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curiousfindings · 3 years

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We are with you till the end of the line

Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan x Teen!Reader

[Warnings: Rape, Talk of sex, Swearing, OOC Chris for a bit, Arguing, Panic attacks, Hospitals]

!!This is pretty loaded so please don't read this if your not comfortable with the certain subjects, the last thing I want to do is make anyone uncomfortable, if you need anyone to reach out to just pop me a quick message, I would never mind having a chat or you just ranting to me, i’m always there for u!!

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You knew they wouldn't mind, they were like brothers after all, constantly looking out for you even in the most inconvenient of times. Yet the one time, they weren't there. Its not like you needed them, but you did and you always tried to convince yourself that you were a strong female figure but there was that part of you that turned completely towards the strong male figures you had in your life. Chris, Anthony and Sebastian.

Too elaborate, you first met the triplet when you were 15, you had auditioned for the role of the teenage heroine, Erin Kelsey, a young girl who proves her courage to The Avengers with her virtuosic karate skills. They loved you and you got the part much to your dismay. You were taken under the wing of Anthony Mackie straight away, he told you that he saw something in you. Scarlett was the first cast member you met though and she will always hold a special place in your heart as the girl who made you comfortable with the whole marvel cast.

Your character was introduced in Age of Ultron as a teenage Slovakian girl who had been spotted jumping from rooftop to rooftop, it was incredibly fun to film. Then in Civil War, your character developed massively which brought you closer to the men. Not only were they like big brothers to you but they gave you the best advice in life, anything you needed help with, they were there, 24/7. You had many talks and lectures about things you already knew about but they insisted they were older and knew what was best, they also said that they didnt want you doing stupid things like they used to do, whatever that is supposed to mean.

They check up on you constantly, always asking you to message them when you get home, or back to your trailer, or the hair and makeup truck, the canteen, the toilet, anywhere they needed to know. It was their responsibility if anything happened to you, of course it wasn't actually but they made it so it was that way, knowing that you were young and needed that guidance. This was because when you started filming Civil War you were deemed old enough to do it all on your own, you were fending for yourself since you were turning 17 soon.

You attended a college near by and went there twice a week, the rest of the time you did online school in-between takes and in breaks. Your time in college introduced you to a person, I know, cliche but they were really nice. Long story short, you two started dating, their name was Alex. Your grades dropped and you stopped seeing the three men due to the amount of time you were spending with Alex but spending time with Alex was like second nature but not to your will, they told you that you had to see them everyday and call them whenever you got the chance, this was controlling if you had ever seen it.

You had plenty of time to tell them about Chris, Sebastian and Anthony and soon they had enough of you talking so highly about them and got jealous, this is when they started making advances on you, also against your will. They would start to touch you and when you would say no they would continue, you threatened to leave them but they made even bigger threats, to tell Chris, Seb and Mackie that you didn’t need them anymore, they went into detail about what they would tell them, it was graphic, things that you were doing whilst you were supposed to be hanging out with them, sexual acts...

They of course, didn't know about your partner and this was for a reason, you know they would be against the idea and you defiantly couldn't risk anything but they were adamant of working out why you were so absent.

“Can we all agree that Y/n has been distant lately?” Sebastian spoke after walking into the hair and makeup trailer to find Anthony and Chris being dolled up.

Anthony sighed, straight away knowing what he meant.

“I know man, its like she doesn't love us anymore,” He fake pouted which made Chris laugh. “Seriously though, do you know where she’s been?”

Both men stayed quiet.

“Every time I ask her where she is going she just says ‘out’” Sebastian adds with a shrug.

“And she never messages us updates anymore, it worries me frankly,” Chris frowns at the thought.

“She told me she went to the park to do some homework without distractions and came back with a new hoodie and a massive smile on her face” Anthony furrows his brows. “Like, how does that make sense? Why would you be that happy after doing homework?” He flared his harms around and huffs.

“But around us her mood has changed, have you noticed she's been so distant and cold to us?” Sebastian added.

The silence is broken by the makeup lady sniggering which immediately turned all other heads in the room.

“Whatchu laughing at lady?” Anthonys face was pure confusion, how could this matter be funny and as for Chris and Sebastian, their faces were a mix between caution and anger.

“Sounds like Y/n might have a boyfriend or girlfriend,” She stated plainly, not even looking up from Sebastians roots.

A short impetuous laugh came from Anthony’s throat in disbelief.

“Isn't it obvious? She wants to hide it from you guys” All men froze at this statement with heads overflowing with thoughts that questioned the lady. Why would she feel she had to hide it from us? Why wouldn't she tell us? Why does she have to hide it from us? That last question threw the men into gear.

“We need to ask her,” Chris finally spoke up. “If this is true, we need to see whats happening,” Chris was worried, he had a bad feeling. He stood up and left the makeup chair abruptly. All you could hear were the sound of rushed movements onto of the stoned floor outside getting quieter and quieter.

“I don’t meant to worry you guys,” The lady spoke up, now not touching Sebastian.

“No, i’m glad you said something, it makes sense now really,” Anthony said apathetically, the feeling of worry bites at his toes, he wanted to run to you.

Chris got to you first, bursting the door of your trailer open in a panting mess in full Cap uniform.

“Woah okay, erm, can I call you back later I think somethings wrong,” You say down the phone as you stand up to approach Chris.

“I will call you back later, I promise,” You console your adamant person and bid your goodbyes.

As soon as the call ends Chris is jumping down your throat, leaving you no room to question.

“Who was that?” He stares at you intently, still trying to catch his breath.

“Just a friend, it was Katie,” You can change your answer, hoping this one would be more convincing. “Why whats wrong?” Chris’s features changed, he placed his hand on his hip and cocked his eyebrows as if to question your answer.

“What?” You ask him, confusion fully lacing your voice.

“Y/n, I really hope you aren't lying to me,” His voice now evident with slight anger and dominance.

“Chris, what are you getting at,” You retaliate, who is he to question who you were on the phone too, you couldn't tell him anyway.

“Let me see your phone.” No question about it, he held his hand out and demanded. “Give me your phone Y/n” To say you were shocked was an understatement. Your face swelled with worry, worry that he might find out but you decided to mask it with anger.

“Chris, what the fuck?” You narrowed your eyebrows and Chris just raised his as if you were his child that was in trouble.

“I want to see who you last called,” His hand never once moved, you on the other hand were shaking, you had never seen Chris like this, never angry nor disappointed. Its not even like you could say it was a boy friend back home because you had already told Chris it was Katie.

“Its really none of your business who i’ve been calling,” Your mood had changed significantly since the phone call.

Chris’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, he was angry. “Your lying.” He plainly stated.

“And your being irate, you obviously don’t trust me!” You flared your arms around in expression, trying to cover up anything and everything which made you angrier and angrier.

“Im only looking out for you, you know this but I cant do that if you dont tell me the truth, your only-”

“Yes, I know, im only 16 and dont know half of whats to come yet, I know im young Chris, you tell me all the time but just because im young doesn't mean I dont get my freedom and just because im young defiantly doesn't mean you get to boss me around because guess what Chris, your not my dad!” You knew it hurt him, due to an absent father you had told the men that they were like father figures to you and they took pride in that. He was taken aback by your sudden outburst and wondered how long you had been holding that in but he couldn't help what came out of his mouth next.

“Don’t ever come to me for anything again because I won't be there to help you,” This was so out of character for Chris it knocked the wind out of you, you felt like you could be sick. Tears welled in your eyes, you grabbed your keys and sprinted out of your trailer before he could see you break.

“Y/n!” Called a familiar voice, it was Anthony.

You stopped in your tracks and wiped your eyes before turning where you were confronted with two worried faces, not them as well.

“Did Chris speak to you?” Your heart sunk, did they think the same thing, you wanted to save yourself the embarrassment.

“Im going out,” You said plainly, holding back more tears.

“No you're not, we need to speak to you,” Anthony demanded again. You snapped before you could even think.

“You don’t control me! Not you! Not Sebastian and defiantly not Chris! I dont need you!” You let the tears fall, you felt like you were being dramatic but frankly you were sick of their controlling behaviour and Chris made it perfectly clear how he felt. Sadly you didnt actually feel this way, it was just what Alex had planted in your head and you couldn't risk him getting exposed otherwise you would be fucked.

“Y/n what happened?” Sebastian inched closer as you broke down.

“Y/n!” Chris called from the distance and before you could muster any sort of courage to be confronted by all three me, you ran.

“Im going out!” That dull phrase that fell from your lips every day with so much mystery behind it.

“Will you stop talking about them fucking men,” Alex seethes after just 5 minutes of you ranting, you're in an angry mood already so you snap at them.

“Alex i’m really fucking struggling right not and I would love some comfort from my significant other!” And before you know it your pinned underneath them.

“I think you forgot who you're talking to,” Alex hovered over you with your arms pinned above your head, you thrashed but they were stronger.

“Remember our little agreement sweetheart,” The pet name made your eyes clench shut and your body tense up, the dreaded nickname that was supposed to make you feel loved but made you feel on edge more than anything.

Then Alex done the unspeakable, something you thought was an empty threat, you never thought they would go there.

“You dare protest and see what happens,” Alex spat in your face as they violated all of your comfort zones and boundaries. They left you speechless, ashamed, and defiled.

You got in your car and drove, you didn’t know where, you couldn’t think straight. It was defiantly dangerous for you to drive but there was no way you were staying with them. The wheels took you back to set and your heart ached for your three men, you knew they wouldn't mind yet you couldn't bring yourself to tell them nor did you think they would care to know, they made it that clear. You ran to your trailer and jumped in the shower straight away, washing any evidence and remaining touches off your body, you looked down and discovered the marks of the abuser littered all over your shoulders, thumb marks shared along your pelvis and in between your thighs. You scrubbed and scrubbed but they wouldn't go away, only leaving a singing red hue on the surface, the rest were deeper, they penetrated your soul, no amount of scrubbing could remove those. Little did you know, Chris saw you running back to your trailer late last night but he left you alone, thinking you needed some time.

The next morning you felt the reminace of the abuse, you were supposed to be well rested since your day off yesterday yet you felt worse the you ever had but you wore a brave face and worried about the interactions between you and Chris, Seb and Anthony. Weak is how you felt, not knowing how the day would treat you.

You stepped out of your trailer with a grimace and a sharp ache in-between your legs. Normally Chris, Anthony and sometimes Sebastian would usher you from your trailer to set, you felt truly and utterly alone.

“Morning Y/n,” You took a sharp turn to see Scarlett heading straight in your direction. “No Chris this morning?” She asked with a frown.

You didn’t know how to speak, you didn't know if you could, your mind still swarming with, well, everything.

She hugged you quite roughly and you yelped out in pain with the sudden movement and pressure, she backed away immediately.

“Hey.. whats wrong kiddo?” She asked, worry evident on her face.

Quick Y/n, come up with something.

“Just my period, its quite painful today,” You covered that up quick and it was believable, you were surprised how you hadn't burst into tears yet, you didn't know how you were going to survive the whole day.

“I have some pain killers?” She offered with a sympathetic smile.

All you did was nod.

You walked to set with a slight limp and that didn't go unnoticed by the directors.

“You good Y/n?” Joe asked.

Scarlett just whispered in his ear and you already knew what she had said.

“We will go easy on you today.” He joked with a wink, normally you would find his teasing funny but all you felt was this pit of dread.

You trekked to wardrobe to get into your costume of the day; still with no sight of Anthony, Chris or Sebastian, you knew they were filming today because it was a fight scene... a fight scene which you had to do with Anthony... Luckily your costume covered all of your bruises, the only thing now was getting them past the wardrobe lady.

“Get naked my lovely,” The wardrobe lady joked. Yet again, no expression from you. “Are you okay?” She edged closer.

“Yes, i’m fine thank you,” You sent her a small smile.

“Come on then, we need to get you dressed” You just stripped your top, not even caring if she saw, you would only explain if she asked. All there was, was a gasp from her side. “Lovely...”

“I was with my partner yesterday, thats all,” You added as she helped you adjust your new layer of skin. “Please don’t tell anyone, I don’t need them teasing me about it,” You said with a small chuckle, it was getting easier.

You had greeted Anthony, Seb and Chris when you saw them, they said sorry and you said sorry back, the last thing you wanted to do was argue today. They had to go and get their hair and makeup done since they were a little late onto set.

Sebastian and Anthony were in the wardrobe truck while Chris got his hair done.

“She still seems different, I cant place my finger on it,” Anthony queried.

“Well I believe what Jo said in the makeup truck, I feel like she has a secret boyfriend,” Seb spoke back.

“Im just worried Seabass... she’s never been like this,” Before Sebastian could answer, the costume lady did.

“Are we talking about Y/n boys?” She questioned.

“Yes, do you know something?” Anthony was begging for any information he could get his hands on.

“She told me not to say anything but when she took her shirt off she had marks all over her shoulders, told me she was with a partner,” Anthony sighed and there his head back.

“See, this is what I didn't want happening, its fine that she’s having sex but I just hope its safe,” Anthony was just disappointed that you wouldn't tell him something like this, he thought you trusted him.

“I don't mean to worry you...” That same phrase. “But those marks weren't love bites, they were proper bruises,”

Sebastian and Anthony share a look of worry.

“I mean, I've had my far share of sexual partners and the only way those bruises could be that dark was if her partner was being rough, they had to be pretty recent as well.” She said nonchalantly.

There were two thoughts swimming through Anthony and Sebastian heads. Someone was being abusive or you liked rough sex and to be honest, they would have preferred the latter.

The actually acting part was going well - I mean, you got paid to do it- but when the the stunts started, thats the you felt the full effects. Your character was a master at karate so the moves were pretty intense, you hadn't warmed up either with the worry that it was going to hurt to much. You were right, it hurt tenfold when you started fighting with Anthony, you could deal with the pain but when you got thrown over Anthonys shoulder, it was endgame. A shrill sounded from the back of your throat and Anthony dropped you immediately. You doubled over with the pain and grasped your lower stomach, you felt like you would be sick.

“Y/n what's wrong?” Anthony Russo questioned.

Scarlett came running over and knelt beside you.

“Oh sweetheart,” At the sound of the nickname you burst into tears. Everything was getting too overwhelming. A couple seconds past, you didn't know if anyone was saying anything, you couldn't focus on anything at the moment. “Y/n?” Scarlett questioned. At this point you had a whole crown surrounding you, you couldn't break down, not here, not now.

“Im fine, just woman issues,”You sniffled and pointed to your stomach and peoples faces dropped and a few laughs were shared.

“Ill go easy on you,” Anthony joked and you sniffed a bit so you could get ready for the fight scene again. He could tell something was wrong, he was going to confront you when this scene was over.

It all played out fine until Anthony had to use you as a suspension tool, he put his hands on your shoulders and put all his weight onto you. He dug his fingers right into the bruises on your shoulders.

“Fuck!” You screamed out in immense pain, a couple tears fell down your cheeks.

“Y/n whats going on?” Anthony Russo asked.

“I just need a quick break please.” You begged as more tears threatened to fall.

“20 minute break everyone!” The Russo brothers called.

“Y/n!” Mackie called but you were long gone, already half way to your trailer.

“We need to go talk to her,” Sebastian told Mackie, they both had the same idea as they sprinted after you.

When you got to your trailer, the tears didn't stop, you sank down next to the door and just sobbed, it was an ugly, loud, desperate cry and you wish all this internal and external pain would just vanish.

“Y/n!” Anthony burst through the doors, throwing all caution to the wind.

“No!!” You shouted out but it was too late, Anthony and Sebastian were standing in-front of you, in your trailer, eyes wide with worry.

“Y/n please,” Anthony kneeled next to you. You just buried your head in his neck and sobbed. “Shhh, shhh its okay,” He stroked the back of your hair as you uncontrollably relieved your heart. “Breath Y/n breath,” Sebastian got on his knees and stroked your arm. Your breathing now becoming erratic. “Y/n breath,” Anthony had a look of complete worry.

He grasped your upper arms and made you look at him. “Y/n you need to breath, focus on me okay?” You nodded as your chin trembled. He had never seen you like this before. “Breath in,” You tried. “Breath out,” You tried again. You continued that until your breathing was under control.

For a second Anthony just stared at you.

“What happened girl?” You just shook your head. To test the waters Anthony put his hand on your shoulder will little force and you shouted from the pain. “Please don’t.” You squeaked, your throat raw from crying. There was an unspoken agreement, Anthony grabbed the hem of your shirt and lifted it up. The look on their faces would be ingrained in your mind for a long time yet to come. Yet again you just burst out crying. Anthony waved his hands around and Sebastian was gone and Anthony was just cradling you, he was crying into your hair. “Why wouldn't you tell me,”

Thats the last thing you heard before sleep consumed you.

You woke up to a foreign view and a foreign smell. You knew where you were instantly. You sat up and winced, your pelvis ached each time your moved. The first thing you saw was Chris, sitting there with this hands covering his mouth like he was thinking, leg bouncing up and down and just starting at you with sorrowful eyes. As soon as you locked eyes with him, you broke down again, this time is was Chris’s turn to cradle you. “Shhhh, I promise its going to be okay,” He cooed. “Im so sorry,” was all you could coo back. “Don’t speak.” He said.

You and Chris stayed like that until Sebastian and Anthony showed up, you instantly felt safe, you missed how this felt.

“Im so sorry.” Was all you could say, your mind couldn't think of anything else for once, just how sorry you were. All three men had tears in their eyes. All three men were there to support you, they weren’t going to shout or be angry, they cared.

“We love you so much.” Anthony said with a hand on your knee.

It took you a good 30 minuted to muster up the courage to tell them what happened.

They all sat and listened contently about how you met Alex.

“Then stuff started getting serious, they would... touch me without my consent,” You said.

“Did you say no?” Chris asked.

You nodded. “They said they would tell you all bad things about me if I didn't comply,” You answered. The group sighed.

“Thats why you were so distant,” Seb said.

You nodded again. “They didn't want me to be close to you guys.”

Seb put his hand on your knee and rubbed.

“The yesterday, after we had the argument, I went to their house and thats when they fully, you know,” You couldn't hold back. You put your hands up to your face and sobbed again. “We know, we know, you dont have too say it,” Sebastian rubbed your back.

“Y/n” Chris said, you looked up at him. He was fully sobbing also. “I love you so much and I am so sorry for everything that I said, I didn't mean any of it I promise,” You nodded. “Neither did I, I love all you guys, im so fucking sorry,” You sobbed some more.

After you talked some more, the boys decided it would be the right idea to take you to the hospital, just incase.

“The X-Ray shows a broken collar bone,” The doctor admitted. All three men sighed and Anthony muttered a little ‘oh gosh’. “Im so sorry Y/n,” The doctor was extremely empathetic. “We will just have to put it in a sling for a week or two and no extra circular for at least three,”

“Three weeks!!” You exclaimed, “I cant not work for three weeks!! We have shooting.” You explained.

“Y/n, its fine,” Chris explained. “The Russo’s will understand.” You just leant your head back against the hospital bed. “Can we go now, hospitals make me uneasy.” The boys were slightly more happy that you were getting more verbal again.

“With your consent, we would like to do a rape kit, just to see if there is any damage internally.” You nodded your head slowly.

The exam was uncomfortable, your whole body was tense and rigid.

“Its okay darling, relax.” The lady was so lovely and she made you feel at ease for a bit but the impending thought was about what was happening to Alex.

“Okay its all done darling, would you like your guardians to come in whilst I tell you the results so they can hear it too?” You nodded.

The men got ushered in and they stood by your side, hands on your upper arms.

“So there wasn't any internal damage but there is alot of tissue and a bit of muscle damage and some dark bruising both on the pelvis and inner and outer thighs,” You nodded. “That will take some time to heal and might get a bit painful so we will give you some pain killers for that and some cream for the bruises,” She gave you a sweet smile.

“You did so well, “ Chris cooed as he stroked your hair. You nodded at him.

“Watch thinking about girl,” Anthony butted in.

You took a breath and spilled. “Its just Alex, whats going to happen to them,” You worried.

“They are going to get what they deserve, thats what.” Sebastian butted in.

You nodded and started to tear up.

“Y/n” Chris said and you looked up at him.

“We are with you till the end of the line.”

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#teen!reader x marvel cast #teen!reader x chris evans #teen!reader x sebastian stan #teen!reader x anthony mackie #chris evans x reader #sebastian stan x reader #anthony mackie x reader #marvel

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peachy-panic · 3 years

Text

Only Temporary: Sebastian Tate

Hello. I was completely blown away by the positive response I got on the first piece of Jaime’s story (title under construction). Thank you to everyone who had a kind word to say about it! You made me really happy I made the mildly frightening choice to post.

In the interest of acclimating to the no-rules, freedom-to-post-out-of-order structure of this community, I wanted to introduce a new piece of the puzzle this time, with a new character that will come into play later.

Also, this piece goes into a little bit of the details, but for frame of reference on the BBU-adjacent thing: this story takes place in a not-so-distant future of the BBU, where WRU has undergone some changes. I look forward to exploring this world building more as I go.

Anyway, I’m rambling again. Thanks for reading. Here it is:

WARNINGS: General BBU warnings, talk of institutionalized slavery, classism, and general terribleness of large corporations. Referenced past homophobia and rough parental relationships, briefly implied/referenced non-con.

When Sebastian reflects on the day he graduated from med school, a sort of emptiness is the memory that first bobs to the surface. Among the cheers and camera flashes in the crowd, white coats and proud smiles, what Sebastian recalls most vividly from that day is looking out into the sea of parents and families and people there to support their loved ones on one of the biggest days of their lives, and not seeing a single person that had come for him.

What should have been one of the happiest moments of his life had been quickly overshadowed by the sinking feeling that none of it mattered as much as it would have if he had someone to share it with. Like there was something so fundamentally wrong with his life, that even something as objectively good and right and decent as becoming a doctor could be dulled over into a feeling of nothingness.

Perhaps, he thinks in hindsight, that moment had been foreshadowing for the following months ahead of him.

Watching rejection after rejection pour in from his top residency programs had felt like nothing short of his own personalized nightmare. He had spent several nights in a row on the phone with Alex, his undergrad roommate and only friend, clamoring back from the edge of many a panic attack, spiraling into all-out existential dread about the future and the past and what all of it meant for him if he couldn’t land an internship, let alone a real job out of school. To his credit, Alex never gave up hope in his friend. Or at least, he did a decent job hiding it if he did. Which was probably exactly what Sebastian needed to get through that particularly dark time in his life, and a good reminder of what a solid friend he had. Even if it was a party of two.

Unfortunately, Sebastian did not have the same faith in himself.

He was able to keep up some facade of optimism as his top five were picked off one by one. Telling himself, despite his devastation, that they were a pretty far reach, anyway. Even with good academic standing, it was famously no walk in the park to land yourself at John Hopkins or Mayo as a first-year. He even maintained a brave face as his first few safety programs reached capacity and moved forward without his name on the roster.

It wasn’t until he received his final rejection letter from some internal medicine place in Bumfuck, Idaho that he felt himself slip into dangerous territory. Sebastian knew himself well enough to know his own depressive patterns by then, and he knew it was only exponential decay from there.

Rock bottom came, as it did, in the wee hours of the night, after a full bottle of wine. Alone in his small apartment, surrounded by half-packed boxes with no destination, Sebastian found himself sprawled out on the floor with his laptop hot against his thighs. He couldn’t have explained why he opted for a privacy browser, but something about it allowed him to justify the words that he typed into the search bar.

It was a new low, and one he had sworn to himself he would never stoop to. Yet there he was.

He gave himself a moment to reconsider, to back out of what was undoubtedly a morally-gray train wreck waiting to happen as his thumb hovered over the enter key. And then the alcohol decided to override his moral compass.

Facility Care is the open secret of the medical profession. It comes with its fair share of stigma, and rightfully so, but it is notoriously easy to break into and pays a decent wage.

There are two types of people who end up stooping to that kind of employment. More often than not, it consists of doctors and nurses who had their licenses revoked or suspended somewhere along the line and needed a way back in. As far as Sebastian understood, they aren’t terribly ridgid about the particulars of each circumstance. After all, in the eyes of the law, the patients they would be treating are a price tag away from being entirely expendable.

The other percentage of Facility Care workers, and the reason Sebastian found himself staring at his too-bright computer screen with a sinking feeling of dread that night, are young medical graduates who find themselves in a tough spot. It isn’t difficult to spell out the logic behind that one when you open the WRU CAREERS tab on the home page and see the bright white words printed across the top of the screen:

LOAN FORGIVENESS.

It is shamelessly predatory and aggressively capitalistic, but Sebastian supposes that particular exploitation is pretty far down on the list of transgressions for an institution of legalized slavery. A few broke and hopeless medical students were hardly going to keep the Powers That Be up at night when they were able to rest easy under the weight of hundreds of thousands of stolen lives.

The whole thing is part of the massive PR overhaul the company did a few years back. In a world that was slowly inching toward civil activism and with the accessibility of platforms like social media to hold them accountable, WRU had to adapt to survive. Adaptation, in this case, took the form of changing the barest of minimums in order to keep themselves above board — to the public eye, anyway. Anyone who dares to take a closer look at the policy changes can see that it’s bullshit.

Changing ownership conditions to a rent-by-contract basis isn’t the humanitarian move they try to paint it as. In the end, it probably just equals out to more money in the company’s pocket when they can get more return on their “investments,” and a larger chance of exploitation for the people being moved around.

Getting rid of the Romantic division is an entirely meaningless gesture when they are still loaning out human beings with no legal rights and the inability to say “no.”

And offering an open job market with good wages and healthcare options to lower class individuals is a pretty convenient way to mute the backlash.

Essentially, you can tie a system of slavery and abuse up in a bow and make it pretty on the outside, but at the end of the day, it’s still fucking slavery.

Not that he has any room to criticize now. Now that he’s one of them.

In the end, Seb tries to justify his decision a few different ways. He is, after all, more or less a young man alone in the world. The odds are stacked against him and have been for a while. With only his own two legs to stand on, the only force stronger than his internal ambition is his instinct for survival, and he’s been running on those fumes for longer than he can count.

He had lasted less than two months under his parents’ roof after he came out of the closet at eighteen. It wasn’t exactly a surprise for anyone involved; Sebastian’s parents had known about (and subsequently bottled) his… urges… since he was in high school. Probably before that, if he is being honest with himself. And Sebastian, for his part, had spent the better part of his teenage years mentally preparing for the inevitable. He can recall long, late nights he had spent crying into his pillow and the perfectly-scripted ‘coming out’ speeches he recited to his mirror when he was one-hundred percent sure his parents were asleep.

Of course, none of the preparation had been anywhere near adequate when he actually found himself wilting beneath the heat of his father’s glare, the weight of his mother’s grief.

But. He had recovered. That is the point he tries to remember when the memories sting fresh beneath his skin, even all these years later. He has more-than proven himself to be a survivor. He has worked harder than anyone he knows for every scholarship, every grant, every dollar to put himself through school. Sacrificed nights out and real relationships for night shifts at shitty diners and long weekends cramming for exams. It hadn’t been easy, but he considers it the price he had to pay for his independence. For freedom, to live the life as the person he is meant to be, despite his unfortunate odds. He spent years telling himself it would be worth it. That one day, his hard work would pay off.

He can’t stop now.

Sebastian doesn’t have the luxury of taking time off to reroute when his navigation has gone amiss. He is walking the precarious line of rapidly accruing interest and student loans and a dwindling savings account, and there is no safety net below him.

Beggars can’t be choosers, and as it turns out, beggars sometimes have to compromise their moral integrity in order to survive.

It’s only temporary.

That is the mantra that gets him through the (half-drunken) application process and the (disturbingly lax) interview process. It is a job. One job. In the medical field, though the details are up for debate, and it is real-life money for rent and food and a savings that will hopefully be sizable enough to get him where he really wanted to be. Which is… really, anywhere else.

He can do ‘temporary.’ And perhaps, some misguided part of him thinks he can do some genuine good from the inside, too. ‘Be the change you want to see’ and all that.

It is a far jump from the floor of his apartment, sloshed and exhausted and desperate, to the cold, sharp reality of walking into his place of employment on his first day of work. Ironically, it feels a lot like an echo of the emptiness from his graduation day.

‘Sterile’ doesn’t quite cover it. ‘Sterile’ is the expectation of any well-respected medical establishment, but the inside of the facility walls has been wiped clean of far more than bacteria and germs. It is completely devoid of humanity. The long corridors that connect the medical wing to the general ward are windowless and dimly lit by flickering fluorescent panels that had make his head pound for the entirety of his first week.

He is given an office, though it is a term he, himself, might use loosely, as it is more akin to what was probably a storage closet before the old prison had been converted into the state’s training headquarters. It leaves him just enough space for a small desk and two chairs. On his first day, he asks if it is okay to bring in some personal items to spruce the place up. The older, balding doctor who had been assigned to show him around merely shrugs, and Sebastian decides to take that as a yes.

The small, pink-framed photo of a six-year-old Sebastian Tate in his grandfather’s white coat and an old-school stethoscope around his neck is hardly enough to make the place cozy from the corner of his desk, but it’s a good enough reminder of why he has to make this work.

‘It’s only temporary.’

‘Be the change you want to see.’

He will do his best.

#Sebastian Tate #bbu #like bbu adjacent?#tw: human trafficking #tw: slavery #implied noncon #whump #Do No Harm: Jaime & Sebastian

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the-green-maiden · 3 years

Text

Supernatural Fair Fight Livestream Recap with timestamps

(based off of the notes I took while watching live. any errors are mine and not the fault of the cast or abrams)

21:01 Panel Starts. Misha introduces panel- Stacey Abrams, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padelecki, Erik Kripke, Berto the ASL interpreter.

21:02 Stacey Abrams talks about how she got into SPN. Talks about running for governor(?) in California(?), having trouble gathering support/campaign funds. On a particularly bad day, ends up watching SPN in her hotel room. Loves it, ends up watching the whole show after this. Quotes “Even if it’s hard we can’t stop” and “who else is going to do this” and talks about keeping going.

21:05 Kripke: “Wow”

Ackles: “That’s one of the most beautiful interpretations of what we do, how we tell the story.”

21:06 Kripke: “Grateful we could provide inspiration”

21:07 JarPad: *reiterates above* joke about how “Kripke’s writing is questionable at best.”

21:08 Misha: “The reason we tell stories is to inspire people” creates an allegory about the ‘invisible enemy’ of voter suppression with the invisible enemy trope common in storytelling. “As we made the show, we were taking inspiration from [Abrams]”

21:09 Kripke asks Abrams to tell more about Fair Fight

21:09 Abrams talks about a secretary of state(?) [whose name I didn’t catch but who JPad refers to as ‘Lucifer”] who was in charge of voter registries in Georgia who wrongfully removed thousands of voters from lists, closed essential polling locations, and prevented people from voting, which disproportionately impacted POC and youth voters, and led to 8+ hour wait times in remaining locations. Abrams tells of how her and FF acted to fix this and change the whole system for the better. “If this becomes about politicians, no one is going to care, but when it becomes about people’s [list of basic rights and essential services]...” “...Patriotic belief that democracy means that if you’re eligible to vote, you get to be heard. Fair Fight is committed to ensuring that every voter in the US has the right to vote, and we are pretty good at it.”

21:16 Misha voices concerns about Trump’s attempts to make the 2020 vote counts seem unreliable.

21:17 Abrams gives an in-depth history of voter suppression in the US, committed by both parties at various times, including restrictions on mail-in votes, ID laws, and something about the voting rights act.

21:18 A bunch more panelists join in, including Jake Abel, Felicia Day, and a number of other SPN cast members.

21:19 Abrams says that in Texas a gun license is a valid id to vote, but a college id is not. “Everyone should get to participate, not just the chosen.” Mentions that she has not seen the final 3 episodes yet, request no spoilers until she logs out.

21:22 Kripke thanks Abrams for her political work.

21:22 Felicia Day says she was very excited to meet Abrams at Dragon Con.

21:33 Misha and Kripke try to move panel along to comply with Abrams limited time availability.

21:24 Rachel Miner “We all admire you [Abrams], you’re our hero.”

21:25 JPad gives a long speech thanking Abrams that was too fast to write down verbatim. “It’s important that everyone have their own voice” says it’s an honor to meet Abrams.

21:26 Bob Singer asks a question about Purdue(?) not showing up to a debate.

21:27 Abrams gives a detailed answer about swing states, swing voters, the lack of swing voters in Georgia, and the relatively small impact that Purdue(?) missing a debate would have on his numbers. Long speech about mail-in voting.

21:29 Sebastian Roche asks a question about run-off votes. Abrams answers.

21:30 Rachel Miner asks a question about voter registration descrimination against people w foreign names.

21:31 Abrams talks about how this has happened and what Fair Fight is doing to combat it, and how Fair Fight’s legal actions have managed to significantly reduce the amount of mail-in ballots thrown out for having difficult to understand names on them.

21:33 Shoshanna Stern thanks Abrams for her efforts in making voting more disability accessible.

21:34 Abrams answers, gives more info on the subject and the importance of having accessible voting locations.

21:36 Jim Beaver says it’s wonderful to be able to talk to Abrams, etc.

21:37 Abrams realizes her time has just about run out, and says thank yous and good byes. Mentions that tomorrow is her birthday. Multiple members of the cast wish her a happy birthday. More goodbyes from everyone, and thank yous to and from Abrams. Abrams exits call.

21:39 Kripke and Misha encourage people to donate to FF

21:41 Misha and Jensen rib each other, joke about an open bar.

21:41 Misha “Now we’re just going to waste your time for half an hour now that she’s gone”

21:42 Curtis Armstrong tells a short story about his mother, who was a voter activist in Detroit and Switzerland, and how nice it was to see Abrams talk.

21:43 Trivia intro. Multiple jokes made at the same time about state capitals.

21:44 Jim Beaver “When my kid was 7, I asked her the capital of Vermont and she said V”

21:44 Kripke asks semi-serious question about what JPad wore as protection in the ball-crusher Japanese game show scene in Changing Channels.

21:45 JPad “A thimble. A mini-thimble. No, a cup.” says something else about the cup.

21:46 Ackles “Our special effects team likes to go above and beyond”

21:46 JPad comments about real fear in that scene

21:46 Misha tries to get trivia back on track. “Without powers, what does Dean say Cas is?”

------[Baby in a trenchcoat]

“Other name of the Impala?”

Julie McNiven guesses “A special place”. Someone calls out “baby”

-----[Metallicar]

“Name of Sam and Jess’s friend who goes with them to the bar in the pilot?”

Even JPad, who was in the scene, does not know. Kripke comments that it was named after an irl friend of his from Tiuanna, named LUIS.

“5 works Kripke ripped off for SPN?”

Everyone guessing at once, including: Animal House, On The Road, Good Omens, Constantine, Star Wars, and several others.

“What herpes medication does Sam have to do a commercial for?”

[Herpexia]

21:52 JPad and Julie rib each other about herpes meds, and argue whether the term is prescription or subscription for medication. One of them brings up the example of having a subscription to dog food.

21:52 Jake Abel “What if your dog has herpes?”

Misha “I only hope that Stacey Abrams has tuned in”

Seb makes another joke about state capitals, then asks JPad the capital of Albania.

Jared has no idea, guesses ‘new albania’

Seb “Tirana” talks about having lived on a boat, presumably near Albania.

Rob Benedict: “Thanks for tuning in”

Bob Singer asks who knows the story of Seb getting a massage at VAncouver airport.

Jared (paraphrased) “We all fly through Vancouver airport a lot. Just past security there’s a massage place [with the chairs where you face the floor].” One day JPad and Ackles went through security and saw Seb getting a massage. They go over, convince the masseuse [who knows them all at this point] to let JPad take over. Seb does not notice, despite the fact that the masseuse is a small woman and JPad is holding his hands weird to try to make them smaller. JPad says he put his hands down Seb’s back and up his shirt, and Seb still did not notice, just making a noise and saying ‘very nice’. JPad gets as far as groping Seb’s ass before Seb notices anything is up. This is still the middle of a busy airport.

21:58 Seb “It was strangely sensual. Thank you, Robert, for bringing that up.” “I was perturbed for the whole flight back.”

Ackles “Another highbrow story”

Seb “It’s really fun being on that set. It really is” Claims they are also serious sometimes, to which there is laughter in response.

Ackles “It going to be like that on The Boys, Krip?”

Kripke “No massages to completion”

Seb “Wait there was no completion”

Krip “Saw photos of [Ackles’s] supersuit today”

Multiple jokes from several people about Ackle costume for The Boys being assless, crotchless, entirely made of paint, and cowboy-themed.

22:01 Misha “time for about 5 minutes of outtakes”

Someone jokes about adding ‘give Seb a massage’ as a donation tier.

Misha thanks the fans, says he loves and misses all the cast. Asks Rob B to sing.

22:02 Rob B “tune into my radio show” [for singing]

22:03 Misha announced that $225,000 has been raised for charity so far in the stream.

More thank yous from everyone to everyone, including the zoom team.

22:04 Seb “Vote out Mitch McConnel:

Jensen “Such as British accent to tell us who to vote for”

Seb “I’m half French half Scottish”

Jensen and Seb joke about scottish and french alcohols, and how they can’t be mixed.

22:05 Kripke thanks the fans for 15 years. Everyone else joins in on thanking fans for 15 years.

Jake Abel “There was a big gap in there for me somewhere”

Seb asks if Jake was in the first season.

22:06 Jake “3rd, 5, and 15”

Seb gives long thank you speech.

Jensen talks about how the cast is sticking together “This group is not being dispersed”...”I take comfort in knowing this” jokes that they’re stuck together whether they like it or not.

Misha “Like herpes”

Felicia “Genital or otherwise”

22:07 gag reel begins, including Misha’s ‘on-camera finger, Jensen falling off a chair “furniture could use some work”, Jensen failing to pick a lock for a very long time and Jared asking ‘Cas” to open it, Jensen saying ‘hail misha’ instead of ‘hail mary’, Misha failing to keep a straight face while looking at Alex Calvert, Jensen eating something too hot(?), and more that someone has probably already uploaded in full anyway.

21:13 stream ends.

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until-theend-oftheline · 4 years

Text

Mommy’s Stuck

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Warnings: Quarantine adventures

Squares Filled: Free Space for @marvelfluffbingo

Word Count: 1400ish

A/N: This is part of my LLL universe - it takes place April 2020 and Y/N is 8 months pregnant. Their kids Isabella and Alexander are 6 and 2 (3 in a few months).

It can also be read as a one shot just as always.

Betaed by: the sweet, amazing @percywinchester27

***My fics are not to be saved nor posted on any other sites without my express written permission.***

Sebastian sat on the bed, in your bedroom with his legs crossed, headphones on and the computer in front of him. The two of you had agreed that each of you would get at least an hour of alone time a day while being stuck inside the apartment to keep yourselves from going completely insane. Sebastian often used his hour to try and write something. He had always loved the creative process and you had encouraged him to pursue it now that he suddenly had tons of time on his hands.

As frustrating as it was at times, he still really loved how worlds and people appeared from his mind and on the page before him. He loved how words at times floated out of him and how he at other times spent the entire hour trying to come up with the right word to describe a place, person or feeling. It was hard work, but it was satisfying and something he loved doing for himself.

While Sebastian was hiding in the bedroom, you were keeping the kids entertained, just like he had done this morning when you had been hiding, working on new songs before taking a relaxing bath. Sebastian often intentionally forgot to let you know when the hour had passed. You were eight months pregnant and you needed the time to relax way more than he did. Besides, Sebastian loved getting to spend every day with his family. He wished the circumstances had been different. He wished just being able to go outside whenever either of you were going stir crazy. He missed the busy buzz of the city. He missed family and friends. He missed working out and his job, but he loved being with his family every day. He knew that he was lucky compared to a lot of other people, even in his relationship.

You and Sebastian had been friends for a long time before your relationship evolved. You had no trouble finding things to do together. Your kids genuinely loved each other and even if it was hard being stuck inside all the time, they still enjoyed the time with each other and their parents.

Still having a moment to himself was nice and today had been one of those days where the words had just flown from his mind through his hands and onto the computer. He was completely consumed by the world he was creating on the page and had forgotten the one around him, not noticing Y/N and the kids had given him way more than an hour on his own, when the door was suddenly pushed open and two little whirlwinds jumped on the bed and started pulling him.

Sebastian startled when Isabella landed next to him, but a huge smile quickly spread across his face as the kids began pulling at his arms, clearly trying to get him to come with them. The headphones on his ears prevented him from understanding what was so urgent and he couldn’t help but laugh at their serious little faces.

“Hang on, monkeys,” Sebastian chuckled, freezing one of his arms, pulling the headphones off his ears.

“It’s not funny, Daddy!” Isabella scolded, while Alexander resumed tugging his arm.

“Hurry, Daddy. Hurry!”

Sebastian frowned, getting up off the bed, letting the kids drag him along.

“What’s going on? Isa, talk to me?” Sebastian tugged his oldest to a halt and knelt down in front of her.

“We were playing and Mommy fell,” Isabella exclaimed and Sebastian was instantly back on his feet, this time rushing before his kids towards the living room. The sight that met him brought him to an immediate stop for a brief moment, allowing his children to catch up to him. Their reactions weren’t as fast as his though and the two kids smashed straight into the back of his legs.

“What the…” Sebastian stopped himself midsentecne, as he looked around the room. Hula Hoops were tied between shelves, blankets hung between chairs creating tunnels, tables had been moved, a skateboard and balls were scattered around the floor. Sebastian blinked a few times taking in the room.

“We were playing an obstacle course,” Isabella explained, before Alexander interrupted.

“Mommy got stuck.”

Sebastian looked around the room, desperately trying to spot you in all of the chaos.

“Where?”

“Down here,” your voice sounded from beneath one of the blankets.

Sebastian instantly rushed towards it with the kids close behind him as Isabella tried to explain what had happened.

“You have to get on your tummy on the skateboard to go through the tunnel, but mommy couldn’t cause little sister is in the way,” Isabella explained as Sebastian pulled back the blanket revealing you lying halfway on your side halfway on your back between the couch and shelves with an innocent, slightly embarrassed smile on face.

“So she got on her knees instead and the board slipped, so mommy fell and couldn’t get up,” Isabella explained as Sebastian’s eyes widened, looking down at you.

“Hi,” you bit your lip in embarrassment.

“Are you okay?” Sebastian asked, reaching down to take your hand.

“I’m fine. Just stuck,” you huffed as you tried to pull yourself up using his hand, unsuccessfully as Sebastian didn’t help. Instead he started laughing, which set off the kids as well. They threw themself onto the floor next to you, laughing along with their father and you did your best to look offended.

“It’s not funny,” you pouted, trying to not start laughing at yourself. You knew how ridiculous this must look.

Sebastian let go of your hand, pulling out his phone aiming it at you.

“Seb. No!” You protested, but this time you couldn’t hold back your own laughter. “That’s just mean.”

Sebastian laughed, tucking his phone away after snapping a few pictures of you. He reached down, letting you grab onto his hand again and this time he pulled, successfully helping you back on your feet.

You were a little out of breath but safely wrapped in his arms, as Sebastian lovingly shook his head at you.

“On a scale of 1-10 how smart do you feel that was?” he asked with a grin still plastered across his face as the kids cheered around you.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” you shrugged with a grin and Sebastian leaned in to press a tender kiss to your lips. He was more than a little relieved that you were soundly smiling in his arms. The kids’ announcement of you having fallen down had made his heart jump into his throat for a moment, but now knowing you were fine, he was more than ready to tease you about your foolishness.

“I can’t wait to show those pictures to Chris and Rach,” Sebastian smirked, backing away from you, when your eyes widened.

“You wouldn’t dare!” you raised your eyebrow as Sebastian pulled out his phone, making a show of typing something into it.

“Isa! Alex! You’ll get a huge ice cream each if you get me Daddy’s phone,” you called out to your children, and they instantly jumped a laughing Sebastian, who tumbled backwards onto the couch beneath his kids.

Reblogs spread my work and make me happy. Got a favorite part/line? Did something touch you? Do you relate in some way? Please tell me and make my day.

Sebastian Stan Tag Team

@feelmyroarrrr @sleepretreat @roxyspearing @jewels2876 @hellaqueerangelofthelord @danijimenezv @rumoured-whispers @becs-bunker @smoothdogsgirl @blacktithe7 @grace-for-sale @averyrogers83 @like-a-bag-of-potatoes @sorenmarie87 @docharleythegeekqueen @erosbellarke @the-wayward-robot @super100012 @myfanficlibrarium @winchesters-favorite-girl @awkwardfangirl2014 @igotkatiepowers @dottirose @deathofmissjackson @miraclesoflove @badassbaker

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan imagine #lll

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hairringtonsteve · 4 years

Text

v. ashes to ashes. [quixotic]

[steve harrington x reader (female)]

series summary: everyone that knew the truth about hawkins lab thought it was over, that it was all over. they thought that the fighting was over, the bad men were gone. the portal was closed. people were safe. you, however, you knew the truth. things were far from over. and they were coming fast.

word count: 5,913 words

a/n: ... hi. it’s been over a year. life is hard, guys, but i’m back. and i’m writing, albeit slowly. was it a good idea to be determined to finish this while also starting a master’s? probably not. but i’d rather write about this than study media theory, so we’ll use it. also please come say hi? i’ve missed you guys.

tw: language, gore, minor ptsd.

master list | chapter list

*****

You were twelve years old when Doctor Arayed brought some snotty five-year-old into the lab. She’d been crying so hard her face was red and her breathing was raspy, her eyes darting around the lab as she tried to take everything in.

“This is number Eighteen,” Doctor Arayed said, calling your attention from where you were hooked up to an IV drip. Your gaze lingered on the kid before looking back at her with a raised brow. “She’ll be joining your block.”

You had nodded, remaining silent. They’d been bringing more and more kids into the lab, but no one would tell anyone why. All you knew was that they weren’t bringing just babies in anymore, but older kids too, heads freshly shaved and thick, black numbers behind their ears. The kid looked to the right and you could see it.

018.

“Watch her while I have to step out, please.” You nodded once more, waiting until she left the room to say anything.

“Don’t touch anything. They don’t like it when you touch shit.” The corner of your mouth curled up at the word. Alex had taught it to you the other day when you’d both been stuck waiting in the hallway to go through some tests. He’d whispered it to you, grinning at you conspiratorially as he’d warned you not to use it in front of the doctors.

Eighteen didn’t say anything, instead opting to bring her thumb up to her mouth to suck on it. You watched her, that small kid standing in the middle of all of the medical equipment, and something in your chest had twitched. She needed someone to look after her, just like Alex had looked after you.

It had hurt when she decided to not go with you, Tee, and Seb after everyone had escaped the lab. But she had been right, saying that the older ones needed to split up to look after the younger ones — even if she was only twelve.

It hurt more when your eyes had honed in on the blood-splattered 018 amidst the bodies.

They were everywhere. You’d been in shock, staring at the amount. Teeth marks littered them, the familiar rows upon rows upon rows of sharp teeth. You could almost hear the snarling and the growling of the monsters, just like that night in the lab. But this was worse. This was so much worse. You didn’t know what to do. Your gaze flickered over them, unable to stop. You couldn’t recognize them, but you knew. You knew what happened.

The next was a blur of stumbling down the steps, feeling the blood stick to your skin and clothes. You had just enough good sense to look around as you hit the ground floor. You couldn’t go outside, couldn’t let them see. The kids couldn’t know. Your head jerked around, finally settling on another door opposite the one you’d come in through. You darted over to it, ignoring how your right food skidded from the pool of blood — there were bodies in the corner you couldn’t look at them — and slammed your shoulder into the door to shove it open.

The sun was too bright. You looked down to avert your eyes and the blood was too red on your clothes, your skin. You could feel the vomit rising up within you. You leaned over, heaving the half-digested diner food onto the ground.

“El?” You heard Steve call. You’d forgotten to try to keep yourself quiet while puking. Great. “El, you good?”

You opened your mouth to respond, but a sob slipped out. You clapped your hand over your mouth only to belatedly remember that it was covered in blood.

You puked again.

A few seconds later you could hear footsteps in the gravel around the side of the warehouse. You hoped beyond all hopes that it wasn’t Tee or Seb. They couldn’t see you like this.

“El? Jesus, holy shit.” You looked up to see Steve staring at you as he’d rounded the corner, wide-eyed and panicky. He opened his mouth to yell but you gave a sharp jerk of your head.

“Don’t,” you croaked out. Another sob ripped its way from your thought. Steve took a step closer.

“I told Tee to watch over Seb. They won’t come over.”

Distantly, you appreciated that. Tee wouldn’t risk Seb witnessing stuff just to satisfy her own curiosity. She was good that way.

You stared at Steve. The blood was dripping from your clothes to the ground. Steve took another step closer. And then another. And another until he was within arm’s reach of you. He stared at you silently before he started tugging off his sweater.

“What are you—”

“You need out of those clothes. I’ve got a t-shirt on under this.” He pulled it over his head and used his free hand to cover his eyes. “At least switch shirts, okay?” His voice was soft like he was talking to a wounded animal. You swallowed and started to shake your head. “El, you need to change your shirt. You’ll freak out the kids if you keep it on.”

With a shaky breath, you nodded. He stood there, hand clapped over his eyes while you tugged your shirt over your head. You held your breath to keep the metallic stink of the blood out of your nose. Your eyes were squeezed shut so you wouldn’t get anything in them. The warm, muggy air hit your bare skin. You were bare, exposed despite the fact that you still had a bra on. You reached for his sweater, your fingers brushing his as you grasped the dark green fabric. You put it on, your hands shaking hard enough that it took you a little longer than normal.

Dead. They were all dead.

The realization slammed into you as you pulled the sweater over your head. The second it was situated on your body, you let out a choked whimper. Steve’s hand dropped from his face and he stepped forward, his arms wrapping around you. Instinctively you shoved him away, the sheer discomfort of being restrained briefly overriding your need to be soothed. He let his arms drop, but didn’t step away. You were trembling as you clapped a hand over your mouth so Tee and Seb wouldn’t hear.

“It’s okay to cry, El.” The words fell out of Steve’s mouth so soft that you almost didn’t catch them. But you did, and when they registered, you sat on the ground and drew your knees to your chest. You pressed your face between your knees and started to sob violently. Steve sat down beside you, leaving a good six inches between you. It was hard to tell how long it had been before you quietly heard him ask if he could touch you.

Eventually, you nodded.

He was slow in his movements as he scooted towards you. His side was pressed against yours, warm and solid, almost grounding in a way. He draped his arm around your shoulders, tugging you into him light enough that you could resist if you wanted. But you didn’t. You leaned into him a little as you cried and cried and cried. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. They were all dead and you were left alone to keep Tee and Seb alive. You couldn’t do this.

Time didn’t exist while you were crying. But it wasn’t until your cries had lessened just a touch when you heard footsteps pounding against the gravel. Both you and Steve jumped to your feet as you braced yourself for a threat. Instead, it was Tee who came around the corner, eyes wide.

“There are two SUVs coming down the road, they’re —” Her voice cut off as she eyed you up. While there wasn’t blood on Steve’s shirt, it was everywhere else. Your hands, your face, your jeans, your sneakers. “What happened?”

You were shaking your head before she even started asking the question. “We need to get Seb. Now.”

The three of you started towards the corner. You reached it first and forced yourself to a stop when you saw two looming bodies at the far end of the building. Jerking out your arm, you kept Tee from being seen as she was clotheslined. “Back, back, back.” You hissed.

The three of you backtracked. You glanced around, trying to find a place to hide. Surrounding the warehouse was nothing but sparse weeds. Your stomach roiled at the thought of going back in there, but you didn’t have a choice. You nodded your head through the door you’d forced open earlier. The other two nodded, Steve motioning for you to lead the way.

It was hard for your eyes to adjust to the darkness as you stepped inside, keeping low and pressed against the wall. As far as you could tell, no one had made it inside yet. After your eyes had adjust, you looked around and saw some weird looking machinery a few feet away. You pressed two fingers together and motioned them towards the machinery.

Thankfully, the blood splatters weren’t as bad on that side of the building.

The three of you made it to the machines. The smell was vile. There were four bodies — all adult men, from the looks of what was left — torn to shreds. Blood was pooled everywhere, as were various organs. Behind you, you could hear Steve gag.

From across the warehouse, you heard the squeaking of the door, the one you’d first entered. Your eyes went wide as more and more light filtered into the warehouse. Panic filled your veins. A tap on your shoulder got you to turn towards Tee, who was motioning towards one of the machines. It was up a little higher than the others, space just enough to crawl underneath.

“You two hide under there,” Steve hissed. “I’ll find someplace else.”

Without waiting, Tee slid under the machine first. You followed her, trying to ignore the feeling of blood sliding down the back of your body. The two of you got situated and then you asked, “Where’s Seb?”

“I don’t know, I told him to go hide.”

“Tee,” you hissed.

“I needed to go get you,” she whispered, her voice hard. “He’s smart. He’s a good hider.”

You opened your mouth to respond when another voice chimed in from across the warehouse. Your blood ran cold.

“The car outside, who does that belong to?”

You could feel Tee stiffen beside you.

“According to our files, Doctor Brenner, it looks as though it belongs to a resident of Hawkins, Indiana, sir.”

You shut your eyes as you tried to hold back the bile that was rising in your throat. He wasn’t there, he couldn’t be there, couldn’t be that close. Not again. Not again. Images from your time at the lab flickered through your imagination. Memories of being strapped down to tables, being injected with things that made your body hurt and made you scream until your throat was raw. Of straining your abilities until the blood was dripping down your face. Of the isolated horror that shot through your very core as you repeated the words that Brenner had told you to tell the man while using your powers. Of the man in question taking the knife and plunging it into his stomach, repeatedly. Of the sleepless nights while you were helpless to stop those images from racing across the backs of your eyes.

“Was there confirmed contact between the escapees and the Hawkins sheriff?”

There was a pause. “Yes, sir.”

“Send a team out to Hawkins to handle the situation. Have the rest sweep the area.” All that you could hear were the footsteps of what sounded to be a few people leaving the warehouse. You let your eyes drift shut as you reached out with your awareness, trying to pick up on anything. A little bit of blood trickled out of your nose as you pushed yourself just enough. There was still someone in the warehouse. Maybe you could slip behind them, convince them to leave, just long enough for the three of you to find better hiding spots. You turned your head slightly towards Tee so you could whisper to her what you were going to say when you heard it.

A scream.

You knew that scream.

Without thinking, you used your feet to scoot yourself from underneath the machine. Distantly, you could hear Tee doing the same. There was blood dripping from you as you stood up, but you didn’t care. You didn’t even register the stink of death at that point. You started to run, your feet pounding on the concrete floor as fast as they could go while the screaming continued and got more hysterical. There was someone near the door, blocking your route to a terrified and screaming Seb. You spotted a shard of glass near the man’s feet. As you grew closer, he turned around. You stopped running. Your eyes locked with his. Blood poured out of your nose. For a split second, you hated yourself for what you were about to do. You pushed out with your mind as you spoke, pouring all of your focus into what you were saying.

“Take that piece of glass and slit your throat.”

There was a pause — you imagined it like a fog drifting over a person’s brain as the order took hold — and then his movements grew stiff. He bent down, picked up the piece of glass, and dragged it across the skin of his neck. Blood trickled out as he began to stagger back, just enough space for you to get by him. You darted past him into the bright sunlight. It was so bright it hurt.

“Let me GO!” The shriek came from your left. You turned to see two men trying to drag Seb along the ground, the dust flying up as the kid kicked his legs. Another two men came from around the back of the building, followed by a third with white hair. The sight of Brenner made you freeze. Hearing him was one thing, but seeing him was entirely different. He looked older, even from a distance. Instead of the imposing figure that he’d been in the lab back in Montauk, he looked weary. His eyes widened at the sight of you. You could still hear his voice from that first meeting years ago, imploring you to call him Papa. The same feeling of fear and disgust that had turned your stomach sour back then was rising up once more.

From behind you, you heard another scream. But this time, it wasn’t the terrified scream of a child being dragged away from his family. No, this was worse. It was anguished, a kind of howling reserved for deep, incomprehensible amounts of pain. A long shriek of ‘NO’ came from the warehouse.

Tee.

You knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she’d found them. The bodies. Your family. The kids that had been your brothers and sisters. You watched as the agents and Seb came to a standstill, staring at something behind you. You turned around and watched as Tee stood in the doorway. Her eyes were wide and wild as she lifted up a hand. Her hand was red, the blood dripping onto the gravel. A small line of red trickled from her nose as she started to scream.

Looking around, panic filled your chest as you dove to the left, scrambling to get behind Steve’s car. Gravel dug into the palms of your hands as you tried to keep your balance. A blast of heat and power erupted from Tee’s general direction. While you were saved from the brunt of it, it still lifted you up from your feet and propelled you forward. Pain ricocheted through your body as it slammed into the ground. You laid there, wincing. And then the screams started.

It took all that you had within you to shove yourself to standing. You swayed as you whipped your head to where the agents had been holding Seb. The movement made your vision a little blurry. Even with your vision skewed, you could make out the flaming bodies of the agents thrashing around on the ground. Their screams were desperate. The sounds of grown men begging for their lives, begging for the pain to stop almost distracted you from looking for Seb. You’d have nightmares about this for years, you thought to yourself. You started to turn your head to the warehouse when you finally saw him.

Your breath caught in your throat when your gaze landed on a smaller body lying motionless near one of the vehicles. It was surrounded by two much larger bodies, both on fire. Neither were moving. There was no rational thought as you ran forward, just the same mantra screaming over and over in your head. He couldn’t be dead he couldn’t be dead he couldn’t be dead he couldn’t be

Unconscious. The word registered faintly in your mind as you saw the slightest movement in his chest. He was breathing, but barely. Flames licked at your legs as you crouched down beside him. It wasn’t the smartest move, but you had to move him. You had to get him out of there. Muscles ached as you lifted him up as gently as you could. It took everything you had within you, but step by painful step, you got him to Steve’s car. You set him down on the gravel, eyes raking across his form as you tried to gauge how bad it was. He chest was barely moving as he breathed. He reminded you of a frail bird that had fallen from its nest.

Footsteps crunched the gravel behind you. You turned around, eyes wide as Brenner stood a few feet away from you. There were smaller cuts on his face, but he’d missed the worst of the blast. He looked at you, unreadable.

“He’s not going to make it without my help.”

“Just stop.” Your voice cracked as you spoke.

“Moving him to the car made him worse. He needs medical help.”

You could tell him what to do. You could tell him to kill himself, just like the agent from earlier. You could tell him to keep walking and never stop. You could end things right then and there. You risked a glance back to Seb. His breathing was getting more shallow by the second.

“He’s going to die and it’s going to be your fault.”

Your fault. Just like everyone else’s deaths at the lab were your fault. Just like Vee’s death was your fault. You were the oldest. You were in charge.

Keep them safe, Alex had told you. You stared at Seb’s body. The burns looked painful.

You turned your gaze back to Brenner, eyes narrowing as he continued on. “Come now — what is it they called you in Hawkins? Elise? We both know that he’s going to die if you leave him like this.”

“He’s not—”

“He is. He’ll be dead unless I get him the help he requires. We have a facility nearby. We can save him.”

What was better, Seb being locked up again and alive or dying at five years old?

“He — he can’t — he—”

“He’ll live. We will take good care of him.” Brenner paused. “You and Fifteen could go free. We won’t go after you.”

“You’re lying.” Of course he was lying. He’d take Seb and then he’d take the both of you and then everything was for naught. They all would have died for nothing.

“What use would I have of lying? You’ve wasted my time and resources with all of this running. There’s a trail of bodies that’s growing longer with every day that you’re running. Let me save him, and I’ll let you be.”

Your heart was in your throat as you turned to look back at Seb. You’d put him through enough. He needed help. He needed help that you couldn’t give him.

“You’ll save him?” You asked, not bothering to look at Brenner. You already knew his answer.

“Of course.”

You swallowed, trying to ignore the growing lump in your throat. Seb would be safe. Seb would live. Seb wouldn’t die because of you.

“Fine. Just save him, please.” You looked up just in time to see Brenner raise his hand in the air, motioning to an agent that looked mostly unscathed. Upon his approach, however, you could see where the flames had burned through the sleeve of his jacket. Bright red skin, raw and tight, peeked through the fabric. But he picked up Seb’s limp body without a word. With every step that he took towards the SUV, the more you wanted to scream. You managed to rip your gaze away long enough to look back to Brenner. “When he wakes up, tell him I love him?”

Brenner regarded you with a look that was almost pitying. He didn’t respond, however. Instead, he just turned on his heel and headed towards the vehicle. As you watched him walk away, your mouth opened but no sounds came out. You just tried to push out the pain and anger and helplessness as much as you could. The overwhelming feeling of failure filled you as they placed Seb in the backseat. You stared at the back door, not taking your eyes off it as they started up the car and pulled away, dust blowing up behind them.

“El?” Steve called, sounding desperate. You shoved yourself up and started to limp towards Steve. He was crouching over Tee’s body, looking between the two of you frantically. “Where’s Seb?” He asked as you got close.

You ignored him, instead crouching down to press a hand against Tee’s forehead. She was burning up, which wasn’t surprising. “I think she’s fine. She just used up too much power and knocked herself out.”

“El, where’d they take Seb?” Steve asked. This time, his voice was quieter. He laid a hand against your shoulder. You wanted to knock it away, but you didn’t. You couldn’t muster up the energy to get annoyed. So instead you leaned into his touch a little. It wasn’t comforting, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world either.

“I don’t know.” You looked over to him, meeting his gaze with a frown. “He was going to die if he didn’t go with them.”

“What are we going to do?”

You took in a deep breath through your nose, letting it out through your mouth as you looked back down to Tee. You tried to shove away the feelings of failure, of anger and pain and loss, in an effort to focus.

“We’re going after him.”

• • •

Steve waited until the two of you had managed to get Tee into the backseat of his car before informing you that Hopper was waiting at a motel two towns over. You scowled. He ignored it.

“Look, he figured that we’d need backup or a place to stay. And it looks like he was right on both accounts.” You slammed his car door harder than what was needed as you got in. He turned around in his seat and frowned.

“Anything else you’d like to tell me about?”

Steve shrugged. “Not that I can think of. But I’ll keep you updated if anything comes to mind.”

The rest of the ride was quiet. Tee started to wake up around fifteen minutes after the three of you had gotten on the road. When you’d heard her rustling around, you twisted in your seat to look at her. The two of you locked eyes, but she didn’t say anything. Seb wasn’t there.

She automatically knew what that meant.

When Steve turned into the parking lot of the motel, it wasn’t difficult to spot Hopper. The light of his lit cigarette flickered out from where he was leaning against the back of his car. He took it out of his mouth as Steve pulled the car into the spot next to his.

“You kids look like hell,” he said as you opened the door. You blinked, and then glanced down. You’d forgotten that you were covered in blood. “Come on in. Joyce made me grab some soap and shampoo, sent some food along too.”

“I’m not hungry,” Tee mumbled as she climbed out of the back. Hopper shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter. You need to eat something. Joyce’ll be on my ass if she found out I didn’t feed you.” He fished around in the pocket of his jacket before pulling out two room keys. He held them out to Tee, who took one and handed you the other. “You two get showered and fed. Harrington and I need to talk.”

Steve balked.

As you and Tee headed towards the room number that matched the key, you could already hear Hopper and Steve arguing.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“That they—”

“— needed help, huh, is that it? You can’t just leave, Steve. You were putting yourself and those three in danger. And look where the hell it got you…” Tee knocked her elbow into your arm, jerking you out of eavesdropping. You blinked, noticing that the door was open.

“Let your boyfriend get yelled at. You need a shower.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you said automatically. There wasn’t any heat behind it. Then again, there wasn’t really anything behind it. The two of you were going through the motions, ignoring the Seb-shaped elephant in the room. You grabbed the shampoo and soap that Hopper had on the table and started towards the door. You got three steps in before turning to Tee. She was staring at her shoes, snapping her fingers to create little flickers of flames. “What’re you thinking?”

She looked up to you, expressionless. “Let’s just get clean.”

You waited for a few seconds to see if she was going to crack. But she didn’t. She just grabbed the other bottle of shampoo and the bar of soap and headed towards the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Right. Okay then. You headed outside and into the room next to Hopper’s. Panic started to well within your chest, but you ignored it. You needed to shower. Eat something to get Hopper off your back, then come up with a plan to get Seb. There wasn’t any time to panic. You had to focus.

“Okay, shower first,” you mumbled to yourself as you kicked your shoes off. You padded to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door after you flipped the light switch. You set the soap and shampoo near the edge of the shower. You took a deep breath in. Then out. In, then out.

It was hard to get the clothes off. The blood made the fabric stick to your skin enough that you had to peel it all off. The water was freezing when you turned it on, but you didn’t care. The water would warm up eventually. The cold blast hit your back. You stood there, mind blank. The water started to turn pink and then red as it came off. It took awhile, but it started to feel like your skin could breathe again. You stuck an arm around the shower curtain to blindly reach for the shampoo. Your fingers eventually found the plastic bottle. You popped the top off and squirted some in your hand. It was thick, you noted.

Like blood.

You had to hop out of the shower fast to make it to the toilet to start dry heaving. You couldn’t turn the images in your head off. Bodies and blood and fire and Seb and Brenner and the car driving off and the agent slitting his throat. It was hard to tell how long you were leaning against the toilet, the only thing knocking you out of your reverie was a knock at the door.

“Elise?” Steve’s voice came through the door. You blinked and looked down at your naked body. There was still blood. You hadn’t even washed your hair yet.

“I’ll be out in a minute!” You yelled. You stood up and got back in the shower.

You didn’t look when you squeezed the shampoo into your hands once more.

By the time you’d scrubbed your body clean and gotten dressed into some clothes that Hopper had conveniently left on the bed, Steve had left a note on the table to head to Hopper’s room. You tried the door that connected the two rooms, but it was locked. Forgoing shoes, you headed out of your room and walked the five steps to Hopper’s in your bare feet. You knocked twice. Steve answered and stood in the middle of the doorway making sure that there was no way around him.

“Can you move?”

“Are you okay?” His voice was low enough that Hopper and Tee wouldn’t hear.

Were you okay? You wanted to snap, to respond that no, Steve, you weren’t fucking okay. But the longer you watched him, the more the concerned look on his face wore you down. “No,” you murmured. “I’m not.”

He hummed a little, still watching you intently. He went to open his mouth when Hopper spoke from across the room.

“Would you let her in? You’re letting all the cold air out.”

With that, Steve rolled his eyes and stepped aside. Immediately, you honed in on the plate of food that was across from Tee at the table. Waffles. You spared Hopper a glance. He raised a brow. “Eat up. You need it after the day that you’ve had.”

“Did they fill you in?” You asked as you headed to the table.

“Yeah, but I want to hear it from you.”

You nodded as you took a seat. Tee wasn’t making eye contact with you. She just stared at her food, picking at it with a fork. You grabbed one of your own and speared an entire waffle. You lifted it up to your mouth and took a bite. It tasted like ash. Your stomach churned. You sat back in your seat as you set the waffle down and fixed Hopper with a look.

“Where do you want me to begin?”

• • •

“Kid, it’s a trap.”

It took everything within you to not roll your eyes. He’d sat silent the whole time you’d recounted everything, just to state the obvious? “No shit it’s a trap. But Seb needed help. We’ll get him back.”

“We don’t know where they took him.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

Hopper ran a hand over his face and sighed. “You can’t just run off without a plan. That’s not how this works.”

“Look, I’m getting him back.” You looked over to Tee. “We’re going to get him back,” you said. You turned back to Hopper and crossed your arms. “You can either help us or leave.”

“Christ, kid. I’m not saying we’re going to abandon him. But we need a plan. We need to figure out where they went, figure out how to get in, how to get him out. There’s shit we need to talk about so we don’t get killed.”

“Like I said, I’ll figure it out.”

Hopper sighed. “How the hell I managed to find someone more stubborn than you, Harrington, is a miracle.”

“I don’t know, I think Dustin has the both of us beat,” Steve said. It took you a second, but then you remembered the curly-haired kid. Hopped scoffed and muttered something that sounded like goddamn kids. “How about we just head to bed for the night and figure things out, okay? We all need some sleep.” Steve turned his gaze towards you and something flipped in your stomach.

Hopper nodded towards the door that connected his room and yours. “Try to get some rest, you two.”

You glanced at Tee, who nodded and started towards the door. The night was cool as you headed outside, and you took a second to relish it. Hopper’s room had been getting stuffy, although it was hard to tell if it was from the air conditioning not working or, well, everything else.

“Did you see Vee’s body?”

Your heart stopped. “What?”

“Did you see… did you see her body?”

You gave a brief jerk of your head. Stepping towards the door, it took you three tries to get the key into the doorknob. Your hands kept shaking. Tee didn’t notice.

“That means that she’s still alive. She’s still… we could leave her a note at the warehouse? To let her know that we’re still here and that we can go get her.” The hope in her voice was clear. Your heart twisted in your chest as you twisted the doorknob. “We’ll rescue Seb, wait for her, and then we can leave. We can finally be safe.”

The words weren’t coming out. You opened the door and stepped inside, staring at the two beds in front of you. Tee was still talking.

“... be together. We’ll be—”

“Vee’s dead, Tee.” The words left your mouth without meaning to. The secret that you’d been keeping for all that time finally out in the air. Your chest was going to rip in two. The door closed quietly behind you.

“Just because she didn’t get to the warehouse yet doesn’t mean she’s dead. Don’t be so fucking pessimistic.” Her voice was quiet, controlled.

“I’m not being pessimistic, Tee.” You turned to face her. Your voice was soft, almost like Steve’s was when he’d found you out behind the warehouse. Despite it having just been a few hours ago, it felt like days had passed. “I know she’s dead.”

“You don’t know shit.”

“She died back in the lab.” Your voice cracked as your throat got thick. Tears welled in your eyes. Tee’s jaw clenched. “I saw it.”

“You told me she went with the others.”

You took in a deep breath. “I lied.”

“No, you’re lying now. You didn’t see shit.”

“I lied in the lab so we could leave. If you knew about Vee, you wouldn’t have gone with us.”

“You’re so fucking full of it. She’s alive.” You stood there, shaking your head as Tee started shaking. “How’d she die, then, huh?”

“Tee, you don’t need to know. I’m so sorry I lied, but please don’t —”

“Just tell me.”

You took a deep breath in, ignoring the sick feeling in your stomach. “She was shot in the head point blank by one of the guards at the lab.”

Tee stared at you silently. Her eyes were glassy. Her lips parted as she opened her mouth before promptly shutting it. Without a word she turned and reached for the doorknob.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Tee stopped, keeping her hand on the doorknob as she stared at you. It was difficult to ignore the tracks of tears that slipped down her cheeks, past her nose, and then dripped off her jaw.

“Away from you.”

“Tee, come on. Going out there isn’t —”

“Safe? You want to talk about safe? Seb’s gone. Everyone else is dead. Vee is…” She pressed her lips together as she shook her head. “I’m out of here. You’re on your own, El.”

The door slammed behind her. You stared at the dark wood, focusing on the nicks and scratches that marred it. You didn’t really notice as you sunk down onto the ground. You stared blankly ahead. Numb.

Alone.

• • •

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• • •

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delightfulstarlightparadise · 4 years

Text

Imagine Reader/Sebastian Part 6

I may or may not have exagerated on the size of this chapter heheh.... sorry

Previous part here: https://delightfulstarlightparadise.tumblr.com/post/629648429892665344/before-we-start-i-once-again-remind-you-that

I would like to remind you that English is not my main language, but I am doing my best.

You spend all morning collecting parsnips, but you get a very nice price for them at Pierre’s, enough to cover both your hospital and saloon bills, and also buy some food for the farm. It is a little less than what you used to make in a week, but you feel really nice about yourself.

You are happily walking back to the farm when you hear someone calling you.

“Did I get your name right?” a blonde girl says coming down the stairs that lead to the fountain in the community center. “I really wanted to take a look at you. Emily had told me you were very good-looking.”

You turn to her and see that she is analyzing you from head to toes. This makes you feel a little vulnerable.

“I guess under all that dirt and with some different clothes you might actually look pretty nice.” she says.

“Excuse-me?!” is the only thing you can stutter behind a gag of disbelief.

“I am Haley. My sister is the crazy blue haired girl that works at Stardrop.” she says.

You can’t even bring yourself to greet her.

“I guess you won’t be much of a menace, then.” she speaks just like those mean girls you thought were only seen in movies. “See you around.”

The same sudden way she came, she goes away, charmingly walking in heels, moving her hips in an 80’s movie sexy way.

“Told you being weird over here is nothing.”

You look behind your shoulder and Sebastian is smoking , coming from the bus stop path.

“You know, Sam kicked me in a place that hurts this morning and I think somehow it is your fault.” he says without even greeting you. “Did you say something about the crush I told you?”

“I just asked.” you say, shrugging.

“How are you?” he asks.

“Fine. Why?”

“Because. Isn’t it something normal people ask when they meet?” he lets go the cigarette smoke almost in your face, he doesn’t seem to care about here the smoke is going. “Also, I overheard my mom and Maru talking about you being in the hospital yesterday. Did you drink too much again? We already have two alcoholics in town.”

“It was nothing like that. I just...” met a wizard and drank a green potion he gave me? That seemed to support more his theory of what happened. “... had an insulation?”

“Yeah... don’t push yourself too hard.” he says. “See you around, drunk farmer.”

“Bye gingerbread.” you reply with a whisper.

He freezes at his spot as if he was just hit in the stomach and slowly turns to you over his shoulder.

“What did you just say?” his voice i s rough.

“Nothing.” you say with a giggle.

“No, no. Repeat that. I heard you say it.”

“I didn’t say anything.” you shrug . “I better be going, I still have to eat lunch, I don’t wanna pass out somewhere else, again.”

“You are that fucking kid that used to hang around with Alex and call me gingerbread man, weren’t you?” he says. “I fucking hated you back then.”

“That is why you tried to kill me?”

His infuriated expression was quickly overrun by a nervous one.

“I didn’t try to kill you, it was an accident. And I saved you.” he says looking sideways a bit ashamed.

“You don’t call me what you just did, I don’t tell her you used to be a red hair.” you say.

“Her?... ABBY?! HELLO.”

Abigail shows up from behind Sebastian, holding his hips as if she was trying to scare him. It actually worked because he turned red right away.

“Hi Seb . Hey farmer! What are you doing?” she says.

“Hello. I was going home.” you say.

“The two of you are getting along well, right?” she says and you can feel something weird in her voice. “It is the third time I see you hanging out.”

“We used to know each other.” you say and Sebastian sends you the most infuriated and threatening look you have ever seen.

“I see...” she says, looking a little worried. “Did I interrupt something? Do you want me to leave?”

“No, it is fine. I was just leaving.” you say and organize your food packages in your hands. “See you later.”

“Wait a moment!” Sebastian says. “Abby, excuse-us just a second.”

Sebastian hugs you from your shoulders and takes you a little further from Abigail, that keeps staring at you both, curious.

“You don’t ever tell anyone I was ginger. EVER.” he whispers by your ear. “Neither how you used to call me. Got it?”

“Or what?” you say, bumping into his chest with your shoulder and smirking.

He steps away impressed with your strength. He stares at you as if he is about to do something that he doesn’t even know what is.

“Relax. I was just kidding.” you say, and wave at Abigail. “See you around.”

“Hey y/n wait!” Abigail calls. “We are gonna play videogames at Sam tonight, come too.”

Sebastian chokes at his own breath and you start feeling very anxious over the invite.

“I have... something... I...” you stutter.

“Come on!” she says, coming closer to both of you. “It is going to be fun, like that day in the saloon. Tell the farmer to come, Sebastian.”

“Cooome...” he says in a VERY sarcastic way.

“I... I will see about that.” you say very quickly. “I really need to go now.”

“Sebastian will pick you up when he is coming! He will be there at seven!” she says in such a firm way you don’t even know what to reply.

“Abby, what the...” Sebastian whispers at her.

“Didn’t you say Sam had a crush on the farmer.” she whispers back. “Let’s help him!”

“Yeah, but he likes Penny, now.”

“Oh, come on, Penny... so boring.”

It couldn’t be possible that they thought you were not listening to them. She keeps insisting and even pokes him on his ribs until he agrees to her.

“I will pick you up.” he says.

“O...k...” you say in a very uncomfortable way.

You go away living the two of them behind and, as you look over your shoulder you can see Sebastian discreetly lowering his face... maybe for a kiss? Were these two dating after all?

You quickly think that this is none of your business and when Sebastian comes over your house you can find an excuse for that unwanted social interaction.

When you arrive your house, there is a man sitting on your porch. He wears an eyepatch and a long cape, just like some character from a videogame.

You stand still by the gate while staring at him, wondering why can’t you avoid social interactions AT ALL in that town. As he sees you, he stands up in a very noble posture and greets you:

“Good afternoon, y/n. I am Marlon, the Adventure’s guild master.”

“The what, now?” you mutter.

You remember Linus saying something about that man but... couldn’t he be just some crazy guy? If a man dressed up like that in Zuzu city came towards you saying he was of some Guild, you would probably runaway. Maybe you should find a way to lock that gate on your farm...

“Linus told me you had a battle with a Wilderness golem.” he says. “And that you were very brave.”

That was not what happened, but you didn’t really know what to tell him.

He slid his cape to the side, letting you see an old and rusty sword that he, then, handed to you. It was very light, but you felt unease about being holding a white weapon that could easily hurt someone.

“Here, it is for your protection at night.” he said. “Also, if you enter the mines, you will certainly need it.”

You just nod at him, as yo u don’t know what to reply.

“I can see in your eyes you have the adventurous spirit in you. I will tell you! If you can slay 10 slimes I will give you a pass to the guild.”

“If I can what?” you think to yourself as you shake your head in agreement.

“Farewell my fellow adventurer.” he says, and leaves as if he is a knight going for battle.

When you see he is far enough you immediately let go the sword, letting it carve on the ground in front of your porch. You didn’t want any of these!

You get inside your house, but the memory of the Wilderness golem attack comes to your mind as soon as you see Dog l yi ng on the carpet, he is waving his tail at the sight of you, and you notice that he has a scratch on his back. You hadn’t stopped to take a good look at him before. You feel bad for him having gotten hurt while defending you.

You get back outside and grab the sword.

“Come here boy, let’s give you a shower and take care of this injury.”

You take a long time bathing Dog and then making a bandage on the hurt spot... and you forget to eat again... Dog is probably hungry too, it’s a nice thing you bought some dog food for him. As for you, maybe you should microwave a pizza.

You hear a knock at the door.

“What is it now, someone bringing me some bows and arrows? A fucking witch?” you say to yourself while getting to the door.

As you open up, you face Sebastian staring at you with a sneering face. He looks really good, the hair is a little less messy and he is wearing a black shirt and a leather jacket instead of the usual hoodie you see him in.

“What the hell were you talking about?” he asks between dragging and exhaling the smoke of his cigarette.

“Damn it. I forgot.” you say. “Look, I can’t go, I haven’t eaten yet.”

“I can wait, I am early. Besides, I am taking some snacks too.” he says.

“Why don’t you just... say I was not feeling ok? Please.” you insist, trying to slowly close the door.

“Abby won’t fall for that. And... Sam was pretty excited when I told him you were going, I don’t want to disappoint him.” he replies pushing the door open and getting inside.

He stops at the sight of your cottage. Just a little room with a bed, a table and a chair. The smallest fridge he had ever seen (for sure you had seen too) an old tv , a microwave and a small bathroom. That was all.

“You should get my mom to upgrade this house sometime.” he says without any regard to whether that would sound rude or not.

“Do I look like I have that kind of money?” you reply with a little frown.

He sits on the only chair available and puts the package he is carrying on the table, beside a... helmet.

“Aw man...You did not came by bike, did you?.” you say anxiously. “I am not riding with you, you can tell them anything, I am not going.”

“Hey what is your deal with motorcycles?” he says. “I will ride safely, don’t worry.”

You cross your arms and take a deep breath.

“It is... personal.” you say.

He stares at you seemingly worried but then he just looks to the other side and nods.

“Ok then. We walk and then I come pick up my bike.” he says.

You sigh as you see that he is probably not going away without you.

“Wait there, I will dress up.” you say with your head down.

You get to the bathroom and take a quick shower, then dress up with one of the only nice set of clothes you have left, you tide up your hair (and maybe put on some make up if you like it). You don’t have any perfume left, so you can only hope that the shower was enough to get off the smell of dirt from the farm.

When you get out of the bathroom you see Sebastian glance at you, quite surprised, but he quickly stands up and gets the package with snacks from the table. You realize this is probably the first time anyone sees you and you are not tired from a long trip or all covered in farm dirt.

As the two of you are leaving, you look at the sword behind your headboard and wonder if you shouldn’t take it with you, just in case... but he would probably think you are even weirder for doing so. You remember Linus saying the town’s folk are protected by some spell, so you hope being with Sebastian helps those monsters from attacking you... but maybe...

“Hey, what is taking so long?” he says.

“How weird would you think I am if I brought a sword along?” you ask.

Sebastian stares at you a little surprised.

“What, have you met any slimes around the forest? I guess spring is also their breeding season.” he says. “But you don’t have to ask me anything about it. You do as you please, I don’t judge you.”

He scratches his neck a little blushed.

“Abby sometimes brought a sword to your farm when we came here.”

You get impressed that Sebastian talks about slimes, but you then remember what Linus said about some magic in the valley that made people think those magic things were normal. You feel very relieved to be able to bring the sword with you.

It is kind of a long walk and Sebastian smokes two entire cigarettes along the way. You walk in silence until you arrive the forest entrance of the city, where you can see a blue house with a navy sign above the door, not far away.

You then see that a man is staggering from the road to your direction, holding a can of beer. He is grunting and does not seem to see either you or Sebastian coming in the opposite direction. Sebastian pulls you aside so you get out of the man’s way.

“What?” he says, staring at you. “What did you say?”

“Nobody said anything, Shane.” Sebastian replies. “We are just going to Sam’s house.”

“They keep staring at me, I don’t know what these people keep looking. Why they don’t leave me alone...” he mutters while passing beside you.

As he says this you notice that you WERE in fact staring him and you feel a little bad about it. Maybe that is why the man engaged in such a rude talk. You saw a lot of people like him in the streets of Zuzu city.

“Don’t worry about him.” Sebastian says, and signs for you to keep walking.

Something about that man pulls your attention and you keep looking at him until he disappears in the forest.

“Is he ok?” you ask. “Is it ok to let him go like that. Isn’t that forest dangerous?” you ask.

“He gets like this every night... never died.” Sebastian says shrugging. “He works with Sam.”

You think that is very bad of him to say something like that, but you think again, if you were willing to do anything to help anyway. You continue to walk to Sam’s house.

“Why are they taking so long?” you hear a worried whisper.

Abigail and Sam are waiting for you outside his house. She looks absolutely stunning with a nice black dress and a denim jacket. Sam is wearing some stay-home shorts and a T-shirt and when he sees you and Sebastian arrive, he gets quite embarrassed.

“Man, what do you think I invited you to do?! It is just videogames! Why are you guys all dressed up?” he complains. “Now I feel like I have to put on some pants.”

“You look fine.” Sebastian says and pushes the snacks packages against his chest. “Go get us some food, y/n haven’t eaten yet.”

None of them seem to care about the sword you are caring on your waist.

You get inside and it is quite a charming home, it seems to have been tied up very carefully and gently. A ginger lady (that was quite a ginger town) was seated on the couch watching TV while that boy who kicked a ball on your had some days before was playing with toys on the floor.

“Abby!! Seb ! Ah... and y/n!” Vincent say very happily.

He runs towards Abigail and hugs her legs, then Sebastian fist bumps him. He stops in front of you and waves, uncertain of what to do, but showing a small smile.

“Good night Mrs. Jodi.” both Sebastian and Abigail say.

“Good night.” you follow, in a clumsy way.

“Oh, hi kids!! Welcome!” she replies with a smile. “Hello y/n, nice to finally meet you. I am happy that you are already friends with my son.”

You nod and try to smile, once again, uncertain of what to do, but Sebastian just pushes you forward to the direction of Sam’s room.

“You are a social disaster.” he whispers at you.

“Don’t tell me!” you reply.

“You are not much better wi th people yourself.” Abigail says. “ I don’t think you get to say anything about the farmer.”

“ Yeah, but I chose to be this way” he replies.

Sam suddenly grabs you by the shoulders and excitedly yells that combination of your names he made up during the snooker game.

“Let’s team up y/n!!”

“Aw man, I wanna team up with the farmer! Sebastian doesn’t know how to do teamwork.” Abigail complains.

“Why do you think I chose y/n??” Sam replies, showing her his tongue in a very childish way.

A loud noise comes from your stomach, and you go red with shame while hiding your face between your hands. Abjgail let go a giggle while Sam slowly steps back , heading outside his room, probably to the kitchen to grab you something to eat.

He comes back full handed with bowls of snacks, sauce and some soda bottles, but for you he gives a plate of what seems to be a complete dinner. This makes you even more embarrassed.

“Don’t worry, my mom always makes too much food.” He says with a smile.

While you are eating, and it is absolutely delicious, both you and Abigail watch while Sam and Sebastian play a combat game . Sebastian wins two of the three rounds but not as easily as he won in snooker a couple of days before. Abigail, then, takes Sam's control. She wins the first round but Sebastian is way too good in the game and beats her the same way he did to Sam.

“Your turn now, farmer.” Abigail says, handing you the control.

“I wouldn’t even bother…” Sebastian brags , putting the control on his lap and cracking his fingers.

You wipe your mouth with a napkin and take the control, then choose one of the tiniest characters in the game.

“Are you kidding? Chose another character, this one sucks.” Sebastian says.

“But it is so cute.” You reply. “I wanna play with it.”

“Suit yourself. This is gonna be quick.” He replies.

You smirk while pulling the control closer to your body. The screen announces the beginning of the match and you quickly start pressing a combination of buttons that is so well memorized you don’t even need to think about what you are doing. Your character hops around the screen punching and kicking Sebastian's and it is so fast that his character can’t hit it with their strikes. Just a few minutes later the screen announces your flawless victory.

Sebastian drops the control on his lap, staring at the screen in disbelief, he then turns to you in a mix of anger and awe. You can’t contain a victorious smile.

“Wow! I didn’t even know this character could do these kinds of maneuvers!” Sam exclaims while taping you in the back. “This was so awesome!!”

“Wow! You play very well, farmer!” Abigail congratulates. “You beat Seb to the ground.”

“Round two!” Sebastian angrily says, picking up the control while the screen announces the second round.

You rest the control on your lap and start lightly pressing those same buttons making your character hop around the screen in that same way, with the same result. Sebastian's character drops in slow motion in another “flawless victory" announcement .

He turns to you in what seems an expression of complete defeat and makes a gesture of questioning.

“I used to play a lot of videogames on my free time.” you explain. “Also, I know a lot of special moves from reading forums.”

“Yeah, I do that too.” Sebastian says, upset, tossing his control to Sam.

You kind of pity him for getting so bitter over his loss, but it is pretty satisfying winning over him after that pool play. You are a bit of a competitive person and he seems to be too. You spend the rest of the night defeating the three of them using the most underrated characters of the game. Each match Sebastian seems more determined to win, but even when he gets close to it, you find a way to win using a special power he didn’t know about or a combo you made up yourself.

“You are REALLY good at it!” Abigail says excitedly. “You have to teach me this combo.”

“You just press triangle and x while moving forward.” you say, getting close to her and showing the way you move the buttons. “Using the analogic is better than the arrows, see? It is faster.”

Abigail tries to replicate your movements, frowning her browns and biting her tongue in a very adorable and concentrated face. You blush at the sight of it and barely notice that she is doing everything wrong.

“No, wait, you have to move your finger to this side, unless you want to invert the control’s settings.” you say.

“Can you do that?! It seems much easier to turn this way.” she replies. “Maybe that is why I can’t beat my game at home! Hey, can you come over and teach me how to do this?”

Sebastian stares at you with the most outraged face while Sam glances from the two of you to him in a worried expression.

“I can write you a tutorial.” you reply.

“ Nooo ... I hate messing with these kinds of things, I might even burn the console. Please come and help me, I live behind my father’s store.” she says in a very slick way. “ Pleaase ...”

You can almost feel Sebastian’s eyes burn the back of your neck, but Abigail’s stare is just as intimidating. You are afraid that if you give her any excuse she will read into your soul and then find a way to curse you into accepting.

“Ok...” you reply completely uncomfortable.

She smiles at you in a victory gesture. Sebastian on the other hand, grunts and stands up turning off the videogame.

“We should be going now.” he says.

“What? It is still so early!” Sam complains. “I didn’t even brought the sweet snacks.”

“I am pretty sure y/n has to wake up early to attend the farm’s business.” he replies. “Also, I have a code to finish.”

“Aw man, I was going to ask y/n to teach me how to unlock the mysterious character.” he grunts and puts the controls beside the console.

“Haven’t I already told you how to do it?” Sebastian is almost growling at him.

“Yeah, but I never get to do it when you are not here. You don’t explain things very well.” Sam mutters.

You can see Sebastian discretely slapping him in the back of his head while Abigail is still busy moving her fingers as if rehearsing the new move she has learned from you.

Sam takes you outside and waves goodbye at you as you walk towards Abigail’s house to escort her there before you go back to the farm. It is not a long walk until you get to Pierre’s.

“You should hang out with us more often.” she says and taking you completely out of guard, she kisses you on the cheek.

You freeze completely, your face becoming a bright tone of red as you hear Sebastian gasp in outrage. Abigail doesn’t even bother saying goodbye to him, she just gets inside and you see her long purple hair waving through the glass door.

Both you and Sebastian stay put for a while.

“We should be going right?” you say.

“Yeah...” he replies with what, for you, seems to be a roar of threat.

You walk in silence until you get to the entrance of the forest. Sebastian seems so stressed that he puts out two cigarettes in that short walk.

“Listen, I don’t want to stay in your way.” you apprehensively say.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” he replies, sharply.

“Abigail.”

“What about her?” he asks and his voice barely comes out.

“Aren’t you, like, her boyfriend or something?” you ask.

Sebastian chokes in his cigarette smoke and spends quite some time coughing, but it seems to be more about making you stop talking. As you keep staring at him, he stops and looks back at you, his eyebrows frowned and cheeks a little blushed.

“It is complicated.” he says.

“Ok, none of my business.” you say, putting your hands up beside your shoulders.

“Thanks.” he says.

“But you do seem to like each other.” you can’t help saying.

“I said THANK YOU.” he yells and you giggle.

You keep walking through the forest, passing a little cabin near the river and then, Marnie’s ranch until you reach the bottom entrance of the farm. When the two of you are entering, you hear a terrible screech and Sebastian stops to look around.

“What the hell was that?” he asks.

“A bat, maybe?” you say, your hand is already on the handle of your sword.

You hear it again and out from between the trees a giant skull head comes dashing at both of you, cracking its teeth as if it is about to bite you.

You push Sebastian aside and swing the sword at it, but it ducks and attacks you with a bump in your chest, sending you flying to the ground near him.

“What the fuck!? What the fuck?!” he yells while standing up and trying to help you stand up too.

The skull takes a turn and aims at Sebastian, but you push him aside again and this time, you get to hit it with your sword knocking it back a few yards. It makes a horrible sound and quickly comes back in your direction. You wave your sword, but miss, and it bites your arm.

You hear Sebastian scream your name in worry, and it hurts like hell, but you find a way to set yourself free and knock the skull with the sword again. It let go a cry of anger and try to advance, but it is suddenly knock down by a shadow.

It is D og! He came to save you once again .

Dog bites it and presses it against the ground while it screams and tries to escape. With a big effort from your hurt arm, you stab the skull as hard as you can, and it shatters into pieces that start disappearing.

You let go the sword and fall on your knees, puffing and moaning in pain. Dog comes closer and licks your face, his tail slightly wagging.

You feel a touch on your shoulder and turn around quickly in a defensive pose, but it is just Sebastian checking on you. He is covered in dirt and his eyes are wide open with the scare.

“It's me, it's me.” He says, kneeling by your side and trying to make you let go of your hurt arm so he can see it. “ This is ugly, I should take you to the hospital.”

“And say what, that you bit me?” you reply trying to make him get away from the wound, that clearly looked like a human bite.

“Do you have any other ideas?” he asks.

“Take me to the Wizard!” you yell in pain.

“The WHAT now?” Sebastian says.

“You know, the guy that lives in that weird tower in the forest. He will help me... I guess... damn it, it hurts so much!”

By now you have started crying and Dog starts barking at Sebastian, as if he is telling for him to hurry. He stands up and runs to get his motorcycle.

Besides you starting to say that you are not going to hop on that, Sebastian lifts you with a strength he does not seem to have and forces you to sit in the backseat.

“No!!” you yell and tears are coming down.

“Just hold on ok. I promise you we’ll be ok.”

You shake your head negatively, but Sebastian takes your unwounded arm and makes you hold onto his hip. He stops for a moment, holding your hand and staring at it, as if he has just zoned out in some thought. His hand is cold, probably because he is nervous and scared, but you feel suddenly comforted by it. You slowly stop crying with small sobs.

“Can you hug me with the other arm?” he asks.

You nod and pass the other arm around his hip. He starts the motorcycle engine, and you let go a shout of fear, hugging Sebastian tight and pressing your face against his back. He starts riding fast towards the west of the forest.

“Are you ok?” he asks midway.

You can only bring yourself to nod.

“You are holding a bit tight...”

“I am sorry.” you sob, but can’t loosen the hug.

“It’s ok...”

When you arrive, as soon as Sebastian stops the bike, you hop out and fall on you knees of it giving him a big scare. He hops after you, and even lets the motorcycle drop on the forest floor. He helps you stand up and walk to the tower.

You knock at the door.

“Who can it be at this time... Oh Yoba !” the Wizard attends and gasps in surprise to see you bleeding. By that time your sleeve is all red. “Come on in! Come on in!”

The Wizard gives you some weird red medicine to drink and Sebastian stares at it very uncertain if he should let you do it or not, but you quickly grab it and gulp it down. The pain starts to fade away while Rasmodius cleans up the wound and infuses it with herbs.

“So, what happened?” the wizard asks when you finally seem better.

“I ask you!” you yell at him. “I don’t remember signing up to fight MONSTERS. A fucking flying skull BIT ME!”

“Hmm... it seems like your ability to connect with the valley comes with the hazard of attracting the cursed ones.” Rasmodius says. “Not even my strong spell can protect you as it does to the townsfolk. It impresses me that you were attacked along with one.”

Sebastian is staring at Rasmodius seeming VERY confused. That is probably the same face you made when you first met him.

“I will be going back to Zuzu ! That is it!” you say.

“I am afraid it is not possible anymore.” Rasmodius replies, scratching his purple beard.

“Excuse me?!”

“You see, once you are now connected to the valley, you will find very difficult to leave.” he says. “You may try to take the bus, or any other way of transportation, but you will always find yourself back here.”

“I don’t believe it! You are saying this to keep me here with those monsters and the... Junimos ! They are telling you to do this!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Sebastian asks.

“Those little apple things that live in the old community center! They are behind this.”

Sebastian stares at you as if you were the craziest person in the world.

“Show him!” you shout, turning to the wizard.

“Only those connected to the Elementals can...” he starts lecturing.

“I DON’T FUCKING CARE, FUCKING SHOW HIM!!!” you yell while beating your feet on the ground.

Both the Wizard and Sebastian jump in place scared by your sudden lash out. He takes off his hat and scratches his head.

“What is with this new generation and curses?” he sighs. “So be it...”

Rasmodius starts saying some incomprehensible words and each and every one of the rocks of the tower start shaking. Sebastian holds tight to the chair you are sitting and you start regretting saying anything at first place. A big flash of light blinds you for a second, and in the middle of the room a summoning circle appears. In the middle of the circle, the tiniest apple appears.

It is a little green Junimo . It waves at you and Sebastian and starts making those funny noises it does. You turn to Sebastian and gesture at it.

“I have been smoking too much pod.” he says while rubbing his head.

You stand up and force him to sit down on the chair you were sitting, then hush to pick the Junimo on your hand. You squish it while showing it to him, and then, you start, very dramatically, telling him EVERYTHING that has been happening to you since your arrival: the old memories, the plants growing too fast, the community center, the monsters attack.

He listens to everything staring at you as if some engine has just broken inside his head. When you finally finish, he keeps staring in silence.

“I think it was too much for this young man.” Rasmodius says, analyzing Sebastian’s face from up close. “Maybe I should wipe his memory.”

“No! No messing around with my head anymore, please!” he says, standing up quickly. “I knew you were trouble! I should have stayed home washing the dishes and let Maru hang out with you.”

“Excuse me! I am clearly the victim here. Also, this bite here? I got it protecting you!” you say while shaking your previously wounded arm.

“Apparently you were the one who put me in danger in first place.”

The two of you keep staring at each other in infuriating rage. Rasmodius makes a wonderous pose and then smacks his fist on his hand as if he had just made a discovery.

“I see... your destinies are connected. You are the ones for each other.” he says.

“THE WHAT?” you both yell.

“He has a girlfriend!” you say pointing at Sebastian outraged.

“Abigail is NOT my girlfriend.” he replies.

“Interesting, interesting.” the Wizard mumbles. “You have found yourselves so soon in your journey, such a connection is rare.”

“Excuse me Mr. But farmer here isn’t my type.”

“Wow! What?! Am I too ugly for you?” you don’t even know why you are still bickering over it, but you don’t feel like letting him say something like that about you.

“Did I say that? You said that. I didn’t say that.” Sebastian talks back.

“I see, I see...” Rasmodius isn’t even paying attention to you. “Quite a journey you have ahead of you. You shall, then, rest for tonight.”

“ Wha ...”

Before the both of you can finish the sentence, the Wizard gestures with his open hands and a big flash of light involves you...

…when you realize, you are waking up on your bed. There is no bite in your arm anymore. You can hear the rooster sing in the distance.

Next part here: https://delightfulstarlightparadise.tumblr.com/post/629832532423213056/imagine-sebastian-reader-part-7

#stardew valley #stardew valley sebastian #stardew valley imagine #stardew valley sam #stardew valley abigail #stardew valley farmer #stardew valley fanfiction

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yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy · 3 years

Text

Why So Jaded Chapter 11

Oh it’s getting to be a family affair now. AO3, FFN. The chapter is called The Give For The Take for a very good reason. Enjoy.

Why So Jaded?

Chapter 11

“So were you good for Vi?” Helen asked Jack when Violet dropped him off at home on Sunday night.

“Yeah! We had a great time. We got to hang out with Barret the whole time.” Jack gleefully informed her.

“B..who?” Helen asked.

“His full name is Bartholomew Maximillian Pine, Mr. Pine, my other asset at work? We call him Barret for short.” Violet tried to honestly yet vaguely answer.

“Oh, but I thought he was on house arrest at SEB for the bet he made?” Helen asked.

“He is, so we hung out with him. He helped Jack with his school project about radio waves because the Lord knows I couldn’t.” Violet informed her mother.

“And he’s friends with Evan’s mom! You know Evan- he usually goes to Milham park with his little brother Alex and his little sister Kaely? Tammy has short bobbed hair cut, brown hair.” Jack tried to jog his mom’s memory.

“Oh yeah! Tammy. She’s really nice.” Helen recalled.

“Well I got invited to Evan’s birthday party in a couple of weeks, can I go? It’s on the 18th. They’re having it at Scene It.” Jack pleaded.

“I could take him if you already had plans.” Violet offered as Helen looked at her calendar on her fridge.

“Yeah, that would be nice.” Helen appraised.

“We’re supposed to be taking Jr and Dillion that weekend.” Bob said as he came over and looked at the calendar.

“Yeah who did Dash spend his weekend with anyway?” Violet asked as both of her parents just shook their heads with a defeated sigh.

“Who knows.” Bob grumbled as he got a beer from the fridge.

“So tell me about Barret, Jack.” Bob invited.

“He’s awesome! He cooks so good, like Bobby Flay, like he made us all these amazing dishes from scratch and he showed me how to make a risotto, he’s a genius and an inventor and he explained radio waves to me and I should be getting an A on this project. And he’s actually really nice and sucks at cards. I demolished him at rummy but he was a really gracious loser and a good sportsman, he has no ego and he’s not the most handsome guy but his personality is awesome, just a really nice, easy going guy.” Jack appraised honestly.

“And that’s why we’re friends.” Violet added.

“Aww, that’s sweet.” Helen cooed as she got dinner ready as Bob simply nodded and retreated to the living room with his can of beer as Jack followed his dad and continued to sing Barret's praises, in an effort to get his dad to at least like the idea of Barret.

“Can you stay for dinner Vi?” Helen asked hopefully.

“I’d love to. Here, let me help.” Violet offered as she grabbed some potatoes and started to help peel them.

“So what’s Barret really like?” Helen asked as they stood side by side over the trashcan peeling potatoes.

“He’s genuine. And a gentleman. We ended up staying really late Friday because we just got caught up talking and getting to know each other, and by each other, his company and myself. Jack obviously knew Barret’s company and played nice with the other kids and it was just a nice dinner that I got to stay for and it was just...hanging out with friends. They’re just normal people. Like normal normal, with kids and mortgages and student loan debt. Anyway, Barret didn’t want me to drive home exhausted so he let Jack and I take his bed while he took his own couch. He was just..really nice. He never pushes for closeness or intimacy of any kind, he's down to earth whereas with Phil it’s just one head game after another when his head isn't crammed so far up his own ass it comes back out the other end again or when his head gets so big, it can't be contained inside Madison Square Gardens because it's a freaking blimp and his ego is as fragile as a hanging nut sack, it's a very nice and welcome change of pace. It was actually almost fun to just be casual and hang out and not watch the clock to count down the minutes until I’m free. And not having to always watch my back and watch the exits and think of exit strategies or expecting attacks every other second or worrying about doing or saying the wrong thing that’ll bite me in the ass later, like turning off for once instead of always being on you know?” Violet answered honestly.

“Well I’m glad you had a good weekend and it sounded like you spent it with a friend. You need more of those.” Helen noted as she smiled at her daughter.

“Thanks, so. How was your weekend?” Violet returned.

“It was so fun. We ended up doing a gig upstate and after we got a cabin and just got to relax after, it was great.” Helen sighed happily as Violet simply smiled, albeit a little sadly. Because she doubted she would ever get to enjoy the wedded bliss her parents enjoyed. If she lived long enough to get married that is.

Just then Dash came into the house.

“Oh good, I didn’t miss dinner.” Dash smiled happily as his stomach started to growl.

“If you’re gonna help eat it, you should help make it.” Violet urged.

“But you two do it so well, I would only be in the way.” Dash excused himself as he grabbed beer from the fridge and started chugging it.

“You look really nice by the way Violet, green is definitely your color.” Dash praised as she squeezed by them to get to the box of cookies on the counter.

“I’m not giving you any more money, you still haven’t paid me back from the last three times I gave you money.” Violet immediately insisted when Dash tried hugging her from behind.

“Who said anything about money?” Dash pretended to be appalled that Violet would insinuate that.

“No one, and it will not be brought up again.” Violet insisted and she could only smirk smugly when he huffed and pulled away from her sullenly.

“So which underwear catalog model were you with this weekend Dash?” Violet asked.

“Victoria’s Secret, with Bianca.” Dash grinned cheekily with a click of his teeth as Violet visibly gagged.

“For the love of God and all that holy, please tell me you wore a condom.” Helen urged.

“Uh I think we should be asking Violet if she’s been wearing condoms when she was with Phillip in Vegas of all places, I’m surprised she didn’t come back married as Mrs. Sebastian.” Dash snidely returned as he began to walk away and Violet’s eyes glowed ultraviolet for a moment as her anger started to build.

“First of all, that’s none of your business, second, that was work and well within the parameters of my contract, third, considering my track record, as opposed to yours, who has not one, but two children already by two different women? And they’re only six months apart? And don’t you pay enough in child support already? You really want to add a third payment?” Violet spat back.

“Well some of us don’t roll around in money Violet! Besides, aren’t you paying enough in rent at Sky Way?” Dash sneered condescendingly.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, you know if you could keep it in your pants for more than five minutes, you’d be able to afford to live there too, don’t you get enough in endorsements between Nike, Body Armor and all your White Lightning merch and endorsements? Just up your appearance fees or better yet, if you- you know, invested some of that money instead of spending it faster than you’re making it, you’d be able to live wherever you wanted to.” Violet returned defensively.

“I do invest it, it’s just not getting the same returns your money makes apparently.” Dash returned.

“Oh my God, will you two stop it! Ugh, aren’t your kids supposed to get along once they leave home?” Helen complained.

“Dash, just go to the living room, dinner will be ready in a bit.” Helen decided.

“Stuck up.” Dash muttered under his breath.

“Leech.” Violet spat back.

“If he moves back in you better be charging him rent.” Violet insisted to her mother.

“Oh trust me, he’ll never move back in because I would never let him bring home another woman other than the two he's already impregnanted and when he wasn’t working, he’d be watching his own kids.” Helen reassured her.

“And heaven forbid he not have a revolving door on his bedroom.” Violet spat.

“I’m still holding out hope that he’ll find the right girl and settle down.” Helen confessed.

“Yeah, somehow, I get the distinct impression that will happen to Jack before that ever happens with Dash.” Violet ventured as she took her now peeled potatoes and rinsed them off in the sink before she got a cutting board out and started cutting up the now peeled potatoes into bite sized chunks.

“Well it just might happen with you before it could happen with Jack.” Helen teased as she bumped Violet’s hip with her own as she put her own peeled and rinsed off potatoes next to the cutting board.

“Ha! No.” Violet returned.

“Well I mean Barret sounds promising.” Helen shrugged and all Violet could do was laugh even harder.

“Yeah, no, I sincerely doubt that’s ever going to be a possibility.” Violet shook her head no.

“Why not?” Helen asked.

“Uh, well, he has quite the storied past. Granted, he isn’t the same guy he was, say, a decade ago, but uh, there’s too much history there.” Violet hinted.

“Like what kind of history?” Helen prodded.

“The kind that got him...really really hurt. In every conceivable sense. He made some really bad decisions in early youth, youth, teens and early adulthood and granted he pays for them, just about every day. But…it’s very complicated.” Violet tried to choose her words carefully.

“Everyone has history Violet. Doesn’t mean it has to haunt us the rest of our lives.” Helen insisted but Violet just huffed a mirthless laugh again. If that were the case, she wouldn't have such a hard time sleeping in the first place, or wake up in a cold sweat screaming her head off half the time.

“How old is he again?” Helen asked.

“He’s 31, seven years my senior.” Violet answered.

“Well that’s not that big of an age difference, especially once you pass your early 20’s, now if he was like 15 or even 20 years older than you, then yeah, that would be an eyebrow raiser of a difference.” Helen figured as she went into her fridge and got a wine cooler and offered Violet one who gladly took it and opened it and started drinking it.

“So what makes it so complicated?” Helen posed.

“Uh, well besides the history. Just our...positions. Phillip keeps me on a short leash and it’s only because I’ve “mixed business with pleasure” that I have any breathing room now. Phillip is jealous and possessive enough that...to pursue anything with anyone while I’m still under contract is a very bad idea and too dangerous. Phillip has a way of reaching out and touching people, and not in any kind of good way. And Barret is also under contract and his contract is even longer and more severe than mine. But we are…” Violet paused as she tried to decide on the best words to use.

“We’ve grown close to being friends because we’re just...two birds, in side by side gilded cages.” Violet finally murmured lowly as she finely diced the potatoes as she realized they should boil these and make mashed potatoes.

“So what has he done to incite you to view him like that?” Helen posed as she rinsed off some asparagus in the sink as another vegetable for dinner.

“He’s healing me.” Violet answered honestly.

“Like emotionally or physically?” Helen asked.

“The latter, the former is probably impossible.” Violet specified.

“Like with your central cortex?” Helen posed.

“Yep, he used his genius and formulated my current medication, he got me in front of the curve instead of always chasing behind it. It’s like I’m a teenager again, before any of it ever hurt and I can use my powers for hours instead of mere minutes before the pain sets in and the longer I'm on it, the better. I’m actually sleeping at night because of the sleep aids he’s made for me, granted for anyone else, they’d put them into a permanent coma but for me, they’re just right. I’ve shared them with Tali and they’re curing her too and even all the other Supers at The Agency with the same problem. Grated Phillip makes The Agency pay through the nose for theirs but for now they’re free for me and Barret is risking everything to get me my own protected supply that Phillip can’t touch or better yet, control, just in case Phillip tries to hold them over my head to keep me in line, which I wouldn’t push past him. Barret even made a suit that should protect me and everyone I protect that has features that every Super will want and every Super who is a handler will need. And he gives without any thought or want or need to be paid back. Even when he has so little, he’d give it all before ever being asked. He’s helping me with Dragon Eye, he’s...he’s an unlikely ally and an even unlikelier friend.” Violet explained as Helen’s eyebrows rose in surprise to hear of these developments. Granted, she didn’t like Phillip as far as she could punt him either. Something about Phillip put her on edge and had her own intuition telling her something was wrong with him and that he was much more dangerous than he looked but she couldn’t put her finger on it or explain it. She got the sense he was a sleezeball and Helen would have never forgiven Violet if Violet had come home from Vegas as Mrs. Sebastian.

“Sounds like a pretty awesome guy to me Vi.” Helen shrugged with a knowing grin.

“He is. He just...has an unfortunate past.” Violet answered.

“Was he in the mob or something?” Helen guessed lowly.

“Uh, no, not that I’m aware of.” Violet shook her head.

“Is he a serial killer?” Helen teased as Violet huffed a mirthless laugh again.

“Technically I’m a serial killer Mom.” Violet answered in all seriousness and honesty.

“Oh no you’re not. You’re a Super, no Super has clean hands, on either side but you're on the good side. Guilty blood saves innocent blood, and it's because of that guilty blood that you've saved countless innocents which more than makes up for it.” Helen assured her daughter.

“Even if my hands have the blood of other Supers on them?” Violet posed.

“Yes.” Helen insisted.

“Not all Supers are good people, and not all Supers are heroes. You’ve gotten your hands dirty trying to keep the world safe and everyone else clean, you’ve had to make the tough decisions and the hard choices. But they were the right ones. If it was easy, everyone could do it. But you’re special and you’re one of the good guys, if not one of the best. You’re the best kind of hero, one that doesn’t need to constantly be in the spotlight and have every good deed praised by the masses, unlike others we know.” Helen reassured her as Helen gave the living room a dismissive glance.

“I doubt you’d give Barret the same speech because his hands have just as much Super blood on them that mind do.” Violet posed with a disbelieving look as Helen was taken aback.

“Ok, now you’re scaring me. Who is Barret?” Helen asked in all seriousness.

“Google him, Google- Bartholomew Maximillian Pine, just don’t scream or yell when you find out and don’t tell Dad, the last thing I need is for Dad to go Papa Bear and kill him before I can get Dragon Eye off my plate.” Violet answered before Helen got her phone out of her back pocket and googled it.

“Why does he look familiar?” Helen asked as she looked at the images of him that came up.

“Cross reference Buddy Pine, aka Syndrome.” Violet said before Helen sharply inhaled through her nose as her eyes got impossibly wide.

“See? Do you see why I didn’t want tell you? Because of this reaction right here.” Violet insisted.

“I...I thought he was in a wheelchair? After the accident with the jet turbine.” Helen finally spoke.

“He was in a wheelchair, he was in one for a few years after that accident and had to be put together and get surgery after surgery to be made somewhat whole again, it was why he didn’t go to prison after Syntech crashed and burned as did Syndrome. But Barret has assured me that Syndrome died in that jet turbine and it’s beyond clear to me that he is telling me the truth and he shows me that that's the truth by his actions that he is nothing like what he once was, except for the genius inventor thing, that never changed but everything else did, you'd barely recognize him now but hearing him talk might jog your memory. Or even Dad's especially. Barret has suffered enough from all of that and especially how Tali helped tear apart and break down the very empire she helped him build and left him with nothing where he had to start from an all new low. Not only did he barely have a dollar to his name, he was left in literal pieces that had to be sewn together and be ripped apart piece by piece in every way before he put himself back together again. It’s actually impressive how he’s managed to make it this far despite all that. And even with all that history. He’s...he’s surprisingly not bitter or holding any grudges, even against Tali, because he got his ass into some much needed therapy. Here, watch this with your headphones.” Violet urged as she handed her phone to her mother and had her watch the video that she had saved to her phone as Helen put her headphones in her ear and watched the video as Violet watched her mother carefully, watching how she started off wearily then gradually went from weary to understanding then sympathetic as the video progressed.

“So, you ready to take all that back?” Violet questioned when Helen finished and handed the phone back.

“Nope. Who else has seen that?” Helen asked.

“Tali, she cried when she watched it. She said that if he had been like that a decade ago, she never would have left him, or betrayed him and has asked me to help Barret and take care of him to the best of my ability, which I have happily agreed to and Barret makes it easy for me to do so. I don't do so strictly out of obligation or because it's owed or expected. I do it because I want to. Which is a first for me, especially in this job.” Violet answered.

“Well, it’ll take some time for everyone to come around to the idea of just you being friends. I think it should only matter what people are in the present. Obviously, he’s suffered the consequences of his actions.” Helen appraised.

“He has suffered, more than enough.” Violet insisted.

“Then I trust your opinion of what he is now.” Helen insisted.

“Really?” Violet posed disbelievingly.

“Like I said, the past shouldn’t haunt us forever. And if you said Syndrome died all those years ago. And he’s a changed man, then I will trust you on that. You aren’t one to trust anyone easily. And every ounce of your trust is hard earned and if he’s earned it, and if you trusted him enough to let Jack hang out with him, because it's no secret he's your favorite, much less yourself, then that’s enough.” Helen insisted.

“So you’re not pissed that I let Jack hang out with him?” Violet asked.

“You let Jack hang out with Barret. And Barret is a good guy. That’s all that matters.” Helen insisted before Violet quickly enveloped her mom in a tight hug.

“Thank you Mom.” Violet thanked her, not realizing how much her mother's approval would mean to her or how assuring, reassuring, validating and vindicating it was to have it.

“You’re welcome.” Helen reassured her. Ever so thankful and grateful that Violet let her in on even this much.

Truth be told, Helen was resentful to The Agency for turning her daughter from a good but shy teen to a stone cold killer. When Violet had come home from a stint that took almost a year, Violet just came home and held Jack and didn’t let him go for weeks. And often took him to bed with her and cried herself to sleep holding him. Violet wouldn’t breathe a word of what really happened and what she had been doing was top secret and only the highest of higher ups even knew about it, but after that, Violet was never the same and she was fiercely protective of Jack who was only 3 at the time and she was only 17, almost 18 herself at the time as well. Thus why the two shared their current super close bond. All Helen could think of is that involved children. Maybe the target had little children that Violet left orphaned, that was the only thing that made sense to Helen and to Bob. But after that, Violet just did mission after mission, back to back to back and started earning more than her parents ever did combined. And each time she came home, less and less of herself came home with her and when Violet moved out at 18, Helen feared she would lose all contact with her, and Helen had never been more devastated when her fears proved true.

When Violet was 21, she did another really, really long mission that took over a year and Helen didn’t hear from Violet that whole time and all The Agency could tell her was that she was on mission and undercover, wouldn’t say where or with who. But whatever it was, it didn’t end well. Helen and Bob had been watching the news and three major catastrophes seemed to happen at the same time, complete with natural disasters on top of political upheaval. And then they had gotten a call from Violet from a burner phone, saying that she was done. And she was disappearing for good and that she was just calling to say goodbye.

That had been the worst of it.

To beg and plead with your only daughter to just come home, where it was safe, where she would be protected. And to have that same, oh so precious daughter inform you that she would put them in too much danger if she did that. That she couldn’t protect them. She couldn’t even protect herself. And that the danger was bigger and stronger than anything they had ever known. And that if they only knew what had really happened, they would never welcome her home anyway. And that this was for the best. And it was going to be better this way.

Then silence.

And it didn’t matter how many times Helen and Bob went back to The Agency and rallied the troops and threatened to bring hellfire down on all of them if they didn’t give them their daughter back or at least tell them where she was. They were going to hang every last person at the agency on their own bullshit lies tied into a noose around their necks. No one would tell them anything, mostly because the people there didn’t know and everyone who did was unreachable and "conveniently" overseas and completely unreachable. Bob and herself had even officially quit and retired. And had even tried looking for her on their own but never did find her because Violet had been trained to never leave a trace. And Violet was always- successful.

It wasn’t until Phillip and The Agency found her and brought her home a little over a year later that they got to see her in the flesh. And while it was a blessing having Violet back home, working a ‘normal’-ish job that was mostly 9-5 through the week with the occasional overseas trip, it still kept her here in Metroville, and kept her close and brought her back into the fold so to speak. But the real Violet, Helen feared, never did come back. Or at least the Violet that Helen could remember or recognize.

But then, about a couple of months ago, Helen noticed she started seeing glimmers and glimpses of the real Violet again, like Violet's spirit was slowly returning to her body. She was still incredibly guarded, and secretive. But she was easing up, Helen supposed, at least smiling more, and being more accessible, at least physically, emotionally though, that was another matter entirely.

But Violet did take to Dash’s kids really well when she first came back. Feeling sorry and sad that she missed out on them. It wasn’t unusual for when Helen and Bob had them for the weekend- Violet would ‘drop by’ for the weekend too, with clothes and toys in tow and doted on them the way she doted on Jack when Jack was that age since Dash Jr. was three and Dillon was two and a half at the time and now Dash Jr. was four and in preschool and Dillon was now three and a half and she got along remarkably well with Ashley, Dash Jr's mom who was Dash's high school sweetheart, and Amy, Dillon's mom, Dash's first college love. But Violet got a lot harder on Dash, making sure he always paid his child support and spent quality time with his kids and even chipped in financially with their mothers, making sure that Jr got into an amazing preschool and made sure that Dillon would too, and helping them as much as she reasonably could. And with Jack, she usually bought the bulk of his school clothes and fabrics and trim which she happily took him to the garment district and let him go nuts in the fabric warehouses, bringing home yards and yards of fabrics for his ‘creations’ and even paid for her parents to put on an addition to their house so Jack had his own studio to create in and was super encouraging to Jack with his interests, and often did all she could to help them out, either physically or especially financially and made sure to give them heads up on her schedules of when she was going to be in town or out of town so if they needed to, they could depend on her, or invite her to their own social things that they had going on.

But right now, it was Helen’s intuition telling her that the reason she was seeing more of the real Violet, was because it was Barret of all people bringing it out in her, and for that she was grateful and it was because of that, she could learn to forgive him for the past.

Monday morning Violet came into work and was surprised to see a woman in Phillip’s office already, and it was someone she didn’t recognize as she was sitting in his lap as he showed her something on his computer as her giggle got on every nerve Violet had.

“Mr. Sebastian?” Violet posed politely.

“Oh, Ms. Parr, good morning.”

“Good morning. Do we have anything new for Mr. Pine today?” Violet asked formally, since he was obviously otherwise engaged as Violet’s glasses revealed to her exactly who was sitting in his lap and so intimately embraced in it. Another ballerina. Cheseray Wilkenson, prima dancer for Villefort Dance Company.

“Yes, actually.” Phillip said as he picked up his tablet and did a swiping motion from his own tablet to hers before her tablet got the new data and Violet froze when she saw it as she blinked in surprise from her tablet then back up to Phillip.

“By the way, how is the new suit?” Phillip asked and Violet actually did well keeping the dread and fear from her eyes and her face.

“Good, so far.” Violet answered.

“Excellent. I’m happy it’s working out for you.” Phillip offered and Violet simply smiled politely in view of his ‘company’.

“Is there a problem Ms. Parr?” Phillip baited.

“No, no problem at all, will that be all Mr. Sebastian?” Violet asked.

“Yes.” Phillip nodded.

“Very well,” Violet nodded as she then went to her own office and opened her own computer case from The Agency and accessed her files before pulling up Dragon Eye and did a search for when the last time someone accessed it and her heart dropped when she saw that Phillip was the last one to look at it, Saturday night. After herself, Barret and Jack had been working it as she remembered the wave pattern from the cameras. She had been in the apartment side of the space most of the time where the cameras had only come on in a wave a few times but she had thought nothing of it, since it was going to be Nelson, Pike, Leland and Smith in the security booth but there was no way for Jack and Barret to know that they were on a wave pattern and it obviously happened way more frequently for them to figure out what they were up to. That’s how Phillip knew that they had made progress.

He knew. But she was sure she’d be forced into trying to slit her own wrists if he knew that Dragon Eye was really him.

She closed it out and looked more closely at what her tablet had received as she tried to see what was really there. Was this a test? A trick? A trap? Or just Phillip keeping up with her? Her gut was telling her something was off and something was wrong. She needed Tali’s advice and she called her on her phone.

“Yes?” Tali answered.

“Hey, can you meet me for lunch today? Please?” Violet proposed.

“Uh, yeah, sure, where did you want to go?” Tali answered.

“Don’t care, somewhere uh, private and spider free.” Violet proposed.

“Luigiano’s.” Tali suggested.

“Yup, see you at say...11:30?” Violet proposed.

“Yes, of course Dear, see you then.” Tali answered.

“Thanks.” Violet said before she hung up and quickly went to Barret’s floor.

“Good morning Ms. Parr,” Barret greeted.

“Good morning Mr. Pine, uh, you have a few new items for your agenda this week.” Violet informed him as she couldn’t wipe the confused frown off her face or the fear from her eyes to save her life as she did a wiping motion from her tablet to his and then looked at him pointedly to make sure he actually saw what was in front of him.

“Oh, huh.” Barret finally murmured as he looked it over himself, and also frowned in confusion before he looked back over to Violet before they had a silent conversation with just their subtle facial expressions before he finally reached over and tapped her hand with his knuckle three times but tried to make it look like some random twitch.

“If you don’t have any questions, I’ll leave you to it then. See you this evening Mr. Pine.” Violet formally said before she left and went back to her office before she went into her bathroom and became invisible, her clothes she had been wearing, transforming into her suit before she marched from her bathroom to Phillip’s office, only to walk in to seeing Phillip balls deep in his new ‘pet’ on his desk before she sarcastically gagged then marched straight to Barret’s floor and tapped him again, three times, in rapid succession on the shoulder when she had made it back before he ‘casually’ decided to go to the bathroom himself and once in it, he blew out a breath of relief when a forcefield suddenly enveloped them both as she reappeared before him.

“So what’s going on?” Barret asked.

“He knows we were working on Dragon Eye. I was able to see who saw Dragon Eye last. And it was him. He saw it very late Saturday night. He’s out to exploit you even more than he already is.” Violet answered anxiously as she started pace inside the bubble of the forcefield.

“Yeah but a Super would need your powers to make them invisible too. The suit is meant to work as an extension of yourself and it takes machines that take up most rooms to turn it invisible without your powers. To put the same suit on any other Super, it’s not gonna work. And even if it did, unleashing a small army of completely invisible Supers who don’t have the same moral compass you do- is dangerous, like Supervillain level of dangerous. No offense.” Barret offered.

“Oh none taken, I completely agree. Just having one of me is already too dangerous. I mean it would be nice for The Agency to have someone else for my kind of work but even I would have no way of seeing them.” Violet worried.

“Well...not...not necessarily, when you’re in the suit, when you’re invisible, if you’re wearing the hood, you could see them, you could see, in theory anything you wanted to see. If I make your suit for anyone else. There’s ways I can make them that even you can see them, all I need is to reconfigure the visor section of your suit and even reconfigure your glasses when you don’t wear the suit over your head or give you special contacts or make it so that the the nanos always recognize each other, even from a distance, even from each other’s invisibility. Like x-ray vision but I guess...not. It can be done. It’ll be tricky, but it can be done.” Barret realized as his spark was working into overdrive figuring it out.

“Here’s my other request. While you’re doing that- make my suit EMP proof. Because one of my powers is to mimic an EMP signal, it’s one of the ways I can “burn” the cameras and listening devices and other electronics. But if you could make it so that the EMP signal, knocks out other’s invisibility but keep mine intact. But I also need a way for my own SOS signal to be EMP proof. Like I want to be a thousand feet underground in a copper mine or a lead mine and the right people would still be able to find me and rescue me.” Violet proposed.

“You got it.” Barret immediately agreed.

“Thank you.” Violet thanked him as she stopped her pacing to hug him tightly.

“I think it’s a trap.” Barret confessed.

“Oh I know it’s a trap. But at this point, I need to put my bloody feet in the water to attract the shark and I need a way to set my own trap for it and to spring it at the right time. Springing it too soon and we’ll never catch him. We need a trap of our own.” Violet answered as she just clung to him as he did the same to her.

“But the thing is, if he knew Saturday night, at the time he checked, that was the time Pike was getting off and Leland was getting on, Nelson got Friday night and he made sure to destroy the evidence of the uh, incident. And all he wants is when and if you ever get to leave here alive, to take him with you.” Violet conveyed.

“Oh, yeah, that totally works, it was Nelson that got you the necklace.” Barret immediately agreed.

“Figures. But that leaves Pike or Leland to spill the beans. Pike was in the same boat that Nelson was in when I talked to them Saturday morning and according to everyone, everyone in the security detail is ready to follow you out of here. But I don’t know if Pike was just saying that to curry favor with me or if he was genuine. Nelson I believe is genuine. Pike and Leland, I wouldn’t put it past them to be two faced. So we’re just going to have to be extra careful from here on out and choose our steps carefully. And anyone’s loyalty who can be bought isn’t worth having.” Violet murmured to the crux of Buddy’s neck and shoulder as they just hung onto each other, Barret refusing to let go before Violet would and was perfectly content to just enjoy this, plus he couldn’t chance endangering her by engaging her romantically or at least emotionally when she had so much to lose before Violet finally reluctantly let him go.

“I better get out of here, just in case I’ve been gone too long.” Violet excused herself.

“Thank you.” Violet whispered as she stood on her tip toes and kissed his cheek just as she vanished and just as Barret was about to go ‘fuck it’ and reach out and really kiss her back, she was gone, phased through the walls and he even reached out and tried to feel for her but she was already gone.

“You’re welcome.” Barret finally breathed as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck anxiously before he sat down and actually used the bathroom as he held his head in his hands and thought of all the ways to give her what she asked for. Electronics that were EMP proof. Ways of seeing the invisible that he had worked so hard to make invisible in the first place. But at the same time, make her own SOS beacon a lighthouse among flashlights all while doing it under Phillip’s nose and off his radar, and off The Agency’s radar.

Meanwhile Violet came back into her office’s bathroom just in time to hear Phillip calling for her once he came into her office, “redressed” in her original clothes she had been wearing before.

“Yes Phillip?” Violet asked as she held her lower belly, pretending to have just had a huge bowel movement.

“Oh, there you are. I apologize for having company earlier and not letting you have freedom of speech in front of her.” Phillip began.

“Thank you.” Violet said simply as she took her seat behind her desk.

“But now that you’re here, I take it I’m free to speak to you now?” Violet posed.

“Yes of course.” Phillip agreed as he took a seat on the other side of her desk.

“About the new suit's possible release for The Agency. I will insist that we bring Edna Mode on onboard, otherwise no Super will have anything to do with it for fear of offending her and Edna Mode is a dangerous enemy. I will take on a thousand Dragon Eyes before I piss her off and you should have the same fearful respect for her that I do, to do otherwise is to court death and social suicide in this business. Edna has been designing super-suits since supers became a phenomenon and into popularity for the last 40 years, every Super, hero and villain alike has always used Edna. She is one of a kind and she’s neutral. This will feel like a betrayal and it will feel like we’re “stealing” this from her. And if The Agency pushes this on their Supers, that will mean that the only Supers to use her will be villains and that’s a recipe for disaster. Also my suit that Mr. Pine designed, was designed with me specifically in mind, specifically for dealing with Dragon Eye. The suit's capabilities will not be available should anyone else try to put it on. So unless you plan on cloning me, which I will never agree to, it won’t work. However, let’s say Mr. Pine does devise a way to get other suits to mimic what mine can do. Do you really think that’s a good idea to hand over truly invisible suits to an Agency that could hold the entire world hostage? The Agency already controls every Hero practically world wide. Or worse yet, if just one suit falls into the wrong hands and gets replicated, every enemy now has a way to waltz into any building, into any place they wanted to and kill you or me or anyone else without a trace. One of me in the world is dangerous enough. Imagine ten of me, a hundred of me, an army of me but without my moral compass and without my ethics. There could be thousands, millions even. All invisible, all uncontrollable and pure chaos and disaster. And all of it would have your fingerprints. Can you imagine the already delicate stock market crashing and sending the whole world into a recession that we’ve never seen before? Is making a few million off of new suits for The Agency worth all your billions that you already have?” Violet posed skeptically.

“Well, when you put it like that, no.” Phillip realized.

“Now I do agree that Mr. Pine’s new suit does have certain features that would be helpful for every Super that are non power specific. Instead of selling invisible suits. Sell the features that are non power specific, sell them individually and let the Supers and The Agency pick and choose and custom build their own- with of course- Edna’s approval, and Edna's control if she would agree on redesigning anyone’s suit. Also, Edna is used to having 100% of the profits of all super-suits and working all on her own before Jack was born. Mr. Pine made mine for free as a favor to Jack and myself because he’s a good person and because we asked nicely. Well, begged and pleaded because Jack and I are desperate to get Dragon Eye because he’s been on my roster for forever but because of his own powers, no other Super but me will touch him and I would prefer to keep it that way. Dragon Eye has the ability to make people commit suicide, imagine his own army equipped with my suit. Me and every single Super at the Agency would be in danger, including you because you have clearance at The Agency, you’d be just as big of a target that I am. Do you really want to risk it?” Violet posed skeptically as she leaned back into her chair and folded her arms over her chest and crossed her legs and fixed him with a look.

“No.” Phillip decided.

“Then change this in the roster.” Violet said as she handed him her tablet.

“Also you do realize that he would have to go to The Agency and to Edna Mode’s house to work on those super suits and every moment he’s off doing that- he won’t be here working on SEB stuff so his own output for SEB will wane to a degree as will his focus since it will be divided too. However it will prove fruitful in the long run because you’ll have an in with every other Super and you’ll be even father on The Agency’s good side and an even closer bedfellow and the chances of getting premium contracts will grow. It’s just a matter of do you want the money that would usually go straight to your pocket to change hands a few times before it does?” Violet posed.

“I think it's worth it for any profits made with any endeavor with The Agency to change hands and have a chance to multiply before it comes back to me will be sizable.” Phillip answered.

“Fair. But know that you will only have a limited time for that to occur. Because once Mr. Pine is no longer under contract with you, he’ll have his own in with The Agency because of this. He used to be the most powerful and influential non Super before his fall from grace and you effectively took his place. Once he leaves, he may want a bigger piece of their pie. Be prepared to share.” Violet warned.

“Well there’s a lot of time between now and then, and accidents happen, besides you’re his heir apparent, I wouldn’t mind sharing all the pie you wanted with you.” Phillip offered and all Violet could do was huff a laugh and grin crookedly as she just shook her head. Violet would sooner slit his throat before she would slit Barret’s as Phillip mistook the roguish curve of her grin as her delight at the prospect which only made him happy that Violet was still on the ‘murder’ side of things as far as Mr. Pine was concerned. Which meant that if she did get closer to Mr. Pine, it would be purely to undo him and further devastate him in the end. Which meant he could fully trust her with him.

“Also, I noticed that you loosened up the safety protocols for Mr. Pine’s outings. Why?” Violet asked since she had him right there.

“Uh, it was a Raid Day thing. I thought you’d feel better knowing he wasn’t “crawling with spiders” too, besides, I completely trust you with him and I know your specialties, the less “evidence” of any kind of friendly relationship, the less can be used against you, in the case you have to do the deed. However, if you are seen by his friends being with him all the time and getting cozy, that will place you well outside the realm of suspicion to them. Especially since you have more than one connection to them.” Phillip answered and Violet realized Phillip’s trap. He was trying to trap Barret, using herself as bait.

“Ok. Well thank you, that’s very sweet and thoughtful of you, I really appreciate it.” Violet thanked him before a thought occurred to her.

“By any chance, is that why you are hanging onto Miss Cheseray Wilkinson for longer than a weekend? Because if you’re “engaged” with her, that may seem to appear to free me up to get “cozy” with Mr. Pine?” Violet asked as she uncrossed her arms and simply let her arms rest on the armrests of her chair.

“You always were so clever Violet.” Phillip beamed proudly as Violet simply leaned forward on her elbows of her desk as Phillip did the same.

“God you’re despicable.” Violet praised, despite her grin, she wanted to throw up when he leaned across the desk and kissed her. But she swallowed it down, along with her disgust for him. Barret’s life and survival hung in the balance, she needed to protect him. The money- she could care less about, she had more than enough just from The Agency, any money from Phillip was always extra. But for Barret's sake, it would be worth it. But for now, she needed to get Phillip right where she needed him and keep herself above suspicion in order to keep her own head from rolling. She couldn’t protect Barret, let alone anyone else if she was dead. And Phillip still held the power to pull the trigger so to speak. She still needed to finesse the gun from his grasp. And she still needed to figure out a proper trap for him too. One that he would be willing to release Barret from his if it meant his own freedom, much less his own life to be exchanged.

“Well Mr. Pine and myself are barely now only friends, for anything romantic is to happen, it is going to take some serious time and some very convincing measures and greater freedoms for both of us and he will not only have to be enticed, but feel free to pursue me without the fear of any backlash or danger of any kind. And I’ll need it in my contract that no retaliation or counter measures will be taken for any romantic entanglements for either of us because his fear of you may always outweigh any desire he has for me and it is that fear that keeps him in line and behaving for us so we need to balance it. And of course the occasional, if not quite frequent unsupervised time spent while in contract would be most helpful and if any of my enemies become his by association, I can’t be held responsible for that. But at the same time, if anyone is going to take him out, it will be me and me alone that will do it. No one else is to ever interfere and whether he lives or dies, will be a matter that me and only me will ever decide one way or another and who knows, he may prove to be useful to me for many years to come, decades probably, why should we prune a bush just as it begins to flower? Why not let it bloom it’s heart out and enjoy it’s fruits for the long run? Granted you get to enjoy the fruits of his labor for the next two years. I would hate to kill the golden goose before it gets a chance to lay it’s best golden eggs a few years from now? Because while I will inherit everything he has, why not let that bush flower and fruit to its absolute fullest and ripest before it’s harvested?” Violet specified with a flourish of her hands.

“Oh of course. I absolutely agree with you on that.”

“But again, all of that will take time. Are you patient enough for all of that?” Violet posed.

“Oh don’t worry about me. I won’t grow bored if that’s what you’re worried about. Cheseray will do quite nicely as a good distraction.”

“Well if that distraction ever gets serious, I wouldn't hold that against you Phillip.” Violet cooed, because honestly, Cheseray and the rest of her dance company could take their turns with him, she didn’t give a fuck.

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you.” Phillip reassured her.

“Well, if my hands are going to be full with Mr. Pine for the foreseeable future. I may need help with the position of your handler. And I fear for bigger trips like the ones to Tokyo and Hong Kong and the like, you're going to need an official handler since I’m going to be Mr. Pine’s for those engagements and well every engagement and outing from now on, because closeness does breed fondness after all.” Violet proposed and subtly consciously nodded which got Phillip to nod subconsciously as well.

“Of course, consider this your reassignment to him then. I believe I can enlist others to stand in for your post for the time being while you are otherwise engaged.” Phillip offered.

“Would you like me to arrange for that or did you have someone in mind?” Violet posed curiously.

“Oh I have a few in mind. I’ll take care of it myself. Your hands are already so full from handling Mr. Pine for me. I couldn’t possibly ask for you to find your stand in too.”

“Well if I may make a suggestion?” Violet offered.

“Oh I’m all ears.” Phillip grinned giddily.

“Don’t get Veronica Andrews. She’s a little too strictly business for your tastes and you will lose ground with her for the same things that gained ground with me. May I suggest perhaps a man, who is perhaps- familiar, accepting and incredibly accommodating for all of your needs who will use the same foresight and thoughtfulness I possess and will pleasantly surprise you?” Violet offered.

“Oh do go on.” Phillip urged her.

“He has a bit of a wild reputation and may have been in a scandal or two himself. But, he should be a good fit for you. His name is Leopold Traeger. Also known as Mysterio.” Violet recommended.

“Really? Mysterio?” Phillip posed.

“Most think he’s just a second rate Super, but those in the know- know differently. He’ll be perfect for what you need him for.” Violet cooed.

“Then I will take your recommendation.” Phillip grinned which got Violet to smile victoriously.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lunch date with Mirage. I’ll need all the insights and tidbits I can possibly harvest from her.” Violet excused herself as she got up and smoothed out her skirt.

“Oh of course, please do send her my best.” Phillip offered as he mirrored her.

“One last kiss then, besides, I would hate to be the reason you and Cheseray were to ever have a disagreement, let alone an argument or for her to feel any kind of jealousy towards me or feel threatened by me and our closeness. I can’t go ruining your relationships can I?” Violet cooed as she gave him one last kiss. Kissing the last of any emotional attachment with him goodbye with it.

“Goodbye Phillip, or should I say, Mr. Sebastian?” Violet slipped back into her handler voice as she sauntered away.

“Goodbye Ms. Parr.” Phillip called after her wistfully.

Violet went to Luigiano’s for lunch early and happily realized that Tali had already made a reservation under Octavia for a private booth. The restaurant was owned by The Seven Kings Mafia, so there was absolutely no cameras or listening devices and there were completely enclosed private booths in one of the private dining rooms that were bulletproof and sound proof and if you needed to discuss any kind of business, Luigiano’s is where you went. Plus they had one of Metroville’s best wine selections and the staff that worked in the kitchens turned out some of the best Italian food in the area that was on par with any Italian grandmother's cooking mostly because the kitchen was full of real grandmothers from all over Italy that were brought over by the seven families that made up the Seven Kings of the Seven King's Mafia and you had to be an important somebody to even be on the list of guests allowed to make reservations and thankfully both Violet and Natalia were on that list. Violet sat down and ordered her favorite wine and some antipastos before Natalia came a few moments later, turning heads like she always did, because even after being a mother of two, her figure had morphed from slim and trim to dangerously curvy but still undeniably sexy and Natalia was still a head turner wherever she went, wearing one of her more couture outfits and looking more like a mob boss’ wife more than anything before she was shown to her booth before her own order was taken then the doors of the booth were closed and secured as Violet and her happily dug into the antipastos that had been delivered already.

“Violet Darling, I was surprised to get a call from you, what’s going on?” Tali asked.

“What do you make of this?” Violet asked as she handed Tali her tablet as Tali took it and read through what was on it before she let it set on the table and got her glass of wine and began to drink it before she looked back down at it, holding the chilled glass of wine to her cheek as he cheeks flushed as she stared down at it as she did her best to school her features to stay composed as Violet could still see the real fear behind her gorgeous green eyes.

“It’s one hell of a trap.” Tali noted.

“I know. It’s a trap for Mr. Pine, I’m the bait.” Violet offered before Tali shook her head no.

“No, you have that backwards Dear. Mr. Pine is the bait, you’re the prey. This is a give. The real question is- what is Phillip taking?” Tali asked.

“Phillip still thinks I’ll kill Mr. Pine at my earliest convenience.” Violet answered.

“Nope, that’s not it. That was a term already agreed upon and understood under the previous terms. These are new terms. Which means new stakes. This is the give, what is the take?” Tali repeated emphatically.

“My sanity?” Violet guessed. “I told him about the creepy crawly spiders. He agreed to kill them for me and that Mr. Pine is like a big can of Raid to me. Phillip hasn’t killed them yet, but he put them to sleep for now.” Violet revealed.

“No. That’s not it. Did Phillip propose? And more importantly did you accept because this is a big “leap of faith and trust” there’s no way Phillip would take this leap, without either knowing for certain that you will catch him, or, more importantly, know for certain that his leverage against you outweighs this, it’s like gambling, and he’s the house, the house is always going to win and this is your first pay out. But there’s no way you get to leave the casino. It’s way too early and the night is way too young, again, what are the stakes, what is the take? The real take? Are you going to be Mrs. Sebastian?” Tali asked plainly.

“No, uh, in fact he has a new squeeze in order to free me up for Mr. Pine.” Violet answered.

“Well it’s clear he’s “loaning you out” like a pimp trading hoes or an exhibit at a museum. What is Phillip taking to keep you loyal to him? To keep you obedient and in line? What is more precious to you than your heart that Phillip knows you'd give up everything to keep safe?” Tali urged her.

“Jack.” Violet breathed in horror as that realization hit her like a brick to the face.

“It was Jack who came to SEB to redesign the suit. It’s Jack who has been working with Edna on Dragon Eye. But Jack is at home, Jack would know if there’s spiders at home or at school and Jack is so far- immune. Unless... Phillip found a way to make himself more potent. Oh God. I told Phillip he needed a new handler while I was “reassigned”. I suggested Mysterio because Mysterio would be able to give Phillip all the freedoms he wants, without too many constrictions of ethics or morals, much less codes or laws. Mysterio has had issues with drugs in the past. If Phillip gets ahold of...any number of things he’ll be too strong. Even for me. Maybe even for Jack or my parents, or anyone.” Violet realized.

“I gotta go.” Violet realized as she took the tablet back and got her things together.

“Thank you for lunch, sorry to eat and run, I gotta…”

“Just go.” Tali waived her off as Violet quickly walked out of the restaurant, doing everything in her power not to cry in public as panic whirled in her chest and she went straight to Jack’s school and had him come to the office while she did her best to wait patiently for him to come before Jack came into the office in confusion before he looked into the office to see Violet before his eyes got wide to see her expression.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked.

“Oh, uh, you have an appointment with Dr. Pine today that Mom forgot to call the school and let them know you had.” Violet offered.

“Oh yeah, uh, let me go get my backpack.” Jack said as Violet went with him and ordered her secret bike to meet her at a doctor’s office where she managed to find- a Dr. Pine on staff. He was an orthopedic surgeon, who specialized in pediatrics. Perfect.

“What’s going on?” Jack whispered.

“Phillip changed the stakes. We need to strategize with Barret.” Violet urged him.

“Shit.” Jack cursed under his breath.

“That was fast. We were just there for the weekend, we left Sunday afternoon, it hasn't been 24 hours since we last left. How did he change it so fast?” Jack asked in a hushed whisper as he got back to his locker and got his stuff along with work from his teacher before he followed Violet out of his school.

“Read this.” Violet said as she handed Jack her tablet as she drove like the wind to the doctor’s office as she checked her phone to see where her bike was en-route to her.

“I just got done with lunch with Tali, she said that since I’m not officially engaged to Phillip, that that is the give and asked what the take is. I think because you were at SEB, that Phil plans on taking you as leverage against me. I don’t know when or how, but you need to make sure that at school and especially at home, that it’s spider free. But since I officially got reassigned, I suggested Mysterio as my replacement. Mysterio has a history with drugs, more-so with weed than coke but I wouldn’t put it past him. If Phillip gets back on coke- he’ll get too strong, even for me and I’m afraid even for you.” Violet insisted.

“Yup, that tracks.” Jack nodded in agreement before she parked her car and hit a remote on her keys before an enclosed motorcycle slid it’s enclosure back as Violet quickly changed into a pant suit so she could ride the bike astride as Jack got on it with her and got the second helmet and put it on before he hung onto his sister tightly from behind her on the bike and rode with Violet back to SEB in the cloaked bike, weaving through all the traffic, like a thread through a tapestry and once in the SEB parking lot, Violet enveloped through her forcefield as she ran into the building, phasing though the walls and such to get to Barret’s lab before she got Jack safely into Barret’s bathroom before she went up to Barret and tapped his arm three times before he lifted his head and took the cue and went into the bathroom and blinked in surprise to see Jack in there before the three of them were enveloped into Violet’s forcefield.

“Ok, now what’s going on?” Barret asked before Violet repeated what had happened with Phillip and then again with Tali as both Barret and Jack had to sit on the floor as Violet sat with them as all three of them simply held their heads in their hands as they sat cross legged on the floor in a triangle.

“How do we get out of this?” Jack asked.

“Other than in a casket.” Barret specified.

“Or me in a wedding dress answering to Mrs. Sebastian for the rest of my life, however long or short that may be.” Violet groaned as she raked her nails over her scalp.

“Wait.” Jack breathed in softly as an idea bloomed in his head.

“Is there a way to measure someone’s individual brain wavelengths, like a taking a stamp of a fingerprint. And is there a way we can inject, something like a dye, like the kind of dye they inject you with when you have an MRI, but it can stick to foreign wavelengths, like dusting for fingerprints, but on the brain, to see if Phillip has had his “fingerprints” on other brains. Like I know Violet’s brain is going to look like a joint passed around at a party.” Jack began which got Violet and Barret to snort a laugh at his allegory. But he had a great idea.

“But if we can find actual evidence of this suicide seed. It should show up right? And even if it got removed, there might be evidence, like the water stains left behind in a flower vase. It’s worth a shot right?” Jack offered.

“Definitely.” Barret readily agreed.

“And if we can make it so that once it’s found, the dye can act like nonstick spray on a pan, to keep any further ‘fingerprinting’ from happening to the brain itself but make his efforts still show up?” Violet ventured as Jack and Violet looked to Barret hopefully.

“In theory yeah, but it would take images and I need Phillip’s biometric data. And that’s not going to be easy to get.” Barret began.

“Well, we’ve used Dragon Eye as our cover so far, I’d have offed myself already if Phillip knew he was really Dragon Eye. We can use that as our in. We can use the Agency and I can get you set up with passcodes and ways to use The Agency’s databases and super computers so that you can work on stuff that even Phillip can’t see and we can hide it in plain sight because anything secret or top secret or whatever Phillip always likes to poke his nose into. We can even use your cipher to code it. Make it so that IRize and your other companies can get read into it and at least they can keep a second copy of it as a back up and Jack, I hate to do this to you so but get you another back up, keep it with Edna, no one in their right mind would go after her or invade her space, they’d be making an enemy with every Super world wide on both sides.” Violet mused.

“Yeah, that works.” Jack said before Violet got a nosebleed.

“Fuck, I’ve used too much of my powers today, we gotta cut this short. Jack I gotta get you back and get you off at home.” Violet realized as she grabbed some toilet paper to stuff it into her nose to stop the bleeding as Buddy noticed that the blood itself seemed to pulse in and out of invisibility within the tissue, like a cuttlefish strobing it’s lights and colors which he thought was peculiar.

“Ok,” Jack readily agreed before Violet got Jack back and managed to hack into the real Dr. Pine’s medical computers to fake a note for Jack before her bike drove itself back to her secret hideout apartment before Violet took Jack home and lied to her parents about how she had made the doctor’s appointment for Jack because he was complaining of pain in his feet because the real Dr. Pine was an orthopedic surgeon and they were getting a consultation.

Then Violet returned to work as usual and went to check in with Phillip for the evening check in and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw someone with Mysterio in Phillip’s office.

White Lightning- none other than her brother, one Dash Parr.

Fuck. Wrong brother. It wasn’t necessarily Jack that was the take. It was Dash.

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gunmetalgrey-trashpile · 3 years

Text

a lucky escape pt.2 for @epiitaphs @diabolicaltendencies

SAM

The last thing he remembers is chaos. Though... who knows how long ago that was. It all sort of blends together in a haze as he slips in and out of consciousness- the sounds of splintering wood and shouts of the desperate fade away. He drifts, isn't sure if he's still in the water, but he hears Alex's voice. It's a relief. Even if she's shouting and cursing. He wouldn't be surprised if it were at him. Maybe curses were real. He'd almost believe he was the victim of one if he hadn't plunged into the ocean and come out alright so many times. Still... no one should be as familiar as he is with the creaks and groans of a dying ship. When he stirs again things are quieter. The haze is fading and with it the cloudy numbness. His head is pounding and every inch of his body is screaming in pain. Even the slightest shift has him groaning, but he powers through and opens his eyes. "Where--?" His voice catches on scratchy vocal chords as he tries to make sense of the scene he's woken up into. Alex is next to him and he reaches out for her out of instinct, gravitating towards the familiarity of her. He attempts to sit up a fraction but quickly decides against it.

ALEX

She barely resisted the urge to pull him tight, string her arms around his neck and just hold him. The pit in her stomach hadn’t vanished entirely, not till she could be sure the blow hadn’t done any further damage. But she let go of Sams hand to press her palms against his chest, urging him to stay put. Once he settled, she shuffled up the be- ignoring the wet patch she had already caused. Her clothes were still sodden, puddles pooling at her feet on the wooden floor of the cabin even as her hair started to dry out. “It’s alright. We’re alright.” Maybe that wasn’t true. She had yet to trust Sebastian. He had the last few members of her crew imprisoned, and it sounded like he’d be happy to do the same to his own sister. But being out of the water was a great start. Her voice was immediately softer, her forced accent dropping out slightly. “You took... something to the head, I’m not sure what honestly.” She thread her fingers through his gently, watching every movement for a sign of sudden change. “How do you feel? I tried to treat it like you showed me.”

SEBASTIAN

Sam was stirring finally, Sebastian noted with quite a lot of relief. It wasn't only because he had a feeling that Alex would become even less manageable if Sam were to die, but also because he'd quite simply missed Sam after their paths had separated. It was hard to forget someone who'd saved his life, after all. Sebastian watched him reach out for Alex - so perhaps some of his initial assessment had been correct. Sitting up looked painful and though Sebastian had no idea what the two of them had gone through with the sinking of the ship, he imagined the bruising had to be fairly severe beyond the cuts. It was perhaps a bit optimistic of Alex to say that everything was alright, though really, Seb had let them into his quarters, so maybe she was right. He'd have to keep both of them. As Alex took Sam's hand, Sebastian stepped forward himself, not sure if Alex might lash out, but wanting to provide a little clarity, since Sam was asking. "You're on my ship," he said. "It's Sebastian. I pulled you out of the water." Not too much information, so he wouldn't overwhelm Sam mere seconds after he'd woken up.

SAM

Sam blinks, a little slow on the uptake as he tries to focus on what she's saying and not his sore muscles or throbbing head. "As good as I look I imagine." He manages hoarsely, squeezing her hand before his attention shifts to the other person in the room. "Sebastian?" He lets out a breathy laugh. Resisting a grimace of pain, he smiles instead. It's a bright smile, ignoring the tension between the two Morans he hasn't quite picked up on yet. "I didn't think we were that lucky. It's good to see you."

ALEX

Slow was better than no movement at all. She brushed her thumb over his hand subconsciously, ignoring the fact her estranged brother decided to chip in. It wasn’t a surprise, Sams reaction seemed to confirm he hadn’t been telling lies when he spoke fondly of Sebastian. It was just that her grudge had festered over the years into something twisted and cruel. “I’m not sure we are. He’s thinks he’s holding us prisoner. And he pointed a gun at you.”

SEBASTIAN

Sam smiled up at him, and though Sebastian didn't quite smile back, he did reply. "It's nice to see you awake, Sam," his tone reasonably warm in replacement of a smile. It was - he didn't want to see Sam dead and it was very nice to have some sort of reunion, even if it was somewhat marred by Alex's reaction to all this. The resentment in her tone and her apparent need to recount all of his faults made a frown return to his features. "No one likes a tell-tale, Alex. Maybe if you'd listened and not threatened me and my crew, I wouldn't have had to point a gun at him. If you really want to feel like a prisoner, I can easily have you join your crew members down below. Maybe Sam, too, though I'm sure that wouldn't be good for his wounds." Full commitment to this. She'd pushed him to it. "And if you continue to misbehave and question my hospitality, I'm sure Sam doesn't need every single one of his bones to be intact in order to carry out his duties as doctor." Maybe not the best path for him to take, but if Alex wanted to see him as the villain, he could easily comply. It wasn't the end of the world. Sam could hate him if he wanted to. It'd have happened eventually. A life like this wasn't only about making alliances, but also knowing when to tear them down. Sam had saved him once, but he no longer had any control over whether Sebastian lived or died.

ALEX

“Hospitality?” She bristled, fresh with anger once again. She let go of Sams hand, grabbing the knife from her belt as she launched herself over the mattress and straight at her so called brother. The blade was pressed to his throat even if his pistol sat against her side. “Have you seen what it looks like when a man bleeds out?” She was a head shorter than him, but she watched his eyes carefully. One arm was pushed across his broad shoulders to pin him to the wall with a surprising amount of strength for someone so small (and soaked through) whilst the other pressed the very edge of the blade into his skin. She watched it tear at the skin ever so slightly, just a graze to the right of his carotid artery. The same blood that flowed through her veins. “You watch the light leave their eyes slowly, it takes a surprising amount of time. Listening to them choke...” she wouldn’t go that far. Probably. But Alex had absolutely no room to be pushed around, especially by men. She had survived this long by being ruthless, if a little fool hardy. Sympathy was a luxury for ladies shut up in beautiful houses far away from the reality of what it took to be a single girl amongst thieves and traitors. The code was just a set of guidelines after all.

SAM

Sebastian had always been the distant type but his response still throws Sam off. Before he can say anything Alex is moving, he tries to hold onto her hand but she's already pulled away and at her brother's throat. Sam pushes himself to sit up, breathing labored with the effort, "I take it..." His head swims a bit and he clears his throat. "this wasn't a rescue."

SEBASTIAN

"Yeah -" he was cut off by her lunging at him, knife to his throat. His pistol was pressed to her side - a stalemate. But maybe not, actually, as he considered his options. First he listened to her. "I have." He regarded her coolly, though he could feel the bite of the knife as she pressed it to his neck. And the dampness of her clothes, but that wasn't as relevant at the moment. She continued, her intentions apparent. It was, he had to admit, quite an effective attempt at intimidation. The fact that she could hold him at knife point at all was also impressive. Maybe he'd been too slow, thought of her too much as family. But at the same time, she hadn't been slow to lunge at him at all. She trailed off eventually and Sebastian thought about telling her to keep going, to see if she could continue the bloodthirsty act (that might not actually be an act), but he was interrupted by Sam. Sam, who had been a very good pawn before. In a fluid motion, not caring about Alex's knife at his neck, Sebastian fired his pistol. Not at Alex, but at the wooden walls right above Sam's head. "Back off. Next time I won't miss," he told her, looking down to meet her eyes for a moment before looking over at Sam. "Does that answer your question?"

SAM

Sam flinches at the shot, the sound rings in his ears but he doesn't move. He sighs, shooting Seb a cool glare before shaking his head, "Not really. If you didn't want us intact we'd be tied up or worse, not in your quarters... and you wouldn't have missed." Sam might not know the full story but he knew enough that Sebastian had good aim and if he wanted them dead or otherwise on his ship they would be. "Let's stop this and take a break for two minutes, huh? Talk? It's not like any of us are going anywhere..." He shifts his attention, "Alex, please."

ALEX

Alex flinched too, but held firm long enough to make her point. As if that wasn’t enough, when she removed the knife from her brothers throat and let up just a little, she pushed her weight back against him to slam his body against the wooden wall again. “Do not fire a gun at my husband, have I made myself clear?” Even with Sams reasoning, she wasn’t going to let Sebastian come away unscathed. If Sam wanted to try the diplomatic approach then fine, she simply wasn’t going to make it easy. Finally, Alex stepped backwards. She put the knife between her teeth rather than drop it or stow it away, peeling at the drenched leather coat that cling to her skin in an attempt to remove somE of her layers. If she was going to listen to them bloody talking, she would at least get dry. She piled her outer layers in a heap, heading to the dresser in the corner of the cabin in search of something dry.

SEBASTIAN

"Shut up, Sam." He was right - if Seb had really wanted them gone, they'd have been dead by now. Or mangled or whatever. "If Little Miss Violence over here would like to take a step back and talk, I might be willing." Good luck. He laughed as she shoved him into the wall, far too amused by what she'd just informed him of to bother trying to reciprocate the violence. "Oh he's your husband is he? Give me a second." He needed to really laugh at that. "You've made yourself very clear, Petya." He lived for this sort of hypocrisy. "Weren't you just saying that a husband and a brood wasn't something that would ever interest you? That you ran away from home because you didn't want that to be your fate? And here you are with a husband all the same. God, I needed the fucking amusement." What he didn't need, however, was her pillaging his clothes. "You fucking thief," he said, laughter finished. "Ask permission, would you?" He'd give her - and Sam new clothes, but he didn't want to hand over his clothing in particular. It would barely even fit Alex.

SAM

Sam takes solace in the fact that Seb snapping at him likely means he was right, but before he can respond the subject has changed. It's not exactly how he would've decided to share the news that they were now family, but to be honest he never would've made that call himself. It would've always come down to what Alex wanted to share when. With a sigh he doubles over slightly, one hand holding him up on the bed, the other gingerly reaching up to try and get a sense of his injury. "Do I have to ask for some water too?" He mutters, not entirely sure it'll be heard between the sibling's bickering.

ALEX

She pulled the knife out of her mouth with a smirk setting it on the dresser a she carried on rifling. “Thief? I think you mean pirate.” It wasn’t like any of them were honest. She turned her back to him, pulling her shirt off over her head and tossing it down to the floor. The ring Sam had given her bounced against her chest on a chain. She chose instead one that covered her body like a dress, pausing to roll up the sleeves before she kicked her sodden breeches off too. Her fingers grabbed at her dripping hair, wringing it onto the wooden floor so that it might finally dry. Then she paused, with her hands on her hips, acting the indignant prisoner her brother seemed to think she was. “We’ve drunk half an ocean, you going to let us die of thirst?”

SEBASTIAN

He rolled his eyes. "You'll hang for both." A bit pessimistic, that, but it was a possibility for any of them in this life. He turned slightly more towards Sam, trying to ignore the fact that Alex apparently felt comfortable enough to strip down completely in front of the two of them. "If you want some, you can have some." He was annoyed with Alex, not Sam, as much as that might overlap, given how much he'd threatened Sam since the two of them had been pulled aboard. Plus, Sam was injured. Hoping that she was dressed at least a little bit, Sebastian turned back to Alex, unimpressed. "I'd let you die of thirst any day." He wouldn't. He made his way over to the cask of water, bring Sam and Sam alone a cup of it.

SAM

Sam breaths a bit easier when they don't jump at each other's throats again, at least not right away. He keeps his eyes trained on Sebastian, less out of concern for Alex's privacy and more out of wariness that he's already been shot at once and threatened more times than he's apparently aware of at this point. He takes the cup he's offered and downs half of it in an instant. "Thanks..." He passes the rest of it to Alex and risks an attempt to change topic, "Are there any other survivors?"

ALEX

She pulled the breeches from the drawer up over her legs, tucking the loose end of the shirt in before she pitched the belt from her wet pair. Her hands fiddled with it, fastening it tight and threading her knife back away in the hidden section at the back. Only when she was dressed did she take the last shirt from the drawer and head over to Sam on the bed. Kindly, softly, Alex took the cup from him tossed the dry shirt onto the bed. She let her hand hover on his shoulder, a gentle squeeze to check in the most affection she’d show him in front of Sebastian. She wanted to kiss him, hold him, the some kind of relief now he was awake but now wasn’t the time. “Apparently. I don’t know how many were fished out of the water, it was hard to keep your head above the waves. If you could try and stay conscious next time that would be a huge help.”

SEBASTIAN

He sees the way Sam's watching him, and really, he understands. He'd watch himself warily too, if the positions were switched. The bullet in the wall over Sam's head is pretty good cause for concern. Being held at gunpoint earlier might have been cause for a bit of annoyance, but what Seb just did was a real threat. "You're welcome," he replied, not unkindly. Sebastian resigned himself to not having any changes of clothes for the foreseeable future once Alex also took the other shirt that had been in the drawer. Oh well. If it was for Sam, that was alright. It was interesting to watch her interact with Sam - the closeness, the gentle touch. Not that Sebastian remembered her well from before he'd left home, but it was a stark contrast to the hellion he'd encountered only minutes prior. "There's two others. I don't know how many your crew used to be, but we pulled out four people total."

SAM

"Sorry..." Sam reaches up to touch her arm reassuringly when her hand settles on his shoulder. He gives her a small, soft smile before pulling away. They can have their moment later. A moment of relief, a moment to process, a moment for her to yell at him before they try to figure out which god they owe for surviving yet another impossible situation with both of them in (mostly) one piece. He sets about trying to peel off his soaked jacket and shirt. Every movement is stiff and painful but he does a decent job of not showing it. He certainly doesn't complain. His chest is a canvas of forming bruises but nothing quite as bad as the blow to his head. "Two...?" Sam frowns a bit before looking to Seb, "Are they alright? Can we see them?"

ALEX

She softened a little as she felt the weight of his hand, just enough to calm her temper. Alex Moran was as tempestuous as the ocean, and just as unpredictable. There were fleeting moments though, amongst her rage, where she could be calm. Even if it was only for Sam. She polished off the water, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her new found shirt before acknowledging her brother again. Yes, she probably should have checked before now if anyone else was hurt but there had been other things keeping her busy. “We were eight.” It was a small, slim crew but her ship was maybe a third the size of the larger gunners. The hope was to move undetected, and fast to raid smaller merchant vessels rather than tangling with the likes of the British Navy. Eight was tight, but it just about worked. She glanced at Sam, already in a bad shape. “I don’t think you should go anywhere.”

SEBASTIAN

"Yeah, that ginger that I promised Alex that no one would touch and a man." He shrugged. "They're alive. In much better condition than you." Especially given all those bruises in addition to the head injury that had made both Morans anxious for Sam's continued survival. "You can. You're a doctor, after all. And I've got some crew members you'll need to look at as well. Alex is going nowhere near them unless it's to stay there in chains." A needless threat, really. Things were calming down. "Half is a good survival rate for a shipwreck." Very good, even. "That's a really small crew." An obvious statement, but he didn't know exactly what that said about the sort of outfit that Alex seemed to be running. "If you can stand, I'll let you see them, but not before. The air isn't good for you that far below decks, anyway, not with your head the way it is."

SAM

"Giving me medical lectures, now?" Sam replies with a huff of laughter as he pulls the shirt over his head. He doesn't try to stand but he hardly seems discouraged. "If you're that worried about my heath, you can bring them to the upper decks. I'll treat them and your men, equally, side by side. If you want to avoid hostility, Sebastian, stop asking for it. Either commit to us being your prisoners or integrate us into your crew. All of us."

ALEX

She was hardly about to sit here and play a happy prisoner, especially if it meant letting Sam out of her sight for even a split second. Her fear at loosing him was still palpable, although what was left of her crew would need attention. She folded her arms across her chest, puffing it out to back up Sam completely. This was one of the many things she loved and admired. All the pretence and dancing around the point was sickening, as well as Sebastians stupid threats. “I stay with him. Leave me be and we won’t have any trouble.” It wasn’t a promise by any means. Alex knew when she was outnumbered though and she had bigger priorities in keeping the few loyal crew members alive until they hit dry land. There was potential here. His ship was nice, and clearly he was an absolute arsehole. The promise of enough gold might just sway the weak willed... “He should bring them here. That way you don’t have to move and I can help.” It would buy them some alone time to formulate a plan.

SEBASTIAN

"I might as well, since you can't stay in one piece." Which was something he'd encountered before with Sam and clearly something the man wasn't going to grow out of, even with even more time spent among pirates. It was probably admirable. At the scolding, Sebastian frowned, wanting very much to lash out somehow. Sam had a point - multiple points, actually, and he hated it. "Fine," he snapped, in the end. It wasn't particularly clear what he was agreeing to, which was exactly how he'd prefer it, to be honest. "Fine." Another snapped syllable. He wouldn't remove her from his cabin, even if he absolutely wouldn't stop threatening her with imprisonment. Even if she did end up working as part of the crew till they reached the next port, he wasn't going to trust her one bit. "I'll hold you to that." "He will be staying here with you two, thanks." Sebastian had no plans to go anywhere - leaving Alex alone seemed likely to be disastrous, and if she and Sam were married, then he could hardly trust Sam either. "I can have them brought up, though." He wasn't a complete monster. Most of the time. "I still think you should rest before then, though. No one's in such a bad way that you can't gather your wits."

SAM

"Fine." Sam says the word lightly, almost in direct snarky defiance of the way Sebastian had snapped it twice. "I'll rest. You two promise not to kill or imprison each other, and we'll be in port before we know it. Then we can all move on with our lives and put this behind us. Deal?" He asks them both.

ALEX

Alex shrugged off his promise, she had already agreed not to be actively hostile and that was the most Sam could hope for at this present moment. He was playing the diplomat, even in his weakened state. Moving on with her life sounded pretty good right about now. It sounded as if Sebastian wasn’t planning on leaving them alone together, but he had to go and at least fetch someone. Privacy and forced his hand last time, maybe the same trick would work twice. With a heavy sigh, Alex moved to turn her back to her brother and perch on the edge of the bed. She leant forwards to kiss Sam, long and slow. Intimate, the kind of soft gesture she kept for behind closed doors. The thing she wanted to do the second he opened his eyes again, in all honesty. Her back softened a little, her shoulders dropping with the release of the emotional weight she didn’t realise she had been carrying. Her next words were chosen carefully, hoping he might cotton on fast. “Do you feel okay?” Was the sentence that she said aloud, yet without moving her head she flicked her eyes at Seb whilst he couldn’t see her face. Do you trust him? is the question she was really trying to answer.

SEBASTIAN

He glared at Sam. "We'll see." He wasn't going to promise if Alex wasn't going to either. The two of them both knew better than to trust each other. Sam was a special case for them both, clearly, even if for Alex it was a marital relationship. Seb could hardly believe that she was married. Clearly it wasn't quite so easy to escape what was expected of her in life, even if she was far away from their family and from society. "I'm happy to move on as soon as possible." As Alex shifted to kiss Sam, Sebastian rolled his eyes, moving to the door as it didn't appear to be ending any time soon. Awful. The next few weeks were going to be absolute torture, he could tell. Not that he trusted them, but if they were busy for now, he'd stuck his head out the door and get reinforcements in the form of someone far more trustworthy. "August - I need the new prisoners released, given berths and duties."

SAM

Their response is... underwhelming, but he knows it's the best he's going to get. "Okay." Alex comes back over, and he reaches out for her. He doesn't pick up on her intention to shoo away Sebastian. He's just relieved she's still alive. The kiss takes him by surprise; it also takes the tension out of his shoulders. They didn't exactly live safe lives, but that didn't mean he quickly dismissed the idea that every shot aimed at them or shipwreck they experienced could be their last. He was grateful every time they survived. He rests his forehead against her's for a moment before she pulls away. The 'concern' makes him smile. It's probably equally a question she wants him to answer as the one she's implying. So he replies to both. "I'll have to get back to you on that." He replies, his own eyes straying to the bullet hole in the wall with a small frown as the captain called for one of his crew. He wanted to trust Sebastian. He really did. But being shot at sends a pretty clear message of the opposite. "Maybe later I can give you a better answer."

AUGUST

August is waiting just outside the door. He's been there since he heard the gunshot, but upon hearing the muffled sound of Sebastian's voice after he paused. He arches a brow at the order, "Release the prisoners? And here I was expecting you to come out with a body. Since when do you do successful negotiations?"

ALEX

She shifted closer on the bed, practically in his lap. It was easier when he was there to keep her steady, and occasionally reign in the worst of her temper. She was worried about his head still, but didn’t pull away as his breath tickled her face. The door opening and gruff voices was enough to tell her that her plan had worked. At least Sebastian seemed to be predictable, it was a small victory but one she could use. “Are you still armed? I can take him, if we have to. Just... be careful.” Sam still had faith. He still trusted people, well, gave them the benefit of the doubt from time to time. To Alex, her husband was the only person in the world who had wanted her loyalty. Anything else was momentary. She blinked slowly a couple times, pulling away when she thought she recognised the voice from outside the door. “No- it can’t be-“

#discord thread 002.2 | a lucky escape (pirates)#epiitaphs #diabolicaltendencies #v; ⋱ salt and sea foam ⋰ ⦙ |*| ( pirate )#blood tw #injury tw

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charanteleclerc · 5 years

Text

love is found in crowded streets and coffee shops

For Quagswagging as part of the Summer Break Fic Exchange 2019. As usual, crossposted to my AO3 (Charante_Leclerc). Prompts are always open. Enjoy! ❤️

The residents of Stirling Street were, for the most part, good friends. They were a tight knit community of five shops, and possibly a little co-dependent for their own good. Seb owned Horse & Bull Repairs Shop, fixing anything from watches to car engines. Kimi and Kevin were next door at Iceman Tattoos, which sometimes also did alcohol (it was never advised). On the other side of him was Restaurant de Monte-Carlo, run by Romain and his trusty crew, and kept very traditionally French. Across the road was Jenson and Fernando’s Champions Coffee Shop & Bakery, once started as two separate shops, but they had ended up sharing so many customers they’d eventually given in and taken down the inbetween wall. Next to them was Jev and Andre’s shop, which was… well, they seemed to change it every week, the rest of them had given up trying to predict what shop it was going to be.

Stirling Street was great. Except for the fact that Seb and Kimi hated each other.

No-one knew how the rivalry had started, not even the two of them. It was just a fact of life by now. They opened their shops, argued about where their poster boards were situated at 9.15 exactly, sniped their way through their lunch break at Champions, and yelled at each other through their shared wall about their choice in music.

“We need to do something.” Jenson groaned, after Seb and Kimi had left following another tense lunch-break. “They’re always at each other's throats, and frankly, it’s driving me insane.”

“I can’t hear myself think.” Kevin muttered. “I need to stay out of there as long as possible.”

“Romain said he has heard them yelling three time this week. Three times. It is insane.” Fernando said glumly. “And they argued over what was the best flavour muffin. And they were both wrong.”

“They didn’t choose my Key Lime Pie muffin?” Jenson sounded wounded. “What did they choose?”

“Seb said chocolate chip.” Fernando flinched at Jenson’s sharp intake of breath. “You do not want to know what Kimi said.”

“Tell me what he said.”

Fernando sighed. “Vanilla. He said vanilla.”

“He said what?” Jenson yelped. “Is he open? I need to have words with him.”

Fernando watched Jenson leave, shaking his head. He’d said that he wouldn’t want to know. People really should listen to him.

“How can we stop them fighting?” Lando asked, clearing plates. “They’re pretty much always at each other’s throats.”

“You’re missing the point.” Lewis said from a nearby table, who had before looked completely asleep. He still did, except for the part his mouth was moving.

“What’s the point then?” Kevin asked curiously.

“It’s not that they hate each other. It’s that they don’t.”

“What do you mean, they don’t?” Lando frowned. “Of course they do. They fight all the time!”

“It’s because they’re scared.” Lewis shrugged. “They don’t actually hate each other, but they’re terrified of not-hating each other. It’s comfortable, it’s a relationship they know.”

“That makes sense.” Fernando shrugged. “I can work with it.”

Jenson stormed back in, eyes suspiciously red. “He won’t apologise. Said his opinions are his own and that vanilla is a valid choice.” His voice sounded wobbly. “It’s fine.”

“Did you cry during or after this discussion?” Fernando raised an eyebrow. Jenson shuffled.

“During.”

“You do know that he’s going to remember that forever.”

“Yep.”

“Just checking.”

“So,” Lando leaned on the counter. “So we need to convince them that they don’t hate each other? How hard can it be?”

~*~

It was pretty hard.

Romain kept on complaining that he could hear Kimi shouting at Seb, and had even sent his waiters over to try and calm the situation.

It hadn’t.

Pierre, Charles and Esteban had stumbled back to the restaurant terrified, Kevin alongside, and needed two shots each until they stopped trembling. They looked shell-shocked for another week.

Jenson tried talking to Seb one afternoon, bringing muffins as a go-between (chocolate chip included). Seb had taken the muffin’s, had listened as long as it had taken to eat them, before turfing Jenson out. (He’d agreed to mend the bakery clock free of charge though. It might have something to do with Jenson lying in the doorway, holding his muffin tub, determined not to move. Bribery was sometimes needed).

Even Jev had tried. Which was something that no-one had ever imagined happened, as Jev and Andre acted like the cool kids that thought everything was beneath them. Jev had wandered into the bakery at lunchtime, looking unconcerned, and had attempted to mediate one of their arguments. When he’d left, his usually perfect hair had been sticking up on end, and something was popping in his jaw.

Everyone had tried, except for Lewis, who refused to get involved. Something about them figuring it out for themselves.

“What are we going to do?” Jenson moaned. “It’s like everything we do makes things worse!”

“No more meddling here.” Fernando threatened. “Look at George.”

Jenson looked over to where George was lying with his head on a table, cheesecake in his hair. Lando was patting him on the back, while Carlos was trying to brush as many crumbs as possible out of his hair. Alex was playing gentle music from his phone, making comforting noises.

“Look at him Jenson.” Fernando repeated. “He has cheesecake in his hair. I don’t even know how they got cheesecake, we don’t sell cheesecake.”

“It was fantastic aim though.” Andre shrugged. “Can’t deny that. Two double espressos to go please.”

“Those are going to keep you up all night you know?” Fernando said. “Or give you superpowers, you’ve been getting those everyday for a year.”

“Betting on it.” Andre winked. “Plus, gotta keep looking hot somehow.”

“Amen.” Lewis chimed in from the back of the bakery. Jenson jumped a little, staring at him.

“I thought he was asleep, didn’t you think he was asleep?”

“Maybe you should convince them of the things that they like about each other.” Andre suggested. “Vodka, racing, ice-cream. Start slow.” He picked up both espressos, downed one after the other, before grinning. “See you later.”

“He’s going to die.” Carlos said in admiration. “He is insane.”

“Do you think that would work?” Jenson asked. “Slowly warming them up to each other?”

“Cannot do much worse, can it?” Fernando replied. “It will either stay the same or they will want to bang each other in a week.”

“Challenge accepted.” Jenson looked determined. “Better than the arguing.”

~*~

“So, Seb.” Jenson leaned up on Seb’s counter, grinning. “Ice-cream?”

Seb gave him a weird look. “Sure.” He said slowly, taking one of the offered ice-creams. “What do you want?”

“I can come and hang out with you, can’t I? We’re friends.” Jenson laughed. “So, vodka? What’s that about?”

“Are you trying to make me like Kimi?” Seb raised an eyebrow, tapping a finger against the counter. “Because it’s not going to work.”

“What, no! No, no no…” Jenson trailed off. “Well, good chat.” He backed away towards the door. “Lovely, lovely chat.”

“Tell them it’ll take more than that to sort out your problem.” Seb called after him. “And I want a free coffee for that attempt!”

~*~

Jenson spent twenty seconds in Kimi’s shop before something was thrown at him. He didn’t stop to find out what it was.

Valtteri, who was in the shop of the time, only shook his head when asked.

~*~

“We’re doomed.” Romain said gloomily. “I’m going to need to buy earplugs.”

The majority of the Stirling Street residents (minus the significant two) were sat around a few tables pushed together, nursing various coffees and teas. Charles, Pierre and Esteban still looked jittery. George was still finding crumbs in his hair. Jev still tensed up when he heard their names mentioned. Kevin was just starting to pretend that he didn’t exist.

Lewis was still asleep in the corner. Or maybe he wasn’t, they weren’t sure.

“Wait, here they come.” Jenson shushed the group. They all turned to watch out the window as they came out of their shops, scowling as they saw each other.

“Your board is in front of my store.” Seb snapped, locking his shop. “Again.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m stealing your customers. How many people did you see today?” Kimi countered, crossing his arms.

“Don’t change the subject. Also, why do you have to play your music so loud? It’d be nice not to have it drill into my head.”

“Well, I’m sorry... “ They continued bickering down the street. The group turned back to look at each other, dismally.

“Doomed.” Romain repeated sadly. “Doomed.”

~*~

Jenson picked up his tub of muffins, steeling himself. “Half for Seb, half for Kimi. As an apology of sorts.”

“They need to learn for themselves.” Fernando agreed. “We cannot have anymore scared kids. They do not need to see that ever.”

Jenson sighed, picking up the tubs. “I hope Romain buys those earplugs.” He said, walking towards the door. “Really hope.”

He crossed the street, opening the door to Seb’s shop. It was before opening time, but Seb never locked his shop (which was probably a really bad idea considering his shop was filled with valuables).

“Hey Seb, just brought some more muffins, five chocolate chips and one of my new inventions, Blackberry Crumble muffins. Thought you might one to try it, and - er, what?” He stopped as he finally took in the scene in front of him. “What is happening?”

Seb looked up, blinking. “Huh?”

Jenson gaped. “But… you’re here! And… and him!” He stuttered, pointing at the other guy in the room. “It’s Kimi!”

Seb turned to Kimi sat next to him. “Huh, it is. Funny that.”

“But… you hate each other!” Jenson clutched his muffin box to his chest. “You hate each other!”

“Well, we did.” Seb said, tapping away at his laptop. “For ages.”

“Arguing is the way to a man’s heart.” Kimi muttered from behind his coffee. Seb nodded absentmindedly.

“Exactly.”

“So, we’ve been trying to make you two not hate each other when you don’t actually hate each other?” Jenson asked. “I think I need to sit down.”

“The floor is just there.” Seb said helpfully. Kimi snickered.

“How long has this been going on?” Jenson looked between them wildly. “How long?”

“Since those poor French boys walked in.” Seb replied. “I really am sorry for traumatising them.”

“I’m not.” Kimi shrugged.

“Oh my… oh my god.” Jenson put his tub on the counter, resting his forehead on the counter. “Does anyone else know?”

“Lewis.” Kimi yawned.

“Lewis?!” Jenson screeched. “He knew?!” He took a deep breath, looking at the two men in front of him. “Give me a minute.”

~*~

Jenson would later admit that running back across the street, screaming words with no coherence at Lewis, and then promptly fainting was not his finest moment.

However, he’d also say that his emotions were running high. It was justified.

~*~

“So, they don’t actually hate each other?” Lando asked. “Wow.”

“All this time?” Andre said. “Wow.”

“I think it is sweet.” Fernando said. “That Seb and Kimi - do not flinch -” as Jev, Charles, Pierre, Kevin and Esteban all involuntarily shuddered, “that even they can get over their differences.”

“I can’t believe they let me find out like that!” Jenson still looked haunted.

The door opened, and the usual bickering being heard again. “If you move that sign one more time …”

“Love at it’s finest.” Lewis said smugly. “I said to leave it to themselves.”

“I swear you were asleep a second ago!” Jenson yelped. “You were asleep!”

#sebastian vettel #kimi raikkonen #jenson button #fernando alonso #kevin magnussen #romain grosjean #charles leclerc #pierre gasly #esteban ocon #lando norris #george russell #alex albon #valterri bottas #jean-eric vergne #andre lotterer #carlos sainz jr #simi #f1 summer break fic exchange #f1 fanfic

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soldierallen · 5 years

Text

Married 8.

Warnings: domestic henry, a kiss, mention of the word whore, probably a curse word or two

Featuring: Henry Cavill, Sebastian Stan, Robbie Amell.

Part 7:

It was already dark by this point

she would always sing in the car to new music that only she listened to everyone hated that she liked every single new song on the radio however they adored their best friend so it didn't bother them that she would sing loudly on road trips, it wasn't new to them it was traditional except for tonight, she sang nothing and looked out the window Henry tried to get her talking every once and awhile but it didn't work.

"Wait in the car for me, I'll be back" he said, he walked up to his front door unlocking it and slipping in quickly

Henry's such a good man, I wish I could have someone like him you know someone who takes care of me like he does, thinks about me..when nobody else does she sat there thinking of all the things that could've happened tonight- not one thing she wanted happened, he didn't stop the wedding she didn't stop the wedding he said he loves her but never continued to say anything else

Only 20 minutes later he had walked out in different clothes "oh comfy" she smiled sadly at his warm comfy clothes "its not like you don't own most of my clothes at your place" he said getting into the car she smiled devilishly "you know I can always buy you your own, oh and also I'm missing a certain sweater and if I find it in your closet I'm taking it back"

"Rude" she said rolling her eyes "it's not rude it's my sweater" he rolled his eyes putting the keys into the ignition the seatbelt noise and lights turning on

"Is it the white one with the buttons" she admitted he started the car with a laugh "yeah" he looked at her "oh you can have that back I don't even wear it" " I'm taking back the clothes I like" "you're not" "I am" he backed out of his driveway and drove off onto the road to her house

"Okay fine but there is two pieces you absolutely cannot have"

"Which are?" He said looking at from the corner of his eye "the navy blue sweater with the white letters of the sleeves, that's the sweater you put me in when I stayed at your house... that one night" she trailed off he knew and put his hand on her hand for reassurance "and that grey t shirt it's so comfy and big smells like you" none of the words on the clothing would come into her mind "you took that out of my drawer you thief!" he said "it's no big deal I'll buy you a new one!" She explained she loved arguing with Henry like this, it was just a lot of teasing it never went further than teasing ever.

"I'll be looking forward to it" he laughed and so did he adored their playful arguments about literally nothing it felt so pure to him knowing that he still had that friend, that one friend who you could talk about anything with smile with laugh with, she has always taken my side and I've taken hers.

Sebastian was worrying as soon as he walked into that front door, everything came crumbling down.

"Mom" sebastian yelled his mother coming down the stairs quickly hearing her son's voice "baby" she put her hands on his face "I messed up I really messed up ma and I don't know how to fix it" he paced she hugged her boy he hugged her back "I'm gonna lose y/n I'm gonna lose her cause I made too many mistakes that aren't fixable" he was so worn out at this by time he wanted nothing more than to just perish, nothing felt real.

"sit down, you can always fix things between you and y/n just tell her everything the truth the real truth." she sympathizes with him he sat down on her and his "father's" couch "where's tripp" he was so done with this day he rubbed his forehead cold metal on his skin he looked up the wedding ban still on his finger he pulled it off and threw it across the room it hitting the wall falling behind the TV.

"He's asleep he was so angry at her he couldn't contain it, cheating on you like that? He's is very protective over his kids seeing her hurt you like that drove him crazy"

"Tripp doesn't care you're just saying that to make me feel better" sebastian folded his arms over chest looking at the TV screen which played some kind of cooking show it was quiet "your father loves you sebastian, can you just not be a jerk for 10 seconds and maybe you will realize that all the people in your life love you and care about you." His mother was right and he knew she was right it was just his anger and his frustration would always come out at the wrong times.

"Is rose okay?" His mother nodded "she had a talk with faith and she reassured her that you were okay" he laughed.. the sound draining quickly

"Do you remember what grandpa said before he passed" she laid her head on her sons shoulder he gave her a questioning look "Something Broken Can Always Be Fixed" she looked at a frame picture of her father and sebastian on the wall a few months before he got sick, sebastian opened his jacket pocket feeling the silver ring she gave him he pulled it out looking at it twirling it in his finger "she gave this to me a few days before the wedding, she said she needed to give me it now because the wedding was going to be too hectic to actually see my reaction" he swallowed thinking about a more simpler time, and then he remembered the argument in his driveway and that... that was the worst day for him.

"Grandpa gave it to her to give to me when I needed it the "most".. now I know why she gave it to me so early" he looked at the engraved writing inside of the ring, "how did he know to give it to her?" His mother asked "She's been in my life forever he knew she was someone to keep forever"

Henry put down his bag on her bedroom floor "what if I just call him to see if hes okay?" She was still thinking about it, I mean he did confess his love for her.. she should talk to him at least for a minute right?

" but after everything he's done you still want to check on him?" she stared at him "what if he needs me" "you both will live with it, you both need a breather from each other I promise it's for the better" he looked for her remote throwing it at her she turned on the TV, the news was on it was 11pm on a Sunday, the streets were somewhat quiet..

He sat next to her on her bed she laughed at him whilst he stared at her studying her facial features, he always admired her.

she pulls the hair tie out of her hair fixing it on her wrist, looking at him from the corner of her eye "what?" She finally broke the silence

"You know, I always thought you were gorgeous" she smiled "oh come on" she put her hand on his shoulder

"When we were nineteen I considered asking you out and I chickened out!" He said both of them laid on the pillows watching some show

"Nineteen year old me was a hoe" she said with a laugh "nineteen year old you was hot" he half smiled she pushed his arm lightly

"nineteen year old me would've so fucked nineteen year old Henry, we were very fuckable than" she smirked "yeah twenty five year old y/n and Henry are very fuckable dont underestimate us" he filrted, he got up looking in her closet she blushed lightly

"After all these years you still make me blush" she threw a pillow at his backside which he caught and threw it back at her "I'm very charming what could I say" he laughed but it was muffled her clothing in the closet making it seem quieter.

"Where the hell is my white sweater?" he said inside of the closet looking "the last article on the right side should be it" she focused on his back and butt "I am not a sexual object you can objectify" he looked over his shoulder at her with a fake frown she laughed very loudly covering her face in embarrassment he turned to her "I'm kidding" he pulled the sweater out onto her bed "I thought this was nicer? How long have you had it"

"A few months I thought it was comfy but it was just itchy" she laughed

"We should eat?" He suggested

A phone call ruined the mood definitely. It was Henry's and it was Sebastian

"Hello" he answered the phone putting it on speaker.

"Are you with her?" Seb asked he looked up at her for an answer she quickly nodded no

"No I'm alone what's up" He acted like he was concerned when in reality he wasn't.

"I think I need to see her just explain everything really get to the bottom of it?" He sat next to her she looked at Henry, Henry looked at her gave no real answer

"I think you should do whatever you feel is right" Henry said, he wanted them to mend their relationship but he knew sebastian wasn't going to do that properly.

"Is it too soon?" He was curious

"No do it because you want to not because you have to" Henry wanted to get mad and just scream and tell him to wrap it up were adults!

" if I just give it time??"

"How long is she suppose to wait for you?"

Sebastian had no answer on the other side

"Don't call her than it's that simple" he looked at y/n for reassurance she had no reaction

"Henry, I didn't know how I felt about her until the night of the argument it really got my gears turning that I was making a mistake I didn't feel like myself"

"Seb you haven't been yourself since Alex walked into the party on the roof, it's a completely different person you have turned into, you know that y/n told you" he looked at y/n and she mouthed "he knows he just wants to hear you say it" she said to Henry In a small whisper

"I know I just wanted to hear you say it" Henry gave her these eyes like how did you know "I know him" she mouthed no words coming out of her mouth

"Henry I didn't call for you to be angry"

"She said it, I absolutely couldn't care less if you get together or not"

"She doesn't want to talk to me.." he was bummed, and tired I think sebastian needed to sleep for the next week and think about what he did "she wants to talk to you beileve me just not tonight call her tomorrow and work it out alright" Henry said

they hung up and Henry gave her a weird look

"why did you want me to do that?"

"I don't want to suffer anymore if he wants me if can call me I can't do it.." she said he turned to face her getting closer to her "you're a good women, my best friend you deserve someone who will take care of you" she pulled him towards her face her kissing him he kissed back lightly a small smile creeped onto his face "what was that" he asked "I wanted to see what it would be like, was you okay with it" she was a little afraid thinking she overstepped

"I liked it" he tried to contain his self from giggling it was just funny to him, that they kissed and it didn't certainly mean much to the both of them... or so they thought. she got up grabbed her phone off the living room coffee table

"Okay I'm not watching a chick flick" he insisted coming behind her resting his chin on the nuk of her shoulder

"You love my chick flicks cavill, romance is the key" she looked to the side of her to see his face

"Fine I choose the food" he grabbed the phone out of her hand "hey" she got offended "I don't want Chinese or thai food" "you're making me sad"

"You get a chick flick, I get those tacos from down the street"

"You always complain their bad?" She looked for her jacket

"Yeah? Your point is?" He said she laughed shaking her head, never mind she thought.

"Or I get a chick flick and we go get both" she dangled her keys in his face he grabbed them "okay"

"Why" she whined

"Because you're a horrible driver"

"You just keep offending me?"

"I guess it's in my nature" he laughed kissing her cheek she was fluttered by butterflies in her stomach, she liked the way Henry made her feel.

"Should I change my shorts it's cold" she said

"Change I'll wait for you"

"Thanks" she went back into her room to change her shorts when all of sudden she realized.... I kissed Henry?

He watched her walk back into her room his brain exploded with questions... I kissed y/n?

He bit his lip knowing that she wanted that she wanted him, it was crazy for him to ever think she wanted him in that kinda way, he didn't just like the kiss he loved it.

When they got into the car it was quiet but a comfortable quiet a very bearable nice quiet being in the company of someone you would do anything for was a good feeling.

"Are we just not gonna talk about you kissing me earlier" he tried to keep a straight face wanting to smirk so badly

"I just wanted to see what it was like that's all" it was kind of a lie, she wanted to feel something anything and she got it she felt butterflies

"Oh okay" he nodded at her, a red light appearing in front of them he looked to his right at her she looked at him "can you stop staring at me" she let out a small laugh "you're beautiful I can't help it" he looked back at the road

They got to the thai place ordering, they waited when a familiar face they had just seen a few hours ago appear, Robbie.

"Robbie??" Henry called out to the man sitting by himself, he held y/n's hand his protective side coming out strongly

"Henry y/n" robbie said he was still in his suit no tie on his dress shirt unbuttoned hair was tousled he looked like a wreck

"Hows it going y/n after everything?" Robbie knew feelings for sebastian

"Okay I guess, what happened?" She asked, Henry felt sympathy for the guy all he wanted was the girl he loved and got put into a lot of other shit. And so did she "Well after you all left, sebastian's father yelled at me for ruining his son's "marriage" and taking away the one good thing sebastian had in his life" robbie air quotes marriage because it wasn't a real marriage and they both knew it "and then Alex came and told me to eat shit and screamed at me for the first time in 4 years that was fun, and now am here eating thai food alone at almost 1am" he was so frustrated

"hey go get the food" Henry whispered to y/n and that's what she did

"Listen robbie what you did today was a bold and brave move, you had more guts than any one of us since the past 5 months I know things are probably really shit right now but I promise everything will fall into place" he put his hand on his shoulder a comforting hand robbie gave a comforting smile "I did this all for her, and i get nothing out of it" he said the women with his order ready to hand it to him, "I know everything's gonna be alright" he patted his shoulder once again and regrouped with y/n "thanks for the talk Henry you're not so bad" robbie tried to joke around Henry laughed "yeah people tell me that" he held y/n's hand out the door

"What you did was really nice of you"

"What?"

"I heard you"

"Yeah I just felt bad for the guy"

"Me to, but I guess me and robbie are going through it together huh?" Henry smiled sadly and hung his arm around her "we're gonna get through it okay?" She nodded they got into the car and drove to their next destination, remotely "bad" tacos as Henry says.

Tagged @hiddlestonstansworld @lovely-geek @imcalledflorence @misz-adrii @escapistdreamer-wishfulthinker @someplxce @cuddlesforlashton @coffeebooksandfandomsohmy @weasley16 @ilovethewayyourheartbeats @vogueworthy-barnes @xeniarocks @thisismysecrethappyplace @racheo91 @gravedollie666 // if anyone wants to be untagged or tagged please leave a message ty♡ also I do not own any gifs or images of any kind.

#sebastian stan #imagine #bucky barnes fic #sebastian #sebastian stan x reader #henry cavill x reader #sebastian stan fic #sebastian stan imagine #stan #alexandra daddario #henry cavill #chris evans #anthony mackie

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