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marauderundercover · 3 years

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Taking Chances Ch. 20: Off Planet (Meeting the Justice League)

AO3

Marinette, in her Ladybird costume, looked at her older brother warily.

“Are you sure we’re not gonna get in trouble for this?” She asks, avoiding looking around too much. If she just keeps looking at Jason, she can have plausible deniability until he confirms that they’re allowed to be here. Because last she checked, she wasn’t even allowed on patrols. Let alone in the Watchtower.

“Tt. I would like to see Father try. He knows he is currently on Todd’s ‘list’.” Damian-er, Robin- says, crossing his arms and scowling. Marinette frowns. She didn’t want her brothers to fight with her dad because of her….but then again, she was still really hurt by her dad’s actions. And he still hadn’t apologized. Making up her mind, she lets out a quick sigh and glances around, jaw dropping slightly. It was amazing! And definitely worth the inevitable lecture they’d be getting when they got home.

“Robin, Red Hood.” A man’s voice catches her attention and she whirls around, grinning from ear to ear. Sure, she’d seen Superman on the computer, but now she was meeting him in person. In person! “And you are?” He adds, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“I’m Ladybird. Nice to meet you in person.” She says with a wide grin.

“You don’t look anything like you did over video call.” He says, frowning at her as if she was a puzzle. She winces. Miraculous magic definitely didn’t cover her the last time she’d seen him. Scanning the look on his face, everything suddenly clicks. She thinks back to the Gala, how familiar Clark Kent had seemed. Well crap. Her dad’s best journalist friend was also his best superhero friend. Who'd've thought.

“Oh, uh, yeah- well, um. Lighting?” She stumbles out, avoiding the questioning look from her older brother.

“Right. Well, welcome to the tower. Is Batman around? I’ve been meaning to talk to him.” Superman says, though she guesses he’s only asking to try and get them to reveal where their dad is. He’d definitely be able to tell if Batman was here.

“Oh, would you look at the time, welp, gotta go.” Jason-Red Hood- says, grabbing her by the shoulders and steering her away from Superman.

“How long do you think we have until he tells B?” She asks under her breath, ignoring the snort coming from where they left him.

“Not long. But, we definitely have enough time for you to meet a few more Leaguers before we’ve gotta get home.” Jason reassures her as they walk down the hall.

“What’re you kids doing here?” A man- Green Lantern- asks.

“Pissing off Bats.” Jason says simply. Green Lantern frowns.

“Is that a good idea?” He asks. “And who even is she?”

“Tt. She is not any of your concern. Neither is our appearance here. If you know what is good for you, you will keep it to yourself.” Damian says, Green Lantern immediately backing off.

“Christ, his kids are insane.” He mumbles before walking away. Jason keeps pushing them forward and Marinette is starting to think that he planned something besides a ‘random trip to the Watchtower to piss Bruce off’. They walk into a room and Marinette’s eyes widen, realizing it looks like some kind of meeting space. And Wonder Woman is seated at the table, seemingly preparing for a meeting. Oh no.

“What are the three of you doing here? You know-” She starts before turning all of her attention to Marinette.

“Uh…..hi?” She says with an awkward wave.

“You’re the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous.” Wonder Woman says and Marinette’s jaw drops.

“What!” Jason yells in surprise. Okay, so this wasn’t the plan.

“How do you know that?” Marinette asks, her mind running a million miles a minute. How did Wonder Woman know? Had she purposefully ignored the calls Marinette had originally made as Ladybug?

“My mother was a holder. I was under the impression that the Miraculous were no longer in circulation.” Wonder Woman says, a tense look on her face.

“I’ve been the holder for nearly two years.” Marinette says, tensing. She wasn’t going to try to take it from her, was she?

“I mean no offense, but you seem young.” Wonder Woman says cautiously.

“I’m older than Robin.” She says, ignoring her brother’s annoyed tut. Yeah, so he was trained from birth and she wasn’t, who cares. Didn’t mean she wasn��t able to protect her city. She’d do whatever she had to do to protect Paris. Whatever it takes.

---

Bruce was tired. More specifically, he was tired of fighting with his children. Neither Jason nor Damian would talk to him, Marinette kept avoiding eye contact, Tim was working on more cases. The only one who was talking to him was Dick, but even Dick was quieter than normal. He supposed it had something to do with the Gala, but that was days ago. He’d assumed that they would be over it by now, but no such luck. Instead, they were all avoiding him like the plague. Which meant he was alone in the manor for the first time in awhile. It was quiet. He hated it.

“You’ll never guess where two of your sons are.” Clark says, landing in front of him suddenly. Bruce resists the urge to sigh. Of course his sons were up to something.

“Were they masked?” Bruce asks as a quick way to narrow down their location.

“Yeah, and Ladybird was with them.” He says. Bruce’s jaw clenches. She wasn’t supposed to go on patrol with the boys. She could patrol in Paris and fight there, but the last time she fought here she was injured. Badly. She knew how he felt about her going out like that. Deciding to give up on the guessing game, Bruce pulls out his phone and quickly pulls up the app that has the trackers on it. He knew he’d be unable to track Marinette, as she was transformed, but all of his sons had trackers in their suits. Bruce thinks for a moment, thinking back to the past few days on who would be most likely to take Marinette on patrol somewhere. He purses his lips as he realizes one of the boys has to be Jason. Of course. Clicking on Jason’s name, he groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. He took her to the Watchtower. He glances at the dot next to Jason- Damian’s name blinking back at him. This couldn’t end well.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He grumbles, whirling around to stalk off to get in uniform. Time to go pick up his damn kids.

---

Jason had made many mistakes in his life. He was pretty sure this was one of them. He ducks as another chair is thrown across the room, an anger filled scream following it.

“Pix, you maybe wanna-” He tries to say, hoping to talk her down from throwing another chair. She’d already broken three.

“Diana says this is healthy!” Pixie says with a bright smile. He’s relieved for a moment, but it doesn’t last. Her face twists up as she screams again, throwing another chair. Jason ducks and it flies over him, shattering against the doorframe.

“What is going on here?” Batman’s gruff voice rings through the room and Jason watches as Marinette freezes. Okay, so this can go one of two- and another chair flies at their dad.

“Ladybug, that’s just Batman. Your rage is not at him, remember? It is at your old Master, and the wielder of the Peacock Miraculous.” Diana says, laying a hand on Mari’s shoulder. The younger girl scoffs, crossing her arms defiantly and Jason is momentarily thrown at how much she looks like Damian. Jesus.

“I know perfectly well who that is, Lady Diana. Please, excuse me, but I’m not particularly fond of him at the moment.” She snarks, and Jason is completely thrown. He’d known the kid was mad at Bruce, but she kinda sounded like...him. Well shit. That’s not the healthiest way to cope with anything.

“Pix.” He says quietly. She turns to him and all of the tension drops as she walks over to him, standing almost behind him. Almost as if he could shield her. Good job Bruce. You really fucked up this time.

“Ladybird, Robin, it’s time to leave.” B says, not even trying to boss Jason. He knew it wouldn’t turn out well for him.

“No.” Marinette says, and Jason snorts. The kid was definitely pushing buttons today.

“No?” B asks, his jaw clenched.

“No. I’ll leave when Hood does.” She says, jutting out her chin in defiance.

“No, you’ll leave when I tell you to. You’re not even supposed to be in uniform with the boys.” B snaps.

“Father, there is no reason for her to stay hidden away. You know as well as I that she is an accomplished hero on her own. Hood and I simply wanted to let her meet Wonder Woman. We believed that meeting her would be beneficial for Ladybird.” Demon Spawn cuts in, his stance matching Pixie’s. He was totally going to have to have Replacement look at the footage from his helmet later so he could frame this picture.

“I said it’s time to leave. I will be waiting outside of the Zeta tubes. If the two of you are not there in three minutes there will be consequences.” B snaps, turning and storming off.

“I will allow you to make the call. If you wish, we can stay here and we will face Father’s wrath together. Or we could leave and come back when he is not so….worked up.” Damian says, his scowl replaced with a more neutral look. Jason was honestly shocked at how well Demon Spawn got along with Marinette. Especially since she was a “blood child” and older than Damian. It was weird. Marinette leans up against Jason, and he swears his heart breaks. He could tell, despite the mask, that she was hurting.

“If you want, we can follow him back to Gotham and then head to one of my safe houses. Stay the night there, watch some movies, eat a shit ton of junk food.” Jason suggests with a grin.

“Really?” She asks, looking up at him. He nods, ruffling her hair.

“Sure thing, kiddo. Trust me, I know B can be a lot.” He says. He glances up as Diana clears her throat.

“Ladybug, I’ll be in contact. But the time limit set by Batman is quickly dwindling. I suggest leaving now to avoid any altercations.” She says and Jason nods, tugging his emotionally stunted little brother along with his emotionally distressed little sisters. One of these days Bruce was gonna fuck up bad enough that not even Jason could fix it.

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kinkykawaiian · 4 years

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Name: Lilith Hat

Alias: Death Dealer, ,Mistress of Betrayal, The Red Queen, Queen of the damned, Maiden of Desolation, Scarlet woman, Night Hag, Screeching owl,Mistress of deception, Little delicate owl(Pet name given by Black Hat), Goat girl(Again, another 'pet' name given to her by Black Hat), Delicate disaster( Yet another pet name given to her by Black Hat)

Occupation: Weapon's dealer, Leader of the Red Macabre Corporation, Black Hat's Emissary, Also ringleader of an underground circus for villains where she torments her victims.

Age: VERY VERY VERY OLD(First woman to roam Earth old.)

Race: Succubus

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual but leans towards men more

<b>Biography:</b>

DAWN OF CREATION:

When God first created Earth; he made Adam and Lilith from the same clay. Lilith did not want to lay beneath Adam and demanded to be his equal; to which Adam denied her and tried to have his way with her anyways. She fled from the Garden and found herself naked and lost in the jungle during a stormy night. While wondering through the wilderness, cold and shivering from the rain; she tripped and landed in the mud; only to be met face to face with a dark ominous being who dragged her by the hair to a secluded cave that oversaw the red sea. The tophatted stranger was fascinated by her; examining every inch of her as if he had never seen a human before. Of course he was met with a sharp slap to the face when his hands got to more personal areas of her body. He did not speak in human dialect, but with time she taught him and he protected her from the wilderness when she ventured out to hunt. The land at the time was filled with all different kinds of wildlife; even prehistoric creatures roamed the earth. The being eventually named himself Black Hat and he was very powerful indeed. He could light a fire pit with just a snap of his fingers.

Eventually, the three Angels God had sent to search for her had caught up and gave her the choice to come back to Eden or stay with evil incarnate and have the first 100 children born from her womb die when they take in their first breath of life. She refused their offer and stayed with Black Hat. Lilith adopted two orphaned Siberian tiger cubs when their mother was mauled by a T-rex. She named them Anzu and Khaan. Eventually, on one of her hunts she followed a doe into the Garden; where she witnessed Adam with another woman, Eve. This caused Lilith to feel something she had never felt before. Jealousy. She gave up on the hunt and when she got back to the cave she told Black Hat everything. He could sense she was distressed and relished the fact she was feeling a deadly sin. He grinned and saw the opportunity to finally cause the demise of humanity. He himself couldn't enter the Garden; only God's creations could. He granted Lilith immortality, where she went through a grueling and painful transformation; but of course it came with a price. He had her take the form of a serpent to sneak into the Garden and lure Eve into eating the fruit from the tree of Knowledge. She eventually takes refuge in hell with her beloved tigers(who were turned into gruesome hell beasts.) and was separated from Black Hat. 4th century B.C. Egypt: Lilith eventually resurfaced again. She was disguised as a belly dancer for Queen Cleopatra and offered advice on how she could conquer and rule. The temptress always caused death or manipulated others into doing the evil deed for her. She eventually crosses paths with Black Hat again who she spotted front row in one of her performances. She was especially flirty with him, taunting him with her silky scarf and led him away to have her fun with him. Shortly after their romping, Egypt was plagued with a severe drought,locust and famine. The following morning Black Hat offers for her to join him, she of course refused and remained a free spirit. Angered by her rejection he leaves; leaving behind a massive sand storm in his wake. Nine months later she gave birth to a little girl who died seconds after being born. Lilith mourned the loss of her child and even gave her a name; Jezebel. As time went on she had intercourse with several other men, human or other demons; each offspring from those relations did not survive outside the womb. Europe 1347 - 1558: Lilith was disguised as a beautiful human woman who seduced men and drained them dry of their life force. Eventually on one of her hunts, she crosses paths with Black Hat. He was still sore about being rebuffed but made an attempt in conversing with her. They talked about their conquest and what they have been up to for the last couple of centuries. He invites her for a night full of booze and murder that eventually leads into some evil coitus. Soon after, Europe was introduced to the Black Plague. Lilith took on the disguise of a Plague nurse while Black Hat took on the disguise of a Plague doctor and together they helped further spread the deadly disease. After successfully spreading the plague, Lilith parted ways with Black Hat due to her being summoned by Mary the first. The queen sought power and prosperity. Lilith was her right hand and gave her advice that would lead to the queen's ruthless war path and the killings of innocent women just for the sole purpose of bathing in it. At her death bed, Lilith collected her soul and entrapped her into a mirror where she has the mediocre job of scaring children dumb enough to invoke her. The demoness then wandered into the wilderness of Europe, wanting to explore it's wildlife. During her stay in the wild, Lilith ventured into a cave where she encountered an enormous golden serpent with glowing red eyes. She eventually tamed the savage beast and named her "Big Jill". After obtaining her new pet she retreated back into hell. The year 1860-1950: She was summoned on earth by a mortal looking to get his rocks off with the infamous succubus and it backfired on him when she drained his life energy for sustenance; leaving nothing but a hollowed out corpse. Now, free to roam Earth, she disguised herself as a normal woman; killing several men in her wake. She was nomadic; never staying in one place and always traveling state to state; town to town and eventually she happened upon a small town in Mexico. She saw a discrete ad around the town for a masquerade. She attended the ball expecting to find her new victim. She wore a crimson red and black Victorian dress; it's silk straps draping off her shoulder; along with black gloves and a crow mask, her hair tied back in a bun adorned with roses and black feathers. During the festivities; she saw a familiar dark figure. His face was concealed by a mask. He had noticed her and watched her from the corner of his eye until she disappeared in the crowed only to reappear behind him and ask him for a dance. As they waltzed they chatted about the festivities and eventually Lilith dropped the bomb of how he looked like someone she knew many years ago. He grins at her as he already knew who she was. After their brief introduction to one another, Black Hat began to siphon the life force out of the other party goers to sustain them both. They danced through the ballroom long after the rest of the attendies were dead at their feet. After their dinner and dance; they road off on his horse and he laid her down by a lakeside. After their fun, He laid next to her and brought up his offer again. As much as Lilith cared for him, she loved her freedom to much to be chained down to one being. He cursed her name and rode off into the night on horseback. She sighed and went about her night. A week later she attempted to seduce the famous monster hunter Van Helsing; only to be maimed severely and have her wings ripped from her body. He was about to slice her throat with a blessed blade but was interrupted by the leering shadow of a monstrous Black Hat who engulfed the room in darkness. Lilith had loss consciousness from the blood loss at this point and she came to when she felt a sterling silver red hot branding iron between her shoulder blades. It was Black Hat who was marking her with the Hat Pentagram. He looked pleased at the fact she was hindered, distress and dependent. He informed her that he saved her life and tended to her wounds therefore she is in debt to him and that she will forever serve under the Black Hat Organization as payment. This of course this lead to an argument between the two but she receded back to laying on her side in pain. He gently stroked her hair before exiting the room calling her a"Beautiful imbecile". Black Hat enjoyed her wild and wicked nature; trying to contain it would be foolish but he thrived on the conflict that came from him attempting. Her spirit was unbreakable no matter what he through her way, she rose above it stronger each time. Any man she tried to seduce or have relations with faced imminent death due to Black Hat's envious reaction. Eventually, Lilith wanted to own her own company, to which Black Hat was intrigued to hear. He gave her a branch of his Organization to rule and set her up in the catacombs of Paris. There, she let her hellish creatures roam the labyrinth of death. She named the branch The Red Macabre and specialized in torture entertainment, murder for hire, evil marriage consoling and taming monsters. Once a year she would host an underground circus where villains from all over the cosmos can come and bare witness to her and her crew tormenting a hero until his last breath before being fed to Lilith's demonic saber tooth tigers. 1950-Present day: Despite her boss's constant attempt in trying to lock her down, Lilith still attempted to date other supernatural beings casually. One day, Lilith was in her office sharing a drink with her boyfriend at the time Nergal(https://grimadventures.fandom.com/wiki/Nergal ). Black Hat heard about them through the grapevine and interrupted their date by grabbing Nergal by the throat and tossing him into the deepest pit of hell. He then turned his anger at Lilith and demanded for her to only belong to him. She informs him that what they had is casual and if she ever was to be tied down to anyone they had to be equals. Black Hat laughs at this and pulls out a ring to force onto her. She reacted by biting her finger off and spiting it at him; to which he ate it and made her finger regenerate with the ring on it. She said she was not going to acknowledge their matrimonial status unless it was a two-way contract with no catch. He reluctantly agreed. After they signed the binding contract(They both wrote it up together.) they were to only save each other for themselves and no one else. Despite being married, they did not live together, nor does Black Hat speak about her to others unless they ask. Eventually she gives birth to her first healthy child, a baby boy named Damien and two more followed after; one girl named Alice and the other named Melody.

LIKES:

-Drinking in general

-The suffering of men who thought they were superior to women

-Musicals

-Old detective shows

-Singing and dancing

-She likes spicy things(perfume,foods,gum,sex)

-Guns; her favorite being her golden Berretta 92; a semi automatic pistol

-animals

-being the center of attention

-cherries

-Most music

-the rare sweet moments between her and Black Hat that happen in private

-Red spider lilies

-living in the lap of luxury

-the color red

-Carnage

-Bathing in virgin blood

-the taste of human flesh

-When Black Hat sings to her or plays an instrument for her.

-Belly dancing(mostly to Heavy metal),waltzing or tango.

DISLIKES:

-Frogs

-Other people's children

-Being referred to as the Night hag

-Being asked what her age is

-Being called a sinner

-Being annoyed

-anything cold

-Glitter

-Being disrespected

-Most men

-Outdated views

-pranks

-when Black Hat melts puppies

-Being told what to wear

FUN FACTS:

-Her legs are furry but she waxes them.

-It took her centuries to get the hang of her powers, even furthering their capabilities with the help of another Lovecraftian deity named Edmund Uvhash.

-After spending so many years in France, Lilith picked up an accent.

-Lilith can speak several different languages; including English,Spanish,French and pig Latin.

- She has an affinity for animals

-Lilith is an excellent cook(She mostly cooks human flesh with herbs and spices)

-Lilith covers her chipped horn with a band at all times

-Black Hat has indulged in her sinful nature a few times and it usually leaves her bitten up,bruised and bleeding. And it is their dirty little secret to keep.

-If Black Hat were to ever disappear Lilith would take his spot and rule ruthlessly and mercilessly and do away with the mortals he hired and summon a legion to take their place.

-Lilith views Black Hat as an equal; despite him viewing her beneath him but he keeps that to himself.

-Black Hat and Lilith have private meetings every so often where he complains about his employees or talks about his new devices he wants to sell or they drink and reminisce about their past

-Lilith does care deeply for Black Hat, she just hates the concept of monogamy.

- Lilith never visits the Manor; Black Hat however has come out to visit her and the children.

-Eventually when the kids are older the end up visiting their father one summer and that is when Black Hat dropped the bomb on his crew that he was a married man. Demencia didn't take the news too well.

-Lilith has an irrational fear of frogs.

-Lilith was the one who pissed off Black Hat enough for him to destroy Pompeii

-Big Jill is Lil Jack's mate and they are both Basilisks.

-Lilith's catacombs are crawling with gigantic demonic Black Widow spiders, hell hounds, her demonic saber tooths and a pit filled with Big Jill and Lil Jack's offspring.

-Big Jill is the most feared creature that lurks in the catacombs who's looks can kill alone.

-Every time Black Hat and her bump uglies a catastrophe happens. It's a bad omen.

-Black Hat doesn't really love her but he feels intense lust and is envious if any other man touched her. He is very possessive over her and feels an enormous sense of pride once he was able to lock her down.

---------------------------------------------

Personality: She is ambiguous and charismatic by nature. However, she is will let it be known if she doesn't like someone and would make it a goal of hers to make them suffer an ill fate. She can act posh but deep down she is a wild and feral spirit. She is very lewd and makes a lot of suggestive jokes. She has a really sick and twisted sense of humor. She is very manipulative. She is highly flirtatious if she finds you remotely attractive.

Fighting Style: she is very flexible, quick and agile so she will use that to her advantage. She fights like an animal,using her horns to ram into her enemy, her clawed nails, fanged teeth and tail. Also may use her hooves to step on her enemies. Or she'll just simply unload led into you.

Powers: intense charisma and seductive power to match her good looks she uses to her advantage to manipulate unsuspecting victims,can disguise herself to look human, Manipulates dreams, Can see in the dark, Pyrotechnic, is able to make items manifest themselves in a snap of a finger, she can also walk up right walls and ceilings. She can teleport(even through dimensions), sucking her victim's life dry to leave behind a hollowed corpse, Immortality. She also can charm her victims(Only works with mortals) to get what she wants. Despite having these supernatural powers she is not as strong as Black Hat. She doesn't even come close to what he is capable of. She can turn into a snake.

Weaknesses: Sterling silver, holy weapons(blessed blades, holy water), frogs.

Quotes:

"Don't mistaken my respect for fear or you will loose it”-Lilith to BH

"If you can sell a lie you can sell anything."-Lilith to BH and Flug after helping them with a sale's pitch.

"Your mind is an insane one,darling."Black Hat to Lilith

"Thank you. I'd like to think it complements your wicked thoughts."Lilith replying to BH

"The further I pull away the worse his actions get, It's like he wants me to pay attention to him in this fucked up game of cat and mouse."Lilith to Nikiri (Her social media manager.)

Voice claim: Chloé Hollings ((

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO8TRGaqM9I&t=401s

))

Singing voice claim: Vanessa Paradis ((

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z-NbQvhzKM

))

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Lilith's themes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AAOx_6jfek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNhy3K94z8Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1VqKLgq4bA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa4mD-DRU1k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqdYHnulCms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t7SclAXoQw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4cKIxhcTT8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJwwIDCeqoU

Lilith and Black Hat's Playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x83P5LjpWpA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5yMcIxdnPk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I6Y9bv7Js4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQgUfkYhic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kQ-0bBkMIY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGbe-lEDCc4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwCdShFGjwI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PptZQQ1O70A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJwt9qJb6Sw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccY25Cb3im0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olp10zk3h-Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arPlIDu5rmo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDboeQfAsww

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcSL5Vdeu6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39V3sOe3-2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkBEnIoRqWw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m5SXO8qK78

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYuhnVSOzwE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8wP_4vp4Vs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teuGzBoN8hE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBi_1efiPwg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B66l1S0E70I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9PF09URHdQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE4bW3SJ6YE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMK0prafzw0

Villainous,Black Hat belong to Alan Ituriel

Art and this interpretation of Lilith belong to me.

#VillainousOC #villainous oc #villainous Lilith #Villainouslilith #villainous #villainous blackhat #Villainous BH #VH Villainous #Villainous fandom #villainous rp #villainos #My art #art #villainous fanart #character sheet

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no-te-lo-voy-a-dar · 4 years

Text

Sibling Jealousy - Chapter 5

Fic’s Summary: Reader has known the Winchesters for a long time, almost two years before Cas entered their lives. After that, since Reader was the only one actually teaching the angel about humanity customs and stuff like that, properly, they developed a closer relationship, on the parent-kid way. But it was never verbally acknowledged. Now, with Lucifer’s child on the way, life stabs some sense and realizations onto Reader, but there’s no time for feelings in this house.

Author’s Note: This is mainly a fic with the purpose of developing a family relationship with the characters, of mutual support, and I don’t plan on adding romance for Reader, because that’s not my final goal.

Pairings: Castiel/Reader (Platonic), Jack Kline/Reader (Platonic), Dean and Sam Winchester/Reader (Platonic)

Warnings: Usual canon violence and conflicts, as well as injuries and blood mentions, emotional struggles such as feeling unloved, like an outcast, low self-esteem issues and if you think something else should be mentioned let me know.

<<Last Chapter - Next Chapter>>

Chapter’s Author’s Note: Yes so, a long time has passed, and well, I still am halfway through the next chapter, and I’m still kind of stuck on the same episode from season 13...not having a supportive team for school work sucks u all, don’t be like that. Hope you enjoy this, and remember, comments are highly appreciated, and if you see a typo let me know, it helps me improve ^^

Chapter Five: Therapy and Emptiness

Word Count: 3,170

It’s been almost a week since the discussion on the map room took place, and Dean had been really silent the whole time, while Sam had made small talk to you and Jack, borrowing him a computer he didn’t use all the time.

Jack was spending most of his days on his bedroom, the first two with you teaching him to make his bed, how to work the computer and a few lessons on how to heal people when you bumped against some equipment on the makeshift gym, where you were spending up to three hours divided along the days, a coping mechanism that allowed you to let steam and anger out and left your body tired enough to almost black out at night after touching your bed.

So far he’s been able of healing (yet not every time) from paper cuts to small scraps you had made on your hands while sharpening swords, blades and knives with a sharpening rock - because you also found the process soothing and kind of relaxing, but your mind still wandered making you lost focus, ending on said cuts.

Yet, you told Jack to not tell Sam and Dean about the healing, and when he asked why you were going to lie, you told him the truth...mainly because he still didn’t have a concept of morals good enough to just know why.

“If we tell them you are able of healing injuries, they are not even gonna listen to the fact they are small ones, much less to how exhausted it makes you. They are probably going to expect you to heal their deep cuts, and claw marks and everything they get from hunts. And one, you are not ready yet, second they haven’t earned a right to be healed by you after all what they’ve made you gone through. Maybe Sam, but he’s on thin ice.”

“Ice? But, the floor here is not thin, is it?” Ah, another thing you’ve been up to has been teaching Jack the meaning of some words and expressions, like right there.

---

The moment Sam told you to get ready because you were going hunting, you immediately asked who was going to stay with Jack.

“No one. He’s coming with us.” He seemed unbothered by his idea, proud even.

“Come again? Jack is going with us to a hunt? Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“He could use some fresh air, and being coped up in here is not going to help him (Y/N). We all need to go out a little.” He almost sounded like he was both asking for permission and just announcing the facts…

“Have you talked to Jack already? What does he thinks about this? Does he wants to tag along?” Even if his answer was a yes, you would be having a talk with Sam to tell him how not just because Jack looked old enough to be on hunt meant he was mentally prepared to be on them.

“Yes, I went to him after talking Dean into letting him come along. And he wants to be good, and with hunting we save people.” He shrugged as if it was the most normal and obvious thing.

“Fine. But we have to make sure Dean doesn’t throw him into the fire line.” You rolled your eyes at the idea, but you were also frowning, so Sam just gave you a grateful smile before going out of your room and telling you how you were leaving in 30 minutes.

You still were going to have to talk to Jack after this, letting him know how things could go wrong. Just, warn the kid.

---

As usual you were riding on the back of Baby, but Jack was with you this time. You weren’t surprised he wasn’t in a suit, since he barely had clothes (Dean didn’t allow you to take him into town just to get some for him, so you had to go out and get a few things in hopes they would fit and he would like them), but when Dean slammed the car’s door closed you flinched. You could almost touch his despise for Jack.

The first lady’s information didn’t really help, and after finding out Jack had gotten out of the car, you quickly went to close it before getting inside the crime scene, where they were staring at a blood stain, and talking about going to the grave of the wife to salt and burn what seemed to be a ghost issue, or a revenant.

You weren’t so sure it was either of those options, and you told them that, but you were ignored. Well, Jack did pay attention, but he didn’t know a lot about monsters so he couldn’t back you up or give his own opinion...not like Dean would let him anyway.

As night fell, you went to the graveyard, and took the shovels out of the Impala’s truck.

After explaining to Jack why seeing the inside of the grave was of relevance in this case, Dean put him to dig, and went to grab a beer from the car.

Sam went after him, telling him how he was transforming into their dad. You shivered at the memories of John, for both your experiences with him and the stuff the brothers told you about...mainly Sam, but you could see the aftermath of said stuff on Dean almost every day.

You decided to keep Jack company and actually help him, since neither of the brothers seemed like they were going to help after screaming at each other.

---

Well, the grave did had a body, which left the two main options to just a vengeful spirit.

Sam helped Jack out of the hole and Dean helped you after he saw you were kind of struggling. The soil wasn’t as compacted as you might think okay? I kept crumbling beneath you.

“My mom could be a ghost?” You weren’t sure if what you heard on Jack’s voice was fear or hope.

“No, we burned the bodies. And what burns, stays dead.” At least Dean was kind of talking to Jack…

A quick glance at the green eyed brother told you he meant Castiel. You burned Castiel’s body. And that was his way of accepting Cas wasn’t coming back.

You had to swallow the lump on your throat, and went back to look at the flames consuming the body inside the giant hole.

---

Turns out, it wasn’t a ghost nor a revenant, as you suspected.

Another person ended up dead, and you had to go to the police station to get more information, finding out all the victims had the same therapist, and deciding that giving her a visit had to be the next step.

The only issue was, how to see her and get to talk to her and see if you could gather more information, more clues about the case and what you were up against.

The solution? Going in as a family and pretend you wanted the family group program.

What could go wrong, right? Right.

Everything could go bad.

First, Jack almost blew your cover at saying he had lost his mom when you all were asked who you’ve lost, issue Sam fixed by saying you all where siblings. Then, after said incident, Dean ordered Jack to not speak unless he told him to, at which you pushed Dean off of Jack.

Inside the room, Sam and Dean took the couch closer to the therapist, while you and Jack took the one across them, yet slightly more afar from Mia, and you could feel how rigid Jack was, and you weren’t even sure if he was paying attention to what was being told on the room.

...But maybe that was for the best.

The therapist quickly wanted to address how Dean handled things, and without warning, Sam and Dean started almost shouting at each other, about how Sam didn’t want to accept Mary was dead, and then about how Dean at least had a relationship with her and how Sam just wanted to hold onto the hope of having the same if Mary was alive.

Welp, that went great.

Sam stormed out of the living room like place, closing the doors behind him, leaving a very awkward silence behind him, which was quickly filled by Dean drinking from his whiskey wine pot bottle, earning a glance and scoff from Mia.

“What? Got a problem?” Please don’t anger her, please don’t anger her...

She first scolded him about his anger issues, and how it wasn’t her business if he wanted to fix that up or not, but she told him about how he directed his anger at everyone around him.

“Jack? The poor kid can even look at you. Look at him he’s terrified of you.” You glanced at him, and saw how indeed he tensed even more at being mentioned in the conversation yet not asked anything directly.

“And (Y/N)? I can see you probably boss them around, if you even acknowledge them to begin with. They don’t feel comfortable here with you, yet stands you because of...I’m going to guess because of Sam and Jack.” Ok, what?

You sent her a confused and undignified look, because well yes, you were bossed around, and got along better with Sam, and now that Jack had joined you did felt like drifting more apart from Dean but you...well, Dean didn’t really spent time with you before if Cas wasn’t around, or if you weren’t watching a movie, because that didn’t involve a lot of talking.

...You didn’t like to think about not really fitting with the Winchesters the latest years and now this woman has brought up all of your doubts to the surface again. Thanks.

“Jack? Pff, we are just peachy, right kid?” Dean’s voice did scare you, like he would snap at any moment.

“Just peachy.” Jack’s reply was a copy of what Dean said and sounded almost robotic.

“And (Y/N) is just fine, if they didn’t like us they would have run away a long time ago. Sam sure did for a while.” Dean didn’t even look at you, at neither of you, and took another swing of the alcohol.

Actually you’ve wanted to leave the brothers since a while ago and go with Cas, but since he always went back to them, to Dean, it wasn’t really an option. And even after all these years you really thought you’ll end up being part of their family again. After all, before Sam left for college you felt like family.

The sound of doors slamming open cut your thoughts and sent you standing up and pulling Jack with you, instincts ticking in.

“Careful! She’s a shifter!!” Screamed Sam while pointing a gun at Mia.

Now you put Jack behind both Sam and you, taking your own gun out. That one didn’t have silver bullets, but they would slow her down enough for you to pull your silver knife from your belt.

Turns out a creature read you all so easily. Well, that couldn’t be good.

---

After deciding Mia might be telling the truth about wanting to help people, Dean and Jack went to check if it was true she was somewhere else when the first murder took place, while you and Sam stayed behind, checking the footage to see the eyes of everyone who came in and out.

You didn’t really wanted to leave Jack with Dean, but Sam reassured you it was fine.

Since your computer was slower than Sam’s, you decided to go get some water and stretch your legs, and when you came back Sam was gone, Mia informing you that Buddy, her ex, was acting as one of her patiences and Sam went to the address in hopes of finding him and killing the shifter.

Great, he left without a word.

Your face must have shown your hurt, because the therapist answered your unspoken question.

“He told me to let you know he was gonna be fine, and needed you here for whenever your brothers were back...but, the four of you...you are not really siblings, are you?” You let a dry chuckle leave your mouth.

“Nah, just Dean and Sam. Neither Jack nor I are blood related. Dean and Sam, we used to be closer before, as if we were actual family, but, at some point, a distance started forming, and even when it gets slim at moments between one of them and me, there’s always this, feeling, of how if they had to choose they would save each other, leaving me to perish.” It had happened before, that one time they left you in a vampire’s nest. They proclaimed they didn’t know you were held hostage, but Sam was there with you before you were taken.

Talk about trust issues. Castiel was the only one who made sure the three of you were safe and healthy most of the time, taking special attention to you.

“You lost someone too. If their mother isn’t yours, then who did you lose?” When you blinked, you saw how your vision got blurry with unshed tears.

“Uh, a friend of them? Us? He’s older than me, and, well, might as well say it out loud now. I saw him as a father figure. Castiel, he uh, sacrificed himself to save us all, including Jack, and I did get to say bye, but not like I wanted. And I haven’t been able of mourning him, we haven’t had time to rest since…” You stopped talking as soon as you hard the Impala engine outside, and went to wash your face.

You heard Dean being told by Mia about Sam going out, but you didn’t heard Jack requesting Mia to have a chat.

When you got out of the bathroom, you heard shushed voices from behind a door. Recognizing Jack’s you walk closer, and hear him talking to...Kelly? But, she was dead and...oh.

Mia took Jack’s mom form and he was not talking with her. At least what Mia was telling him was good, actual advice and good words.

You left a sigh of relief out, realizing how bad Jack’s been doing, and well, at least he was getting help.

You started to get up, after you heard Jack thanking Mia, but you were soon yeeted threw against and through the door, crashing against a lamp and a small table, and finally landing hard against the floor, bleeding cuts covering your left arm.

When you lifted your head, you saw Dean knocking Jack out, and then he came to do the same to you.

---

You woke up at the sound of Jack screaming, your blurry vision seeing Buddy flying by that energy Jack created, and Sam on the room’s door.

You were just starting to notice your hands were tied when everything was already over: Mia refused to kill you, Sam had shoot Buddy, the room was all bloody and destroyed and you saw Jack was not very conscious.

After being released, you stepped as far from Dean as you could without looking like a scared, kicked street dog, and went to check on Jack, who was already getting better.

Mia insisted on the four of you to get out, that she would take care of everything (meaning the body and the room), but Sam and you weren’t so sure. It was Dean the one convincing you to leave, and the first one to walk out of the room, Sam following close behind but stopping when he didn’t heard steps behind him.

You saw Mia talking to Jack, and the later giving her a hug. Unconsciously, you hugged yourself, trying to find some comfort. Jack looked like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, meaning the conversation he had with Mia-Kelly did worked.

You were just left feeling emptier than before.

After Jack let her go, he went to walk past you, standing besides Sam.

You looked at Mia, who had a raised eyebrow, making you realize you were still hugging yourself.

“I’m just a little cold, the blood loose dropped my temperature a little.” You made a dismissive gesture with your hand, but you could see you weren’t fooling her. Maybe she was prepared to be a therapist after all.

“Talk to them, you are not alone.” You barely heard her, and nodded to let her know you did.

As if that was easy.

---

When you got back to the Bunker, you went straight to the sink on the kitchen to clean your arm again, since it was closer than the bathroom.

You were redoing the bandages when Jack came in to get a glass of water, but as soon as he got in, Dean came in too. The tension on the air raised tenfold immediately.

Jack and Dean exchanged little ‘hey’s, but neither was looking at each other.

“Listen kid, you saved Sam back there, I’m grateful...you did good back there, okay? Good job.” You saw the exchange, and noticed how Dean was really trying to look ad Jack, and the almost newborn Nephilim gave him a little smile, nodding.

You now knew the one knocking Jack and yourself out was the shifter, but it triggered the fear you had against Dean from his demon and Mark of Cain days, so when he walked past you, patting your shoulder, you couldn’t help but flinch.

Dean noticed, but didn’t say anything, just murmured a soft ‘sorry’ before leaving the kitchen, probably to find Sam.

Jack, on the other side, went to sit in front of you, and asked with a calm and quiet voice tone.

“Uh, (Y/N)? Are you alright? Does your shoulder hurts?” he was really concerned for you, so maybe you should be honest. After all, he still needs to learn about lies and you didn’t want to be the one teaching him that.

“My shoulder is a little sore, but that’s not why I flinched. Part of my mind thinks Dean will throw or hit me again. I know a few hours ago it was the shifter the one that knocked us up, but my instincts haven’t caught up with that yet.” Okay, you weren’t lying, just leaving certain info out. He didn’t need to know that. Not yet anyway.

He hummed and nodded, understanding what you meant, stood up to pick another glass and filled it with water. You were about to tell him he could use the same glass when he offered it to you.

“Drinking water is vital after losing blood, right?”

“Water is important in general, but yes. Thank you, Jack.” You washed both glasses after finishing yours and then called for Jack.

“Let’s use the fact I’m already covered in cuts to keep practicing your healing skills, shall we?” the kid glowed at the idea of practicing not hurting people, and catch up with you on the alley.

Maybe not thinking about Cas, but focusing on good things might help you…

Sibling’s Tag List:

@carryon-doctor-lock @theferretkids @sapphysaph(idk why i can’t tag u m8) @hazelle-uvu @tiggytaylor @a-door-into-my-mind @crazy-obssesed-fangirl @ladymarvelite

(If you wanna be added, please say so in the comment’s section of THIS post)

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ma-sulevin · 4 years

Photo

No rest for the wicked.

Pairing: Sharky Boshaw/Female Deputy Rating: E Warnings: Canon-typical violence, but nothing particularly explicit I don’t think Word Count: 6071, chapter seven of thirteen (probably).

Read it on AO3 instead and say nice things.

---

Mattie wakes up warm and sore in both the usual ways and in new ones. Her muscles ache from days of walking and fighting, and her thighs ache from her first good fuck since moving to Hope County. She smiles at the memory, tucking her face closer against Sharky’s chest. They’re still tangled together -- it doesn’t seem like they’ve moved all night, even though she knows he doesn’t sleep as hard as she does -- and he’s still holding her as closely as he was when she crawled in bed with him.

The second she starts to shift around, Sharky squeezes her. He’s been awake, holding her while she had a blessedly dreamless sleep, just waiting for her to come back to consciousness on her own. She doesn’t want to sound too poetic, but her heart skips a beat as he presses a kiss to the top of her head, then her forehead, then her nose as he tips her face up.

She smiles and laughs as he presses more kisses to her skin, heating under his attention until he makes it to his goal between her thighs. She throws her arm over her face to hide her eyes as he makes himself comfortable with her heels resting on his back and his arms hooked around her legs to hold her hips steady as he begins to taste her.

They haven’t even said good morning yet, and he’s already got his tongue buried so far in her cunt she’s forgotten how to breathe.

He licks her until she’s not sure she can take any more, until her throat is raw from crying out her pleasure and her thighs are trembling where they’re clamped around his head. When she curls in on herself to get away from the sensation, he follows her, moving with her until she comes again and again, until she has to push him away with both hands on his head and one foot on his shoulder.

He climbs up the bed beside her, laughing as he presses a wet kiss to her lips, then collapses against her side, right hand working hard between his own legs. She tries to reach for him with shaking hands, but he grabs her wandering fingers with his free hand and brings it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles before holding it captive to his chest.

“Sharky?” She says his name, uncertain, voice still hoarse, and he squeezes her fingers as he comes onto his stomach, coating his fingers and groaning through it. She watches with lips parted, breath still coming in hard gasps as she calms down.

She has never, ever been with a guy who enjoyed eating her out that much.

“Holy shit,” he says, finally, voice deep with arousal and still a little sleep.

“Yeah,” she laughs. “Holy shit.”

He turns his head to look at her, a wide, loopy smile on his face, and she can’t resist leaning in to kiss him again.

“Good morning.” He speaks against her lips, lips curving into a smile as she kisses him again before pushing herself up to rest on her arms.

“It is a good morning,” she says, and then she laughs again, stretching out her legs and flexing her toes to force some feeling into them. Sharky chuckles back at her, and she looks down at him with a soft smile. “Honestly, I kind of thought your stories were, uh, mostly bragging? But that was… fuck. ”

His smile transforms into a smirk. “C’mon, let me show you more,” he offers, starting to reach for her again, but she launches herself off the bed to get out of reach of his grasping hands. She stumbles a little, legs still shaking, and she leans most of her weight against the chest of drawers by the door. It rattles dangerously, empty since its owners left, and she starts to laugh as Sharky does.

“Babe,” she says, the nickname dripping from her lips like it’s always belonged there, and her heart does a little skip when Sharky’s eyes practically turn into hearts. “We don’t have time. We gotta -- well, I gotta talk to Joey, see what the plan is. You can come with, or not, but I have to shower first.”

Sharky pretends to consider for a minute, flexing his sticky hand, then shrugs. “Lead the way, Po-po.”

---

In the end, it’s nearly noon by the time Mattie’s clean and dressed and ready to get back to fucking up the Seeds’ day. She’d love to just let Sharky lure her back into their borrowed bed, wear her out again and again until she can just sleep without dreaming again, really relax for the first time since Burke showed up in Hope County with a warrant in his hand and a smirk on his stupid face. She’d love to forget, just for another day (or two), everything going on around her, the fires raging that only she can put out.

But Jacob still has Staci, and Faith still has Burke, and someone has to do something about it.

Joey’s sitting out in front of the Spread Eagle, a mug of steaming coffee in her hands and her rifle across her lap. She looks clean, hair still a little damp, the healing scabs and bruises on her visible skin more obvious in the bright sunlight. She squints at Mattie as Mattie draws closer, her tense expression melting into a smile.

“Rookie.”

Mattie huffs a laugh and settles in the other chair, carefully not reaching out to touch Joey like she wants, like she used to offer a hug or a light punch in greeting. Joey’s defensiveness from John’s bunker is still a harsh, fresh memory, and Mattie’s determined to be respectful no matter how wrong it feels. It’s still the right thing to do.

“Hey, Jo.” Mattie props one foot up on the bar’s railing and fishes her cigarettes out of her bag. She offers one to Joey before shrugging and lighting it herself.

Silence and smoke drifts between them, almost as comfortably as it did before all this.

Almost, but not quite. Mattie’s guilt is stifling her, even if it doesn’t quite meet Joey. Despite everything, despite having Joey safe next to her, Mattie’s nearly overwhelmed by the knowledge she should have done more. She should have been faster.

The forty marks on her arm, now hidden by her jacket, don’t do enough to reassure her that she’s literally giving everything she has to this god-forsaken county.

“Mary May says Jacob and Faith are still alive.”

Mattie tilts her head just enough toward Joey to look at her out of the corner of her eye. “Yeah.”

“You came for me first?” Her broken fingernails tap against her mug. Tap tap tap.

“Yeah. I’ve been all over, but… I couldn’t leave you with John.” Joey hums a little, just an acknowledgement, and Mattie continues, “I haven’t seen Burke yet. Whitehorse is okay, over at the jail with Minkler. Jacob has Staci, and he…”

Joey sighs, a short, sharp, reproachful sound. Mattie winces. “John, that mother fucker, told me all about it. You gotta get Staci out of there, Rook.”

Mattie nods. “Yeah. I know.”

Joey turns to look at her, fingers still. Mattie looks up to meet her gaze, ashamed eyes meeting Joey’s defiant ones.

“No. Now. You go now, and you kill Jacob, and you bring Staci back here. You hear me?”

Mattie’s nodding before Joey’s done speaking. “Okay. I will. Promise. You, you staying here?”

Joey nods. “I trust you. You got me, you can get him. I’ll just slow you down.”

“Okay. I will.” She breaks Joey’s gaze and stubs out her cigarette in the ashtray on the rail. “I’ll be back, Jo.” She hesitates, then adds, “I love you.”

Joey’s hand snaps out as Mattie stands, grabbing her wrist. Joey’s skin is too hot against hers, warmed by her coffee. “Hey. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Go kick that fucker’s ass, okay?”

Mattie would walk right into Joseph’s compound today if Joey told her to. She smiles, hopes Joey won’t notice her eyes getting a little watery. “Okay.”

“And I love you too.”

Mattie smiles wider and pulls her pack up and on her back. She turns to go, gets a few feet away before Joey calls out with a laugh in her voice, “And tell whoever you spent the night with to be more careful about those hickeys! You’re not in high school!”

She doesn’t turn around, just lifts her right hand up with her middle finger pointing high. Joey’s laugh is loud, then gets louder when Sharky appears with his own bag, grabbing Mattie around the waist to give her a sound kiss like it’s totally normal, like it’s something they’ve been doing every day.

Mattie nearly knocks his hat off trying to catch her balance as she laughs too.

“Ready to head up to the mountains? I’ll see if Jess can meet us at the border.”

Sharky looks over Mattie’s shoulder towards the still-laughing Joey, then back down at Mattie with a smile. “Sure thing, boss. Let’s give ol’ Jake-n-Bake the business. Ride or die, remember?”

Mattie takes his hand in hers. “Ride or die.”

---

Jess meets them at the edge of the state park, her quiver bristling with arrows. She emerges from the trees with an eerie silence that makes Mattie shiver even as it makes her a little jealous -- she still can’t quite walk through the woods without snapping twigs and crunching leaves under her feet -- and her gaze immediately drops to the bruise on Mattie’s neck that she hadn’t bothered to hide even after Joey made fun of her for it.

Jess glances from the hickey to Sharky and then back to meet Mattie’s gaze, the really? clear on her face.

Mattie shrugs. Jess sighs.

Sharky’s either oblivious to the moment of tension or just doesn’t care, because he sidles up between the two women with a grin and his shotgun resting up on his shoulder. “Well ain’t you a sight, Jess?” he greets, grin just growing wider as she turns her silent glare up to him. “Saddle up and join the team!”

After a moment, her face cracks, and she grins right back at Sharky, her scars pulling the expression up oddly. It’s cute, and the knot of tension in Mattie’s chest dissipates as quickly as it came.

“Do you know where we can start?”

Jess nods. “Elk Jaw Lodge isn’t far from here. Peggies took it a while ago, and taking it back’ll hurt ‘em.”

Mattie smiles. “Perfect. Lead the way.”

Jess does, though Mattie makes them stop to liberate a peggie vehicle on the way. If she drives carefully enough and Sharky stays in the back where he can stretch out his long legs next to Boomer, no one looks at them funny, even when they drive right past peggie checkpoints on the side of the road.

It’s the best camouflage she can think of, short of stripping some peggies naked and putting on their clothes which just look like they reek of BO. If she did that, though, she’d probably be able to drive right up to Jacob’s front door and blow his head clean off without trouble.

“You should pull over here,” Jess says, leaning forward in her seat and putting both feet on the floor of the van.

Mattie obeys, parking on the side of the road and killing the engine. She leaves the keys in the ignition as they all climb out together, not concerned with whether or not someone else will take the van while they’re busy with the lodge. It’s not like it belongs to her anyway.

“Okay, we’re going to go in quiet,” Mattie says, looking right at Sharky. He blinks at her like he has no idea what she’s trying to say. “I’ll pick off as many as I can with my sniper rifle, and Jess, you can do the same with your bow?” She glances at Jess to see her nod, then she looks back at Sharky. “And once they notice what’s going on, then you can set them on fire, deal?”

Sharky huffs, but then he smiles. “You’re the boss!”

They stare at each other for a minute, then she nods, accepting his agreement. Jess is smirking again when she looks back, and Mattie just shrugs.

There’s no point in hiding what she and Sharky have become. Jess can laugh all she wants. It is… probably a little ridiculous, but Mattie doesn’t care. She’s going to take her little moment of happiness and hold on as tight as she can until this whole cult situation is taken care of.

They split up and head for opposite sides of the lodge. Mattie stays up on the hill side, laying on one of the stone outcroppings with her eye against the scope of her rifle, breathing slowly as she watches the peggies milling around the building. Jacob’s voice comes steadily over the speakers, but she’s not sure if the nonsense he’s spouting this time is a recording or some sort of weird-ass live sermon. It doesn’t seem like he’d be talking about his followers being judged by their animals the day after his little brother’s death, but who knows? She doesn’t understand the Seeds, not really. That’s why they have a leg up on her.

Sharky’s stretched out at her side, chin in his hands, humming a nonsense tune under his breath. He’s keeping a watch on the area around her, tasked momentarily with watching her back while she watches Jacob’s Chosen.

She pulls the trigger, and one falls behind a pile of bliss crates. No one else seems to notice, but Sharky jumps a little at the sudden noise. She smiles at him despite the curl of nausea in her gut. She hates this.

She hates it.

A moment later and another peggie falls under her watchful eye, then another. She happens to spot another peggie falling with an arrow in the back of his skull; Jess is holding up her end of the bargain even though Mattie can’t see her. She’s a good fuckin’ shot, that’s for sure.

Mattie sees the instant one of the peggies realizes what’s going on around him, watches the look of horror pass over his face as he sees one of the men she’d killed bleeding out on the sidewalk. He falls to his knees to check the fallen peggie’s pulse, and that’s the moment of hesitation Mattie needs. She takes him out too, then hears a cry from farther away.

“Sharky, go,” she says, and he scrambles to his feet with a wild cry that absolutely gives away their position. She doesn’t mind so much, watching through the scope as the peggies begin to scramble, one of them heading straight for the radio and falling when she shoots him in the back. Sharky takes their attention with him as he skids down the hill, flamethrower already spurting flame before he gets close, and she covers his back as he goes.

They’re a good team, all three of them. She doesn’t even really care when he accidentally sets off a stack of bliss barrels, making them explode and fill the air with the sickening sweet scent of the flowers, because Jess materializes next to him to punch him in the shoulder.

They must have cleared the whole lodge. Perfect. She didn’t even die this time.

The lodge is full of dead wolves, the scent sharp enough that Sharky gags once it hits him. He doesn’t wait around to smell it again before he goes back outside to find Boomer, grumbling that the dog’s stink is better than this. Jess and Mattie continue on, noses wrinkled but lunches staying where they belong, searching through the building for anything useful.

Mattie pockets $27 and some bandaids before her radio squawks to life. It feels like she hasn’t been in the Whitetails in weeks, so it takes her several seconds to recognize Eli’s staticky voice.

“Welcome back, Deputy!” he says, and she pulls her radio off her hip to hear him better. “ I’ve got some people coming down to meet you. ” A pause, then: “ We haven’t seen you for a while. Over. ”

She winces, taking a moment to just close her eyes and press her knuckles to her forehead. She knows when she’s being scolded, even as mild as Eli seems to be.

“Sorry about that,” she says, holding the talk button down with her thumb. She feels shaky and sick, suddenly, so she abandons her search of the lodge and heads outside. Eli’s men can finish up in here. “Been pretty busy in the Valley, but you got all my attention now, over.”

“Oh, we heard all about that,” he says, and she’s pretty sure he’s smiling. Her tension eases a bit as she steps into the sunlight, squinting against the brightness to find Sharky in the chaos of the peggies’ supplies. “We’re real proud of you. My guys’ll be there soon and they got a favor to ask, over.”

She finds Sharky on the side of the lodge facing the lake, just throwing rocks into it to watch the ripples. She smiles and leans against the wall to watch. “We’re happy to help. Whatever your boys need. Over.”

“We appreciate it. Over’n out.”

The radio falls silent, but she keeps the top of it pressed against her chin as she waits. The second tick by, but Jacob’s voice doesn’t come through once Eli’s has disappeared. Either he doesn’t know what she’s done yet, or he’s not concerned enough to drag her in for another round of training.

Boomer trots up to her and flops down at her feet, rolling over onto his back in the dirt. She pokes at him with the toe of her boot, and he wiggles from side to side, tongue lolling out of his mouth. If he’s not worried about Jacob’s men, she’s not going to bring it up and put that energy out there.

Sharky glances over his shoulder at her when she doesn’t say anything else. He looks her up and down, fast like he’s checking to see if she’s okay, then again a little slower so that his eyes linger on her chest. He winks at her when he’s done staring, and she huffs a tired laugh.

“You die yet today?”

What an absurd fucking question to ask under any other circumstances.

She shakes her head. “Not yet. Some of the Whitetails are comin’ down to take the lodge back over, then we have to do something for Eli.”

He nods, almost to himself, and wipes his hands off on his jeans. She’s still leaning against the lodge when he wraps her in a full-bodied hug, his arms around her and his chin on the top of her head. She ducks her chin against her chest so she’ll fit better, curling into his embrace like she never wants to leave… and she doesn’t, even when Jess opens the closest door and boos at them.

Mattie stifles a giggle against Sharky’s chest as he blows a raspberry at Jess.

It feels… good, normal, and the guilt at feeling that way when a war still rages on makes her pull away and walk around the lodge to the parking lot to wait for the Whitetails. Jess and Sharky follow her, bickering quietly, and Mattie wonders how well they actually know each other and what kind of answer she’s going to get if she asks.

They sit out front and smoke her cigarettes while they wait. Mattie props her feet up in Sharky’s lap and leans against Jess without thinking about it, but Jess lets herself be used as a backrest without complaint.

They don’t bother moving again until Eli’s men show up.

She doesn't recognize them, just the Whitetail Militia insignia they're all wearing, but when they ask for her help to rescue some of the other militia members from Jacob’s clutches, she listens. She can't say no, can't ignore the desperation in their eyes.

The men she leaves with him will be killed or tortured like she was. The men who get caught going in after them will be killed or tortured like she was.

She already escaped once. She took the lodge back.

She can do this. She has Sharky and Jess and Boomer, and they can do this.

They climb back in the peggie van and head north, following Jess’ directions and the signs up to the Whitetail visitor center. The roads are windy, sharply uphill, and Sharky complains about getting carsick until Jess finally switches with him to shut him up. He rolls his window down for the fresh air and reaches over to hold Mattie’s hand for the rest of the drive.

The Whitetail Visitor Center is exactly as Mattie has always pictured it, just also now crawling with peggies. It's beautiful and rustic, up on a hill, with one of Jacob’s chosen standing every hundred feet or so, watching for anyone who might dare to fight back against them. She hauls herself up a tree (with Sharky’s help) and uses her binoculars to check for hostages.

There are two men and a woman, all on their knees with their hands behind their backs. Why haven't they been moved yet? What's taking Jacob so long?

Mattie doesn't like this. She hates it.

They take the Visitor Center the same way they take the lodge, and Mattie gets the pleasure of slicing through the makeshift handcuffs tying the Whitetails’ hands behind their backs. They thank her, praise her for killing the peggies so ruthlessly, beg her to go to Devil’s Drop to rescue the other men they were captured with.

It's never ending, and Mattie can't say no.

Devil’s Drop is, as the name makes it sound, so much higher up the mountain that Mattie resolutely keeps both hands on the wheel and refuses to look down. It’s dizzying, being up this high, and she absolutely hates it. She turns the radio down and grits her teeth, trying to stare directly at the road and not up at the mountains above or down at the steep drop off below.

Even Sharky takes the hint and stays quiet until they park their borrowed van on the side of the road. Eli breaks the silence first, coming in over the radio to tell them how to get into the Hawkeye Tunnel without dying right away, not that Mattie’s particularly worried about that. She would feel bad if the hostages are killed because she fucked up, so she listens, and she does what Eli says even though it requires climbing up the mountain on her own two feet and as soon as she gets the chance to kill Jacob she’s never ever coming back here.

This is the fucking worst.

The side entrance to the tunnel is what must be known as the Devil’s Drop, what should be a beautiful overlook turned into a place of torment for the Whitetails. There’s blood on the stones, both caked in and old and fresh from the bleeding woman on the end of a peggie’s baseball bat. He swings the bat as Mattie watches from higher up, cracking the woman’s head so that she falls without a sound.

Mattie sees red as he beats her again and again, shattering her skull for no reason other than a love of violence. She seethes and then she launches into action, leaping from her perch directly onto the peggie’s back to snap his neck.

It’s faster than the death he deserves, but it’s all she has time for when the men he was with start to yell out a warning to more men inside she can’t see.

Oops.

Jess stays hidden, picking off peggies with her arrows as they come into view. More than once Mattie takes aim only to find the man she was pointing at falling with an arrow in his throat.

Sharky jumps in like she did, and maybe he’s a bad influence on her fighting style, but he whoops to draw attention to himself and blasts through the wave of reinforcements with his shotgun, disappearing into the tunnel to get into more trouble.

Mattie stays where she is, defending the surviving hostage until the fighting stops and she’s able to slice through the zip tie holding his hands together. He thanks her and moves to check the woman lying dead at his side, his fingers searching fruitlessly for a pulse under the blood coating her face and neck. Mattie watches as it drips onto the stone floor, nauseated but unable to look away, until the man stands and leaves alone.

After a moment, Eli’s voice crackles over her radio, making her flinch away from the noise. “We lost some good people today, but you did the best you could,” he says, and she grimaces, not sure that’s true. The best she could would have been to save everyone. “Helping us take care of our own is gonna have a big impact on moral. Maybe you can get some more folks to join up too.” He pauses, and she rubs her forehead with bruised knuckles as she waits. “Shit, I knew Tammy was wrong about you. Congratulations, you’re one of us now. If you’ve got more time, I’ve got more work. Come see us in the Wolf’s Den when you’re ready. Over.”

She waits several long seconds before she says anything back, ignoring the temptation to just… not respond. She already knows she can’t just leave. “Thanks, Eli. I’ll see you soon. Over and out.”

The radio falls silent and she heaves a sigh of relief. She starts searching through the fallen peggie bodies for ammunition and cash, wondering when she stopped feeling bad about stealing from the dead.

“Better be careful, you might get zombie on you,” Sharky says, and she glances up with a retort on the tip of her tongue that she has to bite back when she realizes he has someone with him.

She stands straight, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin so she can meet the newcomer’s eyes. He’s tall, taller than Sharky, and familiar in a way that makes her wrack her brain to remember why she’s met him before. He has on Whitetail gear, but she doesn’t think he was in the Wolf’s Den last time she was there, and it isn’t until he reaches out to shake her hand with his (very large) one that she remembers.

“Jude Wright,” she says, and she watches his face bloom into a smile the same time Sharky’s twists into a little frown. “You warned us about this.”

“I tried,” he says, a wry chuckle slipping from him that she doesn’t think comes from a place of real humor. “Shit’s crazier now than when I started putting two and two together.”

Sharky comes around to stand by her side and throws one arm around her shoulders. She leans against him but doesn’t take her eyes off Jude.

“Yeah,” she says, and then because she doesn’t know what else to say, she adds, “I’m sorry.”

He shrugs, pulls the rubber band out of his hair to shake it out and twist it back up. “Listen, is Staci…” His question trails off, his eyes begging her to understand the rest of the question so he doesn’t have to spell it out, and her heart breaks just a little bit more.

He came to the station and asked for Staci specifically, and Mattie and Joey teased Staci about it relentlessly even though they knew it was just because Jude overheard Staci talking shit about the peggies and knew he was safe to go to with concerns. Apparently they were more right about the situation than they realized.

“Still with Jacob,” Mattie says, voice breaking when Jude’s face falls. “I’m getting him back. I promise.”

He nods, tucks his hands into his pockets and stares at his shoes for a moment. When he looks back up at her, his eyes are red around the rim, and she leans harder into Sharky’s side.

“You have our support. Whatever you need to bring down Jacob.”

They stare at each other for a long silence, sizing each other up. Whatever he sees in her must make him trust her, because he nods again like his word is final, and he turns to leave. She won’t rest until she puts a knife through Jacob’s heart herself and bring Staci home, and he knows.

He understands.

---

Jacob’s men come for her in the middle of the night, while she’s curled up in an abandoned cabin with Sharky wrapped around her and Jess snoring on the couch in the other room. She barely wakes up in time to see the peggies tying her legs together before the bliss overtakes her.

She doesn’t hear snoring before she falls unconscious.

Only silence.

---

The next time she knows what’s happening to her, she’s lying on packed dirt as a man she doesn’t know tries to get her to drink water out of a bowl. Everything aches and she feels sick; even the water makes her stomach turn and she pushes the stranger away with a barely repressed gag.

“You must be strong,” someone says, not the man in front of her, because he flinches away. “One of you will be strong,” someone says again, and this time she’s able to push through the haze of bliss and pain to recognize Staci.

He’s at the bars of their cage, staring right at her.

She will be strong.

She nods at him, fast, and he has time to smile at her before Jacob shoos him away. He scurries away, bowing his head and clasping his hands together at his front, looking nothing like the Staci Pratt who had teased her relentlessly when she joined the Sheriff’s department, practically pulling her pigtails until she realized she could pull his right back.

She’s going to kill Jacob Seed with her bare hands if it’s the last thing she ever does.

The man in question is currently embracing, of all people, Joseph, and Mattie’s grinds her teeth together so hard she’s practically foaming at the mouth to get to him. She grabs the bars of her cage and uses them to haul herself up to a kneeling position, furious and weak and shaking, and Joseph turns to her with the same fucking calm expression he always has.

She wants to spit in his face, considers it, but then he starts talking and she’s distracted enough to forget the impulse.

“I know you’re in pain,” he says, kneeling and holding onto the cage bars too. “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh.”

The verse is like a slap to the face, the same words her own father used to say to her when he would punish her for some perceived slight. She rears back a little, but Joseph doesn’t hesitate, just keeps fucking going.

“You’re not the only one to be tested. Did you know I had a wife?”

She’s so surprised by the admission that she actually shakes her head at him, answering his question even though he doesn’t stop to wait for a reply before he’s showing her a tattoo on his wrist. She’s beautiful, as far as Mattie can see in the dim light, and the feeling of dread grows as Joseph finishes his story.

“We were pregnant with our first child. We were just babies ourselves, and I was terrified. Of becoming a father, mostly about money. She wasn’t worried. She had faith everything would work out. She always had… faith. Then, one day, she was gonna go visit a friend… there was an accident. The Lord taketh. They rushed me to the hospital and put me in a room with this little pink bundle stuffed with tubes, and they said that I had to be strong, that my little girl was going to live. God was looking out for our daughter.”

No one has ever mentioned another Seed. No one has ever mentioned Joseph having a daughter. Watching the blankness in his eyes makes her stomach roll again, and dread grows heavy inside of her. She grips the bars tighter, leans closer, waits for him to say the words she knows he’s going to say.

“They left me alone in the room with her, and I just… stared at my daughter.” He cuts his eyes back to her when he says daughter and she tightens her grip on the bars to avoid flinching away. Somehow, she’s sure he knows. “So helpless, so innocent. And all she had in the world was me.” His lip trembles and sympathy fights with the Wrath still in Mattie’s heart. “A nobody from nowhere with nothing. In that moment… I knew that God was testing me. He was laying out a path before me, and all I had to do was choose. So I put my hand on my little girl’s head, and I leaned in, and I could smell… And we prayed together. Prayed for wisdom, prayed for strength, and I knew… I heard God’s plan for me. I took my fingers and I put them on that little plastic tube that was taped to her angelic face and I pinched it shut.”

Fuck. Oh, fuck. She’s holding onto the bars so tight her joints ache, her knuckles white. If she could tear his throat out with her bare teeth right now, she would, and damn the consequences. She’ll do it a thousand times and let herself be dragged back to this exact spot a thousand more times before she’d be able to soothe the hate lodged tight in her soul.

Joseph stares back at her like he knows what she’s thinking, like he’s fully privy to the mental pictures swirling faster and faster through her head.

Maybe he is.

“After a while her legs began to kick and kick, and then… nothing. Stillness. Release. The Lord giveth and the Lord… taketh. ” He stands and pulls her with him, and she leans so close to the bars she can smell him. “The pain, the sacrifice, this is all part of His test. We have to prove that we can serve God, no matter what He asks.”

He touches her cheek with his rosary-wrapped hand, and she bares her teeth to him. He smiles like he knows, like he knows what she’s going through. The pain and the sacrifice of giving her life over and over and over until she has nothing left? The pain of seeing her loved ones die over and over and over until she doesn’t even flinch at a grenade that lands between them? The pain of watching the Seeds ruin the first county that’s ever felt like home to her?

She turns with the intention of biting his fingers, but he pulls away before she can, leaving her to gnash her teeth at the empty air around her. She doesn’t look at Staci, doesn’t look away from Joseph and Jacob as she shoves herself as close to the cage bars as she can, pushing one arm through like she’ll be able to haul Joseph back to her so she can gouge his eyes out.

Jacob sees her reaching and just smirks as he winds the music box.

She falls unconscious with a scream.

---

She wakes up sore and bruised and exhausted at the bottom of Devil’s Drop, shattered bodies around her. She doesn’t know if she died on impact like the rest of them only to be pieced back together by whatever has been keeping her alive, but she doesn’t really care.

She doesn’t fucking care anymore.

She radios Sharky, finds out he woke up back in his home in the Henbane, and tells him to meet her back at the Clagett Boathouse. She says if he finds Jess or Boomer to bring them too, and he grumbles about wanting to pick up Hurk, and then he agrees to meet her as soon as he can.

The radio falls silent for several seconds before she brings her shaking hand up to her face.

“I love you, Sharky. Over.”

The line crackles. “I love you, shorty. See ya soon. Over’n’out.”

#sharky boshaw #sharky x deputy #far cry 5 #oc: mattie covington #my writing

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kmomof4 · 5 years

Text

Time and Again A new fic by @kmomof4

It’s HERE y’all!!! I’ve been working on this fic since May and I am soooo excited to share it with all of you!! This was inspired by a romance novel I read in high school called Time After Time, by Billie Green. Canon dialog and the characters, of course, belong to Adam and Eddy. Much love and all the hugs to my besties and brainstorm/beta/encourager team of @hollyethecurious and @winterbaby89. Extra special shout out to the CSSNS discord ladies for repeatedly bailing me out when I got stuck, listening to me whine, a LOT, and constantly encouraging me not to give up! I hope you all enjoy my next foray into writing CS fanfiction. There are two types of line breaks contained in the fic. The ones that go all the way across are scene changes, while the short ones signify a change of POV or a time jump within the same scene. The story is complete and I’ll be updating on Sundays and Thursdays for the next five weeks.

ao3 link Rated M for violence and smut. There will be trigger warnings for the appropriate chapters.

Tagging my crew: Please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed. @snowbellewells @stahlop @resident-of-storybrooke @jennjenn615 @kingofmyheart14 @profdanglaisstuff @thisonesatellite @ultraluckycatnd @flslp87 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @let-it-raines @shireness-says @kymbersmith-90 @darkcolinodonorgasm @bethacaciakay @ilovemesomekillianjones @teamhook @aprilqueen84 @qualitycoffeethings

Emma Swan stepped off the elevator and walked into the busy foyer of Jones Brothers Advertising. Waving to Belle at the front desk and wishing her a good morning, she started toward her office before she heard Belle calling her name.

“Emma.” Belle waved her back over to the desk.

“Hey, Belle,” she replied. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to remind you about lunch today with Mary Margaret, Ruby, and the new girl, Tina Bell,” the brunette said. “Just to welcome her to the office.”

“Oh, right,” she responded. “I forgot she was starting today. Okay,” she said, glancing at her watch, “I have a meeting with Mr. Jones at nine about the Neverland campaign. We’ll be done before twelve, because I know he has a lunch meeting with their CEO today.”

“That’s great. I’ll let the others know and we’ll see you then.”

Emma continued on her way to her office to get ready for the meeting with her boss. The Neverland Cruises campaign was finally winding down after almost nine months of revamping their advertising strategy. The launch date of their new campaign was less than a month away now, and it was crunch time. Emma, as a Senior Executive of Marketing, reported directly to the younger of the Jones brothers, Killian, and she found herself in almost daily meetings with the man going over the numbers that her team had gathered as the launch date loomed. Very particular in his tastes and in his expectations of his employees, Emma knew that she needed to be ready for anything he threw at her.

Greeting her secretary, Ariel, Emma grabbed her appointment schedule for the day and pushed her way into her office, secretly thrilled with the fact that she had her own secretary, even if she did share her with the two other Senior Executives. After looking over her schedule, her eyes landed on her desk and the pile of papers that spoke to the fact of her late night at the office last night, and the late night she’d have tonight as well. Not here, she thought. Everything’s coming home with me tonight. At least I can have a glass of wine with my dinner. Satisfied with her plans, she sat down and started one last review before she was expected in Mr. Jones’s office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killian Jones finished replying to an email and looked up at the vintage nautical clock hanging on the wall across from his desk. Emma Swan was expected in his office soon to go over the final results of all the research that her team was responsible for in the Neverland Cruises ad campaign. She was always exactly on time, so he knew that he had a few minutes to indulge in thinking about the golden haired goddess who so often haunted his dreams. Only a few minutes though, so I’d better not get too carried away, lest she finds me in a… he cleared his throat, less than professional situation, he thought as his pants already started to tighten. It was a good thing he was at his desk. I’ll just have to stay here until things calm down. He looked around his office, at the wooden and nautical accents throughout, trying to bring his libido under control before she graced him with her presence.

It wasn’t always this bad. He had become well practiced in hiding his attraction to his beautiful employee over the years. Burying his desire underneath strict professionalism at all times. Never letting go of his iron control when it came to his subordinate. Given the situation they were in as boss and employee, he couldn’t afford to try to pursue something with her that might end with her no longer working at Jones Brothers Advertising and him never seeing her again. Not to mention the fact that she was the leading candidate for the Vice-President of Marketing position for the new Los Angeles branch that would be opening after the new year. It was that thought that finally did the trick in bringing his ardor under control just as she entered his office.

“Good morning, Mr. Jones,” she greeted him as she strode confidently into the room. Her lithe figure was adorned with a black check printed ruffled top with black pencil skirt that ended just above her knee. With her long blonde curls loose over her shoulders and her three inch heels, Killian had to remind himself that she wasn’t his, had never been his, and never would be his as he struggled to not stride over to her, pull her into his arms, and kiss her senseless. Fitting his professional mask in place, hopefully before she got a good look at him, he answered her.

“Good morning, Miss Swan. Are we ready with everything?”

“I have it all right here, sir,” she replied, setting the papers before him on his desk. As she did, the scent of vanilla reached him and he had to fight to keep from staring into her beautiful green eyes. Looking down at the first document of a rather large pile they would need to get through this morning, he resigned himself to his lot of being around the, thankfully oblivious, object of his affection.

*~*~*~*

Emma thought back to when she first entered Mr. Jones office. After greeting him, she thought she saw a flash of… something, in his eyes before his countenance settled into the professionalism she was used to.

His appearance was as professional as ever, but she still had to suppress a shiver of awareness as she took him in. His black hair was artfully mussed with just a few strands falling down over his forehead. Black scruff with just a hint of ginger lined his strong jaw. His suit jacket was missing, but the gray waistcoat and candy striped dress shirt, whose sleeves were rolled to his elbows, showing off muscular forearms, accentuated his trim physique. Even hours later, she still couldn’t help but wonder what those arms would feel like wrapped around her, or what that scruff would feel like in certain places on her body.

She mentally gave herself a shake, mind out of the gutter Swan, and got back to the business at hand, determined to put aside her unprofessional musings. There was never any chance anyway. He only saw her as a work machine. And if she messed up, she was a broken machine in need of replacement. If she got the promotion to the new LA branch, she’d still be answering to him, but she wouldn’t be in the office with him every day, battling and hiding her attraction day in and day out. She stuffed the inappropriate thoughts down into that area of her heart and mind where all of her illicit thoughts of him resided. Hopefully, never to see the light of day again.

*~*~*

“What is this?” His bark brought Emma back to the present and made her jump just a little. Looking up from where she had been perusing the final numbers tracing the demographics they were targeting for the campaign, she took in the stormy visage of his brow simply known as The Frown.

Yes, it actually had a title.

That’s because it was the one that completely transformed his normally serious, but still handsome face into one that had earned him the nickname Vulcan, behind his back, of course, after the Roman god of fire. It was the look that left the Senior Executives shaking in their boots and scrambling to find and fix whatever it was that had displeased the Senior Vice President of Marketing and sent the underlings scurrying to get out of his way.

“What is what?” she responded. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she rose and joined him on the other side of the conference table. Leaning over his shoulder, she could immediately see what the problem was. She shook her head as her eyes widened then sent a chagrined smile his way. “Walter couldn’t find his own ass with both hands and a flashlight,” she murmured before looking back down at the document measuring the rating for the campaign.

The loud laugh that made its way out of her boss’s mouth had Emma looking back at him, completely startled. His head was thrown back, jaw open, the chords on his neck standing out, eyes shut as his body shook from unhindered mirth. In that instant, all the attraction that she had felt from the very first day of her employment that she buried deep down, came roaring back to the front of her mind. She stood there, dumbstruck, as her boss, Vulcan, the always professional, reserved, never ruffled man, the one that she had worked under for closing in on a decade, that never smiled, much less laughed, howled as if his sides would split. When he finally got his mirth under control, he opened his eyes which were now sparkling a dazzling blue. Dear Lord, she thought, the man isn’t just handsome, he is gorgeous! She continued to stare at him after that startling revelation until his still unusually bright eyes landed on her.

“What is it, Miss Swan?” he asked, forehead beginning to furrow in prelude to The Frown.

“N- nothing, sir…” she stammered. “I just don’t think I’ve ever heard or seen you laugh before.” She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the stray thoughts his amusement had generated. Not to mention, the arousal.

“Well, considering that I’ve never heard you say something funny before, we can call it even,” he quipped.

Flustered, she picked up the document from the table as she checked the time on her watch. It was nearly time to meet the others for lunch. “I’ll take this home with me tonight, and have the correct figures on your desk first thing in the morning, sir.”

“See that you do,” he responded. “I’m meeting Peter in twenty minutes for a business lunch. I’ll just have to skim over this portion of the update. I’ll expect your report before 9am. That will be all, Miss Swan.” It was a dismissal if she ever heard one, and she knew she had her work cut out for her this afternoon and evening.

“Yes, sir.” Gathering her other documents, she put them all in her case and hurried out.

Making her way back into her office, Emma found Ruby Lucas sitting in front of her desk tapping on her phone with her blood red manicure.

“Emma,” she exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. “We’re ready! Let’s go to lunch!” Her friend looped her arm through Emma’s and started to drag her to the door.

“What! Am I late?” she questioned. She glanced at her watch. “I’m not late, it’s only 11:45. Let me at least put my stuff down and make a couple of notes on what I’ll be working on this afternoon, then I’ll be ready.”

“Ugh, fine,” the woman huffed, sitting herself down again. “I’m just ready to get out of here for a long lunch. I’ll be so glad when this campaign is launched and over. Even Granny is starting to feel the pressure. She’s been on a terror this morning.” Emma smiled with affection at the thought of “Granny” Lucas. Not actually related to Ruby, she was a matronly figure that insisted everyone call her Granny. She had raised the Jones brothers after their parents were killed in a car accident and had been in charge of HR, Ruby’s department, since the office opened.

“There. Done. Now I’m ready,” she declared, straightening up and coming around her desk. “Where are we going? Where are M’s and Tina? I saw Belle was still at her desk.”

“They went on ahead to get a table at that new bistro that opened up, Down the Street Cafe,” Ruby replied. “If the rumors are to be believed, if they hadn’t gotten there by 11:15, we wouldn’t get a table until after 1.”

“I see,” she murmured, as Ruby looped her arm through hers again, leading her toward the door. “Well, lead the way, my friend. Can’t leave them waiting any longer than we already have. M’s will dish all the gossip before we get there.”

Ruby threw back her head laughing as they made their way over to Belle waiting for them at the elevator.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally entering the crowded restaurant, Emma could see Mary Margaret waving frantically at them to join them at the table. Taking their seats, Emma reached out to shake Tina’s hand as Mary Margaret made introductions. Once their orders were taken, Ruby drawled, “So, now that we’re all here, we can get down to business.” Her green eyes danced. “Gossip.” The others all laughed at Ruby’s wolfish grin, as she looked affronted with their glee. “What? We all know that’s why we’re here,” she asserted, “besides welcoming Tina to the office, of course. And what better way to welcome her than letting her in on all the office goings on?”

“Did you see Frederick and his new girl?” Mary Margaret asked. “I think her name’s Abigail, from Accounting.”

“Oh, yes,” Ruby replied enthusiastically. “She’s pretty, but very standoffish. They were locked in his office for two hours yesterday!”

“And guess who found her,” Belle nodded toward Ruby, “with her ear against the door?”

“No!” Emma squealed as the other ladies dissolved into hysterical laughter while Ruby dramatically faceplanted onto the table.

“Yes,” Ruby groaned, her voice muffled by the table. Looking up, she turned to Emma and grabbed her wrist. “He gave me The Frown Emma, and I froze. I literally couldn’t move. I found myself hoping there was a history of heart attacks in my family so I’d at least have a chance of dying on the spot. And do you know what he said?”

“What?” Emma was still having trouble bringing her giggles under control.

“‘When you’re done praying, Miss Lucas’ you know in that deep silky voice of his, ‘I need Tina Bell’s personnel file on my desk.’ I thought I would die,” she finished with her usual flair.

“Oh, tell me about Mr. Jones,” the young blonde sighed. “He’s so dreamy.” She had a far away look in her eyes and a soft smile on her lips as Emma rolled her eyes at the swooning of the young woman.

“Which one?” she asked, “There are two of them you know, but one’s taken,” she continued, cutting her eyes to Belle as the woman blushed furiously.

Understanding dawned in Tina’s eyes as she caught sight of the blushing woman who was looking everywhere except at her companions. “Oh! I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed. “I meant Killian. Is Liam yours, Belle?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call him mine, exactly,” Belle protested, as her companions made various sounds of laughter and disbelief, “We haven’t been dating that long and we’re not calling it anything, I mean.”

“Oh, honey,” Mary Margaret said, placing her hand on Belle’s arm, “That man is so head over heels for you, you don’t have to call it anything for all of us to see exactly what it is. Soulmates.” The dreamy expression on Mary Margaret’s face had Emma rolling her eyes again.

Emma snorted. “Soulmates, huh?” She could almost hear her mother telling her that her eyes were going to get stuck like that if she rolled them any harder. “There’s no such thing.”

More sounds of laughter and disbelief erupted from around the table, with poor Tina absolutely indignant at Emma’s assertion. “Of course there’s such a thing as soulmates,” she exclaimed. “My parents have been together for thirty years. And they are as happy today as on their wedding day. If that’s not soulmates, I don’t know what is.”

Ruby cackled with a wide grin. “Ohhhh Tina. You just waved a red flag in front of our Destined True Love Destruction Bull, also known as Emma, over there.”

“Listen to what I’m saying,” Emma responded. “I’m not saying that love doesn’t exist. Or that there are not good, happy, long lasting marriages. What I’m saying is that the whole idea of soulmates or fated by the stars or destined doesn’t exist.” The contempt dripped from her lips as she put air quotes around the cliched phrases. “Love and marriage are hard work,” she continued, “and it takes two to make it work. It’s a matter of choosing someone every day. Of choosing that relationship above all else. For the rest of your life.” A cloud of melancholy settled on Emma’s brow as she remembered her own heartache. Her own experience of not being chosen every day.

She met Neal her sophomore year in college and fell in love as only a nineteen year old could. She did Neal’s cooking, she did Neal’s cleaning, she did Neal’s laundry, she helped him write papers, she helped him study. She gave 150% to the budding relationship. Until she found out that the one who she thought was the one was sleeping with her roommate, and her lab partner, and the RA of her dorm.

Mary Margaret spoke up, bringing her back to the present, green eyes blazing with sincerity, “Yes, you’re right, Emma. Love and marriage are hard work, and it does take two, and you do have to choose that relationship every day, but when it’s with the person you are supposed to be with, it makes the effort and the fight that much easier and more rewarding.” She turned her eyes upon Tina then. “My David is absolutely my soulmate.. He is the one my soul loves. The one I would be lost without. To borrow a phrase from Forrest Gump, he completes me. And the fact that he’s gorgeous certainly doesn’t hurt,” the petite brunette finished with a smirk.

Belle snorted before replying, “That wasn’t Forrest Gump, M’s. That was Jerry Maguire.”

“Pfft,” she blew out, “Whatever. The point stands.”

“If she decides to wait for her destined soulmate, she may never find love. She needs to have realistic expectations when looking for a lover or spouse,” Emma interjected. “There will always be something wrong with the other person. Something that drives you crazy. Something that consistently irritates you, like leaving the toilet seat up. Throwing away a good relationship because of small issues that in the big picture don’t matter, is just stupid! ‘He can’t be my soulmate, because my soulmate would never…’ fill in the blank. And staying in a bad relationship because ‘Oh, he’s my soulmate’ is just as bad, if not worse.” Emma crossed her arms over her torso, thoughts of how close she came to doing just that sending a chill through her body. “By all means, Tina,” she continued, “fall in love. But be realistic about it. Be prepared to fight for it, even when the going gets tough, which it will. And don’t lose yourself in the process. Falling in love doesn’t mean that you are no longer your own person. It simply means that you are choosing to join yourself to another.”

“Well, of course there will be things about him that irritate you,” Mary Margaret responded. “But having that soulmate connection makes it easier and more worthwhile to fight through those tough times.”

“Having a soulmate does make the struggles more worthwhile in the end,” Belle argued. “I like to believe there is someone out there just for me, and maybe that’s Liam. I do care for him deeply,” she looked away again, blushing, “and I am starting to see a future with him. A happy one.” There was a collective “Awwwww” from around the table. Even Emma joined in.

“Well, anyone with eyes can see how much Liam adores you, Belle,” Ruby acknowledged. “And if anyone deserves love, it’s you.” Ruby pulled her friend in for a sideways hug.

Tina looked far away and dreamy again. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind waking up to Killian Jones’ face every morning. Anna in payroll said that he’d been married before, but that she died seven years ago and he hasn’t so much as looked at anyone since. I must have looked a little starry eyed when he walked me over there.” She looked at her tablemates a little sheepishly and sighed.

“Oh, speak of the devil,” Ruby blurted out, eyes wide, “Crap, I hope he didn’t hear us,” she whispered to her companions.

Emma turned around and saw none other than Killian Jones approaching their table with the CEO of Neverland Cruises, Peter Pan, right in front of him. A quick gasp kept her laughter at bay at the sight of the CEO. He looked like he was about twenty years old and yes, his name really was Peter Pan. When the trust fund baby had inherited the family cruise line business at the age of twenty-two, he promptly renamed it Neverland Cruises to take advantage of the family name and literary notoriety. That was eight years ago and his former CEO had nearly run it into the ground before Peter took the reins, hiring his Rice University roommate Killian Jones to revamp his advertising campaign to turn the business around. As Killian passed their table, he smiled and nodded congenially to them as he spoke, “I hope this place is as good as I’ve heard. Enjoy your lunch ladies.”

A chorus of ‘goodbye’ and ‘you too’ followed the men as they continued on toward their table.

“Yep,” Tina sighed, turning back to her new coworkers, “I definitely wouldn’t mind waking up to his face everyday. Even if he did leave the toilet seat up.” The rest of the table erupted into laughter as their food was served.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma had ordered a large entree at lunch earlier fully expecting to finish it at home that evening. She didn’t like cooking for one, so when she knew she’d be working late, she either ordered a large lunch to bring home with her or raided her takeout menu drawer as soon as she walked in the door.

Tossing her briefcase on the sofa, she walked into the kitchen and pulled out the bottle of wine that was left over from the weekend girls night she had hosted last weekend. After pouring herself a glass and taking a sip, she made her way back into the living room, turned on the tv and pulled up her Netflix queue. On nights that she worked late, she didn’t even pay attention to what she was choosing, simply clicking on the first thing that came up. She never watched it. She only wanted the background noise, the sound of another human voice in the otherwise quiet apartment. She pulled her papers out of her briefcase and opened her leftovers, diving in to her dinner, her wine, and her work.

Hours later, Emma looked up and noticed that she was finished with season two of Black Sails. Well, she thought, I’ll have to go back and see what I missed. Stretching with a mighty yawn, she could feel her vertebrae realigning after so long looking down at her work. It was nearly midnight and she was ready to go to bed. I’ll definitely sleep well tonight, she thought.

Moments after her head hit the pillow, Emma blinked in the bright sunshine and realized that the reason for her blinking was the fact that she was above the clouds and there was nothing between her and the blinding rays of the sun beating down on her. She also became aware that she was holding onto something big and green, and that she couldn’t see the ground below her. She screamed and clutched at the vines before her for dear life, just before she heard a very familiar voice to her right.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise.” Emma turned toward the voice and found herself face to face with none other than Killian Jones. Her stomach did a little flip as his blue eyes met her terrified green ones, but whether it was from the scare or just being this close to him, she really couldn’t tell. “But honestly Swan, it’s only a dream, you’re not gonna fall, so there’s no reason for the theatrics.”

“Theatrics?!” she exclaimed, “You think my reaction is…” she shook her head, trying to clear it, “theatrics?” It was only then that she realized what her boss was wearing. A leather greatcoat that if he were standing, would fall below his knees, black, skin tight, leather pants, a black billowy shirt with most of the buttons undone underneath a red waistcoat. The guyliner surrounding his eyes, rings on his fingers, a dangly black earring, and artfully mussed black hair completed the picture of a rogue pirate captain. “And look at you! What are you wearing? And how do you know this is a dream?” she questioned.

“Well, as you so helpfully pointed out,” he smirked, “there is the matter of the way I’m dressed. I’m not aware of owning any such clothing, although these leather pants are quite comfortable, if I’m honest,” he said, shrugging. She looked over at him and perused the garment in question. They certainly fit him well. The pants hugged his hips and thighs and what she could see of his calves. Her heart stuttered in her chest. “There is also the matter of your appearance. I’ve dreamt of you before, you see, quite often actually, and you are usually… a little more bare than you are now,” he admitted, eyes roaming up and down her form. Emma tried very hard to ignore the shiver that ran through her at his assessing gaze.

At that very moment, Emma’s baby duck pajama bottoms and yellow camisole she wore to bed that night disappeared, giving her a very good idea of the kind of dreams Mr. Jones usually had of her. She was as naked as the day she was born, but she couldn’t let go of the vines in front of her to try and cover herself. “Put them back,” she screeched, “put my clothes back right now, Mr. Jones!”

“As you wish, Swan,” he replied. Her clothes were instantly back in place as he looked away with a bright flush to his cheeks that reached down past his ginger scruff onto his neck. “And third,” he continued, still looking away from her up the beanstalk, “there is the matter of our location. I have no idea how we got here or what we’re supposed to do now.”

“Let go,” she said, as an idea came to her. “Let’s let go, Jones. Then we’ll have to wake up.” Her eyes twinkled with her seemingly brilliant plan.

“Uh, no,” he argued, “People die in their sleep Swan, and if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to actually wake up from this dream. And given our circumstances, maybe you should call me Killian.” He looked away again, the flush back in full force as he looked up. “I think we should just keep climbing, see where we end up.”

Since he wasn’t willing to let go with her, and she definitely wasn’t going to do it by herself, she realized she didn’t have a choice but to follow him up the beanstalk. Because that is exactly what it was, a beanstalk. What even is my life? she thought as she started to climb.

Some time later, Killian looked over at her. “You know, most men might take your silence as off-putting, but, I love a challenge,” he commented, black eyebrows waggling.

“I’m concentrating,” Emma replied. “I’d really like to actually make it to the top and not fall to my death as you so helpfully pointed out,” she grumbled.

“No, you’re afraid to talk, to reveal yourself,” he pointed out. He was silent for a moment as he continued to climb. “Well, I don’t need you to share. You’re something of an open book.”

“Am I?” she asked.

“Quite,” he answered. “You have the same look in your eye that I have. The look of someone who’s been left alone.”

“What do you mean, ‘left alone?’” she asked, confusion and alarm furrowing her brow. “Weren’t you raised by Granny? And you have your brother, too.” I didn’t have anyone, she thought, not until Ingrid, anyway. And that was almost too late to count.

“Aye,” he replied, “but Granny didn’t take us in until after our mother and father died in a car accident.” Emma could see the pain of his revelation plainly written on his face. “So yes, I’ve been left alone by two of the people who are never supposed to leave. And while I do have my brother, an orphan’s an orphan. One recognizes another.” He looked away from her then, clearly uncomfortable with his revelation as he gazed upwards. “Love has been all too rare in your life, hasn’t it?” he asked, looking back into her eyes. “Have you ever even been in love?”

“No,” she answered him, slightly breathless with exertion and the intensity of his gaze. “I have never been in love.” She turned away from him then and continued climbing. She’d be damned if she was going to let him know how much he affected her. And how close to the mark he really was.

They finally made it to the top of the monstrous plant. Emma’s arms and legs felt like jelly, as she let go and landed on concrete. As Killian joined her on the ground, he grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. “Come here,” he said, “Give me your hand. It’s cut.”

“What? No, no,” she argued, trying to pull back from him. “it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not,” he argued right back. “Let me help you.” He pulled a flask out of one of the many pockets in his coat and uncorked it. “Ah.” He took a sniff. “I thought that’s what it might be,” he remarked. “Rum. Goes with the costume anyway.” He shrugged and started pouring the liquid over her hand as she screeched and tried to snatch it away from him.

“Ah, ah, AHHH!” she exclaimed, still trying to get her hand out of his. He held her firmly however as he pulled a large scarf she hadn’t noticed before from around his neck and started to wrap her hand with it. Holding her close with one arm, Emma felt the tingle of awareness trickle down her spine. She was also aware of the increase in her heart rate as she watched him work. When he finally finished wrapping the scarf, he was left with only one hand to secure it since his other was still occupied with holding her still. Arousal flooded her and she let out a small gasp of surprise as he finally took one end of the scarf in his mouth as he looked up at her through his dark lashes while he pulled it tight and tucked it into the wrap.

“See now,” he whispered, pulling back and patting her hand, “all better.” He looked deeply into her eyes, daring her to look away. She stood transfixed at what she read in the azure blue depths. Her mouth hung slightly open as she shook herself out of her stupor. Finally looking around at their surroundings, his penetrating gaze and her arousal were completely forgotten. They appeared to be in the courtyard of a gigantic castle. Much larger than anything down below on earth. The dimensions were mind boggling. The courtyard was the size of a football field. The parapets above were at least a hundred feet high, and the door, for lack of a better word, had to be at least seventy feet high, even from this distance. “Well,” her companion commented, wryly, “I guess that answers that question.”

“What question?” she asked.

“Where we are, darling,” he answered. “Given the size of the castle before us, not to mention the way we got here, I’d say we’re in a land of giants.”

At that moment, the concrete of the courtyard started to shake as evidence of Killian’s speculation became visible on the other side of the courtyard. It only took the giants moments to reach them as they struggled to keep their balance amid the shaking of the ground. “Halt! Who goes there?” the smallest of the giants asked.

Killian stepped forward and to the side as he reached out toward Emma trying to draw her behind him. “I’m Killian Jones, and my friend here is Emma Swan. We’re strangers here, and we’d like nothing more than to leave you and your land in peace.” Emma was no fool and she knew there was no way they could successfully fight their way out of the situation.

“Oh no!” The largest giant laughed. “We know who you are, pirate.”

“Pirate?” Killian exclaimed, “No, no, no. I’m no pirate.”

Emma spoke up behind him, “No! He’s my boss. He’s not really a pirate. This is a dream, you see-” But the giant cut her off.

“A dream?” he asked, incredulous. “No, this is no dream. He is a pirate, here to steal our magic beans. And I can only guess that you are here to be used as a distraction. So you both will be taken to the dungeon.” As the giant made to reach for Killian, he shoved her back towards the beanstalk they had been slowly and surreptitiously moving towards since the beginning of the encounter.

“Run, Swan!” he shouted, turning just fast enough to evade the giant’s grasp. They both made a running leap onto the beanstalk and started making their way down it as fast as they could. They could hear the giants up above them shouting and the entire beanstalk shook violently as two giants started climbing down after them.

“Well, it looks like we’ll have to try my idea after all,” Emma shouted, looking up towards their rapidly descending pursuers.

“Aye, that it does, love,” Killian replied, chagrin lacing his tone. He looked over at her, his blue eyes unusually bright as he reached his hand out to her. “On three?”

“On three,” she agreed, taking his hand in hers. “One. Two. Three.” They let go of the beanstalk simultaneously… And Emma woke up in her bed with her alarm blaring.

Damn, what the hell was that dream? Her foggy, sleep addled brain unhelpfully asked. And who in the world was that with me? Someone else with Jones’ face. Because there is no way that was my boss. He was forward, but a gentleman. He was open, perceptive, and protective too. Yep, definitely not my boss. She shook her head and, determined to put the dream out of her head, got out of bed and got herself ready for work. But not before noticing a scar on her palm that hadn’t been there when she went to bed the night before.

#time and again #CS fic #krystal writes #art by krystal #captain swan ff

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watsonundercover · 5 years

Text

Definition of Soulmates

Part Three

“Brosie!” The hiss of my name jolts me into reality. Ana is waving me to the back while everyone is heading out the front door, done for the day. “You uh forgot something.” She says and shoots me a wink. Maybe she needs to gab about something.

“Right, I left my phone out.” I murmur and head back. As I turn towards the desk I hear the screech of the door closing, no matter how many times we put WD-40 on it, it still does it. I then hear Ana coming back. I put my bag to the side and cross my arms as she appears. “Everything okay?”

“Everything is awesome.” She says. “First tell me how much you love me.”

“A lot, now what did you do?” I say feeling somewhat concerned with what is going on.

“I looked at the security tapes for that guy. The mister darling in your dreams.” She says all excited. I completely forgot about that. Once my younger brother got home he wanted to see the cut and sting, he watched me like a hawk until Mom got home to find us watching a transformers movie in the living room.

“And?” I ask feeling my heart flutter.

“Remember how I said I thought I recognized the people he was with? It was when I saw him that it clicked in my head. Come take a look.” She’s sat down at the desk and is zooming around the mouse for the security monitor to bring up footage from yesterday. I look, I can only see part of his face because of the hood. Ana is then doing something else, going into the actual computer and pulling something up for me to see. My heart then freezes, she’s pulled up the cast of the latest spider-man. She and I even went to see it in the theatre. She’s doing something funny, phasing the image from the security screen for me to see it next to the cast.

“Are you saying Dimitri freaking Hemlock caught me and is somehow in my dream?” I say and lean over to take in the sight of him.

“Looks like it is Gwen Stacy.” She teases.

“No, that’s, that’s crazy!” I exclaim and stare harder.

“You are the one who stared at him for a solid minute before I came and got you from him.” Ana says. “Can you fully confirm with that look too?” My gut is seizing, brain whirling to fast. Could someone like him really fall for a girl like me? Someone who likes cosmology and psychology and the metaphysics. I press my hands to my face trying to hide a mix of emotions.

“Brosie is it really that much to take in?” Ana ask.

“I just always thought it would be different, like I would hear his voice in a coffee shop and spin to see someone….. Someone good looking but that, he’s he’s freaking spider-man!”

“So you were expecting some normal dude was the one attached to you? Maybe he got famous so he could find you?” Ana says.

“That’s insane.” I say and rub at my temples. “I-I’m not that special.” My voice has broken to a whisper and I lean back into the wall away from the computer. Ana goes into her phone then holds it up to me. It’s a meme. The header ‘when ur friends say the aint pretty’ There’s then a picture of a guy hitting another with captions of love on his fists I snort and she sets her phone to the side.

“Maybe they’ll come in again.” Ana says. “You could talk to him the way you did with douche pants.” Her mockery of Ben makes me smile, I’m not the only one who thinks he’s an ass.

“Maybe.” I croak and grab my bag again.

“You’re not allowed to leave until I get a yes.” She says.

“Fine I’ll try and talk to him.” I say and roll my eyes. “Since when are you the boss of me?”

“Since you got here technically.” She says full of herself.

“Right that’s because you’ve been here so damn long.” I bite back, knowing it drives her somewhat nuts that she’s been here so long.

“Bye Mary-Jane! Lock up for me!” I pull my key out from my bag and head to the front to leave. Once I lock the door I feel the bite of the fall air. I adjust my scarf and zip up my coat before tucking my key away and walking away. I pull out my headphones for the walk home. With the Goo Goo Dolls playing I let myself relax. They’re a musical frequency that always calms me down. I cross the street then follow down the big hill to the corner and cross to the side with the mechanics and turn right to follow along the road. As I come to the end of the building where the pub is. A car pulls in front of me to slide into the back lot for the pub. I stop letting them on and continue until something cutting through my music makes my blood turn to ice.

“Darling!” It’s the voice from my dream, the same presence of the young man who saved me and held me yesterday.

I swallow a lump in my throat and slowly turn to see him coming jumping out of the car and coming towards me. I notice how he smooths out his godly mess of reddish-brown curls as he approaches me. Me, still as a mountain and very unsure if I can respond to him. Dimitri Hemlock. Someone I answered to Ben who my celebrity crush is, someone I flat out swooned over when I admitted it.

“Hi darling.” He says quietly as he lands in front of me. I bite down on my lip and look down at my feet unsure of what to say. “Um I don’t know if you recognize my voice, but I swear on my life that I’ve seen you somewhere before, it might sound crazy, but I have these dreams….”

“I do too.” I squeak cutting off his rambling, he seems to let out a deep breath and takes a step closer to me. “It was you who caught me yesterday right?” I croak.

“Yeah.” He says as his hand drifts up to fiddle with a bit of my long blonde hair.

“Um thank you, I had been having a really bad day.” I say.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” He asks.

“UH-um that would involve telling you a really long story that I don’t like.” I say and his hand moves from my hair to my cheek. My eyes flutter to it and I feel my knees shake slightly with his touch. God please tell me this isn’t some giant universal prank?

“Alright, I think I can piece it together considering the other thing I saved you from.” He murmurs. My cheeks heat up as his thumb presses into my bottom lip for a second before wrapping around my chin. My eyes wander to his lips, ones that I now really want to kiss. I bite onto my lip again and he comes closer to me, hand going to my lower back and now angling his head down to take me in. My heart stop as he starting to bring his face down to mine.

_______

“Oh come on!” Kallia declares as she sees the three lazy sacs we are spread out and watching TV for the first time in weeks. I’m need of a serious Netflix binge to kick off some serious relaxing. “Move over or get up!” Henry swings his legs down and she plops down with a bit of a breakfast shake.

“Any left over?” I ask eyeing it. She just points over at the blender half full. I get up and go fill a glass. We’re still getting the bearings of the room and sound from the TV, Jack assumes I can’t hear them as he asks

“So are we helping him with the girl stuff?” he’s being quiet but Henry not so much;

“We actually know her name.”

“Really? What is it?” Jack asks. Kallia looks at him intrigued

“Lady in the drug store said Brosie, guessing it’s short for something. She also said she’s been through something lately, something hard. No one really can tell what.” Henry says.

“Gunna throw it out there but you two did save her from some guy, might have something to do with that.” Kallia says all matter of fact.

“Probably.” Jack murmurs. They look over at the screen again. Kallia however looks back at me chewing on my cheek as I look over at them. I break into a smile and say;

“So are you wankers gunna help me?” She starts laughing, Henry rolls his eyes and Jack sits up.

“Anything to get you laid man.” He says.

“Don’t think that will happen that quickly.’ I say and go back over to them with the smoothie. “But I think going slow is definitely a good idea.”

“Definitely.” Kallia agrees. “And your technique in getting her attention will be?”

“Darling.” I say and her eyebrows scrunch together. I have a gulp of smoothie then explain; “It’s what I’ve said every time I’ve seen her in the trance, it’s something more than what I say with everyone else.”

“You already have a pet name? Lame.” Henry says. I shrug it off.

“If you’re going to be an ass you get to act out how he should approach her then.” She says kicking him off the loveseat they’re on.

“I’ll need a partner for that.” He bites getting up and puts and arm out her dramatically.

“Oooo I’ll do it.” Jack says getting up as Kallia gives Henry an unimpressed look. “I’ll be the girl so come flirt handsome.” He says throwing a couch pillow at him. Henry catches it and put it next Kallia who grabs it to hug. Henry and Jack now stand in front of me in the middle of the room. Jack juts out his hip and plays with his phone. Henry then steps closer and says;

“Um hi darling.” Jack dramatically squeals and throws himself at him, taking both of them down while exclaiming;

“My soulmate!”

“Yeah no, probably not happening like that.” Kalia says laughing. “Please take this seriously Jack.”

“I’ll try.” He says laughing. He and Henry get up to reset themselves. Jack strikes the same pose as before. And Henry taps his shoulder to say;

“Hello darling.” Jack turns all wide eyed.

“Your voice, I think I’ve heard it before!” He says too excited. I roll my eyes, I don’t think it will be like that, that she would act like that. How would she react? The train of thought begins knowing at my skull as I picture her and me standing in the living room. Instead of Jack taking him and Henry down as he attempts to jump in his arms, I see me holding her like I did before, her eyes stayed on mine. Jack is them attempting to burst into song like in Disney movies, he’s now aiming for entertaining us. I imagine her singing, sounding amazing, at least amazing to me. I swallow a lump in my throat as Henry manages to get through it without being taken down. I draw up the image of her being close to me, not being as dramatic as these guys, being clever, honest and well, I can’t fill in the rest.

“Alright you two can give it a rest.” I say and finish off my smoothie. My brain kicks into one good thought, I decide to voice it; “I wonder how she would react to you lot. As crazy as we can be.” I flick a bit of lint of my pants as Henry goes back to Kallia, Jack lies out again.

“It would be nice to have another girl here.” Kallia says.

“Yeah yeah you need female friends.” Henry says thinking. “Maybe she’s uber calming or something, would be good for us.”

“Yeah Dimitri is totally going for a yoga hottie who eats kale and all that shit.” Jack says sarcastically.

“I do yoga.” Kallia says and shoots him a look.

“There you can have a yoga buddy.” Henry jabs.

“I think I need some alone time.” She states and gets up with a straight back and holding onto her smoothie cup. I hold mine up to her and she takes it with her.

“Thank you.” I say and look at her, giving her more thanks than I said with my eyes, she knows I need some distracting but I need all this swirling around in a coherent manner. Images and acting, something I know and can do very easily. I wonder how she will figure all this about me. A lot of talking like most relationships go or it going to intuitional, something filling us in like the black room connecting us?

“Hey man want to go get some of those donuts that we got yesterday?” Henry asks zapping me out.

“Sure.” I say and get up to walk into the streets of Deep Cove with them.

_______

I’m the one who’s calm. Just as Henry depicted. But she isn’t how Jack portrayed her at all. She is wide blue eyes and stone still as I move closer and closer to her. First by my feet then, bringing my nose down to hers to gently brush. She lets out a shaky breath as I take the side of her face, fingers lacing around her jaw.

“Telling me what your thinking.” I whisper gently.

“I’m trying to convince myself that I’m dreaming.” She whispers back. I brush my nose against hers again and her body tenses up more.

“You’re not dreaming darling.” I say and dive in for the kiss, holding her so tightly as her hands snake around my neck as she eagerly kisses me back. We pull back, but we can’t let go, it’s too sweet, she buries her nose in the crook of my neck and I just hold her, rubbing her back. When a sob escapes her I shush her gently, then pull apart to see her dab at her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I’m not usually like this.” She squeaks. “This is just so….”

“Perfect.” I fill in and her eyes look at me with a huge amount of hope.

#tomholland scienceandsoulmates ambrose dimitri tomhollandfluff partthree idoontknowwhyistillpostthis

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