#he fights alone or at least tries to not put the agents in danger

[why-what-no]

I’m All Yours

Pairing: Anthony Lockwood x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Slight violence, reader is a bit of a badass

Notes: Once again, British people feel free to bully me if I’ve written British-people-speak badly, I’m always ready to improve. Requests open for Lockwood and co

Summary: Lockwood had been trying to recruit a fellow agent for ages, despite the fact that she claims to work alone. But when she gets hurt on a mission and asks for his help, she finally find out just how much he wants her to join Lockwood and co

Honestly, if (Y/N) didn't know better, she'd say that Anthony Lockwood was obsessed with her. 

The two of them were both ghost hunters, some of the best at what they do. But while Lockwood had his little team, (Y/N) felt a lot more comfortable working by herself. Once upon a time, she had a partner. But the thing about agents is that they had a habit of dying.

So now she did her own thing.

Lockwood didn’t get the hint, however. They bumped into each other plenty of times, crossing paths during missions and sharing info when needed. (Y/N) liked him, she could definitely see how he inspired such loyalty in his coworkers.

And now, every time they see each other, the posh boy tried to get her to join Lockwood and co. Honestly it was a bit funny to (Y/N), teasing Lockwood about seeming desperate.

She liked him, and his team. They were always kind to her and clearly talented. But she wasn’t willing to put in the effort to care about a group who had a habit of throwing themselves into danger.

Lockwood was clever and handsome, but (Y/N) were well aware that boys like him, posh boys with charming grins and silver tongues... they were more dangerous that any of the ghosts she faced. He’d make her as attached to him as his team was, and she was well aware of his messy relationship with his own mortality… and his difficulty (or inability) sharing his personal thoughts and feelings.

At least, that was what she told herself. Until…

***

35 Portland Row’s landline was ringing. It was late at night, a time when ghosts owned the streets.

Usually Lockwood and co were doing a mission at that time. But tonight was a calm night. At least for them.

Anthony Lockwood picked up the phone. “Lockwood and co, how can I help you?” He said in his best professional, costumer service voice.

"Hello, Lockwood, my love. How are you?" (Y/N)’s voice came through the phone, and he immediately relaxed. Leaning against the counter, he smiled at the sound of her voice.

"I'm doing well (Y/N). Always a joy to hear your voice. How are you? What can I do for you?"

"Umm, so, funny story... I’m doing a mission right now and I had a little bit of an accident.” His smile immediately dropped. “Ghost was stronger than I thought. My arm is most likely broken and I'd quite appreciate some help if you're free." She told him the address, then paused. The silence made him more nervous that her words, he knew how much she hated asking for help. It must be serious for her to call him like that. "Okay, so... ghost is back. If you could come quickly, that would be appreciated."

She hung up.

Lockwood had never gotten his team and equipment together so fast in his life.

***

When they got to the house that (Y/N) was allegedly in, they immediately tracked her location from the noises coming from the top floor.

“Fucking hell! You cunt!” (Y/N)’s voice rang out, followed by a crash. Of course she would try to fight a ghost verbally when she couldn’t fight it physically

Lockwood and co sprung into action, going after the ghost and searching for the source. Lockwood’s first priority was (Y/N), finding her turning her sweater into a makeshift sling for her arm.

“Are you alright?” He rushed out, checking her over for bleeding.

“Yeah, I…” She began to speak before she noticed something behind them. “Looks out!” She shoved him to the side, grabbing her sword from the ground and swinging it at the ghost that had just appeared.

Lockwood gathered himself, quickly finding the source and covering it. The ghost had been dealt with.

(Y/N) sighed in exhaustion once he did, collapsing against the wall. “Cheers, Lockwood. I owe you.”

"You manage to save me from getting ghost touched.” He replied, chuckling as he willed his heart to return to it’s normal speed . “With a broken arm... while I was trying to save you."

"I'm just that good, Lockwood…. Huh, good, Lockwood. That rhymes."

(Y/N) walked off, going to find the rest of Lockwood’s team. He just shook his head, amused. He never had any idea where (Y/N) mind was. No matter how many times he found her, she kept disappearing on him. It drove him crazy.

***

In that case, however, (Y/N) ended up following them back to 35 Portland Row. Letting Lucy put a proper bandage on her as George and Lockwood locked the source away in the basement.

“You know, it’s never boring working with you lot.” She said to the other girl. “Very fun.”

Lucy chuckled. “I could say the same about you.”

“Touché.”

(Y/N) flinched as Lucy pressed a little too hard. She moved away, immediately apologetic. “Sorry.” She paused. “You are right, though, it is fun. It would be nice to work together more. Lockwood can have his dream of being the best agents in the company, and I could finally have another girl around.”

(Y/N) chuckled, although she couldn’t hide a smile at Lucy’s words. It felt nice to be appreciated. “Maybe you’re right.” Was her response. “Although you certainly sound like Lockwood right now.”

Lucy gave her an expression of fake offence. “The horror.” She said, causing the girls to dissolve into laughter.

Lockwood joined her and Lucy in the sitting room as soon as he was done in the basement. The other girl made an excuse to leave, meaning that (Y/N) and Lockwood were alone together.

She sighed, speaking first. "I know what you're gonna ask, and at this point..."

"At this point you want to know why I still bother?"

Normally she didn’t like to be interrupted. But he was right. She nodded

“You scared me today (Y/N).” Lockwood admitted, sitting down so that he was facing her. “I got that call and I was worried that I'd be attending your funeral this time tomorrow."

That thought had been floating around in her head the last few hours. However, she has too much faith in her own abilities. “That wouldn’t happen."

Lockwood didn’t have nearly the same amount of blind faith in her abilities. He knew she wasn’t immortal. He knew what happened to most agents. "It would. And because we don't work together, I wouldn't even know you were gone until it hit the news. It's not like we have any mutual friends who would tell me. I'd open the newspaper one morning and find out that I'd never hear one of your sarcastic little comments again."

It took (Y/N) a moment to figure out a response for that. Lockwood’s voice had cracked when he said those words, clearly hating the idea. Honestly, she hated that idea too. She had told herself not to get attached, but it might have been too late for that.

But she didn’t want Lockwood to know that. "Yeah, that sounds tragic." Was all she said. Hating her words as soon as she said them.

But Lockwood continued, reaching out to take her hands. "So please stay. If you really need to, you can do some missions solo as a member of the agency. I just want to make sure you come through this house every day. Just think about it, alright?”

It was tempting, so tempting. Part of her wanted to agree just to make him happy.

She didn’t respond, and he just chuckled at her stubbornness. “ In the meanwhile we should probably get you checked out at a DEPRAC hospital, make sure the bone is set properly." He told her, soft concern in his eyes.

The concern nearly made her shiver, and she immediately put her cool facade back on.

"Taking me to the hospital, huh?” Her tone turned flirty. “You know, Lockwood, if you wanted to ask me on a date, you could just say so."

"He paused, and then after a moment, he chuckled. "Alright then. Would you want to go on a date with me?" There was an almost nervous look in his eyes as he waited for her response."

That was unexpected.

"Are you being serious?"

"What? Have I been better at hiding my feelings for you than I thought I had?” Lockwood was full on grinning, at her shock. “Lucy and George have been teasing me about fancying you for ages."

"Is that why you've kept trying to recruit me?" She was trying to make sense of his words. Was he really just as interested in her as she was with him.

"I've been trying to recruit you because you're amazing at what you do, and because it's suicidal to work alone.” He corrected her, not wanting her to double her abilities. “However, enjoying your presence to the extent that I do was certainly a bonus."

"Wow, so charming. I bet that you say this to all your recruits. Did Carlyle and Karim get this same heartfelt confession?"

"No, just you. You're just special."

(Y/N) sighed, leaning back. Her gaze was pinned on Lockwood with the aim of making him nervous.

"If I say yes, to both joining you and going out with you, there will be no backtracking. You hear me? I want honesty and trust from you, I won't be chasing after some boy who is too scared to open up to me or treat me as an equal. I have better things to do."

She needed him to agree to that. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stand any behaviour like that. If she was meant to depend on him, she had to know he would give her the same regard.

Part of (Y/N) expected him to avoid her words. But to her surprise (underestimating just how much he wanted her with him), he nodded. "Why would you even think of chasing after me? I've spent so much time chasing after you that it's practically my natural state at this point." His sentence ended with that charming grin, the one that made her feel like Eve in the garden.

She tried to stay firm, to fight against that grin he gave her. But the idea of living under the same roof as his and his friends, befriending them herself... Of eventually being able to go on that date with the mysterious and charming Lockwood boy... it overrode her desire to need nobody but herself.

"Alright then, darling.” She threw her hands up in defeat, but there was a wide smile on her face. A twinkle in her eyes. “I'm all yours."

Taglist: @dark-academia-slut @silverhart93

#Lockwood and co #lockwood and co x reader #Anthony Lockwood #anthony Lockwood x reader #Lockwood #Lockwood x reader #Lockwood and co anthony Lockwood #Lockwood and co Anthony Lockwood x reader #George Karim #lucy carlyle

[imwall-e]

You and Us - CHAPTER 3

Pairing : Sebastian Stan x Reader x Bucky

Warning : 18+, MINOR DNI, angst, nightmares, fluff

A/N : Chapter 3, finally ! Sorry for the delay. Tell me what you think about it ! Also this is not beta read so I apologize for any mistakes !

You and Us Masterlist || Bucky Barnes Masterlist

A scream echoed throughout the floor, waking you up. Your sleep was lighter with the stress building up. Every day without news of Bucky only increased your anxiety.

What if something had happened to him?

But you didn't have time to think about that. You picked up the gun you had hidden under your pillow, and silently left your room.

All was quiet until another howl sounded, coming from the room at the end of the corridor. You lowered the weapon. There was no danger. You knew what was happening: Sebastian was having a nightmare. Bucky still went through the same thing from time to time. But for the actor, the torture was still recent, even if Hydra had been merciful compared to what they'd put the super soldier through.

You gently opened the door and sat down on the edge of the bed. The man seemed to be suffering in his dreams. His eyebrows were furrowed and sweat was beading on his forehead. He must have moved a lot trying to fight off the demons tormenting him, for the comforter was thrown back - revealing his muscular but bruised body - and one of the pillows was on the floor.

You did as you would have done with Bucky, and gently placed your hand on his forehead as you repeated his name, loud enough for him to hear but soft enough not to rush him.

Gradually, the man stopped fidgeting and opened his eyes.

The hooded man who was beating him up, turning the grey ground into a pool of blood, gave way to a young woman who was stroking his hair. It took him a few seconds to realise that he was safe.

He had been in Avengers Tower for a week. The doctors had put him in a coma for a few days while they treated his wounds and made sure he would be all right. But the fear was still there.

"I'm so sorry," he said. He didn't move. He didn't want to. It was so soothing to have such gentle physical contact, and she was so beautiful. So much so that he felt like he was looking at an angel.

"Don't worry. You had a nightmare, it's normal after what you've been through."

He tried not to think about it, closing his eyes and concentrating on his breathing. She withdrew her hand, leaving him with a cold sensation where it had been. Then he noticed that he was really cold: he was drenched in sweat.

"I think I need a shower. Could we... um... watch a film? Or chat? I don't think I can go back to sleep... and I don't really feel like being alone right now."

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "I'm going to have a hard time getting back to sleep too. Take your time. I'll change your sheets in the meantime."

Under normal circumstances, Sebastian would have protested, or at least asked her to wait for him so he could help, but right now he needed help and support after being abused for several days.

Thanking her, he headed for the bathroom, thinking about her hand on his skin.

You were both sitting on one of the sofas, drinking the hot chocolate you had prepared. You had put on a film, but weren't watching it. It was just background noise while you talked.

You told him how much you liked him, complimenting his acting skills and insisting that he deserved to be better known. This made Sebastian blush, but also laugh. It made him feel better.

"While you were being treated this week, I asked for a team to be sent to protect your mother. It wasn't you those guys were after, but I'd rather be careful."

"Thank you," he said, letting out a sigh of relief. He hadn't dared express out loud how terrified he was that something might happen to his mother. It would have made the situation far too real, the danger closer.

"Should I send other agents elsewhere? Friends? Family? Boyfriend or girlfriend?"

"No," he laughed lightly, "I don't really have time for a relationship." But you could see a certain sadness in his eyes. It wasn't that he was too busy with his career, it was that he hadn't found the right person for him.

He changed the subject: "And you, is there someone in your life?"

"Yes, he's called James but everyone calls him Bucky. Hydra confused you with him. And now... there's no news and I can't stop imagining the worst..." A tear escaped your left eye and Sebastian couldn't help but wiping it away with his thumb.

He wished you had told him you were single. He'd only known you for a day, and he was already feeling a strong attraction.

His hand was still on your cheek. As for you, you weren't moving. This contact was unexpected, and Sebastian looked so much like Bucky. If it had been him, all you would have had to do was step forward and place a kiss on his lips. 

You stepped back while he withdrew his hand. If you heart was already taken, he wouldn't steal it.

She drank a little of her chocolate then cleared her throat, trying to ignore the unease that had set in.

"I'd better get back to sleep," she began. "I want to be fit enough to find Bucky." She avoided Sebastian's gaze, her eyes as blue as James's, still embarrassed by what had just happened.

"Of course, I'll do the same. I don't think the nightmares will come back tonight. Thanks for keeping me company."

"My pleasure. Good night Sebastian," and the small smile she finally offered him made him melt.

"Good night, Y/N."

She disappeared into the corridor, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He told himself that if she'd been single, he wouldn't have withdrawn his hand. He would have slipped it down her neck to draw her to him and kiss her.

He returned to his bed, imagining the softness of her lips against his. When he managed to get back to sleep, he dreamt of her. And in his dreams, she was in his arms.

The next day

The sun was already high in the sky when Sebastian woke up. No nightmares had returned to disturb his sleep. He got ready before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. He had hoped to find you there, but it was a tall, blond man who was waiting for him and he wore a stern expression.

The famous Captain America did indeed look angry. Any trace of the sympathy that everyone knew was gone from his face. The actor would have wondered if something had just happened, if the cold stare wasn't directed straight at him. It took away his appetite.

"I saw you last night." So began the conversation. No hello. Steve was angry with him, but why? He couldn't think of anything he could have done to upset the hero. The blonde man must have seen his confusion: "Since you've decided to play dumb, I'll make things clear: she is with Bucky. He deserves the happiness he's found with her, and I won't let you ruin what they have."

So it was because of that. Yet all you've done was talk. Unless Steve was talking about the little rapprochement? Sebastian wanted to justify himself, but barely had time to say a word when Steve shoved him violently. 

"Stay away from her." He was about to start again, when a voice rang out.

"Steve!" you had just stepped out of the lift. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I saw him trying to kiss you last night!" He was clearly upset.

"What? No, not at all. We were just talking, nothing happened. Now leave him alone." Steve glared at Sebastian, saying nothing. "Listen," you continued, "I just had a meeting with Fury. He said that what we found about Hydra when we rescued Sebastian was very helpful. He'll be able to send a team after them."

"Good," was all he said before taking the lift to his apartment.

You sighed and turned to Sebastian. "I'm sorry about what he did and said. I think he is just worried something might have happened to Bucky and Sam."

He seemed a little shaken and returned to his room without a word. You wanted to follow him and comfort him, but were interrupted by your phone ringing. It was Bucky.

TO BE CONTINUED

I hope you like this chapter, tell me in the comment and like and repost to support me !

Tag list : @kandis-mom @cjand10 @dispatchvampire @con4cyn @floralwsloki

#bucky #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #marvel #sebastianstan #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x y/n #james buchanan barnes #bucky x you #bucky fanfiction #sebastian stan x reader x bucky barnes #sebastian stan x reader #sebastianstanfan #sebastian stan fanfiction #steve rogers

[razzlerdazzler]

Can I get a hellboy x reader where the reader gets poisoned by the creature there fighting but they they tell hellboy after the fight then endings up passing out in hb arms

Of course, sorry I took so long

Hellboy x Poisoned Reader

Today has been a shit show. To start off with, your alarm didn't go off so you were late for the mission brief, which Manning happily pointed out and gave you a lecture about. Then later an agent bumped into you and accidentally spilled their coffee all over your shirt, which led to you having to go change. Now you are knee deep in a swamp in the middle of nowhere looking for a chimera.

Apparently a chimera has been spotted around these parts and you guys were sent out to take it down. "How much farther until we reach the location?" You ask Abe. "Not much, it should only be a few more minutes." You nod as you slowly keep trudging through the dirty water. "Having fun yet ?" Hellboy asks from beside you. "Of course I am. How could I not be having fun when I'm in a dirty swamp, hunting down a dangerous monster, and can feel questionable water between my toes," you answer sarcastically. He lets out a huff of laughter and then says "you're preaching to the choir sweetheart." you both smile at each other, happy that you are at least not alone in this hell hole of a swamp.

Soon Abe informs you that you've reached the location. You sigh and look around, but only see trees and little creature that you would find in a swamp. "Are you sure we're in the right location?" You ask as you look towards Abe. "Yes, the device says-" Abe was suddenly cut off by a loud roar. All of a sudden the chimera burst through the treeline and was heading straight for you.

You all quickly split up so it would be easier to dodge the beast and take it down. You were shooting at the chimera when it swung it's tail towards you. You quickly tried to dodge, but was too slow as the beast's tail grazed your arm. Abe fired his gun at the creature, which quickly took it's attention off of you and allowed Hellboy enough time to finish the creature off.

As the chimera laid dead on the ground you sighed with relief, happy that the beast was finally dead. You all started to prepare the body to be destroyed, but while you were doing so, you felt a slight burning in your arm. After the whole encounter, you completely forgot that the beast hit you. You considered telling the guys, but figured that you would just patch it up after you got out of here and back home to base. After you all destroyed the body, you started to make your way back to the van.

However, during the walk back to the van the burning sensation in your arm got hotter and hotter, and started to spread throughout your body. Hellboy seemed to notice and looked towards you. "You good babe?" He asked, sounding concerned. "Yeah, just got a little scratch while fighting the chimera." You said, trying to sound nonchalant so you don't worry them. Hellboy stared at you for a little while longer, you could tell that he didn't believe you but decided to leave it be.

You all almost made it back to the van when you couldn't stand the burning feeling anymore. You stopped in your steps, which caused Hellboy and Abe to look back at you worriedly. "Babe?" Hellboy said, but it sounded far away, like you were underwater. Suddenly your eyes started to close as you collapsed towards the ground. Luckily Hellboy was close enough and was quick enough to catch you before you hit the ground. He gently laid you on the ground and put his hand on your forehead to check your temperature. "Jesus, they're burning up." He says as you begin to regain consciousness. He looks at Abe and says "check their arm, they said that they were were hit during the fight."

You felt your arm being lifted up and heard Abe say "it's not good, it looks like the chimera got some poison in them. We need to get them back home quickly." You heard Hellboy let out a curse as he quickly picked you up bridal style, being careful of the arm, and quickly ran towards the van with Abe not far behind him.

"Red?" You ask as they finally reach the van. "Hey sweetheart." He greeted you. "I don't feel good," you said as you leaned into him. "I know sweetheart, we're gonna go home and get you all patched up." He said trying to reassure you. You nodded as you felt the van starting to drive you all home. You started to feel the tiredness start to return, as your eyes started to droop. Hellboy apparently noticed because he started to gently shake you.

"Hey sweetheart, I need you to stay awake for me okay?" He said. You nodded, but your head lolled onto his chest. "You're warm," You stated drowsily as your eyes started to close again. He shook you again and said "you need to keep those pretty eyes open for me sweetheart." He paused for a second before he seemingly came up with an idea to keep you awake.

"What are you gonna do when we get back home?" He asked. "It took a minute for your groggy brain to think of a response before you said, "I'm gonna take a long bath to get this gross liquid off of me and then I want to hang out with you, Abe, Alice, and Liz." He smiled at your response and said "yeah, maybe we can have a little movie night." You smiled and groggily nodded. "What movie do you want to watch first when we get back?" You paused for a second and then answered "maybe a horror movie? I'm not sure, I just want to be near you." Hellboy smiled at your response and you could hear his heart speed up. "Of course sweetheart, we can watch whatever you want when we get back.

Soon you couldn't stay awake anymore. "I love you," you said as your eyes finally closed. "Hey, I love you too now open your eyes sweetheart, please don't fall asleep. Y/N?! Y/N!" Are the last words you hear before you finally pass out.

You slowly start to open your eyes, but immediately close them again when you are greeted by a bright light. You slowly open them again and you start to look around as your eyes adjust to bright light. As you look around you are met with the sight of the infirmary ward. You also notice a sleeping Hellboy, in a chair that looks uncomfortable to be sleeping in.

You smile and start to sit up, but groan as you feel a slight pain in your arm. This wakes Hellboy up as he quickly lifts his head and looks up at you. "Y/N you're awake!" He says as a relieved smile appears on his face. He sits up and leans towards your bed. "How are you feeling?" He asks. "Not too bad, my arm is a bit sore but besides that I feel fine." He nods and sighs with relief. "Yeah the doctor said that you would feel sore for a while."

He then grabs your hand and looks up at you with a serious expression. "You really scared us back there, you know." He said and looked at the ground. You move your hand towards his face and gently lift it up. You felt your heart break at the sight in front of you. Hellboy had tears in his eyes. His voice quivered as he said "I thought I lost you, we almost didn't make it in time, and I almost lost you."

He started to sob, you gently led him towards you and let him sob into your chest. "You didn't lose me though, I'm right here and I'm never leaving you again." You murmured to him and ran your hand through his hair, consoling him. You feel tears gather in your eyes as well, upset that you made him worry so much, especially after he's lost so many people that he's cared about over the years. After a few minutes he lifts his head from your chest and says "don't you ever scare me like that again."

You wipe the tears off your face and say "I won't, I promise." Eventually Hellboy gets up and goes to check you out of the infirmary. When he returns he gently picks you up and walks you out of the infirmary. "Red! What if Manning sees?" You ask as you look up at him. "He can deal with it, besides he's used to seeing us all over each other." He says, which reminds you of all the times that you two have been caught making out and all the other times you two have cuddled and kissed.

"Yeah, you're right," you say as you lean into his chest. "Where are we going anyway?" You ask. "My room, we're having a movie night." You feel your cheeks heat up in a blush as remember what you told him earlier. You finally reach his room and and he carefully opens the door, making sure that you don't fall, and kicks it closed behind him. Hellboy walks you to the couch and carefully sets you down. He then sits down beside you and grabs his phone. "I'm gonna message the gang and see if they want to join us, you can pick the movie that we watch. He then hands you the remote. While he texts the gang you find one of your favorite horror movies.

As he puts his phone down one of the cats jumps onto your lap and starts to make itself comfortable. "What did they say?" You ask as you look towards him. "They said that they'll be here in a few minutes. " "Good, that means I have you all to myself for a little bit." Hellboy smiles as he leans down to kiss you. The kiss was sweet and passionate, you craved more as you leaned into him. He also wanted more and growled when you bit his lip, asking for entrance. The kiss was quickly interrupted by a little meow coming from your lap. You both separated and looked down to see the cat looking up at you two, seemingly wanting both of your guys' attention. You two laughed at it and pet it and it cuddled back into you again. As you waited for the others to show up, you and Hellboy gazed into each other's eyes, happy to spend the rest of eternity together.

#hellboy #hellboy x reader #hellboy imagines

[isagrimorie]

[initial reactions] Critical Role 3x52

If the last episode was shocking and heart-stopping, we are now at the other side of the 'its the end of the world as we know it' moment. It's silent and uncertain and they're alone.

In a way, it's kind of a test of faith, except the people being tested don't have a lot of faith.

This episode was such a good way to slow things down after the frenetic Race to the Malleus Keys kicked off.

And god, Imogen broke my heart at the start with the way she is frantically trying to connect with Laudna but was denied every chance of it because of a weird static.

Something Imogen's heard of before from episode 49, The Aurora Grows:

IMOGEN Let me step away from everyone. → I'm going to try to get away from the group a little bit and I'm going to open my mind up and see if I can sense anything around. →

#MATT Okay. →

#LIAM Open your eyes. →

#MATT You open your mind to the space around you. → You do not sense any other presences, which leaves you at ease. →

#LAURA Okay. →

#MATT There is this very, very faint, underlying, best I can describe it as a static or a buzz that you haven't heard before when you've done this, this very light (whooshes) which rests on the periphery of your consciousness. →

#IMOGEN If I look out at the floating lights, does the ripple coincide at all with the static, or is it a constant white noise sort of vibe? →#MATT It just feels like a constant white noise. → I mean, there's maybe some bursts where it gets a little louder or softer, but it's perpetually there. → You're uncertain if the two are connected. →

#IMOGEN Weird. →

And now it's here in full swing, possibly because of the Ley Lines, probably because of Predathos, or both. But it is preventing magical means of communication, and this could probably lead to the development of technological communication.

And finally, we get a much-needed shading of Chetney, I find him amusing but his humor sometimes doesn't work on me -- like the way he was so cavalier about Xandis's life (who is still probably in the eye of that storm unless Ira dimension doored him away).

That put a sour taste in my mouth even though he tried to walk it back, and also more than Fearne, I trust Chetney less because at least Fearne is upfront about her shadiness. Chetney is a troll. Seeing him with Deanna was good and maybe finally will get me to like him. Instead of going, oh he's there.

I also love Fearne's development, like who had it in the bingo card that Fearne would be grounded on in this group and the one who would most likely swat people with a rolled-up newspaper for considering or even considering letting Imogen give up to the storm.

Imogen has repeatedly said, that if she ran into the storm and give-up she'd die. And I think this is the storm Imogen is talking about, her dreams are just portents, this Apogee Solstice, Malleus Key-Ruidus flavored red storm?

This is the real death that would mean the death of Imogen's self.

And it does seem Predathos or Ludinus might have hard-coded something into Exaltant Ruidus Borns to be seduced into walking into. Sleeper agents amongst the people of Exandria.

Fearne being born in the Fey realm is saved from this, as Matt/Otohan phrased it: An alluring, seductive call that Imogen is feeling 100% in full and always have to fight against.

Imogen's feeling of relief when Deanna cast Greater Restoration on her was akin to the one she felt with the circlet. Unfortunately, according to Matt, it's a relief that's not going to last long.

And then there are the two people! AABRIA IYENGAR AND CHRISTIAN NAVARRO. THEIR CHARACTERS WERE AMAZING. And in a way, their relationship with each other reminds me a tiny bit of Imogen and Laudna.

But also AABRIA'S DEANNA AS CHETNEY'S EX? YESS PLEASE.

I also love how the Bells Hells look to outsiders they are wild and they're not even the full group yet. BH is so used to each other's weirdness and danger levels that they barely blink anymore, especially when Chetney ran to transform into a wolf.

FRIDA WHEN THE BELLS HELLS SAY THEY'RE DANGEROUS AND DON'T GO LOOKING FOR CHETNEY. THAT MEANS THEY'RE DANGEROUS AND DON'T LOOK FOR CHETNEY WHILE HE'S A WOLF.

Oh let's also talk about Frida and Deanna's very Buffy Resurrection and which has caused them grief and Issues with their gods. FRIDA, in particular, harbors some let's say... very Aeorean views on gods. And Deanna just has complicated feelings about her god.

But also I hope we can get Laudna and Deanna in one room and talk about their different experiences about dying. Deanna experienced the full Buffy Heaven Package.

Meanwhile, I think FCG is getting a realization about themself too, and yet FCG is stubbornly clinging to their faith system. Both for FCG reasons but also, IMO for Sam Riegel trolling reasons. Imogen and Fearne are just done with it though and would happily chuck the changebringer coin down the ravine if they could.

But also so many people on Reddit have an issue with Bells Hells not being into gods, trying to save the gods and I'm just-- Honestly, I like it more because it means what the Bells Hells are doing is a choice. And they're trying to stop Predathos because to paraphrase Guardians of the Galaxy: THEY AND THE PEOPLE THEY LOVE LIVE ON EXANDRIA.

And then of course all this to end with:

A WEREBOT MAYBE???

#cr 3x52 #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #bells hells #initial reaction #long post #critical role #critical role c3 spoilers

[ihaveatheoryonthat]

Whumptober Day 10: Dazed and Confused (substitute prompt)

Okay. I thought this turned out fairly well at first, but the last prompt I tried with a similar approach didn’t communicate as well as I’d hoped, so we’ll see if this is any better. Fingers crossed.

For context’s sake, its basis is the Subnauts AU (crossover with Psychonauts). You can check out my Power Trick tag for a more thorough rundown of this version of events, but, if I’ve played my cards right, that won’t be necessary to follow what’s happening. Again, fingers crossed.

---

If one’s foe relied on cooperation, the best thing to do was disrupt their line of communication. This was a somewhat difficult task when said communication happened via telepathy, but far from impossible. There were always options, and if contact couldn’t be severed entirely, then the next best thing was to corrupt the information.

Confusion was very, very good for that purpose.

Ghetsis knew the score, knew how effective a solution it had been in the past, and if he could get one solid hit in, was certain he could get an advantage over the so-called Countertype Conductors; they wouldn’t get in his way if they were too busy trying to figure out which of them was which, and by the time they recovered enough to think straight, he’d have already secured his victory.

That had been the plan, at least. When he managed to trip up the pyrokinetic one long enough to put it into action, though, things began to go wildly off script.

There was a moment where everything looked perfectly fine, and he’d advanced on the agent in white, eager to deal with the most prominent threat first. Even if the other managed to put two brain cells together early, the facility’s arid nature would prevent him from fully utilizing the hydrokinesis he was famous for, forcing use of a less honed psychic ability.

Or so Ghetsis had assumed. As he loomed over the lighter twin, however, a prickle began at the base of his neck, rapidly becoming the burn of psychic energy. His robes whirled around him as he turned, backing up to escape the fiery radius.

That was completely impossible. The other agent wasn’t capable of using pyrokinesis. His people had watched for months and he’d never shown an ounce of affinity for it-- had never even tried to use it in the middle of the arctic.

The agent in black advanced on him, lips quirking up into a dangerous grin, but the dazed fog remained settled over his eyes. He’d still been affected, then-- just as he should’ve been, once his brother was hit-- and hadn’t managed to recover in such a short window. So then what--?

A dome of fire roared to life half a centimeter from his nose. He stepped back, as any reasonable man would, and readied himself. The aggressor crossed the temporary field of safety to his partner, who remained unsinged by way of their mental connection, and urgently called a name.

The wrong name.

That was it, then. While the one in black should have been the hydrokinetic, the wires had gotten crossed mid-fight; somehow, instead of scrambling their abomination of a mental world into a useless mess, the confusion had swapped one twin’s mind for the other.

It had to be a fluke; in all their months of examination, the application of confusion had never produced a result like this. He readied another measure of confusion gas as black-turned-white pulled white-turned-black to his feet, but threw it a moment too soon. White coat’s head snapped up as the lingering fire consumed the attack, and his scowl drew deeper.

As the last of the protective field burnt away, they started toward Ghetsis in lock-step, elbows linking together. It made for an easy target and he tried again, careful to maintain the distance between them and keep a steady head in spite of the complication.

The confusion landed. He knew for a fact that it did. They weren’t even trying to sidestep the psychohazardous fog that lay before them-- but neither so much as blinked as they kept their pace, focused on him and him alone.

In unison, their interlocked arms raised, obscuring the contrasting curve of lips.

A worrying flash of heat passed over him, or-- or maybe it was cold?

To his horror, Ghetsis found he could no longer tell the difference.

#ihaveatheoryonthat pkmn #ihaveatheoryonthat psychonauts #submas #fanfic #whumptober

[garina]

'Screams incoherently' I may not survive this. So intense. So many feels. @kedreeva here I go again.

Episode 7 flailing commencing...

Mike reassuring El that she's still pretty without the wig is adorable.

Lucas' realisation that the bad men are real and they are BAD. Screaming his head off down the radio that they all need to run, because they're coming for Eleven.

The reconcilation scene. All the feels. Also, adults have problems with that level of accountability and responsibility. Go kids.

Joyce is the best. Joyce is the best. Joyce is the best. Jonathan thinks she's mad about the lying (and maybe the getting into trouble with the police). No, she's angry about you planning to put yourself in that level of danger, because she's your mother and protecting her kids is the most important thing in her life.

Nancy's reaction to all the lights at the Byers place.

Mike being offended at the suggestion that his sister might be in league with the bad people. Only he is allowed to criticise her!

Oh, that's why Troy is the way he is. His mother is a hell-Karen. As opposed to Karen Wheeler, who is a lovely person who also just wants her kids to be safe.

Only a privileged white guy could come out with the 'they're our government. They're on our side' line. They've gone through your things, they're hiding information from you. Please tell me you at least asked to see a search warrant? (I doubt it)

These agents do not seem particularly competent, if Hopper can take them all out by himself. Also, it says something about his reputation that the kids seem to think so highly of him. Dustin's paranoia levels are also understandable!

Yay for Steve finally realising that Tommy and Carol suck. Character development! Also kudos to movie theatre guy for accepting the unspoken apology and attempt to start making things right. (Steve doesn't admit it outright, but fairly sure the guy can put together a nasty bit of graffiti, the cops being called to a fight round the corner, and a teenager with a messed up face offering to help clean. I might have checked he wasn't concussed before I let him up a ladder though!)

El trying and failing to find Will and Barb. Realising the solution and visibly screwing up her courage to go and tell the others what she needs.

'Why are you trying to close this curiosity door?' My favourite line so far. Also Mr Clarke's enthusiasm for explaining the special (gross) effects in the film. So many people would do that in a condescending way (why are you scared? It's not real) or to show off. He's just excited. And adorable.

Sibling stuff with Nancy and Mike. Their relationship has been so well written and acted throughout, you really believe in it. The 'you drive me up the wall but I will go for anyone who hurts you' thing. A+, no notes.

The stuff with Joyce and El... my heart! Joyce just sees a frightened kid, and that's something she can help. When she tells El to get out of there at the first hint she might be in danger, and El realising that she might actually mean it, that an adult might be trustworthy... all the tears.

The sensory deprivation scene is just incredible. Terrifying and heartbreaking and touching. Is this the first time an adult has kept a promise to El? Joyce is there for her all the time, even as she hears her son's exhausted voice through the radio, enough of her attention is on El to pull her out the second the monster finds her.

Nancy. The fact that you are right about the danger to Hopper and Joyce does not make your plan a better idea. I don't think she's even considering her own safety now that she has had the hope that Barb might still be alive snatched away.

Hopper. You got caught last time you tried this. Remember? You did not think this through properly.

Bad cliffhanger. Bad. No. Leave Will alone, he's dealt with enough.

#Stranger Things #s1e7 #this is too much #rambling and flailing #help me #aaahhhhhhh #spoilers

[theshadowsanctum]

Image taken from The Shadow Scrapbook

#the shadow #description #he uses the same secrecy with agents as he does everywhere else #interesting if not exactly accurate #he fights alone or at least tries to not put the agents in danger #which doesn't work but hey it's the thought that counts maybe

[mypoisonedvine]

vignettes of a bond || alpha!bucky barnes x omega!reader

I originally wrote this in two parts for my sleepover but after I realized how long it accidentally became, I've reformatted it, added/changed a few things, and made into a oneshot!

word count: 3.1k

warnings: smut, angst, knotting, violence

June 2nd, 1943, 11:43 p.m., James Barnes’ bedroom

“I wanna do it, before I go,” he whispered against your skin. “But I know it’s wrong. It’s too cruel.”

“No, please,” you whimpered, “I want it. I want your mark.”

Bucky pulled back for a moment and you examined your Alpha’s face carefully, knowing it might be the last time for a long time. “I couldn’t bond to you and then leave you. It wouldn’t be fair… you deserve to find somebody who can stay, and be with you, and protect you.”

“All I want is you,” you whispered. “Please, Alpha… bite me.”

You saw him hesitate for a moment before he leaned in and sucked at your neck, building the anticipation before he finally sunk his teeth into your skin and you cried out, one single tear rolling down your cheek. “Mine,” he growled against your skin as he lapped at the healing wound, “my Omega. Forever.”

“Yours, only yours,” you agreed eagerly.

It wasn’t the first time Bucky had taken you, but that night he really and truly claimed you, left you a desperate begging mess, stretched out over his knot as he filled you over and over.

The next morning, you were still sore between your legs as well as on your new mark, and it took everything in you to be strong as you saw him off at the train station, waving goodbye and praying that your Alpha would return to you soon.

November 9th, 1943, 2:24 p.m., undercover SHIELD facility

“You promised Bucky you’d take care of me,” you reminded him with a little smile, wiping a tear from your cheek.

“I know,” Steve relented, “but we both know I can’t do that. Not in this state. But maybe I can protect you if I do this. Maybe I can protect my country. I owe it to everyone, especially Bucky, to try.”

You nodded. “But I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. Come see me before I ship out for good, alright?”

“Of course,” you agreed.

December 27th, 1943, 8:32 a.m., your front porch

“You’re lying,” you gasped as you shook your head. “You’re wrong, no, it’s not true.”

“It is,” Steve promised as tears welled in his eyes, “I’m so so sorry, I saw it myself, I had to watch him fall…”

“It’s not true! He’s not dead!”

“I know he loved you so much. He talked about every day, he couldn’t wait to come home to you,” Steve remembered, choking up noticeably. “But he won’t. He’s gone.”

“You don’t understand, I know, okay? I know.”

“You’re in shock, I understand, it’s hard to lose your mate—”

“You’re a beta, you wouldn’t understand,” you dismissed; sure, he looked like an alpha now, but it didn’t make a difference. “Omegas, we know when our Alpha dies, we feel it, it kills us. He’s far away, but he’s still there, I still feel him!”

Steve held you as you sobbed, your body crumpling into his arms. Sometimes you thought maybe he held you too tight on accident because he was still getting used to his new strength; other times you thought he did it on purpose.

February 3rd, 1944, 12:00 p.m., undercover SHIELD facility

“Even when I had nothing, I had Steve,” you recalled shakily, “and now he’s gone too.”

“Is that why you’re volunteering?” Agent Carter asked you. “Because you’d rather sleep for a hundred years than live without your mate and your best friend?”

“I’m volunteering because my mate and my best friend died for SHIELD,” you corrected firmly, “and if I’m not willing to also, then I’m admitting I think they went to waste.”

“Steve told me you didn’t think Bucky was dead,” Peggy remembered.

You winced. “I’m not sure. But I know he’s not coming home again. I came here to give whatever I could to help find him… I was asked to participate in a cryogenics research study. If it helps him, then I’ll do it.”

She was about to get up, apparently satisfied with your final interview, but you stopped her.

“On one condition,” you added. “If James Barnes is found, alive or dead, wake me up to see him.”

She nodded, stepping out of the room and leaving you alone again.

May 8th, 2012, SHIELD headquarters

“Can you hear me?”

You slowly blinked awake, your vision taking a moment to catch up with your mind. You saw tubes coming out of your arms; you saw Steve above you, looking like the day you saw him last.

“Did you find Bucky?” you asked instantly. Why else would they wake you up?

“No,” Steve answered, seemingly a bit disappointed that that was your first and only question.

“Then put me back to sleep,” you demanded.

“It’s been 68 years,” he told you. “You’ve slept for 68 years. It’s time to wake up.”

And you did, more than you ever wanted to, because you realized you couldn’t feel him anymore. Your Alpha was gone. Worse, he probably died while you were asleep; he probably died alone.

One more time, like he had 68 years ago, Steve held you while you sobbed.

August 1st, 2014, 2:11 a.m., Avengers compound, Steve Rogers’ quarters

You ran into Steve’s room barefoot and still in your pajamas, barreling through the door and right into his bed.

“Steve, I feel him!” you rushed.

“What?” he groaned sleepily, looking up at you as he blinked in confusion.

“I feel him again, he’s alive,” you explained. “I know it. He’s weak… he’s hurting… but he’s there.”

“That’s impossible,” Steve shook his head. “It’s been too long, he would’ve died of old age anyways.”

“Don’t you want to believe it? Don’t you want to think he’s out there?”

“Do I want to think he’s alone and I didn’t save him?” Steve hissed. “No, I can’t say that I particularly do!”

“But we still can, Steve, we just have to find h—”

But before you could finish, the feeling left you, and you were just half of something again.

“Oh,” you breathed.

“He’s gone again?” Steve realized.

You nodded, biting your lip as it started to quiver. He sighed and pulled you into a hug. “If I could just see his body, and know it was over,” you whispered, “if I could just bury him, have a funeral…”

“We’ll have one,” Steve decided, “after this mission. We’ll put him to rest. He deserves that, and so do you.”

You nodded into his shoulder. It shattered you into a million pieces but it was still the better option, to try to let him go in whatever small way you could. He would always, always, always be your Alpha, nothing could change that, but a funeral would at least bring some closure.

That would have to wait until after your next mission though… and it was going to be a big one: tracking the elusive Winter Soldier.

August 3rd, 2014, 1:14 p.m., Lower East side

You were a few blocks away, helping civilians escape the firefight, when you felt it.

For one impossibly brief moment, you felt him, stronger than you had in nearly 80 years. He was here.

You instantly got up and ran like you’d never run before, finding the Soldier and Steve locked in a brutal showdown— but his mask was gone now, and you nearly fell to your knees at the sight of him.

“Bucky!” you yelped, but you knew he wasn’t there or you would’ve felt his presence. Your Alpha was somewhere underneath the shell that wore his face, and you needed to find him.

You ran forward just as Steve made a break for it, getting to him just in time to stand between the Soldier and his mission.

“Alpha, please,” you whimpered, clutching at his chest. A metal hand backhanded you to the ground.

“Out of my way, Omega,” he growled, stepping over you, but you grabbed at his ankles even when he tried to kick you away.

“My mark,” you explained hastily, pulling your shirt down some to make sure it was visible. “It’s yours. Do you remember? You gave me this. This is your mark on me.”

He stared down at you, seeming to be contemplating it, and you scrambled back to your feet and faced him.

“I still feel you,” you whispered. “I knew you were alive, I knew you’d come back to me. I could feel you, right here,” you explained as you took his hand and placed it on your chest. “Could you feel me? Did you know I was waiting for you all this time?”

His eyes were watering but he still seemed confused— stunned, more specifically, as you placed your hand on his chest.

“I’ll always be yours, Bucky. I’ll always be your Omega, no matter where you are.”

A stun gun took you down, an array of masked men appeared, and before he could really see you for what you were, he was dragged away and taken to be erased again.

August 3rd, 2014, 9:04 p.m., Avengers compound, medical bay

“I can’t believe we let them get away,” Steve lamented, resting his face in his hands. “I can’t believe they took him again…”

“They’ll be back,” you promised sternly. “They’re going to figure out what I am to him. They’re going to realize I could break his programming. And they’re going to come for me.”

“And when they do?” Steve pressed.

“We’ll be ready. And I’ll get my Alpha back.”

August 3rd, 2014, 9:04 p.m., temporary HYDRA operations facility

"The woman on the bridge... the Omega..." Bucky mumbled. "She knew me... she had my mark."

"No she didn't."

He furrowed his brow. "She showed me..."

Pierce sighed, glancing over to the HYDRA scientist who looked back at him sternly.

"She's too dangerous to be left alive," the man sighed, shrugging in his lab coat. "We can't deprogram a bond like that."

"We'll take care of her," Pierce promised.

Bucky launched from the chair, snapping his restraints like paper. "Touch her and I'll fucking kill you!" he bellowed, tackling his handler to the ground.

Pierce just laughed as another scientist jabbed Bucky with a needle, dosing him with something strong enough to kill any other man but just enough to knock out a super soldier. Pierce stood up and dusted himself off as he watched Bucky go limp and be lifted back into his chair.

"I can see the fight in your eyes, Soldier," he taunted as he leaned into his face. "I know you really would kill me, if you could. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, right? But don't worry about your mate, we'll make it quick and painless. Hey, maybe beforehand me and a few of the other Alphas will show her a good time, poor thing's been without her mate for 70 years... I bet she's raring to go."

Bucky's arm twitched as his eyes started to fall shut, a tear falling down his blank and motionless face.

"Wipe him," Pierce instructed to the scientist, turning and walking away as the electric whirr of the machine charging up filled the room.

August 11th, 2014, 3:53 p.m., SHIELD headquarters

Steve was impressed with how accurate and imminent your prediction was; HYDRA was hot on your trail and desperate to eliminate the biggest threat to their Asset. Knowing they were coming made it easier, but it was still a brutal fight.

You and Steve tried to stay together, but they were smart, they used the perfect bait to lure you away.

"Tell me where he is," you demanded from the HYDRA agent as you held a blade to his neck, "then I'll kill you."

"Isn't it supposed to be 'or I'll kill you'?" he frowned.

You shook your head. "Not the way I operate."

Opposite to the reaction you were expecting, he grinned widely. "He's here."

Your heart stopped.

"On the roof. He's here to kill you."

You dropped the knife and ran straight for the stairwell, ascending them like they were nothing and calling out for your Alpha.

You found him there, waiting, gun trained on you. Raising your hands in surrender, you yelled to him again.

"Bucky," you called across the windy roof, eyes nearly blinded by the bright afternoon sun. "Alpha."

"I'm not who you think I am," he yelled back. "I'm not your Alpha."

It hurt to hear it in his voice, but you knew it wasn't him. Cautiously, you stepped closer. "Before you left, you told me you didn't want to mark me and leave me behind," you recalled. "But I wanted it. I wanted to be bonded to you more than I'd ever wanted anything."

He could clearly see you were coming closer, he even tightened his finger over the trigger of his weapon, but he was waiting. You kept walking to him, slowly.

"I've never regretted it," you continued, "not even when I thought you were dead, not even when I had to spent a lifetime-- more than that-- apart from you."

Finally you were face to face, and you stepped closer until his gun was pressed right into your chest.

"You can shoot me now and I still won't regret it," you promised. "I love you."

Shakily, he lowered his weapon. "Omega..." he breathed.

"Your Omega."

He pulled you into him and you sobbed as you felt him come to life in your arms-- the real him, your Alpha, your Bucky. He held you close and breathed against the top of your head and it was like a dream coming true decades after you'd forced yourself to let it go.

But you'd never given up. And now you had found him again.

Agents started to come onto the roof and Bucky spun the two of you around, firing with his right hand and using the left, metal arm as a shield for you.

He carried you and you didn't even know where he was taking you, but it didn't matter. In his arms, you were home.

August 12th, 1:03 a.m., Avengers compound, your quarters

You hadn't stopped coming or crying for at least an hour. Bucky had all but split you open on his knot all night and he didn't show any signs of stopping.

He apparently intended to make up for lost time. And you'd lost a lot of time.

"Just one more, I know you can give me one more," he groaned furiously rubbing your clit as his knot began to swell again.

You could give him anything, as long as he asked for it like that.

You'd lost count of how many times he'd told you to come for him, and how many times you did it immediately.

"I can see how full you are," he whispered as he rubbed your stomach gently. "So much seed in you that your body can't hold it all."

You looked down and yep, you were distinctly bloated from his come alone; it made you a little dizzy to even look at it.

"The idea of you alone during your heats, no one to protect you, it kills me," he explained with a growl. "I won't let you go again. I can't."

"Then don't," you sighed. "Never leave this bed, fill me with everything you have."

"Did anybody ever help you through them? The heats?" he asked. "I wouldn't blame you, they can be so painful... I just need to know so I can make sure you forget about them."

"No, Bucky, never— I never let anyone touch me."

"Steve could've helped you, at least some..."

"He wouldn't have, he loves you too much. And I wouldn't accept anything less than you, ever. You're my Alpha. We're bonded. There's never anyone else."

That didn't seem to satisfy him, his eyes darting away as he swallowed. Your gut sank with the realization he probably wasn't being totally honest about why he asked.

"Your ruts," you gasped. "Were you alone for all of them?"

He shut his lips tighter.

"Bucky, it's okay, just tell me. I was asleep for 70 years, I skipped most of them, but you... you had to live through them all."

"They gave me betas, and omegas," he mumbled, "but I don't... I don't really remember. I know they wanted me to. They threatened to hurt me if I didn't, because they knew I'd go crazy after so many ruts alone, but I can't remember if I really did it. I remember... I remember crying, and begging for you."

"Alpha," you breathed as you felt new tears run over the stains of your old ones. "It's okay. Whatever happened, it's okay now. We're together again. Everything's okay."

You wiped his tear away with your thumb, holding his face tightly, weaving your fingers into his long hair.

"I'll always be your Omega," you promised.

He leaned in closer to you, kissing your cheek before pulling back a little. "It's faded," he whispered as he ran his thumb over the mark on your neck. "The last time I saw it, it was still fresh."

"It's older, sure, but it's stronger than ever, Bucky."

August 14th, 10:12 a.m., Avengers compound, residential area kitchen

Steve's eyes went wide when he came into the kitchen for breakfast and found you there, steeping your tea. "Surprised to see you out of the love nest so soon," he smirked.

"It's been three days, I don't think that counts as soon," you scoffed.

"It does to him," Steve frowned. "He's asleep, isn't he?"

"Yep."

"I know he wouldn't let you out of his sights if he was conscious," Steve chuckled.

At that moment, you heard Bucky call your name and run out into the hall, only a bedsheet covering his groin as he appeared in the doorway. You spun around and smiled when you saw him come running towards you, embracing you with his free arm.

"You should've told me you were leaving, I got scared when I woke up without you," he admitted weakly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry!"

He pulled back and clutched your face in both his hands. "I'm waking up next to you every morning for the rest of my life, you understand?"

You nodded dutifully. "Yes, Alpha."

"One hand on the sheet, please, Buck?" Steve winced, looking away.

“Whoops,” Bucky groaned, reaching to cover himself as you laughed softly.

“Let’s go back to bed, baby,” you decided quietly, taking Bucky’s (free) hand in yours and waving goodbye to Steve, who was already making his way as far out of earshot as possible.

#alpha!bucky barnes x omega!reader #alpha!bucky barnes smut

[oneprompt]

Yooo your writing is so good!!! If it's alright, may I ask for the monster trio's hcs on almost losing their S/O in a fight with other pirates/marines? (Sorry if its a bit angsty among all these fluff fisbg)

authors note: hii <3 im very glad you’re enjoying it , that means a lot to hear ! and yes , i do love me some good angst .. i hope you enjoy ! <3 + zoro’s takes place during enies lobby , luffy’s takes place during wano and sanji’s takes place in whole cake <3 just . thought it’d be easiest to use pre existing arcs ...!

Zoro ( Almost ) Losing His S/o Headcanons

• Zoro finished his fight as quick as he could. He knew there was possibly more keys to find... and even if there wasn’t, you all still had to reach Robin. And you.... Zoro was furious at himself. How could he let you linger alone? Not that he thought you were weak, no. You were a force to be reckoned with. But Zoro couldn’t help but worry about which Cp9 agent you were put against, especially considering he struggled within his own fight..

• He’s quick to take his key and run up the crumbling stairs of the Tower of Law. Please be okay. Zoro didn’t look the part but he was so worried, so concerned. Zoro needed you to be safe, he was praying you weren’t put up against any of the big guys...

• And finally, Zoro had found you. The sight was one he had never wanted to witness in his life. He had no clue how to react, truly. Zoro never had a person in his life to call his, no one that made him feel the way you did. So, seeing you doused in blood, the deep slices upon your chest from claws made his blood boil. You had to be alive, right? You weren’t dead. No, you couldn’t be.

• Where was everyone? Where was Chopper? Zoro has no experience with medical supplies, not like that mattered, as he had none. He tried to not stare at you, trying to steady his somewhat shaky breathing. You had been pinned up against that leopard zoan user, hadn’t you? Wasn’t that guy the strongest? Why couldn’t you have been anywhere else?

• The light tears that laced his dark eyes were quick to slip and dissolve as you suddenly touched him. The sudden weight of your hand upon Zoro’s broad shoulder felt heavy, it felt endless in this moment. Were you.. really okay? As soon as he finally looks back at your bloody and disheveled self, he’s greeted with the softest smile he’s ever seen you bear upon your face.

• You want to apologize. Say sorry for failing your battle with Lucci, for worrying Zoro. But Zoro gives you not even a moment to think of what to say, as he pulls you into an almost out of character embrace. It was full of love, of security. Even as the claw marks upon your chest stayed branded on, you cling to Zoro, giving no regards to the scene that was before you both. Zoro was so happy to see you.

Luffy ( Almost ) Losing His S/o Headcanons

• Luffy is immediately engulfed by sudden flashes and memories of Marineford. He’s reminded of the soul crushing despair that engulfed his pure heart as Ace died within his arms. And here it was, happening once more. But not with Ace, with you. You were his most prized shipmate, he loved you a lot. No way was this happening... Luffy couldn’t lose someone he loved so dearly, not again.

• He’s squeezing you, nails digging into your flesh. Luffy is pleading, begging at that point. You had to be alive, you’ve survived much worse then this. You two would make it out of here. You and everyone else would beat Kaido and Tobi Roppo, wouldn’t you? You had to! You all made a promise... you promised to be at Jinbe’s banquet with the rest of the Straw Hats, with the other samurai..

• Luffy can’t help but cry. It’s out of character but with the sight of your body bruised and molded in such a painful state, it’s impossible not to. The way you’re making... you look so peaceful, just like Ace. Ace had the same smile on his face before he fell upon Luffy, adjusting every bit of dead weight onto the younger boy.

• He should’ve been there to help. Luffy couldn’t help but blame himself. Where was he during your grand fight? You must’ve advanced to King and Queen far too quick... Why couldn’t you have waited? Luffy could’ve been there.. he wanted to help, he could’ve helped. Did you die because of him...?

• Yet, the sudden noise of coughing made his sobbing halter, at least in volume. Luffy looked down at you, your bruised and bloodied face now accompanied with the presence of your hopeful eyes. You were alive..? Luffy’s tears cascaded downward, gently splattering down onto your cold cheeks. He couldn’t believe it..

• Luffy is all over you, crying his entire heart out. But can you blame him? He didn’t want to endure a repeat of what happened with Ace, pacing through another heart wrenching death. Your well being meant everything to Luffy, it truly did. He wanted to become the Pirate King with you on his side, he needed you in order to tap into his full potential. Without you, he could never reach his dreams.

Sanji ( Almost ) Losing His S/o Headcanons

• Sanji’s rapid footsteps pattered through the wedding, slamming down onto the cracker tracks that placed themselves throughout the setting. He saw the way you fell to the ground, every inch of you slamming to the candy coated ground as Big Mom had used her devil fruit. You couldn’t be dead... were you truly that afraid of Big Mom? So much so she could suck every bit of life out of you?

• Sanji can’t help but feel completely at fault. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t came here, if he hadn’t treated you all so badly before departing, none of this would’ve happened. If only Sanji wasn’t born, none of you would have to deal with him. It should’ve been him to die, not you. He knew how awful of a man he was, he knew how happier you would be without him on your side.

• It takes him all of his strength to hold in his tears. Crying was for the weak, wasn’t it? Instead, Sanji just stares at you, almost as if he was completely numb and oblivious to the world around him. You’d get up, right? You couldn’t die. No. You couldn’t, he wouldn’t let such a thing happen to you.

• Why did you come here to save him? Why did any of you show up for him? If you all let Sanji be wedded to Pudding, none of this would happen. You and the rest of the present Straw Hats wouldn’t have been put under such dangerous circumstances. Sanji felt at fault. He couldn’t even sell his life away correctly without hurting anyone..

• The sudden embrace around his neck is enough to make Sanji gasp. Was it...an enemy? No. No, it was the best thing it could’ve been. It was you. How had you overcome Big Mom’s devil fruit, you wonder. Sanji doesn’t hesitate to hug you back, not in the slightest. He held you as tight as he could, allowing you to sob into the white suit jacket he wore, your tears seeping into his cotton button up shirt.

• Sanji carries you upward and flees further away from the wedding, all the while giving you reassurance. He feels horrible for what he put through, not just physically. Just suddenly departing, saying he’s wedding another woman, leaving his true beloved behind must’ve been soul crushing for you.. Sanji would never let that happen again, he’d never allow you to feel such a way ever again.

#one piece #one piece imagines #one piece imagine #one piece reader inserts #one piece x y/n #one piece x you #one piece x reader #monster trio #sanji one piece #sanji vinsmoke #roronoa zoro #zoro #monkey d. luffy #luffy #sanji x y/n #sanji x reader #sanji x you #zoro x y/n #zoro x you #zoro x reader #luffy x reader #luffy x y/n #luffy x you #angst #fanfic #one piece fanfic #one piece angst #sad #angst fanfic #one piece headcanons

[januaryembrs]

THAT GIRL IS A PROBLEM  | JAVIER PENA X AGENT!READER  (PART 1/?) 

X gif credits to Pinterest.

Description: In an effort to prove yourself to your male peers and catch Pablo Escobar, you make some pretty reckless decisions. It’s only a matter of time before Javier says something, to your surprise, out of worry.

OR. the multitude of times you put yourself in danger doing the right thing and the one time Javier says something about it.

Length: 2k+

Javier Pena x f!Agent!reader MINI series. colleague romance, reader being bad ass, age gap (reader is 25 ish), sexual tension. if you’re anything like me, dissapointing your boss needs a heads up so that happens! Initial tension between you and Javi, Javier being a slut but being soft for you hehe etc

Trigger Warnings - rated mature for: drugs (obvs), murder, MENTION OF INFAMOUS SERIAL KILLERS, intense violence, use of g*ns, homicide, sexism/mysogyny you’d expect in 80s police department, foul language.

NOTE. I MEAN NO OFFENCE TO THE REAL VICTIMS FOLLOWING THE SHOW’S PLOTLINE. THIS IS SIMPLY FANFICTION OF THE NETFLIX SHOW

main masterlist ═ ★ ═ that girl masterlist

It’s funny how your dreams can be shattered within minutes of them truly beginning. There you were; Columbia, the drug epicentre of the 80s. You’d made it after four long years of training to be the best in the academy; the extra classes you took while living in the States, the hours spent practising foreign languages, the perilous lessons in the shooting range emptying rounds until you hit dead centre every time, the tireless gym sessions that made you as physically fit as any man in your class, and then some. 

You knew it wouldn’t be an easy task going up against the men you’d work alongside, let alone the drug dealers themselves, so you did everything in your power to ensure they would have not a single fault to pick with your work.

When everything began kicking off in Columbia, there was a shortage of agents working to find Escobar while the US was so busy with their communist problem. It seemed only logical that you, eager to please your superiors and with the résumé to match, would volunteer to uproot your life and move across the world to help the other agents fighting the drug war as your first official job. Talk about hitting the ground running.

You had moved in, not even the day before, to a fully furnished, modest-sized apartment on the nicer side of town. There were still gunshots and shouting all through the night that meant you barely got any sleep as if your nerves hadn’t been a cause for a rough time as it was, but you couldn’t really complain. The excitment was too strong to dwell on the negatives.

But you were here, now three cups of coffee in. At the steps to the Embassy, résumé in hand and smart black trousers donning your legs, you tried to calm your breathing as you realised the altitude of what you were walking towards. You had trained for this, prepared for this, and yet you were truly throwing yourself in at the deep end.

And the thrill of it all made your heart race with euphoria. You were finally ready for your first job.

But, as with most things in life, you were severely disappointed at the reality. You were told to meet the man who would be your boss. ‘Colonel Carrillo’ the letter had said. Your father, also an agent, had said Carrillo had been a friend of his back in his own academy days before Carrillo had gone down the drug enforcement branch while your father had chosen homicides, where he had met your mother. You didn’t doubt carrying your family’s name had probably propelled you forward in the eyes of your superiors, your parents were well known for their success as detectives, but hey, being a woman was only slowing you down so at least this somewhat evened things out.

You were given his office room number under the time of the meeting, and after stopping many women in smart, vibrant coloured skirt suits to ask for directions, you were finally there. You raised a shaky hand to the door and knocked twice, hearing a deep voice beckon you into the room and twisted the handle to enter. The door squeaked as if to laugh at your piteously nervous figure and your eyes caught sight of the man at the desk.

You had never felt so small for someone who had been so eager for your first day as you did in that moment. Carrillo, you quickly learnt, had the intensity in his eyes that only came from seeing the real bad shit that happened in this world, and it made you feel like a mark on his wall the second you entered his office.

“Who are you?” He was a man who cut to the chase it seemed, though that didn’t surprise you in the slightest.

“The new agent from the States, sir-colonel-uh, Sir?” You spluttered at the already disapproving look in his eyes of your jittery demeanour. You were normally able to hold your own, but this man held a stone-cold grip over your already wobbling nerves.

“Steve Murphy?” He asked sceptically, to which you shook your head and instead handed him your papers. His face scanned over your name and almost instantly this crease in his brow settled. Something close to a tiny smile twitched at his lips. “Oh! You’re Pete and Anya’s girl.”

“Yes, that's me.” You said humbly, the weight on your chest ebbed at the sight of his intimidating glare lifting.

“You should have said. Sit!” He said lightly, though a grin still didn’t grace his features, he just seemed much less terrifying than before. You took a seat opposite him at his desk, and crossed your legs to seem more relaxed. You really hoped those hours spent reading up on your psychology tricks and techniques worked and that he bought it, because you were still shitting it. 

You made small talk for a moment as he looked over your file, nodding in approval and congratulating you in some parts. “Wow, kid. You certainly got your papa’s work ethic. How is your father anyway? Heard him and your mother are killing their field over in the states, excuse the joke.”

You chuckled slightly, “You sound just like him. They’re acing it, if that’s what you mean. They got promoted after their last big job actually.”

“I heard. Huge bust of that family in Frisco was them, wasn’t it?” You nodded, smiling with pride at your parents legacy that seemed to have earned them a reputation in the police departments all over. Carrillo nodded slowly in consideration of his old friend. “Well then, I hope you know you have a lot to live up to.”

“Believe me, I know-” You were cut off when the door to his office swung open and two men waltzed in, talking over each other and you, effectively ending your conversation.

They both stopped when they realised their boss wasn’t alone and both sets of eyes landed on you.

“Pena, Murphy.” Carrillo greeted them, his steely tone back in full swing as it seemed whatever they had to say most likely had something to do with the problems you were here to help fix. Nothing killed an agent’s good mood like the illusive drug lord that kept slipping through their grasp.

“Who’s this?” The older one with darker hair asked, eyes trailing up the black, pant suit you wore until they met your raised brow and he looked away with a small clearance of his throat.

“This is Y/n. She’s one of my old buddy’s daughter, from the academy,” You knew the man was probably just excited to have heard from someone in his past, but the way he almost disregarded your achievements and only tied you to your father made you internally wince. You had a full résumé sitting infront of him with all your achievements, complete with a few letters of recommendation from your tutors and trainers detailing just how talented you were at your job, the ones he’d just read and loved the sight of. You couldn’t help feel a little put out, but you hadn’t really expected anything less in a job like this. You didn’t hesitate on the thought, however, you were just happy to not be the one subdued to his cold gaze anymore. “She’s going to be working here.”

“I’m Steve Murphy,” The blond one who had yet to speak introduced himself and you stood to shake his hand, a purposely kind smile on your face. If you were going to be working alongside this man you wanted to make a good impression. The other was so undeniably attractive, your feelings fizzled out when he seemed too interested in how your suit cupped your ass. Typical. He introduced himself as Javier Pena after a beat of silence with a lingering handshake. He had very large hands, you noted.

“We’ll just get out of your hair until you’re finished, Carrillo.” Javier turned to leave but was stopped by the man in question, who stood to lead you out the door too.

“Wait. Show Y/n around for me, would you? We got carried away talking and I’m about to be late for a meeting.” He explained looking at the watch curved around his wrist, leading your trio out into the hallway and shutting his door behind him. He turned to look down at you and lord he was big, you realised, “You’ll be working with Pena and Murphy so I’m sure they’ll find you something to do while you learn the ropes.”

That ghost of a smile graced his face again, and even the men seemed surprised to see him so pleasant as he patted you on the back and sent you off in their direction. The pair looked at each other questioningly at the nice attitude that had overcome their boss and simply shook their heads, brushing it off.

“Where did you say you were from?” Steve asked you, plucking your files from your hands and having a read over it with his eyebrows raised in surprise as you trailed after them down the corridor.

“All over really. My parents work in homicide so wherever the cases popped up, they followed.” You explained as Javier began pointing out the different rooms in the embassy. It quickly became clear when you reached the second floor that he didn’t like the men in the CIA department, but whether it was their job or their personalities you couldn’t decide.

Murphy handed you back your files, a staggered gaze in his eye as he clearly eyed you up and down. You were proud to say your documents really did sell your work well and it showed, judging by the look he concerned now you with. He was about to open his mouth when Javier beat him to it, opening the door to the final office. It became clear this was his and Murphy’s, guessing from the way he comfortably threw himself down in the desk chair behind a mountain of paperwork.

He shoved an empty cup towards you and gestured towards a small table by the door with an electric kettle, a few sachets of milk, sugar and other such amenities laying ontop of it.

“It was lovely meeting you, but I take my coffee black with two sugars,” He said running his hand over his face tiredly and searching his desk for something. 

You looked down at the mug with your brows furrowed. That was odd. Was that a courtesy here? That newbies made the coffee rounds? But it had come off a little rude the way he said it. 

Why did he- oh.

“Javi, she’s not-” Steve tried to cut in but you were quick with your reply as you slid his mug back over the desk, a single brow raised at the man.

“That’s nice. I take mine with three,” You said pushing your files in the man’s face making his head snap back up to you in confusion. Your blood rushed to your face in anger, and you felt yourself get hot in the ears at the nerve of this man. This had been your dream for years to follow in your parents footsteps, and you weren’t about to let this man trash it with his stupid mug and his even stupider attitude. 

A look of realisation washed over his face, and he looked to Steve who simply shook his head and hid a laugh.

“You’re not…” He trailed off, realising his mistake judging by the way he straightened up in his seat.

“Your new secretary? No, I’m not.” You said, trying to keep your tone cool but it became obvious you were pissed judging by the way you all but snapped at the man. “I’m an agent. So how about you tell me what needs doing and I’ll catch us some bad guys, huh?” You smiled at him too sweetly, as he quickly scanned over your file.

Steve covered his chuckle with a cough at the way Javi flailed to recover his usual cool demeanour, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he thought of what to say. 

Maybe it was the way that you had shown him up to his partner, or maybe it was the way such a spritely looking woman like you vastly excelled at his own experience in the academy at a ripe young age of twenty-five, judging by the papers you forced him to look at.

Either way, the man who was lost for words hardened slightly and he pointed to the cupboard in the corner of their office with the bold label of ‘FILES’ engraved in the frosted window.

“Okay, agent. The file cupboard needs organising.” He said almost smug he had regained control by clearly giving you a job meant for a secretary.

But if he wanted a tidy cupboard, you thought bitterly, then he’d get the tidiest cupboard he’d seen in his entire fucking life.

And as you sat in that tightly spaced cupboard rearranging folders and colour co-ordinating the labels, overhearing the two men discussing the mission they were going on that weekend in Medellín to scope out some narco party, you vowed to make Javier Pena rue the day he ever underestimated you, no matter what it took.

              ════ ⋆★⋆ ════

if you’d like to be tagged in future parts of this mini fic, please either send me an ask or a message and I will add your username to my list! Any interaction is much appreciated!

@arduadastra I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY WITH YOURSELF.

#Javier pena x reader #javier pena #Pedro pascal x reader #Pedro pascal imagine #pedro pascal #narcos x reader #narcos imagine #narcos season one #javier pena imagine #javier pena x agent!reader #javier pena x dea!reader #Horacio carrillo x reader #Steve murphy x reader

[versadies]

Hello! Can i request scaramouche x reader with bunny ears and tail fluff?

scaramouche with gn!bunny hybrid!adventurer!reader

penpal: hope you don’t mind me making this into a scenario hc of where the reader is a badass person!

warning/s: ooc scaramouche (?), scaramouche being a lil shit, swearing, suggestive theme from one sentence (* wink wink nudge nudge *)

sypnosis: what it’s like for scaramouche to be with a badass reader, who has bunny ears and tail.

note: reader is gn and a badass adventurer

-> scaramouche heard winds of a certain traveler who doesn’t hesitate in bringing down fatui agents and take their insignias away. obviously he thought this “certain traveler” was the infamous honorary knight so he didn’t bother.

-> however while on his way to the qingce village to investigate the meteors that puts people to deep slumber, he came across to an innocent-looking person walking around guili plains. at first the man was supposed to walk up to you in his fake persona and asked about the meteors - but then he saw treasure hoarders surrounding you.

-> might as well play a hero too, scaramouche thought with an annoyed sigh before running towards you.

-> what happened next shocked him.

-> as soon as one of the hoarders tries to attack you, you suddenly started fighting them, surprising the harbinger. scaramouche stood nearby as he watches you kick ass against the treasure hoarders, bringing one by one down until no one but you stands.

-> what made it even more surprising was the fact that you weren’t using a vision at all nor a weapon.

-> the moment you were finished, scaramouche was clapping while laughing in amusement, catching your attention. “and here i thought i’d have to save you from them—”

-> “stand down, harbinger.”

-> eh? scaramouche stopped clapping, looking at you with furrowed eyebrows. “excuse me?” he asked.

-> “i know who you are, balladeer. i won’t hesitate to bring you down like what happened to your subordinates.” you explained.

-> and here my friends is when scaramouche, the 6th of the harbingers, is hooked.

-> at first, it’s just scaramouche secretly stalking you around whilst investigating on the meteors, mainly because you’re the only thing that made his trip more interesting. call him impressed or fascinated by the fact that you managed to bring down many of his subordinates without a vision.

-> it’s not until when you decided to confront the cheeky bastard and threaten him to tell you why he’s been stalking you. it will take scaramouche a longass time to convince you that he means no harm and won’t hurt you (not yet at least). you’d give in and be like “fine you can come along with me as long as you don’t try to kill me in my sleep”

-> i’d honestly think you two would have an amusing relationship. with scaramouche tagging along trying to find out information about you (since his poor subordinates failed to do so) while you annoyingly have to suffer with his company.

-> of course he’d only tag along to your adventures if you’re somehow around the area while he’s busy investigating on the meteors.

-> if you’re also investigating on the meteors (due to commission purposes), scaramouche won’t tell shit about what he knows. you’re not part of the fatui and he knows the tsaritsa won’t be happy if she finds out that he’s been hanging out with the person who’s been beating the shit out of her people. besides, the last thing he wants is his investigation being intervened.

-> i can guarantee you that he’ll never stop asking to touch your ears just because it looks fluffy. unless you tell him that you’re uncomfortable with him always asking to touch it, then he’ll stop. he may be an asshole but he knows when to stop.

-> as soon as he stops asking about your ears though, he’ll immediately go to asking questions about your bunny features - he’ll be like “do you eat like them? does your nose do those twitching stuff like they do?” trust me, he gets more annoying than he already is to you.

-> what will make him want to be close with you is when he finds out that you’re a loner too. either because you always go one place to another or because you dislike people is up to you, either way, he’ll relate to being alone.

-> scaramouche doesn’t even know why he wants to tag with someone like you and you don’t know why you let one of the most dangerous people to be with you instead of making him go away. (they’re in love, your honor)

-> when he realizes that he loves you is when you first laughed at him when he accidentally got hit by a branch. just seeing you laugh made him notice that weird feeling in his stomach that’s been bothering him ever since you came around. he wants this feeling though so he’ll try to get more of it. though he won’t embarrass his own ass just to make you laugh, he can do other ways that doesn’t hurt his pride.

-> he’ll find your instincts from your bunny side endearing. just seeing your ears go up at the sudden sounds of the bushes nearby moving and look around just separates your usual demeanor.

-> this man will lose his shit if you pull an “innocent” move on him. like, if you try to act like “i didn’t do anything wrong though 🥺”, he will lose his mind because what the fuck stop that shit, that’s kinda hot - not as hot as you kicking ass though.

-> ofc bickering is a thing between you two - though your reasons aren’t that much serious. a lot of people would think you’re like an old married couple from bickering much to you two’s embarrassment.

-> not much is different when you two are dating, other than the fact that he’s more expressive? or perhaps shyly affectionate. he’ll lowkey hold your hand and be like “my hands are cold, let me hold yours to keep it warm or whatever 🙄”

-> he’s also your “cheerleader” when kicking treasure hoarders’ asses. what i mean by him being your cheerleader, i mean by him cackling and making fun of your opponents as you beat the shit out of them. it’s his way of showing support i suppose.

-> you have never seen scaramouche in action. like, you never saw him using his vision or what he’s like in the fatui. he never speaks of it. either because you didn’t ask or because he doesn’t want to talk about it is still a mystery because you didn’t bother asking. you’ll probably have to be persistent if you’re curious about his line of work and want to hear from him about it.

-> either way, i don’t think he’ll ever explain it. that doesn’t mean he hates you, he just doesn’t want you to be involved with something such as the fatui and he very much does not want you to beat another fatui agent due to the fact it can bring you trouble by the tsaritsa - and you both are very aware that he’ll kill you if the tsaritsa wishes him to do so. and that is the last thing he wants, his lover’s blood in his hands.

-> anyways, more on your bunny ears and tail - he will laugh evilly if someone immediately assumes you’re an innocent person because you and him definitely know that ain’t true (especially in bed 😉). you’ve gotten used to people constantly thinking you are helpless or prey-like due to your kind while that shit annoys scaramouche a lot cause like wow how judgmental of them... just wait till my bby fucks their shit up 😇

-> let’s not forget your strong legs. you are scary as fuck with your legs. you can knock people down just by one slam from one of your legs and scaramouche be like i wonder what it’s like to be wrapped by those legs—

-> you also do that stomping when mad or upset, it’s the only thing that confirms scaramouche whenever he thinks you’re mad or upset because you always have that rest bitch face that he can’t tell if you’re serious or just chilling.

-> oh and whenever a fatui agent comes up to the harbinger while he’s hanging out with you, rip to them because the only thing they’ll see is his wrath. he’ll literally make you go somewhere else and then start being aggressive to the agent for ruining his time with his favorite person.

#genshin impact #scaramouche x y/n #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin headcanons #scaramouche hc #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche #scaramouche headcanons #scaramouche genshin #scaramouche x bunny!reader

[kohanayaki]

.:Time and Time Again:. (Marauders Era x Reader) Ch 7

Severus looks back on everything that went wrong.

tw: non-consensual kissing/harassment, trauma responses

LINKS:   CH 1   CH 2    CH 3   CH 4   CH 5   CH 6   CH 7   CH 8

________________________________________________________

Ch 7 .:Things Unforgivable and Things Left Unsaid:.

Graduation day at Hogwarts was supposed to mark the beginning of a new adventure for you. Instead, it marked the day you decided that whatever it was between you and Severus Snape, friendship or otherwise, it was over.

Or at least that's what you had thought. Of course, the universe just loved making things more complicated for you. You were working with Charlie in Romania when you had gotten word that Severus defected from the death eaters and was now working as a double agent at Dumbledore's behest. He continued teaching Potions at Hogwarts, and was even indited as a member of the Order. If anything, that only solidified your decision to go to America instead of staying in London. You didn't even know what to think. Of course you trusted Dumbledore, confusing as the man was, but you didn't know if you could really trust Snape again. You had worked towards forgiving him; over time you moved past what happened, but it was difficult to really say it was 'resolved' when you quite literally haven't spoken a word to each other in over a decade. You didn't even know where to start.

For the entirety of your seventh year, you didn't speak a word to Severus. It was hard to imagine that such a tight knit trio like the one you, him, and Lily had formed could crumble in an instant, but that's exactly what happened.

The end of your sixth year at Hogwarts was a quarter Snape would never forget, no matter how hard he tried. It was when everything fell apart. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   1976  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“James!” you yelled, running to the top of the hill where he and the rest of the Marauders had Snape held upside down.

“What are you doing?” you said, immensely hurt and trying to keep your voice steady, “You said this would stop, you promised. . . you swore.”

“(Y/n), I. . .” James trailed off, immediately feeling guilty. As he turned to you Snape dropped to the ground, attempting to scramble to his feet but finding his ankle twisted.

Sirius moved towards you to say something but you put your hand up firmly.

“No,” you said, “not a word out of you, Black.”

Sirius stared at you, wide-eyed, shrinking back as you called him by his last name for the first time in a long while. Not Sirius, not Pads. Black. As if your whole friendship had just been reset.

“And you two,” you said, addressing Remus and Peter, “how could you let this happen?!”

All four boys looked at you in shame, none of them daring to verbally respond.

Suddenly, Lily came running up the hill, having fallen behind you in your quick pace.

“Severus!” she panted, rushing over to him, “are you alright?”

Snape was in an angered daze, not even registering the words being said around him. The blood rushing through his veins felt like lava, his heart pounding in his ears, his chest, his tongue. His face burned with humiliation and hatred. Pure fucking hatred for James Fleamont Potter. For Lily to see him like that. . . for you to see him like that, pathetic, helpless, in need of your help once again. He wouldn't have it. He was a master of the dark arts now, he didn't have to fucking take this. He would curse Potter into the next century, he would—

“Severus!”

Snape's eyes snapped open, not even realizing they were closed. The world came rushing in around him and he was suddenly acutely aware of Lily's hand on his arm. He reeled back at her touch as if he'd been burned.

“Don't touch me!” he screeched, startling the redheaded girl. Her eyes were filled with concern, but all Snape could see was pity.

“Sev—“

“I don't need any help from you, you filthy Mudblood!”

And everyone in the clearing stilled.

The color drained from Snape's already pale face as he realized what he'd just said.

“Lily. . .” Severus whispered; pleading, desperate.

“Don't come any closer,” Lily said, her voice stone cold as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I'll kill you,” James said lowly.

“Prongs, no—”

“I'll kill you, you slimy bastard!” James growled, Remus moving quickly to hold him back.

You stood in the middle of it all, staring at Severus. Severus, who'd always told Lily that blood status didn't matter. Severus, who you and Lily always stood up for no matter what. Severus, who you thought you had feelings for up until this exact moment.

Without even thinking you stepped forward, grabbing Lily's hand.

“Let's go, Lils,” you said, your expression unreadable as you looked down at Severus. Lily squeezed your hand back gratefully, fighting the sobs racking her chest as she turned around and took off with you.

“(Y/n), wait—” Snape tried to get up but found himself shoved back down to the ground by Sirius.

“No,” he said sharply, “you don't get to say anything to either of them, you hear me?”

“I—”

“What?” James spat, “you're sorry? Well sorry doesn't cut it! You say a word to her after what you called her and you'll wish you'd never have been born.”

Snape's head hung low, that wish already present in his mind.

“Leave him,” Remus said, this time not out of mercy, but malice; letting Snape wallow in his own misery as he left with his friends, looking for you and Lily.

Soon, Severus was left alone. Just as he began, and just as he should have never hoped for anything different. Was this it? That's how it was going to end? One mistake, and the only two people he'd ever cared about were ripped away from him.

No. He decided he had to apologize properly, consequences be damned. If those Marauders wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp afterwards, that was fine by him. He just needed to talk to Lily one more time. To tell her how deeply sorry he really was.

He took off down the hill, sprinting towards the castle and completely ignoring the burning pain in his ankle. He rushed through the grass, ignoring the looks he received from the other students walking by. He ran past the oak tree, through the castle gates, flying through the corridors and cutting across the courtyard when he skid to a stop at what he saw.

Lily and James stood in the center of the garden, her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer as his lips captured hers. Her eyes were still wet with tears, the tears that he had caused. Severus didn't do a thing. His presence remained unknown to them as he slunk away back to his common room, heart silently breaking.

He was too late.

Nothing was the same after that.

Lily insisted that if you wanted to remain friends with Snape, as she now referred to him, she wouldn't hold it against you, but she made it very clear that she would never forgive him herself. But it wasn't as easy as wanting to stay friends with him or not; he'd changed that day.

After some time to let things settle down you tried to approach him, but he only became more and more hostile towards everyone, including you. You hardly saw him anymore. The only time you occasionally spotted him was when he was walking around school with Malfoy, Mulciber, Wilkes, and Avery, unable to look you in the eye lest you see the utterly crushed expression on your face as he fell deeper and deeper into the dark side.

You held your books tightly to your chest as you made your way to Hagrid's hut for one of your last Care of Magical Creatures class. You were being paired up with a few lower classmen to teach them the ropes for feeding all the creatures Hagrid kept in the meadows. You were a tad late, having been preoccupied at lunch, speedwalking to try and arrive on time when you saw a flash of silver-blue light emit from inside the forest. You could hear warbled shouting and laughter coming from the same direction, and your instincts told you to run.

However, because your nerves were on high alert, that also told you someone in there was in danger, and you couldn't just walk away from that. You drew your wand, abandoning your books by a rockface and moving towards the commotion, the distorted shouting soon becoming words.

“Oh come on, you little runts, you lot can do better than that!” you recognized Mulciber's voice.

A young girl shrieked as a giant acromantula barred its fangs at her, its front legs raised and poised to attack. Her friends were huddled in a corner, more students who couldn't have been older than second or third years, being forced to watch by Avery and Wilkes.

“How's this for Care of Magical Creatures, eh?” Mulciber taunted as he walked over to the other students, pulling a young boy out from the group.

“No!” the girl cornered by the spider cried, “please, don't!”

“Aw, how cute,” Mulciber drawled, “is this your little boyfriend, huh? Shame.”

The boy screamed in fear as he was suddenly lifted into the air by his ankles, forced to hover right above the spider just out of its reach. You wanted to wretch as you watched the scene unfold, unable to keep yourself hidden any longer.

You leaped into the clearing, a quick flick of your wrist relieving Mulciber of his wand. You did the same to Wilkes as he turned to you.

“Well well, why am I not surprised?” Avery scoffed. Right behind him stood Severus, his expression vacant.

“Grab this, and get to Professor McGonagall immediately,” you shouted to the younger Gryffindor students, tossing them a gold galleon. As soon as they touched the coin, the portkey shot them all back to the castle.

“Why are you always the one spoiling our fun?” Mulciber sneered.

“Someone's gotta do it,” you said, putting up a brave front although you were under no illusion as to your situation. You weren't fourth years anymore, and you were alone this time. They'd been studying the dark arts for the past two years. You knew you were outmatched, even with your dueling skills.

“Oh, come on, (Y/n), don't be a bore.”

You turned around at the sound of the familiar voice to see Rosier, an easy grin set into his face. Your heart dropped.

“So you too, huh?” you chuckled bitterly, “and here I thought you were one of the few good ones left.”

“You're not really that naive, are you?” he tutted, “you had to have known I would be inducted eventually. Might even get Barty to join us, even if he is a little nutty.”

You went for a stunning spell but found your wand spinning out of your hand before you even saw him move.

“Not so fun to be on the receiving end, is it?” Rosier said, “you're not the only one versed in non-verbal magic, (Y/n). In fact, I'd even go so far as to say we've surpassed you. Lucius will be furious, but I like you a lot, so I'll re-extend his old offer for him. Join us.”

You had no wand, no backup, no way out of this, but you stood your ground nonetheless.

“Eat shit,” you seethed. Rosier glowered at you, taking a few menacing steps forward. He grabbed your jaw firmly and you grit your teeth.

“I don’t think you heard me—”

He reeled back as you spit right in his face,

“You bitch,” he growled, wiping his face in disgust, “clearly no one ever bothered to train you.”

Without your wand you were really only left with one option, ready to defend yourself by revealing your animagus form, but you never got to take the first step forward.

“Imperio!”

You stopped in your tracks as a veil of what could only be described as pink fluff drifted over your mind. A smile immediately appeared on your face, and a giggle rose in your throat.

Severus looked at Rosier with horror, the rest of his crew looking among themselves uneasily.

“What do you think you're doing?” Snape hissed, “are you trying to get us all expelled?”

“So what?” Rosier said, “we've used the killing curse loads of times.”

“On insects, you loon,” Snape shot back, hoping his concern for you was masked enough.

“Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt your precious (Y/n), Sev.”

The nickname made his stomach churn. You used to call him that. Lily used to call him that. No one else did. No one else got to.

“Release them,” he said, raising his wand, “now.”

“Put that away,” Rosier's eyes narrowed, a smirk sliding back onto his face as he got an idea, “hey, (Y/n)?”

“Yes?” you answered, your voice dripping with honey.

“I don't think Severus likes you being under this spell,” Rosier said, “but you like it don't you?”

“Mmm hmm,” you nodded, your head feeling like it was floating, “it feels so nice.”

“You know what else would feel nice?” Rosier goaded, “if you gave our friend Sev here a kiss.”

Severus' heart dropped to his stomach.

“You're sick, Rosier,” Snape said, his voice close to tremmoring.

“You don't have to act like you don't want it,” Evan chuckled, “we've watched you putz around (L/n) like a fool for years. Besides, they want to. Isn't that right, (Y/n)?”

“He's right,” you said, your voice deceptively melodic, “I love you, Severus. I've always loved you.”

And in that moment, Snape had never hated himself more. Because he didn't care that Rosier was making you say the things you did. He didn't care that you were under the influence of a curse. All he could hear was the words he longed to hear spill from your lips, over and over like a skipping record.

I love you, Severus. I love you, Severus. I love you, Severus.

He played the words on repeat in his head. His heart was beating almost painfully in his chest, so much so that he hardly even noticed you slowly walking towards him, wrapping your arms around his neck like Lily had done to James. And when you leaned forward to kiss him, his selfish desires held him in place.

It had lasted a fraction of a second, but he didn't pull away. It was the greatest regret of his life that he didn't walk up to Rosier, break his nose, and curse every single person in that clearing instead of doing nothing, knowing full well you had no control over your actions.

When his eyes drifted open and met yours and his stomach twisted into ugly knots, fear and panic wracking through his spine. Your eyes were completely empty, irises a vacant white, and in that moment it felt as if he were kissing a corpse.

Suddenly the color returned to your eyes, and fear immediately filled them. Snape grunted as he was shot away from you, unable to move when he hit the ground. The other Slytherins looked around for the assailant, but they had no time to react when every single one of their wands was pulled from their hands. McGonagall stood there, expression the same as ever but clearly brimming with fury.

“(L/n), come,” she said, ushering you over and taking you protectively in her embrace, “we'll get you to Madame Pomfrey.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she regarded Snape and the rest of their group, “As for you,” she said, “Mr Filch, secure them in the dungeons until the Headmaster calls for them. And put all of their wands in the lockbox.”

“With pleasure,” Filch said, almost blending in with the trees behind her.

“Are you alright?” McGonagall asked you as she helped you back towards the castle.

“No,” you said, honestly, “n-no, I don't think I am.”

“No amount of apology could ever equate to the remorse I feel that this happened to you, (L/n),” she said earnestly, “I am truly sorry. This was completely unacceptable, and I will see to it that the proper measures are taken for their punishments. Expulsion would suit just fine, but even if the Headmaster disagrees, I will personally ensure you never come into contact with any of those boys again.”

“Thank you,” you said, your voice sounding hollow in your own ears.

You didn't remember walking the near half-mile to the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey's words felt so far away, as if she were speaking underwater. You just remembered laying down in the hospital wing bed as she checked you for any lasting damage, and as soon as she'd turned her back you'd just wept.

________________________________________________________

That night, Snape found himself in the Prefect's bathroom, leaned over the sink and watching the water rush into the drain. His hands clutched the marble sides of the basin so hard his knuckles turned white, every breath catching painfully in his chest before he forced it out to take another shaky inhale. He was an idiot, he knew. There was no fixing this. Not really. First Lily, now you. Was he just predestined to lose everyone in his life?

He paused. No, he didn't deserve to think like that. Everything that had gone wrong was his own doing.

When he heard the door to the bathroom open he whipped around, ready to curse whoever dared to interrupt him until he saw you standing there, your eyes red from crying and the Marauder's Map clutched in your hands like a vice. He was half certain you were a hallucination, but as soon as he pulled himself to the present, he rushed to apologize. You had to know how horrible he felt about what he did, even if you would never forgive him. He made the mistake of being too cowardly to properly apologize to Lily, he wouldn't make that mistake again.

“(Y/n), I'm—”

“I know you're sorry,” you said callously, “and I know you mean it. That's not the issue.” you took a breath to collect yourself before you continued. This was so much harder than you thought it would be. Maybe this wound really was too fresh right now. You thought you'd be able to handle this conversation, but your prior feelings weren't making this any easier.

“Why did you do it?” you asked quietly, “Better, why did you do nothing? You were my friend, Severus.”

Whatever was holding back the flood of emotions in him, it snapped at your words.

Were. Past tense.

“I don't know what I was thinking,” Snape said in exasperation, though it came off more as anger directed at himself. His hands threaded through his messy black locks, his eyes nearly manic. You'd never seen him unravel quite like this. He was desperate to fix this, to keep you in his life. “No, I wasn't thinking at all, (Y/n). I couldn't, not when you were . . . not when I. . .”

Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it—

“Not when I've fancied you for years.”

Snape knew immediately that he had made a mistake. The expression on your face made his stomach twist, and he knew there was no taking back what he said.

“No,” you said, tears welling in your eyes, “Severus Snape, don't you dare say that. What, do you think that just makes this all okay? You're an oblivious idiot, you know that?”

Your heart ached so bad it felt as if you couldn't breathe.

“Do you know how many times I wished you would have kissed me?” you said shakily, not bothering to hide the hurt in your voice.

Snape was sure his breathing had stopped, eyes wide with shock. He couldn't have heard that right. Did you really feel the same way about him? But reality hit him in the face when he saw your expression. This was no heartfelt confession on your part.

“For you to just. . . for it to happen like that,” you said, still struck with betrayal and disbelief, “If you've ever respected me, you never would have let that happen. I was under a curse, Severus. And you took advantage of that— of me. All because you were too much of a coward to just tell me how you felt. And then you go on and say you've liked me this whole time as a last ditch effort to save our friendship? How the hell did you expect me to react?”

He had nothing to say to that. He blamed himself entirely. Every verbal blow you struck he gladly took, he would have sat there still as stone if you hexed him, but you refused to draw your wand at him. You just stood there, staring straight through him with unbelievable hurt in your eyes.

“I can't do this, Severus,” you said, “please, just. . . just leave me alone. I'm not saying I'll never forgive you, but right now I can't even begin to think about that. Not now.”

You looked like you wanted to say something more, but your mouth snapped shut, and Severus saw the finality in your eyes. He stayed glued to the spot where he stood long after he watched you leave, his eyes trained on the door you'd slammed shut.

If you thought Snape had made himself scarce after what he said to Lily, after what he did to you he practically vanished. He no longer sat underneath the tree that had become so symbolic of your former trio. He no longer roamed the Slytherin common room, or even the Great Hall for meals. Instead he would walk through the forbidden forest alone, or hole up in some empty corridor purposely hiding but hoping you would walk up to him. You never did.

The people who did find him in the few days that followed were the newly named Marauders, though incomplete as they arrived without you. As he glanced down at the parchment in Lupin's hand he had no questions about how they'd located him. Snape grimaced, not bothering to get up from his seat beneath the stone pillar. Anything they did to him was what he deserved.

James stepped forward from the group first. His expression was unreadable, but Snape saw the way his jaw was set firmly in place, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. The Slytherin had expected Potter to come at him guns blazing, sending a flurry of verbal attacks and hexes his way. However, James Potter simply stared down at his former enemy with a look that met in the intersection of barely contained anger and utter disappointment.

“You didn't deserve them,” he said coldly, his voice oddly level.

“I know,” Snape glared, but not feeling very self-righteous.

“No, you don't,” James said, his voice rising steadily, “you will never know what you put them through. You sat there while your lunatic friends used an Unforgivable Curse on them, and you took advantage of them. I don't care if you know, I'm going to throw it back in your face, because it's what you deserve.”

“I think it's clear that (Y/n) doesn't wish to speak with you any longer,” Remus said, “if for some inconceivable reason they want to in the future, they'll approach you. Don't you even think about going about it the other way around before they're ready and willing to talk. If they ever are.”

“It's settled, Severus,” James said simply, “you're officially not worth our time anymore.”

Snape blinked up at him, trying to recall a time when Potter had ever called him by his actual name.

“Don't get us wrong,” Sirius glared, “the only reason we aren't throwing you to the Womping Willow is because we know the last thing (Y/n) would want is her friends getting expelled because of them.”

“We'll leave you alone now,” Peter said grimly, “just like you've always wanted.”

And they were telling the truth. They left him completely alone, not speaking a word to him after that; 'they' now including you and Lily, which destroyed him more than any amount of bullying had before. He watched from afar as you grew closer and closer to the Marauders. . . no, you were a Marauder. It was only natural that you became almost like a family in your seventh year. You, James, Peter, Sirius, Remus, and Lily had become as inseparable as Snape thought you, him, and Lily were, but he'd ruined that. He had ruined every good thing that had ever happened to him and pushed away every important person in his life.

The last time he saw you was graduation day. Everyone was running around excitedly, dressed in the ceremonial jewel-toned robes of their respective houses as they awaited Dumbledore's speech. You had been sitting with your group as usual, now having carved out your own spot at the Gryffindor table, when you noticed that Snape was nowhere to be found.

You frowned, wondering why he of all people had to slip into your mind on a day like today.

“You alright, Fangs?”

Sirius' voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

“Yeah, I'm fine. . .”

His handsome features contorted in concern, but that easy grin slid back onto his face as he nudged you with his shoulder.

“What, you worried you're gonna miss us?” he smirked, “this isn't goodbye, you know. We'll all see each other at the Order meetings—”

“Which you always seem to talk about at an extraordinary volume,” Remus shushed him pointedly. Sirius brushed him off with a roll of his eyes.

“(Y/n), are you sure nothing's wrong?” James asked from across the table.

“I'm alright, Prongs,” you said, “I just. . . you know what? I just remembered I left something in my dorm, I'll be right back.”

Your friends exchanged worried glances as you got up from the table, taking off towards the Slytherin common room. It wasn't a total lie, but your intentions went against your better judgment. After today there was a very, very good chance you would never see Severus again. What he did wasn't okay by any means, and it would take more than an apology or a simple conversation to forgive him, but you needed closure at the very least. Not for him, but for you. You deserved that much.

You swiped the map off your bedside table and opened it fully, your eyes quickly picking out Severus' name near the cellars only a few rooms away from where you were. You took off quickly down the hall, reaching the intersection where all the dungeon's corridors converged when you spotted him. Your heart stopped.

His left sleeve was rolled up to his elbow, as was the person's standing across from him, their back to you. Even though you couldn't see the second person's face, you recognized who it was immediately.

Evan Rosier.

He wasn't on the map before. . . how had he gotten in?! He'd been expelled after the day he cursed you. Did he somehow find a way to bypass the anti-apparition charm?

You felt your breathing hitch, fear creeping under your skin. There, on both of their arms, was a tattoo of a skull, a serpent weaving its way through the mouth and eye sockets in an undeniable pattern.  You stopped breathing all together. You knew Severus had fallen into the dark arts, but to actually be a death eater? To be proudly showing off that awful display of radicalism along with the person who had used an Unforgivable Curse on you, who had invaded your free will and taken over your body. . .

Severus must have felt you even from the opposite side of the hallway, because something pricking at his skin told him to look up, and when he did he wished he never had. You were looking at him for the first time in over a year, your eyes full of terror. Rosier followed his gaze, but when he looked over his shoulder there was no one there.

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

Severus sighed, trying to push the less than pleasant memories out of his head. He knew by now he was likely the last person left in the house besides you, Harry, and Sirius who were all staying here. Something like hope had sparked in his chest when he saw the faintest ghost of a smile on your lips as you saw him for the first time since graduation. He wanted to talk to you, to tell you he knew he deserved nothing from you, but he would spend the rest of his life trying to make it right if you would only give him a chance after all this time. In truth, he missed his friend. With Lily gone, you were one of the closest things he had to that left.

Against his better judgment, Severus made his way up the stairs, silent as a thestral as he headed for your room, but he stopped in his tracks when he reached the top. Sirius' door was cracked open the slightest bit, and what Snape saw inside made his blood run cold. You were sitting next to Sirius on his bed, your head resting gently on his shoulder. As you craned your neck to look Sirius in the eyes, that's when Severus saw it— the way the Marauder looked at you. The way his face seemed to light up, the spark that returned to his gray eyes, the utter adoration in them.

And just like that, Snape was a seventeen year old boy again, transported right back to that courtyard garden, watching Lily and James share their first kiss on the day he had made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. His heart shattered silently, though his departure was not so quiet as he took off down the stairs as quickly as he could. He grimaced at his own feelings, ones he knew he had no business owning.

As he was about to open the front door to leave, his instincts suddenly screamed at him to turn around, and he was just barely able to cast an invisibility charm as you began to come down the stairs. He held his breath as he looked at you. He knew he had no right to think so, but you were still beautiful like this; dressed in pajamas, hair disheveled, eyes still sightly puffy and red. He saw you look around, knowing you had no doubt heard his rather noisy descent of the staircase, and he cursed himself for not leaving sooner. Your eyes searched what should have appeared to be the empty space in front of you, but he saw you look him in the eyes, and he knew that you knew.

“Severus?” you called his name out softly, and the sound felt like a strike to his face.

He wanted nothing more than to say something to you, talk to you, hold you. But his mind flashed back to the way you had been with Sirius, and his words died in his throat. He said nothing, trying to remain unphased at your hurt expression as you turned around to walk back up the stairs. As soon as your back was turned to him, he left, unable to bring himself to do anything more.

Once again, he was too late.

Read chapter 8 here!

Taglist:  @sleep-i-ness, @blackpinkdolan, @parker-natasha, @ornella0910 @undertaker1827 @thatwierdo-koemi @nxstalgicnxbxdy @calaryssia @aleksanderwh0r3 @juggysgirlfriend @beautifulsweetschaos @kattirin @mialupin1 @crazy-obsessed-fangirl, @youcantbesirius​

#Harry Potter #the marauders #marauders x reader #sirius black x reader #severus snape x reader #harry potter x reader #remus lupin x reader #james potter x reader #regulus black x reader #marauders fanfiction #marauders era #james potter #sirius black #severus snape #post azkaban sirius #remus lupin #remus lupin x you #regulus black #snape x reader #snape x y/n #reader insert #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter reader insert #marauders x you #marauders x y/n #multi chapter #love triangle #non linear narrative #marauders reader insert

[navalcriminalimagines]

Absolutely love your work 😚 Can I get a : “Are you hurt?” “No.” “Then why are there bruises all over your face?” with Gibbs please?

Thank you so much, anon!!! 🥺 I hope you’ll like it! ❤️

Warnings: fight, mention of physical abuse, panic attack

Tags: @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @madamsnape921

The ex

The first time you saw your ex across the Navy Yard, you thought you were hallucinating. It couldn’t be him, he disappeared of your life à long time ago, he’s not even supposed to know where you are. You convinced yourself it was just someone looking like him.

The second time, your eyes actually locked with him. You would recognized those eyes anywhere in the world. As soon as he smiled, you started to panic and ran away.

The third time, you heard his stupid voice. He was right behind you at the coffee cart. “Hello Y/N,” he said, all charming and innocently. Like he never done anything to you.

When you were handed your coffee, you grabbed his arm and took him apart. “What the hell are you doing here? You have nothing to do in the Navy Yard. How the hell did you find me? I’m a federal Agent now, I’d have no second thought about shooting you,”

“Aw Y/N,” he smiled and tried to cup your cheek but you slapped his hand away. “You know better than threatening me. I told you I would find you anywhere in the world, didn’t I?”

“I can throw your ass back in prison, Liam. Leave me the hell alone,”

“Never,”

You held your cup of coffee so hard, it spilled all over your hand. You avoided showing your ex that it was burning your skin, you just left. Once in the elevator of the headquarters, you turned the switch and let your panic attack washed you over.

You stopped by Autopsy to see Ducky, showing him your hand. It was indeed burned, and he took care of it. “What happened, darling?”

“Spilled my coffee,” you told him. It isn’t a lie.

You came back to the bullpen with your hand wrapped and obviously, they all got curious.

It’s starting all over again. Technically, your ex didn’t physically hurt you like he used to, but it’s definitely his fault. Why is he back in your life? Can’t he let you go for good?

For the next two weeks, you didn’t see him at all. You started to hope your threats got to him. But it didn’t. Somehow, he managed to find your home address and one night after work, he was waiting for you in front of your door. Mechanically, you put your hand on your weapon, ready to fire if needed. Or at least, you hoped you’d find the strength to shoot him. He’s always been your fucking kryptonite. For years, he hurt you physically and mentally, but somehow, you were the one to apologize every time.

“Get out of here before—“

“Before what, Y/N? Before you shot me? You wouldn’t dare. You never had the guts to fight me,” he dangerously walked up to you and you took a few steps back, until you were stopped by the wall.

“Don’t tempt me, Liam. I’m not the one I used to be,” you tried to be strong but the truth is, he still scares the hell out of you. Why is that? You’re a federal agent, and a good one. You fought a few suspects in the past years. Why can’t you fight him?

He smirked at you, and brought his hand to your chin. He strongly held your chin, his lips a inch away from yours. You could smell the alcohol on his breath.

It started with a slap from him. And another. You fought back with a kick in his crotch. You started to run downstairs but he managed to catch up with you and pushed you down the stairs. You were stunned for a moment, and Liam used it to sit on you, starting to throw a few punches.

You don’t know how, maybe thanks to your survival instinct, but you fought back this time. You got rid off him and gave him back the punches he just gave you. The last thing you remembered is holding your gun against his temple. You almost shot. Almost.

Before you knew it, you were standing in front of Gibbs’s door, as he opened it. His face went from pleasure to see you to worry when he noticed the bruises and cuts on your face. He gently grabbed your hand and brought you inside.

“Are you hurt?” He asked.

It was so obvious, you couldn’t help but to answer. “No.”

“Then why are there bruises all over your face?”

“Nothing.” You muttered.

He quickly went to his bathroom and came back with a first aid kit. He sat next to you on the couch, and started to clean your face. “You better tell me what happened,”

You whined as the product he used sting. “Liam happened,” you just said.

Gibbs breathed deeply through his nose. Anger was obviously rushing through his veines, but at this moment, you needed him to take care of you. “I almost shot him, Gibbs,” you sobbed.

“After everything he put you through, I get it,” he said, cleaning your bloody lip. “Why didn’t you tell me he was back?”

“You’d have shot him,”

“Cause you think that now, I don’t want to shot him anymore?” he exclaimed.

“He doesn’t worth the problem, Gibbs. I don’t want you to get in any troubles of any kind,” you locked your eyes with his. He could see the pain and hurt on your face, it broke his heart.

When your face was finally cleaned, he put everything down and softly kissed your temple. “Can I stay here tonight?” You asked, exhausted.

Gibbs laid against the back of his couch and took you with him. You had your head resting on his chest, his breathing was steady. He stroked your hair, letting you cry until you fell asleep.

You never saw Liam again. But you don’t know that Gibbs beat the crap ouf of him and threatened to kill him.

#jethro gibbs imagine #leroy jethro gibbs x reader #gibbs x reader #jethro gibbs x reader #protective!Gibbs

[tumbleweed-palmer]

The Green-Eyed Monster: Jimmy Palmer X Reader, Chapter Four

Previous chapter found HERE

Only one more chapter to go after this one.

==============

The address Agent Ryan Anderson had sent Y/N was close to an older warehouse district by the docks. It was late enough in the evening that the area was already abandoned, most of the workers having gone home for the night. She was sure there might be a few security guards wandering the area, but from the looks of things this particular set of warehouses seemed quite rundown and looked as though they hadn’t been of use for a long while now.

She sat in her car taking deep breaths trying to prep herself for what was about to happen. She always felt like this prior to a raid or an arrest of any suspect. There was always that uncertainty of what the outcome would be. She was well aware that there was always a chance this could be her last few moments on earth. There was always a danger in this part of her job. Something she’d learned early on in her career was you never could be certain how an arrest or a raid would go. It was best to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

She was risking her life. She would have to be naive to think that putting her life on the line wasn’t a necessary evil that came along with her job.

She always had to ground herself and remember to breathe as she tried to psyche herself up to act when it came to this part of her job.

She knew going in with just one other agent was risky. It went against everything she’d been taught. You went in as a team when it was time to make an arrest or a bust. You didn’t split from your team.

She stared down at her passenger’s seat, her hands itching to reach out and grab her purse. A voice in the back of her head screamed to ignore Ryan’s requests to do this alone with him. The voice told her to follow her gut and to just break down and call Agent Gibbs.

Gibbs was her supervising agent, the voice insisted; he had to be notified of this break in the case. She was most likely breaking some protocol by not informing him of the situation. This was NCIS’ case as much as it was the FBI’s. She was an NCIS agent now…and besides hadn’t she officially stepped down from the case?

She could very well be costing herself her career with this move.

Another voice insisted though that she had to go into this alone. It would be cathartic, a voice insisted.

She needed this; she needed to make one last arrest with the FBI if she ever wanted to heal from her past.

This wasn’t just about making an arrest and finally putting a murderer away. This was about closure for her.

She’d lost faith in the FBI; this was a chance to maybe at least find a spark of that faith again. Even if she didn’t find that spark of faith again tonight, this was at least a chance to close the chapter on the FBI agent part of her life.

Maybe if she made one last arrest with the FBI she could finally move forward with her life and let go of that part of her past.

Another voice insisted that she owed this to Ryan Anderson. She was no fool, she knew she’d broken his heart when she’d broken up with him. He’d begged her to give him another chance, but she was so sick of giving him chances. She’d given him so many chances over the course of their relationship. She was tired of second and third and fourth chances.

She had to move on from her life with the FBI and that meant she had to move on from her life with Ryan Anderson too.

They weren’t good for one another. Their relationship may have shared a certain passion, but there was also a sense of toxicity under the surface. It seemed that what they’d perceived as passion meant that they were prone to passionate fights with one another. They had their good times, but those good times never seemed to last.

Y/N could admit that she had loved him at one point. She'd nursed a serious crush on him when she'd first joined the FBI. He was a handsome man; tall and strong with pretty dark eyes and equally dark hair. She'd liked his sharp nose and his sharp jawline. She'd always teased him during their relationship that he could stop being a federal agent and just become a male model. He was attractive enough to garner plenty of female attention. She'd felt so lucky that he'd been attracted to her.

He had been her first love in many ways, or at the very least her first serious relationship where a future with one another was considered. So, she had loved him dearly, but she knew that sometimes love just wasn’t enough.

She felt as though she gave and gave in the relationship only to receive very little in return. By the end of the relationship she’d felt unsupported and alone. It felt as though Ryan took from her all she had to give and when she needed him the most he was incapable of offering the support she craved in return. He took and never gave.

The fights and the anger were always more of a common occurrence than the good times with Ryan Anderson. She’d always sensed that Ryan wanted to put himself above her in a way…he had been an agent longer than her, and though she’d proven herself, she’d always felt as though he still saw her as the fresh-faced probationary agent. He wasn’t that much older than her, but he’d still seemed to see himself as being more experienced and far wiser than her.

He’d always carried the aura that he was superior to her in some way. He’d seemed to resent her growth at times, or at the very least it seemed that he resented that she’d not followed his advice on her career and life.

Eventually the bickering and petty comments on both ends, which had been a constant in their relationship, had subsided and they’d taken to ignoring one another.

Then there was the fact that he’d pulled even further from her after her abduction. He’d been checking out of the relationship prior to her abduction, but afterwards he’d become more distant than ever.

They’d been heading towards the end of their relationship for a while. Ryan was just in denial about the end. Their relationship had been making them miserable. He’d not been ready to let go and she’d known she needed to let go.

It was over between them. It was time to face reality and break away from him.

She’d had to pull the trigger and put an end to things between them for their own good.

She didn’t love him anymore, but she wasn’t blind to the fact that at one point she’d loved him quite a bit.

Just because their relationship was over and she no longer loved him in a romantic sense, that didn’t mean that she still didn’t care for him.

They had a past. There had been a sense of trust there at one point. They’d cared for one another at one point.

He’d begged her to do this with him. He’d insisted she was the only person he could trust with this.

That part of her heart that still cared for him insisted she owed him this much. She owed him one last time, fighting by his side.

This would be closure for him just as much as it would be closure for her.

She felt that itch in her hand once again, a voice telling her that Gibbs wasn’t the only one she needed to call.

A voice insisted that she couldn't put herself into a dangerous situation without doing the one thing she always did before she found herself performing a dangerous task for her job.

As upset as she was with Jimmy Palmer at the moment, a small voice in the back of her brain told her that she should pick up her cell phone and send him the usual text she sent him before she found herself in a dangerous situation.

It had become a routine for her, sending him a text before she went to make an arrest or assist NCIS with some other task that might be dangerous.

She knew this part of her job scared him; this aspect of her career made him lose sleep at night.

He’d opened up to her early on in their romantic relationship. He’d shared with her how he’d had to assist Dr. Mallard in performing autopsies on people he’d known and friends he’d cared for more than once.

Loss was an inevitable aspect of his career. He saw just how capable man was of harm to their fellow man. He had to face the ugly aspects of death and the cold hard truth that every human being on this planet was just a piece of organic material that would rot away and decay until there was nothing but dust left. Death was ugly. It was cruel. No one was special; no one escaped death. For some, death just came sooner than they’d ever planned.

He’d always spoken of his job from a perspective of seeing the silver lining. He insisted he got to serve society. He got to help find what happened to people’s loved ones and give them a sense of closure. He got to help gather the evidence to put away whoever had ended a life. His job may be cruel and he might have to face the inevitable fact that everyone died, but he still found hope in all of this.

She’d always admired the way he spoke about his job. He had a way of making even the worst aspect of his job hold a small sense of hope.

Jimmy had admitted to her that as hard as he worked to stay positive and find hope, his worst nightmare was one day finding Y/N on that autopsy table.

He’d helped perform autopsies on too many faces he’d known. He couldn’t bear the idea of seeing the person he loved on that autopsy table.

She’d always been tempted to promise him that he had nothing to worry about in times like these. She’d always wanted to reassure him that nothing would happen to her.

She knew it wouldn’t be fair to make that promise to him though. It was an empty promise. She couldn’t promise him she wouldn’t die. She was not immune to death. Her higher probability of dying an early death due to aspects of her career was an unavoidable fact.

So, she had always tried to do the one thing she knew she could do to at least ease his fear.

Everytime she had to put herself in a situation that she might be risking her life, she would at the very least text him that she loved him.

She had told herself that if the worst thing happened, at least he would be able to cling to the fact that she loved him if he lost her. She’d always wanted to know that the last words she said to him was I love you.

Even if Y/N was currently hurt and confused when it came to her relationship with Jimmy Palmer, the desire to text him an I love you was still so tempting.

It wasn’t a lie, she did love him. Even if she was hurt, confused, and angry, she did love him.

A voice in the back of her brain told her that she needed to talk to him. She needed to sort this thing out between them.

A voice told her that Jimmy Palmer would never in a million years consider her to be a burden. This was the same man who told her time and time again that he loved her. He always seemed to show her that taking care of her was never something he resented. He insisted that taking care of someone was just what you did for people when you loved them. He’d always expressed that he saw being by her side even when she felt so awful and destroyed, as all being worth it because he loved her. He insisted you loved people even when they were at their lowest. He’d always insisted to her that his love was unconditional. He didn’t care if she could be difficult or if she made him lose sleep. He didn’t care if she was angry and insecure at times. He still loved her broken brain and dangerous job and all.

If anyone asked her to describe her boyfriend, Y/N knew the first thing she would say about him was his kindness. He was by far the sweetest man she'd ever met.

Her heart told her that someone as loving and as kind as Jimmy could ever see someone he loved as a burden.

A voice in the back of her brain insisted that there had to be more to what she’d overheard from Jimmy this afternoon.

She knew the words she’d heard him say had been hurtful from her perspective, but there had to be a reason he’d say those words. Jimmy Palmer was not the type of person who said a cruel thing about anyone, especially the person he claimed to love.

She knew she’d been so angry with him in the moment. She’d let the stress of being so near her old team, seeing her ex, and dealing with resurfacing trauma, force her brain to jump to the worst possible conclusion when she’d overheard Jimmy’s words. She hadn’t given him much of a chance to explain his side of things.

A voice told her to pick up her phone and give him a call. She should at the very least give him a chance to explain himself before she stepped into whatever was waiting for her in that warehouse.

She’d told him she needed space from him but as the hours passed by the more she realized she could never want space from him for too long.

Her gut told her to call him and give him a chance to speak. They needed to clear the air and figure out where they stood in their relationship. They needed to find a way to talk like adults and sort this all out.

She held back this desire though sure if she made that call Jimmy would insist on calling Gibbs. He would want to see her right away to sort this all out and she would have to tell him what she planned on doing. There was no way he’d allow her to go into this alone without the NCIS team. He wouldn’t understand why she had to do this on her own.

She took a deep breath promising herself that when all this was over they would talk. Even if she was making a horrible mistake by doing this they would talk. She knew that even if she was costing herself her career she wasn’t ready to lose Jimmy Palmer, not like this.

She jerked a gasp leaving her as there was a knock to her window she forcing herself to pull her mind from her thoughts as she peered up at Ryan Anderson.

She took a deep breath, pulling her keys from her ignition and gathering her things before she unlocked her door, opening it.

Ryan was fast to speak, jumping into business. “I tracked him here from Leo Russo’s penthouse. I know he’s our guy. I placed Agent Walker on surveillance and had her tap Leo Russo’s phone. We heard everything. Guy’s name is Lou Romano and he’s got a history as a hitman for the Russos. The Russos know the feds are onto the whole trafficking operation. We heard them talk about the latest murder, about Lieutenant Morris. The Russos want to get our man out of town quick. They sent him here to wait and lay low until they can secure a safe transfer outside of the country. We have to make the arrest tonight or he’s going to be in Italy by the end of the week or sooner. He’s inside the warehouse to the right, third floor.”

He paused reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. “I need you with me on this Y/N. You are the only one I trust to do this with. I can’t work with Agent Gibbs and the rest of NCIS on this. I don’t trust them to have my back on this the way I trust you. There’s no time to wait for them. This is a now or never chance. I know you’re taking a risk here. I promise you won’t regret it when we finally get him. If NCIS makes a fuss I can have our director at Quantico sort it out with Director Vance. I’ll take the full blame if shit goes down. I promise you won’t take the fall for any of this if there’s backlash.”

He paused, giving her shoulder another squeeze as he spoke, his words sounding so sincere. “Thank you for this. I knew I could trust you on this.”

Y/N nodded her head, the words falling from her, she knew it was time. She just hoped that he was right, that this would be worth it. “Let’s do this.”

Agent Anderson gave her shoulder a final squeeze as he spoke, finally pulling his hands away and reaching for his holster, placing a hand on his gun. “You head in ahead of me, and I’ll cover you. We can do this just like old times.”

She pulled her gun from its holster taking a deep breath as she followed his suggestion. It wasn’t the first time they’d taken this method of approaching a suspect.

Ryan always insisted it worked well for them, he was taller than her so he could watch her from her back and she was small and fast enough to move swiftly in front.

The warehouse was dark and the air smelled both stale and sour all at once. She cringed as she was sure she spotted a rat scurry along beside them as they moved through the narrow hallways heading towards the stairs. She had to hope that the stairs weren’t rusted enough to creak with their weight.

She tried to keep her mind in the game, focusing on what lay ahead. Would this Lou Romano character go down easy? Would he fight the arrest? Was he armed? Would she find herself in a shoot out with a hitman who had nothing to lose?

She was so focused on moving quietly and keeping alert on what lay ahead of her that she didn’t notice Ryan Anderson lower his gun, placing it back in its holster. She didn’t notice as he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket.

He pulled a syringe from the pocket moving fast to approach her from behind, a sharp pain hitting Y/N as the needle was jabbed into the nape of her neck.

She fought against the attack but it all happened so quickly. He pushed down the plunger to the syringe, the clear liquid within it flowing into Y/N’s veins, the drugs hitting her bloodstream fast.

She felt weak, her vision beginning to blur. Her knees wobbled as she began to feel so heavy. It felt as though her vision was growing fainter and fainter, tunneling more and more. Despite her best efforts to fight it the sedative effect of the drugs hit her so hard.

She felt her eyes begin to slide closed, her body going limp as she collapsed onto the cold filthy floor below her.

As the world around her grew dark she was almost sure she could hear Ryan Anderson’s voice sound out above her. “Oh Y/N, you always were too trusting.”

…………………………………………………………

Jimmy took a deep breath trying to work up his nerve as he sat in his parked car outside of Y/N’s apartment.

He stared down at his passengers seat and the bouquet of pink and red roses sitting on it. Were the flowers a mistake? Maybe the flowers were too much? He didn’t want to make her think he was trying to buy her love back.

Everyone always said though that a good first step to making up with your girlfriend when you’d screwed up was buying her flowers. He was sure the next step was groveling at her feet, which he planned on doing.

He frowned as he stared out his driver's side window up at her apartment building debating his next step.

A voice in the back of his brain insisted that he needed to turn around and go home right now. She’d asked for space and he was failing to give her the space she’d demanded.

He knew he was failing to give her what she’d asked for. He’d been calling her insistently and sending her text messages throughout the day. He had been trying so hard to say everything he should have said to her back in the hallway at NCIS headquarters.

He was cursing himself for being so flustered and letting her walk away from him without just telling her everything right then and there. He’d just been in so much shock from the entire confrontation with Agent Anderson to the loss of his temper and Y/N’s distress. Everything had just happened so fast and panic had set in stopping him from doing what he should.

So he’d helplessly watched her walk away she demanding space from him.

He didn’t want space. He wanted as little space from her as possible.

A voice in the back of his head screamed that he was being obsessive and selfish and disrespecting her request for space.

Another voice argued back that she’d asked for space after completely misunderstanding the conversation she’d walked in on though. The voice insisted that if she knew what had been taking place on the other end of Jimmy’s conversation with Ryan Anderson then she would have never demanded space from Jimmy.

He took a deep breath telling himself that he had to try to convince her to let him explain everything.

He had a plan. He’d beg and plead for her to give him just ten minutes of her time for him to tell her everything. If she still wanted space after she heard the full story, then he’d respect her desire to have space from him.

He would give her as much space as she wanted if she’d let him tell her the entire story about what had happened.

He knew it might be selfish on his part to demand her time when she’d told him she wanted space, but he just wasn’t willing to walk away and give her space when she didn’t have the full story.

She deserved to know all the facts before she decided to push him out.

He told himself that he had to try one last time to talk to her. He had to try one more time before he gave up and gave her the space she was demanding.

More than anything though, Jimmy knew he loved Y/N far too much to let her go without a fight. He wanted to fight for them.

He knew he’d do whatever it took to try to convince her to stay by his side. He’d do whatever it took to prove his love to her.

He wasn’t above dropping down to his knees and pleading with her if that’s what it took.

He gathered the roses, frowning when he made his way through the parking lot of her apartment complex and didn’t spot her car parked in its usual spot. Was he doing all this for nothing? Was she even home?

It was so late, why wasn’t she at home? He frowned, pushing the thought from his mind. She had to be home.

Jimmy ignored the thoughts of her being in Ryan Anderson’s arms somewhere. She might be pissed at him, but Jimmy knew she wouldn’t be out somewhere with her ex.

She just wanted space. She wasn’t out somewhere with an old flame because she was that angry with Jimmy.

He took a deep breath deciding that there was only one way to know if she was home. He had to man up and knock on her front door.

He had to plead and beg and pray that she’d be willing to listen to him for just a few minutes.

He almost made it to the elevator when his cell began to ring. He frowned wanting to ignore it and get back to the task at hand, but he recognized the ringtone he’d set for Dr. Mallard’s number.

He sighed ignoring the desire to ignore his phone as he fished it from his pocket answering it. He felt his stomach drop, an uneasy feeling settling in his gut as he took in Dr. Mallard’s words. “There’s been another body found Mr. Palmer. It seems that Special Agent Walker is dead. We are being called in to the crime scene. I need you back here at NCIS.”

Jimmy felt that uneasy feeling remain in his gut as he gave his confirmation that he’d be there.

He stared up at Y/N’s apartment as he reluctantly made it back to the parking lot. Surely she’d be at the crime scene, he told himself.

He let out a deep sigh as he approached his car dejectedly tossing the bouquet of roses back onto his passenger's seat.

He told himself that not all hope was lost yet. Surely he’d see Y/N at the crime scene, he told himself. He would find a way to talk to her and beg her to give him a chance.

He refused to give her up without a fight.

……………………………………………….

Her head really hurt, that was the first thought that entered her brain as consciousness returned to her. The next thought that hit her was one of panic as she realized she couldn’t move.

She struggled to move as she peeled her eyelids open, more panic washing over her as she realized she was restrained to a chair. Her hands were cuffed behind her back holding her down, forcing her to remain sitting.

She peered around her environment, realizing she had to be in the warehouse still. That stale and sour scent was still hanging in the air making her feel nauseous. The light in the room was too bright showing just how filthy the place was. The steel chair she was cuffed to was uncomfortable and cold thanks to the freezing cold room.

She felt her blood run cold as a familiar voice sounded out. “Oh good you’re awake. I was worried I’d dosed you too hard for a moment there. You’ve been out for well over an hour now.”

She stared up at Ryan Anderson as he entered the room, a few duffle bags in his hand. She watched him drop the duffle bags on a desk at the corner of the room. He leaned back against the desk watching her as she struggled to push back a panic attack.

She finally forced herself to speak, fighting the panic she felt being so restrained. She tried not to allow her mind to flash back to the last time she’d been restrained by a man. She couldn’t let her mind go back to that cabin, back to the man who had tortured her.

“What the hell is going on?”

Ryan straightened out his jacket as he continued to lean against the desk, seeming far too calm. “Don’t panic.” She spoke shaking her head, panic still coursing through her. “What is going on?”

Ryan spoke as he stood up from the desk making his way around it and unzipping the duffle bag. She widened her eyes as she watched him pull thick stack after thick stack of 100 dollar bills. “Isn’t it obvious. You’re supposed to be gifted aren’t you? I mean that is how you got recruited to the FBI in the first place. You are supposed to be the smart one.”

She spoke, finding the words disbelief coursing through her brain. “You’re helping the Russo family. You’re in on all of this?”

Ryan nodded his head as he continued to methodically count the stacks of cash. “Can you blame me? I mean look at this money Y/N. This isn’t even all the money I have. This plus the money I have in an overseas account is more than a few decades worth of salary at the bureau. I didn’t even get this much of a raise when I was promoted to unit chief.”

She spoke, disbelief still circling through her mind. This couldn’t be happening. He’d gone dirty? She spoke bile rising in the back of her throat. “Is there even a Lou Romero?”

Ryan gave her a smirk shaking his head as he spoke. “Yes, but no one is ever going to track him down. I imagine he’s sitting back in Naples or Milan right now lying nice and low, far away from capture. I didn’t think he’d get out of the country in time, but we got him out. He’s so hidden that no one is going to be able to find him or deport him back to the states.”

He paused letting out a soft sigh as he spoke again. “Everything was going great until Lieutenant Morris decided to become an informant. Things were going fine before he stepped into the picture. We’d been tracking the Russo family for a while and not to be cliche and go all Godfather, but they gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I clean up their messes and they give me a little bump in my finances. I turned the other way when they wanted me to. I help keep the girls they bring in in line, I get some more financial compensation in return. If I help keep the FBI off Lou Romero’s path I get a nice payout. I thought I wanted to rise up in the ranks at the FBI, but I realized that who needs the prestige of rising up in the ranks when I can just have the prestige of being filthy fucking rich.”

He shook his head, a small scowl crossing his features. “Then Lieutenant Morris had to get involved. I thought Agent Walker took care of the problem, but she failed to be discreet and NCIS got involved. That’s no longer relevant though, I guess. I don’t think Agent Walker is going to be fucking up anymore. I wonder if housekeeping has found her body yet?”

Y/N felt vomit rise in the back of her throat pushing it back, her voice tense. “You were both in on it?”

She felt faint, the words flying from her. “You killed Florence?”

Ryan shook his head, continuing to focus on the money lined up along his desk. “She fucked up too much. She knew the walls were closing in once Lieutenant Morris came in as an informant. She was losing it. She would have done the same to me if she was in my shoes.”

He paused a deep sigh leaving him. “I did what I had to do. She found out about what I was doing a few months in…she threatened to turn me in or she got her cut of the money. I did her one better, brought her to the Russos, got her in on the deal. Made them realize having more than one agent in your pocket can be beneficial. We were both helping out the Russos where we could. Us and your little replacement Agent Hernandez. Money talks. Neither of them knew of course that I was taking a bigger pay cut. Agent Walker never figured it out, Agent Hernandez got a clue but I found a way to keep her in line. I turned on the charm and romanced her a little. She thinks we’re going to run off together with our money combined. Little does she know…I’ll be gone soon and she can figure out shit on her end. I knew my time was running short the second NCIS got involved and I heard Agent Gibbs’ name. Your boss has a reputation. I’ve done all I can to keep the case from progressing. I am running out of time though. Pretty soon your lab rat and the computer geek at NCIS are going to be able to track just where all of the Russo’s payouts are going. I know it’ll lead to me soon enough.”

He paused a small laugh leaving him as he gazed up at her. “I don’t plan to be around when they figure out just where all that money is going. You’ll be joining me of course. Soon we’ll be in Italy or maybe somewhere else in Europe…wherever the Russos decide to set me up. I am just waiting for the word from them and then we’ll be out of here on a private jet. I always told you I’d like to take you traveling one day. I didn’t think it’d be like this.”

“Why the hell would I go anywhere with you?” She snapped a mixture of emotions washing over her; shock, disgust, sorrow, and anger.

Ryan gave her a small smirk shaking his head. “I don’t think you have much of a choice in the matter, doll. I’m not the one wearing handcuffs right now.”

He spoke again, his voice almost holding the same sincere tone it had held when he’d thanked her for trusting him. “You aren’t seeing the big picture. That was always your problem. You get so self righteous that you miss out on opportunities. I always told you that you have to step on a few necks if you want to succeed. You have to look at the big picture here. I am going to have so much money neither of us will ever have to work a day in our lives ever again. We can live in luxury for the remainder of our days Y/N, no more slaving away at federal agencies, no more putting our lives at risk in exchange for stress and pain. Aren’t you so tired of the pain? What good has this job done you? It’s given you trauma with no payoffs. This is a second chance Y/N. We can have a nice life, the life we should have. I want it with you. I know I wasn’t always a great boyfriend, but I can make up for that. This is our second chance.”

“You’re crazy. No amount of wealth is worth what you’ve done. You’re a criminal…you are a murderer. You disgust me. Why would I go anywhere with you?” Y/N snapped, pushing back bile threatening to rise in her throat, panic still swirling in her gut.

The sincere tone dropped from Ryan’s voice as he replied. “I’ve done what I had to do. As I’ve said, you don’t have much of a choice in the matter. You’ll adjust, once you see how much easier our lives are going to be.”

She dared to speak the words falling from her. “My team isn’t going to just let you escape. They will track you down. Once they realize I’m missing, they will track us both down. Once they realize you’ve kidnapped me they will track us down.”

Ryan scoffed at this comment as he began to place the cash back into the bag, moving on to counting the stacks of cash in another duffle bag. “Bold of you to assume they won’t think you were a willing accomplice.”

“They wouldn’t. They know me. They would never believe I would go anywhere with you knowing what you’ve done.” Y/N insisted squirming against the handcuffs, the cold metal digging into her wrists.

“Come on now, Y/N. Just look at your history and tell me they wouldn’t believe it.” Ryan remarked a scoff escaping his lips as he continued to count the stacks of bills.

Y/N glared at him, her stomach churning ,she found the words to reply. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Ryan let out a soft sigh shaking his head as he placed the stacks of cash back in the duffle bag he slowly moved to lean back against the desk. He crossed his arms as he stared down at her. “Just think about it Y/N. You have a history of being unstable. You ran away from the FBI and were only accepted into the NCIS position with the promise that you would keep up with the therapy. Hell, you wanted to leave the job entirely but Hank talked you into taking the NCIS job. He thought you still had it in you but who’s to say that the old man wasn’t just losing his touch. Everyone knows you are still fragile. You aren’t mentally right and everyone can see it. You don’t think the NCIS team doesn’t see it? You left the FBI because you lost faith in the agency. Everyone knows how damaged you are. You may put on a brave face but you are still a traumatized angry young woman. Think about it. You have a history of running away. You settled into NCIS and things were going good for a while… then you had to face your old team. You admitted it to Gibbs, the stress was just too much. The trauma was still just too much. You had a fight with your boyfriend and you stepped away from the case. Who’s to say you wouldn’t have had enough. Maybe you just had enough and decided to go back to an old flame. If I offered you an escape from all the pain and the trauma who’s to say you wouldn’t have taken it? If you lost faith in one agency, who's to say you wouldn’t lose faith in another. They are going to think you have become so jaded with federal law enforcement that you decided to go rogue and run away with an old lover. They are just going to assume that Y/N ran away once again, just like she always does.”

She shook her head at this statement she fast to respond. “They won’t believe that. They won’t think I just ran away. They will never give up finding me. Agent Gibbs won’t give up on finding us both. I know Jimmy will never give up finding me if I disappeared.”

Ryan smirked at this comment so fast to reply to the final part of her statement. “Are you so sure about that sweetheart? Last time you two spoke things were tense. I saw all those little jealousy issues he was wrestling with. If you two are on the outs who’s to say he’s not going to assume the worst. He’s going to assume you weren’t as over me as you probably told him you were. He’ll let you go and accept that you broke his heart.”

“He would never believe that. He knows that I would never run away with someone who has done all the awful things you’ve done. You don’t know him. He would never just let me go. He will not stop searching for me. He will never believe I left him.” Y/N insisted, still twisting against the handcuffs they digging so hard into her skin. She felt her voice break at the last part of her statement, refusing to believe that Jimmy would ever believe anything Ryan said.

Ryan sighed, shaking his head at this comment, the words bitter as they left his lips. “Maybe so…I have to admit I was shocked when I heard you’d moved on through the grapevine. I was even more shocked when I got to NCIS headquarters and realized just who you moved on with. It’s kind of insulting that you rebounded with someone like that after breaking up with me.”

He paused, a cruel smile crossing his lips. “I  have to ask…how do you deal with what Jim boy does for a living? I mean seriously, he’s cutting up the dead. He’s hanging out in Autopsy all day surrounded by corpses. Did getting abducted and tortured by the Razorblade Strangler really fuck up your brain enough that you find hanging around the dead to be an attractive quality in a man? Do you really let him shove his fingers in your pussy knowing he’s touched the dead with those same hands?”

“You’re disgusting.” She snapped back still twisting against the handcuffs.

Ryan let out a sigh, her insult clearly not impacting him. “I’ve been told. I have to admit I was surprised by how easy it was to push Jimmy’s buttons. I thought I’d have to work harder to drive a wedge between you two. I didn’t expect the guy to freak out on me like that. I taunted him a little by telling him I was intent on winning you back, and he reacted by laying into me how hard things have been for you recovering, how he’s been there for you. You walked up right at the perfect time. You heard his attempts to defend your relationship and assumed he was calling you an exhausting burden. It couldn’t have worked better if I’d tried. I thought I’d have more time to be honest. I figured I’d be able to romance you and get you to leave the country with me without having to resort to such barbaric measures. As I’ve said though, I’m running out of time. Desperate times.”

Y/N felt like she wanted to puke as she took in the words and realized exactly what happened. Ryan was right; she'd assumed the worst. She’d assumed the worst and now here she was.

Ryan didn’t give her a chance to respond as he stood up a heavy sigh escaping his lips. “Anyway, I’ve got some phone calls to make. You sit back and relax. It shouldn’t be much longer now. We’ll be sitting back in a private jet on our way to a life of luxury before you know it.”

She continued to fight against the handcuffs as he left the room, her heart sinking. She prayed to whoever might be listening that Gibbs had realized what had happened by now. He wouldn’t stop looking for her, she told herself. He’d never stop looking for her.

………………………

Agent Walker’s body was found at a dirty motel on a bad side of town. It was clear that her killer had taken her out with one clean shot to the head. She was lying dead crumpled on the bed.

The NCIS team hadn’t been at the crime scene long and the bad feeling in Jimmy’s gut had only grown as it hit him that Y/N and Agent Anderson were nowhere to be seen.

He’d felt only a little better when Agent Gibbs had casually responded to Tony’s questions about Y/N’s whereabouts with a statement that she was taking a step away from the case and taking some personal time.

He seemed perturbed by Agent Anderson’s absence, well as perturbed as Jimmy was sure Agent Gibbs could look.

The bad feeling in Jimmy’s gut only intensified as Gibbs’ cell phone rang, the agent answering it a frown crossing his features as he spoke. “Abby slow down and talk to me.”

He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “No Agent Anderson isn’t here. No Y/N isn’t here. She’s stepped away from the case. Okay, I’ll put you on speaker phone.”

Abby’s voice rang out from Gibbs’ cell, her statement making Jimmy’s heart sink. “I finally tracked all those payouts from Leo Russo Sr. and Jr’s accounts, Gibbs. The money was hard to trace; it bounced from bank to bank and some of the banks are overseas and the names of the bank account owners are all aliases. I finally got the final drop off point though and a name of who owns the account and I got their real name.”

She paused taking a breath before she spoke again, her statement making Jimmy feel as though the breath left his body. “The account belongs to Agent Anderson. It’s him, Gibbs. He’s working with the Russos. It’s not just him it’s all of them…I mean all the agents that came with him, Agent Walker and Agent Hernandez too.”

“Trace Hernandez and Anderson’s cells, Abbs.” Gibbs insisted he close to hanging up the phone before Abby spoke again.

“That’s not all the information. I was looking into Agent Anderson’s cell phone records. He made calls to Agent Walker at four pm.”

Jimmy felt his stomach drop realizing Agent Walker’s estimated time of death thus far was five pm.

The next words that left Abby’s mouth made Jimmy feel even sicker. “The last call he’s made was to Y/N a few hours ago. His phone has been radio silent since then. I have been trying to trace it but I don’t know if he’s tossed it or what is going on. I lost the signal. I have a bad feeling Gibbs. I tried to trace Y/N’s cell too and that signal is gone too.”

“Keep trying Abby and work on tracing Agent Hernandez’s cell.” Gibbs insisted, hanging up the phone.

Jimmy felt the words leave him daring to speak to Gibbs. “Y/N isn’t at her apartment…I went to talk to her before I got the call about Agent Walker’s body. Her car is gone.”

Tony was quick to respond. “You don’t think she’s in on it?”

Jimmy was quick to respond the words harsh as they left his lips. “She would never do anything like that. Don’t you dare imply that she’d help him.”

Gibbs spoke, nodding to Tony and Ziva quick to speak. “You call the FBI, get me Agent Hernadez’s home address. I want her in interrogation.”

Jimmy stepped forward as Gibbs moved to leave the crime scene. “Agent Gibbs, Y/N isn’t helping him. She would never help him. If she’s with him, she didn’t go willingly.”

He paused, his throat growing tight, the words leaving him knowing he was pleading, he struggling to place his thoughts together. “The last thing she said to me was that she wants space from me…we were arguing. I…Agent Anderson was insisting he’d win her back and I was so angry…I said the wrong thing and she was upset…I can’t have the last conversation we had be that…Please, find her…I can’t…please find her and bring her home.”

Gibbs spoke the words leaving him without hesitation. “That’s what I’m going to do Palmer.”

Jimmy felt his heart race as he watched Gibbs walk away, Jimmy taking in what had just happened.

He closed his eyes praying to whoever might be listening, please bring Y/N home. Please bring her home alive.

………………………………………….

Jimmy refused to let anyone tell him that he wasn’t allowed to watch from the window along with Ziva and Tony as Gibbs sat with Agent Hernandez in the interrogation room.

Agent Rosa Hernandez was clearly nervous, but she was trying her best to put on a tough front.

She was a pretty young woman. It was almost hard for Jimmy to believe someone who looked so young and professional could be harboring such a dark secret. It was hard to believe that the eager young probationary agent was taking payouts from a crime family.

So far Rosa Hernandez was refusing to spill a single detail. She kept her cool looking more annoyed than afraid.

Gibbs spoke staring down at Agent Hernandez and Agent Anderson’s financial records from their banks. “Agent Anderson was pulling in a much bigger payout than Agent Walker or you.”

Agent Hernandez said nothing in response she crossed her arms over her chest glaring back at Gibbs.

Gibbs continued to flip through the financial records. “You didn’t mind that he was making off with way more money than you? I mean you two were both putting your careers on the line? Didn’t you think it was unfair that he was pulling in more money than you when you were taking the same risks?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Agent Hernandez replied rolling her eyes apparently deciding to play dumb.

Gibbs spoke, shaking his head in response. “It’s no use playing dumb. We have the financial records all right here. We can see every payout into your accounts. We know Agent Anderson, Agent Walker, and you were all taking payouts from the Russo family. Now Agent Walker is dead and Agent Anderson is missing. There’s some suspicion he has one of my agents with him. That leaves you. Why haven’t you run?”

Agent Hernandez’s eyes grew wide for only a brief moment. “Florence is dead?”

Gibbs nodded his head pulling out crime scene photos showing Florence Walker’s body. Agent Hernandez shoved them away, disgust washing over her features.

She spoke, continuing to glare back at Gibbs. “I don’t know anything about that.”

Gibbs nodded his head not pulling back the photos. “But you know Agent Anderson is the likely suspect.”

Agent Hernandez twisted her lips, she fast to respond sounding defensive. “He wouldn’t do that to Florence. He’s known her for years.”

“He and you are the only ones who had motive. I don’t think the Russo family is going to take out Agent Walker. Not when she was still of use to him. So it was either you or Agent Anderson.” Gibbs remarked, staring her down not breaking his gaze from her even with her glare.

She spoke after a moment of hesitation. “Maybe I did it.”

Agent Gibbs shook his head quick to respond. “You didn’t. You won’t even look at the crime scene photos. If you did it you wouldn’t be so disgusted to see your work.”

She scoffed at this just as fast to reply. “Ryan didn’t do it.”

“Ryan? First names are personal.” Gibbs responded, picking up on the defensive tone to her voice.

Jimmy let out a heavy sigh watching it all take place, his stomach churning. She wasn’t breaking. She wasn’t giving them anything.

He held his breath hoping Gibbs had found an angle to work from.

Agent Hernandez shrugged at this comment. “We’re a team. We’re close.”

Gibbs spoke up pulling more paperwork from the folder he held. “More than close I’d say. I see some jewelry receipts on some of Agent Anderson’s financial records, a diamond tennis bracelet.”

He nodded down at the bracelet on Agent Hernandez’s wrist, she fast to respond. “My dating history with Ryan is no one’s business.”

“No, but it makes you a pretty good person to ask about where he is right now.” Gibbs responded, Agent Hernandez shifting in her seat.

She spoke all too quickly, her voice tense. “I don’t know where he is.”

Gibbs was just as quick to respond. “What did he tell you to pull you into this with him? You don’t seem like the type of girl to break the law for a man. What’d he promise you? I mean is it the money, or the jewelry? Just what does he do for you to make you put your career and your freedom on the line?”

Jimmy hadn’t expected Agent Hernandez to respond but he was shocked as she spoke her voice tense. “He loves me.”

Gibbs spoke knowing it was time to bring up exactly what Jimmy had shared with him back at the crime scene. “He has a funny way of showing it. I mean, you’re sitting here in an interrogation room and he’s off god knows where with his ex.”

Agent Hernandez said nothing, she was clearly stewing over the words. It was obvious Gibbs’ words hurt.

Agent Gibbs spoke again digging the knife in a little more. “He’s not over Y/N you know. He told her boyfriend that much. Told him he fully intends on winning Y/N back. He played you. He’s left you to take the fall while he runs off into the sunset with his ex.”

“You’re lying.” Agent Hernandez snapped her glare only deepening, slamming her hands down on the table.

Gibbs pulled out the proof fast to respond to her outburst. “His last call was to Y/N’s number. He’s with her right now. Are you really going to let him run away with his ex while you take the fall all on your own?”

She twisted her lips, her eyes narrowing. She was silent for a long while and Jimmy’s heart sank he thinking that they were back to square one of Agent Hernandez not speaking at all.

She finally spoke after a long while. “If I tell you where to find him, what do I get in return?”

“The FBI will look favorably upon you for your full cooperation.” Gibbs replied.

She spoke nodding at the notebook Gibbs had brought in. He passed her it along with a pen. She spoke as she wrote down an address. “He has some space at a warehouse out near the docks. It’s not far from here. He’s got some cash stashed there for emergencies. The Russo family owns it and he knows the money is safe there. If he’s trying to get out of the country with your agent…that’s where he’d be.”

Gibbs took the address from her, speaking as he neared the door to leave the room. He spoke over his shoulder as he left. “I said the FBI would look favorably upon you, but NCIS is going to charge you to the fullest extent of the law.”

He didn’t have a chance to hear her scream curses as he shut the door behind him.

Jimmy felt his heart lift as he watched the scene, he looked to Tony and Ziva. Tony gave him a pat on the shoulder, the agent fast to speak, it was clear that he was trying to provide some small sign that there was no bad blood after the tense exchange he’d had with Jimmy at the crime scene. “We’re going to go get your girl Palmer.”

………………………………………

Y/N felt her heart stop as she heard the sound of commotion somewhere in the warehouse, the noise echoing.

She held her breath hoping against hope that help was on the way and that it wasn’t the Russo family coming to either get rid of Ryan Anderson or get him out of the country.

Ryan’s reaction gave her the hope she sought, he gathering his bags cursing under his breath.

She spoke trying to reason with him. She had to hope that somewhere deep in him there was the man she’d loved at one point. “Ryan please, just stop. It doesn’t have to be like this. You can still fix this. You can cooperate with NCIS. If you cooperate and work with us we can use you to testify against the Russo family. There is still a chance for you to do the right thing. You can still fix this.”

“Are you stupid? If I turn against the Russo family I am as good as dead. I’d rather take my chances on the run.” Ryan exclaimed, her stomach dropping when she spotted him grab his gun.

He stared down at her for a moment as though he was weighing out his options. She felt her heart stop as he pointed the gun at her.

He spoke, a heavy sigh leaving him. “I’d hoped we’d have more time Y/N. I didn’t want it to be like this. I thought I could win you back…I hoped I could fix us. I didn’t want it to be like this. I did always want to be the man you thought I was. I know I wasn’t a good boyfriend, but I did hope that there was still a chance. I know it was naive, but I’d hoped that you’d see things my way. I do love you, I’ll always love you. I thought we would both make it out of here.”

He shook his head, pulling back the safety as he spoke again. “You’re right, they won’t stop looking for you.”

She called out his name not even having the chance to beg him as he fired the gun. The sound was deafening and the pain was blinding.

She cried out her shoulder feeling as though it shattered as the bullet impacted it. The pain was horrible. She couldn’t even find the words to describe it.

She was so distracted by the pain that she didn’t notice Ryan flee, he disappearing from sight making his run for it.

The tears blinded her blood soaking her blouse she unable to hold the wound as her hands were still cuffed behind her back.

She was almost sure she was dreaming as she heard his voice. He spoke somehow still holding that sense of calm control that he always seemed to exhibit even in a time like this. It must be all that marine training she could remember thinking when she had witnessed him remain so collected in moments of stress. “Hold on Y/N we’re getting you out of here.”

She opened her eyes, tears still leaving her shame hitting her. “I’m so sorry Gibbs. I was so stupid. I should have called you. I should have never gone into this alone.”

Gibbs spoke, working the cuffs open somehow he finding a key. He held pressure against her wound ,her body feeling heavy she losing blood rapidly. “We can talk about that later. Just hold on Y/N. Help is on the way, just stay awake for me.”

She spoke, needing to say the words, having a hard time focusing on Gibbs, her vision growing cloudy. “I need you to promise me…please Gibbs, just please tell Jimmy I’m sorry…I was wrong, I was so stupid. Tell him I don’t want space. I never want space from him. You have to tell him.”

“You can tell him yourself. Just stay awake. Keep focusing on me.” Gibbs was insistent he holding her wound tighter.

She was sure she heard Ziva’s voice say something about an ambulance but everyone’s voices were growing so hazy and she was having a harder time listening to Gibbs’ orders.

She was exhausted all the sudden and her body felt so heavy. She spoke as darkness began to cloud her vision, she having a harder and harder time staying alert. “Tell Jimmy I love him.”

And that was all she managed to say before darkness completely enveloped her and she welcomed it.

#Jimmy Palmer #Jimmy Palmer x Reader #Jimmy Palmerxreader #Jimmy Palmer / reader #jimmy palmer/reader #ncis #ncis fanfiction #ncis fanfic #jimmy palmer fanfics #jimmy palmer fanfic #jimmy palmer fanfiction

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There:  5.2

Author’s Note:  I saw this on pinterest and thought it applied to Xiao XD  P.S.  Do you readers like that the story is in 2nd POV, or should I change it to 3rd person?  My thinking is this POV allows me to get away without mentioning appearances or a chosen name so ya’ll could be put in OC’s shoes?

..............................

Is it just me, or is he looking my way?  You caught Childe in the act while you and your team retreated into the opposite tree line after Aether had taken the dragon tooth.  Something didn't feel right.  The trees seemed to close in on you like tunnel vision.  Was he planning on attacking you with the skirmishers at his side? Was he going to show his true colors now?  Is it time to face death?

He dismissed the soldiers and retreated from the direction you had all spotted the skirmishers in the first place.  He made a point to cast a meaningful glance your way.

I can't let it happen now, you looked to each of your teammates as you all ran through the snowy woods.  If he brought all of those Fatui agents on board with taking you out, the entire group would be overwhelmed.  The sheer cold puts us at a disadvantage.  Bennett could get hurt.  Xiao can't fight with his full strength.  When was the last time Aether and Childe sparred?  I can't rely on those results to protect me either.  

No one was paying attention; you could slip away and try to strike a deal with the Harbinger.  Bargain for Xiao's freedom and safety. You were hypersensitive to the weight of your coat on your shoulders, and the crunching of snow beneath your boots.  He can't hurt us now...not now!

You peeled away from the group and they continued to run towards a cave several hundred yards from their current position.  No one had heard you.  When you finally reached the first firepit, you found Childe waiting next to it.

"Oh there you are, ojou-chan!  Did you get the tooth? Where are the others?  They didn't run into trouble, did they?"  He greeted you with his signature friendly stature.

"Drop the act, Childe." You came to a halt maybe ten feet from him, with your back to the firepit.  It warmed your body significantly and you could finally feel your fingers and toes again.  He was on the far end of the open area.

"Whatever do you mean, ojou-chan?"  The mask didn't crack.

"We're alone now.  Is that what you wanted?"

Childe stared at you for a moment before breaking out into a loud fit of laughter.  "Oh ojou-chan, you know me so well〰"  He took a couple steps toward you.  "You should know I've been meaning to talk to you."

"That's close enough."  He stopped.  "I know what you're after."

"Oh?"  A dangerous glint sparked in his eyes, one that you've never seen before.  "Enlighten me then."

"I don't want Xiao dragged into whatever mess you brought upon us.  Whatever your plan entails, it ends with me."

"A noble sacrifice for a man that will not love you," he smirked.  "Why do you try to protect him when he can clearly fight for himself?"

"He's been through enough already," your hands closed into fists as you recalled his horrific past.  "I'll go with you, but only if you give me your word you won't take him too."

"Ha!  I feel no need to fight you, ojou-chan."  The sincerity in his voice attracted your gaze back to him.  "I don't wish to hurt you."

"Huh..?"  That's out of character.  Is this some sort of trap?

"I...have other goals in mind.  They require your cooperation, of course.  And your cutting of ties with the adeptus."

"Cutting ties?  Why would I do that?"  Your brows furrowed.

"My loyalty lies with the Tsaritsa, but I have a special interest with this mission after meeting you, ojou-chan," he made his way closer, and you stood in total confusion.  "I will personally see to it that you will not get harmed at all in Snezhnaya.  It all depends on your answer."

"You...I don't get what you mean.  What answer?  What exactly are you asking of me?"  Whatever it was, you sure as hell weren't going to agree with it.  But as soon as the questions left your lips, you knew.

He does like you.

Childe took note of the realization--and the fear--on your face and continued. "Surrender is a valid option, I promise I'll be gentle.  This is a simple route that avoids all the fighting and pain.  All you need to do is allow me to love you, and I won't harm your friends.  You have my word."

"L-love me?"  The words left a terrible taste in your mouth.  "I...I could never!  I could never love you, either!  You killed my Granny...you stole her house from her frail hands.  You...You!" Your sword made a metallic sound as it was unsheathed.

Childe inhaled and manifested his bow.  He nocked an arrow onto his finger and drew the string to his cheek.  "A most expected answer, ojou-chan.  Thank you for strengthening my resolve.  This will be much more enjoyable now."  Whatever turmoil that shone in his eyes was long gone  and replaced with pure malice.  "Let's make this a fair fight."  The arrow shot into the fire and extinguished it.

"Tch." You ran toward him as fast as you could in the snow, and crossed sword with lance.

"Not bad," your opponent grinned with satisfaction.  "Where'd you learn this technique from?"  You somehow managed to keep up with his unrelenting blows thanks to the muscle memory that belonged to Xiao.  "I don't recall the adeptus ever training you."

"Ngh!"  He landed a kick to your stomach and you fell into the snow.  Childe let you get back up, completely high on the thrill of fighting you and more than intent on dragging it out so he could watch your fighting spirit diminish.  I may be keeping up with him, but I can't land a solid blow like this.  You slowly removed your two remaining jackets and tossed them into the snow next to the extinguished firepit.  If I can somehow finish the fight quickly...You knew it was a hopeless battle.  A fight between a non-vision wielder and a harbinger that wields both vision and delusion? Complete and utter self-annihilation will ensue.

"I admire your tenacity, comrade," he watched the jackets fall.  "But now that I have my answer, there's no reason to wait any longer."  He shoved his lance towards you when your guard was down.

"I won't let you hurt him!"   You swung your blade to parry, and a sudden blast of material sent the two of you flying backwards into the snow.  Your vision was suddenly looking into the tree canopy.  "Ugh, wha--?"  You sat up to find ice shards scattered across the snow.  Something cool and metallic sat in your free hand.  You opened your palm to reveal what you least expected.

A vision.

You stared at your hand with bewilderment while Childe rose to his feet with a mixture of shock, admiration, and annoyance.  "I see.  An unexpected development," he remarked with cold eyes.  "It's a shame you won't have the chance to wield it properly against me.  He drew his bow and aimed for your chest.  Another block of ice manifested before the arrow could pierce you.

You placed the artifact into your jean pocket, and you rose to your feet with a newfound confidence.  Maybe you could beat him here and now.  Images of Xiao's fights involuntarily crossed your mind, and a lance of ice materialized in your hand.  You held it so that the tip pointed directly at Childe.

Another clashing of blades, this time converting Childe's into an ice sculpture.  But not before you had managed to freeze his leg into the snow for a hot second.  You ducked at his swings, parried his attacks, and followed through with a sequence of your own--or rather Xiao's--attacks.  It looked like you were gaining the upper hand until Childe caught your blade in his gloved palm.

"Thank you for the entertainment, ojou-chan," he growled.  "But this is where it ends for you."  Did you really think he hadn't studied your newfound techniques during your previous fighting session?  So naïve of you, ojou-chan.  You can't use the same tricks twice.

You retracted your weapon and lay waste another blow.  He easily parried it.  You engaged in a combo before swiping your feet at his legs; he leapt away before you could knock him down.  You were frustrated now, your movements becoming sloppier with each passing movement.

There's the real you, he mused.  His frozen blade dug into your dominant shoulder with such force that he had you pinned to a tree.  He felt nothing but sadistic pleasure course through his veins at the sight of you squirming in pain.

"Gah!" A shriek escaped your lips and your lance dropped from your hand.  You tried to claw the spear out of your body as he stalked ever closer to you.

"I don't even need Foul Legacy to kill you. You could never defeat me, not even in your wildest dreams," Childe stalked towards you as he twirled a new hydro polearm behind his body, stopping once its blade pressed against your neck.  He could kill you in an instant, and he would if he wasn't required to bring you alive.

You were seething with anger and hatred. It was stupid of you to go after him on your own, to seek a peaceful resolution to this conflict when you knew all along that there wouldn't be one. It didn't matter now. Your anger subsided, shoulders releasing themselves from the tension in your muscles once you thought of an idea. Even the pain in your dominant shoulder seemed to subside a bit.  Your sudden change in demeanor made Childe's grip loosen for a moment as he questioned the newfound peace emanating from you.

Your eyes closed and your lips curled into a smile. Adeptus Xiao, you called to him in your heart.Please hear me and answer my prayer for protection.

A sudden gust of wind blew against your back, and Childe faltered. He looked to you for an explanation, and you met his gaze through his mask. "I know, but he can."

Xiao burst into Childe at an incredible speed, knocking him square into another tree. The trunk splintered in half from the force.  He conjured his polearm and held its blade at Childe's throat. "Why the sudden politeness in your prayers?" He called out over his shoulder without taking his eye off the Harbinger.  I'm cursed with hearing her rambling whenever I'm gone, and only now she speaks politely to an illuminated adeptus?  Despite that thought, he actually loved hearing your voice reach his ears.

"I-I don't know.." WAIT, he COULD hear me all this time?!  Blush further tinted your pink cheeks that were red from the sheer cold.

"Tsk," Childe spit blood onto the snow and glared at the yaksha.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't decapitate you here."

Childe wasn't going to give him a reason and debated on conjuring his polearm instead.  Here he was, about to die at the hands of the damned yaksha, and all because he had decided to give you a chance to 'escape' a portion of the hardship that awaited you.  Signora would lose what respect she had for him if she ever found out.  Oh well.

"Ngh," you writhed against the tree.  Your feet were just inches from solid ground, making this injury all the more painful as you hung from the lance.  You couldn't move your dominant arm anymore.  Xiao let go of Childe's collar and moved to your aid.  He slipped your other arm over his shoulder so he could relieve the pressure off of your injury, then yanked the spear out without warning.  Your shout of pain scared the nearby foxes away.

Xiao gave the Harbinger one last glare before he lifted you in his arms and took off at an incredible speed.  It was only a matter of seconds before the two of you caught up with the rest of the group, who were waiting just inside a small cave that held mysterious lab equipment.

"Be careful,"  the yaksha set you on your feet but refused to remove your arm from around him.

"There you are!  W-where'd Childe go?"  Bennett paled when he saw your injury.  "Here, let me see that."  Aether, Paimon, and Xiao exchanged knowing looks while Bennett examined your shoulder.  "You should sit down.  This isn't anything I can't fix!"

"What happened? Did Childe...?" Aether trailed off once he returned with a bowl of water from a boiling pot.  

"Mn," you winced when Bennett peeled your shirt off of your bloody skin.  "I thought he was conspiring with those agents when we were making a run for it, so I followed him."

"A foolish decision," Xiao grumbled.  He took the water from Aether and held it to your lips.

"Were you at least able to find anything else out about his plans? Or Signora?"  Paimon spoke up.  "It's not worth getting hurt over if you just throw yourself in harm's way like that."

"I thought he was going to..." your eyes flicked to Xiao's for a split second before they fell to the ground.  '--Hurt you,' you wanted to say.  But the yaksha would not hear of it if you said something so foolishly naïve.  You were just a measly human after all, with little knowledge of fighting and a large heart that wanted to protect those around her.  A big heart could only go so far; it proved useless in your battle today.  Or did it?  You nearly jumped up when you remembered, "I have something! I got something from this!"  Your loud yelp scared the daylights out of Bennett, and he nearly yanked the stitch out that he had just put into your skin.  You dug into your pocket and pulled out the artifact.

"Is that--?!"  Paimon and Aether sprung to their feet simultaneously.

"A vision?"  Xiao's eyes widened slightly.  And a cryo one, at that.

"So cool!" Paimon spun around with excitement.  "You're officially one of us now! Er, not that you weren't to begin with--"

"Congrats,"  Aether nodded and flashed you a toothy grin.  

"Yeah, congrats!"  Bennett also flashed you a bright smile and observed the trinket in your palm.  "Wow, we're like, polar opposites!"

"Heh, yeah," you nodded with a faint smile.  Your eyes found Xiao's, which were locked onto your vision.  "Xiao?"

"You received a blessing from the very god that's hunting you.  Do you not find that odd?"  His lack of enthusiasm made your chest ache in disappointment.  

Was he not proud of such an accomplishment?

"Yeah now that you mention it," Paimon held her chin and thought.  "It is really weird.  Why would she make her target more powerful? Wouldn't that just make it more difficult for her to capture you?"

"Did Childe say anything about it?"  Aether prompted.

"No," you shook your head slightly and pursed your lips.  "He seemed as surprised as I was."

To be blessed with the cryo vision, one must commit an act that revolves around love, Xiao's brows furrowed.  Had she done something on the behalf of her grandmother, or is this all in the Cryo Archon's plan?  It never crossed his mind that you had gotten it on his behalf.

#genshin impact #xiao genshin impact #genshin impact xiao #xiao x reader #fanfiction #xiao fanfiction #xiao one shot

[jabbagabba]

La La Land

Read Prologue

Warning ⚠️

Triggering subjects: disassociation, manipulation, mind control, grief. (READ AT OWN RISK)

Wandavision: spoilers (up to episode 6 - just to be safe), violence

———

Pools Of Despair

You weren’t sure how long it’d been, the drive feeling as though it had taken a lifetime. It might have been just down the road and you wouldn’t have been able to tell; time seemed to move torturously slow under Wanda’s control.

She tried to keep herself calm besides your frozen body, already thinking of a way out as she turned the steering wheel. But it was too late to go back.

‘No other way. No other way.’ The words replayed over and over in her head as she finally made it to the front of the building, and it was the first time she fully looked at you. Your face was stoic, the only sign of life being the soft breaths escaping your mouth. You couldn’t look at her - even if you wanted to - and as she reached a hand to your face, the feeling of complete numbness returned.

During the drive there had been small moments of clarity; moments where for the first time you felt in control. It was almost euphoric being able to push through the fog.

But then, as quickly as it had subsided, she would crawl her way back in.

Even now as she turned you toward her fully, you tried to swim through the heaviness, but the black swirls of grief and anguish just got tighter the harder you fought.

Wanda sighed in annoyance. “You can’t go in looking like that.” She pulled at a strand of her hair with a small huff. “Need glasses.”

You were sure if you had control of your body, the pain of your neck would be unbearable, the awkward angle surely making every muscle strain as you were forced to watch her pull apart the car.

This had to have been owned by the only man on the planet that didn’t carry sunglasses in their car. Wanda almost laughed, a punishment for stealing it? She couldn’t be sure.

“Well...” Wanda pulled the blue and white baseball cap by the brim from under her seat. “Better then nothing.” She gave a small smile as she adjusted it on your head, pulling back and grabbing your hand and letting it rest in her lap. “If there was any other way, I swear, I would let you go. But... I just... I can’t live without him.”

You said nothing as she cried.

———

“Head down, get Vision. Leave.” Her voice plagued your every step, each word carved into your brain as you finally reached the front desk.

‘Sword’ was a nice place - or at least had nice flooring - and from the bright light that filled each and every inch of the glossy tile, you knew there had to be a lot of glass. It was a government building after all.

“Can I help you?” Her voice is chirpy, a polite smile painted on her lips, you don’t need to see her eyes to know it wasn’t anything but genuine. She lets the wheels of her chair carry her forward, her computer forgotten besides her as you near the desk.

“Do you have... a meeting?” She smiles again, more forced and you’re able to see the golden pin on her chest that proudly says ‘Mary’ and try once more to float above the darkness.

“I -“ The word leaves your lips aprubtly and the fight drains from you just as fast. “I’m here to inquire about some of my father’s equipment. I’d like it back.” You let the darkness swallow you whole.

“And who are you again?” Mary is quick to pull her deskphone to her ear, hand hovering over the numbers.

———

The name that fell from her lips made Mary freeze. She looked up with wide eyes, both fearful and exited.

Starks were top priority at ‘SWORD’ - she was sure they were top priority everywhere - and as she desperately tried to recall if her boss mentioned anything about Stark equipment, the girl’s patients quickly wore thin.

“Can you please just tell me where to go? I have a long drive ahead of me.” Her voice was a sharp contrast from her apparance. The girl’s voice was stern and loud while her body was scrunched in on itself, eyes glued to the desk. Mary took a glance over the desk and saw the dark fabric of a dress, the hat didn’t even match the girl’s shoes.

“Right.” Mary said. “I’m sorry, just a little... starstruck.” She tried to keep her cool, turning again in her chair and started typing as fast as possible on her little keyboard. The atmosphere was thick with uncomfortable silence and Mary had to make sure not to shiver in the girl’s presence. She scrolled down the list of names and let out a small “ah” when she found your name. Just as quickly as she clicked on it, a pop up window filled the screen

STARK - Access Denined. Call Security

She felt sick; her nerves making her skin pucker as she tried to keep calm. When Mary finally found the courage to move, bile reached through her throat as she saw red eyes looking back.

“Ahh!” Mary was quick to jump out of her chair.

“Fine.” The girl sighed, hand flat on the counter as she took long strides around it. “If you won’t help me.” A red trail flowed through one of the doors; slithering like a snake as it wrapped around the shell shocked receptionist. “I’ll do it myself.”

———

Wanda’s mind had warped, grief and anger become one as she ripped through each and every room of the building. No one was safe from the witch’s wrath as she swung them through various glass panels and equipment. By the third turn she took, guards had given up, opting to instead try desperately to get out of her way.

She had left you at the desk, too transfixed to care and as she heard the various shouts of alarm from down the hallway, she was glad you weren’t in her way.

———

The group of four man were shocked; watching as the two guards dropped their guns and put their hands up for mercy.

“We’ll give you what you want. Please!” One of them - Felix - cried as the woman barreled through the double doors.

Wanda simply flicked her hand and he was sent flying to a wall, his partner following.

“Where is he?” Her accent was thick and the youngest tech almost asked her to repeat herself. “Where is Vision?” The stunned silence only fueled her anger. “You.” Red swirled under one of the men’s feet and lifted him from the ground. “Where?”

If the man could have, he’d be shivering in fear right about now. His life was in the hands of a deranged woman who with a simple flick of her wrist could send him plummeting down ten floors.

Wanda tightened her hold on him in warning and he knew he had to speak.

“Behind us.” He said. “There is a set of double doors, turn left and there’s an examination room.”

“He should be there!” A colleague on his left was shaking as she turn to face him. “He’s not lying.” Wanda let her power swim under him once more beofre gently letting him go.

“Thank you.” She gave a small smile. “Now, go.”

They didn’t have to be told twice.

———

Wanda felt as though she couldn’t breathe, the sight of her dead lover on the table was crippling. Vision was a dark grey; his eyes blank as they stared into her. If it wasn’t for the table itself she would have probably collapsed on to the floor as sobs took over her.

“I cant. I can’t. I -“ The words fell from her lips like a mystical chant. She couldn’t look at him anymore, his body was nothing but an empty shell of parts.

When her body turned to ash; Wanda was ready to die, her last shred of humanity died with Vision. The battlefield would be her final resting place. She chose to spend her last moments hoping that If there was a God that they’d be merciful, that she’d be allowed to spent her afterlife in blissful ignorance.

But instead she woke up.

Five years had passed and she was still there, only now she was alone. It was only after the death of Tony Stark that she let the floodgate of loss fill up her veins. While Thanos was alive, she had a mission; kill him and reverse the snap.

Wanda never imagined the pain that followed. She should have died that day, why couldn’t she have died that day?

Grief had a knack for turning the strongest people into helpless pools of despair.

Vision deserved better. That was what go her up, got her to calm her tears and push herself up. She wasn’t going to let them win. Vision was hers to mourn, to love, and hers to take care of.

She had a new mission, one that was stronger then her need to submit to pain.

But... she needed help carrying him.

———

Your body moved through the halls, following the tethered rope of energy that wrapped around your waist. If it wasn’t for your boots, your feet would have been covered in cuts from the sharp edges of the broken glass that filled the hallways.

The fog had cleared more then before and if you tried hard enough, you might’ve even been able to pull free completely. Wanda was exhausted and the fight had been ripped from you So you let her pull you, let the fog seep through every inch of you.

And as you entered the small room, you forgot you were suppose to care anymore.

“I need you to hold onto his legs.” She said softly, hand stroking his cheek. “Easier to carry both of you.” Your body moved again and you placed a gentle hand onto vision’s ankle.

Wanda wiped the last of her tears away, grabbed onto his arm, and all three of you were lifted off the ground.

———

Hot air blew through Wanda’s hair making her hands continuously push back strands from her face as she walked. The afternoon sun was unrelenting and she had to take several short breaks.

The car was too dangerous to return to - a swarm of agents was not something she wanted to deal with - and controlling someone for almost 24 hour straight took a lot out of her. Her hold on you was weak enough for you to sometimes fully take over, her control turning into a dull ache at the back of your brain.

As she walked in front of you thoughts of running flooded through your brain but the walking had tired your body out, and you were sure that if her little pushes weren’t there, you’d have already collapsed. Even if you had the strength to do it, the empty roads had long ago turned into tall trees and bush. You were in the middle of nowhere and getting loss in the woods with a heartbroken witch was not something you wanted to deal with. So, like a trained puppy, you followed silently behind Vision’s dragging body. It wasn’t hard to keep up, she was as slow as she could be while Vision’s body left a dirt trail.

“Break.” Wanda breathed. Who knew an empty little spot of grass would be so inviting? “Sit.” You felt a small push and follow it down to the ground. You let your fingers grip the direr under them, the cool breeze making you sigh.

“Where-“ The sound of your voice startled both of you but she stayed still. “Where are we going?”

She said nothing, choosing to instead turn on her knees and pull Vision forward by the arms.

“When I was little-“ Wanda smiled to herself as she stared down at Vision. “- I use to dream about this field. Me and Peitro went past it everyday during the summer. It had all these small flowers growing.” You listen intently as she giggles, eyes losing focus as she is hit with the memory. “I always tried to sneak past the fence... but, I was alway stopped by someone.” Her mouth twitches and you feel the pulsing return in your neck. “It’s probably nothing but dirt now, like everything.”

“Where are we going, Wanda?” You try to keep your voice soft, afraid of ruining the small moment as you reached out for her but she was quick to stop you, hand glowing red and inches away from your face.

“Don’t.” She warns. You nod in silent apology.

“We’re not far from a road.” Wanda let’s her hand fall back to her side. “I want you go and call whoever you need to.” You’re almost startled when her control leaves fully from your body, it almost feels empty. “Tell them what I did, or don’t, I don’t care. I have what I want.”

“Wanda -“

“Please.” The crack in her voice makes tears pool in your eyes. “Just go.”

You stand on shaking legs. The world was spinning and you felt as though you had just gotten off a rollercoaster but you tried to steady yourself. Unsure of where to go, you turn to her once more for guidance and she simply points behind you.

Your conscious wouldn’t let you leave. Wanda was tired and you were afraid of leaving her alone. Regardless of what she did; you knew you couldn’t blame her, she had lost everyone.

In a way, so did you.

“I’m sorry about Vision.” Wanda looked up again and gave you a small nod. “About Pietro, about everyone. I wish it was different.”

“Me too, Stark.” She let her fingers wrap around your hand and squeezed. The warmth from the dock returned and you couldn’t help but give her a small grin of gratitude. “I meant what I said at the funeral.”

Both of you were so wrapped up in your own little bubble, you didn’t even question why the birds stopped.

————

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@white-wolf-buckaroo @y-napotat

All my stuff is open, and I’m always happy to hear from people so feel free to let me know what ya thought. I always get stuck halfway through writing but I hope it wasn’t too hard to read.

Next chapter will be fun.

#wandavison x reader #wandavision imagine #wanda maximoff imagine #stark!reader #tony stark x daughter!reader #teen!reader #daughter!reader #dark!wanda #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #Wanda vision