#his main weapon is a bat because he doesn’t want to kill anyone and tries to avoid going in the woods and running into wildlife | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ssahotchhner · 3 years

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hunter, hunted

i should not be so excited about this but i just discovered that when you copy and paste text into a new post tumblr FINALLY allows italics and bolded fonts to be transferred over so I don't have to remember to go through it and do it myself again i could literally CRY rn. ANYWAY I thought it would be fun to write a oneshot like the Profiler, Profiled where Morgan is accused of murder. i created an oc for this one and I hope you love April I've spent a lot of time with her the last couple of weeks (:

words: 13.4k

pairing: hotch x oc

warnings: detailed descriptions of murder and torture and sexual assault

questions comments concerns

“Where’s the weapon, April?”

It was almost laughable. A federal agent handcuffed in an interrogation room being questioned for murder in her small town while visiting a childhood friend. She shakes her head at the detective, laughing. “I carry a gun on me at all times because, as I said, I’m a federal agent. You have it in your possession already. If you want to test it to see if I’ve fired it recently, be my guest. You won’t find anything.”

“You’re right, we won’t find anything because Brandon Perry died from blunt force trauma to the head. So I’ll ask you again, where is the weapon?”

This time, April does laugh. Of course he wasn’t shot. That would be too easy. “You know what, Detective Barnes, if you hadn’t kicked my hotel door down in the middle of the night, handcuffed me and dragged me in here, I may have cooperated with the investigation, but here we are. So I’ll tell you again: my Unit Chief is SSA Aaron Hotchner. I won’t be answering any more questions until I can speak with him.”

The middle aged man glares at her until finally getting up and leaving her alone in the interrogation room. She rested her head on the table and hoped that maybe that stupid motherfucker would listen to her this time.

***

“Hunter has been detained in Bar Harbor, Maine.” Hotch tells the team in the conference room.

JJ frowns, “Isn’t that her hometown? Why has she been arrested?”

“For murder.” Hotch says. Before the team can react, he pulls up a picture of Brandon Perry’s body, “Brandon Perry was found yesterday by a fisherman just off the docks a week after he was released from prison on parole. He had been bludgeoned to death with some sort of blunt object, the M.E. suggests a baseball bat.”

“And why do they think April did this?” Spencer asks.

Hotch clicks a button and a picture of a couple brutally murdered in their bed, a little boy who’s throat had been slashed, and a little girl with brown hair and bright green eyes, alive and well filled the screen, “Because he was serving time for the murders of Addison, Jacob, and Timothy Hunter. April’s family.”

Everyone stares at the monitor in shock, “Her whole family was murdered when she was a kid… and she never mentioned it to us?” Penelope asks, her lower lip trembling.

“April was left relatively unharmed, but she had been sexually assaulted by the assailant. She said he was tall, but he had on a ski mask so she was never able to give solid identification.” Hotch finishes.

“So how’d they connect these murders to Brandon Perry?” Rossi asks.

“He was connected to a couple other home invasions and assaults nearby so he entered a plea deal. The local police were under a lot of pressure to close the case.”

“Breaking into homes to murdering almost an entire family is a big escalation.” Morgan says.

Hotch nods, “I thought so too.”

“April was just a kid,” Prentiss says, “And to go through a trauma like that, I’m sure she believed whatever the police fed her. And to see him be released from prison like that… I hate to say it, but it could have been the trigger.”

Penelope’s shaking her head, “No, no, you guys don’t really think April did this, do you?”

Everyone’s silent for a moment and then Morgan speaks, “Baby girl, if she’s innocent, we’ll prove it. But we can’t rule out the possibility that she did this just yet.”

“I know April hasn’t been here that long,” Garcia says, “But she is still a part of this family. You can all treat her like an unsub, but I won’t.” She finishes and marches out of the conference room.

Aaron sighs, “Wheels up in thirty.” He says resolutely before leaving the room.

***

Hotch walked into the police station, the team at his back and was greeted by a man about April’s age who introduced himself as Detective Fielder. “Detective, I’d like to speak to my agent.” Hotch demanded after shaking the man’s hand.

The man shrugged, “Sorry, sir. My partner’s in there with her. She’s stubborn as hell. I went to school with her, you know it’s a shame the way her family died but… must’ve knocked a screw loose or somethin’. She ain’t ever been the same.”

Aaron thought it over, killers had made their way into the bureau before. Not like this, though. Not under the nose of his whole team. April kept to herself, but she had joined this team less than a year ago, it would be overwhelming for anyone. “You misunderstand, detective. It wasn’t a request. Bring me to my agent.”

Reluctantly, the younger detective brought Hotch to the back of the station where he could already hear another man, older by the sounds of it, screaming at April.

She was staring back at him, her posture relaxed, looking more annoyed than anything. Hotch walked in and she relaxed further, only then letting on that she had been putting on a show of being unbothered for the detective, “Thank God.” April sighs, “I thought maybe they didn’t call you.”

“Are you alright?” He asks her first, unable to explain why hearing another man scream at you had made his blood boil.

“I’m fine,” She says and directs her attention back to the older detective, “Detective Barnes won’t even get me a water, though.”

“Detective Fielder, get April some water.” Hotch demands. He can feel the two men exchange a look behind him before the younger detective leaves the room. “Detective Barnes, uncuff my agent.”

“You can’t let her go, you don’t have jurisdiction here.” He growls.

“I’m not suggesting you let her go, but even if you’re right she committed a one off crime of revenge. She’s not a threat to anyone here. Uncuff her.” The detective glared at April who only smirked at him. “Now, detective.” Aaron said, firmer this time.

With a look of disgust on his face, the detective uncuffed a smiling April as detective Fielder came back in the room with a cup of water. “Thank you, Billy.” April said as the detective placed the cup in front of her. He ignored her completely.

“I’d like to speak to her alone.”

“Like Hell.” Detective Barnes spat.

“With all due respect, detective, it doesn’t appear that you’ve gotten much out of her. You’re welcome to watch through the window, but I will be questioning her. Clear the room.” They stared at each other for another few moments before the detectives both left the room. Hotch turned back to April whose entire demeanor changed. She sighed, relaxing her shoulders and slouching over the table as she rubbed at her wrists where the cuffs had been. The antagonizing behavior Hotch had just witnessed her exhibit completely vanished.

“You don’t help when you antagonize them like that.” Hotch says.

She shrugs, “The men in this town don’t like a woman who thinks she’s his equal. They never liked my attitude. They like it even less now that I outrank them. Either I act like the superior I am, even in cuffs, or they force me into submission.”

He sits down at the table across from her, “Why didn’t you tell me about your family? It wasn’t in your file.”

“Strauss knew.” April says, immediately defensive. She hadn’t lied, the bureau knew.

“But you didn’t want me or the team knowing, why?” She doesn’t answer him, just stares at her hands. “April, I can’t help you if I don’t know.” He says gently.

Finally she looks up and sighs, “When I was twelve my entire family was brutalized and murdered in front of me, but not before the unsub raped me in front of my parents. And I didn’t react the way the people of this town wanted me to. I was twelve and I was covered in semen when he left. So I showered before calling 911. I didn’t cry even once in front of anyone and I never spoke about what happened to anyone, not even the police. Only enough to tell them that I had no idea what he looked like, but I thought he was white.” Her eyes water just slightly and she doesn’t meet his eyes, “For the six years after the murders that I stayed in this town, I know a lot of people thought I did it. That I was some kind of psychopath. So no, I didn’t want it in my file.”

“You thought maybe we’d arrive at the same decision the town did.” Hotch opens the case file, “But you were never tried or even considered a real suspect. There was no physical evidence.”

She smiles sadly, “No physical evidence means nothing to a small town who’s rarely ever seen a scandal, and certainly nothing like this.”

He stares at her for a moment, “And so when Brandon Perry was released from jail, you thought he hadn’t suffered nearly enough so you came back up here and killed him.” April laughs and Hotch can see he’s made her feel antagonistic again, “This isn’t funny, April, you’re a suspect in a homicide.”

“No, Hotch, you don’t understand. It’s funny because I don’t even believe Brandon Perry killed my family and I haven’t believed that for a long long time. Which is why it would make no goddamn sense for me to kill him.”

“That’s bullshit!” The door bursts open and detective Barnes walks in.

“Detective--” Hotch stands as if to shield her and April nearly frowns at how protective he seems to be of her right now. She had seen him this way around the rest of the team, but never her.

“You told Detective Fielder when you were fifteen that you would kill that son of bitch yourself if he ever got out of jail.”

Hotch looks at April with a bit of annoyance, he hated when others had more information than him and from the second he walked in here she kept hiding things from him, not telling him the whole truth.

She lazily rolls her eyes and stares at Billy, “I was fifteen. I was angry. He cooperated with the police so he had the opportunity to get parole after fifteen years? Get his life back after I thought he had ruined mine? Yeah, I said some stupid shit, I think any kid would have.”

“When did you start to doubt that Brandon Perry had killed your family?” Hotch asks, but she’s still shooting daggers at the other detectives, “Agent, eyes here.” He says roughly, growing impatient with her.

Her eyes snap to his, “I used to lurk on support pages for people whose loved ones had been murdered and I remember seeing that this girl described… Almost exactly what had happened to my family, but she said it happened while Brandon was on trial here. She lived a couple towns over.”

“So what did you do?”

She shrugs, “Nothing, I was seventeen, I didn’t have any resources there was nothing I could do.”

Hotch sits down across from her again, leaning over the table so he’s closer to her, “You really expect me to believe, with the conviction you just said Brandon is innocent, that you didn’t look into this further?” She stays quiet and won’t meet his eyes, “I can have Garcia search your desk and computer if you’d rather do this that way.”

She leans back in her chair, rolling her eyes, “Jesus fucking Christ, I’m not a fucking criminal.”

“Then tell me what you know.” Hotch says, voice raised.

“Fine! I started volunteering at the police station so I could get access to files. I was good with the digital databases, but no one else was so they basically gave me free reign. I was able to find three similar cases, all within a couple years of each other but in different cities. One of them, he crossed into New Hampshire. All of the local police departments either arrested someone like Brandon or dismissed it as a one off crime and let it go cold. The files are in my desk drawer at the BAU.”

“You carried them with you all this time?”

She picks at the cuticles around her thumb, something Hotch noticed weeks ago she does when she’s nervous. “I thought… I thought about asking you guys to just look at the case a million times. See if you saw what I saw. And if you didn’t then maybe I could finally move on.”

“So why didn’t you ask?”

Her eyes dart around the room, to the detectives, the one way window, and then back to Hotch, “You guys, the team, you all have… This unbreakable bond and I… I barely just got here and I thought if I’d asked…” She sighs and runs her hands through her hair, “I just… I didn’t think you’d care.”

“The whole team flew out here at the drop of hat for you and you think we wouldn’t care?”

She frowns, “The whole team is here?”

“Yes.”

April sits back in her chair, looking dazed.

“Detectives, you’ll be releasing Agent Hunter from your custody now and since we have reason to believe there’s a serial killer loose and across state lines, we’ll be staying on the case.”

“You don’t really believe anything she’s saying, do you? She’s a psychopath!” Detective Barnes fumed.

Hotch stands and steps to the detective who immediately takes a step back after noticing Hotch’s menacing stance, “She is a federal agent and is no longer a suspect, you have no physical evidence and you just lost motive. You will speak to her with respect and if you don’t think you can handle that I’ll contact your superintendent and have you removed from the case. Is that clear?”

The detective stood back and out of their way, April looking at the ground so Hotch wouldn’t have to yell at her for antagonizing them again.

“What’s the history with you and Billy?” Hotch asks as they walk out of the room.

April rolls her eyes, “He was my high school boyfriend.”

“Oh,” Hotch muses, “You can do better.”

Before she can figure out if he was joking or not, the team realizes she’s walking of her own free will and they seem to all release the tension in their bodies. JJ walks to April first, pulling her into a hug before she can react.

April slowly raises her arms to hug JJ back, “I wish you had told us sooner.” Is all she says.

“I’m sorry you guys came all the way out here.” April addresses the team when JJ moves away from her.

“That’s okay, Hunter, we’re just glad to see you aren’t a murderer.” Morgan teases.

“We might actually be staying here for a while after all.” Hotch says.

Prentiss frowns, “Is there a case here?”

April opens and closes her mouth, “I-- Maybe.”

“Why don’t you call Garcia, ask her to get those files to everyone.” Hotch says to her quietly.

April nods and walks off.

“What’s going on, Hotch?” Rossi asks.

Hotch pushes his hands in his pockets, “The reason we were able to clear Hunter is because she has no motive. She doesn’t believe Brandon Perry killed her family and she hasn’t since she was a teenager.” He pauses, “She thinks the murders may be the work of a serial killer. She found three additional cases nearby, one crosses over to New Hampshire, that she believes are the work of the same unsub.”

Prentiss slowly nods, “And you want us to see if that’s true or not.”

Hotch nods, “I’m sure April would really appreciate our support.”

Everyone on the team is already nodding when April comes back, “So, as Penelope might say… Avengers assemble?” She asks hopefully.

Thankfully, they all laugh and nod, even Hotch cracks a smile, “Great.” April sighs in relief, “Let’s go to the conference room.”

With Garcia on a laptop screen, April tells them everything she knows, which admittedly, isn’t much. However, there are overwhelming similarities between the cases.

“Every family he chose was wife, husband, two kids. The eldest was the daughter all between the ages of 11-13 and in each case the daughter was raped and kept alive.” April was speaking as if she wasn’t speaking about herself and Hotch would be lying if he said it didn’t concern him. “In each case the parents were brutally tortured with a knife, forced to watch the rape and then killed with a fatal gunshot to the head. The boy was always killed first and it was always quick.”

“A mercy kill?” Reid muses.

April sighs, “I’ve never been able to figure that part out. It’s obvious he gets off on the rape and torture of the parents and daughter, but why not leave the boy alive the way he always leaves the daughter if it’s out of mercy?”

“It could be he thinks he’s sparing the boy the pain and trauma of having to go through the after effects of watching his parents and sister tortured.” Prentiss says.

“When all is said and done the daughter suffers the most psychologically.” Hotch says, “She could be the real target, maybe a surrogate for someone he knew.”

At this point, Hotch notices the way April is staring at the table, eyes unfocused, “Hunter,” Her eyes shoot up, “You must be exhausted, let me drive you back to the hotel so you can get some rest.”

“Hotch, I’m fine, I want to help.”

“No,” He says and she frowns, “If the daughter is the true target we’re going to have to dive deeper into victimology. Why he chose you. You don’t want to be here for that.”

Everyone’s quiet and deliberately looks away from April. She sighs, “Fine, but I’m coming back first thing in the morning.” She stands and walks out of the conference room without waiting for Hotch.

“Garcia, see what you can find about April’s childhood as well as the other victims and let us know if there’s any similarities.” Hotch says.

“It feels icky, but I’ll do it.” Garcia responds.

“I’ll be back.” Hotch addresses the rest of the team before heading after April.

They ride in silence for a few minutes, Hotch glancing over to the passenger seat every few seconds. “Whatever you want to say just say it.” April says, growing tired of the constant glances.

“You don’t have to keep working on this case like it’s any other case--”

“It’s not just any other case.”

“I know,” He says gently, “I’m worried about you. I know you bottle things up, showing emotion to other people makes you feel vulnerable, which in turn makes you feel weak. And I worry that the way you’re bottling up your rage is going to lead to you taking it out on--”

“I didn’t kill Brandon.” She says.

“I know you didn’t. But if we do find the real killer, I can’t let you come with us into the field until he’s been taken into custody.”

“Hotch--”

“It’s not up for discussion. I’m sorry.”

She sat back in the seat and crossed her arms over her chest and they continue on in silence for a while longer. “Do you think our unsub is also responsible for Brandon’s death?” Hotch felt guilty about upsetting her and thought maybe getting her brain back into work mode would stop her from giving him the silent treatment.

For a few moments he thinks she might continue to ignore him, but finally, she sighs, “It’s possible. If we think he gets off on the suffering of the daughters, he might be upset that I thought he had been caught. That I felt safe knowing he was behind bars. Killing Brandon after he was released could have been a message to me that he’s still out there and obviously following me.”

“You don’t feel safe anymore.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“It was implied.” Hotch pauses, “I can stay at the hotel with you, work with the team remotely from the room next to yours.”

He expects her to refuse, but instead she agrees. “Okay.” She says quietly. This only worries him more as she is typically unlikely to accept help unless he insists upon it.

They walk up to the hotel room in silence and Hotch stands behind her as she unlocks her door, “Hey,” He says softly and she turns, “Anything you need, anything at all, I’ll be right there.” He nods his head to the door next to them.

“Thank you.” She says, giving him a small smile before pushing the hotel door open and then quickly closing it behind her.

He stands there for a moment, staring at the space she was just standing in before sighing and going to his own room.

“How is she doing?” Rossi asks when he calls the team from his room to let them know he’ll be staying there.

“She won’t admit it, but she’s scared. She thinks he might be following her and that Brandon Perry was a message to her that he’s still out there.”

“That would make sense if we think the girls are the real targets.” Prentiss chimes in.

Hotch stays on the phone with them a little while longer before they all decide to head back to the hotel. He stares at the wall that separates him from April and tries to get his mind to quiet enough to rest. He’s right here. Nothing will hurt her if he’s right here. He thought about how just last week Rossi had teased him for catching him staring at April. He had nearly convinced Aaron to ask her out. But she was so distant and hard to read and he didn’t want to chance rejection. Eventually, he closes his eyes and drifts off, an image of you smiling at him on the backs of his eyelids.

***

April was exhausted, but she stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours. Small noises that she never thought twice about now startled her. Hotch is next door. She reminded herself. She thought about the comment he made about Billy: You could do better. Had he been… Flirting? Aaron Hotchner… Flirting? It felt absurd. Shaking the thought out of her head, she got up and poured herself some water from the Brita in the mini fridge. Finally, after drinking the water, she’s able to fall asleep.

The breeze against her face wakes her. Slowly blinking her eyes into consciousness, she notices the balcony doors are open. Those were closed when I fell asleep, She thinks to herself and shoots up in bed, scrambling for her gun as her heart races. April considers yelling to Hotch, but if he’s still here she doesn’t want to scare him off.

On the wall at the foot of her bed reads “Welcome Home” in what looks like blood. Under it sits her favorite childhood teddy bear, head ripped clean off. She tightens her grip on the gun in order to stop the shaking and then glances around the room, but there’s nothing. Then she slowly opens the bathroom door. Pointing her gun at the shower, the curtain moves. She doesn’t hesitate she fires off four rounds, breathing hard. She doesn’t hear a body fall. Reaching out she pushes the curtain, but no one’s there.

Seconds later, Hotch is calling her name, but he doesn’t wait for a response before kicking down the door. “Hunter?” He calls again and she thinks she might hear fear in his voice. Fear for her?

“I’m in the bathroom. You can put down your gun, it’s clear.” He appears behind her a moment later, still staring at the shower, “I thought he was still in here.”

She walks around him and back out to where he left the message, “He came in through the balcony, I— I thought I locked it…” She trails off, looking at the glass of water on the table and realizing she can’t remember when she fell asleep.

“What is it?” Hotch asks.

“He was in here before. I think he drugged my water.”

He narrows his eyes at her, “We should go to the hospital then, I’ll have the team come here and treat this as a crime scene.”

“I don’t need to go to the hospital, I’m fine—“

“We don’t know what he gave you or how much, besides, having you tested will tell us what he used faster than sending a sample of the water to Quantico.”

“Fine.” She agrees begrudgingly, he was right. She walks over to her bag of clothes and it’s only at this moment that she realizes she had worn only an oversized t-shirt to bed and Hotch was making a valiant effort not to stare at her legs.

“I’ll, um, I have to get dressed as well.” He says hurriedly, gesturing to the pajama pants he’s wearing. He leaves before she can say anything else. Under normal circumstances, April’s sure this would have made her laugh, but that teddy bear seems to be staring her down. She gets dressed and leaves the room without another glance.

***

April stares out the window of the SUV in silence while Hotch calls Rossi to fill him in on what happened so the rest of the team can start assessing her hotel room. When he hangs up, she feels his eyes darting between her and the road again.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks quietly.

She’s quiet for a moment and then she takes a shaky breath, “That teddy bear went missing from my room a couple weeks before the murders. It was my favorite.” She swipes impatiently at the tears that start falling, “I blamed Timmy for it, we fought about it for hours. He felt so bad that I was mad at him he used his birthday money to buy me another one. I really thought he took it.” She tilts her head back in the headrest, trying desperately to stop the impending sobs.

Hotch doesn’t say anything, but he reaches across the car to hold her hand. To her own surprise, she lets him, the calluses on his thumb rubbing reassuring circles on the back of her hand.

***

“What do you have, Garcia?” Hotch steps out of your examination room for a moment to accept the call.

“How is she?” Penelope asks first.

“She’s… shaken up. But, like everyone else on this team does an excellent job of seeming unaffected.”

She sighs, “My poor wonder woman. Anyway, I think I found the connection between all the daughters.”

“What is it?”

“Well, it turns out that our April was a very talented child. Her parents took her to talent shows regularly, she was voted ‘Most Likely To Make It To Hollywood’ in her middle school yearbook.”

Hotch frowns and looks back at April, “We’re talking about the same federal agent, right?”

“I know, sir, not much surprises me anymore, but this did. There’s videos of her singing all over the internet, she was on the local news, quite the young star.”

“And the other victims?”

“All singers, sir. Every last one.”

“Thanks, Garcia.”

He walks back into April’s room, “You used to be a singer.” He says.

She rolls her eyes, “So?”

“So all the other daughters were singers too.” She sets her jaw and won’t meet his eyes. She’s not surprised by this information. “Why didn’t you mention it?”

“I didn’t think it was relevant.”

“You didn’t think it was relevant that there was a connection between all of the victims?”

She sighs and she feels shame at his obvious disappointment, “I’m sorry. I’ve worked really hard to block it out, sometimes I honestly forget.”

“What else aren’t you telling me?”

She bites her lip and looks down at her hands, picking at the cuticles around her thumb again, “He made me sing while… While he raped me.”

“Is there anything else?”

“No. I swear.”

He stares at her for moment and she knows he’s trying to see if she’s lying. It makes her angry at him, but also at herself. Maybe Hotch had never been as fond of her as the others, but he had never distrusted her. Just another thing the unsub had taken from her. “What song did he make you sing?”

The question is so painful to think about that she visibly flinches, “Do you really need to know that?”

“You know I do.” He says softly.

She looks away from him again, back to the cuticle on her thumb that she’s made bleed, “Like A Virgin by Madonna.”

He places his hand over hers again and she finds it almost alarming the way his touch seems to immediately calm her. “April, we won’t stop until we find him. I promise.”

She gives him a teary smile, “Will you stay with me?”

He smiles back at her, giving her a hand a slight squeeze and his smile takes her breath away, “I’ll be glued to your side until this case is over.”

***

A couple hours later they had found out that there was a classic date rape drug in April’s system: Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB. The drug is usually prescribed for narcolepsy, but it was most often obtained illegally from Mexican pharmacies which they assumed was how the unsub got it.

“I’m bringing you back to the police station so you can stay with me and the team like I promised, but you don’t have to keep working the case.” Hotch says as he drives.

“Funny that you think you can stop me from working the case.”

He smirks a bit and brings his attention back to the road.

“What do you guys have for a profile so far?” He looks over at her, frowning. “What? I know you guys have been working while I’ve been reliving my trauma so what’ve you got?”

“White male, when he murdered your family he was probably in his twenties so now we’re guessing mid thirties to early forties. The torture is consistent with a sadist. Killing an entire family is an incredibly high risk crime which suggests he’s a narcissist, but also very organized. He’s able to control four people at once without much difficulty and he’s never left a shred of physical evidence behind except on the daughters. This means he’s arrogant and--” Hotch cuts himself off.

“What?”

“You said you showered before calling 911. Why?”

“I… I told you he left… He left his semen all over me, I was just a kid, I wanted a shower--”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“No, that doesn’t make any sense. Yes, you were traumatized, but every kid has it hardwired in their brain that as soon as something bad happens the first thing they do is call 911.”

“Okay, well I didn’t.”

He presses some buttons on the console of the car and then Garcia’s voice is coming through the speaker, “At your service, sir.”

“Garcia, in any of the family murders, was there a rape kit done on any of the daughters?”

“Well, surely there must have been-- Oh. No, no rape kits, not on any of them.”

“Does a police report tell you why?”

“I’m checking… and…” There’s a sigh from Penelope.

“What is it, Garcia?”

“All of them showered before calling 911.”

April is already shaking her head, “No, no that can’t be right.”

“Did any of them report why they showered before calling for help?”

“Most of them, like April, just reported that they felt icky and needed to shower, but the first one, the very first victim Katie Yates, she reported that the unsub made her shower. Like, held her at gunpoint, marched her to the bathroom, and watched. Once he was satisfied with how clean she was, he left while she was still in the shower.”

“That’s not what happened,” April says quietly, her eyes closed.

“Thank you, Garcia.” Hotch says and hangs up the phone before she can respond, “April--”

“No.” She says fiercely, “I’m telling you that’s not what happened.”

“Every other aspect of the crime is controlled and calculated, he wouldn’t make the mistake of leaving DNA all over his victims--”

“I would remember that if he did--”

“No,” Hotch says gently. He had pulled into the police station now, putting the car in park, “No, because you didn’t want to remember. Just that one memory, that one you wanted so badly to believe was your own. That he wasn’t there for the shower. But he was, wasn’t he?”

“Please stop.” She said breathlessly.

“I’m sorry.” He sounds sincere and he puts his hand over hers, “Look at me.” She doesn’t obey immediately so he reaches up to grip her chin and gently turn her face to his. Her eyes are shining and her breathing is uneven, but his eyes are soft and she has the absurd urge to rest her forehead against his. “He can’t hurt you anymore. You’re safe.”

She nods and swallows. “I need you to walk me through exactly what happened after the rape.” He continues. Her lip trembles, but she nods again. “Okay, close your eyes.”

“Hotch--” She whimpers.

“I’m right here. I’ll be here the whole time. You know how this goes. Close your eyes.” She takes a shaky breath and closes her eyes. “Good. He’s on top of you still. He’s just finished. Tell me what you feel, what you hear.”

“Um. I’m crying. I can hear my parents crying. His weight on me is making it hard to breathe.” She starts panicking, her breathing quickens.

“April, focus. He’s not here. You’re safe. What about your hands, what are you touching?”

“The carpet. I’m on the floor in the basement.”

“Can you see your parents?”

“Yes,” She gulps, “But I’m trying not to look at them. It’s humiliating.”

“Okay. Now what is he doing?”

“He… He kisses my neck and whispers in my ear ‘Thank you for the show’ and then he stands up.” Her breathing quickens, “He’s walking to my parents, I don’t want to watch, he’s going to kill them, Hotch--!”

“Okay, okay, come back. Open your eyes. I’m here.” His hands come up to cradle her face. She should be startled by her boss touching her like this, but she’s oddly comforted.

Her breathing finally slows, “I’m tired.” She says softly.

“I know. We’re almost done. Close your eyes again, you can do this.” His hands stay on her face as she closes her eyes again, “Okay. Your parents are dead. What does he do now?”

“Uh, I’m screaming. He’s looking at me and laughing and then he grabs my arm and pulls me up from the floor. I struggle and he puts the gun to my head and says if I don’t calm down he’ll blow out my brains like he did my parents. And then… He walks me up the stairs to the bathroom…” Her breathing becomes rapid again, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Yes you can.” Hotch’s voice is low and soothing. He believes in you, she thinks to herself, if he thinks you can do this, you can.

“He turns on the shower. I’m already naked and once I’m in the shower he starts undressing.” Silent tears stream down her cheeks and she’s distantly aware of Hotch gently wiping them away with the pads of his thumbs. “He comes in the shower. He’s touching me. I’m begging him to stop. Oh, God.”

“April, stay there. He’s undressed, he’s taken the mask off, do you recognize him?”

She’s shaking her head, “I can’t… I can’t look.”

“The water’s hitting your skin, his hands are on you--”

“Stop.”

“Look up, April.”

Despite herself, she listens. She’s in that shower, significantly smaller than she is now, and she looks up to see blue eyes looking down at her. Shaggy brown hair nearly covers them, especially now that it’s wet. He has a smirk on his face and crooked front teeth. There’s a tattoo on his right arm of a cross.

“Okay, okay that’s enough, you did it.” Hotch’s voice pulls her back out and she becomes aware of the car that’s still around them and the fact that she’s sobbing. “You’re okay. You’re safe. You did so good.” She falls forward in his arms and after a moment of hesitation he wraps his arms around her, holding her until her breathing settles. It takes him a moment to realize that anyone could look in the SUV and find him in a seemingly compromising position with his subordinate and he pulls away. To his shock, she seems to look disappointed. “You ready to go inside?”

“Yeah.” She says and without another word, she gets out of the car. Hotch can’t deny that he feels like he’s done something wrong as he watches April walk into the station.

When April walks in the station, her whole team cranes their heads to watch her, but she heads straight for the coffee without looking at anyone. Hotch files in soon after.

“Is she okay?” Reid asks, the rest of the team waits for his answer.

“I just gave her a cognitive interview, I’m sure she’s upset.”

“Did you learn anything?” JJ asks.

“Yeah,” Hotch nods, “She remembers what he looks like and she identified a tattoo on his right arm.”

“We should have Garcia run that, see if we can get an ID.” Morgan says.

“Call a sketch artist as well.” Hotch looks up at where April was standing just a few moments ago to see her gone, “Excuse me.”

***

April’s hands shake so hard as she tries to pour the coffee she ends up putting it down in frustration. “Need some help?” She turns to see Billy, standing there smirking at her.

Sighing, she stands back and gestures for him to go ahead. He steps in to pour the coffee, “Pretty elaborate ruse you got going on, staging a break in at your hotel room with that teddy bear.”

She stares at him in disbelief, “You still think I did this?”

“I think,” He says, handing her a cup of coffee, “That you’re impulsive and you went to confront Brandon and you didn’t mean to kill him, but you did and now this is all to cover everything up.”

“Oh,” She scoffs and starts walking away from him, “You are delusional and a dick.”

He follows April into another room and closes the door behind them, “Open the door.” She says when she realizes she’s shut in.

“You and your stupid FBI team are making this whole police force look bad, you need to drop the investigation.”

“The cases cross state lines, we have jurisdiction.”

“Yeah, you would have jurisdiction if there was a real case, but there isn’t. You’re a pathological liar and you can’t even see it. Brandon Perry murdered your family and raped you and just can’t let it go.”

“You’re a sick son of a bitch,” She walks around him to the door, but he turns quickly and places his palm against the door, slamming it shut again. “Let me out.” She says slowly.

“I’ll let you out when you promise me that you’re going to march out there and tell them that you’ve been lying this whole time and then march your pretty ass back to D.C.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll arrest you for the murder of Brandon Perry.”

“You have no evidence.”

“Oh, April, April, April. I know you know what a coerced confession is here. And I also know that you know a jury of your peers here in Maine would send you to prison for less.”

There’s a sharp knock on the door and Billy finally steps away. When she opens it, Hotch is on the other side, “Everything okay in here?”

“Just fine, Agent Hotchner. Isn’t that right April?” Billy says and grabs a strand of her hair, twirling it around his finger and tugging, exactly like he used to when he sat behind her in middle school.

April slaps her hand on his wrist and twists his arm around until he yells. “You lay a hand on me or threaten me again, I will make sure you don’t have a career here anymore. Understood?”

“You can’t--” He starts, but she twists his arm further.

“Am I clear?” She says again.

“Alright, fine!”

She shoves him away and he stumbles, nearly falling to the floor as April storms out, Hotch still standing in the doorway, watching Billy.

“I told you,” Billy says, pushing himself to standing, “She’s a crazy bitch.”

“Detective, let me make myself very clear. If you continue to harass my agent or impede on this investigation in any way, not only will I make sure you never have a career in law enforcement again, I will arrest you for obstructing a federal investigation.”

Billy shakes his head, “She’s got you all wrapped around her finger.”

“And I think your boss has you wrapped around his finger. He’s the one who arrested Brandon Perry. Seems like he would have a lot more to lose if he was wrong than you would.”

“He wasn’t wrong.”

“Then let us conduct the investigation. If it leads back to Brandon Perry, then so be it.”

“You really think she’d accept that?”

“If the evidence led us there, she would. Now stay out of our investigation if you value your job.” Hotch leaves without giving him time to respond and then tries to find April.

“Are you alright?” He asks when he finds her. She’s sitting alone at a conference table.

“I’m fine, Billy’s just an asshole.”

“There’s more to your relationship than you told me to begin with.”

She frowns, “What are you talking about?”

“You said you came up here to visit a friend. Who were you visiting?”

“I’m tired of being interrogated--”

“The reason Billy is so sure you killed Brandon Perry is because you were with him that night and then you left suddenly, isn’t it?”

April sighs and looks down at the table, “Hotch, I appreciate everything you’re doing to help, but who I was with and what I was doing that night doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t kill Brandon so please just drop it.”

He shakes his head and he looks almost frustrated with April, but that doesn’t make any sense. Why would he care so much about her relationship with Billy? “I don’t understand why you would waste your time on a cop like that, look at what a mess it put you in.”

She frowns, “With all due respect, sir, it’s really not your business who I’m sleeping with.”

“Why did you leave that night if you didn’t kill Brandon?”

She scoffs, “I can’t believe this.”

“Answer the question.”

She was angry with him. Practically bursting at the seams with rage. Just like every other man, thinking he’s entitled to everything about her. They all disappointed her in the end. “Billy and I had a fight and I wanted to be alone.”

“What was the fight about?”

“He wanted to be an official couple again. I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

She tilts her head to the side, “Just because I’m a good fuck doesn’t mean he gets to claim me. Like you said, he’s just a stupid cop and I could do better. Now will you leave me alone?”

April recognized that look in his eyes: He was jealous. Aaron Hotchner was jealous that she had a sexual relationship with another man. And suddenly her anger evaporated and was replaced by desire. She supposed she did always have a thing for older men which she was sure a profiler would say had to do with her dead dad. Either way, she sent a smoldering glare his way until he left her alone.

When he left, she rested her head on the table in exhaustion and didn’t notice Emily had approached until she heard the seat in front of her being pulled out. She raises her head and manages a smile, “Hi.”

“How are you doing?” She asks.

“Better now that you’re here, I’m tired of all the men around here.”

She laughs, “Good. Well, the sketch artist is here and I’m sad to report that he is a man.” April groans. “But, I will stay with you if you want and then I think we’re all going to work through the night, but Hotch was talking about bringing you back to the hotel to get some rest. It sounds like you had a rough day.”

“Yeah,” She sighs, “Cognitive interviews are the worst.”

As promised, Emily sits with her while she talks to the sketch artist and Hotch walks over not long after. When it’s finished, Emily gives your hand a squeeze and leaves with the sketch to pin to the evidence board.

“You should get some rest, I’ll take you back to the hotel now.” Hotch says, hands in his pockets. It was intriguing to her that he could act like he didn’t just ask about her sex life only an hour ago.

“I can’t sleep in that room again.”

“You can sleep in mine. I’ll sleep on the floor,” He adds quickly upon seeing the look on her face.

She sighs, “You don’t have to sleep on the floor, just don’t touch me.”

“Won’t be a problem.” And with the indifference in his tone, she thought maybe she had actually imagined everything earlier.

“Great.” She murmurs and gets up to walk out first.

Hotch stays behind for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose and Rossi comes up behind him, “You picked a terrible time to start giving her hints about the way you feel, Aaron.”

“We’re trying to solve a case about her family’s murder and all I can think about is how pissed off it makes me to know that she’s been sleeping with someone else.”

“You’re human.”

Hotch just shakes his head and walks away.

***

“Daddy driving you home?”

The voice behind April makes her jump, her hand flying automatically to her gun.

“Woah, it’s just me April.” Billy laughs, leaning up against the station building, “You really are on edge, lately, huh? A sign of guilt or genuine fear?”

She could strangle him right here, she thinks. But instead, she reigns in her temper and leans against the wall next to him, “What about your daddy, huh? Haven’t seen him here all day. Is he too busy making wrongful arrests?”

Billy scoffs, “Yeah, and how’s your stupid little profile going? Did you find the real killer yet?”

She sighs, “You cops are all the same, think your old fashioned police work is better than profiling.”

Billy looks like he’s about to respond, but Hotch walks through the door just then, “There’s daddy, you better hurry up and get in the car like a good girl.”

Hotch barely registers what Billy’s said before April launches herself at him, fists flying. He immediately reacts, grabbing her arms, “Hunter, hey, hey! That’s enough! Get in the car.” He says sternly.

She shakes him off, but walks to the car all the same.

“Fucking bitch.” Billy mutters, drawing Hotch’s attention back to him.

“Detective, I thought I made myself clear that you were to stay away from my agent and out of my case.”

Billy steps up, eye to eye with Hotch, “This is my station, agent. Back off.”

Hotch stares him down for a few more moments, “The superintendent will be hearing from me tomorrow, at the very least you’ll be getting suspended. Maybe now’s a good time for you to clean out your desk.” And then he turns and walks back to the SUV, ignoring Billy’s curses behind him.

Once Hotch is in the SUV and starts driving away, he starts talking to April, “When you’re out in the field you represent me, you represent the team, and the whole bureau. You can’t just--”

“I don’t need a lecture right now.”

He’s surprised to hear tears in her voice and it softens him immediately, “April, I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you today.”

“You’ve only done what you need to do to solve the case, you shouldn’t apologize.”

“No, no, I… I shouldn’t have questioned you about Billy earlier. You were right, it’s none of my business.”

“It’s fine.” She says. First indifference, now an apology. Maybe she really had imagined everything. “I just want to sleep.”

***

Hotch works for a while by the light of the lamp when you get into bed, poring over the case files again and again, trying to figure out if they had missed anything. He’s pretty sure April is actually sleeping and once he’s sure he can’t get any more work done, he turns off the lamp and gets ready for bed.

He slips in the bed as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake her, but there’s the smallest moan that escapes her lips when the mattress shifts. A moment later, she turns over, still in sleep and slings her arm over his chest, sighing contentedly as she rests her head on his chest. Hotch freezes, unsure of how to react before slowly wrapping his arms around her in return. Her shampoo smells like peaches and vanilla and he breathes it in deeply knowing in the morning she’ll pretend this never happened.

***

When April wakes up and finds herself in Hotch’s arms, legs tangled under the sheets, she does her best not to panic. With the way they were positioned, it was clear she had initiated this which was all the more embarrassing. Lucky for her though, she doesn’t have to figure out her next move because his phone rings. She pretends to be asleep as he slowly comes to wakefulness and reaches for his phone.

“Hotchner.” His voice is husky from sleep and it sends a thrill through her and she imagines for a moment what it would be like if Aaron Hotchner was hers. Then she hears Billy’s voice in her head calling him her daddy and the moment sours.

“Okay.” He says after a few moments, “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

He ends the call and sets the phone back on the nightstand, but to her surprise, he doesn’t immediately wake her. “Are you awake?” He whispers after a few moments and she tries not to balk.

“Mmm.” Is all she manages and she keeps her eyes closed, not sure she can meet his eyes like this.

“They’ve, um… Another family was killed last night.” He tries to say it as gently as possible, but she shoots up in bed anyway, “The daughter was killed as well this time.”

She’s shaking her head, “No… No, that can’t be. She has to… She can’t be dead.”

“It’s probably a message to you.” Hotch says calmly.

She scoffs, “That’s great. A whole family’s dead because of me.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“Oh, like hell it isn’t.” She says, climbing out of bed and pulling on her jeans. She doesn’t fully realize who she’s getting dressed in front of until Hotch tries to subtly avert his eyes. “I should’ve solved this case years ago. I’ve known it was serial for a while. I could have saved them.”

“You know as well as I do that thinking like that isn’t helpful for anyone.” He says, following her lead and getting dressed in front of her. The fact that they’re both acting like nothing out of the ordinary has taken place between them makes everything somehow even more intimate.

She sighs, “Let’s just get over there.” And she walks into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

***

April can feel the bile rising in her throat as her team mills around the crime scene. She’s crouched next to the girl, Layla, whose throat had been slit. She had also been stabbed too many times to be counted by the naked eye. Her eyes stared blankly ahead, but April could see the fear there. He had left her here, in front of her parents’ bodies, naked. “He went through the entire ritual, even the shower, then brought her back down here and killed her.”

“He’s always been very controlled and organized, but this last kill is full of rage.” Prentiss notices.

April frowns as she looks at Layla’s throat and notices that it almost seems to be bulging, “I think there’s something in her throat.” She pulls on her latex gloves while everyone crowds around her and then gently prys the girl’s jaw open. Reaching in, her fingers brush what feels like crumpled paper at the back of her throat and April pulls it out. Heart racing, she smooths it open.

Welcome home, April. I’d like to see the woman I’ve created. Arrive alone at the place where we first met, 20:00.

Everyone was silent as April read the note over and over after reading it aloud the first time. The word “alone” had been underlined several times. There was no threat attached to it, but April knew it was one all the same.

“We’ll have to call SWAT and let them know, we’ll also have to prepare the local police--”

“No.” April cut off Hotch, “You can’t be serious, he said to come alone.”

“April, his end game is clearly to kill you, if you go there by yourself you won’t come back out. And I already told you you’re not allowed to handle the arrest.”

“This is our one shot to get him,” Her eyes water, “This family died because of me--”

“Hunter--”

“Stop.” The tears fall down her cheeks and he wants to brush them away like he had the day before. “I won’t let this happen again, I’m going to see him by myself.”

“At least go in with a wire, we’ll stay a safe distance away.” Morgan bargained.

She shifts her attention to Morgan, to her team who are all looking at her sadly. Concern dripping heavy from their limbs. “No SWAT.” She insists, “Just this team.”

Hotch sighs and rubs a hand over his face, “You’re sure you can handle this?”

She wasn’t, but she nods anyway.

“Fine.” Is all he says before walking away.

***

Aaron is conscious of her eyes on him as he helps her put the wire on, “You steer the conversation away from yourself when you’re in there. Don’t let your guard down for a second. He’s going to try to get in your head, blame you for what he’s done. Don’t let him, just feed his ego and then call us when you’ve got him. Okay?”

“Yeah.” She says quietly.

He finishes putting the wire on and leans away from her in the surveillance van, “I can go in with you.” He says, giving it one last shot.

“No.”

He nods resolutely, “Promise me you’ll walk out of there alive.” She avoids meeting his eyes, “April.”

Finally she locks her eyes to his, “I’m scared.” She says, and her voice shakes.

It’s the first time he’s heard her admit it. He’d known she felt it, but she’d never admitted it. “Listen to me.” He says firmly, “You are not the twelve year old girl he knew. You’re stronger than him. You can do this.”

She takes a deep breath and nods, moving around him to exit the van.

“Be careful.” He says one last time and he thinks maybe she’s aware of just how worried he is about her, his eyes full of concern.

She gives him a small smile before turning away and walking down the street, rounding the last block to her childhood home, the house she hadn’t entered again since the murders. The town was small and since everyone knew what had happened there, it had never been sold.

April stands just outside the house for a minute, hand hovering just above her gun, trying to get both hands to stop shaking. Hotch believes in you. She reminds herself, recalling his words in the van. She can do this.

She’d been avoiding thinking about all his touches in the last few days. The way his rough, callused fingers felt so gentle on her face when she cried. The way he’d wrapped his arms around her in sleep, almost protectively. The way when he woke to answer his phone this morning he had absently stroked her shoulder. Did they mean anything to him or was he just an overworked, touch starved man, desperate for any sort of attention, even from her.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she headed for the door, raising her gun as she approached. The door was already slightly ajar and she pushed it lightly with the pads of her fingers. Carefully, she cleared each room, heart ricocheting against her rib cage, though she already knew where he’d be waiting for her.

After they had found the last family, Garcia had been able to ID the killer based on the sketch and the tattoo as Allen Grey. He had the usual tough past, abusive father and mother, grew up in poverty. His parents died when he was still young and his older sister was left to take care of him, and she then continued the cycle of abuse, escalating to sexual assault. It explained the mercy for the young boys and torture of the eldest daughters, but April couldn’t bring herself to feel sympathy for him.

She stood at the top of the basement stairs, could already see the lights on down there and could hear Madonna’s Like a Virgin playing on vinyl. April hated the way her body reacted, the way everything in her was telling her to run. She was a federal agent for Christ’s sake, she took down killers like this one all the time. He was no different, she tried to assure herself, he was just like the rest. And then she steeled herself, brought her gun back up in front of her at eye level, and began descending the stairs.

“There you are! Welcome home, April!” Allen says cheerfully as you point the gun at him, “Now, now, come on, I don’t have a weapon,” He raises his hands, “Why don’t you holster that gun, Agent Hunter.” He had an arrogant smirk on his face.

Tears stung the corners of her eyes and her finger flexed on and off the trigger, wanting so bad to just pull it and be done with it. But she knew her team was listening and this was exactly why Hotch hadn’t wanted her in the field for this. She lowered her weapon and put it back in her holster.

“That’s better. Why don’t you have a seat?” He gestured to the worn out table and chairs, “Let’s have a drink. Talk.”

She swallowed thickly, “No thank you.” She managed.

“No, come on now, April. We have to catch up!”

“Why did you bring me here?”

He smiles at her again and comes closer to her. Slowly, he pulls a knife out of his pocket and brings it up for her to see. She balks, but he quickly grabs her from the back of her neck to keep her steady and runs the knife gently over her face. “You were always so clever, April.” She keeps eye contact with him, doing her best not to show any fear. “So pretty and smart. I only followed you, after, you know? You were… number two, I believe. I chased the high I got with you with everyone after, but none of them were the same.”

“Is that why you stopped for a while after the fourth family?”

He nods, “Like I said, you were always so smart. And then I saw how you became obsessed with people like me, went to college to study criminal justice, always thinking about me. Joined the FBI because you were so obsessed with me, weren’t you, little April?”

She wanted to spit in his face, but she remembered what Hotch said about feeding into his ego, “They say you never forget your first.” She says cooly, almost seductively.

It works, an arrogant smile twists its way up his face and he pockets the knife. “All I ever wanted was to find you,” She says, slipping into character, “See those blue eyes again. I dream about them every night.” None of these statements are lies, but the tone she takes when delivering them, the sweetness she adds to it, the act she puts on makes bile rise in her own throat.

“I knew it.” He says, looking at her with newfound desire, “We’re soulmates, you know?” His words are gentle, but he grips her by the hair again and pulls, exposing her neck. “Let’s run away together, baby.”

“Okay.” She says softly, “I’m ready.”

Hotch is already ordering the team to go in, jumping out of the back of the van with Morgan. Through his earpiece, he listens closely to you. He can hear your fear in the way you’re breathing, but he’s not sure Allen is picking it up from you.

When she agrees to go with him, he spins her and shoves her against a wall, her head painfully bouncing off the cement. He laughs as she winces and then leans in to kiss her throat, “Are you going to tell your team to leave us alone?” He reaches under her shirt where the wire is and yanks it off her. “April, April, April. My clever, clever girl. You had to know I would have expected you not to come by yourself.”

He pushes himself off her and walks to the table, reaching under it and pulling out a gun that he had taped there earlier.

April’s jaw tenses as he raises the gun to point it at her head, “You won’t kill me.” She says smoothly, though she’s not sure she believes it herself.

“No,” He cocks the gun and turns slightly to aim towards the doorway, “But if Aaron Hotchner walks through that doorway I’ll kill him.”

She does her best to betray nothing, but a muscle in her jaw jumps involuntarily and he narrows his eyes at her, “Yeah, I thought you liked him.”

“I care about everyone on my team.” She says stiffly.

He shakes his head, “No. Don’t forget April, I’ve been watching you. I know your weaknesses as I’m sure you know mine and the past few days here I’ve noticed the way you look at Agent Hotchner when you think he’s not looking. But he always notices because he’s always aware of you, even when he tries his hardest not to be. So, April, I’ll give you one chance,” He hands the wire back over to her, “Tell Aaron to back off.”

Reluctantly, she takes the wire from him. “Hotch,” She breathes, “Stand down.”

Hotch holds a hand up to the team on the outside, signaling them to stand down, though he can barely hear past the roaring in his ears.

“There,” Her voice comes in his earpiece again, “Are you happy now?”

“I’ll be happy when he hears me kill you and knows there’s nothing he can do to stop it.”

“I thought we were running away together.”

“You think I can’t tell when you’re playing me?”

“No, I know you can’t tell when I’m playing you.” Something in April had unlocked when Allen threatened Hotch. Threatened her team. And she knew Hotch could hear them and though she had told him to stand down, he was trying to figure out another way to get to her. He wouldn’t stop until she was out of there, whether it ended with both her and Allen in body bags or Allen in cuffs. But she wouldn’t let it come to that.

“Since you’ve been watching me my whole life, you know the entire town thought I killed my own family and that I lied about the whole thing. Do you know why they thought that? Because they saw in me what my team sees in people like you.” She walks up to him, and though every instinct screams to run, she instead places a hand on his chest, “That night… you made me into you. So no, Allen,” It’s the first time she uses his name and she relishes the shock that lights in his eyes, “You can’t tell when I’m playing you.” Capitalizing on his surprise, she disarms him the way Morgan has drilled into her over and over, quickly slamming his wrist into the nearest surface and catching the gun when he releases his grip. Faster, she takes a step back from him and draws her gun as well, now pointing two weapons at him, “And I think you’ve overplayed your hand, babe.”

He raises his hands and now there’s genuine fear in his eyes, “April--”

“I’d like you to very slowly remove the knife from your pocket and toss it to the floor and if you even think about launching it at me, just know that I am a very good shot and I have been dreaming about killing you every day since I was twelve, don’t tempt me.” Her voice shakes, but this time not from fear, but from anger that she’d harbored close to her chest since the man who stood in front of her stole everything from her.

As Allen slowly does as he’s told, April hears footsteps on the stairs and is relieved when she spots another gun trained on Allen in her peripheral. Morgan begins to walk to Allen, but April stops him, “No.” She says, “I want to do it.”

He nods and redraws his gun, backing away. She holsters her own weapon and hands Allen’s gun back to Hotch without looking at him. Drawing cuffs from her pocket, she walks behind Allen who has managed to get a smirk back on his face. The sight breaks something in her and she roughly shoves him against the wall, feeling satisfaction at his grunt of pain when his face collides with the cement. She tightens the cuffs a bit more than necessary and begins stating his rights to him as she marches him up the stairs.

“I’m going to be a legend, you know? They’ll make all these dateline documentaries about me and the families I’ve killed.” He’s smiling still as April shoves him in the backseat of Billy’s police car. She’s trying not to think about the fact that he showed up here.

“Prisoners don’t look too fondly on those among them who kill and rape children, Allen, and I’m going to make sure that whatever cell block you rot in knows exactly what you’ve done. Have a nice life.” And she slams the car door.

Billy’s watching her as she does so, “I’m sorry.” He says simply.

April sighs, “I don’t care.” She says without looking at him and then walks away.

Hotch is watching her, arms crossed and frowning deeply. She stops in front of him, tilting her head to the side and noticing the concern written all over his face as he sizes her up, “Thank you for backing off when I asked you to. I know that was hard for you.”

He simply pushes himself off the car that he was leaning against and pulls her to his chest. She feels surprised for a moment, but then wraps her arms around his waist in return, breathing him in, focusing on his touch rather than Allen’s. And when the sobs begin to wrack her body, he just holds her tighter. He knows the rest of the team is watching and maybe he’ll have to explain this later, the way he rests his head on top of hers to reassure himself as much as her, but he doesn’t much care. He’d been fairly certain she was going to die in there and he’d never have the chance to tell her how he really felt.

Hotch drives back to the hotel with her sleeping in the passenger seat. The medics had checked her out and concluded that she didn’t really have any injuries, but his heart had nearly shattered in his chest when April asked if there was any way they could refill her sleeping medication. They had been unable to, but decided to give her a few doses of ambien anyway, to last her until she could call her prescriber back in DC.

“You can take as much time off as you need when we get back.” He had said as they climbed in the SUV, his too big FBI jacket wrapped tightly around her shoulders as she immediately popped the ambien in her mouth.

“I don’t need to take time off.” Was all she said before she curled herself in a tiny ball, facing the car door, and fell asleep only minutes later.

Now, he pulled into the hotel parking lot, rain falling gently against the windows and debated whether he should wake her. “April.” He said softly, gently shaking her shoulder.

“Mmm.” She murmurs and her eyes flutter. Still straddling the line between sleep and wakefulness, seeing Hotch’s face above hers prompts a small smile. “Aaron.” She says softly and reaches her hand up to touch his face.

Hearing her use his first name so tenderly sends a jolt through him, but he reminds himself that she’s sedated, albeit lightly, from the ambien. “Do you think you can walk up to the hotel room?”

She nods sleepily and he quickly gets out of the car to help her out of the other side, pulling the hood of his jacket over her head to shield her from the rain. She walks slowly because of the drug, but he doesn’t mind. And when she slides her hand down to his to intertwine their fingers, he doesn’t mind that either. When they get to the hotel room she wordlessly strips down to her underwear and climbs into bed.

He stares at her for a while, unsure if she would want him in the bed or not, and decides it’ll be safest to sleep on the couch. He begins taking some cushions off the couch when he hears her voice, “Aaron?” There was his name again. He wasn’t sure why hearing her say it had him coming undone, but he wanted her to repeat it over and over again.

“Yes?”

“Why won’t you come to bed?”

He opens and closes his mouth a couple times before responding, “I was going to sleep on the couch.” She’s quiet for too long and he thinks she must’ve fallen asleep so he turns back to the couch.

“I don’t want to sleep alone.” Her voice is so quiet, he wonders if he imagined it. But when he turns back to the bed, she’s watching him, eyes full of sadness and what he thinks might also be desire. He can’t say no to her. She continues watching him as he takes off his clothes, first unbuttoning his shirt. She watches him carefully, no traces of shyness and he tries his best not to let on the way her attention affects him. He undoes his belt buckle and then pulls off his pants before walking to the bed, pushing the sheets aside, and climbing in.

She turns to him and brings their faces close enough that just another inch would have them rubbing noses together. “Why have you been so nice to me this whole case?”

It’s not what he was expecting her to say and he frowns, “It was a tough case for you that brought back a lot of trauma, why wouldn’t I be nice to you?”

She shrugs, “I know you’ve never liked me the way you like the rest of the team--”

“That’s not true--”

“Aaron.” He wonders if maybe she’s caught on to the way saying his name affects him as his mouth closes immediately, “I’m not stupid, I haven’t been here nearly as long as the others and I certainly never open myself up in front of them the way the rest of you do. It’s not anyone’s fault, I’m just… Not a part of the family. But this case… You treated me the way you would treat Reid, JJ, Morgan, Prentiss… Any of them. Why?”

“The second you join this team you’re a part of this family and I’m sorry we made you feel otherwise.”

She rolls her eyes and turns her head to look at the ceiling, “Would you have shared a bed with any of them?”

Heat floods his face and he’s glad she’s not looking at him. “No.” He says and he’s sure his voice, thick with desire has betrayed him.

But April only nods, still staring at the ceiling, “Is it just because you’re lonely?”

It’s then that he realizes what she’s getting at. He hears the vulnerability in her voice, the fear there. She thinks she’s not good enough for him and it breaks his heart even further. “April, look at me.” She manages to turn her head to him and her eyes are glassy. “You have shown the last few days how incredibly resilient, intelligent, and just amazing you are. You can’t really think that the only reason I keep reaching for you is because I’m lonely.”

She smiles sadly, “You wouldn’t be the first.”

A lesser man would’ve taken this personally, perhaps groan about how she could think so little of him, but Aaron was different. He understood what she’d been through, that he could have been Superman himself and she’d still have her doubts.

“Then I suppose I’ll have to prove it to you.”

She turns her head back to him and frowns, a trace of amusement on her face, “And how do you plan on doing that?”

Hesitantly, he reaches out and strokes a thumb across her cheek, “I’d like to start by just holding you tonight, if that’s alright.”

She closes her eyes at his touch, nuzzling her face further into his palm and he melts. “I’d like that.” She says softly.

So he gently wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her to him. Her little sigh of contentment as she settles against his chest is almost too much for him to take. “Aaron?” She says after he's spent a few moments just listening to her heartbeat.

“Hm?”

“You’re the only man I’ve ever felt truly safe around.”

He feels her sadness then and he tightens his grip around her to convey that he’s sorry she feels that way, but he’s grateful for her trust. They fall asleep like that and neither attempt to move away from the other the entire night.

***

“So this is a date.” It had been about two months since they had gotten back from Maine and Aaron had been nothing but a gentleman to her. So much so, in fact, that at some points she thought he was no longer interested in her.

He chuckles, “It’s not a date. We’re meeting the team.”

“Yes, but you’re taking me,” April grins, linking her arm through his as they walk towards the bar, “So it’s a date.”

“If it was a date I would’ve done this--” Hotch spins her in front of him and abruptly kisses her. At first, she freezes, but when he gently nips at her bottom lip she moans slightly, kissing him back. As sudden as it began, it ends and Aaron is staring at her with a look of such arrogant satisfaction she wants to slap him.

“Okay, so it is a date.” She murmurs quietly as Aaron steps around her and walks away, “I knew it.”

When Aaron opens the door to the bar for her, he casually slips his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. He notes her questioning look from the corner of his eye, but just squeezes her hand in response. And instead of detaching herself from him when the team notes their arrival, she squeezes his hand in return, even when the relentless teasing from the team commences.

Aaron only slips away from her to go get them drinks and even then she looks back for him. It’s the most unsure of herself he’s ever seen her and it only broadens his grin.

“You finally did it, eh? Attaboy, Aaron.” Rossi’s already at the bar, a whiskey in hand and another on the bar that he slides to Aaron. He takes it and then orders April a gin and tonic.

“It’s just one date, Rossi. She’s still… hesitant.”

“She doesn’t look hesitant,” Rossi says, looking over his shoulder, “She hasn’t taken her eyes off you since you walked away from her.”

Aaron smirks, “Yes, well, I’ve discovered playing hard to get is very effective with her.” He tips the bartender and clinks his glass with Rossi before walking back over to April. When he hands her the drink, she seems to shrink into his side, taking larger gulps of her drink than he thought she should.

“Slow down,” He plucks the drink from her hand and places it on a nearby table, “Why are you so nervous?”

“Look at all of them just staring at us, I feel pressured.”

“Pressured into what, being with me?”

“Aaron, no,” She places a hand on his arm, sensing the insecurity rising in him, “I want to be with you.”

“Then what?”

She shrugs and reaches for her drink again, but Aaron covers her hand before she can, clearly expecting an answer from her. She sighs and looks up at him, “I feel pressure to be perfect because I can see on their faces how much they love you and I don’t want to fuck this up and then you all hate me because I wasn’t good enough for you.” It all comes out in a rush and she feels breathless after admitting it, her cheeks reddening as he lifts his hand, allowing her to reach for her drink.

“April, they like you just as much as they like me.” She rolls her eyes and he reaches out to tip her chin up gently with his fingers, “You could never mess this up.”

“I messed it up with Billy.”

He drops his hand, unable to hide the annoyance and jealousy on his face at the mention of Billy, “Billy was an immature boy who didn’t know how to treat you anyway.”

She smirks, “And you’re a big strong man who can sweep me off my feet at a moment’s notice?” He manages the smallest of smiles as a slow song starts playing, “Come on, Hotchner. Ask me to dance.”

“You want to dance in front of the team?”

“Well you brought me here to show me off, didn’t you?” He gives her a look like he’s offended she would even think so and she laughs, “Please?” She pouts, “Billy would dance with me if he were here.” She adds teasingly, her eyes glittering with mischief.

Hotch shakes his head at her, but he’s grinning, “You love causing trouble, don’t you?” And she laughs in response as he takes her hand and pulls her to the dance floor, letting his left hand rest gently on the small of her back, his other hand holding hers.

He twirls her around the room and with the whole team watching, he kisses her as the song ends. Their lips worked together to teach each other their own dance and for a moment, it’s just the two of them, until the rest of the team starts jeering and April pulls away, her face flushed. Aaron is still looking at her, smiling and she reaches up with her thumb to swipe at his mouth, “I got some lipstick on you.” She says quietly.

“Can I take you home?” He says finally and his voice is husky and full of want.

She wonders if he’s aware of how alluring the sound of his voice is. “Yeah.” She responds swallowing.

He leads her out of the bar after much protesting from the rest of the team, but all he wants and needs is to get April, April who’s smiling at him from ear to ear, home and in bed with him. They settle into their new relationship with ease, the team noting that they’d never seen either of them smile so much and all of April’s fears and insecurities melted away day by day.

As long as her unit chief quietly placed a coffee on her desk every morning with a sweet note attached to it, she figured she could overcome anything.

#mine #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner fic #aaron hotchner fanfic #criminal minds #criminal minds fic #aaron hotchner imagine #hotch x oc #hotch angst #hotch fluff #hotch imagine

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heyitsani · 3 years

Text

When the Dark of the Night Comes Alive

Word Count: 9214

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Zombies? But you don’t really see them except one part

Pairing: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, Roy Harper/Koriand’r

Summary: It's been three years since the world went to hell and zombies became a thing of reality and not just fiction. While out on a supply run with his usual crew, Jason picks up a stray that will change the course of everything.

Notes: This was supposed to be for JayDick Week, but life happened and I wasn't able to finish it. It's still technically not finished since there's an epilogue coming. But I wanted to post those two separately. So here is the main part of the story. Enjoy!

Also, I did next to no editing on this. I'll go back and clean it up. So sorry for any mistakes.

You can also read it on AO3 here

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

“Jayjay,” the familiar voice rasped. “Jayjay you need to remember, okay? Don’t forget.”

“Don’t forget what, Mama?”

“Don’t forget that the cure is in the blood. Don’t forget. The angels, they said it. They said you would know. You would do it. Don’t forget.”

“I don’t understand, Mama.”

“Don’t forget, Jayjay. The cure is in the blood.”

“Boss,” a firm, but quiet voice broke through the hazy dreamlike memory, a hand on his shoulder shaking him awake. Blinking up, Jason let his eyes adjust to the dark room enough to see one of his men leaning over him. Since it was still night, that meant something had happened or was happening.

Sitting up, he ran a hand over his face. “What is it?” Kyle gave him a curious look before he straightened and glanced over his shoulder. “Rayner, the fuck is it?”

“Someone’s in the house.” That snapped Jason to full alert and he immediately stood to his feet, quietly grabbing his gun that was sitting next to his sleeping bag. “We didn’t engage, they’re in the kitchen.” Which meant they were probably hungry. Not surprising given the state of the world the past few years, but it was still a dangerous headspace to be in. Desperate enough and you would probably easily kill the first person who had food to steal.

He was curious how the person had managed to slip pass their watch, but that was a question for another time. First, he had to deal with whoever it was that had stumbled upon the exact house he and his crew were staying in for the night. Which meant he was walking down the stairs, trying to make no noise to give away the fact that someone else was in the house.

He gave a nod to Rose, who was crouched behind a chair in the living room, watching whoever it was with her gun in hand. And whoever it was had no qualms about being quiet because Jason could hear the person shoving things around as they searched.

With a careful click, Jason pulled the safety off his gun but keeping the barrel pointed at the ground, glancing around the corner to see the back of what looked like a man from the short cut hair in the back and the cut of his body hidden beneath the black leather jacket and dark jeans. From what he could see, Jason couldn’t make out any weapons and for that he was glad. He didn’t particularly enjoy fighting with those who were not infected.

“Show me your hands,” he growled, raising the gun to aim at the man who was crouched near the ground as he dug through a cabinet. “Now,” he ordered when the person made no attempt to move. There was a huff followed by two hands raising in the air, both empty. “Stand up and turn around slowly.” With a grace that Jason wasn’t sure he had ever seen before, he watched the figure ease themselves upright and spin slowly, as requested. And then Jason was face to face with the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

And he wished that were an exaggeration.

But the hair that was cut short in the back, hung in the man’s eyes in the front. Eyes that even in the dark, Jason could tell were a startling blue. Cheekbones that would probably cut glass, and miles upon miles of golden skin. And though the leather jacket added bulk to his form it didn’t take away from the lean, strong line of his body beneath it. It had been a long time since Jason had felt so attracted to someone right off the bat, but damn if he didn’t want to lower his gun just on the man’s looks alone.

“Who are you?” Jason asked instead of following his instincts. He had people to protect.

“Name’s Dick.” Jason waited for more, but when nothing else came he gave an annoyed sigh.

Dropping the gun down to his side, he clicked the safety back on but didn’t tuck it away like he would have if the threat were eliminated. He watched Dick regard his motions curiously, head tilting to the side. And though Jason dropped his weapon, Dick kept his hands up almost in appeasement. But something told Jason he didn’t exactly need a weapon to take down a man. “What are you doing here, Dick? Are there others with you?”

“I’d like to think it’s pretty obvious what I was doing,” the man said with raised eyebrows. “And as for the other question, just me. Been just me for a while now.” With narrowed eyes, Jason looked him over and wondered why he didn’t look worse for the wear then. He looked almost…healthy. It wasn’t how solos usually looked when they came across them.

“Suspect, Boss,” Kyle muttered behind him and Jason just grunted. He got what the man was implying, it was suspicious. But something told Jason to trust Dick. Something deep in his core said it was okay, just this once, to follow his gut. Not that his gut had ever been wrong in the past.

“At ease,” he called out to the three others in various places behind him. Tucking the gun into the back of his pants, he relaxed his shoulders and watched Dick carefully lower his arms. But the fact that he hadn’t dropped eye contact with Jason put the man at ease. He wasn’t looking for others to jump in and help him. Rarely did pairs or groups mean good people. Jason had never had luck with anyone riding in pairs or more. “I’m Jason,” he said, moving forward and holding out a hand. Dick took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake, Jason tried not to think about the power he could feel in the grip. Instead, he released it and turned to the others. “That’s Kyle, Biz, and Rose. Don’t let her name fool you, she’ll lay you out in a heartbeat.”

Dick gave the others a nod, eyes lingering on Rose curiously and Jason resisted the urge to sigh. Men always thought they stood a chance with her and then they realized that she was too big a handful for them. For once, he had been hoping to come across a man who didn’t look at Rose that way. He glanced over at Rose to see her watching him just as carefully.

“I know your father,” Dick said suddenly, and Jason whipped his head to look back at him, finding him still looking at Rose. Jason felt himself frowning as he turned to look at Rose again and found her standing there with wide eyes. Her reaction was curious enough but the fact that a supposed stranger had a connection to one of his crew, that was suspicious.

“Like I said…” Kyle spoke up before heading back up the stairs to most likely resume his watch from the second story window that looked out onto the street below.

Rose didn’t move for a moment and Jason took a step toward her but then she was brushing past him and heading over to the newcomer. Jason kept his distance as he watched the pair whisper to one another. He was tempted to move closer and try and catch some of the conversation, but he knew better than to push something Rose didn’t want to talk about. All he knew was her father and her were estranged and that he was “dead to her”.

He wondered what kind of relationship Dick had had with someone Rose so thoroughly hated.

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

“So, Kyle said the stray you picked up should have a spotter.” Jason looked up from his work to see his best friend Roy walking into the lab. “Said he didn’t trust the situation that brought him to us. And said you went about it in a way that wasn’t normal for you. He also mentioned that he knows Rose’s dad, who none of us know anything about except that he’s bad news.”

“Oh, is that all Kyle said?”

Roy let out a snort and Jason just rolled his eyes. “I told him to fuck off and that you’ve never put this camp at risk.” Jason just shrugged, because what could he say? Roy was right. He wouldn’t risk the people they were charged with keeping safe. Not even for a pretty face. “But want to tell me why he thinks you’re thinking with your dick and not your head?”

“Cause I turned him down for a quick fuck the night before Dick stumbled into the same house as us and he’s pissed,” Jason admitted. Pulling his glasses off, he rubbed at the bridge of his nose and sat down on the stool behind him. “And I don’t want to hear it,” he said, pointing his glasses at Roy. Who held both his hands up in a placating motion, despite the amused twinkle in his eye. “Fuck you.”

“Oh, come on,” Roy laughed, leaning both his arms onto the counter where Jason had various vials and a few microscopes out. “I’m not that big of a dick to rub your face in the fact that I was right about him being a clingy bastard who doesn’t understand the no strings attached rules.”

“Fucking shit, Harper. Just couldn’t resist, could you?”

“Nope.” Roy laughed and Jason shook his head, letting out a chuckle of his own. “But seriously, he’s acting like a jealous ex-lover and that means he picked up on something.”

Jason put his glasses back on and pointedly didn’t respond, leaning back to look at the slides on the scope in front of him before jotting down some notes in his notebook.

“Jay.”

“Fuck off.”

“He is definitely a good-looking man.” Jason continued to ignore him despite knowing he was playing right into Roy’s hand. “And helpful. Kory said he immediately jumped in to help with some of the new buildings and asked around to see how he could help the others.” Jason only grunted in response. He liked knowing the man wanted to pull his own weight without having to be asked to do it. “He also asked if he could be on the crew that goes out to scavenge next.” That was curious, enough so that Jason actually looked over at Roy. “Strange for someone to want to go out so soon, huh? Of course, it was only after hearing that you were the one who always lead those ventures.”

“Got a point here, Harper? I’m working on something for your wife, and I doubt she’d appreciate me taking longer because of you.”

Roy just laughed.

“Seriously, Roy. What are you implying here?”

“Just that maybe you should get out of the lab and take a walk around the East Bend. Might find something a bit more enticing than…Rayner.” And though the implication was heavy, Roy didn’t wait around to make sure Jason understood. He simply turned and headed back out the way he came, leaving Jason to wonder what the fuck he was thinking making Roy his best friend.

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

“Supplies are good boss,” Kyle commented as he and Biz presented the checklists they were tasked with every week to make sure each division of the compound had enough to get them through the next month. Though it was overly cautious, Jason liked the men to check every two weeks to be sure everyone had what they needed. In the beginning there had been too many times when their supplies had run out and they had desperately gone on supply runs that had ended in someone’s death or near-death. They had come a long way in the three years they had been in this location.

But still Jason liked to be sure they didn’t get in a bad spot again. “What about Kory? Did she say she needed any supplies for the upcoming frosts? It’s getting to be that time of year and she needs to protect the plants on the West rooftop.”

“I can answer that,” a voice sounded near the entrance of his lab and Jason couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Dick filling his doorway. “Roy is currently helping reenforce the plant beds, but he and I have been building greenhouse structures to erect around them before the frosts actually hit. We should have them done in the next day or so.” The man walked further into the room and Jason ignored the way Kyle seemed to tense up next to him as he did.

Dick didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe he just didn’t care. Whatever it was, Jason wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Instead he took the paper that Dick held out to him. “What’s this?”

“A list from Kory. She said you’d know what to do with it.” Jason furrowed his brow as he unfolded the paper and read Kory’s elegant handwriting. Fertilizer. Yeah, he definitely knew what she needed. He knew he had everything, but he was running low on a few things. And that meant a supply run in the next couple of weeks.

“Thanks Dick,” Jason gave the man a nod as he folded up the paper again and looked over at Kyle, who was watching Dick with narrowed eyes. Jason could see Biz regarding the interaction curiously, but knew the man would keep his thoughts to himself for the time being. “Rayner, we’re going to need to do a run in the next two weeks. You and Rose can plan out the route while Dick, Biz and I get the packs together.” That snapped Kyle’s attention away from Dick. And though Jason knew exactly what the man was thinking, he simply raised an eyebrow as a challenge.

“Sure thing. You’re the boss,” Kyle grumbled before grabbing the lists in front of his and heading toward the door. Jason sighed at the sight of Dick jerking when Kyle bumped into him on his way past, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

But it was Dick’s reaction that was curious. The man watched Kyle go with a thoughtful look on his face before turning back to smile at Jason. “I could help him and Rose, if you like? Show them where I was before I found you all. There had been a few pods of infected that had infested some of the surrounding cities and towns.” And though Jason thought that was smart, he knew better than to antagonize Kyle that way.

“Nah, Biz and I could use the help. Packing for five is more complicated than packing for four. We’ll get started tomorrow. It’ll take Kyle and Rose a few days to get the plan worked out and I have a few projects to finish before we head out.” He waved the paper from Kory as proof. Dick seemed to take it all in stride, nodding and glancing around the lab.

“I’ll head back out then. Biz, Roy and I could use some muscle,” Dick smiled at the large man and Biz chuckled before clapping Jason on the back and heading toward the door. “See you later, Jay,” Dick called out over his shoulder as they headed out, sending a smirk to the man before walking out.

Remaining in his spot at the table, Jason sighed and shook his head. He wasn’t sure bringing Dick along on a supply run that Kyle was on was a good idea but he had to admit that he wanted the newest addition to join them. He had been enjoying the time he had been spending getting to know the raven haired man. The way it seemed like everything was a brand new experience and how he found joy in the simplest of things. It was a refreshing take on life, one Jason hadn’t seen in a very long time. And though Kyle was still trying his cards, Jason had to admit that his sights had settled on Dick and didn’t seem to want to stray.

Which made things a lot more complicated than Jason wanted to admit. The casual thing with Kyle had brought a mess to his feet. But he didn’t want casual with Dick. No, there was just something about the man that had him wanting to stay up late talking about the stupidest of things. Or laughing over more coffee with sleep-mused hair and wrinkles clothes.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had wanted that with someone. It should have worried or frightened him, but it just made him hopeful.

“Eh Boss!” Jason sighed at the sound of someone calling for him from outside and pushed the thoughts of Dick away so he could handle whatever it was that he was needed for.

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

Jason watched from a distance as Dick and Rose spoke to each other near one of the more abandoned areas of the compound. It had been a complete accident that he had stumbled across them, having just gone out for a walk around the perimeter for some fresh air after having been cooped up in the lab for the past couple of hours. It was late afternoon and the majority of the citizens of the compound were finishing up their daily tasks and preparing for dinner.

But Dick and Rose were clearly in a serious conversation.

And that made Jason wonder if this had something to do with Rose’s father. He hadn’t gotten the chance to bring it up to the woman when they had met up to discuss the next trip beyond the walls earlier. But he had planned on it before they had packed to leave. Because it the curiosity was killing him.

And he wanted to know more about something Rose always kept so close to her chest. No one knew anything about her family. Or her past before the virus. No one except Dick.

“Jason!” Dick turned, smiling brightly at him. Jason narrowed his eyes slightly and looked between the pair before raising a brow at Rose. He rolled his eyes when she shut her features down and went blank. The universal Rose sign that she wasn’t saying shit. “Enjoying some fresh air? Rose and I were just talking about the possibility of setting up a training ground out here. I saw Roy has some weapons that people might benefit in learning.”

Closing the distance between him and the two of them, Jason looked out over the open field. He had always assumed they would expand the gardens out here when they outgrew the rooftops Kory had established. But he could see the idea having merit. “I mean, you can ask him. It’s his specialty. He worked security before the outbreak and his adoptive father was big on the bow.”

Rose gave a grunt before Jason watched her and Dick exchange a look he couldn’t decipher and she turned to leave without saying anything to either of them.

“Is that really what you two were discussing?”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“Not even close,” he said. “I just know Rose well enough to know she plays her cards pretty close to the chest. And the fact that you know her dad takes a little of that power away from her.” Jason watched Dick’s face darken slightly, his smile turning to a frown as the shadow passed over his features. “So, he’s really that bad.”

Dick pursed his lips and looked out into the distance, looking like he was considering how to answer that. “He is…he has caused a lot of harm. But the harm he caused was…” Dick paused and Jason wondered if he was about to be lied to. “It was how it was supposed to happen.” Jason frowned. How the hell was harm ever supposed to be what should happen? “It is hard to explain, but Rose is right to hate her father.”

“You know that makes absolutely no sense, right?” Dick hummed and turned, starting to walk back toward the main part of the compound. Jason took a moment to study the man before hurrying to join him.

“It is not my story to tell.” He wanted to growl in frustration. He just couldn’t understand why people couldn’t just say the truth and be done with it. “I will tell you my own experiences with Slade have been uncomfortable and ones I would very much like to forget ever happened. At his core, he has the potential to be a good man, but he has been corrupted and it has changed the man Rose knew into the man I know.”

And even though Dick didn’t say what he meant by the word “uncomfortable”, Jason had a pretty good idea what it meant. And it made his blood boil.

“I won’t push,” Jason promised as they made their way back into the center of the community, “but if you need to talk…” He saw Dick look at him out of the corner of his eye but kept his forward and allowed the man his emotional space.

“You are an extraordinary man, Jason Todd. You are a gift to this world.”

Furrowing his brow at the odd choice in wording, Jason looked over at Dick and found him looking skyward. The image he presented, head back with his raven hair having fallen out of his eyes and golden skin practically glowing under the late afternoon sun, Jason would have sworn he was angelic.

“Dick!” A voice from somewhere called out for the man, pulling both their attentions.

“Hey Tim,” Dick smiled before looking over to Jason. “I’ll see you at dinner, I’m sure.” Nodding his head in response, he watched Dick walk away to talk to the young man who had called for him. He observed Dick throw an arm around Tim’s shoulders and lead him away, chatting animatedly. Such a contrast to how he had been speaking with Rose just moments ago.

But Jason knew when he wasn’t going to get his way. So he told himself to drop it and headed back to his lab to get a bit more work in before the call for dinner.

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

“Have you ever tried drawing the blood of an infected?” Dick asked as he sat down across from Jason with his plate of food. It was such a random question, but something about it made him pause. Something familiar about it. Dick must have assumed his silence was confusion and waved a hand. “I mean, do you know what the disease looks like when you see it on a molecular level? Kory said you’re the resident expert on this sort of thing.”

Straightening up in his chair, Jason furrowed his brow. “It is and I have. I have samples of it in the lab. Something about what you said…” It was one of those moments where something was right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t figure out what it was for the life of him.

But there was definitely something he was supposed to be remembering that lined up with this.

“Wow, I can’t tell you the last time I had pasta and meatballs,” Dick muttered, taking another bite of his food. When Jason looked at him, the man had a spot of sauce at the corner of his mouth and without pausing to think of how epically awkward he would make things, he reached across the table and thumbed the sauce away. It wasn’t until his thumb was in his mouth that he noticed Dick’s eyes had gone wide and a faint blush had spread across his cheeks.

“Uh…sorry.” Jason gave a shrug and ducked his head in embarrassment, cursing himself for not thinking.

He only looked up when Dick cleared his throat and reached for his drink. “So…the blood.” Jason nodded as he watched Dick drink his water, ignoring what the sight of the man’s Adam’s apple bobbing did to his stomach. Or lower regions. “Have you ever isolated the virus?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ve got some slides. The thing is,” Jason latched onto the subject like air, “it needs a host. None of the cells have survived for long without blood to latch onto. It was one of the first things I tried to do. If I could isolate it then I could reverse it, right?” Dick leaned forward and nodded, listening more intently than anyone outside of Kory ever did. “But it dies too quickly to do it.”

He watched Dick’s eyes narrow and brows merge together, almost as if he was suspicious of something. But then the look smoothed out and he looked back down at his plate to fork another bite. “Well, have you ever tried to attach it to fresh blood? Like draw a vial of your own and see how the virus latches on? I’m not a scientist, but maybe it has more to do with blocking the progress than reversing the damage.”

The cure is in the blood, Jayjay.

Jason’s hand froze with his own fork halfway to his mouth when the voice of his mother filled his mind. For years he listened to her drug induced rambling about some cure and how the blood was important. He made promise after promise to never forget because the angels had told her that he needed to know that. That he specifically had needed to know the cure is in the blood. But why did Dick’s idea make him remember that?

“Jason?” Looking across the table at Dick, he found the man frowning in concern. “You okay? Did I step on your toes? I really don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s just something someone said once. Ignore me.”

Pushing to his feet, Jason shook his head. “No, it’s not that. I…” He glanced around the room for a head of fiery red curls, zeroing in on them at the far end of the room. “I need to go. Thanks, Dick!” He grabbed his plate and quickly handed it over to one of the people on kitchen duty for the day before rushing over to Kory. “I need you in the lab,” he breathed out, sending Roy an apologetic look for interrupting their dinner. The man just frowned, and Kory stood without questioning the request.

“I’ll take care of it, Babe,” Roy said when Kory went to pick up her tray. Jason started heading out as they said their goodbyes, knowing Kory would catch up with him.

“What is it that you need?” She asked when she appeared next to him just as he was heading outside. He shook his head, not sure if he even knew the answer to that.

Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of crumpled paper and a pen he kept with him at all times, and tried to write as he walked. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Dick just said something to me and I’m not even sure what it means. But I know it means something.” He scribbled a formula down and passed it over to Kory, who looked at it before looking back to him with a raised brow. “I know! I know it looks crazy, but maybe…”

He scratched the back of his neck as they walked, thinking of drawing his own blood and some of Kory’s to do a side by side. Maybe watching the virus latch to different samples at the same time would reveal something. But something inside him told him it had to be his own blood.

The cure is in the blood, Jayjay.

He knew his mother had told him that on multiple occasions, but how could she have known about all of this? She had died so many years before he had even decided to pursue biology as his field of study. There’s no way she could have. It didn’t make sense.

“I know your idea face when I see it, Jason,” Kory interrupted his thoughts. “You are rarely wrong when an idea hits you. Do not smother it because you don’t yet understand it. I trust your instincts. Whatever you need.”

“Thanks, Kor. This one is going to be a dozey.”

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

“Hope I’m not interrupting,” a familiar voice broke through his writing, pulling his attention from the calculations to see Dick walking into his lab. Jason couldn’t help but smile at the man as he made his way over, hands in his pockets and glancing around at all the various equipment Jason had out to run the most recent round of experiments. “It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you, so I thought I’d check and make sure you’re still being fed and watered appropriately as humans need to survive.”

Snorting out a laugh, Jason set his pencil down and removed his glasses. “Kory and Roy both make sure I get my three-square meals a day and stay hydrated. Though, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to take over a shift or two.” Dick paused for a moment before continuing to close the distance between them, stopping on the opposite side of the desk Jason was currently using. Jason watched his eyes scan over the pages spread out over the desk, head tilting as he paused to read one in particular before moving onto the next. “Do you understand any of it?” He asked curiously.

Dick hummed and shook his head before leaning a hip against the desk. “I am not a person of science,” he admitted. Jason had a feeling that was the case, given the way Dick had presented him with the idea. As if it had been someone else’s and his imagination had just run with it. But he had been right. Or mostly right, at least. “The human mind is an incredible place, isn’t it? A mass of tissue and electricity running the show.”

Jason let out a surprised laugh. “That’s….that’s definitely one way to describe it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone put it so plainly.”

“But at the base that’s all a human is, isn’t it? Ruled by a mess of electrical currents up here,” Dick tapped his temple and flicked his eyebrow upward. Jason supposed he was right and gave a nod. It was curious when you tried to think about it, but he doubted anyone would ever really know how a human really functions at their core.

“Have you had success then?”

Looking down at his papers for a moment before looking back to Dick, Jason nodded. “Yes, but not in the way you’re probably thinking. There’s something in my own blood that seems to repel the virus. But when I drew Kory and Roy’s blood, the reaction wasn’t the same.” Jason shifted through his papers to find the ones where the findings were noted. “There is something within my own blood that seems to fight the virus. An enzyme maybe? I’m not sure. But if I can figure it out, I can try to reproduce it. And if I can reproduce it…”

“You can mass produce it.”

“Exactly!” Jason smiled, giddy at the prospect. “A cure. It could be a cure. Not for those who have already turned but for those who have been bitten? It could prevent them from turning. It could be a miracle.”

The smile on Dick’s face looked almost relieved and Jason wanted to question him about it, but then there was that fondness that had become so familiar in his gaze and Jason couldn’t help the blush that spread across his cheeks.

“I suppose I should leave you to it then,” Dick spoke softly, his fingers tapping the papers in front of Jason. “You have a race to save.” Jason laughed and shook his head, the hope bubbling up inside of him at the prospect of being able to do this for humanity. “You’re a gift, Jason Todd. Don’t ever forget that.” And though Dick had said those words a few times before, they seemed to have a different meaning this time. Almost like Dick had known this would be the outcome all along. But the man was gone before he could bother to ask him about that comment.

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

“How do you test it? Do we just have someone get bitten and then see if it works?” Roy asked as he zipped up Jason’s bag for the supply run that was leaving in a few minutes. Jason had been slacking on his pack but thankfully Roy had noticed and taken care of it, since Jason’s mind was obviously elsewhere.

With a shrug, Jason took the pack. “I have no clue. It works on the blood samples. The virus is completely gone on infected blood. But unless someone just happens to get bitten, I won’t have a human test subject for a while.”

“But it works on the samples?”

“Completely gone, Roy,” Jason confirmed. He pulled the pack onto his back and walked with his best friend over to where Rose, Biz, Kyle and Dick were waiting for him. “Like a fucking miracle. I almost want to get myself bitten to see it work in a human body. But from the samples, I’m not even sure the virus would work on me at all.”

“And it’s not fucking worth putting you at risk.” Jason knew Roy was right. Just the four people waiting for him a few paces away were enough of a reason. But they weren’t the only reason. Too many people counted on him for various things. And he didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to lose what little family he had managed to patch together.

And he didn’t want to never get the chance to shoot his shot with Dick. Not that he had any plans on that account, but eventually. Once his mind wasn’t over occupied with this cure.

“Ready to go, Boss?” Kyle called out, looking at him impatiently. Jason rolled his eyes and gave a wave of his hand.

“Take care of them all while I’m gone.” Roy gave Jason a nod before they exchanged their customary hug.

Jason had fallen in step next to Dick when Roy called out, “Don’t get too distracted out there, Jay! You know what I mean.” When Jason turned and threw a glare at the man, he wasn’t surprised to see Roy laughing. So Jason simply threw a middle finger up at him and turned back around.

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

“Dick! Oh god.” Jason went running the moment Kyle took out the last of the zombies surrounding him and Dick, who was now on his knees with a hand pressed to the junction of neck and shoulder. He had been too far away from the other man when they had ended up surrounded thanks to a backfire on the car Dick and Kyle were attempting to get running. Too far away to stop the zombie from sneaking up on the two men and taking a bite out of Dick’s shoulder.

Falling to his own knees, Jason looked at Dick with wide eyes. For having been bitten, the man looked far too calm. If anything, he just seemed annoyed. “Dick?” Jason rasped, reaching out to pull his hand away from the wound so he could see if it actually broke skin or not. Crimson red told him all he needed to know. “Fuck. Fuck! We have to go now. Can this drive?!” He looked desperately up at Kyle who had his eyes locked on the wound.

“Boss?”

“Kyle! Can the car get us back to the compound?”

“Yeah….but….”

Jason ignored whatever it was the other man was going to say and turned back to Dick, tearing a sleeve off his shirt and folding it up to press against the wound. “You gotta keep pressure on it. We’ll get you back home, to the lab. The cure works. I know it does. We’ll get it in you in time.” He grabbed Dick’s hand and pressed it back over the wound to hold the cloth down.

Dick looked at him with furrowed brows and tilted his head and the sigh made something clench in Jason’s chest. That weird confusion that Dick always seemed to have whenever something normal seemed to happen. “I’ll be fine.” Now it was Jason’s turn to be confused.

“You were bitten Dick. It broke the skin; we have to get you back. Come on,” he ordered, pushing to his feet and tugging Dick up with him. “Get the others,” Jason told Kyle who looked like he was about to argue with him. But Jason just growled out, “Now.” And the other man gave a curt nod before running off to collect Rose and Biz. “It takes at least a few hours for the fever to show up but we won’t be back to the compound before morning if we drive through the night. So you just…you gotta hold on, okay?”

“I promise I’ll be fine, Jay,” Dick spoke softly, his gaze taking an amused look to it. And damnit if Jason didn’t hate how not seriously he was taking this situation. “I promise.”

“You will be because we’ll get you back to the lab in time.” Dick smiled at that and sighed, leaving Jason to wonder what the hell was wrong with the man. This wasn’t a joke. This wasn’t something they could just brush aside and yet he was acting like he wasn’t hours away from becoming one of them.

Like Jason wasn’t hours away from losing yet another person he loved.

“Boss,” Kyle’s voice broke through his internal panic. Turning to see the man standing a few feet away with Biz and Rose right behind him, Jason raised a brow. “Gotta talk to you real quick. They’ll get the car packed.” Jason huffed a breath out through his nose and followed the other man, glancing back at Dick to see Rose taking a look at the bite and speaking lowly to the man. Once they seemed to be out of earshot, Kyle stopped and turned to face Jason. And Jason did not like the look on his face. “We can’t take him with us. You know we don’t have enough time even if we had enough gas to get us through the night.”

“No.”

Kyle sighed and looked over Jason’s shoulder before looking back to him. “Jason, I know you don’t want to hear this. I know you want to save him. But what are we supposed to do when he turns in the middle of the drive? What then?”

“I’m not leaving him, Rayner. I can save him. I know I can. I have the cure. We’re wasting time discussing this. Let’s go. Now.” And despite knowing Kyle had a good point, he knew he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave Dick behind to become one of them. And he couldn’t kill him before the bite took just to put him out of his misery. Shaking his head, he turned and walked back to the car where Rose and Biz had already taken up two of the seats and Dick was leaning against the outside.

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

Dragging Dick into his lab and shoving him down onto the exam table, Jason rushed around and gathered the supplies he needed to administer the injection. He didn’t know how Dick hadn’t developed the fever yet, but he wasn’t going to waste any time. Dumping everything on the table next to Dick, he tugged the leather jacket off Dick and pushed the sleeve of his gray shirt up.

“Jason, stop,” Dick spoke softly, ducking his head down but Jason ignored him. “Jay. Stop.” His voice took on a firmer tone and it was enough to cause Jason to pause and look up at him. “I’m fine. I don’t need this. Don’t waste it.”

Jaw dropping, Jason stood frozen with an empty syringe in hand ready to draw Dick’s blood before he injected the cure so he could have a sample before and after. “You are not fine! Why are you not taking this seriously?!”

He watched Dick sigh and moved back when Dick nudged at him so he could get off the table. Without dropping eye contact, Dick tugged the collar of his shirt away from where the bite was and revealed skin only blemished with dried blood.

But no bite.

“What?” Jason dropped the syringe and lunged forward to examine the skin more closely. “How is this possible? There was a bite here! We all saw it!” Kyle had told him to leave Dick behind for crying out loud. Looking back to Dick’s face, Jason shook his head. “This is not possible.”

“It is.”

“No, it isn’t. No one is immune! No one! We would have heard about it.” Dick frowned and Jason watched as he tugged his shirt off, revealing far more golden skin than anyone should have ever been allowed to have. And if the circumstances had been different, Jason would be thanking the powers that be for this display of a man. But he was freaking out. “Dick-what-?” He watched Dick move around the table and reveal his back, which was covered in the most beautiful wing tattoo Jason had ever seen. Brilliant white wings, so vibrant Jason wasn’t sure how the artist had managed to make it stand out so vividly on his golden complexion, that looked as though they had been dipped in blue dye at the tips and the color had crept up the feathers to fade into the white. And somehow the wings were drawn in such a way that they almost seemed to flutter with Dick’s muscle movements.

Then Dick’s long fingers were brushing up the back of his neck where three symbols were drawn and he was muttering words in a language Jason had never heard but thought felt right. But before he could dive into why that might have been, he was stepping back and grabbing the table behind him as a flash of white seemed to center from Dick and a pair of wings that matched the tattoo were springing forth from the man’s back. Jason gasped at the sight of the massive wings that spread out wide, as if stretching, and then relaxed as Dick turned to face him again.

“This is why.”

But Jason still didn’t understand. All he knew was that Dick suddenly had wings and Jason was questioning his sanity even more. Maybe he had been the one who had been bitten. Maybe he was losing his mind after all this time. But he could feel his heartbeat in his ears and that was enough to tell him this was really happening. “What are you?” He managed to gasp.

“I am Seraph.”

“You’re an angel?” Jason questioned, mind trying to grasp what was happening here. “Of course you are.” He thought about all the things that had happened since he had met Dick in that kitchen all those months ago. “So much is making sense right now.”

Dick tilted his head to the side and watched Jason as he processed. Jason ignored the man for a moment, stepping away from the table he had been clinging to so he could pace and process. The weird comments, acting as though he had never done common activities, or eaten certain foods. So much of it made so much more sense.

“Jason,” Dick’s voice called to him and Jason paused his pacing, frowning at the almost melodic sound of the man’s voice now. Looking over at Dick, Jason let his eyes trail over the expanse of the large wings behind him, from just brushing the floor with the blue feathers to standing high above his head in stark white.

But the sound of a door banging open stopped him from saying anything, pulling both of their attentions to Rose rushing through the door. “Oh!” She paused, eyes wide as she looked at Dick.

“Rose,” Jason stepped forward to keep her from rushing out of there because he got the feeling that Dick didn’t necessarily want everyone to know what exactly he was.

“So you told him. I told you you wouldn’t be able to keep it hidden much longer.” Stopping mid stride, Jason looked from Rose to Dick and then back again. Turning to look at Jason, Rose shrugged a shoulder and gathered up her hair, turning to show him the back of her neck. The symbols there were similar to the ones on Dick’s and Jason felt his world bottom out again. “I’m not Seraph, but I am Nephilim,” she explained as she dropped her hair and turned back to face him. “And so are you.”

He heard Dick sigh behind him, but Jason felt frozen again. He was what? She was what?

“I hadn’t gotten to that yet,” Dick murmured and appeared next to Jason. Allowing himself to be turned, Jason looked into the sapphire eyes he thought he had known so well. “What Rose is so tactlessly telling you, is that your father was like me. Just as her own father is Seraph as well. That is how I know him. He was close to my ranks before he fell.”

Rose’s snort was telling. “He didn’t fall. He plummeted.”

“Wait, my father?” Jason thought of the man he had known. The drunk who beat his mother until Jason was old enough to pull the man’s attention from her to himself. He remembered waiting each night for him to come home and lay into him. Until one night he stopped coming home. And neither he nor his mother ever knew what happened to Willis Todd.

“Willis was not of my ranks but was tempted to fall by a very bewitching demon. He promised him power and wealth. But gave him neither,” Dick told Jason, placing both his hands on his shoulders. “We are not meant to sire children with mortals because the transfer of power can have detrimental effects on the human who carries the child. Your mother was addicted to drugs, was she not?” Jason nodded. “That was how she drowned out the voices. The ones who whispered about your destiny. Rose’s mother…”

“She died of cancer.” Glancing over at her, Jason tried to read her expression but wasn’t sure what it said. The woman was so good at keeping her emotions to herself, he always failed to really grasp what she was thinking.

Looking back to Dick, Jason furrowed his brows as he tried to comprehend what was being told to him. “I don’t have the symbols,” was what his brain decided to spit out instead. Dick smiled and he could hear Rose chuckle next to him. “What?”

“They are not something Nephilim are born with on the surface. You have to bring them forth,” Dick explained. “The creator gives them to their Seraph, but only a Seraph can show a Nephilim how to bring their own forth.”

“Wait. What do you mean my destiny?” Jason demanded, mind finally grasping onto that piece of information.

He watched Dick sigh and send a look to Rose that had her rolling her eyes and leaving without a word. Or sound. Jason made a mental note to ask her about that skill. “It’s time we have a very serious talk, Jason. Shall we go somewhere we won’t be interrupted again?”

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

“So let me get this straight,” Jason said, pacing the length of his room as Dick sat leaning against the headboard of his bed. “Rose’s dad is the one responsible for the virus? The creator told all of you that one would need to fall and release the virus in order to save humanity?”

“In the broadest of terms, yes.”

“How is killing us like this, saving us?”

“Your planet was dying. It would not survive much more in way of population. Your atmosphere had begun to crumble, and drastic measures were needed.” Jason scowled at that. How could Dick just be so blasé about the death of billions of people? He’s not human, a part of his mind reminded him. But even though he only had Rose to compare to, Dick seemed more human than Rose. “Some of us were against the idea. That there had to be another way, but Slade volunteered before the discussions could go further.”

Shaking his head, Jason paced the length of the room one more time before dropping down in the chair at his desk. “This is a lot.” Dick nodded but remained silent and Jason was thankful. Because even though he was glad Dick was answering his questions, he didn’t want the man to try and sway his opinion into the positive side of things just yet. He needed to examine the situation from all angles. He needed to see all possible outcomes to this before he came to a conclusion. “Was it part of the creator’s plan for you to find me?”

“No.”

Jason waited for more, but when he was met with nothing but silence, he looked at Dick with a raised eyebrow. But the man, angel whatever, seemed to miss what he was silently asking him to expand upon and it just made Jason sigh. Almost in fondness. Almost.

“If it was not in their plan, why are you here?”

“I broke ranks because humanity has suffered more than enough, and you are the cure to that suffering.” He watched Dick sit up and look at him seriously, almost uncomfortably so. “I have watched you for years, since before the outbreak. I knew of you long before you were even born. I have been tasked with protecting humanity for centuries because our creator is not the “God” so many believe in. They are kind, loving, and they do not require worship or devotion. But they also want you to have the will to choose what path you take.

“You are a good species at the core, despite those who have been whispered to by the demons of the world. You would have come across the answer for the cure on your own, but it would have been a few years from now after having lost far too many and those closest.” Jason’s mind flashed to Roy and Kory, knowing that’s exactly who Dick was referring to. Deep in his soul, he knew it was them. And he couldn’t help but feel so incredibly grateful that Dick had gone against his kind to prevent that. “You have lost enough. Everyone has lost enough.”

Taking in the words, Jason dropped down into his desk chair with a sigh. It was a heavy weight, knowing that he had been the key to fixing this all along and that if Dick hadn’t prompted the idea that day in the mess hall then he would have taken a while longer to figure it all out. He could have saved millions but he was supposed to have allowed countless more die before he made the sure. Dick allowed that. Dick disobeyed his orders because he didn’t want anymore suffering, he didn’t want Jason to endure anymore suffering.

Dick had chosen him over his own kind. “Will you be punished?”

“Perhaps,” Dick shrugged. “But perhaps mercy shall be gifted to me because I wanted mercy for mankind.”

Jason didn’t like the idea that Dick could be harmed because he had chosen kindness over indifference. He didn’t know what it meant to be Seraph and how it impacted basic human emotions and instincts, but he knew Dick. And he knew Dick loved people. The way he laughed with Tim while they discussed various topics. The way he worked with Kory in the gardens, singing soft songs in a language Jason now knew to be angelic. The way he walked side by side with Roy and discussed the best way to protect those within their gates and walls. People he was now invested in just as much as the rest of them.

“And if you aren’t granted mercy?”

There was silence and Jason watched Dick sit there, eyes narrowed and a furrowed brow marring the beauty of the angel. “Then I suppose I will be left to walk the earth among the people of this planet and protect you from within your ranks.” The lines smoothed out on his face and Dick gave him a smile that was brittle, but honest. “I do not feel my duty will change should the creator choose to remove me from my service to them. I will still wish to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It is all I have known.”

“You will always be welcome here,” Jason offered without pausing to think about it. If he thought about it, he would never say it and regret would burn bright. “With me.”

He tried not to fidget under the intense gaze that Dick turned on him, but it was difficult. The depths of the sapphire eyes spoke volumes and while Jason loved to look at them, the intensity made him a bit nervous. “Despite the lies?”

“I don’t appreciate the lies, but I understand them. Well,” he let out a chuckle, “as best as my human mind can.”

Dick’s smile was almost blinding.

“Your mind can understand much more than even you will ever know.” The blush that colored Jason’s cheeks was no something he was proud of, but he knew it was something he couldn’t exactly control. “You are a gift. Don’t ever let anyone try to tell you differently, Jason Todd.” He had gotten used to hearing Dick use those words in his regards, but now he supposed he finally understood exactly what it was he meant. He was a gift, or his blood was.

“What happens now?” Jason asked curiously, watching Dick lean back against the headboard again. Jason let his eyes trail over the other man, enjoying the sight of him so comfortable in Jason’s space. It felt right. It looked right.

But the look on Dick’s face pulled him out of those fuzzy thoughts. “I need to go.”

“What?”

“Now that you have uncovered the cure, I need to return to my ranks. I need to face my punishment, if there is to be one.”

But Jason didn’t want him to leave. Not when he still hadn’t gotten around to making any kind of move. Could he really just let Dick walk out of his life, potentially for good, without even trying? Did Dick even have any interest in him? Was he just seeing things that he wanted to be there.

“I would like to stay though. I would abandon my ranks for good, if I could convince myself it was the right thing.” Dick’s gaze turned to Jason and he found himself getting lost in the intensity of the sapphire eyes. Intensity that told Jason he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t imagining things and he wasn’t the only one who wanted. “I will return though. If you’ll have me.”

Nodding, Jason tried to say something in response, but he couldn’t form the right words. Not when those eyes were still looking at him like that. Not when his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest that he was certain it would either burst from within or Dick would point out how loud it was.

“I will be gone before morning, but I will be back.”

And Jason hoped that Dick wasn’t just telling him that to make him feel better. He really hoped it.

#jaydick #jason todd #dick grayson #roy harper #koriand'r #kyle rayner #rose wilson #slade wilson #tim drake #jaydick zombie au #angels/demons

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melloian · 3 years

Text

Character Bio 4

Gabriel Agreste

Age:46

Gender: M

Race: French

Species: Human

Alignment: Bad

Status: Alive

Relatives: Amelie (sister-in-law), Felix (son), Adrien (son), Ambre (niece), Oscar (nephew), unnamed mother-in-law

Occupation: Mahow lee Agency {MLA} (formerly), Fashion designer, Supervillain, Chairman of Daroness (villain tower)

Love interest: Emilie (married)

Friends: Tomoe, Nathalie(formerly), Lila, the mime (formerly), Villains who work at Daroness

Enemies: Miraculous heroes, Felix, The Guardians

True Personality: Narcissistic, cold-hearted, determined, Enigmatic, Experimental, deceptive, opinionated, formal, forceful, control-freak, strict, Irritable

Fake Personality: Nice, calm, sympathetic, Magnanimous, Stoic, honest

Bio: Gabriel is a fashion designer who usually do contests or take people designs just to promote them. He pretty much owns his own fashion studio. He’s also rich and owns 2 sons. He likes his 2nd son, Adrien, more then His 1st son. Most of the time, he don’t really spend time with his children or at home because he always “busy” with his work. Behind doors, he known as a villain, name Hawk Moth.

As a Villain: He usually corrupts people with his akuma to reach to his goal. He also give a villain a task to help him with his goal. His goal is to get a miraculous who rewrites time or a time travelling miraculous to fix all his mistakes(he also wants to take the miraculouses from the heroes so he can achieve his goal). But he also want to use it for to control how things operate.

He’s the one who created corrupted kwamis.

Gabriel also rans Daroness, a far away tower for villains. He starts meetings and give villains orders.

He usually can get angry really fast which scares some villains.

Backstory:

Agency & Emilie

Gabriel was 30 when he joined the MLA. He was usually tasked to steal, hack, get data, act, and slaughter. He was also tasked to disguise in a certain way. He usually go by those orders, even if he doesn’t like it. He worked there for 5 years, until he met a women name Emilie. He met her in a cafe. He soon fall in love with Emilie when he got to know her more. Because he started to fall in love with her, he started to do less and less of his job and more trying to get with her. He also painted this fake imagery and personality to get with her. Eventually he quitted his job completely just to get a fashion career instead. Soon, Emilie loved Gabriel and they started dating. Eventually they have gotten married.

Downfall of Family

10 years later

When his sons where born, he cared for both his 2 sons. He dearly loved his wife as well. He also hired an assistant name Nathalie. He usually tells her to take care his family and other things. He tried to be a good father and satisfy everyone.

However, one day, Emilie was searching for something. She went to Gabriel's room to search for what she wanted. She came across a safe he had. She decided to opened it, and found data of victims he killed and some other data. Emilie was terrified, and then Gabriel came in the room. Emilie was terrified of him, so he was worrying why she was scared of him. Until he saw the safe was opened. He tried to explain to her but she didn’t want to hear it, and run out of the room. He have gotten upset about and even thinking about why he never burned those papers. So later he planned something. When Emilie was in the kitchen drinking her tea, she left the kitchen to go to the bathroom. Gabriel put a U-89 (a substance that causes people to go in coma) inside her tea. He thought that if she get into a coma, she would think this all as a dream. She drink her tea and later that night she started coughing. She soon fall unconscious, which Nathalie saw. Nathalie tried to see if Emilie was ok, but she didn't wake up whatever she still was breathing. Nathalie wanted to call the hospital, however Gabriel came in the room and grabbed her roughly. He told her to call no one and if she did he will kill her. Gabriel didn’t notice Felix was watching him the whole time and screamed. Gabriel realized he messed up but at the time he didn’t even care. He later yelled at Nathalie to smelt the safe so that no one will know what happened.

Cousins Death

5 years later

Gabriel was in house at the time talking to Amelie. He agreed to his nephew and niece to come. He soon stopped talking to her and heard something upstairs. He went upstairs and take a peek in Felix’s room. He was hearing the conversation about how Ambre knew about uncle’s murder. He also heard she knew it by her aunt, Emilie, when she was talking to Amelie before she went into a coma. Felix asked where she was at and she answered, which made Gabriel close the door slowly. He soon drive where she and her brother was at. Ambre was questioning what he was doing here, but instead he asked to come to this alley he pointed too. She and her brother followed. However as soon they both came over, He shoved Oscar against the wall. He started choking him, in result of Ambre screaming and dropping her phone, which cracked her phone. Ambre started to run and call for help, but instead Gabriel threw a knife, which result of killing her. He quickly grab the knife and run off from the scene, which caused the police to not know who killed them both. In result, Ambre’s last footage on her phone was her brother choking, leaving Felix traumatized.

Amelie hospitalized

1 week later

Amelie was looking for her children. She put missing signs everywhere and asked people do they know where they at. She called Gabriel if he knew where they was at. He lied about it and Amelie just took his words. Amelie soon visited his house just so she can have some company. She spends crying about it and Gabriel tried to make her relax about it. Felix walked into the living room seeing Amelie crying. Felix asked if he can talk to Amelie privately and Gabriel let him. As Felix and Amelie was having a conversation, He standing right near the wall to listen to their conversation. Amelie burst out crying because of what Felix said to what he did to her kids. Amelie didn’t know if she wanted to trust Gabriel anymore. Later in the afternoon (awhile its raining), she was upstairs and was about to leave. However, Gabriel rushed upstairs and pushed her to other room. She was yelling at him for why he did that, but he soon pulled out a baseball bat. He started beating her awhile she was screaming. Felix heard the screaming which scared him and he ran to the room they was at. When Amelie was almost dying, Gabriel soon called Nathalie to call the hospital now, which Nathalie found odd that he wants to doctors to come. Felix was about the call the police, but Gabriel shoved him against the wall and threaten to kill him if he called the police. Which terrified Felix and ran back to his room crying. Gabriel then ran to the basement (with his baseball bat) so that he wouldn’t get caught. He smelted the baseball bat. Soon the ambulance came and went to the house. Nathalie instructed where the person at and they took Amelie to the hospital. Until then, Amelie is still hospitalized.

This resulted Gabriel wanted to fix his past mistakes, to involve all this murdering and discovering from happening. Because of this entire incident, he switched back to his true personality.

As Hawk Moth

Altered personality: none since the user is full control of the kwami personality.

Abilities:

Med durability

Flexibility

Slightly slow

Shadow wings - creates butterfly like shadow wings and gives him flight

Butterflicks - summons butterflies

Darkness awakens - summons a dark mist that comes across the entire area

ButterLeech - turn akumazatied butterflies into butterfly like leeches

Dizo - Causes the person become dizzy. can also cause the person to hallucinate.

Beaming Ray - shoots purple ring rays

Since this is a corrupted form, he have no type of purifiy of any other substance (not like his akumanzation.)

Empathy - can sense anyone emotions

Body transmission - the user can control the body of an akumanzatied being.

Main ability

Akumanzation - can control a person by using a butterfly to control the people in negative emotion. The person that the user picked will serve them for ever long the user want them to serve. This will transform them into a supervillain if agreed.

The user can also cancel akumanzatied if it affects the wrong person.

Weapon: cane

As Plumule

Altered personality: none since the user is full control of the kwami personality.

Abilities:

med durability

Flexibility

Fast

Plucker - summon feathers

Eyes of the feather - changes the user eyes and brainwash the person into doing something

StepBeat - causes the user to dance and fight (dancing awhile fighting makes the user stronger and make the user more effcient in fighting)

Empathy - can sense anyone emotions

Body transmission - the user can control the body of an akumanzatied being.

Doesn’t have much powers due to being corrupted.

Since this is a corrupted form, he have no type of purifiy of any other substance (not like his akumanzation.).

Main ability

Amokization - can control a person by using a feather to control the people in negative emotion. The person that the user picked will serve them for ever long the user want them to serve. If the user agrees, they will create sentimonster which the user in trapped inside to control. It can also create a separate entity from the person emotions that controls differently without a person controlling it.

The user can also cancel amokizatied if it affects the wrong person.

Weapon: Fan and shoes..

Writer (self-akumantizaed form)

altered personality: its the same since its self-akumantization

Cause of akumanzation: because he can

Goal: Write ladybug and chat noir out of existence

akumantized object: book

Abilities:

Flight (most likely just levitatian)

Fast

He can draw a picture and it comes to life.

He can also write a scenario and it will happen in reality, however he must do it under 50 seconds.

(its collector but different powers)

Destroyer (self-amokization)

Sentimonster personality: It have none, Gabriel made it soulless as possible.

cause of amokzation: he was getting sick of the heroes ruining his plans

Goal: kill ladybug and chat noir

amokized object: book (again)

Abilities:

Destroys anything on its path form non living to living things.

Can burn anything into crisp

Also tough to defeat

It huge appearance makes it able to crush anyone

Relationships (main ones)

Gabriel & Adrien

Gabriel deeply cares for Adrien, since he’s the only one in the family who doesn’t know the truth. He tries to protect from bad influences and outside world. He pretty much strict about everything towards his son. He also force him to do certain activities because he claims it will belief him.

Chat Noir

Gabriel pretty much dislikes chat noir. He thinks he’s irritating to deal with.

However, Gabriel sometimes thinks about if chat noir and Adrien is the same person.

Gabriel & Nathalie

Gabriel trusts Nathalie as his assistant. He tasks her to do things for him and make sure she take care of his children. He also trusts her being a helper with amokzations. He sometimes worries about her in certain solutions, causing him to get angry if she risks herself. Even though he does this, he don’t really have sympathy for her.

Betrayal Arc

However, the entire time she was plotting against him. Gabriel was very shocked that she wanted him dead. She tries the explain what he done to her and everyone else. He completely snapped when she pull out a ray gun. He decided to charge at her and punch her hard. She become unconscious after that and he left the room awhile taking her ray gun.

Gabriel & Felix

Gabriel just hates Felix with a burning passion. He blames him for every mistake he has done and blames him for attacking everyone like this. He treats Felix like an dog and don’t really have any respect for his son. He gets completely angry if Felix snitches on him. He’s also pretty jealous of Felix because of his abilities. He wishes to completely drain his power so he can use it to time travel. He would kill Felix however, he doesn’t want to make Adrien upset and figure out who did it. He just happy that Adrien isn’t going to listen to Felix.

Gabriel & The Mime

Gabriel had met mime when he wasn’t a criminal at the time. He pretty much lure him into his tower and manipulated him to become a villain with him which succeeded. He usually tasks mime sometimes to commit a certain crime for him. But if mime refuses, he gets angry about it. He appreciates mime’s effort on crimes and fighting. However, he doesn’t care about mime. He pretty much toy with his emotions in order for him to anything properly. He also sees Mime nothing but a slave. He could do this since he learn what emotion he’s in by expressions(since he can’t speak).

However, mime later realized this by ladybug which caused him to betray him.

(mime post to be holding a gun btw)

Gabriel & Lila

Gabriel met Lila at a park. Every since he met her, they became allies. He give her the most tasks since she able to akumantize people with her manipulation. He pretty much trust lila with the help. However, he really don’t know lila as a whole.

Gabriel & Emilie

(young picture of them)

Gabriel loved his wife dearly. He didn’t want anyone to hurt her or anything. He tried to satisfy her. But every since she found out what he used to be, he was very upset. He thought he had no choice but to put her in a coma so she can forget what he have done. He wants to travel back in time just to be with her again.

Gabriel & Nooroo

Gabriel doesn’t care about nooroo at all. He pretty much controls his body and mindset in order to have freewill of using the kwami. Everytime nooroo tries to escape it, Gabriel attempts to make the corruption stronger.

Full Body

As an young adult (in agency)

Other Information

It was hard for him to enter and quit his job as agent

He sometimes cries awhile alone

He sometimes suicidal thoughts.

He can actually speak in his hawk moth form, it just stretches his face. The more he does it, the more it will hurt.

Even though he’s aware of his mistakes, he just wanna pit it on some one else.

His glasses are not actually prescription glasses, their fake glasses. Its so he can give off an innocent look.

His hair ended up messy due too stress and doesn’t bother to fix it up anymore.

His hair turned gray faster then Emilie due to stress.

He stole the butterfly miraculous

Lol edginess funni

idk am trying

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aros001 · 3 years

Text

Read through light novel vol. 11. Random thoughts.

Okay, right off the bat, this

is my favorite art in the books yet just because of how annoyed Naofumi looks.

It's always been a thing but I've been seeing it more in these last couple of books, especially in contrast to Sadeena and Alta, but I really like that Naofumi likes that Raphtalia will push back against him when she doesn't like something, be it his attitude, his action, or his ideas. He doesn't want a yes-man or someone who'll worship and never question him. Child Raphtalia was kind of his sidekick but adult Raphtalia is definitely his partner. They trust each other completely and they never have to worry about holding back their honest thoughts. This is especially important if there is to ever be a romantic relationship between the two of them. Romance is not supposed to be just the guy and his prize. Naofumi and Raphtalia I can see working as a couple because they genuinely see each other as equals.

So, as has been revealed so far, Trash's family, save for himself and his younger blind sister, were murdered by the hakuko. He hated Siltvelt because it's where the hakuko came from and his own kingdom for taking no action against them for those murders. Then later his sister was attacked by a hakuko and presumably murdered and possibly raped but the body was never found, thus pushing him to overthrow the king of Siltvelt because he was a hakuko.

And he hates the Devil of the Shield because...! ...A previous Shield Hero helped to found Siltvelt? I get that Siltvelt is a demi-human supremacist country and that it worships the Shield Hero but I feel like there's a little bit of a disconnect in Trash's hatred. I suppose his hatred for Naofumi didn't blow up until he thought he tried to force himself on Malty and before that he just treated him dismissively, but I can't help but feel like I'm missing something here. Also, didn't the previous Shield Hero die in Siltvelt a month into him being summoned? I get that hatred and the desire for revenge are not always very rational, especially when religion is thrown into the mix, but I feel like it's odd he's placed so much of it on Naofumi and the Shield Hero as a whole.

So Fohl and Alta are possibly the nephew and niece of Trash through his sister and the grandchildren of the hakuko king of Siltvelt whom he killed. Obviously I'm hoping Trash's sister wasn't raped to conceive them and that it was just a forbidden love like was one of Naofumi's theories, but I guess I'll find that out in a later book.

Also, poor Naofumi and poor Raphtalia. Either Alta wants to be with Naofumi (romantically or...) or she's on her way to becoming the new pope of the Church of the Shield Hero. She was reminding me a little bit of Neia from Overlord and her devotion to Ainz in the latter regard.

��Apparently there’s a new bandit chief that’s risen to power lately, and we’ll be wasting our time unless we capture him.” ... “That’s the thing. I don’t know all the details, but apparently the boss is really distrustful and rarely makes appearances. But he’s also supposed to be strong enough to pick off even the toughest of adventurers one by one without a problem.”

This is going exactly where I think it's going, isn't it?

[Five minutes later]

Yep.

Reading this book and I realized my main issue with Ren, beyond the issues he shares with the other two heroes, was how unbelievably condescending he'd been to Eclair, someone who knew her way with a sword WAY better than he did, just to protect his own ego after he would have lost if he hadn't cheated in their duel. That left a really bad taste in my mouth but it's still not as bad as what I dislike about Motoyasu and especially Itsuki. He hasn't yet specifically apologized for that but he is showing her a lot more respect and being clearly remorseful over his actions. Even him blaming his loss against the Spirit Tortoise on his party's weakness and not his own I could swallow fine because there was the implication that he was unable to deal with the guilt of it being his fault that they were all dead, which, while bad, is a very human thing to feel. As long as he takes his training seriously from this point on and doesn't regress back, I can look forward to his progress and his interactions with Naofumi.

I actually was slightly spoiled before I started reading the light novels that the other heroes were going to unlock their own curse series as well. It was minor because I didn't hear any specifics beyond that but the person I was reading I remember being really unhappy about it. Personally, I'm fine with it. The Holy Weapons are meant to be equal to each other so it makes sense they'd have similar unlockable abilities (relative to what each weapon is, of course). The reason Naofumi is so much stronger is supposed to be because he actually bothered to learn how to use his weapon and because he took how he was told to power it up seriously. If he had an ability the others had no equivalent of it would basically be cheating. Part of the criticism too was that Naofumi had been through so much worse than the others to unlock his curse series, but everyone has different levels of stress they can take and it definitely helps that, thus far, each curse series embodies a different sin and thus has different effects. Motoyasu is clearly being effected differently by his Spear of (I'm assuming) Lust than Naofumi is by the Shield of Wrath or Ren by the Sword of Greed.

Speaking of which, I'm not the only one who felt a big red flag over Motoyasu's Temptation ability, right? I'm not saying he would abuse such a thing but powers that force attraction on people always makes me feel very uncomfortable. Just the fact that it worked on Naofumi whom is both straight and can't stand Motoyasu shows it can work on pretty much anyone who doesn't have specific resistances. It's a scary thing, your romantic and sexual preferences being altered by an outside force. Like a date rape drug weaponized.

The whole controversy over RoTSH's first episode holds less and less weight the further into the series I go. Naofumi vs. Motoyasu I'd argue has several great examples of feminism vs. sexism throughout the story. Naofumi was horribly betrayed by Malty but he doesn't hate women or use what she did as an excuse to. He's simply distrustful of anyone who can potentially betray him and is put off by the idea of any romantic or sexual relationships. Motoyasu gets betrayed by Malty (and his two other party members) and now sees all women as pigs, save for Filo, whom he's now obsessed with. The stupid criticism of RoTSH was that the series had Malty representing all women; that all women lie about being sexually assaulted and that all women are horrible bitches. That is the mentality Motoyasu now has, judging all women by the actions of one.

“Mr. Ren . . . I’m sure you’ve felt just terrible this whole time after losing your companions. It’s okay to cry now. Don’t worry. Even if the whole world insists you’re a criminal, I still believe in you, Mr. Ren. I believe you were fighting for the sake of the world.”

I love how, even after everything else she's done, the thing that makes me hate Bitch almost as much, if not more, as when she made the false rape accusation was her plagiarizing the words Raphtalia had said to finally reach Naofumi's heart and earn his trust. It just felt like such a violation, sullying that moment so much that you just want Bitch to die almost as much as Naofumi does.

Though I suppose it's Witch now, huh? Doesn't have quite the same punch as Bitch but I don't want to call her the Witch Bitch because that's my nickname for Satella in Re:Zero and that's more a term of endearment ironically enough. I don't want to sully her by putting her in any kind of association with Malty.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/shieldbro/comments/fh9syh/read_through_light_novel_vol_11_random_thoughts/

#rising of the shield hero #random thoughts #reddit repost

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inigollorentemartija · 4 years

Text

The privilege of being a S class hero

Through the series, it is often mentioned that S class heroes recieve special treatment from the association, so let’s look at how are they privileged, exactly.

1- PPP

He is allowed to be a member of the association despite being an inmate... and that is about it. The association has not tried to get his hero work to be aknowledged as social working to reduce his sentence (every time PPP gets out it’s considered an infraction, so his hero work is actually increasing the length of his sentence), it does not negotiate to get him into meetings (the jail only allowed him to get out for the MA raid because Nyan killed some guards) and he can’t buy anything with the pay.

They got him a cell phone and a TV, which are necessary for him to be informed about monsters. That is all.

2- Metal Bat

His special privilege is... giving him a decent weapon, that won’t break in the middle of a fight. The association doesn’t do this for C class heroes, apparently.

He is supposed to recieve a good pay, but apparently that pay is not enough to get a nanny for Zenko, who can just show up in a evacuated area looking for her brother all alone, without anyone accompanying or stopping her.

3-Tank top Master

He doesn’t seem to get anything special, aside from getting into S class meetings and a phone. Are the S class heroes the only ones recieving communication devices from the association? Is that the special treatment?

4-Genos

As far as we know, they haven’t offered to pay for his repairs. He doesn’t get trusted, either. Since Kuseno seems to be rich, it doesn’t look like Genos has recieved anything worth speaking of from the association.

5-Flashy Flash

He might have recieved a pardon from killing a bunch of leaders of the underworld, but I doubt anyone in the association knows.

6-Watchdog man

He does not recieve anything of note.

7-Darkshine

He gets specially heavy weights to lift and gravity rooms to train. This are probably hard to find, and the association probably got them at his request, but I think any hero can use these if they so willed.

Also, these are training materials meant to make Darkshine stronger, and better at fighting monsters. The special tretment looks like something they should be giving to every hero, for their own good.

8-Pig God

The association pays for his food. And brags about it.

An employer that brags about being able to feed one of their best workers, and calls this “special treatment”. This is a new low.

9-Drive knight

He doesn’t seem to recieve anything? Not expelling him after being shady is not really a privilege.

10-Zombieman

They might pay for his specially powerful guns. He seems to get his axe on his own.

11-King

They made him an S class without an interview, and basically let him do whatever he wants. The last part seems to be the standard for all heroes above C class.

12-Metal knight

His special treatment comes mostly from being the main provider of robots, drones and other technology for the association, rather than from being a S class. His opinion doesn’t seem to have any more weight than Child Emperors within the association, in other words, he gets ignored.

13-Child Emperor

He made all of his gadgets himself, and has some sort of a leadership position because no one else seems to want it. The board still ignores his opinions.

14-Atomic Samurai

He doesn’t seem to recive anything.

15-Bang

The association has not sent heroes, or hero candidates, to train at his dojo, which seems like it’s what Bang wants, so. Nothing, not even trust.

16-Tatsumaki

They let her off the hook for damage to the surrounding areas. Given the threats she fights, the damage can easilly be blamed on the monsters, so this is probably standard for all heroes, scaled to the size of the threat. And this one privilege seems like its going to end in the webcomic.

17-Blast

Without knowing his circumstances, I’m reclutant to talk about him. For all we know, he might be stuck holding off a god level threat at the end of the world.

18-Summing up

The special privilege seems to be paying for decent instruments for them to do their job, pay that is not high enough to support a 10 year old having a nanny, and giving them information they need to do their jobs.

And every hero in A class and below gets less than this. No wonder the association breaks down the instant another hero organization shows up.

#opm #opm spoilers #webcomic spoilers

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poisonously-alluring-sev · 3 years

Text

Snape One Shots ~ Gift of Sparks {Continued}

Summary: With the help of the Weasley twins Sabrina will soon get the attention of her beloved professor sooner or later.

Pairing: Snape x Female

Warnings: Swearing & Violence

Time: Order of the Phoenix

Word Count: 2500

Recommend song: Feisty by Jhameel

Main Character: Sabrina Sparks; 16; DOB: April, 22nd 1980 (Taurus); American; Caucasian; Slytherin

I awake when my head started to pound and I couldn't keep ignoring it anymore. When I opened my eyes everything was nearly pitch black and I felt like I had a bunch of water in my head. I tried to move my hands to feel my head, but couldn't as they were tied to my body. I then noticed that my feet were tied to a large, wooden beam above me. I was hanging upside down. I now knew why I had a pounding headache. Not only had I been hit over the head, but the amount of blood that rushed to it was probably a lot. I knew that I couldn't cast a spell to untie me as I had no idea where my wand was, but I did keep a knife in my back pocket which is where my hands happened to be tied to. I slowly stretched my hands out to my pocket, but I found nothing. They must have taken my wand and knife, probably a bad idea to tell Chris where I kept it. I sighed and let myself hang and I saw someone walk towards me, it was Chris.

"Did you really think I wouldn't search your body for weapons, pfft, figures? Anyway, how are you enjoying the view?" He asked sarcastically and chuckled to himself.

"I don't understand Chris. What makes you think I was going to tell anyone about you?" He frowned in confusion and as I continued it only made him more confused.

"I wasn't going to say anything. In fact, I was thinking about joining you. You know I never liked my family, I did anything to upset them." His face dropped and when I thought I had got him convinced my head started to feel so clouded and mixed up like someone had it in a bowl and was string it around. I felt my eyes roll back into my head as my mind was scrabbled up and my memories seemed to flashback at me. While that was happening I could see a dark figure in the back of each memory, but then when my vision would come back I saw the same person standing in the distance of the darkroom. Thinking it was something strange and just in my head, I knew that all of these memories racing through my mind weren't being controlled by me or any of the students around me. I also happened to be very confused as to where I was, nothing in the room seemed familiar. Over the sound of the memories, I could hear Chris yelling at me and shaking me as though he was concerned. I felt the rope that was tied around my hands and legs be cut off and I was now on the floor in Chris' arms. I had no idea about what was going on, but I knew that Chris had no idea either. It was then that my mind settled and I stopped shaking even though I had no idea I was shaking that much. I let out a heavy sigh, but before Chris or I could say anything the figure I saw in my head and on the other side of the room came closer. It was easier to see now because my eyes had adapted to the dim light coming from the windows. I didn't know how long I was out they could've easily kept me asleep until they wanted me to wake up so whoever this was could either be someone who came to save me, or another death eater that was here to kill me. I rubbed my head in pain as the person stepped on a loose floorboard causing it to groan and Chris pull out his wand, but before he could cast any spell his wand went flying from his hand and he immediately tried to jump at the person. Unfortunately for him, he was thrown into the wall and was knocked unconscious. I sat up as the person walked towards me and before I knew it I was being offered a hand to help me stand up. Everything was still dizzy as the blood was rushed to my head and I just went through the weirdest invasion of privacy I've ever had. I put my hand in theirs and they slowly stood me up, but I wasn't able to stand on my own so I basically fell down to the floor, but a pair of large arms caught me and picked me up bridal style. I tried my best to see who it was, but I couldn't tell until they lit up their wand.

"Wha... Professor Snape?" He didn't look down at me, but around the room looking for something. I still didn't understand why he was the one here, he hated my guts, and I hate him. Did I? I mean I have to give him something for the fact that he just saved my ass even though I probably had it covered until he invaded my mind.

Wait... Snape could use Ocllomenacy?

He seemed to have found what he was looking for and slipped the stuff he found in his pocket.

"Why... how?" I looked down at me and said,

"Dumbledore didn't trust you to be safe, so he sent me to watch you. Also, get ready to appreciate." I was going to talk back to him and ask another question, but I was stopped when I felt like I was being pushed through a tiny tube until the lights of Hogwarts came into view along with the need to throw up. Snape leaned me outward of him like he knew I was going to throw up, which I did. He pulled me closer to him as he walked through the halls probably going to Pomfrey, but then he took a turn down to the dungeons. I was confused as to where he was taking me and I noticed him say a couple of words under his breath as we moved into a room that looked like a living room. I groaned as he placed me down on a couch and walked away from me. I knew this wasn't the common room and I had a feeling that it was probably his private quarters as it was probably not a smart idea to bring someone who was kidnapped by a death eater to a school's hospital wing. I stayed laying on the couch until he returned with a bunch of stuff in his hands and before he spoke to me someone opened the door. Snape looked over and saw Dumbledore walking towards me with a skip in his step. They talked to each other quietly a bit farther away from me and I couldn't tell if they were talking quietly so I couldn't hear them or if it was because of my hearing. I coughed a bit which got their attention and so to ease the tension I said with a nasal voice,

"You know, I guess the bat was right." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow as Snape walked back over to me and asked,

"About you being weak?"

"What no." He chuckled a bit and the Headmaster gave a smile as he joined Snape.

"Here, you'll need to drink these. They won't taste good." I downed the potions as quickly as possible since I knew they were going to taste like shit. As I still lay on the couch Dumbledore asked me what happened. I told them the whole story and by the time it was over I felt a lot better and didn't feel like everything was spinning. I sat up and Dumbledore explained to me everything that he and Professor Snape were doing with all of this death eater stuff. I wasn't too shocked that Dumbledore had some secret plans, and as he explains I was shocked by the fact that even though this couch was probably only meant for two people to sit on Snape sat beside me almost touching me with his thigh. I was trying not to focus on him and on what the Headmaster was saying, but it wasn't really working since his body heat was warming my leg. I leaned forward to try and maybe distract me from looking at him, but it didn't really work and when I pulled myself to look back at Dumbledore he was grinning a bit and I was convinced he thought that something was going on and I wasn't happy to think that he thought something was going on between us. Once he was finished I was quick to get up and leave, hoping everything would go back to normal, but before I could Dumbledore grabbed the handle and quietly said to me,

"I think you better apologize to your friend." He winked at me and closed the door behind him.

"He's not my friend," I mumbled under my breath, but not quite enough for Snape to not hear.

"I thought you thanked me for saving you."

"Yea doesn't mean you're my friend." I crossed my arms and he scoffed, but not a mean way like he was having fun arguing with me making me huff out in annoyance. I didn't know that this was going to be a long thing where I tried to argue with him and get him angry, but it never worked. Over the next few days, he would just smirk or chuckle when I got angry at him like I was his little angry kitten. So I planned to bring an idea to the Weasley twins. I was ready to get Snape angry and finally get back at him. I wasn't much of a fan for the Gryffindor house not because of pureblood status, but they were so headstrong it was sickening. After some planning, we finally were ready to set the trap. Waking up before everyone else and before anyone was going to be in the great hall I met up with the twins by the door as they unlocked it and as Fred and I walked up to Snape's spot at the teacher's table George kept an eye out on the hallway. We placed one of the twins' own creations and laughed as we walked away back to our common rooms and had trouble waiting until breakfast for the device to set off.

The time finally came around and people were flooding the hall waiting for their food. Both the twins were sitting at their table talking to all the younger students who saw them as their idols. I, on the other hand, was sitting at the Slytherin table becoming a bit inpatient as Snape was already a few minutes late. He never really got here on time and always left early, but if he skipped out on today's breakfast I would be very disappointed. Within a few seconds after the food went out Snape came through a back door and sat down. I smiled to myself and glanced over to the twins. They gave me a thumbs up and laughed themselves.

A few minutes past and as everyone was enjoying their meals a sort of screaming noise started coming from the teacher's table. Obviously, the teachers noticed first and were looking around wondering where the hell this noise was coming from. Then it got louder. Loud enough that the students were confused and some of the teachers were cringing because of how loud it was. Then soon enough a puff of red and green colour appeared from under Snape's seat and completely covered him in red and green powder. The sounds stopped and a glowing light appeared behind him. That was Fred's idea to get the attention of everyone in the hall. Then the powder seemed to grow like bubbles and formed Snape's appearance into a sweet old lady from the midwest. The powder had a bit of pollyjuice potion in it so it would seep into his skin and change his appearance that way. Everyone in the room laughed and pointed. Well not everyone in the younger years stayed a bit quiet as they knew trouble was to come after this. I, on the other hand, laughed my ass off at the bloke who was now an old lady. Snape glanced down at himself and was immediately boiling in anger. He huffed and many of the other teachers brought a glass to their lips while he started to talk loudly.

As he looked around at his laughing students he noticed me acting historical and waving lazily to the twins who were also losing their minds over the stunt they just pulled. As I looked back up to the teacher's table I noticed Snape glaring at me like he was about to jump at me in anger. I slowed my laughing a bit, but I completely stopped when I saw that Dumbledore was doing the same. I sighed out loud as all the other students decided to leave and thought maybe I'd be able to run off the grounds and never come back to this school. But alas as I quickly looked back at the teachers I saw old lady Snape stomping towards me which made me speed up a bit causing me to ram my chest into Mr. Filch who obviously could tell I had some kind of part into the show he had just watched. I sighed as he grabbed my forearm as Snape came up to me huffing and puffing with a tomato-red face. I was in for it now. Not only did he clearly still hate me, but anything that might've made him change his mind just a bit was very much gone now. I dropped my head and started walking towards the dungeons. Before I could get far Dumbledore said from behind me,

"Ms. Sparks," I glanced my head back at the old man as he continued.

"My office." I sighed and frowned at the old lady standing beside him. I chuckled a bit as I remembered that it was Snape who started to yell again. As I walked with the Headmaster and my potions teacher none of us talked, but I could tell that Snape wanted to scream at me for the stunt I pulled. Being in the Headmaster's office and getting scolded wasn't an abnormal thing. It has almost made its way into my weekly schedule. Dumbledore told me that I would be spending the next three Wednesdays and Thursdays in detention. However, I never got told who it would be with so I'm praying I get to spend them making sandwiches and not walking through a dark forest all night.

To be continued for a part 3... in a bit

Any Requests?

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fandomenthusiastt · 3 years

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Responding to a Submission, ep2

https://eusuntgratie.tumblr.com/post/646596071305396224/my-laundry-game-was-off-on-monday-so-please-enjoy

And look at liliaeth hijacking the post with her delusional “Stiles refuses to improve himself and never learned to be useful for Scott because he knows that he’s dangerous and evil and he fears what he could become with those skills” bullshit: https://liliaeth.tumblr.com/post/646621914149847040/my-laundry-game-was-off-on-monday-so-please-enjoy

This response is kinda long so I’m putting a ‘keep reading’. Once again, this is just my opinion, I am not here to start any discourse.

If you want me to respond/react to anything, feel free to submit it!

First off, I wanna start by saying I agree with eusuntgratie.

I 100% agree that Stiles’s ‘flailing’ with a gun didn’t seem like something a cop’s kid would do. Even if he wasn’t trained to use one and be a skilled marksman, he at least would have known the basics. How to hold a gun would have been one of the first things he’d have learned.

I have family and family friends (and a future brother-in-law) who have been or are in the military. One of the first things they’re taught is how to hold a gun. Where you put your hands, how you aim, the safety switch, and where to point it when you’re not aiming at anything,

My point is: Stiles would know how to use a gun. His father would show him how to use a gun. Stiles’s ‘flailing’ with a gun is stupid and the show obviously does not respect him enough to make him competent with any weapon other than a bat. (The fic they linked, Safety, is really good and worth the read.)

Also their rant (this one: ‘theo is the worst. also can we bring back characters i give a shit about, instead of all the gross ones? BRING BACK BOYD AND ERICA oh wait you killed them you assholes. GIVE ME DEREK AND ISAAC AND CORA NO ONE CARES ABOUT THIS CRUSTY BITCH’) is 100% correct, but that’s for another day.

As for what lili said…let me start by saying this:

EVERY CHARACTER HAS THEIR OWN WORTH AND THEY SHOULD NOT BE PUT THERE TO BETTER ANYONE ELSE BUT THEMSELVES

Stiles is not just there to be another stepping stone for “Scott’s the only good guy with powers!!!!” arc. Stiles is how own character and should have things for himself, just like Scott does. But see, Stiles doesn’t get these things.

I’m going to make another rant for this later, so I’ll keep this one short. Stiles never got to explore his spark because the writers didn’t allow it. Only Scott got to be special with his cool new powers, while Stiles remained the human sidekick who was good comedic relief. Stiles. Deserved. Better.

Stiles never went to Argent for training, which, I don’t exactly blame him for since mostly all interactions he’s had with hunters have been bad ones. I wouldn’t want the guys who tried to kill me once around me anymore, and I wouldn’t trust them to teach me things like self-defense. So Stiles not going to Argent (despite that yes, Argent does become an ally later) can be excused. At the same time, what makes you think Stiles hasn’t gone to his dad before to learn self-defense? Or maybe his dad has wanted to put him in self-defense classes before but never got the chance because he’s busy being sheriff. I could put any excuse here, but it all boils down to the writers. They didn’t make Stiles train with anyone, so he never learned these skills would would have been better for him, not just for helping Scott. Stiles. Deserved. Better.

Stiles didn’t get the bite. Peter threatened him with the bite, but he never gave it to him. Derek and Scott never offered the bite (to my knowledge, I know Stiles and Derek have spoken off-screen canonically in the show, but it’s still unlikely) to Stiles, and he never asked them for it (again, to my knowledge as there are canon off-screen conversations. Link. Link.) I have my own theories for this ranging from Stiles being magical to Stiles straight up not wanting it, but I am once again going to give this to the writers. They never gave Stiles the option, though it may have seemed like they had. They were never going to give Stiles the bite. Scott was the hero. Scott is the main. Scott gets the power, and he gets the glory. Scott becomes a werewolf. Stiles is the quirky side character who is the main’s best friend. He may have something useful to give the main (his brain, his dad’s the sheriff, he helps push Scott) but he’s not the main. He’s not the one who is supposed to be the star. Giving Stiles the bite means sharing the limelight, and even then, other wolves don’t get shown unless it’s in a bad way, like when Derek started building his pack and suddenly Erica/Boyd/Isaac all looked like bad guys and Jackson literally turned into monster. (All except Scott of course! He’s the good guy, they can’t make him seem bad at all!) Stiles was never going to get the bite, so bringing it up here isn’t the best argument. Either way. Stiles. Deserved. Better.

And finally, Stiles’s fear of himself. I’m guessing the part they were referring to about Stiles’s mom’s delusions is this one, so I’m going to go off that. First of all, Stiles is traumatized. His mother believed he was a monster set out to kill and would beat him (according to what happened in the scene) to get him away from her. She thought he was dangerous and would kill her, thus she retaliated and shouted at him to get away from her and to stop staring at her. But Stiles was just a child, what could he do that was so dangerous? (Okay okay I know kids are trouble makers and there could be accidents, I mean I thought setting a napkin on fire was cool, but I also knew to throw it in the sink and splash it in water to put out the flame. Kids have common sense!) That just didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but since she is sick, I’m not going to say something like “She’s wrong! Here’s a 100-page list about why!” because this is an illness I know nothing about and she is also a fictional character written the way her creators wanted her to be. So while Claudia shouting at him that’s dangerous and a killer would definitely have traumatized him, I don’t think that’s where his hesitation comes from. I don’t think it’s a “Stiles is afraid of himself and what he could do with this power” situation, but more of a “Stiles is afraid of the responsibilities”. After Stiles was the Nogitsune, there wasn’t really much of a “oh my God what have I done” period that you would have expected, and that’s on the writers. It wouldn’t have been so far fetched for Stiles to have felt responsible for all the deaths that had occurred while he was possessed by the Nogitsune. If anything, we should have seen more of that! I feel like Stiles resonates a lot with the saying “With great power, comes great responsibility”, especially with who his dad is. Being the sheriff, his dad has a lot of power and control over all the deputies in Beacon Hills, but he is also responsible for leading them and being a good sheriff. Stiles knows that whatever kind of power you have, you need to be smart about it, he doesn’t always seem to know how smart he already is, and how good he would be if he had the power. Even without it, Stiles has already proven he could be a hero, even if he doesn’t think that. Stiles isn’t afraid of what he could do with the power. Stiles is afraid of what he should do because he has the power to do it. The writers should have given Stiles some kind of power to help him grow as a character, and he definitely would have been great with it. Stiles. Deserved. Better.

So, to conclude, STILES DESERVED BETTER.

He is not a plot device to make Scott look better. He is not an idiot who wouldn’t have known how to handle a gun. He is someone who should have been given an ability of some kind to further along his development as a character.

Stiles was just one of many given the short end of the stick to make way for others to better themselves and make themselves look grander than they should have.

But that’s just my opinion. -Oopstwin

#oopslookslikeihaveanopinion #responding to a submission #anon sent a submission #just stating my opinion #teen wolf #stiles stilinski #submission series #submission

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huntergatherercreator · 4 years

Text

The Takedown | Part Six

Pairing: Mob!Tom Holland x Detective Reader

Summary: NYC has a new drug lord determined to wipe out any and all competition in order to grow his empire. You're going undercover to stop him.

Warnings: Mentions of injuries, blood and weapons

Notes: Took a little break after the last part as I’m working two jobs again, but now that I’m settled I can go back to a part a week from now on.

If you enjoy this please let me know, all feedback is appreciated! :)

Catch up here: Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Part 6 - 1,902 Words

As soon as his men cleared out I dropped back into the seat, the pain from my arm hitting me along with the first twinges of a headache. None of the other patrons had batted an eyelid at my injury, and even now, after clearly being able to work out the situation, remained sitting at their respective seats finishing their drinks unhurriedly. The fact that this must happen so regularly for them to have a calm attitude about murder and no internal compulsion to aid the police chilled me. There was a lot more going on here than we could have imagined.

Zoey brushed past with a muttered instruction to meet her in the back. I watched her pick her way over to the door that led to the back hall, head deliberately held high as if she wasn’t affected by any of this either.

I placed the bottle of vodka back behind the bar and for once I wasn’t able to solidly hold back the small spark of temptation. The urge to take a sip, just enough to taste it on my lips slithered through my barrier. A deep breath and I managed to push it away.

I bundled my used napkins into the bin at the end. I hoped that when my blood was found outside the captain wouldn’t press for a warrant to get in, it’d only worry him finding these in the trash. If he was quick enough that is. I knew logically the place would be wiped down long before they managed to get the DNA results back.

Grabbing my wind breaker I followed Zoey’s path into the narrow back hall. The sconces were dim and suffused with pink light giving everything a rosy appearance. Despite what the adjoining rooms were used for the only sound was the same jazz music filtered into the bar. I passed several with ties attached to the handles before reaching the end door labelled ‘Private’.

When I entered Zoey was pacing back and forth around the room. It took me a long second to recognise it as an office, especially as my eyes adjusted to the harsh strip lighting. The room was surprisingly bare. A lone desk with a table lamp and computer gathering a fine layer of dust was the main item. The soft leather of the chair perched behind it was still fresh and crisp as if no-one had sat in it yet. I hadn’t been expecting incriminating documents to be lying about, but there was nothing. No filing cabinet, no calendar with stock delivery dates, not so much as a rogue business card. It made sense now why we’d never been able to pin anything on them. I would place a bet that the hard drive on the computer was completely clean too.

I watched the furrow between her eyes deepen before she came to a stop before me, arms tightly crossing.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she barked.

I sagged back against the wall as a sigh bubbled up. “I didn’t have a choice. If I let him get killed then it’d be case closed.”

Lips tightening she threw me a spearing look as she stalked closer, “That’s not what I mean and you know it. Why were you antagonising him? You’re supposed to be ‘undercover’ which means laying low.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes to the critical look boring into me. I could feel my headache worsening.

“Laying low won’t work. I don’t have the time to be working through the ranks, it could take years now that I know he’s set out strict guidelines for all his men.”

“That doesn’t mean you go from zero to sixty and start riling him up. He’s dangerous.”

Annoyance flaring I straightened up, forcing her to back off. “You think I don’t know that? The whole reason I signed up for this is because he’s dangerous. We can do as much police work as we want but we’ll never take him down. If I get close to him like this I can level the field with the information I gain.”

“You can justify it as doing your part for the city all you want, but what I saw back there wasn’t you, you enjoyed challenging him.”

I opened my mouth but no sound came out. Had it been that obvious? If she’d picked up on it had he too?

“Just as I thought,” she shook her head but her features softened. I angled my face away, stepping around her to stand at the desk as heat flushed my cheeks.

“Being undercover isn’t for everyone. It’s mentally and physically stressful. No-one would blame you if you had to back out.” I refused to turn. The sympathy of her tone cut through me.

“There is nothing wrong with me. I can handle this case just fine.” I retorted through gritted teeth as my hackles rose. I repeated the words internally to myself. I was fine. This case wasn’t getting to me.

“I’m sure you can, but at what cost?” I heard her curse under her breath as she shuffled around me to get within my line of sight again. “I can’t let you endanger my case anymore.” She’d already signalled this when Melissa had been pulled up but it cut more now knowing she was making the decision because she couldn’t trust my judgement.

“I think it’s best I let you out the back exit. A team will be here soon.”

The exit she’d referred to was one used solely during the prohibition. It came out a street over in a back alley, the hatch that let me up to street level was hidden by a prop dumpster light enough to be pushed out of the way even with my injured arm.

Hearing the sirens of a cruiser I circled around the streets for a while, unsure of where I was really going until I saw the steps for the Tribeca Bridge. It was still dark, not long past one now and I knew it was a risk to be out in the open especially after the events of the night but still I let my feet guide me around to The Battery and over to a stretch of the railing. The water was inky black, reflecting the lights of the city behind me but giving nothing away about its depth as it lapped at the bay. A cool breeze rippled off it stilling the sweat on my skin. Hands gripping onto the cold metal of the rails I took several deep breaths to try push away the lingering nausea floating in my stomach and fuzziness in my head.

I couldn’t help but replay Zoey’s words but I still refused to acknowledge what she’d been saying. I may not have full control over the situation, I never expected to in a case this versatile, but I knew what I was doing. I was a detective, it was my job. For her to second guess my instincts and my training rankled me. I was and would work this case to the best of my ability and if I ever felt I was in too deep then I’d take proper precautions.

Holland had added another to his death tally tonight, albeit indirectly, and I had no doubt the bodies would keep piling up, getting younger and younger as each side tried to recoup their loses by recruiting whoever they could to keep their ‘businesses’ going. I had to get to the heart of his operation before that became a reality.

I had gained such a valuable negotiating tool in saving his life, now I needed to take time to work out what I could exchange it for.

****

Despite closing the curtains the late morning sun had snuck in around the edges and lit the room enough to wake me. Checking my watch on the small end table it showed I’d been asleep for six hours. My body ached as I stretched out on the thin sheets, protesting as I jerked my arm too fast. A normal day and six hours would have been heavenly, now it barely took the edge off.

Reluctantly getting out of bed I stripped it down, my bandages having soaked through to leave large spatters on the sheets. I’d eventually managed to take a proper look at it after a scalding hot shower when I’d got home. It had passed clean through the outer edge of my arm, missing anything critical but carving out a large chunk of tissue between the entrance and exit wounds. They were small wounds so I’d opted against sewing them shut, simply cleaning it out with more medicinal alcohol from my first aid kit and bandaging them up with gauze pads and wrap and taking a few pain meds to take the worst of the pain away.

I bundled the sheets into the laundry basket along with my clothes from the day before, already pre-soaked and scrubbed to get the majority of the blood out. They were the only things in the basket, not enough for a full load but it made me itch thinking they still had remnants of the night before lingering on the fabric, as if washing them would make the events disappear a little.

As I thought about leaving them until after breakfast the itch grew until I finally threw on a pair of joggers and hoodie on over my nightwear and shoved the items into a bag. I trudged down to the basement, threw them on a high wash and marked the machine with my basket.

I hadn’t passed anyone on the way down. From what I could tell most of the tenants in the building worked all day or just never left their apartments so we never crossed paths. Which was fine with me, it meant one less person to keep up the pretence with. However now, as I reached my landing, there was a man wandering along the hall. I made to move out of the stairwell behind him until I noticed the hesitant way he was walking.

Shifting back into the doorway I watched him pause at a door for a second before moving on. It wasn’t until I caught the slight tilt to his head beneath his hood that I realised he was listening at each apartment. Unease creeping in I took time to properly assess him. Dressed in a perfectly sized hoodie and crisp jeans warning signs flared. Despite the attempt to appear casual this was someone who had spent more than the usual couple of dollars on his outfit. It was a disguise, and a bad one at that for this neighbourhood. They reached the end of the hall, stopping again outside my apartment on the right before turning to head back with a visible shake of their head. It was then I caught a glimpse of their face. Frustration swelled backed by an edge of anger that he’d turned up at my home, that he’d somehow been able to track me, I almost revealed myself but now that I could see his front I froze. His hands were shoved into the front pockets, one taking up more space than the other meaning he was holding something. I didn’t need a police badge to know that the additional bulge in his pocket was a weapon.

------

Taglist: @spideylovin @lukesbabylon @panicattheeverywherekid @keep-bears-wild

Part Seven up now!

#mob!tom #mob!tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland

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skullrock · 4 years

Text

the partners, chapter six - Steve x Reader

chapter six - the headmaster ritual

series summary: you and Steve are police apprentices at Hawkins Police Station in the fall of 1986. you get along famously, but there’s something Steve is hiding, and there is an unknown evil lurking in Hawkins. [friends to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff]

chapter summary: Steve goes missing, and you enlist the gang’s help to save him.

warnings: swearing, mentions of death

word count: 3.5k

a/n: here’s the Spotify playlist that goes with the series, and you can catch up here. it’s really starting to kick off fellas! hope you enjoy!

===

The song fades out.

You reach down to your Walkman beside you and rewind, then play again.

Oh... I know I'm unloveable You don't have to tell me I don't have much in my life But take it - it's yours I don't have much in my life But take it - it's yours Oh...

The bed under you is littered with tissues and your eyes just started to dry. It’s 10 in the morning and you hadn’t slept a wink. You’ve been listening to the Smiths for the past 8 hours and there’s no end in sight. The sun shines brightly into your room and you wonder what Steve is doing. You wonder if he’s sorry. You wonder if he meant it. You wonder if you’ll ever get your friendship back.

I know I'm unloveable You don't have to tell me Oh, message received Loud and clear Loud and clear I don't have much in my life But take it - it's yours

Through your headphones, you hear the phone ring. You don’t flinch, however, choosing to let it go until it stops. But it starts back up again, and for whatever reason, it seems louder and more urgent. You sigh and rip your headphones off, heading downstairs to the receiver on the wall. You clear your throat and roll your shoulders back, expecting it to be Steve, calling to be an asshole again.

“Hello?”

“Y/N?”

It’s Veronica.

“Veronica, hey,” you say, uncertain. “Are you alright?”

“It’s Steve,” she says tearfully into the phone. Your heart drops to your toes and you lean against the wall. You hear her sniffle before she continues. “He’s gone.”

“What do you mean, he’s gone?” you breathe.

“We got a wellness check this morning to go to his house, his front door was open all night.”

Your heart lurches up now, right into your throat, and you feel sick. Did you leave the door open? No way, you remember closing it purposefully. You locked it, too.

“Chief sent Callahan to check it out, and he’s saying it doesn’t look so good.” Veronica is openly crying now. “He said – he said it looks like there was a struggle.”

“Wait – Chief sent Callahan?!” Anger flares in you; Steve was your partner. You should have been called, not Callahan. And Callahan was virtually incompetent. It all left a bad taste in your mouth.

“Yeah, he sent Callahan,” she says, confusion lacing her voice. “He said he didn’t want anyone else to go except Callahan, Powell, and some of the other guys. Y/N, you gotta get over there, for my sake. I’m freaking out over here.”

“Chief doesn’t want me to go?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

Your eyes narrow as you stare at the wallpaper of your house, trying to swallow your rage. “I’ll head right over there, Veronica, stand by.”

You slam the phone down and run to get dressed. You don’t even bother brushing your hair or your teeth, you just take off, anxiety clutching you. You are relieved that he lives so close, so it’s only a five-minute drive to get there, if that. The place is swarming with cop cars, sealed off with yellow tape. The neighbors are standing on their porches, watching with worry. It pisses you off, but you don’t have time for that. You duck under the tape and head towards the door.

The door had obviously been kicked in – you can see the wood splintered. When you walk inside, it’s chaos. There are multiple policemen there, and some of the men in black suits who were at Brimborn when the body was found. You nearly collapse. You grab onto the wall as you survey the room. You see a photographer photographing the weapons Steve had dropped last night, and you laugh weakly. You push yourself off the wall and walk over.

“Those are Steve’s,” you say. “He had those last night.”

Callahan, who was standing nearby, turns to look at you. “You look like hell, Y/N. Have you slept?”

“Why didn’t anyone call me?” you hiss. “Steve is my partner. I only found out from Veronica.”

“Chief didn’t want a new person on this case,” he says, shrugging.

You scoff and gesture to the room, filled with people who had never been on a case before. Callahan shrugs again. “Maybe Chief is a misogynist.”

You want to punch him right in the face but stop yourself. With a heavy sigh, you start to tell him about last night.

“Steve and I – we hung out last night,” you recall. “He uh – he showed me these weapons, and he just – he put them down, here. And then he was going to bed, and I left, and I know I locked the door, and I know that I shut it.”

Callahan nods. “What time did you leave?”

“Maybe two?”

“Call came in around seven,” he explains. “Neighbor saw his door was wide open but that his car was still in the drive.”

You shake your head in disbelief. “I don’t understand –“

But then it hits you.

They probably followed you from the bar. They probably waited until you left to go grab him.

And his bat was in your car, his weapons on the living room floor. He had no protection.

It was your fault.

Feeling sick, you grab onto Callahan, who slowly sits you on the floor. His face is contorted in confusion, and a few other police, including Powell, surround you, brows furrowed.

“You don’t look too good, Y/N,” Powell says, concerned. “You should head home.”

“No,” you say, dragging yourself up. “I’m going to the station.”

===

You whip the main door open, flying past Veronica, who gets up to trail after you. You hold your hand up to her and she relents, heading back to her desk and sniffling. You burst into Chief’s office, and he’s simply sitting there, smoking a cigar. The rage comes up hot and quick, and you can’t help yourself when you fly off the handle.

“What the hell is your problem?!”

Chief sighs, sitting his cigar down. You slam the door shut. “He was my partner, Chief. My partner. And you – you call Callahan to investigate? Are you joking? Do you think this is some sick fucking joke?”

He is silent, still, letting you continue your tirade.

“Even if he wasn’t my partner, you know he was my best friend. My best friend is missing, and you don’t even have the – the thought to call me? I have to wait for Veronica to call me, crying, because you sent the most incompetent person to investigate? I was with Steve last night, I know he -“

“You were with him last night?”

Your cheeks burn. “Yes. I saw him last night.”

Chief leans back in his chair. He analyzes you, and you hate it. You feel like a bug under a magnifying glass.

“How do I know it wasn’t you who did something?”

“Are you joking?” you ask, offended.

“What did you do last night?”

You take in a sharp breath, calculating if you should tell him. Steve thinks Chief is behind it all, and maybe he is – but what else are you supposed to do? It might be important that you were at that bar last night. Maybe it did have something to do with his disappearance.

You swallow hard. “Last night, we went to that bar on the edge of town.”

Chief’s face is unwavering.

“And I think – I think someone might have… followed us from there.”

“So, you two, underaged, went to a bar last night.”

You nod once.

“Why?”

You don’t know how to tell him without outright saying hey, we think you are in kahoots with bad people and are trying to destroy the town. So you go with, “We think people at the bar might have had something to do with the body.”

“You two were doing your own investigations.”

You nod once, again.

“Behind my back.”

Your cheeks burn once more. “You know that Steve thought it wasn’t a –“

“Steve has been through a lot,” Chief says. “Steve doesn’t know –“

“You never even gave him a chance!” you cry. “You brushed him off and now he’s missing, and you can’t even bother with an actual investigation –“

“You will not talk to me like that!” he roars, standing up.

His anger only fuels you, though. “You’re a real asshole, you know that? You know everyone wishes it was still Hopper, don’t you?”

“You’re too emotional, you know that?” he asks, glaring. “Don’t think I didn’t hear about what you did to Tommy Hagan.”

The color drains from your face and your heart lurches. After a moment you ask, “What are you talking about?”

“Carol Perkins came in the night it happened,” Chief spits. “Told me that you used your submission techniques on a civilian, all because he insulted your boyfriend.”

You scoff, but it’s a bitter feeling to be reminded that he isn’t yours. “Steve is not my –“

“And now you’re here, yelling at me, your boss, your mentor, because you think I’m incompetent?”

You can only stare at him in silence.

“You’re too emotional, Y/N,” he repeats, sitting back down. “I tried. I tried to make this work. I wasn’t going to say anything about what you did to Hagan. I thought it was a one-time thing. But emotional people don’t make good cops. Y/N. Your emotional outbursts aren’t very becoming of a competent investigator.”

Your stomach drops, and you know what’s coming.

“You’re fired.”

It’s silent. You feel like you left your body. You can hardly breathe or think.

“You can come pack up your things tomorrow.”

Your eyes look to the floor. You push back tears and press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. You turn on your heel quickly and walk out, slamming the door shut behind you again. It feels like your world is flipped. You lost your best friend and your chances at a future all in the span of an hour. Now you couldn’t even help the investigation, because you were too emotional. Chief was right.

But you weren’t going to stand back and let Steve be hurt or killed, wherever he was. You were going to find him, with or without the station’s help.

You pull the door open and step outside, but Veronica catches you. You look back at her. She has tears in her eyes, and they are bloodshot. Her hair is a mess. It strikes you that she probably looks like a mirror image of you. Another girl who loves and cares about Steve, wants him safe and sound, wants him found.

She suddenly shoves something into your hand. “Take this.”

Your brows furrow and you look down. It’s a plastic bag with a napkin in it. The napkin.

Your eyes shoot back up to hers. “What – how –“

“It was in Chief’s desk,” she says, voice thick with anxiety. Her eyes dart around as if she’s scared to be caught – and she is. “Found it this morning before he came in. I figured – if Steve thought it was so important – so I looked for it –“

Your head spins. Chief did take this napkin out of the evidence room. He hid it. Steve was right. Holy shit, Steve was right.

“Veronica,” you say, grabbing her shoulders. Your eyes are hardened, determined. “I promise I’m going to find him.”

She nods and gives you a quick, tight hug, before heading back inside. You shove the plastic bag into your pocket and rip out of the parking lot, heading towards your house. You know you need to find out what happened last year. You need to figure out what Steve was hinting at all those nights you spent patrolling.

You run to your phone, and it rings right on time.

“Hello?” you ask, breathless.

“Where have you been? We’ve been calling you for the past hour.” It’s Robin, and she’s pissed, but her voice as an anxious edge to it. “It’s all over the news – what happened? What’s going on? Do you know anything?”

“Robin,” you choke out. “I need you to tell me what happened last year.”

She pauses for a long time. “Meet at Mike’s house tonight. Five o’clock.”

===

Everyone gathers into the basement. Whether you had information or not, you planned on going back to the bar to figure out what the hell goes on behind closed doors. You had changed into another outfit, leaving your uniform in a heap on the floor of your bedroom. You tucked your knife back into your garter, the same as you did the night before. You remember the feeling of Steve’s fingers on your bare skin and swallow the feeling of rejection that sits in your throat.

Truth be told, you were about to lose it. The emotions of everything that happened were just sitting within you, waiting to be given just enough attention to activate the waterworks. You were exhausted, too, coming up on 36 hours being awake, but you couldn’t rest. Not until you found Steve.

You clap once to get everyone’s attention and start. “They put Callahan on the case, and they fired me. Steve’s house was a mess, so there were signs of struggle, but that’s all I know in regard to the investigation.”

“You got fired?” Robin asks.

“Doesn’t matter,” you sigh. “You all know we’ve been patrolling, right?”

They nod.

You reach into your jacket pocket and pull out the plastic bag Veronica had given you. “We followed Edwards to a bar on the edge of town a while back, and last night we went to it. Steve pointed out this private lounge, and there’s a side entrance that Edwards went through the other night. I assume it’s for the lounge.” You sigh. “I don’t know what happens inside. But I do know that Edwards tried to hide this piece of evidence that was on the body – it’s a napkin with the bar’s logo on it.” You pause. “I think Chief and this bar are up to something. I think whoever runs this bar took Steve.”

Everyone is silent.

“But Steve hasn’t given me a lot of information. I know he was involved in the fire at Starcourt, but he keeps insisting the same “bad people” who did that are behind all of this. And I don’t know what he means.”

A murmur falls over the room, and you clap again. “I need you guys to tell me what the hell happened last year, because that’s the only way I’m going to be able to get to the bottom of this. Steve was right about some things, so I – he’s probably right about this, too.”

It’s silent for a moment, and then a cacophony of voices start, mixing together, making your head hurt. You hear “Russians”, “mall”, “Will”, “mindflayer”, “Billy” – all kinds of words that made no sense together.

“Hey, hey!” you say, clapping your hands together. “One at a time, please!”

“Last year, the mall didn’t burn down,” Dustin says. “The Russians had a base underneath it –“

“And Steve, Dustin, Lucas’ sister and I stumbled on it –“

Max cuts Robin off. “And the Russians opened the Gate – it’s a portal to the Upside Down –“

“Which is where intergalactic monsters reside,” Lucas explains. “And they were going to use the Upside Down for warfare, I guess, but –“

“My mom and Hopper called this guy, Doc Owens, and he came with the military and shut it down,” Will finishes.

You stare, mouth open. Finally, you say, “So – what? What does Dungeons and Dragons monsters and – places – have to do with this?”

“That’s just what we call them,” Mike says impatiently. “Keep up.”

“So there’s an intergalactic portal in Hawkins,” you say slowly. “that the Russians opened. And they were going to use its powers for… warfare?”

El nods silently.

You nod slowly, trying to keep up, as Mike said. “Steve said that the same company that built Starcourt built this bar, and Mayor Kline signed off on it. So Steve must have thought that the Russians are also running this bar that the Chief frequents.”

Everyone nods in agreement.

You curse under your breath. “Ch- Edwards must have known about Steve being onto him and wanted him gone. So… we all can agree the Russians probably have him, and Edwards is probably working with them?”

Everyone nods again.

“Phenomenal, that’s just great,” you mutter, running your hand down your face. You can’t believe god damn Russians are in your town, you can't believe Steve dealt with them before, and you can’t believe they kidnapped him - or killed him - because he was actually onto them. But it all makes sense now; Steve’s apprehension on letting people in. They’d probably been watching him for a while, and he was trying to protect you from being in trouble with them. Steve’s anxiety, Steve’s inability to believe everything is fine. Why he wanted to be a cop in the first place. It all suddenly adds up.

Everyone is silent for a moment before Max pipes up. “That was a classic Steve move. You know, you and Steve really would go well together.”

It stings.

“Yeah,” Lucas adds. “Why aren’t you together?”

It hurts.

“That, um… that ship sailed last night, actually,” you confess, throat dry. “I tried to... but it didn’t work out.”

Dustin gasps softly. “You told him you liked him?”

“Can we please get back to the rescue mission?” you groan, imagining Robin telling you told you so.

“What’s the plan?” El asks quietly.

“I’m going to go back to the bar and try to get into their private lounge,” you say, starting to pace again. “Then I can figure out what happens there, at least. And I can knock it off the list of places to look.” You sigh. “That’s my only lead right now.”

“What do we do?” Dustin asks.

You turn and look at him, brows furrowed. “You stay here.”

“No way,” Robin says, pushing off the wall she was leaning on. “We’re not going to sit here while you go for him. We are helping.”

Everyone agrees, and you huff, irritated.

“Look, if you want to help, you stay here and help me,” you say. “Will, could you get Owen’s number?”

“I mean, I can ask my mom –“

“Great. Does anyone have a walkie I can borrow?”

Lucas hands you his and you nod in thanks. “We communicate through these.”

“No way!” Robin says. “We aren’t going to sit here –“

“Robin –“

“No!”

You have an intense stare down with her. You try to use your eyes to convey they severity of the situation. But the truth is that you have no idea what they’ve seen, the terrors they lived through. You only know a third of the story, if that.

“You’re not the only one who loves him,” Robin says quietly. “We love him, too. He’s our friend. Friends have each other’s backs.”

You stare at her for another long moment before sighing. You bite your cheek and think for a moment. “Alright, here’s how it’s going to go.”

You lay out the plan. Dustin and Robin will come with you to the bar. You wait until nighttime to move. They’re going to distract the bouncers at the private entrance, allowing you to slip inside. When Robin and Dustin lose the attention of the bouncers, they go back to the car. All parties have a walkie to communicate with. Will is to get Owen’s call number and have it on standby at the Wheeler’s house with the rest of the gang. If there is something bad happening, he calls and alerts them. But he waits either for your signal or for half an hour to pass with no contact. The others are irritated that they can’t come – like, ridiculously irritated – but El says that it’s “halfway happy.”

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Mike asks. “Can you do this on your own?”

“I’ve been wrong before,” you say with a bitter smile. “But I’ve got the training.”

You go over the plan a few more times before having Robin and Dustin come out with you to your car. They seem content with their close involvement, and you hope they don’t try to manipulate you into letting them do more. Dustin opens the back door and gasps.

“The bat,” he says softly, then looks at you. “What’s it doing in here?”

“He left it in here last night,” you whisper, guilt running through you again. You squeeze your eyes shut. “Maybe if he had it, if I ran it in to him….”

“Hey,” Robin says softly, gripping your arm. Her gaze his warm and comforting, and for the first time in the past day, you smile.

“You didn’t know,” she says. “You didn’t know. It’s alright. We’re going to help him now.”

You take the bat out and place it in the trunk. “I really hope he’s where I think he is.”

“One step at a time,” Robin says gently.

You shut the trunk and straighten, looking at your new partners. They’re ready and willing to help; smart and cunning, quick and trusty. You sigh and hold your hand out.

“Let’s do this,” you say, and they pile their hands on yours, Dustin smiling toothily and Robin smiling gently.

You hope you don’t screw this up.

===

taglist (join here): @harrington-ofhawkins @wolfish-willow @gothackedalready @m-blasterrr @sourapplebaby @harringtown @sassisaluxury @comedy-witch @peanutem @mochminnie @willowrose99 @whimsicalwoodlands @anerroroccurrrrred @marvels-gurl @willowrose99

#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #stranger things fic #the partners #my fic

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slaheir · 4 years

Text

STUDY : HISUI

۝ BASICS

IS YOUR MUSE TALL / SHORT / AVERAGE? He seems pretty tall for his age??? I mean given Kohaku’s probably not the tallest person out there but for some reason I just think he began to sprout up like a tree and is still very much growing boy. His sister’s are definitely taller than him but I think he’s taller than Moroha and probably slightly more than Setsuna and close if not the same height as Towa.

ARE THEY OKAY WITH THEIR HEIGHT? Yeah, teasing like that doesn’t really bother him except when his sister’s are needling him about his forehead.

WHAT’S THEIR HAIR LIKE? His hair's pretty long. Miroku’s was about at his shoulders and Hisui’s ponytail is slightly fuller and seems to have more to it so I’d say his is just past his shoulders. He won’t cut it and wears it tied back, like his father and Uncle have shown him to do so it doesn’t become a means of exploit in battle. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll have a ponytail like mama.

DO THEY SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THEIR HAIR / GROOMING? I don’t think so? Like, he’s definitely hygenic and takes care of his appearance but just pulling it back like that tells me he’s a two step kinda guy and is kind of on the always on the go.

DOES YOUR MUSE CARE ABOUT THEIR APPEARANCE / WHAT OTHERS THINK? I think he’s definitely a sensitive boy but would really only care about the opinions of people that care about him. If his mom, father or Uncle said he looked unprofessional he’d clean up, for sure. The only thing he’s adamant about is the way he wears his uniform and the collar around his neck. He finds it too restricting and distracting in a fight.

۝ PREFERENCES

INDOORS OR OUTDOORS? Outdoors

RAIN OR SUNSHINE? Sunshine, because it’s easier to train and fight demons when you’re not slipping and sliding through grass or mud.

FOREST OR BEACH? Forest

PRECIOUS METALS OR GEMS? Precious metals. He works with his hands a lot and cleans a lot of his own weapons and admittedly has shown some of his teammates how to care for theirs.

FLOWERS OR PERFUMES? Flowers. He brings them home for his mom and sisters a lot.

PERSONALITY OR APPEARANCE? Personality, for sure.

BEING ALONE OR BEING IN A CROWD? Either. I like to say that he does sometimes prefer to be alone with his thoughts but more often then naught he’ll chase after or offer to do something with his family or friends because he likes spending time on them.

ORDER OR ANARCHY? Order. Keeper of the peace, future hero of the village! >3

PAINFUL TRUTHS OR WHITE LIES? Painful Truths. He’d rather his family be honest with him and let him deal and process things than keep things from him. Yeah I’m looking at YOU Uncle Kohaku, we know the series is gonna go there and you’re defs hiding something from my boy.

SCIENCE OR MAGIC? Magic. It’s feudal japan so.

PEACE OR CONFLICT? Peace. He fights to protect people so they can have an easy future (and in his family’s case they deserve it)

NIGHT OR DAY? Both? Depends on the shift work.

DUSK OR DAWN? Dawn, new start. New begginings.

WARMTH OR COLD? Warmth. He’s a warm person and definitely makes others feel good about themselves.

MANY ACQUAINTANCES OR A FEW CLOSE FRIENDS? Both. He’s well known in his community and has a few close friends he spends a lot of time with.

READING OR PLAYING A GAME? Reading. He likes talking to his father about his beliefs because he recognizes he has much to learn from Miroku as he does from Sango.

۝ QUESTIONNAIRE

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR MUSE’S BAD HABITS? Hisui gets in his head. A LOT. He internalizes and worries about other people. He worries about living up to expectations and falling short of them or failing to do something right. He has a few insecurities and definitely a lot of vulnerability and survivors guilt in some verses that I write. He wants so badly to be someone his parents are proud of. They fought to give him a comfortable, safe, full life so he owes that to them right?

HAS YOUR MUSE LOST ANYONE CLOSE TO THEM? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED THEM? This verse dependent so I’ll try and outline a few.

In my canon Yashahime verse, that’s developing as the series progresses we see that Sango, Miroku, and his sisters are all gone and the only family member he has left is his Uncle Kohaku. Now varying outcomes of how he feels depends on how much he a) remembers and b) what he’s been told. I have a sneaking suspicion that both Kohaku and Hisui were out training when whatever happened went down. Thus, he’d know that he had a family but to the extent of what he believes happened and how much he knows - we don’t yet. However this will be a VERY IMPORTANT defining moment to Hisui’s character. Because while some of the other main cast may not remember they even had families he does. And to have this happen to him HURT HIM DEEPLY. I don’t know how he’d possibly process those emotions or if he even fully has. I feel like he threw himself into his training, carried on with his life either again - depending on what he knows - hoping to find them again someday or just believing their dead and trying to continue on. But regardless, family for him in this verse is a VERY touchy subject and not something to talk to him about. He’s pushed his Uncle away whenever the subject’s been broached and after not talking for a few days, they’ve just moved on and went back to the way things were before. This verse hurts me a lot so I need all these children to be reunited with their parents at the end of this Sunrise, okay??? >’( you better not do me dirty. MirSan and InuKag deserve better.

In my canon divergent yashahime slayer verse, Hisui has all of his family nothing really bad has happened - the only lesson he’s learnt thus far is to be more careful. I’ve mentioned an incident in this verse where he saved a young girl during a demon’s attack on their village but took a bad injury in his leg that became infected and left him bedroom for 6-8 weeks. This was his first reality check and he had to work hard to get back to where he was physically, but he’s much less impulsive than before and only gives (a few) hero speeches every once in a great blue moon because xD he’s just never gonna grow out of that.

WHAT ARE SOME FOND MEMORIES YOUR MUSE HAS? Applies to several Canon Divergent and AU verses.

Oh god so many. I’ll list a few here.

- training with his mother and uncle. Watching them glow with pride as he grows up and gets better and better, wanting to help them rebuild their village.

- walks and late night talks with his father. Those are REALLY special to him and he remembers distinctly his father carrying him back to bed when he was young, having fallen asleep as he was teaching him a lesson about life. Miroku tucks him and smooths back his hair and tells him quietly that he loves him so much.

- mother passing on her hiraikotsu and kirara to him, one morning out of the blue. He’s speechless and ends up crying and hugging her tight.

- days, afternoons and evenings spent over at his aunt and uncles. He helps Kagome do laundry, plays with moroha and sometimes his sisters join.

- Since he was a baby he follows inuyasha around and tries to imitate his swagger and confidence. Inuyasha loves his nephew he’s such dorky cute little potat.

- Getting the lecture of his and moroha’s LIFE when they took their parents weapons to go train in the forest.

- spending time with the wolf demon tribe when their folks had to go on out of town missions as a group. Koga, Moroha and Hisui fishing, training, running off to go fight things that are ten times stronger than them and Koga dragging their asses back to his pack to blister their ears like wHY is it always YOU TWO. But he loves those trouble makers.

IS IT EASY FOR YOUR MUSE TO KILL? evil demons? A hundred percent. Doesn’t bat an eyelash because they’re preying on people and he needs to protect them. Regular humans though, that are evil and preying on women and children weaker than them? He has a hard time. He doesn’t understand how a person can be that much of a vile monster. And though he should have the stomach for it, sometimes he really doesn’t. He hates injuring people possessed by demons too. He’s like his father in that he’ll try and non lethally exorcise it or beat it out of them and help care for their wounds later.

WHAT’S IT LIKE WHEN YOUR MUSE BREAKS DOWN? Oh.. My. Gosh. My heart. He’s really.... soft boy and keeps a lot of his emotions to himself so when he breaks down it’s water works. Hiccups, heavy breathing, just shivers and trying to snuff out the sound he’s making but he only gets louder and louder till he has to let it all out. Like, we heard his lungs as a kid. Boy can cry a river.

IS YOUR MUSE CAPABLE OF TRUSTING SOMEONE WITH THEIR LIFE? Absolutely. WHen he fights beside Setsuna and Kohaku he knows they have his back. He wouldn’t even question that for a second, just as they (probably) wouldn’t question their trust in him. He’d fight hard to protect them and know they would do the same. His family too, the few times in my canon divergent verses he’s fought beside his mother or father and Inuyasha and Moroha.

WHAT’S YOUR MUSE LIKE WHEN THEY’RE IN LOVE? I think maturity wise he’s not there yet. He’s still young and has a lot he wants to focus on and do with his life. Speculatively, I think when he’s older he would definitely want the kind of open, affectionate, caring relationship that his father and mother have. That he sees his Aunt and Uncle have. But that’s a long ways down the road.

Tagged by: @shirokodomo (thanks el!)

Tagging: @senpujin , @eternityheir , @crimsonkunshu , @amorous-monk and whoever else wants to do/steal this !!!!!

#headcanons #hisui * / slaheir

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hazelandglasz · 4 years

Note

“Some asshole customer is screaming at you for doing your job and I can tell that you really want to yell back but I’m assuming you can’t so excuse me I’ll do it for you.” AU - you should soooo do a sterek one ! If you wanted to of course,, But I bet it would be so freaking awesome!

On AO3

Stiles is a regular at Hale-thy.

For one, if he wants to force his father into eating more than steaks and potatoes, he has to set an example, and the food here manages to be healthy and delicious.

For two …

He loves to indulge in some people-watching, particularly the staff manning the restaurant.

They are all related, or so it seems, from the hostess to the bartender to the cooks to the waiters.

Or, to be completely accurate, there is one waiter in particular who has all of Stiles’ attention.

His nametag simply reads ‘Derek’, but Stiles has a variety of nicknames for the waiter.

Grumpy.

Dark & Broody.

Big Guy.

Woomph Rgjrdtkh, on one particular occasion (Derek ended up wet from head to apron, and he was wearing a white shirt. That was a happy night for Stiles).

Besides Derek, they are all fairly amusing to observe, and Stiles is nothing if not a glutton for free amusement.

(Well, free. The measly dollars he pays for his meals are nothing compared to the enjoyment this restaurant gives him.)

But tonight, Stiles is not amused.

Because, as grumpy as Derek may look, he’s actually a sweet, decent, polite guy who never complains and never claps back when the customers are being less than stellar guests.

Like, Asshole at Table 52.

The moment he entered the restaurant, he started complaining to his date that he didn’t want to “eat like a rabbit in some sort of poorly lit den, Isabelle”, to which poor Isabelle only replied with a sweet smile that if he wanted to eat somewhere else, Harold, you can do so on the next date.

Something in her voice told Stiles that the possibility for said next date was dwindling by the minute.

And now.

Now.

Now, Harold has apparently decided to take all his balled up anger issues on Derek.

Who, again, apparently, did nothing wrong except explain to the gentleman that while the cooks were perfectly able to copy the Kardashians Nut salad, it wasn’t on the menu, as it is, but could he recommend the “Tough Nut” salad, which has the same main elements?

“You calling me a tough nut, asshole?”

Oh shit, Harold clenches his fists and Isabelle is face-palming like crazy.

And Derek only smiles, all teeth, which is really counterproductive if you ask Stiles, and bows his head. “No, Sir. The Tough Nut is one of our most popular item.”

“And I should take it to make it easy for you?”

“No, but--”

“Get out of my face. I will decide what we’re eating, we don’t need some loser who can’t do better to tell us what to do.”

Derek clenches his jaw but nods curtly before going back to the bar, his back to the rest of the room. His sister is immediately there, covering his hands with her own.

Good for him. Stiles is glad to see that Derek has such a good support system, but that doesn’t solve anything.

He’s filled with righteous anger, and he really wants to tear good ol’ Harold a new one.

Before he can form a proper plan, his legs decide for him and take him to table 52.

“What do you want?”

Isabelle looks up and gives Stiles a shaky, apologetic smile. Stiles smiles at her before turning all of his attention to the asshole in the seat in front of her.

“What do I want? Oh, nothing. Nothing from you anyway, except your respect and some manners.”

“Wha--”

“Nah, nah, nah. You had the stage, you tried to prove you were the bigger man here, but using a poor waiter to unleash some of the day’s tension is really in poor taste don’t you think?”

“How dare--”

Stiles leans forward. “What did I say? Shush. The grown-up is speaking.”

Somewhere in the back of his head, Stiles’ dad is laughing himself to tears at the sentence.

Somewhere in the background, the whole staff has stopped their activities to observe.

“Now, you may not be aware of the following facts, being unfrozen directly from Neanderthal times, but in the modern world, we don’t chew people up for doing their job. We take their advice, and we thank them, either in words or with a tip at the end of the meal. People in the serving system are not punching balls,” he adds, straightening up, “but if you need to resort to physical outburst to get your manners back, I volunteer to kick some sense into you.”

With every word pronounced by Stiles, Harold has packed himself into a smaller ball in his seat, turning redder than a rotten tomato.

“Um.”

“Thought so.”

Isabelle is turning red too, but obviously because she is containing her laughter.

Stiles looks around, and his eyes meet Derek’s.

Who is shocked enough to have his jaw dropped.

(Why doesn’t it make him any less attractive? Why?)

Stiles smiles crookedly and, bolstered up by the adrenaline coursing in his veins, winks at him.

I got you boo.

Which is really saying something about the levels this crush has gotten to.

“You are all mad, in here.”

Stiles gives Harold his best Cheshire cat’s smile. “Oh, no. You found out.”

“Come on, Isabelle.”

“I’d rather not.”

Harold is already standing up, but he freezes when she replies. “What? But--”

“Good evening, Harold.”

From red, Harold is taking a dive into a very unattractive shade of maroon. “Fine, be that way. I wasn’t that interested--”

Stiles puts his fingers on Harold’s lips. “Don’t say something you may regret later. Or should I get some soap from the kitchen to clean that potty mouth?”

“No need.” Stiles is surprised Harold doesn’t try to bite his fingers off. “I’m leaving.”

“Without paying for the date?Tsk tsk tsk.”

Harold opens his mouth and closes it, angrily taking a bill from his wallet before storming out.

Stiles and Isabelle share a look before they both burst out laughing. “That was generous,” Stiles says, flicking the 100 dollar bill closer to her.

“Nearly not enough, believe me,” she replies with a smile. “Are you by yourself, oh white knight in shining plaid armor?”

“Um.”

“Sorry, Miss, this knight is already spoken for.”

Derek has managed to sneak up back to the table, his hand warm on Stiles’ shoulder.

Stiles turns his head to look at him, one eyebrow crooked, and Derek winks at him.

That’s fair.

Except it’s totally not fair. Derek’s wink and smile are weapons of mass destruction. Stiles’ are merely nerf guns.

“Right. Right! Spoken for!” Stiles shrugs. “Totally off the market.”

Isabelle pouts before shrugging back. “I should have guessed. My loss! But your meal is still on me, as a thank you.”

“I won’t object to that. Milady,” Stiles adds, giving her a curtsey before returning to his table, Derek hot on his heels. The words are almost literal here, given how close Derek stands.

“That really was chevaleresque of you,” Derek says softly as Stiles sits back.

“I really couldn’t let him go on like that. You were perfect, and he was being a dick.”

Derek chuckles, looking down before killing Stiles with a bat of his eyelashes. “I’ve never been called perfect before.”

“You--you need to change your entourage, then.”

“Maybe I do. Do you know anyone interested in a position?”

I could be interested in a lot of positions, Stiles thinks but he bites on his lower lip to keep the words from tumbling out.

His thoughts must be loud, though, because Derek’s smile widens into a smirk. “How can I repay your kindness, though?”

“Coffee?”

Derek blinks, looking surprised and … disappointed? “Oh. Okay. Right away.”

“No! No,” Stiles adds, lowering his voice after the initial outburst. “I meant, have coffee. With me. Somewhere. Else.” Stiles closes his eyes and wipes his face with his hand with a sigh. “We could get some coffee sometimes, in a place where--”

“Where we wouldn’t be surrounded by my family who is watching us like zookeepers watch over baby pandas?”

Derek points his thumb behind him, and sure enough, the staff is looking at them with all the subtlety of a chili pudding.

“Indeed.”

Derek smiles in a softer tone. “I could pick you up at your place on Thursday?”

“You don’t know where my place is.” Stiles pauses. “Do you?”

“No, I don’t. But you know where I work. Seems a bit unfair.”

“You’re a bit unfair,” Stiles mumbles, gesturing at Derek from head to toe.

The tip of Derek’s ears turns bright pink, and it is adorable.

Stiles is doomed, in the best of ways.

#Anonymous #sometimes i write #sterek au #waiter!derek #white knight!stiles #fluff #slightly cracky i'm afraid

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cloudhayato · 4 years

Note

*pulls up to the drive-through* can i get an imagine where y/n is bleeding out and dying and she asks xanxus (blood type o so he’s a universal donor 😍) if he would donate blood to her? and what his reaction would be?

Sure!! I tried to be as in character as possible and i dont remember the events of canon very well so im sorry fow any inconsistencwies >w<

You’re no stranger to conflict. It was abundant in the mafia, from territory disputes to hits on powerful individuals, you knew what you were getting into.

Still, you never imagined that you would qualify for the VARIA of all things. A completely elite squad that was a height barely anyone ever reached. Guess picking up languages from all those places you lived, and becoming adept at killing, really served you well in the end. You should probably be more worried about what that says about you, but you’ve thrown morals to the wind a long time ago.

But now wasn’t the time to get distracted. While you were familiar with conflict, this was on a scale you’ve never seen before. It had been ten years since you joined the VARIA as their cloud guardian, proving your skills when you saved their boss, Xanxus, from an assassination attempt while he was busy fighting off several other threats from the front. This had ended up with you getting very close to the man, and soon became one of his commanders.

That’s why he trusted you to join the fight with the Millefiore, where it was a desperate power struggle with numbers on par with armies. This was no small dispute, this was straight up war, and while stress and fear edge you on in the peripheries of your mind, looking your boss in the face gives you strength.

“Bel and Fran, you go together. Head east or some shit.” Squalo commanded. “Luss and Levi, you stay here in the main fortress.”

There was some objections from the group that you tuned out, too used to this nonsense to really care. You roll your eyes fondly when Squalo screams out his signature “VOI!” in frustration, and eventually getting having had enough, he ignores them and turns to you.

“Y/N you’re sticking with the boss. Make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble.”

You feel your heartbeat speed up at that order. Did Squalo want just you to stay by the boss’ side? Did he know something? You narrow your eyes, trying to read into any deeper meaning that the command may have, but he’s already turned around and barrelling through the trees. That signals everyone else to head off too, and now you really are alone with Xanxus.

He doesn’t look at you, eyes closed and head resting on his hand. It’s like he doesn’t even care that you’re here, but you’ve learned how to read him in the first few years. If he wasn’t actively murdering you, that meant he was tolerating your presence. The heat in your cheeks increased and you feel honoured by that notion.

You sit by his side for a few minutes, not really talking. There’s no other throne and you know he won’t let you share his, so you sit on the floor cross-legged like a child in a classroom. It’s demeaning, but you were willing to do it for Xanxus. He would never do it back for you, but you knew when things were really desperate, he would protect his fellow squad members with his life.

As if that was a taunt to fate, you perk up when you hear the trees outside the building I’m pretty sure you’re in rustle, and the next second the building comes down around the both of you. You use your propagation to turn your weapon, a stick, into a reinforced straw hut and hide inside as rubble bonks off the top. You’re barely focusing on that, though, your mind racing with one thought and one thought only.

We’re under attack!

When you’re sure it’s safe, you step out of your stick shelter in order to get a good view of your enemy. It was someone who looked surprisingly like Bel but more of a shaggy sheepdog look, and some other guy who didn’t really look like anyone you knew but had a water elephant, which was pretty interesting.

You listened to their words, trying to get an understanding of their goals, and then rage floods inside you. They wanted to hurt the boss? To hurt Xanxus? He was one of the people you cared for more than anyone, and you refuse to let that happen.

You jump in front of Xanxus, and are about to put your VARIA cloud ring into your box when you hear the sonic screeching of bats. It startles you for a second and when you go to look up, blood immediately explodes out of you in a disturbing and grotesque fashion. You fall to the ground, in utter pain and close to death, yet still clinging onto life.

It’s impossible for you to tell how long the battle went on, but you felt it clearly when it ended. That’s when Xanxus walked over to you, and stood over your bleeding and bruised body. Just staring.

“B-boss-!” You coughed, blood leaking out of your mouth as you did so. “I need you to- to donate me blood! You’re the universal donor!”

It was imperative that all VARIA squad members knew each other’s blood types, in case something happened on the battlefield and anyone needed a transfusion. No one actually knew Xanxus’ blood type except you, because you were close and he didn’t feel the need to hide that information when signing official medical insurance documents provided by the Vongola.

In fact, you were fully confident in how close you two were, that it took you by complete surprise when Xanxus’ gritted his teeth, and his scars increased all over his body.

“What did you say, scum?” He growled, voice harsh, like shattering glass.

You swallow, suddenly very afraid.

“Xanxus pl-”

“Are you trying to mock me?” He cut you off, still encased in his own fury. “You think just because my blood isn’t Vongola that you’re worthy of it? Huh?”

No, you didn’t think that at all! It didn’t matter to you at all where he had come from, you only cared about who he is now. The person you got to know and... And fall in l-

You never get to finish that thought.

“Die, trash.” Are the last words you ever hear, before the sound of a gunshot and everything goes black.

#Anonymous #97 mail #khr imagines #xanxus #I would tag this a bunch of random things for fun but nah #I'm so tired right now I'm not feeling it :/#khr

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takonei · 4 years

Text

Beta AU - Main story, Chapter 4, deadly life (Part 1)

Note of the author: Place your bets, because these are confusing times.

Also, I’ll be back to college in a few days so I’ll take longer to write chapters and I’m not hoping for a 2nd quarantine to help me with this.

Chapter 4: Dance, dance, hanged puppets - Deadly life

...

Huh?

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

"Why... Did the body discovery announcement play?" Shuichi asked.

Ryoma glanced at everyone. "We're all here. No one else died."

Kokichi looked down. "I don't get it..."

Rantaro stared at Tsumugi's body with regret. "... The body discovery announcement played for Tsumugi but..." he clenched his fists. "Why...? No one else did this. Monokuma killed Tsumugi, we saw it for ourselves. There's no class trial to hold."

Shuichi nodded. The canon... The explosion... Tsumugi's last words...

"I knew the mastermind... was coming f-for me anyway..."

...

Did they have to find out who the mastermind was?

But still... Monokuma executed Tsumugi. Not the mastermind themselves. And Monokuma was very adamant with the rules.

"... Only the person who does the final blow is the blackened!”

And the one who did so is Monokuma.

Nothing made sense. Why-

The black and white bear appeared before their eyes.

"My! My! This class trial promises to be very interesting!"

Rantaro immediately shouted at him. "You executed Tsumugi! There's no trial to hold!"

The bear laughed. "Puhuhuhuhu! Very interesting indeed!"

He took a step back to make sure everyone could see him.

"You see, I cannot let the blackened get away as if they were spotless. Someone killed four eyes and this trial is about them!"

Kaito yelled. "What the fuck are you saying?! If I'm the blackened who killed Keebo only because of a maintenance mistake, why would anyone else other than you could be considered the blackened here??"

"Puhuhu! Puhuhuhuhu! That's for you to find out!" The bear reached for a cocktail out of... Who knows at this point. "I shall give you the Monokuma file. After a certain amount of time has passed, a class trial will begin!"

Shuichi's monopad vibrated. He took it to read the information given.

Monokuma file #4

The victim is Tsumugi Shirogane, the ultimate prodigy.

The body was discovered behind the main building.

The estimated time of death is 3:05 PM.

The victim died from an execution.

Obtained truth bullet! Monokuma file #4

... This didn't help them in the slightest.

Before he realized it, the bear disappeared.

What on earth was going on?

Why did they have to go through this again? What was the point?

Did they have to find the mastermind?

Was this going to be their last trial?

Nothing made sense. Shuichi's head hurt.

Rantaro's grip on his monopad was so strong that Shuichi wondered if he was going to break it. But more importantly...

That intense glare was back. Aimed at the Monokuma file.

He instantly got a chill down his spine.

Miu nervously looked at him. "What are we supposed to do...?"

The medic closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Isn't that obvious?"

"We need to investigate."

Kokichi waved his hands. "But for what? There isn't even a real blackened! We can't solve a murder if there is nothing to solve!"

"I don't make the rules. If Monokuma said we could investigate, then we have to do this. Besides..."

"If we don't, we'll end up like Tsumugi."

Kirumi took a step forward. "And do you have any idea how we should investigate this?"

He pondered for a moment.

"... I don't know. Just search every single corner of the academy. We don't even know what we have to find so we don't have a choice."

Kaito blinked. "All the academy??"

Ryoma crossed his arms. "Obviously the main spots and the buildings only. Anything could be a clue here."

Kirumi fiddled with a lock of hair. "It would be wise to group by two and search the labs."

Rantaro starred at Tsumugi's corpse. "... As much as I hate this, an autopsy would be a waste of time. We saw how she died. I think the mystery resides somewhere else."

"So? How do we proceed?" Kiyo asked.

They created the groups. For now, Shuichi and Kaito would be together to investigate Gonta's and Kaito's labs.

Shuichi had no idea what to do. What to think.

He thought back at her words.

She... knew the mastermind was coming to get her?

Did perhaps the mastermind set everything up so she would die?

But... Why? What did she do?

He grabbed the notebook and opened it.

Unfortunately, he realized how packed the text was. Giant blocks of text on almost every single page.

He starred at the text with wide eyes.

"What is that?" Kaito asked.

"It's... Tsumugi's notebook. She gave it to me but... I don't think it will help us. She explained that it was her deductions about the killing game so I don't think we'll get anything useful here. Besides..."

He showed the notes to Kaito, whose eyes widened.

"... I think I get it."

Shuichi shoved the notebook back into his pocket. The investigation was so unorganized, and they had very little time. Now wasn't the time to read blocks of theories.

The two reached Kaito's lab.

"You know..." he started. "I saw some of my tools in weird places when we got the bat. I didn't think much of it but perhaps it will help us."

They entered the small building. The biker immediately got into the back of the lab, where all his tools were stocked.

Shuichi tried to search through his stuff as well, but he knew so little about mechanics that it was hard to distinguish the usual from the unusual.

"Hey, Shuichi?"

The violinist turned to him. "Yes?"

"The welder was used. I don't know for what, but used at some point, not by me."

He approached the engine.

"I never leave it like this. You have to replace those parts each time you use it. I always do it before putting it back." Kaito explained.

"That's strange..."

Obtained truth bullet! Used welder

He pointed at the shelves of tools. "Also I don't remember how I placed exactly all of them, but some of them look fishy."

The two went through the tools.

"What the hell?"

Shuichi turned back to him.

"Some of my wire cutters have marks on them! Even the biggest ones! And-"

He took one of them and fiddled with it. "... This one's broken."

Obtained truth bullet! Broken wire cutters

... What the hell happened here?

The two left the lab.

Now was time to go to Gonta's lab. Perhaps they would find something.

The lab seemed pretty clean. They looked around and started going through the drawers. Although nothing seemed to be of use.

The two left the lab. But just as they were about to decide what to do next, something fell, causing a loud noise.

A piece of the roof from Kaito's lab fell, knocking a barrel over.

Kaito sighed. "I don't need my lab collapsing."

He approached the barrel to put it back in place but...

"Huh?"

He opened the lid. "What even is that?"

Shuichi approached him to take a look.

Several wood bars were inside. Some of them were long, some were small. But they looked too polished to be branches.

Obtained truth bullet! Wood pieces

"I don't remember putting... Whatever that is here." Kaito frowned.

The violinist couldn't even begin to put a finger on what happened.

He pondered for a moment. "Kaito... Do you mind if we go to the love hotel for a second?"

The biker blinked. "... Phrasing?"

"You know what I meant."

The two made their way here. Somehow the abnormal amount of weapons was still laying around.

"Sheesh, what happened here?" Kaito asked.

"We activated a trap with Kiyo this morning and this is what happened."

A trap, huh...

Perhaps he should keep this moment in mind.

Obtained truth bullet! Diverse projectiles

As they approached Kiyo's lock, Shuichi noticed the burn marks on the ground. Exactly where the cables had gone crazy earlier.

What even was the deal with them?

Obtained truth bullet! Exploded cables

Kaito looked around. "I would have gladly tried to analyze this mess but everything is completely destroyed. I can't do much."

"It's alright. I just needed to see this one more time." Shuichi shook his head.

The two made their way to the main building, where they found Kirumi and Ryoma.

"Kaito, since you're here, mind giving me a hand?" the smaller one asked. "Mechanic stuff."

"Sure. Did you find anything else weird?"

"There's a lot to cover." He turned to the mercenary. "I'll leave the rest of the investigation of the main building to you and Shuichi, alright?"

"Understood."

The two mechanics walked away.

Shuichi turned to Kirumi. "Are you okay? You got knocked out back then, didn't you?"

She shook her head. "I don't feel pain, remember? Besides the exisal didn't want to kill us. For some reason."

The violinist nodded.

"There's something I don't understand though." she took out her monopad, turning it on. "The rule 9 states that 'Monokuma will never directly participate in a murder.' But if we have a class trial, that means Tsumugi's death is considered a murder. And yet I think we all remember how everything turned out."

That was more than strange.

Obtained truth bullet! School regulation #9

"Monokuma is very strict with his rules... Why would he break them?" Shuichi wondered.

Kirumi shook her head. "I do not have a single clue."

The two looked at the main entrance, still blocked by the countless debris.

"Ryoma told me that the entrance collapsed when they turned the handle of the door. They heard something exploding and rushed out of the way." she explained.

"Either way it completely forbade us from entering this way..."

Obtained truth bullet! Main entrance door

Kirumi sighed. "Monokuma doesn't want to get the rubble away so we'll have to enter the main building via the pool area."

Shuichi pondered for a second. "Before we get inside, can we go to the dining hall? I didn't get a chance to see what happened exactly in here..."

"If you wish to."

The two made their way to the dining hall.

As the two described this morning, many spears and iron bars blocked the door. After trying to move them, Shuichi quickly realized that it would be useless.

Obtained truth bullet! Sealed dining hall

He looked at the lock on the side and the wires linking it to the ceiling.

"Did you realize anything?" she asked.

Shuichi wrapped his fingers around a wire and pulled on it.

"What are you-"

To Shuichi's surprise, the cable was lighter than he thought. But before he knew it, the end of the wire fell from the ceiling.

"... I don't know what I expected." he stared at the object, confused.

"Hold on." Kirumi approached him. She took the end of the cable in her hand. "That thing was cut."

The violinist frowned, approached the other cables and pulled them. All of them fell down.

He went down to take a look and all of them were hastily cut off.

"What on earth..." Kirumi muttered.

Obtained truth bullet! Cut off wires

The two looked at each other.

"Let's just... Move on to inside the building. Who knows if there are other broken wires elsewhere." the mercenary suggested.

"Agreed."

After making their way to the pool area, they noticed Miu on the window platform. She immediately turned to them. "Kirumi! I need your help!"

She approached the rope and started climbing. "What is it?"

The street artist pointed at the top of the window. "Well... I tried to see what made the window unmovable but... I gotta admit I don't want to cut myself with glass shards and I'm uh..." she gestured at her entire body. "I don't exactly have anything to protect myself. Besides, you're taller than me and I can't reach for the top."

Kirumi pulled her sleeves on her hands and inspected the window. After a moment, as she passed her covered hand nearly on every border, she frowned. "Something feels wrong here."

She tried to inspect a little further a certain spot. "It feels like those parts are joined together. Shouldn't it be separated for it to open?"

Obtained truth bullet! Non-functioning window

Miu approached her hand after Kirumi assured her it was safe. "... Yeah, those parts shouldn't be together... I think?"

"It's definitely strange. But did we ever use that window? Perhaps it was never meant to be opened." the mercenary suggested.

Shuichi shook his head. 'Why would there be a handle then?"

Miu shrugged. "Well, clothes designers put fake pockets on girls' pants and we stopped questioning it. People do a lot of useless stuff for aesthetics and mild inconveniences."

Shuichi put a finger on his chin. "I still feel like we should keep that in mind."

The street artist grabbed the rope hanging in the gym and started climbing down. "Whatever. I'll investigate the building."

The boy climbed up the rope to join Kirumi. It was a bit hard to do so, but he was still able to with the help of the young woman.

The two entered the gym, mostly untouched by the fire. There were still rubbles in some places.

... Now that he thought about it, the violent quakes were not here before today. He wondered if they were normal, but now he wasn't so sure. They all appeared after a lock activated. Never at any other point of time.

Obtained truth bullet! Earthquakes

Kirumi and Shuichi started walking. The burnt smell was invading the entire building, and the air was heavy. Probably from the extinguished fire. Thankfully there was no dangerous smoke.

The more they walked through the corridor, the more broken cables they noticed, either hanging from the ceiling or on the ground.

Obtained truth bullet! Hanging wires

"... This place gives even more of an eery vibe than usual." Kirumi noted.

Shuichi nodded. But it was to be expected from a building that survived a fire.

What even caused the fire? They all knew that aside from the candles on the fourth floor, no one was able to create fire.

Especially after...

No. Now wasn't the time.

"Considering what happened I doubt my lab will be worth searching." Kirumi pondered. "I have a feeling we should try to retrace where Tsumugi went, perhaps that will help us to see where the fire came from."

Shuichi had his doubts but accepted. He could still look into her lab later.

They made their way to the third floor, where Tsumugi should have been.

On the second floor, however, Kirumi seemed to have noticed something. "Look."

She sat down near a dark pink stain on the ground, near the wall. She touched carefully, but her fingers were clean.

"This is dried blood. I'm sure of it." she explained.

"Perhaps Tsumugi was shot by a trap? Rantaro mentioned her being injured in the leg..."

The mercenary shook her head. "No. It must have been here for at least a few hours."

For a few hours?

Obtained truth bullet! Dried blood

That was... Strange. But then again, he hasn't stepped into the main building since he went to Tsumugi's lab yesterday morning. Perhaps things happened that he wasn't aware of.

After going up the stairs to the third floor, they entered Miu's lab, which was the nearest. The street artist was already there.

"Did you find anything?" Shuichi asked.

Miu shook her head. "Nothing. I mean I'm searching through here but for now, I'm stuck."

She crossed her arms. "I mean, there's not a lot of stuff to go through here. Ever since the third trial I... got myself a lock from the warehouse and some keys to lock the paint lab. And I put pretty much all my stuff in there."

The street artist took an iron key and unlocked the door. There was a lot more stuff in here than Shuichi saw the first time. All her tools were here, from the products, the stepladder, the different kinds of paint, the buckets, and everything that could be moved.

Obtained truth bullet! Miu's lab

She sighed. "Why do we have to do this? Tsumugi was... She was executed..."

Shuichi winced. "... I don't know."

Kirumi stayed silent for a moment. "If we give up now, we're done for."

The two turned to her.

"Don't get me wrong, I find this situation extremely confusing but... Between us, haven't you realized today was odd?"

Shuichi looked at Miu. "I mean... I did find some things odd... Like the pattern for the traps had changed..."

"Yeah! Nothing activated unless we did it ourselves! But those traps were even more dangerous than the last days!"

The violinist perked up. "Do you think... It has something to do with Tsumugi's death?"

The mercenary shrugged. "To be honest, I am not sure. But I feel like we need to take a step back at the situation. Perhaps that's what Monokuma was hinting at."

Shuichi pondered. "To take a step back, huh..."

That was the only possibility, but the situation didn't make sense.

No matter how you see it, Monokuma was the one to kill Tsumugi.

No matter how much they investigated the academy, the results would still be the same.

They didn't even have a plan to investigate because they didn't know what to investigate.

... Perhaps he should still follow Kirumi's advice.

Obtained truth bullet! Trap patterns

"And as much as it sickens me to say it..." Kirumi continued. "This bear enjoys watching us arguing and distrust each other. I doubt he wanted to let someone die without a trial."

Shuichi's heart skipped a beat. "Does that mean... Someone will get executed wrongly?"

The three looked at each other.

"... I don't know. I'm as much in the dark as you are."

They decided to continue their investigation. Miu left to go to the second floor and go through the other labs.

As for Shuichi and Kirumi, they made their way to Rantaro's lab.

But the moment the door of the lab was in view, they saw him.

The medic was standing in front of his lab, staring at the void.

"Rantaro...?" Shuichi called, keeping his distance.

He didn't move. His fists were clenched and his eyes narrowed.

"... I failed her."

"Huh?"

"I could have saved her. I could have tried. I failed as a soldier. Again."

Kirumi approached him. "There was nothing any of us could have done to save her, Rantaro. Monokuma is at fault."

He bitterly chuckled. "Ironic isn't it?"

Shuichi joined them. His eyes widened when he managed to get a glimpse at Rantaro's lab.

"... To be the reason she died when your role is to save her life."

His entire lab was ruined. Cables were hanging from the walls, the walls and floor were burned, leaving marks everywhere. The air may have been heavy in the building, but his lab was a lot worse, it almost made Shuichi feel nauseous. The smell of burnt and gasoline didn't help.

And in the middle of the lab was...

Tsumugi's lock.

The scene was hard to look at.

It was easy to tell it was the start of the fire.

Obtained truth bullet! Rantaro's lab

Kirumi entered the lab. "... If you do not wish to investigate your lab, Shuichi and I can do it."

"It's fine." he shook his head. "Everything is ruined. Monokuma will rearrange everything after the trial anyway."

The three investigated here. There wasn't much to see, as they expected.

After a while, Kirumi broke the silence. "This trial is going to be much harder than the others."

Rantaro turned back to the exit. "You don't need to tell me." he looked back one last time at the scene. "Tsumugi's lock was right here. She didn't even have time to activate it before the explosion."

Obtained truth bullet! Tsumugi's lock

Shuichi felt sick even being here. She must have been so close and yet...

She couldn't.

The rules were quite simple and yet they weren't able to do it.

To activate a lock between 8 AM and 3 PM.

They had spent too much time trying to get to the building that no one realized Tsumugi didn't have time to get hers.

7 hours. And still unable to do it.

Shuichi felt ashamed just thinking about that.

Obtained truth bullet! Sanzu garden rules

But just as the two stepped out of the lab...

Ding dong bing bong!

... The investigation was over.

After the other investigations, they still had an idea of what was going on, on the potential murder weapon, the way things happened, but here?

They didn't even know why they had to do a trial in the first place.

They didn't know what happened, nor what to look for.

This felt frustrating.

They could only go back to the shrine of judgment.

The walk that felt like an eternity. Kirumi was somehow still calm- although he could sense a hint of worry in her. Rantaro was clearly mad. At himself? Monokuma? Both? He didn't know.

Shuichi was still impressed by the amount of self-control they had. If he was alone, he would probably have screamed his lungs out. Although the fear was mostly covered by the immense amount of confusion this entire situation radiated.

Everyone was already here at the shrine of judgment.

Although everyone was perhaps not the correct term to use. After all, they were eight of them now. They were sixteen at the beginning, and now only half of them were still alive.

And he didn't even know if the eight of them would be back here at the end of the trial, or if one of them was going to be executed for nothing.

None of them were in the mood to talk about anything, which was understandable.

Shuichi got startled when the elevator opened, inviting them to the trial room they all despised.

Of course, the descent to the trial grounds was silent, aside from the usual noise of the elevator.

Doing a trial for someone when the killer was the one judging them... It felt ridiculous.

The elevator opened to reveal the courtroom, but something was... Different.

And that's when he noticed.

Behind Monokuma's throne, on the wall was... A giant clock?

It was one of those clocks you would see in Europe, except with a steampunk feel. The cogs were visible, ticking every second. The large iron hands of the clock were impressive, to say the least, pointing at the time. 4:30 PM.

"What... Is that?" Kiyo asked.

"Why, I'm glad you asked!" the bear cheered. "You see, I felt like it would add a nice feeling to the courtroom. Futuristic is nice and all, but the good ol' clocks are also welcome! This is mostly a piece of decoration."

He was like a child describing his room with his friends.

Except he was a murderous bear, and they weren't his friends.

For now, they had to discover what on earth Monokuma want them to find.

And hope for the best.