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corinthianism · 6 months

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last kiss | sam winchester (5)

pairing: sam winchester/f!reader additional tags: best friends to lovers (?), fluff, angst warning(s): implied/referenced non-con

masterlist | previous chapter | ao3

CHAPTER FIVE: TEN SECONDS

You didn’t know where you were. You didn’t even know how much time has passed since Lucifer took you away. He stashed you in some house. It looked like a normal suburban home, except it seemed he used his amped-up archangel abilities to essentially create a whole pocket dimension for you. On a surface level, every day felt like a normal day. Night and day passed just the same as it would in the real world. You had neighbors, and they were both familiar and unfamiliar. “Dean” lived right across the street whilst “Bobby” and “Cas” lived right next to you. The other houses were occupied by random people you didn’t know. It was like a bad djinn hallucination.

The routine was always the same: wake up, eat, try to kill time, sleep, repeat. In the beginning, you thought you were just having a bad dream; that Dean, Bobby, and Cas were really there with you. However, when you tried talking to them, they were way too out of character. Dean acted like a stereotypical macho man with absolutely no personality whatsoever, Bobby’s parental instincts towards you were taken to new heights in an almost cartoony way, and Cas was a helpless imbecile.

Then there was Sam. Sam was the only one who acted like himself. You’d wake up next to him, eat meals with him. You did everything you normally did with him, except in this weird world, you weren’t hunters. It felt eerily similar to the dreams you’ve had before.

He kissed you, touched you in ways the real him would never have the courage to do, but you refused to sleep with him. No matter how many times he tried to initiate it. He wasn’t real, and this was all wrong.

He would leave at exactly 9am everyday. Those first few days, you tried finding a way to escape. You tried talking to your “friends”. You tried hurting them. You tried pleading with Sam. When nothing else worked, you tried killing him.

And he was dead. For a while. The very next day, you woke up next to him again, as if nothing happened. After that, you resigned to just doing whatever you could to not be present in the moment. You played the role of housewife, because there was nothing else you could do.

Until now.

You woke up again, expecting to see the same cream-colored walls and smell the same ever-present smell of lavender. Instead, you were in an unfamiliar room.

The first thing that hit you was that it was rancid compared to what you were used to, as if somebody tried to hide the smell of a dead body with some berry-scented perfume. You turned around, and there was Sam. He donned a fully white suit, his hair uncharacteristically slicked back.

“You’ve been very impressive,” he winked at you, taking his hands out of his pockets to give you a mocking slow clap. This was Lucifer and when you looked into his eyes, you couldn’t find a trace of Sam. “For someone so in love with him, you did a bang-up job of… well, not banging him.”

You didn’t answer.

“Aww, come on now. Giving me the silent treatment?” he stepped forward. “What if I told you… he could still hear you if you talked to him? Not that he would be able to answer. Not unless I wanted him to, of course.”

That got your attention, and it gave you a boost of courage that had otherwise been taken from you. You ran towards him, grabbing him by the collar.

“Sam? Sam! Listen to me, if you’re in there, you’ve gotta fight it! Take back control, Sam!” you pleaded desperately, your last attempt in getting your best friend back.

His expression changed, and suddenly, he grabbed your shoulders. His body language and the cadence of his voice changed as well, and for a moment, all hope was not lost. It was as if the clouds parted to reveal the sun. This was your Sam.

“You’ve got to get out of here,” he pushed you away, looking around frantically for an exit for you to use. “You have to stay away from me, you have to—”

You took several steps back, turning around to grab the doorknob, only to find that the door was just part of the wallpaper, “What—”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” it echoed from behind you. You turned around slowly, and “Sam” was standing perfectly still and upright once again. “Naughty Sam. Naughty you.”

He approached you, stopping right in front of you before he looked you up and down like a predator assessing its prey.

“So, it’s just you and me now, princess,” he tilted your chin upward to have you look at him. “You know, I can see inside Sammy’s head, and my, my, my… the thoughts he has about you aren’t as innocent as you think they are.”

You scowled at him, even if it was unnatural for you to do such a thing to Sam. This wasn’t Sam anymore, you had to remember that.

“Remember… Jessica? Oh, I bet that one broke your heart. The love of your life going off to some fancy Ivy League and getting a pretty blonde… well, if it’s any consolation, he was always thinking of you. I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason he could get off whenever he was inside her.”

He laughed, as if he said the funniest thing in the world. He traced hearts and random shapes on your cheek, his laughter dying down into a contented sigh.

“You and I are gonna have a lot of fun together,” he finally said, his hand sliding down to your neck, and then to the collar of your button-down plaid shirt. He unbuttoned it once, “Sammy’s screaming at me right now. It’s very annoying.”

He unbuttoned another one, “I don’t see why he’s not enjoying this more, honestly. After all, this is what he wanted. If anything, I’m doing him a favor.”

He leaned closer, and you desperately tried to slow down your breathing. Your heart was pounding, so much so that you were almost sure that Lucifer could hear it. You always wanted Sam, but not like this. Lucifer knew that, and so he would do exactly what he wanted.

Lucifer, in a mission to ruin you forever, took more and more of your dignity with each button he removed. Finally, when your skin was on display for only him to see, a wide grin appeared on his face. Sam’s face.

“You’re never going to be the same after this,” he promised, and all you could do was hide somewhere in your mind where even the devil couldn’t find you.

▼△▼△▼△▼△▼

Lucifer took you to a cemetery, whispering in your ear about how once Michael showed up, you were gonna see the greatest battle in history. Of course, Lucifer would win.

Ever since that night, you felt like a prisoner of your mind. It was both your safe place and your punishment. You tried to remind yourself that it wasn’t Sam; that it was Lucifer who stole your dignity. Sam would never… Sam could never hurt you the way Lucifer had.

Even in the presence of two archangels, you stayed silent, and accepted your fate. Half of the world was gonna burn to the ground when this was all over, and you just hoped that your death would be quick. You felt sick when Michael looked at you, something akin to both disgust and pity written all over his face.

Then, the familiar rev of Baby’s engine reached your ears. Your head shot up, seeing the Dean riding the Impala into the graveyard, right in front of Michael and Lucifer.

Dean got out of the car, his eyes immediately flickering over to you in worry, but he pressed forward and marched right up to the two archangels.

“Hey, we need to talk.”

Lucifer scoffed, “Dean. Even for you, this is a whole new mountain of stupid.”

“I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to Sam.”

“You’re no longer the vessel, Dean. You got no right to be here.”

Dean turned to Michael, his voice filled with sincerity and regret, “Adam, if you’re in there somewhere, I’m so sorry.”

“Adam isn’t home right now.”

Castiel and Bobby arrived, with Cas throwing a can of holy fire at Michael to keep him at bay. This irked Lucifer, who then snapped his fingers. Cas exploded, leaving behind bits and pieces of blood and flesh.

“You know… I tried to be nice, for Sammy’s sake. But you are… such a pain in my ass,” he threw Dean against the windshield of the Impala.. Bobby shot at Lucifer’s back, prompting Lucifer to twist his hand. Bobby’s neck snapped.

Your eyes widened, two of the people you cared about was just murdered by Lucifer, and you’d be damned if you weren’t gonna do something about it. You ran towards Lucifer, trying to get him away from Dean. With a flick of his hand, you were thrown against a nearby tree. The impact was enough to knock you out for a few seconds, your vision falling in and out of darkness.

You laid motionless on top of the pile of dry, dead leaves, unable to do anything but watch. Lucifer got closer to Dean, grabbing him by the legs and then punching him.

“No!” was what you wanted to say, but nothing came out. You could feel a branch poking at the skin of your back.

Lucifer kept punching Dean, over and over until Dean’s face was barely recognizable.

Then something happened.

His fist was still raised in the air, and you could see the internal war raging inside him. His hands shook, and his grip on the collar of Dean’s shirt loosened. There was a glint in his eyes, one that told you whether or not the body you were talking to was Lucifer or Sam. You held your breath, eyes lasered in his face, not sure if the person in front of you was your Sam.

For him, it felt like time had stopped. There was no apocalypse. No Lucifer. No Michael, no nothing.

All he could see was the toy soldier stuck in the Impala’s ashtray. That was enough for him. The sight of the toy, the memories etched into the car, the image of his bloodied brother in front of him who, even then, was still unwilling to fight.

The memories didn’t hit him like an outside force, they came from him, blossomed from a place he forgot about. Locked in a treasure chest he kept in the deepest corners of his soul, where not even the devil could touch it. Clear as day, he relived every single one, and with each memory, the clearing grew wider. He could crawl out and push Lucifer back.

He saw it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. He remembered sticking that toy in the ash tray, and the stern, drunken scolding that he got from his dad soon after. He remembered him and Dean etching their initials on the car door. He remembered the fireworks. The countless nights of booze and fastfood takeout. Lying down on the hood of the car to watch the stars whenever they were in between cases. All the times Dean saved his ass, yelled at him, laughed with him, and everything in between.

His eyes met yours, and the sight of you broke his heart all over again.

Sam didn’t have much time. This much he knew. He could feel the mind-melting, soul-breaking pain of Lucifer scratching at his walls— no, he was tearing them down, howling to be in control once more. Sam could hear every single scream and whisper that Lucifer was filling his ears with and it was too much. In his gut swelled the familiar hatred that the fallen archangel harbored for humanity, and it wasn’t the boiling hot rage that most people would expect. It was the kind of hatred that flowed through each and every single blood vessel in your body; the kind that only a being as old as the devil could feel. It was quiet, deadly. It was the kind of hatred that consumed you, built up from eons of being locked in a cage like an animal. Lucifer blurred the lines between his anger and Sam’s, and that scared the younger Winchester.

But standing there with you, seeing you as if it was the first time, Sam thought he could bear it, if only a little while longer. Standing there with you made it clear that that hatred couldn’t possibly be his own, because how could he ever hate you? No, Sam Winchester loved you, and it came to him as easy as breathing.

More memories broke through, and this time, they’re of you. The way your eyes crinkled when you smiled. The sound of your laughter in the early morning. The time you helped him make a girl jealous in 8th grade when it was really just an excuse to be close to you. The time you kissed him when you were as high as a kite after getting your wisdom teeth removed.

If he closed his eyes, he could feel the ghost of your lips on his and pretend that everything was alright. Lucifer would not take this away from him.

Finally, Sam lowered his fist and gasped as his senses were flooded with everything. You could almost sob in relief, if it wasn’t for the fact that it wouldn’t be long until Michael and Lucifer came back with a vengeance, but nothing could ever be worse than what would come next. Sam took several steps back, rummaging through his pocket to retrieve the Four Horsemen’s rings. Your muscles ached as you tried to get back up, but nothing could trump the pain in your chest as you watched Sam slowly back away from Dean.

It’s cruel, probably the cruelest thing that the universe threw at you. You had seconds of clarity, and they were the seconds counting down to the love of your life’s suicide. Sam looked at Dean, and then at you, and you almost wished he didn’t. For a moment, you thought that maybe this was all some one sick, twisted nightmare and that you were gonna wake up any minute now. You blinked, but Dean was still beaten and bloody and Sam still felt so far away. There were tears in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Even now, he still tried to keep on a brave face for you. It almost made you smile. A tiny part of you hoped that maybe the apocalypse wouldn’t be so bad as long as you went down with him. Almost as if you wanted Lucifer to win just so you could keep Sam in the only way you could. The thought passed as quickly as it came, all while feeling like a knife had been twisted in your stomach.

“It’s gonna be okay, I got him,” he breathed heavily, stepping away from you and Dean even further. “We’re gonna be okay. Everything’s gonna be alright.”

He sounded as if he didn’t really believe himself either.

He pulled out the Horsemen’s rings from his pocket and threw them on the ground, chanting the incantation to open the cage. The ground shook, and before you knew it, a large pit had opened up in the soil. From where you stood, all you could see was a black void, but you knew what it was. It was hell. It was the deepest, darkest, most depraved part of hell and Sam was going in with a one-way ticket.

“Sammy,” your voice broke. He turns his head to look at you again. You didn’t know what to say. Did you want to stop him? Jump into the pit with him? Profess your undying love for him?

None of those options seemed right. The clock was ticking.

Ten.

You could see how scared he was, his hands trembled with the weight of what he was about to do. You wanted to go up to him, hold him, tell him that he was going to be okay, but you couldn’t. It was dangerous, yes, but you knew that if you took even just one step closer to him, you wouldn’t let him go.

Nine.

“I’m sorry,” he called you. “For everything.”

He took another step back. He knew what Lucifer did to you, and it crushed him. It took everything in him to not go to you and protect you the way he wanted to. To beg for your forgiveness.

Eight.

“Sam, please,” you begged, though you weren’t sure what you were begging for. You looked over at Dean, trying to get him to back you up. World be damned, you won’t fucking lose Sam. Dean could only stare back at you, his head hung low in defeat. He was letting go, and he was telling you to do the same.

Seven.

The air seemed to grow heavier, and Sam yelled at you and Dean to stay back. Even though it broke your heart to do so, you did as he asked, scurrying over to Dean’s side to help him get away from Sam. Dean grunted in pain, clutching your hand that was on his chest. You could feel the rapid beat of his heart under your palm.

Six.

Sam called your name, and nothing was more important. You stood up, heart clenched in anticipation.

“I need,” he took a deep breath. “I need you to know.”

Five.

“Need to know what, Sam?” a cry escaped your lungs.

“That it’s always been you,” he smiled sadly, voice barely heard over the chaos. “It was always gonna be you.”

It was odd, the way the heat rushed to your cheeks. The way your own heart beat twice, thrice as fast than it already was. You could almost let the world around you fade away. There was only Sam.

He spoke again, a little louder, a little braver, “You know that, right?”

Four.

“I know,” you tried to stifle your sobs. His admission hung in the air, filling your lungs with everything that was him. He loved you, and you always knew.

“That’s my girl,” he kept smiling, determined to make sure that that was the last thing you saw. He didn’t want you to remember his death. He just wanted you to remember him.

Sam knew why you didn’t say it, and it was for the same reason he did. It was better this way. Saying those three words would set things in stone, and especially now that he was seconds away from his death, he didn’t see the point of hurting you that much more.

Three.

Michael returned, a wave of unseen energy washing over you and Dean at his arrival. His anger distorted Adam’s young face. Panic overtook the anger, however, when he noticed just how close Sam was from jumping off the edge.

Two.

Sam closed his eyes, letting gravity pull him in. Michael screamed, rushing over to stop Sam from falling in. For a split-second, you feared the worst would come to pass. That Michael would save Sam and just resume his world-ending battle with Lucifer.

Sam’s eyes shot open when Michael’s hands tried to get him away from the pit but immediately, his gaze flickered over to you.

You, with the pain of a thousand lifetimes weighing on you, and the cuts and bruises and tears to show for it.

You, with the laughter that pulled him out of every nightmare on the days when his own mind wouldn’t let him rest.

You, with the proud, contagious smile after every hilariously bad joke, all because you wanted to see him smile, too.

His heart was yours, perhaps it had been since the beginning, but Sam knew one thing: this world was better with you in it.

With all the strength he could muster, he grabbed Michael by the lapel of Adam’s jacket, and pulled him into the pit.

Sam was gone.

One.

When the pit closed up and left nothing but the Four Horsemen’s rings behind, you forced yourself to move away from Dean and approach the rings, kneeling by the spot where the pit just was. The world was safe again, though you didn’t know how long that would last. The grass was soft under the palm of your hand, as if there wasn’t a massive doorway to hell there just moments prior. You let yourself cry; to truly pour your heart out for someone who wouldn’t be able to hear it.

You would never have another morning coffee run with him or another all-nighter spent on researching monster lore. No more pop culture debates or stitching up each other’s wounds. You would never make him smile, ruffle his hair, or hold his hand again, nor would you feel him keeping an eye on you while you slept.

Since before you hunted your first monster, Sam had been by your side. Now that you didn’t have him, it felt as though you weren’t a whole person. Like your very soul had been torn apart and its pieces were lost in the wind, never to be complete again.

Castiel returned, seemingly resurrected by none other than God Himself, and immediately helped Dean and Bobby get back up on their feet, all shiny and new. When he walked over to you, his hand reaching out to touch your cheek and heal all your wounds, you moved away. Your face was littered with small cuts from being thrown to the side by Lucifer, and you were sure there would be a massive bruise on your back from the impact.

You still refused to be healed.

“Let it be,” you told Cas quietly. He frowned, hesitant to heed your request, but he obliged anyway.

Seconds. It only took seconds for you to lose everything. You didn’t know what you were feeling; if only there was a word, any word, for you to explain to Dean, Cas, maybe Bobby, the way you felt everything and nothing at the same time.

Truth be told, you were lucky to have only lost one person, but the lingering question in your mind was why did it have to be the person who meant everything to you? There was no answer, and the silence was the worst of it. Sam wasn’t there to tell you that he’s okay, and he won’t be able to ever again. Your injuries ached. You almost welcomed the discomfort, desperate for anything to keep you grounded.

A large hand rested on your shoulder. It was Dean. You shared a look with him, a silent exchange of “I’m sorry” and “I’m here” to each other. In your grief, it was easy to forget that Dean had lost his baby brother, just as you had lost the love of your life. Moments later, Bobby stood beside the two of you. Three people brought together in grief that they weren’t sure they could ever recover from. You knew then and there, that you’d spend the rest of your life picking up the tiny little pieces of your heart, trying to be okay. Because that’s what Sam would’ve wanted.

You would never know so many things. The pain he’d go through. The fact that as he fell into the darkness, white-hot flames burning his flesh, he thought of you. Poked and prodded, stabbed and skinned, broken and put back together just to be broken again. What Sam knew, even if you didn’t, was that he’d make this same choice again and again because he knew you would be okay.

Sam Winchester died, and it came as easy to him as loving you.

#sam winchester x reader #sam winchester #sam winchester fanfic #supernatural fanfic #supernatural #dean winchester #jared padalecki #reader insert

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justagirlinafandomworld · 1 year

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Title: On the Outside

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Female Reader (Y/N)

Word Count: 2195

Summary: To get Dean to say yes to Michael, they sent him to the Endverse. And when that didn’t work, they turned to you.

Warnings: Time travel, time jumps, ANGST. Language. Endverse!Dean.

Bingo Squares Filled: @howbadcanitbebingo – which character is speaking?

Writing Challenge Prompts: “And maybe it'll be enough if you know that in the few hours we had together we loved a lifetime's worth.” (The Terminator) & Supernatural Season 5 Episode The End for @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior-warrior ‘s 500 Follower Celebration. “It must be nice to love someone who puts you first.” For @negans-lucille-tblr ‘s N-L-Threenager Writing Challenge.

A/N: This is one of those stories where, while it was all very clear in my head, I could not get it down into words. Then life happened, I had a break down and now bon appétit. Bee, I do apologize, I tried very hard to get this down to an even 2k. The characters just weren’t having it.

Dividers provided by @talesmaniac89

2014. Endverse.

Fire lit up the darkness in small explosions. A live inferno that devoured everything in sight. Heat licked at your fingertips through the linked fence, smoke splashed your cheeks and watered your eyes.

Dean had failed.

And the demons celebrated.

Three Days Earlier.

Chuck hurried up to you, his clipboard in hand and a string of worries on the tip of his tongue.

The last mission’s duffle was still slung across your shoulders, the rifle at your back, and the blood of a comrade still splattered across the front of your jacket. You sidestepped the prophet, fully intent on reaching your cabin and decompressing before hearing more bad news.

“…and you know how Cas is. By the way, Dean wants you on tomorrow’s caravan to the second camp. They’re going over their supplies now, which isn’t a lot, but they plan to head out at dawn.”

You stopped in the middle of the dirt path so suddenly that Chuck narrowly avoided walking into you.

Reading the confusion on your face, Chuck backtracked as if suddenly realizing that you were returning from a week-long mission.

“Right, so the plan is to help reinforce a fledgling camp on the other side of the state. We discovered them on the radio four days ago and Dean thinks,” he didn’t get to finish his thought as you unceremoniously shoved your duffel into his arms and started to take off in the direction of Dean’s cabin. “So, we’ll talk later?”

“Oh, you’re back,” Risa drawled. She stood outside the door to Dean’s cabin, arms crossed, and a foot kicked back to rest against the wall. Her mood seemed to match your own, which was fine, it was hard to find any sane person who wasn’t even a little bit irritable these days. But you didn’t appreciate the welcome.

“Is he in?” You asked.

“That depends…”

In no mood to play games, you pushed through to the door, ignoring her heated “hey!” and letting it swing wide on it’s hinges to slam into the wall behind it before stepping inside.

“Hi honey, I’m home,” you seethed.

Dean stood from the table, turning to you with an expression that was less than pleased. And though it was twisted, it felt good to know that you could still evoke an emotion out of him, even if that emotion was annoyance.

“Y/N?”

At the second voice, you tore your eyes away from Dean to the second person seated at the table behind him. In the next breath, you reached for the rifle at your back, but Dean had already braced himself against you, a hand on yours, staying the weapon.

The world seemed to be crashing around your ears as you kept a hard gaze on the person at the table, not really hearing Dean at your ear until he called your name.

“I checked, okay? He’s good. He’s…me.”

Holding your breath, you pulled your gaze back to Dean’s, violating every instinct that shouted against it. His expression was grim, but he stared deeply into your eyes, willing you to believe him.

It was the seated man’s slow, uncertain wave of the hand and awkward smile that had you slowly exhaling. Because you could see that it was him. Dean, before the end of the world.

“What are you doing here?” You asked while stepping away from Dean, your hand sliding out from under his. And if his jaw tightened in response, you ignored it.

“Risa, will you…” Dean trailed off, but the order was clear. With a stiff lip, she pulled the door back shut, obediently waiting outside for further orders.

The Dean at the table looked at the one behind you, as if waiting for his permission to speak.

“Angels,” the Dean behind you said. “From his time, not ours. He’s here to learn a lesson.”

The Dean at the table shrugged as if that were the gist of it. But you could feel that there was something they were holding back. And that reeked of your present-day Dean.

“And you’re going to teach him, are you?” You turned back to him, still nonsensically itching for a fight.

Sensing this, Dean refrained from answering. But the confusion as to why you persisted was visible on his face.

“Do you two need a moment? I can step outside.”

“No,” Dean answered without looking away from you. “I’m not teaching him anything. He’s going to see for himself.”

There was your opening.

“What is he going to see?”

The silence became deafening as suddenly your Dean refused to speak. When you stepped back to have both in your sight, the contrast was utterly jarring. You had been there, before the apocalypse, had been apart of the inner circle to defeat the devil. You were there when everything went wrong and helplessly watched as Dean became the jagged shell of who he used to be. After so many losses, you were on the outside now. And you didn’t know how to get back in. If there was anything to get back into.

The fire in your voice faded as you pushed, “What’s the deal with the second camp? Is that a real mission or are you purposefully sending me away so that I’m not apart of whatever this is?”

“It’s real and I need you on it.” His tone had hardened into that veteran soldier giving orders. “Now will you please go help them and we will talk about this later.”

Grinding your teeth, you couldn’t help the instinct to adhere to his command. He wasn’t about to budge and you were losing energy trying. Without a word, you stalked back out of the cabin, slamming the door behind you for good measure. A snark comment from Risa on the porch had you halting on the stairs.

“What did you say?”

She pushed off from the wall, staring down at you with all the anger and hurt that you felt.

“I said it must be nice. To love someone who puts you first. It’s an evacuation.”

You stared at her, not trusting yourself to speak.

“Look at the roster if you don’t believe me. He’s getting everyone out. Including you.”

The camp continued to move around you as you digested her meaning until realization dawned, quickly followed by disbelief.

“He found it.”

“He sure did.”

“And you’re going with him tomorrow.”

“Like a sheep to the slaughter.”

And somehow, that hurt more. You kept from looking back at the cabin and continued down the steps. It didn’t take long for Chuck to find you again, still carrying your duffel bag and talking in a fluster, before ushering you towards the people you would be escorting to the second camp. And damn it, but Risa was right. Women, children, and the wounded were slated for the caravan.

An evacuation.

You didn’t get back to your cabin until nightfall. Weighted by exhaustion both physically and mentally, you barely reacted when you walked in to find a visitor seated on your bed.

“I’m exhausted, Dean. Is this you or past you?”

“I’m offended you have to ask.”

Finally shrugging out of your bloodied jacket, you threw it down onto the nearest surface and rested your hands on your hips.

“Well, right now, I’m offended by your face.”

And damn him, that your response only made him smile. It wasn’t the full bloom smile that you had fallen in love with all those years ago, but it was the closest he had come to in a long time.

“I thought you liked my face.”

“Not right now.”

He shut his eyes and sighed, as if that exchange alone caused him a great effort. “Will you come here?” He pat the bedspread beside him.

In defiance, you pulled a wobbly chair from the wall, dragged it two feet from the bed and fell into it with crossed arms. He watched you with pursed lips but said nothing on it.

“You have questions, so let’s hear it.”

“Where’s the other Dean?”

His mouth dropping open was the only sign that you had caught him off guard. Licking his lips he cocked his head to the side and tried to play it off.

“He’s safe.”

You raised your eyebrows and remained silent.

“Is this really what you want to talk about?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you found Lucifer’s hideout?”

“I was a little preoccupied…”

“Not too preoccupied to make arrangements to send me away.”

“That…” and for a moment he appeared to struggle to find his next words. “…was a calculated decision.”

“Based on what?"

“I was trying to protect you.”

“I don’t need you to protect me,” he scoffed at that, but you kept going. “I need you to let me in. Were you really just going to send me away with no word of warning? Without so much as a goodbye?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because if I die, I need to know that you’re nowhere near him. I need to know that you’re far away and safe. I,” he took a deep breath. “I need to know that he won’t touch you. And this…”

His eyes went far away, lost in his plans for what was to come. But you leaned forward in your seat, searching for his gaze, to bring him back and let him know that you weren’t buying it.

“This doesn’t ensure that. You dying, alone doesn’t protect me, Dean.” His eyes narrowed and lifted as if he were about to argue. But he didn’t. Because your face gave it away before your words. “All it’s going to do is break my fucking heart.”

Tears trailed down your cheeks and your hands gripped your arms tighter because you wanted so badly to still be mad at him. To kick, yell, and scream at him that this was the wrong choice. He was making the wrong choice.

He moved forward, helped you to stand then encircled you in his arms, pressed your head into his chest. Your body trembled with every breath as you tried to keep the tide at bay.

“Is there anything I can say to change your mind?”

He pressed you tighter against him.

He didn’t answer.

But that was answer enough.

He was done fighting. You had lost him the second Sam said yes.

You wrapped your arms around his waist, thumbs rubbing into his back.

“Can I stay here tonight?” He asked, with a slight tremor in his timbre.

You held him tighter, breathed him in and responded in the lightest voice you could muster: “I’m offended you have to ask.”

Three Years Later.

The burning ache around your wrists dulled as she concluded her story.

Because that’s all it could really be, right? A story? Within this maddening dream?

The sadness that pulled at her face, weighted her shoulders, and glistened her eyes argued otherwise.

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

A deep breath as she continued to stare into the past.

“After my convoy reached the other camp…” she trailed off, interrupted by your clanging the handcuffs against the radiator.

“Answer me,” you growled, like a caged animal.

“I am,” she returned coldly. “Once the convoy reached the other camp, I headed back to Camp Chitaqua on my own. But there was no one left. Dean failed and the demons had celebrated.

“And now you’re here. Which makes me think the angels still haven’t persuaded Dean to say yes.”

“He won’t.”

She looked at you, firmly back in the present and seemed for a moment to marvel. All the fire within you, the aggressive certainty in a man you believed in and trusted, were flames that had extinguished within herself the day Dean died.

“No,” she said. “Of course, he won’t.”

She stood from her chair and set to releasing your wrists from the cuffs. Once you were free though, you found you could not move. You watched, transfixed as she contemplated her next words.

“Maybe…maybe it’ll be enough if you know that in the few hours we had together,” she paused at the sudden vulnerable expression on your face and smiled as if sharing a secret. “We loved a lifetime’s worth.”

A bright light shone through the cabin windows then, blinding you even as you raised your hands to cover your eyes.

“Knew they would come looking for you,” she said from above.

“What’s going on?”

“If you still think this is a dream, then we are more delusional than we think we are. The angels are looking for you. I kind of stole you, did I mention?”

You pushed yourself to your feet but were only successful in backing yourself into a corner.

Then you heard a shotgun being cocked and her calling out from a much farther distance, “Don’t stop fighting for him. Don’t you stop fighting for him ever.”

When finally the light disappeared, you slowly dropped your hands and peered into the darkness. You were back in the cheap motel room that you had passed out in the night before.

The red digits of the alarm clock glowed up at you from the nightstand.

Three thirty-three in the morning.

The year: 2009.

224 notes · View notes

thebiggerbear · 7 months

Text

You Taught Me the Courage of Stars - Dean x Castiel

A/N: Hey all. So I started writing this about 3 years ago, basing this idea off of the promo/preview we had gotten for 15x18 after 15x17 aired. I took some guesses on Cas' confession/Empty deal (which was being heavily speculated at the time), how the bloody handprint ended up on Dean's jacket (though we knew it had to be something to do with Cas because it was thee handprint spot), Billie trying to break down the door, Cas helping Dean move, how things mentioned/that had taken place in 15x17 would play out, etc. I started writing it on the very day 15x18 was going to air and got about 80% through it before the episode premiered. Once I saw it though, I was completely blown away (what a freaking amazing episode!) and then had trouble picking this back up once I saw the finale to the series and where our beloved characters ended up. So it took literally years to get me to put in that last 20% but I wanted to complete it and put it up. ;) Hope it's okay. Songs I listened to while writing: The Night We Met by Lord Huron & Saturn by Sleeping At Last Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Ship Taglist: @nancymcl

In one second, it was all over. With a snap of Chuck’s fingers, Dean came to, rapidly blinking his eyes, and trying to make sense of his surroundings.

He was in...the bunker. But there was no blood on the floor, no marks on the walls from Billie’s scythe, no wreckage from the havoc the cosmic entities had wrought upon their home in their bid for ultimate power.

He was still in Room 7B, the etchings and paint of the large devil’s trap on the floor still intact. He quickly scanned the space but he was alone. No dead Jack on the floor, no bleeding and mortally injured Sam…

“Sam?”

When no response came, he struggled to get to his feet, his side still hurting him from where Billie had thrown him against that wall. “Sammy?” He yelled out.

Still nothing.

Dean cautiously made his way to the closed door, the closed door that had been mysteriously resurrected from its destruction moments earlier, steeling himself for whatever he might find on the other side, and opened it.

The hallway was empty and again, there were no signs anywhere that an extraordinary final battle had taken place here. Confused but more worried, Dean trudged on. “Sam?”

Holding onto his side, he forced himself up one step to peer into the map room. No one was there.

“Sam?” He called once more. And again, only silence answered him.

He slowly made his way to the map table, glancing this way and that. To say he was worried didn’t quite cover it. The last time he saw his younger brother, Sam had been bleeding out on the floor after trying to save Jack and failing miserably. Where the hell had he gone? Who had taken him? And why did everything look Spic and Span all of a sudden?

Fear swam through him the longer the silence stretched on. Fear that suddenly turned into anger. “Chuck, you dick! What the hell did you do? Where’s my brother?” When no reply came, his fury grew. “Answer me, you son of a bitch!”

“Dean?”

Dean whipped around so fast it hurt. There, standing before him, was one of the very people who shouldn’t be, not after what he saw happen. “Jack?”

Jack’s eyes softened and he slowly approached the older man. “Are you…?” Not quite finishing his question, Jack warily lifted his arms to enfold Dean in a hug. When the latter didn’t pull away, too shocked to move, Jack tightened his embrace. “It is you.”

At Jack’s heartfelt whisper, Dean allowed himself to relax a tiny bit and brought an arm up to return the hug. “Hey, kid,” he ground out. When Jack’s arms tightened even further, Dean let out a pained gasp which forced the younger man to withdraw immediately in concern.

“You’re hurt.”

Dean hunched over slightly, using the back of the chair next to them to hold himself up for a moment. “It’s nothing.” His face contorted into a pained grimace that was then smoothed out in relief, and he waved a hand dismissively. “Just a leftover from that crazy bitch.” He turned his gaze onto a worried but confused looking Jack. “Kid, how are you here right now? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to see you. Really glad. But...how the hell are you standing here right now, talking to me? Last I saw, you were out for the count. Permanently.”

Jack’s brows furrowed further. “I’m not...sure.” At Dean’s dubious expression, Jack thought about it some more. “I know I died when Adam’s rib caused my insides to implode. But, after that...I don’t know, I just woke up here...in my room, in my bed. I’m not sure how.” He looked to Dean for answers, answers that Dean didn’t have, that he truthfully had never had but he and Sam had tried their best to give once Jack appeared on the scene and became something more than just the next monster they would have to face off against and conquer to keep the world spinning like usual.

Dean tried to think of something to say, anything to say, but he couldn’t. He was overwhelmed, hurt, and worried as all hell about his dying brother whom he had yet to find since coming to.

“Am I dead? Am I...a ghost?”

Dean’s eyes snapped to Jack, seeing the kid’s confusion morph into sadness at the thought. This...this Dean could answer. Even if he couldn’t explain it. “You’re not a ghost, kid. If you were, you’d look dead and you look fine to me.” A small smile started to form on Jack’s young face and his eyes lightened with a trace amount of hope and gratitude. It was true, Jack looked perfectly healthy and alive . Encouraged by the reassurance making its way into the kid’s expression, Dean continued, “Besides, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be feeling this,” he inclined his head towards his aching side. “If we were.”

The right side of Jack’s mouth tipped up as he mulled over it and decided Dean was right. “Where are we then? Where’s Sam?” He glanced around, expecting his dad to pop out of somewhere like Dean had just done. “And Cas?”

Dean’s eyes shut at the mention of the angel who had been dragged away by The Empty as he watched in horror, helpless to do anything to stop it. He could still hear Chuck’s smug chuckle as it happened, his eyes bright with a giddy pleasure that Dean wishes he could watch drain away when they can work out just how to kill him. He tamped the pain back down, unable to remember Cas’ tear-filled blue eyes staring into his own as a soft smile formed on the angel’s face at the words Dean had just spoken to him, before a deep blackness started to consume his being. He forced away the image of two shining blue lights in a sea of darkness being snuffed out by a final wave of black before it all disappeared. He couldn’t think about that, not yet. Instead, he focused on Sam. Where was Sam?

“He…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the words, to tell their kid that one of his fathers was gone, the angel who Dean... “I don’t know where Sam is,” Dean choked out instead. “We’ve got to find him, Jack. Sam was hurt...pretty bad.”

Jack gave a stout nod and proceeded to make his way into the library, intent on finding Sam. Dean followed a little slower than he would have liked, due to the pain he was still in, but he was grateful at Jack’s speed and persistence.

They checked everywhere: the library, the kitchen, Sam’s room, the infirmary, the shower room, the garage...he was nowhere to be found. Dean’s fear now increased to full out alarm.

Jack stopped short in the hallway, forcing Dean to come to a stop behind him, and closed his eyes.

Dean watched him for a moment. “Kid?”

Jack’s jaw tightened. “I can’t sense him. I thought I might be able to but…” He slowly opened his eyes, looking upon Dean sadly. “My powers,” He warily lifted his hands, examining them closely. “They’re not what they used to be.” His gaze snapped to Dean fearfully.

Dean swallowed down the same worry he saw staring back at him, and gave him a sorry excuse of a smile. “It’s okay, kid. We’ll find Sam and we’ll figure it out. Like we always do.”

Jack seemed unconvinced but gave a dutiful nod. Dean himself was starting to wonder if maybe he had spoken too quickly on the whole being dead thing earlier. Then again, if he and Jack were dead, and Sam wasn’t here, did that mean Sam was...alive?

Dean’s body made its loud protestation to the thought and he couldn’t help but let a pained groan escape. Jack caught him before he collapsed and wound Dean’s arm carefully around his shoulders. “Jack, I’m good,” he gruffly insisted.

“No, you’re not,” Jack determined.

Not having the energy to argue, he allowed Jack to help him back to the map room where the kid gingerly lowered him into a chair. He tried not to grumble too much, being truly appreciative of the nephilim’s assistance. He slowly lifted his shirt and as he studied his rapidly darkening skin, Jack crouched down to get a better look. “That looks bad,” Jack murmured worriedly, holding a hand above the massively bruised area that was turning sickening shades of a mixture of colors that Dean never wanted to see but was all too familiar with. “I wish I could heal you.” Jack then lowered his hand to study it, willing it to give him the answers he wanted. “Why can’t I heal you?”

Dean took one more glance at his injured side and lowered his shirt. “It’s alright. It’s just a few broken ribs. I’ve had ‘em before. It ain’t no big thing.”

Jack appeared unsure but kept his doubts to himself. He got to his feet and vanished down the hall before Dean could utter a single word to stop him.

“Hey, kid, where are you going?” He yelled once Jack disappeared. After everything that happened, Dean was determined to keep him close. They still needed to talk about what happened before Billie showed up, to set some things straight, but he’d be damned if he let the kid out of his sight again, especially after watching what happened to him and knowing he was responsible. Jack had only wanted his forgiveness and to save the world, to save his family, a family that Dean had begrudgingly welcomed him into and then excommunicated him from in the span of a single year. Dean knew better now, he had let his fear rule him, just as Chuck had wanted, and he had nearly given that bastard his ending. He was grateful that at the last second, he hadn’t, and that had been because of Sam. Sam…

Before he could think further on it, Jack reappeared with a bag of ice in his hand. Without waiting for permission, Jack crouched down, lifted Dean’s shirt, and gently applied the ice to the swollen skin, earning a loud gasp and pained hiss from Dean. “Sorry,” Jack whispered.

Dean noticed the brown bottle Jack had placed down on the table before him and gently reached for it, giving the kid a pained smile. “You’re forgiven.” Realizing his words too late, his green eyes snapped to the light blue gaze immediately on him, a sad and soft yearning there that Dean had seen far too often.

Dean looked back down at the bottle, unable to deal with that just yet. He knew they needed to, it was only fair to have that conversation especially after what Jack sacrificed for them, no matter how much Dean had wanted to avoid it in the past. He remembered how he had told Sam in the next room how Jack wasn’t family, how Jack had heard him… Dean would never forgive himself for that. Chuck’s ending or not...there was no excuse. Like Sam said, they didn’t give up on family, and he had. And he was ashamed of it. Jack deserved better from him, Sam did, Cas… Cas deserved everything… They all deserved better from him.

Forcing himself to take a swig of the familiar carbonated liquid that burned the back of his throat as it went down, made Dean feel a little more settled, as settled as he could be after everything that just occurred and in these circumstances. He clapped Jack’s shoulder and gave him a grateful nod. “Thanks, kid.”

A thin-lipped smile made its way onto Jack’s face and he moved to focus once again on Dean’s injury.

Dean debated whether or not to say the words on the tip of his tongue, the words that had wanted out the moment they figured out they were being manipulated into giving that dick Chuck his ending. He contemplated the consequences and ultimately decided the hell with them. They might not have long now, wherever they were, dead or alive, before Chuck chose to end them for good, or worse screw with them some more. Cas had insisted they were real, that they were making up their own story as they went, despite Chuck’s interference and manipulations. Dean knew what meant most to him, what he wanted desperately to be real, and it was time he took back what was his, what he knew deep in his soul that mattered to him. That he couldn’t function without.

“You are, you know,” Dean murmured.

Jack turned an inquisitive gaze on him, his brows furrowing.

Dean studied him, thinking back to that last day of Jack’s life before he had died the first time. Jack had been so happy, at peace, spending time with him. He remembered the words the kid had said when he took him fishing. That had never been Chuck. That moment...that moment was real. “You’re family.”

Jack froze and Dean could see that same emotion from earlier making its presence known once again in his eyes.

“And I’m sorry that I said otherwise. That I...” The words that had been wanting to escape now suddenly caught in his throat and caused his eyes to start burning. “I’m just sorry,” he choked out. “You’re family.” He swallowed the emotion back down and leveled his gaze at Jack, his meaning clear. “And you always have been.”

The small smile of understanding that answered his declaration, the lightening of Jack’s brow as if a portion of a heavy weight was being lifted, was enough to make Dean soften slightly...just slightly. “I know,” Jack stated, his smile widening.

Dean watched him for a moment, surprised at Jack’s acceptance of his apology and heartfelt declaration, and then gave him as much of a proud smile as he could muster. He lifted his free hand and gripped the side of Jack’s head affectionately. “You’re our kid. And nothing is going to change that. You hear me? Nothing.”

Jack slowly nodded. Dean gave him an approving smile and released him, ruffling his hair before taking another sip of beer. Jack once again focused on Dean’s broken ribs but Dean didn’t miss the happy little smile curving the kid’s lips up. While he wasn’t one for sappy moments you tend to find in movies and tv shows, and he wasn’t someone who liked to discuss his feelings all the time like freaking Dr. Phil, he was relieved and feeling a bit happier than he had since this whole thing with Chuck going darkside had begun, since even before that… As happy as he could be anyway in the wake of everything that happened: his devastation at Cas’ death, the whole cosmic battle thing, Sam’s mysterious disappearance, and now their unknown circumstances.

Dean took another sip of beer before taking the ice from Jack. “We’ve got to find Sam,” he explained at Jack’s worried and confused expression. A resolute nod answered him and Jack got to his feet. He was about to help Dean do the same when the bunker door slammed open up above.

“Dean?”

At the familiar yell, Dean and Jack both froze. Then Dean was on his feet, pain be damned. “Sam?”

A shocked and terrified Sam appeared at the top of the stairs, breathing hard, and his hair a wild mess. Relief flooded Dean, seeing his brother in one piece, the fatal injury he had no longer appeared to be afflicting him. It should have added to Dean’s suspicion that something was obviously off here, first Jack and now Sam, but he was too thankful to see his brother alive and unharmed. “Dean, what--Jack?” Sam’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

Jack’s grin was so wide, his white teeth were showing, and he raised a hand up in greeting. “Hello.”

Sam hurried down the stairs so fast that Dean was sure he must have skipped a couple. He certainly had the long legs to pull it off. Once he reached the bottom, he launched himself at Jack, grabbing him up in his arms and hugging him tightly. “I thought you died,” Sam choked out.

“I did,” Jack asserted, happily returning Sam’s embrace. “At least...I think I did.”

Sam pulled back, his brows drawn as he studied his son. “But if you did, then how…?”

“I’m not sure.”

Sam gripped Jack’s face. “But I saw you.”

“Yeah, well, you weren’t looking so hot yourself there for a second either, Sammy.”

Sam’s eyes snapped to Dean, a tiny smile replacing his worry and concern for a moment. He patted Jack’s cheek and released him, only to pull his older brother into a hug.

Dean let out a pained curse which forced Sam to let go of him immediately, his eyes scanning Dean’s body for any injuries. “What’s wrong?”

Dean regained his breath and waved it off. “A few broken ribs. It’s nothing.”

Sam arched a dubious brow. “That’s not nothing.” He indicated the spot where Jack was lifting Dean’s shirt and gently pressing ice with a nod.

Dean hissed when the ice made contact and grimaced. When Jack apologized again, he patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, kid. I appreciate you getting the ice.” He then glanced at Sam. “So, what the hell happened, Sam? We looked everywhere for you. Where the hell did you go?”

Sam watched worriedly as Jack tried to subtly heal Dean but couldn’t. “I, uh...I woke up in the Impala.”

“What? Why?” Dean barked out.

Sam shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.” He then met Dean’s gaze head on. “I was two towns over.”

Jack’s head whipped up in surprise and Dean’s jaw dropped. “Two towns over? What the hell?”

“Yeah,” Sam scoffed and tiredly wiped a hand down his face. “Exactly. Something’s off. I would say we’re all dead but with broken ribs...”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.” After a minute, Dean cleared his throat quietly and gently moved Jack’s hand away, lowering his shirt. “Well, we should put our heads together and try to figure out just what the hell is going on.”

“There’s no need for that.”

Everyone whipped around to see Amara standing there, looking pristine in her pantsuit, the same suit Dean had seen her in before everything went to hell. He should have known his brief reunion with his family wouldn’t last long. Nothing good ever did, not in his life.

Dean hobbled forward to face her, placing himself in front of Sam and Jack. He ignored Sam’s quiet call for him and glared at the woman across the room. “What the hell do you want?”

Amara’s smile slowly faded and was replaced by slight contempt. “A thank you might be nice for starters.”

Dean scoffed. “A thank you? After what you and your dick brother did? You’ve got to be freaking kidding me.”

Amara arched an eyebrow. “I had nothing to do with that.”

“You had everything to do with it!” Dean yelled furiously.

Sam stepped closer to his brother. “Dean,” he warned, trying to get his attention.

Amara tilted her head curiously, studied Dean for a moment, and then started to walk toward the three of them. Sam grabbed Jack and pushed his son behind him protectively. At the same time, he gripped Dean’s arm and urged him to move backwards. Dean allowed it but never took his eyes off of the advancing cosmic being in front of them.

Amara’s dark eyes flickered to Sam. “There’s no point in running, Sam. You’re not fast enough. Especially not with Dean in his current condition.”

Sam’s jaw tightened and he sent her a fresh glare from behind Dean’s shoulder, gripping his brother’s arm tighter. “We’ll see.”

An amused smile formed on Amara’s face as she slowly shook her head, watching them curiously. “I admire your bravery and your loyalty. Your willingness to sacrifice yourselves for each other. You choose family time and time again, even when it means your very end.”

Dean straightened up as much as he could, and turned back to Sam. “Get the kid out of here. Take Baby and keep on driving. Don’t stop until you hit the ocean.”

Sam’s eyes flickered to his and he frowned. “I’m not leaving you here.”

“You don’t have a choice,” Dean snapped. “Take Jack and go. I’m not going to tell you again.”

Sam had been in such a tense standoff with his brother that he was caught off guard when Jack broke away and strode past them to Amara. “Jack!” Sam and Dean both yelled for him to stop but he ignored both of them.

Jack stopped a few feet away from the woman who by all intents and purposes was his great aunt. She watched him with a sliver of curiosity but said nothing. “How are you alive? How am I alive? Where’s Billie? Where’s Chuck? Why are you still here? Why can’t you just stop and leave us alone? Why can’t you let this world be? Why do you keep hurting my family?” His voice got louder and louder with each question but Amara didn’t shrink back one bit. Instead, she just continued to study him.

“Jack!” Jack’s eyes snapped over to the two brothers at Sam’s yell. They both had moved closer and Dean held out a hand, gesturing for him to join them. “It’s okay, kid. We’ll figure it all out. Just come over here.”

Jack shook his head, making both of their eyes widen in horror. “If I had my powers still, I could destroy her. I could end this. I could end Chuck. And then you would be safe. You would all be safe.”

“Jack, that’s not--”

“But you wouldn’t be,” Sam interrupted Dean. “That’s not what I want. That’s not what either of us want. That’s not what Cas wants.”

As expected, Sam’s words hit home and Jack’s eyes began to soften. Dean stared at his brother, the truth hitting deep down and causing the pain to swell up and drown him from the inside out.

The loud bangs of the door sounded throughout the room, a constant reminder that Death wanted in, that she would get in and receive everything she felt was owed to her, namely their permanent deaths.

Jack had died by imploding earlier, unfortunately not causing quite the reaction they had hoped for. Chuck and by extension, Amara, were still alive and well. Sam had tried to save Jack and he had received a scythe to the chest for the effort. It hadn’t killed him immediately despite the severity of the wound but Dean was pretty sure that Billie had intended for it to be that way. As much as she wanted them dead, Dean knew she also longed to see them suffer, especially since they had ruined her carefully planned takeover, possibly even since Cas’ angel blade had sliced into her chest. The minute they chose to avert Chuck’s ending, the second they chose to attempt to save Jack instead of sacrifice him, Billie had been on them. Chuck had simply laughed and told Billie to have at it, and then gave her a menacing smile, promising she’d see him later, before he popped out, giving them a giddy wave.

Dean had yelled for Sam when the scythe cut through his brother like butter and had rushed towards them. Billie knocked Dean back into one of the concrete walls and considering how his body had made the impact, he was now on the injured list. Cas somehow not only moved Jack’s body and Sam into Room 7B but he also helped Dean get inside before Billie could get them. They had planned for contingencies, of course, and they had warded the room in preparation for anything that came at them, before Jack and Dean had gone to see Adam. Thankfully, that prevented Death from entering right that very moment, but it would only hold so long.

Cas had turned to Dean, seeing the desolation and fear on his face as he stared down at his bloodied younger brother. “You’re hurt, let me heal you.”

Dean waved him away. “Don’t worry about me. Heal Sam.”

Cas grimaced and glanced at Sam. The man, his good friend for these past twelve years, was not long for this life. He had already tried to heal him but whether it was due to his failing grace or the power of the tool of Death being the one to cause the mortal wound, the angel couldn’t be sure, he was unable to. He had failed Sam, he had failed Jack, he had failed them all…

“I tried but I can’t heal him. I’m sorry. I truly am. Dean, your injury I can do something about. Please, let me heal you.”

Dean’s eyes slowly lifted to Cas, empty and full of a deep consuming sorrow. One tiny tear escaped and made a slow trek down his cheek. “No point. We’ll all be dead in a few minutes anyway.” He swung his head back to Sam. “We lost, Cas. Chuck won and we lost,” his voice broke at the end.

Cas gripped Dean’s shoulder and forced him to meet his gaze. “We haven’t lost yet. Not completely.”

Dean stared down at Cas’ hand for a moment, seeing Sam’s blood transferring from Cas’ hand to his jacket. He glanced back up at the angel and laid his hand on the arm that was currently keeping him from shattering to the floor in a million tiny pieces. The staccato of bangs started registering for him again, and this time they sounded shorter and deeper. “Won’t be long now. Besides, I’m not leaving him.” He spared a tearful glance down at his dying brother. He then took a breath and buried his fingers into the sleeve of Cas’ trench coat, meeting the pained blue gaze watching him. “Thank you, Cas. For getting me out of Hell, for helping us and looking out for Sammy, for being there. For all of it. You’ve been the best friend we’ve ever had and I’m damn grateful. We couldn’t have done all of this without you. You know that, right?”

Cas’ lower lip trembled slightly and he looked away to gain his bearings, contemplating a decision to do something that he wasn’t sure Dean would ever forgive him for.

“So, thank you,” Dean ground out and patted Cas’ arm before wiping his face on his sleeve and sniffling. He focused on Sam and tenderly moved a lock of wayward hair from his brother’s pale face. Another bang sounded so loudly they nearly both jumped. Dean gave Sam a sad smile and rushed out, “You should get out of here, man, if you can. She’s after us, not you. Get out of here and go find a way to bring Jack back, stop Chuck, and live your damn life.”

Cas’ hand gripped Dean’s shoulder tighter. “I’m not leaving you here to die, Dean.”

“Cas,” Dean’s eyes snapped up to meet Castiel’s, surprising him with the amount of tenderness and affection he saw there, rather than the anger and commanding authority he expected. “I’m asking you to go. Sam and I, we’re not walking away from this. But you...you still have a shot.”

Cas held his gaze a moment longer and murmured, “There is no shot without you, Dean.” As Dean’s surprise lightened his green eyes, Cas stated, “I’m not leaving.”

Both men continued to study one another, seeking answers from each other’s expressions, until Dean gently laid a hand on Cas’ arm once again. “Cas,” Dean started, his voice still rough. He licked his lips nervously and tightened his grip on him. “You didn’t let me finish before when I tried to… There’s something I need to say.”

Cas immediately knew where this was going and attempted to shut it down, like he had before. He wasn’t ready for his life to come to a screeching halt, not yet, not before he could tell Dean what he ached to tell him for the longest time now, not before he could save his life. “Dean, you don’t have to say it. I--”

“Dammit, Cas. I’m going to die in a minute. Just let me get this out,” Dean huffed out a laugh of disbelief. “Please.”

Cas warred with himself internally, seeing Dean’s eyes pleading with him, knowing this wasn’t easy for the man he had rescued from Hell all those years ago to get out, never mind admit to himself. His love and affection for the man who had his arm in a death grip, as if he was afraid he would disappear, won out. He gave Dean a somber nod to continue.

Another bang shook the room. Billie was nearly through.

“I want you to know that I… I haven’t always…” Cas patiently gave him what little time he had to find the right words. He hadn’t known just how deeply he yearned to hear them from this particular human he had been watching over and fighting side by side with for years.

Another loud bang. This time, the hinges on the door groaned. They had a matter of seconds.

Dean ran his tongue along his bottom lip and hurriedly tried again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize just how much I--”

Cas could hear Billie rearing her arm back outside the door, ready to land the final blows on the wood before her. As much as it broke his heart to do it, he had to put Dean’s safety first. He always had, even above his own. He wasn’t about to break that stride now, even if it meant his very own life would now end. He lifted his free hand and placed it against Dean’s cheek, stopping him mid-sentence and making his eyes widen. “I know,” Cas assured him. “You don’t have to say it. I know .” He saw Dean’s shock emerge as his words began to register. “Dean, I need you to listen to me...there is another way.”

Dean’s brows began to furrow. “How?”

“You won’t like it.” Cas gave him a nod and stood, helping Dean to do the same. He stepped back a few feet, putting some distance between them, and he faced the direction of the door. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I really am. But, I made a deal.”

Dean froze for a moment and then yelled out, “A deal? What the hell are you talking about, Cas?”

Cas turned a sad expression onto Dean. “Not a demon deal. With The Empty, to save Jack. When we were in Heaven, it came for him… It was the only way to save him.”

“What?” So many emotions flickered over Dean’s face that the angel had trouble keeping track of each one, even after all of these years. The final ones he could make out were anger, and more importantly, fear. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us?”

“You know why,” Cas murmured, coming close to Dean again, unable to keep away for too long. He placed his palm against Dean’s cheek once more, his eyes starting to glisten slightly. “This is what I have to do. If The Empty comes for me now, it may distract Billie long enough for you to run. From what Sam said, The Empty isn’t happy with her right now. This will buy you some time.”

“What? No. I told you, I’m not leaving Sam. I-- Dammit, Cas, no. No!”

Cas gripped him tighter, pleading with him to listen. With Cas’ sharp vision, he could see Billie through the cracks of the mostly damaged door. He was surprised it was still somehow standing but at the same time, grateful. He needed to get these last words out. “It’s the only way. You get out of here and you find a way to stop Chuck. This is real, Dean. Chuck was never in control. Not when it comes to us. Don’t lose sight of that. For all of us. For Jack, for Sam, for...for me.”

Another tear escaped onto Dean’s cheek. “No, you can’t. I just--”

Cas pulled him gently into his arms and hugged him, careful not to squeeze his injured side. “I love you,” he whispered in the softest tone imaginable into Dean’s ear. Dean stiffened in his arms and Cas knew he had been heard. It should be any second now…

“Don’t do this,” Dean choked out. “Please. I just need… We need to… It can’t end like this. Not when I… Dammit, Cas, I want you to stay alive. I need you to… Don’t you dare do this to me again, you son of a bitch.”

Cas drew back, his eyes filled with tears, and stepped a few paces away. Dean, still in shock, thankfully made no move to follow. “You and Sam...you fought for this whole world,” Cas let out in a quiet sob. “I can at least do this.”

The whole room shook as if a bomb had gone off. Both men did their best to keep their footing, glancing at the door to see if Death had finally broken through. Not quite but there was no question about it, the warding sigils around the door were lit up and fading...fast.

Dean swung back to face Cas again and saw smoky black tendrils swirling around Cas’ feet. Horrified realization dawned on him and Cas gave him a tearful but affectionate smile. “It’s going to be okay, Dean. Remember, this is real. It always has been.”

Cas watched as a new look of determination came over Dean’s features as The Empty appeared, a devious grin on its features as its arm encircled his waist. Dean took a few steps closer and his jaw set in resolve. “We’re coming for you. I don’t care what I have to do or who I have to kill, I’m going to find a way to get you out. So you be ready, you hear me? We’re coming, Cas.”

Cas’ smile grew but unfortunately so did The Empty’s. As a tear fell down Castiel’s cheek, The Empty hissed out, “Told ya,” in a voice similar to Meg’s but not quite hers. Dean attempted to rush them but the cosmic entity waved an arm, sending Dean flying into another wall, causing the man to cry out in the shock of pain and for Cas to yell his name. “Uh uh,” Pseudo Meg told Dean, “he’s mine. We had a deal after all.” Dean watched helplessly as the black snakes that were The Empty encompassed Cas’ entire body. Cas managed to choke out two words before he was gone forever, “Keep fighting.”

Cas disappeared and Dean yelled out, “Cas!” reaching a hand across the divide as if he could somehow keep the angel there with him. The Empty smirked down at him and that was when the door exploded, allowing Billie entrance into the room. Dean pushed himself back against the wall, glad he had landed near Sam.

Death’s eyes were for Dean alone until she noticed The Empty standing there, smirking at her. When neither cosmic being made a move towards the other, and The Empty gave her a nod, she then turned her full attention to the injured man below her. “He went back to where he belongs. And now,” Billie raised her scythe as she stood above Dean. “So will you.”

Dean gripped Sam’s hand tight, clenched his jaw, and waited for the killing blow. He and Sam had talked about going out in a blaze of glory, all Butch and Sundance style. He may not have a gun in his hand, but he sure as hell wasn’t about to cower in the corner. Not for anyone, but certainly not for this bitch. He would face this head on, like he always had, like he had always planned for when he finally bit it.

What happened next, Dean couldn’t be too sure of. A tendril of black grasped Billie’s wrist and twirled her to meet The Empty head on. Chuck was suddenly there, watching in glee as his creations, his toys , were about to be broken for the final time. Suddenly, his expression changed, morphed into something of sadness and...regret? And then he snapped his fingers, and that was the last thing Dean remembered.

Dean turned to face Amara and Jack, with the former still watching the latter curiously. He didn’t hear Sam’s pleas or Jack’s impassioned and determined responses. He was only focused on one particular detail.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Dean asked quietly.

All eyes snapped to him and Amara smiled slightly but stayed quiet.

“What?” Sam looked as confused as Jack.

Dean took a few steps forward, waving Sam off. “You stopped it all, didn’t you?” Still no response. “Why?”

Amara thought it over for a moment. “I told you from the beginning, Dean. I can’t hurt you anymore than you can hurt me. Though you have disappointed me, setting me up for my own death and all.”

Dean’s gaze dropped to the ground and he felt guilt trying to take hold of him. But when he glanced back up at her, Amara could see the resolve in his eyes. “It’s not something I wanted but if you and your brother were a package deal, it had to be done,” he admitted unapologetically.

Jack’s eyes volleyed back and forth between them, narrowed in confusion.

When Dean’s expression didn’t falter one bit, Amara nodded and let out a sigh. “I suppose I understand. Though I am still disappointed.”

Dean let out a gruff, “Sorry.”

Amara smirked. “No, you’re not, but I can...appreciate what you’re trying to protect. Besides, I suppose many don’t often hear that word from the great Dean Winchester now do they?”

Dean’s expression stayed the same, once again unapologetically himself.

Sam appeared next to Dean. “Wait, if you’re here, then where’s Chuck?”

Amara regarded him for a moment. “He’s here as well.” All three men tensed at the revelation and Amara rolled her eyes. “He’s not roaming the halls. He’s here, with me.” She placed a hand over her chest.

“You mean he’s a part of you, that you consumed him?” At Amara’s nod, Sam’s brows scrunched in puzzlement. “How is that even possible? I thought he consumed you.”

Amara slowly moved away from them, keeping her eye on all three, until she reached the table where Dean’s beer bottle sat. Sam grabbed Jack, and Dean watched her suspiciously. Amara sat on the table, crossed one leg over the other, and took a sip. She let out a satisfied breath and regarded them carefully. “He did.”

They waited for her to speak and when she didn’t, Dean and Sam exchanged skeptical expressions. “And?” Dean asked impatiently.

Amara took another sip and gave an uncaring shrug. “I needed time to figure him out, from the inside. He really wanted a true balance between us, with him on the more powerful side of the scales of course. But, here’s the thing, when you cage or consume a cosmic being, it can only be for so long. As you mentioned, Dean, we’re a package deal. As you already know, if one of us dies, the universe is thrown into chaos. If we both die, then no chaos. Not the kind of chaos you would expect, anyway.”

Jack stepped up to Dean’s right shoulder. “How did you get out?”

Amara gave him a soft smile and an approving nod. “He’s a lot like you, Dean. I like that.”

Dean glanced towards Jack who stared up at him sheepishly. A smug smirk lifted the corners of Dean’s mouth and he turned back to Amara. “Like the kid said, how did you get free from the dickbag?” Out of the corner of his eye, Dean noticed the small smile form on Jack’s face and the curious relief wash over Sam’s.

Amara tapped her nails against the bottle. “Do you remember what bonded us, Dean?”

Dean gave her a short nod. “The mark. What about it?”

Amara smiled and placed the bottle down. She gently moved aside her jacket and blouse to show the familiar mark still present on her skin. “This is what imprisoned me for millennia.”

Sam scoffed. “Yeah, we know that part. What does that have to do with Chuck?”

Amara narrowed her eyes angrily and Jack took a step forward, standing next to Sam. Dean watched the movement with an almost parental pride. He was once again reminded of his mistake claiming that Jack wasn’t family; Jack was a Winchester through and through.

“It has everything to do with my brother.” She waited a moment, then apparently let Sam’s interruption go, and once again settled her eyes on Dean. “It keeps me free, it’s what keeps us bonded. But for him, it has managed to keep him imprisoned…”

All of their eyes began to widen in surprise as her meaning dawned on them.

“Within me,” she finished.

Sam and Jack looked to Dean who shook his head as if to clear it. “Wait, so you’re telling me, Chuck is in a cage...in you?” Amara nodded, her smile widening as Dean let out a laugh in surprise. “How the hell is that even possible?”

She tilted her head. “I told you, I needed time to work it out. From within him.”

Dean once again shook his head, this time in bewilderment. “So you turned the mark and the cage he made for you against him.” At the lack of response, Dean laughed again. “That’s just freaking perfect. The bastard deserves nothing more.”

Amara’s eyes saddened but she nodded in agreement.

“Wait, hold up a second, Dean. Amara, you said that cosmic beings can’t be held for long. And as glad as I am to hear that he’s trapped, how long will that last?” At Amara’s annoyed expression, Sam held up his hands placatingly. “I mean, he couldn’t hold you for long. What if he does the same to you? What if he figures you out from the inside, too, or whatever?”

“Really, Sam? You couldn’t give me one moment to enjoy the idea?” Sam glanced over worriedly but saw Dean’s exasperated but amused expression staring back at him.

Sam gave his brother a sheepish shrug. “We have to know, Dean. If Chuck breaks free, this will only start all over again.”

Amara swung her foot in a slow circle as she spoke. “As for right now, the way I’ve worked it, due to the mark, that won’t be possible. At least not for a very long time.” At Sam’s disbelieving frown, she stated, “We’re talking millennia here. Look at how long it took me to get out of my cage where the mark was concerned. Chuck in his egomania never considered that the mark might not be the best thing for him when he consumed me. It will be a very long time before he can come up for air. Not unless I allow it. Perks of being a cosmic being.”

Dean studied her worriedly. “Won’t he keep trying to break out, though?” Amara’s eyes snapped to his. “When I had Michael in my head, he fought to break out all the time and it was rough. But he was just an Archangel. I can’t imagine having Chuck inside there for even a day and you’re talking years.” Just thinking about it was starting to give Dean another headache.

“We’re a little different that way, Dean.” Amara smiled warmly at him. “Besides, this gives me time to speak with him, work with him, show him the value of this world. Neither of us have to die and the world can continue on as it should.”

“You mean...now you’re God?” Jack asked.

Amara considered this carefully.

Dean arched an eyebrow. “You’ve got him trapped deep down inside of you now. Probably planning all of his little shows that he wants on some cosmic Netflix when he’s out again. Are you sure you’re up for the job?”

Amara’s smile grew bigger. “I never imagined I would...but I think I might want to stick around, maybe take more of this all in. I’ve never created anything before,” she finished in a whisper.

After a minute, Jack asked, “What about Billie? And The Empty?”

“Back where they both belong,” Amara nearly growled. “My brother was right about one thing, Death may have our death books and we may be reaped someday, but he did create space and time. The fact that they thought they could make a play for us…” Her eyes snapped to Jack’s. “Let’s just say that Billie has been demoted.”

“Demoted?” Was it possible Dean never had to worry about her coming for him or Sam? Ever again?

Amara nodded. “She’s been laid to rest in The Empty and a new Death has taken the helm.”

Sam frowned. “A new Death?”

“Yes, I believe you know her, Dean. Tessa?”

Shock and surprise colored Sam and Dean’s expressions as they exchanged glances.

“I remembered her from your memories.” At Dean’s wide eyes, she explained, “From our bond. I decided that she needed a new purpose, easing the physical suffering of those in the world the only way death can.”

Dean thought it over and then gave a little smile, nodding. “She’ll make a good one.” With that new purpose Amara talked about, after his time with Tessa during that deal with the first Death, he couldn’t imagine a better candidate.

“I agree.” Amara got to her feet and smoothed down her jacket.

“Thank you.” All eyes turned to Dean and he had a forced smile on his face but his eyes were genuine in their gratitude. “You didn’t have to help us but you did. So...thank you.”

Amara strode over to him. “I told you, Dean. You and I will always help each other.”

Nodding, Dean licked his lips nervously. “I have to ask, just one thing. If Tessa is back… Is there a way I can get into The Empty? To bring back someone who was sent there?” He ignored the question in Sam’s gaze, and the realization and sadness in Jack’s.

Amara laid a hand against his cheek, studying him. “I’m sorry, Dean. You can’t. It’s outside of space and time. There is no way. Not even I can.”

“But you just said you got Tessa out. Why can’t--”

“When I sent Billie and The Empty back there, I could only keep the door open long enough to locate the ones I needed and get them out. Any longer and it would have been too much of a risk. My brother and I truly have no power over that place.”

Dean felt the ache in his chest consume him and he gave a broken nod, dropping his eyes to the floor so she wouldn’t see the tears trying to build there.

Amara lowered her hand to hover above his chest. “There isn’t anyone there you need to bring back, Dean.”

Dean’s head snapped up and his eyes tightened in defiance of those words. “Yes, there is,” he bit out. “And if you can’t help me, I’ll find another way to break in.”

She smiled softly. “Dean, I’ve thought over our conversation from that deli quite a bit. You know why I had brought Mary back, that I tried to free you from your anger. I wanted to give you something you needed, something I thought you needed. But now I see...that what you really needed has been here all along, hasn’t it?”

Dean’s brows furrowed, wondering just where she was going with this. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and maintained his unflinching gaze, listening.

Amara smiled though her eyes became slightly saddened. “Had you not given me what I needed back when I was bent on revenge and destruction, I would have never seen how truly precious this world is. I would have never seen the fragile beauty that surrounds this place every moment of every day. As I told you that night, I tried to free you from your anger, to help you to accept the present and to realize this beautiful reality, while sometimes tragic, is better than any idealized fantasy that you could wish for. Because this, right now, is not my brother’s ending. Dean, this is real and real is always better.” She snapped her fingers, making all three men tense.

They waited but when nothing happened, Dean turned to her with a quizzical expression. As Dean opened his mouth to ask her what the hell that had to do with getting into The Empty, a word spoken behind them made him freeze in shock.

“Dean.”

Dean whipped around in shock and there stood Cas, his trench coat and attire the same as Dean had last seen him, smiling widely, his blue eyes soft and glistening.

“Cas,” Jack nearly whispered. Sam was just as surprised as the kid. His hazel eyes immediately darted over to Dean who was still staring at Cas as if he were a mirage that he was afraid would disappear should he blink.

Dean didn’t remember commanding his feet to move. It was almost as if the moment that Cas appeared, his body felt a strong pull, tugging him in the angel’s direction, and he just had to get closer. “Cas?” He choked out in disbelief, his eyes filling the moment he was less than three steps away from what was on the end of that impossible force.

“Hello, Dean.” Cas’ timid smile widened and his gaze grew glassier.

Dean let out a sharp breath and launched himself at Cas, wrapping his arms around his friend and crushing him tightly to him. He ignored the screaming pain in his side, biting his lip until it practically bled and tears began to blur his vision. He wasn’t letting go, not for anything. Cas returned the embrace and let out a soft sob into Dean’s jacket. Dean squeezed his eyes shut in relief for a brief moment, forcing tears out which he subtly wiped away, and then pulled back enough to press a rough kiss to the side of Cas’ dark head before gripping him tightly once more.

“Don’t you ever do that again,” Dean whispered gruffly into Cas’ ear. “You hear me? I mean it, I can’t lose you again, Cas.”

Cas’ fingers dug into Dean’s shoulders and he gave a short nod.

“And…” Dean swallowed, intent on nothing stopping him from saying what he had been wanting to say ever since he realized just how much his best friend mattered to him, how much he truly needed him. “Me, too, Cas,” he whispered into the angel’s ear. “I love you, too.” Feeling Cas’s fingers dig further into his shoulders at the declaration, Dean pulled back slightly and grabbed Cas’ head in between his hands, meeting the wet blue gaze head on. “And I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.”

Another tear rolled down Cas’ cheek but his smile was the brightest Dean had ever seen it, even more than the few moments he could elicit an amused chuckle or pleased grin out of him in the past, more than when Cas had declared his love for him and reached his true moment of happiness earlier. Dean realized, staring at the angel who had become the friend that knew him better than he knew himself, had joined his family, and had fought by his side for twelve long years, that this smile was his new favorite. He could stare at it for days, it was that mesmerizing. But most of all, he loved the wearer of this smile.

Jack and Sam were at their side in an instant. Dean pulled back enough to give them room, but kept his fingers buried in the back of Cas’ coat, unwilling to let go until he was convinced his best friend wouldn’t disappear. Jack eagerly threw his arms around Cas who heartily returned his embrace.

Sam laid a hand on the angel’s shoulder and squeezed which was responded to with an affectionate smile from Cas. “Glad to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back,” Cas agreed. “And I’m glad to see you’re healed and doing well.”

“You were in The Empty.” Jack’s face saddened with realization. “Because of the deal you made to save me?”

Cas nodded but smiled softly at Jack, pulling him in for another hug. “A deal I don’t regret making and I would do it again if it kept you safe.”

The corner of Jack’s lips began to tip up in the corner and he tightened his hold on Cas. “I’m happy you’re back, Cas.”

Cas’ smile grew wider and he closed his eyes, reveling in this moment with his son.

Sam’s eyes met Dean’s over the other two’s heads and they both shared a nod. Everything was back to how it should be.

When Dean saw Sam’s gaze flicker behind him and his features tense, Dean turned around to find Amara standing a few feet away, studying their group intently. The woman’s hazel eyes slowly ran over them and ended on Dean himself.

Dean exchanged quick glances with his brother, and at Sam’s nod and him moving even closer to Cas and Jack in a protective stance which caught the latter two’s attention, he stepped towards Amara and gave her his full attention. “Alright, so you brought him back. And you brought Jack back, Sam… You saved us, saved the world. So, what’s the catch?”

Amara’s brow scrunched up. “Catch?”

Dean gave her a look. “Why did you do it?”

“I told you, I—”

“That’s a load of crap,” Dean cut her off. “Nothing like that comes for free.” Realization played upon Amara’s beautiful features and her eyes sharply focused on him. “I get the whole caging Chuck thing and I’m glad you did it. The bastard deserves it after everything he did. But why did you get Cas out of The Empty? Like you said, it was no easy feat. And what’s more, why did you bring Sam back? Or Jack? Did you purposely set this up so we’d be in your debt? So you could call in a favor? So if you whistled we’d come running? Because that is not happening. So if that’s why, you’d better think again, lady.” When she didn’t answer him right away, Dean then spoke through clenched teeth. “What is it that you want?”

Amara straightened her spine and crossed her arms. “There is no catch, Dean.”

Dean scoffed. “There’s always a catch.”

She considered that for a moment but then spoke again. “Perhaps,” she agreed. “But that is not the case here.” At Dean’s disbelief, she continued. “I told you before, we’re connected. We always will be. I can’t hurt you anymore than you can hurt me and what’s more, I don’t want to hurt you. I never have. I have only ever wanted to help you.” Amara lifted a gentle hand to Dean’s cheek which made the man shrink back slightly, warily watching her as she pursued the touch until her fingers made contact with his skin. He saw a tender smile form on her face when he didn’t pull away. “I have always told you that we will help each other, and that’s true. But not in the way you’re thinking. I’m not doing this to gain a favor or keep you in my debt. I’m doing what I told you I wanted to do back in that deli.”

Dean’s brows furrowed in confusion and his eyes were shadowed by an obvious distrust that he didn’t care if Amara could see or not.

“I thought your mother was what you needed and that’s why I brought her back. To free you from your anger; to show you that the reality of her was better than some age-old fantasy you had. And like I said that day, I now know I was wrong. It turns out that you needed something entirely different.” She lowered her hand and moved her gaze past his shoulder.

Dean slowly glanced behind him to find Sam, Cas, and Jack all carefully watching them. Sam swallowed convulsively, Jack glared, and Cas watched with indifference tainted slightly by worry. He swung his eyes back to meet Amara’s.

“They’re the family that you need, Dean. I understand that now.”

Dean processed her words and found he couldn’t deny that she was right nor did he want to. He had meant what he said to his dad a while back; he had a family. One he would fight to keep together, no matter what it took. Just like his dad had, though he would…be different. Yes, he would do it all differently. Jack, Sam, Cas…they all deserved better. And better is what they would get. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but his family knew that and loved him anyway.

Cas had been right; they were real. And as Amara kept reminding him, reality was far better than any fantasy. It stunned him for a moment to let those words travel through his brain: love, real. He knew Sammy loved him, Jack even, but Cas…Cas indeed loved him. He had said it right before he got taken by The Empty. Cas could have chosen any words to say for his impromptu deathbed speech, but he had chosen those three specific ones, and for Dean alone. A warmth started to suffuse his chest when the word ‘real’ repeated itself over and over in his head. This was real and he could have it. He never thought he could, especially after Lisa and Ben, but here it was, right in front of him. Maybe not in the exact way he had fantasized about for years, but it was here all the same and it was all his . Reality was indeed better than any fantasy he could have cooked up. He wouldn’t trade his brother, his son, or his…his angel for anyone else. He didn’t need some white picket fence or a wife or PTA meetings to attend in order to make him feel like his dreams came true. He had a family, a real one, and that was a dream enough for him. He nearly smiled at the thought of it. He had a family.

In the next second though, the happy thought then dropped into a pit of all-consuming dread. If all of this with Amara wasn’t real, if this was some hallucination of his or a grand scheme of manipulation a la Chuck style, he had no idea what he’d do. This brought back the recent memories of how each of his family members appeared in the bunker one by one after she pulled the Thanos-snap with Billie.

His brows furrowed in concentration on one particular thought. “That’s why you did it.” At her confused expression, he clarified, “Sam. In the Impala two towns over. That’s why.”

Her puzzlement smoothed out into an understanding smile. “You needed time to talk to him. To tell him the truth.” Dean chanced a glance back at Jack upon her words. His son’s glare in Amara’s direction softened when his eyes met Dean’s. Dean’s gaze dropped to the floor for a moment, shaking his head slightly in disbelief at the realization that yeah, Amara did know him better than he had ever thought. Almost eerily so. His three biggest regrets when he thought he was about to die earlier had been that he hadn’t been able to save Sam, that he hadn’t confirmed to Jack that he was family, and that he hadn’t told Cas what he had been wanting to tell him this whole time. And now, within a matter of minutes, all three regrets had turned into opportunities for him to rectify them: Sam was alive (and safe was debatable but Dean would take it), he had apologized to Jack and made sure he knew that he was their kid, and he had told Cas that— Well, he was able to tell Cas how much he meant to him. And he still had his family.

“I told you, Dean.” Dean’s head whipped back around to Amara. “Reality is better than fantasy. And what you have, it’s real.” He was still overwhelmed by that realization, unable to say anything and wanting to really. Instead, he gave her a simple nod. He saw a slight sadness in her eyes that a moment later vanished only to be replaced by a light of determination. “It is time that I took my leave. I interrupted my vacation to help you boys the first time, and I am eager to get back to it. From what I hear, there’s nothing like getting a Swedish massage in the Swiss Alps.” She smirked and took a few steps back. “And before you ask, Dean, no I don’t intend on pulling the strings like my brother used to. I plan to take a much more laid back approach to it all.”

“So, basically, we’re on our own? Like we were before?” A feeling of familiar disgust began to churn in his stomach.

She studied him for a moment. “I wouldn’t say that. I’m not abandoning any of you; I’m simply in the background. Though that does remind me.” She snapped her fingers quickly, making all of the men jump slightly. Dean was beyond terrified to look behind him, afraid that she had pulled the old bait and switch on him. He was working up the nerve to turn when Amara smirked over at him. “There, that should take care of everything. Now,” She slipped sunglasses on that had appeared in her hands out of nowhere. “Jack, I’m still thinking it over but I may need your help if I decide to restructure things a little.”

“Why should I help you?” Jack bit out from behind Dean. The older man closed his eyes and let out a breath of relief. When he felt the warmth at his shoulder from Jack, he opened his eyes quickly and grabbed at his son’s wrist, attempting to pull him further behind him.

Amara didn’t flinch, literally or figuratively. “Because I would think after everything we both have been through with Chuck’s setup, you might want to have a say in redoing some things. Like Heaven for starters, for the souls in its keep as well as angel management. After the whole Lucifer fiasco and the low number trying to keep the lights on…it’s a mess. As a matter of fact,” Amara turned her gaze onto Cas. “I could also use your help in that department, Castiel. I’d appreciate a full tour and rundown of how things work up there.”

Cas squared his shoulders and approached Dean’s side that Jack was on, also standing in front of the younger man protectively while giving her a defiant glare. “My powers are not what they were.”

“Mine either!” Jack added from behind the two men.

Amara’s smirk grew. “Are you sure about that, boys?”

Dean and Cas exchanged a puzzled look as Sam approached the group near Dean’s other shoulder, standing in front. “What do you mean?”

This time, Amara lowered her glasses slightly to look at all of them. “I’m saying that both of my nephews can come off of the bench. They’ve been there long enough. So can Dean. Now, if there’s nothing else, I’d really like to get going.” She pushed her glasses back into place and a handbag appeared on her arm out of nowhere, her smirk firmly in place. “I’ll be in touch, boys. Toodles.”

Before she could vanish, Dean called out to her. “Amara.”

Her gaze snapped to his, questioning.

“Thank you,” he forced out, knowing deep down that he meant it. He was grateful for her intervention and for everything she had done for his family; he just felt like he couldn’t completely trust in it yet or her.

A full grin bloomed on her lips. “You’re welcome. And, Dean.” This was it. He tensed, waiting for the final blow, for the last rug to be pulled out from under him, the ultimate ‘Aha! Gotcha!’. “Have a little faith.” Dean’s gaze tightened and Amara beamed at him before disappearing.

His skin broke out in goosebumps and his heart started to race when Cas grabbed his jacket and gently turned him in his direction, murmuring “Come here.” Dean swallowed compulsively when the angel’s blue eyes stared into his. The man would never admit it but as much as he loved Cas, and he was grateful to have him back, he wasn’t sure that he was ready for things to ascend to the next level between them quite this quickly. Not when their son and Sam were watching.

But to Dean’s surprise and possible dismay, Cas’ eyes traveled down to his injured side instead and a shocking mix of relief and disappointment bloomed within his chest. Cas lifted his shirt slightly, intent on placing a gentle hand on his skin, when Dean’s eyes bugged out of his head. “The hell?”

Where there had been mottled and splotchy skin before, now there was only smooth skin. Jack, who had been watching along with Sam, stared at it, puzzled. Cas pressed his hand to the area and for the first time since waking up, Dean didn’t flinch. He felt absolutely no pain at all. He let out a sigh of relief. Thank God—er…whatever—that he wouldn’t need to worry about that injury. That would have been a real bitch of a time to not only wait for the broken ribs to heal, but to still get around and fight if they needed to.

“Did she heal you?” Sam asked.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t feel anything.” He thought back to the moment she had touched his cheek. When Cas touched him to heal him, he would always feel a sort of warmth traveling through his body at the speed of light, coming to a concentrated area which was also the sight of the wound or injury. This time, he hadn’t felt a thing. And he was alright with that. He wondered if Amara kept him wounded until the last second as a sort of safeguard. Not that he could have killed her, but he would have tried like hell if she had turned out to be a threat.

“I wonder…” Cas muttered. He studied his two hands carefully and Dean watched as his eyes began to glow in a familiar electric blue.

“She gave us our powers back,” Jack stated in awe. One quick glance from Dean showed Jack’s eyes giving off a golden glow all of their own.

“Yes, she’s restored us to full strength,” Cas replied, meeting his son’s bright gaze with his own.

Sam gave his brother a dubious look. “Do you think she really meant what she said? About wanting to restructure Heaven?”

Dean couldn’t be sure, but right now, he didn’t want to waste another second thinking about her, their ordeal, or any other battles coming their way. He had his family back, all healthy and at full strength, and he’d take the win. “I don’t know, Sammy, but right now, we’re not focusing on that.”

Sam looked unsure. “Dean, if she gave them their powers back so she could use them in some way, then—”

Dean laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder and squeezed. “I get it, and we’ll deal with that when the time comes. But right now, we got you back, we got Jack back, and Cas… And both of them are fully charged with angel juice. Let’s just take the freaking win, man. We’ll worry about all of that other crap later.” Sam still seemed uncertain, but at Dean’s intent gaze, he eventually sighed in capitulation.

“Okay. I still think we should make a plan, though.”

Dean gave him a smile. “We will. After.”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “After?”

Dean’s grin grew and he turned them both to face the other two members of their family who were looking at them with mirrored tilted heads in confusion. Like father, like son. “Sammy, we’re going to head to the beach and we’re going to stick our toes in the sand.”

“Why would we stick our toes in the sand?” Cas asked.

“Because it’s what we’re going to do to celebrate us defeating Chuck.”

“How does sticking our toes in sand at the beach indicate a celebration of victory in battle?” Dean glanced at Sam who gave him a smirk, completely leaving him on his own for this one.

“It just is,” Dean decided. “Trust me on this one, Cas. So, Jack and Sam, you two go start packing up.” Dean hated to let either of them out of his sight, especially after recent events, but he felt slightly better knowing that the two would be together and it would only be for a short time. “I’m going to go start packing myself. We’re leaving in ten.” He ignored Sam’s smirk getting wider and clapped his hands. “Let’s go, hustle up. The sooner we blow this place, the sooner we can get to our vacation.” And the sooner they were on the road with him behind the wheel of his beloved car, the sooner Dean would be able to breathe again, no longer holding his breath waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“One quick question.”

Dean rolled his eyes and turned to his brother. “What?”

Sam suddenly appeared nervous. “Would it be alright if… I mean, would it be okay if I invited Eileen to go with us?” He quickly stammered out.

Dean grinned and Sam rolled his eyes. He knew that his older brother would tease him for years to come over this. “That’s adorable.”

“Can I ask her or not?”

Dean clapped his shoulder, deciding to have mercy on him…at least until they got on the road and he had nowhere to run. And Eileen was going to be there so it would be double the fun. “Absolutely, little brother. I’ve told you before, I like Eileen, and I think it’d be great if she came along. We’ll pick her up wherever she’s at.”

The relief played out on Sam’s features and he relaxed slightly under Dean’s hand. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Dean nodded and slapped Sam’s shoulder again. “Alright, let’s get packed up and ready to go. If you’re not here in ten, I mean it, I will leave your asses behind, so let’s go.” He wouldn’t dare to leave them behind, never again, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud at this moment. Despite his attempt at giving them a sense of urgency, Sam slowly made his way over to Jack and ushered him out into the hallway while pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Dean watched them go and then turned to Cas who was studying him intently. He felt an unfamiliar shyness creeping up inside him and his nerves began to take over, but he cleared his throat quietly, intent on pushing past the forming anxiety. “Cas, I, uh—Do you need to pack anything? A different coat, perhaps?”

Cas gave him a look and Dean let out a nervous chuckle.

“Right.” He took a few steps towards the angel. “Listen, I…” Dean struggled to get out what he wanted to ask, and he licked his lips anxiously. Why was it so difficult to ask this? It shouldn’t be that big a deal.

“Yes, Dean, I will go with you to your room and help you pack.”

Dean’s eyes widened. How in the hell did Cas know that?

A soft, understanding smile formed on Cas’ face. “I told you, Dean. We can pick up on longing. And right now, you want me to go with you because you don’t want me out of your sight.”

Dean opened his mouth to immediately protest but found he couldn’t. It was true; he didn’t want to let Cas out of his sight in case he disappeared again. After everything, he couldn’t take that right now. Hell, he couldn’t take that ever. Never again. Instead, he cleared his throat for a second time and dropped his gaze to the floor. “Okay.”

He started to make his way towards his room, grabbing onto Cas’ sleeve and gently tugging him along. He didn’t need to look at Cas to know his best friend was sporting a huge grin, especially when a couple of Dean’s fingers tenderly brushed against his wrist. If anyone forced him to admit it, Dean would say he was trying to get a better grip on Cas’ coat or that it was an accident, but deep down, a small part of him yearned for the brief contact. That same part of him also didn’t seem to mind it so much when Cas’ fingers brushed against his hand when the latter handed him a few folded shirts to throw into a duffel bag about four minutes later.

And Dean would deny it to the ground, but he had taken two minutes of the allotted time they had been given to sit on the edge of his bed with Cas next to him, their shoulders touching at the very same site Cas had initially left his mark, and it made him sigh in relief, enjoying the brief absence of chaos and the ensuing silence. The seasoned hunter and the angel took a moment to breathe and Dean could swear it was some of the best time he had ever spent on this earth. So this is what it was like—to love someone and have them love you in return. It was new and unfamiliar but Dean found himself liking it. He had loved Lisa and Cassie, and they had loved him, but it had never felt like anything close to this. This moment of sitting together, not saying a word, staring at the wall across from them, barely touching, no more secrets between them, enjoying the peace and just being, was suddenly in his top ten moments. Sex was awesome but even that didn’t compare to this. Dean didn’t exactly believe in soul mates but he understood why some people did. The feeling he got just from having Cas there, with their kid and Sam down the hall from them, preparing to show them one of the beaches he had gone to back in the day when on a solo hunt after he and his dad split up, well, it was indescribable.

And that same feeling continued to fill him twenty minutes later as they barreled down the road in Baby, heading towards Eileen’s destination, who had enthusiastically agreed to the small vacation. Dean glanced at Sam who was grinning down at his phone like an idiot as he and Eileen presumably swapped texts. He then checked the rearview mirror to find Jack showing Cas something on his phone that he had found, most likely what to do on a beach since the former had been asking Dean repeatedly about this topic until he shut it down three minutes earlier. Not even the knowledge of Sam packing some books in the trunk of the Impala to research further into Amara’s switcheroo could lessen this newfound feeling inside of Dean. He wouldn’t say it was quite peace or happiness but he would venture it was something in between the two. Actually, he knew it was when he saw Cas’ smile as Jack played a video of baby turtles making a mad dash to the ocean after hatching.

Dean grinned and turned up the music as a familiar Led Zeppelin song came on. He hit the gas and Baby took off faster down the open road. Not quite peace or happiness but pretty damn close. Yeah, he could live with that.

A/N: The about 80% mark I got up to 3 years ago was the Dean and Cas reunion scene, right when Jack and Sam are approaching. Thank you so much for reading!

#dean x castiel #destiel #destiel fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #deancas #casdean #castiel x dean #spn 15x18 au #15x18 au #spn fanfiction #destiel fanfic #dean x cas #cas x dean #dean winchester x castiel #castiel x dean winchester

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moooooooonsblog · 1 year

Text

MHA BOYS AS BOYFRIENDS PART 2

Headcannons - sfw - I'll to keep it gn but fem pronouns may be used

Characters: Eijro Kirishima, Denki Kaminari

Warnings: Stupidity and not proof-read

(part 2)

Eijro Kirishima

He made the first move

He asked you out the most cliche way possible but your heart melted anyways

He wrote you a love poem (with the help of the lord of darkness and shadows), bought you bouquet of your favorite flowers and a bunch of snacks

oh, and to complete the cliche, he confessed to you on valentines day... right in front of your dorm.... while the girls were having a sleepover in your room...

Safe to say everyone heard the news in less than 2 seconds and mina (dont we all love her?) got it all on video

"Y/n, I'm in love with you, can I be yours?"

"Mina! Play that part again!"

"Y/n... you've been listening to the recording for the past 2 hours"

Kirishima is the literal definition of boyfriend material

Oh? Your back aches? Time for a spy day for the literal angel that bless the earth!

You had a nightmare and texted him at 3 am? He'll be there in 10 secs with his hoodie for you to wear and a bunch of plushies

He trys to cook for you, it's so cute! He ended up burning half the kitchen whilst bakugou yelling curses,,, but hey! It's the thought that counts

He's all for that PDA: Holding hands, an arm around your waist, not so secretive pecks on your nose- he just loves giving you attention

Not exactly the jealous type because he knows you can handle yourself (since you're super manly and strong ofc)

But he won't hesitate to step in as soon as you need him to, giving the person a passive agressive smile and an excuse the get the hell away from them with you in hand

"We're such a manly couple! Nothing can beat us!"

Kirishima LOVES training and working out with you,, he doesn't mind taking you to the gym for a date

don't worry, he does take you on real, romantic dates

you both often go to the arcade, town festivals, and picnics

When his hair grows out and his roots start to show, he comes to you to re-dye and cut it for him

spy days and movie nights

He usually keeps his cool around you, but sometimes he turns into a mess when you something -particularly- provoking

"Pebble! Look here! I found a ladybug!"

"Oh my god! let's adopt it as our child!"

Denki Kaminari

he confessed first... on accident

He and the bakusquad were hanging out in the common room, playing super smash bros (the only thing he can beat bakugou in, but you didn't hear that from me) when he started going on a rant of how perfect and hot you are

oh but of course you were literally standing right behind him as he went on and onnnn

"Y/n, she's just perfect! I'd do anything to score her, I'd never flirt with another chick again! Just imagine how our wedding would be: super fancy and expensive and-"

"I would prefer an outdoor wedding, what do you think?"

"Oh yes yes, I ca- Wait! Y/n?? H-how long have you been standing there??"

He was so over the top when you both just got into the relationship: constantly texting you, showering you with gifts and affection, wanting to spend every sec with you

But once you've both become more comfortable- nothing has changed, and I mean, you aren't complaining at all

kaminari's so touchy-feely and clingly and love-y and you absolutely adore it

he basically begged bakugou to accept you in his little friend group

"Gimme all your love and attention y/nnnnn"

you both love to play minecraft, watch youtube vids and listen to music together

chill evenings with him >>>>

he's definitely more of himself around you, but also allows himself to share some of his personal problems with you

you guys talk about mental illness and comfort each other when having a bad day

all being said, you get to see a side of him that no one knew existed

he's defiantly the PDA kind of guy

He'll shamelessly fawn over you in public, grabbing onto your waist, nose and forehead kisses and constantly clingly on to you- he always makes sure that you're comfy with that tho!

He's for sure the jealous type

he'll hold to you any way he could, whether that's holding on to the hem of your sweater or locking pinkies, he wants to feel secured when you're talking to a sus stranger

but, when the person seems to get to personal...

"Hey there, stupid-face! I know my partner is super hot and is a literal angel, but she's taken! Shoo now!"

arcade dates, random parking lots, and fast food places and connivence stores at midnight

#mha #mha x reader #denki <3 #kirishima x y/n #kaminari x reader #kiri <3 #headcanons

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korgbelmont · 1 month

Text

Cassius Harlow x Stevie Sun

Part 5

Cas was sent to Beachwood to take out some of the remaining Creations, and now he has that chance. But he isn't alone.

Written in the present tense.

Part 4

Tagging: @choicesficwriterscreations, @jerzwriter

Warnings: Violence, death

Word Count: 1044

Notes: I don’t own these characters, they are the property of Pixelberry Studios.

Harlow created on cooltext.com

This is set a couple years after the events of both books.

A Creation flies out into the open at Cas and he speeds at it. The two clash and Cas wraps himself around an arm, putting all his weight in to break it. The creature howls out as it crashes into the ground.

Tyler - Cas!

Two more fly out and group divides into two. Stevie and Tyler clash with one, while Blake and Donovan go up against the other. Getting onto his feet, Cas laces his fingers and brings his hands down onto the Creation's head, knocking it out.

Cas - Stay down.

He turns to where the others are working against the other two and watches as Tyler uses his football skills to ground it. Stevie throws a series of punches, leaving it unconscious. Donovan throws his fist into the last conscious one, but when his fist makes contact with it's head, there is a cracking sound. The creature drops and Donovan looks at his hand, and begins shaking.

Donovan - I... I killed it...

Cas - Yup.

Cas grabs the one Stevie and Tyler knocked out, and twists it's head round with a sickening crack before dropping it.

Tyler - I think I might be sick.

Cas - Can't risk having three of them alive.

Cas walks over to the Creation he knocked out and hefts it up against a tree. The Creation growls as it comes to, eyes locking with Cas.

Creation - You... You killed him. Our Creator.

Cas - Actually that would be someone else. But I did play a part. Why have the Elders sent me to hunt you now? After two years.

Creation - How should I know?

Cas - Because you're why I'm here! Did you kill someone?

The Creation snaps out and Cas headbutts it, knocking it out again. Sighing, he stands rubbing at where his head made contact before turning to Donovan.

Cas - I'm sorry you had to kill. I had hoped that the only one doing any killing would be me.

Donovan - I don't know how to feel...

Blake puts their arm around Donovan, giving him a squeeze.

Cas - You all go home. I need to deal with these things. And make a call.

A couple days later, Cas stands outside his place as Astoria walks up.

Cas - Astoria.

Astoria - Where are they?

Cas - In a cave.

Astoria - All dead?

Cas - Apart from one.

Astoria - You were ordered to kill all of them.

Cas - Don't you want to know why now?

Astoria - They're being removed form the equation. It doesn't matter as to why now.

Astoria speeds off and Cas chases after her. Coming to a stop at the cave where Cas dumped the bodies, Astoria takes out a talisman and aims it at the bodies. She finds the one Cas left alive and rips it's throat out just as Cas catches up.

Cas - Damn it!

Astoria - This is no longer your problem, Cassius. Just leave and pack your things.

Cas snarls at Astoria as the Elder takes out a talisman, pointing it at the Creations. It glows for a few seconds and once it fades, all that remains is ash.

Astoria - It's over.

Cas - Now hang on--

Astoria - Enough!

Cas chuckles slightly.

Cas - You and Lewyn are so ignorant to the bigger picture sometimes. Perhaps if you two weren't always bickering, so many would still be alive like Anastasia and the Flagstone Coven.

At the mention of the name, Astoria fires her palm at Cas, but rather than hitting him, her hand is caught by a young woman.

Gabbie - No.

Cas - Gabbie?!

Astoria - What is this?

Gabbie - Leave Beachwood. Now.

Astoria steps back as wind picks up.

Cas - What... Uh, Gabbie.

Gabbie leviates slightly, putting herself at eye level with Astoria.

Gabbie - Never return.

She releases Astoria and the Vampire scoffs before looking to Cas.

Astoria - Consider your exile permanent.

The Elder Vampire speeds away, leaving Cas with Gabbie.

Gabbie - You okay?

Cas - Always. That was a little bit on the scary side though with the wind thing.

Gabbie - Call it a flare for the dramatic. Sorry about extending your exile.

Cas - I think it might be for the best. Especially after that.

Gabbie - Maybe.

Cas - Thank you. For everything. I promise to return the favour and help free you.

Gabbie - I believe you.

Returning to the town, Cas takes a deep breath before knocking on the door to Stevie's home. Waiting a few moments, he steps back as the door opens and Stevie smiles.

Stevie - Hey, Cas.

Cas - Hi.

Stevie - Can I help you?

Cas - I just wanted to let you know that it's all over.

Stevie - Oh...

Her expression falls as she steps out, closing the door behind her.

Stevie - So does this mean you're leaving?

Cas - Actually, no. There was a disagreement between Astoria and I. So my "exile" is now an actual thing and permanent.

Stevie - You mean...?

Cas - I'm gonna stick around.

With a wide grin, Stevie throws her arms around the Vampire, knocking him off balance.

Stevie - Good. Because I wanted to ask you out on a date.

Cas - That so?

Stevie - Uh huh.

Cas - I think it could be fun.

Parting, Stevie takes Cas' hand in hers and they head out.

That evening, Cas arrives back at his home after his date with Stevie, looking around at all the boxes he never unpacked. Locking the door behind him, he begins unpacking, letting himself accept that Beachwood is now his home, and that he has begun a new chapter in his life.

Cas - (Gabbie was right.)

As he unpacks, he thinks about the one thing he has left to do. The promise he made to Gabbie. Grabbing his phone, he sends a message into the group chat with Stevie, Blake, Donovan, and Tyler.

Cas (T) - There's still one thing left to do. Meet me at Gabbie's grave tomorrow.

Tyler (T) - I'll be there.

Blake (T) - Same.

Donovan (T) - Just say when.

Stevie (T) - What they said.

#playchoices #immortal desires #murder at homecoming #cas harlow #cassius harlow #stevie sun #korgfics

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carpehistoryandthepens · 9 months

Text

Legacy (what is a legacy?) Part 4

It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me

Hamilton, the world was wide enough. LMM.

one, two, three

Summary: Mike is 13. Born May 2009. Sid didn’t know he had a son. All Mike had was hope and a prayer for his and his half-sister’s safety.

(Sid is a dad of a teen he didn’t know about AU) Sidgeno.

Warnings: (for the total story) post-child abuse (all off-screen but it affects things and is spoken about often), learning how to parent, panic attacks, anxiety, based on last season, OCs?, realization about sexuality. Post breakups. Desperate lack of in-depth research for CPS in both PA/CA, melodrama?, kidfic, angst, slowburn, playing fast and loose with the law for drama/storytelling purposes.

Taking the ice for practice the day after talking to Geno over lunch, Sid felt much more centered than he had the day before. He was ready for this season. He could face the public, his team, his enemies, other teams, the media, kids being adorable with the Little Penguins. No matter what happens, he was prepared for this season.

Talking with Geno always helped get him in the right mindset for a season. That had been true since the moment they met in Mario's home.

Geno was already in the locker room when sid got there, which would have been a surprise, but some fans had cornered Sid on the way in. While Sid had been stuck signing various hats, cards, and jerseys, Geno had blown past him in one of his super small, fast cars.

Geno shot him a confident smile when they stepped onto the ice, immediately grabbing the puck sid was going for and starting to play keep-away. Sid felt that grin to the bottom of his toes. They could do this. They could take on anything.

The practice is still open to the public. The Return-to-Normal season operations was a relief. It was weird during the pandemic not tohave fans in the stands for most of training camp. Sid had long learned to ignore the people in the stands, which made their absence even more glaring. As the team warmed up and got ready for whatever Sully would throw at them that day, Sid looked around the stands.

Having games and practices in arenas with no one to watch in person was even more bizarre than just practice rinks. It seemed like a punishment rather than protection. He understood, mostly - some of the Covid rules were just stupid, but Sid followed them as a good leader should.

He was glad that the pandemic was past the first few years. Sid kind of missed going out with the masks, though. It had been a long time (if ever) since he had been that incognito in Pittsburgh.

Sid pushed past the returned novelty of fans in the stands for training camp and focused on what Sully was saying. He could both be happy the fans were back and still frustrated that all he saw was families. Today was a good day to remind himself why he loved to play for people, even if they included people who got to live parts of life he never would.

The next time he looked up and focused on the people surrounding the ice, the practice was half over. He paused to lean on the boards near the benches and get water from a waiting Bio Steel bottle. Sid frowned at it for a second before he took a swig. He hated change, and this was a big one. Sid couldn't help his mental expression at the new branding could be summed up as ">:("

As Sid gazed out at the stands, he took note of the people who had come. Many reporters, obviously, a few families were watching the practice, and a few WAG hopefuls all styled up and attempting to catch the attention of the rookies without looking too desperate. Some of the rookies had parents in the stands. Sid nodded at the group.

It was a school day, so as Sid expected, there were fewer kids than yesterday. Sid put his water bottle down and reminded himself that he should give some of the younger ones a puck or two before he got off the ice at some point. He might be dying for kids now, and interacting with them hurt on some level, but he wouldn't ignore some hopeful young hockey fans. He took one long look around to take stock of the age group – that would determine if it was a puck or a stick he gave away – but Sid's eyes locked on the kid directly opposite the bench in the stands.

It was the same kid as yesterday, looking even more exhausted and rumpled and staring at him with familiar eyes framed with bruises. The kid was wearing the same clothing as the day before, and now that Sid was looking at him closely, there was a faded black eye and a cut on his face. The kid's wary expression let Sid doubt that the enforcer look was only because of hockey. At least not the U16 he was thinking about yesterday.

The boy looked even more tired than the day before, and the girl was running around playing with a worn stuffed unicorn, and Sid saw a small, purple child's size luggage sitting next to the overstuffed hockey bag. The boy wasn't wearing a jacket; his - or at least Sid assumed it was his – was wrapped around the girl as she moved along the benches of the stands, making her seem smaller than she probably was.

Something about them set off every bell in Sid's head. The teen tempted the girl into eating a pretzel from the snack counter and drinking from a blue shaker bottle with a Superman emblem and about a dozen stickers.

Sid kept an eye on them for the rest of the practice. It was the last rep he finally got close enough to take in all the details about the kids. What he saw nearly made Sid trip over his skates.

Littering the skin up and down the teen's uncovered arms were bruises in various stages of healing. Sid had spent too long in the hockey world not to know the timeline of most bruising like the back of his hand. Most of the bruises that decorated the kid's face looked at least a week to two weeks old but were deep.

There was bruising on the boy's face, and, when the oversized jacket sleeve slipped down, there was bruising along the girl's arms, and fading black eyes on both. Sid felt his stomach drop; The girl couldn't be over four years old. The teen was young too. Hell, Sid might be optimistic about calling the kid a teen. He didn't know.

One of the WBS defensemen stole the puck from him, and Sid jerked his attention back to the drill. He won the puck back and nearly scored. Jarry's creative swearing let Sid know the goalie was ready for the season.

The moment he could, Sid broke off and caught the attention of one of Tag's practice assistants and a trainer. The assistant is in school to be a counselor – a sports counselor but a counselor, nonetheless. The trainer was back up. Anthony and Charlie. At the moment, Sid did not remember which was which. All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears as he realized what might be going on.

Sid had to do something. And this was the best idea he had on short notice.

The two walked away; Sid attempted to force his attention back to the practice entirely. He kneeled with the other guys at center ice and listened carefully to Sully's instructions. He did his best at the 'actual last, I promise; I'm planning on working you hard for the game tomorrow' drill.

Sid did his best not to look back at the bench where Anthony and Charlie were still talking to the kid and his sister during the rest of practice.

He wasn't successful by the side eyes most of the team gave him. They shuffled him along as they returned to the center ice to stretch and cool down. When the team let him settle down, Sid had a clear view of the conversation happening in the stands, even if he couldn't hear it. Rinks never had good acoustics for conversation - just the sound of pucks hitting boards and blades scraping on ice.

Sid looked around at his team, annoyed to be so blatantly caught. Geno smirked at him, delighting in his pout. "Why the ring around the Rosie?" Sid bit out, trying to keep his eyes away from the small group off the ice. He failed with a quick glance at the stands.

Rusty laughed a little under his breath. "Sid. You kept getting distracted." That got a lot of mummers of agreement from the guys.

"Yeah," Carts said from across the circle, "Dude, whatever you're planning on doing, I'm sure it will be accepted. You are Sidney Crosby." That got a roll of laughter from the team.

Sid didn't want to explain, at least not on the ice. "Fine, if that's what you think, Cartsy, you can lead the team in stretches." Sid put his captain's voice on to ensure the conversation ended.

Jeff grumbled jokingly but did as he was told, taking the cue from Sid to drop the topic.

For now.

Sid knew his team and was unsurprised when he was inundated with questions when they were off the ice and back in the practice rink's locker room. Their voices were a loud happy cacophony that Sid could bearly make out individual questions from.

"Sid, what's up?"

"Who's the kid, Sid?"

"Whatcha planning?"

"Ooo, are you going to steal some kids, cap?"

"Nah, he's going to make a kid's day, rookie!"

Sid watched his team gently chip him over his actions as he always did. Sid let the group go on for a while they all got changed and ready for the showers. The team video review wasn't until after lunch, and that wasn't for an hour.

Sully seemed pleased at how the team skated during practice, so he hadn't followed them into the locker room to finish getting his points across.

The team was feeling it, and Sid was happy just to let the atmosphere of the room wash over him. Geno draped himself over his shoulder despite his locker being across the room. He was mostly undressed from his kit and had a towel wrapped around his broad shoulders. Sid wanted to bite them like always, but the feeling wasn't new or uncommon around the rink, so Sid didn't think of it too much. He always felt like that around a good set of shoulders - jealously or envy, he had long attributed it to. "Now, Sidney Crosby, help all the kids. He does not just steal one." Geno crooned.

Tanger snorted disbelievingly as he passed toward the showers, and Dumo and Rusty gaffed as they trailed behind him.

"G." Jake said as he pulled off the last of his gear and walked away from his stall, "You know the WAGs have a standing suggestion to new parents to the team that if their kid goes missing, just call Sid first? That they are most likely with him?"

Sid shook Geno off in protest and glared at the room. He pulled off his jersey and gear, saying, "That was once! With Duper's kids! Twelve years ago!" Sid had a distinct impression that he squawked, but he refused to admit that in the room. To do so was to admit weakness and allow the sharks (Geno, Tanger, Rusty, Dumo, Jeff, Petey…. well, his whole damn team, now that Sid thought about it) to take advantage. While he was just one of the boys, the key was not to be too obvious.

Geno laughed as he walked away from Sid's stall and toward the showers. "Anna has that too!" he said, completely selling out Sid's occasional 'Can I borrow your son?' outings with Nikita. "He always brings back."

So sue Sid, they didn't happen often but often enough that Anna has called Sid before. Rarely…. But it has happened. Nikita was a delight.

The team laughed and didn't stop the chirping until most of them were well into the post-practice showers.

Sid glared at Geno, mostly jokingly, in a good mood after the worry Sid had carried all practice. But making Sid happy was Geno's goal as he grinned at Sid as they washed off. So, Sid did his best to plot instead of admitting how happy Geno's attention made him.

While Sid couldn't believe Geno would sell him out like that, he knew it was meant in a good place. So, Sid would have to do something to get Geno back appropriately. Nothing too bad, but something that let Geno know that it was not ok just to sell him out to the team like that.

From Geno's smirk in the showers, Geno could feel Sid's thought process. Which now made it a challenge for Sid to prank Geno. This was the game they had been playing for years, and Sid was looking forward to it.

Sid was grateful that the reporters wouldn't be allowed into the room post-practice for another week. That meant he could be there with the boys and their post-practice chirping.

When Sid finally got washed off and returned to his stall, the trainer's assistant and Jen entered the room.

Immediately the loud, boisterous chatter of the boys' post-practice died off as attention turned to the pair. When Jen came into the locker room - one of them had media, and they wouldn't be able to fight it. Her people only called her in when they needed the big guns.

"Sid," the trainer said in an odd tone; Anthony, Sid remembered, Tag's assistant was Charlie. That's right. "Can you come with us?"

Sid didn't even wait, "Is it about the kids?"

Anthony hesitated a weird expression on his face.

However, Jen didn't pause. "Yes. Can you come?" she said firmly. Her ability to hold an even expression is one of the reasons she was so damn good at her job, but around her eyes, there was a hint of disbelief and shock.

Sid didn't think most of the team could see that except him, Tanger, and Geno. The ones who had been with her the longest.

The sudden pit in his stomach was growing with each passing word. Something was up.

God, he hoped he wasn't right,

"Just let me get dressed," Sid said, rapidly reaching for his street clothes.

"Come on, G, you know you want to make a kid's day," Tanger called from across the room, sounding unaffected in a way that belied how his eyes were worried. He was mostly dressed and fixing his hair.

Geno laughed, nearly genuine – if someone hadn't been with the man damn near daily since they had been teenagers, like Sid, Tanger, or even Jen had been, "Yes. Make day; see me!"

That broke the team's silence. The rest of the team fell back into the regular routine of getting ready for lunch and video review; Sid sped through getting dressed. There was an odd atmosphere to the chirping and yelling. Everyone on the team saw something was up and followed Sid's leadership in acting normally.

Jen didn't protest, but Anthony looked like he might. Most of the team missed Jen's slight nod but not the core.

Sid was officially weirded out by this and had to know what was happening.

Tanger and Geno flanked him as they followed Jen and Anthony into a trainer's room just off the practice ice. Sid had been in the room several times; it wasn't the principal trainer's room in the practice rink – closer to the locker room – but it was smaller but fully stocked.

It usually wasn't occupied by two kids, and a woman Sid had never seen before but had a badge around her neck with Child Welfare Services written on it and her name directly underneath, Helena.

Sid opened his mouth to greet the kids in a standard meet and greet, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the boy's baby fat or the way he stood as he met Sid's gaze and steeled himself, but the kid looked just like Sid did in the photos and videos of interviews from when he was young.

Tanger and Geno filtered into the room as Sid stepped through. It was crowded in the small office now, but by the stern look the CWS rep gave him, something more important than fire codes or sitting places was up.

"Sid," Jen said, then paused, seemingly unable to find the words.

Charlie took over. "Sid, this is Michael Hernandez and his sister Marisol Hernandez-Diaz." He gestured to the boy and the little girl.

"Hello, Michael. Hi, Marisol." Sid said, finally putting on his 'meet and greet with kids' face. He likes kids, and it was close to the genuine smile any of his media smiles got.

Michael didn't respond beyond just staring at Sid, but that sometimes happens, so Sid chose not to worry too much.

His sister waved a hand excitedly in the air. "Hola!" she sang out, taking her attention away from her brother for a moment. There was a Spanish accent to her words. Whomever her parents were, they were teaching her to be bilingual.

Sid offered her a hand to shake. And she took with delight, her smile bright and wide.

"Mike! Water p'r favor." she asked when she looked away from Sid.

Her question shook Michael from his staring, “Claro, Mari, aquí está tu taza,” he said in Spanish. He held out the blue shaker bottle. Marisol took it carefully and didn't spill anything as she drank.

Sid didn't understand the words, but he did understand the motions. He watched them interact with a deep longing that he didn't expect. Sid pushed the smile on his face a little harder. He would not mess this up for the kids just because he wanted to be a father.

"Sid," Jen said again.

Sid turned, and Jen gestured to the chair next to her. "You might want to sit down for this."

Sid raised an eyebrow but made no move to the chair, choosing to remain standing. "What's up?" he wasn't injured. So why had she asked?

"Michael here," Jen said bluntly, "He thinks you are his biological father."

Sid hadn't fainted in years, not since the worst of the concussion, but he came damn close.

He stumbled and nearly collapsed into the chair that Jen pointed out.

Behind him, Tanger and Geno hurried forward to flank him in the chair. Geno put a hand on his solder to keep Sid from leaning too far forward.

Michael was watching him react. He was staring at Sid with an expression that Sid could read, mainly because it was a Forbes expression from the bones. Literally. He had Sid's cheek and pre-surgery jaw. Hope and fear. Like he didn't know how he would survive if he got what he wanted, good and bad.

The last time he had seen that expression, his sister had told him of the college she was going to for hockey. It came from his mother's side of the family.

And Michael looked just like him.

But also, Sid's eyes were staring back at him with that expression.

Oh.

Oh shit.

#'sid has a teen he didn't know about' au #sidgeno #8771 #i write?#this will take a while to write #working title: Legacy (what is a legacy?)#happy birthday geno!

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rbelle310 · 1 year

Text

Ushijima's known Iwaizumi for 6 years, but the definition of 'knowing' was more like a vague awareness. He puts a name to a face and a position behind the veil of a volleyball net and that's about it.

To the Ushijima Wakatoshi of Shiratorizawa, Seijoh's Iwaizumi Hajime is filed in a folder titled 'almost'. He was 'almost' six feet tall, he was 'almost' good enough to be great in no small part due to his setter.

There's no malice to the way Ushijima composes these little factoids. But after they cross paths in CA, Wakatoshi starts to notice some other things.

Unlike the exaggerated disdain showered on him by Oikawa or the intimidated awe he's often subject to by his peers and kohai, Iwaizumi is surprised to meet Wakatoshi but unruffled in making conversation and maybe even pleased to see a familiar face.

It's not the disquieting confidence radiated by the concrete crows either, it's something calmer, more comfortable. Wakatoshi isn't prepared to admit it yet, but he's a little ashamed of how he categorised the other man.

The only 'almost' here is how Wakatoshi 'almost' had an idea of what Iwaizumi was, and it turns out it was mostly wrong.

He learns that Iwaizumi is finishing up his 2nd year in the department of sports sciences at Waseda, he learns that Iwaizumi still occasionally plays a few casual matches with other faculty students and works part time at a physical therapy clinic ('mostly clerical' he admits).

He used his earnings to come all the way to the US to meet Wakatoshi's father and tour the campus to figure out his next academic step.

Iwaizumi works hard and sets difficult but realistic goals, he's mature but still knows how to have fun. Iwaizumi is kind, helpful and attentive to everyone, even total strangers and he does it as naturally as breathing.

"I don't really get to watch games live lately." Iwaizumi confesses a little embarrassedly on the second day they happen to meet for coffee on campus.

Between work and everything else, he catches the occasional online replay on the train while commuting or on the weekend while he relaxes.

Plus he can't afford the subscription while saving for all his future plans. Even outside the city, the greater Tokyo area is still quite costly to live in.

Wakatoshi takes the information and files it away. He likes talking to Iwaizumi, it feels like he has a friend again. Not a team-mate, but an actual friend. After coffee, they bid each other goodbye with separate itineraries to complete.

Iwaizumi flies home, Wakatoshi stays on a little longer to enjoy the off season with his father. They both become mostly wrapped up in their own lives again for a time.

A couple of months later, back in Japan, a still-sweaty but victorious Wakatoshi looks up from signing a kid's shirt to meet a familiar pair of brown eyes.

Iwaizumi, hands tucked into the pockets of his dark red Sōdai hoodie, grins at him in that way that makes the corners of his eyes crinkle. "I figured they were from you." he laughs, whipping out the ticket stub from his pocket. "Thanks. It was a good match."

They talk a little, and after some finagling with their terminally busy schedules, they talk some more. Wakatoshi sends more tickets, they meet frequently, sometimes not even after a game.

In fact, they're meeting more outside of the arena these days. Sometimes Iwaizumi has errands to run or things to do, Wakatoshi doesn't mind, he's content to tag along or just hang out while he works. It's relaxing, peaceful even.

Wakatoshi opens a new mental folder. Saitama really isn't that far: Iwaizumi Hajime is 'just' a mere hour away by train. Iwaizumi isn't a mindreader like Tendou, but he always knows 'just' what to say when he's having a rough day.

In fact, he's becoming increasingly convinced that Hajime 'just' gets him, and he thinks he's slowly but surely learning what makes Hajime tick.

One evening, while pressed against each other in the train, a thought occurs to Wakatoshi: Hajime was 'just' tall enough that if he looked up right this moment, Wakatoshi could just dip his head and...

Oh.

#haikyuu #ushijima x iwaizumi #ushiiwa #ushiijma wakatoshi #iwaizumi hajime

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kaymd0313 · 5 months

Text

Chapter Five: Mr. Munson

Warnings: Some possessiveness on Eddie's end, Language and more bad flirting

MINORS DNI

We pulled up to my house and the lights were off.

Dads not home, cool.

Eddie parked the van and started to get out. I opened the passenger door as Eddie got up to it. Once I got out Eddie was just standing there staring at me.

“What?” I said

“I was gonna get the door for you.” He said with a disappointed look on his face.

“I know, but I have working arms, I can do it myself”

He just sat there and looked at me. He then stomped towards the passenger side door, opened it and pointed, “Get in.”

“What? Eddie I’m not getting back in just so you ca-“

“GET IN” he interrupted.

I looked at him baffled.

“Eddie, you’re joking right?”

“Get in, or I’ll pick you up and do it myself.”

We just looked at each other for a second. He had this look on his face that was saying ‘test me and see’, so that’s what I did. I tested him.

I let out a chuckle and turned to start walking toward the front door of my house. I got about five steps in until I saw Eddie in front of me.

“Really?” He said

“Yea, really.”

I started to walk again when he placed his arm out in front of me grabbing my waist.

I tried to not show that I was freaking out on the inside so I played it cool.

I turned my head to face him and there it was, that grin.

He looked at me and whispered “You’re fucked y/n. Fucked bad.”

My heart dropped and honestly I was a bit turned on.

He picked me up by my waist and put me over his shoulder.

“Jesus, Eddie, put me down!”

“Why would I listen to you, you don’t listen to me”

He walked towards the van and opened the passenger door, then put me down on the seat.

“Stay!”

He closed the door and just looked at me for a second.

Then he opened the door and offered me his hand. I looked down at it then back up at him.

“If you don’t take it, we'll just do this process again,” he said.

“Ugh, you’re so annoying” I said

“But you love it, I can tell”

I looked down at his hand to hide the fact my face just turned beet red. Then I took his hand and hopped out the van.

We stood there for a second in silence. Just staring at each other, exchanging smiles and slight giggles.

A set of headlights pulling into the driveway is what broke our little staring contest. It was my dad.

He stepped out of the car and smiled and waved then approached me and Eddie.

“Hey sweetheart, how was your first day?”

I couldn’t tell my dad that I skipped the last half of the school day to go hang out and smoke weed with the boy who was standing next to me that he didn’t know.

“It went well. Dad, I want you to meet Eddie.”

Eddie stuck his hand out and my dad greeted it.

“Eddie Munson, nice to meet you sir.”

“Have you kids eaten, I was thinking of ordering pizza or something.”

“Pizza would be great dad. I’m starving. I bet Eddie is too.”

Eddie looked at me and smiled.

“Ravenous”

“Well let’s go inside and I’ll make the order. Then I’ll call you guys out when it’s here. Sound good?”

“Yeah dad, sounds great.”

As we all walked towards the house, dad in front, me in the middle and Eddie in the back, I felt Eddie’s hand hovering over the middle of my lower back, as if to guide me to my own house. With every step he would slightly graze my shirt.

Once we got inside, me and Eddie agreed on a pizza to share. I told my dad we would be in my room and to holler at us when it got here.

Me and Eddie stood outside my bedroom door for a second.

“Now Eddie my room is still just boxes so don’t judge me.”

“You act like I care what your room looks like. You didn’t judge my place, I won't judge yours hun.”

I opened the door and we walked in. I automatically noticed I didn’t make my bed this morning, so I went to fix it. Eddie was looking at my boxes while I was doing that.

Once I finished I turned to Eddie, “You can sit down if you want. I’m actually going to go through a few of those boxes.” I told him as I was putting my clothes away that I had also left on the bed.

He basically jumped on my bed, and stretched out as if it was his own.

“Damn, you have some nice sheets, I’d love to sleep in them.” he was looking at me for a reaction, but I was too focused on the boxes.

Eddie got up off my bed and came up behind me, “What’s in the box?”

“Jesus Eddie, how are you so fucking quiet? I just have some random things like decorations, a few posters. That’s all that’s in this one.” I said.

“Wait a second, is that an elementary school yearbook?”

“EDDIE NO!!!”

It was no use; he already had it in his hands. I wasn’t going to fight it, I wouldn’t win.

“y/n, Eddie, pizza is here!” I heard my dad yell.

"I’m gonna go grab it, stay here."

I went and grabbed the pizza and came back to my room, Eddie was still going through the yearbook trying to find me.

“You won’t find me in there, I don’t even look the same.”

“I can still look for your name though.” he said as he looked up at me with a smile.

“Ugh whatever, here, eat something.”

Me and Eddie ate for a while. While we ate he found my name and he laughed about it while I finished my pizza.

“Whatever Eddie. By the way, since my car is at school, do you think you could give me a ride in the morning?” I asked.

He still had pizza in his mouth but he said “Of course, it’s the least I could do. I’ll pick you up at 7:30 if that’s okay.”

“Sounds great.”

We sat there for a bit longer until I noticed the time.

“Shit Eddie, it's almost 12. You should probably go.”

“Do I have to?”

“Well I’m sorry to break it to you Mr. Munson, but you aren’t staying here.”

“Damn, I tried.” he said with a smile.

He got up from my bed then I did the same and walked him to the front door. The lights were off in the living room so my dad already went to bed.

We got to the door and we stood there for a second.

“Well Eddie it’s been fun, maybe we can do this again.”

“How about tomorrow?” he asked with the innocent smile on his face.

“I don’t think so, I probably should finish a full day of school. If you want to after, I’m totally down.”

“Awesome.”

He started to walk towards his van and turned around half way there, “By the way, I like it when you call Mr. Munson. It's kinda hot.” he said with a wink and a smile.

I smiled and shook my head and went inside and closed the door.

I put my back against the door and silently freaked out.

What the fuck has this boy done to me?

I've only known him for one day.

Fuck!

#eddie munson #eddie x reader #eddie x y/n

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rothjuje · 2 years

Text

Yesterday morning was our first ‘new normal’ morning with George in school and no visitors. I decided to check out the local library and coincidentally there was a toddler story time that am. I was so excited to meet other SAH moms but Gen started screaming 5 minutes in and wouldn’t stop until we left. So. Not a great first impression.

In Texas, SAH parenting was just a way of life for most mothers. Here people take it really seriously. They’re dressed up, their kids are dressed up, they have a strict schedule. I have that CA chill. I need to step it up a notch if I’m ever going to fit in here.

I’d love to take Gen to the beach for a nature walk or get a membership to a children’s museum but both those things are 45 minutes away and George’s program is only 2.5 hours a day. We can’t leave after we pick him up because we have to be home to get Alyssa from school.

So. I’m trapped in my small town M-F. I could find a morning class for her in a nearby town but all the ones I’ve seen so far start at 9 am (can’t do, that’s when drop-off is) or 11 am (can’t do, pick-up is at 11:30). Sigh. I’d take her to the park but she only wants to go if someone is there to play with and most parks are empty out here while school is in session.

I can request to increase George’s school day in January but I don’t think I will. He gets the same amount of OT, ST, and PT either way per his IEP. Besides that, he’s exhausted and uncharacteristically grumpy when I pick him up. He was such a mess yesterday I had to put him to bed at 5:30 pm. He slept for 14 hours and was still a mess when I had to wake him up the next morning.

On a positive note, George has been talking more. On his birthday he actually said “shoes on” and “more please” and it could have been scripting or meaningful 2-word phrases. Monday he said “hi” and “bye” appropriately and for the first time so he is learning new things at school which is great. Tuesday he said no while shaking his head, for the first time, also appropriately. I’m so proud of him being such a trooper through such an unsettling, massive change in his life.

I was in a funk last week and ended up talking to my dad about it, and he gave me some great advice which helped quell some of my existential crisis. And then I talked to my mom and she also gave me some great advice. I have spent so much of my life dismissing my parents but the older I get the more I realize we’re more similar than I thought.

I absolutely will not, but I keep daydreaming about getting a second dog. Just a fluffy little thing running around the house. I always do this as soon as life calms down. Whyyy am I like this? But no we are not getting a second dog (ever) or any other pets right now. We are going to clear out the basement/finish unpacking and then I am starting real estate classes.

Random and tmi but we have a bunch of stairs at our place. Thirteen to get to the front door, steep stairs to get down to the basement, and more steep steps to get upstairs. We also have side yard stairs and deck stairs. Anyway. When we moved I had this thought that the stairs were going to do great things for my butt. After a week of moving things up and down stairs and carrying kids up and down stairs my legs were incredibly sore but (annoyingly) I saw no difference. Now we have officially lived in our house for 3 months (!!!) and I have spent 3 months carrying boxes and kids and groceries and laundry up and down copious amounts of steps. And I can finally see a difference. Yay stairs.

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swatheford · 2 years

Text

cowboy boots

(swatheford short #7) happy birthday to my lovely santiago! the most dramatic character ever but i love them for it! here's a snippet of their eighth birthday party! there's a version for cas followed by cass' version. hope y'all enjoy!

Cas

Cas had a pair of red cowboy boots that he simply wouldn’t take off. Javier and Isabela wrote it off as a phase– it wouldn’t last more than a week before he wants to wear his green velcro running shoes. Much to their dismay, it had been nine months since Cas had first slipped on the boots and it had been nine months since he refused to take off. With his birthday rapidly approaching, the frantic parents scrambled for a birthday theme that would make sense with the fashion choice. After multiple trips to party supply stores and nights filled with cutting paper, lungs burning from blowing up hundreds of balloons, and glitter randomly appearing on their arm, Javier and Isabela successfully decorated for a Wild West themed birthday.

The walls were lined with streamers, paper horse decorations were taped on almost every surface imaginable. Cas strutted out, ready to celebrate his special day despite him claiming that the entirety of August was his birthday. He was dressed to impress- clad in denim shorts, a white shirt, and a green bandana loosely tied around his neck. Atop his head, smothering his wavy brown locks, was a cowboy hat that threatened to fall off with every step. On top of the cowboy hat was a paper birthday hat, crumpled from his frantic and reckless movements. He smiled, revealing some missing teeth that had been kindly donated to the tooth fairy. Javier spots his son and waves at him. He steps off the ladder and scoops up the boy, spinning him around and pressing kisses all over his cheeks.

“Howdy, partner!” Javier pulls his best Southern accent which fails miserably, Cas doesn’t seem to mind.

“Howdy, papa! Are my friends coming soon?” Javier sets down his son. Once Cas reaches the wooden floor he begins to jump up and down, energetic as always. Javier nods, scratching his beard.

“They should be arriving any moment now. Did you clean your room?” “Yes!”

Javier doesn’t buy it for a second. He looks down at the eight year old, with the tried and true “dad look.” Cas sheepishly heads back to his room, redhanded.

An hour later, the party is in full swing. Children run around in the backyard, enthralled in a riveting game of tag. Isabela watches by the patio, catching up with the other parents before the cry of a child disrupts her. She heads inside to find the twins, Ana and Sebastian, stuck in their playpen. She takes Ana into her arms, soothing her while Cas’ abuela consoles Sebastian. The infants are sobbing their hearts out and she knows that only one person would put them in there. Both of them share a knowing look before going outside.

“Cas,” Isabela says sternly. He’s running away from his friends, desperate to not get caught. He pauses, frowning. “Mama I’m playing!” “Why did you put your siblings in the playpen?”

“I’m a sheriff!” Isabela sighs.

“That’s not what you’re supposed to do, mijo.”

“I’m sorry-”

“You’re it!” A kid taps Cas’ shoulder and he pouts.

“I can’t be it, it’s my birthday!” He whined and Isabela watches, unfazed at her son’s dramatics.

“Play nice, Castor.”

Cas loves a good competition which is why he begged his parents to create a mini-olympics styled relay amongst his friends. After choosing MC as his partner for every game and winning, disappointed friends marked a rule in which Cas wasn’t allowed to choose MC as a teammate for the rest of the day. The last event was a simple sprint. Every child had a stick horse, staying true to the theme, and they lined up on one side of the backyard against the dark wooden fence. Cas stood next to MC, his new rival, and booed them. MC lightly shoved him in response as the kids waited for Javier to blow the whistle. Once the race was in full swing, all of them had their sights set on winning the grand prize- a sheriff badge. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a large distance but to the third graders, it felt as if they were climbing Mount Olympus. In the final stretch, Cas and MC were nearly head to head, both of them too stubborn to give into the other. The finish line was almost in their grasp…

“Tie!”

Both of their jaws dropped before turning to each other, settling the battle once and for all with a trusty game of rock, paper, scissors. Luckily MC knew that Cas always chose rock and reigned victorious.

After playing outside, the children were utterly exhausted and in need of some sugar to keep them going. They sat around the dining table which was clad in a plastic cover decorated in cow print as Cas poked holes into the material. Javier carefully set the tray of tres leches cake down on the table as the children cheered.

“Where’s abuela’s flan?”

“One at a time, mijo.” Javier pops into the kitchen before emerging with a saucer of flan roughly the size of a cupcake. He sticks a green candle in the center and carefully lights it as everyone begins to sing happy birthday in twelve different keys. It’s not the most pleasant sound but the genuine glee is melodic in itself.

Once everyone started to leave Cas crashed on the couch, utterly exhausted and stuffed from the food. The cowboy hat tipped over his eyes and a brand new pair of red flashy cowboy boots sat by the couch.

Cass

Cass had a pair of red cowboy boots that she simply wouldn’t take off. Javier and Isabela wrote it off as a phase– it wouldn’t last more than a week before she wants to wear her green velcro running shoes. Much to their dismay, it had been nine months since Cass had first slipped on the boots and it had been nine months since she refused to take off. With her birthday rapidly approaching, the frantic parents scrambled for a birthday theme that would make sense with the fashion choice. After multiple trips to party supply stores and nights filled with cutting paper, lungs burning from blowing up hundreds of balloons, and glitter randomly appearing on their arm, Javier and Isabela successfully decorated for a Wild West themed birthday.

The walls were lined with streamers, paper horse decorations were taped on almost every surface imaginable. Cass strutted out, ready to celebrate her special day despite her claiming that the entirety of August was her birthday. She was dressed to impress- clad in denim shorts, a white shirt, and a green bandana loosely tied around her neck. Atop her head was a cowboy hat that threatened to fall off with every step. On top of the cowboy hat was a paper birthday hat, crumpled from her frantic and reckless movements. Under all of that, her wavy brown locks were neatly kept in two braids. She smiled, revealing some missing teeth that had been kindly donated to the tooth fairy. Javier spots his daughter and waves at her. He steps off the ladder and scoops up the girl, spinning her around and pressing kisses all over her cheeks.

“Howdy, partner!” Javier pulls his best Southern accent which fails miserably, Cass doesn’t seem to mind.

“Howdy, papa! Are my friends coming soon?” Javier sets down his daughter. Once Cass reaches the wooden floor she begins to jump up and down, energetic as always. Javier nods, scratching his beard.

“They should be arriving any moment now. Did you clean your room?” “Yes!”

Javier doesn’t buy it for a second. He looks down at the eight year old, with the tried and true “dad look.” Cass sheepishly heads back to her room, redhanded.

An hour later, the party is in full swing. Children run around in the backyard, enthralled in a riveting game of tag. Isabela watches by the patio, catching up with the other parents before the cry of a child disrupts her. She heads inside to find the twins, Ana and Sebastian, stuck in their playpen. She takes Ana into her arms, soothing her while Cass’ abuela consoles Sebastian. The infants are sobbing their hearts out and she knows that only one person would put them in there. Both of them share a knowing look before going outside.

“Cass,” Isabela says sternly. She’s running away from her friends, desperate to not get caught. She pauses, frowning. “Mama I’m playing!” “Why did you put your siblings in the playpen?”

“I’m a sheriff!” Isabela sighs.

“That’s not what you’re supposed to do, mija.”

“I’m sorry-”

“You’re it!” A kid taps Cass’ shoulder and she pouts.

“I can’t be it, it’s my birthday!” She whined and Isabela watches, unfazed at her daughter's dramatics.

“Play nice, Cassandra.”

Cass loves a good competition which is why she begged her parents to create a mini-olympics styled relay amongst her friends. After choosing MC as her partner for every game and winning, disappointed friends marked a rule in which Cass wasn’t allowed to choose MC as a teammate for the rest of the day.

The last event was a simple sprint. Every child had a stick horse, staying true to the theme, and they lined up on one side of the backyard against the dark wooden fence. Cass stood next to MC, her new rival, and booed them. MC lightly shoved her in response as the kids waited for Javier to blow the whistle. Once the race was in full swing, all of them had their sights set on winning the grand prize- a sheriff badge. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a large distance but to the third graders, it felt as if they were climbing Mount Olympus. In the final stretch, Cass and MC were nearly head to head, both of them too stubborn to give into the other. The finish line was almost in their grasp…

“Tie!”

Both of their jaws dropped before turning to each other, settling the battle once and for all with a trusty game of rock, paper, scissors. Luckily MC knew that Cass always chose rock and reigned victorious.

After playing outside, the children were utterly exhausted and in need of some sugar to keep them going. They sat around the dining table which was clad in a plastic cover decorated in cow print as Cass poked holes into the material. Javier carefully set the tray of tres leches cake down on the table as the children cheered.

“Where’s abuela’s flan?”

“One at a time, mija.” Javier pops into the kitchen before emerging with a saucer of flan roughly the size of a cupcake. He sticks a green candle in the center and carefully lights it as everyone begins to sing happy birthday in twelve different keys. It’s not the most pleasant sound but the genuine glee is melodic in itself.

Once everyone started to leave Cass crashed on the couch, utterly exhausted and stuffed from the food. The cowboy hat tipped over her eyes and a brand new pair of red flashy cowboy boots sat by the couch.

the beginning of santiago's sherrif arc haha. hope y'all enjoyed! :)

#cas santiago #cass santiago #secrets of swatheford #stf #santiago's birthday extravaganza '22 #swatheford #swatheford shorts

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altagraye · 2 years

Text

Big Big Love part 11

part 11: Send Her my Love in Bedroom Hymns

Maia Age:28

Sam age:31-32

Dean age:35-36

Roslyn age: 3

Approximate year: 2014-2015

Approximate season: 10

TW!: SMUT, Cussing, depression, self-harming behavior (I don't condone or recommend, it's terrible), Alpha!Demon!Dean

Maia:

Roslyn is three years old now. She grows so fast. Bringing her home from the hospital was no walk in the park. I had a lot to learn even with my built in Omega-mommy skills. There were tons of restless nights and don't even get me started on the teething! Raising a pup is definitely a team effort, Dean and I switching off so one of us can get some kind of sleep. Sometimes it was even a pack-wide effort. But I feel like I've gotten the hang of things by now. I'm so glad I have a multitude of cups of coffee to keep my engine running throughout the day. We moved into this inherited Bunker not too long ago, just last year I think it was? I like the layout, tons of rooms and a huge kitchen so I can actually learn how to cook something edible. It's like a maze down here. The only thing I hate about it is that there aren't any windows to the outside. I miss looking out the glass on rainy days. Oh well, It's easy for me to lose track of time.

I was so relieved that, on the day that shook my core, Ros had stayed the weekend at Bobby's. I was sitting at the mapped table reading through some of the archived Greek literature books from the library of the bunker, late at night when I felt this terrible searing pain in my neck, where Dean's claim was. Sam told Dean to stop hunting but they never did. Can't take the hunter out of the Alpha after all. Now they were trying to stop the new big-baddie, Metatron. Dean, my poor Galahad was afflicted by this dumb Mark-of-Cain thing.

But not even that would drag me away from him. We're soulmates. Dean tried to push me away from him but that only made me love him harder. I wasn't going to let him think that after all we've been through, that I was going to let some dumb scar come between us.

The pain in my neck grew and grew like someone had been cauterizing it. I looked at it as best I could in a mirror but it was fading away. It felt like smoke slipping through my fingers, unable to grab it back. I wasn't a worry-wort or negative-Nancy but I knew something was gravely wrong. i called Dean's phone and all I got was a snooty answering machine and a dial tone. I must have called him twenty times before I went to Sam's phone. I left tons of messages on his cell and other cells he had.

"Sam! What the Hell is going on?! Dean always answers when I call. My claim is breaking, please I'm terrified. I don't know what's happening. Call me back or text me fuck's sake, you have your hands off the wheel anyway."

"Gods-dammit, Sam. How many of these do I have to leave? I thought you were the smarter one? I'm gonna slash you up when you guys get home!" I ended the phone call, with my blood boiling. I checked on my claim again, the last raised bump fading within seconds, into smooth skin. Like it had never happened. What the fuck is going on? I prayed to Cas multiple times and he didn't answer me either. Not even a poof or a flap of those unruly feathers.

I sat with my head in my hands and started to cry when I heard the distinctive creak of the front door of the Bunker come open. I was beyond pissed. So I let loose.

"Sam!! Where in the fuck have you guys been? It's 2 o'clock in the morning. You've better smote the shit out of this dick-bag Angel or I'm going to explode." I turned to see Sam carrying Dean down the steps. My mate's body was limp, he had gashes on his face, now pale. And I could smell iron in the air. Whatever it was it must have been a rough fight. My hand covered my mouth and I started to cry. Who dares to hurt my Alpha? My mind was down playing the scene. Sam looked exhausted and his eyes were red and puffy like he'd been weeping for a while.

I followed them down to our room where Sam set his body down. His clothes covered in patches of his own blood. A deep hole burrowed into his chest.

"Wh- wh- what happened??? Alpha? D-dean Winchester you better answer me! Wake up!" I slapped his face for good measure. His head cast to the side and didn't bounce back. It was then that I knew he was gone. I wept into his cold chest for hours, gripping where my claim used to be, until Sam came and pried me off him.

It was easy for Sam to do judging by my small size and my natural Omega-ness. I could smell the liquor on Sam's breath. I never knew him to be much of a heavy drinker. Usually he'd share a beer or two with dean on occasion.

With the door closed I couldn't bring myself to open it again for any reason. I cried myself to sleep. Only getting about three hours of Z's. I slept on the cold ground of the bunker unable to let myself be soothed by the softness of a bed. I heard Sam gathering supplies and keeping them down in the basement part of the bunker. He stayed there for a while. I didn't know what he was up to but I didn't care about anything.

How am I going to tell this to Roslyn? I can't just say, 'Daddy's dead.' At that thought I broke even further, the reality sinking down deeper, bringing me to the bottom of the coldest seas.

I thought about dying and all the different ways I could have done it. I knew where the silver bullets were stashed. Maybe I could take one of the cars from the garage and wrap it around a tree trunk? I couldn't bring my cowardly Omega ass to do any of it because of Ros. She still needs me. She can't lose both her parents at the same time.

So to feel something once the sobbing had stopped I took one of my claws and made line after line of shallow cuts from my wrist to my elbow. I watched as the red beaded up to the surface to form a line.

Dawn came and Sam was standing over me. I knew he was there but I didn't acknowledge his presence. I began to cut myself again and Sam held me up by my mutilated arm, examining it and my state of mind. I was crying, again, from shame.

Sam lifted me up, one of his arms firm underneath my knees. He carried me to his bedroom, where I was nearly choked out by the intense pine smell. He put me on his bed. I stared at the fresh blood I had created trickling down from my wrist onto Sam's sheets.

He'd undressed himself, wearing only boxers. And joined me in bed. If he wanted to claim and ruthlessly knot me so hard that I couldn't walk for three days, I would have been fine with that. But he didn't do either. Instead he licked my wounds to heal them. Apparently some Alpha's saliva has minor healing properties.

We'd slept in his bed like normal impossibly broken people. Shattered into little tiny sharp shards. We picked each other's pieces up, little by little. Since I was now sharing Sam's bed, I had to bathe myself in scent blockers. I didn't want Roslyn getting the wrong idea and start calling Sam her dad instead. During the day I would put on a faux brave face for my daughter but at night when she was out like a light I would break again. Returning to Sam's bedroom, engulfing myself in pine and resorting to making slices in my arm. Sam would lick my wounds, so that Ros wouldn't see that I'd hurt myself.

This was the routine for a while. Brave mask in the morning, Pine and blood at night. I was so broken that I didn't have room for tears anymore, just chronic dull numbness. My heats were back to a monthly cycle once Ros was born. So Sam was apprehensive the night my heat hit, without Dean's claim to protect me.

When I'd just finished carving myself up, waves of fever wracked my body. I tried hard to muffle my ecstasy filled moans, not wanting to wake Roslyn a few rooms over. I managed to remove all my clothing. My slick covering my inner thighs and making a mess on his bed.

I didn't even try to masturbate, knowing it would only make my heat worse. Every inch of my body was covered in a layer of sweat. Sam came in. All it took was the opening of the door and a waft of my thick strawberry scent and a look of my naked form to send him into rut.

He'd closed the door and locked it. He took he clothes off down to his boxers and let his form overshadow me. His pine scent was purely intoxicating. It made me moan louder. He licked my wounds, like he did every night, but this time it was different. I made my core twitch with want. Once all the little cuts were healed up, he'd looked at my face, hazed over with need, my cheeks flushed and burning.

"Must you make me beg?" I asked breathily. I knew even after all this time and his attempted rape, deep down, buried beneath all that debris, Sam had genuine feelings for me. With the obstacle gone, why not sprint for first place and get that gold trophy? He took the bait, unable to resist.

He smashed his lips against mine into a sloppy, wet, kiss. I moaned softly into his flesh. I could feel his member aching to be inside me. He raked his clothed cock against my slickness. And nibbled at the right side of my neck, the opposite side of where Dean's claim had been. I could feel his fangs start to sink in, pricking into my skin. But he let go, instead moving down to my breast, taking my aroused and hardened nipple into his mouth. Biting the nub forcefully. His hand slithered down and found my folds.

Long fingers dragging up and down my strawberry scented slick drenched core. He started to play with my clit when he stopped completely. Sam's style was rougher than Dean's. so I could only imagine what it was like with him in bed, and I wanted more. My heart skipped a beat at thinking about the size of his knot, wanting it to be at my base. Sam sat at the edge of the bed, contemplating.

I came over to his back, looking over every toned muscle wrapped my arms through his and hugged his back tight to my breasts. I kissed his vertebrae where it met the bottom of his neck, that's as far as I could go with my height deficit. His long hair ticking my nose.I didn't want him to feel like I saw him as just happenstance. Just another Alpha opportunely placed in my path when I was feeling the absence of Dean.

"Whatever is happening between, us, It's real." I tried to make him listen to truth. His hand touched mine and he'd escaped my hug. Grabbing his jeans and his plaid shirt. "Sam!" I started to plead.

"I got to take a shower. Don't want her smelling you on me." He said leaving me in his room. Rejection again, by my second Winchester, for different circumstances. I don't understand, he was the one who had it going for me first and for a long time before I was finally sharing feelings for him. And now he won't take me up on my offer? Am I that much of a complicated Omega? That every man I've been with has to have a moral dilemma just to realize that they love me?

He practically treats Roslyn as his own, especially after Dean's death. But he's tentative with that also, it's almost like he knows something I don't. Is there a secret he isn't telling me? I can't read Sam as easily I could Dean. And that frustrates the Hell out of me. Regardless he should know that he can talk to me. About Gods-damned anything. For the remainder of my heat that week he never joined me in his bed, so I resorted to wearing long sleeve shirt in the swelter of summer to hide my cuts. He took out his rut on vanquishing some Alphas who'd smelled me near by the bunker.

Another month has passed since our buzz-kill. We haven't talked much since then. I started set out some of his favorite books for him since he got into that fight with some random demon, rendering his shoulder useless for time being. it was a bit funny seeing his arm slung up in that ridiculous looking fabric contraption. I continued my nightly ritual of scraping my claw against my flesh. Maybe if I do this often enough it'll leave dark lines? Tonight, I could feel my heat hitting again, with the blazing of sundown. Ros was fast asleep and Sam came in joining me in the kitchen. I was just finishing up washing dirty dishes that I made from a late dinner smorgasbord that I prepped for myself. The famous glutton-phase, numero-uno at the beginning of my heat.

I inhaled his Pine, this is probably the last time I'm going to smell it tonight. Saddened by the thought of him leaving me, I extended my index claw and began my macabre work on the lines, digging in a bit deeper this time. Sam growled low, his steps were full of purpose. He grabbed my bleeding arm and spun me around, pinning my lower back into the edge of the sink.

"Maia! Stop this. Stop hurting yourself! Do you have any idea how disappointed seeing you like this makes me? What if you cut too deep and I'm not here? Cas is sick and out of the question. What if Ros found you, blacked out?" His pine was so overbearing now, it was hard for me to focus.

"You don't think I haven't thought that through already? I can't stop. I can't stop it. Sam, can you help me feel something? Anything that isn't this noose around my neck? Don't you love me just a little?" Sam was a man of few words when it came to his way of loving. Instead he let his actions talk for him. He licked my fresh wounds until they'd healed. I kissed his lips needing that kind of tenderness from him. breaking the kiss I sucked in, he hasn't been this close to me in a month. I let his scent fall into my lungs and on the exhale I had to clench my legs together. I let out a controlled moan. I braced myself on the edge of the sink. My insides tightening and trembling for him.

His eyes were mesmerizing like a bright kaleidoscope of hazel. He initiated more contact first. I didn't want to influence him, I needed us to be transparent. He sucked at the right side of my neck and slipped his free hand under my shorts and underwear, grabbing a fistful of ass. I was panting against his kneading touch, feeling my slick get thicker. I knew he could smell me. his jeaned member present and grinding against my clothed slit.

He left a hickey on my neck, marking it. I let out very breathy moans, needing to be quiet. He growled, leaving a sloppy kiss on my lips. His warmth left my ass cheek, making me think he was going to stop for the night a leave, again. Instead he held out his hand, "I know a place where we can be loud." I took it without hesitation and he walked me down past darkened corridors into the garage of the Bunker.

He had some difficulty taking the Impala keys out of his breast-pocket but got it eventually. He opened up the back before he let me hop in, he raked a loving hand through my hair his eyes locking with mine.

"Sam? You know this is real, right? We're authentic." I needed him to hear that. to know that our feelings weren't sparked out of our shared grief alone. he gave me a small smile and leaned down, his back bending, giving me a sweet- pine filled smooch. That's a yes. I took my shirt and shorts off, leaving my sandals next to the rear passenger tire. My undergarments were lacy and red.

I helped out, gimpy, and took his pants off. I kissed and nibbled at his light stubble on his Adam's apple when I unbuttoned each of his buttons on his plaid shirt. That made him buck into me and send his free hand exploring into my underwear. He inserted one digit, making me gasp at the sudden penetration and wanting much more than just that. I took off his sling to completely remove his shirt and then replaced the odd contraption.

He took out his finger and licked it clean, the look in his eyes as he did made me mewl against his chest. He let me get in first and he followed closing the door. I sat down in the middle like I normally would, my skin making contact with the cold leather seat. My cheeks were flushed again and I was near trembling. I scooted my butt forward in the seat, bringing my center to the forefront and resting the back of my neck against the edge of the seat.

He kissed me again but this time he was much more forceful, letting his control slip a little. He ended the kiss by biting my lower lip, possessively and thrusting two digits as deep as they could go into my slick ridden vagina. I moaned loud, not worrying about anyone hearing my sex-filled moans. He was knuckle deep, curling his fingers in and out making me shudder and gasp with each aggressive thrust.

"Got to stretch you out a little, I'm big and your damn, tight." He explained. I moaned getting excited at the thought of him filling me. I whimpered, missing his touch when he removed his fingers and turned around grabbing something from the glove box of the Impala. I took this opportunity to remove my undergarments and cast them to the floor of the car. He turned around, taking in the scenery. I didn't conceal any part of me, opening my legs for him. he seemed a bit shocked by this at first with my straightforwardness, but his gaze quickly returned to a rut-filled haze.

he tore a small foil package with his teeth, a condom. A flash of anger came across my features and took it from him throwing it, landing in the far reaches of the dashboard. I embraced his scalp with both hands and kissed his lips. he growled sexily at my actions.He'd gotten more ridged both with his actions and where it mattered. I helped him take off his boxers and he sat down next to me.

"Ladies first." he insisted wanting me to act as the top, or at the very least equal. maybe this was to do with his length and girth. It made my mouth water. I straddled myself on top him, guiding my hand down to position him at my entrance. I lowered myself down on him, the slick helped but I could still feel just how different having another man inside me was. It wasn't necessarily better than Dean just different.

He moaned from the pressure. His head scraped against my cervix, making me whimper. In all honesty it hurt a little bit, but with the pheromones flowing through my veins and my heated state I didn't mind some pain mixed with pleasure. Unable to hold back any longer, he used his free hand to grab at my shoulder pinning me to him and forcefully bucked deeper into me. Deeper than I even thought possible, his head dipping into my cervix, making me see entire galaxies.

"Ahh! Sam." He kept at a relentless pace, each thrust harder than the last, more passionate. I felt his knot swell at my base, ready to burst. I dragged my tongue across his scars displayed on his chest, the ones Dean gave him. My walls clench down like a vice. He lifted his torso off the backseat away from a resting position. his hand cradling the base of my neck and dragging it in. His knot locked inside me and load after sweet boiling load released into my deepest parts. Not wasting another second he sunk his fangs into the flesh of the right side of my neck, claiming me. I'd screamed, climaxing from the combination of his knot, seed, and pine intoxicating me all at once. We sat there panting out our arousals, still connected for about half an hour. He lapped the blood away from his claim but made sure not to touch the puncture marks, wanting them to scar over. We waited for his knot to calm down before talking.

"I've waited a long time for this." He said rubbing my cheek with his thumb, his eyes mulling over my beauty. "Doesn't feel real, but I'm happy it is." I smiled back at him, moaning and wincing from his exit.

"Me too. I need a shower." I definitely smell like him now. Both of us wanted to start round two but were unable to with the possibility of Roslyn waking up in the middle of the night. We left the Impala in her steamed state and headed off to the shower stalls. Oh man, I'm going to feel this in the morning. Together we bathed, needing each other as support. Me nursing his gimp shoulder and him, making sure the shower water didn't sting my fresh claim. it was a miracle at all that we by the end of the cleaning we didn't still smell like each other. Now dressed, we headed off to the bedroom section of the Bunker. We stopped at his room. He landed a kiss on my forehead.

"Don't hurt yourself anymore." he said, demandingly, already exerting his Alpha nature onto his new mate. I gave him a weak smile, "Okay. Good night." That was the one thing I don't think I can promise. I'm going to sleep very solidly tonight. He rubbed my cheek with is thumb again.

" 'Night. 'Mega." Hearing him utter my dynamic, really felt like setting our actions in stone. It felt good and right. should I feel guilty for this? Being my recently deceased mate's , whom I've bore a pup with, brother? my omega instinct was telling me, no I shouldn't be ashamed. Dean died. It wasn't really cheating after all, was it? it was too late to get cold feet now. I hopped into my bed in my room, cocooning, I was starting to get too much in my own head. I couldn't help but place a hand on the crook of my left neck, where Dean's claim used to be. I wanted to cut, but didn't so I had my fill of crying until I fell asleep.

The next morning felt so odd to me, because it was like there was a light-switch that had been flipped on inside my brain. For the first time in a very long time, I felt happy. Dean and I had bonded through our emotions, I and Sam, however bonded intellectually. Not to say that Dean was dumb, he wasn't. Just the way Sam and mine brain operated was different than his. Dean thinks...thought with his heart. Sam puts that pre-law beautiful nerdy mind to work constantly. He needs to do that actually otherwise, he'd be bored out of his wits. Sam is governed by reason and thought.

I was the first person up, getting some pancakes ready for Roslyn, those were her current favorite. In a few more weeks she'd have some other favorite fad to please her palette. Pups, Gods help me. I was sipping on some coffee and got Ros up, heaving her groggy little booty out of bed and putting her in her high-chair. It was hard to get her to eat, even though she liked the stuff. She only ate about half of it, but I settled for that. In another three hours she'd only be tugging at my leg wanting more food. Her little face scrunched up in a frustrated manner. Sam, finally out of his slumber came in, fixing himself a cup of coffee from the batch I made.

"What's up buttercup?" I asked Ros, she has been talking for a little while. Mostly baby nonsense talk that only people who were close to her could comprehend. but other than that she can string very minor sentences together to get her point across. I tucked her fine hair out of her face and behind her ear. It hurt to see Dean's eyes reflected in those tiny eye sockets and his freckles on her face.

"Bored. Wanna play hide seek. Miss Daddy." I smiled as hard as I could, because that sentence coupled with the look on her face made me hurt so damned bad. Sam was silent, turned around tending to his coffee. "Daddy will be home soon, pumpkin. I promise." her eyes tensed on me.

"Wiar." Liar. I almost broke right then and there. but I used that hurt to heave myself out of the kitchen chair and pick her up.

"Somebody needs a nap, huh grumpy-face?" I told her. she didn't say anything back. I put her back to bed and rubbed her back and hummed Landslide to soothe her to sleep. that worked every time. I closed her door without a sound and Sam was in the hallway staring at me, looking guilty. I walked away from her door and collapsed down into Sam's chest, a bawling mess.

"Sam, how are we gonna fix this?" I asked him, not knowing where else to turn. He sighed but didn't answer me. He kissed his claim, the flesh still tender. Sam gave me some room, knowing I needed time to think and stir. I let my emotions fester inside me before settling down and coming to streamline. The morning faded into the night-time and I had noticed Sam's laptop open and a tab closed down. Sitting next to his laptop a stack of papers, notes upon notes of demonology.

I skimmed through them, not thinking much of it until I saw he'd written a sentence. how to become a demon with an anti-possession tattoo? Why was he so invested in this? I thought he was keeping hunting to a minimum with his shoulder. at least that's what he told me. I tried opening the window but of course it was password protected. with a tiny security question to answer.

Circles infinity expecting differently. I mulled it over for a little while before cracking it. Insanity! Circles being a cycle, for infinity so repeating the same actions over and over expecting a different outcome. It's the famous saying from Einstein, and the definition of insanity. You'd think Sam would have thought of something more difficult?

The file was titled, 'Gas-n-sip footage DD'. That's weird. maybe he's stumped on a case? since I cracked his riddle, I can help him with this. I clicked on the file and view the video. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, just some guy looking over the magazines on one isle. almost all Gas-n-sips are the same, so seeing this brought back memories of before the Mill. Crazy to think how much my life has changed since then.

another man came on the screen and caught my attention. He had bowed out legs and dressed a bit plainly, with a cap on. The taller man suddenly attacked the other one and threw him into the shelf, for no reason. He looked right at the camera and I froze in place. I'd know that face anywhere. it was Dean, in the flesh. No can't be, has to be a shifter or something, right? for a second his eyes flashed, pure black like they'd been covered in soot. and then returned to normal. I closed the laptop horrified, appalled, excited, elated, terrified for Dean, and then livid. I took Sam's laptop and ran to his room where he was sleeping.

I threw it purposely on his shoulder making him wake from the pain. I mounted him and pounded on his chest. "How long? How long did you know?! You told me he was DEAD! He's alive! Breathing. Walking. and a black eyed fool!" by the end I put my forehead to his, headbutting. I shouldn't have done it because it hurt like hell.

I dismounted him, falling to the floor with a thud. He got up from bed, sitting with me on the floor.

"I haven't known for long, only a few days. I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how. I'm afraid of losing you. I thought, if you knew, you'd go running back to him and leave me. Everyone leaves. Go! Go see what he's become!" he said his mood changing mid-speech.

I grabbed his face in both my palms, surprising him with my actions. I kissed his forehead, the way he did to me. "I can't leave you. I won't. Mates for life. That goes for dean too. I'll be back. I need to go rescue my Galahad Sam. Can you do me a favor, and don't follow me? Watch over Roslyn, please. If something goes wrong, I have you on speed dial." I had a mission now, a purpose.

Sam closed his eyes savoring my touch and thinking through my promise.

"Come back in one piece." he demanded from me. "Always." I answered my new lover, before giving him a kiss tasting his pine. I gathered my things quickly, packing a demon knife and all the love and courage I could muster within me. I took one of the random working vehicles from the garage and drove to the Black Spurs bar pulling in to the a parking spot and turning off the engine. I exhaled, Zeus give me strength, resting my forehead against the steering wheel. Here goes nothing. I exited the vehicle and locked it, keeping aware of my surroundings. I'm walking into a demon bar, where there are guaranteed to be Alphas of some kind.

Demons are not below rape, if anything they are encouraged by it. I'm still in my heat cycle so the fact that I'm still standing in this musky cesspool is a miracle. Maybe Sam's claim helped me out with that? I swung the door open, my only goal being to find Dean. The music stopped every pair of eyes on me and my Omega body. the music returned and some of the Alphas nearby were calling for me.

"Come over here, 'mega, wanna ride this pony, cowgirl?" the first alpha whistled.

"Got a fat knot, waiting for ya, Darling!" One fisted his clothed dick in my direction. I gave him the bird, not exactly intimidating considering my tiny fingers.

"We can fuck that cunt, two for one discount, Baby-gal. Awhoooooo." Another mock-howled banging on the chest of his buddy.

I didn't acknowledge them at all. instead payed attention to Dean, seeing his back turned to me. he had a red shirt on and jeans, boots. His hair grown out a little and combed over semi-neatly. I could smell the liquor that emanated from him as I closed the space between us. he was sucking face with a blonde. I crossed my arms and dragged my tongue across my canine.

"Didn't know they made Barbie the black-eyed-bitch edition. Must be new." that got her attention. She broke the kiss, get your filthy lips off my man. Dean laughed, entertained by my insult. I let my eyes pierce into his, wanting to peer into his soul, if there was one left.

"Why don't you get your own knot, you reek of sex, Omega slut." I wasn't going to show weakness, especially not here. plus the fact that I was already vexed. I took the demon blade out of my black suit jacket, pinned her hand to the table and impaled it to the wood, making her scream. for good measure I made sure she would need plastic surgery to fix that up-turned nose of hers. Feeling it break underneath my knuckles.

Dean was smiling from ear to ear, revealing his perfect rows of teeth. He whistled after taking another shot of liquor.

"You, me- need to fuck. Right now. You make me all tingly when you take control like that, M." just hearing his voice again, made me so happy but I knew the fact that him being here for all this time and not in the Bunker meant something was astray. He rose from his seat. I couldn't tell if the whiskey scent was coming from his body or the exuberant amount of alcohol he'd been consuming. His hand took mine and led me out of the bar, I needed his touch so much. What have they done to you, Love?

He took me across the street to a dingy looking motel. He took me into his arms, bridal style. Shifting his weight to one foot, he kicked the door in. He set me down on the bed and topped me. Taking the collar of my jacket into his hands dragging me up to meet his lips I could taste the poison on his lips, still lingering. I couldn't help but moan into him. I had missed him for so long and that made a deadly combo with my heat being active at the moment. He was rougher than usual, like he'd lost his inhibitions.

"That's what I like to hear." His hands stroked down the fabric of my jacket, reaching the juncture of the button that connected the two sides, and jerked ripping the button off. I wasn't going to let my heat distract me from why I came here. he took my heels off along with his reddish-rusty colored jacket and black shirt. he unzipped my jeans with his teeth, growling at the scent of my slick beneath them.

"Dean, we need to talk." I said. He undid the metal button of my jeans and licked at my clothed slit, making me moan again. He descended and hopped off the bed taking the bottom of my jeans and tugging them off my legs. He cast off his boots and yanked his pants down enough to where his length fell out, slapping firm against the base of his stomach.

"Sure, let the skin do the talkin', Baby." He said in a lustful tone, returning to the bed. The abused springs creaking under our combined weight. I was already slick as all Hell. So he wouldn't need to prep me or anything. Before that plane could come in for a landing, I needed to get my point across before I wasn't able to talk. he started to remove my silky pink underwear. I need to say it now.

"Dean! You died. and came back, why not come home? Do you miss me at all? Or Ros?" He had begun working on eating me out, taking in my slick with an aggressive appetite. I felt waves of heat wash over me. Fucking Cerberus in a handbasket! I couldn't lose track of my objective. I stared at him through the valley of my breasts, needing his answer, before I couldn't make conscious thought.

He was staring back at me, his tongue scraping at my walls. His eyes were filled with rut and then turned as black as coal in a millisecond. My chest heaved and my heart was drumming in my body, pumping my heat through me. Out of my core, down through my thighs and into my toes, making them curl. I was close to cumming, feeling my heat searing into my cheeks. He still had enough Dean in him to tease me, like old times and didn't give me a chance to release. he licked my slick off his lips and stalked further up to me.

He looked at me like prey. His eyes still blackened. He swallowed, and I could feel his hot breath on my neck.

" 'Course I do. What I can't take a vacation? Oh, am I scaring you sweetheart? Want the green ones back? Personally I prefer these. Think they look better on me." He answered. I was about to open my mouth when. His bullshit reply made me angry I took his throat in my grip, my claws scraping with his skin.

"I'm not afraid, I'm sad. This isn't you. Death is no holiday, it's finite! I felt your claim sever!!" I let my feeling spill out. He cackled against my grip. His eyes returning to the shade of green that I adored and knew so well.

"Welcome to the Dark-side, death is only a new beginning, Maia." His brows furrowed for a second. Laughing again but it sounded more like a scoff. He grabbed at my neck with one hand to pull me up to him so he could take my jacket off. He threw it, landing on a lampshade, darkening the room a bit. He set my neck down, and put his lips next to my right ear. His hand stroked at Sam's claim.

"Somebody's getting on the naughty list this year. You think I couldn't smell him on you? Taste him inside you? It's pretty sad really. He gave you a pity fucking. And This ain't no pity fuck." he said making his eyes return to black. He plunged himself into me, making gasp after gasp escape me. His fangs extended and tore into the left side of my neck. His Whiskey coursed throughout my entire body, spreading from cell to microscopic cell. The claiming hurt but it felt exhilarating at the same time. My veins were filled with Pine and Whiskey melting into my own strawberry scent. A potent triquetra. Throughout the sex, I felt something burn into my wrist. I stared at it and watched dark lines, as if someone was giving me a tattoo, form a symbol I had never seen before. I noticed the same thing sting itself into dean's wrist. on the same spot.

Dean knotted himself into me more times than I could count. He fucked me senseless, ultimately and literally reclaiming what was rightfully his. At some point I had passed out. I woke up to find Dean snoring next to me. My eyes welled up but I couldn't let myself cry. I got up from the motel bed and collected my things and left. I forgot that I drove here, unable to focus on anything but what had just happened.

I limped down the highway, the night and moon still high in her resting place among the stars. Dean screwed me so hard it made walking a challenge. I don't remember how long I walked down the desolate road, casting my feet between the two yellow lines. I felt more numb than I had ever been. My mission had failed and I don't know how to fix Dean. I'm back at square one. I flopped down on to the cold blacktop staring into the dark abyss, a halo of white light ringed around the full moon. I closed my eyes, waiting for a car to come and crush me under its tires. I felt so used. I hate what heat makes me, lets me accept. my phone rang multiple times but I ignored it.

I watched the moon creep across Nyx's cloak. Until bright lights made me wince and screeching tires skidded to a halt, stopping in the knick of time. A heavy door opened and closed. Boots running heavy across the asphalt. a warm hand caressing my cheek. Pine filling my nostrils and lungs.

"Maia?! What happ-" he stopped mid-sentence, his glossy hazel eyes noticing two claims, one for each side. I lost it, tears searing stains into my cheeks. "Take me home, Sam, please." I begged. that was the one thing I was good for, begging. I begged for love. I begged for happiness. I begged for knots. Sam got me into the passenger seat ignoring the pain in his shoulder as he rose me from the ground. I kept staring at the moon on the way to the Bunker.

Alphas, Omegas- such an overrated shit-show.

End chapter 11. Start Arc B of series.

Quote:

"And I've moved further than I thought I could But I missed you more than I thought I would And I'll use you as a warning sign That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind

And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be Right in front of me Talk some sense to me"

-'I found,'-Amber Run

Quote:

"The sweetest submission Drinking it in The wine, the women, the bedroom hymns"

-'Bedroom Hymns,'-Florence + the Machine

#Big Big Love Series #omegaverse #a/b/o dynamics #Alpha!Demon!Dean #dean winchester #demon dean #sam winchester #alpha!sam winchester #alpha!steve x omega!reader #supernatural #supernatural abo #bad habits #smut

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tricksterfiction · 8 months

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Prompt #12 Dowdy

Akane Urabe rarely got credit where it was due for her sheer, momentous amount of patience she had where raising her children were concerned. Dressed in a light soft brown komon with white pattern diamonds, toes tucked into a pair of old geta, her strawberry ginger hair tucked into a low bun. Deep brown eyes searching.

She had been busy filling her days with helping watch her grandchildren since her husband's passing and they were enough to run her off her feet. The children in varying degrees inherited a strong affinity for feral behaviour, running like the kami possessed their feet. Not unlike that of one of their Aunt's.

Today she had invited everyone over for a lovely birthday brunch for her eldest daughter, Iso accompanied by her husband. The youngest, Cho and her husband had charitably arrived early to help prepare food and decorations. The only one missing was her middle child, Sen.

The grandchildren were happily occupied with each other, their laughter spilling out from the garden.

The eleventh bell was nearing, Akane stood by the front porch watching the road expectantly. A moment passed eleven and she sighed.

"I'm heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!"

Akane looked down the road again mistakenly for the late arrival of Sen came from above. Akane gasped, shielding her face with her sleeve as the heavy thump of Moonshine's landing greeted her.

"Kweh!" Moonshine was in her adorable yellow raincoat, her flying goggles down, a pack filled to the brim with various herbs, flowers, and other greenery sticking out. A fox head popped out of a sidesaddle bag.

Sen swung a leg over the saddle, dismounting easily. Akane ran a scrutinizing eye over Sen. She was dressed in overalls, sweaty, covered in a fine layer of dust, and a straw hat.

"Mama!" Sen greeted brightly, carrying on in Doman, "Apologies for being tardy, I lost track of time. I went out to get Iso some fresh lavender as a gift and got carried away collecting something for everybody. The kids would feel left out. I found some great intact bird bones that I know that little Sakura will love-"

Moonshine bowed her head for Sen to adjust the goggles off her eyes, getting a few grysahl green leaves as a snack.

Akane waited to get a word in, "You are here and that is all that matters..." She waited a beat for Sen's full attention, "But dressed as you are will not do."

Sen sheepishly laughed, "Didn't want to be late taking the time to clean myself up. Is there... anything clean I can borrow?"

"Clean, yes. I sorted through your old closet and donated all your dowdy westerner clothing."

Sen's expression fell, "Mama-"

Pinching Sen's sleeve to tug her inside, "There is a wash basin ready as well, and stand up straight and don't pout."

Once Sen was inside, Akane shooed Moonshine around the house to the back gardens where the children were playing. There was a resounding cheer of the chocobo's arrival.

Sen stepped out of her boots, padding barefoot across her family home. Akane was right behind her, trying to herd her to her room as quickly as possible but stopped short by popping her head in to say hello to her sisters and squinting at the sight of their husbands as well, relaxing outdoors.

"I thought it was going to be us and the kids - family only."

"It is, what are you talking about?" Akane poked once, poked twice Sen's back to keep walking, but was served a disappointed look from her second eldest.

"What's the matter? Go on, get to it."

"Mama, had I known partners were allowed I'd have brought Jesser."

Akane brushed her off, "He does not count, you're not even married. Come now."

Iso popped her deep auburn head out from the sidedoor leading into the living room, "Did I hear Jesser'to would be joining us? The Dahkra's are such a good family-"

Akane answered in a sharp bite, "No he will not be."

Iso shrank a little, but spoke up, "Mama, that is not fair." The sisters shared a look, Akane saw the apparent gratitude in Sen's face.

Silence stretched between the three of them. Cho calling from the kitchen for some help. Akane looked back to Sen, her daughter no longer faced her mother.

"Enough." Akane decided, a harder push at Sen's back to get her on the move again but it was like trying to shove a stonewall. She held her breath.

Sen was still, breathing evenly after a beat she moved Akane tried to follow behind her to show her the yakuta she picked out for her but the door was slammed in her face. About to rapt on the door, Iso was at Akane's side holding her mother's wrist.

Iso whispered, pleadingly, "Mama, don't."

Showing a similar form of restraint Akane backed away from the door. Calling back to Cho that she was coming to help.

#ffxivwrite2023 #ffxivwrite #writing prompt #ffxiv #prompt 12 #Dowdy

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jade-escobar · 1 year

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Poison & Wine | Jadrigo

Featuring: Jade Clark, @rodrigo-esc & Jeanette Shapiro; mentions of Jewel & Jett Clark, and Fletcher Van Hall Location: Saddle River Day School & Jade/Clover’s apartment; San Francisco, CA Date: Late afternoon/early evening, Thurs. March 23, 2023 Notes: "Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine...” --The Civil Wars Triggers: Verbal abuse

JADE

Jade was saying goodbye to Jett and Jewel as their mom's driver escorted the two kids down the hallway and towards the nearest exit. Her twin half-siblings were singing harmony to, "Dear Theodosia" on their way out, which had Jade smiling to herself as she returned to the music room. With all of the kids in the cast and crew having gone home, Jade figured she should probably pack up her belongings and go too. The only things she'd had out were her songbook and a small container of mostly eaten grapes and almost entirely consumed cookies she baked. Her eyes went to Rodrigo as she secured the lid on the container. "That was a great rehearsal. The kids seem like they're about ready for the dress rehearsals. You're doing a really good job."

RODRIGO

Rodrigo had picked up some leftover scripts and fliers left behind by his students. He quickly updated Ziggy on the show, sending him videos of the kids. He was so excited about the production and couldn't believe how close they were to dress rehearsals already. Soon, sound equipment would be available for the kids to test out the mics and he knew the children would be ecstatic. Jade had stepped away to say goodbye to her siblings and he sat in one of the classroom chairs to listen to some music as he read Ziggy's text with a giant smile. When Jade returned to the room, he pulled out one bud, looking up at her, smile never wavering. He did that a lot around her ad it wasn't like he hadn't noticed it. "Ah, thanks. I mean, I couldn't do this without you and the other volunteers but you're such an instrumental part of these rehearsals. See what I did there?" His smile melted into a soft grin and he pulled the chair that was a few inches away from him a little closer. "Sit with me? I want to show you something."

JADE

Jade caught his pun and couldn't help herself smiling from it. "I see. Clever," she replied, the smile still on her lips as she looked back to the container, making sure the lid was secure at all four corners. She stacked all of the remaining 9 mini water bottles on top of the casserole dish-sized container, all of the bottles in neat rows except for one, which she'd purposedly turned on its side. Her bag was sitting next to the container and bottles but she left all of it alone to come and sit next to Rodrigo. For some reason, her heart always wanted to thump a little bit quicker whenever she was close to him--be it her needing to invade his space for a brief moment, or him coming over and leaning against the side of the piano while directing the kids through a number. "What did you want to show me?" she asked, looking up at him.

RODRIGO

"Thank you, I'm here every day." He chuckled and was glad to see Jade sit beside him. He wanted to show her a cover of one of his favorite songs he had stumbled upon. "Here." He handed her his ear bud and pulled himself close enough so that he was sitting right next to her, shoulder to shoulder. "Sorry, my luxury phone." He chuckled at the slightly broken screen and looked over at her with a smile. She looked so pretty today. He wished he could tell her. "Um, Do you like Etta James? This is a friend of mine covering I'd Rather Go Blind. It's a beautiful rendition. I wanted you to hear it." He kept close before pressing play, trying his best to ignore the very obvious tingling he felt just by being so close.

JADE

Jade let out a demure chuckle, head dipped a little bit as she did so. She saw the earbud he was holding and then said, "Hang on one second," Tilting her head away from Rodrigo while she undid her tragus stud earring, Jade told him, "I can't wear earbuds with these earrings in." She pushed the back into the earring and set it on the arm of the chair between them, and then accepted his ear bud. When he apologized about his phone, Jade shook her head, "It's okay. But I'm guessing that's not what you wanted to show me?" Her smile was brief and there was a curiosity until he asked her about Etta James and explained further. Situating the earbud, she said, "I love Etta James." With a new smile, Jade listened while leaning slightly into Rodrigo to look at the screen and his friend's cover. "This is beautiful," she spoke as though it was a secret between them. "Is your friend singing or playing the guitar?"

RODRIGO

“Okay.” His tone was just above a whisper. He had learned to keep quieter around Jade. There was something about her that made things peaceful. When she took the earbud, he smirked at her comment and shook his head. He let her listen, smiling the entire time. “Singing. The one playing is her boyfriend. They’re incredibly talented. I knew you’d really this.” Rodrigo watched Jade as her gaze remained on the screen. He secretly hoped that she didn’t notice just how smitten he probably looked in that moment. “It’s nice that we have some similar tastes in music,huh?” (edited)

JADE

Jade really was enjoying the cover. The woman's voice was so smooth and the way she sang almost seemed effortless. It was almost enough to distract her mind from the accelerated thumping her heart had been doing. Almost. She kept watching the two perform the song and nodded a little when Rodrigo explained who each of them were to him and each other. "You were right, I do." Her lips tugged up at the corners a little and she lifted her gaze off of the phone screen and to Rodrigo's eyes. "Yes, it is. It doesn't feel like I've met or known a lot of people around my age who like jazz, or blues." The music made an ease flood over her, even though the anxious flutters still kept up in her chest and kept her eyes on Rodrigo. "This is nice... Really nice."

RODRIGO

He wanted to be respectful and wanted nothing more than to make Jade comfortable. It was important to him that Jade understood how he felt about her, how much he cared already. "Yeah, I hear that sometimes." He smiled, his gaze still on her, his lips twitching into a soft smile. "You're really nice." He whispered as the song drifted. "Pretty. Beautiful..." His eyes melted into a softer gaze. He leaned in slowly, hoping she wouldn't pull away. "I wanted you to know that..."

JADE

Jade's heartbeat was picking up when the song ended. All she had to focus on now was Rodrigo--his kind eyes, the alluring smile on his full lips, and now, how much closer he was getting. She hadn't realized until that moment that kissing Rodrigo was something she wanted. She wanted to know what his full lips would feel like on hers. Would he be tender or kiss her deeply? She wanted to know if he would enjoy her lips on his. It had been years since she'd kissed anyone; would it be obvious the moment their lips connected? She tried not to overthink it and let the moment happen. Their noses brushed and her eyes started to close but before any of her internal musings could be answered, her phone rang, loudly from her bag. Jade jumped at the ordinary ringtone bringing noise back into the music room. She drew back and rolled her lips into her mouth. "I have to... sorry," she said, opening her eyes more fully again and reaching up to remove his earbud and place it in the chair seat she just vacated as she hurried to get the call. It could have been one of her staff phoning for an emergency but when she pulled the device from her bag, she saw, "Mom" on the caller ID. A bit deflated and simultaneously tense, Jade answered, "Hello?" and listened, eyes soon widening, "You could have told me you were coming over beforehand... no, I know... I know, I'm sorry. Okay... I'll be there in about fifteen minutes... no I'm not at work... I know you don't... okay... yes... I'll be there soon. Bye." Her mother ended the call before she could and with a slump in her shoulders, Jade placed her phone back in her bag and gathered everything up before turning back to Rodrigo. "I have to go. I'm sorry. But I'll see you at the next rehearsal, okay?"

RODRIGO

He had decided in that moment he wanted this more than anytbing. He would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it before. Rodrigo had spent enough time with Jade, shared so much with her, and talked to her every single day that he was certain he wanted to pursue this. He only hoped she felt the same and based on how she didn't pull away or didn't stop him from leaning in, Rodrigo knew this was his green light. "Can I--" and before he could ask Jade if he could kiss her, before he felt his lips against hers, before he could wrap his arms around her, the phone rang and he cursed their bad luck. Swallowing back the anticipation, he pressed his hand against his cheek, feeling the warmth that had formed there. A stupid, satisfied smile pulled at the corner of his lips because even though they didn't get to kiss, Jade wanted to. He listened to the conversation, slightly annoyed that someone was making Jade annoyed and when she said she had to go, he stood up wanting to stop her. But Rodrigo knew better than to press on. Instead, he nodded,opening the door for her. "Okay. Text me?" He leaned against the frame and smiled at her. "I had fun today."

JADE

Jade had the container and water bottles pressed to her chest to keep them from falling away. When Rodrigo opened the door for her, she smiled up at him, "Thank you. I will." The quick-forming memory of their almost kiss was starting to swim in her mind, keeping her smile on her lips as she told him, "I did too. See you later, Rodrigo." As much as she wanted to stay and wanted to hope for that moment to come back for the two of them, she knew she had to leave. If she didn't, her mother would continue to call and then resort to several text messages, and then switch back to calling. She hurried out of the school and to her mini van, setting everything inside and then situating herself in the driver's seat. Her apartment complex wasn't terribly far from the school and about 15 minutes later with the light traffic, she'd arrived. Leaving the water bottles behind, she took the container and her purse, and headed to her unit and up the stairs. Waiting at the landing was her mother, arms folded and a scowl on her face. "Honestly, Jade, what took you so long? And why are you coming home so late if you weren't at work? Please don't tell me you were up at that school. Haven't they finished with that silly play already?" Jade didn't reply right away to her mother and let the woman go on with her questions and comments, all of which were a dig or criticism in some way. Rather, she fished out her keys again and let the two of them inside. Jeanette didn't make appearances to Jade's apartment often anymore--the perks of having a roommate again and Jade managing to convince her mother that dropping in frequently wasn't being considerate of the other person occupying the apartment. She didn't have that excuse for the few months between roommates, prior to Clover moving in. Thankfully, this also meant Jeanette wouldn't stay long. To help shorten her time with her mother, Jade let the other woman know, "I need to take a shower. I'm sorry. We can talk as soon as I'm done."

JADE

Jeanette sighed as though she disapproved of this too, but when she spoke, she said, "Fine, but be quick about it, Jadey-kins. I wanted to go home a long time ago but you weren't home sooner. I did text you first, you know." Jade repeatedly flexed and relaxed her fingers. She did have a text from her mother that had come in while she was saying 'goodbye' to Jett and Jewel, but she hadn't checked her phone once since rehearsals had begun. Most people knew to only call her if it was important. Her mother's arrival made her anxious. What could she have to say that couldn't have been said in text or left in a voicemail? Jade tried her hardest not to think about it as she set the food container in the kitchen and then disappeared into her bedroom for a few minutes, followed by the bathroom to take her shower.

RODRIGO

He felt...light. For an English teacher, Rodrigo was struggling with finding the words to explain how he felt. He was giddy, and for the first time in a long time, he was happy. He couldn't wait to see her again, couldn't wait to tell her everything he had been feeling. Jade was special, and Rodrigo was incredibly smitten. He looked for his earbuds, finding one in his pocket and the other on the arm rest of Jade's sure. Beside it laid her earrings, and while he knew she wouldn’t need it right away, he figured it'd be the perfect excuse to see her again. Even if it was for a few minutes. Having dropped Jade at her place before, Rodrigo knew where to go and he gathered his things, placing the earring in his shirt pocket before exiting the school and mounting his bike. He contemplating getting flowers maybe but thought he'd wait before overwhelming her for the night. Once he arrived, he removed his helmet and left it behind. Rodrigo made his way to her unit and before ringing her bell, he made sure nothing on him was out of place and donned a smile as he waited for Jade to come to the door

JEANETTE

While Jade was taking her shower, Jeanette was slowly meandering around the apartment, looking at everything and making mental notes of the messes she came across. The apartment was relatively clean--very clean by most people's standards--but there were little things out of place: a throw blanket sprawled across the cushions of a love seat, rather than folded and draped neatly across the back. Framed artwork of roses that was resting a little crookedly on one of the living room walls; two dirty coffee mugs in the kitchen sink, mail was sprawled on the kitchen table, shoes abandoned in the hallway instead of lined up neatly on the shoe rack by the front door. And something about the floor made Jeanette feel it was overdue for cleaning. Jeanette had removed her coat and was about to perch herself on the living room's long couch when the doorbell rang. After she considered ignoring it, she set her designer purse down and made her way to the door. She opened it as though the apartment was hers and then looked up at the man on the other side of it. She'd taken in his appearance which was mostly decent, presentable, but the fact that a man was on her daughter's doorstep made Jeanette tense. Arching one brow higher than the other, she asked, "Yes? What do you want?"

RODRIGO

His smile faded a bit when he realized it wasn't Jade at the door and as his mind tried to quickly figure out who the woman was, Rodrigo came up with a response that wasn't too rude. It was a knee-jerk reaction to react to someone the way he is treated but over the years, he's learned to bite his tongue. He'd thank his mother for that later. He figures that raising a son like him, gave her no choice but to help him with his personality flaws. "I'm a friend of Jade's. Is she home? I came to drop something off." He kept it vague as possible, using his talent to observe people at a quick glance in order to figure out who the distanced woman was. Friend? Relative? Roommate?

JEANETTE

Jeanette's critical eye watched the change in the man's expression, and her equally keen ear heard his response. "Do you have a name?" She asked, keeping one hand on the door and the other on her hip. But shortly after having asked her question, she thought about his eager, hopeful expression when she first answered the door. Assumptions started forming and if she was right, he had hopes of being more than a friend and since Jeanette didn't already know him, she already decided that she didn't approve. Moving her hand from her hip, she held her palm out expectedly. "Jade's busy right now. I'll give her whatever you're dropping off for her so you can be on your way."

RODRIGO

"Yes, of course. Sorry, I'm Rodrigo. Escobar. Rodrigo Escobar." He held out his hand waiting for it to be pushed away or something. He could tell the woman, whoever she was, was not in the mood for platitudes. Hearing her response caused his expression to change again from perplexed to curious. "Oh? Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll just call her and let her know I came by. I'm sorry, are you her roommate?" He asked genuinely before reaching into the pocket of his shacket and pulling out her earring wrapped in a tissue. He handed the item to the woman. "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot here. I'm her sibling's teacher. I'm not a creep or anything, I promise."

JEANETTE

Jeanette mentally filed his name away and eyed his hand before briefly placing her four fingers to his extended hand. Her face became impossibly stonier than before when he asked if she was Jade's roommate. "I'm her mother," Jeanette replied flatly. She soured at Rodrigo further identifying himself, closing her fingers on the tissue that seemed to hold next-to-nothing in it. "What’s this?" She brought her hand close and opened it, letting the tissue fall open to reveal the earring inside. Jeanette narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing, and then schooled her face. She knew Jade had been helping her younger half-siblings with their school musical, much to Jeanette's disdain, but she was piecing together that there seemed to be more going on between her daughter and the man before her. "No, you're not a creep. You're just the man who came all the way to my daughter's apartment just to return an earring, correct?" She tilted her head a little while spearing Rodrigo with a mildly accusatory look, "You should know, you aren't very subtle with whatever feelings you're developing for Jade, but you should know now that they're pointless."

RODRIGO

When Rodrigo heard who the woman was, it made zero to no sense. She behaved nothing like Jade or rather, Jade behaved nothing like her. It was difficult to put together any similarities. "Um..." He let out a bit of a dry chuckle, unsure if he was being insulted or not. "Jade, I know it's important she has her things. I'm sure she would have really appreciated the earring back. And with the long weekend because of Spring br--" His words were cut off when the woman continued and now he was sure she was in fact, insulting him. "Ma'am, I assure you that you're mistaken. I came to drop off her belongings." But Jade's mother was right in her assumption but something in Rodrigo told him not to let her win this even though her saying that his feelings were pointless did pique his interest in learning why she thought so. "I'm sure Jade and I will make some time to talk."

JEANETTE

"Oh I'm sure she would appreciate her earring back," Jeanette dryly replied, "but I'm also sure that with how much time she's undoubtedly invested in this little musical, that she would see you again, or that the earring could have been given to your students whom she's related to." Jeanette wouldn't deign to refer to Richard's other offspring as Jade's half-siblings, even if that's exactly who they were. She gave him a look that was a mix of puzzled and irritated. "Did you not hear me? You're wasting your time. And frankly, I'm sparing you from hurt feelings down the road. Any kindness she's paying you is just an act. Believe me when I say that she's a great actress--it's one of her stronger qualities." Jeanette was half listening for the shower water to shut off but since it hadn't happened yet, she asked, "Let me guess: she's given you a demure persona? Seemingly patient, kind, subtly showing off some of her talents in a way that's piqued your interest? Made you want to get closer to her?" She shook her head in a 'tsk tsk' manner and then told him, "Jade has other ambitions for herself, greater ambitions than some silly little relationship with you."

RODRIGO

With how unpleasant Jade's mother was, he didn't want to believe anything she was spewing and he usually wouldn't if not for the part about Jade being a great actress. Julia was a great actress and there was a time he believed everything she said even when everyone else was screaming at him to see the red flags. But Jade? She never showed any signs of that. Or was she really that good? "How did you know? Did she mention me?" He didn't realize then he had fallen into her trap, slowly believing the words that were coming out of her mouth. "What did she say?" He didn't care how insulting it was, Rodrigo needed to know. Was this woman full of shit or did Jade play him just like Julia did?

JEANETTE

Jeanette's expression melted into one of satisfaction when Rodrigo started questioning her. She'd shaken his confidence which made it that much easier for her to lie to his face. "Of course she's mentioned you. All the ways you've tried to earn her attention. Besides, I told you that you're not very subtle. You don't listen very well the first time, do you? Maybe that's why Jade should take my advice, hm? Not make letting you down this long, drawn out process." Taking her hand off of the door to give it a dismissive wave, she said, "But what do I know? I'm only her mother, right? Raised and provided for her, pushed her to strive to be the best, and never settle for anything less?" Eyes fixed on him, Jeanette asked, "So ask yourself, Rodrigo, are the best for Jade? And don't you think she's figured out the answer to that by now?"

RODRIGO

He felt so...lost and that was an unusual threat for Rodrigo. It was like he was a little boy again and his father was standing before him ready to belittle him. He had no voice, no comeback, no effort left to defend himself and how could he? He had been played. Again. And this made more sense. This is the outcome that he knew would come. How could he be so foolish? He had noticed the pink flags; the way she'd let him down gently or tried to keep her distance. He figured she was shy but Jade was simply not into him. "She could just say that. I wouldn't be mad. We're adults after all. It was never that serious. Quote me." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "But you're wrong about me and I guess she is too. That's okay. Thank you for getting that to her. You have a good day, ma'am."

JEANETTE

"Like I said. She's a good actress, not some saint, as much as it pains me to say. But I guess it's nice to hear from both of you that it was never that serious. You're both better off, I'm sure." Jeanette really had nothing to gain from all of this other than some short term satisfaction of toiling in Jade's life. It's what she deserved after all, after her colossal failure at persuading her father in naming her a proper Clark heir and securing her a hefty inheritance. In Jeanette's eyes, she had done absolutely everything to mold Jade into the perfect person--the perfect daughter, student, academic, athlete, whatever she was needed to be. And none of it made a difference, which was ultimately cemented by Jade being outnumbered by the arrival of Jett and Jewel. "If you say so, Rodrigo." Giving a half-hearted wave, she stepped back to shut the door, just as the shower water shut off from within.

RODRIGO

"Yeah. Better off." He whispered the moment the door closed in his face. Rodrigo didn't actually believe those words and that's the part he hated the most. He wouldn't be better off without her. How is that even a plausible reality? It made him sick just thinking about it. The break would help in this situation but what happens the week of dress rehearsals? All back to normal? Lies? He was a kicked puppy now and he refused to stand there any longer. Rodrigo left the building, placing the helmet back on his head and choosing to text Fletcher if he'd be down for a drink.

#Poison and Wine para #Rodrigo #Jeanette #abuse tw #verbal abuse tw

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crystalas · 2 years

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Birthday wish part 3

Chapter three: Play time with the Minis!

Gregory had gone back to bed and after eating the Moon-drop had found sleep come far easier, listening to Moon’s lullaby as he drifted off to sleep.

He awoke in the morning to the sound of howling wind and rain shaking the plex, he looked up concerned but got distracted by a baby gurgle and saw little legs kicking the air as she tried to wiggle free from her bedding. Sun peeked in and saw them awake, he skipped over and waved happily.

“Good morning my little sunbeams” they sang softly, “we have a big day planned!”

Gregory crawled out of his bedding and got his clothes out, as he got dressed Sun came over to Dewdrop and gave her a little tickle to which she squealed in response.

“Who’s ready for breakfast?” Sun asked lifting Dewdrop up and tilted their head. “Op but first, we need to make a pitstop. Someone made a stinky winky!” nuzzling their faceplate gently into Dewdrop’s nose. “Don’t worry I won’t say who!”

Dewdrop bapped Sun’s face and babbled, Sun took the baby to the changing table as Gregory finished getting ready for the day. The three made their way to the party room that they had breakfast in and found Freddy setting down breakfast of pancakes for Gregory and a small bowl of what looked like porridge for Dewdrop.

“Awesome!” Gregory giggled and started to chow down happily, Sun sat Dewdrop down in a baby chair and started to feed her. It was funny to watch as when giving her breakfast they would hold the spoon out with one hand and make an opening mouth gesture with the other while doing the obligatory ‘here comes the choo choo train, aaaah!’. Gregory realised that they were doing this because Sun’s face was static so they couldn’t make the facial movements for Dewdrop to mimic.

Between mouthfuls of baby oatmeal and wipes of a napkin Sun asked Freddy.

“So, what did you find last night?”

“Yes…about that” Freddy stumbled.

“Freddy told me about it last night!” Gregory stepped in “You said you made a birthday wish right?”

“Yes, indeed I did”

“Well, the good news is that a fairy did grant the wish, but the problem with birthday wishes is that they are temporary.” Gregory explained “I mean it wouldn’t be a special birthday wish if it lasted forever, would it?” Freddy wasn’t sure if he was grateful or concerned that Gregory could lie so easily on the fly.

“I see…” Sun muttered while feeding the baby. “So, you’re saying that Dewdrop will turn back into a doll soon?”

“Yeah, I mean I’m not sure when but eventually”

Sun was quiet for a second and the only sound in the room was the whirring of gears and a baby chomping messily down on oatmeal. Sun then perked up and looked at Gregory.

“Then we better make these days count then!” they beamed.

Breakfast done and put away they made their way to Day Care; Gregory froze when he heard rattling and clanging in the vents. He looked up at one of the walls as a vent hatch was kicked open and little pink robot spider creature appeared clutching at cymbals, it gazed down at them with blank unblinking black eyes. It then turned around and clang its cymbals together before making its way down the wall like the spider it resembled as two more little robots of similar builds followed. They walked past the group only giving a nod of recognition as they marched single file to the ‘Slide into Fun’ slide.

“Wait a moment please!” Sun declared but they only twitched but carried on, Sun stomped their foot down. “Un, Deux, and Trois!” they snapped, this time the trio stopped and turned around to look at the Day Care Attendant who stood there with one arm holding Dewdrop and the other hand planted firmly on their hip.

“You know my rule for playing in the Day Care!” Sun said firmly as they went over to the signing in desk and pulled out an industrial size packet of alcohol wipes. All the minis made the universal moan of a child not wanting to do a thing. “You are grubby and dusty from the vents; you need a clean first!” Sun handed Dewdrop to Freddy. “Gregory you can go ahead, Freddy can you take the little one to the infant play area I will be along shortly.”

Gregory thought about taking Dewdrop down the slide but decided against it when he saw Freddy shake his head, so instead they went through the big gate. Freddy planted Dewdrop on the baby play area and went to get some toys while Gregory watched the baby who just sat there watching him in turn. Freddy returned with the mandatory Pizza plex plushies, some sensory toys and a toy microphone. It was one of those colourful toy microphones that when you spoke into it made your voice sound big and boomy.

“Hey Dewdrop listen…we like what you gooooot…” Gregory sang into the microphone, Dewdrop laughed like it was the funniest thing ever. “La la laaaaaaa” he held out the microphone to Dewdrop’s mouth “Now you try!”

Dewdrop tried to chew on it but luckily it was too big for her mouth, he took it away and tried again.

“Like this, la la la!”

“Ah bah bah!” she cried into the microphone and when she heard her voice she beamed and started to babble into it loudly. Freddy chuckled as he watched this infant now belting out streams of baby talk into the toy only stopping to laugh and gauge her audience who would clap and cheer.

“It would seem she wants to be a singer like her Uncle Freddy!” Freddy noted with amusement.

“Too bad right now she takes after Chica with her vocals!” Gregory sniggered.

“Gregory!” Freddy gasped.

There was a rattle from the Slide into Fun as three now clean Mini Music Men came scuttling out and diving into the ball pit, only the movement in the technicolour plastic ocean gave away their location before they clambered out and quickly skittered towards the boy, baby and robot bear. They stopped a few metres from them but the first one crept forward towards Gregory slowly. The boy unsure of what was going on looked up at Freddy who seemed just as bemused as him. It came up to him and with a sudden flick of one of its legs it tapped his arm before rushing back to the others, when Gregory didn’t move it repeated the process.

“I think they wish to play tag” Freddy surmised.

“Really?” Gregory laughed getting to his feet “Then it’s pay-back time for all those times you chased me through the vents!” and with that he took chase and the three minis dashed into the play structures. Sun arrived watching the four play and Freddy watched on with a smile.

“What have you got there little one?” they asked and Dewdrop shook the toy at them.

“I better keep an eye on those four least they get a too rowdy” Freddy said rising up from where he had been kneeling, Sun picked Dewdrop up and gave her a cuddle, tickling her chin and making the Moon Plushie dance in the air in front of her much to Dewdrop’s amusement.

“Can you say Sun?” Sun asked Dewdrop pointing at themselves “Suuuun nah! Suuunn nah!”

Dewdrop looked up at the Day Care Attendant not grasping the assignment.

<Asking much for a one-year-old, aren’t you?> Moon asked.

“Can you say Moon? Say Mooooonah! Moooooanh!”

Dewdrop answered by grabbing the Moon Plushie and trying to chew on it.

<It’ll be a work in progress>

The game of tag was awesome because while the Minis had speed on their side Gregory knew the play structures like the back of his hand, he memorised where all the short cuts and entryways were which kept the game interesting for a good hour or so. At first, he struggled to tell them apart until he realised that Sun had referred to them as one, two, three in French as he observed them during play, he saw that Un had a big dent on his head. Deux had two noticeable teeth gaps and Trois had three chips missing on their cymbals two on their right and one of their left. Once he remembered those details he could tell them apart easily, which helped because they would try the old bait and switch trick a lot.

After a while all four had their turn being ‘it’ and so decided to play a different game.

“You guys know hide and seek?” Gregory asked as they took a quick breather [well Gregory did he wasn’t sure if the Minis just wanted to cool down] the three little robots nodded in unison. “Cool, hey Freddy wanna be our jailor?”

“What’s that?”

“When someone gets caught, they have to go to jail and you have to keep them there” he explained.

“Very well, but please keep it in the Day care!”

“Okay, so I’ll go first and count to ten…ready?”

The three minis trembled with glee and bounced up and down with excitement. Gregory covered his eyes and began his count down and the three little robots shot off. Gregory finished his count and looked around…and saw Deux hanging off the bridge that connected the two structures. It had made sense to the second spider-bot after all he would tell if Gregory was coming over or under the bridge and change sides accordingly to remain hidden it did however forget that Gregory would see it easily from the side.

“You’re out!” the Boy declared tapping him on the head, it spun around to see Gregory standing there smiling before it gave a groan and dropped to the floor. Freddy gave the little bot an apologetic look as it waddled over to him.

“Don’t feel so bad, it was your first game after all!” he suggested.

It squatted down in rest and watched sourly from ‘jail’ when it heard a baby babbling, it spun around to see Dewdrop now wiggling herself over the floor to get to the edge but the steep incline of the foot high ridge prevented her from going any further. Deux skuttled closer as Dewdrop brought herself to a sitting position.

The baby stared at the bot.

The bot stared at the baby.

Dewdrop broke the ice by holding out the microphone she had dragged with her, singing into it and then holding it out to Deux like Gregory had shown her to. Deux regarded this invite with silence before stepping closer and reaching forward, it slowly pinched the microphone with its cymbals before jerking back in an attempt to yank it from her.

However, the Mini Music men were protypes they were designed to show how Music Man used to be and how that design could be applied to the mobility of the larger and newer model. Which meant that while they could climb up walls and shot across floors quickly; they were not built for strength so what should have been a quick grab and run turned into a tug of war which Deux was losing at. Deux quickly realised that this was not going to work and so let go of the microphone which Dewdrop pulled back, it then rose up on its legs so it towered over her and pulled back its arms…

While Gregory and the Minis had discussed the rules of Hide and Seek, Sun had noticed Dewdrop was chewing on her fist and opening and closing her mouth.

“You hungry sweetie?” Sun asked and the baby cooed at them, plonking her down they had gone swiftly to the cupboard that held the snacks and rummaged for the baby snacks and found some veggies sticks and fruit treats. As they checked the dates, they heard a loud clashing clang and then a baby scream. Sun spun around to see Dewdrop on her back crying and a Mini Music Man making a break for it while balancing a toy microphone between its two cymbals, which was proving to be difficult. Sun rushed over to Dewdrop and checked her over, luckily she was more frightened than hurt but Sun and Moon could take an educated guess as to what happened. They picked up Dewdrop and bounced her up and down shushing her until she was stopped wailing and was just snivelling.

Deux seeing that the jig was up abandoned their loot and made a break for the wall scaling it with ease until they got to the netting. Once they deemed themselves high enough, they looked down to see an unamused Day Care Attendant glaring at them, baby in their arms who took one look at Deux and buried her face into Sun’s ruffles with a scared whine.

“You know we can come get you from there, right?” Sun said sternly, Deux responded to this by climbing higher. “You know the rules here; we share our toys, we don’t snatch, and we especially don’t scare the younger ones, and for that I’m putting you in time out!”

Deux made a rude noise which was the equivalent of a blown raspberry.

“Music Man Prototype second model!” Sun said firmly “You will come down here this instant!”

“Oooh Sunny full named yoooou” Gregory sang, the boy and the other two Minis watching this from the play structure their game now forgotten as they watched this play out instead. Deux made no movement and seemed to make themselves comfortable knowing full well that by the time Sun had called the wire down it would be safely back in the vent or at least on the other side of the Day Care.

“If you don’t come down here and get in Time Out…I’m telling DJ”

That got an ‘oooooooooh’ from the peanut gallery, for some reason that no one could understand was that these prototypes had gained some semblance of A.I which made no sense as they were just models that were to show how they moved. Vanessa’s theory was Glitch trap had used them as Remnant experiments, but whatever the reason these three were now ‘alive’ and roaming around which was another secret for the animatronics to keep. They had imprinted on DJ music man probably because of the family resemblance and now acted as DJ’s eyes and ears, which worked out well for everyone because DJ was too big to leave the Arcade [at least not without leaving a huge dent in the doorway. Moreover, DJ couldn’t stay awake during Storm days as they would need at least six generators strapped to their back to keep them functioning during a black out.

So long story short DJ Music Man was the closest the Minis got to a supervisor/dad…and Sun was gonna tell on them.

There was a moment of tense silence before Deux relented and started to climb down, Sun marched them over to the castle that sat in the corner of the Day-care and put the little bot inside. Sun pulled out a timer from the roof of said castle and turned it to fifteen minutes, with Time Out set Sun left them to it. As soon as Sun was on the opposite side of the Day Care Deux tried to sneak out.

“I hope Deux is being a good spider bot and staying in Time Out” Sun declared loudly as they handed Dewdrop her snacks “Because Moon will tell me if Deux would do something naughty like sneak away before the time is up!”

Deux gave a grumble and went back inside.

With snacks in hand Dewdrop had forgotten about the mean loud critter that stole her toy and while she gnawed on her fruit snacks Sun was getting out a plastic sheet and paper. This was followed by bottle of paint and small shallow bowls which got the attention of the boy and minis.

“Okay my little sunbeam!” Sun exclaimed picking Dewdrop up and putting a plastic smock on her before placing her on the mat in front of the finger paints and paper. “Let’s make some art!”

Sun showed Dewdrop by gentling placing her hand into the yellow paint and pressing it into the paper, she squeezed her fingers closed feeling the paint squelch and move before slamming her hand down again onto the paper. Once Sun showed her the other colours and that she shouldn’t eat it [it was all non-toxic but why take the risk?] she was well away and making a horrific colourful mess that would probably go for millions on some pretentious art gallery.

Un and Trios skittered closer and looked at the mess before bopping up and down eagerly, Gregory looked on before smiling.

“Hey Sun have you got like a really big piece of paper? Like big enough for these guys to walk on?” he asked.

“I have some old A0 sized paper for posters and banners. Why?”

“I thought we could make something for DJ seeing as he can’t be awake for this”

Sun clapped excitedly and got it out as a big roll, once placed and pinned by little sandbags [the types used to play catch with] Gregory put some more paint into some old trays. Un walked onto it and took a few firm steps to make sure their feet were covered before running onto the poster making a trail over the paper. Trios joined in and soon they had created what looked to be a steady stream of coloured dots. Sun went to retrieve Deux from time out and told him that he could join in if he behaved.

Dewdrop had created three pieces of art by the time they were done and the Minis were finished with theirs. Once Gregory was sure that it was dried, he took out a paint brush and started to add details onto the footprints making them into musical notes, this was well received by the Minis would all bobbed and clapped their cymbals in an agreement. Sun finished it off by writing at the bottom.

Done by Gregory, Un, Deux and Trios 29. 6. XX

“Who wants Pizza?” Chica sang as she pushed the gate open with her hip, in her hands was a tray holding a pizza box, juice, a small bowl of yellowish red stuff and a bowl of fruit salad. Gregory leapt up and was about to go over and when he looked down at his hands and noticed the paint.

“Clean up, clean up!” Sun sang as they got Dewdrop cleaned up with a wet flannel, Freddy helped by putting away the pots and paints and Gregory picked up one Mini at a time and dunked them in a tray of soapy water to help soak off the paint. Once everything was clean and tidy Gregory sat down at the table and ate his pizza.

While Freddy, Moon and Sun were determined to give Gregory a diverse and stable diet, Chica couldn’t get her head around cooking stuff that wasn’t junk food. She tried bless her mechanical heart but after reading up recipes about how to use cauliflower as a substitute to pizza dough she knew that it wasn’t for her. So, she was allowed to cook once a week or more for special occasions which Gregory was happy with. Gregory was still at a point where he wouldn’t turn down any free food and being on the streets for so long meant he was never picky with what he ate. Which was both a boon and a bane for Freddy because on one hand Gregory would eat any dish at least once but it also meant he was happy to eat food he found on the floor too.

“What is that?” Freddy asked as Chica held out the mystery bowl to Sun.

“It’s Pizza for babies!”

“You seriously blended a whole pizza for the baby?” Gregory asked.

“No of course not! Its melted mozzarella, with chopped tomatoes with a sprinkling of herbs, I wasn’t sure if she could handle the pizza base” Chica explained, Sun took the spoon out and looked at the gloopy mess Dewdrop looked up at Sun and began to bash her tiny fists into the high chair table. Sun gave it to Dewdrop who took the mouthful; there was a moment and a looked of utter bafflement on her face as she tried to process what she had just eaten. Smacking her lips, she looked to Sun and opened her mouth for the next spoonful.

“I think she likes it!” Gregory laughed. “Hey we should try and get a baby food brand going for you guys!”

“Ooh!” Chica squealed “I call dibs on Pizza flavour!”

“If we are going to promote a brand of baby food it will need to be healthy at least!” Sun declared as they continued to feed Dewdrop.

“How about something like Mango and cream for Sun then?” Gregory suggested “It’ll be yellow and bright like you!”

“Oh, and you can make it swirled into stripes so it looks like your outfit!” Chica declared.

“That sounds good! Moon could have blueberries and cream…maybe with star sprinkles on top” Sun laughed.

“Lavender?!” Sun blurted out loud to the confusion of the others.

“Yes, as a scented oil not as something you eat!”

“Actually, you can eat lavender” Chica exclaimed helping herself to a pizza slice. “A lot of those fancy health cook books Vanessa showed me from the library uses it as a garnish”

<Told you> Moon smirked.

This conversation went on with everyone suggesting which pizza plex food could go to which animatronic and why. This led to Gregory looking up on google how the food could be made baby friendly and, in the process, found out that you can make baby friendly pizza which Chica was thrilled about and wanted to try. By the time Monty and Roxy showed up they were so deep into this idea that when Chica saw the two come into the Day care she blurted.

“Hey guys if you were a baby food what would you be?”

To the utter bafflement of the wolf and gator.

#daycare attendant #sundrop #moondrop #fnaf security breach

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