muffles.

You snap your head back in a panic, but thankfully only see Henry.

“You’re not hurt?” He asks.

You shake your head and get up to your feet. “No, no, I’m okay. Go, help Ellie.”

Henry nods and leaves your side to run to Ellie while you run to Sam behind a car.

“Are you okay?” Sam immediately signs to you worringly once you’re ducked close to him.

You nod quickly and redirect his question. “You okay?”

Sam nods, and both of your gazes lift as Henry and Ellie join you ducked behind the car.

“You okay?” You ask Ellie as she fixes herself between Sam and you.

She nods and mumbles, “yeah.”

Multiple footsteps now step closer, and commands get thrown out that make you stiffen. “He’s up there! Two and two! Around the back, take him out!”

“Fuck!” You hiss. There’s no way to take them out without getting caught or leaving yourself vulnerable. Fuck.

“Dead end, Henry!” You hear a woman shout—Kathleen most likely. “Gonna step out? Save us some time?”

Henry of course doesn’t answer, so Kathleen continues.

“No? That’s alright. Doesn’t matter.”

You rest your head against the car and try to think of some plan to get out of this position. Yet, Henry then interjects. “I’ll come out!”

You quickly snap your head over to him and shake it in protest. “No,” you whisper. “No, Henry no.”

Said man meets your gaze and lets his eyes linger on you. “Just let the girl and kids go!” He shouts.

You keep shaking your head in hopes he’d change his mind.

“No,” Kathleen retorts. “Sorry. The little girl is with the man who killed Bryan. And Sam, and the other girl, well they’re with you.”

You shift your eyes away and scoff.

What the fuck?! What the fuck is her problem? Wanting to kill you, you understand, but the kids?

“You don’t understand!” Henry rebuttals.

But Kathleen doesn’t listen. “But I do,” she counters. “I know why you did what you did. But did you ever stop to think that maybe he was supposed to die?”

What the hell?

You shake your head and curl your lip in anger and disgust.

“He’s just a fucking kid!” Henry yells back.

“Well, kids die, Henry,” Kathleen says without an ounce of sympathy in her tone. “They die all the time. You think the whole world revolves around him? That he’s worth everything? Well, this is what happens when you fuck with fate.”

“Get ready to take him and run,” Henry blurts at you quietly.

You look over at him and see him looking at you. “No,” you rebuttal. “No.”

“Y/N,” he insists. “Yes.”

You try to look angry at his stupid choice, but instead you look hurt.

“Henry,” you whisper, but he then cups your cheek and cuts you off.

“Please. Do it.”

You stare into his eyes and want to argue, you want to yell at him for wanting to risk his life like this, for wanting you to take Sam away without leaving with him, but…you don’t. You trust him and understand this one need, you give in for him, for the love you already harbor.

“Fine,” you whisper and look over at Sam, noticing Ellie take his hand for you.

“It’s time, Henry,” Kathleen interjects. “Enough!”

You look back at Henry and meet his gaze, seeing him hesitate for a few seconds. So you reach for his trembling hand and give it a gentle squeeze. He proceeds to let his eyes linger in your hurt gaze for a moment longer before he averts his gaze, and puts his head back to pant and then whisper to himself, “okay,” before he stands up and raises his hands while he slowly steps towards the aggressor.

“It ends the way it ends,” Kathleen says after a few seconds of silence, and cocks her gun before she shouts another command. “Grab the girl he’s with too, I want him to see her die.”

You gasp and freeze since you know she only means you.

“No!” Henry shouts. “Wait, no! Not her! She had nothing to do with it! It was just me!”

Footsteps begin to approach, and your heart begins to race, your hands begin to shake, but you put on a brave face and roll your eyes to the side to glare at the rugged man approaching you.

“Touch them and I’ll kill you,” you grimace.

The man tries to grab you, but you stand up by yourself and step away from him. “Don’t you dare,” you snap and raise your hands.

“Come on,” the man orders and points the gun forward.

“No,” Kathleen adds now as you get forced to stand by Henry. “She might have not had anything to do with it, but you care about her.”

You drift your eyes to Henry, and end up meeting his angry and worried gaze.

“It’s okay,” you mouth to him with an assuring look and smile. “It’s okay.” You drift your gaze back to Kathleen and shoot her an unbothered glare.

There’s only one man next to you, the others are standing a bit too far to react too fast. They wouldn’t let one of their own die would they? They cared so much about the one person your dad killed, so….

Quickly before anyone can react to you, you fist your left hand, and quickly swing your fist up to punch the man’s forearm to make his aim fall from your head.

“Wait!” you hear Kathleen yell as guns point at you now.

You then quickly spin around and ram your fist in his throat to leave him incapacitated while you snatch his gun from him, and then use your foot to swing it under him to sweep him off the floor.

When the guy hits the ground you instantly point his gun at his head, and step on the back of his hand before slowly glaring up at Kathleen.

She looks stunned, so you take this time to look over at Henry, catching his own shocked and awed look.

“Come close and I’ll shoot him,” you threaten all of them. “Your revenge can’t mean more than your man’s life now does it?” You taunt Kathleen with a sly smirk.

Kathleen moves her gun to point at you and parts her lips to say something, but she then cuts herself off as the sound of rubble and creaking metal steals everyone’s attention, including Henry’s and yours.

At first it doesn’t seem like much, just the ground beneath the truck crumbling due to the explosion. But it’s from that same hole that the truck falls into that lets out the sound of distant groaning and growling. Infected….

You remove your foot off the man under you and help up so he can run away. You then snap your head over to Henry, and he meets your gaze to share a knowing look since no one can deny the sounds.

Yet before either of you can run away dozens, no, hundreds of infected climb out from the ground and don’t waste a second to charge at everyone that is formed in front of the hole. They all try to shoot at the runners and the clickers that charge at them, but there’s too many, too many overwhelm them immediately—It’s so many of them climbing out of the ground.

You’ve seen hordes before, you’ve run from dozens of infected before, but never like this, never from one’s running out of a fire pit as if they were spawn out of hell.

The sight freezes you out of fear, leaves you vulnerable, until Henry runs at you now that the men focused their attention away from him and you, and breaks you from your stupor.

“Come on!” He yells, and you both run to the kids still ducked behind the car.

“You have my gun, I have the man’s,” you tell Henry as you duck and hide with the kids. “Take Sam and go, I’ll take Ellie and be right behind you.”

Shooters approach the car you’re hidden behind and begin shooting at infected climbing on the car. More fall at your side as bullets come from the house where your dad is in. And before long, as more infected approach, you all bolt away from behind the car to run to your dad.

However, more infected swarm the area and get in your way, so you lose sight of Henry and Sam quickly as they don’t stop running. You on the other hand use the man’s gun and shoot at the clickers and runners that charge at Ellie and you.

“Go!” You yell at Ellie. “Go, I have you covered!”

Ellie runs on ahead, and you kill any threats that are near her. Once there’s no infected ahead of you, you follow after Ellie as she runs towards a van nearby that has a window slightly opened.

A clicker closeby hears her running footsteps however and tries to charge at her, but you quickly stop in your steps to shoot it and then move the aim to shoot the other infected that can be a possible threat.

“I’ll open the door for you!” Ellie yells back as she approaches the car.

You watch her get inside through the window, and immediately more infected try to reach her through the windows; they pound and claw. You clear as many of them as you can until your bullets run out and you have no choice but to throw the gun out and use your own rifle.

Yet that has few bullets in it too, luckily your dad helps you take out as many as he can around the car and you, while Ellie crawls to the door to try and open it for you from the inside. And when you turn to grab the door handle, suddenly a stalker tackles you down to the ground.

“Oof.” You breathe out as you slam to the ground, and end up losing your gun.

The stalker tries to bite down at you, but you quickly throw your head to the side, and throw your hands up to keep it away. You want to kick it back and use your knife, but then a bullet goes through its head and it falls limb, letting you crawl back away from its corpse. You then look up at the window and give your dad a thankful nod.

He nods back, so after that, before more infected come and swarm you, you get up and find your gun first, before you face the car to get Ellie.

Neverthless, at that moment as you turn you notice a different kind of infected. It’s larger than others, tall, and plump. It has fungus coming out of its head like a clicker, but this one also has fungus growing out of its entire body. It’s…terrifying. It’s fucking horrifying, but you don’t freeze this time, you can’t. You just push its presence to the back of your head and face the car again. That’s when you see a child clicker climb in the same car Ellie is hiding in.

You know your dad has you covered from any infected around you, so you quickly throw the door open and hastily help Ellie out of the car as the clicker flips over the seats to try and reach her.

“Come on!” You urge her after you close the car door. “We’re almost there!” You grab her wrist to run towards your dad together, but she quickly stops you and points out.

“It’s Sam and Henry!”

You follow where she points to, and see the both of them under a car trying to kick away the clickers that are trying to grab them. However, there’s too many infected in your way, too many for you and Ellie to take down without getting swarmed….

Wait! That’s right...

You look up at your dad at the same time Ellie does, and you both speechlessly ask him to cover you with your looks alone.

He’s hesitant at first, but he gives you both an assuring nod, letting you both then run towards Henry and Sam.

“You help Sam, I’ll get the one on Henry!” You tell Ellie as you maneuver past bodies of the infected your dad was killing in your path.

“Okay, yeah!” She replies through pants.

You narrow your eyes on the clicker that has Henry by his feet, ignoring the car that races past behind you and quickening your pace to get closer.

Just as you approach Henry, the clicker drags him out of hiding, it wants to bite him, but you quickly lift your rifle and shoot it right in its head, killing it.

“Come on,” you tell Henry urgently as you help him to his feet. “You’re okay,” you assure him before you turn on your heels, noticing Ellie managed to get the clicker off Sam, but she can’t stab her knife deep enough to kill it. So you lift your gun and help her kill it, letting her then help Sam off the ground.

“Go, go!” You yell at everyone.

Quickly, before more infected can come towards you, you all bolt towards the house your dad is inside of. You climb up the yard hand in hand with Henry, you’re close to getting out, but then Kathleen stops you all.

“Stop!”

Henry pushes you all back behind him to block you all from her gun, but you still raise your rifle to try and use your last bullet on her.

Albeit that’s when you notice the child clicker from before sneaking up from behind her, and lower your gun instead. Kathleen blinks in confusion, and follows everyone’s line of gaze. But, she notices the clicker too late and it tackles her to the ground before she can react.

It hits her repeatedly, and overpowers her, all she can do is scream.

As bad as she was, that fate is still horrible.

“This way now!” You hear your dad yell, breaking everyone from their shock. You then look over at him in shock and watch him pushing Ellie and Sam towards the bridge just behind the houses.

“Move!” He yells and turns you around so you can keep moving behind Henry. He follows last, making sure no one or nothing follows you from the bloodbath that was now the cul-de-sac.

——

*LATER*

“Pew…pew. As the Raven 01 approaches the red planet….”

You put the paper your food was wrapped in down and drag your feet back against your chest to continue listening to Ellie reading with Sam.

Compared to all the terrified screams, all the infected growling and groaning, all the gunshots, and burning flames that had filled your ears on your way to the motel, listening to her read in the silence of night was calming and peaceful.

“You think they’ll be okay?” Henry asks out loud, breaking the silence that was between him, your dad and you.

“Yeah,” your dad nods. “I think.”

You hug your legs and look over at him as he continues.

“It’s easier when you’re a kid anyway….” He pauses and glances at you before looking at Henry. “You don’t have anybody else relying on you. That’s the hard part.”

Being scared isn’t easy, not knowing how to help because you’re young isn't easy, but he’s also right.

“Well,” Henry interjects. “I guess we’re doing a good job then.”

Your dad nods softly in agreement, and you can’t help but smile down at your knees since they seem to be getting along more now.

“What’s that comic book say?” Your dad asks. “Endure and survive?”

You lift your gaze to look at the Savage Starlight comic book Sam and Ellie are reading, and scoff softly before you nod. “Endure and survive,” you repeat.

“That shits redundant,” Henry retorts, making you smile in amusement.

“Yeah,” your dad agrees. “It’s not great.”

You shake your head and laugh softly. “No.”

Savage Starlight was a comic book you often saw lying around, but you never got into them so much. You always enjoyed more of uh…romance, some horror, thrillers, comedy, and fantasy.

“Look, Henry,” you hear your dad continue, making you snap your eyes to him and sit up as you’re filled with curiosity. “I don’t know exactly how I’m gettin’ to Wyoming. I’m probably walkin’. But you know if you want to.”

Your smile grows wider, and your gaze grows softer as you understand your fathers invitation to Henry.

“Yeah,” Henry agrees. “Yeah. Yeah, I think it’d be nice for Sam to have a friend. I’ll tell him in the morning. New day, new start.”

You’re filled with joy now, and that fear of rejection washes away….

At least you hope your dad is also referring to you.

“What about me?” You interject to double check. Even if you might know the answer.

Your dads eyes snap to you and he scoffs before he retorts. “How do you think we’re getting there?”

You smirk and then glance at Henry sitting on a table beside you to share a soft smile with him.

“I don’t why you had to ask,” your dad mumbles.

You then look at the kids, and notice Sam fiddling with the pendant you had given him.

“Just makin’ sure,” you say and drag your legs down. “Maybe y’all wanted to leave me behind….” Wait…you catch that comment the moment it comes out. It’s wrong…it seems like a jab directed to your dad, but you didn’t mean it that way.

You snap your eyes over to him in hopes he didn’t take it that way, but you can’t tell, he’s looking away, his lips are formed in the same serious line. Fuck. Fuck….

Let’s just hope he didn’t take it badly.

You swallow thickly and look ahead, noticing Henry in the room with the kids, and Sam still holding the pendant. So choosing to just brush off your concern so as to not overthink about it, you get up and walk in the room, seeing Sam walk to the other bed now.

“Goodnight,” you sign to him as he notices you walk in.

He offers you a faint smile and redirects your comment. “Goodnight.”

Henry walks back in the room, and before you can follow him you check on Sam since he was holding the pendant. “Are you feeling okay?” You question him.

Sam nods in assurance, but you can notice his frown and a…sad look in his eyes.

“Are you sure?” You press.

Sam nods again. Perhaps it was just the events of tonight then.

“Okay,” you continue to sign to him. “No story tonight?”

Sam shakes his head. “Tomorrow,” he signs back.

You smile and nod in agreement. “Sounds good,” you sign. “Goodnight.”

Sam offers you a faint smile as a response, and before you can leave the room you glance over at Ellie and offer her a very faint smile that’s a bit forced. Maybe she’ll grow on you soon enough. Once your dad explains why they’re traveling together. Hopefully.

Anyway, once you close the room door behind you, rather than sitting back down, and since there was no other room in this curtain room you’re camping in. And since you don’t want your dad hearing your conversation with Henry, you meet your partner's gaze and point to the exit.

Henry doesn’t seem to understand though, so you point to the door again. But nothing.

You roll your eyes and just break the silence. “I’m going to get some fresh air before bed.” You nod slowly, and before anyone can say anything you make sure you have your knife with you before you walk over to the door, and push the table that’s blocking the exit to the side before walking out. Hopefully, Henry understands, and hopefully your dad doesn’t walk out. As funny as that would be, it’s not who you want to talk to.

Regardless, as you wait you lean against the railing and look up at the shining stars painted on the night sky. You smile up at them and watch them twinkle. The door opens, and you quickly peer back, seeing Henry walk out. Thankfully.

“Hey,” you greet him in a whisper.

He closes the door and walks to your side first before returning a greeting. “Hey.”

You look back at the sky and continue to watch the stars. “You know there’s a way to navigate around using the stars.” You share with him.

Henry hums. “I didn’t know,” he says. “Do you know how to?”

You nod and drop your gaze to look at him, noticing he was already looking at you. “Yeah, I do,” you admit.

Henry smiles and scoffs. “Of course you do.”

You laugh softly. “Well it’s kind of convient you know, very helpful..”

“Is that why you like to stare at them all the time?” He asks.

You let out a small breath and shake your head. “No. I just like to watch them, it’s fascinating really; space, all of it.”

Henry hums and averts his gaze, he grabs the rusted railing and brings a short silence.

You notice his smile faltering, so you quickly probe. “What is it?”

Henry gently hits the wood and lifts his gaze to meet yours. “Thank you,” he says. Again. “What you did back there, to that guy…” he swallows thickly and goes shy. “No one has ever done that before. You know usually when things go down like that people scatter to protect themselves…I’m guilty of that, but you…” he pauses and his eyes soften, whilst you now feel caught by surprise. “…you stuck around all three times,” Henry continues. “You shouldn't have, but you did, and you saved me and Sam. Thank you.”

Your smile widens and trembles, and your heart races inside your chest, but you grab his hand and offer him a soft look. “You were worth it,” you redirect sweetly. “All of it. And when it’s worth it there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect the ones I love.”

Henry looks caught off guard for a few seconds, but he quickly manages to shoot you a smile before he cups your cheek to pull you in for a kiss. A sweet and passionate one that makes you wrap your arms around his neck. That lets you move in sync with another, and makes you press yourself against the wall next to the door.

Henry seems to be taken back by your passion, but he just smiles and goes with it, letting himself get swept up by you. The only reason you pull back is to catch your breath.

“You know I think you were right,” he says between pants. “I think your dad—”

“Please,” you cut him off and press your finger against his lips. “Don’t talk about my dad,” you whisper and giggle. “Not right now.”

Henry snorts and nods. “Right,” he mumbles, letting you drop your hand back to your side—“but we should get some sleep, I imagine we have a long day of walking tomorrow.”

You smile sweetly and lean in to whisper against his lips. “Yeah I know, but why not stay out here a while longer, hm? Maybe find a more discreet place to go take this further.”

Henry gapes and blinks rapidly. “I,” he breathes out and shakes his head.

You grin and cup his jaw. “It’s okay if you don’t want to,” you assure him. “I’m fine just being with you here.”

Henry shakes his head again and quickly throws out his response, “No I want to, I do. Do you?”

You grin softly and press your hand against his chest, feeling his heart racing.

“Don’t worry,” you assure him as you hold his gaze. “You’ll be okay. You’re with me.” You pull back, and drop your hand to your side to grab his, and pull him down the stairs with you. “Come on!” You grin happily.

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

“Sarah,” you whisper and slowly walk further inside her dark room.

She hums and shifts on her bed. “Hm?”

“I'm scared,” you whisper. “There’s something in my room.”

Her bed creaks and thanks to the moonlight reflecting inside through her window by her bed, you see her sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “Okay,” she mumbles and slides over to the other side of her bed. “Come on.”

You smile with relief and run over to the bed to climb on and lay beside her.

“What was in your room?” She asks as she lays her head back down on the pillow.

You pull the blankets over you and flip to your side to face her. “A…monster, I think.”

She smiles weakly and wraps her arm around you. “Maybe you just heard dad snoring.” She mumbles.

You sigh unsurely and watch her close her eyes to try and drift back to sleep.

“Do you want me to tell you a story?” She asks quietly.

You perk up and grin softly. “Just one,” you agree.

“Okay, well—”

“Ahh! Ahhh!”

Suddenly the dream you were having is interrupted coldly by the sound of distressed yelling that makes you gasp, and sit right up out of instinct.

However, it’s as you sit up that the door is slammed open and Ellie is thrown to the floor by….by Sam growling, groaning, and snapping his teeth as he tries to claw at her. She tries to push him off, but she can’t fight him. Or she really doesn’t want to…

But why?

Why?

Why is he acting so violent, why is he trying to bite her? Why is making those noises?

You sit there wide eyed, frozen by horrifying fear that inside, deep inside your heart you understand why it grows so furiously. You can identify what those sounds coming out of Sam mean, you’ve heard them what feels like all your life. You know…But you don’t want to accept it. You don’t want to accept his sudden fate.

He’s so young, so innocent, so sweet and kind. It can’t…it can’t be true. It can’t be happening again…

He can’t…

“Nope, nope, nope,” you hear Henry repeat, and when you look up you see him on his feet, pointing your dads own gun at him as he slowly stands up.

“Joel!” Ellie cries out.

Sam is going to bite her…he’s going to bite her…

You try to reach for your own knife since you know you’re out of bullets. You want to help her before it takes her too…you want to help your dad and Henry, but you can’t move a muscle, your fear paralyzes you as well as your denial.

You can only keep watching…just like when…Sarah died. You can only watch.

Henry shoots at your dad, you can hear the bullet, and his yell even after you cover your ears. You can feel it carve the ground, but that still doesn’t make you move.

“Joel!” Ellie cries again as Sam doesn’t stop.

He’s going to bite her. Sam he’s…

And suddenly there’s another gunshot, but this time rather than feeling it hit the ground, you hear a thump, and then silence. Deafening silence.

Finally as Sam stays still on the floor, you slowly get up and take a step towards him. You notice the dark blood spilling out and staining the ground, you still wait…You wait for him to get up. He has to. It can’t be happening again…he couldn’t have turned. He has to wake up.

You slowly put your hands down. “Sam?” You call out quietly even though you know he wouldn't have heard you either way, it’s just a desperate attempt.

“Ellie,” you hear your dad call as the girl sits there in disbelief at what just happened. “Are you okay?” You hear him ask her.

You worry if she’s bit, you want to ask if she’s okay too, but all you can focus on is Sam, you wait if he’ll move at least his chest to show he’s breathing.

Your dad tries to move toward Ellie, but he comes to a quick stop as Henry points his gun at him. He’s just shocked, that’s it.

Thinking he won’t do anything to you, you take another step towards Sam.

However, that's when you hear an abrupt stop. “No…don’t.”

You snap your gleaming eyes towards Henry, and see him pointing his gun at you now. Your dad quickly notices his new aim, and slowly puts his arm across you to try and shield you.

Henry’s just shocked. He’s just…shocked.

“Easy, easy, easy,” your dad tries to calm Henry down whilst he puts his hands out to try and grab the gun in Henry’s hand.

“Henry,” you call out quietly.

Said man's eyes drift to you, and tears immediately fill his eyes at the sight of you. “What did I do?” He asks you.

You try to tell him that he helped Ellie, that his brother was going to hurt her, but you can’t…you can’t muster a single word since you’re still in denial yourself.

“What did I do?” Henry asks again and keeps his gun pointed at you. “What-what-what did I do?” His eyes drift to his brother still on the floor, and you follow his line of gaze, realizing now—no, accepting at that moment as he lay still, as more blood spilled out of him, that Sam was gone.

It hits you like a bullet to the flesh, so suddenly. The realization shakes your entire core, making that painful anguish that you had pushed back bust through that shield of denial.

He’s gone. Sam’s gone. He was infected and now he’s gone.

“Sam?” The sound of Henry’s broken voice snaps your watery gaze back to him.

“Henry, gimme the gun?” Your dad pleads softly.

“Henry,” you call out quietly through tears. “Henry, please.”

Said man’s eyes drift to you and your dad, but he then focuses solely on you.

“Gimme the gun,” your dad continues to say. “Gimme the gun.”

“Henry,” you interject in a brittle voice, and take a step towards him to try and take the gun. “Just give me the gun, okay? Let’s talk.”

Henry holds your gaze for a moment and blinks before looking at Sam again. And finally he begins to lower his hand.

You try to encourage him, “yeah just—” but you cut yourself off immedietly as you see him move his hand to now point the gun at himself instead. You know what he intends to do, you yell at him to stop, but a gunshot goes off, causing you to quickly cover your ears. Yet you still hear a loud thump hit the floor.

Now…you just stand there, looking at the now empty space where Henry had one stood. You stand there frozen and quiet. You stand there panting, and with dry eyes.

Your dad stands before you, he talks to you, you see his mouth moving, but you don’t register his muffles that go through your covered ears because you can’t accept this now. If you keep looking at the wall, it’s like nothing ever happened. If you keep your eyes on the wall you won’t have to accept it, if you stand here time will stop….

You hoped anyway. You wished.

“Y/N! Look at me, baby,” you hear your dad yell at you, making you snap your eyes to him before you slowly drift your eyes down to see….

Oh god.

Oh god….

You drop your hands from your ears, and gasp as it feels like the air in your lungs is knocked out of you at the sight of his lifeless body, at the feeling of realization slamming into you, piercing your very heart now and shattering it and your entire being.

Henry’s gone. He’s gone just like Sam. They’re both gone….Henry’s gone….

But maybe…

“Henry?” You call out desperately as you watch him, hoping he’ll wake up. “Henry?” You call out again and step away from your dad to walk to Henry. “Henry, please,” your voice quivers as he remains unresponsive.

“Henry,” you mewl and fall on your knees beside him, on the pool of blood that now surrounds his upper body. “Henry.” You whisper and slowly reach for him to turn him face up. That’s when you see his lifeless eyes, the blood that now stains his face, and the tear stains on his cheeks. And it hits you again, but now it’s more powerful, more painful.

“No,” you cry and shake your head. “No, please Henry,” you sob and cradle his face for a moment before you cradle his body. “No, no….” You drop your forehead on his and shakily gasp for air as you can’t stop crying. “Please…please…someone help me….Henry…don’t do this to me, please.”

A hand falls on your shoulders, making you gasp and look back.

“Y/N,” your dad whispers.

“Daddy,” you mutter, “you have to help me. Please. Please.”

“Oh baby…”

You shake your head as he cradles your face in his hands.

“Dad,” you cry out desperately. “Please!”

He shakes his head, and tears fill his eyes only because he sees the heartbreak in your eyes as you hold your partner's dead body in your arms.

“He’s gone,” your dad says.

No.

No…

You pull your face away from your dads hold to look back at Henry, and lay your head on his chest.

He’s gone and there’s nothing you can do about it. Again. Someone else is gone and you can’t do anything about it. So you close your eyes and cry against him out of defeat, heartbreak, and agony.

“We can bury them,” your dad says softly. “Come on.”

Slowly he takes his body from you, and you let him, and just sit there. He takes Sam’s body soon thereafter, you can’t tell when, time just loses meaning, it all blends together.

Eventually you make it outside to where your dad and Ellie had buried Henry and Sam. You don’t know how, or when exactly you walked out, but feel the chilly breeze of the morning hit you, you feel the brightness burn your retinas for a moment until you grow accustomed to the brightness.

You see them no longer, only dirt over two unmarked graves. You feel only tears roll down your cheeks, and that agony in your heart as you realize you’ll never see them again, you won’t go to Jackson together.

You sit between their graves and just lose your gaze on the grass brushing against the wind. You sit there cold and hopeless. You sit there even as Ellie puts Sam’s board down on his grave, as you hear her speak to your dad once she’s up and behind you.

“Which ways west?” She asks.

There’s silence before there’s retreating footsteps. You were moving on, you had to, there was no one else to wait for now, there was no one else to go with now.

“Y/N,” your dad breaks the silence. “I have to tell you something…”

You keep your eyes lost on the grass, and wait for him to continue.

“Ellie…she’s immune…”

Is this some joke? Some sick fucking joke?

You gasp and peer at him over your shoulder to shoot him a disgusted glare.

“Dont,” you croak because of all of your crying. “Don’t fucking joke.”

He stands there with a serious, deadpanned look on his face. “I’m not,” he assures you. “It’s true, I saw her get bit and she didn’t turn. Do you really think I would joke about that?”

You blink in disbelief and look back at the grass ahead of you.

Joining the fireflies built a hope in you that maybe there was a chance for the world to get better. It was hard not to believe what they believed in, for a hope for humanity. A hope that could’ve saved so many lost friends…that could’ve saved Sam. So hearing this now coming out of your dads lips isn’t completely unbelievable, not to you.

“That’s why I need to take her to your uncle Tommy,” he continues. “So he can take her to the Fireflies.”

So he? He?

As if a bucket of cold water had just been dumped on you, now you’re hit with a cold reminder, your anger towards your father. Those words he just spoke trigger it, the heartbreak you bear now only fuels it, blinding you with rage.

“So what?” You scoff, and stand up to spin around and face him with that burning anger in your watery eyes. “You’re going to dump another one of your burdens on uncle Tommy? Just like you did me?”

Your dad shakes his head and mutters out, “you’re just upset. Let’s go, we can talk about it later.”

You shake your head and step towards him to continue. “I have every right to be upset! I have every right to be mad at you, you left me,” you whisper and feel angry tears now roll down your cheeks. “You…you!” You cry out and hit his chest.

“Y/N,” he mutters and averts his gaze.

You swallow back the thick lump that grows in your throat and spat back. “Why? Hm? All I ever did was love you, even if you were mean—”

“I kept you alive,” he cuts you off bluntly with his eyes barely on you.

“Yes,” you scoff. “But I still needed my dad….” Your voice quivers. “And…you still left…Why? W-was it because I…was never good enough for you? I’m sorry….I’m sorry I wasn’t the perfect daughter, I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough then. I’m sorry I wasn’t worthy enough for you to stay with me, for you to take me with you.” You sniffle and wipe away your tears. “I'm sorry I wasn't important enough for you to call me throughout all those years. I waited,“ you mumble. “I did. But no.” You shake your head and wipe your tears away.

“I just hope you don’t hurt that girl the same you did me,” you continue. “I hope she’s the daughter I never was for you.” You scoff and hit your hands against your thighs.

“No, don’t say that,” he interjects. “And don’t pit your anger against her.”

You let out a shaky sigh and tilt your head down slightly as you keep your eyes on him. “I’ll take you to uncle Tommy,” you add bluntly. “But that’s it. I’m done with you after that.” You shove past him and pick up your backpack and rifle off the floor. You make it to the street but stop to add one more thing as you see Ellie a few feet away waiting for you and your dad to catch up.

“I won’t pit my anger against her. I just hope you do better.”

——

*A MONTH LATER*

It was quiet. Not outside; you can hear the birds chirping their morning song as the sun slowly rises, you can hear Ellie shuffling on the ground restlessly. It’s quiet inside your mind.

At first, those first few days after, your mind raced with different possibilities, denial, different outcomes…hopes. It was loud with anger, but now it’s quiet. Now as you hold the cold gold sun pin in your fingers your mind is just absolutely quiet, all there is is a picture of him, Henry, in your head.

There’s a coldness in your heart. Another gap missing that he and Sam left. It makes those nights you had to sleep, sleepless, restless. Like now. Your dad let you sleep, but you couldn’t keep your eyes closed, you couldn’t get that….that scene of a month ago out of your head. Everytime you close your eyes you see Henry and Sam, see them lying on the ground with blood around them. Their deaths replay in your head over and over again until you open your eyes. So it’s easier just to stay awake and study the sun pin in the silence….

Then again it’s not so quiet outside….Ellie keeps moving. You flip to your other side and the first thing that you notice is your dad passed out…

What a damn good watchman. Old man.

Pft.

You drift your eyes across from you and see Ellie has her back turned to you. She’s still for like a minute before she moves again.

Maybe she’s thinking about them too? Because she can’t be asleep with all that moving.

You haven’t talked to her since it happened—no, lies you did but it was just like a few words, “do you want some of my food?” “Do you want to help me keep watch?”. She was always eager for both, but beside that nothing else was said. And you do know what grief is, you know how it feels, she may not have known them long, but Sam and her still bonded, their deaths were still…impactful…

It’s not like your dad has talked about it anyway. It’s not like he would.

“Hey,” you whisper and stretch your foot out to tap her. “Are you awake?”

There’s a second of silence before Ellie slowly looks back and looks a bit disbelieved. “Yes,” she mutters.

You spare one glance at your dad to make sure he’s still sleeping before you continue. “Do you want to go for a walk? He passed out.”

Ellie pulls down her sweater and looks down to see for herself before she meets your gaze and answers hesitantly. “Sure.”

You smile softly and tuck the pin in your pocket before you get up, and very carefully grab your backpack and gun off the ground. Ellie grabs her gun and leaves her backpack where it is. As you head out she just does one more double take to make sure your dad is still sleeping, before she runs over to catch up to you heading to the windmill that’s across the small abandoned farmhouse you were camping at for the night.

“So,” Ellie rolls out with a slow head nod. “Can I hold your gun?”

You hold onto your backpack strap and look over at her with slight curiosity. “Do you know how to use it?” You ask her.

Ellie shakes her head. “I can be taught though.”

You hum and look back at the windmill you're walking to and give her a proposition. “How about you can keep watch through the scope. Feel the weight first.”

“It’s better than nothing,” she groans.

You scoff softly in amusement and open the wooden door to let her walk in first, before you close the door and follow her up the creaky wooden stairs against the wall, until you reach a platform that’s put against the window that overlooks what was once a secluded farm.

“Here,” you interject, and put your gun down to sit on your knees so you can take off your poncho and lay it on the dirty ground. “You can sit there.” You then proceed to take off your jacket and lay it over your spot. “And I’ll sit here.” You mumble and sit back down.

Ellie looks down and hesitates. “We’re already dirty anyway.”

You shrug. “But now you won’t be cold, and you’ll be comfy.” You click your tongue.

Ellie spares you a quick glance before she sits, she wants to reach for your gun, but she suddenly stops and goes wide eyed.

“Oh my god,” she gasps and crawls closer to you. “You have tattoos! No way!” She grins and studies the tattoos on your arm. “That’s so cool.”

You smile softly, and turn your body so she can see the crescent moon tattoo shaped from curved lines; it almost looks like it was a smoke moon. She then hovers her fingers over the small stars that are scattered around the area, and then looks down at the falling angel woman. But lastly she takes her time on one in particular, a small one on your forearm.

“What’s this?” She asks and points to it.

You look down and giggle. “What did you think it is?”

Ellie scoffs and smirks. “A dick?”

You smirk. “It’s supposed to be a middle finger. My uncle Tommy and I got drunk for my 21st birthday. He wanted to give me a tattoo so he drew a hand giving the middle finger, but he, uh,” you snort. “Failed, so now I will always have a little dick tattoo.”

Ellie snickers and sits back down with your rifle in hand.

You move your arm and twist your body to show her the back tattoo. “I also have this one.” You point out.

Ellie shifts back around, and you give her a few seconds before you turn to sit back.

“That’s so cool!” She says with a smile. “I want one.”

You glance over the golden grass and smile softly. “My friend, she does tattoos. Perhaps when you’re older she can do something on you. Just don’t get it while drunk.”

“Why stars and a moon?” Ellie probes.

You shrug softly. “I liked it, and I like the Galaxy, the moon, everything.”

Ellie turns her head, and you see a wider smile. “Really? That's nice, I do too. Or more the aspect of going to space.”

You grin and look at her. “Really? That’d be cool. Like, uh,” you snap your fingers until you remember the name. “Like Sally Ride.”

Ellie's eyes go wider. “Yes!” She exclaims. “Exactly like her! Like if I could choose a way to die, I would die up there in space, after I flew up there of course.”

“Of course,” you mumble and stare up at the sweet colored sky as the sun slowly overtakes the night sky. “I mean it would be a very cool way to die. No oxygen, but a view of earth and the vacuum of space.”

Ellie follows your line of gaze and smiles softly as she nods slowly. “Yeah,” she whispers.

Silence follows after that. Deafening, but peaceful silence.

Yet that peace soon begins to turn to gloom the more the sun rises and you remember why you’re here.

“Do you,” you interject, but pause to look down at your fingers not covered by your gloves. “Do you want to talk about what happened last month?” You can’t even mention their names. Not yet. Not without it aching.

Ellie drops her gaze to focus on the fields of grass, and lets out a deep exhale before she shakes her head. “No…not really. Not yet.”

You hum softly. “That’s alright,” you assure her. “Well I’m here, you know, 24/7. If you want to talk.”

It may not be a lot to offer, but it’s those very words that meant a lot to you when you were told them by your uncle, Maria, or your friends. Yes, you haven’t been the most welcoming, or the nicest person with her, but at first you were slightly jealous, then you were too sad, but after that argument with your dad that jealousy had faded. Call it pettiness or what not, but you’re here now, and hope that at least she knows she can talk about her feelings with you and not have to hide them or brush them off.

He’d do that.

Nevertheless, there’s a brief moment of quiet before Ellie mutters in a serious tone. “Here in this windmill? Because that’s sort of inconvenient.”

You snort and break into a chuckle for the first time in a month. “You know what I meant fucker,” you mutter between laughs.

Ellie smiles proudly and nods.

Silence comes back as you keep watch, your smiles fade, but she soon interrupts. “You know I did have this problem last night actually.”

Your brows slowly furrow and you look at her with concern.

“I just stayed up all night wondering where the sun went…then it dawned on me.”

Your face slowly falls, and she looks over at you with a very proud smile. You let a second pass before you burst out laughing at her joke. She soon joins in and you’re both too lost laughing until your stomachs hurt.

When you’ve somewhat calmed down you add one you remember. “Okay, okay.” You clear your throat. “I walked into my sister's room and tripped on a bra…it was a booby trap.” You smirk.

Ellie shakes her head and laughs harder. “That was stupid.”

You nod and once again begin to laugh along with her, not realizing in that moment as you were both distracted that your dad was now inside the windmill lost listening in to the both of you.

When your laughs die down you take advantage of this moment and pull your backpack to your lap to unzip it, and pull out an additional Walkman. “I feel like you’ll enjoy this,” you tell her and then search your backpack for a specific cassette.

Ellie slowly puts down the rifle and watches you pull out a small plastic box.

“The Smiths,” you mention and open the box to insert the cassette. “Very good band.” You smile and hand her the Walkman. “Listen to it when you can, or when you can’t sleep. Just don’t lose the cassette ‘kay? It’s my friends.”

Ellie hesitantly takes the Walkman and headphones. “Are you sure?” She asks quietly.

You nod. “I have my own. I had that as a spare, but you can keep it. When you’re done with that album, let me know, I can give you more music to listen to while we find more.”

Ellie slowly smiles softly, and meets your gaze. “Thanks.” She whispers.

You offer her a smile, and don’t realize that for that moment sharing your music as Sarah once did with you, laughing with Ellie felt the best you’ve felt in a long time; you didn’t feel sad, or angry. You felt good, at peace, and a sense of familiarity you haven’t felt in years.

——

*2 MONTHS LATER*

Winter has fully embraced the earth, providing some sense of what month it can be. Between Kansas City and here you’ve lost track of the days. You know with every feeling in you that Jackson is only a couple days out.

Seeing Maria, your uncle Tommy, your friends, and your house is only a couple days out. Finally!

“You don’t seriously believe them,” Ellie remarks as she stomps out of the cabin of this old couple living a quiet life in the middle of nowhere.

Which honestly isn’t half bad. You only wish to grow old like them and live with….with someone…

“They’ve lived here a long time,” your dad rebuttals as he leads the way off the property. He then stops and looks back as he hears only one pair of footsteps following him.

You then proceed to stop too and glance back, catching Ellie robbing one of the rabbits that the man that had found you killed.

“Put that back,” he tells her and then continues to lead the way.

“What about you, y/n, I mean you’ve lived around here,” Ellie pulls you into the conversation.

You scoff softly and wait for her to catch up. “Well all I’ll say is that it’s a bunch of superstition, okay?” You tell her without giving away too much of what awaits beyond the River. “There’s no River of death, nothin’.”

“So they don’t know anything?” She points out and falls beside you, letting you finally continue to follow your dad. “Because they’ve also never heard of the Fireflies.”

“It’s hard to hear much living so secluded,” you explain and look ahead, catching in that moment your dad stops and leans against a wooden pole.

Is he really that scared of some fear the old couple have? Because it’s only to scare people away, it isn’t true.

Is he still tired? He’s panting.

“Joel? Joel?” Ellie calls out, and shares a slightly concerned and confused look with you before she walks over to him, while you watch him with higher concern that freezes you a bit.

“Joel, are you okay?” She asks and gets closer to him as he stays leaning against the pole. “Joel?”

“Shut up,” he quips at her.

You blink and snap out of your stupor to make your way to him too. “Dad,” you call out.

“Holy shit, are you dying?” Ellie remarks, making that fear you didn’t feel before spark now at the sound of her words, even if he shakes his head.

Is it his heart? He is old now.

What if it is his heart?

“Dad?” You call out and walk past Ellie to look at his face, noticing his eyes are closed and his hand is in a tight fist. It’s like he’s in pain…

“I’m okay,” he mutters breathlessly.

You know you haven’t talked much in the past three months, your anger is still pretty alive and heightened to the point you can’t hold his gaze sometimes for more than a few seconds. But he still is your dad, and you still do very much love him…more than anything. It’s just hard being with him right now. It’s hard.

“Okay, okay,” he keeps repeating, and you grow more concerned.

“Okay, are you okay? It doesn’t sound like you are,” Ellie keeps panicking.

“I’m fine.”

“But are you because just a reminder that if you’re dead, I’m fucked—”

“Ellie,” you warn, and step closer to him. You feel like freezing, like covering your ears at the sight of his trouble, but you muster the strength to carefully grab his arm, and call to him again. “Daddy.”

As if snapped back to reality by your touch, and your voice so close, he snaps his eyes to you and calms his breathing immediately.

“Are you okay?” You ask him.

He swallows thickly and holds your gaze for a moment before he snaps back. “I said I’m fine.”

Huh. You pull your hand away and nod. “Okay.”

“It’s just the cold air all of a sudden,” he explains what can be true, but what sounds like bullshit.

“All right,” Ellie says and continues to walk ahead. “Uh, so let’s go and find Tommy and the Fireflies.”

You linger your gaze on your dad for a few more seconds as you try to find some sort of symptom. But he did brush Ellie and you off harshly so, instead you leave him be and follow after Ellie.

“It’s gonna be easy,” Ellie adds and almost trips going up the snowy hill. “All we have to do is cross the River of Death.”

You roll your eyes at the fact that she’s believing it so easily, but still don’t try to correct anyone. Instead you comment on something to lighten the mood.

“We might have to wait to find the Fireflies.”

Ellie looks back with slight concern and presses. “Why?”

You look down at the snow you’re walking over and smirk. “Well it’s not summer yet.” You look up at her and shoot her a smile.

Ellie rolls her eyes and looks back. “That was stupid,” she remarks as she hides her amused smile.

“You liked it,” you mutter and pull on your backpack straps to tighten them. “You know it.”

“Maybe I can laugh at all your jokes if you teach me what you did back there, to that guy in Kansas City a few months ago,” she says.

She saw that?

You let out a soft sigh, and brush away what threatens to resurface about Sam and Henry to solely focus on what she wants. “Well, one, you don’t gotta pretend to like my jokes to get something out of me. You could've just asked.”

Ellie shrugs. “I ask Joel to teach me stuff and he says no,” she argues. “I thought you’d be the same.”

You scoff. “Well no, I ain't. And two, always read the room, Kathleen prided herself on loyalty, she wasn’t going to risk letting me kill the guy. I knew that so I acted,” you share your technique.

“Uh, huh,” Ellie notes everything down mentally.

“Two, body stance, look at how they’re standing, how tight their finger is on the trigger, if it’s too tight you’ll get shot at that moment,” you continue. “Three, act fast, hit the weak points to paralyze them. Men, the groin is a good one, for both men and women, throat, eyes, knees, temple, nose, jaw and shins. And then get them to the ground, or your stance of choice to threaten them. But always make sure they can’t and aren’t reaching for any weapons, okay? You’ll lose the higher ground if they do.”

Ellie looks over her shoulder, showing off her little smirk. “Okay, got that, but now what about a physical demonstration?” She asks.

You nod. “Sure, once we find somewhere to camp.”

Ellie shoots you a partial grin and nods in comprehension. “Cool.” She looks back ahead. “Your joke was stupid by the way.”

You snicker and run up to catch up to her. “Yeah. How about yours, Will Livingston, huh?”

She snickers and shrugs, bringing silence that follows the three of you for a while. You just walk, walk and walk for miles, down hills, up them, past dryer terrain and even snowier ground. Past a horizon of the setting sun, and under clear skies. All up until you reach a valley that overlooks the river the couple had mentioned on the map your dad insists on carrying even if they have you guiding the way

“The River of Death,” Ellie comments. “Scary.”

“Don’t start,“ your dad warns her bluntly.

You on the other hand watch the distant running river and sigh with relief. You’re almost home.

“It’s too close to dark,” your dad mentions. “There’s some caves along the river. We’ll set up camp there, cross in the mornin’.”

“Good,” Ellie says. “I'm starving. Should’ve stolen two rabbits.”

“We can get our own rabbits,” your dad counters.

You scoff at his comment, and see him give you a side eye.

“You gonna teach me how?” Ellie asks with hope.

Only to be shot down by your dad. “Just keep movin’.”

“Y/N?” Ellie now drifts her question to you.

You look over at her and think for a few seconds before nodding. “Sure let's just get more bullets first, or maybe a bow and arrow.”

Ellie snaps her eyes to your dad and shoots him a smirk. “See,” she quips. “Someone’s nice.” And then she proceeds to continue walking.

You scoff and roll your eyes before you also proceed to continue walking even more. Luckily this time you don’t end up walking far, your dad finds a cave somewhat deep in the woods to set up your last camp.

As always you’re all quick to eat as that’s what you’re looking forward to the most throughout the long days of walking, and avoiding danger. As always it’s quiet between you and him. He doesn’t attempt to talk to you, nor do you attempt to talk to him. Something stands in the way now, a tension…a fear that runs in the both of you.

The one thing that fills the awkward and tension filled silence is Ellie.

“Oh my god!” She exclaims and jumps off her seat to run off towards the giant rock in front of the cave.

“Ellie,” your dad mutters.

You look up from your food and see the sky beginning to glow as it fills with beautiful dancing colors of bright green, and hints of purple light. Northern lights.

You smile softly and shove the last bit of food in your mouth before you follow Ellie towards the rock to get a better view of them from the top.

“Beautiful huh? You know why they happen?” You ask Ellie as you sit beside her on the rock.

Ellie keeps her head up to continue admiring the dancing hues, and shakes her head. “Do you?” She redirects.

You hum and nod. “I read it in a book once, it happens when charged particles collide with gasses in Earth's upper atmosphere. Those collisions then produce tiny flashes that fill the sky with colorful light.”

Ellie looks down and meets your gaze. “Hm, interesting.” She says sincerely with a soft smile as she looks up again.

“There’s a lot of lore behind them, different beliefs,” you add quietly. “Some people think of them as bad omen, others as positive….what really stuck with me is this one belief I got told once by an old lady in Jackson…” you pause and slowly look down at your hands as that sadness, that grief, that agony, presents itself in you again after having pushed it away all day.

“She said that the lights are the souls of the departed…ancestors, those….” You swallow thickly and feel your eyes and throat begin to sting. “You lost.” You reach in your pocket and pull out the sun pin you kept inside, you fiddle with it and watch it reflect the lights that dance above.

“I like that one,” Ellie whispers.

You nod as your eyes fill with tears. “Me too.” You let out a deep sigh and flicker your eyes up to watch the sky again, to admire its beauty.

Ellie and you stay up there, basking in the lights and the silence until your dad whistles and cuts in. “Come down from there. Y’all gonna break your necks.”

Impossible….maybe a sore neck…

Regardless you both climb down and huddle back near the fire.

“Ah,” Ellie interjects. “Can I have some?”

You put the pin away and glance over at your dad, noticing the flask of alcohol in his hand.

“No.” He shakes his head.

“What?” Ellie argues. “Just to warm up. C’mon.”

Your dad rolls his eyes slightly but gives in, making you pass the flask to Ellie.

“Thanks,” she mutters, and looks at the metal flask for a second before raising it up as a speechless cheers.

You think she’d hesitate to take a sip, but she takes the drink without a fight.

Honestly, it’s very funny. Especially when she pulls it down and scrunches her face in disgust.

“Yep,” she groans. “Still gross.” She nudges it to you now. “Sip?”

You look at it and shake your head. “I’m fine. Thanks.” You grab the flask and hand it back to your dad.

“So I’ve been thinking,” Ellie continues to fill the silence.

“Hm?” You probe curiously, and press your hands down on the cold ground to lean back.

“Let’s say we find the Fireflies,” she says, “it all works, they draw my blood and put it through some of their fancy machines and make a cure.”

“Okay?” You hear your dad say.

“Then what? Like, what do we do?”

“Oh, it’s we?” Your dad retorts, kind of rudely may you add.

“Okay,” Ellie corrects herself. “Fine. Whatever. You. You can do anything you want. Where are you going? What are you doing?”

That’s an interesting question.

You glance over at your dad and wait.

“It’s never been an option,” he answers and looks up to the sky as he clears his throat. “Maybe,” he sighs. “An old farmhouse, some land, a ranch.”

He’s said that once, when you were young, he said he was working to get one, that you could all have all the free space you wanted, you could have horses, sheep, dogs, cats and goats. He’d said that once he’s old Sarah and you could live with him to take care of him and the animals. He always liked to talk about it.

Of course that was pre outbreak. You never heard that dream after. It’s nice that it hasn’t changed.

“Cool,” Ellie comments, but you can’t tell if she’s teasing him or actually interested. “What kind?”

“Sheep. I would raise sheep.”

You glance down at the fire and smile softly.

“Sheep,” Ellie whispers.

“They’re quiet,” your dad adds, making you snort softly. “Do what they’re told.”

You stifle your laugh and glance over at Ellie since you know it’s a jab at her.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ellie gets it. “Okay. So, just you and a buncha sheep. Romantic.”

You smile and spare your dad one teasing glance. He feels your gaze, he sees your smile finally directed at him after three months, and sighs softly.

“What about you, y/n?” Ellie asks.

You glance at her and then watch the dancing lights in the sky. “Well when I was young I wanted to be a performer like Britney Spears.” You grin proudly.

“Who?” Ellie queries, but you don’t have time to answer since you continue.

“But now I want to become a movie star,” you smirk and look down at her. “An actress who stars in big movies. Like Halle Berry, Kate Winslet, Kristen Dunst, Uma Thurman, Winona Ryder, and my favorite, and my idol, Audrey Hepburn.” You beam at her and nod slowly.

Ellie squints and shakes her head. “I’ve heard of none of them.”

“You will soon enough, and you’ll know my name as well. Y/N Miller,” you throw your hands up in the air and glance at your dad with that grin, noticing him listening with intent and the corner of his lips slightly raised. “Famous movie star. Survivalist. And the most talented and prettiest.”

Ellie snorts and nods along again. “I actually think that’s pretty cool. I mean you’ll probably be the only one, but it’s nice.”

“Thank you,” you beam at her and put your hands down. “I won’t forget to mention you in my speech when I win my Oscar.” You wink and then press her now. “What about you? Where are you gonna go?”

Ellie gently punches her legs and looks up. “It’s probably because I grew up in the QZ. Behind you, there’s ocean, and ahead of you, there’s a wall.” She looks down between you and your dad. “Nowhere else to look but up. I read everything I could in the school library. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell. But you know who my favorite is?”

Yes.

“Sally Ride,” your dad guesses correctly.

“Sally fuckin’ Ride!” She whispers excitedly. “Best astronaut name ever.”

You smile softly and in admiration. Silence follows, and her own smile fades, her gaze gets lost ahead of her, and you sense sorrow.

“It’ll work, right?” She then asks, making your smile fall. “The vaccine?”

You sigh and sit up to drag your legs against your chest, and hug them tightly.

“It’s a little late to start wonderin’” your dad retorts.

“I tried,” she says. “With Sam.”

Your frown immediately deepens, and your heart begins to sink.

“Tried what?” Your dad probes.

“I knew he was infected,” Ellie answers, and you see her glance at you. “I rubbed some of my blood into his bite. I know. I know it was stupid. But I…I wanted to save him.”

Your eyes water again, that anguish crawls back up, and memories haunt you.

“Well, I reckon it’s a lot more complicated than that,” your dad tells her. “Marlene, she’s a lotta things, but she’s no fool. If she says they can do it, they can do it.”

They hope….you hope too.

For him. For Sam.

After that silence returns, which is abruptly interrupted. “Who wants to take first watch and second watch?” Ellie asks to change the subject.

You part your lips to volunteer, but your dad quickly interrupts before you can.

“I’ll do both. you girls should get some sleep.”

You snap your eyes to him and get ready to argue, but once again he beats you to it.

“Y/N, it’s okay, I can do it. Tomorrow we’ll be with Tommy, and I can sleep then.”

You hesitate for a moment but you know you’ll get nowhere, so you give in.

“Dream of sheep ranches on the moon,” he adds as you and Ellie grab your sleeping bags.

“I will,” Ellie agrees. And you just scoff softly and leave it at that.

——

Sleep comes, but you don’t last long, eventually the nightmares take over; the same ones from the past three months, and all you can do is stay up to avoid seeing all of it. It would make a boring and long night, but you find yourself entertained by watching your dad.

He sits against the cave wall, he watches the sky, he watches the dark shadows in the forest, and occasionally he glances over to watch you and Ellie sleep. He seems to be looking for something, a sign of life. Once he finds it he’d look away and go back to keeping watch. That’s when your head spins and you begin to wonder why he left you?

What was his reason? Grief?

Because you feel it, you understand it. Perhaps not before, not the moment you lost Sarah, but after losing Henry?

That need to just go away, to cave into yourself, to hide and never come out? To…not keep going, to just end it as it seems like life has little meaning? You understand that. You want to do it everyday. Is that why?

Or was it fear? Just cause?

Did you do something wrong?

Or were you not enough? Were you not…her?

If you could, you'd bring her back to him. If somehow there was a chance, you would. You’d bring back Sam and Henry. Even if it meant you’d be gone forever, you’d do it.

If seeing Sarah again would make him happy you’d do it. Anger and resentment aside, you’d do it….

Nevertheless…as you’re caught up in your own thoughts, he ends up passing out.

What an old man.

To keep him that way so he can get the rest he needs you get up and keep watch for him. Ellie soon joins you and you let sleep as you both keep watch while the sun rises again, and the day turns bright.

During your watch you taught Ellie the move she wanted to learn; which she learns fast and gets very happy about. You talked about stupid stuff, and then watched some more until he woke up abruptly.

“Still mumbling in your sleep,” Ellie comments as he looks up panicked. “We woke up early. You were passed out, so we took second watch.”

“Y/N,” your dad scolds you.

You just shrug and brush him off.

“You gotta wake me up if that happens,” he rebuttals and gets up. “You can’t do things like this, Ellie.”

“But I can,” she counters sassily. “‘Cause I just did. Besides, y/n was with me the entire time.”

“She’s older, she knows stuff,” he quickly snaps back. “She’s not responsible for you, I am, okay?”

“Then don’t fall asleep,” she sasses him. “We were quiet, We checked our six, we looked for tracks, we found the high ground, and we kept watch,” she assures him as he gets near. “like you and she taught me too. And y/n let me hold the gun the entire time.” She quips and shares a proud glance with you. “What can I say, man? I'm a natural.”

“Uh-huh,” he nods. “Give her the gun.”

Ellie sighs and turns to hand you back your gun. You then proceed to hang it around your shoulder, and listen to him direct her a comment.

“You wake me up next time.”

“Yes, sir,” Ellie agrees. “But only if y/n is not here.” She shoots him a smile.

Your dad rolls his eyes and groans. “Fine,” he says in defeat. “C’mon pack up, let’s get goin’.”

As usual the day consists of endless fucking walking which was getting more annoying the closer you were to home. It’s like a fucking dread. And today it seemed colder out—but that’s probably due to the falling snow and the winder winds.

Once you assure Ellie and your dad that River is safe to cross, you make it to the other side and put your mask up over half of your face, you put your hood over your head to block out the cold and keep as warm as you can.

The closer you got home, the more the grounds seemed familiar, the more your excitement rose. That becomes especially so as you get close to the dam.

“We’re almost there,” you squeal. “We’re almost home.” You quicken your pace, but look back as you the sound of Ellie blowing out air catches your attention. “Whatcha doin’?”

“I’m learning how to whistle,” she explains as she catches both you and your dad looking back at her now.

“You don’t know how to whistle?” Your dad queries.

Ellie pulls her hand out of her mouth to rebuttal. “Does it sound like I know how to whistle?”

“No,” you retort and look back ahead. “Just put your lips together and blow.

“I’ve tried that! It doesn’t work!”

You smirk and do it yourself before you look back at her to do it again.

Ellie shoots you a pointed glare and drops her hand to her side. “Well now you're just showing off,” she spats. “No one likes a show off.”

You smirk and counter. “Everyone likes me, so I guess it’s wrong.”

Ellie scoffs. “Have you ever heard of the word humble? Won’t hurt to know its definition.”

You grin and look ahead. “I do know it actually.” You whistle one more to piss her off.

This time she doesn’t retort back, instead you suddenly feel a snowball hit your back.

“Hey!” You exclaim and look back.

Ellie shoots you a smirk. “Show off,” she quips without shame.

You let out a small huff and stop walking to bend down and make a snowball. Ellie knows what you’re going to do and begins to walk back with a grin.

“Don’t,” she laughs and puts her hand out.

“Whistle,” you say. “And I won’t throw it. Oh wait,” you snicker. “You can’t.”

Ellie quickly bends down and collects a snowball, causing you guys to stay at a standstill to wait who’d throw it first.

“Throw it and I’ll push you in,” she threatens.

You begin to walk back and taunt her again with a whistle.

“Fucker!” Ellie runs and throws it, but you manage to turn out of the way, and it ends up hitting the back of your dads legs.

Ellie’s eyes go wide, and you and her stifle your laughs as he stops and looks back.

“It was me,” she admits with a smirk, and you let your snowball fall, and snicker.

Your dad looks between the two of you, he lets his gaze linger without saying anything. And when he does break his gaze away it’s to glance down at his wrist for a second before he lifts his eyes and lets out a deep annoyed sigh. “Enough foolin’ around, let’s go.” He grumbles and turns to continue on ahead, causing you guys to follow after him now.

“You guys should teach me how to hunt. Like, seriously,” Ellie says.

“Huh,” your dad breathes out.

“Huh,” Ellie mocks. “Like she’s a girl. she can’t handle it.”

“You can handle the shootin’” you assure her.

“Not so sure about the dressin’?” Your dad adds on to your comment.

“What’s the dressin’?” Ellie asks.

You look over at her and explain it to her. “It’s when you take the guts out.”

Ellie nods as she falls behind. “Oh, yeah. Why do they call it dressing? It’s like, you should call it undressing ‘cause it is. It’s like undressing from the inside.”

You hum in agreement and think about it now too.

“Still interested, though.” Ellie adds.

“I told you,” you tell her and grin as you see glimpses of the dam coming up. “Let’s just get more bullets, and we can do it.” You then run up ahead and stop at the top of the hill that overlooks the running water that goes through the dam.

Ellie and your dad catch up, and Ellie of course adds something to specialize the moment. “Dam.”

You and your dad share a judgmental gaze before he retorts for you. “You’re no Will Livingston.”

“Yeah, yeah, but who is?” She rebuttals. “So that made electricity?”

“Yeah,” your dad answers her. “Don’t ask me. I don’t have a clue.”

You smile wider and linger in your spot for a moment before you continue walking.

“You know, you could’ve just made something up,” Ellie interjects as they both follow you now whilst you try hard not to just run home out of pure joy. “I would’ve believed you.”

“You know,” you add on as you walk down, past the dam. “The dam still provides electricity. I’ve been told how, but I forgot, but there is light in Jackson, trust me.”

“Huh,” Ellie huffs out. “Well we're almost there aren’t we? We’ll see.”

“Yeah.” You mutter. “We will.”

Once you make it down you each step makes your heart beat pick up, each other footstep makes you wary since you know that the rangers out on pontrol should probably be approaching. It’s rare that they’d miss spotting the three of you.

“Look at that River,” Ellie points out. “It’s crazy blue. Hey, Joel, what if this is the River of Death?”

You hear him stop, so you stop even with your anticipation to get home, and wait for them. You watch him pull out his map to check what you’ve already pointed out.

“We’re close,” you break the silence. “Let’s go.”

As you take a few steps ahead, you come to a quick halt as the sound of horses neighing, their running footsteps steal your attention.

Your dad takes Ellie’s hand and tries to run away, while you stay in place and watch multiple people surround you, stopping Ellie and your dad right by you.

“Get behind me,” you hear your dad tell Ellie, before he grabs your hand and tries to pull you behind him too.

However, you slip your hand away and step forward again. You’re not scared, you recognize this tactic, you know the protocol, you know it’s them.

“We ain’t lookin’ for any trouble,” your dad interjects to try to ease the tension. “We’re just passin’ through.”

You glance around at all of them, all the faces of the people that surround the three of you. Since they all have hats, and masks over their faces it’s hard to identify who’s who. You doubt much has changed as far as routines go, maybe some people have been added here and there, but it should be the same otherwise. They might recognize you and ease the tension.

Albeit just as you lower your hand to take off your mask all guns point at you

“Keep your hands up!” The man at front yells.

“Yes,” you mutter and search the crowd again for Maria, she usually likes to patrol at the gate.

Behind you a dog begins to whine; maybe it’s the alert dog…fuck that’s right. Fuck.

“Drop the guns!” The man yells again.

You snap your gaze to your dad and give him an assuring nod before you both pull your guns off your shoulders, and place them on the ground. When you’re lifting your arms again is when you reach for your mask and pull it off, you then lift your hand further and pull off your hood, finally revealing your face to those ahead of you.

Again you search the crowd and behind the man you spot her, Maria. Her eyes land on you too and you see her ease her shoulders.

The man ahead lowers his gun slightly and squints his gaze slightly. “Holy shit,” he mutters. “The child protege returns.” He scoffs and glances back, you follow his line of gaze and see Maria getting off her horse, she lowers her mask and her eyes soften—“welcome home, Sunny.”

You smile with relief, and offer him a nod.

“You’re gonna have to stay there girl,” he adds. “You know the rules.”

You nod and look at Ellie and your dad. “It’s okay,” you mutter and keep your hands at your side.

“You been near infected?” He asks.

You shake your head and try to answer, but your dad beats you to it.

“There’s no infected out here.”

“The hell there ain’t,” the guy spats back and whistles, making a dog from ahead of you bark as he’s brought over.

Then who’s whining behind you?

“Last chance for a bullet. If you’ve been infected, he will smell it and he will rip you up.”

You swallow thickly and glance over at Ellie.

Usually the dog only detects active cordyceps, hers is…dormant considering it hasn’t spread? Or is it active?

Fuck.

The dog is let go from its leash and he first begins to walk to your dad. He first smells him to make sure, and once he smells nothing he jumps up and gives the all clear. After that the dog walks over to you, he smells your feet and your legs, before jumps on you and gives you the all clear.

“Good boy,” you coo at him and scratch him behind the ears.

The dog happily wags his tail before getting on all fours to walk back to his handler.

“Like I said, we’ll just move on,” your dad interjects. But it’s not that easy, they still need to make sure Ellie is clear. You can’t move otherwise, not even to greet Maria that is itching to meet up with you as much as you are to meet up with her.

“Now her,” they point to Ellie.

Your heart begins to race, and your mind begins to race faster. The dog begins to growl as he creeps towards her, so you look at your dad to see what he’d do, but you see that he’s frozen…he’s…frozen.

He must truly care about her….

Fuck.

You step back and face Ellie, and she looks over at you at that moment too to express her concern since your dad wouldn’t turn to face her.

“It's okay,” you mouth to her as the dog gets closer. “It’s okay.” You discreetly reach your fingers for your holstered gun. If the dog does detect the cordyceps then you’ll have to…wound it so he doesn’t hurt her, they’ll all probably hate you for it, but you can’t let her die.

The dog gets closer, he smells her for a few seconds before he looks up at her. You hold your breath and clench your jaw.

Ellie glances at you again, and you step forward, but the dog then barks and jumps on her, giving the all clear, and letting you relax and exhale deeply.

“Hi,” Ellie giggles and crouches down to pet the dog and let him lick her. “Hi!”

Now that he isn’t going to kill her, you look at the guy for the okay.

He catches you and points to Maria with his eyes. You immediately beam as your eyes begin to sting, and don’t wait a moment longer to break into a run towards her, meeting her halfway.

“Oh god,” she whispers as she throws her arms around you. “You’re here. You’ve been gone too long.”

You nod and ball up the material of her jacket in your fists as you nuzzle your head against her shoulder.

“I’m home,” your voice quivers, forgetting those you came with as you’re basked by the joy, and warmth of being in her arms again. It’s why you miss the curious stare of your dad, the confusion that grows within him, whilst Ellie begins to feel a spark of something deep within her, something she hasn’t felt about you before, jealousy…not for what you might have with Maria, but over how she holds you and what it can mean.

Sure at first she was slightly jealous of you, of how your father showed you affection, but that soon disappeared, quickly actually; the moment she saw you take down that man. And now after 3 months, after witnessing what happened 3 months ago together. After 2 months of you teaching her things she didn't know, things she wanted to know, now after having someone to talk to, someone to laugh with. Now after finally having another woman to bond with her instead of just your dad. After having no one but you and your dad, she’s grown quite attached to you too.

She knew you were heading home to your family, but something in her hoped you wouldn't be so overjoyed, she didn’t want you to stay with them. She wanted just you, your dad, and her. Even if she noticed how you and your dad barely even talked at the moment.

“You’re never leaving,” Maria says and rests her chin on your head. “You understand that?”

You laugh and nod. “Not plannin’ to.”

Maria tightens her hold around you for one more lingering second before she pulls back to grab your shoulders and look at you in the face, to see the happy tears that roll down your cheeks.

“Tommy is going to freak out,” she says with a happy smile. “I was so worried,” she sighs and caresses your cheeks as she looks deep into your eyes.

You try to hide it well, the sadness brought by your still very much active grief, but can she tell in this small interaction?

“I’m home now,” you assure her. “I’m okay.”

“Are you?” She asks.

You nod and offer her a brighter smile. “I…am.”

She hums, and caresses your chin once more before letting you go, and letting you turn to introduce who you’re here with now that you remember that you’re still surrounded. But before you can, a big red bloodhound comes running at you and tackles you to the ground with all its force to start licking you, and whining out of joy.

“Hey!” You hear Ellie exclaim with concern.

“Ahh,” you groan and keep tilting your head away so you wouldn’t be licked in your mouth. “That’s a good boy, Achilles,” you tell him. “I missed you too man, but you’re heavy.”

“Maybe he’ll help you get cleaned up,” you hear someone say as they approach you. “Achilles, get off her man.”

The dog does as he’s told, letting someone else come to view as they stand above you now, blocking the natural bright light that almost blinds you, but shines around his head like he’s some majestic being.

“Fuck,” he gasps and throws his hand out to offer it to you.

As if it can be possible you grin brighter at the sight of his familiar soft brown eyes that gleam with happiness, and his beaming smile that spreads on his square jaw. You take his hand and let him help you off the ground, you stay there in front of each of other for a lingering moment just staring at one another with longing that comes rushing back at you—you also notice he doesn’t seem to aged much, he looks pretty much the same, except for his hair, it’s longer, fluffier, and no longer shaven.

It looks good that way. It’s nice to see him again. seeing your best friend since you joined the fireflies years ago brings even more ease to your wounded heart. It makes you excited, so much so that you squeal before you throw your arms around his neck.

“Jesus,” he mutters as he holds onto you. “I knew you’d make it.” He nuzzles his head against your shoulder, and you close your eyes to nuzzle your face against him.

“I’m finally home,” you whisper as if you can’t believe it.

He hums and begins to rub your back, he lets you bask in his embrace until you’re the one that wants to let go.

“You grew out your hair,” you point out with a smile and brush back the ends of his hair. “I like it.”

You begin to turn to face your dad and Ellie, but he turns with you to keep holding your gaze with a soft look that matches yours.

“Yeah,” he scoffs and grows cocky. “I knew you were coming, so I was like, I’m going to grow it for her since I know she likes it that way.”

You roll your eyes, but keep your smile as you walk past him to face your dad and Ellie now.

“They’re okay,” you assure the group. “They’re with me. That man is,” you exhale and share a glance with Maria. “My dad, Joel, the girl is Ellie.”

Slowly they both put their hands down, but the guns remain pointed.

“You vouch for them?” The guy asks you.

You glance at him and meet his gaze to nod. “Yep.”

The guy nods in comprehension and lowers his gun, letting the others do the same.

“Let’s get them on some horses and get them inside,” the guy instructs.

You glance at Ellie and your dad once before you turn on your heels to follow Maria.

“That’s your dad?” Apollo asks quietly beside you as he makes his horse, and his dog Achilles follows him as you all head home. “Are you gonna present me or what?”

“Shut up, Apollo,” you snap back and nudge him.

Apollo laughs and looks back. “I kinda see it between him and Tommy.”

You giggle. “Well they are brothers. You and Atlas look alike for that same reason.”

“You and your sister didn't look alike,” Apollo quickly rebuttals.

You huff out. “‘Cause we were half sisters, duh, do you want it explained to you how that works? Mama,” you look at Maria up on her horse now. “You want to explain to Apollo how that works.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Apollo retorts and nudges you.

You giggle, and notice Maria smirk.

Not so long after that Ellie, your dad, and you are whisked to some horses, finally being able to rest your feet and not have to walk the rest of the way to Jackson. You come to recognize most of the rangers who had given you that cold welcome, and greet all those you knew and that knew you.

You weren’t inside the walls yet, you haven’t seen your uncle yet, but you did feel more safe now, more comforted now that you aren’t out in the open. Now that you’re only minutes from home.

“I can’t wait to share the hell I’ve been through these past two years,” you interject on your way home. “You guys won’t fucking believe it.”

Apollo glances over at you and narrows his gaze to quip. “Maybe.” He licks his lips and looks serious. “You should tell it in the form of a play, hm?”

He’s making fun of you, funny.

“Yeah,” you go along with him. “The adventures of y/n Miller, one woman show, the musical.” You smirk and bounce your eyebrows.

“Who would play you?” He counters. “‘Cause,” he says and sucks in air through his teeth. “I hate to break it to you, but singing isn’t for you, you can play the guitar, but it’s singing that just….” He shakes his head.

You drop your jaw, peel your eyes wide as if suddenly hit with excitement, and snap your fingers to share your thought. “I have the best idea. Maybe…your mom can do it?”

Apollo goes serious, and you stifle your laugh as you grin at him.

“Can I get a bump?” You tease him and stick your fist out at your other side to offer Ellie a fistbump since she’s riding beside you.

Ellie’s confused at first, but she doesn’t leave you hanging. Apollo shakes his head with a frown, so you now offer him your fist.

“Come on,” you encourage him. “Don’t leave me hanging, it was funny.” You giggle.

Apollo rolls his eyes but very lightly hits your fist. “Only because you’re back,” he mutters.

You shrug sweetly and shoot him a sweet smile.

“It was a lame joke,” Ellie mutters.

You roll your eyes to her and sigh. “Well, I think it works,” you assure yourself. “It was good at the moment.” You flash her a smile.

Jackson isn’t far now, you all make it there quickly by horse. That wooden wall comes to view soon, and after being gone for so long, it’s such a heavenly sight. What once felt like a trapdoor, what once felt like a cage is now nothing but paradise. Walking in was such a fucking relief too. There was instant comfort in all the buildings, some that have had some tweaks and others that remain the same.

“Welcome back home,” Maria tells you as the gates close behind you.

You shoot her a smile and continue to look around at all the people, and then focus on the Christmas decorations, letting you know come up to date with what month it was; December! It’s almost Christmas!

Yet, even as happy as you feel, there’s a sadness that stabs your heart, that reminds you of that pain…

Henry and Sam should be here. They should’ve made it this far, they should’ve seen all this. You promised them…

“Y/N?!”

You snap away from your thoughts and look behind you where the call had come from, that’s when you see another familiar face, a close friend from your firefly days, and Apollo’s younger brother.

You turn your frown the other way around so they won’t worry. “Atlas!” You call out and climb off the horse, letting the man behind you take it for you.

“I knew it was you!” Atlas exclaims as you both run to meet halfway in an embrace. “Holy fuck!” He chuckles. “Fuck! I thought you were dead!”

You laugh softly and pat his back. “I made it, like I said I would.”

He smiles and caresses the back of your neck with his soft hands. “We missed you. Home wasn’t the same without you.”

You pull back and offer him a happy smile. “You haven’t aged,” you point out.

“Nah,” he winks. “Just got more handsome.”

You scrunch your nose in disgust and pull away from him completely.

Atlas smirks and glances at the pair you came in with as they walk away further in town. “You’ve brought company.”

You nod and turn to walk after them now, seeing Apollo approach on foot. “Yeah, that’s my dad,” you let Atlas know.

Atlas snaps his head to you and furrows his thick dark eyebrows. “No fucking way. Like, your dad, dad?”

Why are they so in disbelief that he’s your dad? Is there something you’re missing?

“Yeah.” You nod and scoff. “Him.” You let out a sigh and watch Apollo fall by your other side now. “I’ve got a question,” you abruptly change the subject as curiosity grows. “Are you still with redhead Jessica?”

Atlas begins to snicker, but Apollo answers before his brother can blurt the news.

“We broke up.”

You perk up instantly.

“Yeah,” Atlas bounces off his brother's announcement. “She cheated on him.” He smirks.

What a relief…not the cheating part.

Well…kinda…

“Yeah,” Apollo sighs as he shoots his brother a glare. “It happened like a year ago.”

You smile and let him see it. “Bad news, told ya.”

“Whatever,” Apollo retorts.

“Atlas! You rangle up stragglers?!” You hear a woman shout.

Apollo and you snap your heads to the side, seeing Atlas spin around to walk backwards so he can look at the young girls that had spoken to him.

“Yep!” Atlas lies. “Bad ones too! I spotted them myself, kept them from getting shot.”

You and Apollo share an amused and judgemental look before continuing to watch Atlas, noticing at that moment a pile of shit that one of the horses dropped just now; and Atlas was walking right towards it.

“A thousand that he steps in it,” you offer Apollo.

Your friend scoffs and shakes his head. “No need, he’s going to step in it.”

You both snicker and watch Atlas continue to walk back.

“Let’s meet later while everyone is at the movies, I’ll tell you all about it, and my recent patrol!”

The girls giggle and nod. “Let’s do it!” One of the girls accepts.

Atlas shoots them a wink, and as he does he runs into the pile of hot horse shit.

Without looking, as if you hadn’t ever left, Apollo and you share a proud highfive at his brother's carelessness.

“Oh man!” Atlas exclaims. “What the hell?!”

“Y/N?!” Someone yells, this one more familiar and soothing than before.

You snap your eyes ahead, and there in the middle of the crowd that had greeted you outside the gates, beside your dad, is your uncle Tommy.

“Uncle Tommy!” You call back with instant tears filling your eyes as you’re slammed with unmeasurable relief, more bliss than you’ve felt since you saw your dad for the first time.

Your uncle Tommy smiles softly and without hesitation, before wasting another second you both break through barriers of space to collide, to throw your arms around one another and hold each other.

“Oh, babygirl,” he whispers as he caresses your back, and holds you in his arms tightly as if he would lose you if his hold was too loose.

“Uncle Tommy,” you cry after not being able to hold it any longer.

“Oh,” he breathes out. “My sweet Sunny.”

As you held him, as you cried into his shoulder, you felt finally home, secured. This was home. Him. Uncle Tommy. For so long he was all you had after your dad left, for so long even when your dad was there he was the light that didn’t flicker away. He was the hope you almost lost. He was home, just as much as you were his.

Yes, as you hugged him, as you held him close you did notice the faint look of hurt in your dads eyes as he saw the interaction, it hurt you seeing it. But isn’t this what he wanted when he left you? When he drove you away? When you weren’t enough for him?

When you weren’t enough for him to stay and be your dad?

Tagged- @slut-f0r-u @star-wars-lover @traceylader @givemylovetoall @itzagothamcitysiren @sammy-13 @beloved-reblogger @emiriia @rues-daya @sunfairyy @littleshadow17 @mcu-starwars @bigtuffswordboy @riaqiax @dheet @queenofthekill @joliettes @d4rno @dgraysonss @rana030 @punisherinthealps @pedropascalluvr41 @ahoyyharrington @beaniebeensbaby201@maeneedsabreak@maelartasch@adristyles@daughterofthequeen @alastorhazbin @ririvilliams @khaylin27

664 notes · View notes

vodika-vibes · 15 days

Note

You are a true blessing to this generation of Star Wars fans tbh

May I have female (ex Jedi) inquisitor!reader x empire!cody

Can be fluff or something more serious like an interrogation or a mission

Love you sm <33

It Only Takes A Spark

Summary: Your relationship with Commander Cody is wrong. You know it. He knows it. Yet, neither of you are willing to let the other go.

Pairing: Purge Trooper Cody x F!Inquisitor Reader

Word Count: 2764

Warnings: Mentions of Torture, though nothing is shown in detail

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: So...when you said you wanted imperial cody and imperial reader, you really meant you want almost 15 pages of these two doing everything in their power to stay together in spite of everything thrown against them, with a little fix-it hand waving. Right? Because that's what I wrote, lol.

“Ma’am,” You open your eyes and turn your gaze towards the man standing in the doorway, “We’re about to land.”

“Thank you Commander,” You reply, your voice soft as you slowly push to your feet. Pain shoots up your legs, a lingering gift from the Grand Inquisitor.

Commander Cody remains in the doorway, his expression blank but there’s a hint of concern leaking through the force, and you can only sense it because of how well you know the man. “Are you in need of medical treatment, ma’am?”

“I’m afraid that this is nothing that can be fixed, Commander.”

There’s a sharp burst of irritation and frustration and despair, and you glance at him. You know that he’s irrationally protective of you, and you know that he hates everything about this situation, but he’s usually better at containing himself than this.

For a moment there’s no movement, and then Commander Cody reaches out and presses the button that controls the door, allowing the door to slide shut. The room dims, no longer lit by the bright lights of the main part of the ship.

You watch as he pulls his helmet off and stares at you. “The Grand Inquisitor tortured you again, didn’t he?” He’s trying, so hard, to hide the fury in his voice, but he’s not trying hard enough to hide from you.

“You know I’m not a very good Sith, Cody.” You remind him gently, “I felt too deeply as a Jedi, and my Master thought that that would make me a good Sith. Instead I just became…apathetic.”

“You’re hardly apathetic, sarad.”

You glance at him, and tilt your head slightly, “I think you see more of me than anyone else.”

“That I can believe.” Cody absently passes his helmet from one hand to the other, “Tell me, do you think we’ll find a Jedi on this planet?”

You’re quiet for a long moment, “No.” You finally admit, “I think the Grand Inquisitor doesn’t expect us to find anyone here either, but we have to investigate anyway.”

“Good. I’m so…tired of hunting Jedi.”

You’re quiet for an even longer moment, “You volunteered for the position, Cody. You could have stayed a regular trooper.”

“Yeah, and we both know that it’s the only way that I was going to get that advanced aging issue handled.” Cody scoffs, “Plus…” He pauses, “Nevermind.”

“Go ahead. Speak your mind.”

“Joining the Purge Troopers meant that I’m able to protect you, sarad.” He frowns, “Well, in theory. I still can’t protect you from the Grand Inquisitor.” It’s a ridiculous sappy notion, and yet you can’t help but feel touched.

You shake your head, putting the emotions in the little box with all of the other things deserving of your protection, “You worry too much.”

“Someone has to.” Cody replies, and he sounds so tired that you feel a sting of guilt.

He doesn’t belong here. He’s too good for this life, for the Empire. But then, you’ve always known that.

The comm on his wrist chimes, and you watch as he glances at it. Cody exhales slowly, and for a moment his emotions are a whirlwind around him, before they vanish completely, and he pulls his helmet on, “We’ll be landing in five, Ma’am. Will you be joining us up front?”

You don’t answer for a moment, and then you nod once and pull your own helmet on. “Lead the way, Commander.”

Cody leads you through the small ship, and he settles himself at your shoulder as it lands on the planet's largest landing pad. Hardly necessary, you think, but people are funny about Inquisitors showing up on their planet.

You walk down the landing ramp, and a trembling man greets you on the landing pad. “It’s an honor to have an Inquisitor on our humble planet,” He stammers, wringing his hands, “But I assure you, there are no Jedi on Mora.”

“Perhaps.” Your voice is flat, “A report was made, and so we shall investigate. I trust this will not be an issue.”

“No, no! Of course not!” Somehow the Governor wrings his hands even more, “However, if you do find a Jedi…I hope you know that we aren’t harboring them willingly-”

“I will not make any accusation until I determine whether or not there is a Jedi on this planet.” You interrupt, “I wish to speak with the man who made the report.”

“I…yes…of course.” The governor nervously turns his back on you, “This way. I will be more than happy to show you where he lives.”

“You already know who made the report?” Commander Cody asks.

“Well, yes. He was very proud of it, you see.”

You’re sure that if Cody wasn’t wearing his helmet, he’d be glaring at the Governor hard enough that he’d burst into flames. And, frankly, you don’t blame him. Everything about this situation is screaming that it’s going to be a false report afterall.

Still, a job is a job, so you allow the nervous man to lead you through the winding streets, until you reach a massive house. The Governor’s house, he explains proudly. There’s a young teenage boy sitting on the front steps, nervousness rolling off of him in waves.

The boy looks at you, and then at Cody, and then back to you. Before he looks at the Governor, “You never said that actual Inquisitors would come to interrogate me!” He blurts.

The Governor glares at the boy, and opens his mouth to say something, but you take a step forward, and he stills. “Commander,”

“Ma’am?”

“Ensure the Governor here doesn't run off. Feel free to shoot him if you have to.” You order. You hear Cody unholster his pistols, and the Governor whimpers in fear, but then you’re focused on the boy.

He’s Pantoran, with messily cut lavender hair. His eyes are wide with terror. His clothes are filthy, but not the carefully curated filth that you’d expect from a teenage boy…more like someone who works hard labor.

“You are the person who made the report?” You ask.

“Y-yes ma’am. But I wouldn’t of if I knew that you’d actually come here.” He blurts.

“Then why did you?”

“Um…well…” He nervously fumbles with an old comm, “We…a message went out…”

“ A message?”

“Yeah.”

“Show me.”

The boy opens a message on his comm and hands the small device to you. There, written in black and white, is the message the boy mentioned. A monetary reward to anyone who reports a jedi to the planetary government.

“We…my ma and pa…we don’t have a lot of money. And I thought…that amount of credits would be enough that we’d have enough food-” The boy rambles, “I’m sorry for wasting your time-”

You pass the comm back to the boy, “Did you ever receive your payment?”

“Yes ma’am, though it was a lot less than he promised.”

“Hm.” You turn your attention to the Governor, “You can go.” You say to the boy. You remain still and quiet as he runs off, and it’s only when you’re sure that the boy won’t get involved that you speak again, “I’m find myself very curious,” You murmur, “As to why you might want an Inquisitor and a Purge Trooper on your planet.”

“I…I didn’t have a choice.”

“Is that right?”

“You have to believe me.”

“I think you’ll find that I do not have to do anything.” You correct quietly, “Commander, bring the Governor inside. We need information from him.”

“Yes ma’am,”

You absently wave your hand at the door, using the force to force it open to allow Cody access to the building. You follow him inside, and shut the door behind you.

“Do you wish to be present for the interrogation, ma’am?”

“It is probably for the best.”

“As you say.”

It takes Cody three hours to pull all of the information out of the Governor, and you watch, impassively, as the nervous man’s body lies sprawled on the ground between the pair of you.

“What do you think?” Cody asks as he cleans his knife.

You’re quiet for a long time, “I think it’s incredibly ballsy for him to claim that that Rebellion forced him to do this.”

“I agree.” Cody checks his knife and then slides it back into its holster, “That said, the Rebellion would probably do a lot of things to get their hands on an Inquisitor and a Purge Trooper.”

You pull your gaze away from the body, “You believe that we are the targets then?”

“Would make sense, wouldn’t it?

“It would.” You agree, “Generally speaking, hunting the Rebellion falls under the purview of the Imperial Army, not the Inquisitors or Purge Troopers.”

“You’re not wrong.” He’s quiet, “We should return to the ship and leave. I do not want you in any more danger than you have to be.”

You open your mouth to say something, and then you pause and tilt your head. “Ah. I fear that this is no longer our decision.”

“What do you-?”

Cody isn’t able to finish as the door bursts open, revealing a large group of people in mismatched armor, led by a man wielding a purple lightsaber.

“...well, it looks like there actually is a Jedi on this planet, ma’am.” Cody says dryly.

“So it would appear.”

Mace Windu, who you thought was dead, slides into the opening stance of Vaapad. “Lower your weapons. You’re both under arrest.”

“Well, seeing as you don’t have any actual authority in the galaxy, I would argue as to the legality of the word arrest,” You say flatly, “But very well. Stand down Commander.”

Cody pauses, and he releases a heavy sigh, as he slowly lowers his weapon to the ground and raises his hands. You, however, just raise your hands.

Mace Windu pulls your lightsaber from your waist, and hooks it on his own, and he roughly slaps force suppressors around your wrists.

Which is unfortunate, really. Since the force was the only thing keeping you conscious.

The last thing you hear as the world goes dark is Cody’s loud cursing.

Cody impatiently paces the cell that he’s been thrown in.

Well, it’s a room, with its own fresher and a very comfortable bed. But it’s still locked from the outside, which makes it a very comfortable cell, but a cell all the same.

He feels naked without his armor, but he does understand why he wasn’t allowed to keep it. He wouldn’t have allowed an enemy combatant to keep their armor either.

At least they gave him clothes to wear. Comfortable clothes even.

And he is getting three meals a day, though, tellingly, no one has come to deliver the meals personally. Instead they’re being delivered by Skywalker’s protocol droid.

Not that Cody’s been too eager to talk to anyone.

His mind is locked on his sarad. And on the way she crumpled when the cuffs were slapped around her wrists.

Cody’s no fool. He knew that she was badly injured. He knew that she was using the Force to keep herself going. He hadn’t, however, been aware as to the extent of her injuries.

If he had he wouldn’t have allowed her to leave the ship at all.

Not that it matters at this point, of course.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of his cell door sliding open. Cody half expects to see that damned droid again, so he’s genuinely surprised to see Rex and Wolffe standing there.

With Obi-Wan Kenobi standing behind them.

“Cody!” Rex and Wolffe hurry into the room, stopping several feet away from him, “You’re alive!” Rex says, “I thought…for sure-”

“As if I would die so easily,” Cody replies, “I heard that you went down with your ship, though.”

“Yeah, well…” He shrugs awkwardly, “I did. I got lucky.”

“How’d you become a Purge Trooper, vod. I thought only NatBorns were slated for that.” Wolffe says, a frown on his face.

“It makes sense,” Obi-Wan says from the back of the room, “Anakin would absolutely want to keep you close.”

“I volunteered.” Cody says flatly, and when the three men jerk back in surprise, he continues, “Where is she? The Inquisitor I was with. What did you do to her?”

“She’s in the infirmary.” Rex answers without thinking, “We didn’t hurt her, vod.”

“I want to see her.”

“No one’s being allowed to see her.” Obi-Wan says, “She’s too dangerous.”

Cody’s smile is all teeth, “I’m dangerous. And I’m going to be more so unless you let me see her. And that is a goddamn threat.”

“Okay, easy there vod.” Wolffe says, “General, we can let him see her, right? So this doesn’t become a thing?”

“I think we probably should.” Obi-Wan agrees, sounding slightly shaken, “You’re not going to cause any problems, are you commander?”

“That depends on her.”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Obi-Wan pushes his hand through his graying hair, “Let’s go then.”

The infirmary where they’re keeping his sarad isn’t that far away. Which makes sense, you wouldn’t want an infirmary for prisoners located in the same place as an infirmary for everyone else.

Obi-Wan opens the door with a wave of a keycard, and then Cody ignores the three men walking with him. He pushes between his brothers and crosses the room to the bed where his sarad is sitting and peering out the barred windows.

“Hey,” She turns at the sound of his voice and he jolts when he sees her normal eye color, rather than the striking gold he had gotten used to, “Look at you.” Cody murmurs as he sits on the edge of the bed and presses a hand against her cheek, “No gold.”

Her lips turn up into the tiniest smile, “No force.” She offers as she holds up a single wrist.

“Are you okay?”

She considers his question for a moment, “I’m not in pain,” She finally says, “I had forgotten what it was like to not be in pain.”

“Oh, sarad.”

“I’m okay, Cody.” She reassures quietly, “Are you?”

“Yeah. They’ve been very kind so far.” He carefully tucks some of her hair behind her ear, “Has anyone come to talk to you yet?”

“No. No one.”

“Well, that’s okay then.” Cody says with a sigh, “I’d be cross if they were interrogating you while you were recovering from a medical procedure.”

“You’ll be cross anyway,” she points out as she lifts one hand to press against his, “You’re so protective.”

“Someone has to be.” Cody replies.

Her small smile fades slightly, “Cody…”

“Hm?”

“...if you want to stay here. To stay with your brothers…I wouldn’t tell anyone.” She says quietly, “You…don’t belong with the Empire.”

“And you do?” Cody asks, not touching on her first comment.

She drops her gaze, “We both know that my master will never let me go. You don’t deserve to suffer my fate.”

“My place, sarad,” Cody replies as he uses a single finger to lift her chin, “is by your side. No matter where you might be.” He leans in and lightly bumps his forehead against hers, uncaring for the audience. “It doesn’t matter what you choose. Whether it’s returning to the Empire, staying here with the Rebellion, or moving to Tatooine to pick up moisture farming. I’m going to be right there next to you.”

She stares at him, and then her nose scrunches up adorably, “Moisture Farming?”

“Hey, you never know. Maybe you’ll like it.” It’s something of a relief though, seeing some of her personality peeking through the shroud of apathy she adopted to survive the Empire.

Cody brushes his finger down her cheek, an idea starting to form, “You know…” He murmurs, “We could stay.”

“They’ll never let me stay.”

“They,” Cody says, his voice raising slightly so that their audience can hear you, “are two members of the Jedi Council who were so incapable of doing their duty that they allowed a large number of their padawans to get kidnapped and tortured.”

“...rather uncalled for, Commander.” Obi-Wan mutters from the doorway.

“If and when your Master comes looking for you, he’ll also have to deal with me. And I’ve become very good at killing Force users.” Cody adds with a wry smile.

She sighs softly, and her eyes close, “Alright then.” Her free hand comes up to press against his cheek, “We’ll try it your way.”

“I promise, sarad, no one will ever hurt you again.”

And a genuine smile crosses her face as she moves her other hand to press against his cheek, “Well, if you say so then it must be true.”

#star wars #tcw #commander cody x reader #cody x reader #star wars fanfiction #x reader fanfiction #f!reader fic #answered asks

57 notes · View notes

nicohischierz · 8 months

Text

icy roads: mark estapa

warnings: car crash, hospitals and flatlining

tagging: @ivy-34, @hzstry8, @francesfarhadi, @cixrosie, @heartz4hisch, @trevs-swiftie, text me or fill the form if you want to join the taglist!!

you were making your way up to michigan to see your brothers tyler and dylan.

it became custom when you and dylan joined university that you'd visit each other whenever possible. you were the one who did most of the driving considering his hectic game schedule.

so this weekend was no different.

you finished classes early and it was just in time for a long weekend. so you packed all your things in your car for the three hour drive ahead of you.

"hey dyl, i'm just getting started on the journey. i should get to aa around like the afternoon," you left your brother a message.

you then facetimed your boyfriend. the michigan native answered his phone immediately.

"hi gorgeous," he answered, moving into his room and locking the door.

"hi marky, i was trying to get through to dyl but he’s not answering,” you explained.

“yeah, we were playing a game of monopoly and your brothers got into a fight about rent or something,” mark drawled on.

you rolled your eyes at your brothers childish antiques. mark chuckled at your expression before he fell on his bed.

“you’re staying with duker right?” he asked.

you shrugged “i hope so, i don’t feel like sleeping in a dorm again,”

your conversation was cut short when someone entered marks room. “yo stop sign, we’re gonna grab something to eat before y/n gets here,” ethan called out.

“oh hey y/n, how’s the drive?” he asked once he spotted you in the phone.

“it’s going great eddy. except for the fact that i am almost out of gas now and i need food,” you complained.

you had spoken to mark for over an hour of your journey. how he managed to stay away from the boys that long was beyond you but it helped with the boring journey.

“you fill your tank and i’ll see you when you get here,” mark wished you goodbye and sent you a kiss before ending the call.

as you headed into the station and grabbed some snacks, you texted your brothers your eta and thanked the cashier before walking out, sour patch kids in hand.

the roads were getting more slippery as you approached ann arbor causing you to slow down just a little.

it all happened so fast.

you were taking a bend when your car slide off the road, driving off road into a tree.

the impact of the car caused you to hit your head on the dashboard. you were knocked out immediately not hearing the shouts asking if you were alright.

meanwhile, back in michigan your brothers were wondering where you were. “wait when you checked her location last where was she?” dylan asked.

tyler pulled his phone out and check find my iphone “she was at this exact spot dude, i swear to you,” he explained.

now that got all the boys worried.

so ethan, mark, tyler and dylan all piled into a car and drove to your location.

“dude, why are there so many police cars?” ethan asked.

his question was answered when the boys pulled up to the side, tyler noticed his sisters license plate and her sticker saying ‘osu mum’.

the younger duke brother made a dash towards his sisters car. dylan followed after with mark.

“woah. woah, you guys can’t be here,” a cop told the three boys.

“no, sir that’s my sister,” dylan explained. tyler had tears coming out of his eyes as he watched his sister be pulled out of on a stretcher.

the cops face softened as he ushered the two brothers to follow him. “you guys get in the ambulance, your friends can follow and i’ll be there soon okay,” he explained.

tyler and dylan wasted no time climbing into the back of the ambulance. mark headed back to the car, his hands shaking.

ethan was quick to notice and strapped him into the passenger seat. “mark, she’s going to be okay. it’s y/n she’s going to pull through,” he reassured his friend.

ethan and mark called the rest of the group telling them what happened and they didn’t even stop for a second before they headed towards the hospital.

ethan and mark met tyler and dylan in the waiting room.

"they took her to do some scans. they say say it's not anything major but umm, they want to make sure there isn't any like internal bleeding or anything," tyler mumbled.

mark wrapped the younger duke brother in a hug. he knew how close you and tyler were so he took it upon himself to look after the boy.

it was pretty soon after that the rest of the michigan boys showed up. tyler had texted some of your friends from osu telling them what happened as they blew up your phone.

the cop who brought the boys to the hospital handed dylan and tyler your suitcase and waited with the brothers and their friends.

it was quiet in the hospital as the doctors finished doing some checks on you before letting dylan and tyler in. your parents were trying to find the fastest way to see you guys but till they came it was your brothers that took care of everything.

but by some unfortunate luck, when dylan and tyler had finally been allowed to see you, your ecg started beeping like crazy. the two brothers watched as nurses and doctors flocked into your room pushing the two out.

mark rushed over to your room to see what was happening and watched as your once steady heartbeat went flat. tyler was crying hysterically as rutger and frank tried comforting their friend.

ethan held onto dylan, the older boy trying to maintain a strong face for his younger brother.

but mark couldn't handle it. his chest felt tight and he felt like he couldn't breathe. his ears were ringing and the only thing he wanted was to be in your arms.

"kiddo are you okay?" the cop asked.

the question brought everyone's attention towards mark. the michigan native clutched onto his chest as he looked dylan in the eyes.

the look was all dylan needed to know.

dylan wanted to scream at his teammate. how could mark go against the one unspoken law they had all agreed on. don't date your friends sister.

tyler hadn't caught on yet. but as he was about to ask his brother what was wrong a nurse came out of your room.

"are you guys y/n dukes family?" she asked.

the boys all nodded, forgetting the moment of tension.

"she's going to be alright. it seems that she was waking up and her tracker slipped," she explained.

tyler wanted to go in and see his sister but the nurse added "is there a boy named mark here. she was asking for him earlier,"

mark stepped forward and followed after the nurse. but before he went in, he grabbed onto tyler’s arm and pulled him along.

“i know she’d want to see you too,” he whispered

#mark estapa imagine #umich imagines #nicohischierz writes #tw: car crash #tw: hospital

303 notes · View notes

itsasainz · 1 year

Text

Girlfriend Treatment | Trent Alexander-Arnold

Summary: You've been holding off on becoming Trent's girlfriend, but there's nothing like a bit of peer pressure to change your mind.

Word count: 3.1k

Warnings/tags: smut, fluff, trent being the loml

mdni please :)

a/n: I love taa. thats all.

masterlist!

His breathing is heavy in the crook of your neck, lips damp and soft on your skin, your own breaths ragged as you come down from your high, flushed and warm from the moment, your eyes trained on the light above your bed and the fact that you shouldn’t be doing this. You run your hands down the plains of his back, smiling to yourself at the fact that he hasn’t pulled away. “You need to get to training,” you say, “Match day and all that.”

You can feel his hesitancy as he pulls away to sit back on his heels, hands trailing along your skin. “Can I shower here?”

You nod, “I’ll start on breakfast.”

He leans forwards and kisses you, just a peck, before getting out of bed and disappearing into the bathroom, leaving you blushing in your messy sheets. God, he’ll be the death of you.

You drag yourself out of bed and pull some pants on, grabbing his t-shirt as you head to the kitchen, swearing when you see the time – lunch it is, you guess. You’re familiar enough with his pre-match routines to know what he’ll want to eat and how long he can stay. Caught up in your thoughts – of him, and his match and whether you’ll agree when he inevitably asks (again) whether you’ll be there. You’re plating up when he reappears in his joggers, shirtless, smiling at the sight of you in his clothes; if the match goes well, he’ll probably want to fuck while you wear his shirt, and you’ll almost certainly oblige.

Sure enough, he asks while you're sitting at the table. “I’ve got two comps left,” he says, “Please come – bring Hannah, if you like.”

You glance at him, "That sounds like WaG behaviour – not your girlfriend, remember?"

"Darlin', you know that fact's entirely on you, right?"

“Who else is going?” You deflect.

“Just my brothers.”

You mull it over; if anything, his brothers are good fun, and you’ve got no plans. “I’ll think about it,” you say, “but I’m not wearing your shirt.”

“That sounds like a yes,” he teases, taking your empty plate, “You’re coming?”

You lean back in your chair, watching him start to wash up, “I said I’ll think about it.”

Even with his back turned to you, you can feel his smile. “Don’t think too hard, you’ll hurt your head.”

“That’s my line,” you scoff, standing up to join him at the sink. Absentmindedly, you find yourself leaning your cheek into the top of his back, your hands sneaking around his middle. “Let me ask Han if she’s free, mkay?”

His soapy hand finds yours. “Can I have my shirt back?”

“I like this one.” you mutter. “I’ve got a ton of your other ones in the drawer, though.”

He wipes his hands on a tea towel, then turns to hug you back, leaning back against the edge of the sink. “I was wondering where they’d all gone.”

You smile at him, “It would be such a shame if you never got them back.”

“I need to go, sweetheart.”

You kiss him. “Don’t miss me too much.”

He tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, “See you later.”

“Hmm, maybe.”

When he’s gone, taking one of his other shirts and promising to text you after training, you lie on the sofa, texting your friend to see if she can come to the game – last time you went without a friend, someone took a load of photos of you with his parents, and the rumours had been circling for weeks after.

From Hannah: I have that work dinner, remember? Yk I’d rather come to the game, but I can’t miss it.

To Hannah: Shit, I forgot. Don’t worry about it, have fun at the dinner <3

With a few hours until the game, you shower and text Trent to send you a ticket, taking your mind of the anxiety about getting spotted again by getting ahead on some of your admin for the new year, deliberating for a little too long on what to wear, knowing you’ll wear something similar to what you’ve worn to every other game you’ve attended in the winter – a thick coat and jeans, probably with a red top so you don’t stand out too much from the sea of Liverpool supporters.

Tyler picks you up just after six, and you find yourselves sat in the box early with some of the other players' friends and family, watching the warm ups while Marcell catches you up on his current girl troubles and the argument he had with Dianne the other day; you've heard about it all through Trent already, but you don’t mention that to his brother, instead getting Tyler to bring you a drink from the bar.

The first half is both awful and brilliant at once: Leicester City's early goal throws the Scousers off a little, but the two own goals cheer the home crowd right back up. Trent disappears back to the changing rooms during half time, and you chat some more with his brothers – at this rate, you'll have gotten an entire family history out of them by the time the game ends. He comes over for a couple of minutes right before the game starts up again, looking all sweaty and waving to his brothers. You go to the barrier and crouch down to talk to him.

"God," you mutter, "You reek of sweat."

"'S almost like I've been playing football."

You smile down at him. "Good luck – you're playing well."

His eyes are adoring, though you won't let yourself admit that it's you he's looking at like that. "Gimme a kiss?"

"In front of everyone?" You frown, "And with you smelling like that?"

He stares at you for a few long seconds, and you cave, opting to press your lips to his cheek before pecking him on the lips. "Go get 'em."

He moves away from you as you stand, leaning your elbows on the barrier to watch him weave through players to get back to the pitch, chatting to Robbo on the way. Back in your seat, Trent's brothers are looking at you with quizzical expressions.

"I thought you weren't together." says Tyler.

"We're not." you mutter.

"He hasn't asked?" Marcell chips in.

"Oh, he's asked." you say.

"Why'd you refuse then?"

You want to sink into the floor. "When he asked, it was just after all those photos came out, and I was super freaked out about having my life turned upside down by the idea of everyone finding out I'm dating Liverpool's golden boy."

"You just kissed him in a stadium of 50,000 people."

You can feel your face going red. He raises a good point – you've gotten past the panic of having your face fleetingly in the tabloids, and it's not like you and Trent don't already act like a couple – he even took you to Qatar with him and introduced you to the actual WaGs.

The second half drags by, but Trent plays well until he's taken off, right at the end, and you can tell he's unhappy with the overall performance. You check your phone when the game ends, aware that it's going to be a long while before you leave, surprised by the bunch of texts Hannah had sent you.

From Hannah: I wish I was at the match this meal is so boring

From Hannah: omg not the own goals

From Hannah: ummmm since when were u kissing trent in PUBLIC?!?!!?

From Hannah: wife him up

To Hannah: what?? where did u see that??

She sends you a link to a tweet by some LFC fan who must have been sitting in the seats above the box, because beneath the words "UM TRENT WHO ARE YOU KISSINGGG???" are a bunch of photos of you crouched down to talk to him, recognisable by your coat but thankfully without your face in them – the time stamp shows that it must have been posted within minutes of the interaction, and you're almost impressed.

Tyler sees what you're looking at and scoffs. "Jesus, that was quick."

"Right?" You laugh. "At least my face isn't in it."

He nods, "Better than last time, eh?"

The two of them bid farewell once the stadium's cleared out, knowing Trent will drive you home, and make you promise to drop by at some point before the next game. Once they're gone, you spot Hendo's wife and go to say hi, the two of you catching up until, at long last, Hendo and Trent reappear, having showered and done their interviews. Trent hugs you tight when he sees you, his warm hands slipping under your coat and pressing into your skin.

"Proud of you, T." you say, earning a satisfied smile. "Wanna grab something to eat on the way home?"

He agrees, walking with his arm over your shoulders, chatting to Hendo on the way to the car, signing a couple of autographs on the way out, smiling for the lingering fans. They don't pay you or Rebecca much notice, you hang back until they're gone and Trent finally unlocks the car.

"Chinese?" You offer on the way, "My treat?"

He laughs, "What's gotten into you? Two public appearances in one evening?"

"Going to the local Chinese place is hardly a public appearance." you argue.

"I'd love to." he says, stopping at a red light. You smile to yourself, for once filled with utter confidence in everything about this relationship – or, more accurately, suddenly able to acknowledge that this man loved you and wanted to be with you, even if he'd never put the former into words.

He parks on the street in front of the takeaway, grabbing a menu from the counter and joining you to deliberate about what to order in the corner by the window. You spend five minutes um-ing and ah-ing only to order what you always do. You insist on paying like you'd send you would, and sit back down beside him.

You turn pointedly to face him rather than the counter. "T," you begin. Fuck, who'd have thought you'd be so nervous about asking a question you already knew the answer to? You need to find a segue. "Have you seen the photos?"

"Again?" he asks, the concern immediately clouding his face – he saw the anxiety you went through last time, and it makes your heart flutter to know he holds that concern for you.

"Relax, my face isn't in them," you say, getting the tweet back up. He inspects the photos, instinctively smiling at the little moment.

"Why are you so okay with it?" he asks.

You shrug. "There's no point in getting stressed about the same stuff twice."

"Wise." he teases, squeezing your thigh slightly.

"I'm practically Oogway." you say, making him laugh. "Seriously though-"

Your order is called, interrupting you. He goes to get it, unlocking the car as you take the bag from him. In the car, he sends you a worried look as he turns the engine on. The takeaway sits on your knees, warm on your jeans.

"What were you going to say?" he asks.

You tell yourself to let tonight last a little longer. "Oh, uh, nothing. Let's get home, yeah?"

He parks on the street under your flat, waiting diligently while you fiddle with your keys and grab your mail from the pigeon hole, greet an elderly neighbour and insist on taking the stairs.

Once inside, he helps you grab the chopsticks and drinks before settling onto the sofa, cross legged with the news on in the background.

"Listen," you say, "I've been thinking."

"Don't tell me you bought me dinner just to break up with me."

You panic for a second, "Oh my God, no, of course not! In fact, kinda the opposite."

He leans against the sofa behind him, looking a little smug. Bastard. "Oh yeah?"

"Don't tease, okay? I need to say this."

His eyes don't leave your face as you put your meal on the coffee table. "Go on."

You face him, "T, I maybe like you a bit – well, a lot – more than I ever planned to, and, like, I was thinking a lot over Christmas and stuff, but I wish I hadn't been so anxious when you first asked me to be your girlfriend, 'cause I don't want to be thinking about what the fucking Mirror are saying about us when they're irrelevant to us, as like, people. You’re one of the most important people in my life and every time we spend time together I'm just reminded of how lucky I am to have you in my life, and of how bloody dumb I've been. Anyway, this is a very long way of saying something simple: I love you, and do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Trent has a soft look on his face that makes you flustered. "For real?" He mutters, mostly to himself, as he takes your hands. He pulls you to him so you're forced to straddle him and takes his sweet time kissing you, hands on your waist.

"Is that a yes?"

He laughs, "You're cute, y'know? of course it's a yes, love."

You blush. "Does this mean I get girlfriend treatment now?"

His lips, ever so gentle, ghost over your neck, "My sweet, sweet girl, let me show you just what kind of treatment you get now."

You are, as ever, putty in his hands.

Gently, he moves you so that you're under him, kissing your neck and murmuring endless kindnesses into your skin as he undoes your jeans, pulling them down to expose your thighs, the fabric tangling around your ankles. He pulls back, seemingly reluctantly, to pull them off your legs completely, and repositions himself so he can kiss you on the soft flesh of your inner thigh, leaving teeth marks and bruises in his wake, hands preoccupied with your bra and removing your top.

Ever the tease, his kisses only graze the fabric over your core, hands teasing your nipples. You sigh, getting frustrated with his not-quite touches.

His lips finally attach to your core through the lace of your pants, finding the fabric damp with your arousement, his mouth wet over you. His mouth on your panties elicits a moan from you, breathy and sweet. His hands disappear from your chest for a moment before you feel the slight sting of him tearing your underwear off, leaving you exposed to him as he kneels on the floor, your legs over his shoulders, hands in his locs.

He is systematic with his assault on your core, knowing your every weakness and slightest tells, his tongue toying with you, teeth grazing your clit slightly, making you twitch with pleasure around him. He presses his fingers into you, relishing in the way you contract around him, letting out another moan, this one louder, less restrained as he unravels you, bit by bit, like an animal toying with its prey. You're bucking into him more now, trying to use the pressure of his mouth on your clit to create a rhythm, unsatisfied with his slow teasing – he knows, instinctively, that you probably don't even fully realise your doing it. He uses his fingers to set a pace, still teasing, still unpicking you, slow and steady.

His other hand holds your hips, keeping you pressed right into him, allowing him full control over you in your most vulnerable state, moaning as you come undone for him. He can tell from your shaking that your close, that it will only take a few strategic movements to have you coming on his face, and he is more than happy to push you over the precipice, feeling your moment of tenseness, muscles contracting with absolute pleasure, before you breathe again, heavier, warmer, trying to make sense of your situation as he plants kisses on your sensitive skin. He kisses his way up your stomach, kissing you when he reaches your neck. You're still trying to catch your breath, the kiss sloppy and messy.

"T," you murmur, shivering at his every touch. "T, need you."

He hums, "Mmm, I'm not doing this for the first time as your boyfriend on the sofa."

You giggle. "I don't think I trust my legs right now."

"I got you," he says, "You know I've got you."

He picks you up, your arms still wrapped around him, and takes you to your bedroom, apparently unbothered by the weight or inconvenience of carrying you across the flat.

He lays you down on your bed, still unmade from the morning, and pulls his top off, trousers and boxers following. Hovering over you on the bed, he kisses you again, relishing in the feeling of your fingertips on his back, the sensation inciting something guttural in him. Only you can do this to him, pull him apart with just the lightest of touches. You take pride in that fact.

His touch is firm, and your thighs, still sensitive from his abuses, warm at the feeling of his hardened length pressed to them, precum decorating your fingers as you reach down to aid him, your thumb toying with his tip as he kisses you, open mouths and desperate, your other hand on his neck, pulling his ear close to your mouth.

"Please, Trent," you murmur, "Please."

He moves your hand from his length, lining himself up with your core, lips refinding yours as he pushes in, nearly coming right then as you gasp into his mouth, letting out the prettiest of moans as he bottoms out in you, unable to keep your composure under him.

He moves slow, not necessarily soft, but he draws out the experience, making the most of every gasp and moan, lips never leaving your skin, your nails digging into the muscular smoothness of his back. He could die at the feeling of you under him, around him.

He returns one hand to your clit, toying with you to edge you closer to your climax, the feeling of your convulsions around him bringing him closer too. He pushes you over the edge, riding you through your orgasm and into his own, grunting into your skin as he breathes you in, loving every sensation of you on him. He could live in this moment for eternity.

Your kiss on his forehead brings him back to the world. You, fucked out under him, hair a mess, smile lazy. "Boyfriend."

He relaxes on top of you, careful not to lean too much weight on your chest – he'd hate to suffocate you – and kisses your jaw. "Girlfriend."

#trent alexander arnold x reader #trent alexander arnold #taa66 #lfc #itsasainz

1K notes · View notes

pedroshotwifey · 4 months

Text

Pickled Peña Challenge 2023

Good Impression

Pairing: Husband!Javier P. x GN!reader

Word count: 1.2k

Tags/Warnings: Nothing really, fluff, lil bit of angst (silly angst tho), reader and Javi have a dog, Chucho being hella cool, kissing, cussing, vivid descriptions of fried pickles, wifey being actually stupid

Summary: You really wanted to bring something for Chucho's new year's party...

A/N: Hey, y'all! This is my contribution to @goodwithcheese's Pickled Peña Resolutions Writing Challenge! It's kind of stupid but it's what I've got lmao. I can't wait to read everyone else's Peña stories (please feel free to tag me in them)! Unfamiliar with this challenge? Read more about it here! @pickled-pena

*****

“Shit!”

You curse as you watch a pickle slice splat wetly onto the kitchen floor, jumping back to avoid it landing on your bare foot. Max, your golden lab (who was oh-so-creatively named by your husband) is quick to clean it up not a second after it falls.

“Goddammit, Max,” you scold as you watch him scarf it down without shame. “That’s your fifth pickle today.”

Hell, it might be the sixth. You usually aren’t a super messy cook, but it’s a different story when you’re in a time crunch. You need to leave the house in about an hour, and the fried pickles you promised to bring for Chucho’s new year’s party are only half done.

Javier walks in then, chuckling slightly at the interaction he just witnessed. You give him a pointed look before getting back to the task at hand, smothering pickle slices in the flour mixture you had made up.

“Oh, come on now, sweetheart,” Javi says as he walks up behind you to glide his arms around your waist. “Don’t be like that, we have plenty of time.”

You roll your eyes and half-heartedly shove him off of you as you dip the first batch into the oil on the stove.

“In case you haven’t noticed, Javi, I still have to fry every single one of these slices, and then let them dry and cool before we can leave. Plus, I still need to change my clothes, and we have to pick up a gift for Chucho on our way there.”

Javi presses a kiss to the top of your head, humming in response to your explanation.

“I think we’ll be okay. Chucho isn’t going to mind if we’re a little late.”

“I know,” you whine. “But I still hate not being–”

“I promise you, baby. As long as I show up with ‘that pretty partner of mine’, there’s not going to be an issue.” He pinches your hip lightly as he quotes his father’s words from a few days earlier.

You can’t help the faint smile that crawls across your face at that reminder. You had been so worried about Javier’s family not liking you, but it turns out that they adore you just as much as he does, just from what he’s said about you. It’s nice to know you’ll be welcomed so warmly even though they had never met you previously.

The two of you had met in columbia by chance, hooked up, and things spiraled from there. As much as he tried, Javi just couldn’t tear himself away from you. A year later, the two of you were married, and a year after that, you both moved back to Javi’s hometown in Texas, where you’re now, finally, about to meet everyone you had heard so much about.

You had told Javi that it’s your new year’s resolution to make a good impression, but you doubt that’s going to be very hard. You’ve already made a good impression in their book just by marrying the man.

“How about you go ahead and get changed, and I’ll do what I can here?” Javi suggests.

You scoop out your pickles and lay them on a rack to dry before turning around and planting a kiss on Javi’s cheek.

“Thank you, baby. That would help a lot.”

“No problema, mi vida.”

He grabs your wrist to pull you in to press his lips against yours. You smile against him before pulling back and planting a final, light kiss on his lips.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” you tell him as you back out of the doorway.

***

It doesn’t take too long for you to get dressed. Javi is just finishing the pickles as you walk back into the kitchen.

“Should be all set,” he says as he wipes his hands down with a paper towel. You lean on your toes to kiss him again.

The two of you have everything cleaned and packed up within another few minutes. You glance at the clock, which tells you that you should be right on time by the time you’re walking out the door. You grab the container of pickles to take with you to the hall table by the front door.

Javi mumbles something from behind you and then walks into your room, patting his pockets as he goes. You almost laugh under your breath at his forgetfulness until you realize you left your keys in the bathroom.

You place the container down and walk down the hall, not noticing how precariously balanced the tub is left. You snatch your keys up at the same time you hear a crash. You gasp at the sound of what can only be a plastic lid breaking off to spill your hard work all over the floor.

Your fears are confirmed as you quickly make your way back to where you left them, only to find Javi hovering over the mess. When looks up and immediately catches your stunned expression, his entire body freezing as he does so.

“Baby,” he starts slowly. I swear it wasn’t–”

“Javier. F. Peña,” you seethe, each name spat out as its own individual sentence. “You did not just knock that down,” you almost dare him to contradict you. There’s absolutely no way for you to make another batch right now. You don’t have the time nor the ingredients.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Javi retorts defensively, holding up his hands as he takes a step toward you. “What makes you so sure that it was me? I thought it was you until I got out here!”

“Me?” you gawk at him, offended. “Unlike some other people I know, I’m not that fucking clumsy!”

“Woah, you stand there and accuse me, but where were you at the time?”

Just then, Max slinks into the hall, drawing both of your attention to his guilty movements. His tail wags hesitantly behind him, his head ducked. The fact that he’s not all over those damn pickles tells you all that you need to know. You sigh in frustration, pinching the bridge of your nose.

You look back up at Javi, and you can’t miss the glint of amusement in his eye. A smile peaks out as you lean down to Max’s level. You don’t scold him, instead gently grabbing his collar to lead him to your room before shutting the door so you can clean the mess without interruption.

Javi’s already on it, sweeping everything into a dustpan. You lean against the wall as he finishes up.

“Guess we’re going to have to stop by that burger joint in town,” you say, sighing again. Javi watches you, sending you a sympathetic smile. He knows how much you wanted to bring something homemade, how much it meant to have something to offer, no matter how small.

“I’m sorry sweetheart. Maybe next time we can invite Chucho over for dinner next week, make up a big meal for him.”

You smile back at him. He always knows what to say. He walks into the kitchen to dispose of the contents in the dustpan, and you to your room to release Max before rejoining each other in the hall.

“Ready to go, my little chef?”

You roll your eyes at him with feigned annoyance as you take his hand.

“Let’s go, Peña.”

74 notes · View notes

wolfpants · 10 months

Text

nightcall (drarry, 1058 words)

Thank you to @getawayfox for the amazing art for this little piece I wrote for kinkuary! Give her post some love here ❤️‍🔥 Rated: E / nsfw Tags: Unspeakable!Drarry, begging, phone sex, dirty talk, masturbation, FWB, colleagues to lovers, pining, light bdsm On a top secret Unspeakable misson, Harry calls Draco from a remote phone booth on the Isle of Skye. ao3 link here, or keep reading

❤️‍🔥🖤📞🏍🥀

“What are you looking at right now?”

“Castle ruins. The sea. The moon. Dark road.”

“Have you got somewhere to sleep?”

A pause.

“Harry?”

“Hm?”

“Have you got somewhere to sleep?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ve got somewhere to sleep. Don’t worry.”

Draco’s breath crackles against Harry’s ear.

If Harry closes his eyes—shuts off the road, the barren hills, the moonlight sparkling against the shore—he can pretend Draco’s right here with him.

He can pretend Draco’s huffing gently into his ear, murmuring against his throat like he might if they were alone together in the same room.

“That’s all I do,” Draco whispers dryly. “Arsehole.”

They shouldn’t even be talking. It’s against code. They could lose their jobs.

The Ministry doesn't know how to tap Muggle telephone boxes, but Draco and Harry know better than to talk about work outside of Level Nine. So Harry doesn’t ask Draco if he’s still working on those files and old tomes he keeps under deadly protection magic in The Manor. He doesn’t ask if he stayed in the office all night again and forgot to eat dinner.

“Does my voice sound normal?” Draco asks when Harry doesn’t respond to the bait of his insult.

“Your voice has never sounded normal.”

Harry is curled over the telephone desk. He runs his finger over the edges of the BT directory. He pulls back the cover to read it.

THE PHONE BOOK: HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS 2003/2004

Almost ten years out of date.

“Fuck you,” comes Draco’s predictably plummy-edged response.

“Fuck you,” Harry repeats, grinning. He shifts his weight from one hip to the other. His riding leathers, softened and moulded to his body like a second skin, crease and rasp gently. His helmet is by his feet, his bike outside on the gravel; headlight on, casting the winding road ahead in ghostly bleached light. Its engine gently purrs into the night, reminding him that they need to keep this catch up brief.

“No, really,” Draco says, dropping his voice back to a whisper. His breath puffs against the receiver.

“You’re smoking.” Harry leans against the glazed side of the box and drops his head back against the glass panes.

“I’m outside, no one’s going to die,” Draco murmurs.

Harry closes his eyes again and pictures Draco standing on the lawn in Wiltshire. Mobile phone to ear, screen glowing against his face, cheeks pink from the cold. Surrounded by shadowed hedges and sculpted water features, smoke pluming from his lips, creeping up towards the starry sky. His hair is pulled into a knot on the back of his head. Or perhaps it’s loose, and the breeze is moving it around the sharp slopes of his cheeks.

“You look sexy when you smoke. You sound great. I miss you,” Harry says in three steady beats.

Draco won’t return the words. He never does. But Harry knows he feels them.

That he misses them too. Whatever—they are.

Work partners. Friends. More than friends sometimes. Less than friends other times.

Another soft breath. “Are you alone?”

“I’m on the tip of Skye looking at the North Atlantic. I’m very alone. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a tree.”

“Then,” Draco huffs gently—an inhale, a sharp exhale, the sound of his shoes clicking against pavement. He’s walking through the hedge maze. “Fuck you.”

Harry licks his lips. “Yeah?” He cups himself over his leather trousers. Slides his thumb over the shifting head of his cock as it grows closer towards his hip.

Draco hums, deep and smooth. Harry tilts his hips up in a slow fuck against his fingers, heat spreading, sharp and singular, between his legs. “God I want you,” he rasps, closing his eyes. The flutter of pale hair. Draco’s lovely lips wrapping around the filter of his cigarette. The way he kisses, dirty and like he means it.

“You have to ask for it nicely first, Potter.” Another inhale. “You can’t just take what you want. Especially from me.”

Harry balances the phone between his shoulder and his ear and fumbles with the zip of his leathers. “Please,” he whispers.

Draco hums again, louder this time, almost a moan but not quite. “Tell me what you want."

“I want you to sit on my face,” Harry says on a breath. His leathers are open as far as the zip will let him. He rucks up the t-shirt he wears underneath, enough to get into the waistband of his pants. His cock is already poking out the top, tip wet and swollen. He stares blearily at the beam of light outside, at the empty hills and sparkling water, fingers teasing himself in a slow, deliberate stroke.

Draco inhales sharply. “What was that?”

“I want you to sit on my face—please.” Harry licks his lips, circling his thumb over the wet head of his prick. “Want you to ride my mouth, my tongue. Take what you want from me. God, I want that so badly.”

“You like being suffocated, don’t you, you sick pup,” Draco whispers.

“Yeah,” Harry chokes out. “P—please.”

“And your tongue always feels so damn good. Maybe if you eat me good enough I could ride your cock. Would you like that?”

Harry groans, already so close. His leathers squeak and crease, and his elbow knocks against the glass behind him as he strokes his length up and down, balls drawing up tight.

“You’d have to stay still, though."

“Yes,” Harry breathes, picturing it now, like the countless times Draco has held him down—by the chest, the arms, the neck, sometimes—while he bounces up and down on his cock until they both come, sweaty and breathless.

“Are you touching yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“I want to come.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t come riding you,” Draco whispers.

“Draco…”

“Maybe I’d climb off you after you’ve spilled deep inside me, and we could switch. Maybe I could fuck the come out of you again, because you’re a dirty, needy little sl—”

Harry comes with a sharp, bitten off cry.

It spills down his fingers, splashes onto his t-shirt.

Draco chuckles. Harry hears him light another cigarette. “Good boy,” he croons.

“Fuck you,” Harry says with a breathless laugh, his head spinning. He gazes at the night sky through the foggy pane of glass above his head.

“Soon,” Draco whispers.

#drarry #drarry fic #drarry drabble #kinkuary #wolfpants kinkuary '23 #draco/harry #harry/draco #harry potter #draco malfoy #hp fic #drarry art #drarry fanart

181 notes · View notes

petertingle-yipyip · 4 months

Text

SIN MIEDO - BUCKY BARNES

episode five - truth

tags: n/a // four // SM masterlist // what, it’s back? yeah, i’ve been thinking about it alot so i figured it’s time to come finish it

Pairing: stark!reader x bucky

Word Count: 7,209

Summary: After a near death battle with John Walker, Y/N decides to take a step back. But the desire to live up to her father’s legacy both weighs her down and purges her forward.

“We have to take her to a hospital.” Sam insisted.

“I know.” Barnes agreed, his hold on you tightening just to ensure you wouldn’t slip.

“What was she thinking?” Sam said worriedly. He couldn’t understand why you would take on John by yourself. He knew you were a smart fighter, skilled and powerful. But John had lost it. He took the serum and was off his rocker seeing Lemar killed.

“She wasn’t.” Barnes said simply. Barnes’ brain was running a million miles an hour. He wondered why you would be so stupid, but he also understood you weren’t one to play it safe. “We need to take care of her first, then we find Walker.”

“God, you’re unbelievable.” Sam scoffed. “How can you still be worried about that?”

“We need to get that shield. You saw what he’s capable of.”

“She needs to be the top priority!”

Without you knowing, or at least assuming you didn’t know, you’d been his priority the whole time.

“I don’t care about the shield right now!”

“You think she’d want to forget about the shield?” Barnes countered, watching his volume as if you were simply asleep in his arms. “That's what got her like this. Because she wanted to take that shield from him. We can’t let this go.”

“Is that what you think is right or is it because you have a crush on her?” Sam challenged.

You stirred in Barnes’ grip, slowly coming back. You felt the cool stream of water still working to heal you, the damp feeling of your suit’s material paired with the wet spot in your hair at the back of your head. You felt the cold vibranium arm under your knees, the warmth of Barnes’ chest against your cheek. Your eyes slowly opened to a completely different part of the city than you remember.

“Put me down.” You said hoarsely, pulling your hand and the water out of your suit and zipping it back up. You rubbed your eyes and the bridge of your nose to quickly heal that swelling and tenderness before flicking away the excess water from your hand and pulling the absorbed water out of your suit’s fabric.

You weren’t fully healed, but it was good enough. Your chest didn’t ache with every breath and your spine didn’t sting with every movement. You felt considerably stronger than before with clearer vision and the absence of pounding in your head.

The only thing in your head now were your dad’s words. You didn’t know if it was a dream or if you had really crossed the threshold between living and the dead. You didn’t care. All you knew was that he was right. You weren’t done yet.

“No.” Barnes answered. You turned and saw he wasn’t looking at you. Instead, he kept his eyes focused ahead. “You need a hospital.”

“I’m fine.” You struggled in his grip. “Put me down, Barnes.”

“No.”

“Fine.” You replied simply. Using your arms for momentum, you flipped backwards out of Barnes’ arms and landed wobbly on your feet. After quickly regaining your balance, you stood tall. “Where’s Walker?”

“Y/N..” Sam tried gently. “You took a hell of a beating, alright? Just take it easy and we’ll find him later. We’ll get the shield back.”

“You guys don’t get it…I have to do everything myself.” You muttered, turning your hand to see the inside of your wrist. You tapped the screen connected to FRIDAY and had her take the tracking information from Sam’s suit. “Thanks for the tracker.” You saluted Sam before quickly making an air ball and riding it to find Walker.

You had to stop him. You had to get the shield back. If not for Sam, then for your grandfather. He made that shield for Steve, and it should be with the man Steve gave it to. It was Steve’s legacy but it was also Howard’s favorite accomplishment. You couldn’t let it stay in the wrong hands and continue to cause people pain. To take lives.

You heard the footfalls of the boys behind you, but you weren’t stopping. You figured they knew that. All they could do now was follow and fight beside you. All they could do was help you so you didn’t die. You had a feeling that if you went down this time, you weren’t getting back up.

You all found Walker off some old train tracks. He was distraught, likely over losing Lemar. You didn’t blame him for flying off the handle, but you couldn’t excuse taking a man’s life. A man who wasn’t responsible. And to do it so publicly made you sick.

“Are you insane?” Barnes asked you quietly as the three of you approached Walker.

“I’ve been called worse.” You shrugged.

“Walker.” Sam began, as if in warning.

“You guys should see a medic. You don’t look so good.” Walker replied. “And I’m surprised you’re still standing.” He nodded to you.

“I’ll admit, you got a mean swing… If you wanted me to stay down, you should’ve put me down.” You said simply, weaving a flame between your fingers on either hand. You felt the wind dancing around your ankles at the same time, maybe even small tremors in the ground. “This ends now.”

“You saw what happened.” He defended loudly. “You know what I had to do! I killed him because he killed Lemar!”

“He didn’t kill Lemar, John.” Barnes countered.

“Regardless, we don’t trade lives.” You added tensely. Every word between you four wound your muscles tighter. The flames at your hands grew hotter. The air at your feet moved in faster, tighter circles.

“You go down that road, it won’t end well.” Barnes continued.

“I’m not like you.” Walker countered angrily. There was an accusation in his tone, that that's who Barnes still was. He insinuated that he was better than Barnes, but that just showed he didn’t really know who Barnes was outside of his Winter Soldier stories.

You instantly turned your attention to Barnes. His eyes were down, as if he was processing what Walker had said. He looked like someone kicked his puppy and you didn’t know why that expression hurt you as well.

Without really thinking, your hand had reached for his, flame extinguished. You gave his hand a gentle squeeze, as if to say that everything was okay. He looked up at you and offered a tight smile before gently squeezing your hand in return. You didn’t know it but that gesture meant a lot in that moment. You hoped your eyes conveyed the sincerity you intended.

“It was the heat of battle, alright?” Sam tried reasoning with him. But the look in his eyes, the way he eyed you all like you were dinner, showed you he was well past reasoning with. You slowly pulled your hand back and the flame danced through your digits again. “If you explain what happened, maybe they’ll consider your record. We don’t want anyone else to get hurt…”

“You have to give us the shield.” You tried calmly. Even though every muscle in your body was wound tight and every nerve was alive with adrenaline, you followed Sam’s lead. You tried to talk to him, same way you tried with Karli.

“So that’s what this is?” He answered darkly. “You almost had me..”

“You made a mistake. A very public one.” You said simply.

“You don’t want to do this.” He threatened.

“Yeah, we do.” Barnes answered with a nod. He glanced at you, who met his eyes and added a quick nod in return.

Barnes moved in first and Sam was quick to follow. You hesitated just a moment, letting Sam and Barnes make the first move. You had to be smarter and more calculated than the last time, otherwise you’d likely be returning to the States in a body bag. At the first opening you got, you stomped to raise a slab of rock and you kicked it at Walker.i

Walker kicked Sam away and tried to take on Barnes. You quickly took Sam’s place and created a fire blade in your hand. While Barnes had Walker by the shield, you slashed the flame across his back, burning through his suit and his flesh. You choked on the smell momentarily before dropping the flame and creating a rock gauntlet. You slammed your stone covered fist into the burning wound and forced him to the ground.

Walker elbowed you in the jaw and spun to land a solid right hook on Barnes. The contact sent both of you reeling back and gave Walker time to capitalize. He moved to swipe the shield in a direction that could take you both but Sam came through just in time.

The two went hand to hand while Barnes came around to get you. You could feel the bruise forming already as you moved your mouth around, trying to break up the pain.

“Come on.” He said when he got to your side, hauling you to your feet. “Fight’s not over yet.”

“After you, Sarge.” You gestured for him to go.

“Ladies first.” He shrugged.

You chuckled slightly before moving back into the fight. You moved quickly, throwing flame after flame at him. He ducked behind the shield and Barnes came from behind you. Walker countered most of your attacks but you saw a perfect opening. He pulled back to slam the shield against Sam so you yanked up a rock column to connect with his chin. The impact sent him wobbling back and gave Barnes a chance to apply more pressure. After ducking a heavy blow from Barnes, he threw the shield and sent Barnes flying across the room.

Walker was running after the shield as soon as it left his hand, you and Sam moving in right behind him. Walker had Barnes pinned against an old crate, the two fighting for the disk.

“Why are you making me do this?” Walker screamed, a desperate rage in his voice. He launched Barnes again once the sentence left his mouth.

“Bucky.” You muttered when you realized he didn’t get up right away. While Sam took on Walker again, you ran to Barnes’ side.

“You gotta get up.” You told him, kneeling at his side. You watched the electricity crackling around his arm. He winced as he tried to lift his Vibranium arm. “Here, let me just...” You said gently, focusing on redirecting the extra voltage away from his arm.

What you didn’t see was the way Barnes was looking at you. He watched the intent focus your eyes held, the precise movements of your hands, the careful direction of your fingers. The lightning travelled the path of your arms like a road, seeming soaking into your spine and exiting out the other hand. He was in awe.

He was partly surprised you had focused on helping him. You didn’t have to. It would’ve gone away within a minute, but you took the time to help him. He realized that you actually were his friend. And more than that, he liked that you stopped to help him.

The electricity crackled up one arm and to your spine. You turned and focused on Walker, carefully handling the power in your body. Electricity was a tricky thing. One slip of control and you could hurt yourself. You learned that the hard way. You shot it at Walker, your aim slightly off so you hit right near his feet, and caught him just before he tried to land a devastating blow on Sam.

“Come on, James.” You sighed as you pulled him off the ground to sit up. He groaned and leaned against a nearby pillar. You realized you used his first name and you tensed slightly. It felt too intimate to use in those moments.

“We gotta finish this.” Barnes muttered, to which you could only nod. You relaxed slightly when it didn’t seem like he noticed. But he did.

“Did you have a plan or should we just try and tire him out?” You tried to joke.

“You want to be the bait?” He offered and you couldn’t fully tell if he was joking or not.

“Make him go after me?” You asked with raised brows. “Promise you won’t let him kill me.”

“Cross my heart.” He nodded.

“Worth a shot.” You shrugged, jumping back into the fight.

Walker had just yanked Sam out of the air and lost hold of the shield. You threw a blast of air to push the shield further for everyone and slammed a fist to the ground. You used the rock to snag Walker’s ankles and cause him to fall on his face. By the time you caught up to him, he was top of Sam and was ripping his wings apart.

You called a flame to cover the entirety of both hands and ran. You tackled Walker off Sam, your hands moving to his neck as you two rolled and you tried to bury your fingers into the soft tissue. The smell of burnt flesh invaded your lungs and you felt the smoke burning your eyes.

He screamed out from the burns and once your momentum stopped, he had you pinned with a knee on your chest. You coughed from the burnt smell and the increasing pressure. He pulled your hands away easily and squeezed. You cried out as you heard the bone break in your left arm.

“We could’ve been a team.” He sneered ferally.

“I don’t play nice with others.” You commented, trying to buy yourself and Barnes some time. Turning your head to come up with something, you realized you had landed right next to the shield. But so did Walker.

“I am Captain. America.” He practically snarled.

“Yeah?” You asked as an idea came to mind. “You look like a cheap knock off to me.”

He quickly reached for the shield and raised it above his head. As he screamed, you lifted your right hand and flicked a quick bolt of lightning at his chest. He winced inwardly but didn’t budge. In a last ditch effort, you did your best to take control of his blood.

With one hand and the pressure on your sternum, it was impossible to gain complete control. He was fighting you the whole time, pushing the shield with all his strength. You knew once your control slipped, that disk was headed straight for your chest. You groaned as you tried adding your other hand, but the pain was too much. You stomped a foot instead, sending deep vibrations through the concrete foundation. Walker faltered but wouldn’t move.

You thought that was it. Your time was truly up this time. But maybe that would be enough to get that shield back to Sam, back to the man it was supposed to be with. You were about to accept your fate and let him kill you when Barnes made good on his promise. He tackled Walker off of you and handled the fight himself.

You turned on your side and coughed violently, trying to open your airways enough to breathe properly. They traded blows for a minute until Walker managed the upper hand. Sam moved in for the rescue, so he and Barnes were able to get control of the situation. Him and Barnes were turning Walker’s arm outward and you saw an opening.

You pushed yourself to stand and slammed your foot to break loose a piece of the concrete floor. You kicked it forward and heard the sickly pop of his bone dislocating. The pop turned Sam’s pressure into action and he went flying in a separate direction. You almost felt bad for dislocating his arm in such a violent manner, but the shooting pain in your own arm quickly erased that thought.

“It’s mine.” Walker growled as Sam stood with the shield in his hands and Barnes came to stand with you.

“It’s over, Walker.” You answered through heavy breaths, clutching your arm to your chest.

“It’s mine!” He repeated, pulling back to swing on you.

You ducked his arm and the punch was blocked by Barnes. He landed a hard shot against Walker’s jaw and you swiped your leg to knock him over. Barnes lifted Walker and swung him like a baseball bat into Sam, who was moving in hard with the shield. The impact sent the three of them in different directions, the shield landing between them all.

You quickly moved to grab it while the boys groaned and tried to get up. You held the shield in your hands, staring at the dried blood on it. The sight disgusted you. You moved and shoved it into Sam’s chest once he stood.

“You give this away again, I’m keeping it.” You said plainly before pushing off and walking away with Barnes.

“You’re going to the hospital.” Barnes said simply once you caught up with him.

“I can fix myself.” You defended, picking up a stream of water from a nearby puddle and focused on the returning pain in your chest.

“It wasn’t a request.”

“You can’t order me around.”

“I’m pulling rank. I’m a Sergeant, you’re not.”

“Alright, you got me there.” You answered, too tired to really argue with him. “Can we get something to eat first?”

The next day, you three waited in the same room you had talked to Karli in. You did basic healing on your arm so the hospital left it in a sling rather than a hard cast. They said they may have to put pins in your sternum if it didn’t right itself, but that would take a bit of time before they knew.

Sam caught you up on the Karli situation and his buddy, who you learned to be called Torres, came in. You followed Barnes out after he ignored Sam asking about Zemo.

Later or maybe even the next day - things had really blurred together - you and Barnes found Zemo at the Sokovia memorial, exactly where you expected to.

“Thought you’d come sooner.” Zemo said when you two approached.

“Had something else to take care of first.” You shrugged.

“And don’t worry. I’ve decided I’m not going to kill you.”

“You’d never get the chance.” You said easily as Barnes said “Imagine my relief.”

“The girl… She’s radicalized beyond salvation.” He began as if he was just waiting for a chance to give his speech. “I warned Sam, but he didn’t listen to me. As stubborn as Steve Rogers before him. But you- Both of you, can do what needs to be done. Karli has people everywhere and there’s only one way to ensure she cannot carry out her mission.”

“I appreciate the advice.” Barnes answered flatly. “But we’re gonna do it our own way.”

“I was afraid you would say that.” Zemo chuckled.

You stood beside Barnes as he lifted the gun to Zemo. You watched what seemed like relief come across Zemo’s features. You weren’t necessarily surprised to see that expression, given that he had lost everyone. He was willing to take his own life in Siberia all those years ago, so of course he wasn’t afraid to die now. But part of it may have been relief to see Barnes being the one to hold the gun. Part of him likely wanted Barnes to be the killer HYDRA made him.

When Barnes pulled the trigger and the gun was empty, Zemo’s relief shifted to disappointment. You opened your palm and moved the bullets in a circle above your hand. You held your hand up with a small smirk as Zemo stared at the bullets in disbelief. You smiled as the Dora approached.

You let the bullets fall to the ground and tucked your hands behind your back, rocking on your heels. “Told you I’d deliver him myself.” You nodded in greeting.

“I took the liberty of crossing off my name in your book.” Zemo added. “I hold no grudges for what you thought you had to do.. Goodbye, James. Goodbye, Y/N.”

Ayo talked to Barnes for a minute while you looked at the memorial again. So many lives lost.. It still blew your mind how quickly that situation had gotten out of control.

You left before Barnes did. He was still talking to Ayo when you slipped away. Part of you knew you should’ve stayed and explained where you were going. But the bigger part of you just wanted to go. You headed to the airport where the Stark jet was waiting for you.

First, you went to your shared apartment. You quickly packed all your things and left no trace of yourself in the apartment. You thought about leaving a note, something simple that said ‘Heading back to my family. Thanks for the place to crash.’ but even that didn’t feel right. You decided it was best to say nothing so left about two months worth of rent in cash and walked out. You hailed a cab and headed to the lake house.

You spent the last couple days getting to know your half-sister, and she was such a sweet kid. You saw a lot of resemblance to your dad so the first day with her was rough. But you gave her a chance and you were glad you did.

The two of you spent most of the time near the lake. You showed her different tricks you could do with the water. You used the air to blow her hair around and make the leaves fly. You made little Avenger figures from the rocks below. You used your powers for parlor tricks instead of fighting, and the calm felt nice.

When you got the call from Sam, you ignored it. You assumed it was a lead on Karli and at the moment, you wanted nothing to do with it. You did your part and got the shield away from Walker. You couldn’t save that Flag Smasher but you saved Sam and Barnes. You put Zemo back in prison. All your boxes were checked. You could rest… So why didn’t you feel at peace?

It was another couple days before you were contacted by Sam and Barnes again.

You were with Morgan at the shoreline when the car pulled up. You assumed it was someone for Pepper, probably Happy. You were making a crown from the water for Morgan, freezing it above her head before placing it in its place. You spun the air around you two for dramatic effect.

“I now crown thee, Princess Morgan!” You announced theatrically, pushing a wave across the lake that made her giggle. “Sovereign ruler of this great body of water! What is your first decree, your Highness?” You bowed dramatically.

“Trespassers!” She announced, pointing behind you. “Defend our shores!”

“I shall give my life to serve!” You laughed before turning to see who was coming. You saw Sam and Barnes stepping out of the car and you froze momentarily. “Alas, fair Princess, it’s only visitors from another kingdom.”

“Trespassers!” She yelled again with a wide smile. “Get them!”

“I live to serve thee.” You chuckled and shook your head before heading to the boys.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding?” Barnes asked simply.

“Better than fighting.” You shrugged. “Besides, I never rescheduled my apartment walkthroughs… You guys could’ve just called, yknow.”

“It’s not really the kind of thing you say over the phone.” Sam reasoned. “And last time I called, you didn’t answer.”

“Yeah, cause I thought you were gonna ask what I’m guessing you’re gonna ask me now.” You sighed and turned to check on Morgan. She was playing with the rock Avengers you made her, creating a fight scene of her own. You watched as she held the figure of yourself in one hand and threw a rock at one of the other Avengers.

“I’ll set the table for two more.. You don’t talk shop in front of the kid, you can stay for lunch.” You sighed, walking backwards and motioning for them to follow. “Pepper usually makes too much food anyways.”

“Morgan!” You called, heading towards the house with the boys following behind. “Chow time! Come get some lunch!” You waited at the porch for her to catch up.

“What is it?” She asked when she met up with you. “Who are these guys?” She whispered.

“Just some friends..” You dismissed her concerns with a smile as you took her hand while she jumped up the stairs. “Let’s go wash up.”

“Everyone washes their hands before we eat.” You said over your shoulder. “Morgan will show you to the bathroom.” She shot you an accusing look. “I’ll wash my hands in the kitchen so I can reset the table.” You put your hands up in surrender before heading to the kitchen.

“You invited people over?” Pepper asked as you pulled two more plates from the cabinet.

“More like they invited themselves..” You shrugged. “I figured there’d be enough anyway.”

“What do they want?” She eyed you carefully.

“Hopefully just to check in.”

“I didn’t know you were friends with those two.” Her tone betrayed something of disapproval.

“With all the family I’ve lost, I could use a few friends.” You answered sharply. “Oh, and I told them not to talk about anything in front of her so lunch should be pleasant. You’re welcome.”

“Y/N!” Morgan came running into the kitchen while laughing. “You are relieved of your knighthood.”

“I- Huh?” You laughed in disbelief while you pulled her chair out for her and your own chair from beside her. Pepper hid her giggle while bringing the food from the kitchen. “And who will take my place? Who can defend this great land better than me? The prodigy of Earth’s greatest defender, himself?”

“Him!” She pointed to Barnes -who offered a look of confusion- as he and Sam sat on the opposite side of the table. She grabbed your arm and pulled you close so she could whisper her next sentence. “He has a metal arm!” Her jaw dropped to mimic her earlier shock.

“Unfortunately, he won’t be staying long enough to protect your waters.” You said, feigning disappointment. “Sadly, Sir James is only visiting… Besides, I’m stronger than him anyway.”

You felt Barnes’ eyes on you but you ignored them. You didn’t call him James often. Really, that only came to mind as the third time. In Madripoor, taking the shield from Walker, and now. You weren’t sure why you said it but it felt better than calling him ‘Barnes’ when talking to Morgan. But maybe ‘Bucky’ would’ve been better.

“It’s true. I’ve seen it.” Sam added with a chuckle. Barnes simply rolled his eyes with an amused smile. You were relieved that he stepped in and dissipated the tension.

Lunch was surprisingly pleasant. The boys talked to Pepper about how the company was doing and the plans - if any - for rebuilding the Avengers compound. She asked about Zemo and if they knew anything about his escape. You all made jokes and told stories, which made the reunion rather fun.

Once the table was cleared, you took the boys outside while Pepper kept Morgan in the kitchen. You all stood around by the lake. You skipped rocks while Sam and Barnes started their proposition.

“We’re pretty sure Karli is going to attack the GRC vote.” Sam explained.

“Pretty sure isn’t enough to be here, Wilson.” You shook your head. “You’ll need to do something better than that.”

“There’s no guarantee but I bet we’re right.”

“Right… You really think she’s going to be able to travel to New York without someone snatching her up first?” You scoffed. “That move would make sense, I guess. If you can’t change the vote, you stop the vote. Probably kill the Council as a whole and get someone else in there.”

“So you’re in?”

“Am I in?” You laughed. “I did my due diligence. Walker doesn’t have the shield and Zemo is locked up. My hands are clean.”

“So you’re comfortable with quitting on this?” Barnes challenged.

“Why do you care?” You turned on him. “Why do you really care? Let me ask you something, Barnes. Why did you let me stay with you when you didn’t know me?”

“What are you getting at?” He avoided your question. The accusations in your tone hit him deep. It sounded like you were accusing him of ulterior motives, but he just wanted to do the right thing. He was glad for it, being that he quickly got used to having you around. To the point where he even liked having you around.

“I’ve seen my name in your book.” You said simply. “You think you have to make amends because you killed my grandparents. That’s all it’s been about, right? Cause I’m the only Stark left that can forgive you?”

“No.” He shook his head and tried to continue, but you interrupted. He had to admit that it might’ve started like that, a chance to right a wrong from so long ago. A wrong that was the final nail in the coffin of Tony and Steve’s friendship. But the fire in your eyes made it hard for him to admit that to you.

“You didn’t actually care that I was on my own, and that’s fine. I don’t need you to. But you don’t get to stand here and pretend that I was more than just a personal assignment.”

“It wasn’t like that!” He shouted. Barnes was wondering why he couldn’t tell you the full story. Maybe since he couldn’t even admit it to himself.

“What was it like then?” You snapped in return.

“Let’s just take a step back.” Sam tried carefully. You noticed the way he looked at Barnes, as if he was trying to help him.

“Do you see Howard when you look at me?” You pushed Barnes. A vicious heat was sprouting in your chest, inching up your throat and creeping down your arms. “Howard in his youth, believing that you and Steve were some- some unstoppable duo that HYDRA didn’t have a chance against. Or when I had blood on my face, did you see Howard before you killed him?”

“That’s enough!” Sam announced. The firmness of his tone cleared the red from your vision. You realized you had stepped closer to Barnes, almost in challenge. You chuckled in disbelief, stepping back with your hands up in surrender as you chewed the inside of your cheek.

“Y/N, we could really use your help.” Sam’s tone was gentler, bordering pleading.

“Please.” Barnes murmured, so quietly that you weren’t sure you had actually heard it.

“I think you’ve overstayed your welcome, boys.” You replied simply, taking a couple steps backwards. “You’ll get an email when the Compound’s up and running again.”

“Y/N.” Sam tried again but you ignored him.

“This isn’t the kid Steve thought you were.” Barnes called out. “Doesn’t seem like the kid your dad thought you were either!”

“Bucky.” Sam scolded. He knew that wouldn’t convince you to help. If anything, it would push you further away.

You turned on your heel and pulled water up from the lake. In a swift movement, you threw it at Barnes and froze him against a nearby tree.

“You don’t get to tell me who my dad thought I was.” You warned as you stepped closer. “You barely knew him. Both of you barely knew him… And you barely know me.”

“I know you’re not a quitter.” Barnes continued.

“I’m not quitting.” You shrugged, dropping the ice. “Like I said, I did my part. You want a fighter? See if Walker will answer your calls. Maybe call on Sharon for another favor. I’m done. My part in this fight is over, Soldier.”

“We’re a team.” Sam offered. “We can’t do it without you.”

“I think you’ll manage.”

“Did you bring it?” Sam asked Barnes as you walked away.

“You think it’ll make a difference?” Barnes scoffed.

“Just give it to her, dumbass.” Sam rolled his eyes.

“Stark!” Barnes called.

Your hand was on the stair railing but you froze. You turned but didn’t leave your position from the steps. You sighed and leaned against the house as Barnes came up to you with a case in hand.

“What is that?” You asked with a brow quirked in interest.

“I called in a favor.” He said causally as he held the case out to you.

“Again, what is it?”

“Will you stop being so stubborn for one minute?”

“No.”

“Consider it a gift.”

Cautiously, you took the case from his hands. You ignored the brushing of your fingers, though it made your heart stutter.

“Am I going to regret taking this?” You tried to lighten the air around you. There was still a tension lingering from your interaction only a few minutes earlier.

“Do you regret any of it?” He countered sincerely.

“Yeah.” You looked over at the lake. “We’ve lost good people doing this type of work… Can you really blame me for wanting to keep my peace?”

“We really need your help here, Y/N.” He stepped closer, placing a hand near yours on the railing.

“Tell me the truth then.”

“It doesn’t change anything..” He sighed. “You-“

“I want to hear you say it.” You said with a nod, more to convince yourself you were sure. “Is my name in your book?”

“Yeah… It was.” He confessed. “That’s what it was at first but..”

“But what? You saved my life so it balances out?”

“Wha- No. You know, you’re insufferable sometimes.” He groaned.

“Well, I guess that’s settled.” You sighed. “Thanks for this. I’ll send a ‘thank-you’ basket to Sam’s place for you.” You turned and went inside, dismissing your mom and Morgan while you went straight to your room.

You dropped the case on your bed and sat on the ground, back against the wall and knees to your chest while you stared at the so-called gift. It was light but there was weight to it. You had purposefully knocked it against the railing on your way in and felt a different reverberation from it, something you’d felt before but not often.

If you had to guess, you would’ve said Vibranium.

You folded your arms over your raised knees and dropped your chin on top. The case was taunting you and you let it. Your fingers itched to flip the latches, your brain creating possibilities for the contents. With a sudden movement, an all at once action that didn’t allow you to reconsider, you moved to it and pressed your thumb against the scanner.

There was a slight hiss of air as the seal between the two halves broke. There was almost a light coming from the contents and it only tempted you more. You drummed your fingers over the top, closing your eyes to register the reverb. It was Vibranium, but not completely. Not a solid piece, more flexible and bending. Fibers, maybe, or woven between.

You opened your eyes and held your breath while you lifted the top. The case sat open for a few more seconds, just until your chest was burning for air. Then you let out the breath and opened your eyes, seeing a flooded bunch of dark fabric sitting before you. Your fingers grazed the material, tracing the overlapping red and gold lines.

The colors matched your dad’s first suit perfectly. So perfectly it brought tears to your eyes.

“Dad…” You said softly. “I wish you were here right now, give me some advice.”

You gave a broken smile before shutting the case and shifting it out the way so you could sit. Hunched over, elbows on your knees and hands clasped while the tears welled to a point you had to close your eyes.

“You’d know the right thing to do, always did… Me on the other hand, I’m flailing. I don’t know who I’m supposed to be or where I’m supposed to be. I just wanted to be like you, Dad…”

A light knock at your door stole your attention. After a second of silence, Pepper walked in with a small smile on her face. She looked between you and the case before she settled on the bed next to you.

“You already are a lot like Tony.” She said softly and you sniffled. “He hit this kind of point too, where he thought he needed to stop because too many people were hurting.”

“But he didn’t.” You finished her thought and sat up, letting out a heavy sigh. “Pepper, I’m not my dad. I know that. I’ve always known that, but I just thought I could be like him.”

“You are.” She insisted gently. “I see him in everything you do. The way you are with Morgan. The way you talk. The way you carry yourself. Even the way you lose.”

“He’d want me to see this through.” You said quietly. Your voice felt far away, like it wasn’t coming from your body but from someplace else. From the lake maybe, where you and Pepper floated your dad’s first Arc Reactor. “I know that, but I don’t know if I can.”

“Your dad was wrong about a lot of things, Y/N.” She nodded before nudging you slightly. “But he was never, never wrong about you… You’re Tony Stark’s daughter. I don’t think your dad ever found a fight too big. Neither should you.”

“Karli’s threatened you and Morgan already. Sam’s nephews. If we can’t stop her, everyone we care about is in trouble.” You rambled, desperate for some sort of assurance that backing down was the right thing to do.

“Loki threatened you when he came to New York.” She shrugged. “Didn’t stop Tony.”

“Morgan is all the family you have, Pep. I can’t let that get taken away. You said it yourself. I don’t know how to do this. I can’t clean up my own mess. ”

“I’m gonna say this once, kiddo. Your dad didn’t know how to clean up his mess until he was standing in the middle of it.” She chuckled sadly. “But he found a way. And you are Y/N Stark, just as smart and capable as your father. Morgan thinks so, too.”

“You really think it’ll all be okay?”

“I do. After this is done, if you’re still done with it, then you can rest.”

You offered a small smile and she gave the same in return. You threw your arms around her and she laughed in surprise before returning the embrace. You weren’t sure where the path to Karli would leave, but you knew Pepper and your dad’s ghost was right.

You had to finish what you had started.

You packed a bag, separate from the suit Barnes gave you, and called up your family’s pilot. The jet was ready within the hour and you gave Morgan one last hug on the way out. She clung to your leg for a few minutes and you felt the little tear puddles on your pants. She muttered that you had to promise to come back, to protect Stark Waters, and you did just that.

Your flight was relatively quick and you hailed a cab to take you the rest of the way. The driver was chatty, especially when you told him where you were headed. Sam’s family was well-loved in his community and you liked to hear it. You kept your head down and signature Stark glasses on your face as you walked the few blocks to Sam’s sister’s place.

You hesitated to knock, worried you wouldn’t be welcomed. Or maybe you were worried you’d be too welcomed. Either way, you turned away from the door. You called another cab and had them take you to the pier, this driver also knew Sam’s family and directed you to the right boat.

You stepped aboard and left your suitcases up top before you headed down to the engine room. You remembered hearing from the drivers that Sam was trying to fix it up and you decided to help with the hard parts. You activated your glasses and the AI showed you where there were issues.

You were working quietly on your own, ordering parts as you went, when someone else showed up. Sam first, then Barnes soon after. You were startled and looked at them with wide eyes, but when they gave you knowing smiles - the type that said they knew you would show up - you turned back to your work.

Later that morning, you three had the water pump pulled apart. Sam and Barnes were talking about whether or not a certain bolt existed in a big gear and you ignored them, examining the gear itself. You rolled your eyes in amusement as they went back and forth until Sam’s sister Sarah came up.

“The water pump is not the problem.” She instead. “I don’t come up into the sky and tell you how to barrel roll or whatever so don’t come down here and start messing with things you clearly don’t understand.”

“It’s not the problem but it will be soon.” You said, lifting the propeller shaped gear. “The corrosion’s gonna lead to this thing not bringing in enough water and it’s gonna overheat. And the impeller is cracking. Don’t worry though. I ordered new ones and they should be here by end of day. Easy fix.”

“Stark.” She nodded.

“I thought about a whole new pump but…” You shrugged. “She’s still got some kick in her. Just needed a few add-ons.”

“Alright, off.” She shooed you three away. “Off, bye. Thank you so much.”

You stayed around the boat for a while longer while Sam and Barnes went off to do something you didn’t care to join in on. Instead, you waited around for your parts to arrive and you put them in place. By the time Sam got back, you had finished your portion of the rebuild. You were tightening a few last bolts while Sam and Sarah talked, though you caught the end of their conversation.

“What would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice if I wasn’t willing to stand up and keep fighting?” Sam said simply, as if he truly understood his place in the fight.

And at the same time, you seemed to understand yours.

After hanging around and training for a few days with Sam, he got a call. His friend Torres caught a cell ping that matched the same pings from across Europe, just before the Flag Smashers went through. The ping was set in New York.

You were quick to set up travel plans to New York. Sam said he would get in touch with Barnes while you did your end. After the calls were made and a time table was set, you found Sam opening his case.

“Looks good.” You said as you went in, peering over to see it. “It’ll suit you.”

“How’d yours look?” He asked.

“Stylish, easy to move in, and a little homage to my dad… Pretty much perfect.”

“Pretty much?”

“Depends if it’s fireproof.”

At that, Sam laughed.

“You ready for this, Captain?” You gave him a small nudge with your elbow.

“Are you, Stark?”

“Yeah.” You nodded with a small smile. “I think I am.”

71 notes · View notes

jedi-enthusiast · 4 months

Text

@confusledqueer apologizes for not responding sooner, it’s been a busy couple days and—honestly—I forgot for a bit.

Moving on-

—————

Me equating some of the things that anti-Jedi people say to antisemitism and, sometimes, outright Nazi-esque rhetoric is not “wild” or “a stretch,” as you’re implying.

Justification of their genocide, denial that it actually was a genocide, a belief that the genocided party “caused” their own genocide, and a belief that they genocided party were wrong or “led astray” while one person was sent to make things right- (via either making them change their ways or outright destroying them/their culture) -are all things I’ve seen people say about the Jedi…

…but they’re also things that people have actually said about Jews.

Take the example I put in the post of someone denying that the Jedi Purge was actually a genocide, and how—by changing “Jedi” to “Judaism” and “Force-religions” to “Abrahamic Faiths”��it sounds verbatim to Holocaust denial.

Or, as another example, people claiming that the Jedi “kidnapped kids to brainwash them”…don’t you see how that sounds like Blood Libel?

So me pointing out that a lot of stuff anti-Jedi people say sounds like antisemitic rhetoric isn’t a stretch, not when a lot of it sounds verbatim to what people are saying with the rise of antisemitism and stuff they have said in the past.

—————

Now, I’m not Jewish, but it’s not just me, your neighborhood White Girl™️, who’s pointing this stuff out.

Actual Jewish people have pointed out the alarming similarities between anti-Jedi rhetoric and straight up antisemitism. So, if you wanna argue about- “you shouldn’t compare real world discrimination to fictional stuff” -then you should probably take that into account.

Go ahead and try telling Jewish Star Wars fans to stop calling out antisemitic rhetoric in the fandom, I’m sure that’ll go down real well.

I also find it hilarious that you’re telling me to be careful about the rhetoric I use in a thread about how I shouldn’t point out that some of the rhetoric other people spout is basically antisemitism rebranded.

And my point in that post wasn’t- “since this is based off of a real world culture/religion, you can’t criticize it.”

My point was- “since this is based off of a real world culture/religion then you need to be careful about how you criticize it, otherwise you might unconsciously be spouting bigoted beliefs and antisemitic rhetoric because you don’t recognize that that’s what it is because you’re saying it about a fictional culture.”

By all means, I get that some people just don’t like the Jedi, that’s their prerogative and we all have our own tastes.

Criticize them, if you feel like it, but don’t go around spouting rebranded antisemitism to do it. I’m sure you can come up with plenty of things to complain about them for without doing so.

—————

Now, I can understand why you might be worried about the slippery slope from this to shit like actual censorship—which, I think we can all agree, is a bad thing. Or how you might think criticizing this could lead to the whole “fandom purity” debate.

My thing is, it all comes down to does it actually harm people?

Perpetuating harmful stereotypes via saying stuff like the Jewish based characters “steal children,” or “lost their way,” or “they caused/deserved their genocide”—that does cause actual harm.

Think about why the “angry black man” stereotype or the “cheating bisexual” stereotype are bad and people- (rightly) -push back against them. It’s the same thing here.

Shipping a problematic ship, calling a fictional serial killer “babygirl,” writing about dark topics*, headcanoning characters as gay or trans…none of that is actively harming people.

(*obviously when writing about dark topics you should tag appropriately so people can avoid triggers, but that’s another topic for another day)

That’s the difference.

And, for the record, I think letting people spout bigotry just because they’re saying it about something fictional is the more dangerous mindset than calling it out.

#star wars #sw prequels #the clone wars #pro jedi #pro jedi order #in defense of the jedi #antisemitism #fandom meta #star wars meta #fandom wank

65 notes · View notes

nexysworld · 1 year

Text

Guardian Angel 🖤 Part 4.2 🖤

Read on AO3 - Requests are Open - Masterlist

Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | 4.1| 4.3 A/N: Thanks for the support and patience for this chapter. Tumblr wouldn't actually let me post it in one or even 2 parts no matter how I tried to split it, so it's split into three parts (though you can read it as one chapter on AO3.)

Chapter Summary: In a an attempt to get reader to open up to him, he starts giving in to a change of scenery and other requests for her. Leon even allows her a special friend before he leaves on a work mission, leaving the reader home alone for the first time.

🖤Pairing: Yandere!Leon/Fem!Reader

🖤Tags (not all apply to all chapters): NSFW, Masturbation, Dubcon, Sex, Gaslighting, canon typical horror and gore descriptions, probably eventual kidnapping or kidnapping like behavior, use of pet names like bunny. Leon induces some PTSD like flashbacks on purpose, general things of that nature. Unwanted creampie, etc. Probably treat as dead dove. Inappropriate use of animal collar. Threats of animal abuse (though none occurs and it's not descriptive.)

Your limbs felt so heavy that you collapsed, Leon caught you against him, letting you lay there on his chest while he rubbed your upper back. You felt so sleepy and sated, not wanting to move from where you were. You closed your eyes, just taking in the smell of his spiced cologne while your heart rate came back down, breathing stabilizing as well.

You hadn’t even realized you fell asleep until the sun shining through the window disturbed your slumber. Opening one eye, you smiled seeing Lucipurr curled up next to you on the bed, purring in his sleep. Leon must’ve cleaned you up, noticing you were clothed and there was a smell of food wafting through the cracked door.

Sitting up you stretched and rubbed your eyes, relieved that you had a good night’s sleep for the first time in forever. You didn’t feel bogged down and hazy, no bad dreams, to your relief not the slightest sign of the red eyed man to be found either. Even your reflection was looking more like you – though you did notice the new collar adorning your neck. It was more comfortable and dainty compared to the black one. A pretty lilac collar with the word ‘Bunny’ embroidered in silver. You ran your hand along it, there was still a shock mechanism on the side, but even that was smaller. You almost wanted to like it. Almost . At minimum it was far better than the original, and you could appreciate that.

Once you were done staring at yourself, you scooped Lucip up into your arms and walked downstairs, plopping the cat before his food bowl that Leon had so kindly filled already. “Morning Bunny.” He said from the kitchen as he set the table with breakfast. He waited for you to take your usual seat before speaking again. “Do you like your new collar? I think this one suits you so much better.” “Yes Daddy, it’s really pretty and more comfortable. Thank you.” You poked at your food a little, and stared at the plastic cup next to the plate. Now that you were more in your right mind, the things that should have caused feelings of embarrassment and shame were catching up. “Something wrong? You don’t like the food?” “No, I was just wondering if maybe I could go back to using regular utensils and cups? I’ve been really well behaved and I promise –” “No. No you haven’t earned that back yet baby. I like knowing you’re safe, and until I feel like I can trust you, you’re using the safety dishware. You need to learn to stop getting so far ahead of yourself.” He took a bite of his own food. You had no response for him, so instead you chose to slowly pick at the food in front of you, eating in silence until Leon spoke again. “Actually, I do need to talk with you about something. Unfortunately I got called in to work, while I was technically granted a few months to spend time with you, this is an emergency and I can’t decline.” “Oh.” You felt your appetite diminish a little now, worried about what that would actually mean for you while he was gone. Was he going to lock you up again? Would he take you with? Would he starve you again?“Hey Bunny, don’t look so sad. Trust me, I hate having to rush out the door on such short notice. I’ll be back as soon as I can, ok? That does mean I’ll have to leave you cold meals in the fridge for a few days, I’m leaving the locks on the stove. You’re still not permitted to leave the house either. I will be locking up on my way out too just in case you might get any funny ideas, are we understood?” “Yes Sir.” “Good girl.” He leaned over to kiss your forehead.

You weren’t sure how long Leon had been up before you, but he’d had the time to make things like several sandwiches, and other things he considered ‘safe’ meals that he left in the fridge for you. He wasn’t lying about the need to rush though, scrambling around to lock things up, make sure the dishes he used to cook were put away, double checking the baby-proofing he’d done all around. From the attic he’d carried down a huge duffel bag he brought out to his Jeep. Once everything got one more onceover, he gave you a goodbye kiss. It was sweet and almost painfully domestic, a part of you actually appreciated it, knowing you’d be alone with the cat now. “I’m aiming to be back within 3 days, ok? Make sure you sleep and eat.” “Yes sir.” “And go over the rules for me one more time baby?” “Only safety items in the kitchen, no using the stove, no going in the basement or the attic which are both locked anyway, and no leaving the house which will also be locked. Make sure I get enough to eat and sleep.” “Good girl.” With one final kiss, he was out the door. You made a mental note to see if you could get more information out of Leon on what his job actually was when he returned. ~♡🖤♡🖤♡🖤♡🖤♡🖤♡🖤♡🖤♡~ Leon did not want to leave you alone - you weren’t ready yet. Not by a long shot. You still pushed, asked for things you weren’t ready to be given, hadn’t learned all the rules yet. He’d only just gotten you to start acting like his little Bunny again. No, if he could have, he would have done anything to not leave you by yourself. But sadly even the great Leon Kennedy cannot ignore the US government when he’s commanded to move. All he could do was try to be back as soon as possible. He hoped the cat would keep you company and the rest of your time would be spent behaving, not that he left you much room to fail. The entire house was optimized fully for your safety, and he’d double checked the entire downstairs before he left to make sure of that.

Still, it did little to ease his anxiety. He was already missing you and worrying about you the moment the gate closed behind him. Don’t worry Bunny, I’ll be back soon, promise.

As soon as he got the chance he was checking the hidden security cameras, seeing what you were up to. His face lit up into a loving smile as he watched you eat your lunch with cartoons playing on the TV, you looked so pretty when you giggled like that - but he wasn’t a fan of the size of the bites you were taking, you could easily choke like that ! He sighed, knowing there was no way for him to communicate that to you now, but it made his anxiety worse. He still didn’t know how you survived to this age without him until now.

When he checked in a little later, you were curled up watching a movie while you pet the cat. Okay great, harmless activity.

The third time he checked during the evening, his heart sank. He realized he’d forgotten to lock the door that led to the attic when he rushed out of the house, as evidenced by the cat’s tail lightly brushing against it. The door opened with a loud creek, waking you from your slumber with a startle. Despite the gunshots ringing out from around his hiding spot, the only anxiety he was feeling was towards what you were doing. If you opened that door and saw the attic – Leon didn’t even want to think about the work he’d have to do to un-etch that sketch, and there you were right in front of it, contemplating. Luckily for him, you were truly being good. He watched as you closed the door before heading back to bed with Lucip. Leon let out a breath of relief and made a mental note to reward you for that when he got back.

The second day he was sadly far too busy to really keep tabs on what you were doing. He kept reminding himself of your moment of obedience when the door had been opened right in front of you - it was the only thought getting him through the day.

180 notes · View notes

damn-stark · 6 months

Text

Chapter 12 Fallen Angel

Chapter 12 of Sugar

A/N- Enjoy :)

Warning- Swearing, Sweet toothing rotting FLUFF, BUT THERE'S ALSO ANGST, spoilers, long chapter, violence and mentions of blood.

Pairing- Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader, (future) Choso x fem!reader

Takes place during- Jjk 0 movie

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“…and they lived happily ever after. The end,” you finish reading and close the book.

Satori yawns and rubs her eyes from her exhaustion but instead of closing her eyes, she interjects. “Mommy, are you and Daddy happy like the woman and the man in the book?”

You blink in confusion, but smile all the same as you tuck her stray hair behind her ear. “Yes,” you assure her. “We’re very happy. Why do you ask?”

Satori shrugs. “Because,” she mumbles as her eyes droop. “Mikael from down the street says his mom and dad say that they hate each other.”

You sit back in disbelief, even though she’s always telling you the crazy things she hears the other kids say. “Well,” you mutter. “You have nothing to worry about, your dad and I love each other so much.”

Satori flashes you a tired smile, letting you lean over and press a kiss on her forehead before you stand up. “Okay now,” you whisper and turn off the lamp. “Go to sleep. Goodnight, chipmunk.”

“Goodnight mama, I love you,” she mutters.

You grin. “I love you too, to the moon and never back,” you redirect, making her giggle.

Once you step outside of her room you see Suguru push himself off the wall, and you make sure to close the door first before you pick on the matter that just happened. “Did you hear what she said?” You ask as you walk away with him at your side.

Suguru nods as he slides his hair tie off to let his long hair fall over his shoulders. “Yeah,” he says. “I heard it.”

You snicker softly before you burst out laughing over the matter your daughter told you.

“It’s not funny,” Suguru counters to try and scold you, but you can see he wants to laugh too. “We should really…” he trails off and begins to laugh as you continue to chuckle.

“Stop,” you scold him in between laughs. “It’s not funny. It’s very serious.”

“You stop,” he says and nudges you. “You’re making me laugh.”

You shake your head and stop to catch your breath. Suguru stops a bit ahead of you and turns around to look at you with a wobbly smile as he manages to calm down, but he then begins to laugh again as he sees you. Which then turns to you laughing again because he can’t stop, so the subject you were laughing about is completely forgotten.

It’s not until a bit later when Nanako and Mimiko come and find you that you finally stop.

“What are you guys doing?” Nanako blurts with annoyance. “Hurry up, we’re all still waiting!”

You both clear your throat and nod in comprehension.

“Right,” Suguru says as he breaks away from his spot. “Sorry.”

You quickly follow him to the parlor room and immediately get questioned. “What were you guys laughing about anyway?” Mimiko asks.

You draw in a deep breath and shake your head with a smile. “I don’t even remember anymore,” you say honestly.

“Hm.”

When you reach the parlor room Suguru immediately addresses your tardiness. “Sorry to keep everyone waiting, this conversation is not for children so we had to put Satori to bed. Darling, if you could please,” he refers to the board.

You pull the board out of the cabinet and show off the maps of Shinjuku, Kyoto, and the school. All of which have been marked according to how Suguru and you have planned the battle strategy.

“First,” Miguel cuts in as he stands up. “Let’s serve ourselves some drinks. I’ve brought this sweet concoction from Fiji.”

“Concoction?” You whisper to Mananmi as she takes a seat by you.

“Sounds like some kind of witch brew if you ask me,” she whispers back.

“Hey!” You actually exclaim. “Yeah, Manami’s right. The last time I tried one of your concoctions I threw up and had a hangover for over two days!” You complain.

“Wait yeah,” Nanako speaks up. “It wasn’t easy to clean up either.”

Miguel walks up to you first and hands you a glass of some kind of dark red drink. “Just drink it,” he insists.

You pull the drink up to your nose and get a hint of sweetness, so you slowly bring it to your lips and take a sip. Luckily for you, it’s not bad at all! It’s very sweet and smooth.

“Taste,” you tell Suguru as you push the cup towards him.

He looks at you with concern considering he was the one who had to take care of you last time you tried alcohol Miguel brought over to try. “It’s okay,” you assure him. “I’ll take care of you this time.”

“It’s really not that,” he says as he takes the cup. “I don’t want to die yet.”

You laugh softly. “You won’t, it’s good.”

“You said that last time, you almost got alcohol poisoning,” he rebuttals.

You roll your eyes and push the cup up as he has it between his lips. He groans and swats your hand away so you snicker and turn to face your family. “Anyway! Did you guys like the dumplings I made? I tried some new stuff this time,” you add smugly.

“Yeah, they were very good,” Larue mentions as he takes a glass from Miguel. “Except I only had one because someone finished them,” he mutters and points his glare at Toshihisa.

The young guy sees and looks at Larue offended. “I only grabbed five,” he defends himself.

“Yeah,” Mimiko interjects. “That was basically half to the plate.”

You smile proudly through the discussion since it means that your meal was very well-liked.

“Yeah, she only made ten!” Nanako snaps. “I didn’t even get to try one.”

“Too slow,” Toshihisa taunts, causing Nanako to stand off her seat and turn her phone to point her camera at him.

Toshihisa begins to snicker, but before she can try anything, Suguru grabs her shoulder and pushes her back down to her seat. “Okay, let’s focus,” he cuts everyone off, causing Miguel to walk to the bar with his concoction in hand.

“Y/N and I have planned out most of the strategy,” Suguru continues and gives you your drink back as he points at the board. “But of course, anyone is welcome to rebuttal and suggest a change. As of now though,” he exhales deeply and points to Kyoto. “Larue and Toshihisa will go to Kyoto, keeping the sorcerers appointed there distracted.”

Toshihisa sighs and cuts in. “Distracted for what exactly?”

“We’ll get there,” you let him know and let Suguru continue.

“As for who you'll have to face, the students of Kyoto,” Suguru says. “The staff as well, but none are much to be concerned about.”

“It doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down though,” you quickly add. “Understand?” You direct mostly to Toshihisa since he is the youngest of the two going there.

“Yes,” he sighs.

You were young once too, you wanted to prove yourself so you know how much it sucks having to be reminded. You can also sense the annoyance in his tone.

“Next Shinjaku,” Suguru continues and points to the map. “Now that’s where most of the higher grade sorcerers will be. Manami, Nanako, and Mimiko will stall the sorcerers there, while Miguel engages with Satoru Gojo in combat.”

Everyone looks at Suguru and then at Miguel with concern since they've all heard how insanely strong your brother is.

“Now listen,” you interject and sit down to cross your foot over the other. “Satoru is strong. As you all know he has the Limitless technique, which interferes on an atomic level controlling space-time with precise manipulation of cursed energy,” you explain what you know. “And what makes it all possible and him even stronger is his six eyes. Your rope will disrupt his techniques, but it won’t stop him completely, he will counter and he will continue to try and use his infinity to block your moves, so be very careful. All you have to do is stall him, so counter and avoid if that’s what you want.”

Miguel nods and doesn’t argue. “Understood, now will you explain what you two special grades will be doing?”

Suguru and you share a knowing look before he goes on this time. “They know we’ll be after Okkotsu so they’ll keep him at the school thinking I’ll be in Kyoto or Shinkaju—”

“Of course,” you cut in. “Someone will figure out that something is up when neither of us are fighting in the front lines, and my best bet is Satoru, so that’s why we need you all to stall them…”

“While we go to the school so I can kill Okkotsu,” Suguru finishes your sentence, making you smirk softly. “And so y/n can steal all 9 Cursed Womb Death Paintings kept within the school warehouse, and hidden behind Tengens barrier,” he continues to say. “We’ll need their help in the battles still to come.”

You nod. “Plus,” you add. “They don’t deserve to be stuck there. We’ll welcome them into our family.”

“Curses?” Larue queries.

Suguru shakes his head. “Half,” he corrects him. “From what I’ve read they’re half human and half curse. We’ll still need to use vessels to reincarnate them of course. But they’ve been incarnated too long, we'll help them.”

You nod in agreement and look around the group. “Any questions?” You ask.

“Yes,” Manami interjects. “How exactly will you get to the warehouse? Isn’t Tengen’s place protected by a bunch of doors?”

You nod. “Yes, but hopefully with my new technique it won’t be much of a problem,” you let her know.

“And about the stalling,” Nanako says. “Why can’t we just have a dummy to go for the both of you so the sorcerers stay there longer,” she wonders.

Suguru nods in comprehension. “Good question, and there’s a simple answer, it’ll make too much of a mess. I won’t risk that.”

The room falls silent, but there’s still one piece of doubt that adds tension. No one dares to speak it though, not out of fear that Suguru or you would get upset, but out of fear that you’d jink this entire plan.

Yet it needed to be discussed, so you bring it up quietly. “If all goes to hell and we lose, then we run. Hide. There’s nothing wrong with that,” you assure them. “Nanako, Mimiko, you guys come back home, as do you, Larue. We’ve all made sure to keep our lives wiped off any database, but keep your heads low nevertheless.”

“But,” Suguru says softly. “I have faith in all of you. We both do.”

You offer them a soft smile to reassure Suguru’s comment. And they all do look comforted by the comment, but there’s still that sliver of tension left. This time Miguel addresses it. “And if Satoru Gojo goes to you two, then what?”

You sigh deeply and let your eyes flicker to the ground before you meet Suguru’s gaze.

“Then,” Suguru says and drifts his eyes back to your family so they can see the confidence he’s trying to make you see. “We will fight him.”

That’s easier said than done. No matter what animosity there’s been neither you nor Suguru have had to actually fight against Satoru. So if it happens will your anger actually be enough to confront him?

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

“Suguru?” You call out softly as you slide the door open and peek your head inside the empty room.

“Yeah, I’m in here,” he calls out softly.

You walk in and see him sitting on the windowsill that leads to the balcony. He then turns his head and meets your gaze, making the blazing sunset behind him glow around him so beautifully.

“Looking for some time alone?” You ask as you walk past the door.

Suguru shakes his head. “You’re welcome to join me, darling.��

You offer him a soft smile and walk over to him to sit on the balcony to let the sun kiss your skin and bask in the little warmth it provides during December. “Beautiful sunset, huh?” You muse as you fold your hands on the railing and rest your chin on your hands to watch the sunset over the horizon. “Makes me miss spring and summer.”

Suguru hums and then stays quiet, letting you close your eyes to just take in the soft feeling of the sun's rays on your flesh. You enjoy the silence since you know your children aren’t home to have you worried that it’s too silent. You enjoy Suguru’s presence, and bask in the comfort and peace it brings you by just being nearby.

Yet it’s his silence that soon begins to worry you. Ever since he saw Satoru, and since he declared war, he’s been quieter than usual. You’ve found him alone just pondering and it’s never worried you until now.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You probe softly as you drift your eyes to him.

Suguru blinks and lets his eyes fall on you, he then sighs and averts his gaze before he speaks up quietly. “Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you had stayed at the school?” He asks, making you slowly sit up.

“Well,” you sigh and see him meet your gaze with a curious look. “Sometimes,” you admit. “When I’m feeling nostalgic really. But honestly, there isn’t much to think about, I was going to leave regardless, whether it be after graduation or before. My place wasn’t at that school.”

Suguru hums softly and smiles. “Really? I think you would’ve made a pretty cool teacher.”

You laugh softly. “Yeah, I don’t think so. My attachment to them would’ve gotten in the way if I had lost one,” you say as you shake your head.”

“So what would’ve changed then?” Suguru asks.

You draw in a deep breath and look out at the dimming sky. “Well this,” you exhale. “I wouldn’t have this house, my career, this family, the girls or you.”

“You really think we wouldn’t have worked out if I stayed in that school?” He probes softly.

You look over at him and answer genuinely. “No. I honestly think we wouldn't have worked out. I mean I think we would’ve stayed together until I graduated, but I would’ve left with Yuki. I would’ve come back after maybe a couple of years and started my community. Our lives would’ve taken different directions.”

Suguru nods softly in comprehension. “Yeah,” he whispers. “You’re right.”

You tilt your head and redirect his question back to him. “What about you? Do you think you would have stayed there and become a teacher? Because I think you would have made a pretty damn good teacher. A hot one too. If you were my teacher I would have always paid attention.” You laugh, making him scoff in amusement and turn his head away to hide his smile.

“Well,” he says and draws out a deep breath. “I don’t think I would have stayed as a teacher, or at Jujutsu high for that matter,” he says and loses his smile, making you lose yours. “If it wasn’t that village then it would’ve been something else that made me drift away. I don’t think I could’ve stayed knowing that what we did didn’t really matter. And after Haibara I don’t know if I could have seen any more of our other friends on that same table.”

You swallow back nervously and nod. “I know what you mean,” you whisper.

Suguru holds your gaze for a moment and sighs before he goes on. “I don’t know what would have become of me exactly, perhaps I was always meant to be this, or not. I don’t know, but I know that I wouldn’t have stayed…so hey, maybe we would’ve reunited down the line.”

You hum. “You really think so?” You ask with amusement. “I don't know, I don’t think Satoru would’ve let you.”

Suguru chuckles. “What is that supposed to mean?” He queries.

“Well…you guys had some weird special bond, so I think he would’ve left with you and I don’t think he would have let you join me,” you let him know.

Suguru smiles at you. “Jealous?” He teases.

You shrug. “Just a little,” you admit and look down, immediately feeling that smile fade. “So what brought all this on? Feeling nostalgic? Regrets?”

“No,” he says immediately. “No regrets. I’m satisfied with my life and with the path I chose. I love you and the girls, you guys are the best things that have happened to me.”

You smile softly and keep looking down.

“I guess,” he continues a lot quieter this time. “I’m just pondering over what could’ve been.”

“It’s this upcoming fight isn’t it?” You ask since you’ve been wrapped around in your mind like him too.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I think it is.”

You exhale and sit in silence to let what you talked about sink in, and to feel grateful that you have him to spill your heart to. It’s not always easy, but you’re glad it’s easy with him. And it’s because of that thought, along with the others that leads you to think about what you have been debating.

And when you look up to quietly admire Suguru as the last rays of the sun kiss his face, as they cling onto his dark eyes and turn them even more beautiful as they blaze against the light, it's all clear. You can’t look past your anger, especially not after what you’re going to do. Plus this, what you’ve built depends on you giving it your all even if it’s against your brother.

And if it comes to Suguru versus Satoru…then you know what side you’ll take. It’s doubtful they’ll ever come to the point of having to kill one or other though. They’ll fight, sure, it’s a fight that’s been waiting to happen, but it’s doubtful that they could ever make a choice like that. They’re too bonded to ever make that choice, even if they’re apart.

“I have something I’ve been meaning to give you,” Suguru interjects, causing your attention to drift back to him. “I wanted to give it to you for our anniversary, but I thought it would be better now.”

You lean over and watch him pull out a small and thin book from his pocket. “What is that?” You probe excitedly.

Suguru sighs and hands you the book, and when you look down at the title you beam out of pure joy. “Wow,” you muse. “The pun book I was missing from my collection…” you trail off and chuckle before you throw yourself on him. “It’s your funeral, so I don’t want to see any eye rolls,” you point out.

Suguru returns your embrace and mutters, “yeah, yeah.”

You press a kiss on his cheek before you whisper, “thank you so much. I love it.”

“Good.”

You shift and sit on his lap now to open the book and skim through the pages. “This is amazing,” you mumble. “I love it and I expect at least a fake laugh—no one laughs at my jokes,” you grumble.

“They’re cheesy,” he rebuttals.

“That’s the point! Puns are meant to be silly, they’re puns!” You grin and go back to a page where you read a funny joke. “Okay, okay, Ladies, if he can’t appreciate your fruit jokes, let that mango.” You snort and then laugh to yourself.

Suguru scoffs. “Okay, I get it,” he assures you with an amused smile and then the fakest laugh you’ve heard.

“Aw, you suck,” you grumble and slide off his lap to walk away. “I’ll find someone who appreciates my jokes one day.”

Suguru slides off the window frame and follows after you. “Baby, you said a fake laugh was enough. I did it,” he actually laughs this time.

You peer over and stick your tongue out at him.

He rolls his eyes. “Mature,” he mutters before he quickens his pace and throws his arms around your waist.

You stop moving and begin to slide down. “No! Let go of me,” you complain as you try not to laugh. “Suguru!” You squeal as he begins to pull you up.

“I laughed,” he says between his own laughs. “Besides, who are you going to find that’s better than me?”

You stop moving and scoff. “Ew, why would you say that?”

“Yeah, I heard it and it was too late to take it back,” he mumbles before he picks you up bridal style. “The girls aren’t here, we should take advantage of that before they return.”

You smirk as you wrap your arm around his neck. “Oh? What do you have in mind? Maybe a bath, with wine to the side! Or you can help me paint my nails while we do face masks together!” You suggest excitedly.

Suguru shrugs. “We can do both, why not?”

You grin at him and then lay your head on his shoulder. He takes you to your shared room, but you actually don’t get to do any of the two things you wanted since the girls get back home earlier. However, it turns out to be better because you all huddle around Suguru and pamper him instead. He never complains about it either so it works out great each time.

Everything always works out fine when you’re with him, so this battle will work out too. It has to—no it will!

You keep telling yourself that, you keep giving yourself hope as you train, as you count the days and the time that passes.

And there’s so much that gives you hope, more than you would have felt when you were younger. You like to think that you’re not as negative now. Yet when December 24th arrives you can’t sleep, all you can think about is the different what-if scenarios that pop into your mind.

But you have to be positive because you can win. You will. And you’ll go on living your life, your great life. You will.

You sigh deeply and try to engrave that in your brain as you lie in bed in the morning. Yet the thoughts are too overwhelming and too stressful, so you get up instead. However, you stop and smile when you see how peaceful Suguru looks sleeping with his bangs over his face, and his mouth partially opened. He then moves and you think he’s going to wake up, but he just lays on his side and stretches his arm out over the empty spot you had been lying on. So you make sure to be quiet to not wake him up as you change, and then walk out of the room to wander over to the small lake that sits by your house.

Mediating often helps so you try to do that in the serenity that being outside brings you. However, no matter how strong you’ve gotten, no matter how many other fights you’ve fought, none of it really gets easier. The stress of it, the running thoughts. And now there’s more at risk; the twins, your family, even your friends and old cherished companions on the other side…

When did it come to this? Fighting against each other.

You sigh and lay back on the shore with a lit cigarette in your mouth. You close your eyes to try and clear your mind, listen to the howling wind, and feel the cold breeze unfurling over your face.

There isn’t a moment of hesitation or regret, it just doesn’t really get easy. But after this fight, you’ll be one step closer to achieving your goal. Maybe then you can talk to Satoru again…maybe.

“No matter how hot you run you can still get sick you know!” You hear Suguru shout.

You smile and open your eyes to look back, catching him upside down with his hand behind his back as he approaches you.

“It’s cold y/n, come inside,” he tries to advise you, but you just sit up and pull the cigarette out to watch the ducks on the still water.

“I’m just,” you talk loudly so he can hear you. “Thinking.”

Suguru stops behind you and nudges your ass with his foot. “Get inside, you’ll freeze out here,” he repeats himself.

You show off your burning cigarette before putting it between your lips to draw in a drag, letting him know that you’re not out here to train or for fun. You’re stressed. You picked up the habit of stress smoking in school after he offered you a cigarette once.

“We’re going to be outside later, you know,” you remind him. “It’ll be a lot colder then.”

“Well you'll be moving then, you're not now,” he rebuttals.

You hum and stand up, but you offer him a drag. He sighs and takes the cigarette to draw in one drag before giving it back to you.

He wants to ask what’s wrong but you begin to walk around the lake. He would’ve insisted on going inside, but he sighs in defeat and has no other choice but to follow you. “You can stay, you know,” he interjects. “The Cursed Womb Death Paintings can be taken further down the line.”

You shake your head and exhale the smoke before responding. “I’m not feeling any kind of hesitation or anything, I’m just overthinking the outcome,” you mutter. “I know I shouldn’t, Yuki says I can’t. I just need to fight. Use your mind and your heart, she says. You’ll be stupid to use one or the other, but I…it’s just a part of me…worrying about what might happen, or what might not.”

Suguru exhales and nods slowly. “Think of it like water,” he says. “You raise it as you inhale when you’re practicing your different forms, right?”

You look at him and hum in agreement.

“Let the stress rise, and bring it back down like the wave of water you pick up and slowly drop,” he adds and looks over to meet your gaze with a soft smile.

“Okay,” you mumble and nod along as you throw the cigarette down and smush it with your foot.

“We’ll win,” he continues to assure you. “And we'll be one step closer to our dream.”

That’s what you said.

“If only we could achieve it now, huh?” You muse as you look at the water you’re passing by.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “But it takes time. Soon though, I promise you that.”

You reach over and take his hand. Suguru glances at you and you then stop the both of you to cup his hands, noticing now as you take his other hand that he’s holding a hibiscus flower.

You smile, but let him continue to hold it as you cup his hand and hold his dark eyes. “Just…promise me you’ll live. I can’t do this without you, you know that?”

Suguru flashes you a charming smile and pulls one hand away to tuck the beautiful red flower over your ear before he slides his hand down and caresses your cheek. “I will, don’t worry about me, okay? I worry about you.”

You scoff and shake your head. “Suguru,” you scold quietly.

Suguru cups your cheek and pulls you closer. “I’m not being selfish,” he says what you’re thinking. “I’m assuring you, stating facts…”

You giggle softly and lean towards his touch.

“It’s just a simple mission,” he adds. “Get Rika and go. No one will get hurt. We will be back home just in time to put our daughter to bed. And then we’ll count the days to celebrate eleven years of being together.”

You grin at him and can’t help but embrace him, just to relieve yourself of the stress with the warmth of his body, with the smell of his scent that clings onto every inch of him, and with the softness of his long hair that falls over your hands. He hugs you back and presses kisses on the top of your head before he rests his chin on your head.

Once a moment passes, when your mind is somewhat clear and your heart isn’t racing, you pull back and continue to smile. “Eleven years, huh?” You mumble and begin to walk back home hand in hand. “It’s fucking crazy. Who would've thought, huh?”

“Me,” Suguru says with a smirk. “Not you?”

You smirk and shrug. “I could’ve been dating Orlando Bloom, or I don’t know, maybe someone else with long hair and a charming smile.”

Suguru chuckles softly before he pulls to the side and digs in his hoodie pocket to pull something out.

“Eleven years ago,” he muses. “I gave you a Christmas present because I liked you.”

You grin before you gasp as you try and guess what he has for you. “Oh my god, Sugar, is it another engagement ring? Because maybe I got you something shiny too.” You hint.

Suguru narrows his eyes and you flash him a cocky smirk. “What is it?” He probes.

“You’ll have to wait to find out,” you tease and look down at his hands as he shows a small firefly pendant.

“I gave you two pendants before, but I haven’t given you one for Satori, so here,” he says and grabs your hand to place the pendant with the two other smaller ones that represent the twins, and then the bigger firefly pendant that came with the red string bracelet he gifted you eleven years from ago.

“Wow,” you whisper. “I love it. Your present is—”

“It’s okay I want to be surprised,” he assures you since he knows you get excited when he gets surprised by the things you get him.

“Well,” you move on. “Thank you then. I really love it.”

When Suguru ties the bracelet back around your wrist he steals one kiss from your lips before he continues to walk with you back inside.

“Now,” you mention. “Let’s hurry back inside because I am cold!” You hook your arm around his and pull him back inside with you.

When you get inside you see the twins eating breakfast as they watch TV, but you notice that Satori isn’t up. And she also didn’t come to greet you at the door either.

“Bunny,” you direct at Mimiko. “Where’s your sister?”

Mimiko drifts her gaze to you and then points to the stairs. “In her room,” she says. “She doesn’t want to get up.”

You share a concerned look with Suguru before you both head to your daughter's room. You make sure to knock first once you reach her door, but she doesn’t answer so you slowly open the door and walk in.

“Hello?” You make yourself known as you notice that her lamp light is on. “Chipmunk, is everything okay?”

You walk further inside and see her snuggled up under her blankets and with her tiger curse lying beside her.

“What’s wrong?” You ask with worry even though you’re beginning to see through her little act. After all, she knew everyone was leaving later today to do a mission, she knew she couldn’t come so she’s trying to make you stay.

“My head and tummy hurt,” she whispers in a fake hoarse voice. “And I think I’m hot too.”

Suguru and you share a knowing look, but you still crouch by her side and feel her forehead. And like you assumed it feels normal.

“Why don’t you come feel, Suguru,” you lure him over, causing her to hold her blanket tighter against her as she watches her dad crouch beside you.

When he feels her forehead and notices the same thing you did, you smile at each other before he sighs and looks at his daughter with pity. “Well maybe we should take you to the doctor, you have every sickness in the book, don’t you think, darling?” He asks you.

You nod. “Yeah. And she needs some medicine and tea too.”

“No!” Satori cuts in with her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Just…stay with me all day and I’ll feel better I promise.”

Suguru offers her a genuine smile and leans over to caress her cheek. “We won’t be gone long. We’ll make it back for bedtime,” he tries to assure her. “I’ll tuck you in and when you wake up again we’ll be here.”

Satori pouts and her eyes fill with tears, so he continues.

“And I’ll tell you what, after we come back, you get to tell us where you want to go for our trip,” he lets her know. “You pick anywhere and we’ll go.”

Satori’s lips tug to an excited smile and her eyes seem to almost glimmer. “Really?” She asks, forgetting she’s pretending to be sick. “Even Disney? Or the beach?!”

Suguru and you share a look before he nods. “Yeah, anywhere, but maybe…not with so many people, hm?”

“Daddy, no! You said anywhere.”

Suguru sighs in defeat. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll think real hard all day,” she says. “And I’ll tell you when you come back.”

Suguru nods. “Yes, deal.”

Satori grins and sits up to throw her arms around his neck, making him hug her back and pick her off of bed as he gets up.

“Why don’t we go downstairs?” You suggest as you get up to head out the door. “Then again, maybe Satori can stay here. You must not feel hungry since you’re sick…” you trail off and smirk.

“Well,” she mutters. “Maybe I’m a little hungry.”

Suguru laughs softly at his daughter's antics and proceeds to spoil her all day long. And all day long she followed the both of you everywhere, like a little shadow. After a while, she forgot she was sick, but when the time came to leave, she put her act on again like a little movie star.

Nevertheless, you continue to assure her one last time.

“We’ll be back okay?” You assure her before you shoot her an assuring wink and a thumbs up.

Satori grins and winks back at you, but with both eyes and then throws a thumbs up.

You grin, and she whispers. “I’ll miss you.”

You touch your heart and then press a kiss on her head before you redirect her comment, “me too. I love you to the moon and never back.”

Satori giggles. “I love you too, mama,” she says softly.

You proceed to step away or you will feel bad and stay with her. Albeit Suguru continues to go on to say his goodbye, and your heart swells with so much joy when you see them interact that you almost want to make you both stay. But you don’t, you resist.

“I’ll make it back for bedtime,” he assures her and cups her cheeks. “And I’ll be expecting an answer for our trip, okay?”

Satori frowns and her eyes fill with tears.

“Don’t cry,” he tells her softly. “It’s okay, my little love. I’ll be back.”

Tears fall down her cheek, but she tries to act tough and wipes it away. “Okay,” her voice quivers. “Goodbye, Daddy.”

Suguru presses a kiss on her forehead and then hugs her tightly. “Bye, Satori. I’ll see you later.”

“You'll take care of mommy?” She whispers, making Suguru smile wider.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of her. We’ll be back,” he says again and pulls back to brush her bangs back. “I love you.”

Satori grins. “I love you too, Daddy,” she says happily.

Suguru gets up and begins to walk away. She waves at him, and he spares her one last glance before he turns away.

“Bye Nana, bye Mimi,” she waves at her sisters before they join their group, leaving you lingering behind alone.

“Bye, my girl,” you tell her one last time. “I’ll call when we’re on our way home. Okay?”

She nods and holds onto Belinda and her tiger curse as she watches you follow Suguru. When you climb on Suguru’s bird to fly to the school, you both wave goodbye to her one last time.

——

*LATER*

All you ever wanted when you were young was a big family, a big loving family like those you’d see in movies, those you’d see when you’d go out. A family who didn’t shame you, or turn their back for what you lacked. You wanted friends who would have your back. And you wanted a love that will always last.

It sounded so foolish then, such a simple deep desire, but you lacked it, you lacked a parent's love and a family’s warmth, you only had your brother. So when you had a taste of that sweet desire when you came to Jujutsu High as a student eleven years ago, you didn’t want to let go.

But you did, you let go and you found more, you relished in that love you so deeply wished for, you didn’t find pain, instead, you found simple moments full of joy and love. It was at the expense of others you so deeply cherished, but you can admit that it was worth it to get what you wanted. And when you got it you said you wouldn’t return to a place that reminded you of the pain you later endured in your young years, but here you are now, on a roof as you sneak in with Suguru.

Here you are now ten years later watching the happy memories of then haunting the places you would be at and the places you'd walk through, with the intent to oppose the same side you had fought with once before.

All to protect the family you formed along the way. And most importantly to accomplish a new deep desire for a better world so sorcerers like you don't have a chance to experience the pain you endured.

How odd is that?

“Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness,” Suguru chants as he raises his hand to do the hand symbol to lower a veil. “Purify that which is impure.”

A white veil emerges and quickly surrounds the school grounds, trapping him, you, and Okkotsu.

“Besides Okkotsu we have to avoid killing any sorcerer that may be here,” Suguru reminds you as you move down the roof now that the veil is drawn.

“I know that,” you mutter, and then jump off the roof and swiftly land on the ground. When Suguru lands beside you you begin walking down the same way for now.

“Except if that Zen’in girl is here,” Suguru grumbles. “You can kill her and we'll rid ourselves of one more monkey.”

You roll your head to the side to shoot him a glare. “She’s like Toji, you know. It’ll be exciting to see how strong she gets as she keeps getting older.”

“It won’t be,” Suguru retorts as he watches out for anyone who might be after you now that you made yourselves known. “That guy was hard to kill before, I’d rather not deal with that again later down the road.”

You hum and nod. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“But if you come across her,” he adds as he senses your hesitation. “Then you can spare her. You can’t ask me to do the same.”

You shake your head and can’t help but let your lips pull to a small smile. “I never would. Now is he near or what?”

“Okkotsu?”

“Satoru,” you correct him. “I’d rather not deal with him right now.”

Suguru scoffs. “How am I supposed to know?” He quips.

You smirk and shrug. “I don’t know, maybe you have, like, a Satoru radar. You would. You guys are weird like that.”

Suguru looks at you with a pointed look that makes you smile and snicker.

“Well,” Suguru sighs, “I don't know where he is, but knowing him he’ll probably come here late. He would’ve caught up with us otherwise. Let’s take advantage of his absence.”

You hum and yawn as you stretch your arms out. “It’s been a while since I’ve fought another sorcerer,” you mention. “This should be fun.”

“Need I remind you of your mission,” Suguru makes himself clear, causing you to sigh. “Take them and get out.”

You nod lazily. “Yeah, yeah, I remember, but there’s a chance I might run into guards, so I’m looking forward to it. And for now, I am helping you until we know there’s a clear path to the warehouse.”

Suguru exhales deeply at your persistence to not listen, but he doesn’t argue with you or force you to actually listen, so he just speaks kindly instead. “If Tengen puts up some fight to protect the warehouse, just get out.”

You smile softly. “Doubting me?” You ask even though you know that’s not it.

“No,” Suguru says immediately. “I’d rather not have you run that risk. Not without me there at least. Who knows what Tengen is capable of, you’re strong but, you’ll be in his territory. You understand that right?”

You nod. “I do, I'm just giving you a hard time…you be careful too. No matter how strong you are, you're not invincible. I want to go home with you after this is over.”

Suguru meets your gaze and offers you a kind smile. “I’m always careful.”

You mirror his smile and hold each other's gaze for a lingering minute before you enter a big empty courtyard.

You knew you wouldn’t find anyone here, no matter how big this school is, not even half of it is actually filled with people. Yet you did expect to come across some curious person. It’s almost worrying how quiet it is.

Almost though, because as you get halfway through the courtyard the Zen’in girl appears with a spear in her hand. When Suguru spots her he looks disgusted as he begins to nonchalantly rub his neck.

“You’re here?” He asks as she approaches bravely.

“Is it a problem if I am?” She retorts. “What the hell are you two doing here?” She asks and points the spear at Suguru and you.

Suguru shifts into a fighting stance, while you roll your shoulders back and just clench your hands to fists.

“Sorry,” Suguru says as he summons long and red centipede-like curses. “But we don't have time to chat with monkeys. Me or you darling?”

You step back. “Go ahead,” you encourage him.

Suguru’s smirk deepens, and with a quick mental command, the curses hurl themselves at her.

The Zen’in girl runs forward and just as one curse is going to bite her she slides down and skillfully uses her spear to slice the curses stomach. It doesn’t die though, it disappears through the ground pretending it did, while the other curse swoops back around and goes after her as she gets up to her feet and charges at the two of you.

Rather than moving out of the way, you stay where you are and wait for her to get close with a growing smirk. And once she’s close enough she jumps up and pulls her spear up.

You remain where you are, so she takes advantage of that and swings the point of her spear down to try and stab you as she gets pulled back to the ground. But you’re faster than her, so instead you swing to the side and rather than using your technique, you manage to throw your hand up to grab her by the throat harshly.

The girl chokes and drops her spear to try and pull your hand off, but you smirk deeper and pull your other fist back before you throw it up, and punch her in the gut so hard you hurl her out of your grip and into the air.

Within seconds you counter and use her technique now to gather wind around your left foot before you shift your body. You then proceed to swiftly swing your left leg around and hurl the wind out to roughly lash her to the ground.

Nevertheless, even as she hits the ground and blood begins to leak out of her head, she slowly pushes herself up and makes you grin with pride. She then fists her hands, but she doesn’t get to move because the curse that was after her jams into her and throws her down, and then the other curse that had hidden comes out from under her and closes its jaw around her to throw her past Suguru and you.

This time she doesn't try to get up, she goes unconscious, and the blood that was leaking out begins to spill out and form a pool around her. The curses he summoned disappear and you approach the girl to check for her pulse.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s dead,” Suguru interjects. “Not her at least.”

You ignore him and when you feel a faint pulse you sigh and stand back up. “Do you want me to go or stay with you?” You break your silence and step away from the girl to turn and face him.

“Go,” he declares as he walks to you. “I don’t want to risk having more people show up and give you a hard time. The quieter you get to the warehouse the better.”

You sigh and wait for him to reach you so you can say your goodbye. Yet just as he gets close he freezes.

“Oh?” He says and grins whilst he continues walking to you. “Someone made a hole in the veil.”

You gasp softly and only think of one man. Satoru. Can it be him?

“Nothing ever goes quite as planned,” Suguru adds and steps on the pool of blood as he continues towards you. “It should take them five minutes from the point of entry to be here.”

Rather than saying your goodbye and proceeding to leave, you fall beside Suguru to stay and help him. At least until you know if it’s Satoru or if it’s someone else with reinforcements. Or until he says otherwise.

“Should we ignore them,” Suguru continues as he rubs his chin. “Or should we take care of them? It’s so hard to decide.”

You part your lips to share your suggestion, but just before you can the wall at Suguru’s side explodes and sends out a cloud of dust and a bunch of debris. And through it pops out the Panda.

He got here fast so it means he took the shortest route here.

“Not bad,” Suguru says.

The panda responds by trying to punch him, but he swiftly slides back. The panda then spots you and tries the same thing, but you mirror Suguru’s actions and move away from the panda. You then manipulate the air to gather some of the smoke together and create a screen to hide behind.

Instead of staying hidden though, you run forward to surprise him. And just as you pop out of the smoke screen you notice that the panda is distracted so you jump up, and then spin around to kick the panda towards Suguru. “Focus,” you scold the panda.

Suguru then meets the panda halfway to punch it down and crash through the ground. However, the panda quickly recovers and just as Suguru was going to throw him back to you, the panda wraps his arms around Suguru and slams him to the ground.

Your husband acts quickly and gets out of the panda's grip before hurling himself back. The panda then turns and tries to charge at you, but you manipulate the air to wrap around your fist. And just when the panda gets close you throw your fist out and send a torpedo of air that sends him flying back before he can even touch you.

Just as he’s in the air though, he lets out a loud roar and grows more muscles on his body. He even grows fangs on his bottom jaw, and his eyes glow purple as they narrow into a fierce glare. But rather than continuing to attack you, he turns and runs to Suguru, as your husband approaches. The panda then proceeds to jump up and zips towards Suguru, but he misses as Suguru jumps on the roof.

The Panda doesn’t fall behind though, he follows Suguru at a much quicker speed than before and envelops his fists with cursed energy to try and hit Suguru, but with every punch he throws, Suguru swerves with ease. You on the other hand step back and jump on the roof across from them to keep out of the way.

And this should be your chance to leave while the panda is distracted, but you sit down instead. He is a cursed corpse after all so you are curious how strong it is, so you watch and see Suguru return to the courtyard and pull out some ugly-looking leech curses.

The panda lands in the courtyard too and manages to crush the curses with ease, but they only serve as a distraction so Suguru can get around him. “Predictable,” Suguru throws at the panda.

The panda lifts his head. “Because it was a feint,” he rebuttals as he turns around and pulls his fist back. “Drumming beat!”

You smirk and lean forward, and watch Suguru pull out another one of the previous curses. However, this time the panda manages to punch through the curse and throws Suguru back, causing you to quickly stand up and cry out with concern. “Suguru!”

The panda snaps his head towards you and runs at you. Yet before he can try and actually reach you, Suguru yells out at the panda, “eyes on me!”

You look over at Suguru again and see him summon out more of those long curses to throw them at the panda. So the panda has no choice but to pay attention back to Suguru to destroy the curses after him.

You now attempt to hop off the roof, but before you can, in the distance you spot the cursed speech user approaching. He doesn’t seem to have noticed you, so you quickly hop off the roof and approach Suguru as he hurls the Zen’in girls' spear through the panda from afar.

“That was close,” Suguru tells him.

“Same to you.” The panda counters.

“Someone’s approaching,” you let Suguru know as you gather the water that’s in the air while the panda slowly goes down.

And just as you predicted, the moment the panda hits the ground, the cursed speech user appears from behind the panda and yells out, “plummel!”

You clap your hands together and quickly shield Suguru and you with a blanket of water.

The sound waves from the boy's cursed technique only cut deep through the ground around you, and just throw out a thick cloud of dust since the water you hold protects Suguru and you.

“Hey!” You yell out at the boys.

As the dust clears you see the cursed speech user on his knees, and the panda behind him holding his shoulder. And they both share the same horrified look.

“Did they not teach you anything?!” Suguru shouts out smugly, and you bounce off his comment just as smugly.

“Water absorbs sound!” You proceed to move the water that's shielding you around Suguru and you, and then gather it into an orb in front of you.

“Which means…” you trail off and shoot the orb out. The boys try to move, but the water orb hits them, and the sound trapped inside damages them instead. Not as much as it would’ve hurt Suguru and you, but it knocks them out and cuts them.

“Thank you,” Suguru interjects and makes you snap your eyes away from the students unconscious on the ground—“you really saved me just now.”

You turn and face him with a growing smile. “Don’t mention it. It’s what we do.” You brush him and flash him a wider smile.

Suguru smiles softly and nods. “I know, but still. Thank you.”

You sigh and lose your smile. “Maybe,” you interject quietly. “You need me by your side when you face Okkotsu. He won’t go down without a fight, you can use my help.”

Suguru closes the small gap that was left between each other and cups one of your cheeks. “No,” he says. “You go, do what we planned. I’ll be okay.”

You let out a shaky breath and he cups your other cheek. “Go,” he insists. “Don’t worry about me, sweetheart. I’ll meet up with you where we agreed, okay?”

You drop your head and hesitate, so he presses his knuckle under your chin to lift your head so you can meet his dark eyes. He doesn’t say anything and you don’t either, you just hold his soft and loving gaze, and as if it were magic you feel comforted by his look alone.

“Suguru,” you whisper.

He leans in and begins to kiss you softly to only deepen that comfort. You don’t kiss him back right away, you savor the sweetness of his lips and cherish the softness and warmth of them. When you slowly grab his jaw you pull him closer to finally kiss him back with more passion and with longing. He wants to pull back so you can go, but you pull him back and linger in the kiss until you want to pull away.

“Be careful,” you tell him once again.

Suguru offers you a smile and nods. “I will,” he reassures you. “You be careful too, hm?”

You brush a strand of his long hair over his shoulder and nod. “I will be,” you whisper and slide your hands off his jaw to step back before you stay. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll see you,” he repeats.

You let out a deep breath and hold his gaze for another lingering minute before you turn and walk away. You’re tempted to look back, but you know that if you do you’ll begin to think about staying to help him, so instead, you quicken your pace. It’s only once you’ve turned into a different path that you walk slower and realize that this damned school really hasn’t changed a bit.

The same buildings remain here, they look like they’ve been kept up to date, but besides that, there’s nothing new. How do they expect kids to learn and continue to live if they don’t change? What a pity.

Nevertheless, just like expected you don’t run into anyone either since they all should be in the city. But you would have preferred to run into obstacles, as you wander through the school grounds you remember your youth and you begin to feel all nostalgic because it really hasn’t changed…

It makes you wonder if yours and Suguru’s initials are still carved on the tree by the pond you’d like to sit by. It’d be nice to add your daughter's initials on there now too. Hopefully, once Suguru and you both are done you can do it since you did agree to meet up there.

As for now though, you really need to stop daydreaming and focus on your plan. Thus, you also try to strain your ear to try and hear if Suguru might be fighting, but you’re too far from where you left him, you can’t hear or feel a thing.

Hopefully, he’s okay though.

Nevertheless, when you reach the building that leads to the warehouse and Tengen’s tomb, of course, you come across two guards.

“Stop right there Y/N Gojo!” A guard shouts as he pulls out his metal flail and lets the metal ball fall.

You look at the both of them unamused and retort. “Fighting you two would be no challenge so don’t embarrass yourselves.”

The other guard begins to unsheath two blades, and the one with the flail points his finger at you. “We’ve been ordered to kill you,” he sneers.

You scoff and smile. “Come at me then,” you encourage him. “I’ll give you the first shot.”

The man with two swords charges at you and jumps up to swing his blades down at you, but you run forward and slide down toward the other man.

When the man with the flail sees you he tries to catch you off guard and swings the metal ball down, but you're faster than him, so you swiftly get back on your feet and stand behind him.

“Boo,” you whisper in his ear.

The man with the flail jumps. “What the hell,” he gasps, and then turns back whilst he swings his flail, but you catch the chain and wrap it around your wrist to yank him towards you.

Once he's close you fist your hand and throw him a right hook before you snatch his own flail out of his hand and swing the ball across his face, managing to knock him out, and leaving only his partner left. And just like before he charges at you and swings his blades, but you swerve each one and only get him more upset.

When he charges at you a third time he’s faster, so you let him reach you. However, when he swings this time you meet his blades with the metal ball and then use your foot to kick him back. The man drops his blades at the moment of impact, so you drop the flail and stride over to kick his face and knock him out.

Just like you told them that was no challenge. The real challenge is when you get inside the building and find a thousand doors.

Only one leads to where the warehouse will be. And you’ve prepared, but you don’t know the consequences that destroying the doors could lead to. The last time you came here you were allowed here when you were hoping to find Suguru and Satoru, so the correct door was open. This time they’re all closed, they’re around you, above you, below you, it’s like being in some dark abyss and only doors keep you company.

But you can do this. You can.

You roll your shoulders back and tap into your fire, causing the dragon around your arm to glow red as fire comes out of your palms.

“Cursed technique, fire dragon,” you mutter and begin to fill the dark room with the burning light of your fire-made dragon while you form its large body outward. “Cursed technique, fire snake,” you add and use your other hand to flow fire out and form a large fire-made snake.

“Now,” you sigh. “Let’s hope this works,” you mutter.

You put your hands together and combine the dragon for its fire breath ability, and the snake for its ability to burn away cursed energy, and create a large fire-made Wyrm that lights the room so bright it looks like a sun. Its body grows horns like a dragon, it grows an incredible and ferocious jaw like your fire-made dragon, it grows a tongue and a long slithering body like a snake.

It’s a new technique you discovered while training with Yuki. She helped you realize your full potential in ways the school or your family never could. She made you the sorcerer you are now, you owe a lot to her.

“Now,” you continue and smirk. “Cursed technique, Fire Wyrm!”

You send the Fire Wyrm out and it opens its jaw to blast fire out and bathe every door with bright and hot flames as it flies around the void. The fire grows so hot you begin to grow uncomfortable because unfortunately, you aren’t immune to fire. You can tolerate a lot more than the average person, but there’s a chance that you could die by fire.

Luckily though, this time isn’t the day your fire took you out. Instead, you watch in awe as the fire burns away the cursed technique that was keeping the fake doors up, leaving only one that was too strong for your technique to destroy. Just like you had theorized.

And thankfully there’s no counterattack either, so you return the fire back to you and slowly open the door. When you walk in you see the forest-like room you came across before, and this time just across the door is the warehouse.

You had not even batted an eye to the warehouse before, you had no interest in it because you were too caught up in your own worry to even pay any mind to it. Eleven years later here you are walking to it without caring about the tomb.

When you reach the warehouse though, you see a lock on the metal door.

“What to do?” You ask yourself and glance around the forest until an idea hits you.

You crouch down and wrap your hand around the lock to use your fire to burn it away. Luckily, the lock isn't immune to your fire and melts away, letting you pull the door open.

When you walk inside your breath catches as you find yourself impressed by what’s inside, by how large the warehouse really is compared to how it looks outside. And every inch of it is covered with cursed weapons and cursed objects of every grade.

In theory, you could use it all against the school, use it to win your battle, but you’re only here for one thing, the 9 Cursed Womb Death paintings.

They stand all the way in the back in glass flasks that stand on podiums that are basked by such a dim light that you can’t even shape what’s inside the flasks. When you approach them though, you gasp as you see nine fetuses, all different shapes and different sizes, but they’re all just fetuses…

Maybe it’s the intimidating name, but you expected something scarier. They’re harmless—in this state of course. When they’re incarnated in their vessels though, they’ll grow into intimidating humans with strong techniques, and hopefully, they’ll help your cause.

“You’re not so scary,” you mutter as you crouch to look at the first cursed womb death painting through the glass. “Don’t worry…” you trail off and grab the flask to turn it and read the label stuck to the glass. “…experiment number 1, Choso.” You smile softly at it. “I’ll get you out. All of you,” you add softly.

The fetus opens its little eyes and you jump up. “Fuck,” gasp out of fear. “Unexpected.” You exhale and laugh softly to yourself. “Anyway. Let’s go home, Choso.”

You tuck it in the bag you brought and move down the line to tuck the rest of them inside. And when you’re done you’re about to turn to head out, but then the sound of a familiar voice makes you freeze.

“Are things really that bad that you’re resorting to stealing now…”

Satoru.

“…Sister.”

You clench your jaw and swallow back thickly as you grow annoyed and angry at the sound of his voice, and at the feeling of his presence so close to you.

You had seen him not so long ago, but it wasn’t the same, there were people between the two of you, his attention was wavered, and neither of you had the intention to get close or attack. This time, it’s just the two of you alone and you know there's only one thing you will have to do. Something you’ve never had to do because you both know you wouldn’t just drop what you took without a fight, you wouldn’t leave without one.

Is that what fills your eyes with tears then? That knowledge? Or is it the anger that’s flowing back in as the memory of him leaving you behind ten years ago resurfaces as if it happened yesterday?

“Y/N,” he calls out your name in that same nonchalance he would always say your name so many times before. It would annoy you sometimes. But this time it’s different, he’s acting like he didn’t break your heart, as if nothing happened. This time it infuriates you.

And when you slowly peer back over your shoulder you display your anger through your furrowed eyebrows and narrowed glare, and through the angry tears that fill your eyes.

“Brother,” you mutter coldly.

A/N- Don’t think about how if Satori sees her dad again it’ll actually be Kenjaku

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno

99 notes · View notes