#i tried to make this last night and my computer was not cooperating

[ben--solos]

"I'm going to make him come down here. I'm going to make him see me. I'm going to make him see us."

Percy Jackson & The Olympians 1.02 // 1.07

#pjoedit #pjosource #adaptationsdaily #pjo tv show #pjotv #percyjacksonedit #tvedit #percy jackson and the olympians #sallyjacksonedit #poseidonedit #percy jackson #sally jackson #poseidon #pjo poseidon #i honestly am unsure how to tag this so hopefully it reaches people #* #i tried to make this last night and my computer was not cooperating

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The Lost Cause prologue, part 6

I'm coming to Minneapolis! Oct 15: Presenting The Internet Con at Moon Palace Books. Oct 16: Keynoting the 26th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing.

For the past week, I've been serializing the prologue of The Lost Cause, my solarpunk novel of a post-Green New Deal backlash that comes out on November 14:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865939/the-lost-cause

The occasion is a crowdfunding campaign for the audiobook – because Amazon won't carry my audiobooks on Audible, I self-produce them and pre-sell them on Kickstarter. The campaign is going brilliantly, and there's still time to back it:

http://lost-cause.org/

Usually I hire voice actors like Wil Wheaton to read my audiobooks, but this time, at the urging of director Gabrielle de Cuir, I read it myself. It came out great:

Today is the final day of the serial. I hope you enjoyed it!

Here's part one:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/06/green-new-deal-fic/#the-first-generation-in-a-century-not-to-fear-the-future

And part two:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/07/met-cute-ugly/#part-ii

And part three:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/09/working-the-refs/#lost-cause-prologue

And part four:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/10/weaponized-interdependence/#super-soaker-full-of-hydrochloric-acid

And part five:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/11/equal-opportunity-class-war/#part-v

And now, the thrilling conclusion!

“Hey,” someone hissed from beneath the climber and I nearly jumped out of my seat.

“Jesus,” I said, and it came out as a loud bark that echoed down the empty street.

“Shhh,” the voice said. “What are you doing out there, man?”

“I’m sitting on a bench. What are you doing in there?”

“Wait, Brooks?”

“Yeah. Who’s that?”

A person climbed out of the climber, then another. As they drew closer to me, I recognized them as Dave and Armen, two goofballs I’d known since grade school, and I knew exactly what they were doing.

“Are you assholes out here in the middle of the night tripping balls?” I couldn’t help but smile, though. It was so them.

“No,” Armen said, and then Dave spoiled it by dissolving into giggles.

“Just some shrooms,” Dave said. They were everywhere, whenever the rains came, all over the hills and even on the verges between the sidewalks and the roads, popping up faster than the city could send out workers to pick them and destroy them (or, rumor had it, to dry them out and offer them for sale, if you knew the right person).

“On a school night?”

“Yeah. Only a month to graduation. What’s it matter anymore? The dire is cast.”

“The die,” I said.

“Die,” Armen said. “How morbid.” They both dissolved into more giggles. These guys. I mean, they were high af, but they had been like this since the third grade. They were silly, and not all that smart, but they were nice, never mean to anyone, never on anyone’s side in any kind of feud, even the ones where everyone took a side.

Armen and Dave were like goofball Switzerland, neutral and always in a corner making each other laugh. To be honest, they were exactly the guys I needed to see at that moment.

“Got any more shrooms?”

We stayed up all night tripping balls and eating more mushrooms whenever we started to come down. About three thirty in the morning Armen suggested we walk up to Brace Canyon, which is a long-­ass walk, but Armen insisted that the sunrises from Brace were incredible so that’s where we went.

It turned out he was wrong. It was sunsets that were great from Brace Canyon. The sun rose behind us, staining all of Burbank—­ the airport, downtown, Magnolia Park—­pink as it crested the hill behind us, and Armen was embarrassed to have gotten it backward and tried to convince us to climb farther up, try to get over the hill and see the sun rise on the other side before it was fully up, but Dave pointed out that the last time they tried that they got stuck because of the monster houses on top of the hills with high fences, and then I pointed out that he was talking about a thirty-­ minute run and the sun would be over the hill in five minutes, and then Armen pointed out that we’d been tripping and walking all night and we were all tired, so we lay in the grass and watched the city brighten by degrees.

Then it started to get hot, and we were coming down and dozed a little, but then the mosquitoes came out, and then the dog-­walkers, and so it was time to drag our asses back down out of the hills.

They walked with me down to Glenoaks, then we split up. There was no way I was going to school that day. I knew the guidance office would give me an excused absence after my traumatic events and all, so I bumbled home slowly, my legs filled with lead, my eyelids drooping. People passing by on bikes or on foot gave me a wide berth that let me know I was giving off walk-­of-­shame vibes.

I got home and paused in front of the back door. Did I dare go inside? Would Gramps still be awake and “ornery”? Would he be out with his Maga Club buddies planning Mike Kennedy’s wake? Or would they be in the living room, ready to give my ass the beatdown Gramps could no longer administer himself?

Hell with it. I was so tired I was about to fall over. If Gramps hadn’t calmed down by now, then he and I could just have another fight. I’d let him win. Why not? I was tired and graduation was weeks away.

I let myself in. The house was spooky-­quiet. What was spooky about quiet? It was always quiet when Gramps was out, or when he had his headphones on to listen to his podcasts, while he played large-­format solitaire on his huge tablet.

But it was spooky. I think I must have known. Otherwise, why wouldn’t I have just gone to bed? I mean, I was really tired. I didn’t go to bed. I called out “Gramps?” as I moved from room to room, and I saw that his keys were on the kitchen table and that his shoes were by the door, so I went to his bedroom and whispered “Gramps?” and knocked softly, as though he was asleep.

But I think I knew, even before I opened the door. Otherwise, why would I have peeled back the covers? Why would I have reached out to touch the exposed skin of his neck, felt how cold it was? Why would I have turned him over, boneless and limp, and put my ear next to his mouth, knowing there would be no breath sounds?

I called the nonemergency number and told them my grandfather was dead, that he had died in his sleep, and then I filled the biggest glass in the kitchen with cold brew. I was going to need to stay awake for a while yet.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/13/pour-encoragez-les-autres/#fin

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

#pluralistic #the lost cause #clifi #books #science fiction #solarpunk #crowdfunding #audiobooks #fiction #Youtube

[kakashiswilloffire]

dysthymia pt. 10

kakashi debates the merits of an inpatient pysch program

tw: depression, self harm mention, suicidal thoughts

wc: 655

ao3

pt. 09 / pt. 11

He settled onto the couch in the office, swallowing once more despite his throat being dry.

“How are you doing?” the therapist began, tone light. They typed at the computer, pulling up his file.

“Not good,” he answered.

The therapist blinked, then sat back to look at him. “Yeah? How not good?”

He cleared his throat and leaned forward. “Look, I’m going to establish something before we get into this. I want to be honest. If you think at the end of this conversation that I need to go back to the inpatient program, I’ll cooperate, but I need you to work with me so I can be a voluntary admit. Deal?”

The provider nodded, leaning in to match his energy. “I don’t want the inpatient program to be a punishment for you. If we agree that it’s going to help you, absolutely we’ll discuss that. There are very, very few reasons that I would have to commit you without your consent, and I don’t see them applying to your situation.”

That was something, at least. He settled back, fighting the urge to grab one of the couch cushions and crush it against his chest.

“Okay. The last few days have sucked. I keep feeling these intense urges to self-harm, and they’re escalating to the point where I want to die. Like, I had the thought today that if someone yelled at me during the morning drills, I would walk away and kill myself on the spot. That’s not normal.”

A sip of tea, some attentive nodding.

“I called the crisis line the other night. I was sitting on my bed, holding a pocketknife, and I just kept opening the blade, running the flat of it against my skin, and then I’d turn it on its edge and just freeze. I’d close the blade, set it down, and then pick it right back up again and repeat the process. When I called and told them what was going on, they talked me down and were able to get me to stabilize, but I was prepared then for them to ask me to come in. They let it slide because I had this appointment scheduled with you today.”

A scribble on a post-it note.

“I don’t really know what to do at this point. I’m not sure what’s bringing these feelings on, all I know is I’m spending way more time than normal thinking about not being alive.”

The next hour passed too quickly as Kakashi tried to lay out the pieces of his brain for the provider to examine, clean up, and re-assemble.

Finally, the time came. “So, what would you like to do?”

He froze. “You want me to decide?”

The final dregs of tea were thrown back as the provider settled against the back of their chair. “What do you feel is best for you right now? We’ve established that you don’t actually want to die, you’re just feeling overwhelmed and burnt out and need a break. What would it look like if you took a couple days off the mission rotation?”

It was Kakashi’s turn to blink. “I can’t do that.”

“You could if you were inpatient.”

A mixture of fear and relief spread through his chest. He felt mentally stable enough to go back to his apartment. He knew he could make it through the next twelve hours without hurting himself, and probably even longer. However…

“If I went in, they would probably feed me more regularly than I feed myself.”

The therapist nodded, fully focused on Kakashi. “Do you want to go home?”

The silence lasted a full thirty seconds as the debate raged through his mind. Finally, the decision was clear.

“If I decide in a couple of days that I can’t do this any longer, can I change my mind and admit myself?”

“Absolutely. We’re open twenty-four seven, and we want to do whatever is best for you.”

#kakashi fanfiction #kakashi oneshot #kakashi angst #kakashi has dysthymia #tw self harm #tw suicide #tw depression

[lifeonhardmode]

day 50

Omg I can’t believe I’m halfway. As predicted, I’m freaking out about the lack of progress and how much is left to do.

I messed up today a bit. I worked in the office all day (points for that), I decided to stay home tonight instead of going to side job because a blizzard took over and I have my doubts about the buses (ok), then I was tired and I didn’t want to do stuff (clean cat litter boxes, yoga, clean up my apartment, and have a conversation that I really didn’t want to have but I told myself I would on day 50) so I .... sat around all evening listening to audiobooks and talking to Bae on the phone? Did nothing.

Sooooo my 50% progress is not so hot. Actually the area that’s worst right now is my workout plan. I’ve been doing a bit every day but I’m behind. I’m trying to gain weight right now but the thing is, the deal is I get extra food in exchange for working out, otherwise I’m just getting chubby. I guess earlier in this project I was prioritizing workouts every day above everything else, even to the point of getting to work late or staying up too late at night etc -- whereas right now I’m so overwhelmed with the things I have to do that working out is just another thing on the list and doesn’t seem like the priority.

Oh and I had my February taco today, haha. Also discovered that I sorta missed girl scout cookie week, so that decision was made for me. We shall see.

Well, might as well face the music. 50% review:

HOME:

I successfully bought and built a shelf in person. Never found the time to do the online shopping or get the computer advice. I sewed a slipcover for my chair but I didn’t finish it. I haven’t mopped the floor.

Next: Just those same things I guess, plus redoing the sisal rope on the cat tree.

WORK2:

I got a helper and we got rid of another entire category! I have high hopes that it will continue to go well. I also successfully utilized the small bedroom for storage/organizing space. I decided to wait on the electrician.

Next: I have some more organizing that I can do by myself to make the cooperative work more efficient. I was going to work on that tonight but then we got a blizzard. Maybe tomorrow if the roads are clear, and certainly this weekend. Definitely hoping to get rid of all the art stuff this tenth, and whatever else we can do if I can keep getting help.

ME:

Need to start prioritizing workouts again. There just isn’t enough time in a day but I have to make it fit somehow. I still didn’t change jewelry lol. I’ll get to it.  I did a bunch of research on the therapeutic botox but I need to make some more phone calls about that. 

Next: call dentist, call insurance, get caught up on my workout goals.

CONCLUSION:

I’m faltering. Life is hard. Weekdays have to be tightly focused on office, sleep, and exercise; then I guess pack in as much side job as I possibly can on the weekends. (BTW I successfully worked remote from side job not with my BF, are you proud of me?)

Next: I have a doctor appointment this tenth, which I’m not thrilled about because it’s expensive, takes time away from work, and hasn’t been helping. I tried last time to not let them schedule a follow-up but I’ll try harder this time. I have no more holidays (3 day weekends) for the rest of the 100 days so I need to tackle the weekends I have with a ton of energy. That is going to mean a goal of scheduling help every weekend. My goal for tomorrow is to get someone lined up for sure this weekend, then as soon as the weather clears/my work schedule allows, to get up to side job to prep as much as I can for that.

#day 50/100

[purplesurveys]

1563

Have you ever had a computer virus before? Yeah my first laptop (technically a hand-me-down from my dad) was a massive breeding ground for viruses. The worst one was a virus where it would randomly type out chunks upon chunks of Vietnamese text. I also knew when a virus had already started hanging out every time my Google homepage would change to a random ass search site.

Are you dependent upon anyone? Yeah, my parents, technically. In the Philippines if you’re 24 like me and live on your own, your parents are either millionaires and pay for your shit or are dead. Salary is shit here and doesn’t do nearly enough to sustain you.

Are there any book characters you'd like to portray? Nope.

Who did you last text? It was my mom telling her we had already arrived at her workplace and are ready to pick her up anytime.

Is there anything on your bed right now? Just me, this laptop, and my laptop charger.

When was the last time you went to the grocery store? I went around two Fridays ago to pick up paper cups and a bunch of chips in preparation for the Busan concert.

What way would you like to die when it's your time? Just in my sleep and painlessly, please. Does anybody actually prefer to die while in excruciating pain?

What are you most afraid of in the world? People with bad intentions. And I certainly don’t mean that in a simple “there will always be people who’ll betray you” kind of way. We’re talking catcallers, gropers, harassers, molesters, kidnappers, murderers.

Have you ever been caving? Nah. I had the chance once but I wore the worst possible pair of footwear I could put on that day, which was flip-flops.

Do you do well in math related things? Depends on the topic. I’m quite strong in some areas, like statistics and algebra – but equally as awful in others, like trigonometry.

What is your favorite fruit? Avocado, if I absolutely had to pick.

If you had to choose, which sibling would you live with? My sister.

Do you have any tattoos? Nopes.

Are you planning on getting any in the near future? Maybe when Jin gets sent off to enlistment. The urge to get inked definitely felt more nagging after the announcement.

When was your last date? Around two years ago, maybe three. I’m not sure when that ex and I last went out.

When did you get Facebook? It was in 2012, when I was 14.

Are any of your family members in jail? Used to. I think she was allowed to leave not too long ago. Idk though for sure - I never keep tabs on that side of the family.

What was your first pet's name? Apart from our goldfish, we had Tobi the bunny. Are you good when it comes to computer issues? Not at all, I’d rather take my laptop to a repair shop once it gets wonky.

Are there any people at your job who absolutely hates you? I don’t think so. I do my job quite well and I don’t think I’ve ever done anything to piss the crap out of anyone.

What was the last book you read? I don’t read anymore.

Have you ever read any books in one day? Sure!

What was the last thing you bought? Dinner for my family. We got Ippudo last night.

What are your plans for tomorrow? Work, then I’ll have to bring Cooper and Agi to the nearby dog hotel since we’ll be staying overnight at a hotel during the weekend to celebrate my sister’s college graduation. I have a longgg weekend ahead so I imagine I’ll also be drinking a fuck ton of coffee tomorrow night to make the most of the time.

Is there any jewelry you wear constantly? Nopes.

Are your fingernails painted at the moment? They are not.

Do you prefer cool, warm or neutral colors? I lean towards warm and neutral these days and have been trying to populate my wardrobe with more browns, olives, off-whites, etc. Have you ever taken art classes? Yep – back in college I took an art studies class.

What's the most boring movie you've ever seen? The Revenant. I don’t think I lasted any more than five minutes of it. Do you know how to work a cash register? I’ve never actually tried, but I probably wouldn’t be able to use it smoothly on the first try.

Fact or fiction novels? If you meant non-fiction, I’d go with that.

Have you ever suffered from depression? Yes.

Do you think you're a clingy person? Not anymore, really. If there’s anything my previous relationship taught me, it’s that clingy is bad. I like being independent these days.

Have you ever been in a physical fight before? I’ve been in physical brushes, but not full-on fights. I’m sad to say it’s been with my mom a few times; who wants to get physical with their own mother, ever?

How often would you say you disagree with your parents? Not very often anymore because I’ve since learned to just shut up if ever I disagree with them on something. The three of us are quite hard-headed and pretty firm with our beliefs and convictions, so pushing each other’s arguments never helped us.

What color shirt did you wear yesterday? Orange and white.

Do you have a job? Yup.

If so, do you like it? The thing I like to tell people is that as much as I whine about my job these days, I actually like and enjoy the nature of it. It’s the workload in my workplace that I absolutely despise. If the structure was just organized such that I don’t need to work 12-15 hours every night, I’d actually like it a bit more.

Have you ever been called a slut before? Nah, I haven’t really done anything to be referred as one, even jokingly.

What's something you've been craving? I feel like I’m always craving/in the mood for sushi.

Have you ever slept with your window open? Yeah, when I used to be in school because I was shy about eating up the electricity bill. Now that I earn my own money I have the aircon on every night and haven’t had the windows open in months, like I’ve always wanted haha.

Can you play violin? Nopes. It’s the second instrument I wish I knew how to play, just next to piano. What was the last desert you had? Pain au chocolat MY FAVORITE

Have you ever had a wild animal as a pet? Nopes.

Do you know anyone you talk to on Facebook but won't talk to in person? Well yeah, lots of people. There are many on my friend list that I only know vaguely, so while I could say hi to them I wouldn’t actually approach them for a full conversation or anything like that.

What color are your mother's eyes? Dark brown.

Do you have a best friend? Yep.

If so, how long have you been best friends? 17 years for Angela and around 3 years for Andi.

Do you cry easily? Yeah, I guess you can say that. I can cry very quickly over ads and just this afternoon I bawled like three times watching Jin’s The Astronaut.

Have you ever been into a court room? Does a session hall count? I’ve never been in those smaller court rooms that I see in movies and shows but I once got to visit the session hall of the House of Representatives for a journ class. I remember during the time of our visit the topic of discussion was on the legalization of marijuana, hahaha. Other countries might find it super mundane but considering where I’m from that was a pretty mind fucking blowing session to get to be a part of.

How many necklaces would you say you own? Zero. Am not too big on jewelry.

Do you plan on being strict towards your children? Not so much, but then again it would also have to depend on how well they can look after themselves.

Do you own any tie-dye shirts? No, not a big fan of the look.

What would you say is your favorite day of the week? Saturday.

Do you ever wear lipstick? Never. It doesn’t suit me.

Do you own a pool? Nope.

Do you have a Tumblr account? I think so. What website are we on again?

Would you say you're overweight? Nah, I’ve always been on the skinny/slim side.

How many colors are in your hair? Right now just one, since I had my hair dyed purple last weekend. It’ll be at least a week or so before my roots grow out again.

Do you flirt with a lot of people? I don’t flirt, never been my style.

Have you ever been falsely accused of starting drama? Yeah, surprisingly so. It was honestly hilarious to found out I was being pinned as someone who’d start shit when I’d realistically be the first person to dodge the first sign of drama; but at the same time I was also just very pissed at that person for dragging my name and made it a point to never talk to them again.

How old are you? 24.

Do you attend church regularly? Unfortunately yes.

Have you ever found a song that describes your whole life? Not my whole life, but I have found solace in a few songs that I resonated with at certain points in my life. 

What time did you wake up this morning? It was around exactly 8, I think. Then I spent the next hour napping on and off until I had to get up for real by 9 to start work.

What time do you plan on waking up tomorrow morning? Pretty early actually, around 6. My sister’s college graduation is tomorrow and she has to be at her venue by 7:30; and since it’s all the way in Manila we have to start driving out super early. What kind of car do you drive? I have a Mitsubishi Mirage.

What kind of car would you like to have? I’d love a Mini.

Have you ever been to Dairy Queen? Sure! I never actually get their Blizzards, though; I’ve always been more of an Oreo frappe fan.

If so, what's your favorite thing to eat from there? ^ Oh, I was one step ahead of you haha.

How old did you turn on your last birthday? I turned 24.

Ever felt like falling apart? Yes.

Have you ever been in an ambulance? Haven’t been.

Do you tend to worry a lot? Yeah but most of my worries and anxieties these days are work-related, which I’d count as a good thing. Otherwise there aren’t many things I’m consistently concerned about in my personal life.

How old were you when you lost your first tooth? I was 6 and it was in the middle of class, haha. Very memorable experience.

Do you remember your first time on the internet? I do, actually. I had just come home from school and my dad surprised me with an internet connection, and I remember the first website I wanted to see in real life being YouTube.

Which website do you email from? Gmail.

[cozykozume]

I Call and You Cum

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Heyy guys! So I got a request to do more scummy kenma, and this piece def fits with that. Personally Scummy Kenma is a huge weak spot for me so I will be writing more about this I think.

This is a dark content fic, so please make sure to read the tags carefully. This is set in a college AU. These two fics are related, but you don't need to read one to read the other.

WC: 2501

Tags/triggers: DARK CONTENT. Noncon to dubcon, mind break, power imbalance, blackmail, creampie, fucking in public (a computer lab) Scummy Kenma.

Thank you so much to my beta reader @mianavs !!

You tried your best to avoid Kenma, thinking back to that night as little as possible. No matter how you looked at it, you couldn’t figure out why your body had responded to him like that. You blamed the alcohol, deciding to move past the incident as much as possible.

Of course, life never works as planned.

You were able to get a job at the campus computer lab, surprisingly, as you were still a freshman. Still, you were grateful. Checking the map, you noticed the lab you were assigned to work in was one of the furthest buildings from your dorm. Walking into the lab on your first day, you noticed a few things immediately. The lab was at the very end of the hall on the top floor, and because of this, it was fairly empty for the most part. It was incredibly small compared to the others on campus, so it seemed strange that they would need someone to staff this room. You checked your phone. You had gotten an email from the faculty member who oversaw the computer lab student employment program, stating that your student manager would be meeting you in the lab to go over the duties and show you the ropes. Nervous, as you had been in the lab for over 30 minutes, you waited for someone to show up and give you instructions.

You switched between several apps on your phone, moving onto the next when you were caught up with your timeline. Focused on your phone, you didn’t hear when someone walked into the room, and you also missed the small click of the lock on the door. By the time you looked up and noticed someone walking toward you, it was too late to do much. Kenma smirked at you as he walked closer, the color draining from your face as he stopped in front of you. “Hi, Y/n. I’m Kenma and I’ll be your student manager for this year.” He said, his voice quiet and steady.

You wanted to scream. You wanted to hit him. You wanted to run out of that room and never look back. However, instead of doing any of the above, you just stood there and stared at him. You shook your head, tears falling down your face before you could even stop them.

“Come on, y/n, don’t cry…” He said, closing the small gap between you as he wrapped his arms around your waist. He pulled you closer, kissing your forehead before resting his chin on top of your head. “Really, y/n, you should stop crying… Just seeing your face red and wet like that reminds me of our time together.” He said as he pushed his hips forward, the outline of his semi-hard cock pushing into your stomach.

“Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Me.” You said, your hands pushing at his chest as you tried to wiggle away. As much as you tried to put some oomph behind your words, you knew they came out as weak as you felt in that moment. “Now, come on kitten. You wouldn’t want those pictures and videos to get around campus, right? I have so many from that night. In fact, I think I even have a few of you moaning and begging for more.” He mentioned as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. Your hands froze on his chest as you heard your voice coming from his phone, loud cries and moans echoing around the empty walls of the room.

“Much better… I thought you would have learned after last time. It’s always better for you, in the long run, if you just cooperate.” He stated, his hand coming up to caress your face. His hand slipped to the back of your neck, gripping your hair tightly as he brought his face closer to yours. You could feel his lips ghosting over yours, your breath shallow as his golden eyes stared directly into yours, “Now. Are you going to be a good girl or am I going to have to punish you?” He asked before his lips connected with the corner of your mouth.

Your hands dropped to your sides, your shoulders sagging as you closed your eyes. You could feel the smirk on his lips as he started attacking your neck, sucking, and biting to his heart's content. You jumped as both of his hands found their way to your ass, grabbing you roughly and pushing his hips into you as he tugged you closer. “Fuck. I wanted to toy with you more, but I’m not sure I can wait too much longer.” He whispered hotly against your ear before his lips came down on yours. He pushed his tongue into your mouth, grabbing your thighs and lifting you. Instinctively, you wrapped your legs around his waist, your hands gripping his shoulders tightly. “Kenma!” You gasped as your head spun. He walked over to the empty table where you had been sitting just a few minutes prior. He set you down, his hands already grabbing at the hem of your shirt. “I didn’t get a good look at these last time…” He murmured, tugging your shirt over your head roughly and throwing it to the ground. He hummed, leaning back to get a good look at you. You shifted, your arms moving to cover yourself. He swatted at you, grabbing your hands and draping them back over his shoulders. “Your hands don’t move unless I tell you.”

During all this, it felt like your voice had been stolen out of your chest. “Kenma, can we please not do th-” Before you could finish your statement, his skilled fingers unhooked your bra and tossed it into the same spot as your shirt. “If all you’re going to do is whine, just shut up. I only want to hear those dirty moans and cries coming out of you.” He said roughly, his lips latching onto your nipple. Your eyes closed while your chest rose and fell quickly, as your body began to respond to his touches. His eyes darted up, looking at your face as your teeth dug into your bottom lip. “No no no kitten, this is the stuff I want to hear…” He whispered, his hands sliding down your legs with your leggings and panties quickly following.

Kenma pushed himself between your legs, his fingers fumbling with his own button and zipper. He was so confident just moments ago, stripping away your clothes like he had done it hundreds of times. But now that it was time to undress himself, he looked like an inexperienced teen. He pushed his pants and boxers down to his knees before his hands found their way to your core. Your back arched as his fingers slowly dipped into the wetness that had gathered between your legs. Kenma groaned against your neck, sinking two fingers into you with no warning. Your legs tightened around him, a loud gasp ripped from you as he stretched you open.

“Fuck! Good girl…” He grabbed one of your hands from around his neck, forcing your fingers to wrap around him. “Touch me…” He whispered, for the first time his voice coming out soft, a slight whine to it. Your breath hitched in your throat, the unexpected change in his voice causing your stomach to knot. Shakily, your hand began moving up and down, spreading his precum from the tip to the base of his cock. He let out another soft moan, his teeth sinking into your neck as his fingers continued to move inside you. You closed your eyes, your teeth digging into your bottom lip, as pleasure once again began to take over your body.

You squeezed him tighter, hoping if you made him cum then he would leave you alone. Of course, you could not be that lucky. Kenma swatted your hand away, pulling his fingers from you and rubbing your slick up and down his cock. He moved back, lining himself up with your pussy before he slowly sunk in. As hard as you tried, you couldn’t hold back your moans anymore, letting a breathy whine escape your lips.

Kenma grabbed your hips, pulling you to the very edge of the table. His arms wrapped around you as he stood still, his cock buried deep inside you. It felt strangely intimate, given the circumstances, but you appreciated the time it gave you to adjust to his size. He pulled back once before slamming his hips forward, loud moans coming from both of you, as his hips slapped against your skin. He nuzzled his head back into your neck, sucking and biting harshly as he started a steady pace of fucking into you.

Just like the first time, you let go of reason, mind going blank as your body took control. You could feel your snug walls pulsing around him as he started slamming into your body. Although you hated to admit it, his breathy whines and moans caused knots and butterflies in your stomach. Your legs tightened around him, as your arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him closer to you, body trembling. You could feel your orgasm coming on quickly, your moans coming out louder and quicker.

Kenma’s hand twisted into your hair, holding you head in place as his lips moved to your ear. “Fuck fuck fuck...That’s it...God, you feel so fucking good...Tight little pussy sucking me in…” He whispered, his lust filled voice going straight to your core. You cried out loud, moaning his name over and over again, as he fucked you into your first orgasm. He yanked your head back by your hair, his eyes locking onto yours as he pumped into you, dragging out your orgasm. You hated him. You hated everything about him and everything he had done to you so far...and yet, seeing him come undone because of you gave you some kind of sick satisfaction.

“Kenmaaaa…” You whined out, trying to push him away as he continued to jackhammer into you. His hips stuttered as he stilled inside you, his harsh breathing tickling your ear. Your hands tugged at the edge of his shirt, lifting it slightly as your hands began to explore over his chest and abdomen. You dragged your nails over his stomach before wrapping around him. His cock throbbed inside you, drawing another breathy moan from him as he tugged his shirt over his head.

This was the first time you had seen Kenma shirtless, and you were not mad about the sight in front of you. In another life, if Kenma had approached you in a normal way, all of this could have gone very differently. He was not ripped by any means, but looking at him you could tell he worked out. Without warning, Kenma drew his hips back and slammed into you, grunting loudly into your ear. Your nails dug into the soft flesh on his back, as your head dropped forward onto his shoulder. He returned to his punishing pace, hands holding you in place by your hips. You could already feel the bruises forming as his hold grew tighter the longer he held onto you.

One of his hands strayed from your hip, dipping lower to rub small circles around your clit. Bolts of electricity ran through your body, your back arching into his chest the faster he fucked you. Before you knew what was happening, you were begging him to cum, tears streaming down your face. Your nails ripped down his back, engraving angry red scratches into him. His head dropped back, his eyes closed, as his hips fell out of rhythm. “Y/n, beg me to cum in you...” He said harshly as he used your body.

You weren’t sure if it was the pleasure your body felt, or the fact you just wanted this to be over, but you did exactly as he asked. ‘Kenma, please cum inside m-” Before you could finish, he moaned loudly, slamming his hips into you one last time. You could feel his cum slowly filling you, the warmth causing chills to run through your body. His hips began to move again, fucking into you slow and deep as he milked every drop of himself. You dropped your hands from his back, disgusted that they were now covered in his sweat.

He pulled back from you, reaching down to pull his pants from where they were pooled around his ankles. “Nice to have you on the IT team. If you have any questions, send them in an email and don’t call me unless it's an actual emergency. Oh, and when I call while you’re on the clock, you pick up.” You stared at him, the look of utter disgust painted across your face. He was standing in front of you, speaking as though he didnt just fuck you within an inch of your life barely 3 minutes ago. You could see his cum leaking out of you, sliding down your sticky skin too smoothly.

As if Kenma could read your thoughts, his eyes locked onto where his seed was pooling under you. He smirked, taking a step closer to you, reaching his fingers out to dance across your inner thigh. “And for the time being, this belongs to me. I have plenty of pictures from last time…” His eyes darted down to where your pants were laying on the ground. He reached down quickly, snatching your panties off the ground and shoving them into his pocket. “And now I have your underwear to back it up.”

He walked towards the door, looking back at you while you sat on the table, your eyes watering as you digest everything that’s happened. “Hurry up and get dressed. I’m sure security will be making rounds soon, and I doubt you want to explain any of this to them.” He spat at you, taking his phone out and snapping a picture quickly before scrolling through his apps. You stood up, his cum running down the insides of your legs as you slip your pants back on. Slipping your shirt and bra into place, you pull your hair into a low bun rather than trying to figure out what it looked like.

Kenma smiled, unlocking the door and pulling it open slowly. He motioned for you to walk ahead of him, turning the lights out and locking the door behind him. “Good girl. I’ll see you tomorrow after your classes for your second shift.” He said quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked toward the elevator. You, on the other hand, opted for the stairs, wanting to get away from your attacker as soon as possible. As you push the door open to the stairs, you could hear Kenma call out quietly.

“Remember. I call and you come, no matter what.” You shivered, slamming the door behind you as you booked it down the stairs and toward your dorm.

#kenma #kenma smut #sleezykenma #dark content #hq kenma #incel kenma #kenma kuzome

[highqueenofelfhame]

rowaelin month day ten

rowaelin month day ten -- single parents. masterlist // buy me a ko-fi // redbubble  

The morning truly couldn’t have been going worse. Aelin had woken up to the nanny telling her she’d come down with the stomach flu. Aelin wasn’t cruel enough to tell the poor girl she had to work through it; instead encouraging her to drink as much water as she could and get some much-needed rest. Evangeline had apologized profusely, but Aelin was having none of it. She reassured her that she could figure it out.

It turned out she couldn’t. Her mother and father both worked sixty hours a week. Aelin knew that her mother would take a day if Aelin called, but she couldn’t bring herself to make the call and disrupt her week. Evie’s father had died in a car crash before she was even born. Everyone who was a viable option worked full-time jobs, leaving her three-year-old in her hands. She could call out, but she had a mountain of a workload that she’d left last night, reassuring herself she would get it done today. Everything she needed was at her office, so working from home was out of the question. All signs were pointing to an impromptu “bring your child to work” day. 

The CEO of the company was a good friend of hers, and Aelin knew that Dorian wouldn’t mind seeing his goddaughter toddling around the office. In fact, she knew that he would eventually steal her away for a snack time at some point so Aelin could get some work done. It would likely be a snack that wasn’t mommy approved, but she would give him a free pass today.

It would be okay, she reassured herself as she struggled to get Evie to cooperate with getting her tiny arms through her yellow long-sleeved shirt. She was mumbling in an indecipherable language as Aelin nodded along, chiming in here and there like she understood every word. The reality was that she only understood a handful of words. One of them was juice, so Aelin made a mental note to make her a full cup of juice for the car ride to the office to keep her happy. 

It didn’t take long to brush her hair into the tiniest pigtails to exist, with two little orange bows holding them in place. By the time she was fully dressed in her fall garb, complete with a tiny gray vest so cute that Aelin wanted to cry, she looked like a baby Gap model. Without a doubt, everyone at the office would be cooing over how precious she looked the second they walked through the door. 

“Where going?” Evie inquired, her little head tilting to the side as Aelin packed her go-bag full of snacks and an outfit change just in case. 

“Momma’s gotta go to work today, baby. You get to come, too. Do you want to see Uncle Dorian?” At the mention of Dorian, Evie’s eyes lit up as a broad smile pushed her chubby cheeks up until her eyes squinted closed. Aelin grinned and kissed her cheeks until she giggled wildly. Thank the gods that Evie was in a good mood today. Some mornings she woke up on the wrong side of the bed, fussy as all get out while Aelin tried to push along their morning. Thankfully today, she was full of smiles and giggles. It would make everything much easier if she cooperated.

After grabbing a sippy cup full of apple juice and shoving the bottle in her bag, making yet another note to put it in the fridge in the break room when she arrived at the office, she swooped Evie into her arms, and they were on their way. 

Upon arriving at the office, Aelin was right. The two receptionists immediately fell in love with Evie’s tiny pigtails and her outfit. They cooed over her bright eyes, twins to Aelin’s own. It took longer than usual to make it to the elevator, where even several men commented on how adorable she was. It brought a smile to her face, but it dropped when she thought of her office neighbor. 

Rowan Whitethorn was the hardass of the office. She was pretty positive that he hated her, and there was nothing she could do to change his mind. They spent their days arguing back and forth about anything and everything. Some days she was sure that he only did it to get a rise out of her. 

Aelin had never seen him smile-- he only scowled. His assistant was constantly rushing around, losing his damn mind trying to meet all of Rowan’s demands in a day. More than once, she’d caught tidbits of his conversations with Aelin’s own assistant, the poor boy begging to swap just for a single day. Aelin could only imagine what Rowan would say about Evie being such a workplace distraction. She was positive there would be complaints about her squeals and giggles that he would hear through the wall. 

There was truly nothing she could do, though. Too much needed to be done at work to take a personal day, and Evie was typically well behaved enough to be occupied until her mom got off work and could pick her up. 

As she made her way down the hall, everyone oohed and ahhed over Evie. Aelin thanked everyone for their compliments, her heart spilling over with joy. Until she saw Rowan in the kitchen while she put away the juice. He was making coffee and, upon noticing Evie in her arms, an emotion she couldn’t quite place flickered over his face. 

“I didn’t know you had a daughter,” he said, eyes going from her pigtails down to the boots on her tiny feet. 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” She closed the fridge door and left the kitchen, gone as quickly as she had come. When she arrived in her office, she shut the door and put Evie down, watching as she ran straight for the couch and flopped over the side with a giggle bubbling out of her lips. 

The single mother took a few minutes to take Evie’s toys out of her bag, even laying a few puffy snacks out on the table for her to snack on while she played. She went straight for them as quickly as Aelin sprinkled them out of the container. Aelin chuckled as she watched her for a moment, hands on her hips while she decided she was okay to sit at her desk and begin her work. 

Evie was surprisingly self-sufficient while Aelin started her daily tasks. She played with the toys her mother provided and munched on her treats. Aelin heard a lot of babbling and a slew of giggles, a loud squeal pulling her from her work as her door opened. 

Dorian leaned in the doorway, giving her a running start until he followed, darting across the room to scoop Evie into his arms. He spun her in circles with her legs flying behind her. She was laughing in a way that she only did with Dorian. Aelin seldom got that sound to come out of her daughter, but somehow, she wouldn’t change it for anything.

“I heard tales of a little princess fighting dragons in my office,” he said to no one in particular, but Evie seemed to understand that she was the princess. If there was anything that she liked in this world, it was being called a princess. She understood that word more than anything because Aelin read her fairy tales of princesses every night. Tangled was constantly on their TV, only to be replaced by Beauty and the Beast. They utterly enchanted her, and everyone in her life was constantly calling her a princess. She loved it. 

The giggling continued while he tickled her sides and blew raspberries on her belly until the shrieking got so intense he made a face at Aelin and merely brought her into a tight hug as he said, “Sorry. Nanny out today?”

“She’s got a stomach bug. I had no other options; I’m really sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You know I love any chance I get to see her. I’m not going to penalize you for being a mother, Aelin.” Evie was chomping her teeth near Dorian’s face, causing her best friend to laugh and hold her at arm’s length. “I’ll even take her across the hall for a bit so you can get more done.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” she replied, sighing and leaning back in her seat. Aelin really did have so much to do, to the point that she couldn’t even bring herself to tell him he didn’t have to do that. She would take whatever help she could get.

Her door was left open as he took Evie out into the hall, Aelin noticing that they weren’t going in the direction of his office but rather toward the kitchen. Her eyes rolled as she swiveled in her chair to face her computer and really dive into her work, leaning forward and exhaling a deep breath, willing herself to focus. 

Quite a bit of time passed, and she was able to get a considerable amount of work completed. All of her emails had been caught up when Dorian edged into her office and cleared his throat. Aelin looked up, half expecting Evie’s outfit to be ruined by chocolate, but her little ray of sunshine was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is she?” 

“I… may have taken a phone call and looked away for two minutes, and she vanished.”

“What?” Aelin was on her feet in an instant, rushing across her office and out into the hall. “What the fuck do you mean? How long has it been?” 

“Since I lost her and started looking for her? Half an hour. I was scared to tell you.” 

“My daughter has been missing for half an hour, and you’re only just now telling me? What the fuck, Dorian?” She hit his chest rather abrasively as she shoved past him, eyes scanning every room while she ran down the hall. How she was able to do it without toppling over in her heels, she wasn’t sure. All she could feel was the panic from her heart pounding in her chest to the shaking of her hands. The roaring in her ears made everything else sound muffled and distant, like she was standing at the edge of white water rapids. Even with her hands in fists so tight she could feel them shake, nausea building up in her chest. 

“Evie?” She called out, a tremor rising in her throat that caused her voice to sound shaky and weak. Tears were pricking in her ears as she turned to run back to her office. She would call down to security to see if they could scan the cameras, and call reception to see if anyone had carried her out. From there, she would--

Her heart stopped beating when she glanced into Rowan’s office. It was the office directly next to hers, and behind his desk, Rowan held a snoozing Evie. Her little fist was gripping the lapels of his suit jacket, and he seemed relaxed while he flipped through papers with one hand. 

“What are you doing with my daughter?” Aelin asked, stepping into the door. A few tears of relief slipped down her cheeks, and she was quick to wipe them, lest he make an asshole comment about it.

“I told that little shit to let you know I had her,” he murmured, barely glancing up from his papers. “I think that’s the final straw. He genuinely can’t do the most basic of tasks, I--” 

Rowan paused when he looked up from his work. Something soft flashed in his eyes for a split second before he continued, “She was laying on the couch by the kitchen when I found her. She babbled something about Dorian, I think, and when I looked in his office, he was on the phone arguing with someone. You looked busy, and I know you have a lot to do, and when I picked her up, she let out the biggest yawn I’ve ever seen. By the time I’d walked back to my office, she was asleep. I told my assistant to let you know. I’m sorry that he didn’t, and I’m sorry that I didn’t follow up with an e-mail or a phone call. You just seem like you could use the help so you could get work done. I’m sorry.” 

Not only was it the most that Rowan had ever said to her in a single conversation, but it was the kindest she’d seen him be to anyone. He wasn’t complaining about the little bit of drool coming out of the side of Evie’s mouth and soaking into his jacket. He was just holding her like he was so at ease with the situation and truly didn’t mind. 

“You don’t wear a ring, and I’ve never heard you mention a significant other. Divorced?”

“Widowed,” she replied, sitting in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. Again, his face softened as he looked down at Evie. 

“She looks just like you. She’s beautiful.” Ignoring the implications of that comment, Aelin smiled softly.

“Thank you. She is… everything to me.”

“I… I have a daughter, too. Briar. My wife died two years after we were married. Briar is six now, but Evie is… so much less temperamental than B was.” Aelin tried not to let the shock show on her face. Shock that Rowan Whitethorn was a father and shock that they shared a sad history. The curiosity to ask how she had died was strong, but she wouldn’t ask. Sometimes she hated it when people asked how Sam died. It was like opening a wound all over again. 

“Oh, she has her days. Don’t let this fool you,” she laughed, dragging her fingers through her hair. “I didn’t know you had a daughter, either.”

Rowan flipped his computer screen so she could see it, and she was welcomed by a smiling little girl with stunning green eyes and brown ringlet curls. Her heart squeezed at the image, Rowan holding her in his lap and grinning so wide he had dimples. Rowan Whitethorn had dimples. 

“She’s absolutely adorable.”

“She is.” Aelin smiled again, looking down at her hands and twisting the ring on her left finger that her parents had given her when Evie was born. It was her birthstone. 

“You can keep working if you want to. I’ve got her.”

“She’s not bothering you?” There was hesitation evident in her voice as Rowan looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms. He smiled, brushing a few wild strands of hair back against her head.

“Nope,” he said firmly, looking back at Aelin. “Really. You must have a lot to do if you didn’t just call in a personal day. She’s sleeping. It’s okay. I’ll bring her back when she wakes up.”

“I-- okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive.” Aelin chewed on her fingernail for a moment before she nodded and stood, walking across his office and toward her own. Aelin paused in the door, looking over her shoulder at the man with such a harsh reputation around the workplace. This man seemed entirely different, a man that was brushing his thumb against her daughter's side while she slept with his shirt in her tiny fist. He seemed so utterly relaxed while he adjusted their position in his chair to keep working. It was almost out of character, his offer. But she wasn’t going to complain. 

Rowan Whitethorn may have been the hardass of the office, but maybe he had a soft spot after all. @rowaelinscourt​

#rowaelin #rowaelin month #rowan whitethorn #aelin galathynius #tog #throne of glass #throne of glass fanfic #tog fic #tog fanfic #fluff #fluffy #rowaelin fluff #single parents au #briar whitethorn #evie galathynius #writing #my writing #masterlist

[swan-of-sunrise]

Civil War (Chapter Four)

Summary: In the aftermath of the U.N. bombing, (Y/N) receives a call from Steve and is ‘invited’ to the Joint Counter Terrorism Centre in Berlin for questioning.

Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader

Word Count: 3k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: I’m not too sure about this chapter, it’s all over the place and I’ve rewritten it twice so I can’t tell if it’s good or not lol thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Four (Previous Chapter)

While the paramedics finished fastening the bandage around her head, (Y/N) sat in the back of the ambulance and silently watched the chaos unfolding. A fire crew was busy hosing down the still-smoldering ruins and a medical helicopter flew overhead as different government agencies began setting up their base camps on the outskirts of the caution tape. The CIA agent who’d questioned her about the incident had informed her that a large-scale bomb had gone off next to their building, injuring over seventy people and killing twelve; she’d gone on to explain to her that if not for T’Challa’s last-minute warning, many more people would’ve perished in the blast.

Poor T’Challa, (Y/N) thought to herself with a pang of sadness. His father, King T’Chaka, had been the closest person to the blast and was killed instantly. The paramedics completed their work and she thanked them before quickly getting out of their way, knowing that there were many others who still needed to be helped. Shoving her hands into the pockets of her ash-covered blazer, she walked along the edge of the crime scene towards where she’d last seen Natasha and T’Challa; different international news reporters were documenting the tragedy and as she passed by one of them, their words almost made her stop dead in her tracks.

“Officials have released a video of a suspect who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier. The infamous Hydra agent, linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations…”

(Y/N) continued walking, afraid that she’d be recognized if she lingered too long, and finally sat down on an empty bench near the CIA’s base camp. Once she got over the initial shock of learning the suspected identity of the bomber, she couldn’t help but feel confused; Bucky had been on the run for over two years, ever since the Battle at the Triskellion and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., and there hadn’t been any sign of him since. Steve and Sam had tracked down every single lead they could find but to no avail. To her, it didn’t make much sense that after all that time, the wanted man would suddenly decide to do something as massive as bomb the United Nations.

The buzzing of her cell phone in her pocket jolted her out of her thoughts; pulling it out and glancing down at the screen, her eyes widened in recognition and she was quick to answer it. “Hello?”

“Are you hurt?”

“Um…yeah, a little. My right eardrum ruptured from the noise of the blast and my lungs feel like crap, but other than that I’m okay…” She trailed off, listening as Steve let out a shaky sigh of relief. Try as she might, memories of their recent fight came to mind but she forced aside her irritation with him as she continued. “Listen Steve, I just heard about Bucky and I-”

“You’re gonna tell me the same thing Nat did: to leave it up to the Task Force and stay home.”

She blinked, taken aback by the shortness of his tone. “Well, I think she has a point about staying out of it but what I was actually going to say is that-”

“I’m the only one who can bring him in alive, (Y/N), so that’s what I’m gonna do. I just wanted to call and tell you myself so that you didn’t believe I was hiding things from you.” Steve abruptly interrupted and after a moment of tense silence, the hard edge in his voice softened a little. “Look, I’m…take care of yourself while I’m gone, okay? Don’t forget to change that bandage of yours every few hours.”

The call disconnected as (Y/N)’s head snapped up in shock and she hurriedly scanned her surroundings, but the super-soldier was nowhere to be seen. “Bastard.”

“(Y/N)!” She looked over in time to see Natasha striding over to her, her brow furrowed in worry. “(Y/N), I just got a call from Steve a few minutes ago, and-” The spy stopped herself short as she examined her assumedly-angered expression. “I take it you got one, too.”

“Yep, and I’d rather not discuss it right now if that’s okay.”

Natasha nodded. “Fine by me, hot-shot, but we should be going; our presence has been…um, requested in Berlin. At the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre, to be precise.”

Frowning, (Y/N) stood and walked alongside her. “Our? What’s all this got to do with me?” The spy gave her a pointed look and she exhaled through her nose. “Ah, yes, my ‘association’ with Steve Rogers. They’ve guessed that he’d be the first one after Bucky and since I’m his fiancé, they want to hold me for questioning.”

“Pretty much…but there’s another reason that I’ll let Tony tell you about himself when we arrive. It was his bad idea, after all.”

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

By that point, (Y/N) was well and truly sick of flying; they’d taken the Quinjet to the Berlin-Tegel Airport, where a car had picked them up and drove them to the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. If her head hadn’t hurt so much and she were in a better mood, she would’ve taken the time to admire all the historical landmarks they passed by. And here I thought that week we spent dealing with Ultron was exhausting, she thought with a humorless smile, getting out of the car and walking alongside Natasha as they entered the parking garage’s elevator.

“When you’re questioned by an agent, be sure to answer as honestly as possible.” (Y/N) glanced up from her dirty sneakers and met Natasha’s serious expression. “Cooperation’s the only thing that’s gonna help Steve and Sam out right now, (Y/N). Don’t let the agent get inside your head, though; make sure that you’re the one in control of the situation, just like I’ve taught you. If I know them like I think I do, they’re gonna try and get more valuable intel out of you than just Steve’s whereabouts.”

She nodded after a brief moment of hesitation and the spy’s shoulders relaxed a little. The elevator stopped at the top floor and its doors slid open to reveal two men; one was Tony Stark, dressed stylishly in a dark-grey suit with a tense smile on his face and the other was an older man with salt-and-pepper colored hair that she didn’t recognize. The stranger stepped forward and shook Natasha’s outstretched hand. “Miss Romanoff, thank you for coming in so quickly.”

“Of course,” Natasha replied before glancing over at (Y/N). “(Y/N), this is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander of the CIA. Agent Ross, this is (Y/N) (Y/L/N).”

Agent Ross smiled and shook her hand, but (Y/N) got the distinct feeling that he was studying her expression and analyzing her behaviors. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, Miss (Y/L/N); my niece and nephew are big fans of your novel.”

(Y/N) murmured her thanks and followed the trio as they walked down a covered sky-way, not noticing that Tony had fallen into step beside her until he quietly asked, “How’re you holdin’ up, Austen?”

“Let’s just say that I’ve had better days.” She remarked, glancing over at the billionaire with a raised brow. “Nat mentioned something about a bad idea you wanted to run by me?”

“Oh, I have a couple of ‘em, but I’ll let you get changed before I go ahead and tell you. When I heard about the bombing, I figured that you and Romanoff would need clothes so I packed some before I left the compound.”

Touched by his thoughtfulness, (Y/N) allowed him to lead her to a private bathroom and quickly changed out of her soot-covered clothing; she felt a little bit like her usual self as she emerged from the bathroom, but the comforting feeling her change of clothes had inspired soon disappeared when the billionaire ushered her into a glass-walled conference room in the middle of what she imagined was a control room.

“Sorry if it seems like we’re sitting inside a fish bowl but this is the only place where we can talk without being overheard.” Tony sat down across from her at the long table, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “And I’m sorry about the civilian consultant thing, Austen. We all found out about it last night when Secretary Ross called to ask who’d decided to sign; he seemed crankier than usual when we told him that we didn’t know what you’d decided to do.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and leaned her elbow onto the table, resting her head in her hand with an exasperated sigh. “What, does Ross think that if I sign then that’ll make Steve suddenly change his mind and decide to sign too?”

“Pretty much…but truth be told, he’s not the only one.” Her brow rose in surprise as Tony sat forward in his chair, an uncharacteristically subdued expression on his face. “Look, (Y/N), none of us wants to see Rogers gone. The team needs him and we both know how much he needs the team, so…I was hoping that if you signed, you’d be able to convince him that he’d be doing the right thing by signing too. Once Rogers signs them, then Wilson and Maximoff should follow suit and we’d have our Earth’s Mightiest Heroes all back together again in no time. What do you think?”

“You make it sound so easy…and I wish it was, Tony. I really do.” She stood and walked over to the glass wall, her eyes trained on a large computer monitor that bore her fiancé’s photograph on a wanted poster. “But you and I also know that once Steve’s made up his mind about something it’s impossible to change it. I tried telling him that refusing to sign might put our future together in jeopardy, and do you know what he said?”  Turning back around, she met the billionaire’s gaze and mirthlessly smiled. “He said that he couldn’t afford to be selfish and he left it at that.” A lump formed in her throat as she blinked away her tears and shrugged. “He respects the hell out of you, Tony, so maybe you’ll have a better change at convincing him. I’ll be there when you do, but…since I haven’t decided what I’ll do yet, I honestly don’t know how much help I’ll be.”

Just as Tony opened his mouth to reply, the glass door of the conference room slid open and none other than Sharon Carter poked her head into the room. “If you’re ready, Agent Ross would like to ask you some questions.” (Y/N) stood and spared Tony a final glance before following the agent down the hall, pointedly ignoring the jealous pang in the pit of her stomach as she did. “Romanoff mentioned that you weren’t much of a coffee drinker, so I brought you some hot chocolate instead.” She looked over to see Sharon holding out a to-go cup out towards her, a hesitant but friendly sort of smile on her face. “Might help settle your nerves before your talk with Ross.”

She accepted the beverage with a murmur of thanks and took a sip as they continued down the hall; giving the agent a sideways glance, she cleared her throat before saying, “I’m sorry about your aunt, Sharon.”

“Thank you…and thank you for everything you said in your eulogy. Actually,” Sharon stopped beside the stairwell door and gestured towards it. “We don’t have much time, but do you mind if we talk for a quick sec?” (Y/N)’s brow furrowed a little but she nodded and followed her into the stairwell, watching as she leaned back against the wall and shuffled her feet. “You meant a lot to Aunt Peggy, (Y/N), but I don’t think you know just how much she appreciated you. Back before her dementia got worse, she’d call me after her visits with Rogers and we’d talk for hours; she worried about him, always telling me that he was deliberately keeping himself from embracing his new life and that there wasn’t anything she could do to help. But then you came into his life and from what she told me, it was a night and day difference; knowing that you were there for Steve, as a friend and then as something more, gave her piece of mind. She really liked you, (Y/N), and she really respected you. I just thought that you should know that.”

“Thank you, Sharon, that…that really means a lot to me.”

The agent nodded, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. “I would’ve told you all that after the funeral but you and Steve were sort of…well, you know…arguing. I swear I wasn’t eavesdropping, it’s just that you both were kind of loud and the cathedral has crazy-good acoustics.” (Y/N) started to reply but Sharon cut her off with a firm head shake. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for, (Y/N). I’m not exactly a fan of the Accords but just between us? I think that Steve was out of line back there.” Unsure of what to say, she nodded once and took another sip of her drink as the agent looked down at her wristwatch. “C’mon, we should get going before Ross starts looking for us.”

The two of them left the stairwell and continued down the hallway to an office; Agent Ross was seated at a desk and reading through a file, looking up from his work with a friendly smile. “Thank you, Agent 13, that’ll be all.” With one last glance, Sharon turned and left them alone. “Please, take a seat.” (Y/N) sat down in the chair across from him and crossed her leg over her knee, trying her best to remain cool and collected. “Miss (Y/L/N), we have reason to believe that Captain Rogers plans on interfering with the apprehending of the Winter Soldier; can you tell me when you last spoke to your fiancé?”

“A little over three hours ago in Vienna. He called to ask if I’d been injured during the bombing and then he warned me that he was planning on bringing in Bucky himself. That’s all he said.”

Ross nodded and gestured to the bandage wrapped around her head. “And are you okay?”

“Yes, it’s only a ruptured eardrum; the bandage is just keeping the ear from becoming infected.” (Y/N) shrugged, taking another sip of her drink before setting it down on the desk. “Truth be told, I’ve had worse.”

Nodding again, the agent picked up the open file on his desk and scanned its contents. “Yeah, it seems like you have. In March of 2014, you suffered a moderate-grade concussion, GSW on your left thigh and a severe muscle contusion on the other thigh; it also says here that you even needed an emergency blood transfusion upon arrival at the hospital.” He looked back up at her with an arched brow. “Sounds like a lot for a civilian to go through.”

(Y/N) blinked in surprise. “I-it was-”

“And according to witness statements from the Avengers, the Artificial Intelligence known as Ultron targeted you last year because of your close relationship with Steve Rogers, is that correct?” Nodding, she struggled to keep her expression neutral as her fingers began reflexively tracing along her old gunshot wound. “It looks like you were just a pawn in Ultron’s plan to break the Avengers apart, and it very nearly worked.”

Her first instinct was to snap at the agent but after recalling Natasha’s earlier warning, she swallowed her frustration and gave him a fleeting smile. “The CIA certainly cares a lot about historical fiction novelists, doesn’t it?”

Ross chuckled and leaned forward in his seat. “Only the ones engaged to rogue super-soldiers, of course. Speaking of super-soldiers, can you elaborate on the nature of your fiancé’s connection to James Barnes?”

“There’s nothing much to say that hasn’t already been said; Steve and Bucky were childhood friends who fought together during World War II and when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, Steve and Sam tried searching for Bucky but they never found him.”

Nodding, the agent reached over and moved his computer monitor to face her; on the screen was a blurry image of a man wearing dark clothing, obviously taken from grainy security camera footage. “And is this James Barnes?”

“Yes, although I’ve only seen him in person once and this photo’s a little blurry.”

“Okay, let me see if I’ve got this straight: Steve’s old pal bombs the U.N. meeting that you, his fiancée, was attending and instead of rushing to your side like any other partner would do, he decides to leave the country to apprehend Barnes himself. Does that pretty much sum things up?” (Y/N)’s jaw clenched tightly and she stared silently at the agent in front of her, who tilted his head to the side as he considered her. “You see, the CIA knows that you and Captain Rogers are close but what we don’t know is how far you’d go to protect a man who doesn’t sound like he’s got your best interests at heart.”

Before (Y/N) could finally lose her temper, another agent poked his head into the office. “I’m sorry, Agent Ross, I know you said that you didn’t want to be disturbed but this is urgent.”

“Fine, fine…”

Ross stood and followed the agent out into the hallway, leaving the office door cracked open just far enough for her to make out some of what they were saying. “Rhodes…all of them arrested…Bucharest…ETA in less than six…”

Thank goodness they’re all right, (Y/N) thought as relief washed over her, they’ll both be charged with obstruction of justice but at least they’re alive. Some of her elation disappeared as her mind drifted back to Agent Ross’ line of questioning; Natasha was right, the CIA was taking the golden opportunity to get intel on Captain America with the knowledge that what they were doing was protected under the Sokovia Accords. The thought of being manipulated and used that way infuriated her but what angered her more was that this all stemmed from Steve’s unwillingness to consider the consequences of not signing the Accords. You’re in control here, she told herself with a calming breath, just do everything Nat told you to do and you’ll be okay…

Agent Ross reentered the office and sat back down with an expectant smile on his face. “Well, now, where were we?”

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

A/N: This story’s a little more challenging to write than The Winter Soldier or Age of Ultron, there’s so much angst to deal with and writing these chapters really takes a lot out of me, so any likes, reblogs and comments are really appreciated ❤️

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting, you guys are truly amazing! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4TsJ2TY1F2HDXhEYOfzCjY?si=f5f309da80a74a63

Chapter Five

Civil War Masterlist

Tagging: @mrs-obrien​ @lahoete​ @awkward117​ @cminr​ @natdrunk​ @momc95​ @savedbystyle​ @miraculouscloud​ @awkwardnesshabitat​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @khuang3​ @supersouthy​ @benakenalove​ @brooke0297​ @hufflepeople​ @becausewelie​​ @outoftheregular @supreme-tantrum​ @ladydmalfoy​ @mads-weasley​ @username23345​ @crist1216​ @aesthethickks​

#stumblin' in #civil war #steve rogers x reader #captain america x reader #steve rogers #captain america #natasha romanoff #black widow #sam wilson #falcon #tony stark #iron man #sharon carter #agent 13 #everett ross #agent ross #captain america civil war #marvel cinematic universe

[sir-subpar]

Where have you been? (Part 2)

*Warning: Blood/Gore*

Five weeks. That's how long Boyfriend had been missing. Five weeks with still no sign of the blue-haired man, it was starting to drive Pico mad. The longer this went on, the harder it was for Pico to think positively. He was starting to struggle with sleep, sometimes going days without so much as a wink of rest. His fiery orange hair was messy from him constantly running his fingers through it. It was hard to relax when someone you care about was unaccounted for. Whitty and Hex were still helping out, which Pico appreciated, but it did little to ease his fears. The three of them met up and searched for Boyfriend as often as they could.

It was late in the afternoon, another day going by with no luck finding Boyfriend. The trio had resorted to putting up missing posters for Bf, splitting up to scatter them around town. It did little to help, especially when random vandals would tear them down or draw all over them. Every time Pico saw one of the posters being ruined it pissed Pico off to no end. He didn't think it was possible to want to strangle a graffiti artist as much as he did. By some miracle of willpower he refrained from doing so (that, and he didn't know who was doing it). Pico sighed angrily as he hung another poster, his thumb turning white as he pushed the tacks into a wooden pole. His gaze lingered on the poster. In the picture, Bf was smiling. He looked so happy.. Pico felt his chest tighten around his heart. It felt hard to breathe, but not impossible. He clutched the front of his vest, fidgeting with the teeth of the zipper. Pico could only imagine what Boyfriend was going through, and his imagination was not kind. As much as he tried to ignore the worst possibilities, he struggled to stay positive. 

What if Boyfriend was dead? 

He hated the idea. He didn't want to think about it. Surely he was alive. He had to be somewhere! Anywhere! He couldn't be dead! Pico tried to ground himself by thinking of other possibilities. Maybe Bf was just hiding from everyone because he didn't want Gf and her family to know where he was. Pico grit his teeth as more anger suddenly rose from his core. Girlfriend… he was honestly starting to resent her. Sure, most people don't want to see their ex after a breakup. Pico understood that, sure, whatever. But when someone goes missing, it's good to help find them. Especially when you're the last one to have seen them…

Pico was suddenly brought back to reality when he heard his phone buzzing in his pocket. Whitty was calling. The two exchanged phone numbers after they went to that diner weeks ago. Pico tapped the green icon to answer, and brought the phone to his ear. "Hey Whitty. What's up?" Pico asked, his anger faded a bit, now being distracted with the sound of Whitty's voice. "I just wanted to let you know that Hex can't help us for a few days. He's got some computer virus that's apparently been a bitch to remove." Whitty sounded agitated. Pico figured he was probably worried about his best friend. "Is he gonna be ok?" Pico asked, he was already missing one person, he didn't want to lose another. "Yeah, some tech guy's helping him out. He should be fine soon..." Whitty paused. "Hey, do you want to meet up? I'm out of posters to hang." Whitty's tone changed a bit, Pico couldn't quite figure out why, but he brushed it off. It didn't matter anyway. "Yeah, I'll pick you up. Where are you?"

…

Pico drove in silence as Whitty sat in the passenger seat. He felt a little bad for the bomb man as even with the seat pushed all the way back, he barely fit in the car. Pico's car just wasn't designed with people over 8ft tall in mind. Whitty had the chair leaned back so he wouldn't hit his head on the ceiling, his knees were bent just so he could fit in the car. Whitty's hands were in his pockets, despite the lack of space in the car, he seemed like he was relaxing a bit. 

"Hey Pico." Whitty broke the silence. Pico let out a hum, signaling he was listening. "I had this random idea for the next place we should check."  "Hmm?" Was Pico's only reply. He was tired, but he wasn't gonna quit for the day just yet. "You know that bridge close to the freeway? The one over the ditch?" Pico had to think for a moment before he caught on. "You think he might be hiding out in the ditch?" Pico asked, a little glimmer of hope making itself known. Whitty shrugged. "Maybe. I dunno. It's a common place to hide." Pico turned on his blinker, he had to drive to the opposite side of town to get there but at this rate it wasn't a big deal. If there was even a chance of Boyfriend being there, he had to take it. He had to make sure Bf was safe. 

…

After Pico parked the car, he and Whitty climbed down into the dry ditch. It was now night, the darkness making it hard to see anything. Except Whitty's eyes, that is. In the complete darkness, Pico noticed Whitty's orange eyes were glowing. He could partially see the tall man's body as the warm light from his eyes reflected off of him. Pico found it fascinating. It was oddly comforting, like a fireplace. Pico found himself getting lost in them.

 "... Pico?" Whitty's voice interrupted Pico's stupor. Turns out the inside of Whitty's mouth glowed too. "Huh? What?" Pico asked, a little lost thanks to his little daydream. "Are you alright? You seemed out of it." Whitty asked, shifting awkwardly as he stood. Pico felt uneasy, did Whitty see something in the dark that he hasn't noticed yet? Were they alone? Pico quickly shoved his hand in his pocket and whipped out his flashlight. As soon as he turned it on, and the light flooded the ditch, he realized no one else was near them (at least no one was close enough to see). So why was Whitty uncomfortable? Like someone was staring at him? 

Wait… 

Pico had almost physically face-palmed. He was staring at Whitty. He just stood there in silence and stared at this dude's face in the darkness. From Whitty's point of view, that probably came off as creepy. Now he felt a bit guilty for being so weird. Damn it, he had to say something to break this weird silence! But what? Should he apologize? Or just brush it off so they don't have to talk about it? 'Damn it Pico, say something! Anything!' He mentally chastised himself. Just when he was about to blurt out what probably would have been nonsense, Whitty piped up. "Did my eyes creep you out?" Whitty asked, sounding disheartened. Pico suddenly panicked, speaking before his brain could filter it. "What- No! No. Not at all. Your eyes are cool! Like a jack o lantern or something. They're neat! They like.." Pico cleared his throat to compose himself again. He had to give a rational response. "I think your eyes are fascinating. I didn't mean to offend you, I just got distracted. I'm sorry." Pico's face turned a light shade of pink out of embarrassment. He hoped his disjointed response would somehow make the situation less awkward. Whitty's eyes widened, and his cheeks glowed a bit as his expression shifted from surprised to bashful. He started rubbing the back of his head, a nervous habit, Pico assumed. "I… thanks. I've had people say my eyes remind them of Jack O lanterns before, but I think this is only the second time someone's used it as a compliment. Bf was the first." Whitty confessed, his tone sounding fond. Pico smiled a bit, of course B would say something like that. Pico snapped out of his trail of thought before he got more distracted with reminiscing. "Speaking of… we should get back to looking for him." Pico stated, bring their focus back to the task at hand. Whitty nodded. The two chose to walk throughout the ditch, hopefully they'd eventually find a sign of Boyfriend under these bridges. 

Each step they took echoed off of the cement around them. It was a little eerie. Pico was glad that he wasn't alone, Whitty seemed like he could hold his ground. It was comforting. After a few minutes, they came across a blanket laid out next to a few plastic water bottles. They couldn't necessarily say they belonged to Boyfriend, but it felt like they were on the right track at least. They continued their walk, hoping to find more signs of Bf. A few more mostly uneventful minutes went by, then they saw someone not too far ahead of them. Pico lowered his light a bit so it wasn't shining in their eyes, but he could still see them pretty clearly. They were leaning their back against the wall of the ditch with their arms crossed. They had what appeared to be a goat skull for a head with long horns er.. Horn. Pico noticed that one of their horns had clearly been broken off. Their face had multiple large cracks all over it. He wore a dark blue hoodie that matched his hat. His jeans were either a darker shade of blue or black, Pico couldn't quite tell. The skull-faced stranger had turned their head to look at Pico and Whitty, clearly having noticed Pico's flashlight. His black eye sockets with glowing yellow pupils staring them down. Pico admittedly got a shady vibe from him, but he was accustomed to shady people due to his type of work. He decided to approach the man, but not get too close, he just needed to know if he had seen Boyfriend. "Hey. Mind we ask you something?" Pico called, hoping the stranger would cooperate. "What do you want?" The horned stranger rudely snapped in a clear Russian accent, he was clearly agitated. Pico wasn't that fazed by the man's rudeness, again, he was used to that kind of behavior (not to mention he wasn't all that polite or well mannered himself). "We just have some questions. We're looking for a friend of ours, maybe you've seen him around." The man appeared to relax a bit after hearing that. His expression was less aggressive. "What does your friend look like?" He asked, his tone a bit less harsh than before. Pico pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his gallery until he found a picture of him and Boyfriend. He turned the phone around to face the man. As soon as he saw the photo, his eye sockets widened, and he tilted his head back a bit in surprise. "Boyfriend?" The man questioned.

Now it was Whitty and Pico's turn to be surprised. "You know him?" Whitty asked, bewildered at the man's recognition of Bf. "Yes, we are… acquainted. I see him a lot lately." That, admittedly, made Pico angrier than it probably should have. This guy knew where Bf was while no one else did. B had trusted this guy instead of Pico? Or Whitty? Pico once again asked himself the question that plagued his mind for weeks. 'Why didn't he come to me?' Pico tightened his grip on his flashlight. He should be glad. They finally had a potential lead. Pico forced the irrationality down for what felt like the 100th time that day. "Do you know where he is?" 'Please. Tell me you know where he is.'  Pico begged internally. The man nodded his head in a 'sort of' fashion. "I know where he's been hiding lately. It's not too far from here." He looked around a bit, as if checking to see if they were alone. "You know that little theater on Chavez road? The closed one? He's been around there lately. You'll find him if you go there." Pico suddenly felt a small rush of relief. That sounded promising. "Thank you, Mr..?" "Tabi" "Thank you Tabi. We appreciate it. Oh! I'm Pico, by the way. This is Whitty." Whitty waved, and Tabi nodded in acknowledgment. Tabi bagan to walk away. "Take care of Boyfriend you too. He's fragile right now." He called before departing. "We will," Whitty replied, "Thank you." Pico mumbled one more time before he and Whitty rushed towards the car. 

…

For the first time in weeks, Pico felt hope. He felt almost giddy in a sense. Soon this nightmare could be over. Soon Bf could be safe. But there was still a chance that they wouldn't find Bf. There were a lot of emotions running rampant in his head. Nerves, excitement, doubt. He couldn't remember the last time he was this conflicted. Various 'what ifs' both positive and negative coming forth to give their piece of mind. Pico gripped the steering wheel of his car tightly, his knuckles turning white. 

Tabi's words echoed in his head. 'Take care of Boyfriend, he's fragile right now.'   

Was this all really because of Bf and Gf's breakup? It just felt extreme. Most people don't go missing for weeks after a breakup. Especially Boyfriend. This was out of character for him. He hated being alone. There was more to it. There had to be. Pico was sure of it. 

Pico pulled over as the old theatre came into view. The decorative walls were a bit worn, but still beautiful. He knew this old place fairly well, it made him a little sad when it was shut down. Pico and Whitty stepped out of the car. Whitty stretched his arms, glad he could stand at his full height again. The bomb man looked at the various posters on the theater's walls, each one advertised some sort of play or performance. "Huh." Was all Whitty said. "What's up?" Pico asked. "I don't know why, but I thought this was going to be a movie theater. I didn't realise it was one of those performing arts places." Whitty replied. Pico turned to Whitty. "You've never been here before?" Pico asked, genuinely surprised. Whitty only shook his head in response. "Aw man, that's a bummer. This place was nice. It was family-owned, a local theater, ya know? It went bankrupt, but when it was open it was cool… B loved it here." Pico's tone shifted as he reminisced. Going from casual to bittersweet. Whitty tilted his head curiously, waiting for Pico to continue. He didn't make eye contact with Whitty, instead focusing his gaze on the theater's doors. "Ya know… sometimes, after a show, the owners would let B and I use the stage. We'd sing there for as long as they let us. We did it almost every week." Pico couldn't help but feel nostalgic. He remembered those times so well. It was years ago, back when he and B were together. They were memories he cherished. "Sounds like it was fun." Whitty commented briefly. "It was." Pico's tone continued to be bittersweet. Deep down, he hoped that he and Boyfriend could have what they did back then. He always regretted letting B go, but never said anything. Once Boyfriend found someone else, he figured he'd never have a chance again. Pico's vision started to blur slightly. 'Goddammit Pico! Now's not the time!' He mentally chastised himself, he didn't want to cry. Not when Bf was still lost. Not in front of Whitty. He was able to bury this before, he could do it again. Pico did his best to refocus on the task at hand. He needed to stop doing this. 

Pico cleared his throat.

"A-Anyway, we should look for Boyfriend. He's probably around here somewhere." Whitty nodded. Pico was thankful that Whitty didn't pry into his emotions. He'd rather NOT talk about that at the moment, thank you very much. "Let's check inside." Whitty proposed, Pico gave a brief sound of agreement before pulling the front door's handle. Surprisingly it was unlocked. Was Tabi right? Was Boyfriend here? Did he unlock it? Pico made a mental note about the door and continued inside, Whitty following just behind him. Once again he needed his trusty flashlight. The theater was usually dark as is, but it was extra dark with it being the middle of the night. While in said darkness, Pico was briefly reminded of earlier that night when he stared at Whitty's eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time. Pico's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. This was definitely going to be one of those memories that kept him up at night whenever he thought about it. Then, Pico had another thought. "Hey Whitty." "Hm?" "How come you haven't been using a flashlight too? I mean, I don't mind sharing mine, I'm just curious." Pico hoped it wasn't a rude question. "Oh, well, uh.." Whitty began, Pico once again noticing how the inside of Whitty's mouth glowed like his eyes. "I don't really need a flashlight. I can see in the dark." Whitty's cheeks glowled orange a bit, now Pico was convinced that was how Whitty blushed. He found it kinda endearing, to be honest. "That's really cool. Wish I could do that." Pico said and chuckled a bit, feeling a bit lighter in spirit. Whitty also laughed coyly, feeling a bit flattered. "Let's check out the stage first." Whitty directed, already walking towards it. "Yeah, good idea." Pico agreed, following suit. The 'house' was dusty, and the seats clearly hadn't been used in a while. Well, most of them hadn't. Pico paused, getting a better look. He quickly noticed that a few of them had been folded out, the armrests were raised, and what looked like a shiney red blanket was draped across them. Someone had been using them as a makeshift bed, Pico realized. Someone was definitely here. "Psst, hey Whitty." Whitty turned around to face him, Pico waved his hand in a 'come here' gesture. Whitty nodded and approached him. 

The tall bomb headed man leaned over Pico, looking down the same row of seats he was. It didn't take him long to catch on. "We must be on the right track. Wait, is that a curtain?" Whitty reached over Pico to pick up and hold the 'blanket' which was, in fact, part of a stage curtain that had been cut. Pico felt his heart clench. B was using a curtain for a blanket, he must be cold. Pico looked at the chairs/bed. One of the seats had a pile of clothes/costumes haphazardly bunched together, probably being used as a pillow. This was just… sad. Bf didn't deserve to live like this. 

While Pico looked at the seats, Whitty took a second to inspect the curtain. It was red on one side, and white on the other side- wait, no, the other side had red too. In weird splotches and smear-like patterns. Whitty held it stretched out in front of him, the white and red patterned side facing him. The patterns looked inconsistent not just in size and shape, but in hue as well. Some of the red splotches looked darker almost..wet, while others looked faded, like stains. Whitty touched one of the darker red spots with his thumb, surprised when it was actually wet. Realization suddenly dawned on him, this wasn't a pattern. Now he was worried. "Hey Pico?" His scratchy voice quietly called, Pico turned around to look Whitty in the eyes. Whitty held the curtain in a way that only let Pico see the shiney full-red side and not the 'patterns'. "I'm not entirely human, so correct me if I'm wrong but… human blood is red, right?" Pico gave him a confused and worried look, then nodded hesitantly. "That's what I was afraid of." Whitty admitted, turning the curtain around so Pico could see. Pico's white eyes shot open wide, before giving Whitty a panicked look. Pico's heart dropped.

Just as Pico was about to say something, there was a loud *CRASH* from a distance. 

Pico and Whitty's attention snapped towards the stage, it looked like a shelf had fallen over from backstage. Frantic footsteps could be heard. Neither of them had to say anything, they both bolted towards all the noise. Running up the small stairs to the stage. They ran towards the backstage area. Their own footsteps echoing as their shoes hit the wooden floorboards. Whitty, with his longer strides, took the lead ahead of Pico. Once they arrived at the backstage room, they saw the metal Exit door slowly closing. Whitty slammed it back open, dashing through it, Pico not far behind him. Once outside, they had stumbled into a fenced in parking lot. Street lights illuminated the empty lot, now they could see the other person running away from them. They were short, around Pico's height. They had a black hoodie on, the hood was up so they couldn't see their head. Even so, Pico was sure that it was Boyfriend. It had to be. 

The hooded person ran into the parking lot's locked gate. Attempting to climb over it, but they weren't fast enough. Pico and Whitty were on their tail. They still tried, though. They were clearly struggling to get up the fence's bars, it looked like they kept slipping, like they couldn't grip the bars. Just as they were about to make another attempt to climb, Whitty caught up to them. The tall bomb man swiftly wrapped his hands around their torso, easily lifting them off the ground. Like holding a kitten. They helplessly swung their arms and legs, attempting to free themself from Whitty's grip. Amidst all their wild flailing, the hood came down, revealing a familiar face with blue hair. Boyfriend. They found him.

"N-no! Let me go! P-Put me down!" Boyfriend yelled, his voice filled with panic. His eyes were closed, and tears soaked his cheeks. Whitty knelt down to bring Boyfriend closer to the ground, still not letting go. "Hey! Hey… Boyfriend, it's just us. It's okay." Whitty did his best to keep his scratchy voice steady, hoping to calm down the terrified bluette. Despite not having the most soothing voice, it seemed to help a bit. Bf stopped flailing and yelling for the moment, his eyes snapped open. He seemed to have come to a sudden halt. His fearful eyes scanned the environment around him. Pico tried to approach him slowly, he didn't want to spook the poor guy more, but he too, was shaking. He had seen Boyfriend scared before, sure, but not like this. This was a new level of absolute terror. He looked so… fragile. Like if someone so much as flicked him, he'd fall to pieces. This was a far cry from the Boyfriend Pico knew. The dumb, reckless, confident man was no where to be found. What really struck Pico though, was the noticeable dampness of Boyfriend's hoodie sleeves. Pico figured he must have been injured, and he had to help. 

In the moment though, he was overwhelmed. He was happy that they found him. He was also worried about him. Part of him was angry. After all the weeks spent searching for Boyfriend, after spending those weeks bottling up all his frustrations, fears, grief, worry. He had reached his tipping point. He couldn't hold back anymore. The tears in his own eyes couldn't be stopped this time. Pico threw away his inhibitions, and just ran up to hug Boyfriend. Pico buried his face in the crook of Boyfriend's neck, and dug his fingers into his blue hair. He was there, they actually found him. And he'd be damned if he lost Bf again. His own face was wet with tears. "G-god Damn it you- you fucking idiot. Don't scare me like that again. F-fuck." Pico's voice shook, sobbing, his cries making it harder to speak. Whitty let go of Boyfriend's torso, instead wrapping his arms around both Pico and Boyfriend, trying not to cry himself (emphasis on tried). A few of his hot, orange tears fell onto the other two boys, but neither seemed to notice.

After a few moments, Whitty and Pico pulled back from the hug. Pico kept his hands on Boyfriend's shoulders, he didn't want to let go. His attention was once again brought to the dampness of Bf's hoodie, he knew it had to be blood. "B… let's go home." Apparently that was the wrong thing for Pico to say, as soon as he did, Boyfriend panicked again. "I-! N-no! I don't want to see her again please Pico-! Don't make me go back!" Pico rushed to ask what was wrong, startled by Bf's reaction. "B, who are you talking about?" Pico gently grabbed Boyfriend's hands, he wanted to be comforting, but that changed when he noticed Bf heavily flinched, and his hands were wet. Pico gently brought Bf's hands into the light. His hands were cracked and bleeding. Badly. The skin and flesh looked like it was just barely holding on to the bones. Some of the blood was dry and crusty, while some of it was fresh. Pico furrowed his brow. "B… what happened?" Bf began crying again. "Gf.. She.." Bf's voice trembled, his lip quivered. He started sobbing. Whitty's orange eyes widened, in a spur of the moment, Whitty gathered both the shorter males in his arms. Lifting them off the ground and standing at his full height. "Hey Pico, why don't we all head to your place?" Pico nodded, still holding Bf's hands. "You can stay with me, B. I promise I won't take you to Girlfriend. She won't even know we found you, okay?" Bf looked into Pico's white eyes, then Whitty's orange ones, before slowly nodding and letting out a barely audible "okay". 

Whitty carried them to Pico's car, he decided to sit in the back with Boyfriend so he wouldn't be alone while Pico drove the car (they moved the front passenger seat as far up as they could to make more legroom for him). Bf was huddled to Whitty's side, the tall, warm, bomb man made him feel safe. Whitty had one of his arms wrapped around Boyfriend, hoping to comfort him. The bluette was still crying, but not as much as before, he seemed to have calmed down slightly. No words were exchanged during the car trip to Pico's house. 

Once they arrived, Whitty gently carried Bf into Pico's house and carefully set him down on Pico's couch. Pico ran off to grab his first aid kit from his hallway closet, mentally preparing himself for how wrecked the rest of Bf's arms might look. He didn't want to end up freaking out and scaring Bf more. Pico moved to sit next to Boyfriend on the couch. "Okay B, show me what hurts." Boyfriend seemed hesitant, Whitty, who was sitting at Bf's other side, rubbed his back. The small gesture seemed to comfort Bf a little, and he removed the black hoodie he was wearing, hissing as the fabric pulled away from his wounds; he was only wearing a tank top under it, so the damage to his arms was revealed easily. Boyfriend's arms looked worse than his hands did somehow. Cracked and bleeding, in some places, it looked like the skin had stitches only to fall apart more and undo them. He could see the bone in Bf's elbow and shoulder. 

Pico felt sick. It was a mystery how Boyfriend wasn't just screaming in anguish. Pico took a quick glance at Whitty, who also looked appalled at the gorey sight before them. Pico looked into Boyfriend's teary eyes, then back at his arms. "We should take ya to the hospital." Pico said nervously, his gauze and hydrogen peroxide couldn't fix this. "I-I already tried that. They couldn't- *sniff* they couldn't stop it. I-It's magic." Bf confessed, Pico noticed Whitty's expression changed from shock to sympathetic. Whitty gestured to Bf's arms "Was this Girlfriend's magic?" Boyfriend nodded. Pico felt rage bubbling in his core. His attempt to keep calm and collected was thrown out the window. "Did she do this on purpose!? That's it! Imma beat her ass!" Pico whipped out his gun. Furious. "I'm gonna pump that bitch full of lead!" Pico was about to storm out his house when both Boyfriend and Whitty stopped him. "PICO DON'T!" Bf and Whitty said in unison. Whitty gripped Pico's arm (which was super easy seeing as his hand was big enough for his fingers to wrap all the way around Pico's forearm), and Boyfriend hugged him, burying his face in the crook of Pico's neck. "Why the fuck are you two stopping me!?" Pico shouted, still undeniably pissed. "Please don't go, Pico!" Bf cried. "Listen dude, as much as I'd love to see ya give that girl more holes than swiss cheese, if you even try it, her family will kill you. Plus, if ya went to her now, they'll know we found Bf, and who knows what they'd do to him then!"

Pico hated to admit it, but Whitty was right. He'd just make it worse by confronting Girlfriend. Her family was powerful, her parents would definitely come after all of them if he tried to do anything to her. His anger was screaming at him to go and blast her with his Uzi, but reason objected to it. Pico sighed, and put his gun on the table. "Alright. Yer right. I'm sorry." Bf hugged him tighter. "Thank you." He said quietly. "Well, if I can't shoot that bitch, let's at least try to solve… this." Pico gestured towards Bf's arms, which were bleeding all over him in the hug. Whitty rubbed the back of his head, unsure. "Well, demon magic did this in the first place, maybe another demon can undo it?" Whitty offered, Pico thought about it, it made sense. If hospitals couldn't treat a curse, might as well try magic. "I can't say you're wrong, the issue now is finding a demon who would be willing to help. The only other demon I know I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw her. Do you know anyone?" Whitty shook his head. The three stayed quiet. Pico wracked his brain for anyone who might be helpful. Maybe his dad knew someone who could help? Probably not. His brother definitely hung out with demons and whatnot, but most people his brother hung out with were bad news. Not to mention he hasn't spoken to his older bro in a long ass time. That was a no go. Who else could he ask? Pico glanced at Whitty, he appeared to be going over various options in his head too. They were silent until Boyfriend chirped in. "I might know someone. Maybe tomorrow we can find her?" Pico shrugged. "I guess that's just what we gotta do. For now though, you should go get cleaned up. You remember where the shower is?" Bf nodded, and started walking down the hallway. "I'll bring you some clean clothes you can borrow!" Pico called, Bf replying with a distant "Thank you" before disappearing around the corner. 

Pico made eye contact with Whitty. He might not have known this guy too well, having only met him a couple weeks ago, but the time they spent working together trying to find Boyfriend made Pico appreciate him. He wanted to know more about him. Whitty was so helpful, even managing to calm Pico down when he was two seconds away from snapping. He found the gentle giant fascinating and comforting. "Hey Whitty?" Whitty let out a curious "hmm?" 

"I just wanted to say thanks.. For everything. You've been really helpful and great and.. I really appreciate it." Pico's earnest tone made Whitty's cheeks glow slightly. "It's no problem. You don't have to thank me or anything. I just.. Wanted Bf to be safe too, ya know?" Pico nodded understandably. "I wish we coulda met under better circumstances. You seem like a great guy, I uh… I'd really like to keep hangin out with you. Maybe once we get this whole curse thing sorted out, we should do something together? Maybe all three of us should." Pico felt color flooding in his own cheeks now, feeling somewhat nervous. Whitty smiled. "I'd like that." Pico let out a small chuckle. "Cool. Cool. Sounds good." 

An awkward lull took the conversation, neither saying much. Whitty eventually stood up and stretched, feeling a bit sleepy. "Well, I should head out. I'm gettin tired. Want me to meet up with you guys here tomorrow?" Pico hesitantly nodded, he almost offered to just let Whitty stay the night, but if he had plans to go home, who was Pico to stop him? "Sounds good. Imma uh.. Get some clothes for B." Pico attempted to make the situation less awkward, he was never good at goodbyes. "Yeah, that'd be good. I'll see you tomorrow." Whitty and Pico parted ways after that. Now, Pico just had to help Boyfriend. Hopefully this woman he was talking about can reverse whatever demon spell was on him..

Pico let Bf borrow his spare pajamas, and threw Bf's clothes in the wash. He wasn't sure if the washing machine was gonna be able to get all the blood out. As he was going through it, he noticed that the inside of Bf's jeans were bloody too, the curse must've been affecting his legs as well. Pico kept the 1st aid kit out, that way he could bandage what was left of Boyfriend's limbs. While Pico tended to the bluette's wounds, he made small talk with Boyfriend, hoping it would put him at ease. It seemed to help. Eventually it became time to turn in for the night. Both boys were exhausted.

 "Hey Pico?"

 "Yeah B?" 

"Can I sleep in your bed with you? I don't wanna be alone."

"... Yeah. C'mere."

"Thanks Pico."

"No prob. G'night B."

"Good night Pico."

#fnf #friday night funkin #fnf boyfriend #fnf bf #fnf pico #fnf whitty #cursed!bf #cursed! bf au #bf x whitty x pico #fnf bf x whitty #bf x pico #bicobomb #bombeep #bico #fanfic #twoshot #where were you?

[wolveria]

Inside Your Wires - Ch 6

Pairing: Human!Connor x Android!Reader

Series Warnings (18+ only): Eventual smut, slow burn, fantasy bigotry, violence, brief noncon elements, angst with a happy ending

Chapter summary: Connor gets his new assignment. He's not thrilled.

AO3

Story moodboard by @uh-kitty-got-wet​

Chapter 5 art by @semains​ (18+ only)

November 6th, 2038

Saturday 09:56AM

There was a time when Connor didn’t have to come in on Saturdays. He remembered the days when mandatory overtime was few and far between.

Not anymore. 2038 seemed to be the year shit just kept happening, and now that he thought about it, quite a few of it seemed to be because of androids. Ones gone missing. Disobeying orders. And now, homicidal.

Connor rubbed the bridge of his nose after putting his car into park, regretting how enthusiastically he’d hit the bottle last night. It wasn’t too bad this time, just an annoying throbbing behind his eyes, but it made it more difficult to see and he’d had to squint through his windshield.

Whatever. The reason for his shame-drinking was no longer relevant. Connor just had to survive until lunchtime, and if he were lucky, Hank would let him go early. He tried not to itch at the butterfly bandages on his cheek, applied himself after he’d woken up in a haze with blood on his pillow having completely forgotten the injury existed.

Connor kept his head down as he walked through the lobby of the station and through the security checkpoint to the bullpen proper. He tried not to be completely antisocial, however, and sent weak smiles at the coworkers who bothered to notice he was there.

Helen, Alexander, and Rupert all acknowledged him with various degrees of warmth, some colder than others, and all pretty much deserved. Ralph gave Connor a nervous smile from his chair, though it quickly faded as his eyes flickered to something across the room.

Frowning, he followed Ralph’s eye line across the bullpen and scowled when he spotted Colin leaning casually against Connor’s desk, talking to… someone. He couldn’t see who, Colin’s figure blocking them from view.

Against his better judgement, Connor drew closer, pressure building at the back of his neck, an uneasy feeling of dread that increased with each step.

“Con’s just gonna love this. But seriously, if he bitches about it too much, or gives you a hard time, you can always partner up with me. I won’t mind one bit, promise.”

Connor would have rolled his eyes at his brother’s typical cocksure demeanor, but instead, he went stock still at the familiar voice that answered.

“While the offer is appreciated, Lieutenant, my instructions stipulate that I must assist Detective Anderson with his new, specialized caseload. I’m sure you can understand that CyberLife only wishes to cooperate with the DPD and does not want to interfere with police procedure—“

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The YN800 model blinked and turned its head to meet Connor’s eye, its little blue light blinking for a moment before solidifying again.

It was sitting in Connor’s chair.

“It’s good to see you again, Detective,” it answered, chipper as ever as a fake smile graced its features.

Connor looked the prototype over, his nose crinkling at its appearance. The suit must have been brand new, there were no stains or bullet holes, and her—its hair was once again pinned upwards into a perfect knot.

He felt his insides churn at the near slip, at thinking for even a split second that this thing was a person. Shoving down the crude thoughts of the night before, Connor gave the order through gritted teeth.

“Get. Up.”

The prototype did as it was told, for once. It rose out of his chair, not even having the decency to look chagrined as it straightened its jacket of nonexistent wrinkles.

“I’m sorry, Detective, but I tried to call your phone and left you a message. It was not my intention to surprise you—“

“Oh, no, it’s never your intention to do anything, is it?” Connor snarled back. His headache was in full force now, and he swore he could see the bright lights of the station brighten in time with his heartbeat.

“Aw, c’mon!” Colin slapped him on the shoulder. “Be nice to the temp.”

“Temp?” Connor answered, voice pulled as taut as a wire.

“Yeah, you know. The temporary assistant. The new girl. The—“

He shoved Colin’s hand off his shoulder, leveling a glare at both of them. Colin merely shot him a shit-eating grin while the YN800 stood there, hands clasped behind its back at parade rest, polite and perfect as ever.

“Connor!”

All three of them turned toward the voice booming across the room.

“Get in here!”

Connor glared at the android, as if Hank’s shouting were its fault, which was probably the case.

He turned without a word and stalked to the captain’s office, shoulders hunched as his heart raced and his hands shook at his sides. He let the glass door fall shut behind him, but when he didn’t hear the whoosh of it close, he glanced over his shoulder to see the YN800 had followed him inside.

Great.

Connor stood in front of the desk with his arms crossed.

Hank sat down in his chair, pointedly looking at the chairs in front of his desk. Connor remained standing.

The older man glared, answering Connor’s attitude with a look and a heavy sigh.

“Bet you’re wondering what that’s about.” Hank jerked his chin over Connor’s shoulder. The prototype had taken a spot at the back of the office, observing politely with its hands clasped in front of its hips.

“Yeah, I am.” Connor was a little too cranky this morning to try a more diplomatic approach. “What the hell is it doing here?”

“I’ll get to that. First on the docket, I got a shit ton of android-related cases filling up our database every day and I’m at wit’s end.” Hank took a deep breath, bracing himself as he met Connor’s eye. “Which is why I’m assigning all of these cases to you.”

“You’re what?”

Connor stared at him, dumbfounded.

“You think that case last night was a one-off? We’ve got more android-related crimes rolling in, including assaults and homicides just as bad as the Ortiz case, and right now, you’re the one with the most experience.” Hank leaned his elbows on his desk as he leveled a formidable glare his way. “Is that going to be a problem, Connor?”

 “Yeah, it is a problem, Hank! Why the hell do I have to do this? What about Colin? He was with me at the crime scene and was there for the interrogation!” Connor shoved a finger at the glass wall to prove his point.

Hank’s jaw tightened. Connor had seen that behavior enough times to recognize how he was pushing his luck.

“CyberLife asked for you specifically.”

“What?” Connor blinked, dumbfounded once again, racking his brain but coming up empty. “Why?”

“The hell if I know!” Hank barked back, rising to his feet as he pointed a finger at Connor, “and frankly, I don’t give a damn. Colin’s got enough on his plate—“

“—and I don’t?” Connor interrupted, scowling. Hank sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, and Connor almost felt guilty for his outburst.

Almost.

“That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you implied.” He tried not to sound like a hurt child, but, well, that’s exactly what he sounded like.

“For fuck’s sake, Connor! There are more people that are gonna start dying from this!”

“Yeah, I know, but—“

Hank lifted his hand, palm forward, effectively shutting Connor up.

“You saw what one of those deviants was capable of last night, and that was with three of you and another android trying to get it under control! You think the average person stands a chance against one of these fucks? That a little ol’ grandma can defend herself against the murderous robot gardener coming at her with a pair of shears? What the hell happens when a nanny bot decides to take a human kid for itself? Oh, wait, that’s already happened, and you would know that if you checked the goddamn case files I sent you!”

Connor was silent as Hank deflated. The older man leaned back against his desk as he looked through his glass wall out over the bullpen. His voice was rough but much quieter for the next round.

“We’re totally in the dark, Connor. We don’t know how bad this is gonna get and how many androids we’re dealing with. This has the potential to turn into a fucking nightmare with Detroit as ground zero.” Hank’s gaze drifted over Connor’s shoulder to the elephant, or the machine, in the room. “CyberLife was gracious enough to send us a state-of-the-art prototype until this issue is contained. It’s gonna be your partner until such a time that these androids are no longer a threat, and then you’re free to go back to being a misanthropic son-of-a-bitch as much as you like.”

Connor was thoroughly shamed by the end of Hank’s speech, that old familiar feeling of disappointment making his gut roil with nausea, but his anger hadn’t entirely flagged. He clenched his hands tightly to his thighs, fingers desperate for either his coin or his cigarettes.

Connor hadn’t felt the need for one in months. This was bad.

“Hank,” he tried again, his voice soft and pleading in that way he knew Hank couldn’t ignore. “I’m not saying this just to be a pain in your ass. I understand the stakes, but I genuinely believe I’m not qualified for these types of cases. I’m not a CyberLife technician, or an AI specialist, or a computer engineer. I’ve never even owned an android.”

That last one was technically true but only in the barest sense, and Hank gave him a knowing look. It wasn’t without sympathy, and his own answer was given with more kindness than he probably deserved.

“I know, Connor. I also know you’re the sharpest pair of eyes on the force, not to mention the quickest brain and the best instinct. You see shit other people don’t, even Colin, and you’ve got this creepy knack for taking one look at a person and knowing what makes ‘em tick. I’d say you’re almost like an android yourself, but I know how much that’d piss you off.”

Connor gave him another narrow-eyed scowl, and Hank immediately put up his hands as a sign of surrender even as a smirk played on his lips.

“My point is, I need you on this, son. I know it’s not ideal, hell, it downright sucks, but I know you can do this. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”

And there it was. As effective as Connor’s pleading expressions could be, they were nothing in comparison to his need for Hank’s praise. The old geezer knew it, too.

And throwing a “son” into the mix was a goddamn dirty move, but Connor couldn’t even muster up annoyance. He just sighed, gave Hank the smallest hint of a smile, and said, “All right. But only until these cases are solved. Once the deviancy issue is addressed, the prototype is going back to CyberLife and you never give me an android case again.”

“I’ll pay for the postage to ship it back myself,” Hank said, smile wide and pleased as he patted Connor on the shoulder before returning to his desk. “And I want daily reports on the progress you and your new partner are making. Gotta make sure CyberLife’s best is pulling its weight.”

“I can assure you, Captain Anderson, I am worth every penny. And considering it took a small fortune to build me, I—“

“Yeah, yeah,” Hank interrupted the prototype, using that catchphrase that Connor and all of his brothers had picked up years ago. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

The android blinked almost comically before giving a slow nod. It then turned to face Connor, straightening its back at attention, and he rolled his eyes. He was still being handed the shit end of the stick, but he couldn’t deny that the cases were piling up and Hank really did need the extra help.

But why, out of all the androids in the world, did it have to be one like that.

Exhaling sharply through his nose, Connor turned and left Hank’s office, not waiting to see if the android would follow, knowing with a sinking feeling, it would.

Next Chapter

#connor x reader #human!connor x reader #human!connor x android!reader #connor x android!reader #inside your wires #my fanfiction #my writing

[writtentodeath]

Would you like to write a snippet of a hero and villain who have have a lot of respect for each other and then they team and fall in love? But after they defeat the Bigger Evil they go back to fighting each other? And then the villain wins with the hero’s organization and hero gets captured?

“Well, I guess this is it,” Hero said, gazing at the smoldering wreckage of Supervillain’s last project. They glanced at Villain, who stared over the destruction, entranced.

“It’s us or him,” Villain said, their mouth quirked into a rare smile. “He won’t stand a chance against the two of us.”

“The two of us…” Hero mused. “It would increase our odds.”

Strange how far they’d come.

“Where do we start?”

Villain looked back at them, strangely captivating against the spark-filled background of debris. “Guess you’re right,” they replied, stepping forward.

Hero looked up at them, eyes dark with exhaustion. “What’re you doing?” 

Villain casually leaned against the doorframe. “Thought I’d show up early. Been here all night?”

Hero stifled a yawn with their hand. “No.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Villain pushed off the door and took a swaggering step forward. “I could push you over with my little finger. You think you can fight Supervillain like that? Get some sleep.”

Hero frowned. “I’m fine.”

Villain walked over, ignoring Hero’s slight jump when they grabbed their shoulder. “Hey.”

Hero’s gaze dropped back to the work on the desk. They nodded.

“And we’re… back to the good old ways?”

Villain tilted their head. “Unless you’d like to join me. We could, ah, start small. Rob a bank.”

Hero gave a small, quiet laugh. “No can do.”  They took a step towards Villain, their heart pounding. “I have to go,” they said.

“Then leave.” Villain didn’t break eye contact.

Hero swallowed, “You… couldn’t keep helping me?”

A brush on Hero’s shoulder, and they turned, trading smiles with Villain. “Do we need to rehearse again?”

“Your plan will work, don’t worry. Distraction in the back, second distraction in the front, and we sneak in.” Villain’s gaze lingered on their lips just a second too long. “Don’t overthink it.”

“I’d never.” 

Villain paused. “Maybe another time.”

-Eight months later-

“It’s pretty simple,” Hero said, “we just have to-'' they paused, noticing the blinking lights on the computer screen. “Gotta go,” they said, and hung up the phone.

A blind thought ran through Hero’s head, wishing for peace- but they shook it off, and finished their coffee. That always seemed to do the trick.  

They ignored the light at the front- it was a false entrance, anyway- and ran to the back. The door was gone, replaced by a pile of rubble. It was a dead end. 

The lights went out, plunging the hallway into darkness. 

“I may have slightly overestimated how many people you had helping you,” said a voice behind Hero. “But it doesn’t really matter, does it?” 

Hero turned toward the voice. “How did you-”

“Through the side,” the other person said. “Just like we rehearsed.”

There wasn’t any air left in the hallway. 

“What’s wrong?” they said. Hero could feel the air displace as they moved closer, and Hero stumbled back.

“You- you used me. My plan.”

“Are you surprised?” 

A pair of hands caught Hero’s shoulders, spinning them so their back pressed into the wall. 

“No,” Hero said, trying to steady their breathing. “I hadn’t heard from you in a while.” 

The hands disappeared from Hero’s shoulders, but came back in a moment, tracing over Hero’s cheek.

Hero reached up to knock it away, but Villain captured their wrist instead. They had their other wrist too, then, and brought them together.

“Let me go.” Hero started to struggle.

Villain pressed their body flush against Hero’s, effectively making them freeze. “Are you going to cooperate?”

Hero kept struggling, and Villain sighed. “I thought not.” 

They snapped a pair of handcuffs first on one wrist, then the other. With Hero’s hands out of the way, Villain pulled something out of their bag.

“What is that?” Hero asked, keeping their voice calm. “What are you doing?”

“You left me in that wreckage,” Villain said. “I know you didn’t want to.”

“That’s not the point,” Hero insisted.

Villain ignored Hero. “And you can’t admit it. So I’m taking matters into my own hands. Don’t worry, this isn’t permanent.”

They tilted Hero’s head to the side, baring Hero’s neck. Hero felt a sharp sting, and then Villain’s forearm was pressing their chest into the wall again. 

“What was that?” they gasped. 

“A simple neuromuscular paralytic. You’ll be able to move again in a few hours.”

They had less than three minutes to get to their table, figure out what they’d been injected with, and put together the antidote. Hero tried to run away, but Villain had them securely trapped.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Villain said. “Just relax.”

A few more seconds, and Hero started to sag against Villain’s chest, until they were completely reliant on Villain to keep them standing. 

“This is what we wanted,” Villain whispered, lips brushing against Hero’s ear.

Hero didn’t say anything. They couldn’t.

“You’ll forgive me eventually.”

It was true- and that’s what scared Hero.

#hero #villain #writing #my writing #creative writing #writers on tumblr #hero x villain #villain x hero #writeblr

[dreamescapeswriting]

Stray Kids Reaction || Deletes Something Important [Request]

A/N: I’m still trying to get into the swing of writing for these babies, BUT Please go and VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! And Stream (depending on when this comes out) these babies deserve the world honestly

A/N: My writing is under keep reading signs to stop from blocking up peoples dashes, sorry again to everyone it annoyed.

Chan:

Chan was supposed to be asleep beside you but he'd tried to drift off but couldn't his mind was elsewhere. You were asleep next to him and he was getting nervous about work he was supposed to have been emailing with JYP but he'd left his laptop at the JYP building and he didn't want to get into trouble but not replying at all so he took hold of yours and opened it up. It was no big deal you always let him use your laptop so he logged in and began emailing with JYP when a document popped up on the screen without giving it a second thought he clicked off it without saving and then his eyes widened as he realised what it was, across the screen were the words.

''Deleting 10K Essay For English'' He scrambled trying to get back what he'd deleted but the laptop wasn't cooperating with him and he was starting to get stressed. You stirred in your sleep turning over and facing Chan and he panicked looking down at the screen once again trying to recover the file but it wasn't working,

"Chris, what are you doing?" You grumbled realising he was still awake, normally he could sleep when he was beside you but clearly not tonight.

"I was writing an email and then I accidentally deleted your essay I'm so sorry though. I'm trying to get it back but it's not working." You rubbed your eyes and sat up in the bed taking the laptop away from him and going into the deleted system to recover what he'd deleted.

"I hadn't started it yet anyway." You said showing him that the only thing on the document was your name, date and title of the project. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he realised he hadn't deleted anything too important,

"Will you cuddle me now? I'm tired." You mumbled to him laying back down beside him, he shut the laptop and snuggled up behind your so his arm was dropping over your side and he dragged you closer to him.

"Goodnight baby," He whispered in your ear, you hummed and closed your eyes listening to him breathing to help you drift off back to sleep and Chan laid there listening to you snore softly while drawing invisible patterns into your skin.

Minho:

"Can I borrow your laptop?!" You heard Lee Know yell over the runner water,

"Sure!" You yelled back going back to washing yourself, you'd just gotten done with another dance video for your Youtube channel and you were looking forward to editing them all later now that filming was out and done for the next two weeks. Minho was clicking off the excessive amount of internet tabs that you had open not checking that he was now closing down the videos that you'd had ready to save without saving them and then doing what he needed to do he hadn't even noticed that he'd just deleted two weeks worth of work.

(X)

"Hey, baby?" You asked later that night when you sat down ready to edit everything you'd been recording but everything was gone,

"Yeah?" He asked looking up from his phone to look at you, you looked away from the screen with a worried look on your face,

"Did you delete anything earlier?" You questioned trying to stay as calm as you could without kicking off at him because it wasn't his fault,

"No, I just closed a bunch of internet tabs. You know it'll make your computer run slow if you keep those up all the time." You groaned laying your head down on the table in front of you trying to think of some way to recover everything he'd closed.

"What?" He questioned locking his phone and walking over to you and sitting down on the floor beside you and saw that you were tearing up,

"Jagi?" He asked but you lifted your head and wiped your face taking in a deep breath and trying to stay calm, Minho didn't know what he'd done so you couldn't get mad at him for it.

"It's nothing, I'll just see if I can find them." You mumbled looking through the deleted files but everything was gone since your computer did its own wiping system,

"What was it?" You didn't want to make him feel bad about something that he did by accident,

"You deleted my dance files, it's okay though I'll just reshoot everything." You told him shutting the laptop down and then going over to your dance room, you took one look inside and decided you would start filming tomorrow it was way too late to start filming them all now.

"I'll help you." He promised following behind you and began rubbing your shoulders kissing your cheek and promising himself he'd do anything to make up for deleting the files.

Changbin:

You'd been working on some songs with Chan for a while now and everything was starting to come into place, and you were starting to put vocals to it with the help from Chan and Seungmin who you were getting to sing for you because you weren't about that yet. Changbin hadn't known you'd been working on songs because you wanted it to be a surprise for him but it was about to be ruined because he'd just accidentally broke the USB that was containing everything you'd been working hard on for the last 2 months.

"Changbin?!" You called as you walked through the front door of your apartment, you were in a good mood since you'd just gotten a raise at work and Changbin didn't want to ruin that by showing you the broken USB so he hid it behind him and smiled at you but you knew that smile too well,

"I know that smile, that's your, 'I did something wrong but I don't know how to tell you' smile." He slowly pulled out the USB from behind him and you dropped your bag on the floor rushing over to him and look at it,

"Changbin? How?" You pulled it from his hand and took your laptop out to try and see if you could do anything,

"I was trying to use your laptop and I accidentally dropped it and the USB snapped." You groaned looking through the laptop for any signs of the broken USB being recognised but it was all gone, everything.

You called Chris after it happened to see if he had anything backed up and luckily for you, it was all backed up on a second USB stick for you sitting in his studio.

"What happened?"

"Changbin broke it by accident." You laughed looking over at Changbin who was staring at you with a guilty look on his face, you hung up on Chris and walked over to Changbin.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident." You shook your head sitting down beside him and snuggling your head onto his shoulder.

"It's fine, Chris has everything backed up for me." You whispered then telling him why you had been in such a good mood when you first walked into the apartment.

(Grr in tiny)

Hyunjin:

You were giving directions over the phone to Hyunjin, you were sitting in your office at work when you realised that you'd left your important work at home.

"Just email them over to me." You told him as you looked through the door, your boss was making his way over and if you didn't have the photographs you were most likely going to get fired for them being so late. You were already a week behind and you couldn't believe that you'd left them at home, you'd spent hours editing them to be perfect.

"The big red button?" Hyunjin asked and you assumed he meant the one that said send in your email so you told him yes, waiting patiently for the email but then you heard him yelling to himself.

"Hyunjin?" You called out looking at the phone to see if it had been disconnected but it hadn't.

"Hyunjin? What happened?" There was mumbling and shuffling on the other line and then you heard a thick Australian accent and you knew Felix was in the room now,

"Felix?!" The line went dead and you stared at the screen wondering what to do when it started calling back but with Han's number,

"Han? What's going on!?" You panicked looking over at your boss who was getting closer and closer to your office,

"He accidentally deleted them but Felix is trying to get them back." You stared out of the window wondering if you could jump out of it without breaking a leg, it was two floors high so chances of breaking a bone were high.

"Fuck. My boss is almost here." You whispered to Han who could tell how panicked you were and began to rush the boys into fixing it faster.

"Check your emails." You heard Felix call out and you opened your desktop looking through the emails and finding them sitting there.

"Felix I could kiss you right now!" You yelled looking at the photos and getting them ready for your boss to view them.

"Please don't." He called out, you hung up the phone and got ready for your boss who was standing at your door with a small smile on your face, ready to see what you had ready fro him.

Jisung:

The USB was sitting in two pieces in Jisung's hand and he didn't know what to do, you were due home any second from work and he didn't know how he was going to fix this or tell you that he'd just broken 4 years worth of book writing in one sitting, he little sat down without looking and broke the USB stick by accident. He knew how hard you'd been working on that book since you were spending every moment of your free time on it and he felt terrible, the door clicked open and he looked up to see you standing there holding takeout containers ready for your date night, your hands looked down at his and you saw the USB stick but instead of getting mad like he had expected you too you were calm about it and took the food out into the kitchen,

"You're not mad?" He questioned following you into the kitchen and showing you the USB, you looked up at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Nope," He watched you walking around the kitchen in search for your plates.

"But it's broken..."

"Baby." You giggled turning to look at him and he looked as though he was the one going to cry, you wandered over to the other side of the kitchen opening a small drawer showing him 3 other USB sticks.

"I back it up every day." You told him taking the broken one from his hand and putting it into the bin,

"Plate food up, I need to pee." You giggled kissing him quickly and running off to the bathroom, Jisung relaxed instantly. Feeling better that you weren't mad at him for accidentally breaking something with so much work on it.

Felix:

You'd been spending weeks working on the home project for your mum, you'd found all the old VHS tapes of you and your family when you were younger and you were converting them all so they would be on a DVD instead of a VHS tape for everyone to view.

"I swear I've been working so hard my fingers are numb Chan, I don't know how you do this all the time." You said to Chan as he handed you some food, he'd come over to see you and Felix at your apartment and you were sitting at the dinner table together looking over at your laptop.

"What have you done so far?" You got it out and showed him what you'd been doing that day, you were on the tape of your brother.

"He's going to kill me, I'm keeping every embarrassing moment I can find on it." Felix came running into the room when he realised he was late for dinner, he'd been up in the shower for the last hour singing.

"What did I miss?" He slipped on the floor and knocked the table sending a drink flying over and spilling onto your laptop.

"NO!" You screamed out as you watched the screen fade to black and then Felix look guilty,

"Fuck." You cried out taking the laptop and trying to dry it out but it wasn't going to work, it was ruined.

"Baby I'm sorry-" You looked at Felix and he stopped talking, he could see how upset you were about it and he knew how hard you'd been working so he felt even worse.

"I'll help," You shook your head at him,

"No, it's fine...I'll- I'll figure something out." You whispered taking the laptop and putting it on the table and staring at it.

"I'll see if I can air it out," Chan added looking at it and wondering how he was going to manage it but you were already on your phone looking at your contract to see what was covered under the warranty, Felix left the room going to get started on editing the video's he'd seen you starting with before.

Seungmin:

Lockdown was starting to get to you but your assignments were done and ready to be sent in for their due dates the only good thing about being on lockdown was that you were with your boyfriend Seungmin when everything was passed, meaning you got to spend more time in Korea with him so you were working from the dorms and staying with them. You'd become like a housewife, working on your assignment when they were at the studio and once your assignments were done you would clean up for them and cook for when they would come in.

"You're an angel, you know that?" Felix said as you laid a plate down in front of him, you laughed and shook your head at him and looked over at Seungmin who was looking guilty,

"What's up with him?" You questioned with a small laugh behind your voice, Felix shrugged.

"He's been weird since we got in," Jeongin mentioned as you placed food in front of him as well,

"You haven't told her yet have you?" Han asked looking between you and Seungmin but he was met by a death glare from Seungmin you sat down next to him.

"Tell me what?" You questioned him but he stayed silent not wanting to bring it up at the dinner table but it was him or Han that was going to.

"I accidentally deleted four of your assignments." You dropped the fork that was in your hand and everyone stared up at you, even Chan who was getting ready to go back to the studio again.

"You what?" You asked looking at him and you could tell he was guilty about it, he took you out of the kitchen and towards his form room so he could explain everything and you told him it was fine. That you'd tried to get them back and if not you would rewrite everything again.

"You're not mad?" He asked taking your hand in his and running his thumb along your knuckles but you shook your head,

"I was ahead anyway, it's fine I'll just redo them if I have to." You reassured him but he still wasn't convinced about it, you kissed him on the cheek and told him to go and eat before the food went cold.

Jeongin:

Everything was ready to be sent off for your first job interview, you'd just gotten done with your skype interview and you were getting ready to send all of your art projects over to the interviewer who was waiting to view everything but nothing was where it was supposed to be on your laptop and you couldn't find any of the original files.

"Jeongin?" You called out picking up the laptop and carrying it through to the living room of the dorms to find him playing video games with Felix,

"Yeah?" He asked glancing at you and then back at the screen,

"Were you on my laptop today?" It was normally never a problem but once everything was gone it was starting to be a problem, he paused the game much to the disgust from Felix who looked up to see you. They could both see the panicked look on your face and Felix didn't know what to do about it, Jeongin got up and nodded at you.

"Yeah, why?"

"All my artwork is gone, the ones I needed for the interview, did you delete anything?" He shook his head and you sat on the floor putting the laptop on the table and double-checking that it wasn't there in case you missed something, but it was all gone.

"Don't you have it backed up?" Felix questioned and you shook your head at him,

"I broke the back up USB and I'm fucked if I don't get this in right now." You whispered looking at the screen, Jeongin asked what the folder was called and as soon as he heard the name and he felt awful.

"I may have accidentally, deleted it." You stared at him and Felix backed out of the room not wanting to be there for the discussion that was going to happen,

"How?" Jeongin took the laptop from your hands and began to look through the files on everything that was deleted earlier.

"You told me to clean it all up and I thought it was one of my folders. I'm so sorry." He continued to search for them and he finally found them in the recently deleted section, recovering it all and helping you send it to your interviewer.

#stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids x you #stray kids x y/n #stray kids reaction #stray kids reactions #skz #skz x reader #skz reaction #skz reactions #bang chan #christopher bang #bang chan x reader #seo changbin #changbin #changbin x reader #lee know #minho #minho x reader #hyunjin #hyunjin x reader #hwang hyunjin #han jisung #han jisung x reader #jisung x reader #lee felix #lee felix x reader #kim seungmin #seungmin #seungmin x reader

[gsophie43]

The Scars That Bind ch.1

Genre: fluff/ angst

word count: 4000+ not guaranteed to be mistake-less

thanks to @alwaysupstead on Twitter (@pd_upstead_fanficstories on Insta) for helping me come up with the title!

Hailey leaned over the sink and slowly breathed to calm down her beating heart. She tried to push down the memories of her direct defiance towards Jay. She took a quick glance into the bedroom, where Jay was sitting in her bed with covers up to his waist as he flipped through something on his phone while waiting for her. She was embarrassed. She was confused at what she was feeling. She was frustrated with herself but at the same time, she was just glad that the case was over. She didn’t deserve him or his kindness. Even though she had had to deal with his mess before, she still felt like he didn’t deserve to be caught in the middle of her’s. She breathed deeply, trying to remind herself that he wasn’t the kind of guy to be petty or hold grudges.

“You okay?” His deep voice invaded her thoughts. She opened her eyes and peered over to see him propped up on his elbow, looking at her. She didn’t even realize that she had closed her eyes.

“Yeah.” She said. His freckled body stood out against the white sheets and comforter. She hesitantly brushed out her hair, before slowly making her way into the bedroom, her eyes glued to the floor.

“What’s wrong?” He asked softly. She raised her hands up and let them fall against her legs.

“I’m sorry.” She said softly. It was so out of character for her that Jay wasn’t sure he had actually heard her for a second.

“What for?” He asked, his eyebrows narrowing. She didn’t turn off the lamp, but climbed into the bed with him. She was taken aback by the fact that he sincerely didn’t know what she was apologizing for. She waited  for him to wrap a hand around her waist. She glanced down at his freckled chest, the rough scar catching her eye.

“I’m sorry for everything with this case. For ignoring you and putting you in danger. Then jamming you up. Making you feel like you had to lie for me.” She put her hand over his chest and rubbed her thumb along that scar.

“I knew I didn’t have to lie for you.”

“I put you in danger. You almost got shot again because of me.” She whispered. He rubbed a thumb on her shoulder blade.

“You made a decision. Maybe not the best one. But you made it, and you’ve always had my back when I didn’t make good decisions. I’m not just your boyfriend, I’m your partner.” Hailey teared up when he said ‘partner’, feeling shame about suggesting to Voight that she might need a new partner. Jay was confused at why Hailey was getting more upset.

“I told Voight we were together. I’m sorry I told you not to say anything and then I told him without asking you,” she said.

“I asked Voight if I needed a new partner...without talking to you first.” She whispered. She looked up at his eyes, and to her suprise he didn’t look offended or hurt, more curious than anything.

“Why?”

“I acted on instinct earlier, and it messed up the plan. I went in when Voight told me to stand down.”

“We’ve both done that before though.”

“I know, but that instinct…” she hesitated, “what if Voight was right? What if that instinct came from my heart and not my gut?”

“What if it did? I think that it makes you a better cop.” He said.

“I don’t ever want to be in a situation where I have to choose between you and someone else.”

“I know… there’s no good solution for that, but I think it’s the price we have to pay to love someone.”

“You almost got shot. Because of me.”

“We’ve survived me getting shot before.”

“You think last time was easy?”

“No, I’m sure it wasn’t. I absolutely hated that sling.” He said sarcastically.

“I’m serious.”

“I can’t imagine how worried you were.”

“I was terrified. I hate that I almost put both of us through that again.”

“I forgive you. You have to forgive yourself.” She just stared at his shoulder and rubbed that scar. He was silent for a second. He leaned over and kissed her.

“Come on, let’s go to bed.”

“I don’t deserve you.” Hailey whispered.

“You deserve the world, Hailey.” His hot breath danced on her lips before he leaned in and kissed her again. He reached over and shut his lamp off and she did likewise.

“Thankyou.” She said whispered.

“I love you.” He said, cuddling her.

“I love you, too.” She looked at his soft shoulders glowing from the moonlight.

Hailey closed her eyes and tried to let herself relax. Before long Jay was asleep, but Hailey had a hard time falling asleep. She wondered what had made her think about not being Jay’s partner anymore. She wondered if her trauma made her a bad girlfriend. She laid wide awake for over an hour before she suddenly got an idea.

“Jay” she whispered. “Jay.” She shook him awake.

“Mmm..” he grunted.

“Jay.”

“What?” He said softly, blinking his eyes open.

“I got an idea.”

“Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

“No, listen.”

“Kay?”

“We should take the day after tomorrow off.”

“Why?”

“I made a lot of mistakes in this case, and I feel like I betrayed you. I want to make it up to you. So, let me take you out, where it’s just us and we can spend the day together.” She said softly, grabbing his hands.

“You don’t have to make anything up to me.” He said.

“Jay, I love you. I know that I’ve said that to other guys before… but, you’re different. I really could see myself spending the rest of my life with you. So, let me show you how much I love you.”

“Okay.” He said softly. He kissed her gently.

“Why can’t we take tomorrow off?” He said in a fake whine.

“It’s way too short notice, and I don’t want to do that to Voight. I think we’re already pushing our luck,”

Jay chuckled.

“My luck was beyond pushed a couple years ago, I think he can handle a slightly irresponsible move on our part.”

“Ooooo, Ca-”

“Don’t even say her name.” Hailey smiled.

“K.”

“You ready to sleep?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Hailey, don’t blame yourself for things that have been forgiven. It’ll eat away at you.”

“...thanks.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” This time Jay waited for Hailey to fall asleep as he rubbed gentle circles in her back, before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. The next day was a drag. No new cases, lucky for them. But that meant signing off on CI files, doing inventory, cleaning and reorganizing desks, rearranging the bullpen, and cleaning lockers. Hailey’s heart fluttered everytime Jay would touch her back or touch her arm. Jay’s heart would flutter everytime Hailey would give him a small smile. Hailey spent a good part of the day planning for the next day, thinking about things he liked to do and places she wanted to show him. At the end of the day, she ended up leaving at the same time as him but turning down beer at Molly’s. While Jay was drinking with the guys, she went home and surfed the internet to find good places to eat. She would leave the decisions of what they would be doing to Jay. She was passed out on the couch when Jay came to her place home that night. Jay gently took her computer off her lap and smiled when he saw the screen. An article entitled Top Five Things To Do During a Date was pulled up. He closed the screen and sat down next to her, putting an arm over her shoulders. He kissed her forehead gently and rubbed her arm with his thumb.

“Hey.” He said when her breathing changed and she looked up.

“Hey.”

“You ready for tomorrow?” She rested her head on his pec and wrapped her arms around his midsection.

“Yeah, you get to decide what we do tomorrow. I want to do whatever you want to do.”

“Really?”

“Yeah”

“Even if it’s golfing?” He joked. Hailey breathed in deeply.

“Yes, even if its golfing.” Jay chuckled and smiled.

“I don’t think I want to golf tomorrow, don’t worry.”

“Ok. There are a few places I want to go to.”

“Sounds good to me.” Jay took a deep breath.

“Have you eaten?” Hailey asked.

“Yeah, I had a burger at Molly’s, have you?”

“Yeah, I heated up some leftovers.”

“Do you want to… take a bath?” Jay asked, raising an eyebrow.

“How about a shower?”

“Oooooh, I think I’ll take you up on that offer.” Jay stood and Hailey did the same. Jay bent down and picked Hailey up bridal style, eliciting a rare laugh from her.

“Jay, you don’t have to…”

“Oh please… You are trying to plan something nice for tomorrow, let me at least treat you tonight.”

Hailey smiled as Jay carried her. He set her down on the tile and turned the water on. He leaned over and kissed her. Their tongues danced together and he reached for the hem of her shirt. He tried to pull the shirt up while kissing her, but got frustrated when it wasn’t cooperating with him. Hailey pulled away and laughed.

“Jay, it’s a button up. You have to unbutton it.” She said, undoing the buttons. The second she undid the last button, Jay was back to kissing her. She laughed on his lips. He gently slid her shirt off her shoulders. Next came his shirt, then their pants, and before they knew it, they were both naked. Hailey got in and then Jay got in behind her. Jay trailed kisses down her neck as the hot water created a thick steam that moistened her skin. She leaned back into him and closed her eyes. He put some of her shampoo in his hands and began gently massaging her roots. He slowly made his way down her hair, softly rubbing the blonde strands.

“Your hair is thick.” He said. Hailey laughed.

“It was perfect for people to put gum in.”

“That happened?”

“Yeah”

“That’s awful.” Hailey chuckled. Jay took the shower head and started rinsing Hailey’s hair. Hailey turned  and kissed Jay.  Jay smiled and grabbed a washcloth. He gently washed her back and shoulders. She got some of his shampoo and massaged it through his curls. Before they knew it, they were both clean, just standing under the water. Hailey took the initiative to shut the water off and grab their towels. They dried themselves and stepped out.  Hailey smiled with the towel wrapped around her chest.

“I want to go to bed completely naked.” She said. Jay smiled.

“Ok, lets do that then,”  Hailey dropped her towel and Jay copied her, his eyes roaming her body.

“Wow.” He thought to himself. He went in and kissed her passionately. His hands roamed her back while hers brushed through his curls. He grabbed her thighs as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Jay blindly led them into her bedroom, clumsily bumping into the doorframe.

“Mm… I love you” Hailey whispered.

“I love  you too.”

He laid her down in the bed and proceeded to spend the rest of the night making love to her.

The next morning, Hailey’s alarm awoke her. She shut her alarm off and laid her head back on Jay’s chest, smiling. She couldn’t have asked for a better way to wake up, under soft covers, cuddling with her boyfriend. Last night was beyond her wildest dreams, Jay sending fireworks through her body. She heard his heartbeat against her ear and felt his chest rise as he breathed. He was so cute when he slept, completely relaxed. The freckles on his chest popped out in the early morning sunlight. She traced the shape of his abs with her finger. Just as she closed her eyes, about to fall asleep again, she felt a sharp intake of breath from him and she felt a pair of lips kiss her head.

“Good morning.” His gravelly voice said.

“Good morning.” She said.

She breathed deeply as Jay’s arms wrapped around her.

“How did you sleep?” He asked

“Unbelievable well.” She joked. “How about you?”

“I slept well, too.”

“What do you want to do this morning?”

“Oh wow, I’m already deciding?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Well, I guess we could get breakfast for starters.”

“Do you want to lay here first, or do you want to get up now?”

“I want to stay here right now.” Hailey looked at all the tiny freckles on his arms.

“You have so many freckles,” she said, touching his arm.

“Mmm… you like?” Hailey chuckled.

“Yeah.” She looked at all the tiny dots until her eyes landed on a deep looking scar on his forearm.

She touched the scar with the tip of her finger.

“Where did you get this scar from?” She said, tapping his arm.

“Shrapnel.”

“Oh, you were blown up?”

“Yeah we were in a convoy, our jeep was at the head of the group and we hit an IED. It was terrible, the worst recovery I’ve ever gone through. Shattered my arm, ruptured my eardrums,  had deep cuts, broke my hip and femur, cracked my skull.”

“Holy shhhh……”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my god, Jay.” She said in shock. He smiled.

“I’m okay now. Physically at least.” Hailey picked her head up to look him in the face.

“How come I just learned about this?” Jay shrugged.

“I guess it just never came up.”

“Huh.” Hailey sat up and sat crisscrossed.

“Well, now you have to tell me about one of your scars...liiiiiike….this one.” He touched her thigh, accidentally causing a small flinch from Hailey. She looked down at the scar.

“My dad.” She said softly. Jay pulled his hand away, regretting asking.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine… I came home from school one day. I don’t even remember how old I was,  but I was in highschool. I had failed a chemistry test, but I didn’t want to tell him. When I was using the bathroom, I had accidentally left my back unzipped a little and he saw it. He pulled it out and then dumped my bookbag out on the kitchen floor and went through all of my stuff. He threw my cell phone and smashed it. He went through all of my tests and graded assignments, pulling out anything that was below an A.”

Hailey closed her eyes, feeling the warm tear slip out and slide down her cheek.

“He got so furious, he was screaming. He...he grabbed my hair and pulled me down onto the kitchen floor. He slapped me.” A gentle hand slipped into hers.

“He was screaming so close to my face that he was spitting on me. I was crying. He told me to stop being dramatic and he backhanded me. I bit my tongue when he hit me, caused it to bleed. He screamed that I was a waste of his time, told me I should have been aborted. He punched me, bruised my jaw… I remember putting makeup on the next day to cover it. And he smashed a beer bottle all over the tile. I tried to crawl away… and I did,  but I got a piece of glass in my thigh. That’s what the scar’s from.” Hailey took a deep breath. She felt Jay’s soft hand on her cheek, his thumb wiping away the tear.

“I don’t know why I’m crying, I’m sorry.” She said, opening her eyes.

“You don’t need to apologize for being upset. Never. You are allowed to cry.”

“Yeah, I just feel like I’m being too emotional.”

Jay sat up. He took both of her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs on the back of her hands.

“Hailey, you can never be too emotional. I will always listen when you’re upset. You have a right to your emotions. Okay?” Hailey nodded. Jay scooted over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“I love you. I’m sorry you had to go through that growing up. I hate that you had to grow up with an abusive father.”

“That’s not all he was. He could be really sweet and nice, but anything could set him off. One minute he would be laughing, the next he would be hitting me and my brothers.”

“I know, but it doesn’t change that what he did was not okay. And I want you to know that you deserve so much better than that.” Hailey stayed in his hold for a minute before breaking away.

“Come on, you want to get some breakfast?”

“Sure”

“Where do you want to go? Or do you want to stay here?”

“Um, I can take you to a dinner that my parents used to go to.”

“Alright.” They both climbed out of bed and Hailey headed to the bathroom.

“I’m gonna use the bathroom.”

“ Okay, You want coffee?”

“Ummm, no, I’ll get some there.”

“ ’kay.”

Hailey closed the bathroom door behind herself. Jay made his way to Hailey’s closet and got dressed. He was pretty sure that he had more of his clothes in Hailey's closet than in his own. He chose a pair of jeans, a black shirt, and a burgundy sweatshirt. Jay waited for Hailey to come out of the bathroom before heading in there. He was brushing his teeth when she came in and started brushing her teeth. It didn’t take them long before they were ready and out the door. They decided to ride in Jay’s truck. They looked through the menu and ordered before chatting while they waited. Jay kept glancing out the window, noticing a guy outside that seemed to just be loitering.

“You want to go?” Hailey’s voice broke his thoughts.

“What?”

“You keep looking outside, do you want to leave?”

“No, no, I just thought I saw something.”

“What did you see?” She asked, turning to look.

“Nothing, just some guy that’s loitering.

Hailey put her hand on Jay’s when he looked out of the window again.

“Jay, it’s okay. It’s our day off, turn the detective brain off.” Jay smiled at her.

“Okay.” Jay took a sip of his coffee.

They had a good time just spending time together and talking. When they got up after paying, Jay noticed the guy still outside. In fact, Jay was pretty sure the guy had been watching him because when he looked at the guy, they made eye contact for a split second. This guy was really making him feel uneasy. When they walked outside, Jay put a hand on Hailey’s back and quickly glanced over his shoulder. When he noticed they were being followed, he started gently pushing Hailey to walk faster, as they had parked pretty far away from the building. Hailey easily obliged, though she wondered what Jay’s rush was.

“Hey, what’s-”

“Shhh.” Jay cut her off, looking over his shoulder again. The guy had a hood on and was looking down as he followed them. The faster they walked, the faster he walked. As soon they got close to the truck, Jay unlocked it and urged Hailey forward.

“Get in the car, Hails.”

“Why-”

“Get in the car, Hailey.” he said in a deathly serious tone. Hailey obeyed and as soon as the door closed, she looked in the rearview mirror to see what Jay was so urgently rushing them away from. She watched Jay walk behind the truck and confront a guy in a hoodie.  She knew Jay wasn’t concealed carrying so she was extra concerned.  All of a sudden two more men came and started attacking Jay. Before Hailey could even think about it jumping out, a taser was whipped out and shoved at Jay’s stomach. She saw Jay swat at it as he crumpled to the ground. She jumped out.

“Jay!” She yelled out. The hooded guy that they had seen outside the diner pulled a gun out and started firing in her direction. She ducked behind the tire of the truck, as she wasn’t concealed carrying either or wearing a vest. The gunfire lasted a few seconds, but as soon as it ended she stood to see them dragging a limp Jay to a van.

“Hey! Police!” She yelled, hoping to scare them because that was her only option left.

The guy started firing again and she ducked behind the car next to Jay’s truck. The gunfire stopped and she heard two doors slam shut. She stood to see the van starting and rolling away. She ran after it, screaming Jay’s name and trying to see the plate, but it quickly turned down the street and was out of sight. She fumbled to find her phone and called Voight’s number.

“Voight.”

“I need help. I- I need help..” She said breathlessly.

“Hailey, what’s going on?”

“I need the team down here now. He- they took him.”

“Who?”

“They took Jay… Jay’s been abducted.”

“Where are you?”

“Diner on 39th and California. It was three guys, average height and build, caucasion, one had a gun, one had a taser. They put him in a gray panel van. I got a plate number,  Alpha Charlie Victor Two Seven Four. It turned down a side street and I lost it.” Voight rapidly wrote this information down.

“K,stay put. Call it in. We’re on our way.”

“Got it.”  Hailey hung up and obeyed. Her legs were shaking until she finally saw Kim and Adam roll up. Kim jumped out and speed walked up to her.

“Hey,” she said, putting a hand on Hailey’s back.

“Hey,” she replied coolly. Adam walked up.

“Are you okay?” Kim asked.

“Yeah...yeah I think so…. it just happened so quickly.”

“You call it in?” Adam asked.

“Yeah, I called in a 10-1, and put out a city wide BOLO.” Kevin and Voight walked.

“We weren’t concealed carrying, but I should have pursued them, I should have chased them, I should have.”

“Hey, you did the right thing,” Voight said. “Okay, can you walk us through what happened?”

“Yeah, um. Jay and I were just having breakfast. He kept looking at this guy that was outside, it seemed to be bothering him. We finished and walked outside, Jay pushed me to walk faster, he kept looking over his shoulder. I asked and he just told me to be quiet. When we approached the truck, he told me get in, I did. I saw Jay confront the guy. Then, two other guys approached him and jumped him. They tased him. I jumped out, one of them pulled out a gun and started firing. I ducked, they dragged Jay into the van. I tried to confront them, they started firing again. I couldn’t stop them.”

“Anything about these guys stand out to you?”

“No, it was a blur. Um, but it seemed that wanted only Jay, and they wanted Jay alive for some reason. The guy saw me, he could have just shot me point blank and then took Jay, or just shot both of us. But they wanted Jay for a reason. They’re probably gonna torture him for information.”

A silence blanketed the air.

“Ok, one of our own is missing. Let’s get patrol on the streets. I want them focused in a five mile radius. Lets pull pods and security cameras, see if there’s enough for facial rec. Lets see if we can try to track these guys.” Everyone split off to do a task.

#Jay Halstead #Hailey Upton #Upstead #Chicago PD

[daisybeewrites]

Academy Blues — Prologue

word count: 1.8k

warnings: not any for this chapter

ship: Dousy, background Fitzsimmons and Philinda

okay y’all.. here it is. the first installment of my first LONG TERM SERIES!!!!!! ahhhh i’m so excited. literally i cant wait to continue this and see where it takes me. i have an idea and a few different planning sheets, but honestly i have no idea where exactly this will end up. i love each and single one of you <3 thank you for reading!! this is also posted on Ao3, and linked in the masterlist.

Daisy hated the sound of the bells at The Academy. Screeching, awful, way too loud, the bells were the bane of her existence. They all wore standard-issue watches from the lab that monitored vitals and gave them reminders, and also told the time, for god’s sake! Fitz had even modified hers so that she could play snake on the tiny watch face! There was no need for the bells to be so excruciatingly disruptive. Though, Daisy guessed, there were many things more tortuous than bells ringing every hour and fifteen minutes.

Daisy slowed to a jog, cutting her morning run short. The bright side to being a third-year was that you chose your schedule, for the most part, and that meant Daisy had a free first period for four out of five days of classes. She usually spent this free period getting an extra hour in at the gym, boxing or sparring with Mack or Bobbi, two fourth years that had reluctantly taken her under their wings, or sleeping in. She reserved sleeping in for especially rough nights where visions of ashes and earthquakes and lightning returned time and time again, no matter how many deep breaths she took or sheep she counted.

But this morning was not one of those mornings. She had been up before sunrise, a little before her usual alarm and silently headed out of her dorm for a run. It was humid this time of year on most Virginia mornings, but never so hot that it made Daisy feel as if she was being smothered. The cooler air chilled her sweaty skin, her chest rising and falling as she jogged up the three flights of steps to the second years’ dorms. Down one long hallway, and she arrived at her room.

Daisy had been given her own room at the start of last year, complete with poly-adaptic-proto-whatever panels, which she had painted a pastel shade of purple, to compliment the greens of her cacti and the dark purples and blacks of everything else in her room. Even May had agreed that the stark white was too ”psych wing” for a bedroom. Daisy was grateful for the space, but considering the panels and the private room were only necessary since...

She shuddered. Grabbing her shower caddy, Daisy set off to the bathroom at the opposite end of the hall, hoping no one else was spending a free first period at the dorms.

Her shoulder-length waves were wet from bouncing against her neck, and starting to become annoying now that the sweat had dried and was starting to itch. Picking the white tiled shower furthest away from the door, Daisy quickly turned the water on, checked the temperature, pulled her sports bra and shorts off and hopped into the shower. Shampoo, condition, soap body, rinse. Checking her watch, Daisy found that she had showered in record time, less than three minutes. After spending another five just enjoying the hot water, she hopped out and changed into her class clothes.

Dark purple leggings, Coulson’s grey vintage SHIELD tee and a pair of white running sneakers she had “borrowed” from Jemma completed her look. Passing the mirrors, Daisy tried not to glance at herself. If her hair was messy or her undereye bags a bit too dark, she didn’t want to know. Instead, she headed back to her room to pack her bag for the day.

SHIELD-issued laptop, extra hard drives and a charger, Advanced CS 3: Ethical Hacking: Theory and Application, Advanced CS 4: Secrets of The Coding Languages, Physics notebook, an essay that was three days late on some boring book about international laws, and her sparring gear were all thrown into the black bag. She gave a second glance at the Russian notebooks Bobbi had loaned to her, promising that she’d learn without taking the class. Oh well, she still had all of this term to start. Plus, would she ever really need more than the dirty words?

One look at the alarm clock that sat on her dark hardwood night table showed that she still had almost forty-five minutes before she had to be in the computer lab. Sitting down on her bed, Daisy ran a hand over the grey blanket May had given her.

Daisy’s relationship with May and Coulson had been something of a problem with other students when she first got here. Some had been okay with the obvious paternal love Coulson showed for Daisy, showing her around and checking up on her, scheduling lunch dates and reminding her of tests. May was more subtle, texting her links to tai chi videos when she noticed Daisy getting too stressed or letting Daisy do her own thing if she saw that she was overwhelmed. Of course, none of the other students knew her family history, what she had gone through just to realize that May and Coulson were more her parents than her biological father and mother could ever be. She would see them later today—May during field training and Coulson in between lectures in the canteen.

Daisy walked over to her window to open her blinds, staring out at the campus she had grown to love. The large brick buildings scattered around acres of the Virginia countryside; green fields meant for physical activities like sparring or obstacle courses, or simply basking in the weather to study or chat; the dorms—red brick and concrete melded together to upgrade and expand the charming style of previously-built homes.

Grabbing a protein bar, Daisy headed to the canteen to make a green smoothie (and maybe snatch a cup of joe before she had to listen to an hour-long lecture on the reason SHIELD must cooperate with the UN’s stupid rules at 7:30 in the morning). Smelling the pines and morning dew surrounding her, she smiled slightly. Maybe this term wouldn’t be so bad.

———————————————————————

Daniel Sousa was a man of honor. He was a man of great strength. Agent Daniel Sousa, previously Officer Daniel Sousa in the US Army, was a man who could fix his damn alarm clock on his own.

Just, not today. Or the day before.

So, Agent Daniel Sousa was now hurrying his way to class at The SHIELD Academy, books in hand and gym bag slung over his shoulders. Catching a glance at himself in the shiny glass doors of the bio-chem building, he groaned. He hadn’t even brushed his hair. And, looking down, he discovered he was wearing two different shoes.

This is the college experience everyone raves about, he thought bitterly. You see, Daniel Sousa had enlisted to the army straight out of high school, forgoing university. He climbed the ranks impressively quickly, earning his place as second-in-command and reconnaissance scout in the 28th Infantry Regiment. Unfortunately, after only four years in the army, Sousa was injured in the field, losing his leg and almost his life.

He came back to the US a war hero, and yet, he felt he wasn't finished. So, when a recruiter named Peggy Carter knocked on his door claiming to be from SHIELD (“Wow, you guys are still a thing?”), he leapt at the chance to continue fighti-...doing good. The Academy wasn’t exactly what he had bargained for, though. Trying to earn his B.A. and training to be an agent at the same time was grueling, but nothing he couldn’t deal with.

No, six different one hour and fifteen minute long classes plus mandatory physical therapy every day wasn’t going to break him. Learning how to be a communications agent and re-starting field training and catching up on general college education was no problem. Pressuring himself to be the best, to break the limits, to get past all his weaknesses was just another miniscule feather to add to the pile.

Unless his stupid alarm clock broke. Then yes, Agent Daniel Sousa would fail, buckle under the weight and be left on the floor to die.

Maybe he was being a bit dramatic.

One bunny-slippered right foot and a sneakered left leg carried him forward, propelled by a quickly chugged orange Celsius and his sheer will not to be late.

Daniel heard the late bell ring out, understanding that, on his first day of class, he would be counted late. It wasn’t like him, not at all. Especially when his first class was a refresher course on field tactics and covert strategy, something in which he was already aces.

He let out a sigh, slowing as he rounded the corner into the comms building. At the Academy, most buildings were grouped into categories: the cafeteria, gym and pool, and student resource building all to the south; the gun range, obstacle course, and specialized gym to the east; bio-chem labs, tech labs, and smaller rooms for lectures to the west; the computer labs and comms buildings right smack in the middle; and dorms to the north.

He swiped a key card with his driver’s license picture and student ID, unlocking the sliding doors that led to the computer labs. It was quicker to short cut through them than to walk around the building to the entrance closest to communications classrooms.

It wasn’t because he knew a certain broody brunette spent her mornings in the lab.

No, it wasn’t, because she wasn’t in her usual seat in the corner, typing away.

He slowly walked through the rows of computers, searching for a familiar black backpack. Nothing was there.

“Hey, Sousa,” an accented female voice called behind him. He whipped around to see who it was, feeling just a twinge of disappointment when Elena, or, as most people knew her, Yo-Yo, was leaning against the door frame. Yo-Yo, a fourth year operations trainee, who was very close with Daisy.

“Hey, Yo-Yo. Good morning,” he called, “I’m running a bit late.”

Elena checked her nails casually, “Way to state the obvious. You were running faster than I could trying to get here before the bell.”

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. “Yeah…”

“Daisy’s running late today, too.”

Daniel looked around, pretending that hearing Daisy’s name didn’t make him want to smile. “Oh, of course. She’s usually here early.”

Elena nodded, chuckling a little at his response. She couldn’t tell if he was oblivious or just a bad liar. It was charming, really. “Right. See ya ‘round, Sousa!”

“See ya,” He replied. He thought he heard a quiet ‘Lovable nerds’ coming from the direction she left, but he couldn’t be sure.

And so, with a last look around the computer lab, Daniel set off to arrive late to May’s lecture.

———————————————————————

okay okay,,, what do y’all think?? like/reblog and let me know! it’s the best way to support writers and it only takes a second! stay tuned for more chapters!!

#academy blues #daisy johnson #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #dousy #daisy johnson x daniel sousa #timequake #daniel sousa #jemma simmons #leo fitz #fitzsimmons #philinda #philindaisy #ashby’s fics #marvels aos #au!

[razieltwelve]

Friend (Final Rose)

“Mom...” Diana tugged on Lightning’s sleeve. “Can you take me somewhere?”

Lightning yawned. She’d been up all night writing reports relating to her latest mission. Everyone had come back alive, but it had been a mess. “Where do you want to go?”

Diana lifted her scroll, so Lightning could see it. “I have a friend in the game, mom. He hasn’t been online in days, but he’s never been offline before. I think something might have happened to him.”

“Diana...”

“I’m serious, mom. He’s always online. He never misses a raid or a mission or anything. This is the first time he’s ever been offline, and it’s been two days since he was on. I think something might have happened to him.”

Lightning’s brows furrowed. Diana might still be a kid, but she had good instincts. Moreover, she was very observant about certain things. "Do you know where he lives?”

Diana made a face. “He’s talked about his house before. I don’t know where he is, but I narrowed it down to a couple of places. The nearest one isn’t far from us at all.”

“And you’re sure he’s not just taking a break or something?”

“I’m sure, mom.” Diana sighed. “To be honest, I don’t think he has any friends outside the game. He never talks about other people, and he’s logged way more hours online than anyone else I know. He wouldn’t just stop playing unless something had happened to him.”

“All right.” Lightning got up. “We can go have a look.”

X     X     X

Lightning studied the house intently. Whoever lived here must be disabled. Instead of stairs, there was a small ramp to the front door, as well as other adjustments. Based on the width and angle of the ramp, it was likely for a wheelchair, as opposed to someone who simply couldn’t go up stairs easily.

“Is this the place?”

Diana nodded. “Yeah.”

Lightning reached out with her senses. The world sharpened into truly perfect focus, and she was instantly aware of everything around her. Her brows furrowed, and she moved toward the front door. “Diana, stay out here.”

“Mom?”

“Stay out here.” Lightning could sense a single Aura signature inside the house. Even by civilian standards, it was extremely weak, and it was fluctuating in a way she’d come to recognise. Whoever it belonged to was on the verge of death. “I mean it. Stay out here.” 

Lightning used a sliver of Saviour’s power to open the front door and moved through the house toward the Aura signature. The interior was well-kept and tidy, and she could hear the low hum of computer equipment coming from a room toward the back of the house. 

The faint sounds of shallow breathing greeted her. There was a young man on the floor. He looked to be in his early twenties. His wheelchair had tipped over, and he was barely clinging to life. Saviour’s senses diagnosed the myriad issues immediately.

The young man had suffered a seizure violent enough to knock over his wheelchair. The rough fall had done further damage, and he had likely spent the last two days swimming in and out of consciousness. Using a scroll to call for an ambulance would have taken too long, so Lightning simply picked him up and strode out of the house.

“SillyCoop!” Diana cried. That must be the screen name the young man used. “Mom, is he okay?”

“No.” Lightning’s power flexed, and her next step carried them from the house to the hospital in an instant. “But he will be.”

X     X     X

Cobalt - known in Gary Online as SillyCoop - opened his eyes.

“So... you’re awake.”

He turned his head and stared. “You... you’re...” That was Lightning Farron sitting next to his bed. What was going on? He was clearly in some kind of hospital. He couldn’t remember much. He’d gotten a seizure and fallen out of his wheelchair. After that, it was just bits and pieces. He’d tried to get to his scroll or his computer for help, but his body had refused to cooperate. “What’s... going on?”

“You play Gary Online, right?” 

“Uh... yeah.” Contrary to common belief, Gary Online was actually extremely popular with people of all age groups. Behind the cartoonish graphics and sometimes silly storyline were rock solid mechanics and incredibly well-designed gameplay with interesting and varied missions, raids, and adventures. 

“You’re a member of a guild. It’s the Friendship Punch Guild, right?”

Despite the situation, Cobalt found himself smiling. “Yeah.” He’d joined the guild because of it’s silly name, but he’d found so much more than just a place to spend time online. After his accident, he’d struggled to adjust. He’d never had many friends to begin with, and he’d been an orphan to boot. The guild had given him friends, and they’d become the family he never had. Since he was able to work from home as a software designer, he spent as much of his free time as he could online. The guild had members from all over the world, so there were always a few of them on at any given time of the day. “I am.”

“You’re lucky.” Lightning nodded at something, and Cobalt noticed the little, ragamuffin of a girl curled up asleep in a chair in the corner of the room. “My daughter is a member of that guild too. She noticed you hadn’t been online for a while, so she used some of the things you’d said about your house to narrow down its location. She asked me if we could go to one of the locations. I found you on the floor of your room.”

“Oh.” Cobalt took a deep breath. “That’s... thank you. I mean it. Thanks.” A few years ago, he probably wouldn’t have minded if he ended up dead on the floor of his room. But the idea of never talking to anyone from the guild again...

“She talked to some of the other guild members. A few of them don’t live all that far away. They’d like to visit you too, if you don’t mind.”

Cobalt found himself smiling. “I’d like that.” He paused. “Do you know what her name is?”

“She goes by MyNameIsClaw, I think.”

“Oh.” Cobalt chuckled. “I guess that’s why she does most of her playing on the weekend.”

“She does have school, yes.” Lightning’s lips twitched. “The doctors tell me you’ll be okay with some rest.”

On the chair, the little girl’s eyes opened. She took one look at him and was already airborne before he could react. Thankfully, Lightning caught her with one arm before she could crash into him.

“He’s still recovering. Be sensible.”

“Oh. Yeah.” The girl waved at him cheerfully. “How are you feeling, SillyCoop?”

“SillyCoop?” He managed to smile. “Call me Cobalt. That’s my real name.”

“I’m Diana.” The girl nodded sagely. “But you can call me Claw.”

“...” Cobalt looked at Lightning.

“She’s convinced we should have named her Claw instead of Diana.”

“Oh.” Cobalt grinned. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Claw.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Diana plays a lot of games. Gary Online is one of the most popular MMOs in the world, and she is one of the best players, largely due to her fanatical study of the game’s mechanics. There are very, very few people who understand the game the way she does. Naturally, she joined a guild, and after a good lecture from Lightning on online safety and another one from Vanille just to be sure, she was allowed to keep playing. The members of the guild come from all walks of life and vary in age from kids to the elderly. What makes Gary Online so popular, apart from the gameplay, is the positive outlook the game strives to foster. Essentially, the greatest wish of the devs is that everyone who plays the game is happier after playing it than they were before they started.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

#final rose #fanfiction #diana yun farron #lightning farron