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kiritella · 3 years

Text

Stunt Double

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

Words: 4.6 k

Request: (@tom-hlover) Bucky X non avenger shy reader where reader is a new lab assistant and was a stuntwoman before and never stated it in her resume and surprised the team when she got in action when they were attacked in the tower. For the reader, if possible, introvert, short hair, the type who does not initiate conversations with strangers but when needed can speak in front of people (for presentations) and when you get to know the reader, she is quite bubbly and is comfortable in being weird?

Warnings: mentions of blood, shooting, stabbing (nothing too graphic), attack, mentions of death. IT IS MOSTLY FLUFF!!!

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It was too quiet.

You cautiously stepped farther into the engineering lab as the unusual silence prolonged, “Tony?” No voice returned but your own as it echoed off the walls, but as you delved deeper into the room, the sight of Tony Stark hunched over his desk made you sigh a breath of relief. A snore broke the silence and Tony shuffled a little in his seat, but he remained lost to the conscious world. A soft smile coated your lips as you grabbed the blanket from off the back of one of the chairs and tossed it over his shoulders, allowing the man to get some severely needed sleep.

Tony had probably been in there the whole night, you presumed as you watched the morning routine of New York bustle in the streets below Stark Tower. The rising sun was casting a golden reflection on the newly snowed landscape, and the buildings were almost picturesque in the frozen atmosphere. Frost collected on the windows, and your breath fanned against the glass in a cloud, fogging up the image. With a sigh, you turned from the view, taking a sip of the hot coffee in your hands as you approached your workbench, setting your bag down beside your chair.

The computer system hummed to life as you switched on the device and soon a blue holosphere lit up around you, presenting a cascade of folders of your latest projects. Many of them had yet to reach completion, mostly just half-hearted specs when you were high on caffeine and sleep deprivation, but one day you would finish them. On your own time, most likely. Tony recently had you working on something of a bit more substance than what you usually do. There was something about this project that had you excited though. It was tiresome, and it had taken what seemed like an eternity, but it was nearly complete, and with it, it could change so much for the Avengers. It was exhilarating to have created something so powerful and meaningful, something that would have an impact. It was different from your last job, which didn’t give that spark of satisfaction when it was nearly complete. Working as an actor stunt-double had its admiration and qualities, but this, you felt, was where you belonged.

Opening the desk drawer, you pulled out a few bobby pins along with the holo-manipulator bracelets, and only after pinning your short hair back out of your eyes did you begin to work. Music played in your headphones as the morning grew later and within the hour, the lab doors opened once again to admit Bruce into the room. He chuckled as he passed Tony’s desk, the owner of whom was still sprawled out in a deep sleep, then nodded a good morning to you. With a soft smile, you whispered a cheerful good morning. It was still strange working with them, despite it having been several months now, and you weren’t sure if the high of being around them was going to leave any time soon. The high or the consequences.

Bruce was always kind enough, and Tony added a little personality to the lab, so it was never uninteresting, but there were also outside influences that made the job more difficult. Reporters, who you were always used to, shifted gears when you switched professions. Everyone wanted to know what the latest and greatest Stark technology was going to be, and people began to get more heated in their questions and methods. Things had gotten out of control more recently when the project you were currently working on got leaked to the public. It wasn’t the whole project, thankfully, however it was enough to cause some suspicion and enough eyes to turn in your direction that things began getting dangerous. Stark didn’t seem to mind too much until you were attacked getting into your apartment one night. After that, he became more cautious, offered for you to live in the Tower until the project was over and to help you find a new home after. Security was tightened, especially around the labs, and no one was allowed into the lower levels except authorized personnel. These were the things that came with the job, you supposed. Besides, it wasn’t like it was the worst thing in the world to be living in a multi-billion-dollar corporation in your own flat with a gym downstairs, completely free of rent, and with a five-minute journey to your workplace. Yeah, most certainly not the worst thing in the world.

---

You were about to resign yourself to a typical and uneventful lunch break consisting of eating at your work bench while pushing numbers for your project when Bucky barged in through the lab doors. His easy smile relaxed the tension in your posture and infected its way over to you.

“You look like shit,” Bucky said, tossing a bag of something smelling absolutely divine in front of you as he propped himself up on your desk, leaning over it with a teasing glimmer in his eyes. You laughed, a chuckle-snort sort of thing as you reclined back in your chair.

“Well, thank you. Should I take that as a complement?”

“No. You should take that as a ‘get the hell out of your office’,” he said, “And you’re in luck, because I brought lunch and we’re gonna eat it somewhere that is not here.”

You rolled your eyes, closing and locking up the holosphere and laptop. “Jerk.”

“Workaholic.”

“Workaholic,” you mocked in scrutiny, scrunching up your nose in defiance. “I am not a workaholic,” you pressed, snatching the food Bucky brought from off the desk as you followed him out the door. “I’ll have you know I slept five full hours last night.”

“Oh~~” Bucky teased with facade impressiveness, “Five whole hours. I slept nine.”

“Showoff.”

“Zombie.”

“I’m just so close to finishing the Achilles Heel project,” you said, laughing as you pressed for the elevator, scanning your ID on the screen. “Then I can sleep, and get my own place, and relax for a little while.”

“Oof, so ready to just escape this prison to be on your own huh?”

“Okay, maybe not too ready, I mean, there are some perks to being around more,” you said, nudging him in the side and he chuckled.

“Yeah, well I am decent company.”

“I was talking about the showers, but yeah, I guess you are a bonus too,” you teased, and Bucky gasped.

“Fine, I see how it is. I’ll just take this,” he said, grabbing the food bag from your hands as the elevator doors opened and he backed out onto the abandoned floor.

“Wait I—I didn’t mean that,” you said, jumping after him.

“Oh, no, I’m going to eat by myself now. Go on,” he said shewing you away as you came at him, trying to grab the food. “Go scurry back to your dreary little office and punch some numbers while stuffing your face with last night’s leftovers.”

“Bucky,” you whined through a laugh, “I’m sorry. You are most certainly a very big bonus to living at work.”

“Nope. You’re only here for the food,” he persisted, but his beaming smile broke through his act and held the food up above his head. You glared at him as you pushed closer to him, chests brushing up against each other as you reached up on your tippy toes trying to grab the bag.

“I. Am. Not.”

Bucky chuckled, wrapping his free arm around your waist as your balance began to waver, pulling you tighter against him as his lips brushed across your ear, “Really? Because it seems like that’s the only thing on your mind.”

Your body froze as you realized your proximity, his arm snug around your waist, his breath fanning against your ear and neck, the gentle rise and fall of his chest against yours. Slowly, your hand fell back down to his shoulder, fingers trailing to his chest as he angled up to meet your eyes. There was laughter in them, blissful freedom in the dip of his smile and damn, that was beautiful. To say you were in a romantic relationship would have been a slight misconception. The feelings were no secret, but you remained behind the line of friends, however as his eyes met yours, hardly a hair’s breadth apart, you began to wonder where that line was in all the haze.

“It’s not the only thing on my mind,” you whispered in a soft chuckle, a shy smile. Your heart flipped in your chest as his gaze flicked to your lips, hesitant and unsure, and heat tickled up your cheeks.

“Yeah? Had me fooled,” he said as he tilted closer, the brush of his nose along your cheek, and you remembered, friends don’t do this. But then again, when have either of you been wholy and truly just friends? His gravity pulled you in, the earth to his sun and a moth to his flame. It was a force of two strings being tied together, red scarlet between your chests, binding you to each other. It wound tighter as you sought each other, but as his lips barely brushed your own, Bucky’s phone blared in the empty hallway and the string snapped. Your eyes shot open as you both jerked in surprise, pulling back, but remaining frozen in time, staring, and searching. His gaze held an ounce of disappointment as he slowly released his grip around your waist. His eyes followed you even when you could no longer bear their intensity, the fire burning in them reaching out to consume you. Turning aside as he answered his phone, you grabbed the food from his hand, motioning to the office you usually ate in and he nodded.

When the door shut behind you, you gasped for breath to steady your raging, wild heart, steadying yourself onto the sheet-covered couch. A soft laugh bubbled from your chest as you replayed the moment over and over, your fingers pressed to your lips to conceal the smile breaking through, but it still insisted on being seen. As emotions swirled in you, you began to unload the bag Bucky brought, pulling out buckets of Chinese food and set them on the table.

“That was Sam,” Bucky started quietly as he entered the room. “He got a lead on the extremist group I was telling you about…”

You nodded, but when he didn’t move from his spot at the door, you rolled your eyes, waving him over to sit beside you. “Get over here so we can eat before it gets cold,” you said, a teasing glimmer in your tone, and a smile peaking on your lips. A sigh left him, relieving the pressure in his lungs no doubt as he came and sat beside you, picking up a box of orange chicken.

“What’s the lead?”

“Just an informant…It looks a little shady, but it’s all we’ve gotten in a while, so we don’t want to risk leaving it alone.”

“When are you heading out?”

“Tomorrow evening. Apparently, the guy doesn’t want to risk being seen in the daylight or in town, so he’s meeting us just outside the city after dark.”

“It certainly sounds weird,” you chuckled, but then silence overtook the room, creeping in from the cracks of unspoken words and pushing as the tension thickened. And when the pressure rose, it crushed your heart, and so you spoke, “Hey, Buck?” and still, you froze again, but he understood the question in the air, in your eyes that refused to meet his. Bucky’s fingers reached across the little space between you, taking your hand into his own and brought them to his lips, caressing them with a kiss.

A sigh escaped you as you relaxed. His hand released yours and wrapped around your shoulders, encouraging you to lean back into the couch and rest your head against him. As you fell into his embrace, the tension eased.

A gentle kiss was pressed to your forehead before he spoke, “We both saw this coming for a while now…”

“Yeah, well…I guess we never really were just friends. There was always something else.”

Bucky snorted, “Like when you were drunk and told me one day you were going to jump my—”

You screeched, shoving your hand over his face, “Why did you bring that up?! You were not supposed to bring that up ever,” you shouted, slapping his chest as he laughed, “I finally burned that from my memory!”

“I didn’t realize you were such a lightweight,” he laughed.

“I don’t drink that often, so of course I’m a lightweight.”

Bucky could only shake his head, press a kiss to your temple, and pull you closer. “How about when I get back from the job, finish all the paperwork and shit, the next night I’ll take you out?” he mused, “A proper date, just the two of us—”

“I’d hope it’s just us,” you joked and he laughed, knocking you in the shoulder with his knuckles.

“Shhh, don’t interrupt, I’m trying to be sweet.”

“Oh okay, please continue…”

“Just the two of us somewhere nice, but not too quiet so we don’t get awkward, and we can talk about everything…”

“Sounds perfect,” you said, craning your chin up to meet his eyes and smiled.

~~~

There was something in the air the next evening. It was thick enough to choke you, and the shadows lingered on the walls a little too long only to be cast away sharply. The moon reflected off the pale white walls in the eerie silence and cast a frozen-like nature around the room. You should have gone up to your apartment hours ago, but with the inspiration and drive to finish your project, sleep evaded you. Besides, the coffee helped.

Music streamed from the speakers, but it wasn’t enough to drive out the anxiety welling in your stomach. Since the attack at your apartment, being alone had bothered you, left an uncomfortable feeling crawling on your skin and it didn’t seem to want to leave. Instead, the anxiety built up until you were jumping at every noise, every shift of the shadows in the room. Bucky’s presence or voice had always helped, but he was still out with Sam checking in on the extremist group informant.

When you first heard the popping, you were certain it was your mind playing tricks on you. It wasn’t until they got much louder did you pause the music.

“Tony?” You called out, “Bruce?” You thought they had gone home for the night. Pepper had dragged Tony out about two hours ago, and Bruce had dinner plans with Natasha so he left early to get ready. There shouldn’t have been anyone but the night shift there, but as a high pitch scream echoed and the laboratory's glass wall shattered, realization hit you ten fold. You hit the floor as you dropped, a scream dying on your lips as you scrambled to get under your desk. People marched into the room, several by the sound of the boots on the crushed glass.

“Secure,” a voice said, feminine and cold.

“Find Achilles Heel, then wipe the system. You’ve got six minutes before the security system comes back online.”

You shook under your desk, heart beating erratically, the holosphere containing your Achilles Heel program right above you, and if you could just—

A loud crash of tools had you jumping out of your skin and your head rammed into the top of your desk, and you froze just like the rest of the room. The silence echoed, and you swore your breathing was too loud, your heartbeat bouncing off the walls as loud as a train. A few words, then footsteps approached, glass crunching under their feet until their boots were directly in front of you. Your teeth dug into your lip as you fumbled the pocketknife from your pocket, only a second to spare as the person reached under the desk and seized your ankle. A sharp yank and you were pulled out with a scream, but the smirk on the woman’s face sunk as you barreled the knife into the back of her foot, straight for her Achilles tendon. As she began to drop, you twisted your hips, braced your leg up and kicked her throat. Not what you were aiming for, but that works.

She collapsed to the ground, choking and gasping for air, but more footsteps pounded toward you and when you looked out from the side of the desk, two men appeared and you were staring down the barrel of a gun. Instinct took over and you knocked the handgun from your face, grasping his wrist, spinning as you stood until his arm was twisted backward and using your back for the brace, rolled him over your shoulder. A distinct pop told of his displaced arm. Or a broken one, you weren’t sure.

A gun went off, and you jumped out of your skin as the breeze of the bullet swept across your cheek. Screeching as the soldier grabbed your arm, cursing an absurd vocabulary list at you, the palm of your hand shot to his nose, and to put it lightly, his list of obscenities increased dramatically.

“Son of a Bitch,” he shouted as blood trickled out of his broken nose, tears forming in the edges of his eyes as they began to water.

“So I’ve been told,” you said as you struck his throat and he began to choke, but as you delivered the final blow to a place the sun didn't shine very often, the cock of another gun set you frozen in place. Across the room, the last soldier stood with a semi-automatic, a bullet with your name ready in the chamber and your breathing stopped.

“We only came for your program, Y.n,” the man sneered, “But I’ve really got a mind to put you six feet under now.”

You couldn’t help the small smile that was peaking on your lips, though you couldn’t even begin to fathom its reason for existing. “What do you want it for?”

The man chuckled, “Who wouldn’t want a program that could tell them the weakness in any building? Given the right specifications of course.”

You shook your head, an idea sparked, but the warmth of the trails of blood on your fingers made you sick. The sound of the man’s shoulder popping out of place from earlier is ingrained in your ears. The feeling of crushing someone’s windpipe, breaking their nose is still searing your skin. It was agonizing.

“Where’s Achilles heel?” he asked, his patience for your antics ran out, and he raised his gun, aim centered on your chest. You turned back to your desk, your hands trembling as the little holosphere sat daintily there on the wood. Your projects, your life, everything you’ve worked for in the last several months. It held your secrets, your future, everything you were striving to create, all right there in that little damned box. Reaching for it, it was heavier than you remembered. You supposed it was the consequences that was weighing it down. Or maybe it was your life.

The woman from earlier was out cold on the floor, but her gun was still at her feet. As your breath shook, you gripped the sphere in your hands and turned back to the last man standing. You waved it in the air, and he laughed.

“Thank you. You’ve been of great service,” he said, lifting his gun and as he pulled the trigger, you dropped to the floor, hands scrambling for the woman’s gun and as the man cursed, he ran for you. The second he came into view, you fired. The jerk of the gun burned your wrists, and something snapped, but you shot again, and the look of pure surprise on his face was enough to make you puke. He fell to his knees and onto his side, blood seeping from his shoulder and stomach. Your hands trembled as you scampered back, bile on your tongue as you watched in horror.

The sound of your name died in the echo of the room, the panic in the voice, the rushing feet and the sound of glass being crushed. Everything faded out except for the man in front of you and the fear etching into his eyes. You were paralyzed to watch. When another hand gripped your shoulder from behind, you screamed, tossing your hands back and clawing and scratching at their face until both your arms were seized and you were forced to see your attacker.

Bucky sat there, his hands holding your arms as his eyes searched you wildly, and you stilled. Your breaths were ragged and sharp, but his cerulean blue eyes were much softer than you remembered, but that could have been the tears welling in the corners. His lips moved as he spoke, but no sounds hit your ears. Everything was drowned in a ringing ocean of nothing, but when he pulled you against his chest and lifted you up, faded whispers broke through.

“You’re gonna be okay...I’ve got you...It’s alright…” It was all chopped and scattered, but it was still his voice. It was James. The lights faded in and out as he carried you out of the room and down the hall. Your vision blurred, but even in your disorientation, you saw them. A night guard sat motionless on the floor, another further down, and eventually you couldn’t bear to watch and hid yourself in James's neck. The next thing you saw was the med bay as Bucky placed you on one of the beds and a doctor came rushing over. The look of pure fear in Bucky’s eyes as you remained motionless on the bed struck straight to your heart before everything went dark.

~~~

When you woke, Bucky sat on the edge of your hospital bed, your hand in his as he traced gentle patterns into your palm. “James?”

Bucky’s eyes snapped to yours, and a smile broke through, “Hey sleepy head. How’re you feeling?”

“A little weird, but okay,” you mumbled as you say up with Bucky’s help. It took a moment before everything came flooding back to you, and the blood drained from your face. “H-how long was I out?”

“Just a little less than an hour. The shock pulled you under,” he said. In a moment of silence, his fingers traced your cheek, curving along your skin until he cupped your face. His breath shook as he leaned in and pressed his lips to your forehead, then another kiss to your temple, another to your cheek, and you leaned into his touch, your hands raising to hold his. Your wrist was bandaged with gauze, and it hurt to move, but still, you melted in his touch. His lips brushed against yours, tantalizing and soft, a peck, a promise, a future held with the love in his chest, shown with his lips upon yours. I love you. I'm glad you're safe. You scared me. I love you. Unspoken words were passed from his lips and seared onto yours with a single peck, and it made you realize just how infinite he was.

“When we got here and the lab was broken into, I —” he said, pressing his forehead to yours, but his voice cracked and you softened.

“I’m alright,” you whispered, “I think, anyway,” you added with a soft chuckle.

“Doctor gave you a clean bill of health for the most part,” he said, pulling back. “Fractured wrist, small cut on your cheek, a little bruising. Nothing too bad.”

You nodded, but a rock dropped in your stomach when you recalled the events. “The man I shot…” you whispered, “Is—is he…?”

“He’s alive,” Bucky said, a sneer in his voice as he held your hands, “They all are.”

You sighed in relief. A life on your head wasn’t a weight you were sure you could bear. However, as Bucky began to speak, the door opened and in came Tony, Bruce with Nat, and followed by Sam.

“Since when can you fight?” Tony asked, a light smile in his voice after he saw that you were okay. “I don’t remember martial arts being one of your talents,” he joked, holding a tablet with the camera footage of the lab.

You shrugged, a smile peaking on your lips, “I was an actress before I came here. Stunt-double for some action movies. I had some training.”

Sam perked up, “What?! An actress?”

You laughed at his confusion and awe, “Yes.”

“That was not on your resume,” Tony added.

“I wanted to be taken seriously!” you defended, “I figured it wasn’t important to add acting to a resume I was sending to Stark Industries.”

“Okay, fair, but look at this,” Tony said, holding the tablet for you and Bucky to see the video.

Bucky hesitated, turning it from you, “I don’t think that’s—”

“No, I wanna see, it’s alright,” you said, and Bucky played the video. It shocked you to watch it over again, the scene unfolding from a safe distance and with people you trusted. What took you by surprise though, was how the entire event unfolded in a matter of a few minutes. You were swift on camera, quick and unflinching, completely unlike what you felt in the moment. It had lasted an eternity then, fear capturing every muscle and resisting every movement.

“I mean look at that,” Tony praised as you took down the third guy. You pushed the tablet away before you got to the last part, and the others said nothing to oppose. The video was stopped and the others teased you.

“I thought you were just brains, but damn,” Sam said, “You’ve got tricks up your sleeves.”

“Didn’t feel like it in the moment,” you chuckled shyly, and Nat stepped up.

“It never does, not in situations like that. But running on pure instinct with what you knew, that was pretty awesome. We’re all just glad you’re okay though.”

You smiled and the others relaxed on their praise and asked for your condition. Bucky answered with ease as you relaxed back in your bed. The questions all seemed endless, but eventually, they all left to let you rest, and with a clear from the doctor, Bucky walked you back to your apartment upstairs.

“So, an actress, huh?” Bucky said and you laughed.

“Yeah,” you said, brushing your short hair in the mirror above your dresser as Bucky sat on your bed, watching from a distance. “I doubled down in homework while I went to college. It was an accident really. A promotion here, a YouTube video there, next thing you know I’ve got a call and I was on stage performing. I never quit school though.”

“You’re just one wild mystery,” he smiled and you walked over to the bed and sat beside him, leaning your head on his shoulder.

“Intriguing, I hope.”

“Always,” he said.

A heavy silence filled the room, and you sank further against him. His fingers brushed along your hand as he took it to rest on his thigh. “I’m gonna teach you some more offensive attacks though. I can’t...” he said and his breathing wavered slightly, “I can’t go through that again.”

You nodded, nuzzling his shoulder, sighing heavily. “Could you��could you stay with me tonight? It can be just until I fall asleep, but I don’t think I can be alone right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, turning to kiss the top of your head.

“Promise?”

“Always.”

———————————

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wicked-mind · 3 years

Text

Betrayed: Chapter Six

Summary: Everybody thought Steve’s sister had passed away decades ago. But when you show up at the facility and try to attack Bucky, there are questions to be answered.

Word count: 5.7k

Masterlist

All Writings Masterlist

Warning: This chapter contains violence, description of damages on the body, swearing, thoughts of death, and some dismembered fingers.

*gifs in all chapters not mine

__________________________________________________________

Chapter Six- Dog Tags

Y/N gripped at Alexei’s skin on his arm until she broke skin, causing him to let go of her throat. She dropped to the ground, coughing as the fresh air filled her lungs. When she looked back up she saw Alexei’s leather boot on Clint’s neck, threatening to press down harder.

“Now, you are going to come with me willingly, or I’m going to kill your friend, and anybody else who tries to help you.” Alexei threatened in his deep voice, his eyes locked on Y/N.

Y/N looked at Clint, before meeting Alexei’s gaze. She nods, holding her hands up non-threateningly, “Let him go, alive.” She said softly, “And I’ll get us out here without alerting anybody.” She promised as she stood slowly, feeling relief when Alexei removed his boot from Clint’s neck. Y/N watched Alexei carefully, making sure to show him no fear. She knew he thrived on it. She instead glared daggers at him. Just as promised, Y/N lead Alexei into the garage, shutting off any alarms that would sound and alert those who were sleeping. She looked at the various keys on the holder, trying to decide which to take. She decided on Clint’s black Jeep, grabbing the keys and throwing them to Alexei who caught them with ease before tossing them back to her.

“Do you think I’m an idiot? You’re driving. I’m keeping my eyes on you.” He growled as he got into the passenger side of the car. Y/N bit her lip and nodded, sliding into the drivers seat, securing herself in the seatbelt. She opened the garage with the opener and quickly pulled out, speeding her way down the driveway and off of the facility grounds. Y/N looked at the building in the rearview mirror, wondering if this was the last time she would see her home.

—

Bucky awoke with a jolt, breathing heavily as he sat up. His dog tags jingled softly on his chest at the sudden movement. He rubs his vibranium hand across his face, wiping away the pellets of sweat that had formed. Another nightmare. He had watched himself kill an innocent woman who had witnessed his crime, watching her beg for her life as he squeezed the remaining life out of her by the throat with his then silver arm. He looked around his room, catching his breath. His room was bare. There were no pictures on the wall. He had a recliner in the corner beside a small table that had a lamp on it with a small notebook as well. He also had a desk, the only belongings on it were an almost empty bottle of whiskey and a glass. His tv was on, playing a rerun of an old baseball game. There was no bed, instead just some pillows and blankets on the floor. Beds were too comfortable for him, he could never get to sleep when he was in one. Bucky pulled himself off the floor, reaching for the remote to turn off the tv. He pulls a grey shirt on over his head, interrupted by a knock at the door. Bucky adjusted his gaze over to the closed door, wondering if it was Y/N. He smiled as he walked over hoping to see her red eyes staring at him. He turned the knob and opened the door only to find the wrong Rogers on the other side, turning his smile into a bit of a frown.

Steve looked at Bucky with concern in his eyes, “We have a problem.”

The team gathered in the medical bay once again, looking at Clint who laid in the bed, monitors beeping in tune with his heartbeat. He had a few stitches to his head where he had been hit that knocked him out and his neck was red from where the boot had been smashing his neck. But he was awake and talking, “I didn’t get a good look at who did it.” He said softly, wincing at the pain from his neck as he spoke, “I was out for a run and then there was this man with blonde hair and red eyes. He knocked me out.” He lifted his hand to touch the spot stitched on his head, “Next thing I remember is Steve found me."

“Alexei.” Bucky muttered, remembering Y/N’s description of the man. He was the one with blonde hair, “His name is Alexei. He’s one of the other ones like Y/N. The one she hears is Dimitri.” Bucky revealed to the team, feeling the anger growing inside of him. Alexei had taken her. Bucky had promised to keep her safe and he failed. He turned and allowed his vibranium arm to punch through a glass door, causing it to shatter leaving the glass shards at his feet.

Steve watched it unfold, seeing the pain on Bucky’s face as well as the rage. He was finally understanding how much Y/N meant to him. He walks over to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder, “We will get her back, Buck. I promise.” He said, nodding as he said this as if trying to tell himself also

“Y/N took Clint’s car.” Natasha said as she came in after doing a thorough check of the facility, “We can figure out where she is, she doesn’t know how to turn the tracker off.”

—

Y/N gripped the steering wheel tightly, biting her lip at the silence. Her memories of Alexei were flooding back as he sat next to her. He was ruthless, enjoyed every kill. He was dangerous. She drove fast, swerving around the curves of the road they were on. Alexei sat in the passenger seat, watching every move she made and spitting out directions. Y/N moved her eyes to look down the cliff from the side of the road for a split second before returning her gaze back ahead of her. She pressed down on the gas petal slightly. There was a reason she had taken Clint’s car, she knew he had to have some secret stash of weapons hidden in here somewhere. Her eyes slowly looked over to Alexei who had finally taken his gaze off of her to look down at the cellphone in his hand, noting he hadn’t put his seatbelt on. “This is my chance..” Y/N thought. She gripped the steering wheel tightly and cranked the wheel to the left, causing the car to turn sharply and drive off the cliff.

The car tumbled down the cliff, causing Y/N’s body to shift in all different directions in the car before the airbags deployed. It hit the large rocks on the way down until it reached the forest area below. The car bounced around between the trees before finally coming to a stop by smashing into one of the trunks of a large tree. Y/N opened her eyes as the car was stilled, groaning at the pain from being thrown about. She could feel the seatbelt digging into her chest. She pushed the airbags away from her face and removed her seatbelt. There was a loud ringing in her ears which was slowly fading. Y/N usually didn’t feel much pain, but this was painful enough that she was. She looked at the windshield, noticing a large hole in it. Alexei must’ve been ejected.. She thought, part of her plan all along, though she knew that wouldn’t keep him down long. He was built like a boulder and his rage made it so he wasn’t down for long. She reaches her hand over to the glove box, wincing in pain as she pried it open. Thank god, Clint. She thought as she saw a handful of grenades and some extra arrows also. She grabbed one of the arrows, clicking it to its explosive setting like he had shown her before tucking it between her sweat’s waistband and her skin. She could hear branches cracking outside, knowing Alexei was coming. Y/N pushed the car door open, falling to the ground out of the car. Her balance hadn’t fully returned yet. She looked up, watching Alexei approach her with anger in his eyes. She could hear his growling growing louder as he got closer. He was covered in cuts from the glass and fall, bleeding through his shirt.

Y/N gasped as he grabbed her by the throat again, lifting her up so her feet dangled above the ground. He proceeded to slam her into what remained of hood of the car, growling with anger, “You Bitch.” He snarled. Y/N winced at the slam, hearing small cracks within her body. She assumed the cracks had been some of her ribs. She groaned again, opening her eyes to look up at Alexei’s red ones.

“Dimitri wanted you back alive, but your corpse will have to do.” Alexei spat at her in his thick Russian accent, lifting her from the hood and slamming her down again before tossing her against the trunk of a tree with ease, making her yelp a little at the impact.

Y/N laid on the floor, coughing up a little blood onto the dirt. She once again was met with Alexei’s hand at her throat, lifting to pin her against the tree. She stared at him, once again showing no fear. She thought for a moment this was going to be her end, closing her eyes as if to accept it. She felt the pain run up her body, the air emptying her lungs as Alexei’s hand trapped new air from coming in. As she stayed still, thinking of her demise, memories of her time at the facility flashed through her head. Seeing her brother again. Watching tv with Wanda. And Bucky… Oh, god, Bucky. Y/N thought of their moments together then thought about what he would go through if she just gave up in this moment. She felt the anger rise inside of her, adrenaline kicking in and blocking out her pain. She opened her eyes again to meet Alexei’s, a deep growl passing her lips. Y/N lifted her hand, grabbing his arm and twisting it away from her neck, wincing slightly at the pain in her own arm. Alexei landed a punch to her cheek, which she returned to his nose. She fought through the pain with each movement, absorbing each punch landed to her as she continued to back him up with her own punches. Y/N backed him up closer to the car, before kicking him in the chest causing him to fly back into the car through the driver side door which shut behind him due to the impact. Y/N pulled the arrow out of her sweatpants, clicking it again to activate. She ran towards the car, throwing the arrow in through the hole in the windshield, right by the glove box full of grenades and Alexei. She tucked her head as she tried to move away, but the arrow went off before she could get to a safe distance. There was the first explosion from the arrow, then the grenades started exploding before the engine and gas tank of the car itself exploded, releasing a large cloud of smoke along with a fireball into the sky. Y/N was thrown back, hitting a large boulder. She let out a cry as her head hit the hard rock before falling to the ground. Everything was suddenly still as the pain within her body quickly returned. She opened her eyes to look at the sky, seeing that the sun was rising. She felt the warm rays hit her face through the tree top. She stared for a moment at the trees lightening, her memories bringing her back to the sunrise with Bucky. And with those memories, her eyes closed and the world around her faded into darkness.

—

“We got a body around what’s left of the car!” Sam yelled, then had a look of disgust, “Well, pieces of a body.” He muttered as he saw some fingers not attached to hand. Bucky and Steve were at his side in seconds, looking at the pieces. Bucky felt a little relief as he saw the fingers, too big to be Y/N’s. But where was she? The car had been pretty much blown to pieces, Alexei also.

“It isn’t her.” Steve said, breaking the silence as he looked around, trying to find any sign of his sister.

“I’ve got her.” Wanda’s voice came over their earpieces, it was silent before she continued, “Sam, Nat, keep them back. I need to get her back to the facility quickly.”

Steve and Bucky moved to run to Wanda’s position, but were stopped by Natasha and Sam who held them back. Bucky pushed Sam away with ease, running towards Wanda. Steve got passed Natasha also, following close behind. They paused when they saw Wanda using her abilities to levitate Y/N from the ground with herself, headed back up the hill. Blood dripped from Y/N’s body, leaving a trail behind. Bucky watched her, horrified at how she looked. She was covered with gashes, her clothes torn. He noticed her hair was mess with dirt and blood. Her face was red and starting to develop black bruises. Her skin on her arms seemed a little scorched from the blast. He watched until Wanda was out of view, knowing that Wanda would levitate them all the way back to the facility where they already had a medical team on standby. Bucky turned to look at Steve, anger bubbling inside of him. Steve met his gaze, the same anger reflected back at Bucky. They both made their way back up the hill passed Natasha and Sam, leaving them to clean up the mess. They got in one of the SUVs and sped back towards the facility in silence.

Steve and Bucky waited outside the med bay doors. The curtains had been drawn for privacy so they couldn’t see inside while the medical team worked on Y/N. Wanda paced the room, chewing on her fingers with concern. Bucky sat hunched over in the chair, his foot tapping impatiently as he stared at the floor. Steve was standing by the doors, watching the curtain for any movement, before looking at Bucky, “You said his name was Alexei?” He asked, breaking the silence. He needed to know what Bucky knew.

Bucky nodded, looking over to Steve. He debated sharing what Y/N had told him. He sat back in the chair, running his right hand through his hair slowly, “His name was Alexei. The one that talks to her is Dimitri.” He said, the names coming off his tongue in disgust, “Dimitri wanted to overthrow the Hydra facility. With Alexei’s help, Dimitri was trying to make Y/N comply with the plans. He bit her, envenomating her and causing hallucinations, but the venom doesn’t kill her. That’s where those scars are from.” He divulged his knowledge, knowing it was safer for Y/N if Steve knew. He stood from his chair, “Dimitri must’ve sent Alexei to collect her.”

Steve listened, his forehead wrinkling with worry and anger, “With Alexei gone, he may come for Y/N himself next.” He said, his brain processing the information and trying to come up with a strategy to keep Y/N safe. Both Steve and Bucky turned quickly at the sound of the door to the med bay finally opening, rushing over to the doctor who had slipped through and closed the door behind her. She looked between Steve and Bucky before speaking, “The good news is Y/N is healing extremely quick. She should be fine and make a full recovery. I’ve seen her blood work, she has extra enzymes in her DNA that make her heal at a remarkable rate. Given the extent of her injuries, any normal human would be dead just from the car accident alone.” She said.

Steve nodded listening to the doctor, relief washing over his body as he heard Y/N would be okay.

“The bad news is,” The doctor continued, “We have to keep her sedated. She kept waking up not knowing the extent of her injuries and trying to move around so she is very, heavily sedated. I will be keeping her unconscious for a few days while her body heals itself. I’ll keep a close eye on her, but you can go in and see her.”

As soon as Bucky heard that he could see Y/N, he was through the door in an instant. He is eyes fell upon Y/N’s battered body. He approached slowly, reaching out to her with his right hand to sweep some of the dirty hair from her bruised face. He winced at the dark marks, never thinking he would see her like this. His body filled up with guilt. He had promised to protect her, keep Alexei and Dimitri from hurting her again. He had failed. She laid in front of him in the worst shape he has seen another human being in. If he didn’t know better, he would think she was dead. “I’m so sorry, Y/N.” He whispered to her softly, “I should’ve been there to protect you.” His voice broke with sadness.

Steve was now in the room, listening to Bucky whisper to his sister. He approached the side of Y/N’s bed, placing his hand on Bucky’s left shoulder, “She’s still here, Y/N will be okay.” He reminded his friend. Wanda had came in behind Steve, her tear filled eyes looking at Y/N. She went to the opposite side of the bed from Steve and Bucky, quickly gathering Y/N’s pale hand into hers. Wanda had witnessed so much pain in her life, this was just another thing that added to her long list of trauma.

Over the next few days Y/N’s small cuts healed quickly, leaving tiny silver scars in their place. Her bruising and swelling had gone down significantly. Eventually Steve got the okay to move her back to Y/N’s and Wanda’s bedroom as long as she stayed sedated for a couple more days. He didn’t want her to wake up surrounded by doctors and machines in the medical bay. Steve would visit her everyday and sit by her bedside for a while, watching her body heal itself miraculously. Wanda helped care for Y/N as she stayed sedated. She cleaned Y/N’s hair and brushed it everyday, wanting her to look nice. Bucky sat in the chair next to her bed constantly, even more than Steve, only leaving when Wanda requested privacy to clean Y/N up or to sleep. He brought sunflowers to put by her bed one day, hoping to see Y/N smile at them when she awoke. He watched as her larger wounds slowly started to close. Sometimes he would hear something inside her crack, assuming the sound was her bones going back into their proper positions. The doctor had told them that would happen as she healed herself. Sometimes Y/N would flinch in her sleep, gripping the blanket draped over her. Bucky would always touch his hand to her’s gently until she relaxed her grip. He liked to think Y/N knew he was there by her side.

It was day six with Y/N under sedation. Bucky got himself up off his makeshift bed on the floor, dragging himself to the bathroom for a quick shower before he would check on Y/N. He exited the bathroom dressed in jeans and a black t shirt, rubbing a towel through his hair as he walked down the hall. He froze when he heard some laughter coming from the other side of Y/N’s and Wanda’s door. He knocked gently, hearing Wanda say come in. He opened the door slowly, immediately looking over to Y/N. His blue eyes met her red ones and his insides melted. All the worry left his body. She was awake. He walked over and sat in the chair by her, “Hey..” Was all he managed to say as he reached out and touched her hand, smiling when she grasped his hand back.

“Hey.” Y/N replied with a small smile, still feeling a little loopy from the now lowered sedation. She was almost all healed besides some of the larger gashes. She also felt extremely sore as her body was pulling itself back together, “You’re just in time to meet McDreamy.” She said, motioning her free hand towards the tv that was playing an episode of Grey’s Anatomy.

Bucky chuckled, giving her a crooked smile, “Ah, I get to finally see what this McDreamy is all about. Size up the competition.” He joked, leaning back in his chair as he kept his eyes on Y/N’s face.

Y/N giggled at his reply, “Oh no, you know where I stand with McDreamy. It’s McSteamy you should worry about. I got a thing for older guys.” She said softly, smiling at him.

Bucky rolled his eyes, “Oh great, now there’s a McSteamy.” But smiled when she made her comment about older guys, knowing that was meant towards him. He looked over at Wanda as she exited the room, taking empty glasses with her to fill with water. He returned his gaze back to Y/N, reaching up with his vibranium hand to touch her face softly, “I’m so sorry, Y/N. I should’ve been there. I promised you.” He said softly, his smile changing into some sort of a defeated and guilty frown.

Y/N’s eyebrows came together as she listened to his apology, shaking her head, “No, Buck.” She said softly, “I should’ve came to you like you told me. He woke me up, singing in my head. I almost came into your room, but I didn’t. I should have. Dimitri did this, and Alexei.” She reminded, knowing now she should’ve just gone into his room. But then she wondered what would’ve happened if she did. She wondered if Clint would still be alive. She wondered if Alexei would’ve came in to get her, hurting whoever stood in his path. She sighed, leaning her head back against her pillow, closing her eyes at the thoughts. Her head ached from being thrown against that boulder from the explosion of the car, “Alexei is dead, right?” She asked softly, needing confirmation.

Bucky nodded, “You blew him up into pieces.” He reminded, wondering how much Y/N remembered.

Y/N sighed in relief hearing that Alexei was dead, “ It was the only way I could think of keeping him down. He would’ve just kept coming unless… I killed him.” She whispered, just then realizing she had killed another being. Even if that person was Alexei and it was kill or be killed, it didn’t sit well with her, “Thank god for Clint and his hidden arsenals.” She muttered, then looked over at Bucky with concern, “Is he alright?”

Bucky nodded again, stroking his thumb along her hand gently. He could hear the guilt in her voice as she mentioned Alexei, “Barton is fine. A little bruised up, but he will be fine, thanks to you. We watched the security footage, you saved him.” He watched Y/N for a moment before speaking again, “Promise me, Y/N. Promise me next time you hear Dimitri that you won’t hesitate to find me.” He lifted his right hand from her grasp to gently stroke her hair.

Y/N nodded slowly, feeling suddenly tired again, “I promise, Bucky.” She whispered back, her eyes fluttering as if she was fighting the sleep until she gave in, asleep again. It took a lot out of her as her body healed itself. Although the pain was subsiding, she knew her body was still injured and would take a while longer until she was able to push herself normally.

Wanda helped Y/N over the next couple days as she continued to heal. As much as Y/N hated the help, she accepted it. Y/N didn’t really feel the pain anymore, but the doctors had assured her time and time again that even though she didn’t feel the pain, it was still there and she needed to take it easy which meant Wanda was constantly tending to her every need like she was a helpless child.

“I don’t need you to sit in the bathroom while I shower, Wanda.” Y/N said as Wanda took a seat on the cupboard by the sink. Y/N folded her arms as if refusing to take off her clothes, the hot water in the shower behind her causing the mirror to steam up.

Wanda rolls her eyes, “And what if you fall again? You want to sit there embarrassed for another hour, or would you like me to help you up and not tell a soul?” She bargained, then closes her eyes, “I’m not peeking, get in there.” She demanded, using her ability to open the shower curtain, “And don’t make faces at me.”

Y/N stuck her tongue out at Wanda as if admitting defeat, before shedding her clothes and stepping into the shower, pulling the curtain closed behind her. She winced a little as the hot water ran down her skin. She took the time to look at all of her new scars from Alexei, tracing them softly. She quickly finished washing her hair, scrubbing her scalp and wincing. Her head and back hurt the most still from being slammed against the rock during the blast from the car. She turned off the shower as she finished to find a floating towel on the other side of the shower curtain, Wanda smiling with her eyes still closed. Y/N snatched the towel and dried herself off before changing into fresh clothes. Wanda helped brush through Y/N’s hair gently, careful to avoid putting too much pressure as she knew Y/N’s head still was sensitive.

—

Bucky sat with Steve in the training area of the facility, just getting done sparring with each other. It had been a good release for both of them from their anger over what had happened to Y/N. Bucky looks at Steve, “I lied to you before, Steve.”

Steve looked at him confused, “About what?” He questioned. Bucky never lied to Steve for as long as they knew each other. Bucky would always just dodge questions he didn’t want to answer, but never lie.

Bucky sighs, running his hand through his hair, “After Thanos. When you came back from returning the stones. You told me about how you wished you would’ve stayed back in time with Peggy, experience life with her but couldn’t do it because it felt selfish. You asked me if I would’ve done the same thing, go back and live a normal life in my own time.” He paused, looking at his vibranium hand before looking back to Steve, “I told you no. That was lie. If I had the opportunity, I would’ve been selfish. I would’ve gone back and kept the promise of that date to Y/N without even thinking about it. She would’ve been the one I went back for.” He said softly, imagining what it would’ve been like for himself and Y/N if he was able to go back in time and keep his promise to her. He wouldn’t have allowed her to be taken by Hydra, he would’ve protected her and had a long life showing nothing but love to Y/N.

Steve nodded at Bucky’s words. Everyday he realized more that the way he felt about Peggy, that undying love, was the same Bucky felt for his sister, “There isn’t a day that goes by I don’t think about Peggy. I wish everyday I would’ve taken that opportunity to go back and be with her.” He remembered, looking into the distance with his blue eyes as if he was day dreaming, before returning his look to Bucky, “You get the opportunity to try again with Y/N, though. You don’t have to go back.” He said, patting Bucky’s shoulder, “Just don’t screw it up.” Steve stood up to leave the training room, accepting the fact that whatever feelings Bucky and Y/N had for each other was something he needed to just step out of the way of.

“I won’t.” Bucky said with a small smile. Hearing that Steve seemed to finally be accepting of the feelings between him and Y/N made him happy, calm. He didn’t have to worry about what would happen to his friendship with Steve as he pursued his relationship with Y/N. He got himself up and followed Steve out, going to clean himself up before he went to see Y/N.

Bucky walks into his room after his shower, rubbing his hair with a towel to dry. He wore only black sweatpants and his dog tags, planning to change into something nicer before seeing Y/N. He shut the door behind him and turned to look in his room, pausing seeing Y/N’s red eyes staring back at him from his recliner. He smiled as he saw her sitting there, “What’re you doing in here, doll?” he asks, throwing the towel in a clothes hamper.

Y/N watched him enter the room, biting her bottom lip at the sight of his bare chest and his dog tags dangling. He looked perfect, like some sort of god. His words snapped her back to reality and she looked from his chest to his eyes, meeting his gaze, “I was looking for you.” She said, a smile crawling across her lips, “Is.. that your bed?” She ask, pointing at the blankets and pillows on the floor where an actual bed should be.

Bucky grinned as her saw her eyes flicker from his body to his face, wondering if that was want he saw in her eyes for a moment. He looked where pointed to his make shift bed, before looking back to her, “Uh, yeah. I guess I’m just used to sleeping on a harder surface.” He explained, walking past her to the closet and pulling a shirt out his closet, pulling it over his head. He watched Y/N look at his chest once more before it disappeared under the shirt, grinning again to himself, “What can I do for you, darlin?”

Y/N nodded as he spoke about his bed, watching him put his shirt on, shielding her view. Her eyes flickered back to his face, “I was just escaping Wanda’s watchful eye, she won’t even let me shower by myself yet.” She said with a sigh, “Which I appreciate her taking care of me, just sometimes she seems like a helicopter mom. A helicopter mom I love to bits.”

Bucky laughed at her analogy, secretly appreciating Wanda keeping an eye on Y/N. He knew as well she wasn’t fully healed and needed to take it easy for a little longer, “Well after what you went through, I don’t blame her. We all have been watching you, just her a little more closely.” He said with a smile, leaning against his desk as he crossed his arms, “How have you been since Alexei, you know, mentally?” He asks curiously. Her body had mostly healed, just leaving behind scars. But he knew better than anybody that the trauma can live in the mind for years.

Y/N gripped the arms of the recliner with her fingers for a moment as he asks, then brings her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs as she sat in the chair, wincing at the slight pain in her back from the movements, “I did what I had to do, but I still feel guilty even though it was kill or be killed.” She said softly, her eyes moving to look at the hardwood flooring, “There was a moment out there, where he had me by the neck against a tree after the crash, I closed my eyes. I wondered if I should just let that be it, let him just get it over with so Dimitri had no reason to come back to this facility.” The words passed her lips, looking over to Bucky for a moment to see a pained look on his face at his words. She continued, returning her gaze to the floor, “But then I thought of Steve. Of Wanda. And.. you.” Her eyes flickered back to his face, “I didn’t want last moments with any of you. I wanted more. I wanted to live a life with my brother in it, to watch all the dumb tv shows with Wanda and laugh. I wanted more moments with you.” She paused, taking a deep breath, “I wanted to be close to you again. So I fought, even though my body couldn’t take much, and I killed him.”

Bucky watched her closely, his face flushing over with sadness and pain for a moment as Y/N talked about giving up. Hearing that she wanted more moments with him and be close to him, he relaxed a little. He walked over, crouching down in front of her and placing both his hands around her legs that were secured to her chest, meeting her gaze, “I’m happy you made the decision to keep fighting for the things you want.” He said softly to her, lifting his right hand to touch her face which she turned into, accepting his touch, “As selfish as it may sound, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t.” He pulled his hands away, reaching to his collar and lifting the dog-tags from his neck, removing them for the first time since he got them back. He gently placed them around Y/N’s neck, smiling at her again, “Just a reminder that I’m always here for you, always close to you.”

Y/N shook her head at his gift, “Bucky, these are yours. I can’t-“ She began to take them off to give them back, knowing it was an important object to him.

Bucky grabs her hands, stopping Y/N from removing them, “They are a symbol of my past life before I was the Winter Soldier.” He said softly, “And when I look at you, I realize you are my past, present, and future life. They belong to you.”

____________________________________________________________

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passivenovember · 3 years

Text

Chapter Six of : If Snow Loves the Trees and Fields

Billy goes home less than an hour after Steve suggests they play operation. When he looks at Billy with eyelashes Neil Armstrong could see from the moon and suggests they cozy up among the coffee table books to do some lasting good in the world; get the tooth out of that guy's dick for him--

Billy has to get out of there.

It was too much.

The house. The colors. The fabric. The smell of Steve's shampoo, which is less like peeled lemons and more like funeral flowers, the longer Billy sits around getting sunburnt under the intense light of a man who wasn't interested in him beyond starched collar friendship.

And he's not mad at Steve. Isn't on his way to punch a hole in his drywall, or anything, but he's mad at himself. Mad at his heart for kicking up a cloud of pink smoke when Billy stands and says he'd better get going.

And Steve's face falls like snow that covers Billy's driveway, that glues his feet together.

"Papers." Billy says quickly, searching for the coat he knows he didn't bring up the drive.

"Newspapers?" Steve goes along with him, adjusting the yellow bandana behind his ears. He turns with a swoosh of his orange rug robe to dig through the shelves on the wall. "I have some here. Old ones, new ones. There's an edition from 1985 about the mall burning down, it's pretty interesting. Would you like that?"

"Sure, I'll, uh--" Billy takes the yellowing pages from Steve without really thinking about it, jerking away when Harrington lands too close. Close enough that Billy can see the specks of green in his eyes. "I meant. Teaching papers. Assignments." The newspaper smells old. Like books and dust, and faintly of spilled bong water from the pipe of a baghead teenager long ago. "I have to grade papers."

Steve doesn't take it back from him. "I thought you taught kindergarten."

"I do."

"Kindergarteners write papers?" Steve's hair flops across his forehead. Like big, wavy puppy dog ears on either side of his face.

Billy has to force his tongue to stay in his mouth, his eyes to stop staring. "I meant, like. Spelling. Numbers. Rudimentary bullshit." Billy shakes the newspaper at puppy dog Steve. "Declan Parks can't even tie his own shoes, so--"

"Alright. Okay." Steve says sweetly, pushing Billy's hand back to his own chest, fingers wrapping around his palm. "Take it with you. There's a lot of history in this town, mythology and folklore--rumors of bloodsucking aliens and evil scientists camping out under the power plant." Steve doesn't let go of Billy's hand. He grins instead, dimples popping like fireworks on his face. "We're a regular Twin Peaks ripoff. Read about it, let me know what you think." And.

Steve doesn't back away. Doesn't back down.

"I'll give you a ring sometime." Billy says suddenly.

"Okay."

"Yeah, alright, uh." Billy backs toward the front door, two finger salute making pink skies land on Steve's face. "Thanks for the grub. I'll see you in the driveway, or--"

Steve laughs, following Billy to the door.

"Around. Yeah, Steve, I'll--"

Steve places a hand on Billy's shoulder and the world stops spinning. Melting right off the bone. Billy fights to get air in his lungs as Steve brushes a lock of hair from his forehead, fingertips lighting Billy's skin on fire.

"See you around, neighbor." Steve says.

And Billy knows, feels in his bones, that he'd do better moving across town.

It keeps snowing.

Morning noon and night, wood nymphs piling on ice and hail down on a town of 36,000 people until Billy feels alone. Like an animal trapped in a beige house on a white street that exists in a bubble. A snow globe immune to light and sound.

There's a period of days where school is cancelled and Billy runs out of things to keep himself occupied. All the books have been read and returned to their place on the shelf. All the films watched and replayed until Billy draws his own conclusions, until the characters feel like his own.

On the first day Billy feels like he's losing his mind.

He orders groceries. Picks up some thermal socks. Considers making a pie or something from scratch, like his mother used to do before Neil went missing on Christmas Eve, but. He doesn't have a rolling pin.

On the second day he drags a chair over to the window and stares at the warm, peachy light from Steve's upstairs window as it shine on the drifts that gather and climb toward heaven. Billy thinks about that living room as if it were a vision from some other planet. A universe crafted in the image of virality.

Billy thinks about Steve and wishes he could be like that.

Wide eyed. Free.

On the third day, Megan says Billy should begin preparing for spring.

"We're snowed in." Billy mutters, cleaning up the polish on his toes. A gorgeous matte eggplant color that proves--spring isn't on his radar.

"You're getting bogged down with the ice and snow," Megan reiterates, pen scratching across the page so loudly that Billy can hear it with the phone on speaker. "Before long the flowers will bloom again. The sun will shine, it's something everyone has to prepare for. Rebirth, growth--"

"I don't have a garden."

"Don't be a shitter, Billy." Megan sighs, but he can hear the smile in her voice. "We can work with that. Would it do some good to plant one?"

Billy starts painting his other foot. "I don't want to stay in Hawkins forever."

"That's understandable."

"And I have plans this spring." Billy twists the cap onto the nail polish, swinging his foot around in the air as if that'll make things move faster. "Max and I want to go hiking back home. I'm supposed to help my mom get the boathouse ready for the summer, and I don't want to start something permanent in a place I can't see myself settling down in--"

"A couple marigold bushes are not permanent, you could kill 'em off with a single neglectful week in the summer and you know it." Megan falls silent, only the click of her pen left behind. "This move has been rough on you, and it's been rough on your body, and it's been hell on your space."

Billy shrugs. "It's been fine on my space."

"Have you even finished unpacking?" Megan demands, strictly business.

"I don't want to set down roots--"

"You've lived in Hawkins for two years, Billy, and you haven't finished unpacking."

A lump appears in his throat, just like that, just. Choking the air from his lungs. Megan must hear Billy swallow, or sense the shift in the air because her voice goes soft around the edges. Pliant. "It's a new cycle."

Billy tries not to think about Max. "Alright."

"Time to blow the cobwebs away."

"Dust the spider houses." Billy says to himself. He tries not to think about their garden back home, the fertile smell of fresh Earth somehow finding its way to Hawkins despite Billy's efforts. He misses Mammoth Lakes. He tries not to think about it. Then; "Max is coming down for my week off."

"That's not until March."

"So?"

Megan sighs, like Billy should get it by now. "That's way into the spring season, what you need this year is to get a head start." She scribbles something down on the page again. "We've been through this before. You're beyond me spelling out what you need. You've been my client long enough to know the type of person you are, Billy."

He smirks. "Yeah, and what kind of person is that?"

"Someone who likes to open his doors and let in the fresh air." She moves some papers around, voice firm. "Bright colored walls, and bird baths littering diverse lawns even though they turn to green slime when not filtered properly. The kind of man who likes to shop second hand because 'everything has a soul--'"

"Are you reading from my journal?"

"Need I go on?" Megan lets Billy mull it over for a moment. Lets him draw is own conclusions. When she speaks again it's like Billy already knows what she wants to say. Already believes it himself, but. That's never stopped her before.

"We were just talking about Steve last week."

"We're always talking about Steve," Billy snaps. "Last week, and the week before that, and yesterday and tomorrow--"

"Perpetually." Megan teases. "I know. But you said you liked his house. That's what we discussed last time; not Steve or his hair or how embarrassed you are about the rats--" Billy wishes everyone would let that part go. "But his house. The way it made you feel."

He can see it in his minds eye--Megan leaning forward, legs uncrossed on her big hammock chair, blue and gray glasses catching the glint in her eye as she pokes through his spirit and lands at the root.

The bone.

"What is it you liked about Steve's place and what is it you hate about your own and where is the through line?"

She gives him homework. Student and teacher.

Billy hates homework, but. He jots the instructions down in his notebook anyway and wonders, distantly, if the skies will continue to open above his head and if he'll ever learn to accept it.

On the fourth day Billy's power goes out.

Just like that.

With no bang or whimper it's just there one moment and gone the next.

One minute he's watching Wayne's World, wrapped in five blankets and eating soup from one of those bowls with the built in straw, and the next he's submerged in darkness. Looking around the living room like a startled chicken, still slurping down tomato soup and hoping it's just a surge.

It's not.

Billy finishes his soup.

He manages to keep the feeling in his toes even as he wanders around the house lighting every candle he can find, sticking towels over the cracks in his front door and remembering to turn the faucets on drip so the pipes won't freeze overnight.

Outside the storms keep raging.

Billy can't see the end of the front porch, so he grabs his blankets and heads to bed. Remembers to plug in his phone, on the off chance that the power will come back on while he's out, and Billy feels good about himself for a lot of reasons. For remembering his Midwestern Winter Survival Skills, and buying thermal socks when he went shopping last week, and as the temperature keeps dropping Billy feels himself drifting off.

Warm and safe in his cocoon of blankets, he wonders if the power has come back on when someone bangs on his bedroom window.

Billy sits bolt upright, hissing as cold air manages to snake in through an opening near his feet. The knock comes again, louder this time, and Billy thinks about what he read from that article in the Hawkins Post dated July 5th, 1985.

"Billy?"

Harrington is wrapped in a blanket.

That's all, just a knitted monstrosity of orange and green draped across his shoulders, paired with a black hoodie and the care bears scarf that haunts Billy's dreams. He's got yellow gardening gloves on his fingers and, over his head of wavy brown hair, a pink beanie that reads, If I Die of Aids--Forget Burial--Drop My Body on the Steps of the FDA, in teal block letters.

Steve Harrington could break hearts.

Billy's heart is floating through the air, just. Decimated. As Steve smiles and taps on the window. "I tried the front but I figured you were asleep." He says.

And it takes Billy a minute to find his voice. He opens the window, grimacing at the snow on the ledge that topples in. "What are you doing?"

"I cleared a path. Around the house. By the propane tank." Steve says, gesturing with his stupid little gloves. "I took care of the driveway for you. And put some ice melt down, brought some firewood up to the door."

"Wait, what?"

"I just picked some up from Melvalds yesterday, it's no biggie--"

"The powers out." Billy grumbles, using the corner of his blanket to scrub at his face. "Shouldn't you be stock piling layers, like the rest of us?"

"'S not so bad at home."

"It's colder in here than it is outside."

Steve jabs a thumb over his shoulder. "Mr. Bane's auditioning to be a starfish on my mattress."

"Push that little fucker over the edge."

Steve leans back, gripping the window ledge with an easy smile. "I could never do that. We have a system--I let him sleep on my bed every night on the condition that he doesn't shit in the hallway anymore." Steve lifts one hand and taps his forehead, pleased as punch. "Work smarter, not harder. Right?"

And that makes Billy blush. Either from the image of Steve's fat Mainecoon running the show or the fact that Steve lets it happen, even on the coldest night of the year.

It's sweet.

Steve's sweet. Like sun tea with extra sugar, just--

"So where does that leave you?" Billy muses, picking at a loose thread on his pillow case just to keep his heart from beating out of his chest. "It's too cold for the floor, and the living room's gotta be drafty, right?"

Steve shrugs, leaning against the window pane and looking over his shoulder, as if daring the ice to fall again. "I have an extra blanket or two, should be alright."

With his head turned that way Billy can see moles--dozens of little chocolate kisses sprinkled over Steve's skin, swirling and disappearing under the hood at his neck.

He's beautiful.

Billy thinks the moles could taste like cinnamon or nutmeg. Hot chocolate with little drops of citrus enriching the flavor--

"You could sleep here." Billy's mouth says.

Steve stares at him, eyes wide, but. Not surprised. Not mean. "Really?" He asks, folding his arms on the window pane and studying Billy's face. Forehead and eyelashes and back again, like maybe this is a joke. "You'd let me sleep on the couch?"

"Sure."

"What makes you think your places' gonna be any better?" Steve demands.

Light.

Teasing.

Billy shrugs again and his stupid blanket slips off one shoulder, revealing a strip of hoodie that may as well be his bare fucking skin, the way Steve's eyes track the movement. Filing it away for some unknown purpose even as Billy rights himself again. He feels every bit like the heroine in those shitty dieback erotica's his mom still reads every Saturday morning. The window lets in gust after gust of frigid air and Billy decides that he isn't going to beg.

"I'm not going to beg," Billy reiterates, though he doesn't sound convinced. "Come sleep at mine or don't, that's--"

"Unlock the front door," Steve says, and then he's gone, rainboots leaving a trail of footprints to show that this was real.

That one night, with ice covering the trees and fields like a blanket of hope, Steve was real.

#harringrove #jaz speaks #it feels good to be writing this one again #I love writing things that have callbacks to weather #it's such an important #often overlooked part of our daily lives #anyway #i hope you enjoy this part!!!

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saltysideblog · 2 years

Text

Delilah's Kill Count: Fever

Author's Note: Delilah's sick :(

Masterlist

On Ao3!

Delilah sat awkwardly at one of the cafeteria's marble countertops.

The stool she sat on was bolted to the floor, so there was no way to make herself more comfortable. The whole room was sleek and modern, steely greys and red glass panels, much like the rest of the LexCorp building. It hardly seemed like a cafeteria at all. Delilah never liked it, even when she worked here. She bounced her leg nervously, the prospect of visiting the lab filled her with anxiety. Bianca placed a comforting hand on Delilah's arm,

"It's just a physics lab. Mostly boring calculations and paperwork."

She laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood. Delilah hummed, playing with the food on her plate. Kale. Ugh. Bianca's face softened and she leaned in,

"Thank you for agreeing to this. I know it can't be easy."

Delilah nodded, her throat felt tight and her voice came out small, "Don't mention it."

They made their way past security, nothing unusual, Delilah had walked past the metal detectors more than once during her time here. Bianca punched in the passcode to the secure elevator and used her card key to access the thirteenth floor. That, Delilah had not seen before. The lab was vast, a blackboard covered in math she didn't quite understand and counters covered in paperwork and computers. Bianca led the way, explaining as she went,

"This is where my team works, see, mostly calculations and paperwork..."

She gestured quickly to a metal door, also passcode protected,

"That's where we do our testing... and this..." she led Delilah to a corner office, the name Dr. Bianca Krill written in gold letters on the window. It was cramped, two desks facing each other filling the small space. Bianca pointed to the tidier desk,

"This is where you'd do most of your work."

Delilah walked around the room slowly. It looked nothing like what she remembered a lab to look like. It was a lot warmer. Cozier. A corkboard was hung on the far wall, full of pictures of Ted and little notes pinned with heart shaped thumbtacks.

Delilah traced the edge of the empty desk with her finger, "What would I even do? I'm not a scientist..."

Bianca turned and tapped a filing cabinet, "You take what's in here", she leaned over and tapped the computer, "and put it in here."

"Data entry." Delilah made the same face she had when Bianca had suggested they eat kale, "Again..."

"No, well... yes. But you'd be more like an assistant." Bianca sat at the cluttered desk, playing with one the pencils there; it was topped with a little rabbit shaped eraser.

"And we'd be working together, wouldn't that be fun?"

Delilah gave a quick glance to the metal door. Something about it made her feel uneasy. "I'll have to think about it." Bianca frowned.

The sales pitch continued over dinner.

That night, however, Delilah fell ill...

Ted smelled something delicious cooking in the kitchen. He rounded the corner and found a pot of soup, bubbling away on the stove. He looked around, making sure Bianca wasn't watching him. He grabbed a spoon and was about to to help himself when his wife scolded him,

"Ted, you know that's not for you!"

He startled, "I just want a taste, chicken noodle is my favourite."

Bianca shook her head, grabbing a container from the cupboard above her, "This batch is for Delilah, she's been awful sick you know..."

Ted sighed, "I know, but can't you spare a spoonful?"

She smiled warmly at him, "No, I'm making this one special, just for her."

Her husband pouted and she laughed, stirring the simmering liquid, "I can make you some later" she pecked his cheek, "Just for you."

Delilah tossed the covers off her body, her shirt soaked in sweat. The last time she felt like this, she was a child...

"It hurts, mommy..."

Her mother shushed her, pushing the hair off her face, "You want to be a hero, don't you?"

Delilah made a sound halfway between a whimper and a sob, "Yes..."

Everything went dark, "Then sit still and be quiet."

She shivered, the fever burning through her like a wildfire. She grit her teeth and curled in on herself, sit still and be quiet... it'll be over soon...

It wasn't until a cool, damp rag was gently placed on her forehead that she felt even an ounce of relief. Bianca cooed sweetly,

"Poor thing... it's one hell of a cold you've got there..."

She wiped away the tears and pulled the blankets back over Delilah's trembling form. "I'll get you some more soup and we'll see how you feel then."

Delilah's fever spiked and her entire world shifted. The straps around her wrists tightened...

"No more, mom, please..."

Her mother's hands felt gentler...

Delilah pulled against her restraints in vain; she was too weak. She tried to open her eyes, but she was blindfolded. Her voice was strangled,

"I don't wanna be a hero anymore..."

Her mother sounded different, "Hush now, sweetheart",

Different... Still familiar...

"I'm making you so much more than a hero."

#idk how well this is gonna go over #alea jacta est #dr bianca krill #what's she gonna do to her 👀#delilah's kill count #delilah #wallflower #the suicide squad #the suicide squad oc #dceu oc #polka dot man #abner krill #fanfic #text #self insert #fever

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darkenedreaper · 4 years

Text

So Was I

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x reader, Avengers x reader.

Warnings: angst, strong violence, language.

Part: 5/5

A/n: I’d like to state that I made up a few lines of poetry and I’m proud of myself.

For the time you had been taken it seemed like your body had been put under severe treatment. At this point you could’ve been gone for months. You recognised the big symbol that was painted onto the wall. Hydra. They had been testing on you, testing on the Avenger. Every day you’d go through a new pain until they found the right one. From what you could catch they were planning on using you as their next super soldier. They had obviously saw the News and what had happened and who did it to you, so they took their chance and succeeded. You were laying back onto the white bed, your arc reactor now had a new red vibranium lining on the outside of it and your new suit which stood beside you, was black, with the logo on the back. You felt stronger, stronger than you would after training, stronger than you would after once pinning Steve on his back. Steve. Steve Rogers, your enemy according to Hydra. And ‘let’s not forget’ they said ‘what that Russian Widow did you to you’. They now began another experiment on you, testing a new serum.

Back at the compound and above the ground. It had been 10 months, 3 weeks, 2 days 6 hours that you had been missing for. To say they were all ashamed would be an understatement.

Steve wanted to get away from his shield, he couldn’t look at it let alone touch it. On his wardrobe floor where he had placed it 10 months ago, it had pieces of the glass from your arc reactor surrounding it. From the impact, some of the glass had melted to his shield. He didn’t want to be reminded of it, but his tears for you couldn’t help but.

Tony nearly drunk his whole cabinet if it wasn’t for Bruce dragging him back to the lab. And then went Tony was alone, the man would cry.

Bruce didn’t want to focus on the thought of you being tortured, which you were or experimented on, which you were. But he did focus on doing everything to find your arc on the map somewhere.

Thor went back to Asgard and he didn’t want back to Asgard and he spat in everyone’s face that he didn’t want to talk to them unless the found you. His mother back at home was increasing getting worried of your absence.

Clint was home aswell to his wife and kids. Laura distanced herself from him whilst he was back there as she thought of you as family. The kids just drew drawings and tried to make their Daddy and Mommy feel better.

Wanda and Vision tried to buck up the team, but they were falling apart themselves and if they didn’t have each other, they’d be lost.

Bucky spent time on his own, he would stay in your room and sit in your chair, hoping you’d walk in the door and do his hair. He felt his arm was tainted but there was nothing he could do about that, so he tried his best to find you with Steve.

Natasha. She wallowed. She was dying inside. She wondered if the heartbreak she was going through was what you felt all those months, creeping around hiding from the team. If it was what you felt when she watched the shield drive into your heart. She didn’t dare go in your room. She couldn’t. She couldn’t look at herself.

She worked night and day trying to track you down, on every mission, in every country, yet all were failures.

They barely spoke to each other now. You affected them massively and they wanted their Y/N back. Whether you hated them or tried to kill them, they’d be so joyful that you were back.

Right now you felt best coursing through your veins and the machine that was attached around your head was slowly vanishing away your memories. You could feel all your knowledge slipping away from you. Your weaknesses being taken over from the amount of power your body had. You yelled out in pain as they would boost it up, clear it was working. A huge flash of light took over the large base and you were listening for your first command. You saw your Commander walk up to your face and he saw the change in your eyes. He snapped his fingers towards the leather straps that had metal chains wrapped over them. And you broke free from them. You hadn’t gotten taller perhaps a few inches, but your muscles were evident as your suit was placed onto you.

You were supplied with 4 guns and 3 knives. Your arc reactor had layers of protective and bulletproof glass coated over it. Now you were unbreakable. You didn’t have a name. You didn’t remember. You don’t remember your friends or if you had any, or any family. All you were focused on was your mission, the Avengers. And your main targets were ‘Captain America’ and ‘Black Widow’.

When you had been brainwashed they had managed to rid of everything except the torture the Avengers put you through. The heartbreak and physical damage. You were given your own jet and a black helmet with a red H on the front and you went off to the compound in search of one of your targets. And it wouldn’t take you long to get there.

Night had fallen at the Avengers compound and they were all in the sitting room. Silently watching a movie that no one was paying attention to. Jarvis seemed upset as he wouldn’t talk to anyone anymore, unless that was because she hadn’t been looked after for months. Friday nearly disabled herself because she was so mad at her boss. If she were a human she’d be looking for you non stop as you often had conversations with the AI.

They had all dragged each other for ‘bonding time’. They were so down and ashamed that no one heard heavy footsteps. Until Bucky picked up on the reflection and he sat up a smile on his face as it could be you.

And around the corner you came, every Avenger jumping up from their seats. No one noticed the Hydra suit because they were so focused on your breathing body. Until Natashas gaze landed on your eyes. She saw it wasn’t you, well it was. But right now you were a Hydra agent trying to kill the Avengers.

“Y/N!” Tony shouted with a big grin on his face. You pulled dour your gun and shot above his head and you would’ve gotten him if it wasn’t for Bucky pulling him away as they all scattered off in all directions. Right now you were behind a man known as Hulk. You were shooting everywhere at everyone who crossed your path or came into view. You were putting multiple holes in walls at once and you put your gun back and instead ran towards the coward and grabbed him t shirt nearly picking him up off the ground. You got out a knife from your thigh pocket and nearly jabbed it into him if it wasn’t for that voice that came from behind you and him.

“Y/N.”

You recognised the voice as Black Widow and she was a main target so you flung the other man into a wall, crashing him into the next room. You ran after her and you were nearly faster than her if it wasn’t for her jumping up into a vent. So you took a gun and starting shooting holes in the vents, hearing scurries of fear through the vents. Your super soldier hearing picked up on a whisper that came from East.

It was Tony and Wanda. They thought they were hidden as Tony was crawling towards the table with his iron fist on.

With one quick shot you blew it up. Wanda tried getting into your head but she couldn’t even get past the thick line of Hydra.

“Come on Y/N I made that! It’s Tin-Man you know me!”

He kept calling out a name you didn’t know and as he hit the wall you took a look at his arc reactor and looked at yours. You saw his hand pout from his to yours.

“The same. You see. It’s Tony.”

You put your hand around his throat and lifted him up, his head hitting the ceiling, and you started punching at his bright light. Groans, pleads and yells at you to stop game from his mouth but you soon threw him to the side aswell, discarding of him while he collapsed onto the floor. Watching you walk away, walking on the glass that had fallen from his reactor.

You went in search for the girl who was trying to break into your head and instead you ran into the man with the metal arm known as the Winter Solider. He was trying to call out your name trying to talk to you but you shut him up by grabbing him arm and jamming a piece of glass into his weak spot where the arm connected to the body. Footsteps were approaching and it was the girl again. You took a knife and held it in the air to jam into ‘Buckys’ throat but your knife was thrown across the room with some sort of red magic around it. You threw the limp body of the other super soldier towards the girl and she was too slow to react as he came crashing down into her.

The compound was a mess, glass everywhere, holes everywhere, a little spark came from a wire where your bullet had hit it.

Vision had also been seen to. He just approached you and you didn’t even acknowledge him so you just drove the bottom of your gun into his temple sending him down, and kicking him out of your way.

You would finish the targets of after you’d found your other two. You went towards the hangar where their jets were stored to see no one around.

Meanwhile, Steve was on his way down to you. His shield in his hands, not strapped onto him arm.

You knew who was behind you and pointed your gun to the troubled and saddened man who stopped in his tracks.

“Y/N. I know your in there.”

You walked up to him and smashed the gun into his face, making him fall onto his side, shield still in his hands. He got up.

“You’re not a Hydra agent. Your Y/N. Our family.”

With a grunt you hit his stomach with your fist, sending him flying backwards. He got up.

“I’m sorry Y/N.”

And now you sent your boot into his chest and made him fall on his back. This time he struggled to get up.

You had punched and kicked him so far bad that you near the edge of the runway, splashed of the water hundreds of feet beneath you. He got up.

“I’m not gonna fight you.”

He tossed his shield away from him, trying to bring you back. His face was bleeding, his back was in agony and his suit was torn because of how far and harsh he skidded backwards.

“Your my friend.”

It was an odd feeling, one you hadn’t felt for months. Did you know him? Steve? No. He was your target right? And you went with your head. As soon as he saw movement from your feet dashing towards him, he didn’t move. If you were to kill him he wouldn’t envy you, he would’ve said he deserves it. His head didn’t hit the ground and he was now on the edge of the cliff with you above him, one fist balled into his suit and the other clenched.

“Your my mission.”

The first time he heard you speak in months and it was this.

After the first punch his eye had already began to close over. The second punch, his facial skin was torn. The third punch, both nostrils began to bleed. “Your.” The fourth punch his lip cut. “My.” The fifth punch, his lip bled out. “Mission!” The sixth punch sent his head lolling around.

You had to stop to consider if what you were doing was right. You knew this man. You knew them all.

“Then finish it.” His voice broke.

“Cause I’ll go with whatever your ordered.”

He even nodded confirming that it was okay for you to kill him.

He was talking about him being your target to kill. You were ready. You were so ready to throw him off the edge of it wasn’t for that voice.

Calling out a name. You turned your head and got up. The red head was standing. Arms crossed. She had fear and tears in her eyes. As soon as you stood quickly her arms unfolded like lightening.

She took a step back as you slowly approached her, getting a knife from your pocket.

“Y/N, this isn’t you. You need to listen to me. Y/N please.”

Your anger had slowly started to build again inside you.

“Stop saying that goddamn name it’s fucking pissing me off.”

Her mouth was bobbing open and closed. She wanted to sob at seeing how you were. She wanted to see those E/C eyes staring back at her instead of the blank ones that had one thing in mind.

“Do you not know me?” She was starting to walk back into the weapons room but she had no intention of doing any harm to you. And if you wanted to beat her and kill her then so be it. She’d let you. Your fist that was empty was slowly beginning to ball up but you couldn’t hit her and why? You didn’t know.

“моя любовь, пожалуйста, послушай меня.”

The Russian sentence of ‘my love please listen to me’.

It caused you to snap and you swung at her face, causing her to groan and stumble backwards.

“Do not tell me to listen to you. I’m not your fucking love.”

She wanted to cup her face as she felt the bruise appearing but that would be selfish after everything you’ve been through.

“Ты понимаешь русский мой дорогой”

‘Do you understand Russian my dear?’

You were never taught Russian at your Hydra base so why could you understand it. You took heavy breathes and you had a confused look on your face because your lip trembled and anger was painted onto your face again. You threw your fist at her again causing her head to snap backwards and blood tricked down her lip.

She was exhausted. The sleepless nights without you, the guilt drowning her. You ran towards her and she put her arms up to defend herself but you were quick to pull them down and you landed kicks to her side and plenty of hard punches to her ribs. By the time she had cornered herself she was sure a rib or two were broken. Her forehead was gashed and bleeding. Her sides hurt like hell and her neck was strained and had knots in the muscles because of how many times her head had flung back from the strength of your fists. You were still standing strong and unharmed and that was when you retrieved your knife again.

“Моя любовь, когда ты вернешься дома, только тогда я буду дышать, моя дорогая, когда ты узнаешь мое имя, только тогда я буду улыбаться. Когда ты вернешься ко мне, только тогда мое сердце поправится.” ‘My love, when you get home, only then will I breathe. My darling, when you know my name, only then will I smile. When you return to me, only then will my heart recover.’

You were lost in thought and you could hear voices just like hers whispering that into your ear late at night or when you had gotten back from a tough mission. You heard other voices. Buck? T? Banner? Wands? Vis? Stevie?

“Natasha?”

She had tears freely falling and she noticed your tight grip on your knife still. She nodded and she slowly approached you limping but smiling to herself as you didn’t tense or move backwards.

“But you hurt me.”

She nodded again as she was in front of you now, subtly slipping the knife from your hand. She took of your helmet and placed it on the floor alongside the knife. She could see it in your eyes. The good and bad memories coming back to you. But she could see hesitance.

“I’m sorry Y/N. I’m sorry. I’m sorry but please stop this. This isn’t you Y/N, it never has been and never will be.”

You took in her words and started to accept her, not yet forgiving her and the team for what they had done to you. She knew you were still going to be a super soldier and she knows her and the teams’ actions were always going to haunt you. She placed her hand on your arc reactor and it felt like home. All she could do was hope. Hope that you still had forgiveness in your heart. Time would need to be taken for you to heal. For the hydra walls to break down. But she would be there for you. She’d do whatever it would take for you to forgive her, for her to get you back.

They all would.

(My gif use as you want)

@natasha-danvers @imnotasuperhero @aaron-despair @confusinggemini612 @thewidowsghost @ecruzsalaz @fcbarcelona-and-marvel-4-life @gaytrashgoblin @capmarvelq @nat-romanoffdanvers @lesbian-x-blackwidow @emilyprentisswife @captain-josslett @fayhar @oblivious-horny-lesbian @trikruismybitch @summergeezburr @username23345 @xxxtwilightaxelxxx

#natasha romanoff #Natasha Romanoff x reader #Natasha Romanoff x reader angst

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cheyningdiamond · 3 years

Text

Nightmarish Trip

TW// Drugs, Angst, Suggestive Mentions, Death, Alcohol Pls do not read if you're easily upset over things like this. Viewer discretion is advised.

It was a hot night out in Nevada. In the bunker, Dallas remained to himself while Roxxie and the rest of the crew were out gathering supplies. The gang knew Dallas wasn’t feeling so well and ushered him to stay put and rest. Dallas however wasn’t pleased with this outcome. He oh so desperately hated being alone… With a heart aching sigh, Dallas decided to sit up and reach under his bed. He pulled out a familiar glass object. Staring down at the pipe, Dallas pulls out a lighter. It probably wasn’t the best thing for him to do, but hey, whatever it took for him to feel less shitty, right? With a few puffs, Dallas set it down on the nightstand next to him and laid back. The demon’s eyelids grew slightly heavy as he watched the world around him spin and change. He felt a bit sick to his stomach. Probably should’ve checked what he was smoking first… He reached his hand up to try and touch the swirling objects around him. They grew bright in color and Dallas’ hand plummeted down to his side as his eyes closed. When he woke up, he was sitting outside. Things seemed strange though. The area he was in… This wasn’t Nevada. The sidewalk he sat on was paved with a reddish-gray color and the skies were more orange-red then they were a deep, dark red. That’s when Dallas realized something. This wasn’t Nevada. This was Hell. He looked down at his feet, seeing the puddle underneath them. It rippled, showing himself in a normal red flannel shirt and jeans. The golden hoop clip-on rings on his horns shimmered in the Hellish lighting. “I-I haven’t seen this shitty outfit in forever…” He mumbled. The puddle rippled more and slowly, he saw two figures behind him. Defensively, Dallas reeled around, only to find a demon with long pink hair and a pink dress, and another demon with black hair and only black jeans. The incubus blinked a few times, staring. “R-Rocks? Diesel??” The pink haired demon smiled and walked closer, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t sweat it. You got us, yeah?” The muscular one spoke up. “Yeah! Forget what that asshole told you. Honestly, You deserve way better than him…” “Him?” He gently took Roxxie’s hand off his shoulder. “Okay, who the fuck is him?? What are you two talking about?” Just then, Dallas was suddenly reeled back by his arms and forced against the wall, shutting his eyes from the impact.. When he opened his eyes, they grew almost as big as tennis balls at the figure before him. The man had a snake-like tail and a devilish grin. He wore a stained white tank top and ripped jeans and held a bottle of alcohol in his hand. “S...Stripes…” Dallas shook his head. No, no no no, he needed out of here. Now! Dallas tried to run, but was grabbed and pulled back. “Augh- fuck! Let go, jackass!” He kicked at him, growling loudly. “Babe…” He spoke calmly, making Dallas shut his eyes tightly. He knew what he was gonna say next. “Fuck, don’t say it. Don’t say it…” He whispered. His blood boiled for just remembering this moment. “I think maybe we should split. You just aren't what I need in my life. I need a better ma…"

Dallas went to turn and slap him, but when he did, he saw Stripes lying on the floor. A chunk of his neck was ripped off and Dallas tasted copper in his mouth and felt a hot liquid dripping down his chin. He looked down at his bloodied lips and his eyes widened as parts of his ex’s flesh were in his mouth. Dallas spat it out, wiping his lips. He felt his body seething with rage, but he couldn’t force himself to attack anymore. Dallas heard sirens similar to screams outside of the house. Everything became hazy and changed around him once more. He came to, staring at his hands. They were handcuffed together and he saw that he was in an orange jumpsuit. He heard talk all around him and looked around. He was in a filled courtroom and he noticed Roxxie and Diesel in handcuffs as well. The bangs of the gavel ringed his ears and made him flinch. “Order! Order!!” Dallas looked up at the judge. Sitting in the witness stand next to the judge was the bitten and beaten corpse of Stripe. He just stood there, staring at Dallas. “Dallas Haze…” The judge’s voice made Dallas glance up at them fearfully. “You have created some terrible crimes, but none can overcome this… Murdering a man of our satanic forces here in Styx City.” “D-Demons can’t die, jackass… He should’ve came back by now! I was framed for him goin' missin'!!” “He had been missing for months now… Who knows what you did with his corpse, you sick bastard…” “I didn’t do shit-!” “ENOUGH!” Dallas flinched as a high-piercing sound rang in the incubus’ ears. “As punishment for your sinful acts, we, the court, have found that even Hell isn’t a fitting punishment… You and your little friend group here will be shot and sent to purgatory, where you will NEVER reunite again!” He slammed his gavel and Roxxie and Diesel panicked. “Dallas!” Roxxie screamed out, trying to run. She was grabbed by the guards and was dragged back. Diesel roared and kicked, hissing and struggling as the guards had mercilessly beaten him until he was unconscious to drag back. “Diesel! Roxxie!” He ran to try and help them, but was jumped and pinned down by the other guards. With a swift, hard punch to the face, Dallas woke up in the interrogation room. Before him was a woman with candy red skin and had a bow on her head. It was Halt… But- how? She was always stuck in the same body as Sloh and Goh… She looked at him with a saddened look on her face. “Dallas… At least tell us where the body is... “ “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! I left his ass at the house!” She shook her head. “You know that ain’t true…” “I’m not lying, dammit!” Dallas barked. “Someone else got him ‘cuz it isn’t me!” Halt’s voice echoed within the cold, dark walls. “We gave you a chance, Dallas… You ruined everything for yourself.” The lightbulb above them blew out and Dallas’ vision returned with him being forced onto the ground with his hands tied to his back. He turned around to see the face of a familiar green demon staring down at him with a shotgun pointed at him. “G-Goh!?” He struggled, trying to break free. His body then suddenly froze as he stared up at the barrel of the weapon. With a roar and distorted voice, Goh snarls. “You dug your grave…” He cocked his gun.

“N O W L A Y I N I T …!!!” With a loud shot being fired, Dallas felt something heavy hit his face. With free hands, he brushed away what had been dirt. He frantically looked around and saw that he was in a deep, open grave. “Wh… Wha- Augh-!” Trying to stand, he was thrown back down by another pile of heavy dirt. He looked up and saw Sloh staring down at him coldly with a dirt-covered shovel in their hands. It was raining and storming now… “Sloh-!” He coughed up dirt that had fallen into his mouth. “No- Nonono this can’t be it…! No-!” He moved the dirt aside and tried to crawl up, scratching at the walls around him to try and escape. “Sloh, don’t…! I don’t deserve this…! I didn’t do anything…!” Sloh looked down at him. One singular yellow eye glowed in the night as a crack of lightning flashed behind them, showing the shadows of the figure’s body. With a cold and monotone voice, they spoke. “This is your fate, Dallas… You were a dead man from the start… You…” They pointed beside his grave, staring at the two other graves he had already buried. “And your friends…” Dallas’ eyes widened at that statement. Tears streamed down his face in horror. He wanted to scream, but he had no words. He stared in shock and his dirty body shook. His body was so cold... He felt so sick… Sloh had no remorse as they shoveled more and more dirt onto him as he screamed and pleaded and desperately tried to crawl out. The dirt covered his view and he was in total darkness. He felt his heart drop and heard it beating slower and slower. Finally, the beating stopped and there was total silence…

At the end of a dark tunnel, a light showed. Dallas’ feet felt like he was walking through wet concrete. He slowly walked towards the light and he could see that the bright white light engulfed his vision. Before him, he saw a familiar figure in a white lab coat standing facing away in the distance. Dallas felt all his stress slowly fade as Jeb stood there, staring off into the distance. “H-Holy shit… J-Jeb…!” He rushed after him, reaching a hand out. “Jeb- I don’t know what’s going on… We need to get the fuck out of here!”

The demon exclaimed, getting about a few feet closer before realizing something was wrong. “Jeb? Jebediah, come on! Christoff!” Jeb’s back suddenly arched all the way back with a sickening cracking noise. His usual red eyes dripping a black substance, as was his nose and mouth. Slowly, the skin on his face melted off, revealing a red skeleton. Just like he had found him ages ago during the war. “Sh-Shit…!!” Dallas backed away, terrified. “Goddammit, get me out of here…!!” He screamed, running away from the mangled figure. His heart raced as black fire spurted out of Jeb’s mouth. Dallas ran as shadows began filling the room he was in. He hit a wall and started to pound his fists against it. “Let me out…!” They got closer.

“Let me out…!”

And closer...

“LET ME OU-…!!!” Dallas’ scream was cut off as the shadows engulfed his entire body, leaving him in darkness once again. … ... ... With a familiar voice, and deep chuckle, dread filled his mind. “͔͇͚́Y͎̘̺͇̙o͈͙̘̞u͍̮̝̪’̸̞͔͍ṛ̨̱̟̪e̡̝̩ ͎͉̩̟̯̗̗ ̵̪͎̳̗ ͏N̴̺̻̗̭̼̬̬O͖̳̫̥̹̻̮T̲͔H̦I̴̯̳̠̮̼̺N҉̭̩͓̬G̹͖̬̝̝ ̹̜̹̟͖ ͉̤̕ ̖t̼o̷̘͙ ̛m̷̜̯̘e̠̪͍̤, ̩͕̜̘͎̫D͖̱̞̥a̡̬̪ḽ̛̬̘̱̮ͅl͎̼͙̖͔͇a̱̳̠̼̺̹̙͞s̀…̩͇̹̙̫̮͜”̨̯̬͉ͅͅ Dallas shot up with a gasp. Clutching his chest, he felt his heart nearly beat out of it. He looked around frantically with a throbbing headache. He was inside of his bedroom, half dressed with only black pajama bottoms on. He panted and shut his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He slowly glanced at the glass bong on his nightstand. A loud shattering sound was heard a few seconds later as the bong made contact with the wall near the door, breaking it instantly with the sheer force of the throw. He breathed heavily, staring down at the broken glass with anger. His hands shaking at the sight as he tried to process what had just happened… He closed his eyes and felt tears slowly running down his face. His head and body throbbed with pain and stress. Dallas pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face in his knees. Dallas wasn’t much of a prayer, but God. He prayed that Roxxie and the gang were safe out there in the hellish lands of Nevada.

#my fics #angst #tw drugs #dallas #diesel #roxxie #auditor #sloh #goh #halt #jebediah christoff #madness combat #i have been making nothing but sadness and i am sorrry-

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neonponders · 3 years

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I FINALLY uploaded again to my first Harringrove fic ever, so here’s an easy way to read ch. 1 since a lot of people here don’t know me from Dracula Has a Mullet haha

Read on ao3 here ~

💋 💋 💋 💋 💋 💋

The discovery that Billy Hargrove is a vampire came at a weird time in a weird way. It’s just not everyday that you walk in on someone fingering Alexandra O’Neil with their teeth—fangs—in her tit.

There were stranger things in Hawkins, unfortunately. Unfortunately? How fortunate is a vampire?

“For fuck’s sake. Really?”

Billy has the grace to extract his freaking teeth with a semblance of being surprised. “I didn’t know you had that kind of mouth, Harrington.”

Steve waves a scolding finger at him with all the gusto of a drunk, and he has the solo cup to justify it. “Put those away! She was homecoming queen last year. Jesus, have some class.”

“You serious?”

Steve downed the last of his beer and Jäger with a grimace, his voice going raspy. “Look, I’m not one to judge a lady’s standards, but really, Alex…Alex?”

The lady in question was so blissed out she looked like one of those unnaturally stupid women in every Dracula movie. Billy actually moved aside as Steve pulled her away from the wall—away from Billy—to try and talk to her. Righting her dress with quick yanks, he covered her gorgeous, if small, breasts and gave her a shake. “Alex! Hey!”

He could hear—could feel it, more like—Billy moving behind him in the dark room. Steve had come up here hoping to claim the guest room before someone used it to hookup from the party downstairs. It wouldn’t be the first time he woke up from a mid-party nap to someone being blown, but sometimes it’s the price one pays for free liquor and an ounce of decent sleep.

“What’s wrong with her standards? Huh, King Steve?”

The voice is right behind him, so close that the damn vampire has to rear backwards when Steve whirls around. “What kind of vamp name is Billy? Wait, that’s short for something—”

“If you call me by anything else, I’ll hang you from the ceiling by your teeth.”

“You’re not charming like vampires,” Steve practically complained. “Gotta work on that. Everyone gossips here. Folks will know you’re toothy like…” He fumbled a clumsy but sharp snap of his fingers.

Billy made a derisive sound before his voice crooned, “Seems like I’m flying just fine under the vampire radar, then.”

He was heaving Alex back up from where she had slumped against the dresser when Steve released her. Steve raked a hand through his hair, thinking. It was a slog through the alcohol, but he surmised that he could not take her away from this guy. Case being: Steve was far too drunk to logically drive, and to where? It was her house.

“You. You gotta go.”

Billy huffed one of his low, mirthless laughs. Instead of setting Alex nicely on the bed, he just kind of dumped her there. She let out a sort of dumb-giddy moan as she face planted a pillow and he faced Steve. “Excuse me?”

“You’re, like, biting people at a party!” Steve realized somewhere between his tone and his slight—or perhaps exaggerated, it was hard to tell at this point—sway, that Billy was far more sober than he felt.

Not the time to play hero but whatever.

Billy slowly stepped toward him. “There’s plenty worse at this shit house than me, Harrington. Worst weed I’ve ever had. And that shit whiskey’s been so watered down, it’s nothing but wheat water.”

“Hey!” Steve was poking two fingers at him before he meant to. “They just renovated the place and I got well paid for the tiling and paint!”

“So you’re the reason everyone’s been tripping over the same spot in the kitchen?” Billy huffed.

“And the whiskey’s not so bad if you chase it with grape juice. It’s like toast and jam water. Whatever, no one’s here for your holier-than-thou, California bullshit!”

Billy was caught by surprise that time. His whole expression lifted, brows and eyes widening as he repeated, “Holier. Than. Thou. That’s the kind of shit you pick up from books. I didn’t know the king could read.”

“Fuck off,” Steve grimaced, really just wanting to get Alex tucked into bed and maybe join her. “You’ve been riding me ever since you got here.”

“I definitely have not been doing that,” Billy retorted and then smiled. “What, you offering?”

“Was she?” Steve cornered, drawing himself up to his full height. Admittedly, not much taller than Billy, but small victories lead to great heights or something.

Billy wiped his mouth and Steve’s eyes plummeted to those lips. “Yeah, she was. She pulled me upstairs, or is that so hard to believe, blue balls?”

“It kind of is, yeah,” Steve said with his hands on his hips. “Alex has asthma. Like, inhaler tucked in her bra at prom in case the slow dance was too much. She’d never get with a chain smoker like you.”

“She would if her high school sweetheart cheated on her with the first college bitch he found.” One of Billy’s eyebrows perked up with his shrug. “I’m a favorite for ladies looking for a rebound.”

Steve grimaced. “Derek cheated? How do you know that?”

“That’s between her and me,” Billy said, stepping forward again. “But I hear you’ve been due for a rebound for a while, Harrington.”

He didn’t want to talk about Nancy. It wasn’t even Nancy, really, but he didn’t want to talk about anything regarding his sex life or lack thereof. Steve diverted, “I want you to leave. Go find someone else to—whatever the hell this is.”

“Well. You’re right here.”

“Not me, dumbass. I told you to leave the house.”

“That’s not gonna happen,” Billy smiled. “What? You’ll let me beat the shit out of you again? We had an audience last time too.”

“I wouldn’t be too cocky about last time,” Steve groaned, beginning to take a step back. “The way I hear it, Jonathan had to mop you off the floor after—”

Billy wasn’t listening. His eyes were on Steve’s neck and the only gut wrenching, instinctive thought Steve had was weapon. It came in the form of a glass lamp, which he wrenched out of the wall to break over Billy’s head.

The hard thud of thick glass hitting before the shatter and glass raining over the floor had Steve gaping at him. Billy stood very still. Way too still. Steve wondered if he had knocked him out, but his legs hadn’t unbuckled yet.

Then Billy lifted dark eyes beneath his mess of a fringe, pupils blown wide. Steve continued to stare at him with the mechanical parts of the lamp still in his hand. “Holy shit, you didn’t even flinch! You’re supposed to dodge when furniture’s coming at you—”

Billy gripped the wrist holding the parts and wrenched him so far that Steve couldn’t react to Billy’s other hand on his pants. Heaving him up by his belt, he slammed Steve onto the table from which the lamp had originated. Music thrummed around them, the very beams in the walls vibrating. Steve defied the laws of his denim pants by folding his leg against his side to kick Billy in the gut. Ragged sounds from both of them went unheard by the party below. Steve slid like a heavy tablecloth to the floor with Billy likewise winded and crouched in front of him.

“Why…” Steve tried, rubbing his chest and hoping his talking lasted long enough for him to decide whether running or trying to pin Billy down was the best decision. “…can’t you just…not do this? Whatever alpha bullshit game you think life is.”

“Some of us don’t want to go through life with your dashing prince crap,” Billy spat.

“You think I’m dashing? I couldn’t tell, I passed out the last time you punched me in the face.”

Billy laughed. “Yeah. You’re just as soft as I remember.”

He was moving again and Steve felt a wild, foolish—downright stupid—thrill to try something else. “You need to leave, man. Really. I know a party of blackout graduates might seem like easy pickings, but Hawkins is different.”

“You don’t know shit about different,” Billy growled. “You’ve never seen grass outside this bum fuck of a town.”

“I’ve been to Disney World. And New York City. There’s gotta be some hospital nurse you can swoon into letting you raid their blood bank?”

He couldn’t tell if Billy was getting angrier or not. The man was always angry, seemed like. “I’m not drinking from a freezer. Now shut the hell up. You’ll enjoy this like your homecoming queen.”

A last ditch effort, diving in the direction of the door, but it wasn’t the first time Billy had been on top of him with murder in his eyes. Steve’s hands fumbled at Billy’s face, but then his wrists were pinned above his head and a panicked whine escaped as Billy’s hot, humid breath found him.

Steve went slack. They always do. Billy had figured out that something in his teeth or saliva sedated those he bit, and more. A whole lot more. It made a good flirt into a hell of a time. Alexandra of the Hawkins Homecoming Court had already come on his finger when Steve, of all people, waltzed right in.

It made hunting annoying. It made hunting fun. He had to be picky; didn’t want anyone he couldn’t look at for longer than three minutes moaning all over him while he tried to feed. His looks did most of the work. The right dash of charm here, a nice compliment there, and then his fangs did the rest.

Steve was hard under him. Billy felt the distinct push of his jeans against his own ass while he slid his fingers under Steve’s nape. Lifting his neck, he made sure the moron’s windpipe stayed open, as well as lifted his meal closer to his mouth—

A strange sound came from Steve. Billy’s eyes flicked to his face, but when that labored breathing sound happened again, he sat up and stared. Steve was crying.

This had never happened before. Those doe eyes that all the girls had ranted about when he first drove into Hawkins were red and squinted as moisture slid over his temples. Billy even checked to make sure he wasn’t sitting too heavily on his dick or something, but the gears of his brain slid into place.

Steve usually wore sunglasses at parties. Billy couldn’t help but huff a laugh. “Are you a drunk crier, Harrington? Hey, I’m talking to you.”

He gripped Steve’s jaw, but his whole head lolled, those eyes barely finding him through the daze. “I just wanna sleep,” he said quietly. Fresh tears raced into his hair as he passed out.

#harringrove #vampire!billy #pondermoniums #neonponders #fic rec #season 3 rewrite #dracula has a mullet

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mazzy-moon · 3 years

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A Lone Butterfly - Chapter 1

Title: Chapter 1 ~ Captive

Word Count: 1650

Warnings: Mentions of kidnapping and brief descriptions of violence. Allusions to rape. Overall this story has some pretty heavy subject matter.

Pairing: Javier Peña (Narcos) x Isabel Cotrille (OFC)

Summary: Isabel is captured by the cartel and seeks to find a way out.

Notes: This chapter is not explicit, but things may get spicy in later chapters. Go to my blog for more chapters. I will post chapters every few days as I finish writing them. If you take the time to read this, thank you so much! Would love feedback if you are so inclined.

I wake up to my hands tied above my head. The thin cord of rope gnaws against the tender skin of my wrist, immobilizing me. A numbing ache runs through my head as I tilt my eyes back to find the binding. The skin of my wrists are rubbed practically raw and every tiny movement of my hand is torture. I force movement anyway, pushing through the pain. My numb arms start to wake up also, and with it comes stinging soreness. I've been trapped like this for quite a while. I start to panic. Where am I? How will I get out of here? I have to get out. I have to. I wriggle my wrists against the binding desperately, immediately regretting it. The pain travels down from arms into my shoulders. I groan, not being able to keep quiet. I wish for the oblivion of sleep to relieve me once again.

Through tears, I look down at my scantily clad body. Bruises. I'm covered in them. A canvas of blueish purple splotches appear on my chest, and my upper thighs. One larger area, darker than the others covers the skin underneath my breasts. I take a sharp breath in and muffle a scream at the pain. I'd broken a rib, at least one anyway. I do my best to shove the pain away to a place at the far reach of my mind. I can't let it distract me. I have to get out of here. For a few minutes I just sit, taking soft breaths, willing myself to be strong. My memory slowly but surely comes back into focus.

I remember fighting. Kicking, screaming, punching until I was completely devoid of the energy to do anything at all. I remember rough hands shoving me onto the threadbare mattress, pinning my arms down. The same mattress I am on now in this dark, cement walled room. I try to remember the time before this black hole of a room. How the hell did I get here? Pieces of my memory come to me as images flash through my head like a scrapbook.

I'm driving along an empty country road. Where was I going? Two men in workers uniforms stand before me. A rusted vehicle. An accident. Did they hit me or did I hit them? Squirming between two sets of iron hands forcing me in the back of the van. Pushing. Shoving. Both from me and him. Hands. Hands on me while I'm in a half daze. Waking up in a room similar to this one, only there's no mattress just a cold concrete floor. I can still feel it chilling my exposed skin. A man is there above me. Forcing myself to stand, to fight. Blinding pain as he throws me back on the ground. A punch to the temple. Darkness.

I will myself to focus on something else, anything else. I can't force the unrelenting memories away, but if I don't forget them for now I won't be able to figure out how to get out of this nightmare that has become my reality. I survey the small space as my eyes start to adjust to the dim lighting. A small wooden desk placed near the pallet I'm on holds a lamp. There's concrete floors here, too. No windows though, and I realize the faint light illuminating the room comes from a crack beneath the door.

I freeze. Noises come from somewhere outside. I make out a hoarse male voice, speaking harshly in Spanish to someone. I try to decipher what's being said but my Spanish is limited to a few a phrases. A few seconds pass and loud grunting noises intensify as I realize what must be taking place somewhere not far from me. Is a there a room beside me? Is there another girl here? How long before someone comes in my room? I'm terrified to find out. I hear feminine cries and lose some of my hope.

What if I die here? I will never see my mother again. She can't lose me and my father. I won't let it happen. She must be worried sick. How long has it been that she hasn't known where I am? With no siblings, and no other family left we are all each other has. I left my apartment in the states after my father was killed to stay with her here in Columbia. Now she will be all alone.

I continue to breathe slowly in and out to keep from trembling.

"Focus, Isabel," I whisper to myself.

I attempt to inch up into a sitting position. It's tortuous. Everything hurts. It seems as if every muscle in my body has been pulled, and I catch an achy feeling between my legs that I choose to ignore. My shoulders introduce me to a new kind of agony as I shift them and the rest of my torso upright. My sense of time is nonexistent, but from the suffocating ache spreading from my shoulders, down my arms, and through my back I realize I must have been contorted like this for many hours. Once my rear is almost flush with the wall, I allow myself a break. Tears cascade down my face at the pain from my ribs. Determined, I peer over at my bound wrists. They're tied to a metal rod protruding from the wall on my right side. Immediately, I start rubbing my hands back and forth against the rod, hoping the friction will disintegrate the cord. I keep at it for what seems like an eternity, but must have only been around five minutes. The rope doesn't budge.

I search for an alternative solution. My eyes hunt for something sharp enough to cut through the ties. That's when I spot something purple lying on the ground. Flung a few feet from the desk is a pair of underwear I recognize as my own. A wave of nausea cascades through me, and I almost throw up. The realization of what's been done to me sinks me into a fury of grief and anger. A silent sob escapes me and I can't breathe. My throat threatens to close up, and the air in the room feels sticky against my skin. I brace myself for some violent memory, but it doesn't come. Maybe I was knocked into unconsciousness. Maybe that's why I can't remember. I suddenly feel the urge to escape my body, to be somewhere else. I want to scrub layers off of my skin until I'm clean again. I float off for a second and force myself back into reality. I have to stop. There's no time to process what I'm feeling right now, and I have to get out of here. The new wave of anger makes me even more determined and I take advantage of it. There's nothing sharp that I can tell, nothing to cut through the rope that is nearly cutting off my circulation. I'll have to be more creative. I glance at the desk lamp to my right. There's no lampshade, just an exposed bulb. My right wrist is within inches from it. I lift my feet from the mattress and onto the cold floor. I stand up, hands still bound to the wall.

I mutter a curse as my ribs scream at me again from the movement. I position my arm in order to attempt to use the force of my elbow to crack the glass bulb against the brick wall. It doesn't work. I try again, and again, and again. The fourth time I gather strength from a place I can't comprehend, and manage to crush the glass bulb. Now there's nothing protecting the exposed filament from it's surroundings. I hunch myself over so that the base of the lamp is between my shoulder and the side of my face. The position of my body is awkward and painful, but I'm able to angle the lamp so that the lit filament comes in contact with the rope. It's working. The rope is turning to ash against the heat. I cry in relief as the scorching wire sizzles at my skin and the rope breaks free.

The victory gives me a rush of adrenaline, but I still have to figure out how to get out of this hell hole. I look down and see that I'm still in the outfit from the day the van hit me. My pale orange sundress is filthy and ripped nearly to my hip. I remember having my denim jacket on that day, but it is nowhere to be found. I look around for shoes to cover my bare feet, those are missing also. Okay, so I was going to have to do this barefoot and barely clothed.

Male voices approach outside my door and I scoot to the small space behind the door. There's no place to hide in here, and I don't know what I'll do if one of them comes in.

The footsteps grow louder and then fainter as they pass by my room. I wait until I can't hear them anymore, then let go of a nervous breath. Carefully, I try at the door knob. It twists underneath my hand. The idiots actually left it unlocked. I let go of the knob and scan the room once more, this time looking for some kind of protection to take with me. I know my options are limited, but I can't go out there with nothing. Who knows who or what I'll run into. I run over to the desk and quickly open the small drawer. Nothing. I swallow hard. My eyes fall to the ground and settle on the shattered glass from the lightbulb. One jagged piece is larger than the others. I pick it up and head back to the door. I listen for voices or footsteps once more. Nothing. I ease the door open and step outside.

#javier pena #javier pena fic #narcos #javier pena imagine #javier pena fanfiction #narcos fanfiction #pedro pascal #pedro pascal fic #a lone butterfly series #javier peña

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corpse--diem · 3 years

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Nowhere Is Safe | Luis, Bex & Erin

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @ontheluis @inbextween LOCATION: The Moose Caboose SUMMARY: The unsuspecting patrons of the Moose Caboose become the hunted. CONTENT WARNINGS: Gore, domestic abuse tw (brief mention)

The lights of Moose Caboose shown in the gathering dusk, tables and taximery stark against the hazy shoulilete of the darkening treeline. Luis peered from the darkness of the trees, blue eyes aglow with reflected light as he watched prey move around the bright space. The werewolf began to move amongst the underbrush, his hulking form drawing closer to the source of two-legged meat.

Erin didn’t know how she kept ending up back at the Moose Caboose. Morbid curiosity, she assumed. Somehow it’d grown on her, little by little, until it held a comforting familiarity that a place like the Moose Caboose never should have acquired. There were good memories here. The kind she didn’t mind reflecting on while sipping on their take of a Moscow mule, losing the staring contest she was having with the taxidermied beaver posed above the bar. The drink was stronger than the original, and with the moose head shaped cubes bobbing around inside, it was a little easier to swallow the campiness they wholeheartedly embraced. Didn’t mean she wasn’t going to warily eye the abnormally perky smiles plastered to the employee’s faces as they buzzed about. That part was still off, but maybe that mystery was part of its draw for her now too. Martin was still here, the ever vigilant manager (his recent promotion was well-earned), and no visit was complete without at least one moose-pun exchanged between the two.

“By moose, Ms. Nichols, we thought you’d forgotten all about us silly beavers!” After chirpily apologizing that her order was delayed, and that the Moscow Moose-le in her hands was on the house, he departed just as cheerily. She didn’t have time to reflect on the fact that he knew her by name now or how that made her feel by the time the shrill scream brought the entire dining room to an eerie hush. She couldn’t see what was happening but she could hear it. Destruction sounded the same everywhere.

All Bex was supposed to do was deliver the forms to the manager at the Moose Caboose. An easy task, a simple task. Her mother had drawn a stern look on her face as she’d handed the manilla envelope over and stared Bex square in the eyes as she gave her the instructions. It was a simple task, one even she could do. One her mother trusted her with. Bex ran her hands over the paper as she hurried down the street towards the restaurant. Her nerves still ate at her like acid, wondering which alley Frank was going to pop out of and grab her or stab her or whatever else he felt like doing. But Dani had said the police came and picked him up and her mother had reassured that he’d be taken care of. So Bex was safe. She was safe, especially squeezing through a crowd in the Moose Caboose’s bar, before she got to the counter and leaned over, asking for the manager, giving her name. The man behind had stiffened and hurried off and Bex turned to scan the crowd, as if waiting to see a familiar face. Mina or Morgan or Nell. They weren’t there. She’d left them behind, of course they weren’t there.

Then the scream happened. It sounded strangled at first, as if the person screaming wasn’t sure they should be screaming. But after a long moment, it rose in pitch and ferocity, and then more people were screaming outside and a low roar sounded from the front of the restaurant. Bex knew that sound, she’d know it anywhere. Her eyes locked with the monster as it rounded the corner, blood already dripping from its mouth. Her legs gave out underneath her. No, this wasn’t happening again. No, this couldn’t be happening again.

Luis stepped over the hollowed ribcage of a man who’d gone outside for a smoke at the wrong time, licking gore from his lips. For the span of a few breaths the werewolf simply watched the panicking patrons of the Moose Caboose, like a primeval reminder of eons past looking back on soft modernity with nothing but uncomprehending hunger.

Then Luis was bursting through the window in a wave of shattered glass. A young girl sitting close to was nearly swallowed whole as the werewolf charged in mouth agape. A snap of Luis’ closing jaws left a screaming mother holding only her daughter's severed legs, just a moment too late to pull her to safety. A waiter desperately tried to shield the shellshocked mother with his own body, but such valor just provoked Luis’ to jump over the window’s dining booth with a grace that belied his hulking form. The werewolf easily pinned both the mother and waiter beneath his paws. The sobbing woman barely reacted as the waiter crushing brain matter dribbled onto her face from above. She was still cradling those little severed legs as Luis’ maw descended again and opened wide to silence her grief.

Run, Erin’s mind screamed at her. RUN! Her legs wouldn’t--couldn’t obey the simple command. The sound of bones crunching and flesh tearing between too sharp teeth overwhelmed all good sense. She’d seen these creatures before but only when they were lying on her embalming table, rendered harmless, her hands and her scalpel taking what was needed. Not like this. Never like this. Something snapped awake and she realized how dangerously close the werewolf had come. Her feet finally moved in the opposite direction, only getting a few feet before tripping over something--someone. For a moment, she thought she’d stumbled upon a body, but the young woman’s breathing was labored and panicked despite her lack of motion. “Up--get up. Now,” she urged hastily. There wasn’t time for gentle coercion. Grabbing her by the arms, she tugged her with her, shoving when she needed. Some of the crowd had filtered towards the kitchen. It was closer than the exit from here and surely there was somewhere in there to hide, or another door in the back to flee from. She took her chances, pulling the girl along, praying for her sake that she could pull herself together.

Crunching, snapping. Bones giving way under teeth and flesh tearing apart under claws. Bex remembered it well. Blood flowed like fountains. Bits of human devoured in single gulps. This beast was larger than Kyle. More feral. She couldn’t hear the voice in his head, but she was sure of what he was thinking. Prey, hunt, kill. Her entire body stayed frozen. Maybe if she didn’t move, he wouldn’t see her. Maybe if she stayed still, he wouldn’t kill her. But then someone was yanking on her, pulling her up. Bex looked at her and didn’t recognize the woman’s face. She looked just as panicked as Bex felt, and yet she was moving. How was she doing that? Bex’s gaze turned back to the wolf just in time to watch him devour the childless woman nearly whole. Her stomach lurched. Panic became a new kind of magic inside of her and she stumbled as she was shoved towards the back. Her arms reached out to grasp the wall for support, and she saw it, the bracelet on her wrist. This one, Nell had pointed out, will make you invisible. To escape, to run away. This one, she tapped the next bead, will make a shield for you. In case running didn’t work. And this one, the last of the three, makes a magical binding rope. To subdue someone if everything else failed. Bex looked back at the woman who was shoving her along, to the people fleeing in all different directions. And then her eyes met the wolf’s, and the world dissolved from a bar to an alley and in a moment of sheer panic, Bex shouted, “RELEASE!” and disappeared. The world around her, however, did not. The screaming, the blood, the destruction, it was all still there. Always there.

Luis snatched an older woman who’d been struggling to get into her walker as more spry individuals panicked past her. Blood spread out across the lady’s flowery blouse where the wolf held her torso. Her thin hands batted vainly at the enormous wolf’s face, wane cries for help drowned out by the dark bile rising up from punched organs. With an flick of the head the Luis swallowed the gentle woman down, unconscious of the smiling photographs of children becoming parents and having children of their own scattered across the shattered remains of her table.

Tears traced the deep laugh lines of an elder’s face as he looked up at Luis, wet eyes alighting on a familiar hand protruding out from between the monster’s teeth. Even amidst the severed tendons and blood a small diamond of wedding ring still sparkled in the restaurant lights, as if half a century of love had been reified to shine in one final defiance against the world’s senseless brutality.

The venerable gentleman let his cane fall to the ground as Luis gulped down the last remnants of his wife. He reached down for a fallen dinner knife with hands that shook with palsy. Each movement was painful, but resolve brought firmness to his grip. The grandfather rose painstakingly back up to his feet to see the back of giant brown-furred form shredding a downed man apart with its forepaws like a dog tearing at a rug. Closing his tear-reddened eyes for a moment and mustering one last burst of strength, the old man crossed the room in uneven strives and drove the knife into the muscle of one of the werewolf hind leg with everything he had left in him, a beloved name on his lips.

Luis felt an annoying pinprick as the unsilvered blade found purchase. The werewolf brought a hind leg up as if to absently scratch at a flea. One gasp and wet crunch later, the itching ceased.

The werewolf’s ears flicked up at a purposeful shout amongst the growns of the dying, incoherent screams,, frantic whispers, and hysterical sobbing. Luis circled around one of the few tables left standing in the moose caboose, slick livid intestines dangling from his teeth.

Blue lupine eyes scanned for the source of the sound and settled on a departing Erin.

Luis burst into the run after her, covered half the distance in a single stride before launching into a pouncing leap, gore-caked maw yawning open.

Erin may have been more prepared than the average citizen to stomach the gory scene but this? It made the man who’d thrown human organs at her and Blanche’s feet seem like utter child’s play. This was ruthless, relentless destruction. This was a massacre. What shook her most was the sounds--the horrific screams, bones and limbs snapping like twigs, the wet slap of flesh hitting the ground. Fighting was useless. Running was starting to look bleak. All she could do was watch the horror unfold and keep pushing forward, hoping she was faster than the guy behind her at the very least. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get the picture of the distraught, screaming mother clutching the severed remains of her child. Likely a short memory, if she was being truthful with herself here. For the first time since she’d stood toe to toe with Roy, Erin wasn’t positive she was going to make it out of this one. And still, it hungered for more. The wolf’s gaze locked onto her. She couldn’t breathe. “Go, run,” she started to say, though the words grated along her throat like they were shrouded in barbed wire.

Suddenly, the younger woman who’d been paralyzed moments before was shouting. And then she was gone. But--she wasn’t? Her eyes widened, screaming the question marks she didn’t have the ability to communicate herself. What the fuck? Erin could still feel where her fingers clenched around her forearm. A blur of blood-caked fur and teeth dripping with entrails flew through the air. She couldn’t think, couldn’t run. Couldn’t scream if she tried. All she could do was raise her arms above her face and brace for the impact.

Even if Bex was invisible, the world around her was not. The horrors being committed were not. She wished they were. She wished the world around her would melt away and maybe she’d wake up because maybe this was just a nightmare and maybe there wasn’t a wolf staring her down like prey. Prey. Hunt. Kill. Prey. Hunt. Kill. Bex yanked at her arm in the other woman’s vice grip. She wanted to run. She needed to run. She’d told Mina she’d run. Her feet dug at the ground, but she couldn’t get her to let go. She couldn’t get her to move anymore. Bex snapped back to her side when she tried to run, stumbling into her. She was invisible still but the woman wasn’t moving and the wolf was charging right for them. Bex looked at him and saw only Kyle. Red eyes glowing, even if this wolf’s eyes were blue. They were blue. They were blue.

Fur and paws and snarling teeth soared through the air in a bound at them. The woman wasn’t moving. Bex had to do something. She had to do something. She had to protect her. She had to-- she lifted her arm again and wrapped herself around the other woman, before tapping the next bead in the line. “RELEASE!” She’d expected a wall to come up in front of them, perhaps even an actual shield. That’s what Nell had told her it was, a shield. Maybe Bex had even imagined a real shield popping up in front of her like it did in video games. But, no. Instead, a shimmering bubble appeared around the two of them, encapsulating them like one of those toys from the quarter machines at the arcade. Her surprise only lasted a moment, before teeth and claws bashed against the barrier. They were knocked back, ball and all, crashing into the bar. Glasses shattered and bottles toppled. Bex fell back against the wall of the bubble, stunned. She watched as the wolf tore at the bubble, confused and angered by the barrier now keeping him from his next meal. The bubble began to be pushed backwards, towards the doorway. It crunched against the wood and seared through it and Bex reached back up for the woman, already feeling the exhaustion seeping into her bones. She let go of the invisibility and tugged. “W-we-- we gotta go! We gotta go! I don’t know how l-long it’ll hold. We gotta run!” She looked back at the wolf and tried not to see Kyle. She looked back at the wolf and tried not to see imminent death.

Luis threw himself against the brightness, ignoring the glass shards and charred fragments of wood that’d been torn through the Moose Caboose. Red dilated veins rimmed Luis’ eyes as even hunger was swallowed up in unreasoning fury. His primal mind couldn’t understand the heat and shining sphere. It didn’t smell like anything. Prey was inside it but not. The werewolf’s instincts felt that it shouldn’t be real, just a trick of sunlight.

Luis slammed against the luminous barrier, blindly using the sheer weight of his hulking frame, slashing at it with claw and fang, anything to make it stop being between him and the prey. The shield shimmered with each blow, the fluctuation flickering a little longer before solidifying again. Luis tore into the magic with sheer rabid frenzy, jawing wide and panting as he devolved a snarling dervish of blood-soaked fur.

The wolf pounced but the blow never came. Erin still couldn’t see the girl but she’d shouted again, summoning some sort of protective globe around them both. She didn’t know how or why, but it worked. Try as he might, the wolf couldn’t touch them, with every failed attempt only succeeding in pissing it off further. They had to go. Erin’s mind caught up with her, shaky hands reaching to help the girl along, who was very visible again. “R-right, yeah. Come on,” she started, her eyes glued to the snarling beast. She tested a few steps, making sure that whatever magic that was protecting them stayed in place as they moved. To her relief, it did. “I don’t know what you did, kid, but I can’t tell you how glad I am I didn’t leave you for puppy chow earlier,” she muttered. The crowd had all but emptied, those who hadn’t succumbed to the beast’s hunger and strong jaw had fled with their lives intact. “Is this thing going to make it to the parking lot with us?” Erin asked, yanking the handle on the door open, watching the way it flickered, it’s strength visibly wavering each time the wolf charged.

The wolf slammed and slammed and slammed. Bex tugged on the woman again as she finally snapped back to life and started pushing on Bex again. Weak knees shook as she stood and started running, the magic bubble surrounding them following as it emanated out from the bracelet. With each flicker, Bex’s heart rate increased. WIth each swipe of a paw or slam of a body, her mind rattled. She was focusing too hard on not falling back into that dark alley way, with red eyes and blood stains and silence, that she hadn’t been paying attention to where they were going. They stumbled out the back and into the street and police cars were screaming around the corner. People had fled into the street and farther away, screaming all the way down to the end of the road. Ambulances were skidding to stops near those covered in blood, or screaming in pain, and it felt less like an escape from a singular werewolf, and more like the scene of a catastrophe unfolding. Bex stumbled, tripped, falling on her hands and knees, scraping them against the ground.

The wolf was still following them, out into the backstreet. If it turned and went into the main street, more people would die. She couldn’t let that happen. Despite the fear choking her, she wouldn’t let that happen. She stood back up, smearing blood on the inside of the bubble and grabbing the woman’s hand. “We gotta-- this way! A-away from--” but she didn’t have time to explain. The wolf was coming. She only had half of a plan, but it was better than none. She had one spell left, and that, too, was better than none.

Luis’ ears flicked at the sound of approaching sirens, something that’d become very familiar on the scenes of his hunts. While he didn’t comprehend any greater meaning to the flashing light and warbling sounds, Luis’ primal mind instinctively associated them with danger and stinging metal after many firsthand experiences when migrating from the warmer south. He let out a low canine huff of frustration at being led away from the greater mass of prey only for flashing loud metal to arrive and make them harder to reach.

One of the prey he’d be harrying in the brightness stumbled, the smell of her blood snapping Luis’ full attention back to the pair. The werewolf leapt onto a low roof of one of dingy houses that lined the backstreet. Weathered shingles snapped and tin sheets shuddered under giant paws as Luis lopped along the skyline, effortlessly leaping from rooftop to rooftop in an attempt to flank his prey.

Spotting what instinct judged to be an opening, Luis bounded across a storage unit’s dull peak to leap down at the prey from above.

Erin picked the right girl to yank off the dining room floor in the middle of a massacre. She was usually better at this--thinking on her feet, planning, direction. But this? She had no advantage. She had no plan. Like the dozens of crying, frightened people running for their lives, she was in panic mode with the image of children’s limbs torn from their bodies and elderly women being mauled in the middle of the fucking Moose Caboose flashing behind her eyes. Help was on the way. The sirens blared in the distance, adding to the overwhelming chaos. This kid seemed to know what she was doing, she’d kept Erin alive so far, so she nodded and trusted where her head was at. And where the magical bubble that kept those teeth away from her insides. But it was still coming. The thunderous pounce from above followed, looming above them like a ravenous shadow. So Erin did the only thing she could. She ran, gripping the girl’s hand, realizing how quickly she was outpacing her. “Hey, don’t slow down on me now, kid. We’re almost out of the woods,” she panted, pulling her harder, slowing down just a little bit but the wolf was close. Too close to stay at this pace for long. And she was right. A crash from the roof on the building beside them forced her eyes up once more. Fuck. Fuck. Not again. They’d been so close. So close to getting away. Maybe at least one of them still could. Erin swallowed hard, shoving the girl forward. “Go!”

Risking someone else’s life probably wasn’t up to hunter code, but Bex wasn’t a hunter, and she wasn’t a sideways hunter, either, like Mina, so she supposed this would have to do for now. They ran down the back street as the wolf pounced from roof to roof in hot pursuit. Bex remembered the heavy pounding of Kyle’s claws as he’d chased her out of the alley, as his claws had dug into her chest. She felt her breath catching in her chest, tightening, trying to drag her down and pull her back into that darkness. The older woman was pulling her along behind her but Bex’s eyes stayed glued to the wolf behind them. When he leapt, she tried to pull back, but suddenly she was being shoved forward. “No-- no!” she stumbled, turned to watch in horror as the wolf descended upon the woman and the bubble followed Bex. “No!” she fell onto her back, scrambled for her bracelet. “Release! RELEASE!” she shouted loudly, grabbing the last bead and aiming it at the wolf. Chains sprouted from the bead like a rocket, wrapping up the wolf’s legs first. More sprouted out and snagged its maw, and Bex watched as the body tumbled to the ground and skidded to a halt just inches away from her and woman. The bubble petered away and Bex scrambled forward again, her vision already blotting and dripping away from her. “We have…” she huffed, “we have to go.” She grabbed her hand and tugged. “We have to…” But her legs betrayed her and gave out beneath her weight and she collapsed back to the ground. A red stain spotting the place where stitches had come undone in all their frantic movements.

Luis strained against the chains coiling around him. Foam and blood slid along the links of solidified energy as the werewolf struggled. He howled in rage at the departing prey, straining at the chains. Little by little, Luis fought against the constricting force of the spell. A rasping groan like metal giving way filled the backstreet as inhuman muscles tensed and the hulking quadruped frantically shifted around to find any point of leverage against the arcan constraints. Thrashing and snarls were followed by the ominous pop of a single link giving way

This kid saved Erin’s ass, again, in another last minute bout of divine intervention. Or, magical intervention was more like it, she supposed. She didn’t think too hard about the contradicting feelings that swooped in at the thought. Just that she was alive, they both were, staring down the snout of a bound, snarling beast at her feet. Jaws snapping uncomfortably close. She didn’t remember hitting the ground, just that she was shuffling back to her feet as the wolf grew desperate. “That’s what I’ve been saying,” Erin started, looking up just in time to see the girl crumple. “Oh, shit,” she murmured, running to her side. The chain holding it back popped and Erin shook her shoulders, gently pulling at her arms. “C’mon, c’mon,” she pleaded with her. “I need you to get up, kid. You just said, we’ve gotta go--” Another pop sounded behind them. Fuck it. There wasn’t time. Placing the girl’s arm over her shoulder for support, Erin wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled the barely conscious woman to her feet. Spared only one last glance at the struggling creature as metal popped during its violent thrashing. It didn’t sound like it would hold much longer but two were long gone before they’d ever have to worry about--Erin made sure of it.

#wickedswriting #chatzy #chatzy: luis #chatzy: bex #domestic abuse tw #(brief mention)#chatzy: nowhere is safe

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saiilorstars · 3 years

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Rise Up

Ch.10: A Jinx's Path

Previous Story: It Had To Be You || Current Masterlist

Pairings: Barry Allen x OFC

Chapter Summary: Team Flash and Arrow join together, along with time traveler Graciela Haynez to defeat Vandal Savage. It's only in the end that Graciela reveals the true nature of her status.

This chapter (and the previous) serve as a prequel to Graciela’s full story Redemption.

Pronunciation of OC: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles [If you’d like to be part of this OC’s taglist, let me know!]

Visiting Star City when it was due to some strange, mystical man wasn't exactly on Barry's top five things to do. Yet there he was because an innocent woman was being hunted down by the mystical man. At least he could be surrounded by friends who would be able to help him in case something went wrong.

While everyone came up with a decent plan for Kendra Saunders, they gathered in Oliver's apartment for some drinks that night. Barry had listened to how much had changed for both Felicity and Oliver, and honestly couldn't hide his shock.

"So, you're the CEO of Palmer Technologies," Barry pointed to Felicity Smoak as he wrapped his mind around the idea of Felicity being big boss as a company, "And you're now living with Oliver Queen."

"There you go, you got it!" Felicity sarcastically hit him on the arm.

"It's insane how much life can change in six months, huh?"

"Which you would know better than anyone, considering that there's another Flash, another Dr. Wells, from another... earth. I mean…" but as much as Felicity tried wrapping her mind around a new Earth it just wouldn't. "I wonder what Oliver's doppelganger would look like. Bald, pot-bellied…" Barry laughed at the idea and sneaked a glance at Oliver in the kitchen. "Haven't asked, how are you and Belén doing?"

"Uuh...I mean, we're good," Barry meant to be honest in that in terms of being a couple they were indeed good, but there were some rough patches that didn't exactly pertain to their relationship.

"I sense there's a 'but' somewhere there…" Felicity narrowed her eyes on him, ready to scrutinize him on the spot.

"It's not about us, it's just we're dealing with...you know...other world and stuff."

"Oh…" that seemed to calm Felicity more or less.

"I love her and I hate seeing her so stressed... I want to help her but I don't know how." And Barry despised that fact. He had the answers to his speed because there were people to train him, even if some of those were evil, but the fact laid in that he garnered the skills because of guidance. Belén didn't have that. To find the answers, she was basically on her own.

~0~

While everyone mingled, Cisco took opportunity to have a word with Barry on the side. He hadn't been sure if he wanted to tell Barry what he saw but Cisco was sure it would inevitably help Kendra in the end.

"You 'vibed' Kendra?" Barry was surprised to hear.

"Unintentionally," Cisco left that clear before he went on. "But remember the man with wings? It wasn't a man. It was Kendra. She was, like, a bird. You think that she's a meta-human?"

Barry could not be sure, and neither was Cisco. "Mm... Wait. Why didn't you say anything about this sooner?"

Cisco gave a light shrug. "Well, I didn't think it was related, but I guess now it has to be. Look, I don't want her to know about my powers. I have this great thing going with her. She laughs at my jokes, and she loves movies, and... I just... I've never felt like this before, and I don't want to sabotage it."

"I get the feeling," Barry could honestly relate.

"Look!" Kendra had jumped from her seat to point at the glass wall overlooking the city.

Vandal Savage was swinging forwards and broke through the window. Everyone backed away as the man got up. He certainly seemed at home when he saw Kendra. " I will always find you, Chay-Ara."

Barry sped Oliver and Thea their arrows. Oliver quickly took aim on Savage. "Don't move."

"Then how will I kill you all?" Savage pulled out several pocket knives in a second and threw them strategically at them all. Barry sped down and managed to get the knives before they were able to hurt anyone.

Oliver then took his moment to shoot arrows towards Savage. The intended victim ducked and dodged like there was no tomorrow. At the same time, a familiar purple and black leathered figure swooped in through the hole Savage left on the wall. With one leg stretched on the floor and a hand keeping her from falling, Jinx shot her purple beams at the lights above and caused massive sparks to fly down on the group.

"You again?" Savage faced her, fairly curious with the persistent women.

"Me, again," Jinx smirked as she straightened up. "We weren't finished."

"We weren't," Savage didn't hesitate to start throwing more blades her way.

She backtracked while dodging them all with those bright purple beams that seemed to either change the blades' direction or crush them altogether. Oliver and Thea joined again, although neither was sure who that woman was, and shot more arrows towards Savage. Jinx dropped her hands and ran forwards to engage Savage in hand-to-hand combat. She proved to be skilled as she jumped and blocked Savage's punches while throwing one of her own. Finally, Savage became agitated it was all taking too long and surprised Jinx with a different, golden chopped knife. It would have came straight at her heart if Barry hadn't sped in and grabbed it three inches away from her. In her shock, Savage took his opportunity and escaped by jumping off Oliver's balcony.

"No!" Jinx cried as the man disappeared. She tried to chase after him but Barry grabbed her arm.

"He's not going to make it!" he said, but she yanked her arm from his grip.

"He's immortal you idiot!" she shouted angrily and hurried to the balcony. She looked down but, no surprise, Savage was gone again. "Dammit!" she grasped her hair and turned around to the shock-stricken group staring at her.

"Hey…" Barry meant to approach her calmly but she was too angry to stop and realize.

"I said to stay out of it! I only have a couple chances before they find me and you keep ruining it!" she gritted her teeth and scoured the group until she spotted Kendra. "I'm not messing up again."

Kendra felt this was a warning that encumbered her too and suddenly stepped back. Jinx lowered her arms and straightened up.

"You're the one he calls Chay-Arah...so you're it." Jinx smiled and thrust an arm in the group's way, or so it seemed. Her beams had hit the pillars that were part of the supporting pieces of the ceiling.

"Ah...what's happening…?" Felicity couldn't, and wouldn't, take her eyes off the ceiling.

Jinx was running towards Kendra but Oliver and Thea took aim up again on her. It made it a struggle for Jinx to keep going as she had to constantly battle the arrows threatening her. Barry decided to end it by simply taking Jinx over her victim and pinned her against the back wall.

"Kendra isn't going anywhere with you," he warned her.

"You don't get it, she's the key," Jinx kicked him in the stomach. "It's not like I'm going to hurt her. I just...need you…" she laid dark eyes on Kendra.

"Yo, not happening," Cisco barred the way to his girlfriend.

Jinx laughed mockingly at his defense. She raised a hand, making Felicity panic. She'd figured out Jinx's powers by now.

"Not the ceiling!" cried the blonde.

Jinx rolled her eyes but redirected her hands to the kitchen. Energy beams made fire erupt from the oven and another shot at the walls made pipes burst. Even if they wanted to stop Jinx, the natural disasters prevented them from saving Kendra. Jinx had taken her all too easy in their distress.

~0~

"All right, Lance is gonna call if he gets any information on... whoever they were…" Oliver said after hanging up the phone.

"And the ceiling…?" Felicity hadn't taken her eyes off the ceiling since the fight. It kept grumbling and groaning like it would collapse at any moment.

"Homegirl Jinx lives up to her name," Cisco bitterly kicked the couch from behind.

"New metahuman?" asked Diggle.

"Man, we don't know what she is except she's crazy with bad luck powers!"

Barry put a hand on Cisco's shoulder, understanding he was sick worried over Kendra. "Look, you can call me crazy too but I don't think Jinx is going to hurt Kendra." Cisco turned on Barry with an incredulous expression on his face. "I just meant-" Barry took a precautionary step backwards, "-she clearly wants to get this man as much as we want to and she's made the connection that wherever Kendra is that man will follow."

"You saying she's gonna use Kendra as bait?" Thea raised her eyebrows.

Barry shrugged, knowing that the possibility of Kendra being bait didn't exactly make Cisco feel much better. "It's just…"

"It's exactly what we would do," Oliver spoke up.

Cisco's eyes nearly popped from his head. "What!?"

"And if she's thinking like that then maybe we can reason with her," Oliver continued like Cisco hadn't spoken. "We could get her to help us instead."

"And maybe have her fix our ceiling…" Felicity mumbled.

"Felicity, you think we can find Kendra by pinging her phone?" Barry asked.

"Oh, watch me!"

~0~

Kendra found it was useless trying to pull on the ropes binding her wrists and ankles together. She leaned against the wall where Jinx had put her and frowned at the woman who had kidnapped her. Jinx was sitting on a table, literally, tinkering with the metal wristwatch (as it appeared to Kendra) on her.

'There's a 98% probability Vandal Savage will be around the area, Miss Haynez,' a computerized voice informed her.

"What is that?" Kendra couldn't help be curious of the device.

Jinx looked up with a smirk. "It's a miniature A.l device I knicked off a friend."

"You stole it?"

"Oh, I'm gonna give it back when I'm finished in this time," Jinx put both her hands on her lap. "My friend will probably shout at how irresponsible it was to go through time and blah, blah, blah-" she rolled her eyes, "He always likes to be dramatic."

Kendra's eyebrows knitted together. "Wait, time? You're a…"

"Man, I read all about these metahumans before coming - the Flash, the Azalea, the Arrow, Black Canary? I thought they were super smart enough to figure that out."

"Give them credit," Kendra frowned. "It's not everyday we come across time travelers and immortals."

Jinx laughed. "True."

Kendra studied the woman for real now and came, fairly quick, to the conclusion that whatever Jinx wanted it really had nothing to do with her. She wanted Savage. She was merely the bait.

Jinx hopped off the table and walked towards Kendra. "I need you to wake up or something."

"Wake up…?"

"C'mon, it would be a lot easier to fight Savage knowing you could defend yourself. I don't want liabilities."

"I have no idea what you mean," Kendra pulled her legs closer to her as Jinx neared her.

"I know you have powers, Kendra. And I know there's another of your kind-"

"My kind?" repeated Kendra, now truly confused.

"The male. I don't know where he us but that's okay since Savage seems to want only you right now. But c'mon, sprout the wings, pull the sword out or something."

"Okay I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Jinx looked mighty frustrated and disappointed with Kendra. "Tell me you're kidding?" Kendra's blank face said it all. "Woman!"

"I'm just a barista!"

"No, you're not! You're like a...I don't know, reincarnation? I honestly didn't read too much on that background. All I know is that you and some other guy die and reincarnate over and over because of Savage. And since you don't even have your powers activated it's gonna be a hell of a lot easier for Savage to get you!" Jinx growled and turned away from Kendra. "I don't have that much time here before they find me…" she rubbed her face and hoped to God something would pop in her mind to help her out.

Meanwhile, Kendra tried to internalize what she'd been told about herself apparently? None of it made sense but it would explain why Savage was so hellbent on killing her. There was a hell to pay that she didn't even know about.

About thirty minutes later, Jinx returned to Kendra and pulled the woman up without saying a word. She pushed Kendra towards the exit of the abandoned room.

"Wh-where are we going?" Kendra tried digging her heels into the ground to stop herself from going.

"Relax, I'm taking you out to the street. I figure maybe your powers will show up if you're under stressor, also known as me."

"Wait, what!?"

Jinx pushed Kendra out and forced the woman to go to the dark street. She left Kendra tried by the wrists and stepped back. "Ready?"

"NO!"

"Yes!" Jinx's excited voice went over Kendra. She swung an arm forwards and her energy beams hit the nearest street pole by Kendra.

"No! Stop!" Kendra cried and jumped backwards just as the pole groaned and fell over. From the force, Kendra fell back.

Jinx clapped a hand to her forehead. "This is seriously not how I imagined things going."

Kendra shot the woman a glare from the ground.

"We're going to need to 'up' the stakes," Jinx theorized, lowering her hand to her chin. "I suppose it's like a self preservation. The bigger the stressor…the more chances of getting those powers…"

"Please…" Kendra scuttled backwards, unable to get up on her own, "...whatever you want from me...it's not going to work…"

"Wouldn't say that," Jinx's eyes raised up to the electricity cables. "Perfect."

Kendra followed the woman's gaze up and felt her blood run cold. "Oh n-n-n-n-no…"

"Sprout those wings, woman!" Jinx raised her hands above her head and was about to shoot at the cables when an arrow struck her by the shoulder and pushed her to the ground. "OW!"

Before she knew it, Barry had sped in front of her and looked down. "If you don't want another arrow, I suggest you listen."

Behind him dropped Oliver who took a threatening aim at Jinx. Jinx's dark eyes flickered between the two and could see past them where Diggle and Thea were helping Kendra up. Suddenly, Barry lowered a hand for her to take, confusing her of course.

"First you shoot me-" Jinx pulled out the arrow embedded on her shoulder like it was nothing and threw it to the side, "-and then you offer help?"

"You haven't been all that straight forwards either," Barry retorted and motioned her again to just take his hand.

Jinx grasped his hand and let him pull her up. She cast a suspicious glance on Oliver who still didn't lower his arrows. "What now? You'll imprison me?" she challenged but scoffed in the end. "Because if I'm being honest, you're gonna have to get in line."

"We just want to talk," Barry reassured but Jinx cleared her throat and nodded her head at Oliver. "Dude…" Barry tried pushing away the arrow Oliver had until eventually Oliver lowered it completely. "Thank you. Look," Barry tried again with Jinx, "we don't understand anything-"

"-clearly," Jinx crossed her arms.

"-but it looks like you do and we have a common enemy so...why don't we help each other out?"

"She tried crushing me with a street pole!" Kendra shouted from across. Now that she was free she frantically motioned to the pole on the ground.

"Hey that was only to get you to sprout those wings!" Jinx snapped. "And it didn't even work!"

"I don't have any wings!" Kendra waved her hands in the air. "I don't have any powers! I keep telling you that!"

"I know you do! You just haven't activated them!"

Kendra stalked towards them but a male figure - flying - in a golden suit with wings suddenly swooped down and took her off the ground. "HELP!" Kendra screamed but no one could possibly do so.

And then, just like that, Oliver took aim against Jinx again. "You have some explaining to do!"

"Oh calm down," Jinx wasn't even looking at him anymore. She raised her wrist that had the watch-like device strapped to it and pulled up several holographic screens.

"What the hell was that?" Thea came running over with Diggle.

"Not a 'what' but a 'he'," a big smile, like the Chestshire cat, was spreading across Jinx's face. "It's the other one! I've hit the jackpot!"

"Explain!" demanded Oliver.

"Sure, just lower the arrows," Jinx ordered. Begrudgingly, Oliver did so but his hand was still wrapped around the bow pretty tightly. "Look, don't worry, she's not in danger, alright? That's probably her reincarnated soulmate."

Everyone winced because Cisco had given a mighty big 'oh hell no' in their ears through the comms.

"What are you talking about?" Barry asked Jinx but the woman kept working on the device. "And what the hell is that?"

"I read about them, alright? There's two of them and Savage will always kill them both! It's obvious the guy has figured his powers out," Jinx sighed. "I should have gone after him instead."

"Whoever he is we need to find him," Diggle said.

"He's not gonna get far once he sees Kendra hasn't activated her powers," Jinx turned her wristwatch off. "I need to go after them before Savage finds them."

"You are not going anywhere," Thea warned her. "We don't even know your name. We're not letting you go anywhere near Kendra."

"If anything, she should be back in the base explaining things," Barry offered, much to Jinx's dismay. "We'll find Kendra and that guy...and we'll bring them back. But you-" he pointed at Jinx, "-need to be committed to cooperate with us. And you're gonna start by telling us everything you know and who you are."

"Fine, but on the other side, I'd like you to guarantee me that Savage dies. It's crucial for me, do you understand?" and in truth there was something in Jinx's eyes indicating this was more than a simple hunt for her. There was something important she was fighting for.

Barry extended a hand forwards. "Deal."

Jinx nodded and shook hands on it.

~ 0 ~

And although the strange man gave quite the chase, Barry and Oliver had managed to bring him down with some tranquilizing arrows. That of course didn't sit well with Jinx when they expressed the idea of chaining the man up.

"He is a key to all this!"

"He kidnapped me!"

"He was just trying to protect you!"

"You know, I don't like you very much," Kendra crossed her arms and glared straight at Jinx.

"You know, liking you has nothing to do with this. You're just a way to get to my goal," Jinx responded and glanced back at the unconscious, chained up, man across them.

"Yo, we trusted you enough to bring you in here," Cisco gestured to the base. "So mind doing your thing about explaining all this? Start with your real name, please?"

Jinx drew in a deep breath as she resigned herself to disclosure. She hadn't planned on revealing anything about herself while in the past, but to be honest she hadn't expected on killing Savage to be such a difficult task in the past.

"Yo? Name?" called Cisco once he felt like they were losing her again.

"Fine," the woman spat. She folded her arms over her chest and sighed. "My name is Graciela Haynez, but I'm also known as Jinx."

"And how are you connected to all this?" Barry then asked since none of them could figure it out yet.

"I'm not connected," Graciela clarified first. "But my life, as well as my entire world, has been affected by that man. Vandal Savage, as you have guessed, is a murderer. And where I'm from, he's a dictator."

"And where are you from again?" Felicity asked from the platform. She was leaning against her desk, refusing to be too close to Jinx for the moment. Jinx looked to the side, apparently reluctant to answer.

"Hey, you promised you would tell us everything," Barry reminded her.

Graciela threw her head back and rubbed her face. "Fine! I'm from the future."

"Okay, can we lock her up now?" Thea sarcastically asked.

"I'm not kidding! I'm from the year 2166 and I came back here to stop Savage before he takes over my city and the whole frikin world!"

But everyone continued to stare at her like she was spilling nothing but lies.

"Fine, you want proof?" Graciela raised her wristwatch and activated it. There were various images displaying a destroyed city and the last one showed Vandal Savage at the head of an army. When Graciela shut the device off, she was subjected to various horrific stares. "There's your proof. That's home sweet home for me."

"Wait," Cisco shook his head as if that would erase everything image he just saw, "You mean to tell me you time traveled back in time to stop Savage from ever becoming dictator? Isn't that like...against rules or something?"

"Oh yeah, but the thing is I don't care," Graciela said like nothing. "I've been fighting a rebellion for as long as I can remember and even though I know people can fight him, that organization has refused to do it. So, I'm doing it. So can we get this moving?"

Barry looked at Oliver to see what he was thinking. As usual, there was nothing describable in Oliver's face except for pensiveness.

"Might I suggest something?" Barry finally asked.

~ 0 ~

It took a lot of explaining, but after things were clear - or at least decently clear - Star City's finest returned to Central City with Barry, along with Graciela, in hopes of coming up with a good, airtight, plan against Savage.

First thing in order was to relocate somewhere remote.

"A bunch of superheroes in a farmhouse?" Thea gave a weird look at the grassy field they arrived at. "I feel like I've seen that in a movie before."

"We need a secure location," Oliver moved around their black van without so much of a glance to their surroundings. All he knew was that there was a decent home and it was far away from the city.

"And what's wrong with STAR Labs?" asked Belén just as she got off the STAR Labs van.

"Well, I mean, absolutely nothing if you forget about the revolving door you guys installed so the bad guys can come and go as they please."

Belén exchanged a look with Caitlin beside her, both offended on behalf of their beloved STAR Labs.

"And remind us again what happened to your old lair?" Caitlin was the one to respond first, but of course Belén had something else to add.

"Or the one before that?"

Oliver glared at both women.

"Well, lair number one was compromised by the police, and…" Felicity trailed off when Olivier's glance switched to her. She cleared her throat and looked down. "I will stop helping."

Oliver decided to stop paying them attention before he would lose it. Instead, he led the group towards the safe house. "Savage only let Barry and I live because he felt Kendra start to emerge as Hawkgirl and went after her. He can sense her and Carter's presence. We don't need to make it easier on him by staying in the city limits."

"Bet you wish you were staying at your mother's place now," Belén mumbled to Laurel since the latter had been staying in Central City anyways.

"Ha!" Laurel practically snorted.

It had been half an hour since the group settled into the house, and only then did Cisco, Barry and Graciela appear.

"Barry, you're late!" Oliver's sharpness had no effect on Barry anymore. He'd come to get used to Oliver's way of being a long time ago. Instead, he learned how to make comebacks.

"Sorry. It turns out, it's not easy finding the ass end of nowhere!"

"Yeah, for real," Cisco pulled out his cellphone and immediately checked for his internet status. "The roaming charges alone are going to bankrupt me."

"...are those my clothes?" Belén raised an eyebrow the moment she spotted Graciela wearing her pink cardigan.

Graciela, in turn, uncomfortably shifted on her feet while flailing her arms. "Yeah, and I hate pink."

"Be a little grateful, won't yah?" snapped Cisco. "We borrowed-"

"-my clothes?" Belén's voice started getting that same sharpness Oliver owned so well, and that was something Barry still had no comeback to.

"Uuuh…" Barry drew it out while he pulled Belén to the side in the meantime the others started gathering with Cisco's cart of inventions.

"Barry, she's wearing my clothes," Belén said quietly though in growing irritation. Her eyes flickered to Graciela who was indeed wearing everything that belonged to her. "I'm all for sharing but I'm not comfortable doing it with someone I don't know and who also attacked my friends multiple times."

"I know that, and I understand, but it's okay now. Graciela's okay. She's on our side," Barry tried to explain quick before she got actually angry. "She's from the future and she didn't have anything and you always have spares at STAR Labs, sooo…."

"Fine," Belén crossed her arms. "But can I at least meet her now? I mean, the only reason I know her name is Graciela is because you just said it right now. Last time we saw each other, she attacked us."

"It's been a busy day," Barry said in his defense.

"Mhm," Belén's hum was almost like a red flag.

It was a good thing Barry wasn't naive to believe it was all due to borrowed clothes. As soon as he'd returned to Central City yesterday, Belén filled him in on what had happened in his absence. She'd been forced to tell her mother that she the Azalea, they had Harry stabilizing back at STAR Labs (under the care of Nina), and of course no one could forget she was going crazy trying to figure more things out about Datura, and the lack of success was getting to her. Her training, while good, still felt like it was mediocre against Datura's and Poison Ivy's.

Borrowed clothes were merely the tip of the iceberg for Belén.

"We need to get rid of Savage's magic stick thing," Oliver couldn't believe he was actually saying those words.

"Yeah, Staff of Horus," Carter corrected but it really didn't matter.

"Well, it's protected by some kind of energy field," Graciela said bitterly. "It's impossible to get to. Believe me, I've tried."

"What about some mittens, then?" Felicity joked for a second until she got the actual idea. "Ooooooh, maybe some insulated gauntlets…"

Caitlin seemed to catch the idea as well since she chimed in, "Oh, yeah, yeah, the magnetic shielding could disrupt the-"

"-the staff's magnetic polarity!" Cisco even had a go and started leading the two women into the hallway.

"Well, while the geek squad works-"

"-heard that, honey!" Felicity called to Oliver, actually making him wince.

"While they work to get the staff away from Savage, we need to know everything there is to know about him." Oliver's eyes landed on Graciela and Kendra, but the latter seemed pretty uncomfortable to say anything.

"What's to know about him is that he's evil, manipulative, and powerful," Graciela listed off her fingers before shrugging. "That's about it, really."

"He's been around for 4,000 years - he should have a trail or something."

"You're from the future, right?" Belén moved closer to the group. "You obviously know more about him than we will ever know right now."

"I mean…" Graciela seemed like there was a lot she wanted to say but failed to come up with a way to say it. She dragged a hand through her short curls and sighed. "You have to understand that where I come from, he's already won. He's the dictator. He's all powerful and there's no way of stopping him because those two-" she jerked a thumb at Kendra and Carter, "-are dead. I don't know everything about Savage. I just know that in the 21st century he comes across metahumans that almost stop him."

"So what was your plan, then? When you first thought of coming here?" Barry wondered since her first appearance seemed a hellbent on killing.

"To be honest, I don't know," Graciela crossed her arms, looking rather guilty about her confession. "I'm impulsive and I…" she once again paused to gather her words, "...I read in the history files that when Savage goes up against the Arrow, the Flash, the Azalea, Black Canary...his weapons are his downfall. I thought maybe if I showed up and take the weapons I might have a chance of fixing my future."

"Okay, how about I check with A.R.G.U.S., see if they have anything on him?" Diggle offered since it was clear they had nothing.

"That sounds great," Laurel nodded her head. "And Thea and I can check police reports and stuff like that."

"It's not gonna matter," Graciela called to the trio who were moving to start on their tasks.

"We're going to do our best," Thea offered one sour smile before following Laurel.

"And Kendra," Oliver turned his attention to Kendra, the sudden gaze making the woman stiffen. "We need to find a way to utilize your new ability."

She blinked until it hit her of what he meant. "My ability?" Of course he meant her 'ability', because she now had abilities. Because she wasn't normal. She was...she was some...

"It might give us an advantage," Oliver's voice pulled Kendra out from her thoughts.

Barry cleared his throat as he moved on around the group. "Yeah, whatever you do, don't let him train you." At that, Oliver gave him a look, but Barry was full on straightforward with his words. "I'm sorry, but when it rains, I can still feel where you shot me with those arrows."

"He's not that bad," Belén spoke up on Oliver's behalf, though it earned her an offended glance from Barry. "What? You were being smug and you got shot with arrows. What did you say to me before running?" She pretended to think about it before mocking him, 'And give Bells a show'."

Barry nearly glared at her for bringing that one up. Okay, so he might have been a little over the top then but he didn't deserve to be shot with arrows.

"It's okay," Carter stepped forwards, hands held up, "I'll handle her training, then."

Kendra kept her mouth shut because the moment someone asked her directly whether or not she wanted to 'train' she'd say an automatic 'no'. Instead, she watched Carter leave the house for something in the van, no doubt that big chest box he'd carried with them.

~ 0 ~

"Where are you going?" Belén's question stopped Barry just as he was about to take off from the front porch.

"Well…" Barry prepared himself for what he knew would be a difficult explanation, "...I got a call...from, um...one of Oliver's…" he paused for a significant long time, making Belén rather impatient for she thought this would be him coming up with an excuse, "...frenemies."

"Which one?"

"Don't know...Merlyn?"

"You got a call from Merlyn?" Belén's tone of voice indicated she knew exactly who that was. Barry then remembered she and Laurel were completely close. "What the hell does he want!?"

"To talk to me and Oliver, I guess." Barry admitted to himself he didn't like the idea of meeting up with that type of man, but since Oliver was on his way too he had no choice but to go as well.

"Just you two? That's a bit rude," Belén folded her arms and deeply frowned. "And I'm sugarcoating it. You do realize this whole Savage thing involves a lot of people. Whatever he's going to say to you and Oliver, make sure you repeat it to us later, got it?"

"Got it," Barry dutifully said, even saluting for show. Once he saw a small smile trying to creep across her face, he knew she wasn't that upset.

"Just be careful, alright? I'll hold down the fort here," she said and looked to the side. She could see Kendra and Carter on the field, presumably training. "Though to be honest I think we might end up killing each other before Savage gets to us. Reincarnation, immortality and time travelers?"

Barry snorted with a laugh. "Yeah. This one's out of our terrain. But listen, Graciela? She knows a lot more than she's giving on. Maybe you can get her to talk more."

"Me?" Belén pointed at herself, relatively confused since she'd barely crossed a word with the time traveler. "But I haven't even met her. It's not like she's a big talker."

"Try to look at it from her perspective," Barry attempted to go through a different tactic. He stepped closer to Belén and lowered his voice in case anyone was nearby. "To her, this is a lost battle. It's like she said, she's already lost so this is technically one of her last options. And who knows what she left behind in the future. She could be fighting for something we don't know about. Someone maybe."

"I hate when you make sense," Belén sighed and ignored his smirk.

"Just try it. If there's anyone with a sweet voice it's you!" he swooped down and kissed her cheek.

"I'm gonna do it, you don't need to keep kissing up," she playfully rolled her eyes and pushed him away.

"K, gotta go!" Barry waved before rushing off.

Belén drew in a deep breath and prepared herself to go find that...unique...time traveler.

She moved back into the house in search of Graciela, but only found the three scientists working hard on those gauntlets-to-be, and then saw the other trio looking for traces of Savage. It led her to go back to the fields where Carter and Kendra were still going hard on that training, which looked rather frustrating for Kendra judging by those growls. Eventually, Belén spotted Graciela sitting on a rock just outside the shed. The closer Belén got, the better she could see Graciela was talking to something around her wrist.

"Show me London again," Graciela was instructing and suddenly a baby blue hologram flickered to life above the watch on her wrist.

It was not a pretty sight.

"Time hasn't changed," Graciela said with full disappointment. However, as soon as she saw Belén coming towards her, she pushed that disappointment to the back of her mind and turned the hologram off. She awkwardly cleared her throat and crossed her arms, effectively covering the watch.

"Hi," Belén was in the same awkward boat. "Um...I'm Belén, just in case you didn't get it before." Graciela gave a slight nod, but nothing more. Belén cleared her throat and came a little closer. "Were you talking to someone? Did I interrupt a conversation?"

Graciela shook her head. "Nah. People I talk to are a little bit busy right now...fighting…or dead..."

Belén raised her eyebrows, unsure of what to say to that. It looked like Graciela understood and decided to be nice and further explain the situation.

"I'm part of a rebellious group against Savage in my time….and even if I wanted to talk with any of my partners...they don't have this," Graciela revealed the futuristic watch on her wrist and gave it a gentle tap on its silver surface. "It's not even mine, to be honest."

"What do you mean by that?" Belén eyed the watch with a little more focus than before and saw it had some writing on the surface, but she couldn't make it out.

"It's my friend's - well, don't know if he qualifies me as a friend anymore. Either way, once he realizes I stole the watch from him he'll end up hating me even more, if that's possible. Unlike me, he's...proper," Graciela rolled her eyes. "He's part of this elite Time group and, to be frank, it's stupid. They know exactly what's happening to our world and they're not doing anything about it. And since my friend is too tied up in their rules to break anything...I did it." And even as Graciela retold the story, she didn't sound one bit regretful. "I have two friends in that stupid organization so I just waited for my moment to steal one of their watches. I needed to stop Savage."

Belén could see the struggle in Graciela's eyes to truly accept the consequences of her action. Graciela didn't regret it, but it didn't mean she was ready for what came next. "So it was worth it, then?"

Graciela's shrug was so little it barely looked like one. "I mean, I'm checking the future and everything is still the same, so...maybe it wasn't. I don't know." She shook her head and took a moment to calm herself by staring hard at the ground. She couldn't afford to feel doubtful, and much less to be ridiculous and cry. It was the journey she decided she would make for the sake of the world, despite what was coming for her.

"Are you-" Belén was just about to reach for Graciela's shoulder when the latter raised her head.

"Anyways," Graciela sniffed and rose from the ground with a whole new expression she was trying to make casual, "Sorry about your cardigan." She once again folded her arms and grazed the soft pink fabric of the cardigan. "Barry just offered them and I…"

"It's fine," Belén raised a hand to stop the woman. "I'm not that type of girl, trust me. Besides, you look good in pink."

"I don't like pink," Graciela bluntly reiterated.

"Right…" Belén looked away for a moment, and just in time to see Kendra falling flat on her back after a failed attempt to punch Carter. She scrunched her face, feeling the ghost of that pain from her own training. "That had to hurt."

Graciela followed Belén's gaze to Kendra and sighed. She walked a few steps towards the scene and watched it go on again. "If she keeps that up, we'll never take Savage down."

"She just discovered she's not really who she thought she was," reminded Belén. "That can't be easy to manage."

"We all have baggage," Graciela said too matter-of-factly to be genuine. "And we have to get over it in order to succeed. In order to live. Savage will use any weakness to kill. He's done it before."

"What do you know about him? For real?"

Graciela turned sideways to see Belén expectantly waiting for an answer. "That he's been here for a good while. He's helped build empires and he's watched them fall. All these centuries he's been calculating and he's struck whenever it was most convenient for him. He has an immense power that...only they-" she pointed back to Kendra and Carter, "-can take down."

"But why?" Belén wanted to know so badly.

"Because they're locked in a never ending cycle of life and death. I know you guys aren't big believers on magic, but it does exist. I would know," Graciela's eyes flickered a purple that made Belén take a step back. "I'm part of their world."

"You're definitely not a metahuman…"

"No. I'm something else, but…" Graciela shook her head, deciding it wasn't worth it. "It doesn't matter what I am. What matters is how we take Savage down. I don't exactly have all the time in the world. And to be honest, with every passing second I'm a little less faithful in those two over there."

"We just gotta give them some time," Belén's optimism wasn't met with much agreement.

"As much as it pains me to admit out loud, I'm going to need all of you," Graciela made a move to leave. Where she was going, exactly, she didn't know.

Belén turned after her, choosing to follow her. "Well I don't know how much help I'll be to be honest. I'm sort of struggling to hone in on my powers." That admission made Graciela abruptly stop. She turned sideways to give Belén a strange look.

"What? You don't have powers?"

"No - I…" Belén sighed, bringing a hand to her head, "I do have powers and I use them fairly well I should say."

"Then what's the problem?"

"That I'm weak. I've been dealing with a metahuman who's like me but not me. She's a siphoner and no matter how much I train, she still kicks my ass."

Graciela seemed to be confused judging by the scrunch of her face. "You're the Azalea. You're a botanical metahuman. Why don't you just go to the Green for help?"

Now it was Belén's turn to be confused. "The what?"

"The Green," Graciela shrugged. "That one place where botanical metahumans gather?"

Belén drew a blank on her words. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"This is why time traveling isn't allowed I guess," Graciela mumbled. "But screw it. The Green is famous for being the place where all botanical metahumans can meet and train, and converse."

Belén tilted her head while she thought about this place. "It's...it's kind of like the Speedforce with Barry. Like the place where your powers originate from. But how do you know about this place?"

"I read about it in the files," shrugged Graciela. "There's an article that, um..." she blinked then gave Belén a certain kind of look, "...you wrote, actually. It talked all about the Green."

"I wrote it?" Belén tried to wrap her mind around that one and considered it very unlikely due to the fact she didn't even know what that place was.

"Yeah, in the future."

"Well how do I get there?"

Graciela looked at Belén as if she were crazy. "I don't know. I'm not a botanical metahuman but you are so...figure it out." She have another shrug and turned to walk away like nothing, never seeing Belén's face.

~ 0 ~

It honestly was not that surprising that Merlyn had arranged a meeting with Savage to figure out what he wanted.

"What do you want?" Merlyn led the meet and hoped to God that Oliver and Barry would keep their idiotic mouths shut for once.

"What all living things want- not to die," Savage answered in well-mannered tone. For now, this was merely a conversation.

"I thought that wasn't a problem for you," Oliver said.

"Only if I take the lifeforce from Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara. The three of us are locked in a vicious circle played out over thousands of years. None of your concern."

"We've made it our concern," Oliver all but snapped and shot one of his arrows directly at Savage.

Savage, however, took the arrow to the chest like a scratch and pulled out the arrow like nothing. "Robin of Locksley. I taught him how to use a bow. He taught me how to not feel pain. I'm the enemy you can't defeat. The only way for you and yours to live through this is to render onto me what is mine. Turn over Prince Khufu and Princess Chay-Ara within 24 hours, or I will lay waste to this city, killing everyone that you hold dear. And after that, I will travel to your home-" he directed a finger to Oliver, "-and do the same thing there."

"All right, I'm just curious- did you rehearse that speech in a mirror this morning, or this all just off the cuff?" Barry was slightly afraid, but it wasn't something he would say out loud.

"Why would you risk the lives of your friends and family for two strangers? 206 times I have killed them. What hubris possesses you that makes you think that you can prevent me from doing so again?" Savage paused his streak of questions to mock them with a laugh. "Oh, let me guess, the little time traveler? I certainly hope she's not your weapon because she will fail. I came to this meeting out of curiosity. It is now sated. Bring Khufu and Chay-Ara to Jurgens Industrial in 24 hours or I will see you dead and buried under the bodies of your loved ones."

He didn't even bother giving them a chance to respond. He was certain of himself and their choice anyways.

~0~

"We have 24 hours," Oliver started off exactly like that, without a readable expression. Everyone in the living room seemed lost.

"Until what exactly?" Kendra asked after a couple minutes of silence.

"Until we are supposed to hand you and Carter over to Savage, or-"

Carter all but rolled his eyes. He'd heard this so many times already. "Savage lays waste to Central City. Yeah. We've been through this before. 1887, the Huang He floods, Savage killed nearly two million people to get to us. And he did."

Though the revelation was huge, Plover didn't let it stop them. "We weren't helping you then. We are now. We have 24 hours to come up with a workable plan."

And no matter how much they discussed, it didn't make sense to Kendra. Eventually, she snapped. "No, this is insane! My life isn't worth millions of people's lives! You can all just stop!"

"Kendra!" Carter called as the woman stormed off.

"I'll talk to her," Cisco volunteered but Carter shooed him off. "Hey, I got this-"

Carter once again stopped him but this time with a mere look. "I said, I'll talk to her."

Cisco glared after the man then sourly said, "Hey, here's an idea- why don't we just toss him over to Vandal Savage?"

"Cisco," Caitlin disapprovingly said.

"Fine!"

~ 0~

"Hey," Belén called to Barry - who was inside the shed - but unintentionally startled him. He paused in what seemed to be a back and forth pace. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I was just wondering where you were since-"

But before she could finish, Cisco pushed past her in a dramatic manner. "-you basically missed the whole, save the city or turn my girlfriend over to an immortal psychopath briefing!"

Belén glared at Cisco's back but rolled her eyes in the end. She'd let it pass since what he said was indeed true.

"Um...sorry…?" Barry said in a questionable manner that forced Cisco to stop his complaining, and even the screwdriver he was about to throw in anger.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" Cisco put the screwdriver down on the table.

"Seriously," Belén took full notice of Barry's nervous demeanor. He had his twitching fingers fiddling with each other when he wasn't putting his arms behind his neck...or his hands in his hair. "Can you stay still for a second?"

Barry dropped his arms when he realized what she meant. He'd been doing his best to keep it at bay, but the more he thought about it the more difficult it was to keep it a secret. "I...I don't really know how to say it…"

"Just say it, maybe?" suggested Cisco, earning himself a momentary look of sarcasm from Barry.

"Fine. Um...earlier when I was on my way to meet with Merlyn and Oliver...I ghosted."

"No…" Cisco immediately went, while Belén tried to understand on the first go.

"Yeah, I think I'm going-"

"-don't say it," Cisco wagged a finger at Barry, not that it mattered since Barry went ahead and said it out loud.

"I think I'm going to time jump."

"I just told you not to say it!"

"Cisco!" Belén exclaimed at the man in out rage while Barry apologized.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else I'm supposed to do!"

"Barry, you're fine, trust me," Belén said first, hoping to ease his guilt but Cisco had something else to say.

"The first rule of time travel is you don't talk about time travel!"

"Cisco!" Belén covered her face in frustration.

"Because by having this conversation, we're screwing history!"

"Cisco! What was he supposed to do? Keep it bottled up?" Belén gestured to Barry's already nervous state. "One more day and he might fall apart."

Barry wanted to argue in his defense, but it'd really only been a few hours and it was already killing him. "Look, I know that time travel has consequences. I mean, the last time you vibed-"

"-well, I'm not vibing anything right now," Cisco said, calmer than before. "Okay, um, all right, look, don't panic. A: you don't know that you time jumped for a bad reason. It could have been a good one, right?" Barry dutifully nodded, really hoping Cisco was right. "B: now that you know you time jumped, you might not do it, right? So knowing the future might change the present, which might change the future."

"My head hurts," Belén rubbed the side of her head, eyes flickering between Cisco and Barry. "How could anyone be attracted to either of you?"

Barry's and Cisco's looks of pure offence were rather amusing for Belén...not that she'd tell them.

"I'm gonna remember that one," Barry decided to warn, but Belén smirked in return.

"What are you going to do? Stop kissing me? Go ahead, we'll see who suffers more," she winked and turned to leave.

She purposely moved away from shed and even the house altogether. Once she felt like she was truly alone, she pulled out her phone and dialed.

"Belén, hello?" Iris' voice soon answered the call.

"Iris, hey! How are things at STAR Labs?"

"Don't worry, Nina and I are holding down the fort," Iris proudly said. Belén could even picture her friend smiling from ear to ear. "How are you guys doing with Savage and that time traveler?"

"Uuh...things could be better," Belén admitted. She brought a finger to scratch behind her ear. "Listen...I wanted to ask a favor."

"Sure thing! What do you guys need?"

"Well, it's not so much of a group necessity as it is...a necessity for me," Belén hated to admit right now when it was such a time for teamwork.

"Oh, okay, what is it?"

"I...I...I just recently learned that I can maybe meet with other metas who are like me...in another world."

"Really? How so?"

"I see it like Barry and the Speedforce. It's called the Green, and if I can access that world then I can maybe get a further understanding of my powers."

"That sounds cool! How do you access it!?"

"That's the thing. On my own, I'm not sure. I thought maybe if I found another botanical metahuman they could help me. And that's why I'm calling you."

"Okay, what do you need from me?"

Belén looked around as if someone was watching her. She didn't mean for it to be a secret, but right now it wasn't the right time to tell the others. They needed to focus on Savage. "Can you maybe start a research on any other botanical metahumans nearby? Other than Datura and Poison Ivy, of course."

"Of course," Iris repeated, both sharing a laugh afterwards. "I can definitely look into it. Just because we haven't heard about another botanical metahuman doesn't mean they're not out there."

"That's what I'm counting on," Belén sighed. "Because right now I need all the help I can get and this might be huge"

"I'll do my best, don't worry!" Iris promised.

Belén hoped there would be some light down that dark path Datura was leading her. Hopefully, it started with this...with another botanical metahuman.

~ 0 ~

"What do you guys have?" Graciela expectantly asked of Laurel, Thea and Diggle as soon as the trio returned from their unannounced trip.

"Has a simple 'hello' died in the future?" Thea joked, but Graciela looked unamused.

"Yes, that tends to happen when there's a dictator massacring people."

"Could've just said yes," Thea mumbled and moved away.

"We have something that might help us," Laurel pointed to Diggle who raised an old VCR tape.

Graciela looked lost. "What the hell is that?"

"Aw, I didn't know those still existed," Belén remarked as soon as she came in and saw said tape.

"Lyla hooked us up," Diggle explained. Of course ARGUS would hold onto something like that.

"Where's Felicity?" Laurel looked around for the missing blonde.

"Don't know," shrugged Belén. "Just like I don't know where Barry and Oliver are. You know when those two get together, their secret outings get annoying."

"Sounds more like Oliver's doing than Barry," Laurel said. "And you're right, it does get annoying."

"Well we don't need Felicity to play a tape," Thea motioned Diggle to come over to Felicity's laptop. "We'll just hook it up."

"I'll go get the others," Belén said and hurried to go find them. By the time she returned with the whole group, sans the three missing, Thea had successfully gotten the tape to display on the TV.

"The tape came from a conspiracy theory group that's interested in Savage," Diggle explained just before the tape would play. "Pentagon had a file on Savage back in '86, but it's all been heavily redacted."

Thea pressed the play option and soon a dark-skinned man appeared on the screen.

'My name is Dr. Aldus Boardman. I'm a professor at St. Roch University. The date is April 8th, 1975. I don't think anyone else knows this, and those that do, don't believe. He's a myth. An urban legend. He has been compared to Machiavelli and Nostradamus. He's gone by many names, but I know him as Vandal Savage, and he will be the death of the world. But I believe there is a way to stop him. Savage is an immortal, Egyptian priest. His long life is a result of an unearthly calamity. I believe that any object associated with this calamity should be able to undo its effects and kill him. And I suspect that our precious, fragile world may one day depend upon us doing so.'

Thea promptly turned the screen off and looked directly at Kendra and Carter. "Do you have any idea what he meant by these objects? This calamity?"

The two in question exchanged mutual confused looks.

"No, I-I don't recall a calamity," Carter answered first. "And the staff…"

"Staff of Horus?" Graciela chimed in. "That staff belonged to Savage back in ancient Egypt."

"How are you sure?" Diggle asked.

"Because I'm from the future and I read a lot?"

Kendra looked down at her feet when a couple images started playing in her mind. Though they were fast, and partly incoherent, she saw that golden staff in Savage's possession. Graciela was right. But she didn't want to admit she was remembering.

Luckily, Graciela always had good self confidence. She knew exactly what she was talking about. "That staff is key to killing Savage. We need to get it."

"Great, let's get it, then," Carter nodded and led the way.

It was dark when Barry, Felicity and Oliver returned to the safe house, though each at a different time. Oliver was the last and the moment he set foot in the field, Felicity caught him. Barry spotted them through a window and wondered what the hell was going on with those two, because one moment Oliver had him doing secret DNA tests and the next thing he knew Felicity was on his case for helping Oliver.

"What are you doing?" a voice startled Barry, making him knock his forehead against the glass. He quickly pulled away before Felicity or Oliver saw and turned around to see Belén standing there.

"What?" he rubbed his forehead.

"You have been secretive today and I feel like a babysitter," Belén stated plainly, thinking it was enough to make him cautious with his response.

"I...I honestly couldn't tell you what was going on because I don't know what's going on," Barry went with the honest truth. He was not going to get in trouble over something he had no part in.

Belén could more or less deduced he was being honest because he did look rather weary. She moved around him and peered out the window to see Felicity and Oliver presumably arguing. "Oh no. That's not good. Especially when we're about to fight an immortal man. What are they fighting about?"

"I don't know. Should we go out there-"

"-oh no," Belén whirled around, as if to catch him before he got the idea to go. "We are not getting anywhere near that fight. Our mission right now is to make sure Kendra and Carter are ready. Besides, it's a couple fight and...they're not really asking for opinions, are they?"

Barry gave a shrug. She was right. Oliver had been really secretive with that DNA test, making him swear to keep it from Felicity (which he failed but that's not the point). "Fine."

A couple minutes later, Oliver and Felicity came into the house but made beelines away from each other. One could only deduce that the argument did not end in good terms.

"We're coming up on Savage's deadline," Oliver took control of the group the moment he could. "Are the gauntlets working?"

"They have to be, we're out of time," Caitlin said after checking the clock in the living room.

"But I think they'll work," Cisco said in hopes of adding positivity to the mission. "That staff's going to go from "can't touch this" to "invisible touch."

"Savage doesn't know Kendra has access to her full abilities, which makes you our ace in the hole," Oliver's intense gaze on her made Kendra feel even worse. She felt nowhere near ready to fight, but there wasn't much of an option now was there?

"Okay," she nodded quietly.

"We're going to put you up against Savage; you attack with the element of surprise. I will lay down the cover fire. Barry, you speed in, and-"

"-snatch the staff, I got it," Barry said.

"So where do you need us?" asked Diggle.

"This is me, Barry, Kendra and Carter. We've got it."

There were various reactions from the group, but all seem to fall in a mutual disagreement.

"You can't sit us out," Belén frowned.

"No, we're not risking any more lives tonight than we have to," Oliver's tone hardened even more.

"I don't know how you run in the past, but I'm not following it," Graciela stepped forwards. "You can sit the rest out but I'm not doing it."

"It's not up for debate-"

Graciela's eyes flashed an angry purple, making the pipes of the house creak. Everyone around her, more so Felicity and Cisco, looked up in fear. "-you're right, it's not, cos I'm going."

Oliver stared her down but he had come to his match because she was not wavering. She knew exactly how these things went and she had enough practice as a crook to have her own strength.

"Let's go!" Graciela shouted to the others, choosing not to waste any more time.

However, even though she was on board the others were still more cautious.

"I think we can stay as backup," Belén was the one to say to Barry in the end. "I mean, I'd love to be there up front but...Savage might not realize it."

"Just don't tell that to Oliver," Barry muttered, watching Oliver head out the house. "He's out of it."

"Yeah, I really wish I knew what they fought about," Belén crossed her arms. "But look, right now we just gotta focus on Savage. Be careful, alright?"

Barry nodded. "You too."

"I've got the Black Canary on my side. I'll be good," Belén smiled cheerily. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, sending him on his way.

~ 0 ~

Savage was waiting in the warehouse just like he said he would. A sinister grin spread across his face when he spotted Oliver and Barry bringing in Kendra and Carter, the two wearing their suits as well.

"You brought them. And dressed for the occasion, I see," Savage moved forwards.

"We're only doing this because two lives aren't worth two cities," Oliver said.

"Well, in that case, you are wiser than I gave you credit for." Savage took a moment to look Kendra and Carter over, scoffing a minute later. "It's been a lifetime. Still wearing those ridiculous outfits, I see." He raised a finger to Oliver and Barry. "You don't need to be here for this. The culling has a tendency to be…" He paused as he drew a sharpened knife from his coat's inside pocket, "...unsightly." He turned the knife over for show, making sure both Kendra and Carter got a good look at what was coming. "Your new friends betrayed you."

"Just do what you're going to do," Carter snapped.

Savage smiled at Kendra, practically ignoring Carter. "It's wonderful to see you again, my love."

Kendra felt true disgust at the man. "I will never be your love."

"I know. That always makes this...easier. Chay-Ara, parting is such sweet sorrow." Savage raised the knife and offered Kendra one last smile before drawing it down.

"Now, Kendra!" Oliver screamed.

Kendra delivered a hard kick to Savage's stomach, knocking the man to the ground. She opened her arms, ready to become that weird warrior she was destined to be...but nothing came out. Graciela dropped in from the ceiling and shot a beam of purple energy to keep Savage down while Oliver prepared the gauntlets.

"LET'S GO!" she shouted.

Carter swiped the staff from Savage and tossed it over to Barry who, in turn, handed it to Oliver so that the gauntlets could make contact. A powerful blast erupted from the gauntlets immediately. It made Oliver stumble back but he kept his balance in the end. However, with all the energy hitting him, Savage was still able to get on his feet.

"Crap!" Graciela said just before Savage knocked her to the side with his own magic. Her body tumbled across the warehouse, only picking her head up in time to see him grab Carter's neck and stab him on the back.

Barry started speeding in a circle to create quick thunder, but Savage caught him midway with another blast. The speedster crashed into a set of metal machinery. Like Graciela, he looked up in time to watch Savage stab Kendra on the chest in one swift move.

"No! It's not working!" Graciela scrambled to get on her feet. Her eyes were a dark, almost demonic purple, as she made a run at Savage. The metal around her groaned as its properties were being forced to change at her will.

"Graciela!" Barry called, but at the same time the metal behind him pushed forwards. He barely escaped as it took Savage's body for a ride until Savage destroyed it with a hand movement. "What the hell…" Barry was truly tired of this magic business because he had no idea how to combat it.

He heard Oliver's groans and turned to see him still holding onto the staff and the gauntlets. "Oh God." His eyes widened because Oliver was starting to resemble an old man. The gauntlets and the staff combined seemed to be drawing Oliver's life source. "Oliver, let go!" he panicked when he was able to see bone.

"Barry? What's going on?" Belén's voice came through the ear pods.

"Oliver?" Laurel came in next. "We're coming in!"

"No! Don't!" Barry sped up beside Oliver. "Kendra and Carter are dead!"

"We're coming in!" Belén and Laurel said in unison.

"Please don't-" Barry couldn't finish on account of Graciela crashing into him.

Savage stretched an arm out for Oliver, but only attained his staff again. At the same time, both Belén and Laurel came running in to help.

"This isn't going to end well!" Graciela picked herself off Barry and looked back at Savage. "I know about this - Barry you have to time travel!" she said in quick whir, almost making Barry miss it.

"I have to what-"

"-A DO OVER! GO!" Graciela's scream came just as Savage plunged his staff into the ground, causing an eruption of bright blue energy. It wiped out everything around it, and before Barry knew what he was doing, he ran.

He didn't know what the hell was going on except that everything around him was being burned to death. His first thought went to Belén and the others. They'redeadthey'redeadthey'read.

But Graciela's last words came to mind: a do over. Time travel.

And that's when he remembered the 'ghosting'. All his previous fears of time traveling and causing a disturbance in the time lines went to hell. He needed to push himself or everything would be dead.

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrun. Barry went as fast as he could. The blue eradication behind him nearly caught him a few times but he was going to do it. Everything around him became a blue, but only for a few seconds did he see the 'ghost' of his past self running beside him. It disappeared within seconds...and as did the blurry world.

Barry came to a skidded stop in the same place Malcolm Merlyn wanted to meet.

"Thank you for coming…" he heard Oliver's voice, though it still sounded a bit garbled after all the running Barry did.

But once Barry saw the day was still early...he released a heavy breath.

A do over.

~ 0 ~

"What the hell is the Green?" Belén called out to Graciela after their odd conversation. She should've known talking to a future girl was not going to end well, but here she was doing what she could to help out. She turned in the opposite direction Graciela walked off to and started making her own way. She only stopped when she saw Oliver and Barry returning to the safe house after their meet up with Merlyn. "They're back!" she called to Kendra and Carter, forcing the two to stop their training (which, by the sounds of it, was not going well). She sprinted to get there first, and perhaps it was a good thing because Barry was not intending on keeping his time travel a secret. "Hey! What did Merlyn say?"

"Belén!" Barry forgot for a moment what he'd told Oliver and rushed to Belén. She was not expecting such a tight, needy hug but she would always accept one.

"Okay, what's wrong?" she patted his back and looked over his shoulder to Oliver. He had a face as well, like he was processing something.

"He time traveled," Oliver was the one to answer.

Belén's eyes widened in alarm, but even if she wanted to pull away from Barry to look at him...Barry wasn't budging. He pressed a kiss to her hair and held her tight. "Barry, you did what?" she pressed her hands against his chest to pull away. "Barry!"

With a groan, he finally let her go the amount she needed to see him face to face. "Yeah…"

"You're not supposed to do that…"

"Well, Graciela did it-"

"-yeah, and she's probably going to get into trouble. Believe me, I just learned she stole the time travelling watch on her wrist. Why'd you time travel?"

Barry lowered his arms to his sides and turned sideways so that he could talk to both her and Oliver. "We were fighting Savage but things didn't go so well. Everyone died...including you two."

"Oh…" Belén now understood his needy hug and felt the urge to hug him again.

"Graciela was the one to tell me to time travel and...I did," Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "She said she knew what was coming."

"She's from the future, of course she knew that," Oliver sighed.

"Look, what we were doing to fight Savage wasn't working. The gauntlets didn't work and Kendra couldn't access her powers. Savage killed them both and used his staff to create the explosion that killed everything."

"Okay, okay, we can work with this," Belén nodded, choosing to forget the death part right away. It technically didn't happen and she was just going think about that. "It's like when you discovered you went back in time to your mom. We use this as a study guide. We fix our mistakes."

"Right," Barry agreed and turned specifically to Oliver. "That means you, for starters."

"Me?" frowned the man in question.

"When we go up against Savage, your head's not in the game. You're not yourself. And I'm sorry to say this in front of Belén because I don't know if you were planning on telling anyone about it, but...I know you're going to ask me run a DNA test."

Oliver stiffened, ignoring Belén's strange look.

"That said test is going to cause you and Felicity to get into a huge fight. That fight sounded like it was over between you two."

"So when we go up against Savage, I'm not focused," Oliver concluded on his own. "I don't use everything we've got."

"What are we going to about the Kendra not being able to use her powers?" Belén quietly asked. "And the gauntlets?"

"I'll work on that," Oliver muttered, quietly thanking Barry for his knowledge of the future and walking off.

"Someone should tell Graciela," Belén said once they were alone. "She's already time traveled once, who knows what this might mean."

"That we failed?" Barry started for the house, rather glum now that he had time to settle. "She knew exactly what was going to happen when Savage took his staff, so this must have happened before."

"Which is exactly why we need to discuss with her. Maybe she has some pointers too," Belén picked up her pace and beat him to the front door, blocking his way in. "Let's make sure we don't make the same mistakes again."

"I won't," Barry promised her. A warm smile came to her face knowing what he meant. "I had to run and when I did...you were already dead…"

"Not happening again," she leaned forwards and gently kissed his lips. "Now let's do this...again…"

~ 0 ~

With the knowledge of their failed attempt to win Savage, the group worked harder than the first time. Cisco and Caitlin triple checked those gauntlets, and would have gone for a fourth had Oliver not convinced Cisco to try his hand at helping Kendra access her powers. The only one who seemed to be having trouble with the news, more than the others anyways, was Graciela.

"I mean, we'll get him this time," Barry attempted to ease her doubts before they gathered for another brief. Well, it was really more of a group effort with him, Oliver and Belén.

Graciela shook her head, looking far more concerned but it was pertaining to the fight against Savage. "You don't get it. You time traveled in the same period I did. That means they felt it."

"They? Who's they?" Oliver asked.

Graciela seemed reluctant to speak freely, but then again her options weren't so good anyways. She drew in a breath and leaned against the dining table. "The people I stole the watch from. They're Time Masters and...they have eyes all over the timeline. I knew that time travelling here would get me into some trouble, but I figured I'd have more time to finish things...but Barry time travelling in the same period I did, so close to the date I first arrived...they're coming for me, quicker now."

"Then we'll stop them," Belén said matter-of-factly, but Graciela shook her head.

"No, we're focusing on Savage. I want him dead by tonight."

"But if you're head's not in the right place, we won't be able to do that," Barry said, knowing exactly where he spoke from.

"I know," Graciela agreed. She took in a deep breath and used it to relax herself as much as she could. "I read about Savage's staff in the future. There were rumors that the timeline had been rewritten several times because he did the same trick. The Time Masters...they're very good when they want to be. They've restored the timeline, but...we can't let Savage do that again. For the sake of my home, and yours, he needs to die tonight."

"And I think I know how to make that happen," Kendra strode into the house with a new sense of confidence. Cisco seemed pretty happy as well, indicating his talk with her had gone well.

"I'm all ears," Graciela leaned off the table.

Kendra made sure the rest of the group were in the room so that she could explain herself. "I remembered how Savage killed us the first time back in Egypt. These sky rocks-meteors- they fell and they completely destroyed the royal palace."

"During the Middle Kingdom, Egypt experienced a high level of meteorite activity," Felicity recalled from her vast knowledge.

"That can be the calamity Professor Boardman was referencing in the tape," Caitlin realized quick.

"It makes sense," Kendra agreed. "The meteors, they had a glow about them. And Savage's staff had two gemstones with the exact same glow."

"So the gemstones might be made up of the same element as the meteorite," Barry made the connection as well. "That could be why the gauntlets didn't work the first time."

"Yeah, the gemstones might be made up of the same element as the meteorite. The Egyptians would use meteorite in their craftsmanship. And the minerals glow in proximity to each other," Cisco suddenly grinned when he got to add, "Like Sankara Stones."

"Oh, wait, the Indiana Jones reference is the only thing I understood," Thea looked to someone for help.

"Two pieces of the same meteorite, that is the key to counteracting the staff," Belén was proud to say that she understood.

Laurel got on her laptop fast when she remembered something about meteorites from their previous research on Egypt and Savage. "Look, there's there's a sample of the meteorite from the Middle Kingdom at the Keystone City Museum of Natural…"

But Barry took off without another word, leaving a wind trail behind him. He returned two seconds later with the meteorite in hand. "Got it!"

Cisco snatched it from his hand, gingerly holding it while he examined it. "I could synthesize the compatible isotope out of this and coat the gauntlets with it."

"That I did not understand," Belén mumbled to Thea who agreed with a hum.

"This can work," Graciela said with a newfound confidence. It was good because she knew by this time she was reaching high on the Time Master's priority list.

"It will," Oliver agreed. "Everyone else: suit up."

~ 0 ~

Like before, Savage was waiting for the group to arrive at the agreed place. However this time, everyone was ready for the 'trade off'.

"It's wonderful to see you again, my love," he said for Kendra, who shivered in disgust.

"I will never be your love."

"I know. That always makes this easier. Chay-Ara...parting is such sweet sorrow-"

But Kendra could not wait for him to finish. Oliver drew an arrow and shot the knife right out of Savage's hand.

Kendra immediately followed with her wings, and perhaps a hawk scream. She took Savage into her arms and pulled him into the air before dumping him on the ground. A black van screeched as it made its entrance into the building, making a quick swerve so that it's trunk faced the fight.

As soon as its doors flung open, the Black Canary's sonic scream filled the room. It forced Savage to stop fighting against Kendra and Carter for a second and fight off the sound waves.

It was then that Belén flung a vine and forced the staff out of Savage's hand. He growled and turned to retrieve it but Graciela delivered a consecutive wave of energy beams. Despite Savage's attempts to fight off the energy, he couldn't break free of the others' combats. It gave Barry the perfect shot to retrieve the staff from where it landed.

"Get clear!" he ordered. The group jumped out of the way just as he ignored the staff with the gauntlets. Savage was hit with the force of power, but it wasn't enough yet to take him down. He fought it with his bare hands.

Oliver joined Barry and together held the staff, hoping that between them it would be enough to stand against Savage. The others encircled the procession in case anything went wrong...but to their fortune...it didn't. The staff erupted with a new force of energy and burned Savage to ash.

Before Barry and Oliver knew it, the staff was no longer in their hands. It had disappeared.

"Did we do it? Is he gone?" Thea stared at the ash as if Savage was reform any second.

"Grace?" Belén nicknamed the woman without even noticing.

"I don't know, it's never happened…" Graciela admitted and turned her attention to Kendra and Carter for some additional help.

But like her, they were at a loss of words.

~0~

It was a beautiful day at Central City, especially when it was rid of villainous immortal beings.

"One Java chip and caramel macchiato for Belén!" a Jitters barista called as she pushed two coffee cups down the counter.

Belén was there to pick them up and return to the group waiting by the doors with their own drinks.

"Thanks," Graciela took her Java chip and took a moment to smell the sweet chocolatey scent. "Mmm, we don't have that smell at home anymore."

"Hopefully now you do," Kendra smiled, knowing Graciela was getting ready to return to the future.

"We'll see," Graciela raised her cup in the air before taking a sip. She moaned as she tasted the delicious drink. "Oh my God this is good!"

"So how do you feel now that Savage is pushing daisies?" Cisco asked Kendra and Carter once they were outside. "Does this mean you guys are the immortal ones now and he's the one who gets reincarnated? 'Cause that would suck."

"I just sprouted wings a few days ago, and I'm just trying to wrap my head around that," Kendra said, really just taking step by step.

"He does raise a good point, though," Barry admitted. It'd been the question they couldn't answer since last night. "Savage is gone for good now, right?"

"I don't know. We never defeated him before," Carter paused to think about something else they hadn't yet. "But we're free." Kendra agreed and hugged him.

"Ugh, get a room," Cisco muttered. Belén partes his back comfortingly, knowing he was doing his best to keep his feelings out of this.

"You finally have the rest of your lives in front of you. Have you thought about what you're going to do?" asked Oliver.

"Carter says in our past lives, we used to help people. And after everything you guys have done for me, I think I should give that a try," Kendra said with a sense of determination.

"You make it sound like this try is happening somewhere else," Belén noted, feeling worse for Cisco.

"In our prior incarnation, we used to live in St. Roch, and we really liked it there," Carter looked at Kendra, but she was already gazing at Cisco.

"Could Cisco and I have a moment?" she asked softly.

"Of course," Carter was the one to say and led the way away.

Graciela ominously checked her time watch and saw a red dot blinking on the screen. She quietly cleared her throat and took another sip of her coffee.

"Hey Grace - sorry," Belén has caught herself before and she hated that she kept doing it.

"It's fine," Graciela smiled. "I kinda like it."

"I was just going to ask...about that place you talked about before?" Belén awkwardly smiled. "The Green?"

"Right," Graciela released a breath, giving the wrong indication that she didn't want to go further on that subject.

"I mean I totally understand if you're trying to keep the timeline in tact and all...we don't have to-"

"-no, we can," Graciela looked at the whole group with a smirk. "It's not like I was one for keeping it intact, right?"

"Still…"

"Look, Belén, I'm not an expert on the Green. I just read about it, from your article I'll remind, and there's always rumors about it. Every botanical metahuman has a connection to that place."

"How do you get there, though?"

"You command it with the mind but you physically go in," Graciela shrugged. "I think it's just up to you to access it."

"Oh, well, that should be easy," Belén sighed.

Barry placed a hand on her shoulder. "And she'll get it. Because she always does."

"Thanks for the support," Belén languidly said and drank dejectedly from her coffee.

"So what are you going to do now?" Oliver inquired from Graciela. "Go back home? Or…"

Graciela didn't tell them she heard the alert on her watch getting louder, they'd soon see for themselves. "Home. I don't belong in this time and...I knew what was going to happen when I stole the time watch."

"About that..." Barry was cautious in how he spoke about the matter, "...the people you stole it from...are they going to be okay with that? I mean, you said your friend, right?"

"I don't regret it," Graciela reiterated, though now she was looking past the two metas. They, along with Oliver, followed her gaze to see a portal opening and letting in a group of uniformed men and women.

"Who are they?" Oliver narrowed his eyes on what he perceived as the threat.

"The Time Masters, coming to collect their prisoner," Graciela drank the last of her coffee and dumped it into the trash bin behind her.

"Graciela Haynez," a man from the group called as he led the way. "You are under arrest for theft and illegal time traveling." Just as Graciela was raising her hands, the man yanked her arms harshly and turned her around to cuff her from behind.

"What are you doing to her?" demanded Barry, ready to step forwards when Graciela called for them to stay still.

"It's okay! Don't do anything!" she faced the man that shot her with a glower. "It was worth it. The Time Masters' organization is a sham. It's full of convenience."

"And yet you fraternize with two of ours," the man behind her made sure to say loudly, as if it would shame her into silence. "You calling them fake as well?"

Graciela rolled her eyes. "They're my friends, and they're genuine, but they don't have the power to change the entire system. So I took it into my own hands. And now I'm ready to face the consequences."

"Graciela Haynez, ," the man pushed her to turn for the portal, but she fought to turn around and face him. "You have changed the timelines without consent-"

"-I don't care!" she snapped and smacked his chest with her shoulder.

"You also have murder on your tracklist, according to London's authorities-"

"-and!?"

"Barry, they're hurting her!" Belén attempted to move but Barry and even Oliver held onto each of her arms.

"She said not to," Oliver reminded, but it was hard to watch knowing how it was going to end.

The group had moved in on Graciela, each attempting to subdue her. Despite being cuffed, Graciela did put up a fight.

"I'm not resisting! I just want to say goodbye!" she yelled frantically. "That's my legal right, isn't it? Or has your corrupted system taken that out as well?"

The Time Masters seemed unsure and looked to their leader for a command. The leader, in turn, noticed the people around them starting to stare. He gave a nod for them to pick Graciela up and give her what she wanted. Once she was back on her feet, two of them held her arms and walked her up to the trio.

"What's going to happen to you?" Belén asked, her eyes flickering to the dangerous-looking people behind Graciela.

Graciela shrugged, returning to normal within the second as if things weren't going down like this. "I'm going to jail."

"And you say it just like that?"

"Because that's what she was always going to do," Oliver realized,

Belén whipped her head in his direction. "What?"

"He's right," Graciela nodded. "It was the plan. I said it."

"But why?" Belén found herself asking. And to be fair, it was a good question. Graciela had the means to run and hide after all. "That watch can take you anywhere."

"I also said I stole it from a friend that I...deeply care about," Graciela's eyes lowered for a minute. It gave enough indication of just how much she cared for this friend. "If I know this... organization enough, then I know they're probably dragging him through the mud thinking he gave me the watch in secret."

"You're clearing his name by putting yourself in jail," Barry nodded.

"I love him. I can't do that to him," Graciela nodded to herself. She would never openly admit that but she wasn't ever going to see any of these people again. "He's one of the two who are honestly trying to help people, unlike this lot."

"Will we ever see you again?" Belén assumed she knew the answer, but she had to try.

Graciela shook her head. "Probably not. But it was really cool meeting you guys." A big grin came to her face. "I always read about the metas from the 21st century. I think you guys are the most famous, honestly. The Azalea, the Flash and the Arrow - not to mention Supergirl and Solar? You guys are awesome. And for a crook like me to actually get to fight alongside you guys...it gives hope that maybe one day a new Jinx might take up the mantle and do some good."

"Let's go," called the leader.

"Bye guys," Graciela offered a smile before she was forced to turn around.

"No, wait!" Belén called but it was too late.

Graciela was forced through the portal with all the Time Masters around her as if she would escape. In two seconds she was gone with no trace after her. It was as if things never happened.

~0~

After saying goodbye to everyone else, and boy was it a decent amount of people, Belén was ready to return home. Home sweet home. But after such an intense two days, it was a bit difficult to unwind and just...be normal again.

"Not hungry?" Barry asked two times before Belén finally heard him. They were at her apartment, attempting to have a normal dinner that night. Things weren't going that well.

Belén stopped picking at her plate and put her fork down. "Sorry. I'm tired...and I just can't stop thinking about…"

"Grace?" Barry finished for her and got a nod from her.

"It's too bad her nickname caught on after she got sent to jail," Belén sighed and pushed her plate away. "I'm sorry. Thanks for dinner but I'm not very hungry."

"Yeah, I see that," Barry got up from his seat and moved to Belén's chair. He held his hand out for her and pulled her up from her seat. "And I'm sorry I can't do anything to help you."

"I'm not the one that needs help," Belén pointed out. "It's Graciela. I mean, she helped us take down Vandal Savage and what's her prize? Jail."

"Belén, she stole a time watch and she time traveled illegally. Those are crimes in her time," Barry sighed. "I mean I know I should look at who's talking, but…"

"I know," Belén nodded, but it didn't make it easy to deal with. "I just think it's not fair."

Barry took her to the living room and sat down on the couch. He gently pulled her body onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

"Kind of puts our morals into question, doesn't it?" Belén rested her head over his shoulder. Her light breathing tickled Barry's neck. "She did a bad thing to do a good thing. And from what I got, she used to do bad things but she turned a new leaf. I hope she's being treated decently."

"Mhm," Barry pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Belén let a few minutes pass in silence. Her body was tired, as was her mind in general. She felt so comfortable with Barry right now, she didn't want it to end. "Hey Barry, can you stay tonight?" she picked her head up and brought a hand to his shoulder.

Barry didn't want to say it out loud but staying overnight was something they both needed. She died in an alternate timeline, after all. The burning blue behind him wasn't something he could forget so easily.

"Just...to sleep, just sleeping," Belén said after a minute passed without Barry's response. They hadn't really stayed in the same bedroom since they fought the Reverse Flash, but even then it'd only been to sleep, nothing more.

Barry felt his face warm up but he quickly nodded in an attempt to hide it. "Yeah, of course. Just to sleep. Sleeping is good. Good, good, good…"

A smile came to Belén's face, as well as a light chuckle. "Thanks. I love you."

"I love you too," Barry smiled with her. He tucked some of her hair behind her ear and kissed her.

~0~

Graciela was pushed down into a rusty, metal chair of an interrogation room. Her wrists were forced down on the table and kept there like magnets.

"Do we really have to go through this when I am pleading guilty?" she raised an eyebrow at the Time Master in front of her. "I just needed a chance to clear up any mistakes in your file."

"We already know what happened," the man said matter-of-factly. "The Time watch in your possession belonged to our fellow Time Master, Rip Hunter. Question is, how'd you convince him to hand it to you?"

Graciela didn't know whether to laugh at how ridiculous that was, or cry out of frustration that she had to once again repeat her entire guilty plead. "You're kidding right? I thought of a plan and I executed it on my own. Rip didn't have anything to do with this and the idea that he willingly gave up his watch is laughable." The Time Master stared long and hard at her while he deduced whether or not she was being honest. Graciela just smirked in the end because no matter much trouble she was in, it was damn worth it. "I did what you all wouldn't. A Jinx might have saved the world. Vandal Savage is dead."

The man across her did not seemed fazed. "Is he, though?"

Graciela's smirk faltered. "What?"

"Vandal Savage is crucial to our timeline, to our world. You cannot kill him."

By now, Graciela's smirk was gone. "What - what are you talking about?"

"He will live, because he is meant to." The Time Master snapped his fingers and the interrogation room door opened. "Because this is only the beginning of things. You did exactly what you were supposed to do, what we saw you doing."

"You don't - you can't say that! He's dead!" Graciela started pulling at her wrist binds, essentially pulling at the table. "He's dead!"

"He lives," the man reiterated with such confidence it rocked Graciela to the core.

"NO!" she started screaming when two men entered the room to unbind her from the table to take her away. "STOP! HE CAN'T LIVE! Not after what we did! STOOOP!"

Her echoes carried out even as she was dragged away.

#ocappreciation #arrowverseocs #the flash #legends of tomorrow #the flash fics #the flash imagines #fd: the flash #lot #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Graciela Haynez #oc: the azalea #oc: the Jinx #fic: rise up #fic: redemption

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winifredsandersonsbitch · 4 years

Text

“Wallow”

Spike x Summers!Reader, BTVS

Warnings: swearing, violence, mentions of sex, S6 SPOILERS!!!

Description: Out of the five stages of grief, anger is the one that appeals most to the reader. Spike gets the brunt of it during training.

writing fanfics doesn’t feel so appropriate atm, but I wanted to take a break from signing petitions/writing letters (which I encourage you to do as well) and do something creative for a minute. Posting in case anyone else is in a similar situation

Training started up again the day after Buffy’s funeral.

It was important to keep moving, now more than ever. Spike didn’t think it was a good idea, but you shut him down every time he tried to bring it up. What you needed was not time or space or love. You needed to be prepared. You were not going to lose another sister. No one else was going to die. The universe had taken more than its due.

“Again,” you panted, and Spike lunged at you. He couldn’t go in with the intent to hurt you or his head would fill with white hot pain, so you were always uncomfortably aware of how much he was holding back, how easily he could take you if he wasn’t. Most times, he still beat you, although he always offered to fix you up after. All in all, he was a patient teacher, better than you deserved. But even he had his limits.

Spike tackled you to the ground, knocking the breath from your lungs, but you recovered quickly and aimed a punch at his face before he could pin down your arms.

Wheeling backwards, he stretched a hand out to his aching jaw, running it over the bruising skin. “Listen, sweetheart, I know my stamina is legendary, but we’ve got to give it a rest.”

“Again.”

This was all there was for you now. Practice and duty and anger. You wondered if this was how it had been for Buffy, near the end.

You woke up every morning with your skin a mottling greenish purple, darkening with time. Everywhere ached. You covered it up with makeup as best as you could for your shifts at the diner, but your coworkers were starting to notice.

No doubt they blamed it on the blond who sometimes came in to sit at the corner booth during your shifts.

Today hurt more than most. Spike had hurt your back the last time he slammed you against the alley wall, complaining that you fought like a rabid animal instead of a person when you tried to bite him to get away.

“Use anything that you have at your disposal.” You spat blood into the gravel. “That was your first rule. Come at me again.”

That was when he threw you across the alley.

It wasn’t the first time you had been tossed around in a fight. But for some reason, this time you couldn’t get up. You hit a pile of crates and struck your abdomen before rolling over onto your back.

You had practiced being thrown before, falling, all of it, but this was different. Today your anger had gotten the best of you. You had only been focusing on hurting him, not on protecting yourself. And now you couldn’t move.

Spike appeared above you, a bone-white face in a field of black night. You wheezed, trying to take in air that wouldn’t come.

“Fuck, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to throw you so hard. Can you sit up?”

“Something cracked,” you said, and Spike reached out for you, then yanked his hand back like he was afraid he’d hurt you more by touching you. Then he covered the side of your waist with either hand, trying to relocate the pressure that would come with hauling you up to his body instead of yours.

“Here, I’m going to help you up, we’re going to take you to the hospital. I’ll call the others. We’ll— What the hell are you— Stay down, woman!”

You put your hand flat on the crate nearest to you and hauled yourself to your feet. Then you put your fists up, your knuckles bloody from where the scabs had split.

“We—don’t—stop,” you puffed, each word more difficult to get out than the last. “A real fight doesn’t— stop— for anything.”

“This isn’t a real fight,” he reminded you. He reached out and you ducked under his arm, a lightning strike of pain shooting up your side where the bone had fractured. But you came out on the other side, planting your feet.

“It’s real. You’re a vampire.” You needed him to be as worked up as you were, so you pushed this button deliberately. “I’m the new Slayer.”

“You’re not—”

“I am.” You were taking shallow breaths now, trying to stay steady. “She’s gone and I’m here. Someone has to take over.”

“There’s already a new Slayer out there, you don’t have to—”

“I promised my mom I would take care of her. And if I couldn’t do that, then I’ll make damn sure I take care of Sunnydale. Now fight me.”

With one swift move, he had your wrists pinned behind your back, making your ribs groan.

Jesus Christ.

“You can handle it,” Spike said, reading your mind. “Don’t think I’m going easy on you. Not when you seem to like the pain so well.”

You weren’t strong enough to shake him off. Months of this, of trying to train your body to do better, and you still didn’t possess a fraction of what Buffy had.

“Why don’t you tell me what this is about, love?”

He bent his neck over your shoulder like he was playing the part of the loving boyfriend getting ready to place a kiss on your cheek, maybe hold you from behind like he was helping you to line up a shot in golf.

“I need to get better.”

“You’re killing yourself.”

“No.” You almost broke your wrists pulling out of his grip and he had to steady you before you fell back. He placed a hand on middle of your ribcage where the skin was beginning to swell, wincing. “I wouldn’t do that to Dawn. To any of them. I’m only trying to make it right. Willow will look me over when we’re done.”

Spike shook his head. “I know this is how you deal with grief from your mum, but this is ridiculous.”

“This is nothing like that.”

“No?”

You picked your jacket up off the ground, shaking it out. You got hot during training, but you were freezing now.

“No.”

He followed you out of the alley doggedly, his thunderous footsteps right behind your own. Across the street, down the sidewalk, and into your car. He climbed in before you could lock the doors. Sitting down made the pain in your ribs flare, but you filed that away under Things to Deal with Later.

“Tell me.”

“It’s just different.” He continued to watch you steadily. Stealthily. Hungrily. You reached to start the car, but he stilled your hand. You slapped his away.

“Why do you care? Do you really have so few other friends that you have to follow me around like a lost puppy? Get out, Spike.”

“You know why.”

You did. He told you before, before Buffy took the high dive, but you had ignored him. Even when he offered to kill Drusilla for you, even when he almost got himself killed by Glory to save Dawn. You believed he felt something. Lust, a proximity to danger. Something to make his immortal life more interesting. But as you had told him before, that wasn’t the same as love.

“Get out.”

“I care about you,” he said through clenched teeth. “For the last year, I’ve only tried to do right by you. You say that you don’t want to play the part of the broken girl, but here you are. I should nominate you for a bloody Oscar.”

“Just because I don’t want to fuck you doesn’t mean that—”

Spike almost broke off the handle as he slammed open the car door, his jaw tight.

“Don’t come crying to me when no one else is willing to stomach your bullshit.”

You stewed in the car for all of two minutes, smacking the horn and screaming at the top of your lungs, before you calmed down enough to think things over.

You were miserable.

Mostly because of Buffy’s death, but also because you were tired of trying to fill her shoes. You couldn’t come up with that many puns in combat or put slaying ahead of everything else. You couldn’t lock down your feelings in order to get the job done. You couldn’t even be honest with the people you loved about how you felt.

You fully considered letting Spike walk out of your life and never come back. You probably would have, too. If he hadn’t been right. If he hadn’t found a way to get you the money you needed after your mother’s death. If he hadn’t volunteered to watch Dawn, to do extra research, even to make dinner one night when you were feeling especially out of it. He almost burned the house down, but he had tried.

You had lashed out at him more times than you could count, and he always took it with a steadiness that kept you grounded when it counted. And now, when he finally bit back, it was because you had suggested that all he wanted from you was sex.

You rolled out of your seat, locked up the car, and tucked the keys in your pocket, swiveling blindly. Where had he gone? Back to the crypt? To the alley? You saw a flicker of black disappear around the corner and followed.

You caught a glimpse of Spike ducking into a decrepit all-night bar. Tugged your jacket tighter around yourself. Prayed that no one would recognize you. Stepped inside.

It was the seedy kind of monster venue that only he could like. Demons leered at you from behind tables marked with blood and vampires ordered drinks at the scuffed bar top. Spike was ordering a Bloody Mary when you sat down next to him. The stool creaked beneath your weight, but he didn’t so much as look at you. The bartender glared at you disapprovingly but let you be. To soften him up, you ordered your own drink, although you didn’t know if you’d be able to take a single sip. The place didn’t look very sanitary.

“I know when I’m wrong,” you said to the glasses behind the bar. “I’m not trying to put up walls. But I don’t want anyone taking care of me. I don’t like to be treated like I’m fragile.”

That wasn’t true. You remembered that one night after your shift when all you had wanted was to be babied. To have someone else take the load for you. But that was before and this was now.

Spike stayed silent. You cleared your throat. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to dangle anything in front of you. When I suggested we train together, I wasn’t leading you on. Or I didn’t mean to be leading you on. It’s just different being around you than the others.”

You could practically hear crickets chirp in here. The bartender dropped off your drinks and Spike took a long sip. Like you didn’t even exist.

“I didn’t want to ruin what we have.”

You were conscious of sounding like every annoying movie protagonist ever.

“Not that we have anything, only—we’re friends, aren’t we? I don’t want the only reason for you hanging out with me to be that you’re waiting for the day you can get in my pants. So I ignore it, like it’ll make it go away,” you babbled. Demons were giving you disgusted glances now, but you rushed on. “And I meant what I said, about how this isn’t like when my mom died. I always knew that any one of us could meet something we couldn’t come back from. I had a plan then. I saved and I learned how to do taxes and I made sure Dawn got to school. But now when the money’s almost run out and we’ve been through two funerals, I can’t—I can’t do this. Any of it. And if you’re only in this for the chase and I give in, that means I have one less person on my side, and I used to have friends, people I trusted, but then life started revolving around Buffy like she was the sun and now— Now she’s gone. And I don’t want anyone to love me ever again, I only want to know that I can take care of myself in the absence of love. I only want to know that I can take care of who’s left.”

He still wasn’t looking at you. And whose fault was that? You had burned your last bridge to the one person left in your life who had known you and cared about you more than Buffy. Who was more concerned with your life than her death. Wasn’t that awful of you? To have ever wanted that?

“I’m sorry,” you said again. You left the money for your drink and stood up. “I thought you should know.”

God, your ribs fucking hurt. You applied pressure to the swelling like you were holding in your internal organs as you dragged your feet to the front door. Then you heard one of the barstools squeal as Spike spun in a full rotation, casual as the devil.

He finished his drink and stood, meeting your eyes for the first time and prying the keys from your hand.

“Come on then. I’ll drive you home.”

#btvs x reader #btvs season 5 #fanfiction #spike x reader #buffy the series #angst

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gemlinz · 3 years

Text

Fulcrum ch. 3 - Baby Steps (Levi x f!Reader)

Summary: It was a cruel world, she knew. She also knew better than to ask for more than her lot: being a full time barmaid and a part time thief. She helped where she could, bitterly accepted where she could not. Feared the monsters lurking outside the walls. But still - being near him, taking in his strength, his resolve - she couldn't help but hope for more. For herself. For him. For humanity.

Warnings: Swearing, Violence | CH 1 | CH 2 | CH 3 | CH 4 |

Read on A03

As soon as the door shut on the last customer, F/N locked it. She threw her head back onto the wooden frame hard with a groan, eyes falling shut. This was the first time tonight she had to stand still.

“Rough night?” Levi asked from behind his mug. He was sitting in his normal corner, eyeing her exhausted form.

She only grunted in response.

Rough night was an understatement - it was Saturday, and while that always meant a night long rush, the merchants were also throwing a festival. Even when it was standing room only, customers forced themselves into the pub to demand whatever their drink of choice was, throwing money at her before making their way back out into the busy street. On top of that, Louis was still out, so she was entirely alone to deal with it.

The barmaid hadn’t had a second to breathe, let alone dedicate attention to her partner in crime, as it were. Their close encounter with the Military Police had been just over a week ago, though she had seen him a few days prior when he delivered her new assignment.

Levi watched her for a beat longer before saying, “You’re not going to leave this shithole looking like this, are you?”

She cracked one E/C eye open at him before directing her gaze to the rest of the bar. She bit back a curse when she took it in.

As busy as she was, she hadn’t noticed the state it was in. Glasses and alcohol littered the floor, some of it coagulated and starting to become sticky. She counted two tables turned over, and a broken chair leg - it was unclear where the rest of the chair was.

Even the walls had a layer of gunk on them. F/N felt like she was about to cry.

He scoffed when she cast pleading eyes at him.

“Not a chance, brat.” He shot her down, setting his cup down. His table and the area around it remained miraculously spotless, as if his aura just emanated cleanliness.

More likely, she guessed, his aura promised deadly retribution should anyone come too close.

“Please, Levi?” She begged, pushing off the wall to come sit in front of him. “This is totally your thing!” When he looked only nonplussed, she continued “There's no way I’ll get it all done before I pass out….just think of all the spots I’ll miss…”

He rolled his eyes, “Sounds like a you problem - why would I give a shit about what your pub looks like?”

She sighed heavily, giving up on him. The woman buried her head in her arms on the table, groaning.

“Fine, whatever.” She mumbled through her arms, “I’ll do it myself...just need to rest my eyes for a minute. Feel free to see yourself out.”

He shook his head in disgust, kicking the leg of her chair.

“Oi, we’re not done yet - I still need your report.”

“I didn’t have time to write it with Louis being out,” She whined.

“And where the fuck might Louis be? Kinda shitty to leave your dumbass stuck with this crowd alone.”

F/N glanced up just enough to glare at him, “It’s not his fault, I had to fight him to stay home. He’s in no state to be working.”

“What do you mean “in no state”?” He demanded. She looked away.

“It doesn’t matter. Just - don't think lowly of him, ok? He’d be here if he could.”

Levi grunted, shooting the last of his tea before noisily placing the mug back on the saucer. Of course the idiot would defend the man who had sold her out less than a year ago. He studied her for a minute before continuing.

“Fine. I’ll help you.” When her head shot up in surprised glee, he continued, “If you tell me what happened to your face.”

F/N's brows drew together in confusion, but the action pulled on the cut above her cheek and she was quickly reminded. Her hand flew up to the swollen side of her face, flushing. With the busyness of her night, she had totally forgotten.

It looked worse than it was - her cheekbone and right eye were slightly swollen, a shallow scabbed over cut just above the apple of her cheek. The bruising didn’t look as bad as it had a couple days ago thankfully, but still showed as a faded ugly green.

Levi had spotted it the second he walked in, and he had been itching for answers ever since. His irritation only grew when she was too busy to even spare him a greeting, throwing his typical order down in front of him with an apologetic frown before moving onto her next customer.

When she looked like she wouldn’t answer, he prompted, “Is that from the other night? When I-” He looked away, “When we had to shake the MPs?”

“No.” She said, surprised he even cared, "Though you could have been nicer about it.”

He rolled his eyes at her petulant tone.

“I’ll remember that next time we’re about to be caught, interrogated and then executed.”

When the woman wasn’t forthcoming with any more information, he leaned over the table to better inspect her injury.

F/N moved away when he got closer in alarm, but he stopped her with a firm hand on her chin, angling her face for a better view.

“Did someone hit you?” He demanded, gently prodding at her cheekbone. She hissed.

“Not on purpose. I don't think.” She yanked out of his grasp, pushing her chair back so as to be out of range.

“You don’t think.” He deadpanned. “No it was - well, he was aiming for Louis, probably.” When he still didn’t seem satisfied with her answer, she continued giving in. “It was some drunk, ok? He had had too much, and Louis cut him off which only pissed him off. He got belligerent, and we had to kick him out. Louis took the brunt of it, but I got hit trying to tear the guy off of him.”

A beat while he processed

“So what I’m getting here,” Levi drawled, drawing it out like she was a child, “Is that you let some drunk asshole sucker punch you?”

She felt her face heat in indignation. Why was he saying it like it was her fault? "I didn't let him do anything."

He scoffed.

“Tell me you at least broke the fuckers arm.” He said, frustrated.

“What?” She asked, alarmed, “No, of course not - other customers stepped in after that and dragged him out. He was twice the size of me.”

That gave him pause.

“So? Why should that matter? I kick the shit out of people twice my size all the time.”

“Yeah, but you’re you.” She argued, and he felt warning bells begin to go off, “And I can’t do stuff like that.”

He stared at her for a minute, trying to see through a lie. When he didn’t find one, he felt anger start to bubble up, mixed with alarm.

“Can’t do stuff like what?” He asked, voice low.

She shifted uncomfortably, able to sense his mood change but not sure what had caused it. She chose her next words carefully.

“Fighting stuff.” When his gaze only got darker, she rushed to clarify, thinking that her lack of explanation was the problem, “I never needed to so I never learned, and I don’t think I’d even know how to start. I mean, you had to have known this, you had me pinned in seco-” She stopped abruptly when he held up one hand, the other pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. There was a moment of silence as he processed what she was saying.

“Are you telling me,” He began threateningly, his tone setting her on edge, “That we’ve been sending you, for months, into enemy territory... and you can’t even defend yourself?”

F/N would have been insulted if she wasn’t so terrified.

“I-” her voice cracked a bit, so she cleared her throat, “I mean...yes?”

His hand slammed down on the table and she jumped.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He growled at her, though she didn’t think the question was necessarily directed at her.

“Look - it's not like I’ll ever need to know.” She defended, adrenaline pumping and pride a little bruised, “No ones ever been able to catch me.”

He looked at her like she was stupid.

“I caught you, you idiot.” His voice was exasperated. Then, more to himself, “How the hell did I not realize...you went down so easy, I just thought I surprised you.”

“You only caught me because you cheated.” She bristled, sitting up straighter. “If not for Louis, the last you’d have seen of me was on that rooftop.”

“And you think our enemies will play by your rules?” He countered, directing his fury back towards her.

“Well - no, but-”

“So what happens next time you're cornered, huh? Next time someone sells your dumbass out and you get hit when your guard’s down?”

“It won’t happen, Levi, you’re not listening to me-”

“Shut the fuck up before I shut you up.” He leaned forward menacingly, and she immediately shrunk back. At her fearful compliance, he sat back. In a calmer but no less cold tone, “You should know how to at least defend yourself. It’s a fucking miracle you’ve made it this far.”

She wouldn’t meet his gaze, staring at her hands as she picked at her nails.

“It’s a moot point, anyway,” She started quietly, “I don’t have anyone to teach me.”

At his silence, icy fear clawed up her spine.

“You’re um-” She began, voice shaking, “You’re not going to tell Erwin, right?”

Tiredly, Levi sized her up. Despite this new development, she was honestly the best thief he had met. Given his history that wasn’t an easy feat - her ability to slip in and out of otherwise off access sites undetected was beyond even his own talents, and had been hugely beneficial to the Corps. But if he told Erwin that she was practically defenseless when they sent her to these places, that if she was ever caught she wouldn’t stand a chance against capture....

A captured spy was a liability, and not one the Survey Corp could afford.

The Commander would cut her out. And then, to tie up loose ends, he’d arrest her - maybe have his strongest soldier eliminate her so she couldn’t talk.

Levi could tell from the stiff way she held herself she realized what was at stake with her question.

He sighed, drumming his fingers on the table with one hand and leaning his head against the other.

“You’re not giving me much choice,” He started, letting her hang for a beat when her eyes shot up to meet his in panic, “I’ll have to teach you.”

The thief’s fear melted into confusion and then into shock. His lips quirked as he saw the emotions play out on her face.

“Wait, really?”

He gave her a blank look, bored. “Just enough to keep you alive.”

She nodded, “Ok, yeah. Ok.” Her brain was still catching up, “Like...right now?”

He shook his head, exasperated.

“No, dumbass. You’re dead on your feet and this pub’s still filthy. I’ll meet you here tomorrow night, after close. ”

F/N groaned as she remembered the state of their surroundings, dragging herself to her feet.

“I almost forgot,” She sighed wistfully, imagining her warm bed. Moving to go get the cleaning supplies, she waved at him over her shoulder. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. I’ll have the report, too.”

“Tch.” He said, standing up and moving behind where she stood in front of the supplies closet, snatching a towel from her hand. “Give me a rag, brat. I’ll start on the walls.”

He ignored her surprised stare as he made good on his promise.

The next night, Levi found himself standing outside the door to Louis’ pub. From the windowed entrance, he could see F/N with her back facing him; she was pushing the bar’s tables to the sides of the room, muscles straining with the effort.

She had changed out of her regular day-job attire and was wearing the clothes he had first seen her in - black head to toe and easy to move around in. Perfect for a spy, and perfect for what he had planned.

As he watched her flit back and forth to clear the room, Levi once again wondered why he was doing this. Reporting her shortcomings to Erwin would be disastrous for her life expectancy, sure, but he wouldn’t ever have to sit in this shitty bar again. He could get on with his life; the Commanders pet project failing didn’t do anything but expose him to significantly less shitty tea.

But even as he tried to convince himself to turn home and right into Erwin’s office, he could only sigh. He knew he wouldn’t do it, just like he knew the countless other times he had this argument with himself on the way over here.

It wasn’t out of compassion for the young thief. If anything, her weakness grated on him, had him itching to just put her out of her own goddamn misery and end this charade. She was barely tolerable and the less time spent in her presence, the better.

No, he had agreed to train her because he saw the potential.

It was a skill he developed at a young age - to see a seemingly harmless object and know that in his hands, it could become deadly.

The way she evaded him that night six months ago was like nothing he had encountered before - she hadn’t been wrong, only Louis tipping him and Erwin off got her caught. Never before had he seen someone know the empty, quiet spaces in the world and melt into them as if she was nothing.

It was impressive, he would begrudgingly admit. But more importantly, if honed, it would be dangerous.

Already was. The information she had stolen for Erwin had brought the Corp back from monetary extinction. He had her to thank for his shiny new 3DMG, traded up from his hand me down last generation model. The person she could become is someone they wanted on their side.

But he also wasn’t an idiot - he wouldn’t teach her enough to kill him, or Erwin. But just enough to give her a leg up should anyone try and fuck with her.

The Captain’s sigh was self deprecating as he watched her trip herself with a chair she was carrying, still not noticing him. His and Erwin's safety probably wasn’t something he would have to worry about.

Levi rapped his knuckles on the glass, the door already locked to keep out any last minute bar flies. She whipped around, waving when she saw him.

“Hi!” She chirped, opening the door and stepping aside, “I wasn’t sure if you’d actually come, but I got ready anyway.”

He grunted in response, throwing his jacket onto the bar counter. She was bouncing lightly on her heels with nervous energy. “You need to calm down.”

She flinched, but stopped bouncing. He narrowed his eyes. If this was going to work, he needed her focused - and right now she was practically quaking.

“If I wanted you dead brat, it would have already happened.”

“Of course,” She stuttered, “I know that. Obviously.” E/C eyes darted above his head, where there was still a bullet lodged.

Levi exhaled loudly in frustration. Fine, he’d just have to show her what distraction would cost her.

“Get over here, stand in the middle of the room.” She did obediently, “Good, now square up. I’m going to come at you and your one job is to not get hit, understand?”

F/N paused with her fists halfway raised, staring at him wide-eyed, “H-huh? Wait, I’m not rea-”

He charged at her. She dodged wildly to the right as he faked a swing with his left fist, only to be met with a kick to her side.

She was knocked over, crashing into the side of the bar hard.

Wincing, she sat up angrily.

“Ow - what the hell was that!?” She yelled, fuming. She recoiled back into the bar as he stalked towards her.

“That,” He answered, crouching down to be eye level, “was pathetic. I knew it was bad, but shit. There's not much to work with. Your focus is abysmal,” he began listing, “You show your hand too easily and you fall like you want to break something.”

F/N did her best to hold her glare, but each new fault he listed broke her down a bit more.

“At least we know where to start,” He sighed, standing up, “from the bottom. Get up, stand in the middle and square up again.”

She hesitated again, fearful at him attacking her. It only took a raised eyebrow before she compiled.

He studied her, before circling around to stand behind her.

“Your biggest advantage is that you’re light on your feet and fast, when you’re not being a klutz. I've seen you do it to dodge the handsy drunks. Use it - don’t stop moving. Widen your stance,” He kicked at her calf until satisfied her feet were in the right spot. Then he turned her with a grip on her hips, “And turn so that your side faces your opponent - you want to take up the least amount of space as possible while still allowing for the greatest range of movement.”

He stepped back, before humming. Coming around to face her again, he nodded once.

“Good. Now, the tough part. You need to learn how to read what your opponent’s doing before they do it.” He rolled his sleeves up, cuffing them at the elbow.

“And how do I learn to do that?” She asked, awkwardly shifting around in her new stance.

His eyes were feral, and she instinctively took a step back when she caught sight of them.

“Experience.”

If she thought the first knockdown was bad, the next thirty or so were much worse.

Levi didn’t let up until just before dawn, when she finally managed to dodge one of his blows, turning to him in glee only to be met with him sweeping her legs out from under her.

She fell hard on her back, winded and glaring up at him.

“Don’t get cocky,” He said, looming over her, “Overconfidence will get you killed.”

He offered her a hand. F/N rolled her eyes, but took it and he hauled her to her feet.

“Better, anyway.” He decided, and she figured it was as much validation she was going to get, “We’ll call it a night.”

The thief nodded, finally letting herself feel the exhaustion rolling over her now that the immediate danger had passed.

Walking towards the pub’s cash drawer, she opened it, sliding out her report hidden under the bills and handing it to him.

He took it, nodding once in thanks.

“So,” She began casually, “now that I can defend myself, you won’t tell Erwin?”

Levi paused in putting on his jacket.

“You think you’re set after one lesson?” He asked, incredulous, “Are you an idiot? I wasn't even going at you with even a fraction of power - even the shittiest MPs would still fuck you up.”

F/N stared at him, mouth agape.

“Then what am I sup-”

“I’ll see you next week, brat. You better not be distracted next time.” He stated as if they had already agreed. Not waiting to hear her arguments, he used the front door to leave.

She could only stare at where he was before moving to lock the door. She stuck her tongue out at his back as she watched him turn the corner.

Making her way up to her apartment, she tenderly prodded one of her many bruises, groaning loudly at the thought of having to do it all over again.

#levi x reader #levi ackerman #levi aot #levi #reader insert #fanfiction #gem writes

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