#my scanner fought me every step of the way though... | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

prettyboyreid · 3 years

Text

can you read to me? (III)

(part one) (part two)

Even after a silly fight, the reader can’t seem to go to sleep without Matthew next to her.

College!Matthew Gray Gubler x Reader

Warnings: language, angst

Word Count: 3681

The next few days seemed to drone on and on.

Finals. Lunch. Finals. Studying.

It was an endless cycle that felt like it would never end for you. Thankfully, on Friday, you had a ticket back home for Christmas break, which had just been delayed two days due to the snowy, icy New York weather. The bad part was that it was only Wednesday.

You hadn’t talked to Matthew since Monday. The second time you had seen him in almost a month, and you had fought yet again. You wanted to talk to him again - you could hardly sleep without listening to him talk - but God you didn’t know if you could handle another argument.

You were in the middle of reviewing for your chemistry final (thankfully, the last science class you might ever need to take) when the door to your dorm creaked open slowly and steadily. Your roommate, Mia, peeked her head through the crack in the door, giving you a soft smile once she saw you look up from the laptop.

“Hey,” she said in a gentle voice, stepping fully into the room once you returned the smile. “The end of the semester party is tonight. Do you want to go with me?” she asked you, folding her arms over her chest as she leaned back against the door.

You gave her a simple shrug, closing the laptop as you turned your full attention to her. “I don’t know, I have to study for my final,” you began to explain, letting out a huff of breath at the thought of studying stoichiometry or the periodic table for another second. She frowned, moving to sit on the edge of your bed before resting her hand on your duvet-covered leg.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked, giving you a sympathetic look. It wasn’t too hard for her to figure out that it had something to do with Matthew; he had been in our room practically every day since we started dating freshman year, and now she hadn’t seen him in three weeks. You used to not be able to shut up about him and any of his weird quirks; you had hardly spoken, especially since Monday. She was good at reading people - there was no question about that - but it didn’t take a genius to figure out your heart was slowly breaking during what was supposed to be one of the happiest times of the year.

You sighed heavily, pushing away from your small, cluttered desk and rubbing at your eyes with the heels of your hands. “He, uh… we got into a fight,” you told her, looking down at your lap a bit as she rested a comforting hand on top of yours. “He got pissed at me for hanging out with Jack a couple weeks back, and I got pissed about him hanging out with Lydia, so we hadn’t talked in two weeks. I, uh, couldn’t sleep Sunday night and I went down to his room, and it seemed fine, then when I went to talk to him later…” you chewed on the inside of your cheek, hesitant to talk about one of the people that irked you the worst in the world. “... Lydia was in his room, and he told me she tried to kiss him when we weren’t talking,” you told her softly, your voice trailing off a bit as you thought more and more about it.

The past few days, you pushed it to the back of your mind. You didn’t want to think about either of them, the way Lydia made you second-guess every second Matthew went back to his room and went back home for break, and the way Matthew used to make you feel, the same things that used to give you butterflies now making you want to vomit at the first thought of him.

“Shit, I’m… I’m sorry, Y/N,” was all your roommate managed out after a few silent moments. You didn’t think Mia would know much about this sort of thing - she had never been one for relationships, especially ones that lasted as long as yours and Matthew’s. But, to your surprise, she was always able to make you feel better about anything that happened in your relationship. This, as you had suspected, was no different.

“How about we get you out of the dorm tonight. You’re almost done with your finals, and you leave in two days. You could use a little down time,” she coaxed, nudging your shoulder playfully with a wide grin.

The thought was tempting. You didn’t want to spend one of your last winters at New York University wallowing in self-pity; it wasn’t exactly your first choice of past times.

“Fine,” you sighed, leaning back in your chair. “But we have to be back before one; my last final is at ten A.M. tomorrow and I can’t be late for it,” you told her, and her face lit up with a smile.

“Great! That’s perfect. I’ll stay sober so you can let loose a little bit. God knows you deserve it,” she said, winking at you before standing up from her chair. “Wear that red shirt that makes your boobs look good!” she called to you from the doorway, presumably going down the hall to get ready with some of her friends. You laughed softly but nodded, giving her a soft smile as she turned to head out the door.

The second you made your way through the threshold of the fraternity house that hosted the party, a drink was thrusted into your hand. Mia took hers happily, handing it over to you. “You need it more than me,” she grinned, dumping the blue tinted liquid into your solo cup before tossing the empty cup into a nearby garbage can.

You looked around the packed room for a moment, shoving your free hand in the back pocket of your jeans while Mia began talking with the first person that she noticed who came into her peripheral vision. You couldn’t say you were too surprised with this - she was much more social than you were.

You found yourself wandering around the first floor of the house, tapping your fingertips against your leg to the beat of whatever song was blaring through the speakers. The longer you stood meandering through the packed house, however, the more you realized this really was the last place that you wanted to be.

You still sipped from the drink as you made your way up the steps of the house, hoping to find a bit of solitude from the sleazy frat boys and the girls who were only being nice because they were intoxicated. You sat down on the top step of the carpeted staircase, taking a long sip of your drink before you practically felt yourself jumping out of your skin at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Y/N?”

You turned around, probably much quicker than you should have, only to see Matthew towering over you. The bags under his eyes had returned, and he had a cup in his hand that looked much more empty than your own. You stood up a bit and chewed on the inside of your cheek, wondering whether or not the best place to talk was in the middle of a sweaty and loud fraternity house.

“Hey, Matthew,” you said softly, scratching at the back of your neck somewhat anxiously. You didn’t know what you were supposed to say to him - it felt like it was wrong to even be in the same house as him right now.

He looked down into his cup when you spoke to him, as if he was trying to avoid the situation at hand. But you knew Matthew Gubler better than anyone else, and you knew he definitely wanted to fix things right now.

“I-I’m really sorry about everything that happened with Lydia,” he said honestly, though it came out so quickly you were sure you had misheard him at first. You just nodded in response, taking another sip of your drink as you tried to turn your focus to anyone - anything - else that you could see.

You saw him frown a little bit at that, and he looked down to his feet again. You followed his gaze for a brief moment, and fought back the urge to smile when you noticed his mix-matched socks - one of them red with black stripes, the other purple with blue polka dots sprayed all over them.

“I know you are,” you told him after a few silent moments, still keeping your concentration on the ground in front of you. For some reason, now it felt almost too nerve-wracking to even look at him, like you had never known him. Was it a bit dramatic? Maybe, but the Matthew that you knew wouldn’t have acted the way he had the past few weeks.

You didn’t even want to think about it more than you have been the past two nights.

He stayed silent for a few more minutes, dragging his fingertips and nails across the grooves embedded in the plastic solo cup in his hand. He looked to you again when he finally found the words that he needed, running his hand back through his hair. “Do you want to… do you want to go back and talk about it a bit?” he asked softly, swirling his drink around in his cup a bit.

Right now, the last place you wanted to be was where Lydia had been. But at the same time, it was the only place you really wanted to be, like it was the only place you thought you would be okay.

You just nodded after a few moments and set your cup down on the thick wooden banister, shoving your hands into your pockets before walking down the steps, assuming Matthew was hardy two steps behind you.

The walk back to the dorm building was almost eerily quiet. The only sound you could hear, or probably just register, was the loud crunching of the freshly fallen snow beneath yours and Matthew’s feet. You didn’t really need to look back to him to make sure he was following you, you just knew he was.

You flashed your school ID card over the scanner before walking into the building, heading up towards the elevator and pressing the button to go up. Once you stepped into the elevator cart, everything seemed to get even quieter. You could swear you could hear your heart beating in your chest, the cart moving much slower than usual.

Floor one.

Floor two.

Floor three.

Floor four.

Floor five.

With a short ding, the large metal doors finally peeled apart, and you let out a heavy sigh. The ride up felt like a chore, and you could practically feel yourself getting claustrophobic trying not to look or speak to Matthew.

You led him down to the end of the hall, opposite of his dorm, and pulled your keys out of your pocket. You felt his eyes on you - not in a weird way, though it gave you butterflies when that was the last thing you wanted to feel at that moment.

You unlocked the door and pushed it open, hanging your keys up on a hook beside your door and flicking on the lights. It looked much more empty than it usually did, given you and your roommate were mostly packed up to go home for a month. You had duffel bags and suitcases scattered around the room, along with a few grocery bags so none of your snacks would expire while you were gone.

After a few moments of silence, you turned back to Matthew with your arms folded across your chest. “What? What did you have to say?” you asked him, your words coming off much more harsher than you really intended them to be.

You watched a twitch of a frown flash across his lips before his lips pressed into a flat line, sitting down on Mia’s bed, across from where you were standing at the moment. He looked like he was mulling over every single possible word he could say to you in his head, but he didn’t know which was best. He looked up at you after a few moments, wring his hands out in his lap as he took a deep intake of breath.

“I’m really sorry.”

Your nose twitched a bit as you listened to him, letting out a heavy breath through your nose. You had heard him say he was sorry before, why was this time supposed to be any different?

“Sorry?” you asked with a bit of a scoff. “You’re sorry that you kissed another girl while you thought we were still together?”

“I didn’t kiss her first!” he defended himself, running his hands down his dark blue jeans as he shook his head a bit. “I don’t know what else you want me to say about it, I am sorry. I didn’t want to kiss her,” he told you, the words rolling off of his tongue as if each syllable took a weight off his shoulders.

You huffed out again and kicked off your shoes, shoving them under your bed as you listened to him. “Why would you invite her over if she kissed you, then?” you asked, sitting down on your bed and folding your hands together in your lap. You weren’t sure whether or not you really wanted the answer to that question, but you looked to him expectantly and waited for his excuse for your question.

As you expected, he was silent for a few moments. Much longer than you would’ve liked, in fact. But eventually, he quietly spoke up with the same answer you had heard before. “I don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t,” you frowned, looking over at your desk where you still had a picture of the two of you framed in the far corner of it.

“I’m sorry, okay? It was stupid. I shouldn’t have even talked to her after that. I shouldn’t have let her into my room and I should’ve just let her be after she kissed me. I don’t know what else I can do to make this better,” he told you, running his hands back through his hair and tugging a bit on the ends of it.

You looked down at your socks as you listened to him, trying to shake the thought of everything that had happened. You didn’t want to forgive him, and you really shouldn’t, but you knew he pushed her off.

But he also let her in afterwards.

“I’m sorry. She asked how everything was going with you, and I wanted to tell her what was happening since we were going to lunch, and she just… she kind of made her way in, I guess?” he tried to explain, letting his hands do some of the talking as he tried to clear the situation.

You chewed on the inside of your cheek, checking the time on your alarm clock before sighing, going over to one of your duffel bags and pulling out a pair of sweatpants. You changed out of your jeans and into the sweats quickly, pulling your hair up into a loose ponytail before pulling the comforter on your bed back and looking over to him. “Come on,” you said softly, nodding towards the bed.

He furrowed his eyebrows together as he watched her, but still slowly stood up and made his way over to her. “You… you’re not mad?” he asked, kicking off his Converse shoes before carefully climbing into the small bed.

“I don’t know what I am right now,” you confessed, getting in the bed next to him. “But I haven’t slept well in over two weeks, and I know you haven’t either, and I’d rather get one good sleep before I go home than spend the night arguing,” you told him, flicking off the light next to your bed before resting your head on his chest.

He nodded softly, sinking down a bit so he was lying flat on his back so the two of you could be more comfortable. “What do you want me to read to you?” he asked quietly, looking up at the ceiling as he waited silently and patiently for your response.

“Can you read Annabel Lee again?” you asked quietly, letting your eyes adjust slowly to the darkness around you as he cleared his throat a bit, knowing he was focusing on the ceiling so he wouldn’t forget anything.

“It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me…”

You let your eyes slowly close as his voice slowly lulled you to sleep, worried you wouldn’t even be able to stay up for the rest of the poem.

“I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

I and my Annabel Lee—

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

Coveted her and me.

“And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsmen came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

In this kingdom by the sea.”

His long, slender fingers eventually found their way to your hair, pushing some loose, fallen strands from your face as he spoke. The words rolled easily off his tongue, like he didn’t even have to think about them.

“The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

“But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we—

Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in Heaven above

Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;”

His voice was much more rigid and stoic than the last time he recited the poem to you, like he was reading from the pages the first time he read it to you. Like he was detached, like he almost… didn’t care as much as he used to.

“For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea—

In her tomb by the sounding sea.”

You looked carefully up at him, making sure not to disturb him, before frowning a bit. His face was focused on your ceiling, almost looking bored, like he had better places to be. You sighed and rested your head on his chest, slowly but surely falling into another slumber.

By the time you woke up a few hours later, you couldn’t help but frown at the lack of warmth surrounding you. You rubbed tiredly at your eyes as you looked around the empty room, seeing your roommate had already cleared out for break.

You looked to your side, seeing an empty bed that differed from what you saw last night. You sat up and leaned back against your pillows, before you caught sight of a loose piece of paper on your desk.

You reached over and grabbed it, smiling sadly when you saw the scrawled, curly handwriting that spelled out your name on the front of it. You carefully unfolded it, your smile quirking down into a glower when you saw what the letter wrote.

“Y/N,

I love you. I really, really do.

But now isn’t a great time for either of us.

I can’t put you through what you’ve gone through the past two weeks over all of Christmas break. I don’t want to make you have to deal with all of that again.

I’m sorry I left without saying anything, but my flight was early and I couldn’t miss it; my mom wanted me home tonight for a big family dinner.

If you want to talk over break, you know my number, and you can call me whenever. I’ll always answer.

I love you, my Annabel Lee.

(In the totally not necrophiliac way)

Matthew <3”

You couldn’t help but frown as you read it, but shoved the flimsy paper into your back pocket. You didn’t want to think about what he had written, or even think about him at all. You just packed up the last of your clothes that you would need for the month, pushing down the pictures of you and Matthew, or just Matthew, whenever you came across them in your room.

When you finally packed up, you grabbed all of your bags and brought them out into the hall, setting them down on the ground as you locked up. As you did, however, you couldn’t help but frown as you found yourself looking down towards the other end of the hall, hoping to see Matthew coming out of his dorm all of a sudden, laughing and being happy like he usually was.

But instead, you were met with a dark hall, piles of snow mounted on the windows darkening the hallways. It almost made you feel sick, the way the light seemed to drain out of your entire life the second Matthew was gone.

As you walked down the hall to the elevators, you silently wished that you could go back and change everything, make it all right.

But you knew it was too late.

------

taglist: @spencerreid-mgg

add yourself to my taglist!

134 notes · View notes

olivia-anderson-fanfic · 3 years

Text

Soulmarks, Part 21

First part

~~~

Mme. Bustier gave a sigh when the three dropped their documents on the desk in unison, but this was nothing compared to the shock that came with Marinette’s words:

“We’re transferring.”

“But… but you’ve only been students here for two days!” She said, flipping through the papers with wide eyes. “And you didn’t even come for the second!”

Marinette gave a tiny shrug and glanced at Tim, who waved a stack of papers.

“You can try and keep us, if you’d like, but we have record of over a year’s worth of bullying complaints where no action was taken. Of course, you can still contest us if you’d like to deal with Mr. Wayne and Mr. Agreste’s lawyers…”

The woman’s kind face drained of color.

“I’ll… I’ll sign this right away. I hope you enjoy your time at…” She looked at the papers. “Gotham Academy.”

Marinette sent her friends grins.

“I think we will. Thank you.”

The superheroes had never felt more anxious in their lives. Their food remained untouched in front of them... outside of Kagami, who was slowly eating her beignet fries.

Or, at least, she had been. Now she was looking at them all with wide eyes.

“Let me get this straight…” Said Kagami. “You --.” She pointed her fry at Adrien. “-- are Chat Noir. And you never told me to keep me safe, despite having no problem with giving me a miraculous on occasion.”

Adrien pursed his lips and looked at Marinette imploringly. She didn’t seem to be enjoying being the only one to speak. Her hand gripped Tim’s arm so tightly that he swore she was going to draw blood.

Damn, Tim could have so easily been left out of this. He didn’t know Kagami outside of what Adrien had said about his soulmate, he’d had every excuse to not come. But then Marinette had given him puppy-dog eyes and he was weak, okay?

Marinette coughed uncomfortably. “To be fair, Adrien was the one who didn’t want to tell you.”

Adrien choked. He glared daggers at his partner, only to stop and give his girlfriend the world’s most innocent smile. He carefully brought his hands up and made a heart with his fingers.

Kagami didn’t seem amused, taking a bite of the fry and turning back to Marinette slowly.

The girl did not seem to like this development, if the tightening of her grip on his arm was any indication.

“Anyway, because his dad is Hawkmoth, we’re relocating him. We have to tell the public who Hawkmoth was, because Gabriel was too important to just have him disappear, and we don’t want him to be attacked.”

Kagami took a sip of Adrien’s drink. The model huffed a little but let her have it.

“And you’re telling me in case I want to go with him?”

“Yep. We don’t even have to tell your mom where you’re going. I can go in as Ladybug and tell her I’m relocating you for safety reasons and we can take you.”

She nodded thoughtfully, then gave a shrug. “Sure. Sounds good. Where to?”

The heroes breathed for the first time that night.

The press. God, she hated the press. And she hated it even more now that they were screaming ‘Marinette’ instead of ‘Ladybug’.

But she had to do this.

Marinette fought the urge to mess with her yoyo as she stepped to the podium with Adrien at her side.

He still couldn’t speak but she’d still wanted him to come onstage with her.

She smiled faintly. “Hello, Paris, we have come to make some announcements.”

“First of all, Hawkmoth has been defeated.” She paused for the cheering and applause. “The authorities have given me clearance to share this with you: his civilian identity was Gabriel Agreste.”

The gasps were soon replaced by murmuring and she had to drum her finger on the microphone a few times to get their attention back.

“That being said, please do not attack Adrien Agreste. I did extensive research and observation, and I found that he did not know and was not involved in any way. However, just to be safe, I have decided to take him out of France. During my time in America, I found a suitable person to look after him.”

“Secondly…” She took a deep breath and looked at Adrien, who gave her an encouraging smile. “... we are resigning as protectors of Paris.”

The silence that followed that was deafening. She hugged herself.

“Hawkmoth has been defeated, we are no longer needed here… and it is no longer safe for my family, as the world knows my identity. We will also be relocating to America, but I implore you to respect our privacy.”

“As for Chat, he wishes to remain anonymous so he can continue hero work where he is needed. I hope you can respect that, too.”

“You won’t be left unprotected, of course. The Peacock miraculous is still lost and, though we doubt it is here, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee have all elected to remain in Paris in case it shows up.”

She swallowed thickly and looked out over the sea of people.

“Thank you.”

He flipped through a book on ASL, spinning in his swivel chair absently as he read.

Gotham was quiet at the moment, anyways. The most interesting thing he’d seen on the cameras all night had been Dick accepting a plate of cookies from a stranger.

His phone beeped to indicate his shift was almost over.

On cue, Marinette came in with two cups of coffee.

He smiled faintly as she took her seat, then she pushed her swivel chair over until it knocked against his a tiny bit. She read over his shoulder, sipping at her drink and occasionally bringing his to his lips so he could continue to hold the book for them.

He tugged at the collar of his turtleneck with an annoyed sigh. Honestly, he wished they’d come up with a different cover story for why Tim could no longer speak, because wearing sweaters all the time was quickly getting annoying. ‘Rich kid had taken a blow to his windpipe and could no longer speak’ wasn’t all that unlikely in Gotham, it was hard to beat, so now he had to wear turtlenecks all the time or spend time in the morning putting a fake scar over his neck.

(And, well, Tim had never been one to put much effort into his appearance when he could be doing something more productive.)

Thankfully, no one else had needed a cover. They were a bunch of French kids, no one would be surprised to hear that they had opted not to learn two languages at once. It would have been hard to come up with similar yet different accidents for all of them, and definitely a little suspicious.

Marinette pulled his hand away from his collar and pressed a kiss to it before lacing her fingers with his. “I think you look cute.”

He smiled.

His phone beeped and he quickly fumbled to silence it, because he’d barely done anything that night and he didn’t want to have to stop already, but from the way she set her jaw he knew that she wasn’t going to let him do that.

He set the book on his lap and signed: “Can I at least stay with you?”

Marinette blushed and nodded. He smiled at the tiny victory.

She pressed a hand to her comm. “Right, I’m here, now. Ryuuko, Chaton, report.”

“We found some really good hotdogs on eighth,” said Kagami.

“That’s…” She laughed. “Good for you. Bring me one in the morning.”

“I’m glad you’re getting some sort of nutrition, but get back to work,” said Bruce.

Kagami and Adrien groaned and she could hear them pick up speed.

“Batman, report.”

“No new information on the Two-Face situation.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course. Nightwing, Batgirl, report.”

“A civilian gave us cookies,” said Dick brightly.

“Are they poisoned?”

“We’ll find out soon,” said Barbara with a tiny sigh. “Nightwing already ate one.”

“Nightwing!”

Dick murmured something that the comms couldn’t catch, likely some version of ‘traitor!’, and then attempted to defend himself: “The lady gave them to me directly! It would have been rude not to eat one!”

She rolled her eyes. “Great. Take the cookies to Alfred to inspect and then take Nightwing to medbay just in case.”

“Gotcha.”

Tim smiled, watching her flip through their views to make sure they were all safe.

He had never really intended the man-in-the-chair thing to become his permanent form of vigilantism, had always thought he would go back to being Robin at some point, but he was glad that he hadn’t.

After all, it was less stressful and unlikely to get them hurt.

And he knew that Marinette liked the new job, too, if the tiny computer over his heart was any indication.

He felt her rest her head on his shoulder again, apparently appeased by what she had seen, and he wrapped his arm around her.

They listened to a police scanner and relaxed, together.

~~~

I need to stop writing finales at 3am --

Taglist

@pawsitivelymiraculous @golden-promises @salty-fang @kitsunebell @sassakitty @octobitch @glastwime859 @miyla-lokidottir @onlyabatfan @ira-sairain @2confused-2doanything @ultimatetornshipper @ladybug-182 @laurcad123 @we-want-mini-mini @roguishredaxion @just-reblogs-by-h @futursworld @magic-miraculous @nathleigh @smolplantmum @vroomtaka @emimar7 @toodaloo-kangaroo @charme-de-malchan @spicybelladonna @fusser90 @indecisive-mess-named-me @rosesgonerogue @celestialsiren @bluesimani @loysydark @trippingovermyfeet @goblinwhoships @kaithehero

#soulmarks #timinette #timari #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #red robin #tim drake #maribat #adribat

106 notes · View notes

astro-rain · 4 years

Text

delicate; b.barnes

chapter four - mri’s & other modern commodities

delicate masterlist

word count: 1.8k

synopsis: bucky faces his first day of treatment, and discovers some new things along the way: some scary, some awesome, some maybe slightly embarassing.

pairings: bucky barnes x fem!reader

[A/N]: not my gif

When he woke up, he scanned his room, making sure everything was the same as how he left it the night before. Making sure no one came in while he was asleep and poisoned his brain. Making sure he was waking up in his living quarters in Wakanda and not a damp cell in some secret Hydra base. It was just something he did now.

Some may call it paranoia, others may call it adaptation. Either way, once he stepped outside and made sure he was alone, he allowed himself to take a breath.

Today was the day, the first day of official treatment. He had no idea what to expect; he was just hoping to high heavens that it would end up working. Freedom. That's all he wanted. Liberation from the chains Hydra had had around him since he fell from the train all those years ago.

He was apprehensive for sure, but he tried his best to keep himself optimistic. Bucky was sure that Shuri was smarter than any Hydra scientist he once came in contact with. So, if they can tear apart his mind, perhaps she can put it back together. Right?

Her in addition to (Y/N). That psychologist woman. He had spoken to her the day before at the lake. She was funny, and she seemed decently easy to talk to. That's a good sign, he guessed. She told him that she hadn't minded relocating to assist in his treatment, but he honestly couldn't make out her true feelings. She was rather hard to read. Perhaps it was a psychologist thing; he tried not to look too far into it.

He waited outside his door until two Wakandans came to escort him to Shuri. Bucky noticed they were armed. Guards. He wasn't surprised nor did he blame them. However, that didn't make it any easier to trust. He hadn't had that luxuy in a very long time. The former assassin fought against the voice in the back of his head telling him to analyze their every move in order to ensure that he wasn't in any danger. That any minute they weren't going to strap him down and rip his brain apart the way it had been so many times before. So many times. He gave the slightest wince at the thought. His brain suddenly felt prickly, painful memories creeping up on him.

Not now, don't think about it.

Sometimes, if he fixated on the thoughts for too long, he would drive himself to this panicked state of fear and constriction. He wasn't sure exactly what this thing was. All he knew was that these things - these episodes - were extremely unpleasant, and utterly unnecessary at the moment.

He shook his head (somehow hoping that this would rid him of the prickly memories like a dog shaking off water), strands of long brown hair swaying quickly in front of his eyes, and fixed his gaze to the floor.

Floor. Floor. Floor. Floor. Just the floor. The floor. The floor. The floor-

"Sergeant Barnes!" Shuri welcomed him happily.

Oh. He was in the lab now. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Let's do this.

"Good morning," he smiled, "and just Bucky's okay."

"Of course, of course. This is my lab! Best place in Wakanda in my humble opinion. Today's only the first day of treatment, so nothing too intensive. But, we will be working all the same!"

He glanced around the lab. The guards were at the doorway and they didn't look like they were leaving anytime soon. Again, he wasn't surprised. Moreover, sitting at a table a few feet from Shuri, was a familiar face. This familiar face soon met his gaze.

"Hi, Bucky" (Y/N) greeted, offering a polite smile. "See! I remembered this time."

Bucky grinned. "Are you still (Y/N), or is it Dr. (Y/L/N) since we're in the lab now?"

"I'm always (Y/N)."

"I don't know, if I went to school for as long as you did, I'd make everyone call me Doctor," Shuri added.

(Y/N) laughed. "Well, if you want to call me Doctor you're more than welcome, Shuri."

"That's the spirit, Doc," she declared before turning to Bucky. "Now, follow me and we'll get a quick MRI done."

"A what?" He quickly caught up to Shuri who already started walking away.

"An MRI. It stands for magnetic resonance imaging. Basically, scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs in the body."*

Yes, very basic.

(Y/N) leaned over to Bucky, explaining softly, "It's used to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body."**

"Oh."

"You just lay down and it scans you. Y'don't even feel anything."

"Thats... not too bad, I guess."

"It's a bit of a tight fit though, so I hope you're aren't claustrophobic."

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, after cryo, I doubt tight spaces will be too much of a bother for me."

"Right," said (Y/N), "but it's still decently in your personal space. Just so you know - so there's no surprises."

He nodded. They didn't say anything until Shuri stopped short in front of them. She stood a couple feet from a shiny metal table which was lined up in front of an equally shiny and metallic semi-cricle arch. It was long enough to fit - well, would you look at that - a body.

"Oh. I guess there is a surprise," (Y/N) blurted, turning to Shuri, confused. "That isn't like any MRI machine I've ever seen."

"That's because you're in Wakanda," Shuri flashed a proud smile. "Tech's a bit... advanced here."

(Y/N) turned to Bucky. He thought he saw something resembling self consciousness flow across her features, but he wasn't sure.

"Sorry, I guess I was wrong. But, honestly this is way better than a typical MRI set up. It's much more open... and wide. Regularly, it would be like a super narrow tube with hardly any space inside. This way, you'll even be able to see us and the rest of the room."

That's good. More space. More freedom. And he'll be able to see her- them, see them.

Shuri clapped. "Alright! Shall we get started then?"

He had no idea how any of this worked; he was way out of his element here. He just barely learned what a damn MRI was, and had to hide his shock when he found out. Medicine has changed dramatically since 1945. Although it is helpful, he is completely clueless. Great.

"Do I jus-just lay on the table?" He asked, unsure.

"Yep! Just lie there and be absolutely still, and I'll do the rest," Shuri replied, reassuringly as she walked around to a control panel next to the machine, preparing to start.

Bucky took his place on the thin metal table, and he thought he was seeing things. Was it was levitating? Honestly, from what he's seen so far he wouldn't even be surprised. He stared up at the ceiling, getting lost in thought. A string of various questions and uncertainties fluttered through his battered mind.

Would the metal arm interfere with the magnet- oh. Right. No arm. Just a scan, no need to worry. (Y/N) said it would be fine. Can I even trust her Then again, can I even trust anyone yet? She's the best I got right now. Damn it, I wish I wasn't so wary of everyone.

"Hey," a gentle voice pulled him out.

He looked over to the left of him, the side with no arm. (Y/N).

"I can practically hear your brain whirring around right now - which is justified - but do you need anything?"

'Do you need anything?' He hadn't heard that phrase in a while.

He adjusted his body on the table. "I'm alright, just... a bit out of my element here."

She nodded, knowingly. "Honestly, me too. This lab looks like somethin' out of a sci-fi movie for me, so I can't imagine what it must feel like to you."

She was looking down at him. He felt vulnerable, exposed. It seemed like she noticed.

"Here, I have an idea."

With that, she turned and grabbed something from a nearby table. Rotating around to face him again, she displayed what she had taken: a pair of headphones... but without a wire? What the hell?

"Are they broken?" he asked, feeling perpetually confused.

"No, they're wirelessly connected to my phone. It's called bluetooth."

The look on his face was almost laughable.

"Bluetooth? What kind of name is Bluetooth?"

"The kind of name that I didn't invent nor should I be blamed for," she chuckled. "Do you want to listen to music while you're in there? It might help to keep you down on Earth with us."

Music. The thought was almost surreal. He hadn't been privileged with such a pleasure in longer than he'd care to admit. It actually seemed... nice.

"Y-yeah," he said, pondering. "That'd actually be nice."

"Awesome."

She leaned over him to put the headphones on his ears, causing him a very conflicting series of emotions.

First of all, close. She was very close to his face. His face, his eyes, his nose, his lips. It almost seemed a tad bit intimate. And then he realized he hadn't been this close to a woman in forever. A real woman, not some fellow assassin he had to take out. He hoped the shy embarrassment he felt didn't show on his cheeks.

Second of all, she was wrapping something around his head, his brain. He tried not to, but he couldn't stop the muscle memory of what he'd been conditioned to feel. Hydra's machine would wrap around his head and rip his psyche apart. His mind expected pain, the worst pain, the dehumanizing, out of body, mind splitting pain. He hoped the way he flinched ever so slightly didn't offend (Y/N).

She didn't seem offended, and her voice was soft. "You're good. Just music and a scan. Then you're done."

He looked up at her face, reassuring and calm. He took a deep breath.

"Good?" she asked.

He nodded. "Think so."

"If it's too much at any point just let us know, and we'll pull you right out. It's your comfort level, your choice."

His choice. Choice. Control. The prospect gave him comfort.

She gave him one last look before stepping away and signaling Shuri to start the machine. The seemingly levitating table began a smooth descent into the machine when the music started playing. It almost startled him, but he then he was pleasantly surprised by what he heard.

There were loud drums, guitar riffs with attitude, and voices that had so much emotion they were almost screaming. It was like no music he had ever heard before, and he loved it. In fact, he was so into it that he didn't even notice when the MRI had finished. That is, until he felt a feather light hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened, and (Y/N) had the biggest grin on her face. While taking the headphones off of him, she looked very pleased with herself.

She looked at Shuri but declared to no one in particular, "Bucky likes Rock and Roll!"

- - -

* = from wikipedia

** = from wikipedia

#bucky barnes #bucky fanfic #bucky headcanon #marvel #steve rogers #bucky blurb #bucky drabble #bucky fic #bucky imagine #bucky reader insert #avengers #avengers fanfiction #marvel fanfiction

181 notes · View notes

faulty-writes · 4 years

Note

Hi there! I'm not sure if this fits the request, but if it's okay, could I request Muriko with a female s/o coming out as Bi. Like nobody expected it, then Muriko is like "HELL YEAH, THAT'S MEANS A CHANCE FOR ME" and asks her out last minute before some guy did.

[ So, I got your other message saying you wanted a one-shot and the plot you laid out. Just so you know, I only watch the anime. I don’t read the manga...yet. So I’m basically winging our little Bunny girl. But, I hope you enjoy nonetheless. ]

Being a sidekick might not be glorious, but it had its advantages. You were recognized for one, praised for your help, and when you distanced yourself from your hero and bravely fought against the villains. Held down your own. Your hero rank rose, just a little. Given you were more than happy to be working alongside Mirko, the often overexcitable, rule-breaking, bunny hero. Of course, many were surprised when Mirko announced she’d be taking a sidekick as she preferred to work solo most of the time.

Teamwork wasn’t her style as many would say, yet that didn’t stop the thousands of sidekicks that flocked to her Agency in hopes to pass the audition and get the spot next to her. You weren’t a well-known hero, you worked a regular day job and merely got your hero license so you could protect others when needed. But you were nothing compared to the Pros out there, still, you felt as though you needed a change and forced yourself to go to the audition.

Though it was a little intimidating considering most of the sidekicks that were present, had a good record, and were rather high in popularity while you...were not. But somehow or another, Mirko had chosen you out of the bunch. For what reason, was unknown and while you had tried to get an answer from her. She’d only smirk and point her finger at you, “What’s it matter eh!? I chose you and that’s all! Be happy there, pretty face!” she’d always slap you on the back after and you’d groan, she hit hard even when she wasn’t trying.

There was something strange about Mirko that you couldn’t quite put your finger on. Given she was a beautiful and sometimes reckless woman, you often felt her stare on you whenever you returned to the Agency and somehow or another, whenever you got hurt. It seemed like she was more concerned about your well-being, even if she had gotten a few bruises herself. Whenever you were walking up to her and she was in the middle of a conversation with someone else.

The moment she saw you, her eyes would light up and she’d pull you close. You’d always choke when her arm pressed against your neck. She was a little rough around the edges. “There she is! My little kickass sidekick! Isn’t she just adorable? Huh, huh!?” you’d always get embarrassed, it was almost like Mirko wanted to show you off. But you weren’t some sort of doll, even though you owed the hero a lot.

If it weren’t for her you wouldn’t have gotten a taste of the spotlight. You were happy to serve under her and even protect her when you needed to, not that she needed it. At all. But you liked to pretend you could protect your hero. Regardless, being around Mirko was like being around a completely different type of energy. Which you didn’t necessarily mind, but sometimes it became too overwhelming and you needed your own space.

On days like this, you would often shy away from Mirko and spend time with your coworkers. The fellow people that made this Agency run smoothly, though one male employee seemed awfully interested in you. “Where’s Mirko? Aren’t you usually with her after a mission is completed?” he questioned and you shrugged, “Sometimes I just need a break, Mirko is great and all but…” you paused as you finished putting quarters into the machine and pressed the drink you wanted.

The machine made a noise but dispensed no drink. “Huh? Oh, cheap piece of junk!” you snapped and slammed your fist against it. “Damn it, I don’t have any change left…” you muttered as you reached into your empty pockets as if coins would magically appear. “Hey that’s alright, I got you.” you blinked and looked at your fellow coworker. “Wait...really?” you questioned as he got up and stepped in front of the soda machine.

“Yeah, consider it a thank you for protecting the city and...just because you’re cute.” you felt a little uneasy as he winked at you, was he trying to flirt? Meanwhile, Mirko was becoming a little restless. Eagerly tapping her foot against the floor, “Where the hell is she? Where’s my sidekick!? Her attractive ass should be here with me…” Mirko spoke with a soft growl and the receptionist nearby noticed the unusual behavior.

“I believe she said something about getting a drink, try the soda machine down the hall,” they suggested and Mirko turned to glare at them. “I could have bought her a drink…” she muttered before stomping away, her tail angrily twitching. “Hm?” when she caught the sound of your voice her ears perked up a bit, however, she also picked up someone else’s voice. “Ah, what the hell.” she groaned, though she hated to admit it.

She often got jealous when you, her precious little sidekick, talked to others. Yeah, yeah you had every right to. But Mirko still considered you hers. Even though she knew she didn’t have a chance, which sucked. She narrowed her eyes once she had you in view and couldn’t help but cross her arms with a huff. This is the kind of man you chose to flirt with or rather that you attracted?

She could easily beat any suitor that was after you that is if...if only you weren’t fucking straight. She had half a mind to walk over there and smash the man’s face in, but unfortunately as a hero that wouldn’t be good for her image. Instead, she stood there in the shadows. Deciding to eavesdrop on the conversation with a frown on her face, you sounded like you were having a good time talking to him. Didn’t she make you happy too? She growled softly, feeling her stomach twist with jealousy.

“Aw, come on! You gotta eat don’t you? We can just consider it a business lunch...” you couldn’t help but chuckle, he tried so hard. Though you always turned him down, you didn’t exactly understand why he always tried to flirt with you. There were other female coworkers he could spend time with, your time, in particular, was dedicated to Mirko.

“I’m not really hungry, but thank you for the offer,” you replied, making the man drop his shoulders in disappointment. “Is it me?” he questioned, “I mean...it must be me, right? I’m no big strong hero. I just work here as part of the insurance company tied to Mirko’s Agency.” you wanted to roll your eyes, part of you hated when others played the role of the victim when it wasn’t necessary. You took a deep breath and shook your head.

“I don’t care about looks or status, hell I don’t even care about gender. I swing both ways, but the point is. I’m not too sure if you’re my type and well…” you paused when you noticed the strange looks you were getting. The few coworkers that surrounded you seemed wide-eyed and you weren’t really sure why. Was it something you said? “Uh, you guys okay?” you questioned, however, Mirko seemed rather overjoyed.

Practically clamping down on her lip to prevent herself from screaming out in happiness. YES. So her attraction to you wasn’t wrong! Hah, perhaps she shouldn’t have doubted herself so much. After all, she could turn the straightest of women into bunny lovers. That is if she really tried, but now she had a clear mission. She wouldn’t let anyone else have you, by the end of the day. You’d be telling everyone “I’m Mirko’s girlfriend.” she chuckled to herself as she rubbed her hands together.

“Oh fuck yeah! You’re gonna be mine.” she declared before pumping her fist in the air. Of course, there were obstacles in the way and she’d take care of one right now. She grinned as she kicked off the ground, skillfully maneuvering her body so her legs were straight out. You didn’t even register she was above you until you watched her land on your coworker. He gave a cry as his face was implemented into the floor, leaving behind a large dent.

Your jaw immediately dropped and you looked horrified, but Mirko was smiling. Like she had done something worthy of being praised. “Hi there, pretty face,” she said before brushing a piece of her hair back. “Come, let’s get lunch.” she insisted before grabbing your wrist and dragging you along, unlike most. You knew better than to argue with Mirko. Despite the fact you weren’t hungry, Mirko insisted on sharing a plate. That wasn’t like her seeing as the woman typically liked her food and she even bought you a drink.

Though you had tried to argue it was too early to drink, she laughed your words off and you got a little buzzed. The rest of the day after lunch was typical. You stayed at the agency and filled out the necessary forms from your patrol as well as spoke to the police and listened to the scanner in case any villains tried anything. It was a rather boring ending to the workday.

Mirko seemed rather intent on staying by your side and you weren’t too sure if you could trust that smile she wore and despite your best efforts to avoid her when leaving the agency. She caught up to you and once more insisted you go out to eat with her. “Look, I’m still a little dizzy from the first time we ate out so…” Mirko scoffed in response to your words and grinned before pulling you close.

“Come on! That’s a shitty attitude to have! I promise dinner with me is going to be amazing! I’ll spoil my little sidekick good!” she said before ruffling your hair. “And after, we can hit the bar! I’m sure your little ass can dance right?” you looked hesitant but once more you knew there was no chance in hell you could argue with her. “I don’t know about dance or if I can take any more alcohol…” you responded quickly before Mirko laughed and slapped your back, causing you to stumble forward.

“That’s quitters talk, pretty face! You gotta drink when you’re with me. We’ll have dinner at that exclusive restaurant, oh what the fuck is it called? I forget, but it doesn't matter.” she concluded before looking at you with a mischievous glance, “Uh...” you stepped away. “Just what are you…” you gasped when she quickly moved behind you and scooped you into her arms. You gave a squeak and your arms immediately wrapped around her neck.

Though you were a hero of sorts, you hated being off the ground. “Aw, what’s a matter? Are you scared?” Mirko teased and you growled, “Shut up!” you snapped, wondering what had gotten into the woman today. She usually wasn’t this touchy-feely or even insistent you spent time together like this. Then again, she was over-enthusiastic and did enjoy showing you off. So maybe you were merely overthinking things.

You held on tightly as she kicked off various buildings, sending both of you airborne and while you were terrified. The view of the night city was rather beautiful and almost put you at ease, in a way it made you feel like a damsel in distress. Being rescued and carried off by the hero, which more often than not was depicted as a male hero. Someone strong, brave, and handsome. Yet you were in the hands of a petite but strong and courageous woman who could handle her own.

Though, if that were true then why did she feel the need to have you around in the first place? What was her want in getting a sidekick in the first place? Once more you were reminded that you had never gotten an official answer from her. “Mm…” you muttered just before Mirko landed on the ground, “Ready for some good eats?!” she exclaimed and somehow you felt butterflies when you watched that smile come to her face, she was almost...cute.

She seemed to notice the way you stared, “What’s a matter? Lovestruck already?” you felt your face flush at her words and quickly glanced away. “No.” you denied, damn her. She chuckled once more and set you down on your feet. “Whatever you say, pretty face. Now let’s go get some grub.” she grabbed you by the shoulder and dragged you inside. Guess the advantage of being with a popular hero was the fact that you pretty much got whatever you wanted handed to you.

In this case, Mirko was granted an exclusive table and offered a bottle of wine which she immediately opened and insisted on a toast. You felt your stomach twist as you swirled the cup of wine before looking to Mirko. “A toast! To one of the best and originally unwanted sidekicks ever and the only fucking sense of normal I have in this otherwise kick-ass life! Cheers!” you blinked in response as she clinked your glasses together and promptly downed her glass.

Though you couldn’t help but wonder, what did she mean by sense of normal? How true was that? Was she hiding some secret from everyone? You glanced to the side, your wine untouched. You couldn’t help but look around, everyone else was dressed in such fancy attire that you couldn’t even hope to afford. You weren’t much for high-class places, so why did Mirko bring you here? It was almost like she was trying to impress you without actually taking part in the high-class act.

“Ah!” The bunny girl in question licked her lips after she finished her wine and slammed the cup back onto the table, catching some looks from the surrounding tables. But she outright ignored their stares as she was more focused on looking directly at you. “What’s a matter!? You haven’t touched your wine.” you jumped when you heard her voice and snapped your head back, “Oh uh...n-nothing. Um, I was just thinking…” you said sheepishly before taking a sip of your wine.

That seemed to be your weakness, trying to analyze not only a villain’s moves but everyone’s. Why they said what they did and what it meant. Maybe you’d be better off working for the police but the truth is, you loved being a sidekick. You were almost relieved when the dinner was over, almost. The horror came back when Mirko dragged you to the bar next door, you began to wonder just how much this woman could drink before she was satisfied.

The bar itself had dim lighting and a small dancefloor that provided the only real lighting as it flashed between colors. Mirko had insisted you sit at the bar while she ordered the drinks, you assumed that translated to she knew the bartender. You couldn’t help but sigh and curled your hands in your lap, this wasn’t your scene. In fact, you felt a little out of place. Well, maybe that was an understatement.

You were so lost in your own thoughts that you didn’t notice your coworker from earlier had sat down next to you. “Y/n.” your head turned, “Huh?” it was a little hard for you to recognize it was them at first. “Oh...hey, uh how are you? I didn’t know you came here.” he chuckled in response and laid his hand on your thigh, something that made you a little uncomfortable. “I could say the same for you,” he said as he leaned closer and that’s when you noticed the bruises on his face.

Guess that was the result of getting your face slammed into the floor. “I’m here with Mirko.” you replied in a flat tone and watched his face twist with panic, “She isn’t around right now is she?!” he exclaimed as he frantically looked back and forth. “Uh…” why was he freaking out so much? You reached down to push his hand off your thigh before answering him. “She’s getting the drinks,” you replied and though he still looked worried, his shoulders relaxed.

“Well, that’s too bad. I was going to buy you a drink, maybe I still can, what do you say?” he questioned with a purr and reached over to take your hand, “Uh…” you replied before he brought your hand up to his lips were he pressed a kiss to it. The action made a shiver run down your spine, “Um, right...I don’t know about that.” you said as you pulled your hand away from his.

“Well, how about we go out?” he questioned and you jumped in your seat. “Uh what?” he chuckled and a playful smile formed across his face. “I said how about we go-” his sentence was interrupted when several alcoholic beverages were poured over his head. You could smell the difference mixtures lingering in the air and it made you gag, “What the hell is your problem!?” he snapped as he whipped his head around to see Mirko, she stood there with a smirk.

“No problem here, but I’d prefer you don’t bother my date with your bullshit. It’s clear pretty face doesn’t want to go out with you. So get before my foot impales itself into your ass!” Mirko growled and for a brief moment, you got scared as you watched her face twist into a more devilish expression which seemed to be more than enough to scare your coworker away. You blinked in response before looking at Mirko.

“Uh...that seemed…” you tried to search for the right word, but Mirko just scoffed. “What unnecessary? Give me a break, those guys are just like villains. Can’t take no for an answer.” she declared as she placed her hand on her hip and looked at you. “Besides you’re my date and I don’t plan to hand you off to any half-assed shithead.” your eyes widened, “W-What do you m-mean d-d-date?” you responded, not that you didn’t like the sound of it.

Just, you didn’t recall Mirko even asking you out on a date. She seemed confused by your question. “Uh, what else does a date mean?” she responded before rolling her eyes. “Yeah, I didn’t ask you out or anything. I couldn’t find the time between all the bullshit, so I decided to try and spoil you instead. Besides that fool has been trying to ask you out for months. Had to beat him to it, didn’t I?” she questioned as she took the seat next to you.

“I’m going to have to get more drinks…” Mirko pouted but you were still full of questions, just staring at her with blank eyes. “Hm?” she turned her head to look at you, even in the dim lighting you could see her raise her eyebrow. “What?” she questioned before trying to flag down the bartender. “Look I promise I’ll ask you out properly later,” she said which made you finally drop your stare. “Just enjoy tonight for now and if you’re good, I might end up bringing you home tonight,” she said with a wink and you nearly fell out of your chair.

#mirko x reader #rumi x reader #bnha x reader #bnha requests #Anonymous

364 notes · View notes

willadisastercry · 3 years

Text

The part where they pick up the pieces...

tw: discussion of blood, severe breathing difficulties, impalement, loss of conciousness, setting of a bone, needles, near death of a character

Part 2 of everyone gets whumped...

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

The ride back to the castle was less than ten dobashes, but it felt painfully longer.

Before Green’s paws even touched the hanger her ramp was already setting down to reveal Coran and Allura anxious to board.

Lance struggled to stifle the groan that the rumbling of Green’s jaws opening produced deep in his throat, setting alight a new fire in his shoulder when the jolt of it sent him forward, the metal still deep in his thigh shifting and letting a new spurt of blood well up and add to the small puddle forming underneath him.

Hunk clamped his hands over his ears and took several shakey breaths before he was certain he had pushed most of the bile that had risen up back down, shifting uncomfrotably to cover his eyes in the crook of his arm in anticipation of the inetsense lighting of Green’s hangar.

Keith didn’t fare well upon arrival either. He had been fighting the darkness that slowly clouded his vision as the pressure in his chest mounted, but the sudden landing sent him sprawling and all the spots he was sore and aching seemed to beat with a new fury as his vision wavered against his ragged breaths.

“I’ve got Pidge! Someone needs to grab Keith and Lance—no you’ve done enough buddy, let her help you...” Shiro ordered as he rose to his feet with Pidge still cradled against his chest, some soft cries escaping her mouth when he leaned back and hefted Hunk up as well.

He ushered his apologies while he waited for Hunk to orient himself before letting his grip on his arm go.

“Um... so you’re saying missing a shoulder bone is a common human injury?”

“More like misplaced, but yeah, wait—PLEASE do not touch, oh my god! Just because it’s missing, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, it’s still there Allura...”

Coran knelt beside Keith who had waved off the helping hand at first but the effort of even bringing himself up to his knees sent him into another coughing fit. The world before him spun and the pulse behind his eyes raged harder than ever, muffling everything the altean said to him before he found himself slumping into his embrace, the sound of his chest rattling was harsh and unnerving.

“Oh, my boy... alright, brace yourself,” was all Coran uttered before hefting Keith up and over his shoulder, the movement producing a stiff sigh while his arms shook from where they clutched then hung down limply as his chest contracted.

“Just relax, number four. Relief will come soon.”

They were just leaving Black’s hangar behind when Pidge uttered her first coherent words, she was mumbling for Shiro and then for Matt, her voice hitching and breaking when she called out for her parents. Shiro just shushed her and cradled her tighter into his chest as he tried his best not to break himself while he ran as fast as he could.

Hunk made his way slowly, using the wall heavily while he fought to keep his balance, Allura checking in on him every now and again when he would stumble while she fought Lance.

His good arm slung around Allura and his injured shoulder hanging unnaturally low as he limped along, his injured leg barely able to hold any weight now.

“This is silly Lance!”

He refused to be carried even though his legs shook so badly his balance was nearly as skewed as Hunk’s.

“What could possibly be so silly ab—agh!”

Allura had stepped away from Lance who lilted and was forced to catch himself by putting weight onto bad leg, biting down hard on his lip to keep from crying out.

“I’m done entertaining this,” the Princess stated before sweeping a grumbling Lance onto her shoulders in a fireman carry.

“Just be glad your travel size,” Hunk sighed wearily.

Coran and Shiro were the first to arrive and activated the sliding doors of the medical facility.

“This bed here, Shiro!”

“Wait, bed? Why not a pod?” Lance asked worriedly.

“I am most disheartened to say that only one pod is adaquately charged at the moment, I’ve redirected the castle’s power to charge a second but the system sustained substantial damaged during the fight... it might be a while before a second is operational,” Coran noted grimly, setting Keith down to sit on the edge of the bed across from the one Shiro was settling Pidge in.

“For now we must assess who truly cannot afford to wait and should it come to it we will conduct the healing process in stages.”

The (semi) walking wounded were just making it into the room when Keith let out a particulary wet hack and wiped the blood that came away off on his sleeve.

“Oh alaran, okay... Allura where are your mice?! We need these suits off now so I can begin my assessment and we don’t have enough hands!”

Coran tossed Shiro a pair of scissors who took over peeling the shredded suit away from Keith’s front, slowly revealing the giant welt that seemed to be his chest and side, all varying degrees of purple and red. His labored breathing made it difficult to work around and slowed the process, so he ended up leaving the more precise work of his shredded back for Coran.

“We must determine who can do without a healing pod for now...”

The mice were doing a swift job of Pidge’s suit while Coran attached wires to her chest and inserted an IV in her arm after getting both arms through a gown. There were dozens of wires now on her small body, a thingy on her finger, a canula around her ears delivering more oxygen though her nose. There also soon dozens on bandages.

The mice picked the large pieces of metal out of her wounds while coran wrapped gauze down her arm and thigh before moving to fully asses her stomach under a dense pile of white already soaked through.

“Pidge first,” Keith rasped as he look across to his teammate, so lifeless and small on the bed. He knew she was physically smaller than the rest of the team, she always had been, but never before had her tiny form scared him like this.

She remained unresponsive and bleeding from way too many places, another puddle quickly forming under her on the bed. Coran was murmuring nonsense about her vitals while preparing a pressure bandage for the largest of the leaking wounds on her stomach. Once it was covered it seemed to stabilize her and made the blaring machines quiet of which Hunk was very thankful for.

“Shiro, wave this scanner over number four’s chest and tell me the extent of the damage. Allura, cut three out of his suit as well, wrap the metal in place with this, use the scanner after. Then scan Hunk’s head, he’s look a tad green, maybe grab a bucket for the lad.”

Allura settled Lance down in a chair next to Hunk who helped himself to an ice pack and tried to keep from passing out or throwing up as he waited, the mice settling themselves on his shoulder and licking his face when his eyes fluttered shut.

Barely any of Lance’s suit survived Allura’s scissors. She cut the entirety of his right sleeve into bits so as to not disturb his shoulder, then rummaged around in the cabinet for a sling. It went on with some protest, but ultimately the stability of it hurt less.

“So strange how a cold block revlieves pain for humans... seems a bit barbaric to me.”

“It’s not barbaric, it’s heaven,” Lance hissed as she secured the last pack with the altean equivalent of an ace bandage and he shook under the delightfully painful sting of the cold against his throbbing shoulder.

Hunk leaned back in his chair and squeezed his eyes shut, somewhat reliving the exhausting spinning he experienced when they were open as another wave of nausea washed over him, he wouldn’t be able to keep his dinner down much longer.

“You’d better stay awake number two, haven’t had a look at that third eye yet,” Coran almost laughed at himself, but somehow he couldn’t as he worked Pidge.

She was too pale. Too quiet. And while he had managed to somewhat staunch the bleeding for now, he couldn’t remedy what had already been lost. Not with gauze. And not with the pod.

But Keith’s breathing was taking a turn for the worst.

Shiro peeled the last of the top half of Keith’s suit from his arms and asked Allura to help hold him steady while he scanned the already dark expanse of his chest.

His eyes were glazed and his breathing was very labored now, not much getting in and not much coming out.

There was blood leaking from the corner of his mouth now, the stream almost steady.

The scanner blared red as it passed across the front of his body. Four broken ribs, several others bruised, and a pulmonary contusion. The cuts on his back were superficial mostly, some deep and wide enough to need stitches. But that was all expected.

What wasn’t expected was the bleeding in his abdomen.

His liver. The damage was extensive.

Coran looked over when Shiro relayed that bit, Keith was pale and shaking now, the effects of blood loss ringing true.

He was at Keith’s bed in a second, holding his head up limply so he could secure an oxygen mask on his face, his skin was warm to the touch and his face glistened with sweat.

He had no idea how the boy was still coherent, let alone sitting up mostly on his own.

Coran began attaching wires all over to track his vitals, ignoring how he winced under the touch, his head remaining in the crook of Shiro’s arm where it had resided after Allura left with the scanner.

The mix 100% oxygen and an altean herb that relaxed distress seemed to bring his levels up and calm him down. It somewhat and soothed the burning in his throat, but he continued to wheeze, the rattle in his chest as present as ever.

“Can you hear me, lad?”

Keith’s eyes lidded and he looked around, searching for Coran who lifted his chin up and shined a light across his eyes. They were sluggish but followed it accordingly.

“Shiro get him on his side. Begin cleaning the wounds on his back and removing all of the debris. Call out his oxygen saturation every few minutes. All we can do is monitor his internal bleeding for now, but if his breathing takes a turn he’s going into a pod immediately and the shrapenl cannot be there if he does.”

He returned to Pidge and flicked through her chart with all of his diognositics on it shaking his head.

“I need Lance scanned, and pricked,” he said after a moment of deliberation, holding up a finger pincher for blood typing.

“Shiro and Hunk I also need you pricked... actually maybe not Hunk just yet.”

“M’ fine,” he protested, barely able to string coherent words together, the mice squeaking in protest.

“Pidge needs a blood transfusion before she goes into a pod, if I put her in now without having stopped the bleeding... she may bleed out in a matter of minutes, and with the rate that Keith is losing blood into his abdominal cavity, he will too.”

“No need to type everyone, I’m compatible with both. Universal donor, baby! Take my beautiful blood,” Lance beamed holding his good arm out.

“We’ll have Shiro typed as well, you can only give so much since you’re also injured.”

“Pshh, take as much as you need.”

Allura rolled down the remnants of his sleeve until it slipped off.

“Hook up his vitals, Princess. Can you start IV fluids and the donation line like I showed you?”

“Yes, I think so...”

“Think so? You are not—OUCH, hey! Well... that wasn’t so bad.”

The princess stifled her laughs as she attached a bag of fluids to the IV she placed in Lance’s hand, then tied a rubber band around his bicep.

“Shiro, can you finish dressing Pidge’s more minor wounds? Pack the gauze on before you tape, and don’t fret about being gentle. I’d like to take a look at Keith’s chest for myself... Princess after you’ve started the first donation can you type number one?”

Everyone uttered in agreement and Coran sighed as he left Pidge to switch with Shiro.

He sat on the side of Keith’s bed and picked up where Shiro had left off on his back, holding together the wider gashes with surgical tape and packing them all with gauze as well. Only a few needed stitching, but he packed them with gauze for now before bandaging.

“I’ve got to take a look at your front, my boy,” Coran noted as he shifted Keith from laying more on his stomach to completely on his side.

His face scrunched up in discomfort when he did.

There was hardly a spot on his front untouched by darkening bruises, each in different stages of purple and red.

He waved his scanner over the darkest spot on his side just as Lance cried out, the results would take a dobash to calibrate.

“Fuck, AGHhh, owh Allura! I—mmph” Lance kicked his feet out to keep literal tears from escaping his eyes, then clutched at his leg when kicking shifted the rather large metal spire still inside of it, and grimaced again when all of his movement agitated his shoulder once more.

“What is going on over there?!”

“I may or may not have bumped into Lance’s mangled shoulder...” Allura said guiltily as she held Lance firmly in his seat while he squirmed, scared that he was going to continue hurting himself or pull out both of the vital needles in his good arm.

“Erm, Coran you might want to take a look at this,” Allura postured once Lance had calmed down enough to let her move the ice pack, he was exhausted both from the pain and the energy it took to thrash given almost an entire pint of of his blood was now in a bag next to him, not to mention what he’d already lost.

Coran left the scanner as it loaded it’s prognosis.

“Shiro, what did you call this strange phenomenon?” Coran asked as he mused over the lack of shoulder bone at the top of his neck.

“His shoulder is dislocated...?”

“That’s to say, the head of the joint is in another location?”

“Yes...?”

“Where then—oh. Oh, dear. How does one go about correcting this? Altean joints are connected by seemingly much stronger tissues and tendons... this is most unusual,” Coran asked nervously as he looked over Lance’s shoulder to his back where the missing bone was protruding from.

“You put it back into place. I’ve seen it done, it’ll hurt but you kind of just pull depending on which way it went out...”

Coran waved the scanner over it and it blared red, corroborating Shiro’s diagnosis.

“Very well, number one, Lance’s shoulder is indeed dis-lo-cated. You said to just... pull?”

Coran asked quizzically as he removed the sling and took up Lance’s arm straight out in front of him.

“HOLD UP—GAH!”

Lance was thrashing once more and cradling his arm now, sweat dripping from his forehead as he panted.

“How was that, number—“

“HOW WAS THAT?! That was awful! It’s also still not back in place and... jeez, is it warm in here or is that just me?”

Coran waved the scanner over Lance’s shoulder once more.

“Hmm, the injured muscles appear to be spasming. It seems the joint cannot be reduced unless the muscles and the patient are relaxed, the scanner advises a muscle relaxer be injected in the area...”

“Will this do, Coran?” Allura was holding a vial and syringe she had just pulled from the cabinet freshly restocked of human medicines and vaccines.

“Yes, princess! This may sting...” Lance had no energy left to protest. He barely even felt the needle going into his shoulder, though he doubted he’d ‘barely’ feel what came next.

His head hung low as he braced himself, a steady, thumping heart beat the only thing he could really hear at that point. He vaguely wondered if he should tell Coran he was seeing stars or not, thinking it wouldn’t matter in a minute anyway.

“Shiro, can you hold the boy steady... yes, like that. Okay, deep breath number three.”

Lance had just began sucking in a huge breath when Coran pulled on his arm and Shiro pushed on his chest, keeping his body still while the tension on his arm slipped the joint of his shoulder back into place with a satisfactory pop!

He couldn’t even feel the pain or relief that came with the reduction of the injury because his head lolled forward to rest on Shiro’s forearm, his hands on his chest the only thing left keeping the exhausted boy upright as consciousness dripped away and he slumped further.

“Lance!”

“Crap,” Shiro exclaimed, pushing his weight back against the chair and holding him there.

“That’s enough blood from you,” Allura said as she stopped the donation.

“All vitals normal except... blood volume, but that’s expected... heart rate elevated, that should return to normal soon... and blood pressure extremely high, yep. Right, so the boy has passed out,” Coran stated as if that fact wasn’t already blatant enough.

“Think we knew that already,” Shiro laughed blandly, Lance’s head still in the crook of his arm.

“Allura, can you start the line for the transfusion on Pidge?”

She nodded as she unhooked the line from Lance and brought the bag of blood still very warm over to Pidge’s bed.

“Can you set Lance up in a bed for me while I check in on Keith?”

“Yes,” Shiro gruffed as he carefully lifted Lance, trying not to jostle either of his injuries.

Keith hadn’t improved when Coran returned, the IV fluids and oxygen only preventing a further decline in his condition.

“This isn’t good my boy,” he mused, flicking through the report and brushing his hair out of his eyes. He leaned into the touch, his face filled with desperation and slick with sweat from his constant efforting to breathe.

Coran let out a rather aggressive sigh.

“I need a 14 gauge needle.”

“14 gauge? But that’s for... “

“Yes, I am afraid the pressure in his lungs is building and if i don’t decompress now his contusion will progress into a tension pneumothorax and cut off oxygen to his brain and—thank you. Keith...”

He reached for the mask on his face and tried to garble out a few words but none of it was coherent through the wheezes that came with them.

“I know, my boy. Relax, you will feel much better in a moment, I’ve got to roll you onto your back now—I apologize for the discomfort.”

Keith groaned at the new orientation and soon his breathing nearly stopped altogether, his body spasming and his face twisting up as it was deprived almost entirely of air.

It wasn’t just the injuries on fire underneath him, the fluid that had built up in his lungs and chest cavity had moved to block what little air he had been managing to make it in.

“I’m sorry,” Coran offered as he pressed on his chest right next to his sternum and just below his collarbone than found the third rib down and stabbed the large needle into the intercostal space between it and the next.

He had taken the inside of the needle out so it was just the tube that was now letting out a high pitched hiss as the pressure in Keith’s lungs dissipated. He heaved gratefully, choking and sputtering on the renwed ability to in bring air, his throat aching dryly and his head buzzing while blood rushed back up to it.

“Vitals stabilizing... oxygen saturation increasing... blood pressure steady... heart rate lowering... blood volume still dangerously low... How’s number three? Keith also needs a transfusion.”

“Lance can’t give anymore, he’s still out,” Shiro said as he rearranged the wires attached to him and took the needle left from the donation out.

“Allura says I’m B negative. What is Keith?”

“He’s AB positive, you’re compatible but I have reservations about the Galra component of his blood... if he were donating I’d be more hesitant, I just don’t have enough expertise in this area to be confident that he won’t react as if you weren’t even compatible...”

“Just-just do it,” Keith croaked almost inaubidly. “Do it so Pidge can go in the pod. I’ll be fine, j-j-just do it.”

“Alright, number four, but you tell us if anything feels wrong, okay? Allura can you prep Pidge for the pod?”

Shiro dragged a chair over to Keith’s bedside and rolled up his sleeve. Coran tied a rubber band around his bicep and started the donation then went to Keith and got him set up for the transfusion. The line coming from Shiro’s arm connected directly to Keith’s, a small monitor tracking how much was being distributed.

Neither boy said much of anything for a while, both staring helplessly as Coran and Allura situated Pidge in a healing pod. It was dimmer than usual and seemed slower to activate, but Pidge hadn’t moved so much as an inch and didn’t seem to mind the wait.

It was only when Lance woke up again that either were aware their eyes had drifted shut. They didn’t remain that way for long though...

LOL didn’t think there’d be a part 3 but here we are, I apologize.

#vld #voltron whump #voltron fic #keith whump #pidge whump #lance whump #hunk vld #whump scenario #vld headcanons #vld fandom

46 notes · View notes

fallen-stars-au · 3 years

Text

Any Kind of Freedom (Chapter 2)

Steven's been missing for over a month now.

Well, okay, he's not missing if they know he's on Homeworld, but he wasn't the sort to just go zero-contact for this long.

And it's officially been long enough.

They would find him and bring him home or get shattered trying.

(Ao3 Version)

Prev | First | Next

Pearl was… distressed. Her It’s Steven had been away for so very long now—longer than she could ever remember him being gone since she’d first emerged. And now she was disobeying a direct order from him! What in the stars was she even thinking?

She wasn’t supposed to be thinking at all! Stars, she was doing everything wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, she should be replaced, she-

Didn’t have much time to continue the train of thought as she was pulled off the warp pad on Homeworld by Peridot. So she listened instead because she shouldn’t be thinking even to berate herself on how disobedient she was being.

“We go to his room. If he’s not there, we find Zircon.”

Lapis nodded sharply, and Pearl would have hardly been going this fast on her own. But the two were practically running and kept her up to speed with them. It was hardly appropriate for any of them to be running in the palace halls… but she was already indecent for breaking the one rule she’d ever been given. And it wouldn’t do if she were caught alone unless ordered so by her Diamond.

The route from the Galaxy Warp over to Steven’s room—Steven’s tower, actually—was an easy one but the longest it could take to get to any of the Diamonds’ chambers which meant time had creeped past Steven’s usual wake-up point by the time they made it there. Lo and behold, when they hurried in (Pearl was pleasantly surprised she was able to open the door but confused because she’d never done the calibration to be able to do as much), no Steven.

Lapis gave an exasperated groan and promptly started to rush off again, and Pearl made to follow her before Peridot called out to them both. “Wait! … Something’s not right here…” After a moment of looking around and thinking, she pointed to a duffle bag by his bed. A closed one. “Steven’s bag is packed.”

Lapis hurried back in the room past Pearl who stepped closer after her again, rather befuddled but unquestioning. She couldn’t help be worried still, though. “What…? So he’s coming home soon? What the hell’s he been doing here so long?”

“No… Lapis, I don’t think he ever unpacked it. Look-” Pearl watched as Peridot picked up the bag, struggling somewhat. “It’s too heavy and too full. He always puts his dirty clothes in another bag—I see him carry both home every time.” She went to pull the zipper, but that was enough for Pearl to speak up with an automatic response.

“My Diamond would not be pleased with anyone rifling through his personal belongings.”

It was difficult to smile obediently and patiently at the glare Lapis gave her and exasperation from Peridot as she dropped the zipper. “Right. Well, I don’t think Steven’s opened his duffle bag since he got here…”

Lapis’s expression screwed up at the implications of that and took the bag from Peridot, having an easier time with the weight of it. “We’ll bring it home with him, then.”

And with that, they were on the move again, straight from Steven’s tower to the building next door and through to a pink closed door. Pearl jumped sharply as Lapis’s abrupt banging on the door frightened her, and she regained her composure and pleasant smile as the door slid open. She also promptly saluted then.

“What did I say about-“ Zircon cut off, taking in the sight of the three gems in front of her and grimacing. “The two of you are trouble when you want to be. He’s not here. And I’m under direct orders to tell no one where he is, so you’re going to have to find someone other than me.”

“Well then tell us who put the gag order on you, and we’ll go ask them,” Lapis shot back, impatient and unwilling to jump through hoops. Something about the way she phrased it, though… upset Pearl. She couldn’t place why, though, so she focused on the conversation again instead— forcing the smile back to her face. She was thinking too much still.

“One of the only four gems who can give me orders. That should be enough for you to determine it. Now, please leave my office. I am incredibly busy at this moment.” Zircon eyed each of them shortly before she turned on her heel and went back into her office, the door sliding closed behind her. Peridot and Lapis gave one another a look that Pearl couldn’t quite grasp before they started walking again, and she dutifully followed them.

“Would you like me to carry my It’s Steven’s bag, Lapis Lazuli?” She asked as they left the building.

“No, Pearl, just keep up with us.” Curt and short, but Pearl did as she was told.

The walk to Blue Diamond’s quarter of the palace was rather short, but the wait once they were there was less so. She nodded her head politely as Blue’s Pearl greeted them, informing them of her Diamond’s presence in a meeting. And from there, they just had to wait. There were hushed discussions between Peridot and Lapis, but Pearl hardly snooped and listened. She was already breaking so very many rules.

When the door they waited outside of finally slid open, Pearl snapped to absolute attention and saluted immediately as the lustrous Blue Diamond stepped out. And she couldn’t help be more than a little appalled as Peridot and Lapis failed to do the same.

“Oh. You two… are some of Steven’s court, yes? My Pearl informed me I had been requested. What ever might this be about?”

Lapis truly did not pull punches as she lacked any hesitation. “Where is Steven? We know you know where he is. We know he hasn’t been to his room since he got here over a month ago, and we know something’s up.”

Pearl watched fearfully as Blue Diamond’s face flickered through anger then annoyance then settled on sadness. The massive leader looked around at the other gems in the room then took the small group by surprise as she bent over and extended her hand out towards them—offering a place for her to hold them. Lapis, however, ignored it, drew out her water wings, and flew up to Blue Diamond’s usual eye-level instead. The Diamond straightened out and whispered directly to Lapis for a moment.

It was… odd. In a sense. To see another Diamond speaking so secretly and so sadly to a member of another Diamond’s court. Pearl wasn’t sure to make of it still even as Lapis flew back to the ground rapidly, her expression contorted with rage (the likes of which Pearl doubted she’d seen since she’d first emerged—when her It’s Steven fought that awful Spinel).

And her language as she returned to them was hardly filled with words befitting the presence of a Diamond. Pearl found no time to object to it, however, as Lapis set off again without another word to any of them. Instead, she did as she was supposed to.

She bowed to Blue Diamond with her salute still perfectly in place and a soft apology for Lapis’s unsavory speech, and then gracefully followed the two of them again.

Pearl had to properly run in order to catch up and even to keep up once she was behind them again as Peridot had jumped onto her human metal can lid and floated to keep speed with Lapis. Pearl was grateful she could at least hear them still as she tried to stay below them without disrupting anyone else.

“Where is he? What did she say?”

“It’s no wonder he’s been gone! They- I-“ But Lapis was too angry to finish her sentence as she cut it off with an enraged cry and just continued to lead the way.

Past the rest of Blue Diamond’s quarter.

Past most of White Diamond’s quarter until they’d reached almost the back of the area of Homeworld considered the palace where a lone, gray tower stood high above the surrounding ones. Stars, it stood almost as tall as White Diamond’s ship. Wordlessly, Lapis picked her up beneath the arms suddenly—surprising and somewhat frightening her as she took off towards the top of it with Peridot following them closely.

“Where the hell’s the entrance to this thing anyways?”

“There should be an elevator that rises from the ground somewhere—look for where that would connect!”

Just as Pearl started to feel very uneasy at dangling in the air from Lapis’s arms as she was, there was a shout of success from Peridot, and a section of one wall slid open. Once they were inside, Lapis let her back down to the floor and instead approached a vast sealed door in front of them. They were unlike any others Pearl had seen on Homeworld or Earth. There was no visible scanner to open them, no handles, no hinges. The only way to determine it was a door was from the crack running down the middle that was so tightly closed, it was barely visible either.

“Can we even do this…?” Peridot questioned, gazing up at the immense size of the doors.

“Whatever it takes—we’re not leaving until Steven is free,” Lapis affirmed, ready at any moment for a fight should anyone disagree with them.

Pearl froze in her tracks, not noticing anything around for a moment as Peridot and Lapis began to struggle with the door. That word resonated through her. That last word.

Something… wasn’t right. In her.

Or… was it?

No…. Yes?

…. Yes. Yes, something was right. Very right.

She’d disobeyed orders. From her diamond, from the other diamonds, from everyone who had ever given her one… And it felt good… A Pearl disobeying…? But what was she supposed to do when she felt she’d lost the person she looked up to most?

She was just a Pearl—who was she to question-

But… but she was… she was more than a Pearl. Wasn’t she…?

She was. She… she was… She is.

Something snapped. Or broke free or something, but a flood of memories rushed through her. Memories of rebelling. Memories of Steven… Of helping him. Teaching him. Fighting with him. Fighting for him. Things she couldn’t recognize, but she knew immediately they were real.

More came. Steven wasn’t the first she’d fought to protect. Pearl remembered her. She remembered fighting for her. Protecting her. Devoting everything to her. Loving her… losing her.

Something changed. And she started to reform.

“It’s not going to work, Lapis! There’s nothing to hack into, no weak points to destroy. It’s just too-“ Peridot’s words cut off sharply as she looked towards her friend who was desperately slashing at the tower door with harsh streams of water as a physical offense, but her gaze drifted back behind them from a familiar sort of light brightening up the short hallway. Her eyes widened, and she couldn’t help it as a grin spread across her face just as much. “Lapis- Lapis, look!”

Thankfully, the blue gem did look before she started cursing as Pearl—the real version of Pearl—landed gracefully to her feet, freshly reformed and seeming a bit dazed.

“You’re back!” Pearl stumbled back a bit as Peridot’s arms were slung around her legs, and she looked between her and Lapis confused.

“Wha- what in the Stars has gotten into the two of you?” Not that Pearl could even tell entirely what was wrong with herself at the moment. Her mind was fuzzy, and she was disoriented as she tried to remember where they were and why even as she was hugged tight enough to hurt.

Peridot let go to surreptitiously wipe away a tear under her vizor. “Right. It’s sure to be a struggle to recalibrate yourself for a time. You were rejuvenated for nearly a year. Garnet and Amethyst still are. Steven, Lapis, and I have been trying to bring you all ba-“

“Steven…” The mere mention of him jogged something in Pearl’s gem. Steven… Steven was locked up in the tower. The one Pink had been locked in so often before she’d been created. That’s where they were now. Meaning the door right in front of them was the only thing in their way of bringing him home.

It was almost scary how drastically and rapidly Pearl’s expression changed from confusion to recognition to anger, and Peridot was completely willing to step back out of the way as Pearl gently pushed Lapis off, pulled out two metal swords from her gem, and stepped forward with a look that made it clear how the rebels had won the war with her amongst the leaders.

30 notes · View notes

swinfinities · 3 years

Text

Long Live the Queen: Part Nineteen

The Star Destroyer Devastator (and its hapless stowaways) dropped out of hyperspace several, very tense hours later. The plan was unchanged, of course. Just that it was going to take place somewhere else in the galaxy they weren’t expecting.

“Do we have any idea where in the galaxy we are?” Padmé asked, looking out the wide viewport of the Ghost’s cockpit.

“The navicomputer is shut down,” Hera replied. “No way of knowing unless we get some kind of visual confirmation.”

“I don’t see anything out there but the blackness of space,” K-2 said.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” said Padmé. “It means you don’t see an Imperial fleet waiting for us.”

“Okay. It’s now or never,” said Hera. “Chopper, go with K-2 and get the hatch open. Hopefully Ahsoka’s team has fared alright without us.”

*****

“Right on schedule,” Lieutenant Kirkaard said. The dagger-like shape of an Imperial Star Destroyer shot out of hyperspace directly in front of them.

“Six-point-three kilometers and closing,” her copilot called out.

“Quickly, transmit the signal to the Ghost before they have a chance to jam our comms,” said Kirkaard.

Her copilot hit a few switches. “Uplink complete,” he said. “The Ghost has sent confirmation.”

“Copy that. Beginning evasive maneuvers,” said Kirkaard.

“It won’t help,” the copilot said. “We’ll be within tractor beam range in moments.”

“You don’t want it to look like we were actually expecting them, do you?”

“Fair point.”

The ship suddenly shook violently. The hull creaked and the engines whined against the invisible force that had taken hold of them.

“Rebel UT-60D transport,” the intercom crackled. “This is the ISD Devastator. You are caught within our tractor beam. Shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded. Noncompliance will result in the complete destruction of your vessel.”

Obediently, Kirkaard switched off the ship’s engines. They began to silently drift through space toward the Imperial ship.

“Well, we’re really in it now,” said the copilot. “I hope there wasn’t anyone that was having second thoughts.”

There was some light laughter from the crew behind them.

Ahsoka got up from her seat and stood between the two pilots. She closed her eyes for a moment.

“He is here,” she said. “I can sense him.”

“Who?” Kirkaard asked.

“Darth Vader.”

“You mean… he’s here?” Kirkaard said. “On this ship?”

“Yes. And he has no doubt sensed my presence as well.

The two pilots shared a frightened look.

“Don’t worry,” Ahsoka said. “That just means that everything is going according to plan.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure I like any plan that involves moving towards Darth Vader,” said the copilot.

“Like you said. It’s too late to turn back now,” said Kirkaard.

The U-Wing was pulled steadily closer to the Star Destroyer. Eventually they passed into its massive shadow as they were drawn underneath, towards the central hangar bay.

They could see an entire platoon of white-armored stormtroopers waiting for them on the floor of the hangar.

“Too many to fight off,” said Kirkaard.

“A good Jedi always seeks to find an alternative to fighting,” said Ahsoka. “Sometimes the smartest move is to surrender.”

“We’ll follow your lead, Commander.”

Ahsoka stepped down from the cockpit to peer through the window on the side of the door in the crew compartment. A squad of stormtroopers was lining up in front of the hatch, weapons at the ready.

“Occupants of the rebel vessel!” A grey-suited Imperial officer shouted. “You are ordered to disembark from your craft with your weapons lowered and your hands raised! If you attempt to resist, I will order my troops to open fire!”

Ahsoka looked back at the handful of Rebel troops behind her. They all nodded, silently telling her to go.

Ahsoka pressed the key to open the door. The stormtroopers raised their weapons.

“We surrender,” Ahsoka said, raising her hands above her head. She stepped out of the ship and onto the deck of the hangar. The rest of the soldiers followed.

“Ah, a smart rebel,” the Imperial officer said, his voice dripping with contempt. “Who would have thought? Take their weapons,” he ordered the troopers. They began to snatch the Rebel’s weapons from them. One of them took Ahsoka’s lightsabers from her waist.

Ahsoka felt a sudden chill. It was a feeling she knew well. She had felt it many times before, surrounding Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, and even General Grievous. Servants of the Sith. Of the Dark Side. It was an angry feeling. A hateful feeling. It felt like pure, unfettered rage. Like the perfect absence of love.

Now that feeling surrounded someone she never thought she would see again.

Especially not like this.

The tall, black figure of Darth Vader strode into the hangar bay. Each of his steps hit the ground with purpose. Though they were hidden behind that terrible mask, Ahsoka could feel his eyes directly on her.

She could sense the fear of those around her—not just her rebel companions, but the Imperials as well. Fear had always been a weapon of the Sith, Ahsoka knew. And Darth Vader wielded it better than anyone she had ever seen.

Lord Vader marched past his troops, stopping directly in front of Ahsoka. She met his gaze, trying to imagine the eyes of Anakin Skywalker behind the mask—but failing.

No one dared speak. The only sound in the hangar was Vader’s rhythmic, mechanical breathing.

“You are foolish to come here,” he said at last. His voice was low and booming.

The Sith Lord turned to his officer. “What of the Rebel base on the surface?” asked Vader.

The officer stammered for a few moments. “Er—the scanners have revealed several structures, but they appear to be abandoned. If the Rebels were here, they must have fled. However, I should note that the thick jungles make it difficult to get any accurate reading. I have a team standing by to travel to the surface to conduct a more thorough search.”

“Very good. Tell them to depart immediately. Report to me personally, Commander, if you find anything.”

“Y-yes my Lord. As you wish.”

The officer bowed awkwardly and marched off.

Vader returned his attention to the captured Rebels.

“Sergeant,” said Vader. A stormtrooper officer beside him snapped to attention. “This is their leader. Bind her, and deliver her to the brig. Execute the rest.”

“No!” Ahsoka said, stepping forward. “We have already surrendered ourselves to you! We are your prisoners!”

“You have your orders, Sergeant,” Vader said.

Ahsoka reached out with the Force, pulling her lightsabers from the hands of the Stormtrooper. They flew toward her open hands, but stopped midair. Vader’s own power kept them steady.

“Do not be so hasty, Padawan,” said Vader. “Even you must realize you are outmatched. Even if you try to resist, you will save no one. They were dead the moment your ship landed in this hangar.”

Ahsoka did not release her mental grip on the lightsabers. She strained with every ounce of her will to pull them into her hands. But it was no use.

“Ready your weapons,” Vader ordered. The stormtroopers raised their rifles, each aiming at one of the Rebels behind Ahsoka.

Ahsoka finally relented, letting go of her grip on the lightsabers. They both snapped into Vader’s gloved hands. She refocused herself and summoned a storm within the Force, pushing it outward and throwing the squad of stormtroopers off their feet.

“Go!” she shouted at the Rebels, ordering them to get back on the ship. But all six soldiers were dangling in the air, hanging by the invisible threads of the Force. They all clawed at their own throats, struggling to breathe.

Ahsoka heard the unmistakable snap-hiss of a lightsaber being ignited. A blinding red flurry shot past, whipping through the air and through the bodies of the soldiers.

Six dead rebels fell to the deck of Vader’s ship, charred and mangled. The Sith Lord’s lightsaber obediently returned to its master’s wicked hand.

“Now you see the true power of the Dark Side,” Vader growled. He turned back to the stormtrooper sergeant.

“If the base is abandoned, this Rebel group is likely only a diversion from some greater plot. Tell the captain to set a course for Scarif and depart with all possible speed. Ensure that all laser batteries are at high alert. If there are any more Rebel ships, I want them destroyed.”

“Yes, my Lord,” the stormtrooper replied.

“The rest of you,” Vader continued. “Will follow me and this Jedi to the brig.”

Ahsoka looked at the fallen bodies of her comrades. They had trusted her. Followed her into the belly of the beast. She had failed to keep them safe. She had fought a war before—this wasn’t the first time she had lost a soldier. But it never hurt any less. But now was not the time for mourning.

The stormtroopers quickly assembled themselves into a formation surrounding Ahsoka, with Vader at the head. He turned and started to leave, but suddenly stopped—the determination in his gait had vanished. His black helmet swiveled left and right, as if he were searching for the source of an unknown sound.

Ahsoka knew exactly why he stopped. A tremor in the Force. She had felt it too, the moment it had dropped out of hyperspace.

The Jedi were here.

Padmé was here.

3 notes · View notes

scarpool-gmk · 3 years

Text

6 Part 2

Title: Godly Marine: Killed Author: Scarpool Fandom(s): NCIS, Percy Jackson & the Olympians Pairing(s): Gen Rating: PG/K+ Summary: Chapter 6 Part 2 (8/13) — Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale, Marine Corps Mechanic and Son of Athena, was murdered. Annabeth Chase is determined to find out who did it and why. She, along with Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, and Clarisse La Rue, infiltrate NCIS where they team up with NCIS Agents Leroy Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, and Ziva David. Complete Genre: Fanfiction, Mystery, Drama, Humour, General, Action Warnings: N/A

-Κλαρίς-

Clarisse had to hold in laughing as she saw Annabeth's eyes bulge in fascination as Gibbs used the iris scanner. With a hiss and a clunk!, the doors unlocked. He heaved the door open. "Welcome to MTAC, agents."

"Wow," Annabeth whispered as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Sweet secret base you guys got going on," Clarisse praised.

"Thanks!" McGee beamed like he was the one getting complimented. "It's decked out with some great technology sensors. It's completely separate in terms of technology, components, and connection from the rest of the building. Best monitors, state-of-the-art firewall, and the-"

"You guys do any movie nights in here?" Clarisse cut in.

"I-well no. I mean, uh, maybe? I wouldn't know anything about that," McGee spluttered.

Clarisse smirked. "I'll take that as a yes."

"McGee," Gibbs said, saving his agent, "Connect us up with the Staff Sergeant's C.O."

McGee hurried to do as he was told, working with a row of tech. Clarisse wouldn't want to get too close to any of those. Could probably get the entire monster population of the East Coast fixated on their position with those many wires. Annie, Prissy, and Goat boy wouldn't appreciate it. Would make one heck of a battle story, though.

Gibbs, Annabeth, and Clarisse stood in front of the huge screen.

"Morning, agents," the commander said when he flashed on the screen.

"Nice to meet you, Commander," Annabeth said.

"I would rather have not, Special Agent Lima, Gibbs. I take it you still haven't found out who took out my mechanic."

"No, Commander," Gibbs said, "And it seems your mechanic was into a case of his own."

"What do you mean?"

"We believe he was following leads that might uncover cartel movement in D.C.," Annabeth explained.

"Can you tell us anything about anything the Staff Sergeant was involved in?" Gibbs asked, "Any ops that he was assigned?"

"No, sir. This is the first I'm hearing of this. He was designated to go on tour; we were called in to head into NAMRU-6."

"Peru?" Gibbs questioned.

"It was going to be smooth sailing," the commander affirmed. "A secret mission…He was one hell of a mechanic, and even then…"

"Commander?" Annabeth pushed.

"He was too smart for his own good. He wasn't going to be a simple Staff Sergeant for long. In fact, I'm surprised he held out for this long. His excellent, strategic mind and fighting skill, especially in close combat, had placed him in the fast lane for promotion. He may have wanted to be a simple mechanic, and I know he declined several offers, but as good as he was, he gained the attention of those who could force him into positions."

Clarisse frowned. Sounds like Michael had been way too noticeable. She didn't even think that the Navy and Marine corps would inspect mechanics that thorough. How did they test his strategy making?

"Sounds like he was a special case," Clarisse said, "Did he get any flak from his crewmates because of it?"

"Not really, ma'am. He wasn't exactly a social person to begin with."

"He never got into any disputes with anyone?" Clarisse asked.

"Only one, but I've learned to keep them apart."

"Reason?" Gibbs asked.

"Uh, they just didn't see eye-to-eye."

Clarisse almost snorted. Translation: he had no clue. What kind of Officer in Charge was this guy?

"Who's the soldier?" Annabeth asked.

"First Lieutenant Adrian Rodriguez."

"He antagonize a lot of people?" Gibbs asked.

"No, sir. He's actually very well-liked. It was very strange that he turned confrontational with Kahale. Same with Sergeant Kahale."

"And you have no idea as to why this was." Gibbs didn't phrase it like a question. At least they were all on the same page.

The C.O. on the big screen shrugged. "Those are two of the sea's finest. Rodriguez is soon to become Major. They don't have so much as an excuse to hang around each other anyway."

This time, Clarisse didn't bother hiding a sound of disbelief.

"Where is he?" Gibbs asked at the same time as Annabeth said, "Tell us about him."

Clarisse stepped back so the two could glare at each other better.

"He's a skilled Marksman," Commander Oblivious replied, "knows a lot about on-the-spot- field medic stuff…sings pretty good, too." Clarisse shared a glance with Annabeth. That sounded familiar. Annabeth would probably say that it was a textbook definition. Nerd.

"But he has not left the ship," the commander continued, "he's been on board the entire time."

"Then call him over," Gibbs said, "Maybe we can help solve what his problem with Michael Kahale was."

"You can't think-"

"The more we know about our victim, the better we can predict his movements and motives," Annabeth consoled.

The commander ceded the point and nodded at some staff who promptly left the room, presumably to find the First Lieutenant. He turned his attention back to the NCIS agents.

Gibbs continued on questioning him. "Did Staff Sergeant Kahale ever mention an Annabeth Chase?"

The man on the screen frowned. "The name rings a bell; give me a sec." He shuffled some papers around. "Oh! Yes, as one of the emergency contacts. Right there under his father. Annabeth Chase, relation as his sister."

Annabeth showed nothing. Instead, asking, "What is the contact information?"

"A phone number with a New York area code."

"Read aloud the number, please."

The commander read out the numbers as Annabeth instructed. Clarisse immediately recognized it as the mainline to the Big House.

"It's a different number than the one he called," Annabeth said.

"McGee," Gibbs called, giving silent instructions.

"Already on it," McGee said, "Number is to a farm, Delphi Strawberry Service. Located in Long Island."

Clarisse mentally cursed and tried not to self-consciously fidget at the glare Gibbs gave Annabeth.

"But he never spoke about his family. Or friends. Or life. Again, not the most social guy."

There was movement in the back, as the staff member came back with a soldier, who promptly stood at attention.

"First Lieutenant Rodriguez, meet NCIS Agents Gibbs, Lima, and…"

"La Rue," Clarisse supplied.

"First Lieutenant," Gibbs greeted.

"Sir!"

"At rest, First Lieutenant," Annabeth said.

Gibbs started the questions as Rodrigues shifted his stance. "What's your relationship with Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale?"

The soldier frowned, confused. "He was a mechanic assigned to this vessel, sir."

"We're told that you were uncharacteristically disruptive around him."

"Yes, but I haven't been in confrontation with him, as per C.O. orders. If he's said-"

"First Lieutenant Rodriguez," The C.O. cut him off, "Sergeant Kahale was shot two nights ago."

"Shot?" Rodriguez said in shock, "But… we're home…"

"We know that you've been on board the entire time," Annabeth said, "We just need to know more about who Michael Kahale was."

"I-I understand, Ma'am."

"What made you dislike the Kahale, First Lieutenant?" Clarisse asked him.

"It's not that I disliked him, ma'am. Kahale was actually a good guy. Introverted, sure. But he was a good soldier, amazing smart, and easy to talk with. But I…" He faltered. "I don't know. For some reason, the friendly conversations always turned into some sort of fight? Like a challenge I couldn't lose to? I guess?"

"Don't sound sure of yourself," Annabeth noted.

"I can't explain it. Every time, it just led to a fight over any stupid, little thing. I honestly don't know why. I don't expect any of you to understand."

Clarisse heard Gibbs sigh tiredly and mumble, "Oh, I understand perfectly."

"Can you give us some examples of what you fought over?" Annabeth asked.

"They were stupid, ma'am. Like over the name of a future vessel. He thought it should be named USS Zeus. I said it to be USS Jupiter. We also fought over his position. Kahale was a good Marine but could've been even better. But he kept at being a non-commission mechanic because he had an issue with the control of our Superior Officers. I know he even declined a promotion to Warrant Officer. He disliked how strict military life was and preferred the more laxed nature of the machinists. He believed that individuality and improvisation held more value in the field than the collective skill of the group and rigid structure. He did not trust others with making decisions for him and disliked giving orders himself. But I know several of my brothers who have similar opinions, and I've never fought them over it."

Annabeth nodded, humming softly and deep in that brain of hers.

"Did he ever mention some sort of mission?" Gibbs asked.

Rodriguez blinked. "No. Nothing ever like that."

"Mexican Cartels? Arms dealing?" Gibbs fished.

"What? No!"

'Freaking Hades,' Clarisse thought, 'I hope this information isn't supposed to be kept low profile.'

"What about mythologies?"

The First Lieutenant stiffened. He was definitely a demigod. Clarisse would have to see if Chiron knew an Adrian Rodriguez.

"What do you mean?" Rodriguez tried playing off.

"Gods, Roman myths, Greek heroes, monsters, that sort of stuff."

"No."

"Then that's all we need from you, for now, First Lieutenant," Gibbs said, taking a glance at Annabeth.

"Catch who did this to my mechanic, Agents," the Commanding Officer said before the connection cut off.

Gibbs didn't waste any time.

"What am I missing here?"

Annabeth lifted an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Some random mechanic gets murdered hours away from his assigned vessel because he was uncovering an entire operation that was way out of his league. His dying words were to some girl whom he listed as an emergency contact with a Long Island number. Suddenly, I've got NCIS agents from a Long Island branch I've never heard of. This case has brought too many outside factors, and I have the feeling my team is out of the loop on specific information that can make this case more manageable."

"We know as much as you do," Clarisse retorted, "And missing information comes with the job. This is a mystery. We investigate and find the answers, complications and all."

Gibbs considered her for a moment before relenting and leading them back out of the heavily secured room. "Fine. I'm going to head to the bar. McGee, get DiNozzo to call the Strawberry Farm. I also want the personal files of First Lieutenant Rodriguez and his C.O. Ziva! Gear up." He looked around at the rest of the agents expectedly.

"Er, trying to squeeze out info of Cartel movement in the area," DiNozzo said, "Not much luck."

"Talked to Abby," Ziva picked up next, "Her professors were able to translate some more of the notes. This Doughnut place is apparently definitely arms dealing with the Reynosa Cartel. Sinaloa involvement is suspected. Middle East connection is pure speculation. Michael also noted that he believed he was found out because he smelled."

DiNozzo made to comment but was silenced by a look from Gibbs.

"I'm still IDing all of Mr. Tarsibo's victims," Grover said.

"And customers," Gibbs added.

"…And customers…"

"No mention of Monster Donut on the web," Percy reported, Annabeth's laptop in hand, "Making sure that if anyone finds it, we'll be the first ones to know."

Gibbs nodded and then headed towards the elevator with Ziva in tow. Clarisse admired the way his silent command to get back to work hung in the air. Except for one problem.

Clarisse was back in the bullpen. She hated it.

-Ζήβα-

Ziva was debriefed about the meeting with the commander on the way to the Drowsy Owl.

"If the Staff Sergeant was being seen by superior officers and the Commanding Officer didn't know anything," Ziva said, "Perhaps our Staff Sergeant was granted a mission."

But why give such an advanced and dangerous mission to a mere mechanic?

"Michael Kahale had been in service for five years," Ziva said, answering her own question. "They had given him training- maybe advanced secret in-training. Kept him officially as a mechanic, using it as a cover."

"But why send him on a case that without providing him resources?" Gibbs asked.

Hm. True. Michael Kahale had lacked money, cover, and backup. The time limit was horrendously short; what he uncovered in such a short amount of time was astonishing. If he hadn't ended up dead, she would have thought that it was a controlled mission.

"You said that First Lieutenant Adrian Rodriguez responded to the mention of mythological connection. Is it possible that whatever mission the Staff Sergeant was on, was not external but internal? An internal audit? But if Rodriguez was his target, he would have responded to the reference of cartel involvement."

"What if the Cartel wasn't initially apart of this operation?" Ziva thought back to her previous line of thought. "What if Rodriguez was involved? As Michael's partner. The First Lieutenant is thought of highly as well."

"Don't get caught up on theories," Gibbs warned.

"Maybe I should just follow my gut," Ziva teased.

"It's always worked for me," Gibbs said.

"What does it say now?" Ziva asked. She looked at him when he did not answer.

"It tells me that the Long Island Agents know something that they aren't sharing."

Ziva frowned but said nothing.

They came up to the store. "See if anyone has seen Tarsibo," Gibbs said.

"Not many people to ask," Ziva grumbled.

Reshaun Sachs was beginning to blindly invite them to choose a place to sit until he looked up from pouring a pint of bitter. "Let me guess," he said, "Navy cops."

Ziva and Gibbs flashed their Identification.

"This about the young Marine or something else?"

"Same one," Gibbs said.

"Didn't realize you had such big teams."

"Neither did I."

Ziva sent Gibbs a look and decided to change the topic, unfolding the blown-up photo of Tarsibo.

"Do you recognize this man?"

"Sorry. No."

"He seems to be a customer of yours," Ziva pushed, "He may have been here during the past week."

The bartender frowned, "If he passed those doors, I would remember. Especially from this week." Ziva nodded. She didn't find him to be lying. There were other ways waste from this place could have gotten to the car rental.

"Do you mind if I talk to your customers?" Ziva asked

Sachs shrugged. "You can, but all of these guys are regulars that just come for their lunch break."

Ziva assumed as much. She left Gibbs to converse with the man.

Sachs was surprised that they had found traces of his business as far away as East Maryland. Like Gibbs, Ziva was getting her own list of negative answers.

She walked around the bar, trying to envision it on a full night with businessmen, college students, and Mrs. Kahale with her entourage. It was an open area, which meant open conversations that could be the center of attention or hidden by those that took that position. The only place that was really hidden was the way to the restrooms, which had its own hidden hallway that led to a back exit. That was where Ziva excused herself to answer her buzzing phone.

"What is it, Tony?"

"Get into any bar fights, yet?" Tony used as a greeting.

"It is still a bit early, but it has happened before."

"Well, don't go too hard on them. People who go this early are there to drown something."

Ziva thought of the three businessmen in the bar hunching over their drinks. He was too right. "As I'm sure you know, Tony."

"I'm not that old," he said.

"You are what? Forty?"

"No!"

"Mmm, but I'm close. How many years am I off?"

"…Two. I'm still young, just have a few years of experience."

Ziva hummed. She didn't tell him that she had more years until she hit thirty.

"Well, I'm sure you didn't call me just for this."

"No, I'm here to update you so you can update Gibbs."

"Why not call him instead?"

"Figured he'd be doing some unofficial interrogation. And I would never break that rule."

"Well, what do you have."

Tony sighed, "Pretty much nothing. Got in connection with the Director of the Strawberry Service, a Mr. Dee. Took forever to get a final answer. 'I have a faint recollection of an Annie Bell.'" Tony droned in imitation, "'Yes, the girl is quite a trouble seeker, although she is one of the brighter ones I have had to deal with. Says a lot about them. However, she left. I don't expect her to be back for a while.' That was fifteen minutes into the conversation. He ends with an 'I grow tired of your pitiable blather.' And just hangs up."

Ziva snickers. "Doesn't sound like a reliable witness."

Ziva could imagine Tony shrugging in the squadroom, "It's what I got."

"Alright. Thanks." Ziva hung up the phone and accidentally stumbled when she bumped into something. Or rather someone "Oh, sorry I-" Ziva stopped as she got a look at who she almost toppled. It was a young man who had just come out of the lavatory. He was of an average built, a bit on the shorter side with a head full of blonde hair. He was in some sort of customer service uniform, a nametag still latched on. But Ziva only gave it an unconscious look over. No, she was more captivated by his eyes. They were a sickly green, and the iris seemed alive, swirling like snakes in a pit. And were those scales on his cheekbones?

"Agent?"

She blinked, and all those features were gone. Snake filled eyes replaced with light hazel ones. No scales either.

"I'm sorry," She told the man who had snapped her out of her stupor. Just what was that? "For bumping into you," she specified.

He smiled at her, "No problem."

She watched him leave her, heading for the back exit. How did he know she was an Agent? Was her badge showing? No… Who was he? She searched her brain for the answers. Wait. She had seen his nametag before getting distracted by his face. (She shivered at the recollection. Was it something she ate?) Then it hit her; the nametag had a cheesy 'Hi, I'm Tommy' in Comic Sans Font. It also had a logo of a one-eyed monster munching on a doughnut.

"Monster Donuts," Ziva breathed out in realization. The back door slammed shut. "Hey!" Ziva shouted, "Wait!" She ran toward the door. Before she exited, she remembered that the store was arms dealing, and anyone connected to it should be handled as armed and dangerous. Pulling out her firearm and quickly collecting herself, she slammed her way out and was met with… no one?

Ziva surveyed the area, circling in a three-sixty. There was no one there. How could he have gone that fast? He was only out of her sight for a few seconds.

Gibbs was not going to be happy with her.

After making sure to uncover any possible hiding places, she went back inside empty-handed.

Gibbs frowned at her as she entered. Ziva trusted him to connect the dots and directed her words at Sachs.

"You didn't say you had someone in your restroom."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Gibbs change his stance, a mixture of weariness and drive to get the truth. However, the bartender seemed utterly confused. "There was? Oh, I had completely forgotten…"

Ziva shared a small look with Gibbs. Sachs seemed muddled all of a sudden. Strange and convincing. Ziva hadn't thought this man to be a good actor.

Ziva described him, more for Gibbs's benefit than Sachs's. "Yes, about this tall, blonde, green eyes, wearing a Monster Donut uniform."

Sachs's face lit up in realization. "Yes! He was one of the guys that the woman hangs out with, the one that the other agents knew, a Mrs. Kahale." His eyebrows scrunched together. "I can't believe I forgot about him coming in…"

Ziva shared another look with Gibbs. Either this man was telling the truth, or he was the best actor Ziva had encountered. Gibbs, although not outwardly changing his calm demeanor, seemed as dubious as she was.

"If he or anyone else from Monster Donuts come in," she said, "Please call us."

"They are connected with this Marko Tarsibo guy? What have they done?"

"A number of things," Ziva said.

The man gave an inquiring stare. Ziva expected that how dangerous they were could affect his business if he let continued to let them be customers at all.

"They are connected to arms dealing, Ziva said. "Also, have a connection to the death of multiple murders, including children."

"They've killed kids?" The statement seemed to call Sachs back from his confounded state. "You said that this guy was a part of this and that he was a car dealer, right?"

The agents nodded.

"The kids, were they middle-school-age? Older girl with Asian features?"

Ziva scrambled for her phone, bringing out the profiles of the most recent child victims. She shoved the phone in the man's face. "Are these them?"

"Yeah, I know them. They had come in, ordered some soda, burgers, and fries. They looked pretty street-savvy, I kept my eye on them to make sure no one slipped them anything or took an order for them. I got something about how they were headed for the Carolinas, I guess they needed a ride. That woman, Mrs. Kahale, spoke with them for a bit. I didn't hear what was said, but if they needed a ride and she knew this dealer, she could've gave them to him."

The NCIS agents didn't give him time to finish as they rushed out the door.

-Περσεύς-

Percy would never get an office job. He thought being a Federal Agent would have been so exciting. Sitting on a desk doing the same thing over and over again was killing him. He kept getting distracted by the happenings outside. (Hey, those windows were huge. Not his fault the outside world was more entertaining.) He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty every time Grover would snap him out of his daydreaming. He was supposed to be helping make official profiles of each victim, so that a) the families could be notified, b) Dr. 'Ducky' could analyze and create a deeper understanding of General Botsaris and his victims, and c) so that Annabeth could report back to Chiron, and they could contact the families of the demigods.

Percy did have to admit that Tony's conversation with Mr. D was quite funny. Although, he was only able to hear one side of the conversation.

'No, not Annie Bell. Annabeth.'

'No, I am not here for strawberries.'

'Yes, wine sounds wonderful, but-'

'So, did she work there or not? What do you mean, who? Annabeth Chase!'

And it just continued. Percy had cracked up as the agent repeatedly smacked his head on his hand while talking to the exasperating god. If only he knew how it felt to deal with Mr. D on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis.

Unfortunately, that was what felt like an hour ago. McGee had sent a file to Tony a while later and was on his way to escape to 'help Abby run prints.'

"I'll be using the system," McGee told Grover and Percy, "Hopefully, it won't slow down too much."

"It shouldn't be a problem." Annabeth walked in, looking a bit disgruntled after her talk with Chiron. "Although we are using the same system, it's coding and routes have changed, meaning it can still use the data and have access to an ever-updating network while not really using the same path and program you'll be using."

Percy would have totally zoned out from that explanation if it wasn't for Grover nudging him to make another profile.

McGee made a face. "You can do that?"

"Not really. It's the computer."

"What are the specs?" McGee leaned in to check Daedalus' laptop's design. "What's the brand? I don't recognize it."

"It's experimental."

"Huh, well I'm going to-"

"Not so fast, probie," Tony called.

Percy looked up. Tony had better not been calling for him. He eased up when it was apparent he was talking to McGee.

"Rodriguez also uses disposable, pre-paid phones," Tony said, "But he makes regular family calls. If we searched his family's phone records, we would find a record of regular calls coming in but from different numbers? Wouldn't that be the case if Michael did the same?"

"But we already checked the Kahale's phone records, Tony," McGee said.

"No. We only checked Patricia Kahale's, and she said she didn't even know Michael even joined the Marines. Daddy, however, had a better relationship."

"And when Percy and I spoke with him," Annabeth said, "He gave me the impression that he knew about Michael joining."

"McGee, pop up the man's phone calls," Tony said.

McGee shared his screen on the plasma. Window screens flashed on and off as McGee used keyboard shortcuts lightning quick, even using long sequences of code that Percy didn't know could be memorized.

"Okay, filtering for numbers that are no longer in service."

"Wow, that's a long list," Percy said. They weren't going to have to go through some sort of procedure on each one, were they?

"He is a lawyer," Grover said, "He must get tons of scam and calls from one-time numbers."

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth said.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter," Percy asked. Was Annabeth okay? How bad was the call with Chiron?

"I mean, I've found what we're looking for." She pointed to a six-minute call starting 12:52 A.M. yesterday morning. That was right before the approximate time of death.

"It's not the same number the Staff Sergeant used," Tony said.

"A spare phone," Clarisse said, "He uses one phone call on a pre-paid, dumps it, and then uses the second to make another call."

A demigod technique. Annabeth and Chiron told him of it when he went outside of camp. The only time it was safe to keep a phone after making a call on it was in or right by camp. Otherwise, it was a traveling beacon for monsters.

"The father made the call," Tony said, "McGee, can you find the location where the burner picked up?"

McGee clicked a couple of times. "Washington, D.C."

"Alright," Tony said. "I'll call Gibbs, and we'll pick him up."

"Sweet, let's go," Percy said.

"Wait, Percy," Grover said with big eyes, effectively killing Percy's hope. "I still need your help with this."

"It's fine. We got this," Tony said, him and McGee rushing toward the elevator.

Percy watched them as they disappeared with a ding. Great, the three people that were the least qualified for desk jobs were the ones left at the desks. At least they had Grover to stop them from accidentally blowing up the place and being labeled as domestic terrorists, yet the way the satyr was inhaling those paper clips didn't bode well.

The phone at Tony's desk started to ring. The four of them stared at it for a second. "Should we get Tony back?" Percy asked.

"Ugh," Clarisse rolled her eyes. What? What did he say? Gods, she was just so annoying. 'And rude,' he added as he watched her get up and answer the cop's phone, but he already knew that.

"Yeah," Clarisse greeted. She was silent for the ten seconds as the caller spoke. Percy wasn't even surprised as the daughter of Ares slammed the phone back down without another word.

"They found Botsaris's car," Clarisse said.

'That at least deserved a 'Thank You,' was Percy's immediate thought.

Annabeth jumped up. "Let's go."

Finally! "Did you get the address?" Percy asked, excited to get out.

"Duh."

Grover looked around as all of them got ready to head out. "Um, should we tell-"

"No!" Clarisse and Annabeth both said, or growled in one case.

Grover held his hands up in surrender. "Okay."

Percy made sure everything he needed was on him and swept the desk clear of a small pile of broken pen clips. When had those gotten there?

"Let's kick some butt!" Clarisse grinned. Percy couldn't agree more.

Previous Chapter Chapter List Next Chapter

#scarpool #fanfic #fanfiction #Godly Marine: Killed #NCIS #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #PJO #Crossover #gen fic #PG/K+#Writing #Complete

3 notes · View notes

nights-legacy · 4 years

Text

Another...Sea Turtle?-TMNT

Requested by @moonlightprime

+The boys reacting to another mutant, sea turtle that is female.

2014/16 Turtles

The Sea Turtle girls were mutated by some escaped mutagen that got onto the beach. The girl as a baby sea turtle wandered into the mutagen and was found by a kindly human that raised them as their own.(The pics of sea turtles are how the girls shells look.)

Leo: Curiosity and Concern

It was on a mission down by the docks that brothers and i met Y/N. There had been reports of strange activity by the dock workers. They said they kept seeing a humanoid figure creeping around and swimming in the waters. The strange part was that the figure seemed to have something big on its back. We split up and i was investigating the water front under the docks when I saw it or more like her. I froze with my katanas at the ready, not sure of what I was seeing.

“Please, I don’t want trouble.” The girl whimpered and backed up into a support beam. I looked her over, taking her in. Long red hair, glowing green eyes, and a turtle shell adorning her figure?

“You’re a turtle.” i stated the obvious. She nodded but then shook her head.

“A sea turtle actually.” She whispered. I stepped forward and she pushed farther back, eyes locked on my katanas. I quickly put them away, having a feeling she wouldn’t attack, and knelt in front of her. She looked at him and he gave her a soft smile.

“Are you alright? Are you alone?” Leo asked. She nodded and looked off in the distance. I looked her over again, seeing scars and dirt scattering her skin. But this didn’t cover up the beauty she held.

“My mother didn’t wake up. She took care of me until then.” She explained. I connected that her mother was dead. “I have been hanging around her because I don’t know where else to go but the men here are mean. They throw things at me while I’m swimming.”

“I’m sorry. People just don’t understand people like us.” I held out my hand. She looked between my eyes and my hand. Shaking, she reached forward and grabbed my hand. I pulled her to her feet. “I’m leo. What’s your name?”

“Y-Y/N.” She said before her stomach growled. I looked at her with concern coursing through me.

“It’s nice to meet you, Y/N. How long has it been since you’ve…”

“Yo Fearless! Find anything? Woah.” I heard Raph come up as well as the other two. I turned and looked at them. They all had surprised looks on their faces.

“Guys, this is Y/N.” I looked back at her. “Y/N these are my brothers and if it’s alright with you, I think we need to take you to our home to make sure you’re okay?” She nodded after a minute. I smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You can trust us.”

Raph: Abrasive but Intrigued

Damn Mikey and his fluffy nature. Damn Leo and his high & mighty ego. Sending me off to do the patrol around the water front all because of one little cut on Mikey’s head. I never thought that this patrol would lead to a discovery Donnie would be kicking himself for missing.

“Damn you Fearless.” I growled as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Out of nowhere, a loud commotion caught my attention. I skidded to a stop and listened. Once I caught the direction of the sound I ran for it. I looked over the edge and saw a group of men surrounding a crouching figure. I couldn’t make out what they were yelling but jumped down and interrupted. “Can I join the party?”

“Another one!” I furrowed my brow ridges at the statement but fought them off til they were running.

“Another one?” I turned to the figure and finally saw them clearly. My eyes widen when I saw a redish turtle shell acomponied by blonde hair that nearly hit the ground and dark eyes. “Who the hell are ya?” I said roughly.

“Some hero you are. Help drive those guys off then yell at me.”

“What do you expect? It’s not every day I stumble upon another turtle mutant!” I snarled while pointing a sais at her. She rolled her eyes but flinched and clutched her side.

“I’m a sea turtle mutant. Get it right.” I took a big breath and looked her over. How was this possible? Another mutant? “Why are you staring at me like I have two heads?”

“Just trying to figure out how there are more mutants running around.” I said truthfully. She shook her head and looked down. I saw her pull away her hand from her thigh and saw blood. “I should probably get you to my brother. He can fix that up quick.”

“Quick? So you can throw me out again to get another tomorrow?” I chuckled at her defensiveness.

“I may be an asshole but I’m not heartless. My brothers, father, and I know what it’s like to be on the outside. We won’t let someone we can help live the same way.”

Donnie: Inquisitive yet Mystified

I was out in the sewers checking the perimeters and security systems. Lately, every now and again, an anomaly was showing up on the scanners but it was there and gone so quick, it was barely picked up on. I made to the area and started the check on the system.

“Nothing wrong on the placement, nothing on the clarity, nothing…” A crunch behind me cut me off. I reached for my bo slowly and listened for more. Quiet footsteps walked toward me and a shadow appeared from behind me. I grabbed my bo entirely and whipped around knocking the person off their feet.

“Ahh!” A female voice caught me off guard. The next thing that threw me off was the person that laid before me had a shell. A Sea Turtle shell to be specific. I squinted my eyes and cocked my head in confusion. The female whipped around and looked up at me frantically. “Please, I…”

“Are you a mutant? Wait dumb question, of course you are.” I shook my head. I returned my bo to its place and moved my goggles down to analyze her. “Are you alright? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“No. Just spooked me.” I heard her stifle a giggle. Her shoulder length brown hair bounced as she did. I lifted my goggles and looked at her eyes and saw they were bright blue.

“How did you become this way?” I asked as I was entranced by her eyes.

“My father said he found me next a puddle of green goo on the beach when I was a baby. He took care of me even though I was different. That is until he died some months ago,”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I nearly lost my father once and couldn’t imagine it actually happening. I don’t think my brothers could either.” I helped her up. “How did you end up down here?”

“A storm. Where I was staying flooded and washed me down here. It’s a maze down here and I got lost easily.” She looked around in fright. My heart leapt with something I didn’t recognize. But I did recognize the bruises and abrasions that littered her skin.

“Let me take you to lab and take a look at you wounds. Then I can get you some hot food and some water. You’re not lost anymore and there’s no reason to be afraid anymore. You’re safe with us.”

Mikey: Excited and Scared

I loved the sound of wheels on the concrete. Skateboard wheels to be exact. I was taking my normal skate through the sewers and listened to the echoes of my board. It was a small cry that came one of the openings that turned the echoes turned to crashes.

“What?” I mumbled as I rubbed my head. I looked back at the tunnel and slowly got up. I picked up my board and went closer. I peeked around the corner and looked over the dark area. I didn’t see anything at first. I walked in and got a closer look. “Anyone there?”

“Yes. No. Um…” My eyes darted to a pitch black corner where the small voice came from. I saw movement. I tensed. I set my board on my back and grabbed my chucks.

“Who’s there?” I called out. I didn’t like that someone was this close to the lair. I moved forward and my eyes adjusted to the dark. A figure was huddled into the small alcove. “How did you get down here?”

“I fell.” The voice sounded feminine. All of a sudden, a set of purple eyes peaked out, I gasped and took a small step back but I could see intense fear in theirs.

“Hey I’m not gonna hurt ya.” I placed my nun chucks away. They were still for a second before they crawled out. I was taken back by seeing another turtle, but not just that but a girl turtle with short black hair. “Yo! You’re a chick and a mutant. But you don’t look like be but you’re a turtle. What gives?”

“Haha.” She giggled through the tears I just noticed. “I am a sea turtle, mister. I’m Y/N.”

“Mister? Haha. The names Michelangelo. But my family calls me Mikey.” She smiled. “I like your name. This is so cool another good guy mutant!” I fist bumped but stopped short. “You are a good guy right?”

“I think so. I haven’t done anything wrong before. I’ve been hiding most of my life with my mother. I don’t want to be called a monster again.” She looked down. I sympathized with her.

“I get it. I really do.” I set my hand on her shoulder. “But you found yourself a safe place. Me and my brothers and my dad are all mutants like you.” She gave me hopeful eyes before shivering. “Come on with me back to the lair where it’s warm and we can get you some food. Do you like pizza?” Her eyes lite up.

“Of course!” I whooped and helped her up. I started to show her the way as a thought came to mind. How many other mutants are out there?

109 notes · View notes

the-odd-job · 3 years

Text

Ashes of Icarus chapter 14 - Sins of the Father

Rating: Explicit Warnings: Chose Not to Use Category: Other Fandom: Transformers Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Megatron, Soundwave Relationships: Megatron/Sunstreaker, Sideswipe & Sunstreaker Additional Tags: Dubcon, Unplanned Pregnancy, Mechpreg, Sticky, Talk of Abortion Words: 1920

( Previous )

From there on… They tried to get the longest patrols, and spent every day off driving behind god’s back.

The why was obvious enough. They had a little something to discuss with Megatron, and by Primus the tyrant would eventually give them the time of day. He just needed the opportunities and the promise of a nice fuck should draw him out.

That had worked before, hadn’t it?

So that’s what they did.

It was only a couple of weeks later that they saw results. It was evening, the sun on its downward arc as they drove along the mountain roads they favored and that had the double use of being rarely used and full of locations they could be… Intercepted in.

He was tense and hopeful even as they sped along, racing each other like they always did, taking too many risks, sometimes nearly driving off the road entirely. If Prowl had seen them they’d be in so much trouble.

But the roads were quiet and empty, there was no one to interrupt them—up until the moment there was.

The signature appeared on their scanners suddenly, like objects moving at high speeds had a habit of doing. It sped towards them and the twins braked into screeching stops next to a landing overlooking the valley down below, but with how fast Megatron was moving, all of them transformed at the same time—the twins to stand, and Megatron a few feet above ground to drop down.

The ground shook beneath the weight of his landing. Sunstreaker tried not to let that get to him.

Soundwave was there, too. The TIC fell from Megatron’s interior to similarly transform midair, falling onto his pedes next to his leader.

And that was probably a good thing. Soundwave could be useful in all of this, what with basically being a walking talking lie detector.

Here they were, then. Just as he’d wanted, just as he’d waited.

He reveled in the moment, in the chance to finally… Air everything. Talk freely, fragging let his feelings be known, not try to keep things a secret and holding everything back and bottling the lot of it up to avoid drawing anyone’s suspicions–

Frag, he was tired of that. Tired of the pretenses he’d need to keep up for… What, how long?

How long?

“You motherfucker,” Sunstreaker snarled the moment all of them were firmly on their pedes, stalking towards the tyrant. Megatron cocked an optical ridge at him, and although it was muted, Sunstreaker was pretty sure he was surprised by the aggression aimed at him.

But before Megatron even got the chance to open his mouth, Sunstreaker skipped to the point. “You knocked me up!”

His voice echoed between the mountains, followed by dead silence. Soundwave was as unreadable as he always was, but this time there was no mistaking Megatron’s surprise. The warlord’s optics widened just so, his field pulsed, he leaned back on his pedes—and Sunstreaker took some pleasure in having caught the damn fragger off guard.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to happen next, he really wasn’t. How were you even supposed to react to news like that? In circumstances like these?

Megatron chose disbelief. He only needed a few seconds to gather himself, and then his optics narrowed down at Sunstreaker. “Prove it.”

That last bit, that he wasn’t so prepared for. Sunstreaker’s frown deepened and his growl increased in volume. Both twins glanced at Soundwave, but the telepath made no move to confirm they were speaking the truth.

And it wasn’t like Megatron wasn’t well aware Soundwave was on the scene and could read all the minds he wanted to. He asked for proof from Sunstreaker despite that.

If that’s how he wanted to play it… Fucking fine.

Sunstreaker’s optics snapped back to Megatron, and with another snarl that rattled his entire frame he unlocked his chestplates—let them transform aside, let his internals shift out of the way, let his spark chamber push forward, let it open… Bared his goddamn spark with challenge in his optics.

To Megatron’s credit, he took it in a stride and didn’t let himself be caught by surprise again. Or maybe he’d expected that would be the method Sunstreaker chose to prove it. Slag if he knew.

The tyrant came down on one knee to have an actual chance to see his spark, considerably shorter than him as Sunstreaker was. The sparkling had grown to be a bit more visible, even to someone not Sideswipe. Sunstreaker knew that much because they had kept an eye on it, almost obsessively.

There it was, still. Slowly rotating around his own spark. There was no denying it existed.

And Megatron saw it too. Sunstreaker could see the moment Megatron saw it reflected on his face. Again, surprise, and a play of emotions in his field that Sunstreaker couldn’t keep up with.

He could feel Megatron scan it, and he knew he’d find his own spark signature in it—mingled with Sunstreaker’s to create something new and unique, a little combination of the both of them.

“What happened to your inhibitor?” Megatron asked as he rose back up. Sunstreaker took that as a sign his spark was of no interest anymore and closed his chest back up.

“It got fried,” he grumbled as the clang and click of his chestplates locking sounded.

Megatron didn’t believe him right away, though. “Is he speaking the truth?” the tyrant asked from Soundwave, drawing everyone’s optics to the telepath.

Sunstreaker knew he was telling the goddamned truth, but he still waited for Soundwave’s answer anxiously. For all he knew the host might just straight up lie about it and say Sunstreaker had orchestrated the whole thing—just turned off his inhibitor to get sparked.

Why would he have done that? No fragging clue… But Soundwave didn’t lie. “Sunstreaker: speaks truth,” the TIC instead confirmed.

Megatron nodded at him, accepting that as an answer.

Then… Nothing.

Megatron did nothing following that. Just… Looked at them. Both of them, his optics passing between Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, his brother hanging back just like Soundwave was hanging back. Megatron’s expression was unreadable, guarded. Sunstreaker could feel Sideswipe’s caution and the concern that things would go very badly from here on.

Sunstreaker? He was still too damn angry to give a fuck. “Well?” he asked after the silence had stretched on for too long, glaring up at the tyrant.

Megatron frowned back at him, crossing his arms across his chest. “What do you want to do about it?” he asked.

And… That was about the last thing Sunstreaker had expected out of him. What did Sunstreaker want? When had that even been a concern?

What did he want?

Ugh, damn it all. When had things gotten so complicated?

Sunstreaker’s gaze dropped and he shifted his weight from pede to pede. Sideswipe took a few steps closer, although he halted when Megatron’s optics briefly visited him.

And Soundwave did and said not one thing.

“...I don’t want to get rid of it,” Sunstreaker replied at length. And this was that moment, wasn’t it? The one where they’d find out if Megatron wanted him to do just that, anyway.

They were tense seconds that they waited for Megatron’s response. Sideswipe was staring at the warlord, but there was really nothing to see on his face, or anything to teek in his field.

Megatron was the image of composure right then, and Sunstreaker really wished he wasn’t. He’d fragging love to know even a bit of what was going on in the slagger’s thick helm.

Instead all they could do was wait and see.

“Have you told the Autobots?” Megatron asked next, and… Alright, it kind of looked like Megatron wasn’t about to force the matter of aborting it.

Thank Primus for small mercies.

“You think I’d be out and about if I had?” Sunstreaker asked back, lifting his optics again to go back to glaring at the fragging reason for all of this. “No, I haven’t.”

“Ratchet knows, though,” Sideswipe piped up. “He noticed it, but… We didn’t tell him who the, uh… Sire is.”

Megatron nodded at his brother before Sunstreaker became the target of his attention again. “Do you plan to tell them?”

Sunstreaker snarled. “And get court martialed? No thanks.”

“They will find out eventually,” Megatron pointed out, and did he sound… Unhappy?

But weren’t they painfully aware of that minor detail already. “I know, okay? I slagging well know!” Sunstreaker growled further, pinching his nasal ridge.

What he didn’t know was what the hell to do about it. And… What, did he expect Megatron to have suggestions on that front? Did he expect Megatron to really give a fuck?

…But it was Megatron’s sparkling too, wasn’t it? Would that be enough to make him care?

Did he want him caring?

Megatron’s engine revved hard enough that Sunstreaker looked up at him again. Megatron was considering him, his gaze heavy.

And then, “Join me.”

“...What?” Did he…

Sunstreaker growled a bit more for good measure. Did Megatron really mean what they thought he meant?

What the slag? “You want us to defect?” he hissed. “It’s not enough that you get me fragging pregnant, you want me to slag my whole life up even worse?”

Sideswipe took another step closer, practically vibrating in his plating.

“Do you have any future among the Autobots, if you intend to keep it?” Megatron asked steadily, and the fragger had no rights to have a point. Sunstreaker’s engine roared and he’d brought out his sword before he could think better of it.

Megatron blocked his strike, but Sunstreaker dodged his retaliatory attack–

And Sideswipe was berating him for the utter stupidity of fighting the goddamn mech who had ignited him.

Sunstreaker couldn’t really find it in himself to care.

“You know you don’t,” Megatron rumbled at him, but he brought out his own sword, and off they were. Megatron, still, treated him as an opponent worth his attention, and Sunstreaker, still, fought like he fucking well meant to kill.

It didn’t matter he was carrying… Not to either of them by the looks of things. That was comfortingly familiar, at least.

“Shut the frag up,” he growled, cutting into Megatron’s side with one vicious attack that Megatron paid him back with an equal attack that he couldn’t get out of the way of.

“It is my sparkling, too,” the tyrant said then, and there it was. Did he give a slag? Apparently he did, on some level. “I have equal rights to it.”

That was perfectly true, but, “It’s my frame, my life.” Could they talk about this again after the sparkling had separated and he wasn’t so damn tied to it anymore?

Except by that time all of his comrades would know, and…

Pits. “I’m not going to defect for you,” he nevertheless snarled, then grunted when Megatron drew blood—a favor he wasn’t able to return right away.

Sideswipe warned him that he was too emotional to fight properly right then. He wasn’t thinking clearly, he couldn’t focus right—he wasn’t driven by his good sense.

He did it anyway.

“What's holding you back?” Megatron asked, pressing his attack, forcing him to back away, “Loyalty?”

He didn’t need to say it. If he was a loyal Autobot, he would have never fragged Megatron.

If he was a loyal Autobot, he wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.

If he was a loyal Autobot...

Sideswipe’s alarm rang in his spark before something snapped.

( Next )

#transformers #maccadams #sunstreaker #sideswipe #megatron #soundwave #fic #2020 #ashes of icarus #ashes

9 notes · View notes

stillness-in-green · 4 years

Text

The Way You Survive Is... (1/4)

Growing up in a cult has more than its fair share of dangers, and that sort of damage has a tendency to travel, especially when no one involved knows how to brake.

Or, Rikiya and the road to the Claustro.

Author’s Note: It took me a long time to realize how massively disturbing Re-Destro’s silly one-off robot suit is on every possible level—as a reminder, it’s called a “burden-enhancing steel pressure mechanism” and namechecks claustrophobia—but when I did, I immediately started brainstorming this story. This first chapter particularly builds on some pre-existing headcanon about Rikiya’s upbringing and the people involved in it, but it’s readable as a stand-alone, and later chapters will feature Rikiya’s canonical inner circle — as well as Shigaraki and Spinner, eventually—much more prominently.

Mind the tags, folks; this one is A Lot.

——— ——— ——— ———

Chapter One: The Way the Mind Will Lean

“You’ll do well,” Anchor, Rikiya’s guardian, told him the morning it began, clearing away breakfast. “You’ve been making great progress so far, and Quarter is one of our best.”

Rikiya was newly thirteen and had lived with Anchor for the last few years. A bull heteromorph with an immobilization power, he’d been in the inner circle of Rikiya’s grandfather and had been involved in training Rikiya’s mother as well, and so when Rikiya’s mother had passed, to Anchor’s care Rikiya had gone.

“What’s his meta-ability?” Rikiya asked, to which the old man only shook his head, his horns making the movement heavy and deliberate.

“There’s a process to teaching, and I wouldn’t want to interfere with his. You’ll find out in good time.” Anchor gave Rikiya one of his small, proud smiles. “No need to keep me company for the dishes. Rampart’s waiting.”

Rikiya nodded and took his leave. Rampart, Rikiya’s driver and bodyguard for as long as he could remember, saluted when he came down the steps, but other than the usual pleasantries, it was a quiet drive, out of Anchor’s spacious, secluded neighborhood and towards the center of town.

“Nervous?” Rampart asked eventually, catching his eyes in the rearview mirror.

“A little.” Rikiya smiled, folding his hands together in his lap. “But that’s a good thing, in my case.”

“That’s the spirit,” Rampart replied, returning his attention to the road. Keeping the smile on in case he looked back, Rikiya studied the man’s reflection. His brows had knitted faintly downward and he drummed his fingers on the wheel—one of his nervous habits. He’d been more closed-off around Rikiya for the last few years, ever since his mother’s death had made the passage of the mantle irrevocable; Rikiya wondered sometimes what the elders must have told him back then. Or if it wasn’t the elders or the mantle at all—after all, he and Rikiya’s mother had been very close.

“Any advice for me?” Rikiya tried, tone light, after the second time Rampart’s lips twitched and curled around the beginnings of—something, only to resettle without speaking.

“Hah.” Rampart’s head ducked around a crooked smile. “Well, I can’t say too much. I’ve never been through Quarter’s whole course, just fought him a few times in the bouts over the years. I’ve watched him take down warriors twice his size and half his age. And he’s been a teacher for a long time now.”

“A good one?” He’s worried about something. It showed in his narrowed eyes, not to mention the lack of a straight answer.

“As if we’d send you to anyone but our best. Just…”

“Just?” Rikiya considered leaning forward and wrapping his hands around the back of the headrest like he might have when he was younger. He had been younger then, though, and not the Grand Commander. He stayed put, back straight against the seat.

“His meta-ability’s…” Rampart eased to a stop at a red light. Freed for a few seconds of the need to watch the road, his eyes closed. When they opened again, Rikiya knew the moment was gone. Rampart shot him a leashed smile through the mirror. “He’s a strong one. You’ll learn a lot from him.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Rikiya replied, returning the smile as he pressed his fingers, one by one, tighter against the backs of his hands.

————

Like most of the local trainers, Quarter worked out of the fitness center. The floor was bustling when Rikiya and Rampart walked in, a general hubbub that morphed into an organized one as people caught sight of him and hastily stepped off of treadmills or stopped cold in the middle of floor routines to salute.

It does the Army good to see your strength, Sanctum had told him the morning of the funeral. I know it can be hard, but it will make you stronger, too, in the end.

And so Rikiya smiled, murmured a few words to Rampart at the check-in desk, and stepped away to make the rounds.

Elsewhere in the facility, more organized training was underway—a room full of emitters sparring, a yoga class where everyone was stretching out some different metamorphic limb—but the employees must have been forewarned; none of the classes were halted as Rikiya followed Rampart deeper into the building. The ceiling was higher in the back, rows of high windows streaming light into a room with a climbing wall, a weight room, an enormous indoor swimming pool Rikiya eyed enviously as they passed. They stopped at none of them, but rather passed on out a rear exit that opened to a breezeway. The covered walk lead to an exterior building with its own small parking lot and a glass door beyond which Rikiya could see nothing but a small waiting room. A keycard reader sat mounted on the wall next to an intercom.

“Ready?” Rampart asked as they walked up to the door, and when Rikiya nodded, he reached up and rang the buzzer.

“Refinement Training,” came the answer after a long few seconds, a crisp male voice.

“This is Rampart, here with the Grand Commander.” He kept holding the button down and looked down at Rikiya, tilting his head slightly inward.

“Good morning,” Rikiya said, taking the hint, and Rampart released the button.

“Of course, of course,” said the man on the other end of the speaker, audibly warming. “Please come in.” A small red light on the scanner flipped to green.

The area inside was exactly as small as it had looked from outside, a narrow door on the left and a reception desk, currently unoccupied, built into the back wall. A broader door on the right opened just as Rikiya’s gaze fell on it.

Quarter’s eyes were the first thing Rikiya noticed—probably the first thing most people noticed. His irises were a striking shade of dark gold, standing out like gleaming coins against deep blue sclera, both slightly larger than life behind a pair of oval glasses. His gaze skimmed over Rampart then dropped down to Rikiya as a pleased smile spread over his face.

“Grand Commander.” He saluted along with the greeting. “I’m honored. Please, come in.”

Rikiya nodded but took a moment to look him over first—other than the eyes, Quarter seemed unassuming enough. He was an older man—older than Rampart, at least, though if he wasn’t younger than Anchor, he wore it more smoothly, hair still black all the way through, his features both mild and mildly lined. He wasn’t dressed for an intensive work-out—a gray knitted sweater and black slacks—but beneath the clothes, his build looked trim and fit. Not an excess of anything noticeable, really, except his eyes.

Of course, looks didn’t mean much in the long run.

Rikiya stepped over and through the door. The hallway beyond was narrow, marked by a line of lockers and a few small doors, as well as a water fountain beside another broad door on the far end.

“I normally run first-time sessions for an hour or so,” Quarter said as Rampart followed them in. “I can get a feel for where you are in your development, what you’ve been focusing on, what you need to improve. Then when I see you again Tuesday, I’ll have a regimen more tailored for you specifically. Does that sound all right?” At Rikiya’s nod, he looked up at Rampart. “This will be three times a week, correct?”

“Saturday mornings, and Tuesday and Thursday evenings,” Rampart confirmed.

“Excellent. You can use the personal parking next time, then; no need to hike all the way from the front entrance.” Quarter turned his attention back to Rikiya and gave him another once-over, this time focusing on his clothes. “You can use one of the lockers here to keep a change of clothes or shoes in—there is a dressing room. I have some spare combination locks or you can bring one from home, if you’d prefer.”

“One of yours would be fine,” said Rikiya, who did not actually own a personal lock of any kind and was moderately surprised at the assumption that he did.

“All right, then.” Quarter nodded. “Let’s get started. It’s right through here.”

Inside the door by the water fountain was, at last, the room where Rikiya would be spending the next few months in enhanced training. It looked something like a dance studio without all the mirrors, windowless, the ceiling low and lined with recessed lights. Thick blue exercise mats lined most of the floor, here and there showing signs of wear and tear, singe-marks and scores dotted over the vinyl fabric. It was, otherwise, entirely empty.

“Do you know why you’re here?” came Quarter’s voice from behind him. Rikiya turned to see Quarter looking down at him placidly. Away behind him, Rampart had taken up his watch at the door.

Rikiya nodded. Quarter went on looking at him, expectant, so he added, “To take the next step in training my meta-ability.”

“No.”

Rikiya blinked, brow furrowing at the answer. No? What does he mean, no? That’s what everyone’s been calling this since Anchor first brought it up.

“That’s what I was told,” he responded at length.

"That’s only a facet of it. You are here to learn how better to be a warrior for Liberation.” The trainer saluted again at the invocation; Rikiya echoed the gesture reflexively. “Destro’s noble cause demands much of all of us. We undertake this so that one day, all meta-humans can walk free.”

“For Liberation.” The words fell easily from Rikiya’s lips. The swerve from pleasantry to ideology would have to be much more out-of-nowhere than this for him to trip up on the basic tenets. Quarter nodded.

“You,” he said, dropping smoothly down to one knee and looking up into Rikiya’s eyes, “are the Grand Commander of the Meta Liberation Army. Your words are Destro’s words. I am but a devotee to the cause. Whatever you tell me, I must obey. So tell me: is it Destro’s wish that you hone yourself into a better, stronger version of the you you are now?” His smile had drained away, leaving his face with a sterner cast.

The memory of Rampart’s hesitation in the car stole treacherously across Rikiya’s mind, a flutter of anticipation in his chest. He pressed the salute harder against his forehead and nodded.

“It will be difficult. At times, you may wish to stop, to run away. But to run away from this is to fail the cause.” Quarter moved his hand to Rikiya’s shoulder. "I know you don’t want that. That is why you must tell me now that you wish to see things through to the end.“

"I do,” Rikiya answered, dropping his arm back to his side. He stood as straight as he could manage under Quarter’s grip without activating his meta-ability. The stress spots on his brow lay still and controlled. "I won’t fail.“

"Everyone fails.” Quarter intoned the words; they hung, heavy and resonant, in the room, as if the walls had leaned in closer to hear them. "What you must learn—what you are here to learn—is to get back up. To not use your failure as an excuse to stay down.” He leaned back slightly, though his hand remained. “I need to hear the words from you out loud. Give me my orders.“

Rikiya hesitated. The air in the room felt heavy, a weight pressing against his skin from all sides like he was standing at the bottom of a swimming pool. If it weren’t for Quarter holding him down, he surely would have been floating away, ejected up towards the surface.

He forced himself to breathe. Think of the future, he reminded himself. Think of what’s at stake. He swallowed down the urge to look towards Rampart, instead focusing harder on Quarter.

"Teach me,” he said, hands curling into fists at the quaver in his voice. “For as long as you have to.”

“Yes, Grand Commander.” Quarter squeezed his shoulder once more and, finally, climbed back up to his feet. “Now then, show me your meta-ability.”

And the walls closed in.

————

It was later.

Rampart had left. Quarter had gone and talked to him, words too quiet to hear over Rikiya’s ragged breathing. And then Rampart had left.

Rikiya rallied for calm as Quarter’s meta-ability pressed in around him again. The invisible barrier boxed him in on all sides and was still compressing, a horrible sense of the very air crushing tighter and tighter around him. He could smell the sweat soaking through his clothing and even jostling an elbow out too far bumped him up against a solid wall.

“I understand you’ve developed a new application of your family line’s power,” Quarter said from somewhere behind him. “Show me.”

Rikiya half-turned his head, trying to get a bead on where Quarter was standing. “You don’t,” he said unevenly, “have any targets in here.”

“You did see the damage to the floor mats, didn’t you?” the voice asked. “We’ll work on accuracy later; right now, I’m only finding out how much work you need to do. Just underhand a toss across the floor.”

Black stress dripped down Rikiya’s arms to pool in his cupped palms, the smoothest externalization he’d ever managed. He shaped it in trembling hands, waiting for the walls to come down.

“Well?”

“The—your meta-ability.” The air grew heavier again. Rikiya struggled to get his breathing under control. His body ached to swell up and burst the unseen cage. Was it solid? Was it air-tight? The thought sent another jolt of alarm through him, swelling the stress bomb in his hands. “Take it down so—”

“Take it down?” Quarter asked, not quite incredulous. “No. Why would I?”

“It’s in the way,” Rikiya choked. Isn’t it? Is it one-sided? Can he open gaps in it? As he racked his mind, tremors spreading up to his arms, Quarter walked back around in front of him. Hands clasped behind his back, he studied Rikiya with raised eyebrows.

“I would have thought you’d have figured it out by now. There’s no barrier, boy, no invisible wall. it’s all in your mind.” He reached out, smooth and deliberate, and gave a light flick to Rikiya’s forehead, as if he was rebuking a child. Not for an instant did the pressure relent. “Everything you experience with me will be. Now do as I say.”

Cheeks hot, Rikiya shuffled half a step around. He drew back an arm and immediately winced back from the wall his mind still found too convincing. What if he’s lying? That’s ridiculous. In training or not, I’m the Grand Commander of the Army. No one lies to me.

He still couldn’t make his arm follow through.

————

The room spun around him wildly, too hot, too cold, and his control frayed through yet again, black beads of corporeal power plummeting towards the floor like iron ingots and bursting into nothing, stress swelling the size of his limbs, pressing him against the walls, a weight on his back like a bed of nails, prickling pain and a swell of nausea—

“—better than this,” said the cool voice through the roaring in Rikiya’s ears as he dropped to all fours, gagging on nothing. I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe—!

“How disappointing.”

————

It was, again, later.

Quarter’s hand landed on his shoulder and Rikiya flinched. Exhausted as he was, stress mottled across the backs of his hands; his bloated fingertips pressed creases into the floor mats as he sucked in air through his teeth.

“Well,” Quarter remarked, “control issues aside, you’re quite the wellspring, my Grand Commander. We’re going to have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Rikiya screwed his eyes closed, fighting not to shrink back. Breathe, breathe. His breath still felt raw in his throat, his head pounding.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” The trainer dropped down to one knee and lifted a towel to Rikiya’s face, cool and damp. Rikiya looked up. Quarter smiled, an even, level thing that came nowhere near the blue-black pits of his eyes. “And we’ll tell Rampart how strong you were today.” His hand didn’t move. Over his shoulder, the bare walls swam in Rikiya’s vision.

Rikiya nodded.

————

“Let’s open a window,” Rikiya told Koku a week later, the two of them doing schoolwork in the sitting room. “It’s a nice day out.”

His friend gave him a disbelieving look, then leaned back to look out the window. “Are you joking? It looks like it’s going to rain any time now.”

“Then it’ll be a nice breeze.” He smiled—easy, natural, well-practiced.

“If you say so,” Koku replied, still with a measure of skepticism. All the same, he got up and levered open the window.

The room cooled immediately, the leaves of Anchor’s house plants murmuring. The brush of air on his skin eased the knot that had been gradually tying itself tighter in Rikiya’s stomach. It did, in fact, smell like rain.

“So how’s your training with Quarter going?”

Rikiya’s smile twitched once at the question. The smell of sweat filled his nose, a hint of bile at the back of his throat.

“Very well. I’m learning a lot,” he answered, barely hearing the words. He made a show of stretching to camouflage his grimace. “Did—you ever train under him, Hanabata?”

Koku strolled back over and dropped back down to the cushion across the table from him. “No, my meta-ability works on other people; it’s not so good for one-on-one work like that. I do my training with Idol and the third regiment. Or my uncle, when he’s in town.”

“Right.” Rikiya nodded understanding and straightened back up, returning the smile to its place. “You’ll have to take me along someday.”

Koku shot him a pleased grin. “Of course. Whenever you want. And same to you.”

That was never going to happen. Quarter hadn’t even let Rampart into the room after the first day. It’s a matter of morale, my Grand Commander. None of your followers would want to see you like this.

Rikiya laughed and hoped it didn’t sound as awkward to Koku as it did in his own ears. “Right.”

——— ——— End Chapter 1 ——— ———

Author’s Note Part Deux: Aside from wanting to examine how something as massively fucked-up as the Claustro came about, this story is also a result of my looking at the Liberation Army and thinking, “Okay, I was pretty nice about this when I was writing about you all for MLA Week, but…”

I wanted to take a look at someone who’s considerably less righteous about the cause than the True Believers I wrote about all week long for MLA Week, because an environment like the Liberation Army is fertile ground for exactly the sort of danger that Quarter represents. Frankly, there’s every chance in the world that, if he’d been brought up in more normal circumstances, Quarter would have been content enough to subtly use his quirk to clear out long lines ahead of him at the DMV or make people who were being obnoxious in public nervous enough for reasons they couldn’t articulate that they’d slink out. Instead, he was brought up in the MLA, which exacerbated and enabled all his worst traits.

Rikiya is, suffice to say, in for a rough few months.

#boku no hero academia #bnha #yotsubashi rikiya #re-destro #meta liberation army #cw: cults #cw: claustrophobia #cw: panic attack #cw: psychological abuse #also verbal belittlement and abuse masquerading as training #my writing #ficcing

6 notes · View notes

wildwarcat · 4 years

Text

I’ll Be Back

Chapter 2 of Warhawk for your viewing pleasure. Also, I now have a Masterlist available as a separate page on my blog.

Words: 5k

Warnings: Fluff, a bit of angst

"Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them, they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure." ~ Stephen King

Talos seemed to know exactly where he was going, despite never having set foot on Mar-Vell's ship before. We followed him without question, silently, yet mutually agreeing that it would be best to act now and ask questions later. Time was of the essence, Carol had said that the Kree were probably on Earth by now, and it was only a matter of time before they made their way here.

The Skrull didn't slow his pace until we reached a large room. On the far side from where we stood, a desk, and beyond that, an object very familiar to me.

"I'll be damned." I muttered, making a beeline toward the blue glowing cube that sat in a stabilizing unit.

"Is that it?" Maria asked, "The core?"

"That's not just an energy core, it's a weapon of mass destruction. It's called the Tesseract." I explained, looking at the cube, but not touching it, "According to a late friend of mine, the Tesseract is the most powerful object on the planet. It was stolen from Norway by H.Y.D.R.A. during World War II, and when held by the Red Skull, it turned him into ash. This cannot fall into the hands of the Kree."

"We won't let it." Carol said, taking the Tesseract from its place with her bare hand and turning it over. I smiled warmly at her and received a sweet smile from her in exchange.

"Whoa." Maria's remark made both of us turn toward her, "What's Lawson doin' with all of this kid stuff?"

I noticed that all over Lawson's desk, toys and trinkets, some nearly twenty years old, were scattered about. Maria grabbed a Fonzie lunchbox from the table and opened it up for Carol, who set the Tesseract inside and latched it shut. Fury cleared his throat, then pointed at something on the desk. On the corner sat a coffee mug, filled, and still hot.

"We're not alone." Maria said quietly. A loud tone began to echo throughout the room, not an alarm, more like a call to arms. I turned to see that the tone came from Talos, who was standing at the center of the room. Eventually, similar calls began to bounce off the walls as Skrulls, dozens of them, emerged from the shadowy corridors of the ship. One came rushing toward Talos, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"He didn't come here for the Tesseract." Carol breathed. My gaze softened at the sight of the reunion before us, I reached out, taking Carol's hand in my own and giving it a firm squeeze.

"No, he came for something so much more important." I whispered back as a child came over to Talos, no doubt his own. The female Skrull caught sight of Carol and began to slink back when she saw that she was wearing Kree armor. Talos whispered something to her, and she relaxed a bit, but no one in the room blamed her for remaining a bit cautious.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Carol promised, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

"She led me to you." Talos explained to the other Skrulls.

Carol took a step forward, releasing my hand, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"Carol," Talos sighed, "This is war. My hands are filthy from it too. But we're here now. You found my family. And this is just the beginning, there are thousands of us separated from each other... scattered across the galaxy."

The Skrull child that had been hiding behind Talos stepped away from him, toward Carol, taking her hand and leading her over to a pinball machine with a high score near one million points. Carol smiled gently at the child and watched as she began to play.

Between Maria and myself, I heard Nick mutter, "If I played the same pinball machine for six years, I'd have some high scores too."

"Fraternizing with the enemy?" An unfamiliar voice called out, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I drew my pistol and so did Fury, as a small group of unfamiliar soldiers walked into the room. The Kree. The one in front, clearly their leader, Yon-Rogg (Carol had told me his name before we left Earth), held Goose by the scruff of her neck, while his second, a blue-skinned woman bearing a rifle, set her sights on my head. She motioned for us to drop our weapons, Fury did, I didn't.

"Mac. Drop it." Fury told me. I didn't move, I still had my shield. If she fired, I was fast enough to deflect it.

"Paige, don't." Carol's voice called out to me. I scowled, holstered my gun and removed my shield, setting it down at my feet and raising my hands slowly. The leader looked over at Carol with outright disgust, his yellow eyes ablaze with anger.

"What did you do to your uniform?" He spat.

"They got into her head." His second told him, "Just like we thought."

"The Supreme Intelligence will set her straight." A large guy from the middle of the group said, while the others in their little group aimed their rifles at the Skrulls that had huddled themselves together in a corner of the room.

"You can see they're not soldiers." Talos said, stepping in front of his people, holding his hands up in surrender, "Let them go. You can have me."

"And the core?" Yon-Rogg asked, his eyes still locked on Carol.

"You lied to me!" She snarled, her fists glowing.

Yon-Rogg smirked, his tone suddenly calm, "I made you a better version of yourself."

Carol began to lunge at him, but she faltered, falling to her knees as a dose of electricity coursed through her. The Kree commander's smirk grew wider.

"What was given, can be taken away."

Anger surged through me, all I saw was red as I lifted my shield up with my foot and threw it at Yon-Rogg's head. One of his goons grabbed it out of the air before it could reach him, while his second sent a blaster bolt into my shoulder. I yelped in pain, my hand instantly flying up to my shoulder. The shot wouldn't kill me, it looked like it had cauterized itself. Carol screamed in protest as Kree soldiers took Maria, Fury, Goose and myself away. I fought as best as I could with a hole in my shoulder, but a soldier slapped a pair of cuffs on me that I couldn't break out of.

"Well, this is all gone to shit, hasn't it?" I growled under my breath as I was pushed out of the lab into some unknown corner of the ship.

If there was one place I hated to be, it was on my knees at the hands of the enemy. And yet here I was, hands bound behind me, a rifle in my face. One of the Kree soldiers held a small scanner up to Goose who stretched out a paw, trying to play with the yellow light that scanned her.

"Species: Flerken. Threat: High."

The soldier put a muzzle on Goose while the one who held her crammed her into a crate.

"It's a cat, not Hannibal Lecter." Fury remarked as the Kree soldier ran a scan on him.

"Species: Human male. Threat: Low to none."

I snorted, Fury gave the soldier a dead glare.

"That thing is clearly busted." Fury argued as the soldier began to scan me.

"Species: Human female, enhanced. Threat: Moderate to high."

"Put a muzzle on me and I'll snap your neck." I growled as he eyed me carefully.

"Mar-Vell spoke about you in one of her final reports." Yon-Rogg's second said to me, "You may prove to be... useful to Kree Starforce. But Yon-Rogg wants to see what the Supreme Intelligence thinks of you first." She turned to the other Kree soldiers, "Load the Flerken on to the Helion. Eject the others into space."

Two soldiers grabbed me by the shoulders, I winced as the burning blaster hole on my right side was irritated. They dragged me over to an octagonal pad down the hall against the protests of Fury and Maria. My heart dropped when I saw Carol on a similar pad at the other end of the hall, web like wires attached to her hands, temples and chest. As soon as my knees hit the pad, similar wires began worming their way up my body until I found myself slipping into unconsciousness.

My eyes opened to reveal that I was no longer aboard Mar-Vell's ship. I was in a plain gray landscape; it was as though I was there, but not at the same time.

"Paige." A voice I recognized only from old broadcasts called out behind me. I turned around to see Steve Rogers standing a few feet behind me, with white hair and wearing Kree Starforce armor, "It's nice to finally meet you. I am the Supreme Intelligence, the A.I. leader of the Kree Empire."

"So you're the one who's responsible for the enslavement and destruction of millions throughout the galaxy." I said, "Funny, I didn't picture you looking like Captain America."

The Supreme Intelligence flashed a bright, white smile, "I cannot be looked upon in my true form, so the subconscious has me take on the form of whomever the person I am interacting with admires most. I must say, I'm surprised that Vers is not the one you see. She has been seeing you in her dreams ever since we brought her to Hala. And even now that her memories have returned to her, she sees Mar-Vell as you see me."

My fists tightened, "I swear to God, if you hurt her-"

"Calm yourself." The Supreme Intelligence held up a hand and I froze in place, "Your emotions dictate every aspect of your life, don't they? How... unrefined."

"My emotions make human. They make me a better fighter, a stronger fighter."

"They make you weak!" The Intelligence snapped, "Just as they make Vers weak! Join us, Paige, and we will teach you to suppress your emotions. Join us, and we can make you the greatest soldier in the universe."

I shook my head, "No. I won't join your genocide. I save lives-"

"By taking more." The Intelligence interrupted, "I've seen your memories, Paige. Your actions have led to the deaths of hundreds in order to ensure that your people can live free from fear. We are trying to do the same, snuff out our enemies so that our people may be free to live."

"No!" I shouted, "All you do is take and destroy! You stole the love of my life from me, then you stole her past from her! You've killed millions of innocent lives because they refuse to bow down to a race of warlords! I'm not like you, I was never like you! And I refuse to ever become one of you!"

Suddenly, the Supreme Intelligence vanished, the landscape I was in melted away, and my eyes opened in the real world, only to shut them just as quickly when a bright light obstructed my sight. The were some grunts, a few punches thrown and then someone's hands were on me. I grabbed their wrist and wrenched them off of me, instinctively twisting them into a headlock.

"Paige, let go! It's me!" Carol exclaimed. I opened my eyes and saw that Carol was the one I was holding. I released her, spun her around and planted my lips on hers. When she pushed me away a few seconds later, I reopened my eyes to see that see was once again glowing, this time bright and full of energy, her eyes ablaze.

"You're glowing again, babe." I commented as we helped each other stand. I looked around the room to see that every Kree in the room was lying on their back moaning in pain, "You broke free. How?"

"I'll explain everything later. Right now," Carol grabbed the Fonzie lunchbox from the floor and began to levitate off the ground, "We need to find the others."

"Down the hall," I told her, setting my hands on my knees to take a moment to recompose myself, "Blueberries were gonna throw them out of the airlock."

Carol smirked, "Try and keep up."

She barreled down the hall in a blast of golden light and rather than chase after her, I went in search of my shield. I found it back where Fury and Maria had been shackled, at the feet of an unconscious Kree soldier. With my shield back on my arm, I felt a surge of energy course through me. I was itching to knock a few skulls around. I found the others further down the hall, Fury in evident shock that Carol had offered him the Tesseract.

"Just take it!" Carol insisted.

"I'm not touchin' that thing!" He argued. Carol, Maria and I all rolled our eyes at him.

"Want me to get you an oven mitt?" Carol cracked sarcastically. And then the weirdest shit happened. Goose, who had been tucked under Fury's arm, lurched forward and opened her mouth. Massive tentacles emerged from her tiny mouth, one of them grabbing the Tesseract and sending it down her throat. And just as soon as they had appeared, the tentacles vanished back into the depths of Goose's bowels. Fury dropped her in surprise and she began to weave herself around my leg, purring like a normal cat.

No one... really knew what to say at first.

"Okay." I finally said after a moment or two of processing, "So... definitely not a cat."

Carol slammed the lunchbox shut, and looked to me, "Get the Skrulls in the quadjet and go. Take the... Flerken with you."

"And leave you here by yourself? Not happening." I stated firmly, "You may be ridiculously powerful, but that doesn't mean you should go in alone. I'm going with you. Fury has a comm link directly to me, if he needs help he can call."

She opened her mouth to argue, but she shut it when I sent an unwavering glare her way. She exhaled heavily through her nose then nodded.

"Fine." Then she turned to Maria and Fury, "You two, Skrulls, quadjet. Now. We'll buy you some time."

Carol took off running around the nearest corner and I followed, matching her step for step until we reached the lab.

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

"What are you going to do once this is over?" I asked Carol suddenly as we took a seat on the catwalk above the lab.

She didn't reply at first, keeping her eyes locked on her boots that hung over the edge of the catwalk. When she didn't answer, I took her free hand in mine and brought it to my lips, pressing a light kiss to her gloved knuckles.

"You don't have to tell me now. But you need to decide." I said softly. The sound of marching boots made me release Carol's hand, I pulled my shield from my back and held it in my lap. Carol put on a smirk and looked at the gathering of Kree soldiers on either side of us.

"Hey guys," She said playfully, holding up the lunchbox, "Arm wrestle for the Tesseract?"

"I used to find you amusing." Yon-Rogg sneered, "Let's put an end to this."

I slid off the catwalk, landing with a loud thud and moving into a somersault until I landed on my feet. Good thing I did, because Carol sent two blasts of energy down the overpass, sending Kree flying off the pass and breaking the bolts that held it up. The walk landed with a loud crash and Carol got to her feet, blowing a wild strand of hair out of her face.

As soon as I caught glimpse of Yon-Rogg, I sent my shield his way, ricocheting it off the walls until it connected with his chest and sent him flying backwards, before it returned to my arm in time to block the swing of an oncoming sword. Reaching around my shield, I landed a firm hit on my attackers chest, pushing him far enough that I could disarm him and send him to the floor with a roundhouse kick, blue blood now flowing freely from his broken nose.

"Earth scum!" He growled, clambering back to his feet and raising his fist, which let out a loud metallic crack when it collided with the vibranium on my arm. Another solid punch to his face sent him head first into the nearest wall, where he slumped. I turned to face my next opponent to see that everyone else in the room, aside from Carol, was on the ground unconscious. I lowered my shield and gave her a disappointed look.

"You couldn't have saved at least one of them for me?"

She motioned toward the unconscious Kree soldier with his head stuck in the wall, "I did."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever."

"Hey, Mac, mind headin' down to the hangar? We need a co-pilot on the quadjet." Fury asked me in my ear over the sound of blaster fire.

I pressed a finger to my comm, "On my way."

I made my way over to Carol, stopping a few feet away from her, "They need me in the hangar. I'll see you back on the surface."

She nodded and I took off.

"Paige!"

I skidded to a halt, glancing over my shoulder at her, her expression serious.

"Be careful."

When I got to the hangar, I found the bodies of four Kree soldiers lying lifeless on the floor, at the ramp of the quadjet. Stepping carefully over the bodies, I brushed past the cluster of Skrulls and slid into the co-pilot's chair next to Maria, handing Fury my shield.

I glanced over at her warily, "Looks like you've got everything under control. Why did you need me?"

"You kidding? I'm not gonna pass up the chance to watch you fly. You were the best pilot on base, even better than Carol."

I smirked and grabbed hold of the stick, lifting the ramp and steering the quadjet out of the hangar, "As long as you're my gunner, this should be a piece of cake."

I hit the thrusters as we entered the upper atmosphere, ignoring the loud boom that echoed outside the ship as we broke through.

"We've got a bogey incoming." Maria said, flipping a few switches and reaching for her own controls.

"Copy that. Taking evasive measures." I replied, my smirk falling away as I began tipping the nose of the jet and barreling straight toward the surface. About five miles ahead of us, I saw a large canyon, perfect to lose whoever was tailing us in. I pulled up on the stick and gave full power to the engine, forcing Maria and I back in our seats from the sudden change in speed. I began to swerve, dodging enemy fire as I dove into the canyon.

"Set me up. Guns are operational." Maria told me as I took a hard right turn.

"On it." I grunted, a new wicked grin appearing on my lips as I caught glimpse of a fork in the canyon. I headed toward the left, and was more than happy to see the that the bogey headed right at full speed, thinking that their path would allow them to cut us off. I turned on the afterburners, propelling us forward even faster, over the dividing rock and setting us down behind the opposing ship. "Take the shot!"

Maria squeezed her triggers, sending a barrage of bullets onto the unsuspecting ship. In an instant, the ship burst into flames with a loud boom. I lifted us out of the canyon as Fury and Maria began to cheer. Letting out a heavy sigh, I couldn't fight the accomplished grin that painted my face, despite the headache that was rapidly setting in from the sudden changes in pressure.

"Nine years since I've been behind the stick. Looks like I've still got it."

"I don't think you ever lost it." Maria smiled as I navigated the quadjet over the desert toward the rendezvous point.

"Maybe." I replied, "But I don't think I'll be getting into anymore dogfights for a while; I'll admit it was nice to be back in the pilot's chair."

I set the jet down gently and lowered the ramp, grabbing my shield from Fury's hands and stepping out onto the sand. Looking up, I saw a breathtaking light show in the upper atmosphere as objects that looked like warheads were blown to pieces by a small golden blur. Carol. Strapping my shield on to my back and pulling a small flask from my belt, I hoisted myself up on to the wing of the quadjet and watched as she broke the sound barrier with an impressive boom and vanished into space.

When she came back down, she didn't approach the rendezvous point right away. Rather she landed just beyond the horizon, remained on the ground for about twenty minutes or so, then made her way over to where we were parked, landing next to me on the wing.

"Thought you couldn't get drunk." She smiled, taking a seat next to me.

"Lab manufactured spirits engineered by Howard Stark specifically for me before he died. I only get small batches and when I run out, I have to drive all the way out to Malibu to get more. But today is a special occasion, so I'm celebrating."

Carol reached out to grab the flask, but I yanked it out of reach, "Don't even think about it. This is 475 proof, it only lasts 30 seconds in my system and I have less than half a flask left."

"You're not gonna share with the woman who just saved the entire planet from being blown to pieces?" She asked me, sending a pathetic pout my way. I narrowed my eyes at her and huffed, passing her the liquor. She grinned happily and took a quick swig, her expression turning sour as she coughed, spitting it out as soon as it hit her tastebuds. I began to laugh as she gripped the wing with one hand and handed the flask back to me.

"God," She choked out, "Never again."

"Told you not to."

"Shut up."

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

Later that day, we had returned to Maria's house, where Monica wanted to desperately know the details of everything that had happened. While the other Skrulls sorted out their own lodging for the time being, Talos, his wife, who had introduced herself as Soren, and their daughter took up temporary residence at Maria's. As we sat around the dining room table, Maria was describing in incredible detail our dogfight in the canyon to Carol and Monica, while Fury finished stitching and wrapping the blaster hole in my shoulder.

Carol pressed a kiss to my cheek and took my free hand in hers, "I can't believe you got into the raddest dogfight ever and I missed it."

"Trust me, if you had been watching, you probably would've had a heart attack." I told her, "Considering how fast I was going through that ridge, I'm surprised I didn't crash us into the canyon wall."

"Stop sellin' yourself short, Mac!" Fury exclaimed, scratching Goose behind the ear, despite the lovely series of gashes she had given him earlier, "I'm sure if you ask nicely, Keller'll turn you into a S.T.R.I.K.E. pilot."

"Hell. No." I said firmly, "He was never my biggest fan. I'd rather distance myself from him as much as possible until he retires in ten years."

"Wait, wasn't Keller the one you simmed at P.E.G.A.S.U.S.?" Carol asked Talos, whose arm was also in a sling.

"I borrowed his likeness." Talos argued, leaning back a bit in his chair.

"Sounds like identity theft to me." I smirked, taking a swig from my beer bottle.

"It's not stealing!"

"It's a little like stealing." Soren said to him, making me pump my fist in victory, wincing a bit when I realized that I had done so with my wounded arm. Talos looked over at his wife in mock hurt.

"Who's side are you on?"

Fury's pager went off, he checked it and gave me a small nod before turning to Talos, "Mac and I have made arrangements with a few of our close friends at HQ. You're good to go here until you've recovered. But you and your family are gonna need a new look."

"I could go back to being your boss." The Skrull offered.

"Please don't." Fury and I replied simultaneously.

"Oh, come on. I loved sporting his beautiful blue eyes."

"No way! You guys have the best eyes," Monica exclaimed from her spot on the stairs, "Don't ever change your eyes."

Carol released my hand suddenly, the look in her eye turning from one of lightheartedness to fierce determination, "I'll help you find a home. Finish what Mar-Vell started."

My heart dropped, my lungs felt as though they had collapsed. I paled. Of course, I had known that she would eventually return to space in an effort to take on the Kree, but I hadn't imagined it being so soon. I stood from my chair and excused myself from the table, making my way outside alone. I propped myself up against a large willow tree, my right shoulder began to ache. My heart had gone from stopping completely to racing. I took a few shaky, meditative breaths to calm myself just in time for Carol to come out searching for me.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly when she finally found me.

"Not really." I confessed, my hazel gaze fixated on the setting sun dipping below the horizon, "I was hoping we could've talked about this before you made a formal decision."

"I'm sorry, baby." She apologized, stepping in front of me, "But I can't just stand by while the Kree are hunting them down. They need someone that can protect them until they find a new home."

"But that won't be the end of it, will it?" I snapped, brushing past her making my way over to my truck that still sat in the driveway, "What happens after you find them a home? You're not gonna turn around and come right back, that's not who you are. You're gonna end up on the other side of the galaxy, going toe to toe with every Kree soldier that comes you're way."

"You don't kno-"

"YES I DO!" I yelled, my voice sending a roosting flock of birds flying from the willow tree, "Because you're you, Carol! It's always been higher, further, faster for you. But what I want to know, what I need to know is... when you come back, if you come back, will you be able to truly rest? Will you finally be able to slow down to the point where you can come back here with the intention to stay?"

She didn't say anything in return. Part of me began worry that she wasn't planning on coming back at all. I opened the passenger side door on my truck and reached into my glove compartment, pulling out a silver chain and holding it out for her. Carefully, she studied the dog tags that hung from the chain, including the blackened remains that were once her own.

"I've spent the past six years wearing the only piece of you that was left on this planet, hoping... praying that you were by some miracle still out there somewhere. I lost the one thing that I held closest to my heart the day they took you. I lost the love of my life, the only woman I will ever love. I lost you, and now that I finally have you back you're turning around and leaving again." I whispered hoarsely, my voice betraying the fear and sadness I was trying to hide.

Carol pressed her forehead to mine, pressed her lips to my own in a gentle, loving manner.

"I love you, Paige. I've spent years dreaming about being with you, but you and I both know that we can't go back to the way things were." She whispered back, her own voice shaking a bit, "We'll find a way to make this work. Once I find a new home for the Skrulls, I'll be back. I'll stay as long as I need to until we figure out how to make this work. But you can't expect me to drop everything so quickly to spend the rest of our life here."

"And I'm not asking you to." I replied, "All I ask is that we figure this out together. Because there's no way I'm going through the rest of this lifetime without you in it."

#marvel fanfiction #marveledit #captain marvel #carol danvers x original character #avengers fanfiction #fanfiction #avengers fandom #original character #brie larson #carol danvers x reader #captain marvel x reader

36 notes · View notes

schweeeppess · 5 years

Text

"We shouldn't be doing this."

He was mad. Pissed. Extremely vexed.

But nobody cared, continuing to talk among themselves.

Gritting his teeth, Wally stood, ignoring Barry's protests to his left, and yelled, "Will you jackasses fucking listen!? Shut up and hear me out, because I have a very solid opinion about what's going on here."

The Justice League, Titans included beside their old mentors though they were silent, all quieted as they looked to the second Flash. Wally's eyes flicked from League member to League member, and his voice went cool as ice when next he spoke.

"Where is Batman," he hissed.

Clark--no, Superman--frowned from his seat that was to the left of the head of the table.

"He'd be too biased to give a sound opinion, so we didn't notify him of this meeting," Clark answered.

Beside him, still seated, Barry whispered, "Wally, don't--"

He was too late.

"You idiot! You goddamn moron! He has every right to be here! Every single right!" Wally shouted, throwing an arm out to gesture at the subject of the meeting, kneeling in the center of the room, gagged, League-grade cuffs securing him to the ground by a chain.

Blood dripped from his lips into the pearl white floor from his mouth, and Wally's gut twisted.

"That's his son!" Wally finally yelled. "The Red Hood is a known son of Batman's!"

Jason stirred a little in his chains, lifting his head for acidic green eyes to meet deep woodsy green.

I'm sorry, Wally thought to him, despite knowing Jason wasn't telepathic.

Everything was just so wrong in the scenario and Wally had no idea which fault to pick at.

"...which is why Batman would be too biased. Red Hood is his son and that would cloud his judgement."

Wally sneered, turning back to face Superman who was now standing, and jabbed a finger at him. "Oh now that is rich. Tell me, Clark; if we put Jon on trial and didn't tell you, how would things play out?"

Superman's face darkened. "Don't bring him into this."

"Why not?" Wally lifted both arms, then, over his head. "Because he's your son and you know damn well you'd move heaven and earth to attend his trial? How is this any different!"

"Batman--"

"Wouldn't even need to vote!" Wally interrpted, slamming a palm on the table. "Just let him attend!"

It went silent after his last point before there were scattered murmurs. The other Titans stood up too, looking to Wally, then Jason, then Clark, and Donna said, "We agree. Batman and his sons should be present."

Barry was next to stand, and Wally exhaled in relief.

"I have to side with the Titans, Clark. Batman should be here."

Diana rose. "As do I. I also think the accused should have a defense willing to fight for him, because as it stands we are deciding his fate without proper trial."

Superman frowned a little and opened his mouth to say something before the doors to the room slammed open and a bolt of fear struck Wally's chest when he saw who it was.

Nightwing stood in the doorway, and he looked livid.

"What is this?" he seethed in quite the accurate chilling Batgrowl, stalking into the room. Behind him trailed Red Robin, Orphan, and Robin.

Each looked beyond furious.

Superman seemed surprised at their arrival, but Wally had known the Bats would find out about the trial. It was why he'd petitioned for Batman at the very least to be invited. The repercussions would be ones the entire Justice League would suffer.

As he recovered, Superman said, "What are you doing here?"

Nightwing tensed, each muscle straining, and his jaw twitched.

"Answer me," he snapped. "What. Is. This."

"The Justice League arrested Red Hood," Wally spoke up. "This is his trial."

Glancing at the other Titans, Wally added, "We were actally in the middle of an argument."

Nightwing stood behind his father's empty seat on the opposite end of the table from Superman, expression dark. His siblings flanked the table, all spread out, but Wally wasn't concerned. He, Barry, Diana, and the Titans didn't have to be.

"And what was the argument about?"

"Your attendance," Lilith piped up. "Superman and the rest seated were against you being here."

This did not sit well with Nightwing.

His lip curled into a snarl and he said, "Clark?"

Superman twitched but responded levelly.

"It's true."

Jason wasn't looking at anyone anymore--he hardly seemed aware of what was going on around him, actually--and Wally moved to his side, crouching and putting a hand on his back.

"Hood?"

"Back away, West," Robin's sharp tone snapped.

"Robin," Nightwing growled. "Behave."

"He needs to remove himself from Red Hood's immediate vicinity, else I will remove him myself, Nightwing. My warning was me behaving," Robin answered, folding his arms over his chest.

Nightwing shook his head but didn't comment.

Wally looked to Robin and said, "I'm just gettig him out."

Superman and the other seated League members seemed to want to protest, but weren't willing to test any of the already irate Bats.

Barry was by Wally's side in a heartbeat and took a glove off to press his palm to the scanner on the cuffs to unlock them while Wally zipped to the med-bay for gauze and bandages before racing back.

The locks clicked on Jason's bonds before falling off, and the abrupt loss of weight seemed to surprise Jason into attentiveness.

He jolted a little, looking around for the first time since his family had entered, and sighed when he saw them.

The gag was already tossed on the ground, so Wally and Barry each stood and helped Jason to his feet.

"You okay?" Barry checked, an arm of Jason's over his shoulder.

Jason shrugged, head lolling. "D'nno," he slurred a little. "S'pes really did a number'n me. M'head hurts."

Superman sighed when Nightwing further tensed at Jason's words. "I didn't want to fight you or your team, Jason. If you would have come willingly, nobody would have been hurt."

Jason sighed, closing his eyes. "Wan' nap," he mumbled.

Red Robin and Orphan were replacing Wally and Barry instantly, and each Flash blinked in surprise.

They looked to each other and shrugged.

Bats. Who knows?

"We should still hold his trial," Oliver spoke up. "He needs to face the consequences for his crimes."

"There isn't going to be a trial," Nightwing declared with finality hard in his tone.

Wally glanced at the other Titans, and they all met his gaze back. Simultaneously they all started to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked.

Garth stopped to face his king and replied, "Batman is your leader. Nightwing is ours. He has deemed Red Hood's trial void, therefore we no longer have business here, my lord."

Then he resumed his exit, walking out right behind Lilith.

...

Tim walked with Jason toward a wall for him to lean on as silence fell upon the room before Superman shattered it.

"Despite what your Titans seem to think, Nightwing, just because you say something doesn't mean it goes. Not here. Not with us."

Dick crossed his arms. "There will be no trial," he repeated. Tim almost felt bad for Clark, but he was to busy being livid at the situation and worried for Jason.

"Nightwing."

"If you want Jason," Dick growled, straightening and looking like a bow ready to snap, "you'll have to take us out."

The League members fell silent. Barry took a step back, raising his hands.

"I was never for it, Nightwing."

Dick nodded. "I know, Barry." His eyes slid to the others who were silent, and Dick said, "I was talking to those of you who want your justice. If you think you can win against us, we can settle this here and now."

"Nightwing..." Clark's voice held warning in it clearer than water.

It upset Tim even more.

"Shut up, Clark," Dick snapped. "Put up or shut up."

Clark, Oliver, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Arthur all looked to each other. The seated stood and faced the Bats.

Tim rested Jason against the wall.

"Don'," Jason muttered.

"We have to," Cass whispered back. "This won't happen again."

Tim agreed with her silently and they moved to flank their brother. Damian stood directly to Dick's right, arms folded over his chest, and Tim took his own spot with Cass.

They kept Jason behind them, putting themselves between him and the League.

Hal shook his head and sighed, standing to leave as Barry disappeared behind the door, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, and Cyborg following.

"We don't need to fight," Arthur said in a last-ditch effort of diplomacy.

"Yes," Tim replied, cracking his knuckles. "We do."

First to attack was Damian.

He launched himself at Oliver silently, ducking an arrow and slicing another in half when they were sent his way.

Cass moved a second after Tim did, her taking on Aquaman as Tim attacked Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

Dick and Clark were the last ones to leap into the fray. But when they did, there was no holding back.

Instantly there was a notable difference between the two opposing sides. The Bats fought together with fluidity, like a well-oiled machine, united. The Leaguers were fighting seperately.

In the end it was over embarrassingly fast.

Arthur and Oliver were unconscious, each sporting superficial cuts and bruises, Hawkman and Hawkgirl were restrained with the chain attached to the cuffs that Jason had been wearing, and Superman was incapacitated with a rock of kryptonite at his chest.

Tim held his ribs, grimacing at the sharp pain. Dick was bleeding from a cut in his lip and one on the side of his neck, and it looked like he'd dislocated a wrist, but he easily reset it. Damian shook his head, holding his arm, but seemed otherwise unscathed. Cassandra's hood had slipped off her head and she was already sporting a bruise on her cheek, but she seemed least injured of them.

"You couldn't go through us," Dick said. "So we're leaving with our brother. You come for him and take him without us knowing again, you will be sorry, and we will come for him."

Cass walked over to where Jason was apparently unconscious with Dick, and they each took an arm over their shoulders and supported Jason.

Tim wrapped an arm over Damian's shoulder, hugging him close, and he glared at the incapacitated Leaguers as they left.

"Let us go," Clark called.

"Oliver and Arthur will when they wake up," Cass hissed. "We are leaving. You are staying. That is it."

And they did. Broken, bruised, and bloody, but heads held high and the win theirs.

"You don't mess with the Bat."

@belovedbratwonder, @an-all-write-life, @loserforbatfam, @kurawastaken, @softpotato-preciouspotato, @redtruthed, @frenchmurdock

1K notes · View notes

theshatteredrose · 4 years

Text

Relic Keepers: Awakening of the Red Lily (Chapter 5) - Original Fiction

AN: In all honesty I’ve been itching to write this chapter for some time :3c So I hope you’ll enjoy reading~

Ao3 | Wattpad | Inkitt | FictionPress

Chapter 5:

Eishirou’s head was swimming as he tried to open his eyes. But his eyelids felt so heavy. He knew he had to open them, though. He felt…strange. Almost weightless, yet his limbs were heavy. There was…something around his upper back and his legs were, well, dangling over something else.

He couldn’t feel the ground.

Ground…wait, the ground gave way!

He unwittingly uttered a soft groan as he scrunched up his nose. With a lot more effort than it should require, he opened his eyes. And was met with…darkness. Not pitch-black darkness, but there was no sign of sunlight.

Why was it so dark? Did night fall already? Where was he?

“Eishirou?”

His name caused Eishirou to roll his head to the right only for his gaze to fall on the emblem of the Silverleaf Academy. A tilt of his head backwards then showed him a pair of purple eyes looking down at him in concern.

“Z-Zayne?”

An expression that was of genuine relief appeared on Zayne’s face. “You’re awake.”

Eishirou soon realised why he wasn’t able to feel the ground and why he felt as if he was somehow weightless…he was being carried by Zayne. An arm around his shoulders. Another under his knees. And they held him securely against his chest.

“Wh-what?” he practically squeaked as his face flushed with embarrassment.

That soon died down, however, when he abruptly remembered why the ground beneath his feet have given way. “Wait, that ShadowDweller?”

“It’s dead,” Zayne answered sharply.

In other words, he fought it by himself. But did he do so easily or…?

“Are you hurt?”

There was an expression of mild amusement on Zayne’s face. “Worry about yourself.”

His blush made a swift return. “I’m fine. Could you, ah, put me down?”

It was kinda awkward having a conversation with someone when they were carrying them in their arms. S-sure, he felt safe and all. But it was still…strange.

Zayne complied, bending down to place Eishirou’s feet to the ground before letting him stand under his own strength. He did keep an arm around his shoulders, however. Which was fortunate as soon as Eishirou stood to his full height, he had an unexpected dizzy spell. And promptly fell back into Zayne.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m…fine,” Eishirou automatically replied. He, however, sighed a moment later and touched his forehead. “Just feeling a little light-headed for some reason. Did I hit my head?”

“Let me see.”

Only when Zayne suddenly, but gently raked his fingers through his hair, did Eishirou realise that it wasn’t a blow to the head that was making him dizzy. He was…giddy. From embarrassment.

A-ah, what should he do?!

His heart was racing. Why was it racing?

“Can’t see anything,” Zayne commented before a sense of frustration edged into his voice. “Though it is hard to see down here period.”

Which was somewhat fortunate for Eishirou. Ooh, boy. He must be blushing up a storm right now. He hoped that Zayne couldn’t hear or feel his racing heart.

Zayne suddenly smacked his forehead with his hand. “Duh, I can fix that.”

Eishirou wanted to ask what he meant, but the Elite prompted him to step away from him. Zayne than closed his eyes in concentration.

Flickers of blue light suddenly appeared behind him. Lights of mana. He was calling forth his mana to give them some kind of illumination?

A second later, wings of condense mana appeared from behind him. Not from his back, but inches from him. They were a blue in colour and not made of feathers. Rather condense mana in the style of feathers. Advanced Elites could summon wings for battle. And to fly, allowing for greater advantage.

“That’s better,” Zayne said with a grin as the blue light from his mana wings illuminated the area. “Now we can see where we’re going.”

That was true. But…duel weapons, able to battle against ShadowDwellers alone, wings – Zayne must be quite the skilled Elite!

There were a lot of questions running through his head. But Eishirou would have to wonder about the enigma of Zayne later. He had more pressing matters to attend to. For example;

“Where are we?” Eishirou asked aloud as he turned to look at their new surroundings. “That ShadowDweller, it came from underground.”

“Yeah. Appears that we have an underground passage here.”

He was right. Stone walls surrounded them, linear and cubic. The air was stale and stifling. And every few feet sturdy wooden support beams were seen, though they were old and crumbling in some areas.

“A man-made one at that,” Eishirou commented as he brushed his hand against the stone wall closest to him. The stone was cold, covered in dried moss. He brushed the moss aside to reveal telling markings and scraps within the stone.

He idly looked down at the ground and kicked at the dirt. Again, there were pick marks there, too. Though, they did appear different. Deeper.

“Old, though. They must have used pick-axes to work on this. It could have been a mine.”

“Mining for what?”

Zayne was likely wondering why there would be a mind in such a dense forest and a remote island. But the era of which made these tunnels were millenniums ago. The environment would have been different back them.

Eishirou shrugged. “Anything. Gold, silver, other ores. Maybe something else entirely.”

If it was once a mine at some point, then there had to be an exit or two. The paths, though, were also likely to similar to a maze. And who knows how many other cave-ins had occurred during the years.

They needed a map.

“Wait, my tablet?” Eishirou abruptly remembered that he had thrown his tablet back into his bag during the chaos of the ShadowDweller battle earlier. And he was still carrying his bag when he fell.

He immediately dug around in his bag, silently hoping that it wasn’t damaged during the fall. His fingers brushed against the smooth screen and he pulled it out. Turning it on seemed to take longer than usual, but the light of the screen soon flickered on.

“Whew, it’s not broken,” he said around a sigh of relief and tapped at the screen to pull up the location scanner. “I should be able to create a map now. Hopefully it will prevent us from walking in circles.”

“We can’t go back the way we came,” Zayne stated. “A cave-in prevents that.”

Zayne turned to look behind them, directing the illuminating light of his wings in that direction, too. And just as he said, piles of stone and rumble blocked the path behind them. From floor to ceiling. Though there were small gaps within the stone, allowing for only the softest of light to filter through. It would take ages for them to remove all the stones and clamber up that way.

So close to freedom, yet so far. How frustrating.

That was likely the very hole that Eishirou fell in. And Zayne…

He…really jumped down to rescue him, huh? He was a dedicated bodyguard.

He was glad, in a way. He didn’t have to navigate the mine alone. That would have been very unnerving.

Oh, before they do anything, he had better try to reach Jacob. He was no doubt extremely worried about him. Unfortunately, as he pulled out his communicator, it revealed that there was no reception. It wasn’t sporadic or weak, there was simply none to be found.

That was disconcerting, to be completely honest. Did they fall a long way, or was there something in these tunnels blocking reception?

One question would be easy to answer. Eishirou turned his attention back to his tablet and the locator revealed that he was approximately twenty feet beneath the ground. Hm…they might cause interference.

“Your communicator?”

“No reception,” Eishirou sighed and put it away.

“Mine’s dead, too.”

“Well, I guess we have no choice but to go forward,” Eishirou said as he turned away from the pile of rubble. And down the long, dark corridor before them.

“Right, I’ll need to stay close to my side,” Zayne instructed as he placed a hand on Eishirou’s shoulder and physically pulled him against his left side. Practically nestling him against him and his wing. “And stay in front of my wings so I can keep an eye on you.”

“Ah, ok,” was all that Eishirou could utter.

The sounds of their footfalls were the only thing that they could hear. And it was unnerving, to be honest. It was so quiet. True silence, where nothing was heard, was just unnatural. Everything made noise. Insects, animals, even water and flowers had the capacity to make noise.

They soon reached an intersection. Three different paths to choose from. Well, two actually. The one to their left was partially caved in. Thick roots and vines barred the way with large stones.

Zayne pulled out one of his mana holsters. “Want me to cut through the vines?”

Eishirou thought for a moment before he shook his head. “I’m not confident in the structure of that area. It could cause a greater cave-in. Let’s continue moving. If all else fails, we’ll have to come back to it.”

He tapped the screen of his tablet. “I’ll make a note of its location just in case.”

“Then, we’ve got two paths to choose from,” Zayne stated.

“Well, it’s fifty-fifty at this point,” Eishirou returned as he made another note on his map. “Let’s just take the path in front of us. If it’s wrong, we can always come back.”

Zayne just nodded his head. Though, it was easy to tell that he didn’t fancy having to spend more time down here than necessary. And Eishirou could agree. He didn’t mind exploring new areas, but he could do without the threat of cave-ins and ShadowDwellers.

Once again, only the sound of their footsteps accompanied them as they walked down another dark, dank hallway. The light from Zayne’s wings were reassuring, though. As was the Elite himself. Eishirou was so glad he wasn’t alone. Though, did feel a sense of guilt that his new roommate had been unwittingly dragged down with him.

What a first day for Zayne, right?

As they turned a corner, they were presented with another fork in the road. Again, two options. Although, there was also a large crack in the wall. There was no sign of debris. And it looked big enough for them to slip through if necessary.

Before Eishirou could even begin to weigh up his options, Zayne suddenly slipped his arm around Eishirou’s waste and tugged him firmly against his side. Eishirou just kinda fell against him. He didn’t even have the chance to utter a sound of surprise when the wings illuminating their ways flickered out and only the light of Eishirou’s tablet was seen.

The next thing he knew, Zayne had all but shoved him into that opening in the wall before he squeezed himself in, too. His arm around him once more, as the other gripped his mana holster.

A blush raged across Eishirou’s cheeks as he looked up at the stern and serious Elite. “Wha-?”

“Shh,” Zayne hushed quietly. “Something’s coming.”

Eishirou hadn’t heard a thing, but he trusted Zayne all the same. Even though he made his heart pound in his chest. Was…was it necessary for him to hold him so close? Like, he wasn’t complaining. Not really. Maybe a little.

His…his chest was firm. And his abs feel the same. And his arms felt just as strong…

Gah!

It was just hard to concentrate, ok! J-just don’t let him hear his racing heart and comment on it!

A strange sound pulled Eishirou from his inner panic.

It was a scraping noise. Something, lots of little somethings were…scurrying across the stone ground. Scraping, kicking stones. Making a ruckus that was moving closer. At a rapid pace.

Eishirou subconsciously pressed himself against Zayne’s chest as the sound grew. He had inwardly complained about the silence before, but that sound was worse!

The sound of scurrying grew louder. And menacing. The ground around them and under their feet began to quake, causing Eishirou to unconsciously press himself against Zayne further. And that noise…it was thunderous! The very air around them seemed to tremble.

He was almost afraid to look, yet curious at the same time. He peered around Zayne, who in turn kept a firm grip around his holster and stared through the opening with a piercing glare.

His gaze had grown somewhat accustomed to the darkness around them. And he was able to make out a shape. Though, it was honestly more like a blur. It was pitch-black, even blacker than the world around them. Large. Compassing floor to ceiling.

And that kind of all-consuming darkness meant one thing.

A ShadowDweller.

The trembling earth around them intensified from both the movement and sound of trundling of many scraping feet as it sped past their hiding spot, not slowing down for even a second. It moved so quickly. And it was so large. Absolutely relentless in its forward movement. He didn’t even want to imagine getting struck by the thing.

Long body, long spindly legs. It looked like a giant centipede. Of course, he couldn’t really tell since it was moving so fast.

As abruptly as it had appeared into view, it trundled out of view. Though the sound of its many legs scraping against the stones lingered.

A few minutes later, that disappeared, too.

Slowly, Zayne edged the two of them from their hiding spot. Eishirou continued to hold onto the front of Zayne’s jacket, however, as the Elite quickly inspected their surroundings for further threats.

“…It’s gone,” Zayne finally uttered as his mana wings flickered in existence.

Eishirou breathed a sigh of relief and glanced down at the rocky ground at their feet. And he saw new scuff marks across the stone and moss.

Maybe it wasn’t pick-axes that made those chisel marks on the floor after all.

“There’s ShadowDwellers down here, too?” Though, that wasn’t entirely a question. More like a comment of exasperation.

Zayne nodded his head nevertheless. “Different to the ones we encountered above. They’re prowling for something. Likely us.”

Eishirou winced. That sounded about right.

Zayne stepped away from him, only to suddenly snare his right hand with his left. “Stay close to me.”

Eishirou felt himself blush again. “A-alright,” he muttered weakly as Zayne led the two of them more cautiously through the dark tunnels once more.

#original fiction #original novel #scifi fantasy #young adult #adventure #Relic Keepers Awakening of the Red Lily

3 notes · View notes