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nrdmssgs · 3 months

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A wall of silence

Masterlist with OCs AN: My friends @sofasoap @siilvan and @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot inspired me for a tiny backstory to a A heart full of pity. This happens a day before the main story.

Characters: Lieutenant Olga (not yet Zhar) Samoilova and Doctor Heather Green (an OC of @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot)

As usual, Olga came exactly 3 minutes earlier for their appointment.

"Doctor Green, Lieutenant Samilova re-"

"Cut it, Olya, how many times do I need to ask you." Heather stood up from her desk and moved a chair closer to the one, on which her patients would usually sit.

For many years Heather monitored the now so-called Task Force and some things never changed. Soap turning their sessions to a little stand-up of John MacTavish, Ghost sharing much more with Price than with her, Gaz balancing between the calmest logic and a raging storm of emotions. And Olga, trying to be the quiet, the 'i'll cause no problem', the 'please don't banish me' one. It felt as if she knew, how every answer should sound in order to make a perfect report.

No matter, how hard Heather tried, she couldn't get into Olgas ears - to her psychologic evaluations were not an instrument to help her, but an endless test, she had to pass with flying colors in order to stay in Prices group.

So without any big hopes Heather asked, how Olgas week went so far.

"Great! The mission planning is almost done, I'm waiting for the Captain to give me all clear, I also controlled the amount of resting hours as you advised, here is my report, I also sent a copy on your email address..."

Heather listened patiently as Olga recited an obviously prepared in advance answer. Behind all the razzle-dazzle, her patient tinkered till the last smallest detail, Heather still saw a very scared girl, who was willing to do anything to stay in the Task Force. If Heather was honest - she didn't want to corner her own patient, when she already was in a survival mode for a long time. But there was no other choice.

"Tell me about the last Sunday."

"Had a nice training session with the Sgs, worked on reports, had a walk, about an hour long. Then there was some gathering in one of the hangars, but I left early. Read a book, not a work-related topic, as you suggested. And thats about it!" Despite Heathers concerns, Olga didn't tense up. The same smile was plastered upon her face as she reminisced on her weekend.

"And what made you leave the gathering early?"

Olga looked down for a moment and sighed. "Gaz? Or Soap?"

"Olya, darling, don't get the wrong picture of it: nobody in the 141 is trying to find any imperfections in you, or make you go. They are worried about you. One of their own makes you frustrated, there is something going on between you two, and they want to help." Heather reached out to Olga, touched her shoulder, but her patient just froze and looked back with an unfocused gaze. Trying to guide her out of the blackout, Heather added, "you can always tell if you're uncomfortable. With me or with Nikolai."

"Nothing is going on between me and Nikolai." Lieutenant came back to senses. "I joined the gathering, I left early, because I got a new idea for the mission plan, that's the story. We didn't say a single word to each other - there was no conflict, doctor."

"Darling, it was a gathering to celebrate Nikolai coming back to our base after a long leave. And you stood up and left the hangar the very next moment after he entered it. This doesn't scream 'nothing is happening' to me. And I`m afraid, that you look at how everyone appreciate him, and hide something, that makes you so distant. You see, how we greet him every time and think that nobody is going to take your side once you reveal the reason behind your reaction to him. I want you to know, it's not like that."

"Doctor Green, it is not my place to lecture you." Olga leaned back, defending herself from any possibility of a physical contact with Heather. "But it takes a very special personality to serve, where that man served. I know, you all believe that ultranationalists are the worst, that they represent everything thats wrong with Russia. But I assure you, they are just kids in comparison to what beasts are lurking in Kremlin. And that man served them. Maybe he still is."

Heather understood that their time was almost up and made the last attempt to make her point.

"Olya, I can't manipulate on Nikolais background. I won't deny, he worked for the FSB, but I can't draw a conclusion from my or your emotions. But what I can do is to analyze the facts. You see a monster right there, and you feel like you are the only one, who sees his real nature. Neither I nor anyone from the Task Force can change your perception. But I can share, what personally see, when I look at him."

When Olga hesitantly noded, Heather went on.

"I see a guy, who cares for his friends, even when it remains unnoticed. A guy, who found out, one of the TF was on the brief medical leave for a minor reason and his very first question was 'do they need any medication or anything?'. A guy, who is always asking if every member of 141 is ok. A guy, who looks at somebody, he cares for, and smiles broadly even though they don't have an opportunity to touch base with each other."

"Doctor, I'll stop you there. I am aware of Nikolai's and our Captain's friendly bond."

"I'm talking about Price, Olya. Everything, I just told you, was about Nikolai and you."

In a dead silence infesting the room, Lieutenant shook her head. The last words that reached Heather were muttered quietly.

"He is lying. Lying to you all."

***

Price came half an hour after Olga left: Heather wouldn't want them to stumble upon each other in the hall. Doctor Green still had a small hope, that Captain would change his mind about Olgas upcoming mission. But when Price asked her, if his Lieutenant was ready, that hope was forgotten.

"John, she hates him."

"That I know." Prices deep voice echoed in the walls of her office. "My questions was, is she able to work with him. This mission is critical, if Olga makes it - we are promoting her. So, please, give me a sign."

Heather took a pause. She didn't want to torture Olga, when she's already living in constant stress. At the same time she understood how much this mission might serve Olga and the whole Task Force. Heather didn't like, what she's about to do, but something told her, it's the right thing. So she finally answered Price.

"She will do anything for you."

#cod #cod modern warfare #cod mw2 #cod mv2 #cod x reader #cod fanfic #call of duty mw2 #call of duty #modern warfare 2 #call of duty modern warfare 2 #cod mwii #mw2 fanfic #cod nikolai #nikolai cod #cod x oc

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hipsterteller · 23 days

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Lockdown

This is kinda an idea after seeing a lot of infection au and thought of something different and recalled the biohazard stage and its manga, the marhawa desire so before I start...

Letitia belongs to @moonartemisia Resident evil belongs to Capcom and Paradox Live belongs to Avex pictures and GCREST.

How did this happen? One minute everything was a normal day...and now...it has became a nightmare?

The whole college ground is under lockdown as outside the college are news reporters and military vehicles, Aeryn recognizes the logo in her classroom.

BSAA

She knew that his here and frown as she hug her legs close then looked back at the others who took shelter at classroom.

*Anne and Allen are trying to get a signal after it gets shut down and same time recovering from escaping, Anne doesn't wear her usual heels and switches to sneakers.

*Letitia fixes Hajun glasses after one of the infected tried to eat him by pinning him on the ground but luckily he knock the infected out.

*It was surprising that Yohei visited since Shiki was thinking of entering college once he finished high school and Ryu joined in and nearly got eaten after what they witnessed...Yohei had to grab the emergency fire axe and chop the dead college student head off and Shiki manage to grab first aid kit from inside the emergency fire axe

And last is Naoakira, he was gonna start the lecture when the outbreak strike in college.

Aeryn on the other hand had managed to run even with the weak stamina she had, she sought shelter.

Right now she prayed for the other student and faculty members manage to escape or seek shelter and not became the undead...

"Do you think..." Shiki spoke up and everyone turn to him "Do you think someone will save us?"

Aeryn wanted to say something but she didn't want to get suspicious so she calmly replied "Well the people outside have called some military, and I heard that they are known to handle this..."

Hajun spoke "Zombies?"

Aeryn nodded as Letitia decided to speak up "Look I know we are all on the edge right now especially what happened, at least were safe..."

Ryu then decided to speak up "Still I want to know..." He turn to Aeryn giving her the most uncanny look as he smile maliciously like mad hatter which made Aeryn shiver...

But what else is worse...is his question...

"How long will you keep lying?"

Aeryn swallow her breathe as she looks pale when he asked, Naoakira saw this and turn to Ryu.

"Ryu please don't....your not helping..."

"But Boss..."

"Please..."

Aeryn was relief but looked out the window again...as she looked out she saw a few undead students walking around aimlessly as she looked back at the front...

There she sees a familiar military hummer as it park in front and driver door open revealing a male.

He wore a light blue green and gray with a black sleeveless turtleneck underneath, his light green flak combat vest is darker, his knee pads are white, his pants are gray and his combat boots are black.

Dark brown hair and tired bluish brown eyes that had calm down after the storm.

Aeryn knew him well...as this man is known other than Chris Redfield.

Her heart is beating fast since he went on his own, where's Piers? Did he stay behind? Or had to do desk work...

Naoakira notice Aeryn's behavior and Hajun and Letitia too as the two couples recalls Ryu question to Aeryn...

How long will you keep lying?

Is she hiding something? But there thoughts were cut short when they heard gun shots follow by the undead groans and growls, Yohei grab the axe and protected Anne, Allen, Shiki, and Ryu.

While Hajun protects Letitia and Naoakira stood beside Aeryn held her rosary necklace as she knew that its him...his here...his here for her...

The noise slowly died down and they heard voices on the other side...

"Area clear sir..."

"Search for survivors..."

"Yes sir..."

Aeryn wanted to approach the stairs but heard heavy footsteps approaching the door and watched as someone tried to open the barricade lock.

Letitia is worried as Hajun watch as the voice on the other end called out the leader stating that the door is lock and possible have survivors, without hesitation the door knob is shot out and heavy boots kick the door wide open.

Everyone were startled and Aeryn didn't as her eyes met the familiar blue eyes.

"Chris..." Was all she could say as Chris saw her and relief, the moment he saw her, he rush to her and hug her.

Aeryn took a whimp of his scent, cologne, blood, sweat...he was worried...his grip tighten her as he let out a sighed.

"Thank God..."

Letitia and Hajun are shock at this as Ryu grin.

"I told you...she's lying..."

After rescuing the remaining the students and faculty members, Aeryn held onto the blanket that was given to her and sat at the hummer driver seat as she is recovering from the attack.

While the rest are being check-up, Chris approach her.

"How are you?"

Aeryn look up to him as she nodded "I'm a bit shaken...but alright..."

Chris kneel down still holding his bear commando rifle as he place his hand at her lap giving a soft squeeze, Aeryn held his hand feeling the kevlar glove.

"...Chris..."

"I...I know you said that you'll be fine...but I worried for you...everyday..."

Aeryn listen more as Chris bit his bottom lip "From the moment I heard about the outbreak here...I knew your there...and worried that...that-"

"Chris you know I'm not helpless...plus I can't expose my abilities...if I showed them...I might be...."

Chris held her cheek as he didn't want to hear the last word...he understood...on the other side of the hummer, Yohei who had finish the check-up heard everything and is smoking.

He had to admit, but Ryu is right and is onto something...

Aeryn is hiding something...

The moment he threw the cigar on the ground and stomp it he walk away...unaware the shadow stayed behind.

(Timeskip is brought to you by Monstro Lounge), at hotel.

The students and faculty were told to stay in hotel until the time being, upon staying Yohei inform Naoakira and the rest in hotel room as they are gather and getting info.

"So not only does Aeryn and Chris knows each other, but she has this "Ability"?" Anne spoke as Yohei nodded.

"I know its crazy but I think Aeryn is hiding something, I mean have any of you find her...off?"

Shiki wanted to stay quite but he spoke up "Now that you mention it..when I first saw her pet..."cat...it was weird...his ears has flames, glaring at me and his tails were pitchfork...not to mention the three stuff toys she has...I swore they were moving whenever I look away....."

Allen then recalls one more "Her cousin, Sebastian...does not like me especially told me to back off from snooping on her privacy...I mean I didn't mean to look into her sketchbook...there were a lot of things and people..."

They turn to him and Hajun asked "Fictional?"

Allen shake his head and added "No real, and she even wrote some...here I'll show you the pics."

Naoakira didn't want to look but he wants to know why she's acting weird and hiding...so the moment they look into Allen's phone...they saw various sketches of males and females...and he saw one that caught his attention.

A drawing of Chris smiling and has his coat drape over his shoulder, he could see her cursive handwriting on the bottom right.

"I still remember the day we chat...whenever I look back, I can't help but to see you smile...when and you said 'It's been a while since I smile, maybe because seeing you makes me feel ease...' and I'm glad..."

Naoakira felt a bit of jealousy...he stood up and approach the door, Letitia look up and spoke "Professor?"

"Excuse me but I think I have to talk to her..."

The moment he left, they swore the atmosphere around him change...

Meanwhile, at Aeryn's room.

Aeryn wore a comfy attire with her leg warmers as she is glad she brought her stuff and Chris said he has to get Grim from her place, and when he did.

Grim rush towards her, the monster cat hug her.

"Minion!"

Aeryn hug him as she needed that "glad your okay...you and the tsums..."

Tsum! Chris hop out from her backpack still shaken, sure he and his human counterpart had witness but still shaken...even Tsum! Crewel and Claire as they gather around and cuddle at her legs.

Chris sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed as he saw how cuddly Tsum! Crewel is and it made him a bit jealous but same time recalls his arguments with him.

Aeryn looked up to Chris and asked "By the way...how's everyone back at St. Micheal?"

Chris smile at her and answered "Well, its not same when you and the rest are not around...Krauser said that he spotted Scry entering your old room and sat down on bed and misses you..."

Aeryn smile and stroke Grim ears "I miss him too along Mr. Bunny and Mr.Shadow..."

Chris cherish her cheek as he kiss her "I also miss holding you and kiss you..."

"Your such a sap you know that?" She giggles as he chuckle, sadly the wholesome moment didn't last as they were startled by a loud knock on the door.

She got out putting Grim on the bed and opens the door to see, Naoakira...his giving her a serious look in her.

"Oh...um hey professor...what's wron-"

"Aeryn...we need to talk."

His golden eyes turns to Chris giving him a glare, Aeryn is worried so she walk out of her room. Grim pop out from under the pillow and worried.

"Aeryn?"

"..."

Library room ((if you live in Philippines, chances are you heard about Palms country club, my relative often invites my family either by tennis before or event...))

The two enter a secluded area since the library is small yet quite. "Um...is something wrong?"

Naoakira pinch his nosebridge...

"...how long..."

"P-Pardon?"

"How long have you been lying?"

Aeryn flinched as Naoakira put his glasses down and glare her down, she bit her bottom lips as she spoke.

"I...I really don't kno-"

"Don't lie to me little mouse."

"Little mouse? Really? And I thought Crewel's 'puppy' is worse."

They turn to see Chris...glaring at him, Aeryn knew...

If she doesn't tells the truth...things are going south...

#paradox live #paradox live fanfic #paradox live crossover #resident evil fanfic #resident evil crossover #oc #bae #the cat's whiskers #hipsterfic

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pocket-luv101 · 2 years

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Summary: Kuro and Sloth are a famous band. Mahiru is their manager and he has a relationship with them. They struggle to keep it a secret from the media. (KuroMahiSloth, Band)

“Don’t take another step!” The voice behind Mahiru forced him to stop with how forceful it was. From the man’s uniform, he could see that he was a security guard. Mahiru’s arms were overflowing with clothes and he struggled to take out his identification badge. Before he was able to do so, the man roughly grabbed his arm. “Ever since those two idols came, fans like you have been trying to sneak in and I don’t have any more patients. Leave this hotel or I will throw you out.”

“Excuse me, but you’re mistaken. My name is Mahiru Shirota and I’m the manager of Crossing Worlds. They have a fitting in an hour and I need to give them their costumes. Please, let me go.” Mahiru told the guard in a firm voice. He didn’t want to anger the guard or escalate the situation to a fight because the costumes could be damaged. When Kuro and Sloth formed the band, Crossing Worlds, Mahiru decided to support them as much as he could. “Just give me a minute to get my badge.”

“Do you think you can trick me? Someone as young as you can’t be their manager.” His grip on his arm tightened with his words. His skepticism was understandable since he was the same age as Kuro and Sloth. Most would assume that a band like Crossing Worlds would have someone more professional as their manager. Mahiru rushed to think of a way to convince him that he was telling the truth.

“Can you let go of my precious manager?” Someone came between them and forced the security guard to let go of Mahiru. He was focused on adjusting his grip on the costume and he didn’t see who the person was at first. However, he immediately knew that Sloth was the one who saved him. The guard quickly recognized him as well because he was a part of the band, Crossing Worlds.

Sloth wore a pleasant smile but there was a glint in his eyes that forced the guard to back away from them. Mahiru could feel how tense his body was and he subtly leaned towards him. The gesture was small but it helped calm him. He appreciated Sloth’s concern but a fight could affect Crossing Worlds’ reputation. He whispered to Sloth, “I’m not hurt.”

Sloth slipped his finger beneath the collar of Mahiru’s shirt and he hooked his pinky around a string. He pulled his name badge free and then held it up for the security guard to see. The guard said, “I’m sorry for stopping you. You’re free to go.”

Mahiru could hear from his tone that he was irritated after being corrected. He only rolled his eyes at the security guard’s behaviour as the man left. Throughout his time as a manager, he had met far worse people and he knew that it was simpler to ignore him. He waited until the man walked too far from him to hear them before he turned to Sloth.

“You shouldn’t be outside of our hotel room without a disguise, Sloth. What if a fan recognizes you and tries to ambush you?” Mahiru lightly lectured him. While Sloth’s smile was strained with the guard, his expression turned soft now that they were alone in the hall. He kept his finger around his name badge and he lightly tugged on the string to draw him closer.

The teasing grin on his lips told Mahiru his intention. In the back of his mind, he knew that he should pull back yet he found himself stepping towards him. Sloth’s fingers followed the string until he could touch the hickey on his neck. “You were gone for a while and I was worried. It looks like I came back in time to rescue you. In the fairy tales, the princess will give their knight a kiss after rescuing them.”

“Don’t say something like that while we’re in public. What if someone heard you? Reporters will fill gossip magazines with speculations. The fans will start to talk too.” Mahiru warned him. “For that same reason, don’t think about fighting that security guard after I leave. He was just doing his job.”

“You’re no fun when you’re in manager mode.” Sloth pouted. Crossing Worlds were in London for a tour and Mahiru arranged for them to stay in an exclusive hotel. Most of the guests were famous celebrities and their managers would need a name badge to enter the hotel. Mahiru thought the hotel would allow Kuro and Sloth to relax without worrying about their fans following them.

He saw the way Sloth pouted at his light chastising and he wanted to reach out to him. His hands were full so he could only move closer to him. Mahiru stood next to him and he lightly nudged him with his shoulder. “Can you help me by carrying a few of these costumes? Youtarou said they’re just the prototypes but be careful not to get them wrinkled.”

Sloth leaned down and he took the bundle of clothes from him. When he started to pull away, he was stopped by Mahiru’s light hands on his shoulder. He quickly glanced around them before he stood on his toes and kissed Sloth gently. Mahiru’s cheeks were red as he whispered, “Your reward for saving me from that security guard.”

“We’re back, Kuro.” Mahiru called into the hotel room as he closed the door behind him. He walked into the main room and he thought of how the suite was more luxurious than the simple apartment he used to share with Kuro and Sloth. The large change made him feel out of place sometimes. He preferred simple things over an expensive lifestyle.

However, when he saw Kuro sitting on the couch, he felt at home. He was singing softly and Mahiru recognized the song from their debut album. He loved his husky voice and the subtle emotions they had. Others would only hear Kuro’s dry tone but Mahiru was the one he would truly sing to. Mahiru thought Kuro was wonderful and he hoped he could show the world that by being Crossing Worlds’ manager.

Kuro stopped practising when he heard them enter and he lowered his music sheet onto the table. “I told Sloth not to leave because you were meeting with Youtarou about the costumes. I trust that you would call us if you needed our help.”

“I’m glad I listened to my instincts because I found a security guard bothering Mahiru. He gave me a kiss as a reward for rescuing him.” Sloth said and he dropped the costumes onto the couch. Kuro knew that he was trying to provoke him and he did his best not to react to his words. Despite that, he couldn’t help feeling jealous. He also felt guilty that he wasn’t there to help Mahiru.

“Sloth, you promised that you’ll behave and get along with Kuro during the tour. Sometimes I wonder if you like causing trouble so I would lecture you like this.” Mahiru sighed. He walked to the couch and he stopped in front of Kuro. He leaned down and kissed his lips quickly. “Don’t be jealous. That’s your reward for staying in the hotel room and practising your song like I told you to.”

Mahiru pulled away from Kuro and he turned his focus to the costumes. He picked up a suit jacket and said, “Youtarou designed these for the photoshoot but I think this one will also be good for your interview next week. Oh, I have a list of questions the reporter intends to ask you two. We should go over them and see if there are any that we should remove.”

“It’s just us so you don’t need to act like our manager.” Kuro wrapped his arm around Mahiru’s waist and he pulled him closer against his side. It was impossible for him to stand when Sloth laid next to them and rested his head on Mahiru’s lap. Even if he could stand, he didn’t want to. They had been busy over the past weeks and he could finally enjoy both of them warmth.

Before Kuro and Sloth formed Crossing Worlds, they were Mahiru’s boyfriends. They needed to keep their relationship a secret or else it would threaten their growing popularity. He wanted them to achieve their dream. They couldn’t go out on dates in public and he savoured the time they had alone. Mahiru leaned against Kuro and stroked Sloth’s hair.

“I’m not acting like your manager. I am your manager. Even if it wasn’t, I would do this because I want to support you as your boyfriend.” Mahiru moved as best as he could with Kuro and Sloth holding him. He took out his phone and he opened his email with the reporter. “We can stay like this but we’re going to practise the interview questions. After that, we have to try on the costumes.”

“I hope you’re including yourself in that. You would look great in that witch outfit.” Sloth suggested with a small chuckle. He reached up and he touched the hickey on his neck. “It would be better if the witch outfit had a skirt instead of just a robe.”

“I actually like Sloth’s idea.” Kuro rested his chin on Mahiru’s shoulder and he read the question on his phone. “Why did you start your band? What is your muse? These are the typical questions reporters will ask us and we know how to answer them by now. Though, this one is interesting. What kind of person would be your ideal girlfriend?”

“I’ll email the reporter and tell them not to include questions about your love life.” Mahiru understood that they needed to hide their relationship but he didn’t want to hear them deny it.

“My ideal housewife is a brunette with brown eyes and a great cook.” Kuro lightly pushed away Sloth’s hand so he could kiss the hickey that he was teasing earlier. “He works too hard and he needs to let himself rest more often. I love when he takes a break and sleeps next to me. I don’t mind waking up at sunrise when he’s there.”

“I don’t need to imagine my ideal boyfriend because I’m already with him.” Sloth said and he sat up. He placed his hands on Mahiru’s hips and he pulled him forward onto his lap. Mahiru found himself between them but the closeness didn’t make him feel crowded. “I love my boyfriend and how recklessly brave he is. He’s my ray of light.”

“I love you two too but you cannot say those things in the interview.” Mahiru could feel a blush rising up his cheeks. He looked down at his phone screen and the questions listed. He closed the app and saw the photo of them that he used for his wallpaper. “Next question… Why did you choose me to be your manager? Thinking simply, it would be better for your career if you choose someone more experienced like Kranz.”

“You’re the reason we sing so we can’t leave you behind. This way, we can be together no matter where our tours take us,” Kuro’s answer made his heart swell. Since his mother died when he was young and his uncle was always busy with work, he was afraid of being lonely. Mahiru never imagined he would have two people who loved him and who would stay by his side.

“Will you sing for me tonight?” Mahiru asked and he circled his arms around Sloth’s neck. He liked that there were songs they would sing for him that others didn’t know.

“Since you asked us two questions that weren’t in the email, can you ask you a few of our own? There are two questions so Kuro and I can each have one.” Sloth suggested and he glanced towards the witch costume. Mahiru could easily read his mind.

“As your manager, I shouldn’t spoil you two so much.” Mahiru said but he was smiling as he did so. “You each get one outfit but we have to finish these interview questions first.”

#servamp #kuromahi #mahisloth #kuromahisloth #sloth pair #servamp kuro #mahiru shirota #inner sloth #fanfiction

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beardedmrbean · 1 year

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Embattled Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., responded to allegations of running a toxic workplace amid her tumultuous Senate run kickoff as she tries to soften her image.

Porter’s Senate campaign began on Tuesday as the California Democrat faces down accusations from former staffers of making racist remarks and fomenting a toxic work environment.

In just her first week in the fray, the California congresswoman responded to the allegations of a toxic work environment during an interview Thursday, where she said she is "willing to expect people to work hard."

KATIE PORTER SENATE CAMPAIGN COULD BE HAMPERED BY ALLEGATIONS OF RACISM, TOXIC WORK CULTURE

"But let’s be clear, of course I want their best effort. Of course, I want my best effort," Porter said on the "Pod Save America" podcast. "The American people deserve no less."

"I regret if this employee feels disgruntled. She finished her term in her fellowship. It was a two-year fellowship. I enjoyed working with her," the congresswoman continued, referencing the allegations first posted by the Dear White Staffers Instagram account. "And I’m excited to continue to get to work with my staff on this campaign and on the official side."

"I’m willing to expect people to work hard. I work hard, and I think that’s what the American people should expect," she added.

Late last month, Sasha Georgiades, a Navy veteran and former Wounded Warrior fellow for Porter, alleged that she heard the progressive congresswoman using racial slurs when talking to staff. Porter is currently facing scrutiny after leaked text messages showed her berating Georgiades for catching the coronavirus.

The ex-staffer also alleged the congresswoman made rude and racist comments to staff and "ridiculed people for reporting sexual harassment."

Georgiades also said that Porter "made fun of individuals whose parents passed away from COVID."

The former Porter staffer noted that she left the office shortly "after the sexual harassment conversation" with the congresswoman.

A social media account called Dear White Staffers posted screenshots of conversations with anonymous ex-Porter staffers who alleged they heard the congresswoman saying "rude/racist things" while trying to "mask it as edgy humor" and badmouthing Democrat leadership.

The anonymous account also accused Porter of being "completely disinterested" in representing her district in Congress, adding that the only staffers who appear to "survive are superfans that participate in or overlook the abuse."

"Give it time and it will rank among the legendary toxic offices," the post read.

Porter also praised her staff in the interview to soften her image, saying she "could not do the work" she does without their "talents" and work.

Porter also made headlines in October when text messages between her and Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan were published that showed the Democrat Senate hopeful berated the city mayor and insulted the city police department.

The texts followed a fight that broke out at the congresswoman’s July 2021 town hall that saw the man Porter lives with arrested.

In the texts, Porter criticized Khan, saying she would not call the mayor after Julian Willis was arrested after he allegedly punched a pro-Trump protester, giving the protester a bloody nose.

"You can lecture me on professionalism. And see what happens," Porter wrote, despite famously wearing a Batgirl Halloween costume to the House of Representatives on the same day Democrats voted for a resolution on ground rules for the impeachment inquiry surrounding then-President Trump.

Porter also trashed the Irvine police department after the arrest, calling the force a "disgrace" and that she "will never trust them again."

#nunyas news

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when-worlds-end-archive · 2 years

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I Almost Lost You

A/N : The first thing I saw when I opened Tumblr was a Star Trek meme sooooo... Star Trek story! It’s been a really long time since I’ve watched it so this is based of the script of Stark Trek 2009 and movie clips. Might do a Sulu one later, same part of the movie but slightly different plot, we’ll see.

Day 2 of Writer’s Block Challenge

Pairing(s) : Leonard McCoy (Bones) 2009 x Reader

Summary : You, Bones’s girlfriend and James’s best friend, sustain a near-fatal injury during the rescue mission to Vulcan resulting in a lecture from him about how he almost lost you.

Warning(s) : Injury(not graphic), says “thank fucking god” once, swearing (it’s Bones and Kirk).

Word Count : 2,897

“I need officers who have been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat.” Captain Pike states, two hands going up, yours and Sulu’s. Sulu was the pilot and you were another ensign working with Chekov, you were an unlikely pair. While you hadn’t fought in a few weeks, your training was muscle memory, you could repeat the movements in your sleep if asked to.

“I have training, Sir.” You both state in unison.

“Then come with me. Kirk, you too, you’re not supposed to be here anyway.” He then turned to Chekov.

“Radio the engine room, have Chief Engineer Olsen meet us at Shuttle Bay Five.” He directs.

“Aye, Captain.” Chekov responds back, turning to his computer after received a peace sign from you.

“Let’s go.” With the orders given, you four, plus Officer Spock, hurry through the Enterprise to the shuttle bay. It’s chaos all around you, officers running back and forth along the corridors trying to get to where they needed to be, trying to transport what they needed to transport, and the likes.

“Without transporters, we can’t beam off the ship, can’t assist Vulcan, can’t do our job. I’m creating an opportunity. Mr. Kirk, Mr. Sulu, Mx. L/N, and Mr. Olson will space-jump from the shuttle. You’ll have chutes, you’ll land on that machine they’ve lowered into the atmosphere that’s scrambling our gear, you’ll get inside, disable that thing, then beam back to the ship.” As he says that, you, Kirk, and Sulu share a look, one saying “oh shit.”

Neither of you three had expected what you were about to do when you stepped onto the ship, not even under the circumstances that it was in response to a distress signal. But you hardened your resolve and nodded, accepting your given orders.

“Mr. Spock, I’m leaving you in command of the ship. Once we have transport capability and communications back up, you’ll contact Starfleet and report what the hell’s happened here. Something you’ve got only precious few minutes to figure out. If all else fails, fall back and rendezvous with the fleet in the Laurentian System.” He commands, Officer Spock for once not looking so compiled together for a split second before it’s once again masked by the emotionless Vulcan exterior.

“Kirk, I’m promoting you to First Officer.” You quickly grab his hand, giving it a squeeze when he reacts with shock. This was what he’d been waiting for, longing for since he stepped onto that shuttle those years ago where you’d both first met bones. He’d strutted past Commander Pike telling him that the four year plan he’d put forth, he’d do in three.

Spock tries to argue with the Captain but he puts it to a stop with a quick rebuttal.

“While I’m gone, we need to keep the chain of command. And you two make a swell team.” You couldn’t tell if he was joking, but you really didn’t think he was. Maybe a part of you even understood what he meant. The two men were polar opposites but everyone always said “opposites attract” and how they “cover each other’s weaknesses” for a reason.

You’re interrupted from your train of thought by a shoulder nudge from James, helping you tune back in to what people were saying.

“Once we knock out that machine, Sir, what happens to you?” James asked, the billion dollar question everyone was dying to ask.

“I guess you’ll have to come get me,” he responded, then to Spock, “Careful with the ship. She’s brand new.”

With the plan formulated, you have nothing else to do but what Captain Pike said, “Suit up.”

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

You stand on the loading dock, zipping up your suit when James speaks up.

“Have you told Bones you’re dropping with us?” To which you shake your head, gaining a dirty look from him that’s cut off as you put on your com set, followed by your helmet.

“No,” you responded, “I didn’t. I don’t need him worrying about me right now, he’ll be busy enough with everything else going on.”

“He’s your boyfriend,” James fired back, “he deserves to know.” “And I deserve to not have my love life discussed over comms where other people can listen in. No offense, Mr. Sulu, Mr. Olson.” You finalizes, pulling the parachute pack over your shoulders, tightening the straps, and focusing on the thin lines along the wall between you and the shuttle you’d would be taking.

When the doors finally open, you step inside, Mr. Olson grinning like he’s about to go on a rollercoaster. You however, don’t share his enthusiasm. Actually, you were dreading it. When Pike asked who had hand-to-hand combat training, you assumed you’d be stepping onto the Romulans ship with him, not free falling onto their drill. You were dreading it because you have a fear of falling.

You knew James wanted to comfort you, knowing your fear of falling quite well due to some childhood accidents, but he was still too disappointed in you for not telling bones to actually do anything comforting.

“I am pumped to kick some Romulan ass. No joke. Bring it on.” Olson exclaimed, Kirk, Sulu, and you once again sharing a look, one that said “this guy’s a fucking idiot.”

“So, what kind of combat training do you have?” James asked, turning to Sulu, choosing to ignore the Engineer who obviously had an incorrect impression of what this mission required you to do.

“Fencing.” Sulu stated proudly.

“You do remember that he said ‘hand-to-hand’ combat, right?” You chimed in, giving Sulu a grin to say that you fully supported his complete disregard for that part of Pike’s statement.

“Didn’t pay much attention,” Sulu grinned back.

With that, the shuttle shoots out of the ship with a lurch, sending you towards the drill’s cord. Despite your disagreement, you and Kirk do the handshake you’d started when you were seven, neither of you being petty enough to not do it considering the circumstances.

“You ready?” He asks you as you take a deep breath in, the point of no return long since over if you had wanted to chicken out.

“No,” you respond softly, quietly, “but it’s now or never.”

Pike’s voice pipes up over your headset, cutting off your conversation, “You have one shot to land on that platform.”

“They have defenses so pull your chute as late as possible.” He tells you, furthering your terror as it means you’ll be breaking your fall much later than you would like.

“Pre-jump on one : Three, two, one.” The second he said one, the four of you slammed into the ceiling of the shuttle, the gravity in the shuttle dying instantly.

“Remember, the Enterprise won’t be able to beam you back up until you disable that drill,” he states.

“Good luck.”

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

A few seconds later, the bay doors open and the free fall begins. You feel panic rising in your chest but you shove it down deer, choosing to instead position your body so that you have the least amount of drag.

You spend a few seconds, the only seconds you have to spare, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath to pull yourself together. You’re okay, you’re going to be okay, Len is okay, James’s going to be okay. Pull it together. Your team needs you.

“Away team’s entering the atmosphere.” You hear Chekov’s voice as you reopen your eyes, staring at the drill hurtling towards you at a velocity you never wanted to experience again. You could make out the general shape of the drill, from this distance, a circle with lots of cutouts and outcroppings. As you were coming in from one side, you could see the blinding plasma beam peeking over the other edge.

You angle your hands and feet for control, guiding yourself towards the drill, following the cord connecting it to the Romulan’s ship. You were waiting for the moment to pull your chute. In the background you can hear Kirk and Sulu telling the Enterprise the distance between you and the platform. At 3000 meters, Sulu pulls his parachute first, followed by you and then Kirk. You jerked upwards hard, something that would definitely leave bruising under your arms.

You shake off the thought as Mr. Olson shoots past you, still not deploying his parachute. You wondered if it was a malfunction but you knew it wasn’t when you heard the sound of his excitement through the coms.

“Pull your shoot Olson.” You yell into the headset, hoping, praying that he does what you say. Something in you however knew that he wouldn’t, he was enjoying himself too much.

50 feet, 40 feet, 30 feet, finally his chute billows out behind him but even you, someone who’s never used a parachute before, knew it was too late. The result was you watching in horror as he slammed harshly into the drill, his body being dragged by his parachute over the edge and into the plasma beam, his scream ending suddenly as he was instantly incinerated.

“Olson is gone sir.” You hear Chekov say over the intercom, panic once again rising in your chest as you continue falling towards the platform, your fear of falling worsening as you neared impact.

Kirk makes contact first, slamming into the platform before being pulled out of view by his parachute. In your panic, worried for your best friend, you turn your head to try and find him, ignoring the obstacles hurtling towards you. A bad choice. A very bad choice.

You slam into one of the many outcroppings, a sharp piece of metal piercing your side and keeping you connected to the drill. You gasp out in pain, vision going black as you hit the button on your chest that slits your parachute and pulls it back into your suit. You don’t waste a second more as you notice Kirk fighting with three Romulans.

Pulling yourself off the piece of metal that impaled you and yanking off your helmet, you lunged for the closest Romulan, wrapping your arms around their neck and dragging them backwards, away from Kirk.

Your adrenaline kicked in as they unsheathed a knife, widely stabbing around them, trying to hit you. You twist their other arm behind their back with one hand while blocking the swiping arm with the other. You twist their arm painfully before using one of your legs to kick the back of their legs, making them buckle at the knee. They fall to the ground and you manage to pry the knife from their hands, stabbing it into their neck and letting them fall to the ground.

You turn around to see James dangling over the edge of the drill with a Romulan overlooking him, the strong feeling of fear causing you to falter as you run towards him. Luckily for you, and James, Sulu makes it in time, running his sword clean through the Romulan, killing him before he can kill James.

As the Romulan tumbles over the side, you and Sulu reach down, pulling James back up onto the drill. You’re all gasping for breath when Sulu manages to point out that Olson had the charger.

“What do we do?” You yell over the wind, watching as James dives for one of the 3 blasters still on the drill. Catching on to his plan, you and Sulu follow suit, the three of you shooting at the drill, destroying it enough to disable it.

A few seconds later, as your still catching your breath, a device hurtles past you. It’s heading straight for the hole the beam had drilled.

“Kirk to Enterprise. They just launched something toward the planet.” James spoke into his communicator, alerting the crew on the Enterprise about what had just happened as you all look over the edge, waiting to be beamed up.

Right as they’re beginning the process, the drill lurches sending James to the ground and you and Sulu tipping over the edge. You let out a scream as James yells your name and then nothing.

You can see Sulu falling just below you as you begin to get an idea, the adrenaline from before paying off. You bring in your arms to reduce drag as you maneuver your body towards him, slamming into him in mid-air.

“I’ve got you, Sulu. Pull my chute.” You yell, to which Sulu does. You feel it open behind you but before the feeling of relief can sink in for either of you, the chord snaps due to the velocity at which you’re falling.

“Enterprise, we’re without a chute. Beam us up. Beam us up now.” You yell into your communicator, closing your eyes as you hurtle towards the surface of the planet, doing your best to come to terms if this is where you die.

“You’re moving to fast-,” the Transporter Chief starts before she’s cut off by the most beautiful voice you’d ever heard, besides Len’s of course.

“No, I can do that. I can do that.” He shouts before you begin to hear movement.

“I can lock on. Give me manual control. Quick.” Chekov commands, and if you made it out of this alive, you’d hug the boy the second you saw him regardless of the time and consequences.

“Enterprise, where are you?” You ask into you comm, your franticness building inside you as you continue to fall towards the planet, getting closer and closer. To the side of you, a large wall of lava shoots up from the planet’s core, so close you can feel the heart.

“If you’re going to do it, do it now.” You scream.

“Compensating gravitational pull and, gotcha,” Chekov stated, and right before you slam into the ground, you slam onto the transported pads with a laughing Chekov in front of you and a worried Jim standing beside him.

“Chekov,” you breathe out, “thank fucking god for you.” Without a second thought, you drag him, James, and Sulu in a bone-crushing hug, happy to be alive. As you hug them, you begin to feel your side aching, giving way to the most agonizing feeling you’ve ever felt.

“I’ve got to find Len,” you mutter, weaker than you thought as you begin to collapse.

“Y/N,” is the last thing you hear out of their mouths before your vision goes black.

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

You finally regain consciousness with the fluorescent lights of the Enterprise’s Med Bay glowing above you, a blanket pulled over you, and a pillow underneath your head. To your left was your boyfriend sitting hunched over in a chair, his hand gripping yours, to your right was your best friend.

“What happened?” You ask the two men, watching them frantically stand up when they realize you’re awake.

“Easy now,” Kirk told you, Len and him both helping you to sit up, passing you a glass of water to sooth your parched throat.

“You, missy, passed out from the wounds you received during the rescue mission,” Len told you, his voice turning harsh, “a rescue missing you didn’t tell me about.”

“Len, you were busy,” you begin to explain yourself.

“Fuck being busy.” He cut you off.

“I’m your boyfriend. You’re my girlfriend. We’re partners. It’s not a thing where one person rushes off to do something dangerous while the other person stays in the dark. We do things together.” He continued, emphasizing the word “together.”

“I told you,” James said smugly. But you knew that underneath his smug exterior, he was hiding the fact that he was extremely worried about you.

“James, shut the fuck up.” Len states, not playing any games.

“Next time, tell me. I don’t care if I’m busy, I don’t care if you’re busy. You fucking tell me.” He states.

“But,” you tried to argue.

“But nothing. You almost died, Y/N, you almost fucking died.” He exclaimed.

“We all did.” You fired back, defending yourself, your confrontational side showing.

“I’m not talking about fighting Romulans, I’m not talking about the freefall, I’m not talking about any of the shit I can’t control. I’m talking about the fact that you got impaled and could have fucking died on this table.” He yells and you finally realize what this is all about. It wasn't about risking your life for the team, he knew you’d do it again without hesitation, this was about what happened when you slammed into the drill.

“I almost couldn’t save you,” he whispered, so lowly that only you and James would ever hear him.

“Your wound was infected and you didn't even realize it, James and Sulu didn’t even know you were injured,” he continued, his anger fizzling out.

“I almost lost you.” With those last words, you moved forward, getting up off the table and wrapping your arms around him.

“I’m sorry, Len,” you mumble into his chest as his arms wrap around you, letting him hold you for a few minutes, just so he could feel you breathing, to solidify that you were there, alive and well.

“Really, I am,” you say as you pull away just barely, giving him a loving smile.

“You know who else you should say sorry too?” James said, finally speaking up when he knew it was acceptable to crack jokes. He may be terrible with reading the room most of the time, but with his two best friends, he always knew.

“James,” you start.

“Yes?” He responded.

“Fuck off.”

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angelictrl · 3 years

Note

Hi! Can I request some hcs for the brothers + undateables taking care of a gn!MC while they're in hospital? (I'll leave the reason they're in hospital up to you) Thanks!!

DEMON BROS TAKING CARE OF AN MC IN THE HOSPITAL.

ofc !! i'm going to write the undateable ver. and link it here later since this got longer than i thought it would if you don't mind <3

LUCIFER

tries to be there for you but can't stop himself from drowning in his work.

don't get me wrong - he most certainly is attentive to your needs and visits you often - but he still puts all the blame on himself no matter the cause for you being put in the hospital.

this is because it reminds him of when he and his brothers fell.

not only did he have to get accustomed to the devildom, but he had to suffer the loss of his sister, deal with his new demonic form, and raise satan all while being diavolo's righthand man.

so naturally, being the eldest and also the one who started the great celestial war, he always felt at fault for how things turned out; although he'd rather die than say it aloud.

you being put in the hospital makes him feel like he failed you, he failed to save you, failed to protect you, even if he hides it with a poker face and instead drowns in his work.

please - this is one of the only times you'll see a vulnerable luci.

cupping his face tenderly with your hands as he sits by your bedside late at night, he refuses to cry, but definently has a gloomy expression.

he can't lose you too. he cant fail you.

as soon as you're discharged though, he makes sure to keep you by his side more often.

late night office dates, anyone?

he'll hold you close and try to be slightly more affectionate in public.

this whole scenario has reminded him just how mortal you are, and he hates that someone who's just as angelic as you is trapped inside of a fragile and weak body.

MAMMON

clingy asf

probably the first one to find out mc's in the hospital.

he's downright upset at first. normally he's attached to your hip, so the one time he leaves you alone, ya wind up in the hospital? he knew you were too much of a fragile human to be left alone!

he refuses to let anyone near you as you recover - besides the doctors and nurses, of course, but even then he eyeballs them to make sure they're being gentle with you.

he goes on a rant/lecture about how you're just some weak human who needs him by your side and how you shouldn't have gone off on your own, but as soon as you frown or pout while averting your gaze, his whole demeanor flips.

he's just really worried about you.

he's a big tsundere, yes, but he cares so much about you and he's not sure how to convey his emotions as he's never felt this way about anyone before.

"h-hey, i'm not mad at ya. just... i'm your first. no, i don't care if i'm in the middle of a scheme, i'll always make time for ya... so don't go off alone, okay?!"

buys you tons of gifts before and after you've left the hospital

definitely won't leave you alone for the first few weeks of being discharged

really, he's clinging onto you like you have more value than goldie

and truly, he wouldn't admit it, but you do.

LEVIATHAN

probably gets told by one of his brothers since he's hiding out in his room as per usual.

first, he almost summons lotan in anger to get revenge for mc if they got hurt by someone, but whether that is or isn't the case, he soon calms down once he recognizes something.

this is just like the 78th episode of TSL he was watching when the lord of shadows returns the favor to henry for helping him through his familial problems by taking care of him!!

well then. now levi's been inspired to be the best lord of shadows he can for his henry.

oh, and i guess he'll do it anyways because he cares about mc's wellbeing to begin with or wtv... /s

nonetheless, snek boi brings a bunch of games, movies, and mangas to mc as he camps out in their hospital room with them.

you better be prepared to binge watch all of TSL and fall asleep to whatever sounds are coming from his game beside your bed - not that you have much of a choice, anyways.

his brothers probably try to pull him away from you as he's clingy boy #2 and staying up having gaming marathons can't be good for your recovery, so you can bet your little human butt you're going to find yourself staying in levi's room for a couple of days after you've left the hospital.

definently places ruri-chan or any other anime-related stickers on your casts (if you have any) or cheeks to cheer you up.

bonus: he totally tries to sneak in henry 2.0 to keep you company when he can't be there and if he succeeds, he relies on henry to give him reports of your health.

SATAN

pissed if someone else landed you in the hospital. nearly goes on a rampage and his brothers just barely manage to stop him.

probably one of the best people to keep you company once he calms down, though.

definitely visits you at the same hour everyday to bring you books he suggests you read.

if you're not up for reading any, he'll suggest reading them to you, or suggest something else entirely different.

stays overnight a couple times with an audiobook playing in the background or with an open book on his chest.

doesn't mind falling asleep in weird positions anyways considering the way his room is set up.

watches detective dramas late at night when you're asleep like a dork lol

definitely watches cute cat compilations with you if you're feeling down for any particular reason and will stroke your hair to calm you down.

10/10, soft satan is best satan <3

ASMODEUS

probably screams tbh

that can't be good for your skin!! all that stress on top of being sick/hurt is going to make you break out!!

practically dashes to visit you with skin care & beauty products although you're advised not to use them by your doctors atm

asmodeus has never been so salty.

though, he is concerned about your overrall being.

it honestly scares him how much he cares about you. especially in this state because he's never cared so much for anyone else other than his brothers or himself in a long time.

most likely to cry (besides mammon) if you cry since he already has tears stinging his eyes.

he starts neglecting his own nightly routines to stay overnight with you.

if you start to point it out or ask him why he's doing this, he'll just sit there in astonishment processing your words.

you matter so much to him? like, duh, of course he's going to be here, why wouldn't he? he doesn't care about anything else other than you and your recovery right now and-

oh.

you matter... more than him... to him...?

...ya broke him.

when you're asleep, he watches you silently for a change, caressing your cheek delicately with soft eyes focused on your relaxed features.

he gets a strange feeling in his chest - and not like the ones he gets from excitement over his quick hookups - no, no, this one is a foreign feeling. it's, dare he say, euphoric.

BEELZEBUB

just like lucifer, he feels guilty.

he already lost lilith. he can't lose you too.

he probably needs more reassuring that you're going to be okay than you do, honestly.

he plops down onto the couch in your room and intensely stares at your sleeping form as he stress eats.

on a funnier note, he has the nurses doing laps around the hospital bringing him food and he says "it's for mc" to them, but we all know who it's really for.

he's the softest he's ever been with you.

you thought he was a teddy bear before? he's practically made of stuffing by now.

when you're sad, he wants to reassure you, but you look so sickly and frail that he holds you like your glass.

please reassure this behemoth of a man that you're going to be okay, he really loves you and wouldn't forgive himself if he made things worse.

most definitely takes you out to a restaurant to treat you once you've fully recovered.

BELPHEGOR

he already beats himself up over the attic thing, so if anyone had hurt you enough to put you into the hospital, his anger would probably rival the avatar of wrath and they'd go missing.

squeezes himself onto your bed to cuddle you while being mindful of your iv.

if that doesn't work, well, then he just drapes himself over your legs. he's gonna find a way to be with you, and you can't stop him (y'know, unless you flat out tell him or look like you're uncomfortable).

if all else fails, he settles for mushing his cheek against one arm propped against your bedside as his other hand is occupied holding yours.

he's pretty much like one of those therapy cats LMAO

lots n lots of sleepy cuddling. after all, rest is essential for your recovery, right?

when you two can't sleep, you have movie nights bingewatching the worst rated movies and shows in the devildom and the two of you go cinema sins on them.

v clingy after you get discharged and holds you noticeably tighter to his chest.

"stop doing stupid things that could kill you, you idiot."

obey me masterlist. | undateables version.

938 notes · View notes

specialagentsergio · 3 years

Text

rationalizations

rationalizations: a defense mechanism in which one makes up a false but reassuring explanation to explain their behavior and/or feelings to both themselves and others, thus avoiding the reality of why they are really acting or feeling as they do.

summary: You’re the psych evaluation for Spencer. You think he’s full of shit, so you refuse to sign his clearance form until he actually tells the truth.

pairing: spencer reid x f!reader

category: angst (happy ending)

content warnings: spencer’s canonical trauma, flashbacks, mentions of suicide and suicidal ideation, swearing

a/n: i wrote this for @imagining-in-the-margins‘ enemies to lovers event. it’s not my favorite trope, but one of the prompts sparked inspiration for me. i also took a good amount of inspiration from meredith’s various therapy scenes in grey’s anatomy, so if some of it feels familiar, that’s why! i swear i intended to make this cute and funny, but, well… here we are lmao.

word count: 3.6k

masterlist

Spencer throws his bag onto his desk with a frustrated huff. It thumps loudly, startling JJ at her desk across from his. She gives him a sympathetic look regardless. “Still not cleared yet?”

“No!” Forgetting that it’s wheeled, he drops himself into his chair. It skids backwards and he has to scramble to grab something to keep from falling out of it.

“Careful there,” JJ says, trying valiantly to suppress a laugh. “That psychologist's got you really worked up, huh?”

“I don’t know what she wants from me!” he complains. “It’s been nearly a month! Hotch’s ex-wife was murdered by an unsub, but they cleared him. I was only shot in the neck.”

“I mean, that’s still kind of a big deal,” she says. “You could’ve died, from the gunshot, or from the nurse that tried to kill you afterwards.”

“Speaking of that nurse,” he starts, “Garcia is the one who shot him and she’s been a wreck over it. She insisted on going to the guy’s execution. But the therapist cleared her!”

“Penelope’s not in the field,” JJ points out.

He crosses his arms. “Still. This isn’t the first time I’ve been shot. That possibility is part of the job. It’s not like it came out of nowhere and I was completely unprepared for it.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Spence,” she says. “Just keep all of your appointments and I’m sure you’ll be cleared soon.”

He pulls a stack of papers on his desk towards him. Paperwork—one of the things he’s actually allowed to do. “I better be,” he mutters.

---

“And it was really scary, you know?” Spencer wipes at his eyes with a tissue. “Not knowing if I was going to live or die.”

“Mm-hmm.”

He takes a deep breath. “But… it’s over now. The preacher who shot me died in the same shootout. Owen McGregor, the leader of the corrupt deputies, died later that night, in another shootout. And Greg Baylor, the one who posed as a nurse and tried to kill me, was sentenced to death row and he’s gone now, too.”

His psychologist makes a note on the paper in front of her, but doesn’t say anything, so he continues.

“I… I feel better now, just letting that out.” He takes a new tissue and dries his nose. “I feel ready now. Ready to go back to work.”

She nods slowly, considering him. But she doesn’t even look towards her desk where the clearance form sits, frustrating him to no end. After five minutes of silence, he breaks.

“You can’t be serious.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’ve been coming to these sessions for over a month, and I’m still not cleared to be in the field. I…” He musters up more tears and makes sure his voice wavers during his next words. “I just don’t know what you want? I’ve tried everything.”

“No, you haven’t,” she says plainly.

He blinks in surprise, sending some of the crocodile tears down his cheeks. “What?”

She crosses her legs. “You’re full of shit.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not being honest with me, and I don’t think you’re being honest with yourself either,” she says. “You’re a great actor. I can see how you’ve gotten clearances easily before. But that stops with me.”

Spencer stares at her. “I don’t understand.”

She moves her notebook to the side. “What happened in Texas isn’t the first time your life’s been in danger. Why do you think that is?”

“Wh—that’s part of my job,” he argues, fake crying long since forgotten.

“Not to the extent that you take it. I’ve read your file,” she says. “You take unnecessary risks with regularity.”

The tissues crumple in his hand as he clenches it. “I do not.”

“Let’s go back to the beginning.”

“The beginning of what?”

“Of your career.” Yet she doesn’t take out his file, or look at her notes. She speaks from memory. “2005. The BAU is assisting with a hostage situation. You go into the train, posing as someone who is there to remove a microchip from the unsub, but the first thing you do? You take off your bulletproof vest.”

“Okay, clearly you don’t understand what the situation was,” Spencer cuts in. “Ted Bryar was suffering from a psychotic break. He was somewhat unpredictable, and he told me to take off the vest.”

“And you just listened?”

“He—he had a gun, and was threatening both me and the other passengers with it!” he says. “What was I supposed to do, not listen?”

“Uh, yeah,” she replies. “You easily played into his delusions just a few minutes later to distract him. Why not do that to keep yourself safe?”

“I was twenty-four and was running on adrenaline,” he says defensively. “And it was my first time doing something like that. You can’t expect me to think of everything.”

“You’re right, I can’t,” she agrees. “So let’s jump forward a few years. How about the time you approached a teenager who was wielding an assault rifle with no protection, not even your own firearm?” she challenges.

“You mean Owen Savage? That was a unique situation,” he protests. “I knew I could talk him down.”

“No, you didn’t. You thought you had a good chance, but there’s no way to be one hundred percent sure of that. He was volatile, and on a killing spree,” she counters. “You didn’t know if you’d succeed--”

“I did!” He startles himself by unconsciously raising his voice, but he doesn’t apologize. “I did, because….”

“Because you related to him,” she fills in. “And that’s fine. Having empathy for an unsub doesn’t suggest something’s wrong in and of itself. But you still put yourself, and the rest of your team, in danger, didn’t you?”

He crosses his arms. “I got that lecture from Hotch when it happened, okay?”

“So then why’d you confront an unsub alone a few years later in Miami?” she asks. “You didn’t even tell anyone where you were going. You left your vest behind and just ran off.”

“I was having a head—wait, how do you even know that happened?” he questions. “It wasn’t in the report.”

“Well, first of all, you just confirmed it,” she points out, and he wants to kick himself. “Secondly, I can read between the lines.”

“I was having a headache,” he repeats. “I wasn’t thinking all that clearly. I just knew Julio’s life was in immediate danger, so I went to help him.”

“Uh-huh. More recently,” she says, brushing past his excuse, “You confronted your girlfriend’s stalker without your vest or gun.”

Spencer’s getting angry now. “I was trying to save Maeve. She asked me to leave them behind.”

“And you simply listened. Do you see the pattern I’m drawing here, Dr. Reid?” she asks. “These are just a few of the instances that stand out. Time and time again, you put yourself in unnecessary danger. So I’ll ask you again. Why do you think that is?”

Spencer looks over her—really looks over her, trying to understand what she’s getting at. “Are… are you suggesting that I’m suicidal?” he asks quietly.

She looks him straight in the eye. “You don’t act like someone who wants to be alive.”

It’s like she set off a bomb in his brain. Memories, and the feelings attached to them, emerge—Elle handcuffed to a seat, a teenager with a rifle, a blinding headache, Maeve and blood on the warehouse floor.

“Here’s what I see,” she says. “I see a man who’s been through so, so much. Your mother is mentally ill, your father left--”

His father is packing a suitcase. Spencer doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do or say, so he falls back on what he knows.

“Statistically, children who grow up in two-parent households attain three more years of higher education than children from single-parent households.”

It doesn’t help. “We’re not statistics, Spencer.”

“Your file says she’s staying at an institution, and with your father out of the picture, I can only assume you were the one who had her admitted--”

“Spencer, please don’t do this to me!” she cries as she’s escorted out of the house by Bennington Sanitarium’s transport staff.

“A few years into your work here at the FBI, you were kidnapped, tortured and drugged--”

He’s tired and cold and his whole body aches. Tobias—the real Tobias—looms over him with a syringe.

“Please. I don’t want it,” he pleads of his captor. “I don’t want it, please.”

The needle punctures his skin regardless.

“—you were held hostage by a cult leader--”

Emily sits across from him on the plane with a black eye. “What Cyrus did to me is not your fault.”

He pretends to agree.

“—you went through the death and reappearance of Agent Prentiss--”

He’s tried to make it clear to Jennifer that he wants to be left alone, but she won’t stop trying to talk about it with him, and he’s had enough.

“I came to your house for ten weeks in a row crying over losing a friend, and not once did you have the decency to tell me the truth.”

“—and your girlfriend was shot in front of you.”

“Who’s Thomas Merton? Who is he?” Diane demands, gun pressed against Maeve’s head.

“He’s the one thing you can never take from us,” Maeve replies, and Spencer’s heart drops. Thomas Merton is Maeve’s way of saying goodbye—she’s giving up.

“Wait!” he cries out, but it’s too late.

“This is just some of the more traumatic stuff. And then there’s what happened last month, which is why you’re here. You present a face of not being bothered by all of this, because that’s what you’ve been doing all your life, but I think you are bothered. You really, really are. And you don’t want to admit to anyone just how much it all has affected you. Maybe you don’t even want yourself to know.” Her expression and tone of voice are certain.

Spencer can’t take it anymore. The whirlwind of emotions and memories is overwhelming.

“The number of times you’ve almost died is staggering--”

“Yeah, and sometimes I wish I had!” He glares at her, breathing heavily. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

But she doesn’t seem intimidated or alarmed at all. She leans back in her armchair. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

The response only serves to make him angrier. She questioned him relentlessly and made him admit something he swore in the dark hours of sleepless nights that he’d never think again, never voice, let alone admit to anyone. She forced it out of him, forced. She made him say it against his will.

So why does he feel a sense of relief?

“I…” Tears well up in his eyes—real ones this time. “I’m done,” he chokes out.

He pushes himself off of the couch and out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

---

He storms in Hotch’s office and demands to see a different psychologist. But she was one step ahead of him—a few hours before the appointment, she had emailed Hotch and told him that under no circumstances should Spencer be allowed to get a clearance from someone else.

“And you’re going to believe her?” he cries.

“She’s doing her job, Reid.”

“You barely know her! You’ve known me for a decade!”

“Yes, I have,” Hotch agrees. “And you’ve told me yourself that you’ve fooled psychologists and therapists before. So if this one is saying you’re not ready yet, I’m inclined to believe her.”

Spencer just stares at him, but as usual, Hotch doesn’t blink.

“Unbelievable,” Spencer eventually mutters.

“Take the rest of the day off,” Hotch replies, glancing down at fists Spencer hadn’t realized he was clenching.

“Fine.”

Too agitated to stand in the elevator, he takes the stairs. As he stomps down them, he swears he’ll never go back to her office, even if it means never going into the field again.

A week passes, then two, and he hasn’t seen the psychologist since. But he doesn’t feel any better—he actually feels worse. It’s like her words broke a dam in his mind, in his gut, and feelings of unease and uncertainty won’t pass. It keeps him up at night. Her words echo in his head. “You don’t act like someone who wants to be alive.”

Spencer’s had yet another sleepless night and is struggling not to doze off at his desk despite the coffee he’s drinking. He stands up with the intention of splashing some water from the bathroom sink on his face, but his feet take him somewhere else.

He stares at the nameplate on the door. He swore he’d never go back, yet he feels compelled to knock.

It only takes her a few moments to answer. “Dr. Reid. Can I help you?” she asks.

“I…” He sighs. “Are you busy?”

“No. Come on in.” She steps to the side, opening the door wider to let him pass. He sits down on the couch.

She waits patiently. She doesn’t rush him. She lets him speak first.

He wrings his hands in his lap, staring down at them. “Something you said is bothering me.”

“What was it?”

“About… living,” he admits quietly. “I… I think you might have been right.”

When he gets the courage to glance up at her, he finds a soft smile on her face. “Would you like to talk about it?”

Spencer hadn’t realized he was expecting judgment and disdain until it didn’t happen. His shoulders slump down in relief. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I think I would.”

---

“You’re still thinking about her, aren’t you?”

Spencer looks up from his paperwork, slightly out of it, to find Derek watching him. His coworker had, indeed, caught him thinking about her again. His psychologist. Well, former psychologist. After his second session back with her, she’d handed over a clearance form and a referral to a therapist outside the bureau to see long-term.

“And you better follow up with that,” she’d told him, the corner of her mouth turning up despite her serious tone of voice. “I’ll know if you don’t.”

He’d promised that he would, and had followed through. But despite the progress he was making with the new therapist, he was feeling a little disappointed that he didn’t get to see her anymore. He only saw her in passing, sometimes in the elevator or walking down the hallways of the building. They would exchange hellos, she would ask how he was doing, then give him a little wave as she left. Each time his heart would skip a beat, and he’d feel an urge to follow her to wherever she was going.

Yet he hadn’t quite realized why he seemed to be preoccupied with her until a dream he had a few weeks ago—a dream in which he found himself kissing her. Despite being alone in his bedroom, he’d woken up feeling embarrassed. He promised himself that he would put her out of his mind. Having a crush on his psychologist? It was ridiculous.

But then he saw her in the elevator a few days later and he couldn’t help but analyze her body language. It was open, and she twirled her hair around a finger while she looked at him to ask him how he was. A few other people entered the elevator on the next floor, but her attention remained on him. They were subtle signs, but signs that he recognized nonetheless—signs of attraction. And once he started seeing them, he couldn’t stop.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Spencer tells Derek, picking back up the pen he hadn’t noticed he dropped.

“You can’t pull that on me, kid,” he replies. “It’s your psychologist. You can’t stop thinking about her, can you?”

Spencer sighs. “So what if I can’t?”

“So go ask her out already!” Derek says like it’s obvious.

“You don’t think that’s just a little inappropriate?”

“You’re not seeing her as a client anymore, are you?” he points out. “Go for it, kid. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

Spencer takes the advice—as soon as Derek said it, he knew he was right. He would regret not taking a chance on her and the connection he felt. Sure, she’d helped him with therapy, but it went deeper than that. It feels like she knows him.

He leaves the bullpen ten minutes early that evening, hoping to catch her before she leaves for the day. On her doorstep, he feels just as nervous as he did on the day he admitted that she was right, but it’s a different kind of nervous. An excited nervous. He knocks on the door.

She’s surprised when she seems him. He watches as her pupils dilate, and it boosts his confidence. “Dr. Reid. Can I help you?”

“You can. I’d like to talk,” he says.

“Oh. Well, I guess I could do that,” she says. “I thought things were going well with the therapist I referred you to, though.”

He shakes his head. “No, I don’t mean I want an appointment.”

Her eyebrows come together in confusion. “Okay, then, what do you want?”

Spencer doesn’t hesitate. “I want to take you out to dinner.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I really like you, and I think we’re meant to be together,” he replies, voice softening a bit.

She pauses before answering. When she does, her voice is gentle. “Dr. Reid, sometimes a medical professional’s care can start to feel like affection over a period of time, but--”

“No one has ever listened to me like you do,” he interrupts.

“That’s my job,” she points out.

“I’ve seen therapists before, but none of them have been like you,” he counters. “You understand me.”

She sighs. “Well, I’m glad I was a good fit and was able to help you. But that doesn’t mean that I see you as anything more than a client.”

“You’re lying.”

“Excuse me?”

“You do feel something more for me,” he says firmly, but then backtracks a little. “Well, I know you’re attracted to me at least.”

She blinks and shakes her head slightly, take aback. “Dr. Reid, this is not appropriate--”

“Please call me Spencer,” he says, then jumps into his explanation. “See, when we’re attracted to someone, our bodies display involuntary signals, and I’ve seen you do some of them when you’re around me. Whenever we run into each other here, your body will turn a little towards me and you’ll play with your hair. Your attention is almost entirely focused on me. And, when you see me, your pupils dilate. They did it when you opened the door just a few minutes ago. Oh, and I’m attracted to you, by the way,” he adds as he realizes how one-sided he’s been. “I imagine my pupils probably dilate when I see you, too.”

Her mouth opens and closes a few times, like she wants to speak but doesn’t know what to say. She looks flustered, and he wonders if maybe he’s pushed it too far or said too much, but he can’t turn back now. “So, please, let me take you out,” he says quietly. “Just… just give it a chance.”

She bites her lip and looks at the ground. There’s a crease between her eyebrows, which he’s come to learn means she’s thinking. She speaks seriously when she looks back up. “If I go out with you, I can’t treat you anymore. If you ever need another evaluation or session, you’d have to get it from someone else.”

“I know,” he says. “I get along well with the therapist you referred me to, though. And having to get clearance from a different psychologist at the bureau is something I’m willing to give up in favor of getting to know you better.”

She considers him. “You’re serious about this,” she states.

It’s not a question, but he answers it anyways. “I am.”

She tilts her head to the side, eyes unfocusing as she ponders the situation. Eventually, she says, “Let me think about it.”

It’s not exactly the answer he was hoping for, but he’ll take it.

---

It’s only six PM, but Spencer is already exhausted. He unlocks his apartment door, fully intending to collapse onto his bed, but instead receives a pleasant surprise in the form of his girlfriend waiting for him on the couch. He can’t help but smile.

“Sweetie, what are you doing here?” he asks, then adds, “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Penelope told me it was a bit of a rough case,” she replies. “And I missed you.”

She holds out her arms and he takes the invitation, joining her on the couch and laying down between her legs, placing his head on her chest. “I missed you, too.”

Her next words are overly familiar. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Hey, we agreed to no therapy,” he says. “Something about I can’t be your client anymore?”

She huffs. “This isn’t therapy. This is being a good partner.”

Spencer smiles into the fabric of her shirt, snuggling in closer. “I know, I’m just teasing you. I don’t need to talk about the case,” he says, finally answering her original question. “I feel fine now that I’m here with you.”

She lets out a pleased hum and starts running her fingers through his hair. “I ordered take-out for dinner, by the way.”

“Where from?”

“You know where.”

A wide grin spreads across his face. She must have ordered take-out from the restaurant he took her to on their first date. He lifts his head to look her in the eye. “Aren’t you glad you said yes to me all those months ago?”

“Oh, I suppose,” she says with pretend annoyance, rolling her eyes.

Then she kisses him.

Spencer’s never been so happy to be alive.

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

tell me what you thought here!

please note that i DO NOT ENDORSE asking out your therapist/former therapist. this is fanfiction. thank you.

general taglist: @calm-and-doctor , @spencerreid9

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid angst #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds self insert #spencer reid #angst #my fic #i just cannot stop myself from writing about mental health issues and treatment can i

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tennessoui · 3 years

Note

Please give me the TA scene where Vos takes Obi-Wan to a bar to get drunk and forget about Anakin and pick up some hotties but oh no Anakin is there and Obi-Wan is a little tipsy and doesn’t want to be rude so he goes to say hi. Then for the rest of the night when he tries to go Anakin pulls him back into conversation because he doesn’t want Obi-Wan going home with someone else

yes!!!!!! TIS THE SEASON (halloween)

(2.3k)(the first TA obi-wan snippet!!)

The thing about Quinlan that Obi-Wan hates the most is that his friend is the only person in the entire world that can out-stubborn him. That’s usually not a problem. But sometimes it is. Sometimes it results in Quinlan forcing Obi-Wan into doing something he’d rather not do.

All those people that say peer pressure isn’t really real have never met Quinlan Vos.

Obi-Wan sort of wishes he’d never met Quinlan Vos when the man shows up at his door on Friday evening carrying three different bundles of clothing.

“Because I’m nice, you get to choose what you want to be for Halloween,” Quinlan announces, laying out the options on Obi-Wan’s coffee table.

“Drunk and alone in my apartment,” Obi-Wan says. “That’s an option, right?”

“Just for that, I’m taking Indiana Jones off the table,” Quinlan replies, not sounding sorry about it at all. “I’ll be that one. I think I could make the whip look hot as hell.”

Obi-Wan crosses his arms and peers at the costumes. “Sexy nurse or sexy….Red Riding Hood? I’m not wearing that. I doubt it would even fit me.”

“Bullshit, you have a very dainty waist, Obi. But hurry up and choose because we’re going to be late.”

“We’re going tonight?” Obi-Wan splutters. “It’s not even Halloween!”

“It’s the Halloweekend, Obi-Wan. It’s like you’ve forgotten all of our sophomore year.”

Obi-Wan’s tried to block most of it out, that’s true. The parts he remembers, at least. “I think we’re a bit too old for Halloweekend, Quin,” he protests, staring down at the costumes. “And I--”

“Have been obsessing over this so-called hottest professor in existence, yes, I know.” Quinlan holds up his hand when Obi-Wan starts to disagree. “No, you know I’m right. I don’t want to hear your excuses. I’ve never heard you casually talk about someone so much and I’ve been there for all of your co-ed crushes. So what we’re going to do tonight is go and get your hot professor fucked out of your head, and the best way to do that is either sexy nurse or sexy Red Riding Hood. So.”

“I do not want this,” Obi-Wan reiterates slowly. “I very much am not aboard this plan.”

“Don’t make me invoke the BFFFOC, Obi,” Quinlan threatens.

The BFFFOC, or Best Friend Forever Failsafe Override Code, was thought up between them one night their first year of college. If ever one of them was going down a path that the other deemed unwise, they had the right to invoke the override and talk some sense into them.

“I don’t think me not wanting to dress in a slutty and offensive nurse outfit counts,” Obi-Wan protests loudly.

“It’s not about the costume, Obi, and you know it. It’s about this professor. You know you need to get over him. So get under someone else. I’d offer, but that would be in complete violating of--”

“BFFNBTBT,” Obi-Wan finishes with him, rolling his eyes. “Yes, I recall.”

That one, Best Friends Forever No Below The Belt Touching had been resurrected after a very unfortunate one night stand. The grounds for that code are some of the ones Obi-Wan is still trying to forget.

“Fine,” he snaps and hates himself for it. One day he’ll learn how to say no to Quinlan. “But I’m going with Red Riding Hood.”

“I thought you would!” his friend cheers. “The cape’s long enough to cover more of your upper thighs and you’re a bit of a prude.”

Obi-Wan snatches up the packaged costume from the table. “Fuck off,” he says, quite pleasantly in his opinion. “And I’m not paying you back for this.”

“You should shave,” Quinlan tells him as he turns towards his bedroom. “Really commit to the role!”

Perhaps tonight Obi-Wan will strangle Quinlan with his own length of Indiana Jones whip. The thought puts a smile on his face.

In the end, Obi-Wan does end up shaving. It’s not something he does often, but he’d looked at the costume. The dress doesn’t even come down to his fingertips. The hooded red cape somehow just a little bit longer.

And he thinks making Quinlan wait for thirty minutes while Obi-Wan gets ready is the very least of what he deserves.

Dragging out the process, however, doesn’t magically give Quinlan enough time to realize how stupid this is, because when Obi-Wan peers around the edge of his door, Quin’s on the couch in full Indiana Jones costume regalia, flicking through his phone.

“I look like a pervert’s idea about what Swedish barmaids looked like in the 18th century,” Obi-Wan complains, trying to flatten the hem of the flared out dress as he regretfully leaves the safety of his bedroom.

“That’s what the hood’s for,” Quinlan says sagely, looking up from his phone to take in Obi-Wan. “What, no makeup?”

“I need you to know that my biggest regret in my entire life will always be that I sat next to you on our first day of chem,” Obi-Wan tells him placidly, adjusting the cape around his bare shoulders. He hates to admit it, but the feeling of the inner fabric of the hood feels good against his skin. Soft.

“Oh, don’t say that, Obi, I’m sorry. You’re pretty without makeup.”

“I’m about to throw a punch,” he warns.

Quinlan grins and slings an arm around him. “Well then, looks like it’s time to go.”

----

They slide into two seats at the very crowded bar only thirty or so minutes later. Everyone around them is wearing some sort of costume, some so wild or revealing that Obi-Wan doesn’t even necessarily feel bad about the amount of skin he’s showing off.

Someone walks by in a golden speedo and Obi-Wan takes a gulp of his drink. At least this place does some heavy pours.

Quinlan leans into his ear. “See anyone?” he yells of the din of loud music and voices.

“I see a lot of people,” Obi-Wan reports back immediately.

“One more tongue-in-cheek response out of you, and I’ll make you do tequila shots, young man!”

Obi-Wan narrows his eyes, but then a girl in a french maid costume smiles at him flirtily from across the bar. His first thought is that he likes Professor Skywalker’s smile a lot better. Then he wonders about what Professor Skywalker’s doing tonight, if he likes Halloween. If he’s dressed up. If he’s alone.

“I would like two tequila shots,” he tells the bartender when she passes them.

“Obi-Wan, you shouldn’t have!” Quinlan tosses his arm around his shoulder and pulls him in for an awkward, but enthusiastic hug when the shots arrive.

“They’re both for me,” he responds. “You can choke.”

“You wound me so precisely,” Quinlan shakes his head, and flags down a bartender to order his own. Obi-Wan decides to ignore him, licking at the back of his hand quickly before sprinkling the salt onto the damp skin.

The first shot goes down easily, but he doesn’t even wait ten seconds before he’s brought his hand back to his mouth for another lick.

Halfway through, he looks up at the feeling of eyes staring at him. He follows his own instincts until his eyes latch onto bright, familiar blue ones across the way.

If he’d taken the shot, he would have choked in this moment when confronted with Anakin Skywalker, out of the lecture hall and looking so intensely at Obi-Wan that he feels strangely vulnerable. Examined.

He breaks eye contact with his professor when Quinlan’s arm tightens on his shoulder and he knocks their shot glasses together.

It’s second nature at this point to do shots with Quin, and he drinks his down automatically as his eyes can’t help but to dart back to Anakin--Professor Skywalker--at his table.

He’s sitting alone. Not even that dressed up. Obi-Wan has no feelings about this.

Quinlan, who is frighteningly observant at the worst times, clues into Professor Skywalker’s presence before he thinks he should, after only ten or so minutes have passed. “That guy is staring at you,” he whispers very loudly to Obi-Wan, taking a pointed sip of his newest drink. “Or maybe me, but he sorta looks angry whenever I touch you.”

As if to prove this, Quinlan moves in to place a sloppy kiss on Obi-Wan’s cheek. Obi-Wan can’t shove him off quickly enough.

“Yep, definitely looking at you.” Quinlan concludes. “Looks blond, older than us, but like. Not ancient. What are you thinking? Wanna go over? I think you should, he looks like he’d give you a good time.”

Obi-Wan stares down at his drink. Quinlan doesn’t know what Professor Skywalker looks like. He doesn’t know that he’s actually cajoling Obi-Wan into the arms of the one person he’s set against him seeing. If Obi-Wan were a better friend, he’d tell him. But Obi-Wan isn’t. Obi-Wan’s feeling a little tipsy from the drinks, and his legs are all smooth, and he wants to talk to Professor Skywalker. He wants to see if maybe the man could want him if he’s wearing this. If he looks like this.

“I’m gonna go over and talk to him,” he decides in a rush, already lifting himself out of his seat. Quinlan crows in delight and reaches out to steady him when he stumbles a bit.

Water next, Obi-Wan thinks. He’s going to have water next.

It’s a short trip across the room to where Professor Skywalker is sitting. It just feels longer because of nerves. God, what is he doing? Why is he doing this?

But suddenly he’s at Anakin’s table. Suddenly he’s standing right in front of him, drink clutched in both hands, very aware of how much skin his outfit is showing off.

Anakin’s eyes dart down and the back up again before lingering at the exposed skin of his thighs. If it were anyone else, Obi-Wan would think he’s being checked out, but it’s his professor. And no matter how much Obi-Wan may want Anakin’s eyes to stick on him like a brand, he knows the older man would never want that same thing.

“Professor Skywalker, hello,” he finally says, fiddling with the straw in his drink. A few seconds later, he takes a sip, conscious of the way the man follows this motion. If it were anyone else--

But it’s not.

“Obi-Wan, I’ve told you to call me Anakin,” the professor scolds. “Especially outside of the classroom.”

“Sorry,” he says immediately. “Um. Anakin.”

Anakin’s arm drapes itself over the back of his booth as he sits more comfortably in his chair. “Please, sit.”

“I don’t want to intrude or anything, I just saw you and thought I would say--”

“Obi-Wan, sit,” this is a much clearer instruction. Obi-Wan drops into the other chair. Anakin looks him over again. “I have to admit, I didn’t have you pegged for being into this holiday,” he says roughly. “Or so committed to it.”

Obi-Wan thinks he’s probably blushing as red as his hood. “No, I um. You’re right. My friend, I--he wanted me to come out with him, and he only got me two costumes--I wouldn’t, but he--”

“Indiana Jones?” Anakin cuts in to ask sharply. “Sounds like a bit of a controlling boyfriend if he made you do something you’re not comfortable with.”

There’s an air of protectiveness in Anakin’s voice that makes Obi-Wan feel warm on the inside. Even though the professor couldn’t have been more wrong.

“No, no,” he corrects him anyway, even though a part of him is yelling that Anakin really doesn’t care that much about the details of his personal life. “We’re just friends. And I….”

He trails off, and Anakin arches one of his thick eyebrows in expectancy.

It may be that expression, the knowledge that Obi-Wan could give Anakin the answer he’s looking for, or the drinks in his system, but he finds himself continuing, admitting quite quietly, “I like it.”

Anakin straightens in his seat and takes a long pull of his own drink. “You like it,” he repeats. “Am I to assume you’re just a fan of the fairytale?”

Obi-Wan bites at his lip. He knows he shouldn’t say anything more, but....but they’re so far from the lecture hall here. It’s hard to remember why they shouldn’t talk about this. It’s hard not to let his mind wander to what he would say if the person he was talking to was not his professor, but a man he was interested in spending the night with, someone he was trying to seduce.

He shakes his head shyly.

“I like the hood,” he admits, because once he’s thought of it it’s incredibly difficult not to say it. He hardly even tries, if he’s being honest. “The cape is just long enough I can feel it on my thighs. And I like the skirt and--” he hesitates here, but it’s not called liquid courage for nothing. “The lingerie it came with.”

Anakin freezes with his drink halfway to his mouth. Slowly, he sets it back onto the table again and studies Obi-Wan with darkened eyes. His expression is unreadable and it makes Obi-Wan squirm in his seat.

“Fuck,” Anakin breathes out, the word almost lost to the roar of noise in the bar.

Obi-Wan fidgets in his seat. “Actually, sir,” he says suddenly. “I’m sorry, I should go, I only meant to say hello--”

“You should stay,” the professor interrupts, leaning forward and placing his hand on Obi-Wan’s forearm. The touch is electrifying. “For a drink.”

“Just a drink,” Obi-Wan agrees probably too quickly, a part of him responding to Anakin’s pleading expression perhaps more than it should. “My, what big eyes you have,” he jokes in regards to his professor’s begging look.

“The better to see you with,” Anakin replies immediately. For a second, his hand on Obi-Wan’s arm doesn’t move. Then his thumb strokes over the smooth skin there before he pulls back. “My dear.”

#asks #sorta cuts out right before the good stuff rip #but still!!!#fun to write and easy to write this time!!!#i did almost have obi-wan be a bunny but at the last second i was like lets keep it classic #and just a lil dirty #in this scene anakin is constantly thinking about how many days are left until the semester ends #he's like '2 months it's 2 months you can do this skywalker it's just 2 months'#'oh fuck did he just say he's wearing lingerie???? FUCK TWO MONTHS IT'S ONLY TWO MONTHS'#ta au #obikin #anakin skywalker #obi-wan kenobi

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absolutepokemontrash · 3 years

Text

MC is Half Demon and They Look Awfully Familiar

(Underground Tomb edition!)

Hello friends and degenerate sinners, this is basically a mini headcanon set for Luci’s kid!MC about how the incident with Luke and the Grimoire would go down in this AU to tide you all over until Part 3 comes out! Enjoy!

It was a normal night in the good ol’ HOL... Lucifer was doing paperwork at an ungodly hour of the night, Beel was in the kitchen, and Mammon was screaming and running for dear life. Ah... sweet normalcy.

The custard incident remained the same, MC got force-fed custard and Beel threw a truly fantastic hunger tantrum that culminated in the wall connecting to MC’s room collapsing.

Cue lecture from Luci-father.

“I am very disappointed in you three.” Lucifer rubbed his temples as MC, Beel, and Mammon awkwardly stood in his room. Mammon of course, was trying to avoid the death glares MC was giving him. Poor bastard.

“Especially you two, MC and Beel.”

“Whuh?!” Mammon sputtered. “What about me?!”

“I expect this from you. These two on the other hand,” Lucifer raised an eyebrow at MC who was awkwardly trying to suppress a laugh at Mammon’s aghast expression. “Should know not to act like this.”

“We’re *snrk* sorry, father,” MC paused to try and muscle through a giggle. “It won’t happen again.”

“He ate my custard...” Beel pouted.

“So, MC won’t be able to use their room anymore due to the wall... collapsing.” Lucifer gave Beel a pointed glare.

Mammon smirked, and if he were sitting on a couch, we would have leaned back and kicked his feet up. “Well, obviously since I’m a kind and generous soul I’ll open up my room for poor MC to stay in. My babysittin’ rates are quite high though-”

“BABYSITTING?!” MC snarled, giving Mammon a death glare that could probably kill lesser demons.

Lucifer felt a twinge of pride upon seeing his child give someone his signature bone-chilling glare, if he weren’t supposed to be disappointed he would have given MC a pat on the head and let them hang Mammon from the ceiling.

“Uh- heh- MC, I’m your favourite uncle! Me babysittin’ ya should be an honour!” Mammon was sweating bullets and desperately looking to Beel for help.

“Levi is rapidly approaching favourite uncle status.” MC crossed their arms and huffed.

“Levi?! Wait- does that mean I was your favourite-”

Lucifer was almost tempted to stick MC in Mammon’s room just to have MC punish Mammon so he could get some sleep, tragically, his common sense won out. “MC will be staying with Beel. He has an extra bed in his room after all.”

MC looked over at Beel and smiled. “Could be worse, right? I’ll replace the custard.”

Beel’s smile upon hearing the last part could have lit up the entire Devildom. What a sweetie.

MC still chilled in Beel’s room. They finally got to ask more questions about Belphie, and Beel is more inclined to share what’s up because MC is his big bro’s kid after all!

Because of MC’s half demon-ness, they hadn’t met Belphie at that point in the story unlike in canon. They were just curious about their missing uncle. They ALSO already knew what Belphie looks like because Lucifer gave them an in depth tour of everything and he pointed out all the portraits.

MC, being the sadistic sweetheart they are, went out and bought themselves and Beel replacement custard. MC made sure to eat it right in front of Mammon.

But my oh my, who was texting them? *gasp!* Luke!

MC obviously let their little angel buddy into the house (Luke did not know about MC’s parental situation at that point, keep that in mind). Luke was fun to tease a little after all! And it was nice to have another kid around, but MC would never admit it.

Since MC had literally no reason to be afraid of their dear old dad, they went right up to him and asked him if Luke could stay over. No fear.

“Father?” MC leaned on the doorway to the backyard, Lucifer was playing fetch with Cerberus. MC had never seen someone play fetch so robotically.

“Yes, MC?” Cerberus’ middle head dropped a slobber covered squeaky toy into Lucifer’s gloved hand, the other two heads snapped at the middle one.

“Can I have a friend over?” MC asked, trotting over to give Cerberus some pets. On the first day the dog had tried to eat them, but after giving him some much tastier bacon treats, Cerberus was sweet as pie. Murderous and dangerous pie, that is.

“Do I know this friend?”

“Yes, it’s Luke. Can he stay over?”

Lucifer wrinkled his nose and rolled his eyes. “Cerberus is right here, you have access to a dog. Why on earth would you bring the chihuahua over?”

MC snorted and gave Cerberus’ right head some scratches behind the ears. “He’s not a chihuahua all the time, come on, it’s for the good of the exchange program!”

The two had a stare down for a little while, and to his absolute horror, Lucifer felt his resolve cracking. This child of his was too adorable for their own good. “Fine, MC.”

“Yes!” MC fist pumped as Cerberus’ middle and left heads tried to join in on the ear scritches.

“But note,” Lucifer continued. “I expect a full report to give to Lord Diavolo on this whole experience.”

MC frowned and debated sticking their tongue out at their father, they decided against it. “A paper? On a sleepover? Really?”

“Yes. Really.” Lucifer gave MC a flick on the nose. “Like you said, it has to do with the exchange program. Now go make sure the chihuahua doesn’t die and leave you with a mess to clean up.”

The look of complete terror Luke gave MC when they told him that Lucifer said he could stay over was completely worth the paper they were going to have to write.

“What?! You weren’t supposed to tell him I’m here!”

“He said you could stay.”

“Why?! Oh no... did he demand your soul as payment or something?! MC! You shouldn’t have put yourself in that nasty demon’s debt! Don’t worry, I’ll get your soul back somehow.”

MC should have been offended... but they weren’t. I mean, could you stay mad at Luke when he just offered to fight arguably the second most powerful demon in the Devildom to get your soul back?

Now that Luke’s presence in the house was known to everyone, the challenge was no longer keeping Luke hidden, it was making sure Luke didn’t say anything that would get him killed and making sure none of the demon bros made Luke cry.

Mammon was the main culprit of the teasing because Lucifer actually had better things to do. And he had a (totally not a) date with Diavolo so he’d be back late and wouldn’t be home to tease the chihuahua.

Mammon’s status as favourite uncle was hanging by a thread by the end of the first day.

Asmo thought Luke was positively adorable and also very annoying. He offered to paint MC and Luke’s nails. Luke declined, but MC was all for it. (Their cuticles were a MESS by the way, they needed the manicure.)

Luke’s nails were painted gold to match the gold on his outfit! Asmo was quite proud of his work, and was very offended when he was not allowed to try and braid Luke’s hair.

“It looks so soft!”

“You’re not allowed to touch my hair, demon!”

Satan still disliked MC on the basis that they were just a mini-Lucifer and hung out in his room or the library to avoid them and Luke.

It was incredibly annoying when Luke and MC burst into the library to look for cookbooks and treat recipes after Luke told MC about his baking endeavours. Satan debated ordering a pair of ear plugs on Akuzon...

Or perhaps a laser gun...

Both would make him stop hearing the children’s grating voices.

“You two, be quiet.”

“We haven’t spoken since we got in here...”

“You’re breathing too loud.”

Beel remained the only brother who was actually decent to Luke, they all played Go Fish in Beel’s room.

Levi was in his room playing his new video game just like in canon, but he could hear Luke and MC running around outside his room.

He was fully prepared to do that introvert thing where you stay in your room until you hear someone say goodbye to the guest.

Levi’s eyes were glued to his computer screen, just eight more skeleton monsters to kill and he’d get the achievement! His attention crumbled the moment he heard the dreaded sound of...

Guests...

“Hey MC! Whose room is this?”

The sound of a door opening and closing down the hall caused Levi to jump in his seat. Oh no... his worst fears were realized! There was another person in the house!

“That’s Asmodeus’ room. Luke you shouldn’t go around opening everyone’s doors-”

The sound of another door opening and shutting made Levi pause his game and look at Henry 2.0 for help. Maybe if he jumped into the tank and wrapped himself in his tail he’d camouflage into his surroundings...

BAM!

AAAAA! Not enough time! The guest was drawing nearer... he was going to have to... *barf*... SOCIALIZE!

“How about this room?”

Levi braced himself for the incoming social contact... Fs in the chat everyone...

“We shouldn’t bother Levi, let’s do something else.”

HAJEKDJSJSJSJD- BEEL! BEEL JUST SAVED LEVI’S LIFE!

The poor third born slumped back in his seat, the awfulness of socialization avoided. He uh... hadn’t actually left his room in maybe three days... maybe he should actually go outside... enjoy the nonexistent sunlight, y’know?

...nah. Levi went back to his game.

Since the kitchen was broken, Beel, MC, and Luke went out and get AkuDonald’s. They were all out of the toy that Luke and MC wanted so that trip was a disaster! A disaster I say!

Just the image of Beel happily chomping on his eighth burger while Luke and MC angrily pick at their fries makes me want to laugh.

Now the question you’re all waiting for, did Lucifer try and kill Luke and Beel and then MC for trying to take the Grimoire?

N O

“Whose room is behind that door?” Luke pointed to the door to the attic staircase.

MC shrugged and hit their knuckles against the door a few times. “It’s just the door to the attic. My uh- Lucifer said not to go up there because it’s just full of old junk.”

Normally MC would scoff at the idea of being told what not to do and do it out of spite, but MC was a child, and like most children, they hated scary attics. They hadn’t even attempted to open the door in the month they had lived in the house.

“Hm, maybe he’s hiding something...” Luke puffed out his cheeks and knocked on the door. When met with no answer, Luke turned the doorknob. The door creaked open, and the two peeked inside.

A tall spiral staircase greeted them as they tentatively stepped inside. Not so-good Lord, the room was freezing, but it didn’t seem to bother Luke as he walked further into the room.

“What do you think’s up there?” Luke asked, craning his neck to try and get a look at what could be at the top of the stairs.

MC shuddered and crossed their arms. “Like Lucifer said, junk. Nothing important.”

There was a tingling feeling at the base of MC’s neck, their hand flew to the spot only to find nothing, but the uneasiness didn’t cease. Something was very... very off. A shudder creeped up their spine as Luke stepped closer to the staircase.

“Come on,” Luke tutted, placing a hand on the railing. “Demons are known liars!”

Luke was quite difficult to be friends with sometimes, MC had to admit.

With every step Luke took up the stairs, the sense of dread brewing in MC’s gut grew, but they remained rooted to the spot, it was almost like something was physically stopping them from getting closer to those stairs.

Luke stopped on the sixth step and craned his neck to look up again. “Hello?” He called out.

His little voice echoed up the staircase, he was met with no reply for a moment, until a massive shudder wracked both his and MC’s spines.

“Hello.” A voice replied.

Quick as lightning MC dove forward, taking three steps up the stairs despite what felt like electric shocks stabbing into their skin, and yanked Luke back down the stairs and out the door, closing it behind them. MC heard a lazy, carefree chuckle reverberate through their head, and a message that only MC could hear.

“Leaving so soon, Lucifer?”

...

Spooky right?

Anyway- back to Luke and MC being idiots together.

They headed back to Beel’s room to watch some Devildom kid shows, I assume Tom and Jerry just played on repeat.

Luke explained the reason he ran away from Purgatory Hall, and MC legitimately debated whether or not they should throw Luke out of the nearest window for all the jabs he was taking at demons.

“Simeon was going to go out for tea with Diavolo! He even said that I could ask Barbatos to instruct me on the finer points of baking!”

“What’s so bad about that?”

“They’re demons, MC! Simeon and I are angels from the Celestial Realm! We shouldn’t be consorting with demons.”

Once again, bless Beel and his lack of murderous rage when it came to anything other than food.

“MC, Lucifer would be upset if you broke a window.”

“What’s he talking about?”

“Nothing Luke, nothing you need to worry about.”

Don’t worry, no angels were harmed during the visit.

On day two of the extended sleepover, Luke and MC decided to go running around the house again.

“And this is the basement.” MC put their hands on their hips and kissed their teeth as they looked around the Underground tomb. “Perfectly creepy.”

Luke shuddered. “Is this house nothing but one creepy room after another..?”

MC smiled and stuck out their tongue. Their fear of the attic did not extend to the underground tomb. Not that they were actually afraid of the attic or anything...

“Why? You scared some big monster is gonna getcha?” MC teased.

“No!” Luke gasped. “I’m not scared!”

MC began to walk backwards into the darker depths of the tomb, their teasing tone echoing off of the walls. “Then come on! Don’t be chicken!”

Luke looked back and forth from the door out of there, to the rapidly disappearing figure of MC, he rushed after MC.

“I’m not scared of some dark basement.” Luke huffed.

“Why not~?” MC snickered. “There could be ghosts down here... tortured souls of those who were damned to Hell for all eternity~!”

MC swiped Luke’s hat and placed it on their head, Luke jumped at the sudden contact and began to try and get the hat back from MC.

“Stop trying to scare me!” Luke yapped, MC laughed and began to jog deeper into the tomb.

“Maybe there’s a monster that eats chihuahuas down here too! Who knows!” MC twirled the hat with their fingers and ran a little faster when Luke ran after them.

“I AM NOT A CHIHUAHUA!”

Sure, maybe it wasn’t the best course of action to tease and scare one’s friend instead of telling them what they said earlier was mean, but MC wasn’t the best at decision making.

When MC reached a dead end, they stopped and looked around, Luke crashed right into them. He managed to swipe his hat back from a now disinterested MC.

MC’s gaze landed on a book being held up by a statue, they padded over and looked up at it.

“Luke, do you know what that is?” MC asked, turning to look at their now very miffed friend.

“The... book? I don’t know.”

Truthfully, MC didn’t know either. During their first tour of the house, Mammon had interrupted the Underground tomb segment and Lucifer had to cut the tour short.

“It’s uh...” MC pursed their lips and tried to think of a convincing lie. “A spell book. Lucifer told me that it makes your magic really really strong, so he stuck it down here to hide it from Solomon.”

“Did I now?”

MC and Luke screamed and whirled around, there stood Lucifer himself, not looking terribly pleased with the two of them.

“MC, care to explain why you and the angel are so close to the Grimoire?” Lucifer’s words were icily calm, and MC knew that meant if they didn’t come up with a good explanation they’d be in big trouble.

“W-we were just playing down here...” MC trailed off, looking to Luke for some kind of backup before realizing what a stupid idea that was.

“Y-yeah! We were just-”

Lucifer stuck his thumb over his shoulder and glowered at the two. “Out.”

“Yes sir.” Luke and MC mumbled as they stepped away from the Grimoire, Lucifer relaxed slightly as the two walked past him and down the hall.

When the two got back up to Beel’s room, Luke suddenly gasped and turned to MC.

“You said it was a spell book!”

After that, MC got the feeling that Luke was no longer welcome in the house. What was the big deal about almost touching the Grimoire anyway? It could only override pacts and control demons-

Oh.

Balls.

Simeon got called to pick up Luke and before the two of them left MC assured Luke that he could come over and hang out anytime as long as he texted first.

Beel said Luke could come over and bake when the kitchen was fixed, poor Beel would have to do without Luke’s baked goods for a little while longer.

MC rested their chin on the coffee table they were kneeling in front of, stewing in annoyance. Their unfinished homework was practically mocking them, but the Demonology textbook was not what had them in their funk.

“MC, do your homework.” Lucifer said from the living room couch, he was comparing his phone to notes in a binder that was placed on his lap.

A grunt from MC caused him to raise an eyebrow. Their grasp on demonic language had improved, but Lucifer did not approve of them using their new skill to sass him.

“MC.” Lucifer chided, MC turned to look at him with a deadpan expression. “If there’s something wrong, either tell me, or do your work without complaining.”

MC turned back to their homework and tapped their pencil against the textbook, before puffing out their cheek and turning back to Lucifer.

“What’s in the attic?”

For the briefest of moments, Lucifer froze, he forcibly relaxed and went back to his work.

“Junk.” Lucifer replied. “Did you try and go up there?”

MC shook their head. “No, I went into the staircase room, but not up the stairs.”

Lucifer’s eyes flashed, he then took a deep breath and looked at MC. “Good, there’s nothing of interest up there anyway. If you did go up there you might break something or hurt yourself.”

“Okay.” MC sighed, trying to push the voice from the attic out of their mind. “What about the Grimoire? Why is it down in the tomb?”

Lucifer could feel his patience growing thinner and thinner with every question. “So it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“Why not just destroy it?” MC asked, their question wasn’t meant to be taken as an insult or be malicious, it was just legitimate curiosity. “Wouldn’t that be safer?”

The first born hesitated before he answered. He looked over MC, before shaking his head. “...I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

MC’s eyes narrowed, but they went back to their work all the same. It would be about ten minutes of quiet before MC spoke up again.

“When Belphegor gets back from the human world, you’re going to have a lot of explaining to do, huh?”

Lucifer’s eyes snapped up to look at MC, who still had their back turned to him as they scribbled notes from the textbook. His grip on his DDD tightened as he replied.

“Why do you say that, MC?”

MC didn’t seem to register their father’s clipped tone, and shrugged. “Beel said that he isn’t answering his texts or calls, and when he sent up a letter Belphegor didn’t respond to that either.”

“The life of an exchange student is a busy one, as you can see.” Lucifer forcibly injected his last bit of remaining calmness into his words as he gestured at MC’s homework. MC laughed at that.

“Yeah well, I still make time to call my friends and ren back up in the human world.” MC giggled. “And I’m sure those text notifications about his older brother discovering that he has a child would make him pick up the phone.”

“Belphegor might have a much larger workload.” Lucifer retorted, trying to keep himself from snapping at MC.

“But still, you’d think he’d call his-”

“MC-” Lucifer snarled, MC whirled around, the fear and shock in their eyes caused anything Lucifer was going to say to die in his throat.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, before Lucifer took another deep breath and turned back to his work.

“Not right now, MC,” Lucifer whispered. “I’m working.”

...

To be continued...

#Obey me #Obey me!#obey me shall we date #obey me! shall we date?#obey me headcanons #obey me! headcanons #Obey me MC #Obey me Lucifer #Obey me Asmodeus #Obey me Satan #Lucifer’s Kid #Obey me Beelzebub #Obey me Mammon #Obey me Belphegor #Obey me Leviathan #Obey me Luke #when I say to be continued- I mean more diverging from canon #I have a feeling the lovely London family trip went smoothly... totally

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cipheress-to-k-pop · 3 years

Text

Supernova (Chapter 6)

Pairing: Dick Grayson as Robin x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of murder, mental health issues and episodes.

Word Count: 3.1K

Summary: As the daughter of Wonder Woman, you always knew you were destined for something more than the life of a mortal. It seemed like your wish for a life of adventure came true but whether in the form of a blessing or curse, you didn’t know. All you know is that you were the sole witness for a chain of murders that would begin. It’s up to you to find out who was the murderer before it’s too late……

A/N: Oof it has been a while since the last update

Supernova Masterlist

“I told you specifically that you were not to get involved! And you deliberately disobeyed me!” Your mother scolded but her voice was getting a decibel louder each time. You looked unfazed and unbothered, not even trying to maintain eye-contact while receiving your mother’s disappointment and instead staring out the window.

It was not what you had wanted to hear at the moment if you were being honest. The past few days had been hard and you even missed training since Valerie’s death. Robin had been by your room multiple times trying to get you out of bed but you just remained there. Not living, not dying, just existing.

Your mother’s comfort might have done nothing to change the way you downward spiraled after the events and while your mother yelled at you, the same images kept replaying in your head as they did for the past few days; Robin ripping you away from her body as the police and press showed up, Valerie’s parents finding out what happened and then watching her mother break down in front of her daughter, Valerie’s little sister wailing during the funeral.

You didn’t leave the bed after that, still dressed in the black blazer and trousers you had worn that day. It had been a couple days. You had managed to swallow down Robin’s green smoothies and even a couple slices of fruit but you didn’t quite remember what it was. They all tasted bland and disgusting.

Your mother had found out about your identity through the multiple press reports and articles and while you were sorry that she had to find out that way, you didn’t have the capacity to show it. The last thing you had was the energy to fight with her, or even resist her.

So instead, you just listened to whatever she had to say, hoping that she’d leave sooner or later but the more you felt your head throb, the more frustrated you got. This was just so typical of her, of course the unstoppable, fearless, undefeatable Wonder Woman would have no idea what you were going through. And instead of asking you for your two cents, instead of comforting you, she had been trying to imprint her anxieties onto you.

Had she even thought how hard this must have been for you? For even a second? You couldn’t imagine it because if she had thought about you for even a moment, she would’ve realized that you literally saw your best friend murdered before your eyes. She would’ve realized that you were feeling like you didn’t deserve to live on the face of the earth. And she would’ve tried to comfort you.

Instead, she stormed into your room, tossing her phone with the news article on the bed before beginning her lecture and now fifteen minutes later she had yet to ask you if you were okay.

Her argument was stupid as well. You didn’t ask for any of this to happen to you; you were hardly responsible and yet no matter how hard you tried to avoid the matter, it kept pulling you back in. You couldn’t deal with this like a human, no matter how much your mother wanted you to, because you knew that you were more than that and you could have done something. It left you feeling guilty.

But at the same time, you couldn’t handle this as a god because you weren’t. You kept thinking about how you ended up coming short in each fight; had you been blessed with just a little more, had you not been part human then you wouldn’t have gotten injured the night Mary-Anne got captured and you would’ve saved her. If you weren’t limited, you would’ve been faster the day Valerie was killed, you would’ve reached her before it happened, you would’ve stopped it.

You were truly useless, but you didn’t have the excuse to be.

That made you feel absolutely worthless. Even after being blessed with so much, you still came up short. You still failed.

And who was to blame for that? The cruel fate that had you in the position you were today.

“If you weren’t my daughter—” Your mother muttered to herself in her anger, realizing that you weren’t reacting to anything she said but you caught the start of her sentence, cutting her off with a humorless and tired laugh.

“If I wasn’t your daughter,” You finally looked at her and you saw her features morph into one of worry when she finally noticed all the tears that were skating down your cheeks, “I wouldn’t be here.”

“Three people are dead, mom.” You cried, voice cracking but she stood there as if she was nailed to her place, “And I only have myself to blame. If I had been faster, stronger, if I didn’t have these human side to me, they wouldn’t be.”

“I can’t live like a god because I’m not competent enough, not gifted enough.” You sobbed, wiping away your tears and holding a hand up when she tried to approach you. You were too overwhelmed at the moment, too much input was there and it was overloading all your senses, “And I can’t live like a human because if I was this wouldn’t be happening to me.”

“If I wasn’t your daughter,” You spoke and it scared her with just how much malice you put into it, like you were disgusted with yourself for being her child and in a way, you were, how could you be Wonder Woman’s daughter and still be so weak?

“Those people wouldn’t have died when I was there to do something about it. Mary-Anne would have been gone without me knowing, my principal wouldn’t have been a casualty and I would’ve gotten Achilles’ tarot.” It was like you had given up. So many emotions were rushing through you that you couldn’t understand what was pushing you anymore, if there was anything there.

You weren’t ready just yet to give up on being a hero, not after another death. You wanted to help, you couldn’t continue to be useless and yet it felt like you were burning the candle at both ends.

“Please just go. I don’t expect Wonder Woman to understand what it’s like to be caught between paradise and hell.” You said, laying down once again and pulling the covers over your head, “Just go.”

You heard the door open and click shut before you were bathed in silence and darkness once again. For a minute it felt peaceful and you let the minutes bleed into hours without realizing just how much time passed as you were curled up in the hollow of your blankets.

You heard the door click open but didn’t bother to rear your head from your shelter until you felt someone poke you in the back. When you turned, Robin was standing with a tray in his hands and a reassuring smile on his face, “I got you something to drink.”

He didn’t ruin the silence that you had been yearning for, in fact the sound of his voice was sweet to the ears. This was what you needed.

Shifting slightly, you patted the empty spot next to you and when he settled comfortably beside you, it wasn’t suffocating or difficult like how you felt with your mother. Robin handed you the glass of fruit cocktail smoothie and you accepted, sipping the drink quietly and enjoying the chill slipping down your throat.

This wasn’t uncommon. Ever since you both started training together, you often found yourself searching for him when you needed comfort, since Robin was the one you had gotten closest to during your stay here. Now, with just an inch of distance between you, you were feeding off his energy and it was putting you at ease.

You leaned your head against his shoulder and he didn’t flinch, having been used to it by now but the first time you had even held his hand, the poor boy had jumped out his skin. You just needed the physical touch to put you in balance for a while and recharge, he realized that a while ago. Robin even felt better himself whenever you played with his fingers, specifically taking off his gloves to feel his skin or leaned against his back after a long day of training.

It felt so intimate but not romantic. He just felt needed and supportive whenever you relied on him this way, delicately threading your fingers together and sitting in the silence of your room. He didn’t even have to look at you, just feeling his presence beside you was okay.

The sound of you finished the drink through the straw filled his ears before he realized he should speak up.

“(Y/N).” He said gently and you didn’t lift your head, just humming to show that you had heard him, “They’re interrogating her murderer today.”

He would’ve thought that you were unshaken by the news had he not felt your hands tighten its grip on his. You just nodded, burying your head closer to his neck, wishing the ground would just suck you in. He didn’t say anything else, gently drumming the fingers that were set on his thigh.

***

Your hands clenched into fists as you gazed at the figure behind the one-way window. She looked too simple, too mundane to be a murderer but you knew she was the one responsible for Valerie’s death. Afterall, you had been the one to catch her red-handed.

Messy red hair was thrown into a bun, her unkempt strands and frizz making her look like she hadn’t slept in days and you were part to blame for that. Her lip was still split from where you punched her, your knuckles pricked at the sight, eager for more.

Looking at her, you couldn’t imagine how she was responsible for this, a frail looking woman who looked like she couldn’t even hurt a fly. Her name was Thelma, at least that’s what it says on her identity card. Thelma had been denying that as her name since the interrogation had begun.

Going through her file, she looked just as you had assumed; ordinary.

Batman hadn’t gotten a word out of her, she had refused to co-operate with the interrogation at all, pretending not to hear his questions, going as far as to even deny committing the crime at all. That part made you clench your jaw so tight you could’ve sworn your teeth could crack. She knew she had the advantage here.

As per the rules from the UN, you weren’t allowed to use the lasso of Hestia without her consent to assist the interrogation as it violates their right to remain silent. Watching her blatantly deny the crime that you knew she had committed had your blood boiling in your veins. If only you could wrap Hestia’s rope around her throat.

You growled as Batman tried to intimidate her but it was in vain before grabbing the lasso from your mother’s waist and stomping to the door.

“(Y/N)!” She warned, as if daring you to defy her again.

You didn’t even spare her a glance before throwing the door open and stepping inside. Batman stalked up to you quickly, leaning in with a cold fury but you didn’t back down, holding his stare. You couldn’t just stand back anymore, the feeling of knowing that you could have done something but didn’t was too much for you to take anymore.

“Give me a chance.” You murmured, “I won’t go against protocol. You have my word.”

His gaze hardened for a second before giving you a curt nod and moving to the corner of the room. He didn’t trust you not to lose your temper, not just yet and you were more than determined to prove one of the big three that you could handle yourself. Although the urge to slap the condescending look off her face was getting more tempting.

You fastened the rope to your belt before stepping in front of the table, resting your hands against it in a self-satisfying way that you saw in movie before finally looking Valerie’s murderer in the eye. Haggard green eyes behind thick lenses and wrinkles running deep into her pale skin. She looked pathetic. That made you feel both frustrated and proud.

“Your name is Paris,” You bit out with such venom, making sure to keep your voice loud enough for the members behind the glass to hear you clearly, “Isn’t it?”

She smirked and her eyes flashed with some pride that had you resisting the urge to throw her across the room. It would be so easy to snap her neck right then and there, to make her pay for what she did to your dear friend but you controlled yourself.

“Finally, someone with a brain.”

You mirrored her smirk, feeling your spine straightened with a little confidence, your hunch had been right, “How couldn’t I have known The Great Paris? The brave soldier who slayed Mighty Achilles.” You purred, taking your eyes off her and glancing at the glass. You were keeping your tone even, your gaze steady to show your mother but you were comforted knowing that Robin was behind it.

“The brave, skilled, mighty Trojan Prince Paris. Made a name for himself by being the best of his kind. Only a mortal but still managed to take down a divine god.” You droned, noticing how she began beaming at your words. You turned back to her and even though it was just a moment, they had seen something change in your eye. Your glare turned dark and you smirked.

“Only we both know one thing; your name isn’t Paris.” Her smile vanished and you took a step closer, sitting right across her to look her in the eye. “Tell me if this sounds familiar, hmm? A lonely, old woman living all alone. She’s at a dead-end job. She has no family, no friends, no light in her life.”

The way you spoke had your mother on edge. Every single word that came out of your mouth was like hitting a nail on the head. It was unlike anyone had ever seen before.

Robin clutched his cape nervously in his hands as he watched you interrogate Thelma with something settling in the pit of his stomach. He had seen that look before, the very same dark glare on his father and now it scared him that it was almost identical on you. He couldn’t let you turn out as his dad, he just couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

“And then finally she gets something in her life. A chance at hope. A chance at purpose. Something to finally make her believe that her life is worth living. Sound familiar? I bet it does, Thelma.” You hissed, “Because that pathetic woman was you, wasn’t it? You thought that if you killed Achilles you’d be rewarded, worshipped even. And finally, your miserable little life would have some meaning. Didn’t you?”

The look of fear in her eyes fed your hunger for a while. She was shaking her head feebly, looking at the ground since she couldn’t hold your gaze and you could only get angrier. Where was the pride and arrogance that she was showing earlier? Where was the crazed look in her eye as she murdered your best friend in cold blood?

“Only you were stupid,” You spat, “You were careless and you got caught. And suddenly, you weren’t the Mighty Paris that defeated Achilles. No, you were pathetic, irrelevant little Thelma who killed an underaged, unprotected girl in the locker room of her high school. I saw it all. You’re despicable.”

Robin watched your eyes swirl with a darkness he had never seen before. You were always trying to fight against your demons that were pulling you into the deepest recesses of your mind but now it was like you had finally surrendered to it. It was scary to watch such a pure person slowly get corrupted and Robin felt his resolve harden a little. He wouldn’t let you end up like the Dark Knight.

He had known Wonder Woman for most of his life and it was always your mother’s unconditional love and hope for the human race that made her what she stood as today. You always wanted to be like your mother, in body and mind. Now it felt like you were throwing away all those principles. Now it was to protect your own, and no one else.

If there was anything he could do to prevent you from going down that path he would, he realized when he saw the manic look in your eye. You were so close to being lost. Robin spared a glance at your mother, seeing her stand steady and tall. You were teetering over the edge at the moment and if your mother pushed just a little in the wrong way, you could possibly be lost to the rest of them. He wouldn’t let it come to that.

The darkness storming in your eyes suddenly ceased. Your features went slack in a terrifying way as you leaned towards the shivering woman in front of you as your fingers went white around the edges of the table.

“You took something very precious from me,” It was like poison was dripping from your tongue and you kept your voice low enough so only the both of you would know what you were saying, “Watch how easily I can do the same to you.”

Suddenly you pulled back and turned towards Batman with a small, disarming smile, “She’s free to go, Batman. She isn’t the one who killed Valerie. She’s just an ordinary, insignificant civilian.”

It was like a thread snapped.

“I DID IT! I KILLED HER! IT WAS ME!” Thelma shrieked lunatically, kicking the table and banging her hand-cuffed hands against the tabletop. She began sobbing loudly, screaming about how she was the one who killed Valerie and your heart lightened with satisfaction just a little. Just what you wanted.

“It’s my word against yours, Thelma. I witnessed the murder. I just think you’re just confused.” You replied, seemingly unfazed by her episode. The way she was crying in poor agony would usually have you off-put, concerned even. But right now, all you felt was your eardrums sting. She deserved none of your remorse.

“NO! NO, I DID IT! I DID IT!”

The smirk on your face was unmistakable, “Oh really? Will your confession hold up against the Lasso of Truth? Do you think it can?”

Her crying died down until she was softly sobbing into her hands, knowing that she had no other way out. She had lost, “Yes. I did it.”

You loosened the lasso around your waist, letting one end fall to the ground before wrapping it once around your wrist for better leverage, “Then let the interrogation begin.”

Forever Taglist:

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posts-from-a-scarier-timeline · 3 years

Note

So I'm in a coastal town I'm not going to name because I'm terrified but I think something really bad is happening.

Like 5 days ago we all got a series of emergency alerts on our phones from the police, followed by more emergency alerts from the Coast Guard and a few other branches of government. They all said the same thing: whatever we heard, whatever we saw, whatever we felt, DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. Then the TVs stopped working. Everybody was freaking out on the Facebook page for our town because we could only get the local news station and all they were telling us was that we couldn't go outside due to some unspecified emergency. Shortly after, we started experiencing massive earthquakes. I mean, I used to live in California, these are BAD. It's like every half an hour or so for ten minutes the Earth is moving like an ocean. My mom is away on a work conference a few towns over so my big sister and I ended up shoving all our furniture into one room and closing the door so it wasn't a danger to us, because like the cabinets and stuff were falling down.

Four days ago the power got cut completely. Our only communication has been our cell phones, where we can't text anyone or use the internet, but we're still getting alerts. People in armored cars keep driving by and knocking on doors. They're all in uniform but not one we recognize.

My cat got out yesterday and I've had her since I was a baby so I had to go get her. Since the shaking and the armored cars were on a pretty regular schedule I snuck out. I did find her and she's okay, just a little scratched up, which is the good news. But nothing in my town looks the same, it's all messed up. Like first of all, it's really really dark. I literally left at 9 a.m. and it was like walking around in dusk. There was also this thick dust everywhere and it got all over me and I'm all scratched up. A lot of the trees are dead and the leaves are gone which doesn't make sense. Every road I saw past the park has roadblocks.

There's also a bunch of sharp rocks everywhere, like spiky. All over the ground. They're also all wet and sticky. Overall, just gross and painful. The biggest rock was shiny and it had spikes but they were really small spikes everywhere instead of like one or two large spikes, and it was on top of the statue of our town's founder. It looks like a giant round boulder. I think normally I'd be worried about a normal boulder on top of that statue because that statue has had broken parts multiple times and I wouldn't trust it to hold up a boulder anyway but I also got this like, really intense weird feeling that scared me really bad when I came close to it, so I ended up leaving the park and trying to walk faster to my house. And I couldn't stop glancing behind me. Like the boulder was gonna follow me or something. IDK just really paranoid.

When I was speedwalking back to our house with the cat, all the dust in the air was making it really hard to breathe and I was thirsty. I'm not proud of this but the door to my friend's dad's little store was open and there was no one there so I drank a bunch of water bottles and carried a few more back home. I also took some toilet paper and some cologne and shaving cream because we don't have running water at home and I think me and my sister are both starting to stink.

I was totally going to pay my friend's dad back later but I ended up getting caught by this guy in uniform who yelled at me for being out. And I tried to explain, because, hello, my cat, but he just kept lecturing me. Then some lady in the same uniform came in and was asking if there was a problem. When she saw me she started swearing and then told the guy we had to report me to the superiors, and then they started arguing in another language. I was really tired at that point so I tried to sneak out but I started feeling really sluggish and weird. The guy caught up to me like 8 blocks later without his girlfriend or whatever and insisted on giving me a ride to my house, which was good because my house was like 20 blocks away. I threw up in his armored car and then I fell asleep for a couple minutes.

He ended up helping me up the steps and we got me and the cat inside but then I had to lay down on the couch. I've been really sick ever since I got home and so has my cat. We keep getting all hot and swollen and red and throwing up yellow powdery stuff. I haven't left the couch since last night.

The guy who brought me home is making me call him his badge number and is insisting on staying with us "until everything gets cleared up." He says we shouldn't have to stay alone because we're just kids. (Which is stupid because we're 15 and 17. We've been managing.) But he has been entertaining us by telling us stories and stuff, and he's been giving me off-brand Benadryl, so at least there's that.

I'm just really scared, honestly. He says it's gonna be a while before anyone can go in or out of the town or out of our houses. And he's been using his radio to communicate with people out of town but he can't get ahold of our mom, or any of our family. And no one outside of town knows what's happening because of a "media blackout." He says the uniforms are the good guys, that's why he's staying with us so I can heal up.

I hate not knowing exactly what's going on. And I hate being sick! I just feel so scared and alone and I keep hearing helicopters. I wish he'd tell us how long a while is...

lately you've been putting more effort into my blog than I have and it's been great stuff every time. Everyone thank @judefranknoir right now for pretty much co-running this blog at this point lol 👏👏👏

#posts from a scarier timeline #unreality #unreal #misinfo #tw vomit #tw throwing up #tw police #I mean they're not explicitly police but close enough

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saturnsummer · 3 years

Text

sweet love

They say drunk words are your sober thoughts. Joon Hwi clearly had too many thoughts.

prompted by an anon from this question here! thanks anon!!

notes: hello! back with another fic, this time when joonhwi gets too drunk and spills more than he expects. stay till the end though, i added a little bonus as usual. editing, grammar and other mistakes will be taken responsible by me! thank you all for your love and support as always! i’ll see you for more next time!

original prompt: I love your fic 🥰 this is so far from canon but a drunk joonhwi being clingy towards sol a is one of my dream scenarios 😚 or the squad catching solhwi being clingy with each other because they were hiding their relationship

words: 3414 words

Joon Hwi was beyond excited everyday when he woke up for school. No, he wasn't excited to get the top grade, neither was he excited to get his essays and reports done. Though he loves the law, he’s sane enough to not love it that much.

Of course, he’s just excited about meeting his girlfriend, Kang Sol.

He never knew how they got together. It was a natural thing, after all. After the whole fiasco with Assemblyman Ko, their relationship suddenly felt a lot closer. They were close to begin with, with their daily studying and lunches and dinners. But something was different after the middle of their second year.

It started out as dinners every night, with or without the study group. Then Sol would be in study group sessions wearing his sweater or hoodies. When Yeseul or Yebeom teased, Sol would always argue to say that it was cold in their copy room and Joon Hwi was just being nice. Joon Hwi would just pretend that ‘sharing sweaters were normal’.

Then one day, as Joon Hwi sent Sol back home to take care of Byeol, they sat side by side in silence. Sol was desperately in need of catching up on her sleep, so the forty minute bus ride served as a quick nap for her. She turned her head to lean on Joon Hwi’s shoulder, resting her head there for her nap. To make things more comfortable, he placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

When they were nearing their stop, Joon Hwi instinctively shook a sleepy Sol up and held her hand as he dragged her out so she wouldn’t miss the stop. Sol doesn’t let go, and neither does Joon Hwi. Only when they reach the start of the alley do they let go of their hands. (Sol insists it’s because she doesn’t want Byeol to know. Joon Hwi thinks it’s because she’s shy.)

When Joon Hwi is at her front door with Sol, they shyly look at each other, the feelings mutual and conveyed with just their eyes. Of course, they are soulmates. They don't need the words to deliver their entire hearts or feelings.

It was always made known from the start to Joon Hwi that Sol was special to him. He has never met someone so persistent, so passionate and so damm beautiful. He had a couple of flings, being the popular smart boy in school, but none of the girls made his heart beat the same way Sol did. None of them made his world stop.

It has been a year since. And things weren’t easy when you tried to hide it. Sol, a student on a scholarship, had better luck being chosen to attend this school than the number of times the couple almost got caught.

In school, they acted normally as classmates and friends. Their study group sensed something different, but they would just deny and pretend. They put on a pretty good act, if they were to say so themselves, having Bokgi convinced that they needed to find Sol a blind date. (Joon Hwi would have spat his water at him like how Professor Yang did at Prosecutor Jin, but he held it in. Five months of hiding couldn’t be wasted now.)

They wanted to tell their friends, they really did. But they wanted to do it after their bar exams. After the weight of the bar has been lifted off will they share their good news. But while hiding a relationship is hard, making time for one was harder. (Arguably, Joon Hwi finds this harder than any exam he took.)

They absolutely found every minute they could to be together. Every hidden staircase was a spot they tried to spend a few minutes to themselves, but even that was difficult. Joon Hwi would remember how Sol would lead him to a hidden staircase far from their hideout, so as to not get walked in by either the professors or their friends. Even in the midst of Joon Hwi pressing Sol against the wall, as they devoured each other’s lips after a whole day of being unable to kiss, they would be interrupted by the sudden doors of the staircase upstairs opening, causing them to fly apart and run out.

The gossip the school carried was insane, and the last thing they wanted was gossip to reach their friends.

They could spend longer moments in the study room in the middle of the nights where they would be alone, as they worked on their cases and work. Occasionally, they shared bunggeoppangs and hotteoks, where they had long kisses tasting of sweet red bean and honey. But too many times Sol found herself shifting from her seat next to Joon Hwi to climbing on top of his lap in a make-out session, as Joon Hwi reached up to remove the highlighter holding her hair. Just as they wanted more, a sudden noise would bring them to attention and frantically, Sol would fall back onto her chair, both of their faces flushed red.

It was just four more months till the graduation ceremony came.

Till the world knows Sol was Joon Hwi’s.

-----

The bar exam went smoothly, as everyone received their results of passing. As a celebration, the boys decided to drink and have a meal apart from their usual delivery. No, it was time for the real deal of barbecues, meat and stews. They decided to even give a call to Seungjae, who graciously accepted their offer despite being so busy with his new son in his life. The study group has met his kid a couple of times, and even babysat a few hours together.

The boys met at a relatively near barbecue place in the heart of Dongdaemun, a location that the boys could easily return back to the dorms and not too far away. They were at an all-you-could-eat place, suitable for their budget so that they didn’t burn a hole in their pockets. Seungjae offered to treat his dongsaengs. After all, passing the bar was no easy feat. But they declined. His presence with them was enough of a gift from him to them.

But what was a dinner without the star, soju?

Joon Hwi prided himself on holding his liquor well. He could easily have a bottle without feeling the buzz. He could have a second without difficulty as well. Surely, he won’t be drunk, right?

Oh, but how wrong he was.

The bottles of soju and beers kept coming, never ending, as BokGi and Yebeom pushed shot after shot to him and themselves. They were surely prepared to get hammered tomorrow and show up to their 10am lecture spinning. Seungjae, having driven, only watched and smiled as he looked at his dongsaengs drink, sipping on his cola.

“Hyung, you sure you don’t have anything on with Sol-A noona? You know, we catch you with her all the time.” Bokgi asks, his face slightly flushed and words a little slurred. Yebeom nods his head, nodding his head in agreement. Joon Hwi only lets himself smile, not saying anything as he shoots back an additional shot of soju.

“Wah, hyung! So you admit it?” Yebeom says, setting down his chopsticks. Jiho stops chewing on his ssam, and looks next to him at Joon Hwi, who just shrugs, a mysterious smile on his face. Seungjae only places more meat on Joon Hwi’s plate.

With a short glance, Yebeom, Jiho and Bokgi’s eyes met. It was long enough for them to get what they were trying to say, but yet short enough for Joon Hwi to not notice the silence.

They weren’t blind to Joon Hwi’s actions. They noticed how Joon Hwi would look at Sol when she’s practicing for a mock trial, and his gentle voice when he would point out things she missed. Jiho, for one, noticed how Joon Hwi would return to the dorm later or look at his phone, smiling like an idiot. When asked, Joon Hwi would either use the excuse that he went out to the city or he was looking at cat videos, which bore Jiho.

But tonight, they were not leaving this place until he spilled his secret.

“Excuse me! Can we get three more portions of samgyeopsal, one more moksal, one dwangjang jjigae, and three more bottles of soju please?” Bokgi politely shouted to the store helper, who readily nodded.

“One more rice, please!” Yebeom added.

And so, with every portion of food, they shot back shot after shot as they feasted on their fresh juicy grilled pork and stew. They were glad that Joon Hwi was slowly slurring his words, because they themselves were barely hanging on.

“Hyung, you can be honest, you know. We won’t say anything about your private life with noona.” Yebeom says, fighting off the buzz and taking a big gulp of water. Joon Hwi, now face flushed bright red, only let out another smile as he laid back on his chair.

“Ah, Sol...” He murmured out loud.

“You know, she’s really touchy when she’s drunk? She likes to cling on to people when she’s drunk. When she’s angry, she pushes people away instead.” The words come tumbling out of his mouth before he can stop himself. No, this wasn’t Joon Hwi. This was drunk Joon Hwi. The other three immediately perked up hearing this.

“A-Ah, really? How do you know that?” Yebeom prompted, determined to draw out more information.

“Remember the time we were late to Dean Oh’s lecture? We drank that night with Yeseul and Bokgi. She couldn’t stop clinging onto my hoodie after both of them went back. And the other time when she pushed me away after her first year results were out.” Joon Hwi says, the stupid smile still on his face.

“How cute.” He quietly says, eyes closed.

There wasn't a need to know further that their hyung, Han Joon Hwi, had feelings for Kang Sol, the feisty noona.

“Hyung, then why not date her?” Bokgi says, the news keeping him at the end of his seat. Jiho merely sits, ears wide open and ready for any information.

“Date?” Joon Hwi says and lets out a light unmistakable giggle. Oh, he really was drunk now.

“We already are.”

The trio exchange knowing eyes, knowing how their objectives for the night have been accomplished. Seungjae, from the end of the table, merely shakes his head with a smile.

“Hyung, did you know?” Jiho asks. Seungjae nodded.

“They told me. After all, I am no longer a student.” This earned groans from the trio, calling it unfair.

“I miss Sol...” Joon Hwi murmurs, as his drunken state reaches for another shot of soju. Instinctively, Jiho reaches it first and shoves a glass of water in his hand instead. If anything, he was sleeping with this man in the same room. And he was not having his drunken state continue further. After all, they completed their mission for the night.

All that mattered was remembering it the next day.

-----

Sol was in the midst of folding her clothes before her phone rang, distracting her from her music that she had on with her ear pieces. Irritated, she picked up her phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Sol-A? It’s oppa.”

“Seungjae-oppa? Why are you calling so late? Is anything the matter?” She asks, alerted by the sudden call. It was almost midnight, and it was rare for Seungjae to call.

“Ah, no. Nothing is wrong. I’m just at the lobby of the school at the Lady Justice statue with a very drunk Joon Hwi and the rest of the boys. I can’t bring them up myself, especially since I can’t enter the dorms anymore.” Seungjae explains. In the back, Sol can hear a noisy Bokgi and Jiho telling him to shut up.

“Give me five minutes.” She says and hangs up. The urgency in Sol’s voice drew the attention of Sol B, who was ready to get to bed. Sol B only looks at Sol for a moment and Sol just gives a sympathetic smile.

“Could... Could you come with me?” Sol asks nervously. Sol B looks at Sol for a moment before she throws a hoodie on and throws another hoodie to Sol. The last thing they needed was them to be recognised. Seungjae was where he said he would be, with indeed, four grown men, sprawled on the couches. Bokgi, Yebeom and Jiho were at least conscious enough to greet both Sols, but Joon Hwi just had his eyes shut, murmuring incorrigible things.

“Sorry you had to deal with them, oppa. They really owe you a big apology.” Sol apologises for the sake of her boyfriend, and his friends. Seungjae only shakes his head.

“They should enjoy this before they step into the workforce and can’t experience it anymore.” He gives a smile. “Joon Hwi got a little carried away. He might have spilled your relationship.” Sol B was not standing far as she forced Bokgi and the rest upright, but she could clearly hear it.

“I’ll settle it. You should go home now, don’t keep Juyoung-unnie waiting. I’ll get them to their rooms.” She said before making her quick goodbye to Seungjae.

Together, both Sols pushed Bokgi and Yebeom up to their room, half guiding and half carrying the heavy boys to their door. When they were back downstairs, Sol B instinctively grabbed Jiho by his arm and pulled him up.

“Sol B, about what-” Sol was cut off by her roommate.

“I know. Don’t tell anyone yet. But, you know you suck at hiding and lying, don't you?” She says, her head turned back, before turning back to help Jiho back to his room. Sol does all she can to suppress her smile. Even though her roommate is harsh, she could feel the love. Turning around, she faces her drunk boyfriend.

“Joon. Joon Hwi.” Sol shakes gently. Joon Hwi’s lips curl up slightly, as his arms reach up to wrap them around the familiar body he missed. Sol was clingy when she was drunk, but it was the pot calling the kettle black for Joon Hwi. If possible, he was even clingier.

“You need to go up to your room.” She says as she fights away his loose grip and half supports his drunk body to his room.

“I missed you, Sol...” He murmurs, a face turning into a pout. “You know I kept telling them how good a girlfriend you are? How you always got me coffees and made extra ramyeons.”

“And you also told them we are dating?”

“Of course! I want the whole world to know I love you!” Joon Hwi says a little loudly, and she clamps his mouth shut. Oh, he was definitely more than drunk. Joon Hwi’s arms clung onto her waist as she reached his door.

“Go. You can face the mess you made in the morning.” She says. Joon Hwi clings onto her, giving her a sad pout.

“No more goodnight kisses?” He asked, a voice like a child. His eyes were big and round, his mouth downturned slightly like a pout.

Sol couldn’t deny him one, especially when he looked so adorable. Looking around, she made sure the coast was clear before she reached up to let her lips meet his soft ones. He tasted like lingering alcohol and she could taste it, but she couldn’t help but want more of his intoxicating lips on hers. But not today.

Pulling away, he let out a slight whine. But Sol gave him a quick peck.

“You’ll get more, when you get up.” And Sol pushes him into the room, leaving back to her own dorm, knowing that she’ll be faced with a big headache the next morning.

-----

When Joon Hwi is up the next morning, he’s greeted with a Jiho who rubs his eyes and holds his head in his hand. Joon Hwi isn’t sure if he’s spinning or the room is. Or if it is spinning in the first place. Jiho notices he’s up and grunts a good morning, before getting up to get ready.

The memories of last night come back to Joon Hwi in waves as the pieces start slowly fixing themselves together throughout the morning. By the time he’s at his first lecture, his memories have more or less come back.

He’s certain that Sol would be mad. He makes a mental note to send Seungjae an apology and thank you message. Then, he starts making plans to bribe the trio. He knows about Yebeom’s love for candy, so he starts with that. He just needs to think of what brand of sneakers to get for Bokgi. Heck, would bribes even work against them?

But throughout the morning, the boys do nothing to mention anything about last night. They chat about their hangover, how Seungjae is doing well with his new job and the amount of food they ate. No one mentions anything about Joon Hwi, or his words.

Joon Hwi counts himself safe. They must have forgotten, he thinks. He figures it was the best they did. It definitely would save him an earful from Sol and a large headache. During lunch, as they finished their simple meal at the cafeteria of soup, rice and bulgogi, Bokgi is about to clear his tray before he turns to Joon Hwi.

“Oh, hyung.”

“Hm?”

“We remember everything. From the start, to the end.” He says, a teasing grin on his face as he quickly scurries away, not wanting to die before he graduates. Joon Hwi rolls his eyes back and groans.

Well, shit.

-----

bonus:

“Sol B, did you know our roommates are dating?” Jiho asks, his voice slightly slurred as Sol B drags him up the stairs. She gives a nod. Sol B was no idiot to fall for her roommate’s excuses, when her face gave it all away. It was fascinating how the others haven’t noticed.

“It would be an insult to our careers if we didn't notice the way they looked at their phones.” She sarcastically says. Jiho manages to scoff. Sol B is about to tap Jiho’s key card of their door, but his hand stops hers, as she feels his body right behind his.

“Well, they haven’t found out about us yet.” Jiho says softly to her, his face nuzzled into her neck, lips brushing her neck as he slowly moves his lips up to her jaw. Sol brings a gentle hand to his cheek, before turning around to face Jiho.

“We’re better actors.” She whispers so soft. Jiho can't tell if it’s the alcohol or him, but all he knows is that Sol B looks so damm perfect with her doe-like eyes, soft pink lips and the way she teases him drives him insane. He wants her, and he wants her now.

He crashes his lips on hers, wanting to so desperately taste her. It’s been a long day, and he’s never felt so in need. Sol B tastes the lingering alcohol on his lips, but she couldn’t care. She needs him the same way he wants her. Her hands reach up to grab his hair as Jiho’s hands slip under her hoodie, feeling the smooth skin of her waist against his fingers. They know that they are in the middle of the hallway, but, god, it felt so good.

“God, I missed this.” Jiho mumbled, almost growling, against her lips, earning a slight smirk from the younger girl that he could feel. He sucks on her lower lip, earning a soft gasp from the girl as she only kisses him harder. Biting lovingly on her swollen lips, he shifts his attention to her jaw, leaving butterfly kisses and earning a sigh of pleasure from her.

But it was short lived, as she pulled away. They knew they had to stop, before their secret was revealed, too. Jiho wishes he could bring her into the dorm and continue this session with her. Sol B looks at him lovingly, biting her lip in an attempt to tease.

“We’ll continue this tomorrow.” Sol B says, giving him another loving kiss as she leaves for her room and Jiho returns to his, buzzed from the alcohol and the adrenaline rush from his make out session. He inwardly groans, hating how his girlfriend teases him, but also smirks, knowing how to get back at her the next day.

Let’s hope he remembers this.

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anon-e-miss · 3 years

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Intransigence 10

Jazz left Smokescreen to sit with his originator for the light-cycle and retreated to his office to do some research. Smokescreen remembered the exact date his originator had come home with mechfluid leaking down his neck. There would not be any surveillance footage left but it would be enough reveal at least some things. He kept his optics on Mirage’s cameras, Garboil continued to keep his distance and elude the security forces hunting for him. Some might suggest he had fled to the nearest Con territory but Jazz did not think so and his instincts were generally good. It did not take much poking around to confirm Prowl had been serving at the same station three vorns ago. Numerous article following cases Prowl had investigated were had been well covered at the time, as his more recent ones had been as well. The enforcer had not been anymore enthused about giving interviews.

Through the use of mnemosurgery, an old science but knew as a metaforesics tool, the enforcers were able to catch the face of the killer from the victim’s memory banks. Enforcer Prowl hopes this will be the break they need to catch the Poison Letter Slayer.

The article went on to quote Prowl lambasting the media for giving fanciful monikers to serial killers and encouraging their infamy. Jazz smiled, it struck him as something Prowl would say. There were photos of Prowl printed in articles, never posed. He was always in motion, driving back to the precinct, walking through a crime scene. Where Flatfoot had stopped to pose in front of crowds of reports, Prowl had dodged them with impunity. There was a particular photo that intrigued Jazz. Prowl had been captured for eternity mid shout, digit raised as he lectured an overzealous reporter for sneaking under the crime scene tape to take a photo of the victim. Again, Jazz smiled. But then, he frowned as in the background, a figure, familiar to him, stood out. Chromedome sneered at the cameras... or was he sneering at Prowl?

He clapped his servo over his face. It was so fragging obvious, how had he not made the connection right away? Three vorns ago, he had bonded to Rewind, just before he had resigned to study at the New Institute where earned his designation, Chromedome. Before that, he had been called Tumbler. He had been an enforcer. Jazz did not know the mech well but through Jazz’s friendship with Blaster, he had been around the mech often enough to have heard stories of the toxic partner who had led let to Chromedome resigning. From the way Rewind had tensed upon the telling of these stories, Jazz had gotten the impression that Chromedome’s relationship with this partner had not been platonic, at least not always. Trusting his instincts, Jazz tug deeper into the archives.

“That’s the fragger,” Jazz declared out loud as he saw Tumbler’s designation in print alongside Prowl’s in an article covering a murder trial. It was one of those rare occasions when Flatfoot had forced Prowl to stand beside him during a press conference. On the front page of the Iacon Gazette’s Prima-tur edition, standing the shadows behind Prowl, was Chromedome.

Only Prowl’s glyph would confirm it. Checking the time, Jazz thought it was time to give Smokescreen a break. As he walked to the medbay, he took an update from Mirage. Hound had, true to his designation, caught Garboil’s sent near his abandoned habsuite, near to the far edge of the enforcers’ search grid. Jazz wished them a good hunt as he prepared to launch one of his own. Jazz kept his languid pace as Chromedome walked passed him as Jazz approached the medbay, nodding his helm as Chromedome did the same for him. He was too seasoned an operative to ever let a glitchmouse know that they were his unlucky prey. What had the mnemosurgeon been doing near at the medbay? Jazz frowned as he stepped through the doors. Might Prowl’s most imminent danger be closer to home?

“Hey Ratch?” Jazz called to the CMO.

“What have you done?” The CMO asked tiredly.

“Broken the case,” Jazz declared. “I need ya to do me a solid.”

“What?”

“Put Prowl’s room on level six clearance,” Jazz said.

“That creep spotted near the base?” Ratchet asked.

“No,” Jazz replied. “I got a lead on the mnemosurgeon that scrambled Prowl.”

“Who?” Ratchet demanded. Jazz sighed.

“I can’t tell ya,” he said. “Not ‘til I actually confirm from scrap.”

“The Autobots’ mnemosurgeons are on my staff,” Ratchet growled. “I need to know if one is rogue.”

“As soon as I can tell ya, I will,” Jazz said. “I could be wrong, ya know.”

“But you don’t think you are.”

“No.”

Level six clearance would mean on Ratchet and a select few medbay personal would be allowed in Prowl’s treatment room, apart from Jazz and Smokescreen. His treatment files would be under a tighter encryption. It could well be for nothing, Jazz’s guess could be well off but the in a casual aside, so easy to overlook, buried in the many articles covering Prowl’s career, had been the designation of Prowl’s partner. Tumbler. The stories of Chromedome’s toxic ex partner circled through Jazz’s helm. Prowl had said neither of them had behaved well. What had he meant by that. Three vorns ago, Chromedome had bonded to Rewind. They had been going through the Rites for a full vorn already. What could have happened between Chromedome and Prowl that it would have led the mnemosurgeon performing a hack and slash surgery? An affair?

“Hey Smokey, Prowl,” Jazz greeted the pair as he entered the treatment room. “‘M thinkin’ ya outta stretch yer legs Smokey. Grab some fuel. Maybe catch a joor’s recharge in my office.”

“Thank you,” Prowl said. “I have been trying to tell him the same thing.”

“I’ll keep yer ori company,” Jazz promised Smokescreen. Prowl snorted.

“Okay,” Smokescreen replied. “He’ll be even safer with you than with me.”

“I am perfectly safe, Smokescreen,” Prowl sighed. Obviously this argument had been circling around and around. “I am in the middle of the Autobot base!”

“You can never be sure,” Smokescreen replied. “You never know.”

“I’ll keep’m safe,” Jazz promised. “Catch some zzz’s Smokey. Ya need ‘em.”

“I’ll be back in a joor,” Smokescreen promised.

“Two,” Jazz countered. “Get some fuel, get some rest.”

“Okay,” Smokescreen acquiesced. “Two. Behave, Origin.”

“Recharge, Bitlet,” Prowl replied. Jazz saw his rookie’s cheekplates flush. That was, no doubt, a mechlinghood nickname. Smokescreen made his retreat as he tried to save face.

“Have you made progress with your investigation?” Prowl asked as Jazz settled into the seat Smokescreen had vacated.

“One o’em,” Jazz replied. “Tell me, Prowl, if this designation sounds familiar to ya. Tumbler.”

“You know it does,” Prowl said, flinching enough that he winced with pain from jarring his welds. “Or you would not be asking.”

“Ya was partners,” Jazz said. “He’s talked ‘bout ya, never by designation. It ain’t complimentary.”

“I am not at all surprised,” Prowl replied.

“A lil over three vorns ago, he quit the enforcers o’er a toxic partner,” Jazz said. “He had just been bonded to the creation o’ a friend of mine.”

“He was forced to resign,” Prowl corrected him. “He was caught performing mneomosurgery on a suspect. In order to protect his new mneomosurgery division, Flatfoot covered it up. He would not have been able to if the suspect had remembered. But he did not so Tumbler was permitted to resign rather than face internal affairs.”

“Ya must o’ been relieved to see ‘m go,” Jazz said. “Seein’ the mech that raped ya every shift woulda been a wakin’ memory purge.”

“I do not know that he raped me,” Prowl replied, sinking into the medberth. “I do not remember.”

“I was talkin’ bout the mnemosurgery,” Jazz corrected, sombrely. “But ya ain’t.”

“I know we interfaced,” Prowl said, flatly. “I just do not know if it was only consensual.”

“What do ya remember?” Jazz asked.

“We argued,” Prowl replied. “I was angry. We had interfaced. I remember. I was leaning on my desk and I was angry because his bonding crest fell out of his subspace. He had told me he had called it off.”

“How did he get his needles in ya?” Jazz asked.

“I turned by back to him,” Prowl said. “I may have told him to leave. I may have threatened him. I was angry. I remember being enraged. I remember having my face pinned to my desk as his needles cut into my helm. I can hear, in my memory, I can hear cursing and grunting. I do not know if he spiked me after or during the mnemosurgery. I do not know if fragments of memories are superimposing on others.”

“Ya feel like he did,” Jazz guessed from Prowl’s posture.

“I do not know,” Prowl replied. “My spark was racing the next mega-cycle. It felt like it did when I was trying to kindle with Smokescreen. I had an implant but they are not reliable against merges unless the other spark is also outfitted with an implant. I knew Tumbler did not have one. He did not see any need. We never merged. It was a sore spot for him. He thought, considering I had an implant and a plug I was being fussy. My armour was scuffed... It could have been from struggling. I had a baffle installed just in case.”

#anon-e-miss writes #intransigence #victim blaming #rape #date rape #mind rape #abuse #tf prowl #tf jazz #maccadams #valveplug

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yourlocalfictionalenthusiast · 3 years

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IN LIFE, IN DEATH...

PART TEN

:Masterlist:

A/N: And that’s a wrap! Ahh, writing this series has been so fun and I’m so glad that so many of you have liked it so much. Thank you guys for staying until the end and hopefully for upcoming stuff 👀 I hope you enjoy the finale of In Life, In Death... <3

(Also the song mentioned in part six and this part is ‘She Is Love’ by Parachute) <3

December 1994

Luke groaned as he woke up, squinting hard to try and adjust his eyes to the amount of light in the room.

Even before he could see clearly, he knew he must've fallen asleep in the studio judging by the soreness in his back and neck that he always got when he slept on the old couch. It couldn't have been more than six in the morning, and Luke could still feel the tiredness in his bones. So he tried to turn away from the light and hopefully fall back asleep, but there was something keeping him firmly in place.

His heart skipped when he looked down and saw that you were laying right next to him with your head on his chest and an arm thrown across his stomach. When he realized that his own arms were wrapped around you, his heart broke out into a full-on tap dance.

Waves of confusion ran through his still-foggy brain until he saw his guitar case propped up against the piano and his backpack on the floor with his clothes spilling out of it.

Then the events of last night quickly came back to him.

How he had gotten home late from rehearsal and his mom was waiting in the kitchen with his latest report card and her signature lecture at the ready. One minute he was standing there yelling, packing all he could fit into his bag, and the next, he was halfway to the studio with the rain soaking him head to toe.

He had expected it to be empty when he finally got there, but he was flooded with relief when he saw you. All the frustration slowly melted out of him the longer he laid there with you, leaving him feeling exhausted and shivering despite how warm he felt.

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about any of it, but when you asked, the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

He remembered rambling and crying again, the sound of your voice and the feeling of your fingers in his hair warming him up even more. Then finally, he remembered falling asleep with his chin tucked on top of your head, the smell of your shampoo filling his senses.

Without thinking, Luke reached down and carefully pushed a piece of hair away from your face, tucking it behind your ear and smiling to himself when you shifted into his touch. Then taking in a sharp breath as the realization ran through him all the way down to his toes.

You were his best friend.

The person he wanted to see at the end of a long day. Whenever he was full of anger or lost in confusion, all he had to do was look at you and everything suddenly made sense again. With your pretty smile and laugh, and your way of flipping that little switch inside him that made his head all fuzzy and the ground start spinning under his feet.

You were his best friend, and he was in love with you.

2020

All you felt was a mixture of anxiety and nausea as you stood on the Orpheum's street corner, biting the tips of your fingernails.

The entire plan hinged on Willie and Teddy getting everything done in time, and considering that they had betrayed you all before, you couldn’t help but expect the worst.

“Look, don’t worry. Willie said he’ll get us on that marquee.” Alex said nervously as he kicked pebbles across the sidewalk.

“This is going to work, right?” Reggie asked.

“It has to.” Luke mumbled, wincing seconds later when another shock hit them.

Two sharp pops cut through the air behind you and you all whipped around to see Willie and Teddy standing just a few feet away. Willie was watching you all carefully with concern written all over his face, his eyes lingering on Alex longer than anyone else. Teddy stood at the edge of the group, practically burning a hole in your face with his guilty stare.

“Are you guys okay?” Willie asked.

“Yeah, nothing we haven’t felt before.” Alex laughed awkwardly. “How’d it go?”

“Well, when the opening band wakes up, they’ll find their bus two hundred miles out of Vegas.” Willie said with a proud smile as he did a spin, showing off his stolen jacket with the band’s name across the back.

“With absolutely no chance of getting back in time.” Teddy added.

Luke gave Willie a fistbump and pointed up to the office above the Orpheum. “That means there’s probably a promoter up there freaking out right now.”

Willie grinned, sarcasm laced in his tone. “Nah, man. This is Hollywood. I’m sure he’s being very professional.”

You laughed and then Alex slowly inched forward, clearly struggling for the right words to say to Willie. You gave his arm a quick squeeze before following Reggie and Luke down the street to give them space. Before you even got halfway down the sidewalk, Teddy poofed next to you.

“You know, If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you don’t want to talk to me.” He joked.

“Teddy-”

"I just-I didn't want to leave things the way we did." He rambled. "I'm sorry, I should've told you everything that night in the diner-"

"Teddy, It's okay." You said. "You told me before Caleb could put the stamp on me, and you didn't know the details about the plan until after it was too late to help my friends. Plus, I know how much you're risking helping us now."

As soon as the words left your mouth, you felt some of the weight fall off your shoulders. You weren't sure why since the situation was still a little painful and awkward. But being around Teddy always made you feel a little like that kid who started working at the diner with Cece all those years ago. Besides, they were so alike that you found it hard to stay mad at him.

You held out your hand for Teddy to shake. "Despite everything, I'm glad we met."

“Likewise, Gorgeous,” Teddy said with a relieved smile as he grasped your hand. With a subtle wink, he nodded over towards where Luke was standing at the end of the street. “He’s a lucky guy.”

"What? How did you?-" You sputtered as he stepped away. You never told Teddy about Luke, or at least you didn't think you did.

Teddy just smirked in response before disappearing into the air. At the same time, you saw Willie skate away out of the corner of your eye, leaving Alex alone on the sidewalk.

You all phased next to him and Luke squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah. I'm good." Alex smiled slyly as he gestured to the office. "Looks like this show needs a new opening act though."

You grinned. "Let's go see if we can help with that."

When you got back to the studio, you found Julie pacing back and forth in the middle of the room as she wrung her hands together.

When you all poofed in, she immediately jumped into a load of questions, losing her breath halfway through and flailing her arms around.

"Whoa, just sit down," You laughed excitedly. "We'll tell you everything."

Julie took a gasping breath and plopped backwards onto the couch then stared at you all with expectant eyes. "Well?"

"It worked!" You announced. "Everything's fine."

"You should be getting the call...now!" Alex pointed to Julie’s phone on the table just as it started buzzing. You all cheered and Julie shushed you as she answered the call.

You heard a woman's voice say something through the phone and Julie gave a thumbs-up as she started jumping on the couch. You watched in amusement and mild horror as Luke and Reggie lifted Alex up into the air and spun him around.

Once he was back on the ground, Luke and Reggie made a beeline for you, each of them grabbed one of your arms and flipped you upside down over their shoulders.

You all spent the next twenty minutes laughing and screaming and Alex even got a little teary-eyed but you pretended not to notice. Then Julie called Flynn and ran off excitedly to decide her outfit for the night, leaving the four of you alone to plan out the setlist.

“Okay, so I’m thinking we start with Stand Tall.” Luke said excitedly as he wrote the words down in his songbook.

“Sounds good.” Reggie said, suddenly quiet.

“’Sounds good’? Guys, I wanna hear ‘That sounds awesome!” Luke reached out and nudged Reggie’s shoulder. “I know this isn’t the way we imagined any of this. But we need to be all in tonight. This is our second chance to play the Orpheum!”

“I get it.” Reggie sputtered. “But it’s hard. Do we even know what’s on the other side when we cross over? Do we still get to hang out together?”

You shifted your weight as the happy little bubble surrounding you popped. You had been so wrapped up in the excitement of finally playing the Orpheum that you almost forgot what tonight was really about.

“You guys are the only family I have.” Reggie’s eyes were glued to the piano as he played with his fingers. You reached out and locked his arm with yours in an attempt to comfort him.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen either. But it’s not like we have a choice.” Alex said.

Suddenly, Reggie’s arm fell out of yours as all three boys fell back, clutching their sides.

“I’m pretty sure we do.” Reggie groaned. “And it rhymes with ‘Hollywood Ghost Club’.”

The garage doors creaked open and Julie appeared with a bright smile and a blue garment bag in her hand. When she saw your expressions, her smile fell. “What’s wrong?”

“We just got hit pretty hard by one of those jolts.” Alex said. “But we’re fine.”

“Oh, good.” She nodded, though she still looked on edge. “I’m nervous.”

“That makes two of us.” You said. “But we made it this far for a reason. We got this.”

“Can you ride there with me? I'm gonna need more pep-talk material for the drive there cause I still think I might puke.” Julie tucked her hair behind her ears.

“Of course, and don't worry, we’ll leave the windows open.” You joked, making everyone laugh.

The sound of a car horn cut through the air and Julie looked outside. "That's my dad. Are you ready, (Y/n)?"

You nodded. "Yeah, uh, give me a second. I'll meet you in the car."

As Julie disappeared behind the doors, you turned to the boys and sighed as you tried to soak up this moment. For all you knew, this could be the last little window of time you had alone with them before tonight.

Julie was a huge part of the band of course, but these were your boys. The ones who you started this all with, who had been by your side for everything.

From the look on all their faces, you could see that they were thinking the same thing.

Without saying a word, you launched yourself at Alex. He made a surprised noise but recovered quickly, throwing his arms around you and holding you tight.

"And I'm the emotional one?" He jokingly muttered in your ear and you pinched his side, making him jump back. "Rude."

As soon as your arms were open, Reggie stepped forward and hugged you so tightly that you were thankful to not need oxygen anymore because he was definitely crushing several vital organs.

You laughed and gave him one last squeeze before pulling away, locking eyes with Luke instantly.

Alex cleared his throat awkwardly and grabbed Reggie's shoulder, steering him over to Luke's songbook to 'check out the setlist again'.

"And then there were two." Luke joked.

You laughed and stepped into his waiting arms, making him laugh. You soaked up the feeling of comfort and familiarity for a minute before pulling away.

"This, uh, is for you," Luke said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. You knitted your eyebrows together in confusion as he handed it over. "I wanted you to have it in case...well, you know. If tonight doesn't work."

"It will." You said, trying to ignore the fact that it very well could happen. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Patterson."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He quipped back, his voice sounding softer and less teasing than you would've expected. You pulled back from him and because you didn't know if you would ever get another chance, you stood on your tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek.

You moved away too fast to see his reaction but the gesture made the other two boys smirk at you as you dashed out of the doors, making a beeline for the car pulling out of the driveway.

The back rooms of the Orpheum were a maze.

You had left for a few minutes to walk around the venue and clear your head, trying to wring out the last of your nerves.

By the time you found your way back, you expected to find the rest of the band rushing to get ready in the dressing room. But all you saw was Julie anxiously pacing as she had been earlier, a habit she seemed to have inherited from both you and Alex.

“You okay?”

She snapped her head up towards you and sighed. “Yeah, just a little worried. The guys aren’t here yet.”

You looked around the room and then at the clock, frowning. The show was in less than half an hour and that was already cutting it close. Part of you wanted to go check on them but Julie seemed to need you more at the moment.

“Okay, well, give them another ten minutes. I'm sure they'll be here. They wouldn’t miss this…again.”

You ran your palm across the front of your pocket, feeling Luke's note next to your parent’s photo, and hoped you were right.

But then more and more time passed until the stage manager came to escort Julie to the stage.

"Just a second!" She calls out and then turns to you. "(Y/n), something's wrong. They were getting those jolts pretty hard before we left. They must've run out of time."

You shut your eyes tight as the words sunk in. All you could bring yourself now was, ‘This isn't what was supposed to happen.’

The world fell out from under your feet and you had trouble even standing up straight as you imagined what must've happened to them. Your best friends, your brothers, your family was gone and there wasn't anything you could do about it.

The guy knocked again, this time a little harder and with a nervous tone. Julie chewed her lip as she looked between you and the door and you could almost see the cloud of grief settling over her.

As hard as it was, you tried your best to shove your feelings down and marched up to Julie. There would be time to fall apart later, but you knew that this what they would want you to do. "Let's go do this for them, okay?"

She took a deep, shaky breath before hesitantly nodding. You followed closely behind her as she walked out the door though the halls until she reached the stage. You waited beside Flynn in the wing as Julie settled behind her microphone and addressed the crowd.

There were scattered claps from around the venue and then she took a deep breath before singing the opening.

After the first few lines, you took your cue and materialized at the center of the stage. The crowd gasped and cheered the way they always did, but you kept your eyes shut tight and focused on the music.

Just as the song started picking up, you heard a familiar pop in the air and then the sound of drumming. You whirled around to see Alex mounted onto a drum set at the back of the stage, twirling his drumsticks around and smiling like he had never been gone at all.

Once you got over the initial shock, you wanted to cry with relief. They were okay, they were here. Alex winked at you goofily, and you ran towards Julie’s keyboard.

She had started bouncing on the balls of her feet, both of you finally getting into the song now that they were coming back. You followed suit, dancing around the base of the drum set as yours and Julie’s voices came together.

Then Reggie appeared on the other side of Julie and you ran to his side. You bumped his shoulder with yours and he grinned, moving to stand back to back.

The song was ramping up to the chorus when a staticky noise cut through the air, not loud enough for the crowd to hear but enough to make you all look over to the other end of the stage.

You could see Luke's form fading in and out, a look of anguish on his face, and the pit in your stomach opened up again. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as Alex's drumming paused and Luke finally materialized to sing the opening of the chorus.

You didn't even know you were moving until you suddenly found yourself across the stage next to Luke, unable to stop smiling as you sang.

Julie joined you, throwing her arms up in the air happily and jumping around. Reggie appeared by her side, flashing the crowd a winning smile.

Alex stood up and gripped his mic as he sang this solo. You looked back at him and flashed him a proud smile, then whooping loudly when Reggie sang his lines.

You all went down the line hitting your notes until the chorus kicked in again and your heart felt so full you almost couldn't stand it. This was what you were so close to achieving before you died, it was all you had wanted for years, and you knew that if you hadn't died, that night would've changed your life. But this night was something even more special. Because you were all here, all together.

Even if it was just for one last song.

Julie caught your attention and nodded towards the platform that spread out into the crowd. You followed her to the center and stood back to back as everyone cheered.

The guys joined in on either side of you, Alex grabbing one of your hands and Luke holding the other. You all bowed to the audience before taking your cue and vanishing, leaving only Julie on stage.

You landed in the wing, feeling a little lightheaded and overwhelmed from all the emotions you had experienced in the last five minutes. The elated smile fading from your face when all three boys poofed by your side only to fall to the floor instantly.

“It didn’t work.” You said miserably as Julie emerged into the backstage area. She grabbed Flynn and whispered something to her, pointing in the direction of her family. Flynn nodded and disappeared into the crowd while Julie ran to your side.

You hauled Alex onto his feet, letting him lean on you to stay upright while Luke and Reggie trailed behind Julie as she led the group back to the dressing room. Once everyone was inside, they collapsed on the couch or the floor, loudly groaning in pain.

“What happened? Why didn’t it work?” Julie asked tearfully.

“I guess playing here wasn’t our unfinished business.” Alex said hollowly.

“Point Caleb.” Reggie muttered as he clung to the side of an armchair.

You stood frozen next to Julie as panic spread through your whole body, both of you flinching in sympathy as the shocks continued.

“You have to save yourselves right now.” Julie begged. “Join Caleb’s club. It’s better than not existing at all!”

“She’s right.” You managed to say, your voice shaky and almost giving out. Your stomach flipped at the thought of them having to work for an evil club owner forever, but the alternative was worse. “You guys need to go now! For me. For us.”

“We’re not going back there.” Reggie shook his head.

Luke pulled himself up and stumbled forward a little so that he was right in front of you. “No music is worth making if we’re not all making it together.”

You sighed sadly, thinking back to your conversation yesterday. “So no more regrets?”

Luke let out a deep sigh and then reached up and cupped your cheek with his right hand. “Just one.”

You furrowed your eyebrows in response and Luke blinked hard as if he was trying to find the words. "I never told you why I left that night."

"Luke, don't." You gave him a weak smile. "I get it."

"You do?" He asked.

You struggled to get the words out. "Yeah, I mean it was bound to happen eventually. We just got too close and it was weird for you. I understand t-”

"What?" Luke asked, cutting you off with a confused look. "No, no, that's not it at all. Read the-"

Before he could finish, you heard Julie gasp loudly from a few feet away. You looked over to see her stepping back from Alex with an awestruck look on her face as she gripped his forearms.

Wait, what?

Before you could even begin to process what you were seeing, Reggie was reaching out to Julie, who grabbed his wrist and hauled him up to his feet. The three of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Julie turned to you and Luke.

“Guys, come here.”

Alex reached out and pulled you into his side while Luke threw an arm around Reggie’s back and Julie brought you all in closer to her. At first, nothing happened. But then there was a faint buzzing sound and the boys lifted their wrist towards the ceiling and you all watched in awe as the stamp floated away in the blink of an eye.

“Whoa.” Reggie said, his eyes still glued to the ceiling. “I don’t feel as weak anymore.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Alex agreed. “Not that I ever was that weak in the first place.”

You rolled your eyes and let your head fall over on his shoulder. “What do you think that means?”

Luke smiled. “I think it means the band is back.”

It was quiet for a second before Alex looked at you all shyly. “You guys think we can try that hug thing again?”

You laughed as you huddled together again, sniffling and laughing. Then Julie yelled out that you had played the Orpheum and then you were all jumping around, still tangled in each other’s arms.

Eventually, you all broke apart and while the boys started chasing each other around, you turned to Julie. She looked into your eyes and immediately flew into your arms, muttering into your shoulder, “I always wanted a big sister.”

The words warmed your heart and you squeezed her extra hard, grateful that you actually could now. “Well, I’m honored.”

“My family's probably looking for me so..." Julie stepped back from your arms with the biggest smile you’d ever seen on her face, you jokingly bowed to her and she copied the gesture before disappearing behind the door.

You wiped the last of your tears out of your eyes and turned around to find Alex and Reggie were talking in whispers and wearing knowing smiles. When Alex saw you looking, he cleared his throat and nudged Reggie’s shoulder.

“Hey, Reg.” Alex said cheekily, not taking his eyes off of you for even a second. “I was going to check out the next band. You wanna come with me?”

“Sure!” Reggie started strolling towards the door, stopping only for a second to nudge your shoulder and whisper ‘don't do anything I wouldn’t do’ in your ear.

Alex fixed Luke with a pointed look over his shoulder and Reggie gave him a dorky wink before they poofed away. You smiled fondly at the space where they were just standing and awkwardly turned towards Luke.

“Hi.” You said, laughing awkwardly.

“Hi.” Luke muttered back as he stepped forward until he was close enough to grab your hand. “About what I was saying earlier…”

You opened your mouth to say something but he shook his head and pointed to your pocket. “Read it. Please.”

You tugged the note he had given you earlier out of your pocket and carefully folded it open to see that it wasn’t a note at all. It was the love song that Julie had found that day in the garage, the one that he didn’t want anyone to see. You struggled a little trying to decipher Luke's handwriting. The ink was a little smudged and the song was clearly unfinished but it was the most beautiful thing you had ever read. And he had written it for you.

"I didn't leave because we got too close," He said. "It was the opposite, (Y/n), I left because I was scared to lose you, and I know that doesn't make sense because I kind of did w-"

You carefully tucked the paper back in your pocket with one hand and grabbed the back of his neck with the other, pulling him down and closing the last bit of space between you.

Luke's brain short-circuited for a second before he started kissing back, grabbing your waist with enough force to nearly knock you both backwards. It was dizzying and a little desperate, yet weirdly familiar, as if you'd been kissing him your whole life.

Most moments with Luke felt like they were happening in slow motion, but this time it was like a high-speed movie montage of your whole lives. The stolen crayons, the time capsule, the pre performance pep talks, the smell of cinnamon, the ferris wheel, his jacket, the movie nights and songwriting sessions. All of it had led up to this moment.

"I love you." Luke said immediately after you pulled away. "God, I love you so much. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry."

“Hey, it’s okay.” You laughed, blinking another wave of tears out of your eyes. “I should’ve told you forever ago instead of skirting around it.”

“And what is it that you should’ve told me?” He said teasingly and you rolled your eyes. You had gotten so used to Luke being so shut down or nervous around you that you almost forgot how much of a little shit he could be.

“That I love you too.” You said, unable to stop smiling.

Luke leaned down and captured your lips in another kiss, this time threading his fingers through your hair as he cupped your cheeks in his hands. “I’m never gonna get tired of hearing that.”

You bit your lip to keep another laugh from bubbling up as you looked up at him, feeling completely overwhelmed in the best way possible. "So...what now?"

"I don't know." Luke admitted. "But I know one thing."

"What's that?"

"That no matter where we go, or what we do," He pushed a piece of hair behind your ear. "In life, in death... I'm yours. Always."

The End

In Life, In Death Taglist:

@ifilwtmfc @instabull @wanniiieeee @tenaciousperfectionunknown @charliegillespiewife @merceret @itismeasmolpotato @lilostif16 @dangerouslyclose @iainttakingshitfromnobody @givemebooksorgivemedeath @sunsetcurvedotmp3 @askgeoff @mayleenicole5676 @puppy11148 @vampire7595 @wackyworrieruniverse @reallysparklychaos @lovelydaydreams15 @rachmmb @musicismyescape27 @stackie4ever @spidermankenobi

(Strikethrough means I can’t tag you)

JATP Taglist:

@caitsymichelle13 @sunsetcurvej

Let me know if you want to be added!

#luke patterson #luke patterson imagine #luke patterson x reader #Alex Mercer #Reggie Peters #julie molina #jatp fanfic #jatp

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