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#i just drew him in the outfit i left the house in today
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Is It Over Now? || Kylian Mbappé
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Plot: Kylian and y/n have been fighting for so long, she's not even sure she knows what they're fighting for anymore. Angst.
Warnings: toxic relationship
Word count: 3458
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y/n well done on your goal, amour x will you want dinner when you get home? i'm making myself some pasta so i'll do extra for you x do you know what time you'll be home? i've left some food in the fridge for you x kylian can you reply please? i'm worried it's getting late, where are you?
A deep frown was etched on her face, she stared at her ignored texts, the oldest sent five hours ago and the most recent nearly an hour ago. None of them had received a response and neither had her calls.
She hadn't been able to go to his match today, as she'd already arranged to go out for her friend's birthday in the morning. Kylian hadn't minded though, it wasn't a particularly important match and she rarely missed any of his games, so she could be forgiven for this. Surely that wasn't why he was ignoring her. Well, knowing him at the moment she could easily conclude that there was no reason behind the radio silence. He was just being Kylian.
Dick.
She knew he probably had no reason to ignore her; he was most likely just over at Achraf's and didn't value her emotions enough to dain her with a text back. Still, having been alone in the house for so many hours with only her thoughts to keep her company, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering. It only felt natural to pick up her phone and she really couldn't help herself from opening Instagram. Her thumbs had a mind of their own, opening one of his fan accounts.
Then there he was, grainy footage of him on their story at some club in Paris, surrounded by his teammates. And then there was somebody else. Some girl sat at his side- on his side more really- his arm flopped lazily over the back of the booth behind her.
She was saying something and he was laughing. He was laughing in a way that he never did with y/n anymore. Wow, he was really laughing- surely nothing she said could be that funny.
The video was short, maybe five seconds, but she restarted it, watching it again, feeling a fire raging within her. The next story was a photo that some stranger in the club had taken. The pair were on the dance floor, none of his friends were in sight now. Her hands were up in the air and only now did y/n notice the girl's outfit. She wore a little red dress, just like the one that hung up in y/n and Kylian's shared closet. It was his favourite dress and she knew it.
At the sight, the fire that burned within her suddenly settled, an eery calm setting over her. After a few moments, she headed upstairs and drew a bath, watching the water slowly rise up the tub's sides. She loved that bath; the tub was huge, yet elegant, and sat right in front of a huge window which gave the most amazing view of the Eiffel Tower. Besides that, she and Kylian had spent some memorable nights in this bathtub. Not for a while though, she thought.
Now that she really considered it, she wasn't sure how many good memories she had with Kylian in the last six months. Maybe after three years together, she'd just grown used to the knowledge that she loved him and hadn't considered if he still deserved it. Maybe she hadn't considered if he still deserved her.
Maybe she'd been so caught up in the idea of the perfect man she'd met in that bar three years ago. She still remembered that innocent smile so vividly, the way he'd lift his glass to sip, almost hiding behind the thing. How every time she'd flirt with him, he'd blush like a schoolboy, and then suddenly shoot back with the most outrageous comment.
How a month after they'd started dating, the pandemic hit, and he'd turned up at her door, much to her disapproval. Then, he'd immediately asked her to move in with him. She still remembered his words.
Take a chance. If we're gonna go down, let's go down in flames. I don't wanna forget you, baby.
That aged like room-temperature milk.
He'd convinced her so easily, his charming smile and smooth words always getting the best of her. And he'd been right. Those had been the best few months of her life.
And even after lockdown, when she was back at work and football became more full on, everything had just seemed so right. He just seemed so right.
Every time he'd go away for matches, he'd always find some stupid trinket to bring home for her. The tradition had started the week they'd met, when she'd asked him out on another date and he'd had to turn her down, as he was playing away in Italy. He'd brought her back a little keyring- a pizza with Italia written on it. It was so tacky and so cheesy that she immediately fell in love... with the keyring. Their fridge was still littered with far too many magnets to count, very out of place in his black and white, minimalist kitchen.
Of course, she remembered the first gift, and she remembered the first time he'd forgotten. It was after an away match to Manchester City. An away match that had knocked PSG out of the Champions League- in the semi-finals.
It wasn't that she'd been expecting a gift- no, she completely understood. It was difficult for him; he'd been injured and therefore couldn't play the second leg. He'd had to go all the way to Manchester and didn't even get to kick the ball. He just had to sit on the bench and watch his dream fade before his eyes.
Despite not playing, she knew he blamed himself. He always blamed himself. For the injury. For not scoring in the first leg. For everything.
At the time, she hadn't been upset that he hadn't bought her some shitty magnet for their already cluttered fridge or a bottle opener for their already stuffed drawer. Besides, Manchester didn't have much to offer in the tourism department besides football, so she could forgive him for not wanting to search through shops full of his opponents' memorabilia, just to uphold their tradition.
Looking back on it though, that was the moment he snapped. Three weeks later, he'd returned from Reims empty-handed; when she'd playfully questioned him, asking how she was supposed to sleep at night without an 'I <3 Reims' t-shirt, he'd grunted something about being busy with work and she tried not to let her face fall, wishing he'd have just made some stupid joke in response.
Y/n, I can't afford to keep buying you all these presents.
Honey, nobody hearts Reims.
Well, I had some grapes for you but I got peckish.
But no, he'd just grumbled some excuse and gone up to their room. They'd won the game too. The last match of the season. Sure, they hadn't won the league but that fate had been sealed weeks ago.
Of course, at the time, she hadn't sat up at night, tossing and turning because her relationship was over. She'd understood. For him, she'd understood.
Then, the trinkets began to come every other away match, then once a month, once every few months, and then they stopped coming. The last remnant of their once-sacred tradition still sat on her fridge. He'd brought it back after an unremarkable league tie against Nice. A little magnet in the shape of a palm tree, in the colours of the French flag, with two words on it.
Trés Nice!
What did that even mean? Neither of them were sure. She loved it.
After that, however, the keyrings, and magnets, and bottle openers, and t-shirts, and pens had suddenly stopped. Not trés Nice!
The bath was full, the bubble bath she'd added working a treat. Slowly, she eased herself into the warm water, sighing as she settled back in the tub. She didn't even have her phone but she really didn't care. For what must have been an hour, she stared out the window at the city below her. From his castle, she watched his kingdom, knowing she didn't have a place in it anymore.
She stared at the dark streets they used to haunt, giggling hand in hand as they snook out of their apartment for late-night strolls (though it was always technically morning) down streets that at any other hour would be packed with hundreds of people, pointing at Kylian. Or when they used to go to tourist attractions in the middle of the winter and he'd pull on a balaclava, dragging her up the Eiffel Tower or the Champs Elysees, insisting her liked the thrill. In truth, so did she.
She liked standing hand in hand with him, knowing the crowds around them had no idea Kylian Mbappé was in their midst, and they never would because he was her Kylian. For that moment, at least.
It was late when she heard the door downstairs, the security system blaring loudly. She didn't panic, as it quickly turned off. He didn't say a word on his arrival. She could hear him drawing closer to their bedroom, his feet heavy on the stairs, in the hallway, in their room, approaching the bathroom door.
She thought he'd let his guard down when they first met, telling her his worries and fears, but maybe he only truly knocked down his walls that night in the bathroom months ago, showing his true self.
Maybe she only truly got to know him after Qatar, when he really snapped. When she'd tried to comfort him and he'd yelled at her because she'd never truly understand what he was going through. She'd told him she was sorry. She'd apologised. For what? She still wasn't quite sure.
Maybe she only truly knew Kylian when she'd been struggling at work, doing overtime to catch up on her ridiculous workload at home. She'd missed his match and he'd lost; then, when he returned home and she hadn't been in the mood for kisses and cuddles, he'd been furious. He'd said it was her fault she was stressed- she'd brought it on herself. She could quit her job any day and never worry about money again. She'd tried to explain but he couldn't comprehend her need for self-reliance. If anything, he was insulted that she didn't trust him enough to let him take care of her. He'd never been overly traditional or had an obviously fragile masculinity but that night she'd questioned everything she thought she knew about him.
Of course, he'd apologised the next morning and she'd forgiven him. They were both stressed and there was no reason to let one pressure-fueled spat escalate into more than it needed to. Then those one-off spats became more and more common until they were the norm. If they weren't in silence, they were fighting.
They only found peace when they were fucking. Even that physicality wasn't what it once was, no longer the same slow, gentle love-making. Now it was always quick, desperate, his once soft kisses now left bruises and his whispers of sweet nothings had morphed into wordless grunts and moans.
Is that all this relationship was anymore? Physical.
Light flooded the dimly-lit bathroom, as he swung the door open carelessly. He looked almost taken back at the sight of her, his eyebrows raising a little, as though he hadn't expected to see her here- in her own house.
Then again, maybe it wasn't her house. Sure, she'd lived here for almost as long as they'd been together but it was never really her house. It was Kylian's house in Kylian's city, and she was here too.
He stared at her for a few seconds before smirking, "Hey." he mumbled, already stripping down to join her.
She sunk further down in the tub, allowing the thick layer of bubbles to give her back her modesty. Silently, she watched him, her lips a flat line, her eyes on his face, not his naked body. He wasn't looking back at her. He was too focused on hastily ripping of his trousers and his shirt.
Without hesitation or any more words exchanged, he climbed in the tub and she leant forward as he slipped behind her. She wanted to be held in his arms just one more time, to feel his body against hers. He positioned his legs on either side of her, his arms flopping over her shoulders, as he pulled her back into his chest. Resting his face on her shoulder, he let out a noise, somewhere between a contented hum and a whine.
She ignored him, turning her head to stare out of the window. The city's skyline was dark and at this time, the tower's lights were off. Now, it was just a dark silhouette against a dark horizon, only made visible by the bright light of the full moon.
"What are you sulking about?"
As he spoke, she could smell the alcohol on his breath and she almost wretched at the scent. Her voice was calm and steady, as she asked, "Where have you been?"
Her voice sounded like she had an innocent curiosity in the question as if she didn't already know the answer, or she was merely asking to make small talk.
"Oh, some of the team wanted to go out to celebrate the win."
He didn't lift his head from her shoulder, placing a soft kiss on the damp skin. He lied with such ease. Well, he hadn't entirely lied, just withheld some important elements of the truth. Maybe she'd have preferred it if he'd just lied to her. At least then he would have had to make a conscious effort to deceive her. No, this felt so much worse; he spoke with such ease, as though it was the whole truth, and maybe he too believed it. Maybe he believed that she didn't need to know about the girl in the red dress, just like he'd believed she didn't need a text back, or a kiss goodbye before he left the house this morning, or a goodnight before she fell asleep last night or the night before that or the night before that.
"And who was that girl?" she asked, her voice still chirpy, not a hint of bitterness showing in her tone.
"Huh?" he twisted his head, the side of it on her shoulder, gazing up at her face.
"The girl you were with. She was in a red dress, like the one I have. Blonde hair and-"
"Oh," he cut her off quickly, "she's one of Ousmane's friends, I think."
"You think?"
"Mhm, I don't really know. I didn't speak to her that much."
Now, that wasn't a half-truth, that was simply a lie.
"Oh, okay. Just 'cause you seemed really friendly with her."
He scoffed, lifting his head, his tone suddenly switching, "What, were you stalking me?"
"No, but you didn't reply to my texts and you came home seven hours after the match finished, so I wanted to make sure you weren't dead in some ditch."
"Of course, I wasn't. Can I not have a night out with my friends?"
"Yeah, that's fine but you didn't fucking text me back and the next thing I see you've got some random girl in your lap at the club and you don't even have the courtesy to tell me about it."
"It wasn't like that! Why would I come home and tell my girlfriend that some nobody had been coming onto me in the club?" he snapped.
"Because you were coming onto her too! Don't you think I deserved to be warned that people were going to post pictures of my boyfriend with someone else! It's fucking humiliating!"
She stood up and climbed out of the bath, wanting to get as far away from him as possible. She quickly grabbed her robe from where it hung and wrap it around herself. She sat on the little ottoman in the corner, hugging her arms around herself.
"What are you saying? You know I wouldn't cheat on you!"
He yelled the statement as though it were a fact. Maybe he believed it. He seemed to believe a lot of things. Maybe he just didn't think about her perspective much.
"No, I don't! What reason have you given me to trust you?"
His face fell into an expression of fury, "What are you talking about?"
"I don't know, Kylian!" she almost yelled and almost sighed, somewhere in the middle, "I don't know. What are we even doing this for?"
"You tell me! You're the one picking a fight for no reason!"
"No, not this just... why are we here? We keep fighting and I don't know what for."
He stood up, "What..."
"I'm not happy! You're not happy! What's the point!"
Wrapping a towel around his waist, he rushed over to her, "I'm happy, of course I am!"
"Well, I'm not." she murmured, standing up from the seat and heading for the bathroom door.
"What are you doing, where are you going?" he asked, panic setting over him.
"Away," she muttered, heading to the closet.
"No, you're not." he declared, chasing after her, "Look, baby, I'm sorry, okay?" Ignoring him, she began to change into some joggers and a hoodie. "Y/n, you're not leaving me."
"Why not? All we ever do is fight! There's no point in us being together if we make each other fucking miserable!"
"I told you, you make me happy! You make me happier than anyone else in the world!"
"Why don't you treat me like it then? Why don't you treat me like I'm worth anything? Like I'm a fucking human being!"
He was quiet, watching her as she grabbed a bag and started to toss clothes into it. "Y/n, I love you. I-"
"Do you, though? Really?"
"I do. Look I know I've been busy with work but you know how stressful my job is. I'm trying to be here for you and do my best for the team-"
"No, you're not. I know how hard you work but I have needs too. I can't keep doing this."
She dropped to her knees, zipping up the bag, packed with enough clothes for a few days. He stood in the doorway, blocking her exit as she tried to get her toothbrush from the bathroom.
As she stood in front of him, he took her hands in his, "Please, baby, I'll change. I'll do it for you, I swear."
"It's too late, Ky," she said, shoving past him. He didn't budge, "Kylian, get out of my way."
He clutched her hands as though his life depended on it, placing soft kisses on both of them, "I need you. You can't leave me."
"You should have thought about that before, shouldn't you?"
She shoved him out of the way and grabbed a few things from the bathroom before heading for the front door. He chased after her, his mind racing and his heart pumping a mile a minute in his chest. He swore it was working so hard he could hear his heartbeat in his ears- or was it the sound of her feet on the stairs?
"Y/n," God, her name sounded so right on his lips, he wanted to say her name forevermore, "she meant nothing. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have entertained her like that." Tears were forming in his hazel eyes, he watched her putting on her shoes, "Y/n, you can't leave me, I love you. I- I don't want to live without you. I don't want to be on my own."
"Kylian," she stood up and cupped his cheek. Her hand was so warm and fit so perfectly around his face, as though it was moulded just for it, "you know I'll always love you."
Covering her hand with his own, he shook his head, a single tear rolling down his cheek, "Don't do this to me, amour."
She hated seeing him like this: he barely ever cried. In all of their time together, she'd seen him cry maybe four times and it had never been because of her.
Her soft thumb wiped away the tear, "Don't cry. You'll be okay."
Then she was gone. The door was open and then it was closed. She was there and then she was gone.
He watched the space she'd been stood in for far too long, as though she'd swing the door open at any moment and declare that she'd had a sudden change of heart. But she wouldn't.
She was gone. It was over.
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uchihaharlot · 3 months
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PLEASE I NEED THE EROTIC DANCE BUT WITH ITACHI PLS
Nonny,
I’m so uncoordinated myself lol 😂 are you sure? …ok.
NSFW; ‘erotic dancing’; withholding; pet me with your eyes only; oral/masturbation—for some reason I really like writing blow jobs now?? Also, did not extensively edit. My guilt of not writing for four days got to me lol.
Let’s see, let’s see. Itachi is more of a traditional man, while he likes to spice things up occasionally—he’s not boring, far from it. He enjoys the more simplistic things in life the most. So when his s/o corners him for a dance—again. He’s awfully…bashful. Intrigued, but holy hell this damned girl was making him question his sanity.
They way she yanked him by the lapel of his shirt and dragged him to sit in a fold up chair already had his face warming. Ever so cute is Itachi when he hides his emotions. It made these little salacious moments more precious to her. That a grown man would act as if they hadn’t been fucking for the better part of a year.
Taking the tie from his hair, she put hers up in a bun. Fiesty today, the menu reeked of blood, sex and booze. Well, not really. But her energy was charged, owning him with just a glance. Her house robe slipped to the floor and the outfit she wore underneath was entirely too inappropriate for his liking.
But he did like it. So much he ran his hands over it, slipped two fingers on each side under the garter straps and snapped them. Tested the thin material beneath his fingers before his eyes flickered back up to hers.
‘I like it.’ Itachi grinned and then immediately grew cross when she swatted him away.
‘Good. You can touch me, but with your eyes.’ Yes ma’am, no further direction needed. Black orbs spun into red pearls fueled by desire.
Itachi knew if he really wanted to, he could take this act of hers and commandeer it. Throw it beyond any woman’s wildest dreams. Though he really liked being the audience in these situations and not always the theater master. If she wanted to put on a show, Itachi would behave. For now—or not.
Ass down, face up. She spread her self around for him on the floor first. Sat in his lap and ground herself into his erection.
‘That hard already?’ Well, yea? What did she expect when the dainty piece of lingerie left nothing to the imagination. The garter straps grew taut on her thighs went she bent her ass over in his lip. If he stole a kiss, she didn’t chide him.
‘Let me see..’ A devilish grin spread her lips.
Itachi sat back, unfastened his belt and drew out his cock. Languidly stroked himself a few good times before she sat between his legs and licked up his cock. Sucked the tip between just her lips and then railed it to the back of her throat. His eyes never leaving that perfect mouth.
‘Sit on it.’ He breathed the words out fast.
She shook her head no and gargled him more, Itachi groaned and clutched her hair. Running her tongue over his sensitive tip and dragging it back down the base of his shaft. She worked him with two hands as her mouth cradled his testicles. His head tilted back, mouth open as she sucked them gently and lightly tugged them with her lips. When the pulse in his cock quickened, he was given control again. Along with options.
‘In my mouth or on my face?” Tongue out, the soft coo of her voice only quickened his hand. The sharingan spun wildly under lidded eyes.
‘On your face.’ He let out a soft grunt, pumped his cock fast and then slow again right as he came. His warmth covering her face like a sprinkler.
She was beautiful always, not more divine when like this. Covered in his silky cum. Itachi wipes the small bit form the corner of her eye before leaning down to kiss her.
‘Maybe next time you’ll do this for me?’ The roaring laugh that came out of his mouth made the post nut clarity hit harder than it usually did.
‘Maybe.’
…..???
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xsezzie · 1 year
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Locked Out
It’s been a while since I have written something... been busy with IRL stuff and also writing non-tickle stuff and working on my D&D campaign owo
Also made it to 100 followers so perhaps this can be celebratory fic? LOL
Got some Lee!Kaveh and Ler!Alhaitham here today~ I hope they are in character, I wrote this on the train coming home from work LOL
Warnings: It’s a tickle fic???
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“You…”
Kaveh looked up in annoyance as he heard the familiar footsteps of his roommate. Having been “locked out” of the house for a second time, Kaveh found himself sitting outside against the door looking like a bum. 
“Ah, my apologies, I must have taken both keys again.” Alhaitham’s face didn’t even change its blank expression, which only pissed off Kaveh even more.
“That excuse again!? No, I will not believe it. You’re doing this on purpose!”
Alhaitham broke and scowled slightly, “Really? What makes you say that?”
“Because you hate me!”
“Hate you? That’s a bit extreme there…” 
“Well whatever! Since you’re being like this, neither of us are going inside!” The blond puffed his cheeks and put his hands on his hips with a ‘hmph!’ sound. 
“What are you? A child? It’s going to be cold out tonight and I don’t think either of us want to get sick.”
Kaveh huffed again, this time turning around and facing the door, Alhaitham could only scoff in annoyance but also a slight amusement. 
He began reaching around Kaveh, to unlock the door regardless, leaning closely towards the back of his body causing him to flinch slightly. 
“Wh-what are you- Nuh uh! Not happening!” He grabbed the scribe’s wrist, pushing it away from the keyhole he was aiming for. “We. Are not. Going inside.” 
“Stop being difficult, I know you want to go in, what kind of point are you trying to prove?”
“That if I can’t be allowed in then neither can you!”
The two men struggled for a moment, Kaveh continuously pushing Alhaitham’s arm away, while he was trying to push back. Anyone who was walking past would surely think they are up to something suspicious.
The younger man decided he had enough of his senior’s antics, swiftly pulling his hand away. “Finally giving up huh?” Kaveh smirked.
“Just trying a different tactic is all.”
Before Kaveh could turn around to face him, he was shoved against the door, feeling his right hand being grabbed and pulled up and across the back of his head. 
“What in Teyvat are you doing to me Alhaitham!?” He squawked out rather loudly. 
He suddenly felt a cold finger reach under his long hair onto the back of his neck, causing him to gasp and scrunch his shoulders up.
“I-I… wh-what is this… Alha-EEEK!!!”
The offending finger slowly drew downwards, along his spine that was exposed by the window in the back of his outfit.
“S-Stohop thahat! Get off m-me!” The blond tried to reach behind him with his left hand, but only met Alhaitham’s soft hair, he was using his own body and head to block any attempts at stopping him.
“Why, what’s the matter?”
“You know whahahahaat!!!” Kaveh finally caved and let the giggles flow freely as his roomie picked up the pace and the spidering of his fingers right in the middle of his upper back. Helpless as he was being pressed against the door unable to move, he could feel his cheeks warming up too. Why was he blushing!? He didn’t enjoy this one bit… right!?
“Hmm, this seems to be a rather effective method. I will need to thank Paimon later.”
“S-Stop mahaking weird notes ahahahaha in your hehehead!!!” 
Alhaitham wouldn’t admit it, but a soft smile crept across his face as he listened to Kaveh’s laughter, something about it made him feel warm inside. 
Feeling a bit mischievous he pressed further against his fellow dendro user and moved his hand to poke around his exposed side. Kaveh flinched and squirmed as the ticklish sensations moved to somewhere a bit more sensitive.
“Ohohohoho nohoho you dohon’t!!!!” Using all his remaining strength he shoved himself backwards off the door, sending both men onto their behinds. Although Kaveh had ended up in Alhaitham’s lap slightly.
“What was that for!? What were you thinking!? Ugh I can’t believe you…” 
Realising the position he was in, his voice trailed off. His head in Alhaitham’s lap, Alhaitham looking down at him with a softer look than usual, nope nope nope.
Kaveh squeaked and quickly got to his feet, moving away from the door and pointing at it, “Just unlock it already, I’m hungry a- Oh…” He noticed the figure standing nearby with a flustered look on her face, Nilou.
“Um… Mr Kaveh! Alhaitham! I uh, came to give Alhaitham his book that he left back… umm…”
Nilou scurried over, quickly placing the book by Alhaitham before turning away and running, “I totally didn’t see anything!!” She shouted behind her, leaving Kaveh and Alhaitham both rather flustered.
Alhaitham will definitely need to have words with her later.
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pinksirensong · 2 years
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LOVE OF THE ENDLESS (V)
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Finally peace was reigning for Love of the Endless, it seemed that Morpheus finally understood that she wasn’t leaving her life here and decided to leave her alone. It was like a weight left her shoulders, now she could finally have her happy ending. Today was like any other day, Y/N woke up tangled in Jake’s bed with him and they started their day, it was trivial as always and each went to do their own affairs.
Pulp Fiction, the nightclub both worked at, was more crowded than usual and Y/N haven’t left her pole the whole night and the crowd that surrounded her was always changing. The men were always almost drooling over her, perhaps it has something to do with her outfit that didn’t leave much to imagination or it might be the way the little devil inside of her came out when she was dancing. Jake wasn’t a jealous guy and that was a good thing in their line of work, but Dream of Endless was known to be, although he never was with her before. After weeks of freedom, he was back and angrier than ever, his eyes were glued in her figure while she danced and by the looks it was like Morpheus wanted to rip her out of there and run far away from all these people. Too bad Y/N enjoyed it, all the attention and the looks, she was seeking it every night.
- Hey, doll, you up for a private dance? – the annoying part was the too drunk costumers that would insist on trying something more with Love. – Come on, don’t be shy. – she drew a line when they touched her, her body was her own and nobody else had the permission to try something without her permitting it.
- You can watch me, but no touching. House rules, hotstuff. – the venom on her voice was enough to warn him “back off”. Y/N noticed that Dream wasn’t alone, another man was with him and by the stories she heard it could be Hob Gadling, the only friend he had outside the Dreaming. Hob was holding him, stopping him from coming to her, like she was some damsel in distress. Faking the sweetest smile, she waved at them. A few hours later she was free for the rest of the night, after putting a long coat Love decided to wait for Jake at her brother’s table. – Hello, brother. – she sits at Hob’s side. – And brother’s friend.
- What was that? – if the circumstances were different, if they were completely alone and she was dancing only for him, Morpheus wouldn’t be angry but turned on by it.
- Dancing, did you guys enjoy it?
- That was not dancing, Y/N.
- It’s the new times, dear brother. Look around us, nothing is like before. This is dancing and it’s a lot of fun.
- Those men around you were clearly under the influence of Desire.
- Perhaps, I wouldn’t know. In case he didn’t tell you anything, mister Gadling, I’ve left our family centuries ago. Although I do fulfil my duties, because I too am responsible for something much bigger than petty feelings. Unfortunately, my dear brother here just won’t leave me alone.
- He is quite stubborn and a little bit rude. – Hob turned his body to face Love. – Morpheus told me a lot about you and as someone who has loved and lost it, I can’t say I blame him for trying. Even anthropomorphic beings can change, just like you said before.
- I liked you, Hob Gadling. Your heart is pure, and you speak with passion, so I will grant you some words of wisdom: the heart never forgets. Worry less about my brother and more about your deceased soulmate. Surely as an immortal you haven’t really thought she was gone forever, right? – she stood up and looked directly at Dream. – I tried to be nice, but you leave me no choice. You cannot give what I want, what I need and deserve. I seek love and companionship, someone to warm my heart and not only my bed. I seek love and not desire, and that’s something you can never give to me. – without saying goodbye, she left them and went to the bar to find Jake.
- Is everything okay, sweetheart? – another positive point in dating Jake is that he could read her like an open book, Y/N didn’t have to pretend with him, except for the fact he didn’t know about her being an Endless and not human.
- It is now, hon. Are you almost done? I just want to go home and take a long bath with you.
- You tired?
- Not enough to not want to have sex with you. I don’t think I’ll ever be too tired for that, by the way. – she reached for his hand across the bar and squeezed it, he smiled at the small gesture. All Y/N wanted was to make Jake as happy as she made her, they couldn’t replace their soulmates in each other’s lives, but it was good, very good. She prayed to all the forces of the universe that they could stay like this forever.
Her little peaceful moment was over, as soon as her boyfriend went to back to get his things so they could leave her focus was now at him, because even if she didn’t want it, itwas automatic to feel him. Y/N could feel his eyes on them and that angered her, because how dare him come to her workspace with his friend and judge her and her choices?! The club was the safe space that she found on her own, the people there were her friends and some even more family than the Endless. Now Love felt exposed, this was a part of her life she didn’t want to share with anybody, especially Morpheus.
Now, Y/N wasn’t petty or mean, but he was asking for retribution, and it was long due. So, because she was feeling him watching her with an intensity that annoyed her, she couldn’t help herself. Jake had come back and before they could join hands to leave, he took something from his bag and gave it to her. That man had no idea what that meant, giving to her that beautiful apple, and honestly Y/N knew it was outdated to think of it as a marriage proposal. Taking all of this in consideration and the look at Dream’s face when he saw the scene, she thought that this might be the key to her freedom at least and did what was necessary, not only she smiled at him and took the apple but Love also threw herself at Jake’s and kissed him passionately. Perhaps a deep part of her wanted it, wanted a proposal and a beautiful wedding, but now wasn’t the time for that type of thoughts. Now they had to leave, the message was delivered. As Y/N watched Morpheus as she left with Jake, she could only think that if looks could kill her boyfriend would be long gone…or should she say fiancé?!
.
.
.
 tag list: @the-ruler-of-death @mrs-captainsteverogers @jesllianaquilesrolon @igotanidea @intothesoul @hedwigprewett12 @queenshelby @mattmurdockmylove @boofy1998 @andieperrie18 @formenis @violet-19999
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bedlamsbard · 4 months
Note
Star emoji! I love director’s commentary
Oooh, let's talk about Howard's conversation with Natasha at the beginning of Of Home Near 7.
This is set at Beaulieu Abbey, which is a real place and was used for SOE (Special Operations Executive) training in WWII, as Special Training Schools 31-36, which I've just conflated into one for the purposes of this fic. Today it's the home of the Secret Army Exhibition, about SOE. None of the description of the house is accurate, since I couldn't find floorplans and have never been.
“Lift your left arm?”
Natasha did so, allowing Howard Stark to make a minor adjustment to the cuff of the tunic-style jacket he was fitting on her. His expression was intent with concentration, two dress pins sticking out of the corner of his mouth, and his hands were unerring as he made the modification with quick, neat stitches. For some reason it was the least like Tony Natasha had ever seen him look, even though she had seen Tony make similar quick alterations to the Iron Man suits a hundred times before.
I like the idea of Howard being really hands-on with his work, which is borne out by CATFA and AC.
Sunlight spilled in through the room’s bow windows, which looked out over the lawn where Howard had landed his plane a few hours earlier. Going by the room’s big desk – now heavily battered from use – and empty bookshelves – mostly covered up by maps and charts – Natasha suspected it had been a study in the building’s previous life as a manor house. Howard Stark had commandeered it upon arrival to do uniform fittings in, since along with the new shield he had brought uniforms for both of them.
He drew back when he was finished and took the pins out of his mouth to ask, “How’s that feel?”
Natasha worked her arm experimentally, then warned Howard to step back and went through one of her shorter kata. He watched without any of the half-expected erotic interest, his attention totally focused on the motions and her new tactical gear.
“Good,” she told him when she had finished, a little to her own surprise, but she supposed that if he regularly made Captain America’s uniforms he had to know the importance of flexibility.
The corner of his mouth curled up a little, as if he had guessed the direction of her thoughts, but all he said was, “Try it with the gear belt,” and handed it to her.
Natasha inspected it as she took it from him Howard had clearly been paying attention to the gear that she had arrived with; he had consulted with her on the design for the new uniform, with Steve doing the initial sketches. The tunic came down past her hips to mid-thigh, with the front fastening at her left shoulder like a motorcycle jacket. The gear belt was made of black leather and was actually two belts crossed over each other, joined by a rivet that let them flex; the holsters were empty at the moment, as were the utility pouches.
This is Natasha's "Liberty Belle" outfit, though it's not named as such here. It's not based specifically on anything and I don't have a very clear mental image of it.
She buckled the belt on and shifted around a little, testing the placement, then went into a brief tumbling routine. Howard watched with that same clinical, calculating interest, his gaze sharp; he made a couple of notes in his sketchbook as she came upright. “How’s that feel?”
“Straps here and here on the holsters, or they’ll flap around.” Natasha pointed them out. “Like Steve’s got,” she clarified when he frowned.
“No, I know what you mean. For a lady – a married lady –”
“God forbid that anyone in the United States Army or the Wehrmacht learns that a woman has legs,” Natasha said dryly, rolling her eyes. “If anyone is looking at my legs, that’s their problem. Especially in the middle of a fight.”
Natasha's usual catsuit would NOT fly in 1945, especially for PR reasons. They're not only designing for practical use, but with the full knowledge that as soon as the fact that Captain America's married is made public Natasha's going to be on magazine covers and newspapers, and she has to not only match Captain America and the other Howling Commandos, she has to be acceptably feminine (by WWII standards, which are...interesting).
“Point taken.” Howard nodded absently and jotted it down in his sketchbook – actually Steve’s sketchbook, she was amused to note; apparently Steve hadn’t succeeded in getting it back from him yet.
I love the detail of it being Steve's sketchbook.
“Am I going to get any of my own gear back?” she asked, rubbing a thumb over her bare wrist. She was expecting the answer to be no and wasn’t surprised when Howard shook his head.
Later Howard gives her her bites back! But not yet.
“But I brought some stuff for you to look at,” he offered encouragingly. “You can give it a try and keep whatever you like. And Dugan said you’d be taking over as sniper, so I brought some rifles for you to try out too.”
Howard chewed on the end of his pencil for a moment before he finally said, “You know about the Commandos’ last sniper –”
“Yes,” Natasha said. “I know about Bucky Barnes.”
1945 Bucky is the ghost in this story, but there was never any intention for him to appear (in 1945). Howard, of course, thinks she knows about Bucky either from the newspapers (he's only been "dead" for two months at this point) or from Steve telling her; Natasha knows him personally.
Howard nodded grimly and looked away, then sat down heavily on the chair he had dragged over from behind the desk, bracing his sketchbook on his knees as his pencil moved over the page.
“Did you design the Howling Commandos’ uniforms too?” Natasha asked eventually, unbuckling the gear belt and weighing it thoughtfully in one hand. “I know you did Steve’s, and I know you supply the Commandos with weapons and tech –”
Howard nodded. “Steve did most of his himself, but I made it,” he said. “I helped with the Commandos, yeah. Steve did some of it, they did some of it, I did some. What do you think?” He held the sketchbook up and turned it around so that she could see.
He had a fine draftsman’s hand, without the sense of suspended life that Steve’s sketches had. Natasha wondered briefly what he would have made of the CAD programs Tony used or if given the option, he would still draft his designs by hand the way Rhodey did when he was working on the War Machine suit.
“I like this rig,” she told him, and Howard nodded, making a few more notes to himself.
“I can have that done today, it’s a minor fix,” he said. He took the gear belt from Natasha and set them both down, then looked at her for a long moment before saying, “I’m glad Steve got married. Or whatever,” he added with a solemn wink. “It’s good for him.”
Howard figured out pretty much immediately that Steve and Natasha weren't really married, but never brought it up; he figured that if Steve was going to the trouble, then he had a good reason.
For a moment his expression was wistful, then his gaze flickered sideways, as if he was embarrassed that he had let the emotion show.
“Did you and Steve ever –” she began, and then stopped, uncertain how to end the question. Or if she should be asking it at all; this wasn’t the twenty-first century, and even there it wasn’t a harmless inquiry.
Meeting Howard Stark explained a LOT of things about Tony, Tony's relationship with Steve, and Steve's relationship with Tony. Note that Natasha is also aware that Steve sleeps with men (Peggy isn't, as she remarks in an earlier chapter), but isn't sure about Howard, which is why she stops.
Howard looked back at her, wary now and frowning a little, but whatever he saw on her face seemed to reassure him. “What, and get both of us shot by Peggy? That wouldn’t do the war effort any good. She’d do it, too. Anyway, Steve’s been a little busy fighting a war.”
Peggy would have killed Howard if she thought he was serious about it or if they'd actually done anything. She knows that Howard wants to sleep with Steve, but has mentally categorized it as "a little silly" and is unaware that Steve's bi.
“Do you know who the woman was that Agent Carter caught him with in 1943?” Natasha asked, with a mental tick of observation that he hadn’t bothered to deny that Steve liked men as well as women. Not that either one of them was saying anything outright, just half-spoken asides. “I’ve heard the story, but no one will say who –”
“Sure,” Howard said. “But I don’t think you have anything to worry about; Steve’s crazy about you.”
“I’m not worried, I’m curious,” Natasha said. “Or did Agent Carter push her out of the SSR?” She didn’t think Peggy Carter was that petty, but if she was, Natasha wanted to know about it.
Natasha's experience with Peggy isn't anywhere close to the 21st century image of Peggy Carter or with Steve's memories of her.
“She’s still here,” Howard said. “It was Irene Lorraine, Colonel Phillips’ secretary. Steve came in looking for me and she cornered him.” He grinned, amused at the memory, and explained, “It was right after we got back to London from Italy and Phillips got Steve transferred from the USO to the SSR, so the big rescue was all over the papers. Apparently she was thanking him on behalf of the women of America, only Peggy caught them. Scared the hell out of both of them.”
The shooting the shield scene is fucked up from a 2023 perspective, and I really think it's been grandfathered in as ~sexy and absolutely would not fly today.
In the previous chapter's scene with Lorraine Steve remarks on the fact that Peggy's reaction completely screwed up the social dynamics of the women of the SSR.
He chewed absently on the end of his pencil, then shot a look at the closed door and went on slowly, “I don’t know how much Steve’s told you – I guess it wouldn’t really matter up then in 2018 – but he and Peggy…they were and they weren’t, you know? They didn’t go out to dinner, they didn’t go dancing; I don’t know if they ever even kissed. But he had her picture in his compass and if he hadn’t gone down with the Valkyrie, then –” Howard shrugged. “They might have gotten married later, yeah, but they never actually talked about it. Stupid thing to do in a war,” he added, then thought about it and grimaced, making a vague gesture with the pencil towards himself as if to say, but I did the same thing.
Howard has a lot of regrets, and I don't think he knows what he would have done if he had known that Steve might not really come back.
He flicked another glance at the door again while Natasha was chewing over what to say in response to that. “Don’t repeat this to Steve or Peg,” he warned, and waited for her to nod before he went on. “It’s not that Peg didn’t like Steve back then, because she did, and it’s different now, obviously, but she set her cap for him as soon as he came back from Austria and not a minute earlier, no matter what anyone else here says about it, including Steve. And that was it as far as she was concerned. There were girls like that in my old neighborhood,” he added knowledgeably, “not that any of them ever had anything to do with me back then.”
I have some very clear and possibly controversial thoughts about Steve and Peggy's relationship, and how both Steve and Peggy perceived their relationship, throughout CATFA. If you look at the pub and SSR scenes, they're having two COMPLETELY different conversations, and Steve's constantly playing catch-up to the conversation that Peggy's having even though she never says anything explicitly and just expects him to get it. I also DON'T think that Peggy was even remotely romantically interested in pre-serum Steve, though later on she convinced herself that she was, and she wasn't all that interested in "Captain America" Steve, either.
“There are women like that everywhere,” Natasha said dryly. It wasn’t a personality type that usually survived the rigors of the Red Room, but she had known one or two Widows who had managed it.
She considered Howard with a little more interest. The Stark family’s origins were a farrago of obfuscation, fairy tales, and what Natasha was fairly certain were a few outright lies, though she wasn’t certain how aware of that Tony was. Howard Stark had told the newspapers several contradictory stories over the years, one variation of which was on the Stark Industries website, and the only consistent point seemed to be that he had been born in Manhattan in 1917, though which part of Manhattan was up for debate. Natasha also strongly suspected that the family name had started out as something a lot less Anglophone than Stark, though she wasn’t sure if that was Howard’s doing or if it had happened at Ellis Island; both seemed equally likely. She wondered if Howard would tell her if she asked.
Off Howard's statement in Agent Carter that he was born in the Lower East Side, which in the early 20th century was an immigrant neighborhood with a heavy Jewish population around the time Howard was born and growing up. Pretty much this theory about Howard's background. Steve mentions in a later chapter that Howard speaks Yiddish and is Jewish, but Natasha doesn't know those details at this point, and it's deliberately vague. Tony knows NONE of this because Howard buried it back in the 1920s or 1930s.
Howard slid a third look at the door and started to say, “Steve –” and then stopped, chewing on the end of the pencil again. Finally, he said, “I think if either he or Peg had pushed harder, it would have gone further between the two of them, but neither one of them ever did. In a way it is – it was – probably easier that way. I mean – it is when people make assumptions. Easier, I mean. Leave enough gaps in any story and people will fill them in for you – hell, you’ll start filling them in yourself.”
He sat in silence for a few moments, his expression abstracted; Natasha thought about his playboy reputation, that he hadn’t married until 1965, the few things Tony had said about his father and his parents’ marriage – the way Howard looked at Steve when he thought Steve didn’t know. For that matter, the fact that he hadn’t looked at her with anything more than aesthetic appreciation over the course of the past two weeks and change.
My version of Howard is that he's bi, but while he prefers men he sleeps with more women as part of his Be Totally Normal campaign. (Peggy also mentions this in an earlier chapter.)
Eventually Howard shook his head and said, “I’m surprised Steve had the guts to ask you out.”
“There were extenuating circumstances,” Natasha allowed, accepting the change in subject. When Howard’s eyebrows went up, she explained, “We were on the run from the government, so I don’t think he thought he had all that much to lose.”
Well, it was technically true; Interpol still had red notices out on them back up in 2018, and Thaddeus Ross would be happy to have both of them drawn and quartered.
“Sounds like quite the story.”
“You have no idea,” Natasha said.
Howard took her unwillingness to expand on that in stride; for all Natasha knew, he assumed that instead of dinner and a movie, she and Steve had consummated their mutual interest in the back of a truck while on the run, which wasn’t even that far from the truth, minus the truck. He looked back down at the sketchbook in his lap as if he had forgotten it was there, then at the chewed end of his pencil in equal surprise. He glanced up at Natasha, down at the sketchbook, and up at her again; she raised her eyebrows in response.
“You okay with the color?” he asked. “I thought we’d match you and Steve, give the photographers something to coo about.”
Natasha blinked at him, though by now she was used to Howard Stark’s rapid changes in subject, then realized that he meant her new uniform, which was dark blue with a little red detailing down the sides and sleeves, with the Howling Commandos’ winged insignia on the left shoulder. Both the red and the blue were a little lighter in color than any of Steve’s recent uniforms, either because of changing aesthetics between 1945 and 2016 or because they would show up better in the black and white photographs the newspapers used. She hadn’t had a chance to see Steve’s new uniform yet, though she doubted it could be all that different from his last WWII uniform.
Steve's new uniform is never described in detail, but it's a mix between his CATFA, CATWS, and CACW uniforms. Captain America and Liberty Belle DO have to match.
“It’s fine,” she said, then cocked an eyebrow at him and said, “Do I really have to worry about photographers? Isn’t that mostly Steve’s problem?”
The Howling Commandos had featured a little in some of the old newspaper articles and newsreels she had seen, but most of the attention had been on Captain America until the 1960s, when there had been a resurgence in Howling Commando stories for a few years on both sides of the civil rights movement, not helped by Gabe Jones’ death in 1965. It had been on the job for SHIELD, but SHIELD’s existence hadn’t been publicly known until 1975, when along with the NSA it had been revealed as part of the Church Committee hearings that had followed the Watergate scandal. Even in 2018 there was a persistent rumor that Jones had been assassinated; knowing about Hydra’s interference in SHIELD, Natasha wasn’t sure that he hadn’t been, but there had been never been any proof.
SHIELD and Howling Commandos history based on some real world history. The SSR was made public knowledge post-war, but SHIELD followed the NSA's path and was secret until the post-Watergate Church Committee congressional hearings about American intelligence abuse in 1975. The NSA came out of the Signals Intelligence Service in WWII, which post-war was reorganized into the Army Security Agency, and the NSA itself was formed in 1952. SHIELD likewise probably had one or two names between the SSR and SHIELD.
Steve says in an earlier chapter that Gabe Jones worked for SHIELD and was killed on the job in 1965; no one knows if it was normal line-of-duty death or if he was assassinated, either by Hydra (after 2014) or as part of something like COINTELPRO due to being a prominent Civil Rights figure.
“Nope,” Howard said. “Come on, Captain and Mrs. America? The papers and the newsreels will eat that up. If Ike and Monty weren’t running roughshod over the Germans right now Senator Brandt would probably have the two of you doing photoshoots for a week. Instead Sherman – you met him the other day when he was taking pictures of Brandt and Steve – will have to squeeze them all in tomorrow, and a couple more at the front after you arrive.”
Brandt's assistant Michael Sherman -- name from me, credited only as Brandt's assistant in CATFA -- is the one who gives Natasha the Liberty Belle name, which shows up in this bit of faux-historical writing (which is going to be part of a post-Home historical errata story). I checked as carefully as I could that there wasn't a preexisting Marvel character with the Liberty Belle name; there's a DC character (who, yes, debuted during WWII) and Amalgam Comics (Marvel and DC publishing together) had an American Belle that was a mashup of DC's Liberty Belle and Marvel's Miss America (who hasn't made it to the MCU). I hesitated a bit over the name, but the DC character isn't well-known so I decided it was probably fine. Also it doesn't show up THAT often in this story.
Every historical event mentioned in this story is based on the real events that took place on those dates -- this is March 31, 1945, a little over a week after the crossing of the Rhine as part of Operation Plunder and the invasion of Germany, just prior the Race to Berlin.
Natasha grimaced. She had done the publicity circuit up in the twenty-first century, but hadn’t enjoyed it anymore than Steve had; unlike Steve, she also wasn’t used to it. At least then that had been as another Avenger, rather than as Captain America’s wife. She didn’t enjoy being defined in relation to Steve – to Captain America, really – but it kept anyone from looking too closely at her own entirely fictional background and with any luck it wouldn’t have to last.
The Captain America propaganda machine in 1945 is nothing like the Avengers PR circuit 2012-2016, especially with the glamor of "CAPTAIN AMERICA RETURNED FROM THE DEAD!" and "REDHEADED BOMBSHELL KNOCKS CAP OFF THE MARKET, LADIES!" Brandt's already got the fictionalized versions of the Cap propaganda machine -- Timely Comics, the Captain America Adventure Program, and various Hollywood films -- working on both resurrecting Cap (they were all trying to figure out how to handle his disappearance/death) and introducing Liberty Belle. Natasha doesn't have any context for how aggressive the Captain America propaganda machine is, since a lot of it didn't survive to the present day, and she's thinking about it in terms of the PR circuits the Avengers have done. It would not have been like that. (This is also one reason that Peggy wasn't willing to go anywhere with Steve during the war -- Peggy absolutely was not willing to be part of the Captain America propaganda machine.)
“They’re not expecting – I don’t know, a demure secretary, are they?” Natasha asked warily. “Or a nurse, or –” She knew women had done just about every job but combat in the Second World War, but she was also aware that not all of those jobs had equivalents in the twenty-first century.
This is basically the only point in American history until quite recently when it would be publicly acceptable for Captain America's wife to be as much of an ass-kicker as he is, but Natasha doesn't know enough about WWII to be sure about that.
Howard snorted. “What, for Captain America? Only if you listen to Roxxon’s faradiddle – they sponsor the Captain America Adventure Program.” When Natasha’s eyebrows shot upwards, he explained, “It’s a radio show. Roxxon is –”
From Agent Carter. Interestingly, Timely Comics' Golden Age WWII-era love interest for Cap (Betsy Ross, a.k.a. Golden Girl) was not a demure nurse like AC's Betty Carver. (Comics Peggy Carter was not introduced until the 1960s.)
“I know what Roxxon Energy is,” Natasha said.
This time it was Howard’s eyebrows that went up. “Roxxon Oil Corporation now,” he said. “I’ve been trying to buy them out for years, but Hugh Jones – that’s the CEO – hasn’t been having it. Cap’s sweetheart in the show is some nurse who’s always getting herself kidnapped by Nazis, when she’s not mending split trousers or making dinner for five hundred. I keep telling Peggy she should sue for defamation.”
“Not Steve?”
Howard’s mouth twisted. “Steve doesn’t have any legal right to his name or image. Well, the Captain America name, anyway, not the Steve Rogers part. The United States government can license the rest of it to anyone they want.” A muscle in his jaw twitched and he looked away. After a moment, he added, “I’ll get my lawyers on it after the war, though Brandt’s people are pretty good.”
“I know,” Natasha admitted. “Steve’s still having that fight up in the twenty-first, mostly unsuccessfully.”
Based on the U.S. government establishing John Walker as Captain America in FATWS, and to some extent on She-Hulk having knock-off Avengers ("Avongers") merchandise. If it's a knock-off, then there has to be a reason it's not official. An earlier chapter mentions that the U.S. government has occasionally tried to revive the Captain America role since 1945, and Howard Stark shut it down every time. Steve's not been successful in getting the rights to the Captain America name or even his own image back, it's too entrenched in American culture and history. On the bright side, post-Sokovia, the government's way less eager to use either.
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bramble-scramble · 1 year
Text
Of Verses and Curses: Chapter Five
Author’s notes:
[I sighed a song that silence brings, it’s the one that everybody knows.
Oh everybody knows the song that silence sings, and this, this was how it goes.]
Yesterday I talked about struggling with the ending of this part. Originally the events were stretched out over two days, and I was torn between keeping it that way because SLOWWW BURN! SLOW DOWN THE DAWNING REALIZATIONS! and condensing it because it was getting way too long-winded and just not fun to write, or probably to read. I eventually went with the condensed version because that’s the one that just feels better and that I’m happy with. Dead time in a story, just like on stage, isn’t very interesting, after all. So yeah, these boys are falling fast... but that’s just how it is sometimes, isn’t it? Fanon thanks: @randomrabbidramblings​ for the idea that Phantom punctuates his more flirtatious statements with purrs. Did you know rabbit purring is actually them clicking their teeth together really fast? I just learned that the other day and have been waiting for a chance to drop that knowledge. So, the skills on this guy to do that between talking! Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five - Kindred Spirits
Woodrow had business to attend to in town, and all afternoon he went about it, moving slightly faster than normal, merrily, humming to himself- and the songs that came out of him were familiar ones, comforting ones, ones he had listened to time and again on his gramophone; they were the Phantom's. No one in town failed to notice his demeanor. The spring in his step, his energy, his smile - it was all quite unusual. The locals babbled and whispered amongst themselves when he passed, swinging his umbrella about with a jolly flourish. He felt the sun shine clear and bright upon him, and today not even Jinx had the power to block it completely.
Before he knew it, the appointed hour drew near. Having made a quick visit home to make sure he was all in order, to adjust his bowtie, and even to slick down the wisps of scruffy hair under his hat, he made his way back to the inn.
Entering by a side door into the establishment’s adjoining restaurant, he saw a few villagers seated at scattered tables and booths- and then, in the back, settled into a plush chair at a large table, looking almost like a king on a dais: the man he was looking for. No longer wearing the black and gold of earlier, he was now in his most familiar traditional outfit, the one he was known for, the one Woodrow had expected to first see him in - all sumptuous and vibrant, red and blue. And he only seemed to grow brighter and more splendid the closer the warden got. To see him in person… a songbird in all his glory, resplendent in plumage divine-
The warden stopped in place, and stopped his thoughts as well. A poem need not rhyme, and he was getting dangerously close to a poem. And why did he need to write one, anyway? Why did he need to write one for someone whose whole existence was poetry-
“Ah! Monsieur!” He had been noticed. With a suave gesture, the Phantom motioned to the matching seat across from him. The warden did his little bow and took off his hat, placing it on the table - he had been so distracted he’d forgotten to hang it up at the entrance- and settled back into the chair. It had been designed for the bulkier Rabbids of the area and was rather spacious and empty around his uncommonly oblong form.
The two made small talk as they decided what to get, looking over the menu written on a big blackboard on the wall. When the waiter came over, the Phantom ordered their house red wine for himself, and looked expectantly at the warden, who asked for a non-alcoholic apple cider.
After the server had left, Phantom turned to his companion. “You don’t drink?”
“Not often,” said the warden. In truth, he did sometimes… but sometimes it led to depression, and always- ALWAYS it led to poetry. And thus he'd have to abstain, for a while.
When their drinks arrived and they waited on their meal, Phantom took a sip and glanced over his wineglass at the warden. “So,” he said, after a swallow, “I have been wanting to speak to you about your writing.”
Woodrow’s ears pressed themselves backwards involuntarily, and he choked on his cider.
“Oh- are you alright?” asked the Phantom in concern, leaning over.
The warden coughed a bit. “Yes,” he managed to get out after a moment, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I’m fine.”
“I am glad of that! As I said, I have read some of your work, and I find it quite wonderful. To be honest… it moves my soul. And I can scarcely believe it- to think I should find myself destined to stay on a planet where such a storied poet resides, as the very warden, no less!”
‘Storied’ is right, thought Woodrow, wondering how much he knew.
“...What is it you wish to know about my poetry?” he said cautiously, feeling a burning in his ears and cheeks that was half astonished pleasure and half dread.
“Oh- anything! Your process, what inspires you. I suppose I am most curious about what you’re working on now. Have you written anything good lately? I should love to be your sounding-board.”
The erstwhile poet frowned and looked down at his hands. “Alas, I must admit… I am not writing much right now,” he said, clasping his paws together.
“Oh?” said the Phantom, seeming a bit crestfallen. “Writer’s block?”
“Yes,” answered Woodrow. “That’s just it. The muses have fled me. More’s the pity- I should have liked to compose something to commemorate your momentous arrival, but… the well of my inspiration is dry, as of late. I am under a drought… the river has ceased to flow."
“It’s alright,” said Phantom, sadly but gently. “I feel the same way with my own work recently. You can’t force these things.”
“Yes, of course you understand,” said Woodrow with gratitude, and he knew that the other truly did. Only… it wasn’t true, for the warden, of course. The poems were definitely still there- battering and scratching at the locked door in his mind, building up like a flood behind a beaver’s hastily-built dam. He wondered how long it would hold.
“But I do hope your muses come back, while I am here,” said the singer with a smile. “Or that you might at least recite some of your existing work to me. I’d love to hear it in the author’s own voice.”
“Yes, well! It is painful to even think of such matters right now, but- but we shall see,” said Woodrow, his ears flopping down helplessly to the sides of his face, at a loss as to how he could ever resolve this. But he would worry about that later - he ought to try and enjoy this night. Forcing his ears back upwards, he said, “But enough about me! I know… I know times have been rough for you, of late. If it’s alright to ask… how have you kept yourself busy, since retiring from the opera?”
Phantom smiled somewhat ruefully- excited to talk about himself, even if to vent his woes. He explained how, in addition to going on publicity tours and making money from selling and signing his own older work, he had hardly retired from the stage entirely. He’d been getting cameo roles in plays, and even non-singing roles in musicals; even with brief stage-time, they were still enough to be attractions in themselves, and to make the crowd go wild. (Sometimes with boos, if they were part of Bea’s fanbase.)
They had to be smaller roles, though- his voice was not only totally ruined for singing, but he couldn’t even talk for too long without the damage becoming notable. Woodrow said he hadn’t noticed, and indeed he hadn’t as of yet- but as the night went on, he was saddened to notice a faint scratchiness, a raspiness, start emerging in his companion’s rich voice, like static on a radio signal as the radio moved further and further from its source. When it started to come out, Woodrow said not a word, but noticed his companion would take a drink, and rest for a moment, and sometimes look wistfully into the distance at nothing in particular.
But it did not stop him from talking. Throughout their meal - a vegetarian stuffed eggplant for the planet’s warden, and a seared fish filet for the visitor - the singer went into detail about the plots of his favorite productions he had starred in, the character motivations of his roles, how he had moved into somewhat of a backstage coaching capacity recently (another stream of income), and how happy he was to still work in the theatre despite his ailment. Woodrow sat rapt in attention, sometimes forgetting to eat, his head resting dreamily on his paw. His companion had such a fine voice, and he began to think that its supposed damage was not so bad, really… no more of a problem than the fuzziness and pops of an old record - in fact, that’s what it quite sounded like indeed. A layer that added a feeling of texture and nostalgia, not covering up the pleasure of the listening experience. The warden found himself hardly comprehending his companion’s words sometimes, only hearing the resonance of his voice, the rising and falling lilt of his passion. He did not need to sing to make music.
“Hello! Would you like any dessert?” the voice of the waiter brought Woodrow back to reality. He looked down at his food, which was only half-eaten, and said, “Oh… no, thank you, I shall be fine.” He then took to hurriedly trying to finish his meal while the Phantom ordered something for himself.
“Crème brulée,” he repeated merrily when the waiter had gone. “My favorite.”
Woodrow swallowed and looked over at him. “To be honest, I am somewhat surprised that a ghost can eat at all. Fascinating…” then his eyes suddenly widened behind his glasses, and he winced. He had asked the question in the state of dreamlike wonder into which his companion’s voice had lulled him, but now he was embarrassed. “Oh, I’m so sorry… that was rather rude-”
The Phantom laughed, then leaned his elbow on the table and his face in his hand. “Not at all!” he said. “You must remember, mon ami, that a ghost is only one of the many things that I am. In fact, it’s not as though I was made from a real ghost at all. The mere concept of one created me, thus I am more one in concept than in reality… does that make sense?”
“Hmm,” said Woodrow. “Perhaps, but not fully. I hope… I shall come to understand better in time, as I know you more.”
“I am sure of it,” said the Phantom. “For now, let me put it like this - I may look like a ghost, and I may have some of their powers, but my needs… my desires… remain that of the living.”
Woodrow nearly choked again. Had there… had there been a slight purr in the pauses between his words? No- surely that was just the scratching of his voice….
“I- I see!” was all he could get out, and he hurried to finish his meal before it got too much colder.
Luckily, their conversation quickly returned to theatre and music. And when Woodrow had finished his food, and Phantom his dessert, and the check was settled… they found themselves once more on the veranda of the inn, preparing to part.
And yet, it was clear that neither of them wanted to. Jinx had come down under the awning of the porch, gravitating between and above the both of them.
“Well,” said the singer, “I do believe you’ve had a long day, haven’t you? You were so kind to take time to give me a tour, on top of all your wardenly duties.”
“Oh, 'twas truly my pleasure,” said Woodrow. “I… I ought to let you retire. You have your publicity event tomorrow, and I’m sure you wish to rest after your travels. Speaking of which- I forgot to mention. I have a number of appointments that have come up for tomorrow, and I’m quite afraid I might miss your signing. I do hope I can find the time to stop by. I… I would very much like your autograph…”
The Phantom threw his head back with a laugh. “Oh, you are a silly man, for such a serious one!”
Woodrow frowned in confusion, gripping the handle of his umbrella tightly with both paws, wondering what inappropriate thing he had said this time. “I… I’m sorry, I-”
But the singer reached out and touched his shoulder, his hand resting amongst the leaves that were perpetually stuck under the warden’s collar. “It’s just- you must understand, by now, surely? You need not wait for a special occasion for my autograph. You can have all that and more, anytime you wish. Do not panic on my account.”
A wave of relief flooded the warden; aided by the startling warmth of his companion’s touch, which he could feel through his coat. “Thank you,” he said. “You are… most kind.” But suddenly nervous at the extended contact, he stepped away a bit, then looked back. “I suppose I shall see you around town, then-”
“Please, my good poet, will you not join me here for dinner again? Same time, same place? I hope you will not be too busy into the evening, tomorrow.”
“Again!!” said the warden. “Are you quite certain?! Did I not bore you to tears tonight?”
“The only tears I will shed is if you say no,” said the Phantom with a sly smile. “So…”
“I cannot bear the thought of your sorrow,” said Woodrow with sincere concern. “I shall see you tomorrow, Sir Phantom.”
“Enough of that,” said the ghost with a wave of his arm. “You can call me Tom, if it please you.”
It pleased him very much. “Of course… Tom.” No single syllable had ever felt so wonderful.
“And if I may be so bold… do your friends have a name for you, besides Woodrow?”
The warden hesitated for a moment. Of course, to Sweetlopek he had been Woody since childhood, but somehow he didn’t wish to be called the same thing in this case… he always preferred to go by his last name, and yet- before he knew what he was saying, before he could even regret it:
“Woodrow is always fine, but- but you can call me Tristan. My given name. If- if you like!”
“With pleasure, Tristan Woodrow.”
Woodrow found himself unable to speak- he could only nod, moved almost to tears, as if hearing a familiar simple tune arranged by a genius and played by a grand orchestra. His own humble name had never sounded so wonderful, even filtered through the slight rasps of the other’s weary voice.
“Shall I accompany you home?” said the ghost after a moment. “It’s a fine evening for a stroll - or a float, I suppose, in my case.”
“Oh…” said Woodrow quietly. I would like nothing more, he thought. But his mouth said, “That’s alright. It’s quite out of the way, and you ought to rest. Perhaps some other time.”
“Alright then. I shall see you tomorrow, poet of the forest. The night and the day shall be too long.”
“And I will see you too, o fair spirit,” said the warden. “Palette Prime already shines more brilliantly in your presence.” 
And suddenly heat rose to his cheeks and he found himself feeling nervous and giddy all at once. With a little wave, he turned and scuttled off as fast as he could.
Woodrow had climbed his stairs quickly, without a second thought, trusting his luck. Lying in bed, clutching his blanket to him, he fell asleep to the joint music of a newly-opened roof leak and the sound of one of Phantom’s gentler albums, playing on his gramophone safely away from the steady drip. He had not wanted to stop hearing that voice. A voice that had spoken his name.
Not far away, stretched out on his own rented bed, wearing a luxurious robe, a certain performer lay reading a book he had purchased in a souvenir shop that afternoon.
“Ha, ya sure ya want that one?” the shopkeeper had laughed when he took it to the counter. “His stuff is a little overwrought, methinks, on top of everything el-” But noticing the visitor’s surprisingly serious face, they’d stopped and added- “Alright, whatever floats your boat.”
Now he held T. S. Woodrow’s newest volume of works in his hands, thinking with amusement of how he would surprise its author by asking to trade autograph for autograph. More than any other book he’d ever handled, he found himself holding it gently, flipping its pages slowly, almost like a caress. Its cover was unassuming, but within was unfathomable beauty and passion, a spectrum of agony and joy, pain and love. He wanted to understand. He wanted to know its every page. He wanted the book to open itself before him and tell him, and show him, everything that wasn’t written in ink… it wasn’t about the book anymore, was it? He wanted… he wanted…
It had been quite the day, and he fell asleep with the book at his side.
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allthewriteplaces · 5 months
Text
Magnolia In May ~ Chapter Six
Chapter Summary: Jessie and Tommy finally spend a little time together, the two of them and the kids go on a picnic and there may or may not be ducks involved.
Chapter Warning(s): None.
Word Count: 5,067
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Chapter Six
One week had passed. Life at Arrow House went on. A routine was quickly established and I took great care in sticking to it, ticking off each task like a list in my head. Predictability, to be able to know what was going to happen in advance, how things were supposed to go, and what was expected of me, eased the anxiety and gave me a sense of safety and security. Every morning, I rose early and got dressed. I always laid my clothes out on my bed the night before and had one outfit for every day of the week so I wouldn’t waste too much time picking something to wear. Then I would quietly go down the hall and wake Ruby and Charlie for breakfast.
Suffice it to say, neither of them appreciated having to leave their beds when they were just so comfortable, but we took things slow and steady, giving them time to get their bearings before I dressed them and brushed and combed their hair. Then after they’d eaten and brushed their teeth, they waited in the classroom for their instructors to come. They told me their last governess, a buxom, round-faced woman named Margot acted like a drill sergeant, practically dragging them out of bed. Charlie said if she had a whistle, she’d probably blow it to wake them up. They were also told that children should be seen and not heard.
Governesses were supposed to like children, or at least that was what I led to believe. She didn’t read to them, play with board games and cards or make up stories with them, she even brushed them away when they wanted to show her what they’d learned on the violin and piano and it hurt their feelings deeply. Long story short, they didn’t like her one bit and I can imagine the feeling was mutual, which is why she left before Thomas could fire her himself.
Now and then, we would go outside. I let the kids run around on the grass for a bit to get some fresh air in their lungs, and I would stand on the cobblestone, watching them play, like kids their age should be doing. Sometimes we drew on the driveway and played hopscotch, or we would simply sit on the grass to eat lunch. I wanted them to live life as stress-free as possible, to be kids.
Today, since the weather was nice, I’d asked Mister Shelby if I might take them out for a little drive; a change of scenery might do them some good, and maybe we would even stop by the park. Between the many business meetings and being shut up in the study, we didn’t see him much, aside from mealtimes.
He agreed, though he insisted I carry a weapon with me at all times. “Do you know how to shoot?” he asked, leaning back against his chair. There was no trace of humour in his eyes, or in his voice. This was a serious matter. Of course it was. These were his children he was talking about.
I shook my head. I had never used a gun before. I’d never even held one. The best form of self-defense I had been given was a rulebook that every woman needed to follow.
Rule number one: Never go anywhere alone, always travel in groups of three or more. Rule number two: Never venture out after dark, that’s when it’s the most dangerous. Rule number three: Stick to the roads you know. Rule number four: If anyone follows you, go into a crowded place. This way, they’ll be less inclined to do any harm. Another tactic is to shout or scream, take a few different turns and confuse them, make it as though they’re going through a maze. If all else fails, fight. Punch, kick and bite, like your life depends on it.
When I turned fifteen, the age where girls started going to parties and hanging out with boys, he became a tad more protective. He gave me a small steel dagger with a jagged edge and a wooden hilt with my grandmother’s initials carved into it. It wasn’t much, but if used correctly, he said, it could do enough damage to render my opponent defenceless and give me enough time to make my escape.
Eliza also became more protective, too. She sat me down one night after my cousins had gone to bed and gave me the talk that all mothers (or in this case, aunts) are supposed to give. It was unappealing back then.
When I explained all of this to him, he stood from his desk and unlocked a drawer. In his right hand was a revolver and I drew a long breath as he lined six led bullets up on the desk in a nice, neat row. They were gold and the tips were that odd colour between grey and blue. He loaded it and my heart lurched as I heard it click and he pointed it my way, not to hurt me, but to show me how I was supposed to hold it.
Then he unloaded it again and then went out of the room, asking me to follow. Soon we were outside and a wooden door which looked like it had been ripped off its hinges, stood in the middle of a patch of grass.
“Stand here,” he instructed, then he placed the weapon in my hand, using his own to adjust my hold on it. “All you have to do is raise it, point and squeeze the trigger. Aim for the lower chest, that’s where all of the vital organs are, or anywhere on the head. That will damage the brain.”
The anxiety wound up in my stomach once again. My eyes never left the weapon.
Maternal instincts had been instilled in me since I was a little girl and everytime I looked at Charlie, everytime he spoke or I saw his eyes twinkling, and everytime I would see Ruby walking toward me with a smile or heard her laugh, I felt something warm and endearing fill my heart.
The very idea that I needed to know how to use this, that there were people in this world who were capable of harming me or the children and that I would have to take a life in order to protect them, terrified me.
“Don’t shoot until you have a clear shot where no one else will get hurt. Once you have your target locked, shoot. Don’t hesitate. Don’t show them mercy, because they aren’t as noble and compassionate as you are. I should know.” His hands released mine and he stepped back a bit. “Now, repeat back what I just said.”
“Raise, aim for the vital spots, wait for a clear shot and then…” I heard the gun click as I squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened, of course. It wasn’t loaded.
“Very good, now let’s see if you can hit those marks, eh?” He reached into his pocket and put three of the six bullets into the cartridge and then handed the revolver back to me, standing back and placing his hands on his hips.
The weapon shook with my trembling hands and he placed one of his on top of mine again. “Sorry, I’ve never done this before.”
“Don’t worry, everyone gets nervous their first time,” he assured me, but while his tone was soft and calm, his face was serious. “But when it comes down to protecting yourself or your loved ones, you must do whatever’s necessary. I have already told the children what to do if the worst should happen. They’re more likely to take them to get to me than harm them.”
He paused again, that wandering look from when he talked about France, appearing in his eyes. Then as if coming out of a daze and remembering I was there, he continued.
“I almost lost Charlie once. He was too little to remember any of it, but one minute he was in my arms, the next he was gone. I will never forget the way my heart stopped, how it felt like the air was sucked out of my lungs and my whole world shattered. If that happens, find a safe place to hide, stay there until I come and find you. Don’t go after them yourself. I will take care of it, do you understand?”
Imagining Charlie in the hands of some monster, it made my stomach drop and my heart ache with anger. Who would ever dare to harm a child, especially a boy as sweet and innocent as he is? Exhaling, I could feel him move some hair away from my eyes with his fingers.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Shall we get back to it?” He drew a long breath and his easy smile returned and his mind came back to the present as I raised the weapon. I imagined a face, a black patch over one eye, and a sickening grin on his face. I also tricked my mind into hearing the children screaming, which motivated me. “That’s right, deep breaths. Focus. You won’t be able to do much if you can’t think clearly. Loosen your grip….Aim….and…now.”
The gun clicked, the bullet flew and made a big dent in the old door as it ricocheted off the top. Without waiting, I tried again, lowering it until it was locked onto the right (technically left) side, where the heart was located. My nose wrinkled in concentration and I almost managed to hit it, but I went too high up.
“It’s alright. That’s why we’re practising. Third time’s the charm.”
Once more, I raised the weapon and it hit right where I wanted to.
“See? You’re a natural. Are you sure you haven’t done this before?”
I felt my heart race a little bit at the comment, a blush coming up on my cheeks and the heat rising to my chest. He was teasing me…I knew as much. But his tone was soft and playful and I thought I could detect a spark of flirtatiousness there, as well, but maybe it was just me overreacting?
“Are you alright?” he asked me, brushing a hand along my shoulder. “You’re shaking.”
“I’m fine,” I answered, still catching my breath and recovering from my adrenaline rush. I lowered the gun, moving my finger away from the trigger. It wasn’t loaded anymore, but I needed to be just as careful as I would be carrying scissors and knives. “I just thought of a scenario and I gave it all I had.”
“And what did you think about?”
“The kids. You.” I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked down at the ground, hoping he didn’t see the tears gathering in my eyes, but he was smarter than I was in many ways. He easily picked up on my fear and without warning, brought me into his arms, resting his chin on my head and rubbing my back soothingly.
“It’s alright. No one is going to lay a finger on them, or you. Not if I have anything to say about it, yeah?” I nodded and eased into his touch, only looking away when from the corner of my eye, I saw Frances standing near the door to the inside of the house, leaning on the frame as she caught her breath.
“Mister Shelby, is everything alright? I thought I heard gunshots and I came as quickly as I could!”
“Everything’s alright, I’m just initiating the new governess, that’s all. I’m sorry if I worried you there for a moment.” She seemed to know what he meant and I could sense the relief on her face. “Are the children awake yet?”
She shook her head. “Yes, sir. They’ve been asking for Jessie.”
“Tell them she’s talking to Daddy and that she’ll be there soon.”
“Of course,” she nodded. “Will there be anything else?”
“No. Thank you. That will be all.”
Frances retreated back inside and I could see her own worries lifting a little at seeing his friendly, reassuring smile. One of the main reasons I loved my place at the Shelbys was that Ruby and Charlie clearly followed their father’s example, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and apologising when they unintentionally did or said something wrong.
They even volunteered to help cook and clean sometimes. I am not proud to say that not all households I had stayed in treated their staff with the same level of respect and gratitude as they did. A few of the maids I’d eventually become friends with told me the very same thing.
Eventually, I would learn that this was because Thomas knew what it was like to have every bit of dignity stripped away. He also knew that no matter how far up the social hierarchy he and the rest of his family managed to climb, or how legitimate they became, who they were and where they were from, would always be a harsh reminder that politicians, judges, lords and ladies, would look down upon them, never admit them into their palaces, as he’d said, and would treat them like the scum of the earth.
“Would you care to join me?” he asked suddenly.
“Join you, Mister Shelby?” I tilted my head to one side, confused.
“Tonight,” he added.
My pulse quickened. I was surprised by the question to say the least. Or maybe it was because my thoughts had started to wander and twist the meaning of his words. I knew I should probably say something to avoid looking foolish. “Do you mean….”
He raised an eyebrow and a smirk made its way onto his face. “What?”
“I…” I couldn’t finish my sentence. My mouth went dry, my tongue felt like it had gone numb. I couldn’t put my words together. I was completely and utterly speechless and it was humiliating. I knew I was flushing, just like I did that night at the dinner table when all he did was push in my chair for me like any other gentleman would do. In the background, I could hear the birds singing in the trees and a little grey squirrel scampered up the trunk and into its nest.
Realisation hit him and he laughed. “There’ll be plenty of time for that, love, I promise, but there are other things I wish to do first. After all, I don’t have just anyone in my bed. Unless that’s what you want, I’ll be happy to oblige.”
He paused and the pressure in my chest dissolved.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
“Have you ever laid with a man?” His voice dropped and I looked at him, astonished. He was bold, perhaps a bit too blunt, but there was also that mischievous glimmer from before.
“I—” I paused and then shook my head. “Those are not the sorts of questions you should be asking a lady, Mister Shelby.”
He stared at me for a few moments and then nodded, acknowledging his error and kicking up a bit of dirt with his boot. “Forgive me, that was a bit rude of me to ask such questions. I was going to say, before I let myself get carried away, that we could have dinner together, just you and I.”
“What about the kids, are you sure they’ll be alright without us?”
“I have already asked Johnny if he could take the kids for a few hours. He’s coming by later to pick them up. They’ll be happy over there and would probably stay all day long if I let them.”
I wasn’t sure who Johnny was, but if Thomas trusted him with his kids, that meant he was harmless and I wouldn’t have to worry about their safety while we were together.
Later, I walked with the kids to the car. When I told them we were going on a picnic, they were positively thrilled. They’d hoped their father would be coming along with us, and I was prepared to tell them that he’d join us another time, but to my surprise, just as I was about to climb into the driver’s seat, he came running out of the house and said he didn’t have anything important to do so he’d be joining us after all.
I wish I could have captured the look on their faces. I’d never seen them smile so brightly, and I could tell it had been a while since Thomas saw them smile like that, too. They were glad that he was finally going to be spending some time with them outside of meals, which was exactly what they’d been hoping for.
“We’re not taking the car,” he said, inclining his head and Charlie stepped out.
“Then how are we going to get there?” he asked. Ruby climbed out after him and their eyes met their father’s. I also wondered what sort of tricks this man had up his sleeve. With a smile, he made a motion with his head for us to follow him, which we did and when at last we stopped, we were standing a little ways away from a vardo, a traditional horse-drawn wagon held up by four wheels, with two being used for steering.
This one was painted a mossy green. Brown curtains provided a suitable entrance as well as shelter from the harsh rays of sunlight. A green tarp covered the bow-top roof and a black horse stood. He was content enough to munch on the blades of grass that sprouted at his hooves while he was waiting. The whole scene looked like something I had seen in a Van Gogh painting!
The kids glanced at each other and ran up ahead, seeing who could get to it first, and once they did, they climbed inside, already itching to get going. It was a good thing I held off telling them about the plans we had made until now or else they probably wouldn’t have slept the whole night because they would be too excited.
“Come on!” Charlie said, impatiently, waving me over with his hand in an exaggerated way. I could hear Thomas chuckle beside me and when I turned my head to look at him, his smile reached all the way up to his eyes.
“We’d better hurry, or they might leave without us,” he said, slipping his hand through mine and then without warning, he took off into a sprint, practically dragging me along with him. We eventually caught up with the kids, who were sitting inside and waving at us. There was a three-step ladder that they could use to climb in, and they were short enough not to bump their heads on the roof. Whereas Thomas and I needed to duck.
The inside looked fancy and well-kept, and there were some built-in seats up near the front where the driver and a few other people could sit and brown curtains that could be drawn to keep out the sunlight, or to provide a little bit more privacy.
One of my uncle’s dearest friends’ name was Patrin Holland, but everyone else called him ‘Paddy.’ He had one that looked almost exactly like this one, except now and then there would be these stunning pieces of antique furniture that they would take from the side of the road, items that were often discarded and would otherwise rot away, polish them, give them a fresh coat of paint and they would look almost brand new.
“One person’s trash is another person’s treasure,” he would say.
His main occupation was training and trading race horses, but now and then he would stop by the cottage for a chat and a cup of tea and would let the children go for a ride in the vardo if they wanted to, and it didn’t come as a surprise that the answer was always ‘yes.’ Alice always said it was better than Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage, because there was no magic spell that had been cast on the vardo to make it look beautiful, it was perfect the way it was.
They often wondered why we couldn’t have one, but Eliza and Albert said that they didn’t have any room for one. Plus, if we did, it would make the rides in Paddy’s less special.
Paddy and his wife, Sarah, had six children of their own. Four boys and two girls. Their oldest son, Django, was (and still is) one of my dearest friends and one of the kindest, most loyal men I’d ever met. He was tall, with beautiful brown hair and brown eyes and he had a warm laugh that made me feel at ease, even when I didn’t feel like smiling, or laughing.
Eliza used to tease me and say we might end up married someday, and really, I wouldn’t say ‘no’ if he asked me. She wasn’t even mad when I told her I’d once snuck out of the house one night and walked to his family’s camp. The air was cool, it was nearing the end of summer and autumn was making its entrance a little earlier than usual. He’d just come back from collecting wood for the fire and as soon as he saw me, his face lit up.
We sat on a log in front of the fire while his father put the younger kids to bed and his mother washed the laundry and pinned it up on the clothing wire. She did her own washing, but she also did the washing for her friends and neighbours. The girls, Theodora and Tillie, would often pitch in and help and came with their mother on errands.
Crickets chirped in the long grass and the full moon was shining, a rare sight in these parts. It was actually pretty romantic, much so in fact, that he kissed me. I had never been kissed before, but I knew what to expect. It would be awkward at first, and it kind of was, but then as we got more comfortable with it, and each other, it became more and more like the kisses I’d read about.
And that was pretty much it. We didn’t say a whole lot and sure enough, I went back home. I didn’t want Eliza and Albert to worry or to think something bad happened to me. No, it was the total opposite.
She was on the bottom step when I got home. She looked pale and I knew there was no sense hiding the truth about where I’d gone and who I was with. I trusted her with everything that was going on in my life and she was… thrilled. Was it because she was relieved, or because I’d just kissed a boy? Something she evidently never imagined me doing in her wildest dreams.
“Something on your mind, love?” Thomas asked in jest, his voice light and joking as he settled into his own seat. Coming back to the present moment, I looked around the vardo as Charlie adjusted his position on the seat. Ruby laid her head on my shoulder and I brought a hand up to stroke her hair. She was smiling, too.
“Just thinking,” I replied.
“About what?” she asked, her eyes were big and bright.
“About how excited I am,” I said, and it’s true. I was excited. I hadn’t gone on a picnic since last autumn, but now that it was nice and warm outside, it seemed like a good opportunity to get some fresh air.
He then turned to me with a teasing smile and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. I could see now where Charlie got his good humour and mischief from. It was as clear as day.
“Well in that case, I hope you’re ready for an incredibly lavish picnic day,” he commented, his tone playful and flirty.
“I’m never one to pass up some fine dining!” I replied with a laugh of my own. With a flick of the reins, we started driving out of the estate into the countryside and took in all of the sights for the first time. It really was a beautiful day, and the bright, warm sunshine added a certain ambiance to the trip. I could feel my heart feel a little lighter as we left the estate behind and started the journey.
Despite it being only my second day working for Thomas and Charlie, I was really beginning to feel welcome in this family, as though we had known each other for years, and I felt my heart warm with each passing moment spent in their comfortable presence.
“Such a beautiful day,” I said. The place was beautiful, the sun shone on the lake, making the water shimmer. The soft breeze blew through the neighbouring trees and tall grass. We got out of the wagon together and I took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air.
“It is indeed,” Thomas agreed with a soft smile as he looked around, his eyes full of delight and happiness as he let out a sigh of satisfaction. He really did seem to enjoy the simple pleasures in life.
“Look! Look at the ducks!” said Ruby, pointing a little ways ahead of us to where a family of ducks were swimming in the lake. I knelt down beside her to get a closer look at them.
“There’s four of them! A mama, a papa and two little babies,” I said in glee after seeing how cute they were, playing and swimming in the lake below.
“Just like us,” said Charlie, putting a hand on my shoulder, then turned to his father. “Right, Daddy? That one’s you, Jessie’s the mama, that one’s me and Ruby’s the smallest one.”
“You’re right, that does look like us,” he nodded.
“Daddy’s making a lot of noise,” Ruby giggled and I smiled at her.
“Daddy does make a lot of noise, doesn’t he?” I asked jokingly.
“Yeah,” said Charlie and Thomas gasped in mock offence.
“I do not!” he said.
“Do to,” Ruby argued, moving from her spot, over to her dad.
“I can’t wait to tell my cousins!” he exclaimed with a grin.
“Hold on! I have an idea!” I reached into my brown bag, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen. I turned to an empty page and began to draw the ducks. Charlie watched me as the pen moved across the paper.
“How do you do that?” he commented.
“Magic!” I replied, putting up my hands and their eyes widened.
“Can you draw a cat, too?” Ruby asked, looking up at me with a curious expression. I smiled back at her, then once I was done with the ducks, I began to sketch a cute little cat on the paper and a yarn ball.
“What about a soldier?” asked Charlie. “Or a teddy bear.”
“Not sure if I can draw a soldier, but I can draw a teddy bear.”
Beside the cat, I drew a teddy bear. It wasn’t anything spectacular, just a few quick little doodles.
“Daddy, look at the kitty cat.”
“How charming!” Thomas exclaimed enthusiastically, looking over my shoulder at the little drawing I had made of the cat.
“Meow!” Charlie said, mimicking a cat.
“Meow!” Ruby repeated.
“Meow!” I replied.
“Daddy, you try,” said Ruby.
“Oh, do I look like I can do a good cat meow?” Thomas teased with a playful smile. She sat up and then got on her knees, holding one of her white hair ribbons above his head, like it was an actual cat toy, a pleading look on her face and a grin appeared on Charlie’s face.
Tommy couldn’t hide his delight at the challenge, and he began to make quiet purring noises from his chest, laughing to himself as he did his best impression of a cat purring. He pantomimed a pretend cat’s paw in the air, his voice trying its best to mimic meows.
Even if it wasn’t the best cat impression I’d heard, there was something very endearing about the noises this grown man was making just to put a smile on the faces of his children who were giggling non-stop now. I found myself smiling happily along as well as I watched the three of them.
“Well, do you think that’s an accurate depiction of a cat, or am I too far off the mark?” he asked with a small, joking laugh.
“No, I think that’s pretty accurate.” I chuckled softly.
I couldn’t help but feel my heart flutter and my stomach flip just the slightest bit and I felt myself slowly inching closer towards him in response, pulled in by the pull of that invisible magnetic force. I tried my best to hold back a little blush that was rising on my face.
“Can we eat now? I’m absolutely starving!” Charlie announced excitedly, looking towards the basket that sat a few inches away from where we were sitting.
“Me, too,” said Ruby. “Daddy, listen. My tummy’s making noises.”
He pressed his ear to her stomach and nodded. “It sounds hungry.”
I stood up and heard her giggle as he scooped her up in his arms.
“Wanna help me get the basket, Charlie?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He followed me back to the vardo and we brought the basket with us and put it on the ground.
“Alright, let’s see.” I opened the basket and looked inside as if I were looking into a chest of treasures. “My, my! What do we have here? Some sandwiches, a jug of lemonade, now this is a perfect picnic if I’ve ever seen one!”
The kids happily ate their lunch and chattered excitedly, tossing the crusts of the bread to the ducks and I laid down on the grass, listening to the wind rustling in the treetops and hills all around us.
Ruby crawled across the grass and laid down beside Thomas, putting her head on his chest. “Daddy, can we do this everyday?”
“Wouldn’t you get tired of it, my darling?”
“I guess,” she shrugged.
“Every other day?” Charlie asked, hopefully.
He laughed and I closed my eyes. Tomorrow, there would be new problems and challenges to face, but for now, we continued to eat sandwiches and drink lemonade and feed ducks, enjoying the peace and quiet. It was nice just to disappear for a few hours, anonymous, where no one could find us.
To be continued!
Taglist: @zablife @runnning-outof-time @izabesworld @cillmequick @sherbitdibdab
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shaampoo · 6 months
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*Breaks into your house and shoves this OC into your arms*
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"Oh, Starlight, you're looking radiant today"
"Are you...talking to yourself?"
"Why of course, who else would i be talking to?"
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Meet Starlight! Or Adrian Celeste as his civilian name
Adrian is pretty self-absorbed, but recently, he's been trying to tone it down a bit, since he's a bit more self-aware since joining the heroes, he's still pretty vain though. (there's a sad lore reason for this)
Adrian is the big brother of 4 other siblings (could change), and (!) his outfit idea was made by his siblings, like the kids drew a outfit on a piece of paper and gave it to Adrian as a idea for his hero outfit and Adrian, liking the design and loving his siblings (PLATONIC), he decides to get his hero outfit to be like that, plus its flashy, so it gets him more attention
His powers is star like (cause of course), he can glow, shoot beams, and kinda heal himself (?? dunno, stars are like the sun, so its kinda healing, but more weaker i guess), and he can also like, predict the future-ish, not by much, like its pretty vague, like, "the stars have aligned and yadda yadda"
Of course the guy is a theater kid, of course, he's an actor and singer, cause of course he's like that, he also uses makeup, ("Just so that i can add a bit more beauty to perfection" Adrian says)
He's about 25, he joined when he was 20, and has not changed much in terms of being self-absorbed.
He, like Lumi, started out as a joke character, then whabam, dude has a backstory, powers, etc.
Adrian is still nice (cause this is a wholesome universe after all), but he tries to cover it up, since he doesn't want to appear vulnerable to people (sad lore later), like once, there was a hero who was afraid of the dark, and the lights of the base went off, and the hero got scared, so Adrian glowed to calm them down, but he just claims he did it so that people can still look at him
Adrian is also a sidekick,
Anyways, heres the sad lore of bullying
So, the reason Adrian is the way he is now is because he was bullied back then, people put him down, overlooked him, and left him out (his siblings were really young then, like, not old enough to remember), and as Adrian grew up, he was determined to not let anyone treat him like that again, or feel like that again, so, he decided to pull himself back up, but...he kinda overdid it (but replace the kinda with really), and now he's like this, (i know its probably a bad backstory, but I'm still working it out). (his siblings are about children now)
So yeah, him being self-absorbed and not taking criticism much is kinda a self defense thing, just so that he doesn't get hurt anymore,
anyways sad lore over
Adrian's mom is a single mom, taking care of all her 5 children (her husband, who was the one working, left them for another woman [dw, the husband ended up broke and divorced {gambling addiction,} and asked Adrian for help {despite the fact the husband was the first reason Adrian was so down back then} and Adrian just closed the door {hooray}]), Adrian helped out in his teen years by doing plays in theater and earning money that way, and then at 20, he heard that heroes get paid a lot, and joined (he claims that its cause heroes are famous, but his mom knows), he wanted to be an actor back then, but here he is now, he's fine with it though, cause he's still pretty popular (a dream of his), he does do theatre when he has time off of heroing,
Adrian has good cooking, since he does have to cook for his siblings when needed, since his mom has work (even though Adrian says that his mom doesn't need to work anymore,),
So pretty much Adrian's schedule is, wake up, shower, cook for siblings, eat fast and get dressed fast, and get his siblings to school, if he has hero work / he's on for heroing, wear hero clothes, go to hero base to get ready just in case of crimes, and if he has no hero work, maybe clean up the house, or hang around the hero base, or maybe decorate his room in the hero base, or just chill, or practice for his theatre play, or go to his theatre play, then after, get home, pick up siblings from school, have fun / play with them, help them with homework, then get them to bed, and then go to sleep, (might make a mini story of this, maybe the title being "All in a stars work", being a parallel to "All in a days work" cause lmao)
of course, on weekends, he has a more chill time,
Adrian has a phone just for his heroics, like he has an account just for heroics, and he post a lot there, and it gets a lot of likes (and the fame kinda inflates his ego, which he does NOT need lol),
He/Him are his pronouns btw
hes about 5'6, but he wears heelies, which makes him 5'8, but he only wears heelies for the flair, and he has trained himself to be able to run in heels,
also, Adrian doesnt date, (citing that "He's the only one perfect for himself"), he's ARo/Ace (might change, but idk)
Following up that "hes perfect for himself" line, i kinda have an idea where like, there's a villain, who has powers like Aphrodite, being able to turn into the person the person looking at her loves the most (or their ideal love interest), and the villain breaks into the heroes base, and Adrian is passing by, and the villain hides behind a frame for a mirror, and Adrian looks the mirror frame and sees himself (cause y'know, he's in love with himself), and touches up his looks before leaving.
I think that if Adrian ever gets flustered, he will glow a lot, also i think that his glow can change colors depending on his mood, and maybe can change temperature, yknow, like a star, but idk yet,
Also, he will not hesitate to wear a dress. I have a story idea where there's like a ball or party or something for the heroes, and the heroes get their outfits, and a female hero gets a dress, even though they said they wanted a suit, so Adrian offers to trade his suit for his dress,
He also has big boots, kinda like Jinx's guy designs boots, but just stars and more bright
I dont think he would put others down or intentionally hurt others or anything like that, since he knows what its like being bullied and such, also, i can see him being a duo with Viz, another OC of mine, an OC of mine who has anxiety, so like, yeah.
Of course, since the hero gig pays well, he spoils his siblings and gets gifts for his mom, which they appreciate,
Also, his siblings really want to show off that their brother is Starlight, but Adrian advises against it, since he wants to keep his identity secret and them safe (he will burn down the world if it mean saving them), also, because people most likely wont belive them, and the siblings understand,
Adrians siblings are two sets of twins, one a year older than the other, though, people keep thinking they're quadruplets, only Adrian and his mom can tell the difference between them
Oh! And also, fun lore, Adrian and his mom and siblings are regulars at the restaurant Tito Kris is a working at, so Adrian and Tito Kris are good acquaintances, and Adrian, back in his teen years, even worked there before going to theatre,
oh i love making webs of connection
also, while yes Adrians room is canonically full of wall mirrors, but i am not drawing him at multiple angles, and i just realized i could just drawn a blue rectangle and a white streak but its too late now i guess lol.
Also, he has a lot of accessories, and sometimes, he lets his siblings choose what accessories he wears in his hero outfit before going to work,
also, his siblings sometimes stay up late at night to wait for him to get home, just to welcome him back, (inspired by young me and my siblings when we used to wait for our dad to get home :]), though, sometimes they fall asleep before he gets home, and when they are still awake, Adrian is happy to see them waiting for him, though, he does kinda reprimand them for staying up late, and then gets them to bed
Also, whenever his siblings have a hard time sleeping, they go to his room, and Adrian glows like a nightlight for them (this has caused many sleepovers, which Adrian doesn't mind),
Please dont ask Adrian about his emo phase, he will cry (/lh).
anyways, see you guys in like, two days or something when i draw another OC cause I'm chugging them out like my life depends on it lol
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howhow326 · 10 months
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Computer was beating my behind today
The Raptor: Full body design
Yay, I finnaly drew my ml oc after two fan fics of vauge descriptions that contradict each other because I couldn't think of an outfit. And yes, drawing hands killed me. Yes, he is barefoot in the first picture and I didn't draw feet because I didn't want to die again.
Timothy Césaire's backstory (again):
Alya's cousin from New York City, Timothy Césaire used to be a normal, not so mild-manner middle school student who's only concern was getting good grades and dealing with bullies. But his life would change permanently after getting an intership at Hill incorporated; the cover for Majestia's laboratory. As fate would have it, Timothy's job for his first day to observe a resurrected, radioactive Velociraptor. However, one of the scientists left it's cage open on accident, which lead to the creature escaping it's enclosure and biting Timothy. Eventually, Timothy realized that the event had given him a superpower, the ability to move so fast that the world around him slowed down. This motivated him to create the persona of The Raptor, a new super hero who would help the helpless. At first, the United Heroez tolerated his presence and even encouraged him to join him. But everything changed when the Raptor stole from Audrey Bourgeois; He left a calling card in her house that claimed she had stolen designs from unpaid interns and that he would make her pay. Even with all the money and power in NYC, Audrey was powerless to stop the Raptor from stealing thousands of dollars worth in money... and secretly giving it to the poor. From that point onward, The Raptor was officially known as as a super villain. But it wasn't the end for Timothy. Its just the begginng of the end for the powerful in New York.
Wanna know some fun facts about Tim?
Design backstory
I'll start with Tim's civilian outfit, it's just a color swapped version of Alya's outfit.
Now that that's out of the way:
My original idea (that I never drew) of the Raptor's design was going to be something like tuxedo mask with a hoodie and long feathers on his arms instead of a cape.
Then Argos stole his look
So when I wrote Funk Up The Night, I thought up a different outfit that would look waaay different from Felix; something like what a Victorian era working class person would wear to contrast Timothy from the 2(+ Felix) super villains dressed like aristocrats. The design would have baggy clothing with a newsboys hat instead of a hood and a tattered blue neck tie that would be like the main attention grabber of the design.
I ended up keeping the the neck tie part for this one, but I swapped the cap out for a visor (that can go through Timothy's hair without destroying it lol)
Anyway, I wanted to do base this design off of something from Martinican culture as I headcanon Alya (& Tim) as being born from there and moving to France (/U.S.).
It was there that I encountered the Neg Gwo Siwo, a Martinican carnival character covered in black that's a symbol of rebellion against oppression.
What a coincidence that I already imagined Timothy as having a mostly dark design!
So I used dark blue skin to blend in with Tim's black clothes (actually a really dark shade of green).
I added some gold bands with hints of red and green
And done!
I made a good design with bad anatomy because I don't understand arms lol
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accursedkaleeshi · 2 years
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Fyerri
For those of you that don’t remember when I drew an asiil (big chicken) sitting on a random Grievous baby & dubbed him guy-fieri-lasagna baby here is the link. Boy gets lore today for day 3 of TB’s Kaleesh Week! Tusks.
        TL:DR: That’s Fyerri. He was Bryaru’s first born. The first but not the last of Grievous’ newborn infants that he took one look at & said “My child! Looks like [food] :)”. When he was a child he tripped & ate absolute shit, fucking up his rapidly growing tusk matrix (like a nail bed). He was very upset but dad made him feel better. Goofy looking kid grew up to be still slightly goofy looking adult with a whack tusk.
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Fyerri was Bryaru’s first born! He joined his siblings around 33 BBY. When he was itty bitty, he just looked like that. The family asiil (big dino chickens) liked to steal him because, with his little orange pinfeathers, he was obviously just a chick.
        As a child, around five or six, he was in the green house doing chores with a similarly aged group of sibling when they heard fahyr was home. Naturally they all ran out the door to go see him. As is wont to happen when you get a gaggle of long limbed children together, one fell & took out a couple others. Fyerri, unfortunately, face planted on a slight incline.
        Grievous was not unused to being greeted with such fanfare. When Fyerri peeled himself off the ground he started making a high pitched noise in the back of his throat. You know, that kind of noise kids make when they get hurt & are about to lose it. Grievous stepped over the kids, motioning to them to stay there for him.
        He stepped up to the wives that had come out of the greenhouse & said, “Fyerri ate dirt, but hurt himself. Do not laugh, we have to be supportive.”
        “Why would I laugh?” Lyx’al had said, looking mildly concerned. Jyada already had her mouth pressed shut with Grievous looking directly at her. Listen. Kids falling down is just universally funny.
        Fyerri was at first mortified to have biffed it in front of dad but then began to realize he was actually hurt. His siblings helped him up & brushed dirt off of his little outfit. He tried not to cry but one of his sisters repeating “oh no” did not make him feel better.
        By the time Grievous stepped back & picked him up, Fyerri’s big orange eyes were swimming. When Grievous sat him on a table in the greenhouse he was heaving. Dad came in front of him & to get a look. The boy had taken his full weight on the left side of his face & abruptly bent his tusk in its mooring. Because he was just a kid growing very fast, it was much more flexible than an adult’s tusks but that also meant any damage done was likely to stick around.
        “You bent your tusk pretty good, Fyerri,” Grievous had said. While he moved the little tusk as far as he could in a reasonable direction to set the little audience of siblings reassured Fyerri that fahyr can fix anything. Grievous picked him up, holding Fyerri in his arms as a mother came up & put a cold press up to his little face.
Fyerri, now crying big round tears, sobbed between hiccups, “Now I’m never gonna have big tusks like yours fahyr!” His mothers shushed him reassuringly while he forlornly wrapped his little fingers around his father’s tusks.
“Oh? No, Fyerr, every other Kaleesh has tusks like mine. Boring, no? No one will have tusks like yours now, it seems,” Grievous said to him. Fyerri was not convinced of this at first & took awhile to warm up to the idea of being different. But he did eventually love it. Even when his father started another beloved family nickname by calling him “Comms”. His left tusk grew towards his mouth which reminded Grievous of microphone headsets.
Despite his awkward pin feathers & crooked tusk he did grow up to look pretty good. His confidence & his glorious mane of fluffy gold feathers did a lot for that. The title he uses primarily was Antiiskol, which meant Spine of Fire. It refers to his colors & his spirit. Being Bryaru’s first child, he was her excitable little co-conspirator. Direct action son. Helps out his mom’s rebel group & runs his own on-world. He encourages the harassment of stormtroopers & the Empire largely cut their losses with Kalee. Thus is the story of guy-fieri-lasagna baby.
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gelatomoon · 4 years
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happy birthday shikamaru ! 
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tadashiluvr · 2 years
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holiday season with the karasuno first years
drabbles
pairing: kageyama tobio x gn!reader, hinata shoyo x gn!reader, tsukishima kei x gn!reader, yamaguchi tadashi x gn!reader
genre: fluff
warnings: use of the word "babe" for reader in hinata's, can be taken as pre or post timeskip
a/n: today's my birthday!
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kageyama tobio
"hey tobio! are you ready to go?" you called as you walked down the stairs, adjusting your coat sleeves. as you looked up and focused on him, you realized his attire. "you're going out like that," you gestured to his outfit, "in this weather?" you gestured to the snow falling outside the windows.
he looked down at his body, covered by sneakers, jeans, and a thin t-shirt, before responding, "yea."
"c'mon, you at least need a jacket," you explained.
he sighed as he looked away from you, "they look stupid though."
a soft giggle left your mouth at his words. "they dont look stupid on you, you look cute," you said walking towards him and pinching his cheek a little.
his face and ears turned pink immediately as he hurriedly grabbed his coat and put it on.
"see?" you asked as you looked him up and down. "cute."
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hinata shoyo
as you laid in bed with at least 1,000,000 blankets thrown over yourself, your ears perked up at the sound of the front door open then slam shut again.
"babe! i'm home," the familiar voice of your lover called out.
you freed your mouth from the confines of your blanket tower to respond, just loud enough for him to hear, "i'm in bed."
you listened to his footfalls as they drew closer to your bedroom door. "guess what," hinata started as he opened your door.
"what?" you asked as he walked into your view.
he pulled a shopping bag out from behind his back and answered, "i got us matching pajamas!"
immediately, you flung the blankets off of yourself and stood in front of him with your hands out and he placed your pajamas in your outstretched palms.
once you changed, you stood next to each other in your floor length mirror, admiring the red, plaid pajama pants with small blue snowflakes on the hips that match with the white shirts, again, with small blue snowflakes.
you climbed back into bed and hinata followed close behind. "is this every blanket in the house?" he asked with a small laugh.
"yes, yes it is," you answered as his arms circled your waist, sending the feelings of warmth and safety through you.
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tsukishima kei
when you arrived at the little coffee shop, tsukishima took a step in front of you to open the door for you. he waved his hand towards the open door and said, "can you go find our seats? i'll order for us."
you smiled and nodded at his request as you stepped through the door; warmth hit your face as your eyes scanned around for an open table, eventually, landing on a small table for two, parallel to the window displaying the falling snow outside.
you stripped your jacket from your arms and hung it on the back of your chair, eyes never leaving the large window.
you snapped back into reality when tsukishima placed your cup of hot chocolate in front of you. "you zone out?" he asked with a small smile.
"yea, i guess i did," you replied sheepishly, adverting your eyes and instead watching the steam rise from your hot chocolate. you carefully blew the steam away and took a sip, the heat and flavor spreading across your tongue.
"how is it?" tsukishima asked, fork of strawberry shortcake in hand.
"it's so good!" you answered, tsukishima smiling softly at your excitement before shoving the fork in his mouth to cover it.
your eyes eventually traveled back to the window and you absentmindedly continued drinking your hot chocolate.
you felt something soft rub against the corner of your mouth and whipped your head towards who you assumed did it. "what was that?" you asked tsukishima, hand coming up to cover your mouth.
he smirked before responding, "you had hot chocolate on your lip, i was just getting it for you."
"oh," you said, suddenly flustered, "thanks for that."
he hummed in response, studying your embarrassed expression.
you heard tsukishima lightly call your name and looked up, eyes meeting his as he held his fork out, "you want some?"
you softly nodded before leaning forward to take the shortcake off the fork. you smiled at the flavors mixing in ur mouth. "that's so good," you said after you swallowed.
"i know, right? maybe we should come here more often."
your eyes quickly flitted back to the window before you agreed, "yea, we really should."
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yamaguchi tadashi
you ducked behind the car parked in your driveway and began packing a round ball of snow in between your palms. you lifted your head up from behind the car, a snowball immediately hitting you in the face. you blindly threw the snowball in hand anyways, hearing it collide with yamaguchi.
"how did you even get me?" yamaguchi yelled from across the yard.
"maybe i'm just too talented," you jokingly said as you wiped the snow off ur face.
you heard him laugh in response as he ran behind the house. you slowly and quietly stumbled your way through the deep snow, peeking your head around the corner of the house. yamaguchi was no where in sight so you continued your trek through the snowpack.
as you passed the next corner of the house you heard a sound, you quickly took a step back and squatted down while forming a snowball in your hands.
you carefully looked around the corner of the house and saw nothing so you carefully stood. right as you reached your full height, you heard a small noise behind you. you quickly spun but it was too late, yamaguchi had swiftly tackled you down into the snow.
"gotcha!" he cheered, a large smile spread across his face.
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hanazuma-inactive · 3 years
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defrost (nsfw) kaeya x top!male reader
pronouns: he/him
warnings: ice play!! slight degradation, orgasm denial/ edging, top male reader, bottom kaeya
a/n: this was edited by @kamihara, she really outdone herself in this one, professional kaeya simp lol
_____
“to think such an honourable knight such as you, the cavalry captain of mondstat, is now begging to cum. how shameful of you,” you let out a low chuckle as a provocative smile broke out on your lips, “i wonder what citizens would say if they saw their beloved and oh so admirable kaeya in this position?”
as a captain of the ordo favonius, you were a bright figure to the people of mondstat. a person who aided in saving the city from destruction, one of the heroes that defeated storm terror. of course, other knights had nothing but respect for you as your skill and talent was nothing short of impressive. many looked at you with a high regard due to your strength and position, this meant that many were intimidated by your presence and therefore fear approaching you.
however, there was one person who disregarded this and stuck by you anyways, kaeya alberich, the cavalry captain. out of everyone in the knights of favonius, you were the closest with kaeya. you enjoyed his company a lot, he was an interesting person who knew how to keep a conversation going, and while you're with him you could never find yourself feeling bored. he was as charming as he was cunning.
kaeya found himself enjoying your company too. the two of you have done lots of things together. going on missions, getting away with “knighty” duty, babysitting klee, and drinking at angels share. you know, all the fun things in life.
kaeya was a secretive person, and while you were curious about him, you respected his boundaries. perhaps this was the reason why he drew you in, besides his blaringly good looks of course.
there was no doubt that the man was attractive from head to toe. his silky navy blue hair fell down his shoulder with grace, his fringe complemented his smooth, flawless sepia toned face. his periwinkle eye held the sheen of a crystal, glistening as his long eyelashes framed it with poise. the diamond shaped pupils his eyes possessed could leave you in a trance forever. his open white shirt left his cleavage on display, contrasted with the black corset around his slim, slim waist. his slender legs brought him around with confidence and charisma.additionally, the intricate accessories he wore suited his personality well. all in all, kaeya was a pretty little thing.
all of this lead up to you harbouring romantic feelings for the cavalry caption. how could you not feel anything? he was perfect in every way.
the sound of kaeya’s voice snapped you out of your thinking. “y/n, any missions today?”
“nothing for you i don’t think, i gotta help jean with the paperworks though.” you sighed at the thought of a mountain of paperwork.
“great, well i’m off then you have fun doing whatever.” kaeya smirked at you, poking fun at your dread.
he started to turn around and walk off but you had other plans.
“wait. kaeya-” you speak quickly.
“hm?” he hummed out.
“angels share? 9pm?”
a quizzical look washed over his face before he masked it with one of his cunning smiles.
“alright.”
little did kaeya know you had more in mind than just drinking with him tonight. today would be the day when you finally told him about your little crush on him.
night quickly arrived after a day of working with jean. you were pretty exhausted but still excited about what's about to happen later tonight. when you entered the bar, Kaeya was already waiting for you at the counter talking with the bartender, charles.
“ah, i see mr.l/n is here too. Your usual today as well sir?”
“yah that’d be nice, thanks charles.” you said as you took a seat next to kaeya
“you got it.” charles said as he left to go get your drink.
angel's share was the place you and kaeya loved the most. the kind of noisy background with people chatting. cyrus and jack talking about their gains for today, six-fingered jose still playing his lyre, the song was getting a little old but you didn’t mind, in fact if he changed the song you probably wouldn’t be used to it.
“so, what’s the special occasion for today? you usually don’t invite me to drink on weekdays.” kaeya said while swirling his drink and glancing over at you.
kaeya’s eyes always amazed you. you didn’t know the name of the grey-ish color but you could gaze into them forever. his smooth skin glowed under the dim lighting in the bar. you loved everything about the man, his dark blue hair, his perfectly shaped body, and the fact that you could see a little bit of his clothing. what kaeya said on the first day when you guys met was true, you did feel something for him.
“hm? can i not invite fellow knights to share a drink once in while without a special occasion.”
“well, not wrong there but…you seem like you have ulterior motives for tonight from the way you’re dressing.” kaeya said, smirking at you.
it was true, you purposely chose one of your best outfits today for kaeya, you wanted to impress the man not only from your combat skills, but also your looks. there was no secret you could hide from kaeya. he knew you too well and he always looked right through you. it could have just been kaeya’s observant nature but you like to hope it was something more than that.
“you’re right there, you really do know me too well, maybe i need to start hiding things from you a little huh?”
“you can try but i highly doubt it’ll work in your favour, mr.honorary knight.”
both of you looked at each other with a slight smirk as charles arrived with your drink. after drinking for a good while you could tell kaeya was getting a little tipsy. his movements were unstable, he shaked a little while walking and his eyes started to become hazy. what better time than right now to reveal your true plans for tonight, you were gonna fuck the shit out of the beautiful man. you wanted to hear him scream your name in pleasure as you break him, over and over again.
“why don’t we go somewhere else? y’know, somewhere more, quiet” you suggested while scooting closer to kaeya.
“i wouldn’t mind that.”
as soon as you heard those words you immediately got up and left with kaeya. your plan was going perfectly and the best part is about to come soon. kaeya wasn’t stupid, he was an adult afterall and he knew what you were trying to do. dressing up all sexy like that, getting drinks, going somewhere more “private”, what else could it have been.
the two of you arrived in your house and headed straight for your bedroom. kaeya has been to your house many times for many reasons and he knew where everything was so he didn’t trip or fall.
you placed a light kiss on kaeya’s lips while he laid on your bed.
“wait here~ i’ll be right back.”
this was where things would get, interesting
you opened your fridge to grab a small wooden bowl. the content inside was covered by a small white cloth. after grabbing that you went to grab some rope from a drawer you hid them in because you didn’t know what to say if someone saw those items in your house.
after bringing the items back you put them on the side and pushed kaeya down.
“what’re those?” he asked
(its a surprise tool that’ll help us later.)
“don’t worry about it sweetheart, just lay back and let me do the work alright?”
you brought a blush to kaeya’s face with your flirty words as he gave you a small nod, signalling you consent and approval. you kept invading kaeya’s mouth over and over again, you’re tongue so skillful kaeya was sure this definitely wasn’t your first time. the kisses ended after a while leaving both of you panting and a half an erection in your pants. wanting more, you began to take off kaeya’s uniform. his skin is so beautiful, you could also see his well defined body, just the perfect amount, not too buff, not too skinny. you licked your lips a little bit and looked up at kaeya with a smirk. when you put your mouth onto kaeya’s pink nipples, he squealed a little out of surprise but soft moans soon began to escape from his mouth.
“a-ah~ didn’t know you had this in you, honorary knight.”
“oh i know a lot more tricks that can make you feel good~” you teased.
as you continued to suck on kaeya’s smooth skin, you decided to spice things up a little bit. kaeya yelped as he felt a slight pain around his nipples. you remove your mouth to see a bite mark around it.
“to mark you as mine~”
“tch, you cocky little bastard.”
seeing the tent building up in kaeya’s pants, you decided to take them off and grant it some release. after you took off kaeya’s jeans you saw a small stain at the top of his boxers, showing that he felt good earlier.
“alright... this is where the fun part begins.” you said as you grabbed the ropes you initially put on the floor.
“restraining me? go ahead, let’s see if the honorary knight is all talk or he actually has something up his sleeve.” kaeya taunted
not liking his attitude, you forcefully tied kaeya’s hands behind his back and pushed him to the end of the bed facing you with nothing on but his boxers. now, the mighty kaeya alberich, is at your mercy.
“alright, we can do this in two ways. one, you listen to me, second, i don’t think you’ll like what’ll happen,”
kaeya raised his head a little and looked you dead in the eyes.
“i choose the second option”
you knew kaeya was the bratty type and it’ll only add to the fun to tame him. after hearing his choice you pushed kaeya back to where he was before and uncovered the bowl you had prepared earlier on the side. the bow was filled with medium sized ice cubes and it was till now that kaeya finally realized what you were trying to do.
“ice cubes huh? bring it on.”
“you asked for it~”
you grabbed one of the ice cubes and started to rub it on kaeya’s pecs, making circular motions and slowing moving towards the center where his nipples are.
“f-fuck that’s cold.”
you saw kaeya’s cock twitch a little when you first reached his nipples and you knew he was feeling good. moving on with your plan, you rested the ice cube on kaeya’s nipples and lifted his boxers where his cock is still covered but his asshole is exposed to you. right after that, you grabbed the lube that has been sitting in your nightstand and spread them on your fingers. without mercy you put 2 fingers into kaeya, trying to find his pleasure spot. sooner or later when kaeya started to let out tiny moans you knew you hit your target.
“feels good huh baby boy~”
“y-yah, and so what o-oh fuck~”
kaeya was sure feeling it, to a point where he started stuttering.
the constant teasing got kaeya close to his limit. he couldn’t hold it any longer. but you’re not gonna let him cum that easy are you? of course not, he needed to be punished for what he did earlier.
“a-ah y/n i’m gonna cum i’m gonna cum so hard- wait why'd you s-stop?” kaeya asked
“you decided to be a brat earlier didn’t you~? bad boys get punishment.” you said with a smirk on your face.
kaeya stayed silent, not a word coming out of his mouth, head hung low feeling embarrassed.
“to think such an honourable knight such as you, the cavalry captain of mondstat, is now begging to cum. how shameful of you,” you let out a low chuckle as a provocative smile broke out on your lips, “i wonder what citizens would say if they saw their beloved and oh so admirable kaeya in this position?”
“maybe~ if you begged a little i might reconsider, don’t you think so, pretty boy?”
kaeya finally lost his composure at this point, all he wanted was to cum from your touch.
“fine... i don’t care anymore.” kaeya growled.
“p-please y/n.” kaeya looked up at you with pleading eyes. “i want to c-cum, i want to cum so bad. i should’ve been a good boy from the beginning… i promise i’ll be obedient from now on, j-just please, let me cum…” kaeya begged
“that’s what i thought.”
satisfied with kaeya’s begging, you decided to grant him his release. you added another ice cube to the other side of kaeya’s chest while stroking his dick through his boxers. of course you didn’t forget to keep teasing kaeya’s prostate while you were at it. all these different stimulations made kaeya lose his mind. the male came through his boxers all over the place. semen spilled on his own stomach and chest followed with moans so loud the entire mondstat could hear him.
after he settled himself down a little, kaeya waited for you to untie him. you exchanged a kiss with him while you were doing so, smiling at each other thinking about what just happened. neither of you cared about the mess that you made because you guys were tired. listening to the birds chirp, you fell asleep with the dark blue haired male on your bed.
the two of you woke up in the afternoon to the noises of mondstat. you woke up a little before kaeya and from your point of view he was literally a sleeping beauty. you stroked his hair a little bit, causing him to wake up.
"y/n…good morning handsome."
"right back at you."
both of you giggled a little while holding hands.
"hey kaeya?"
"yes y/n."
"i've been meaning to get this off my chest and i don't think there will be a better time to say it than now."
"well go ahead, i'm all ears."
"you were the only one that ever stuck with me in the knights, everyone was afraid of me due to my strength except for you. you listened to me, you talked to me, and if it weren't for you i probably would've quit the job at the knights already." you took a deep breath and let out the words kaeya were waiting for.
"kaeya alberich... will you he my boyfriend?"
kaeya gave you a small scoff as a reaction and a light kiss to your lips.
"what reason do i have to refuse such a perfect man?."
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souichioneshots · 3 years
Text
Grim Reaper 【Souichi x Reader】 (Fluff)
Souichi claims he's been cursed. Now everything he touches dies! However, that doesn't stop him from spending time with you. Can you hold back from touching the boy and dying? Let's find out~~~!! ahahaha
(I think this counts as affectionate!reader but idk lol)
Souichi carefully held onto the drink in his hand as he sat back down in between your legs.
Resting his body against your soft chest, you wrapped your arms around his waist. He was completely engulfed by your love. Although he was a bit embarrassed at first by how affectionate you could be, it had become a habit for him to want to be so close to you all the time.
【And now back to ‘DEATH’S ASSISTANT’】
Souichi took a sip of his drink as the show you two had been hooked on recently started back up.
It was a Japanese drama about a Grim Reaper who had been assigned a foreign assistant. Apparently, they fell for one another as soon as their eyes met. Every day they tell each other how much they love one another, but because of Death’s curse, he is unable to touch his love. The show depicts their everyday work lives. Showing how far they would go for one another to prove their love, but never being able to be truly affectionate. Souichi wasn’t really into these types of lovey-dovey dramas, but the supernatural antics that it included drew him in deeper and deeper.
【Assistant, we cant! You know if we touch, you’ll die!】
【I would risk dying a million times just to feel your lips pressed against mine even just once, Death~.】
“Guuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!”
Souichi laughed as you pressed your face into the crook of his neck. The scene was so cheesy and overdone, but you loved it. For a morbid girl, you really were a sucker for love stories.
“You’re gonna miss the show if you don’t look up.” Souichi chuckle and patted your head.
Resting your chin on his shoulder, you continued to watch the last few minutes left of the drama.
“Death really outdid it with his outfit today, huh?” Souichi commented.
In today’s episode, Death had been wearing a bright red suit with a black suit-shirt instead of his usual black suit and black tie.
“I think it really suits him.”
“You think everything suits him.”
“Of course. If you’re handsome, then anything and everything looks good on you.”
Souichi lifted his shoulder up towards his head, squishing your face against him.
“Owwww Owowowow!!”
“What’s so handsome about that old actor?”
Souichi finally released the pressure, allowing you to relax.
Pulling your head away from his body, you rubbed your cheeks.
“Hmm…Well, for one his eyes are absolutely beautiful. Thin, sharp, and the dark circles around them make him look so mysterious. And his dark, wavy hair looks so soft! I just want to run my hands through it as mess it up even more.”
Souichi couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as you described what you found attractive about the ‘dreamy man’ on the television. He honestly felt like you were just describing him. He knew you must have a type, but he didn’t think it would be this similar to him every time. You must have felt like you won the jackpot with him.
“But what I really like is the fact that he’s always wearing a suit.” Wrapping your arms back around his waist, you squeezed him a bit “You can tell his assistant also thinks the same thing because she's always staring at him. She just wants to touch him soooo much. But she knows she'll die if she does! Haa~~ I love it!”
Souichi hummed in amusement as he listened to you speak.
Seeing that he fit all the other conditions you looked for in a guy, Souichi thought of a perfect way he could use this little fantasy you love so much for his amusement.
________________________
When the next night came, Souichi quickly got to preparing himself. He had asked if he could go over to watch a movie tonight.
He usually didn’t pay much attention to what he wore whenever he hung out alone with you. But tonight, he decided to mix things up a bit.
Making sure he had everything he needed in his pockets, Souichi set off to your house.
Creepily excited laughter slipped from the boy’s lips as he walked down the street by himself. He couldn’t wait to see your reaction when you laid your eyes upon him.
Finally reaching your front door, he knocked.
“Good evening~” Souichi greeted as you opened the door.
Before you could greet the boy back, you froze. Your mouth gaped open and your eyes widened as you looked upon your boyfriend.
“S…SS..S-Suit..Suitsuitsuit…” You brought your hands up to your face, unsure where to place them. This was the first time you had ever seen him wearing such an outfit before.
Finally bringing your hands out towards Souichi, you tried to touch him.
“Ah!” Souichi quickly jumped back. “You can’t.”
A look of worry and confusion grew on your face as the boy rejected your touch.
“Remember when I called you this morning and said I might have messed up a curse?”
You shook your head yes.
“Well, it turns out that as a side effect, whatever I touch now dies almost immediately.”
Leaning against the doorframe, you looked at the boy with a smile of disbelief.
“You’re just copying ‘Death’s Assistant’ aren’t you.”
Souichi hated how well you could read him. But that didn’t mean he was going to admit that you were right. At least not right now.
“No! I swear.” Sliding one hand into his suit pocket, he leaned down onto the grass that covered your front yard. “Every time I touch something as delicate as a flower…” Pulling out his hand from his pocket, he placed it over a daisy that had been growing for some time. “Well... This happens.” Moving back up, Souichi revealed that the flower he touched had shriveled up and died.
“No way…” You whispered as he allowed the dead flower to trickle onto the palm on your hands.
“Yeah…It’s a bummer.” Placing his foot over the real flower still planted in the ground, he tried to hide the evidence. “But I’m sure this curse will wear off by next week. 2 weeks at most.”
You quickly moved to the side as Souichi let himself into your home.
“What are you doing? Wouldn’t it be dangerous for us to be together right now?”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine. As long as we don’t touch that is.” Giving you a smile, Souichi kicked off his shoes and made his way down to your bedroom.
As the raven-haired boy walked down the hall, he moved his hands close to the wall, just barely coming into contact with the wallpaper. He honestly thought it would be really cool if he could make the wallpaper roll up and crumble into pieces just from touching it. Just like in the drama. Perhaps there really was a curse out there that would give him that ability.
Finally reaching your room, he took ahold of the door handle and gestured for you to go in first. Being in a suit really did make him feel like more of a gentleman. It was kind of fun.
Sitting on your bed, Souichi watched as you set up the DVD player.
He tried to hold back his foolish laughter as he thought about how miserable you were going to be all night from not being able to touch him.
You. The girl who could barely go 5 minutes without at least leaning against his shoulder, was now being forced to keep her hands to herself in order to avoid never waking up again.
This was gonna be hilarious.
“So, lemme ask you.” You pulled the boy out of his own little world as you sat on the bed with him. “Why the suit?”
“The suit? Oh. Umm…” Souichi’s mind froze for a second. He was going to say an excuse that all his other clothes suddenly turn to dust when he touched them, but now that sounded extremely stupid and unbelievable. Especially since he was able to touch your bedsheets with no problem. “…To match the whole ‘death’ theme...”
“Oh~ That makes sense. Always gotta be prepared for a funeral when everything you touch dies, right?”
“Exactly!”
Souichi let out a small sigh of relief as you commented an equally believable reason for the suit. He was glad you were almost always on the same level as him.
Finally dropping the subject, you pressed the button on the remote for the movie to play.
Souichi tapped his finger against the bed in annoyance as you kept a good amount of distance from him. It didn’t seem like you would try to touch him any time soon.
Looks like he needed to take things up a notch if he wanted to have some real fun.
Leaning forward, he swiftly took off his black jacket. You quickly ducked as his hand almost came in contact with your head.
Leaning his arm on your pillow, he relaxed his body. A single nail stayed poking out from between his lips, making it look like he was smoking.
Souichi couldn't help but smile as he saw you take quick glances at him. Your eyes kept moving from his pants to his white suit shirt, and finally to his face. He could see a blush spread across your cheeks as you quickly turned away from him, avoiding his gaze. You looked completely head over heels for him.
Sliding to the side, you leaned ever so close to the boy.
“Does the ‘being killed on the spot’ rule apply even over clothes~?” A blush spread across his pale face as you whispered in his ear, making sure not to come into direct contact with his shoulder. He could see your hand hovering over his suit pants, craving to touch the expensive-looking material.
Did you really not believe him or were you just begging to die?
Moving a bit away from you, he replied. “Probably not a good idea. Haven’t tested that out yet…” He let out a little laugh as he mentioned how awkward it would be for him to have to wake up your family and tell them that he killed you by accident.
Souichi looked from the corner of his eyes as you let out a small sigh and moved back into your own little space. This sudden rule of no touching looked like it was taking a toll on you.
Honestly, he was expecting you to be a bit more excited by this situation. After all, this was one of your favorite fantasies. To love one another, but never be able to touch unless you were willing to die on the spot. You should be spewing cheesy lines like in the drama, not sulking.
Moving the nails against his teeth, he tried to think of a way to fix things. After all, this wouldn’t be fun if you got too sad and decided to stop acting like your usual self halfway through the night.
Moving his arm out towards you, he pulled on the edge of his suit jacket.
“I think it’d be fine if you held onto this though…” He turned his face to the side, trying to hide his blush as you smiled once again.
Throughout the movie, Souichi kept his arm up in the air as you happily held onto his jacket. His body felt oddly unsatisfied from not being properly touched by you. But, this was his own fault for deciding to go through with such a cold prank.
You both stayed surprisingly calm and silent as the movie played on.
Souichi kept the nails in his mouth pressed tightly against his teeth as he kept his eyes on the screen. The movie you chose wasn’t half bad at all. The effects, the props, the acting. All very realistic. To be expected from new foreign movies.
However, this feeling of calmness didn’t last long as an unnecessarily long make-out scene between the main characters had started up again. Another specialty of foreign horror movies. The acting for these scenes just had to be extremely believable as well…
Souichi tensed up a bit as he felt you let go of his jacket, finally allowing him to rest his hand back down near his body.
It wasn’t that he disliked these types of scenes. But something about watching them alone with you always made him feel a bit restless.
Souichi moved his legs closer to his body, trying to get in a more comfortable position. He really regretted starting this whole ‘touch me and you’ll die’ prank now.
Pulling on the black-tie wrapped around his neck, he tried to calm himself down.
“People get really horny right before they die, huh?…”
Souichi noticed you jolt a bit at the sound of his voice. All he got in response from you was a little ‘yeah’ and an awkward laugh.
As the teens on the screen started to undress, Souichi noticed you also start to fidget around in your spot. You looked like you wanted to sit closer to him, but you knew you couldn’t.
Shakily bringing your hand over his leg again, you whispered. “Are you sure I’ll die if I touch you over your clothes?...”
This time he didn’t say anything. Instead, he just moved his leg closer to you, giving you an okay to try and touch him.
He watched as you cautiously placed the tips of your fingers on his knee. You let out a sigh of relief as you realized you were going to die from touching him over his clothes.
Careful not to accidentally touch any part of his body not covered by his clothes, you turned towards his.
Pinching the fabric of his suit jacket, you pulled his hand up. Souichi’s heartbeat sped up as you moved his bare hand to touch your clothed breast.
“Looks like it works both ways. As long as your skin doesn’t come into direct contact with mine, I’ll be just fine.”
Souichi’s eyes followed your hands as they moved back towards his pants once more.
You were really pushing the envelope.
But, if you were gonna play like that, then he saw no harm in playing along as well.
Sliding his hand down from your chest to your waist, he pulled you to come closer to him.
“That means we can’t do anything more than this though…” Souichi whisper as he inched his face closer to yours. “We should stop now before we do something that can’t be undone.” He teased you with lies, practically ordering you to go further.
“You don’t wanna die from one of my curses, do you?”
“It’d be a blessing to die from one of your curses…”
Something within Souichi switched on as he heard you whisper your confession to him. That felt like the most romantic thing you'd ever said to him.
Without saying another word, Souichi pressed his lips against yours. To think he was the one who ended up not being able to hold back from you this time.
Suddenly, pressing your hands against his shoulder, you pushed yourself away from the kiss.
“Agk! My heart!” Holding your hand against your chest, you threw yourself back to lay on the bed. “I…I!!! Gah…”
Souichi couldn’t help but laugh as you pretended to die in an over-exaggerated manner.
You opened one of your eyes, looked at the boy, and then closed it again. Souichi could see you trying your best to hold back a smile as you laid perfectly still.
“You knew I wasn’t cursed the entire time, didn’t you?”
“...Was it that obvious?” You laughed a bit as you finally sat back up.
“When did you figure out I was lying?”
“Hmm~”
You just hummed and swayed your head side to side. Not telling him when you knew for a fact he was not actually cursed.
“If I can be honest, you should have said something more believable for the suit. Then maybe I would have believed you completely." Leaning up against the boy you thought for a second. "Like umm... All your other clothes disintegrated the second you touched them. But because you've worn this suit to a funeral before, it was the only thing that stayed intact."
"Ahh!! I swear I was gonna say that!!"
You let out a hum and looked at the boy once again with a smile of disbelief.
"I swear!"
Getting up from the bed, he put on his suit jacket again.
"Let's restart." He sat back down on the edge of your bed. "Ask me why I'm wearing a suit."
"Okay." You also moved to sit on the edge, next to him. "Hey, Souichi. Why are you--" Unconsciously, your hand brushed up against his. "AGK!" You threw your body back and pretended to die again.
"No!! Y/N!!" He picked you up by your shoulders and forced you to sit back up. "Again."
As his hands moved away from your shoulders, he accidentally touched your neck. Making you jump back again.
"Agggkk!!"
"Stop dying!!" He yelled as you held your hand up to your neck and pretended to choke and die.
Souichi let out a loud groan as you continued to laugh at his frustrated expression.
This prank wasn't as funny as he thought it would be.
261 notes · View notes
writtenmarauder · 2 years
Text
Miracle (Sirius x Fem!Muggle!Reader)
Summary: Sirius  was mysterious and a player or was he?
Warnings: Angst, player Sirius, weight mentioned from Marlene.
Masterlist: here
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I was new to the neighbourhood. I sighed and was nervously shifting my weight from one leg to the other. My parents told me the Potters had a son my age and now they wanted me to hang out with him, make friends. I knocked on the neighbours door. A young man opened the door.
"Hi. I haven't seen you around here." "No, I just moved here a few days ago. Returned from boarding school. My parents really wanted me to go outside and make friends over the summer. They've apparently met your parents so they suggested I'd come by. My name is Y/n." "Welcome in the neighbourhood, I'm James Potter."
His smirk made me blush a little. I looked to the ground and I saw something non-human run around. James must've noticed my look because he closed the door a bit more. I decided not to ask about it, for now.
"Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to go to the carnival with me. Me and my friends used to go all the time." "Today is a bit unfortunate timing, sorry, I'm helping my best friend out." "No worries. The invitation is still there. If you change your mind I'm the next house over."
I started to walk away a little bit bummed out.
"How about tomorrow? Same time. I can bring my friends too. I know you'll fit right in." "Sounds perfect."
I smiled and bit my bottom lip. James waved goodbye before closing the door. I walked home with a little skip in my step. I curled up my legs on the windowsill and looked at the Potter house. Something drew me to it. It was pouring a lot. Why had the weather suddenly gotten so bad? I sighed and read more of my book. I started imagining the scene in my head when I saw a young boy about my age knocking on James' door. I sat up as our eyes connected. The man was let inside the house. That night I went to bed questioning everything I believed. This felt almost magical. Is this what books describe as a meet cute. The next morning I walked down.
"Morning y/n." "Morning, mom." "I'll be out with James and some friends of him. I've got money and I'll be home before midnight." I smiled. "Do you want some more in case one of your friends doesn't have money? Better be safe and have some extra." "Mom that's not necessary." "Still I want you to be able to have fun. Take it sweetheart." "Thanks, mom. I'll repay you the rest."
I made myself breakfast and went upstairs to change into a cute outfit. I took my bag and left to James' house. The sooner we started at the carnival, the better. I wasn't the only one to arrive at James' place. A gorgeous redhead also arrived.
"Hi, I'm Lily." "Hi, I'm y/n." "Oh you're the one James told us about!" "Us?" "Oh you're going to love our group. The other girls will meet us there, they needed to grab some money." "So how do you all know James?" "We go to the same school."
We were having a lovely chat when the door swung open. This time it was the boy from yesterday. He was dressed differently. He went from formal wear to bad boy look. I preferred this look.
"Hey Sirius!" Lily smiled. "Hey Y/N, I see you've met my future wife." James joked from behind Sirius. "In your dreams, Potter." "You're my only dream, Evans."
Sirius and I looked into each other's eyes. The world felt like it was disappearing.
"Come on, Sirius, She's nice." "Where are my manners? Hello." "Hey."
James looked between us two.
"Sirius this is Y/N, my next-door neighbour," James started, "Y/N, this is Sirius. He is my best friend from school." "Enchanté."
Sirius placed a kiss on my knuckles and I blushed. James rolled his eyes.
"Come on, you two, much to see." "Nothing will be as beautiful as her." "You're a flatterer." "Please tell me I'm not that bad." James sighed. "No... You're much worse," Lily commented.
I tried my best not to laugh.
"Are you okay, Prongs, She burned you?" "Prongs? That's a special nickname." "We all sort of have one." "So who are you?" "Padfoot." "That's like a black dog isn't it?" "Yeah, how did you know that?" "I guess I picked it up somewhere. I really like that nickname."
Sirius smiled.
"I've made it!" A boy shouted. "Mooney!" Sirius smiled and hugged the boy. "I got the message." He sighed and held Sirius closer.
I just stood there awkwardly.
"Oh Remus, meet James' next- door neighbour, Y/N," Lily introduced. "It's nice to meet you, Remus." "Likewise."
I smiled. Lily hooked her arm in mine and pulled me to the fair, the boys trailing behind us.
"There are some girls I want you to meet." "There is more of you?" "I don't technically belong to that group. I’d go insane." "Fair enough." "James asked me out and I may or may not have agreed." "Oh you like him." "I do not!"
I laughed.
"Lily, over here!" A blonde shouted. "Girls! This is Y/n, she'll fit right in!" "Y/n this is Marlene, Dorcas, Mary and Peter." "Do you play quidditch?" Marlene asked. "No? What is quidditch?"
I saw James move behind me.
"Oh you're a muggle!" She cheered. "A what?" "It's local speech for a.... uh newcomer," "You guys are weird," I laughed, "I like that." "Come on, there is so much to explore."
We started to play some mini-games. I tried my luck with these new slot machines it was quite addictive. Meanwhile Sirius had caught a giant teddy bear.
"For you my princess." He smiled.
I blushed and accepted his gift. We all got along very well.
"Guys, want to go on the Ferris wheel?" "I'll pass." Sirius said. "Come on it'll be fun." "Being stuck in the air doesn't sound fun to me." "Please."
Sirius refused so I pulled Remus along. He really wanted to go on it once, but not alone.
"So Sirius." "Shut up, Remus." "I know you like him." "Is it that obvious?" "Do you want me to lie?" "Yes." "No it's absolutely subtle."
Remus and I were laughing. I saw Sirius look at us. I blew him a kiss. Sirius winked and went back to the rest of the group they were waiting for some food. The ride was over too soon and Remus and I walked ahead of Marlene and Dorcas back to the group.
"I don't like Y/n, she's muggle, it would never work out. I'm just looking for a fling anyway." "Padfoot." James cleared his throat and looked at me.
Sirius turned around. He was about to give me excuses, but I just ran away.
"Y/n, wait!" Sirius tried.
I stopped and looked at him. Tears threatened to spill.
"I-" "Forget it Sirius!" I shouted, "I'm just your next conquest, right?" "No. It's not like that." "I heard you. Loud and clearly. To think I actually wanted to get to know you... Urgh I am so stupid." "No you're not. I didn't mean a thing I said back there." "Forget it. I'm going home. Bye, Sirius."
I saw the girls run up to me. Lily took my hand and dragged me away. Dorcas pulled Marlene along before she could yell at Sirius. I invited the girls in.
"Oh hello, my dears." "Good afternoon madam." Lily smiled. "We're going to my room if that's okay." "Of course dear. If you or your friends want something to drink or eat I'll go grab something from the shops." "That won't be necessary, but thank you so much," Marlene smiled. "Are you sure, dear you could use a little more food." "Mom!" "Sorry my dear. I just want to make your new friends feel welcome." "Thank you."
I pulled them to my room. I threw the mess under my bed so it wasn't too bad. We flopped down on my bed and laughed.
"You had to see the look on his face when Marlene saw he made you cry." "Is he usually like this? A ladies man?" "You'd be surprised to know he's actually not. He looks like he can get every girl and he likes to flirt with them, but almost no one has slept with Sirius." "Why?" "I don't know. Sirius isn't an open guy." "Unlike James, right Lily?"
We laughed.
"I really like James, but he can be so arrogant. Not to mention a bully." "That was so many years ago. Snivellus, I mean Severus, deserved it too after he called you that." Marlene said. "What did he call you?" "Some racial slur. He was my friend and then said that."
I held Lily's hand. She smiled.
"I'm not one to give advise on this, but Sirius never gets the girl a gift. So maybe he was telling the truth." "Lily, I can't see him like that anymore. I don't want to be a conquest." "You do you, girl. Want to go again tomorrow? Our trip was cut short because of the boys." "I'd love that."
I pulled them into a group hug. They unfortunately had to go. I let them out and fell on my bed. I took the bear Sirius caught for me and hugged it tight. I couldn't stop thinking about him. The boy who looked broken, the boy who is a player in leather jackets and the man that is Sirius. I picked up my book and escaped to a different world. A soft tap against my window drew my attention.
I walked over to my window and saw a note that was folded like a bird. I looked at James' house and saw Remus, James and Sirius talk/yell at each other. I opened the note.
'Do you believe in miracles? -Sirius'
I sighed and placed the note on my bed. I changed into my nightwear, but when I came back the note had been replaced by a rose. I picked up the rose and held it close. I looked back to the room and saw Sirius sitting at the window gazing back at me. He waved. I gave him a soft smile before closing the curtains. The next morning I decided to go for a run. I usually never do it so this was promising to be extra crazy.
“Mom, I’m out for a run, I’ll be back in an hour.”
My voice echoed through the house as I pulled the door closed behind me. Sirius was seemingly walking away. 
“Sirius?” “Hey.” “What are you doing here?” “Well I was going to apologize again and ask you to take a walk with me, but I got scared and was leaving.” “I’m going on a walk now. Want to join?” “You’re asking me along?”
I nodded and started walking. Sirius was frozen for a second, but jogged to his position next to me.
“I was an idiot-” “Yes.” “Thanks, but I want to make this right. Please let me be your friend. I can prove I’m not a horrible person.”
I nodded. Sirius’ face lit up and he pushed his hands into his pockets.
“I’m a little new to this.” “Talking to girls? I’ve heard differently”
Sirius scratched the back of his neck and shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He stopped me and looked around.
“Magic exists.” “What?” “Magical creatures and wands and spells you muggles love to read about it exists.” “Again with the word Muggle, what does it mean? What are you trying to tell me Sirius? Want me to like you fine I’ll do it, but no need to come up with children’s fantasies.” “It’s real. All our friends go to a school specifically for kids like us. Muggles are non magic users like you.” 
I felt tears well up.
“No. Stop.” “I’m being honest here.” “There is no magic.”
Sirius pulled me behind a little house.
“Trust me.” “Amato Animo Animato Animagus.” 
Sirius turned into a black dog. My reality shattered. I just stood there looking at him. Sirius turned back.
“Say something.” “No, that did not just happen.” “Believe me. It did.” “No...” “I was being an ass before cause I am a pureblood. All my family is, is wizards. I don’t know how to act around people who don’t use magic and I chickened out, before I got to know you and I have never regretted anything more in my life.”
I sighed and looked into his eyes.
“Okay I believe you.” “You do?” “I do.” “Great! I’ll still prove I’m actually wanting this, but we could go out and do things at some point.” “The fair is still open, want to go?” “I am broke though.” “No worries. I got extra, but If you mean it, you have to go on the ferris wheel.”
Sirius thought it for a second but then held out his hand. I smiled widely and shook it. We walked back and were meeting later that night. I was getting ready with the other girls and we were talking about partners and magic. We walked out the door and were greeted by the boys. James kissed Lily’s hand, whilst Sirius held out roses for me. He kept his promise and Sirius changed my world.
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boldlyvoid · 3 years
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Hypothetically | Chapter 1-5
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summary: Reader and Spencer were friends in kindergarten, she watched him grow up and explore the world while she was still trying to catch up to him. now that they work together, they fall in love incredibly fast.
friends to lovers, case of the week style story
A/N: Set between seasons 4 and 6, not following canon. all original crimes based on real-life stories.
Warnings 18+: Murderers, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Blood, Guns, mentions of autopsy, Fluff, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, bed-sharing, Riding, Unprotected Sex, Virgin Reader, Case of the Week, original crimes, Food mention, Smut, Oral Sex, Light BDSM, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Talk, obgyn appointments and info, Home Invasion, Past Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Emotional Manipulation, Grooming, Pedophilia mention, non-con oral (male receiving), Pregnant Sex, Daddy Kink, Breeding Kink, Homophobia, conversion therapy
Word Count: 15k
chapter 1
It took Y/N longer than she had hoped to finally catch up to him. He seemed to go from the cute little boy with a bow tie who sat beside her in her kindergarten class to working for the FBI by the time she graduated high school. It wasn’t fair that he happened to be smarter than anyone on earth, causing him to test out of elementary school before she even got to know him.
Spencer Reid had an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and the sweetest personality to match. Y/N saw him around as he grew up, coming home to see his mom often and minding his business as he wandered around in his free time.
He liked to sit on the swings at the abandoned park across the street from her house, it was a place he would go to at the most random hours of the day for years on end. Every time he was in the area, he visited the swing. And She’d watch him from her window seat in her bedroom. Pretending to read, but really she was watching him read.
It was years of watching, from the ages of 13 to 18 when he was coming back and forth from working on his second Ph.D., and she was still trying to make it through high school.
But she never walked out there and talked to him, she knew nothing real about him other than his name and that he was smart. The town told rumours about him being an alien or a government experiment because there was no way a kid could be so smart, but she never believed them. She liked to keep to the idea that he was sweet, smart, and special.
He stopped coming to the swing for a while after they turned 18, her mother had said something about Spencer Reid’s mother being admitted to the nursing home she worked at and y/n drew the conclusion that he’d finally left the small Nevada town she was seemingly trapped in.
Y/N kept tabs with him online, as weird as it felt to her she had a strange sense of pride when it came to Spencer’s achievements. That was the kid she sat beside in kindergarten out there working for the FBI, saving lives and changing the world. It inspired her.
So sure enough, when she moved to Virginia to join the FBI academy it was the perfect opportunity to finally be on an even playing field with him. An excuse to reach out to him and catch up, get to know him. She was technically older than him, by 10 months, and yet somehow he seemed to feel unreachable, wiser and more of an adult than she ever would be.
At 28 she finally bumps into him again. She’s carrying boxes into her new apartment with help from a moving company when he leaves the apartment across the hall from her.
“Oh my gosh, Spencer Reid?” she said with the biggest smile spreading across her face.
“Hi?” he says, not having any clue who she is.
“You might not remember me, I’m Y/N Y/L/N we were in kindergarten together in Nevada?”
He takes a moment to think, she watches his eyes flutter as he recalls the memory to his mind. She is mesmerized by how his brain works, like a filing cabinet he can just pull memories out. “Oh, yes we sat together the first day and you got in trouble later that afternoon for adding water to the sand because I had said it was too dry to build a model of the Pyramid of Giza.”
Her smile gets even bigger, “yes! I hope this isn’t weird but I’ve kept up with you over the years, I’ve always thought it was so amazing that someone from my town was off doing incredible things! I can’t believe I’m moving in across from you that makes it look so much worse oh god, I promise I’m not stalking you!” She rambled anxiously.
He laughed, “it’s okay I believe you! I’m surprised honestly that you remember me, we were what? 5? That’s a good memory you must have?”
She walked over to him and out of the way of the men moving her boxes into her apartment, that’s what she was paying them for anyway. She set the box down on the floor beside herself to free her arms, “I think your first ever friend would leave an impact on your memory.”
“We did have a good bond before I was transferred out,” he recalls with a smile.
“Well,” she smiled right back, “I also work with the FBI if you want to get coffee before work on Monday and catch up? See if there’s a possibility of being friends once again?”
“Yeah!” he answers abruptly, “I leave around 7:15 normally and I always go to the little cafe down the road, what department are you in?”
“VICAP,” she said, “just a floor above the BAU, surprised I’m only running into you now”
“You sure you’re not stalking me?” he joked.
She shook her head lightly, her cheeks hurting from smiling so hard. “Promise, just inspired by you, that’s all.”
He chuckled to himself, almost shocked that such a lovely person would be inspired by him. “Well, thank you. I’ll let you get back to moving in and I will see you on Monday Y/N.” he said with a small wave and walked down the corridor.
She sighed to herself, this was going to be amazing.
---
Y/N had barely unpacked anything by the time Monday had rolled around. She spent most of her time working on her bedroom organization, leaving a mess of boxes everywhere else. Going through her closet to find the best outfit for her first-morning commute with Spencer.
Her job didn’t require as much fieldwork as he did, so she could wear anything she wanted to the office as long as it was professional. She settled on black flared dress pants, a nice white turtleneck, the watch her family gave her when she graduated from the academy and her cute healed wedge boots.
She grabbed her purse and wallet, ensuring she had her keys and badge in there before unlocking her safe and clipping her gun to her belt. She grabbed her go bag and coat and draped them over one arm, holding her purse in the other.
With everything she needed, she walked to her front door, turning off her alarm just to change the setting to protect her empty apartment. She closed and locked the door behind herself just as Spencer walked out into the hallway.
“Good morning Spencer,” she said, cheerful as ever.
“You’re awfully cheerful for this time of day,” he yawned after speaking.
“Late night?” she asked, joining him as he walked towards the building entrance.
“We had an emergency case this weekend that kicked my ass, I’ve only been home for 15 hours. Hopefully, today is just a desk day,” he yawned again. “Sorry, I’m sure you’re tired as well, from moving this weekend.”
“Oh I’m exhausted, normally I don’t leave till quarter to 8, living farther away now is going to suck a bit.”
“At least our building is nice,” he adds.
“It seems wonderful so far.” He held the door for her as they walked into the parking lot, he dug her keys from her bag, “do you want to take my car?”
“Sure, seeing as I don’t have a car, I normally take the subway,” he said softly, walking to the passenger side and opening the door as he heard the door unlock.
“Well if you want a ride every morning I don’t mind, even If you need rides to emergency cases,” she smiled softly.
Spencer insisted on buying her coffee, saying it was only fair for driving him. But really it was because he wanted to spoil her, ever since she said she was inspired by him his mind hasn’t been able to stop playing that sentence on loop. He’s completely enamoured by her, willing to do whatever it takes to get on her good graces. Not realizing she’s willing to do the same for him.
In no time she’s pulling up to the main building, both of them showing their badges before being allowed access into the parking structure of their building. Y/N parked close to the main elevator, having impeccable luck with getting that spot in the garage.
“We still have time before we’re officially on the clock, if you wanted to come meet my team?” He offered, hitting the button in the elevator for floor 3. His floor.
“I’d love to meet the legend that is Penelope Garcia,” she smiled.
“She is wonderful,” he agreed with a smile.
The elevator dinged and she felt her heart drop into her stomach thinking of how Spencer was going to introduce her. He walked with her towards the glass doors, holding them open for her as she walked into the bullpen.
All eyes were suddenly on Spencer and Y/N, so many faces she’s never seen before, and 2 she knows too well from her research on the BAU. She smiled lightly as she walked towards them all. Spencer not far behind her.
“Good morning,” Spencer smiled a small pressed-lipped smile. “This is agent Y/N Y/L/N, she works up in VICAP, she was one of my best friends in elementary school.”
She smiled, so that’s how. “Hello!” She waved, “It’s so nice to meet you all,”
“Derek Morgan,” the tall dark and handsome one reached his hand out for yours.
“Oh, I don’t shake hands sorry,” she said, grabbing her right middle finger with her left hand and smiling lightly.
He laughed, “wow pretty boy, how come you never told us you have a twin?”
“Do you not shake hands either?” She asked him, “we really do have a lot of catching up to do Spence.”
“Emily Prentiss, it’s lovely to see Spence bring in new friends.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, I’ve always admired the BAU, I’ve actually compiled a few of the cases you’ve worked on this year, I’m pretty good at finding patterns even the system overlooks.”
“Oh yes, Y/N Y/L/N, I’ve seen your name on all the emails, thank you you’ve sent some of the best-connected cases to us, you’ve brought justice to people who we would have never connected to cases,” JJ said enthusiastically, “I was actually just about to tell Hotch about the newest one you sent me.”
“It’s horrible, isn’t it? I’ve been carefully looking over this case for 2 years now I knew you’d all be able to help with it. It’s right up your ally,” she nervously laughed.
“You sent in the files on the family annihilator that was going after people he believed to be decedents of Cain from the bible right?” David Rossi asked.
She nodded her head and sighed, “yeah everyone told me it was a stretch to catch onto but when I noticed all the men were from the same online ancestry family tree I knew you guys needed to see it.”
“That was specifically interesting, the death of his own brother led him to seek revenge on the father of murder,” Spencer agreed.
“So what’s this new one you’ve brought us?” Derek asked.
“Oh, would you like to pitch it to us? We’re all here we can meet you in the briefing room before your shift starts upstairs?” JJ offered.
“Oh sure,” she smiled, finally it was her time to show off.
Soon enough, Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia and Jenifer Jareau were all staring at you in the briefing room.
“In Wichita Kansas, there have been a string of murders over the last 6 years that have all been incredibly, creepily similar,” she started explaining as she handed out the case files to everyone.
“Each victim is female, 16 to 24, they’ve all been strangled with rope while completely naked, signs of brutal sexual assault, binding and torture. They’ve all been found wrapped in shower curtains and placed in various public locations. Clearly a sign of remorse with how he keeps them covered but still a taunt that we can’t find him even now that he’s 6 victims deep.”
“Clarise Richardson, victim number 1 was raped, strangled with rope and left by an underpass. She was found in 1998, the M.E said she was dead 16 hours when they found her, COD was asphyxiation. Her family reports she was last seen at least 73 hours before she was found. So he kept her for a while. There were fibres under her nails of green carpet, either she was held at someone's house or in a van with carpet like they had in the 70s and 80s.”
“Were there any fingerprints or DNA on the bodies?” Prentiss asked.
“Yes, there was a sperm sample retrieved on victim number 5, Sharon Flynn. Most likely he wore a condom for the rest of his rapes and he wasn’t in the system already. Either he never ejaculated in earlier rapes before he grew to murder or his victims never came forward before 1998.”
“which is highly likely, we saw in the EARs case in California how hard it was to get the men and women who were raped to even come forward. There were 4 confirmed cases in the news before more came forward with similar stories. It’s seen as a shameful thing when in reality it’s just giving them more power if they believe they’ll never be caught.” Spencer explained.
“Yes, it’s very hard to come forward when it happens to you,” she agreed before quickly hanging subject. “I’ve been searching for any rapes in the area with similar MO, choking, BDSM, ropes, vans with green carpet, and I’ve found 3 women who claimed to be raped by a man at festivals the late 70’s who had an orange van with green carpet who bonded them up in a very intricate form of bondage that tightened every time they squirmed to entice them not to move. And from my research, that's the same pattern of rope as the rope burn on the 6 bodies we have.”
“All 6 of them are fairly similar it’s just their dumpsites that sets them apart. He didn’t have one strict area that he stuck to, he seems to have no problem travelling to them.” Emily said, flipping through the files.
“I’m thinking he has a job the requires him to still use his van. Like a travelling plumber, a phone or computer tech, home surveillance or maybe even he’s with Jehovah's witness or the Mormon church. It would explain him being able to get into these women’s houses and neighbourhoods long enough to pick someone, learn their schedule and grab them.” Y/N explained.
“Garcia, can you look into those businesses, as well as independent contractors, satellite companies, mailmen, and anyone else who might have been on the job by the victim's houses on the dates and times they were last seen,” Hotch asked.
“Absolutely, I’ll also run the DNA samples in my other databases.”
“I was about to ask you to do that, I think he might have children. There is a very large gap between the rapes and the jump to rape and murder, if you could run the saliva sample from victim 3 that's on her neck with any foster system or genealogy company to see if he has a son or uncle we can trace his sample to?”
“That's a great idea, I’ve never thought to do that,” Garcia smiled. “I like you, you’re a smart cookie!”
“Looks like we’re headed to Wichita,” Hotch said. “Do you think VICAP would be mad if we stole you for a few days? You have more connections with the Wichita police than we do, they might cooperate more If they know a friendly face.”
“Absolutely, let me grab my go-bag from upstairs!” Y/N jumped up, “I’ll be right back down!”
“Wheels up in 30,” Hotch said, And with that, she was out the door.
“Reid if you don’t marry her I will,” Penelope said softly.
“Okay.” He blushed.
She took a seat beside Reid on the jet, the two of them chatting amongst themselves for a while before they were called for the second briefing.
“So local PD think they have a recent victim from this weekend they want us to check out,” Penelope said over video chat. “she’s a little different than the others. Katie Newton, 27 was found bound to her bed, already having passed and was being assaulted when her husband came home. He screamed at the guy who was only wearing a ski mask and “tight-y white-y’s” as the husband described. He grabbed his bag and clothes with him but he left her tied up with the little time he had to knock the husband out of the way and run out.”
“Did he get any other identification marks on the unsub?” Y/N asked.
“He said he was pasty white, 5’8 and he didn’t talk. He didn’t scream, nothing, he just grabbed his things and ran. He does however remember he had a very large brown birthmark on his chest covering the right nipple down to his stomach.”
“Okay that’s good to know, why do they think it’s our guy?” Rossi asked.
“Blood found on the rope she was tied up with can match back to 13 different women. 6 of the murders that Y/N brought to us, 1 of the rapes she found and 5 other break-in and rapes of other women in the area.”
“Holy shit,” Y/N whispered to herself.
“Well done on finding this one Y/N, this one is going to be big.” Morgan complimented her with a smile.
“Thanks,” she smiled back, “I didn’t expect any of this when I connected the 6 of them originally. This is insane.”
“have you ever been in fieldwork like this?” Hotch asked.
“At the academy, I was combat trained, I have all my clearances and I’m a great shot. I’m good on my feet and I tested perfectly on hostage talk down.” She tried not to brag but this was almost as important as a job interview.
“Well damn,” Morgan nodded in approval. “We might just have to seal you full time.”
“I wouldn’t mind that at all!”
“Good,” hotch smiled, something he didn’t do often. “I’m going to send you and Reid to the M.E to see what else we can find out about these new break-in homicides. Prentiss and Rossi, I want you to travel to the last dumpsite and the latest crime scene to see what else could connect them. Morgan and JJ come with me to the station to set up communication with the local PD and media we don’t need them naming him like they did with BTK.”
“Garcia, would you also widen the search for anyone convicted of sexual misconduct, flashing, stalking, break-ins where underwear was stolen or and peeping toms? Go all the way back to the 70s. If any of them are now working for any businesses that have vans and require him to travel. This guy has to have a mistake somewhere that you will find.” Y/N asked one last time.
“Got it, genius girl, over and out.”
—-
The bureau had the funds for rooms for the main team, meaning Y/N had to double up with someone and she had to decide who once they landed and headed to the hotel.
“It wouldn’t be weird if we got a room with two queen beds right?” She asked Spencer, “it would give us a chance to catch up in our downtime like a sleepover we never had as kids.” She nervously rambled in the SUV as Reid drove.
“No I don’t mind, It would be fun if we get any sleep in this case. This one seems like it will be a bit of a brain rattler.” Reid agreed with a soft pressed-lipped smile.
They booked their rooms, dropped off their things and all headed their separate ways. The M.E’s office was close to the police station, the two of you in an SUV followed Hotch, JJ and Morgan in another down the road.
The bodies had all been cremated or buried shortly after being found, there wasn’t anything fresh enough to examine for them but they did have access to all the information on all the cases.
“I’ve been the medical examiner here for the last 30 years,” the nice old man said as he led them down the hall to the storage room. “These ones have all been some of the worst cases I’ve seen here. So much so that I keep them all in their own boxes just in case a day like today ever happens.”
“That is very helpful for us thank you so much!” She smiled at him as he held the storage door open.
“They’re all labelled by name and date. If you have any questions about tests or need me to run more with what we have left just give me a holler!” He said as he left the room.
Y/N sighed. “Why do I feel like this is going to take a million years?”
“I can read 20,000 words a minute, it will take me 3 hours to read everything in this room. Luckily we only need to read these few boxes.” Spencer pointed at the wall.
“Okay boy wonder, stop showing off,” she smiled, taking the Victim # 5 case box down first. “She was the first one I put into the system when I joined VICAP.”
“Is that why you sent this case to JJ?”
“Partly,” she sighed again. “There was the emotional attachment of this being my first case but there were just too many connections I knew you guys could bring justice to her family. She was so young.”
Spencer opened a box and she watched as his eyes darted across the pages as he flipped through them. She was mesmerized by how he could do that. But he was probably even smarter than god so it made sense.
“This is interesting. They found LSD in the system of the 3 rapes from back in the day which isn’t that uncommon for the time period or the places where they were abducted, but what’s strange is the amount. This is enough LSD to make someone go insane, no one in their right mind would willingly take this much LSD?” Spencer said.
“They were all found 2 days later dehydrated and alone in the middle of nowhere, there’s no way of knowing if more women didn’t have this happen and died where he left them.”
“He is probably in his 50’s now. How fit would he have to be to still be able to break into houses and rape and murder women?” Spencer asked.
“Well that might be just why he stopped dumping, he might have a bad back and can't lift the dead weight. He is more willing to get caught in someone's house so that he doesn’t have to do the dumping, he can just leave after. 5 of the 6 home invasions were with women who lived alone or husbands who worked night shifts. So they wouldn’t be home. He watched them long enough to know when he could successfully get away with this.” Y/N explained as she flipped through boxes.
“And the rope technique our last victim was found in is exactly the same as the rope burns as the others you’re correct,” Spencer complimented her. “He might have ex-girlfriends or even an ex-wife who he would have tried BDSM on and she didn’t like it, so now he feels like he has to do it this way. When we deliver the profile we should alarm the public about him to draw out any women who would have willingly tried something with our unsub.”
Y/N nodded as he spoke, agreeing with everything. “That could have even been the original stressor, all the women are pretty vanilla, I talked to the husbands over the phone and the original rape victims. They weren’t into trying anything like this in their free time. 2 of the rapes were also virgins. They all had good jobs and good grades, they were outstanding, low-risk members of the community. He might be getting revenge on the women who wouldn’t indulge in this fantasy.”
“He probably feels a lack of control in his personal life, maybe he even has a more dominating wife who he feels he can't stand up to so this is how he deals with it.” Spencer agreed.
“Let's go see Hotch, I think we should deliver the profile.”
—-
They walked into the police station, gliding through the doors like they owned the place. Emily and JJ watched as they walked over to hotch with the exact same energy. Both speaking with their hands and rambling about what they had found.
“So he’s a fit, early 50’s, white male. Married, probably with kids, works with or owns a van. He has a problem with authority in his own life, he feels like he is in a submissive role all day be it from a female boss who’s always on his ass or his wife. It’s possible he even has only daughters and no sons. He feels emasculated, surrounded by women, which is why he started taking these women originally to rape them with BDSM-like acts to finally have that control he lacks in his everyday life.” Y/N explained. “He wouldn’t be very handsome, he would have issues speaking with most women, he keeps to himself, he might have even failed out of jobs involving the police or security, he wants to be in a place of power but he has none of the social skills to accomplish what he wants. I would even look into local army cadets or boy scouts he could be a very old member or the father of someone in one of those groups. His affinity for binding them up and the types of ropes he used are very common BDSM ropes but the knots are reminiscent of ones my brothers would do in at Navy cadets.”
“You got all that from the M.E?” Derek said, shocked at how good she was at this.
“I’ve been staring at his work for 2 years, every time a case from this town came in I checked into it to tie it to this guy. I don’t know what it is but this one gets to me, like BTK or Ed Kemper, these men have specific vendettas against women, they need to dominate women because they have a strong mother or wife in their presence. I know the type of man he is and I want to see him rot in prison.”
Spencer walked over to another table, spreading out a map and beginning to look at the geographical profile. Making down the 3 rapes and their dumpsites, the 6 abducted women and their dumpsites as well as the 6 home invasion homicides. Narrowing down on the geographical profile to find his comfort zone.
Y/N stood beside him watching him draw perfect circles over the map, placing a dot right in the middle. “He either lives or works in this area. Everything is within 35 miles of this area.”
Hotch took out his phone and called Garcia, placing the phone on the table with the speaker on. “Hello my lovelies, what can I do for you?”
“Have you narrowed anything down?” Y/N asked.
“Yes, I have 117 orange vans originally bought in the late ’70s that are still registered to men in this area all between the ages of 45 and 60. 63 of them work in home security, 13 of those have a son in boy scouts and 4 of those have prior peeping tom allegations.” She explained.
“Any of the 4 look interesting?” Hotch asked.
“We have Travis Johnson, 55 he works for Acorn Security, he was doing service in each town that a murder took place the same week they went missing. He is married and has been since 1980 right when he stopped raping and his 5th and last daughter was born the same week that Clarice Richardson was murdered in 1998. They took in a foster child to give him a boy 3 years ago who is in boy scouts, and has all his badges in you guessed it, knot tying.”
“Do we have his home and work address?” Morgan asked.
“Yes of course I do chocolate thunder, they’ve been sent to you already. I’ve also sent a list of his appointments for today, he might be on the hunt.”
“Thanks, baby girl,” Morgan smiled at the phone.
“It's what they pay me the big bucks for.”
She hung up and hotch immediately started handing out bullet-proof vests. “Time to catch him.”
Spencer rested a hand on your back as he passed you, smiling as if to say 'good job'.
Y/n grabbed her vest and her go-bag and quickly changed into something more suited for chasing after a runner. It almost always came to that in her experience. She came back out in jeans and a white long sleeve shirt tucked in, her vest on and her hair up. She placed her earpiece in and straightened out her gun. Making sure the clip was full and adding an extra one to her vest.
“Ready?” She asked Spencer as he tightened his vest.
“Let’s do this.”
They split up, Prentiss Rossi and JJ went to his house while Reid, Morgan, Hotch and Y/L/N took a squad of local cops to where the unsub was supposedly doing his house calls.
They slowly drove through the neighbourhoods, lights off just paroling up and down the streets. They saw an orange van parked on the side of the street, they watched as the unsub got out of the driver's seat, grabbing a bag and walking up to a woman’s house. Slowly they all got out of the SUV, Morgan and Hotch taking the back while Reid and Y/L/N took the front door. They waited for confirmation that he wasn’t alone in this home, before going in.
They could hear a woman talking and then there was a scream, “I’m going in,” Y/L/N said, Kicking the door down before Reid took the lead, Y/N following behind him.
“Travis Johnson? FBI!” Spencer yelled.
The two of them cleared the main room, working their way to the hallway, Reid let her take the lead to the bedroom where they heard the struggle.
“Travis put down the rope and let her go,” Y/N said slowly as he walked into the room, gun pointed.
“And why should I?” He panicked, holding the woman against his chest, she was crying gripping onto the rope he was holding tightly around her throat.
“I’m a huge fan of your work!” Y/N said. “I work for VICAP, I’m the one who had to put each and every single one of your victims in the system. I know exactly how much you’re into control and BDSM, it’s honestly surprising that you have to force these women into it, why are women so against letting a big strong man control them anymore?” She said softly as she lowered the gun and her voice.
“You know, I’ve always thought BDSM was super sexy, I’d love to be tied up and taken control of, if you put down the rope how would you like to have a willing participant one day?” She teased him, getting closer and closer, she could see he was rock hard. He loosened the rope and pushed her to the side, stepping forward towards Y/N who quickly flipped him to the floor and cuffed him.
“Travis Johnson you are under arrest for the rape and murder of over 12 women. You have the right to remain silent, everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can't afford one will be appointed for you. If you chose to share anything without a lawyer present you have the right to stop at any time. Is that clear?”
She single handily lifted him to his feet and dragged him out of the room as the men in the hall just watched with awe.
“You’re a little bitch you know that?” The unsub said as he struggled in her grasp.
She slammed him against the hallway wall, pressing right up against his back, whispering in his ear “oh so now you have a big mouth huh, finally feel like you can talk to a woman who isn’t tied down? I’m in control here, you’re my little bitch you hear me? Only good boys get to speak to me.” She said as she pulled him back off the wall and handed him off to local PD. “Have fun being a little bitch in prison Travis.”
She stood there with her arms crossed catching her breath as the adrenalin shook through her body.
“Well done Y/L/N,” Hotch and Morgan put their fists out to give her props.
“How would you like to join the team for good?” Hotch asked? “we’ve been looking for an extra hand.”
“Absolutely!”
They were going to spend the night in Wichita, all agreeing to spend the night getting drinks at the local bar suggested by the PD. Piling into the SUV all together with Spencer offering to DD.
“How much time have you put into Travis?” Prentiss asked in the back seat beside Y/N.
“Sharon Flynn was the first case I ever put into my system 2 years ago. Her case looked so gruesome and evil it never left my mind. So then when Alice Webster, number 6 came in I did some more digging and found the 4 before Sharon and the 3 rapes, I knew it was cold for a while but something about him always stuck with me. And for some reason last week when I emailed the info to JJ out of the blue I had a gut feeling he was at it again.” Y/N explained.
“It’s a special talent to just feel when something is wrong.” JJ smiled back at them.
“I’ve always been, not fascinated, by serial killers but more interested in the chase of justice.” She explained, “if that makes sense. I love puzzles and finding answers and at least this way the end result is families finding peace.”
They pulled into the parking lot, all of them finding their way into the bar before the ladies went to the bathroom to freshen up.
“So Y/N,” Prentiss said, taking her phone out and calling Penelope. “The ladies of the BAU are very close, so welcome to our little group.”
“exactly.” Penelope said over the phone, “welcome to the group you’re going to fit right in!” She cheered.
“Thank you, VICAP was not a tight-knit group like y’all are. I’m extremely excited to get to know you all more.” Y/N smiled as she straightened her shirt out in the mirror.
“So you and Spencer?” JJ asked.
“We were in the same kindergarten class,” Y/N said with a small smile. “I thought he was going to be my best friend and then he took some test and was bumped into 4th grade. By the time I was in high school he had already finished his second Ph.D.”
“So you never kept up with each other?” Prentiss asked.
She shook her head. “I knew of him, my mom is the Activities Organizer at the home his mom is at, he used to go to the park across from my house, he now lives across the hall from me and works with me. I think we were always supposed to be friends but it wasn’t the right time till now.”
“Sounds like you have a crush,” Penelope teased through the phone.
“I do.” She smiled to herself. “I think I always have.”
“If pretty boy was here he’d say that there is a statistical likelihood that because you’ve been interested in him for longer than 3 years you’re most likely in love with him and you'll never not be.” Prentiss explained, “I heard him say that to Hotch once.”
She nodded along, “I guess I just need to get him to fall in love with me now.”
“It won't be that difficult.” JJ placed her hand on Y/N’s back and they all made their way out of the bathroom smiling.
The men were all sitting together at a table with everybody’s drinks already waiting.
“We didn’t know what you liked,” Spencer said as Y/N sat beside him. “So I said I’d go get whatever you want.”
“Or we can go up to the bar together.” She smiled.
The two of them got up and walked to the bar, the rest of the team watched them.
She leaned against the bar, ordering her drinks and pressing in close to Spencer. “It’s been so nice getting to spend time with you.” He said softly.
She was handed her drinks before she could even respond. Taking her tequila shot there and bringing her margarita back to the table as Spencer followed swiftly behind her.
They all drank and exchanged case stories from within and beyond the BAU, Spencer was able to add a lot of input but he was always cut off. Y/N leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “you can tell me all your facts later I really want to hear them.” She smiled so softly Spencer felt his heart about to burst in his chest.
Emily left the group to go flirt with the bartender, JJ was on FaceTime in the SUV with Will, Rossi had disappeared with a local woman and Hotch and Morgan were exchanging childhood stories over a beer in the corner.
The bar was playing old, slow music, almost everyone had filtered out but there were still older local couples hanging out and dancing in the middle of the room.
“Do you dance?” Y/N asked Spencer.
“I can try.”
She took his hand and led him to the floor. Drunk on the alcohol and his touch as she slipped his hands around to her back, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned her head on his chest. She felt his cheek rest on the top of her head as the two of them just swayed in a circle together.
“Do you have any other memories of me?” Y/N asked him softly.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “You lived across the street from the park, and your mom works at the nursing home. You have 2 younger brothers who have always looked older than you. They would come and go when I was sitting on the lone swing and I’d always see you in the window reading. I knew you were my age but it still never felt right for me to talk to you when I was in university.”
“I watched you every time you were on the swings, you looked so peaceful. You read at least a book a day every time you were out there and it became so special to me seeing you there every weekend.” She explained.
“The world works in mysterious ways.” He explained.
She held him as close as she could. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect her day to go like this. She expected coffee and a weird goodbye in the elevator and staring at a computer screen all day. Somehow she ended up in Spencer's arms in a different state after having caught the serial killer that's haunted her dreams for years.
He rubbed his thumb lightly over her back, “do you want to go back to the hotel? We have an early flight.” He whispered.
“Yeah,” she smiled pulling back but reaching down to hold his hand as they walked over to Hotch and Morgan.
They drove home quietly, everyone in the back was happily drunk and tired. They parked and wandered up to their rooms, saying goodbye at their doors and disappearing into their rooms.
Spencer let her take the bathroom first, changing into her PJ’s and then he did the same. She laid in her bed, facing his as he sat up and read.
“Can I come lie beside you?” She asked, knowing exactly how needy she sounded.
He nodded, pulling the sheet back so she could slip right in. She laid on her side and just looked up at him. Absolutely astounded that she was with him.
“Can I ask you a personal question?” Spencer asked, putting his book down and sliding down the bed to be on her level.
“Yeah?” She said nervously.
“Today you said it’s hard for people to come forward after they are assaulted, it sounded like personal experience and I wanted you to know if you need anyone, I’m always available for you.” He explained.
“Oh,” her face dropped. “I was 12, he was 15. You were in high school at the same time as him. I don’t know if you’d remember him, his name was Christopher.”
Spencer nodded along as she spoke. “When my mom finally went back to work she didn’t trust me watching my brothers alone so her friend offered to babysit us during the days. Her foster son took advantage of me the whole summer and when my parents finally found out he went into Sophomore year and told everyone that the nerdy girl who looks like bugs bunny was obsessed with him, that I stalked him and that anything I said about him wasn’t real.”
“I’m so sorry.” He rubbed his hand over her shoulder to soothe her.
“It’s okay, they used to call me bugs bunny because of my overbite. I used to rest my front teeth on my front lip and they would throw carrots at me,” she explained further.
“It all makes sense now,” he said softly.
“What does?”
“When I was 13 the seniors had a cheerleader invite me onto the football field and convinced me to strip down to my underwear, she was about to kiss me when all the football guys ran out and beat me up, they tied me to the goal post and the one said ‘we should really hook you up with bugs bunny, you losers would be perfect together.’ And they left me there all night long.”
“Oh Spencer I am so sorry,” she cuddled in close to him, placing her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I think we went through our traumas separately all these years because something bigger than us knew we’d need each other one day.”
“When we get back to Virginia, would you like to go on a date with me?” Spencer asked.
“I would want nothing more.” She hugged him a bit tighter.
They stayed like that for a while until Spencer felt Y/N slip into the night's slumber. He quietly reached for the lamp, turning it off and readjusting himself under Y/N’s grasp.
He fell asleep not so long after. Both sleeping soundly for the first time in a long time.
Chapter 2
They had 3 back to back cases once they arrived back at Quantico. They travelled from DC to California to North Carolina within 2 weeks of Y/N working with the BAU.
Meaning she had not yet gone on that date Spencer asked her out on.
“If we get another call as soon as I reach that elevator I am leaving and not coming back. I am exhausted,” Emily said as she packed her bag and all but sprinted for the door.
“I hope my car still runs, it’s been parked here for so long now,” Y/N added and she walked towards the door. “You coming Spence?”
“Yeah, I’ll meet you at the car,” he said with a smile as he waved her off.
Emily and Y/N waited for the elevator, Penelope and JJ quickly followed behind them with their bags in their hands. Penelope’s heels clicked as fast as they could against the floor as she tried to catch up.
“Girls night?” JJ asked, “Will said Henry is asleep and he’s about to go to bed too, so I’m free for a bit?”
“I have to go home, I’ve barely moved into my new apartment, I still have to unpack,” Y/N explained.
“How about we come have some wine and help you?” Emily offered.
“If I’m being honest, I kinda want some alone time with Spencer.” She blushed bright red.
“Oooooo,” Penelope and JJ teased.
“It’s about time someone gave Spencer the attention he deserves,” Emily laughed.
“Believe me he’s going to get too much attention now that I live across the hall from him, work with him and carpool with him,” she giggled right back. “Has he never had a girlfriend before?”
“Not that we know of,” JJ said, “he’s very quiet.”
“Have you?” Penelope asked, “dated before that is?”
“oh no, I’ve never dated anyone before, I haven’t even kissed anyone in years,” she said feeling bashful and embarrassed.
“I think that's what Spencer needs though,” Emily added, “He needs someone on the same level as him all ‘round, you two match in every sense it’s almost perfect.”
“He’s probably the only man who doesn’t make me feel scared like I want my first real love to be with someone I feel safe with, I don’t think I could do anything with like, Morgan or Hotch or any men like them. They’re nice, yeah but the aggressive authority side isn’t something I’m comfortable around outside of work.” She explained.
“Yeah, Spencer is a sweetheart. I think that’s why I didn’t end up with him honestly.” JJ said softly, “Gideon tried to hook us up years ago cause we were the youngest on the team, but I do crave that authority outside of work.”
“It’s probably because you’re in power here. You handle the media, you wear the pants and you get shit done,” Y/N said, “you want to go home and be taken care of by a man who knows how to run a household.”
“Exactly!” JJ laughed.
“I want to be taken care of, yes, but I rather be the caretaker at home. I just want someone who will do their own thing with me in the same room, to kiss me before we go to bed and make sure I know they love me.” Y/N said softly, only picturing a life with Spencer as she said it.
The elevator never moved the whole time they were in there, it dinged and opened to Spencer and Morgan waiting. “You guys are that tired you didn’t even make it to your cars?” Morgan teased.
“didn’t even push the button actually,” Y/N chimed in.
“We were having girl time,” Penelope smiled.
“well let’s go home finally,” Morgan and Spencer walked in, pressing the button to the garage and riding down in silence.
Spencer waited for Y/N to exit the elevator last before walking with her to her car. She unlocked it and got in, watching and waving as her new friends pulled out of the garage.
“Ready?” She asked, pulling out as soon as she saw Spencer nod his head with his cute little pressed-lip smile.
They drove home in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet for the first time in weeks. The drive was quick, 30 minutes in the cold, dark, Virginia wilderness.
She parked in their parking lot, yawning as she turned the car off. She grabbed her purse from the back seat and made her way inside with Spencer.
“You going to sleep?” She asked him when they reached her door.
“Probably not, my brain is still too caught up in the cases,” he said honestly.
“Would you like to come in for some tea? To calm down before bed?” She offered as she unlocked her door.
She stepped inside, unlocking the alarm with the 4 digit code. Spencer tried his best not to listen but he failed, he’ll remember the sound of the code forever now.
She flicked on the light and looked around at the mess she left in her living room. “God I forgot it’s a mess in here,” she groaned.
Spencer followed her inside, following her lead and dropping his bag on the floor. He watched as Y/N walked around the house with her hand on her gun, clearing each room to make sure it was still safe.
“Sorry, I live alone, I don’t take any chances,” she said as she came back into the room.
She unlocked her safe and placed her work gun inside, closing it and spinning the lock right after. She let out a deep sigh, stretching her arms out over her head. “It’s so nice to be back in this mess.”
“I can help you unpack this weekend?” Spencer offers.
“If you want to that would be nice, I’ll order us some take out too.”
She picked up the boxes on her couch and moved them to the floor, she cleared off her coffee table and took the lamps out of the box in the corner. She plugged them into the wall and set them on the end tables. Luckily her furniture was in place all she had to do was put out all her little trinkets, books and photos.
Spencer took a seat on her couch, opening a box with mugs and cups, taking them all out of their bubble wrapping and setting them on the coffee table.
Y/N managed to find her kettle, as well as the box of random food she brought from her old cupboard. She set out a variety of teas and digestive biscuits.
Spencer slowly brought the mugs over, placing them in the cupboard of Y/N’s choosing, making sure he left 2 mugs out for them.
“Can I have a green tea?” Spencer asked softly.
“Of course, is it your favourite?”
“No,” he shook his head. “I would like some caffeine but I’m not interested in having a coffee, so this is a good middle ground.”
“I’m not a fan of most hot drinks, that's why I drink ice coffee in the mornings,” Y/N poured the hot water into both cups, leaving room for milk in both mugs just in case. “But, Orange Pekoe is my favourite.”
She placed a tea bag in each mug and handed Spencers to him.
She watched him add a little sugar to his mug before picking it up and returning to the sofa. She followed him shortly after adding milk and sugar to her own, as well as a plate of cookies.
She sighed as she settled in to the couch. “Going to try my hardest to manifest a full weekend off, with no cases, if my spirit guides loved me they will listen.” She jokes.
“You’re spiritual?” He asks.
“A little?” She shrugs, “I’m very into natural medicine, lunar cycles, manifesting and affirmations. Basically what would be considered a witch back in the day.”
“Do you enjoy it?”
“Yeah,” she smiled. “I had a pretty invasive surgery when I was 17, and because of the body trauma, I developed fibromyalgia. And there really aren’t any answers or explanations for it so I had to turn to something to bring me peace and pain relief.”
“I’m sorry you have to go through that.”
“It’s okay, eating right, taking my supplements, sleeping and exercise help. Basically, if I take care of myself my body will thank me,” she huffed out a small laugh. “It’s annoying waking up in pain randomly for no reason. I rather wake up sore from taking down an unsub, at least then, the pain is more like a reward, you know?”
Spencer nodded along and smiled softly, “I’m glad you found something that helps you.”
“How about you? I’m guessing you’re a science-only man?”
He laughed, “yes.”
“So do you believe in soulmates?” She asked on a whim.
“In the scientific sense of the word yes. I believe when the big bang happened, all the atoms, electrons and particles that split to make the universe as we know it, still exist in us today. Who’s to say that they don’t pull back to each other, causing a cosmic connection,” Spencer explained softly, his voice low as he explained himself.
Y/N set her drink down, moving in closer to him on the couch. “And how do you know when you’ve met your other half?” She asked. Her voice was just as low.
Spencer set his mug down as well, he placed his warm hand on her cheek, “I think everything would just make sense with them. They’d orbit each other's lives for so long, observing and acknowledging one another and finally one day they’ll connect.”
He leaned in and pressed his perfectly soft lips against hers. She reached her hand around the back of his neck and held him into the kiss. Breathing in deeply through her nose, trying to keep the moment forever.
She pulled back, her breathing was deep as she opened her eyes to look into his. “If you weren’t just explaining the big bang to me, I’d think that was it.”
He laughed at her joke, making both of their hearts soar. She pressed him back against the sofa, adjusting themselves so that she was lying partially on top of him as they cuddled in her crowded living room.
They could hear the sound of the world going on around them. The subtle hum of the subway below them. The distant car horns, someone upstairs was walking around in their apartment.
They were completely quiet then, just cuddled up in their own world without any distractions. The two of them let their hands wander each other as they laid there.
Y/N slowly sat up, peeling herself out of Spencer's grip. “Do you want to spend the night here?”
“I’m just going to run across the hall and get ready for bed, I can lock up when I come back?” He said softly.
“Okay, the button with the person inside the house is the one you hold down on the alarm system after you lock both locks,” she explained before standing up and walking into her bedroom.
She changed into a pair of shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top. She brushed her teeth and hair, throwing it up in a little bun. She took out her contacts, replacing them with her glasses. She washed her face, watered her plants and sat down in her bed finally.
She had her hand on her night side drawer, where she keeps her other gun, just in case the person coming into her house wasn’t Spencer. But then she heard the alarm system arm, both locks clicked, the sound of dishes being placed in the sink and finally the sound of a lamp being clicked off.
Spencer slipper clad feet against the hardwood floor is all she heard as he walked into her room. He took the right side of the bed, wearing his PJ bottoms and a regular t-shirt. It was really the first time she was him so dressed down.
She settled down into the bed, she put her glasses on her side table, plugged in her phones and turned out the light. Spencer spooned into her, cuddling in tight and holding her against his chest.
“Goodnight, Spencer.” She whispered.
“Goodnight, Y/N.”
She didn’t fall asleep right away. She basked in the glory that was Spencer Reid’s warm embrace. The feeling of his breath against her neck and his hand on her stomach.
“I love you.” Was the last thing she thinks she heard before she finally fell asleep.
She woke up to her phone ringing. She reached over to the nightstand and clicked talk. “SSA Y/L/N,” she said.
“Hey, it’s Penelope.”
“What’s up?”
“Not a case don’t worry, I was just wondering if I could stop by with some iced coffee and breakfast sandwiches to help you unpack?” She asked way too cheerfully for whatever time it was.
“Uh yeah just give us a chance to wake up, can you come by in 30?” She said as she rubbed her eyes, waking up.
“Us?”
“Uh, yeah, Spencer came in for tea and slept on the couch,” she lied.
“No I didn’t,” he groggily chimed in from where he was cuddled into the crook of Y/N’s neck.
“Right okay, so I’ll bring Spencer some breakfast too then,” she said before hanging up.
Y/N placed the phone back on her night table, settling back into Spencer’s embrace.
“Why’d you lie?” He asked.
“Didn’t know if I had your consent to tell her about us yet,” she whispered into his hair as she placed kisses on his head.
“Morgan told me if I didn’t kiss you last night, he’d make me do another round of physical evaluations,” he smiled against her skin. “He wanted to win the bet everyone set to see who would kiss who first.”
“So you just helped the guys win?”
“Prentiss, Morgan and Hotch were betting for me to kiss you first,” he admitted.
“Well, that means Rossi, Garcia and JJ think I’m the one wearing the pants here. Good to know,” she giggled.
“You can wear the pants,” he said as he shifted his weight to look up at her, “as long as I get to take them off later.”
“Well, Dr. Reid, I never thought you’d have it in you,” she was pleasantly surprised.
“When I get comfortable around someone I’m a lot different than I am at work,” he explained, “I heard what you said about needing someone to take care of who still wants to take care of you.”
She blushed, “of course you did.”
He leaned down to kiss her jaw and down her neck. “I think we can work something out,” he whispered.
Her breathing hitched. She couldn’t believe the complete 180º his personality just took, and she wasn’t complaining. All the moisture left her mouth as she just nodded her head in agreement.
“We should get up before she gets here,” he said, kissing her one last time before crawling out of bed.
She laid there staring up at the ceiling, shocked, flabbergasted, enamoured, basically every single word that essentially meant ‘what the fuck just happened.'
She got up, turned off the alarm and waited to use the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and replaced her tank top with a sweater. Spencer slipped across the hall to change into jeans and a button-down shirt, almost like he couldn’t be in anything else around his friends.
Penelope was a hugger, she made sure to give Y/N a good squeeze as she walked into her apartment. “It’s literally the same as Reid’s just backwards,” was the first thing she said.
“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been over there yet,” Y/N smiled, taking the coffees out of Penelope’s hands and setting them on the counter.
“JJ and Emily said they’d love to come help later too if you want them to, but it doesn’t look too bad for just the 3 of us,” she said looking around.
“Everything is labelled, my room is all done so you don’t need to worry about it, set up however you see fit, honestly, I’m at a bit of a loss figuring out how to make this place feel more like me with what I have.”
“Alright, well,” she started, looking for the box with the cleaning supplies. “First we clean the kitchen then we put everything where it has to go.”
So that's what they did, they spent a few hours wiping down every surface in the house, disinfecting the floors, the walls, door handles, nobs, everything. Then Penelope got out all her pots and pans, hanging them on the rack above the kitchen island.
Spencer took all the plates out, stacking them neatly in the cabinet. Y/N stacked her cups and glasses, placing them on the shelf with the glass door. They organized her utensils, baking equipment, cookbooks and aprons, asking all about how much she baked.
She offered to make cookies for the team soon, that was a Sunday night with Spencer activity for sure.
In the living space, there weren’t many things. Spencer unpacked the books and placed them on her shelves in library-coded order. While Penelope and Y/N unboxed all her albums and records, cheering and singing along to their favourites.
Y/N had never quite had friends like this before, people who just fit into her life so easily. This was really the best family in the FBI, they knew how to make someone feel completely and wholly loved.
“I need to get some art and stuff,” Y/N said staring at the one empty wall.
“What are you going to do on the fireplace mantle?” Spencer asked, noticing it was still empty.
“Probably some of my spiritual stuff, like my crystals and candles and incense,” she smiled.
“oh, I do that too!” Another thing they had in common.
The day blew past them. They finished unpacking and breaking down all the boxes by 2 pm, finally sitting down altogether, exhausted. Ready to order a few pizzas and chill for the rest of the afternoon.
“I really appreciate the help today,” she said as she hugged Penelope. Penelope’s hugs were more comforting than her own mother’s, she thought. Holding her tightly and taking it all in. “I’m so blessed I ran into Spencer and now I get to be your friend.”
“I will cry,” she joked as she hugged y/n tighter. “I’m very blessed to have met you as well.”
She hugged Spencer on her way out as well, forcing herself to leave or else she would have stayed and talked for hours.
As soon as Spencer closed the door behind her, he set the alarm the way Y/N liked it. She smiled at him, seeing him remember how she likes to feel completely safe.
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in. “Would you like to make out with me on my bed?”
“Like horny teenagers?” He giggled, dropping his forehead to rest on hers.
“We never really got the horny teenage experience,” she said softly.
“Are you-?” He cut himself off before he could say the word.
She looked up at him, her eyes big and innocent, she nodded. “technically.”
“Technically?” He repeated softly.
“I don’t want to count my sexual assault as my first,” she whispered. “I’ve never let anyone touch me since.”
His arms wrapped tighter around her, pulling her in closer to be right against his chest. He kissed her cheeks, her chin, forehead, nose, and finally her lips. “I’m going to try my best to never hurt you.”
She kissed him deeper, her hand on the back of his neck, never wanting to part from him. But when she did, she whispered, out of breath. “Promise to only hurt me if I ask you to?”
He saw the way his breath hitched and the way his grip changed. His face went red as he nodded feverishly.
“Are you a virgin Dr. Reid?” She teased.
“No,” he whispered. “I uh had sex in college, just to get it out of the way.”
She broke out of his grasp, taking his hand and pulling him into her bedroom. She closed the door behind them flicking on her fairy lights and lighting a couple of candles. He sat patiently on her bed as he watched her nervously organize things that had no reason to be organized in that moment.
But he let her calm down until she was fully ready, or she changed her mind. Either way, he was going to hang out with her all night long, however she wanted him.
“Close your eyes,” she asked softly. “Lay back against the bed and don’t look at me yet.” She ordered him and he listened.
He pressed his eyes closed and scooted up the bed till his head was on a pillow, laying back with his hands over his eyes. He listened closely to the sound of her taking her clothes off. She tried to steady her breath as she pulled off her sweater and sports bra and replace it with something cute.
She put on her only pair of matching underwear, ones she got on sale at some department store that she only wore for herself so far. She crawled up the bed, sitting directly on Spencer's hips.
She took his hands off his eyes, noticing they were still closed, she smiled. She placed his hands on her bare hips. “Open them.”
He opened his eyes to the most stunning image he’s ever seen in his life. Blinking a few times as his mind burned the image into the back of his eyelids for the rest of time. “Fuck,” he whispered.
She smiled to herself, “thought you’d like it.”
She leaned down, arching her back and kissed his neck. His hands travelled from her thighs to her perched ass as she kissed up his jaw to his ear. He was nothing but breathy moans and thank you’s as she explored him.
She ground herself down on his growing erection, smirking against his skin. She sat back on his hips, wiggling as she undid each of his shirt buttons, way too slow.
She took her time, pulling the front of his shirt out of his jeans and finally spreading the shirt open. Her hands ran over his chest before she used her nails to scrape her way down to his jean buttons.
He reached for her hands then. Stopping her and looking up into her eyes. “Before we start, I need to know what will trigger you,” he said softly.
“Oh,” her face dropped a little, she was a little overwhelmed with the fact he was asking, but she knew he truly cared. “I can’t do blowjobs yet, I will probably have a panic attack.”
“I can live without them,” he smirked, “look at everything else you do, fuck you’re amazing.” His hands roamed her skin the whole time.
She tucked her ankles under his knees and in one swift moment flipped them from laying on his side of the bed to the middle. He was on top of her now, absolutely amazed that she could do that.
“Told you I was combat trained,” she giggled.
Spencer sat up on the bed, ripping his shirt off and pushing himself out of both his jeans and underwear at the same time. Her mouth couldn’t help but fall open and the sight of his perfect cock bouncing free.
He sat back, trying to tug his jeans off of his ankles when he fell back and landed on the hardwood floor, “Spencer!” She couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from her.
He huffed, clearly embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she quickly bit her lip to try and stop laughing.
“When you said horny teenager phase I didn’t think you meant the awkward part too,” he smiled, standing completely naked in front of her.
“Get back here,” she giggled.
He got right back on top of her, between her legs that she wrapped immediately around him. Locking him in place. “How would you like it?” He asked.
“Well hypothetically,” she began with a smirk, “I think I would like to ride you, sitting up, tits in your face, the whole shebang.”
He forgot how to breathe, the most beautiful girl in the world just laid out how she wants to be fucked like it was a science experiment.
He was in love with her.
She flipped him again, “you have to stop doing that!” He gasped.
She laughed as she sat up, getting off him enough so he could sit up against the headboard. She shimmied out of her underwear before sitting down on him again, their most intimate parts just resting close to one another. She shivered at the feel of his hot skin against hers. She’d never been this close to another human before.
“Do you have a condom?” He asked, suddenly shy.
“If you want one yeah but I have an IUD in case I get,” she stopped herself, “you know, in the field.”
“Yeah that's smart,” he was so nervous.
She leaned in and kissed him. Holding his cheeks in her hands as his hands reached behind her back to undo her bra. She opened her mouth to let him explore with his tongue as she felt the straps of her bra slip down her shoulders.
She let go of his face one hand at a time and peeled the bra from her skin. Flinging it across the room without looking and pressing her breasts against his chest.
She gets on her knees without breaking the kiss, reaching between them she grips the base of his cock. His breath hitches in his throat and she can feel his pulse in his shaft.
She drags the head through her folds, she breaks the kiss to breathe in his ear, “you know, you’re just a bit bigger than what I'm used to.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
She lines him up with her and slowly pushes down on him, pulling up and back down again, each time getting his cock a little wetter on her juices so he can slip in easier. “I think it was called the emerald stud, he’s in a box over there,” she whispers in his ear as she bottoms out.
She sits back, her arms around his shoulders, she rocks on his cock. His eyes slip shut as he dips his head back against her crossed wrists. “Fuck,” he breathes.
She shifts again, bouncing more on him when she’s used to his size. His hands are on her ass again, helping her bounce as he moved to kiss her neck and collarbones.
He’s all noises, hot breath against her chest and sloppy kisses. She reaches between them to rub her clit before he pushes her hand out of the way to rub her himself. Feeling how swollen she is, he squeezes her clit lightly.
She moans out a high pitches squeak that she had no idea she could make, covering her mouth as she bounced a little harder on his cock. “Fuck Spencer,” she whispered into his hair.
He kissed her ear again, “you want me to cum in you?” He asks.
“God yeah, fill me up,” she replies without thinking, tossing her head back and grinding down ever so provocatively on him.
She presses her front against him more, causing the friction from his index finger on her clit to get more intense as she bucks her hips faster and faster against him.
He’s gone. Absolutely destroyed. He cants even worn her that he’s about to cum he just tips his head back and fucks up into her, gripping her ass so tight that he knows she’s going to have 5 deep, finger-shaped, purple bruises around each ass cheek.
Her orgasm rips through her, losing balance with her shaking thighs she gasps for air, falling into him with her face in the crook of his neck. She is breathing so hard as she comes down, she drools on his neck a little.
He pulls his hand out from between them, flicking her clit on last time. Sending a tremor through her body. She twitches against him, tensing up and tightening around the cock still inside her.
He moans once more, and she feels the tiniest trickle of cum slip out of her as he lifts her off him.
They don’t talk. They just hold onto one another, breathing and rubbing their hands over each other's skin.
“Wow,” Spencer finally says.
“Yeah,” she agrees.
“Hypothetically,” he says with a smile, “I think the outcome we reached was the intended goal?” Only Spencer Reid would make a joke like that after sex.
She laughed and kissed his neck, “very successful, I would be willing to switch techniques next time to see if we can repeat this outcome.”
“Sounds like a date.”
chapter 3
They worked together perfectly. Every morning he’d head across the hall to his own apartment to get ready, coming back to a slice of toast and coffee in his travel mug ready to go.
She looked gorgeous every morning. She put time and effort into what she wore to work, just to chase psychopaths all day. He was in love with her, its the only thing he knew for sure when he looked at her. He was never going to recover from falling for her.
He’d hold all her things while she sets the alarm and locks the door. She would drive them to work each morning and even then he’d carry all her things up to the office.
Everyone noticed how Spencer changed around Y/N, he was always smiling, he was basically glowing from being in love, and having sex. Derek teased him constantly, but in all honesty, he was really proud of his little bro.
They had a slow day, which meant all the ladies filed into Penny’s office to shoot the shit when they were really supposed to be writing reports.
“So?” Penelope looked at Y/N with an arched eyebrow. “How is he?”
She shook her head and giggled to herself. “Really good.”
“Really?” Emily pried?
“He has this other personality that comes out when we, you know,” she was afraid to say fuck inside the walls of Penelope’s office. “I’m addicted, I was so afraid to have sex and now I’m like having an internal battle of is it really worth getting caught in the filing room for a quicky!”
They all burst into laughter, sharing stories of all the times each of them has fucked at work, “you won't get caught if you let us help you?” JJ said with a smirk.
“You’re kidding?” Y/N tilted her head, not believing her.
“I can ask Morgan and the team to lunch while you stay here, text Spencer saying to stay back to get work done but he can meet you in here.” Penelope planned the whole thing.
“No,” Y/N shook her head. “I don’t think I’m comfortable enough for that yet.” She was being completely honest.
“We need a code word for when you choose to use this plan,” Emily said. “Like you group text us the word ‘switch’ and we will keep everyone busy for you and Spence.”
“Why do you want me to fuck him here so bad?”
They all laughed, “because we’re not used to Spence getting this kind of love!” JJ said. “Emily and Penelope covered for me literally when me and Will made Henry.”
“having a hand in making my godson gave me a god complex,” Penelope joked.
They got along fabulously, laughing and working all afternoon before the boys came to get them.
“We got something.”
Y/N walked out first joining Spencer in the hall with a smile, standing close enough to him as they walked that their knuckles rubbed together. She sat beside him in the briefing room, opening the case file in front of her and flipping through the info.
“Wow,” she whispered to herself. “I know a few of the 13 women, I put them in the missing system.”
Spencer rubs his hand over her back softly, looking at the pages she’s flipping through.
Garcia wasn’t cheery anymore, she grabbed the remote for the tv and started her rundown.
“Over the last 6 days, police in Winnemucca Nevada have dug up 13 bodies of women who have gone missing in the last 10 years. He seems to kill sporadically without patterns. M.E has confirmed all 13 women, and de-comp shows they were all killed within 24 hours of going missing.”
“Cause?” Prentiss asked.
“All 13 were strangled with plastic shopping bags, that were left wrapped around their faces in the graves. They were all sexually assaulted antemortem, but not all of them died from asphyxiation. He also stabbed 9 of the 13 victims, 5 of which died from massive blood loss. But the real kicker was that all 13 of them had their wombs removed.” Penelope finished.
“Do we know if any of them were pregnant?” Y/N asked.
“Yes,” she said flipping through slides, “victim number 13, Traci Purcell was 17 and according to her autopsy, her HCG levels indicated she would have been 3 weeks along when she was murdered.”
“Are they able to see if the others were pregnant?” Hotch asked.
“They’re working on it, best bet will be for me to pull medical records and to ask the family.”
“Wheels up in 30,” Hotch nodded towards the door.
Slowly but surely they all filed into the plane, Y/N took a window seat, quickly burying her head in the file, looking at each and every victim carefully.
“Spence, would you help me place the geographical profile?” Y/N asked him softly as he got comfortable in the seat across from her.
“Once we take off we can spread out the map,” he smiled softly back at her. Even when dealing with the hard cases they managed to get caught up in each other's eyes.
“Okay love birds, can I sit here too or will I get more than air sickness?” Morgan said, pretending to feel sick as he sat beside Y/N.
She smacked his arm lightly.
“Speaking of,” Spencer said, stopping to swallow nervously. “Hotch I’m going to need 2 of the workplace fraternization forms when we get back.”
Everyone on the plane cheered at him, he got 3 high-fives and all the congratulations in the world. Y/N immediately felt her face warm up.
“Don’t worry, Garcia filed them for you that night she helped you unpack,” Hotch smiled into his paperwork.
“How did she even know?” Y/N’s voice went up 3 octaves as she panicked.
“At least we know when pretty boy lost his V card now,” Morgan smirked.
“No, just me.” Y/N corrected him. To which Spencer was given yet another high five.
Just then Spencer was handed $20 from Rossi, Hotch, and Morgan. Y/N raised an eyebrow, “why?”
“I bet them $20, years ago, that I am in fact not a virgin and they said they would and I quote ‘only pay me if a woman who has fucked me confirms it.’ So who’s going to tell Gideon to pay up?” He explains.
The team carried on like normal after all the excitement died down. Having side conversations, working on the case, sleeping. The trip from Quantico to Winnemucca was fairly quick.
Y/N sat with Spencer at the table, spreading out the map and watching him place where all 13 victims disappeared from as well as where they were found. They were spread over 3 subdivisions, all 35 miles at least away from the burial sites.
“The park,” Spencer said softly.
“Is that the middle ground?”
“Yeah there’s something significant with the park,” Spencer confirms.
Spencer and Y/N went to the M.E together, all 13 women were labelled and displayed under white sheets. They took their time looking over each skeleton and the bodies.
“Clean cuts on the stomach, I wonder why he didn’t stab her?” Spencer said as he looked at the 13th victim.
“She might have cooperated better, or and I hate to say it but, seeing as she was Asian there is a high chance she didn’t bear resemblance to the source of the unsubs rage meaning she got to go out a little easier,” Y/N suggested with a disgusted look on her face.
“The 5 who died of blood loss were all white, brown hair, green eyes. 3 were 26, 2 were 29. They might be exactly his type,” Spencer confirmed the theory.
“They were also murdered,” she flipped her notebook open to show a chart with 5 columns. “June, February, June, November, November. Could also mean something to him.”
“What is that?” Spencer asks.
“It’s a chart that has the name, their age, the missing date and last scene location, the estimated date of death, and the cause. So that I can easily refer to the most important info when making a connection,” She explained. “My brain works better if I can see everything, so I also have my own little hand-drawn map of the area on his page as well as all my ideas in case I don’t get a turn to speak.”
“That’s really smart,” he smiled.
“So June, November and February might be significant to him.”
“Let’s go tell Hotch.”
Spencer drove for once, Y/N sat in the passenger seat in the SUV, doodling into her notebook.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Spencer asked.
“I wrote down the first letter of each month,” she explained, showing him the notebook. “And I circled each of the 3 months that repeat, February, June and November.”
“Okay?” He followed along.
“From February to November it’s 10 months or 40 weeks which is the typical length of a pregnancy,” She explained further. “This whole thing is clearly about pregnancy seeing as he is taking wombs. It’s clearly not a woman seeking revenge because of the sexual assault so it has something to do with him seeking revenge for a pregnancy in his life.”
“Could even be his own, like he’s punishing women who look like his mother because he wishes he was never born,” Spencer ponders.
They pulled into the police station, she got out and walked in all with her head still in the notebook. “Find anything?” Hotch asked.
“Of course she did,” Spencer bragged about her.
They all took a break, going back to their hotels to get some rest. All agreeing that since the media hasn’t released anything about this case yet the killed has no idea. They take it in faith that he will stick to his 2 to 4 month waiting period.
They all returned the next morning, refreshed and ready to resume their findings. JJ and Emily spent most of the morning interviewing families of the victims, specifically asking if they knew the vic was pregnant as well as what significance the park played in or around their pregnancies.
Y/N sat in silence with a coffee, flipping through her notebook. Hotch and Morgan were running over ideas they all had with Garcia on the phone.
“Hey, Spence?” Y/N called boy wonder over from the map he had been staring at.
“Yes, my love?” He says softly.
“I think I have an idea, can you go over it with me before we tell the team?” She asked.
“Of course,” he took a seat beside her.
“Why do I have an IUD?” She asks him in a whisper.
“In case you get raped in the field,” he whispered back.
“More specifically.”
“So you don’t get pregnant as a result of a rape in the field.”
“The sexual assaults in his mind, are him getting these victims pregnant. But they’re already pregnant when he picks them right?” She explains, “So that when he removes the uterus postmortem it's his way of aborting the child.”
“So this is all about abortion?” Spencer confirms.
“More specifically to do with how you said he regrets being born,” she corrects.
“Do you think he’s the product of a failed abortion?”
She nodded her head, “yeah and that by taking the whole uterus, and the strangling, and the stabbing, both mother and baby are for sure dead.”
“Hotch!” Spencer called across the room. “Y/N figured it out.”
They waited for JJ and Prentiss to finish an interview before they all piled into an office to discuss Y/N’s idea.
“Is there even any way to know if someone is the product of a failed abortion?” Prentiss asked after Spencer and Y/N took turns explaining how they came to their conclusion.
“Probably the best way would be to search for babies born with the common disabilities that occur in babies of failed abortions, but make sure they were born in November,” Y/N explained.
“Why November?” Penelope asked over the phone.
Y/N took a whiteout marker and started writing on the whiteboard.
“The 5 victims that died from loss of blood were all exactly the same, they were murdered in June, February, June. November and November.” She explained.
Writing “J F M A M J J A S O N D” on the whiteboard. Circling February, June and November.
“February, conception. 10 months later, or 40 weeks, is November. June is 4 months along meaning that would be when the mother either had the abortion, be it medical or homemade,” Y/N explained.
“Last year alone 146 of the 164,045 abortions resulted as a failure. When this happens most women choose to have the second procedure, or a D and C. Or they can carry the baby the rest of the way to term,” Spencer explained. “Children brought to term from a first-trimester medical abortion failure often have limb or digit abnormalities while infants born from non-medical approved abortions are more likely to have congenital problems.”
“However someone without a limb would not be able to do what our unsub is capable of. Digging graves, abducting, dragging dead bodies, it’s a lot of effort,” JJ added.
“Exactly, which is why I think our unsub probably has a mental disability.”
“Non-medical abortions, most often referred to as the poor person’s method, is taking a non-FDA approved ulcer treatment drug called Misoprostol, which is causing an epidemic of birth defects all along South America and parts of Asia,” Spencer added. “It induces contractions, causing women to deliver babies far too early to survive outside of the womb. If taken after the first trimester, and unsuccessful it can cut off oxygen to the brain long enough to permanently damage development in the frontal lobe.”
“Did the families mention anything about the park?” Y/N asked Prentiss and JJ.
“So far 4 of the victim's husbands say their wives announced they were pregnant on park benches, near the children swinging. They said it was the typical, ‘that could be us one day, that day came sooner than you thought’ moments from movies.” JJ confirmed.
“Let’s deliver the profile,” Hotch announced, following them all into the precinct.
They spent the next few hours looking for anyone with birth defects or mental disabilities that could be a potential suspect. Asking the other officers as well as anyone around the park about the type of man they were looking for.
Morgan and JJ patrolled the park while Rossi and Prentiss asked around on the street.
“Lynette Hayward,” Y/N whispered to herself, standing up and rushing through all the papers on the table in front of her.
“She was the only one who wasn’t pregnant, she was the only one who wasn’t reported missing, she was the oldest and in her youth, she had brown hair and green eyes. What if she’s his mother?” Y/N expressed to Spencer and Hotch who were watching her scramble around.
She pulled her phone out and called Garcia, “what’s cooking good lookin’?” Penelope answered.
“Can you help unscramble my egg brain?” She joked right back.
“Sure thing, whatcha got?”
“Lynette Hayward, does she have children, was she ever pregnant, or put someone up for adoption?”
“Let me check into it and I will call you right back!” Garcia said, hanging up and going right to work.
“Is there anyone here who knew Lynette Hayward about 30 years ago? She would have been 26 to 29, my height, brown hair, and green eyes?” Y/N announced to the whole Police Department.
“I did,” an officer said, standing up from the desk on the other side of the room.
She waved him over, pulling out a chair and asking him to sit.
“Was Lynette ever pregnant?” Y/N asked.
He thought for a moment, licking his lips and harkening all the way back to his 20’s. “There was a summer that no one saw her."
"When was this?" Spencer asked.
"From June to November, not a single person saw her. We thought maybe she was doing summer classes somewhere,” he explained.
“Were there any children dropped off at a fire hall or a hospital that November?” Spencer asked.
“There was a baby left in the park, poor little guy had been left out there in the cold,” he said.
Hotch, Spencer and Y/N all took a deep breath and looked at each other. “That’s him.”
Garcia called back then, “I found 1 baby left abandoned in the park in November of 1979, he was diagnosed with a cleft lip and palate, seizures, and later on he was diagnosed with diabetes, Crohn’s disease and Asperger's syndrome.”
“Name and address?” Spencer asked.
“That's the difficult part, he was born, operated on and handed over to the state and cared for by a foster family that named him Jake Alexander Ingrid. At the age of 6, he was adopted by them fully. When he was 12 he dropped out of the public school system due to bullying that left him in the hospital with a broken arm. After that, his trail goes cold.”
“How cold?” Y/N asked.
“If I didn't know better I'd say he was the one missing not Lynette,” Garcia confirmed.
“Does anyone live in Lynette’s house?” Hotch asked.
The sound of Garcia’s typing was all they heard over the phone, “her bills are being paid on time, someone is in her trailer. I’ve sent the address to your phones.”
“Let’s go.”
Hotch kicked the trailer door in, “FBI!”
He was asleep, startled awake in the bed that used to belong to his birth mother. He cried, overwhelmed with the 3 guns pointed in his face. Hotch sighed, cuffing him and reading him his rights.
“Why are the worst ones always the sadist?” Y/N asked Spencer as they watched forensics tore apart the trailer.
“Sad in what context?”
“His whole life was so fucked up, it sucks. All those women crossed paths with him and he took his fucked up life and ended theirs, as well as their babies,” Y/N couldn’t stop shaking her head as she spoke, disgusted with the whole situation.
Spencer wrapped her up in a hug, “if we spend all our time wondering why the world is like this we won't have enough time to bring justice to the victims.”
“which is the best outcome we can ask for,” Y/N agreed.
“Dr, Reid, agent Y/L/N?” An officer interrupted their hug and watched them awkwardly pull away from each other quickly.
“Yes?” Spencer answered.
“We found the wombs.”
The worst fucking sentence she had ever heard. “I can’t look at that.” She said, walking away to join JJ and Prentiss standing by the SUV.
“Good job kid,” Morgan said, wrapping his arm around her. “You’re almost as smart as boy wonder over there.”
“Just call me Mrs, boy wonder then,” she joked.
“Don’t tempt him!” Prentiss joked.
Y/N turned back to see Spencer walking out of the trailer, a shade of green spreading across his skin. “Excuse me,” she said walking towards the ambulance that was on standby.
“Dr. Reid looks like he might be sick,” she said, taking an EMT with her towards him.
Sure enough, Spencer leaned over the bushes and hurled before passing out into the EMT’s arms. Morgan and Hotch came running over to him, helping get him into an ambulance.
“What happened?” Morgan asked.
“He took a look at the recovered womb’s the forensic team found,” Y/N explained.
“That would do it,” Hotch agreed.
Y/N rubbed her hand along Spencer’s shoulder, “good catch,” the EMT complimented her as he took Spencer's vitals.
“I know him well.”
“Too well,” Morgan agreed. “You’d think you were cut from the same cloth.”
“No,” she said softly, gripping Spencer’s hand in her own as he started to stir a little. “We’re cosmically connected, made from the same space rock that split during the big bang.”
“I love you,” he whispered, awake the whole time she was speaking.
“Yeah, yeah,” she teased him, “I know, save your strength, you’re still all pasty white.”
“Gross,” Morgan smiled, turning away from the ambulance
chapter 4
Prentiss convinced Y/N and Spencer to take the weekend off in Nevada to go visit their parents. They agreed that it would be nice, seeing as neither of them thought to tell their moms that they met again let alone that they were together.
Y/N walked into the Nursing home first, looking for her mom in her office as Spencer walked in quickly to go find his mother.
“Hey mom,” Y/N smiled as she knocked on her mother's office door.
“Y/N!” She yelled, shocked to see her eldest baby standing in front of her for the first time since last Christmas. “What are you doing here?”
“Remember how I moved?” She started there.
“Yes?”
“Well, my new neighbour ended up being Spencer Reid, and he introduced me to the BAU and I helped them with a case, so they hired me, and now I work for them and we just finished a case in Winnemucca and me and Spencer are dating. He’s here too and we’re taking the weekend off to tell you and Diana,” she had never rambled so fast to her mother before in her life.
“Holy shit?” Her mother was shocked, “this all happened in the last 3 weeks? Is that why you’ve been too busy to text me?”
“I’ve been on 5 cases in the last 3 weeks, I was swamped,” she smiled, her eyes welling with tears.
Her mom walked over to her and wrapped her up in her arms, holding her close. “My baby, this is everything you wanted why are you crying?”
“I haven’t taken a moment to actually understand that this is all real,” she whispered.
Her mother pulled back, looking in her eyes with a stern look. “Is he good to you?”
She laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes. “He’s wonderful.”
“Diana is in the game room, let’s go see them,” she tucked her arm under Y/N’s and the two of them walked arm in arm towards the game room.
Diana stood up as she saw them walk in, “Debbie’s daughter?” She asked.
Spencer nodded with a large smile on his face. “This is Y/N Y/L/N, my partner.”
“I know you,” Diana said softly, reaching out to pull her into a hug. “You would read to me on Thursdays after Spencer left for CalTech.”
“Really?” Spencer asked.
“I knew you were here as often as you could be, and I felt bad she didn’t have any other children to come see her,” Y/N explained. “I know if my mom was here and my brother couldn’t visit I’d fill in.”
“It was lovely, I still have the book you gave me before you left for the academy,” Diana’s smile was as big and bright as Spencer’s.
They all sat together, sharing stories with each other. It seemed like their mothers enjoyed sharing embarrassing kid stories to make Spencer and Y/N blush back and forth.
Before they knew it, it was 3 pm and visiting hours were coming to an end and Debbie’s shift was about to end as well. “Where are you both staying?” She asked.
“At a hotel downtown,” Y/N explained.
“Nonsense, stay with me and your father!” Debbie insisted.
Y/N shook her head, “we can come to visit for dinner tomorrow, but we need some space.”
“You know how it feels to be in love especially this young Deb, I’m sure you understand,” Diana patted her on the shoulder.
“Go on, have fun. But tomorrow dinner starts at 6:15, Levi and Lizzie also home this weekend,” Debbie smiled, hugging both Spencer and Y/N before Diana.
“Would Diana be able to come to dinner at our place?” Y/N asked.
“I think I can pull some strings,” Debbie agreed, “have a good night tonight guys.”
“We will,” Spencer smiled, taking Y/N’s hand and walking with her to the parking lot.
They both sighed as they sat in their rental car. “That went well,” Y/N said softly.
“Why didn’t you tell me you visited my mom?” Spencer asked, holding her hand again.
“I was going to, there’s so much I want to tell you but we haven’t had enough personal time to get through it all, every time we talk lately it’s about murder,” she replied.
“Let's go get a table at a nice restaurant and tell each other everything.”
“I have something to do first, can I drop you off at the hotel and meet you there?” She asked.
“absolutely.”
-—
She drove to her parent's place as fast as she could, they were all just sitting down in the living room when she walked in the door. “Hi sorry I can’t stay I just want to grab a dress from my closet.”
She kicked her shoes off and ran up the stairs to her bedroom just like she would have after school. Her room hadn’t changed much. Her desk was still in the corner, her bed was made, and her mom now used it for storage. There were boxes, lamps, pillows and a million folded blankets all resting on her bed and scattered along the floor.
She shuffled some things out of the way of her closet door and quickly looked through all the bagged dresses she had left here. Minoring in political science and volunteering with government organizations in college meant she had a dress for every occasion, times the 4 years she was there.
“Cocktail, dinner, black tie, prom, homecoming,” she flicked through them all, “funeral,” she said as she stopped. “Why is this here?”
She pulled out a black dress she wore to a democratic representatives fundraiser, it was an off-the-shoulder, 3/4 length sleeve, plunging neckline, skin-tight dress with a slit to show some leg. It was perfect.
She placed it on the edge of her bed and dug out the black heels that she originally bought to go with the dress. She found a strapless bra in her dresser, and a cute pair of underwear buried at the back of her drawer.
She closed her door and quickly changed, walking across the hall in her heels to fluff her hair in the mirror and figure out how the fuck she was going to do her makeup here.
Just then her brother's wife came walking up the stairs, “Y/N?” She knocked on the bathroom door before coming in.
“Hey Lizzie,” she smiled. “Do I look okay?” She asked.
Lizzie looked her up and down with a shocked look on her face, “yeah what’s the occasion? I didn’t even know you were home?”
“It’s a long story, my boyfriend and I were here on a case and we’re staying for the weekend, you get to meet him tomorrow!” She filled her in as she searched the bathroom drawers for makeup.
“What do you need?” She asked.
“Do you have your makeup kit here? We’re like the same shade right?”
Before she knew it, Lizzie was making her sit on the edge of the tub while she did Y/N’s makeup for her. “Remember when you did my prom makeup?” Lizzie asked.
“Yeah,” she smiled. “You and Levi looked so good together that night.”
“Not as good as you look right now, he’s going to eat you alive,” she hyped Y/N up.
“You think so?” Y/N asked, standing up to take a look in the mirror.
“Absolutely!!!”
She took a deep breath and shook the nerves out, “okay I have to go,” she said running back to her room for her phones, wallet and badge.
“Go get him, SSA Y/L/N,” Lizzie smiled as she watched y/n steadily run down the stairs in heels, clicking on the hardwood as she ran.
“Wait!” Her dad yelled from the table, “don’t I get to see you before you leave?”
She ran into the table room, quickly hugging her father at the head of the table and kissing him on his bald head. “I’m late for my date, I love you, I’ll be home tomorrow,” she said running back towards the front door and to her car.
She was like a mad chicken running around with her head cut off. She took a breather in the car before starting the engine and making her way back downtown.
--
She left her car out front with the valet, saying she would be back in a minute. She dug her phone out of her wallet and called Spencer. “I’m in the lobby.”
“I’ll be right there.”
She waited by the elevator, she pulled her boobs up into her bra and wiggled the wire till they looked okay, then she straightened her dress out. She never felt this nervous when she wore this dress the last time, she’s never felt this nervous period, actually.
Spencer Reid did something to her that she couldn’t quite describe. But if she had to, she’d say he makes her feel alive.
The elevator dinged and Spencer walked out in one of his best suits. He was looking down at his button as he stepped out not seeing her at first.
She smiled at him, waiting for him to look up. When he did his eyes grew three times their normal size and his mouth dropped. He stopped right in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders and lightly running his hands down her arms. “You never cease to amaze me.”
“Could say the same thing about you Dr. Reid,” Y/N teased as she pulled on his tie.
She pulled him down by his tie and pressed her lips against his. Never before had either of them been a big fan of PDA, but this was an exception.
She pulled back from him and tucked his tie back into his jacket. Smoothing out his sleeves before taking a step back and handing him the keys. “Lead the way doctor.”
He extended his arm to which she wrapped her arm around. He walked her to the front of the lobby, watching as the bellhop held the door for them.
Their car was still there, waiting with the valet who opened the door when he saw her return. She sat on the passenger side, fixing the slit of her dress to not show too much just yet.
Spencer joined her, sitting in the driver's seat he started the car and drove off.
He reached his hand over to place it on her thigh, where it belonged. He gripped her leg and felt down to where her holster was. She saw his eyebrow raise as he looked down, moving the side of her dress to see her gun strapped to her leg.
“Gonna shoot me if I’m not on my best behaviour tonight, agent?” He laughed.
“Nevada is a concealed carry state, and I don’t trust anyone,” she said. “Plus I look like this tonight, do you know what the crime rate is in Los Vegas-? Don’t answer that, of course, you do,” she teased him.
“It’s pretty hot,” he complimented her.
“What? The gun or my attitude?”
“The fact that you don’t take shit from anyone, you’re a badass and I never have to worry about you.”
“What if I want you to worry?”
“I’m always going to worry, I just mean you’re not a damsel in distress. I can go into every situation knowing you’re smarter on your feet than anyone on the team, and as long as you’re there we’re coming out alive,” he explained better.
“That’s the best compliment,” she felt bashful all of a sudden. She put her hand on his and squeezed it. “I love you, Spencer,” she finally told him.
“I love you too,” he smiled.
“I’m sorry that I haven’t said it back yet.”
He pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant they were going to, returning his focus fully to driving. He pulled into a parking spot and put the car in park.
“I knew you’d say it when you were ready, I’m in no rush to hear it,” he leaned over the centre console and kissed her on the lips.
He got out of the car and walked around to open her door, helping her out before extending an arm out for her once more.
He made a reservation while he was alone at the hotel, getting a table in the back away from everyone else. It was a round table with a booth stretching all the way around the table. The back of the chair tall enough to enclose them in their own little world for the time being.
They were at a cute little stake house, one where you got to pick the exact piece of meat you wanted and they did it however you asked. They ordered drinks and enough bread to make the waiter look at them differently.
“Tell me the most random fact about you,” Y/N asked as soon as the waiter left to tell the kitchen their order.
“When my mom’s schizophrenia started getting bad, she thought that the government used dryers to take our socks for DNA and clone us, so whenever one of my socks went missing she freaked out. After that, I started wearing mismatched socks all the time so that that way she would never notice which of the pairs were missing since I never wore them that way anyway.”
She smiled the whole time he talked, absolutely in love with him. He was her everything. “So that’s why I’ve got so many random socks around my house.”
“It’s worse at my apartment,” he smiled again. “Your turn.”
“The first time I ever rode a bike without training wheels was because I stole my neighbour's bike and took off with it down the road,” she laughed.
“Why?”
“I think my mom said I couldn’t take my own training wheels off yet, so I took matters into my own hands.”
“See?” He shook his head lightly. “Badass.”
“When was the last time you were in Vegas?” She asked.
“Earlier this year when we reopened the Riley Jenkins case,” he said softly.
“oh, my mom was telling me about that one! Your mom went off her meds to help remember if your dad was involved right?” Y/N recalled.
He nodded, “do you know what really happened?”
“I have the gist, Lou killed Gary in revenge for Riley.”
“That's not all of it,” he said lightly. “Gary was watching me, and my mom told Lou that the way he looked at me, he might have been the one who hurt Riley. And then she witnessed Lou kill Gary.”
“Holy shit Spence, I’m so sorry,” she said softly. “Did you know Gary was my neighbour?” ,
“No?”
“Yeah we were 4, my brother was 2 and my mom was pregnant again, and Gary kept taking photos of my brother through the fence. My dad threatened to kill him a few times and then we finally moved across town,” she explained.
“How is it that our lives were so intertwined, and yet it took 20 years for us to actually connect again?” He asked.
“The same thing happened to my parents.”
“What’s their story?” He asked.
She moved around the table to sit closer to him, taking his hand in hers. “My dad is 8 years older than my mom, they met when she was 17 and he was 26 and they became good friends like he was her older brother. They realized years later that my dad delivered newspapers to the town my mom lived in, and he saw her basically grow up playing in the yard. Then his best friend always invited him to his cabin and when he finally went, the lot across from them was my mom's family cabin. They were always so close but never knew each other till they were meant to. And now they’ve been happily married for 30 years.”
“There's an old Buddhist saying that, when you meet your soulmate, remember that the act to bring you together was 500 years in the making. So always appreciate and be kind to each other,” Spencer explained.
“It took 500 years of coincidences to bring us together,” she said softly. “Which kinda makes the 20 years of admiring you from afar not seem so long.”
“From here on out let’s make every moment count then,” Spencer suggested, “we’ve been barely dating for 3 weeks I’m not going to ask you to marry me right this instant, but I do intend to spend the rest of my life with you in whatever capacity I can. Because I think you’re it for me.”
She could bask in the feeling of her heart fluttering like this for the rest of her life, it was like butterflies but completely calm. True happiness at its finest.
“Let’s make a deal,” she said softly, “in 1 year we come back here, and if we feel the exact same way as we do right now, you can propose to me.”
He put his pinky out for her, she wrapped hers around his, before kissing each other's knuckles. “Promise.” Spencer and Y/N said at the same time.
Back in the hotel room, she didn’t even bat an eyelash before slamming Spencer against the door. She slid her thigh between both his legs and boxed him in.
She undid the single button of his suit jacket, shushing Spencer. She pushed it off his arms, knocking it to the floor. She loosened his tie, tossing it to the side, still around his neck, while she unbuttoned his shirt.
He was completely silent and still. She was in control.
She tossed his shirt to the ground next. Holding onto his tie as she pulled him down into a heated kiss.
“Take my dress off,” she breathed into his mouth, feeling his hands reach around her back for the zipper.
He pushed the sleeves down her arms, watching the dress gather at her ankles before she stepped out and kicked the fabric out of the way. She tugged him by his tie towards the bed.
“Strip,” she instructed him. “Not the tie.”
“Underwear too?” He asked as she dug through his suitcase.
“yes.”
She returned with 2 more ties. Looking at him, butt naked on the bed. She stepped out of her underwear and the uncomfortable strapless bra. She set her gun in the hotel safe with her badge and returned to the bed.
“Would you be willing to try something?” She asked.
“anything,” he said, overly eager.
“Would you tie my hands to the bedpost and blindfold me and just do whatever you want?”
“Hold on,” he got off the bed and opened his go-bag side pocket. “I have a blindfold for the plane.”
“So you want to?”
Actions speak louder than words, he would always say.
He dimmed the lights down, got on the bed and roughly picked her up laying her back against the pillows. He tied her left hand first, and then her right hand. He took a hair elastic off the bedside table and put her hair back as best he could before he rested the blindfold against her forehead.
He hovered over her. “Anything I want?” Spencer confirmed.
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“Ground rules?”
“Yellow for slow down, red for stop?” She shrugged.
“You really mean anything?”
“I trust you, Spencer Reid, make me feel good,” she smiled.
He kissed her on the nose before coving her eyes with the blindfold.
She had always wanted to try this, it was a kink she had always been determined to try. She took a deep breath and tried her best to listen to him as he moved to sit between her spread legs.
He ran his hands up her thighs, over her hips before following the curve to her waist. He gripped her waist tightly and leaned forward, pressing his mouth to her stomach, breathing her in as he kissed.
She wasn’t embarrassed about her tummy, for the first time in her life she loved her body. She felt him kiss all over her chest, dragging his bottom lip along her skin. He licked a stripe between her breasts, dropping his chin to her chest then to blow lightly over the wet trail.
She felt her nipples harden, she could physically hear the smirk that spread across his face.
He sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, cupping her breasts with his hands as he groped her lightly. She squirmed, trying her best to grind her hips against his.
He pushed her hips against the bed, “be patient.”
He disappeared then. She felt his weight shift and get off the bed. She let out a deep breath, knowing she told him he could do anything and that included punishing her. She literally asked for it.
“I picked something up after you dropped me off,” she heard him say from the other side of the room.
He walked around for a minute, taking something out of a hard plastic container. He struggled with ripping it, she heard papers fall the floor and something hard hit the floor. “Shit.”
She heard him walk towards the bathroom, she crossed her ankles and just waited.
He came back to the bed, moving her legs apart like they were when he left. “stay.”
He crawled between her legs once more, his hand brushed her thigh and it was cold and wet like he washed his hands.
“Can I touch you?” He asked softly. She nodded her head feverishly.
She heard a small buzzing, an all too failure sound. The first place she feels the vibration is in her belly button. Causing her to let out a shocked little giggle.
“Shhh,” he smiled.
He dragged the little bullet vibrator down her stomach, over her pelvis and finally, finally, against her clit. She let out a moan that sounded more like a sigh of relief.
All she wanted was for someone else to control her pleasure, surprise her, set the rhythm, the speed, everything. She spent so long pleasuring herself, she was so ready to sit back and just take it.
Spencer felt the same. He took his time, feeling every inch of her skin, kissing every single place he wanted to. He spent so much time just looking. Finding freckles and scars and kissing them. He was mesmerized by the fact she was real, that a beautiful woman would lay down in front of him, spread open like this and just let him explore. It felt like the best wet dream his brain could ever conjure.
She could feel him getting closer to her. His weight shifted and she felt his breath on her leg. She took a deep breath, sucking in her stomach in the anticipation of feeling a tongue on her for the first time ever.
He turned off the vibrator. Setting it to the side as he looped his arms around her thighs. Just admiring the view. Just then her whole body shivered as she anticipated the heat of his tongue.
He pressed a kiss to her clit first before flattening his tongue against her. “Sweet fucking Jesus Christ,” she gasped.
“I’ve never done this before,” he breathed against her.
“Explore away, sir,” she whispered.
He clearly did research, if he didn’t just say this was his first time eating someone out, she would think he was an expert. She regretted having her hands tied up at that moment. She squirmed, he held her hips down. She gripped the ties around her wrists wishing it was Spencer's hair.
She was never big into overstimulation or denial, never having the willpower to keep going after making herself cum once. Spencer, however, had the ability to bring her to the edge again and again without ever letting her spillover.
She didn’t beg, she didn’t complain, she sat there in the blissful feeling and waited. It was heavenly.
“Spence,” her breathing was heavy.
He hummed, letting her know he was listening. His tongue still wiggling back and forth on her clit.
“Can you please just fuck me now?”
He kissed his way back to her mouth. All up her stomach, over her breasts, her neck and jaw. She could taste herself on his lips, “untie me?” She asked softly.
He let one hand free, which she immediately used to grip his hair. The second hand was freed and she pushed the blindfold up and worked her way into a sitting position while he kneeled in front of her.
“Anything else you want to try?” She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking into his eyes once again. She pushed his hair out of his face and just looked at him.
“Lie back and roll over,” he instructed.
He pulled her into a face-down, ass-up position and aligned himself with her. Pushing in little by little till he bottomed out. He reached around the bed for the vibrator and placed it in her one hand.
“You decide when you cum,” was all he said before he started fucking her.
She white-knuckled the pillow as he rammed into her, she was arched in the most perfect way for him to hit her g spot every time he rammed into her.
“My hair,” she gasped, wanting him to grab her by her ponytail as he fucked her.
With one hand on her hip to steady her and the other in her hair, he fucked into her like his life depended on it. Her legs were quaking, she felt like she was going to explode if she didn’t cum soon.
She flicked on the vibrator and pressed it against her own clit, feeling the familiar heat bubble in her stomach. “Fuck me, oh god,” she chanted.
Cuming with a shout, she dug her face into the pillow and all but screamed. Pushing back against Spencer as he bucked into her one last time and erupted inside of her.
His hips shook as he emptied his load before slowly pulling out and dropping down beside her.
She turned her head to look at him, eyeliner and mascara all smudged around her eyes, makeup all over the pillow. She was trying her hardest to catch her breath, staring at him with a smile on her face.
“If sex was an Olympic sport, I think we’d win,” she complimented him.
“you think?” He asked, his breath just as shaky as hers.
She rolled onto her back, letting him cuddle into her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him. “Everyone told me that the first time I have sex it’ll be underwhelming and uneventful, and yet every time we fuck I feel like I’ve run a marathon and I should invest in a wheelchair.”
He laughed, “would you put that in writing and send it to everyone from our high school?”
She smacked his arm. “and then I’d have to swat women off you with a bat if I wanted any alone time, you’re mine now.” She wrapped her whole body around him and held him there.
“I love you,” Spencer smiled.
“I love you, more.”
chapter 5
They packed everything into their car just to go to her parents house. There was something in Y/N’s gut that told her there was a case coming.
Her parents lived 30 minutes out of the city, on the edge of a cul-de-sac that faced a park. They had lived there since she was 5, it was her mom’s dream home. It was the only place in the town she had good memories in.
Y/N’s mother brought Diana home with her after work. They were waiting in the kitchen for Spencer and Y/N when they arrived. Tonights guests included not just them but Y/N’s youngest brother Levi, his wife Lizzie and their 2 year-old Chloe.
“There’s my girl!” Her dad cheered, standing up and rushing to give her a real hug. “Did you get taller?”
“it’s the boots,” she laughed, holding onto him tightly.
“You look great! The FBI is treating you well,” her dad was always one to compliment her. He pulled back and looked at Spencer. More like glared at him.
“Nice to meet you Sir, I’m Doctor Spencer Reid,” he said, shockingly extending his hand to shake her father's.
The profiler in her knew he was breaking his comfort zone to appease her baby boomer, ex-cop, father.
Her dad always did this thing when he met new men where he squeezed their hands to see how much they could take. “Harrison Y/L/N Sr.” She watched Spencers hand shake as he squeezed right back.
“Strong shake.” Her father complimented him. “She must have warned you.”
“No, he just knows how to read people,” Y/N laughed.
“Well come sit down Doctor Spencer Reid,” he teased him. “Let me interrogate the profiler.”
“Here we go,” Y/N laughed, placing a hand on Spencer's back as she led him into the kitchen.
They sat down together, Spencers mom, Diana, just across from him at the table. They smiled and nodded at each other in a quiet little hello.
“I would ask you to tell me a bit about yourself, but Y/N has kept me all caught up with you over the years,” her dad said. “You went to CalTech at 13, somewhere in there you got a degree from MIT, she idolized you.”
“Thanks, Dad,” she blushed.
“It’s very flattering, but if anything I’m now huge fan of her’s. In the last 3 weeks she has been the one to find the major break in 3 of our cases. She is amazing at what she does, you raised an incredible woman,” Spencer replied, praising her in a way that made her heart flutter.
“Go on then, tell us about these cases then,” her dad asked.
And with that they got lost in all things horrific. Spencer explained, verbatim, how each case went down and exactly what Y/N came up with to solve them. She answered little questions here and there but mostly it was Spencer showing off how much he loved his girlfriend.
Her mom passed out dinner plates in the middle of the talk, some how all of them were able to discuss cases and eat at the same time. Her mom made burgers and potato salad for dinner, just something simple for them all.
“Did you really offer to fuck a serial killer?” Her brother asked, disgusted.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I knew in his sick twisted mind he wouldn’t be able to refuse a woman willing to let him do what he wanted and as soon as the weapon was down, so was he.”
“I always told you she’d be able to kick your ass, Levi,” her dad said. “Ever since she was a kid I knew she had it in her to wrestle someone to the ground.”
“Yeah, Spence didn’t believe me that I’m combat trained.”
“No,” Spencer interjected, “It’s not that I didn’t believe you, I just didn’t ever think you’d be able to take me down.”
“And did you?” Her mom asked.
Her face turned bright red. “Yeah, I showed one of my combat maneuvers on him, we were all horsing around and I showed them how to go from being pinned to the ground to being the one on top.”
“How?” Her brother’s wife asked.
“Yeah demonstrate!” Her mom innocently cheered them on not knowing she was mid sex with him when she showed him how to do it.
“Um okay, Lizzie come with me,” she said, saving Spencer the awkwardness of having to straddle her in the middle of her family home.
She laid down on the floor, “you basically have to just pin me down how ever you see fit.”
Lizzie, sat on her, holding her shoulders down with one forearm. Y/N, quickly flipped her onto her back, making sure to catch her head as she did so. Not wanting her to smack it off the hardwood floor.
“Like that,” Y/N stood up and helped Lizzie to her feet. “Made sure all the girls knew how to do that.” She lied.
“As you should!” Her dad cheered, “nice to know your team all has each others backs.”
“How do they all feel about you two?” Diana asked. She had been mostly quiet all night, just enjoying time outside of where she was used to.
“They love it, they’ve been placing bets about us,” Y/N laughed.
“Like what?” Her dad asked.
“If he would kiss me first, if we’d tell the team ever, they even had one about who is most likely to say I love you first, they’re insufferable,” Y/N ranted.
“So what team one?” Her brother teased, just trying the embarrass her.
“He kissed me first, he told the team that we were together after like 10 hours and he was the first to say I love you,” Y/N blushed.
“Does she still have the I love you problem?” Her mom asked innocently but received a death glare from Y/N.
“Uh no, she says it to me too.” Spencer noticed the awkwardness.
“Any plans for baby number two?” Y/N asked Levi, changing the subject faster than ever.
She’d be lying if she said she was listening to the answer, her ears were ringing and all she cold focus on was Spencer’s hand on her back. Her mom was about to pass out cake when she excused herself to the bathroom, and ended up in her old bedroom.
She sat down on the edge of the bed, hearing the words her mother said over and over in her mind. “Does she still have the I love you problem?”
She rubbed her hands over her eyes and just breathed. She didn’t want him to know about that yet.
Spencer knocked on her door, opening it softly and peaking his head in. “Do you want company?”
She nodded.
He kneeled down on the floor in front of her, running his hands along her thighs. “Are you okay?”
“I told you about Christopher?” She said softly.
“yes.”
“In order to get me to do what he did, he would always say I had to because he loved me,” she explained. A tear dripped down her cheek and landed on his hand. “And so for 7 years after I never told anyone I knew that I loved them.”
“That’s okay, you went through trauma. You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” he soothed her.
“I want to though because, before you, I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand love, I thought it was weird and forceful and something dependent on coercion,” her voice was so tiny, she didn’t want anyone else hearing her. “Loving you is light and fluffy and special and safe, I didn’t want you to think just now that I said it this weekend to get it over with or something because I truly do love you.
He pulled her into a kiss, “I love you, more.”
She laughed, “we’ll see about that.”
Y/N and Diana were doing the dishes as her mom packed the leftover food into Tupperware containers. Debbie was just about to ask who wanted coffee when Y/N’s phone started to ring.
She sighed, drying her hands on a dishtowel before answering the phone. “SSA Y/N Y/L/N.”
“There’s been an explosion at a mall in Los Angeles and reports of 4 more planned, how fast can you and Reid get to LA?” Hotch asked.
“Um, we’re about 45 minutes from the airport.”
“We’re 4 hours out, we want you and Reid there ASAP. Is there any way we could send a helicopter to get you?”
“Yes, there’s a soccer field across the street from my parent's house, Garcia knows the address she can direct them where to go, we’ll be ready.”
“Debrief has already been sent to your phones, I need you and Reid to go to the LA field office and start communication with Garcia on victimology.”
“Got it.” She said as she hung up. “Spence we have to go!”
“What’s wrong?” Diana asked.
“We have an emergency in LA, they need us there immediately. There’s a helicopter coming to get us,” Y/N explained as she walked around the room towards her go-bag.
She unzipped it, unfolding her bullet-proof vest and putting it on. She adjusted her gun and made sure she had everything she needed. Spencer did the same at the table beside her.
“You are a badass,” her dad complimented her, filming her getting her gear on. “This is my daughter! FBI superhero! Kickass tonight kid!” He had an affinity for embarrassing her, but an even bigger obsession with showing her off.
He was like that with all of his children, first with her brother Harrison in the army, then with her other brother Levi and his swat training. Now his daughter was catching serial killers like it was nothing.
“Okay, we gotta go, the helicopter will be landing in that field in 3 minutes. Dad are you okay to take the car back to the dealership if this takes a while? We will be back for our suitcases after the case, I love you guys.” She said. handing her father the car keys and moving to put her shoes on.
“Got everything?” Spencer asked.
“Yep,” she smiled.
They walked out the door and across the street. Most of the neighbourhood watched a helicopter land in the soccer field as the sun was setting. They ducked as they ran getting in the chopper and strapping in.
“Agent Valdez, Nevada PD!” the officer in the pilot seat introduced herself. “We have just over an hour till we land, use the headsets to communicate with me if you need to!”
And they were off. She looked down to see her family waving up at them from their houses as the neighbours she grew up around took photos and videos of them leaving.
“What’s going on?” Spencer asked.
Y/N took out her phone and read over the debrief, “tonight at The Grove in Los Angeles, a small bomb went off killing 6 people and injuring 31.”
“Where did it go off?” Reid asked.
“Inside a small dress store that has been renting the space for the last 7 years,” Y/N confirmed. “I’m sure Garcia is looking into everyone who was injured or killed as well as the current and former employees.”
“It says here that the person who called 911 before the bomb went off warned of 3 bombs to come. Saying; ‘4 bombs in total the first in clear, the next is where her checks would clear.’” Reid read from the phone.
“So we need to find a connection between the dress store and a bank in the area,” Y/N said. “We need to go over that call more, have Garcia look into every aspect of the sound.”
“Where did Hotch say he wants us?” Reid asked.
“At the LA field office, he wants us working behind the scenes in correspondence with Garcia.”
Spencer sighed, “well, our weekend was fun while it lasted.
9:42pm PST
By the time the rest of the team landed and Hotch and JJ arrived at the field office, another 2 bombs had gone off at a Liberty Bank downtown LA.
“Garcia, do we have any connection from the dress shop to the bank yet?” Hotch asked.
“Nothing Sir, I have dug and dug and there isn’t a single person with a connection to both the bank and the dress shop within the last few months, I'm widening back 2-5 years but still nothing,” Garcia panicked over the phone.
“Is there any possibility our unsub is female? This to me feels like a scorned lover, maybe her husband is paying someone under the table who is cashing checks at that exact ATM that exploded and then went and bought a dress,” Y/N suggests.
“Garcia run with that as far as you can and call us back,” Hotch ordered.
“On it!” She cheered before hanging up.
Spencer looked around at all the info he and Y/N brainstormed while waiting for the team. “a female unsub would make the most sense.”
“Did we get any more clues for where the next bomb will be?” JJ asked.
Agent Cunningham from the LA field office shook his head, “nothing at the scene or over 911, we’re on the lookout for any suspicious calls and tips currently.”
“If you were cheating on your wife, after going to the bank and the dress shop where does she go with you next?” Y/N asked Hotch.
“Uh,” he shook his head, clearly faithful to his wife. “Dinner and a hotel?”
“So those are possibly the next two targets,” Y/N said, “but finding out what restaurant and hotel in the entirety of LA is like finding a needle in a needle stack.”
“I hate to say it,” JJ sighed, “but we might need one more explosion before we get a breakthrough.”
“All we can do is hope for minimal damage,” Y/N shot a soft smile over to her, “till then, what kind of woman in the area could make the type of bombs that are being used?”
“Almost anyone,” Morgan said as he walked into the room. “I was just looking at the debris and shrapnel, it’s a fairly simple bomb that anyone with basic knowledge or internet access could make.”
Hotch called Garcia once more. “Can you start a search for women 35-55 who are married, ask the NSA if we can search through any women in the LA area googling how to make bombs in the last month.”
“Of course, I’ve also been looking at the past transactions of the specific ATMs that were targeted, 13 of the people depositing cash and cheques there, recently bought dresses from the store at The Grove.”
“Any of them look like they are partaking in an affair?” Y/N asked.
“2 of them are lesbian women, 3 are drag queens and the other 8 are girls in high school depositing birthday money,” Garcia explained.
“Well thanks for looking, hopefully, the NSA has some hits for us,” Hotch said as he hung up. “I guess we wait.”
11:56pm
“We’ve got reports of an explosion in an all-female dorm at UCLA,” one of the LA agents said as he burst through the door.
“Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi,” Hotch said, “go to the scene and find out everything.”
Y/N called Garcia, “as soon as we know what room the explosion was in I need you to go back 10 years of women who lived in that dorm room and their connections to older men. Sugar daddies, teachers, anyone.”
“The 911 call shortly after the bomb say it was heard on the first floor, possibly room 119 as that's where the blast was heard. Luckily the girl who was supposed to be in that room was with her friend down the hall so we currently have no casualties here,” Garcia explained.
“Thank god,” JJ exclaimed, placing her hand over her eyes.
“In the last 10 years, 6 different women have all had that room,” Garcia said as she narrowed down her search. “Okay, here we go this is the juicy stuff!”
“What is it?” Hotch asked.
“From 2000 to 2002 Maggie Burton was working on a science degree at UCLA. She was working part-time, both years, as the main Chemistry professor's teaching assistant, she was depositing money from him bi-weekly to Liberty Bank.”
“Okay, who was the professor?” Spencer asked.
“Michael Thompson, 56, but that would be too simple now wouldn’t it?” Penelope teased. “Thompson is gay and has been in a domestic partnership since 1998, his Partner Adam Pearson, however, is bisexual according to the sugar daddy website he’s on,” she explained further. “Whether Maggie knows it or not, she had been getting paid to be Thompson's TA, as well as his boyfriend sugar baby.”
“So our unsub is Michael Thompson?” Hotch confirmed.
“By the looks of it, yes. Maggie stopped being a TA when she graduated and now she works with a cosmetics developer downtown. Every week she deposits 500 cash to the ATM, which is the exact amount of cash Adam has been withdrawing for the last 7 years,” she kept explaining, they could hear her keyboard clicking as she kept digging. “Look’s like Adam is filing to remove the domestic partnership and he bought a ring last week.”
“There’s the trigger,” Spencer confirmed. “Do we have a home and work address as well as where the next bomb would be?”
“Adam checked into a Hilton hotel downtown, suite 613 which he has been booking once a month for the last 7 years,” Garcia confirmed. “Sending the locations now.”
“I need a bomb squad sent to the Hilton hotel, evacuations should be done floor by floor saving floor 6 for last, I need agents on floor 6 to evacuate all rooms, except for 613, quietly without making a scene.”
“Sir, suit 612 was booked only for tonight by Michael Thompson, using cash,” Garcia cut him off.
“All rooms but 612 and 613 are to be evacuated, I need a direct line on the scene to room 612 when we arrive,” Hotch ordered as they all hurried towards the elevator.
On the scene, Reid, Y/L/N and JJ were sent up with the bomb squad to floor 6. Red lights in the stairwell were flashing to alert that there was an evacuation taking place, but the building was silent.
There were 14 rooms on floor 6, 4 of them being rented that night. Rooms 601 and 608 were the only two they had to focus on to evacuate.
JJ quietly knocked on room 601, “Hi sir,” she whispered. “My name is Jennifer, I’m with the FBI. We need to quietly evacuate this floor, if you wouldn’t mind grabbing your necessities and any other guests in the room, an officer will escort you down the stairs. In the parking lot across the street, there are people issuing refunds and information about relocations for the night.”
The man nodded, he quickly grabbed his things and followed an officer down the hall.
Y/N knocked on 608 next, a young woman answered. “Hi, my name is Y/N, I’m with the FBI. We need to quietly evacuate this floor-“
“I have 2 kids with me,” she whispered.
“Okay, are they awake?” JJ asked.
“My daughter, she’s 2, she’s out cold. My son is watching TV, oh my god my husband isn’t here,” she quietly panicked.
“Ma’am it’s fine, we have officers here to assist you down the stairs and across the street, there are relocation preparations being made. If you don’t mind, I can help you carry your daughter down the stairs?” Spencer said softly.
“Yes, absolutely.” She said, running into the room to gather all her things.
Spencer lifted the little girl up softly, not waking her at all in the process. He held her against his chest softly while the mother grabbed their necessities and her 6-year-old son before followed Spencer down the stairs.
JJ and Y/N stood in the stairwell, Y/N picked up her radio and called down to Hotch. “All civilians on the 6th floor have been evacuated.”
“Any movement in 612?”
“Yes sir,” one of the bomb squad members said. “With our tech, we can see 2 bodies in 613 and 1 in 612, all alive.”
“Any idea how many bombs were talking about?” Hotch asked.
“Not yet, we need a clear look inside the room. Snipers on the building across the street say the blinds are closed,” he explained.
“Hotch, have you gotten in contact with him at all?” JJ asked.
“No, he won't pick up,” hotch confirmed.
“Would you like one of us to knock?” Y/N asked.
“Not yet, I want you both to come down. If we’re knocking on his door we need to have a full plan in place,” Hotch ordered.
“Over,” Y/N said. Following JJ back down the 6 flights of stairs.
Down at the base of operations, Spencer was still holding onto the 2-year-old as the mother called her husband. He shushed her and held her close with a blanket over her back as she slept.
“Hotch,” JJ got his attention. “I noticed each room has vents on the connected walls, is there any way to get into 611 and snake in a camera to see what we’re dealing with?”
“That was my next suggestion,” a SWAT office said as he shook her hand. “We’re prepping the equipment now.”
“Can we also spray a sleeping agent through the vents? If we knock out the unsub we can just drag him out and see what’s going on?” Y/N suggested.
“Yeah that would work,” the SWAT officer said, “we have a sleeping agent in a compressed gas form that we can spray through the vents.”
“Okay, just in 612,” Hotch confirmed. Y/N I want you and Morgan up there to assist in making sure Maggie and Adam are evacuated safely while the bomb squad looks at what we have going on.”
“On it,” she and Morgan said at the same time.
One of the SWAT officers pulled them aside, handing them protective gear for the gas that will erupt into the hallway. She waved to Spencer in the lot as she headed across the street with the SWAT team. They ran up the stairs, it was exhausting but Y/N pushed through, up the six flights. They quietly unlocked room 611 and filled the room with officers.
First, they snaked a small camera through the vent, the image showing on the screen right away, “you seeing this Hotch?” Morgan asked over the radio.
“Crystal.”
“It’s a wall of C4,” one of the Bomb Squad officers quietly confirmed. “Fairly simple to dismantle, it looks like it’s a manual switch. Wait till he crosses the room, and then spray the gas. We need officers to be in the room as it’s sprayed. He needs to hit the floor nowhere close to the detonator.”
Morgan quietly opened the door and assembled the team in the hall, making movements with his hands as he instructed the men. The door kicker was in place, the officers were ready to file in.
The swat agent deployed the gas, they watched on the monitor as the unsub turned to look at the hissing sound, inspecting it before hitting the ground.
“NOW!” Morgan yelled. The door was knocked in and the unsub was in handcuffs.
Y/N ran to 613, knocking on the door as hard as she could. “FBI OPEN UP!” She yelled.
A half-naked man opened the door, “what?” He yelled.
“We need to evacuate the building right now, cover-up and follow me.” She ordered as the two victims covered themselves and followed her down the stairs.
Halfway down, she got a call over the radio. “Bomb has been defused, all clear on floor 6.”
“Bomb?” The man questioned.
“Yes sir,” Y/N confirmed. “your partner, and your science teacher, Michael Thompson, has been bombing places around the city that you two have been to, and was planning to blow you up tonight.”
“What the fuck?” Maggie asked.
“He’s under arrest, you’ll have your chance to ask him questions in court,” Y/N confirmed as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
She held the door for them and watched as they were whisked away by EMTs. She waited for another set for the unsub before turning around and running all the way back up the 6 flights to Morgan.
Morgan was standing over the cuffed, unconscious, unsub in the hallway. “Good job pretty girl!” Morgan high-fived her.
“Thanks,” she smiled, “let's get this bastard down into the ambulance. The elevators should go back up in a minute.”
“What? No more stairs?” Morgan teased.
“I might not be able to feel my legs tomorrow, I’ve been up and down those too many times tonight!” She smacked him.
“Sure that’s why,” he laughed as they waited for the elevator.
Spencer and Y/N packed up that night and took a short trip back to Los Vegas. By the time they arrived back on her parent's doorstep it was 5:32 am. 12 hours since they were last there.
She sighed at the front door and called her parent's home phone. “Hello?” Her father's sleep-ridden voice answered.
“Hey dad, it’s Y/N can you come open the front door for me? Please.” She asked nicely.
“Yep.” He hung up.
She watched the hall light come on from the front door. Waiting for him to slowly make his way down the stairs to the front hallway. He unlocked the door and welcomed them in.
“Your mom cleaned off your bed in case this happened,” he whispered, rubbing his eyes. “What time is it?”
“5:30, go back up to bed, we’ll lock back up, thank you,” she hugged him and sent him on his way.
She sighed and sunk down to sit on the bottom step. She tugged her boots off and left them in the hallway. Spencer picked them up and moved them to be in order with the rest of the shoes. He locked her parent's front door and turned off the entryway light.
“You need water or anything before bed?” Y/N asked.
“No, come on,” he took her hand and walked with up the stairs to her bedroom.
She closed the door behind him, peeling out of her clothes and climbing into bed first. She got under the covers and moved the pillows around to make sure they were how she liked them.
Spencer crawled in beside her, wearing just his socks and underwear. He laid flat on his back while she cuddled into his side. He kissed the top of her head and let out a deep breath as he settled into relaxation finally.
“I love you,” she reminded him.
“I love you, more.”
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