#we knew but still to have maggie confirm

[adamsrcnan]

"Ronan likes being told what to do and Adam likes telling him what to do" is the most insane and delicious thing i've ever heard in my goddamn life. Need me a freak like that.

#likeee????? #we knew but still to have maggie confirm #god damn #adam parrish #ronan lynch #pynch #the raven cycle #trc

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

The Admirals Strike Back - Cyclone

Pairing: Beau "Cyclone" Simpson / Wife!Reader (Mitchell!Reader)

Word Count: 2.1 k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only

Warnings: Consensual and Very Much Legal Age-Gap Relationship (About 15 years); Non-Traditional Father-Daughter Relationship (Between Maverick and Reader); Humor; Cyclone's a Grump; Maverick Becomes a Grump; Use of "You," No Y/N, No Physical Description; Named Simpson!OC Kids

Summary: Maverick knew that his somewhat estranged daughter was married. He just didn't know who she married.

Master List

There was one major rule in the Simpson household. Work ended at the door. The Navy was not allowed to step inside and into your relationship. If Beau needed to deal with the Navy on his personal time, he needed to go into his office.

But Beau was going to have to break that rule tonight.

Beau could hear the sounds of your daughters from down the hall as he walked into your house and felt some of the weight already melting off of his shoulders from his long day.

“Daddy!” Maggie, your eldest daughter, squealed, slipping down from her seat.

“Hi, sweetheart.”

Beau bent down and scooped her up into his arms with a bright smile on his face. Setting her on his hip, Beau pressed a kiss to her cheek and fixed the bow in her hair.

“How was your day at school?” Beau asked, walking slowly into the kitchen.

“I got a sticker for being a good line leader!” Maggie announced, causing Beau to smile proudly at her.

“Very good, sweetie. We’re so proud of you.”

“Mommy said that I could have ice cream,” Maggie stated, causing you to turn around from the sink.

“After you finish eating your vegetables, Mags.”

“That sounds fair to me,” Beau replied, setting Maggie back down in her seat. “And I’ll throw in some sprinkles if you finish that broccoli.”

“Promise?” Maggie asked, holding up her pinky finger.

“Promise,” Beau agreed, wrapping his far larger pinky around her own.

Moving onto your younger daughter, Beau clucked his tongue with fake disapproval, causing Parker to grin and giggle up at her dad.

“Ms. Parker, you have far too much tomato sauce on your face,” Beau stated, reaching over to grab a paper towel. Gently holding your daughter’s chin, Beau wiped the sauce off of your daughter’s face before planting a kiss on her chubby cheek. “Were you a good girl for Mommy?”

“Yup!” Parker returned quickly, wearing a mischievous grin that Beau knew was going to give him heart attacks in the future.

“Mostly,” you teased your youngest as you finished up with the dishes.

“Sorry I’m late,” Beau apologized to you, walking over to give you a quick peck in greeting.

“Well, after last night, I assumed that something big was going on,” you assured your husband, setting a plate into the dishwasher.

Beau had gotten a call right around bedtime last night and he didn’t come to bed until the early morning. And you knew what that meant. Something big was going down. And as the Air Boss, your husband was going to be heavily involved. Beau glanced over at your daughters, who were still eating their dinner, before turning back to you.

“You want to break the rule, don’t you?” you guessed, turning to face your husband.

“Am I allowed to break the rule?” Beau asked, causing you to smirk a bit.

“Permission granted, Admiral. Proceed,” you replied, drying off your hands.

“Well, we needed to call in a specialist for this particular event,” Beau started off, folding his arms across his chest. “And we called in someone a little . . . familiar to you.”

You frowned for a bit, your eyes darting back and forth as you ran through the short list of Navy personnel that you were ‘familiar’ with when it suddenly clicked. Setting down the dish towel, you turned to your husband with an incredulous look.

“Maverick?”

“Yes,” Beau confirmed, causing you to raise an eyebrow.

“I thought that he was taken off active-duty years ago,” you replied, causing Beau to nod.

“He was, but Iceman disagreed, and called him in.”

“Oh,” you mumbled, glancing over at the girls.

And how did you know Pete “Maverick” Mitchell? Well, you had technically known him your entire life.

Your mother and Pete Mitchell had a brief tryst that resulted in your existence. But Maverick was never very much around in your life, though you only found out recently, due to your mother’s actions. But after she passed away, you started digging to find out more about your father and reached out to Maverick.

Your relationship with your dad was very slow going. He didn’t even know that you were married to Beau. He knew that you were married with two little girls, but he didn’t know the name of your husband. He never asked. And you didn’t tell him.

“Did you want your whiskey then?” you joked quietly, spinning your wedding band around your finger.

“Not tonight,” Beau replied, straightening up. “We have an early morning tomorrow.” He took a step forward and gently took your hand into his own, rubbing your skin with his thumb. “And you’re alright? With him being in town?”

“Of course, I’m fine with that,” you returned, squeezing your husband’s hand. “I was just surprised.” Reaching up to grab your husband’s shoulders, you massaged his tense muscles. “And between the two of us, I think that you’re the one who’s less alright with him being in town.”

“I just need him to follow my orders,” Beau sighed, shaking his head.

“Oh,” you cooed, cupping your husband’s cheeks with your hands, “you’re definitely going to need some more whiskey. I’ll pick up some more tomorrow for you.”

Pressing a teasing kiss to his lips, you giggled when he pulled you in for more. And you were happy to return it, up until your daughter started screaming bloody murder.

“EW! Daddy! You have to put a dollar in the kissing jar!” Maggie yelled, pointing at the jar in the corner of the kitchen.

Similar to a swear jar, the kissing jar in your household was for when your daughters, mostly Maggie, thought that you and Beau were getting just a little too lovey dovey in front of them. The kissing jar money mostly went to ice cream or other desserts that you bought the girls, which only motivated them to call you and Beau out on it more.

“I will,” Beau promised, smiling over at Maggie. “Right after I give Mommy one last kiss.”

“That’s two dollars!” Maggie demanded as Beau pressed another kiss to your lips.

~~~~~

It was a few days after the mission and you waited with your two girls and the other families for the newly formed Dagger Squad to return to Miramar. Beau had called you yesterday from Hawaii, where the planes stopped to refuel and rest, before heading on to Miramar today. And right on time—which you expected nothing less from your husband—you spotted the planes in the distance.

Once they all landed and taxied off the runway and you were given the all clear from the grounds crew, you pointed your daughters in the direction of the plane that you knew Beau was on. Maggie took off running, already yelling for him, while Parker was happy to catch a ride from you.

“Come on, let’s go see Daddy,” you cooed to your youngest daughter before walking off.

“Who’s that woman?” Hangman wondered aloud, watching you walk across the tarmac.

“Out of your league,” Phoenix replied, not even having to glance up.

“Who do you think she’s here for?”

“Probably her spouse, judging by the toddler in her arms,” Bob added, sharing a look with his pilot.

“She’s probably . . .” Rooster trailed off, blinking with surprise at your appearance. Because you looked oddly familiar to the woman that Maverick showed him a picture of in the infirmary. Maverick mentioned that the woman was his daughter and that they were slowly reconnecting, but that they weren’t very close yet. “Holy shit. Who is she here for?”

“Did Hangman’s bullshit transfer that quickly to you? You were in his backseat for a couple of hours,” Phoenix scoffed, causing Rooster to shake his head.

“No, that’s Maverick’s daughter.”

“Maverick has a daughter?” Hangman asked, turning around.

“Yeah, one that he’s not really close with. So, who is she . . . you gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Maverick and Cyclone stepped off the plane side by side, chatting about what was to come in the next few days since Iceman’s replacement was not yet decided. But before Cyclone could get too wrapped up in the conversation, Warlock tapped Cyclone on the arm and gestured towards the hangar.

Cyclone turned and instantly smiled when he spotted Maggie running towards him, pumping her little arms to run as fast as she could. You trailed behind her with Parker on your hip, but you waved to him as soon as you locked eyes. Maverick followed Cyclone’s gaze, expecting the daughters that Cyclone mentioned very briefly in passing to be teenagers.

But when little six-year-old Maggie leapt into her dad’s waiting arms, Maverick was quietly surprised.

“You’re back!”

“I am back, yes,” Cyclone agreed, hugging his daughter to his chest. “Did you miss me?”

“Yeah, a lot! And Mommy was sad without you!”

“Well, she does like me just a little bit,” Cyclone joked, setting his daughter on his hip. “Were you a good girl for her?”

“Like I promised,” Maggie agreed, holding up her pinky finger. “Parker threw up though.”

“When?” Cyclone asked, instantly concerned.

“Mommy said that she ate too fast and then ran around too much,” Maggie replied, shrugging her shoulders. “It was a few days ago.”

“Daddy!” Parker yelled, causing Beau to look away from Maggie.

You set down a wiggling Parker onto the ground, letting her run the last of the way to her dad. And then you turned to face your own, who was staring at you in shock. You shot him a sheepish smile.

“Surprise,” you breathed out, waving to Maverick, who waved dumbly back.

Cyclone, meanwhile, picked up Parker and held both of his girls. Pressing a kiss to both of their cheeks, Cyclone walked over to you. Turning away from Maverick, you smiled up at your husband and gently cupped his cheeks to pull him in for a soft kiss.

“You’re finally home,” you sighed in relief, rubbing his cheeks with your thumb.

“We’re all home. In one piece,” Cyclone reported, causing you to let out a breath.

Pulling your husband in for another kiss, you wrapped your arms around your little family for a moment. In the background, Hondo slowly waved his hand in front of Maverick’s eyes, shocked himself at the turn of events, but far more amused than Maverick was about it. Pulling away from your husband, you turned to greet your dad.

“Hey, Mav,” you called softly, walking over to him. You gave him a quick hug and squeeze in greeting, all while waiting for his reaction to actually drop. “How are you?”

“Shocked,” Maverick replied, glancing between you and Cyclone. “You . . . he’s your husband?”

“For the past eight years,” Cyclone stated, adjusting his hold on your daughters.

“But . . .” Maverick blinked rapidly, turning back to you. “I mean, isn’t he a bit . . .”

“He is still your superior officer,” Cyclone reminded Maverick, causing you to shoot him the same look that you always did when he got a bit snappy during Navy social events.

“Yes, we’re aware that there’s an age gap between us,” you assured your dad, turning back to Maverick.

“How did the two you of you even meet?”

“Well, I had this ad up on a sugar baby website and—”

“—You know that I don’t like that joke,” Cyclone interjected, causing you to shoot him a playful smile while Maverick’s heart attack receded.

“We met at a wedding actually. Mutual friends. We sat next to each other at the same table and spent most of the night talking. I managed to convince him to dance and then we got together about two weeks after that.”

“Ten days,” Cyclone replied, pressing a kiss to Maggie’s head.

“And these are your daughters?” Maverick asked, looking over at your girls.

“Yes, this is Maggie. She’s six. And that’s Parker. She’s three,” you introduced, pointing out your daughters to Maverick.

“They’re beautiful,” Maverick commented, causing Cyclone to nod towards you.

“They get it from her.”

Maverick nodded in return and you and Cyclone excused yourselves, walking off to greet Warlock’s family. He blinked dumbly, still in disbelief that the fact that his daughter was married to someone like Cyclone of all people. Cyclone? Really? The man was an outstanding aviator, but he was probably at least fifteen years older than you and a stick in the mud.

Hondo’s barely contained laughter caused Maverick to turn towards the warrant officer.

“What?”

“Well, isn’t it ironic that for all the crap that they give you for running around with Penny, an admiral’s daughter, that your own daughter married an admiral? And Cyclone at that.”

“Shut up, Hondo,” Maverick sighed, causing Hondo to burst out laughing and nudge him in the arm.

#top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #top gun: maverick #top gun #tgm #tgm fanfiction #pete mitchell #pete maverick mitchell #beau cyclone simpson #beau simpson #cyclone #beau cyclone simpson x reader #beau cyclone simpson x you #cyclone top gun #cyclone x reader #cyclone x you #beau simpson x reader #beau simpson x you

[vidavalor]

Maggie's individual scenes with Crowley & Aziraphale & what they might be suggesting

In 2.05, Aziraphale sends Crowley out to make sure that Nina and Maggie are both on their way to the bookshop for the meeting ball. While Crowley officially met Nina in 2.01 and has had several scenes with her since, this is then Crowley's first scene directly interacting with Maggie alone that we've been shown and the only one still to date by the end of S2. There's a few interesting things happening in it, imo..

The only time we actually see Crowley and Aziraphale in the same place with Maggie is during the ball and briefly in the big group scene in the morning before Crowley gets Maggie and Nina out of the bookshop. Aziraphale is only just coming back as Maggie and Nina are leaving after talking to Crowley in the bookshop in 2.06, so the only scene of Crowley, Aziraphale & Maggie all together of any real note is the ball, where other characters are occupying their time and then the bookshop is attacked. My point is that both Crowley and Aziraphale get moments of interaction with Maggie-- alone, in her shop-- but we don't see them together around her. She is the only Whickber Street shopkeeper who doesn't have an individual scene with both of them-- even Mr. Arnold, who is only in about 2 scenes, does. Why might this matter? Look at this Crowley and Maggie scene here...

When Crowley & Aziraphale went around the neighborhood to get the Whickber Street shopkeepers to come to the meeting, we saw them at Goldstone's, at Marguerite's, at Arnold's Music Shop, talking with Mrs. Cheng *and* talking with Nina about the meeting. Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets did not require persuading to come to his favorite thing in the world and also he had come to the shop earlier to drop off the chairs so he had already been confirmed in attendance off-camera, as we learned at the ball. Mrs. Sandwich arrives at the meeting ball and speaks with Aziraphale, indicating that she's not sure why he wanted her to come to the meeting. This is something that she probably would have already said if Aziraphale had come over to invite her directly. He did want her there but since she's the only Whickber Street character who has met both Crowley and Aziraphale per the ball scene but knows Crowley more and doesn't know most of the other shopkeepers, it's likely that Crowley was dispatched alone to invite her. This leaves only one shopkeeper-- a crucial one to the ball-- that we never see actually invited to the meeting but who knows it's taking place and that's Maggie. That means we actually were intentionally *not* shown the scene of Crowley and Aziraphale stopping at The Small Back Room-- which was on Aziraphale's clipboard list when they went around the neighborhood-- but we *were* shown even the brief moment with Mrs. Cheng instead. All for reasons that aren't immediately clear to us by the end of S2 but are extra interesting because of Maggie's kind of mysterious backstory.

In the scene with Crowley, Maggie has just closed up shop when Crowley knocks on her window and she comes to the door of her shop. Crowley says: "He says to tell you that the meeting of the Whickber Street thing-y is starting now." There is no introduction here and Maggie answered the door after closing her shop, which means they know who one another is. They've met before. They're also aware of one another in a capacity that centers Aziraphale as the common person they know. Crowley didn't even say "Mr. Fell says to tell you", just "he says." He didn't introduce himself and he expected-- correctly-- that Maggie knew that he knows Aziraphale, which means that Crowley has met Maggie in a capacity connected to Aziraphale in some way and isn't just a frequent shopper at The Small Back Room.

Maggie just says that she never misses a meeting and she'll be right there and Crowley says "no problem." He seems mildly nervous-- not yet in the way he was when he began to sense danger when rounding up Nina-- but different than he was with the other shopkeepers. Is he just awkward because he's been playing Cupid all week for her and now he's got to talk to her lol (but he's not really like that with Nina?) Why do they feel like it's important for us to see the short interaction in this scene?

This scene is presented to us as something of a surprise because putting it here in this way without having given us Crowley & Maggie before then gives it more weight, especially since the show gave us literally every other shopkeeper meeting Crowley prior to this and Maggie and Nina are the most important to the story. When we think back to earlier in S2, though, we might realize that there was a scene earlier in the season that also suggested that Crowley already knew Maggie.

When Aziraphale and Crowley are in The Dirty Donkey and Aziraphale is explaining how he lied to Heaven about the Gabriel miracle by saying it was to make his shop lesbians fall in love, he refers to Maggie in such a way as to make it seem like Crowley already knows who she is and Crowley doesn't ask for clarification, indicating that he does. This would then now mean that not only had Crowley met Maggie prior to S2 but that Aziraphale was aware that he had. This then makes Maggie the only shopkeeper Crowley knew personally before S2 aside from Mrs. Sandwich. Why? How?

At this point, it probably wouldn't be enough to say that Crowley might only know Maggie because he's into music and she runs a record shop. That could be one reason but Aziraphale knowing that Crowley knows who Maggie is in 2.01 before her story really gets started indicates that they've at least discussed Maggie together before in some capacity in the past... and then there's the Aziraphale and Maggie individual scene from 2.01 that starts the whole Operation Lovebirds thing in the first place...

We're busy at this point in the story trying to figure out what the deal is with Gabriel and "Everyday" and then distracted by Aziraphale using Maggie and Nina's situation as a lie to Heaven about the miracle he and Crowley did to hide Gabriel but... what about the fact that Maggie is in love with Nina and doesn't know what to do and she's asking *Aziraphale* for advice?

Yes, Aziraphale is kind and older and queer and she feels safe in asking him for help but as a general rule, you don't usually tend to ask for advice for pursuing a romance with the person of your dreams from someone whom you believe to be your neighborhood's most eligible bachelor.

You ask the long-married or long-partnered people you know. The ones who found their person long ago and are years into the kind of romance you want to have with this person on whom you have this epic pash.

Why does Maggie think Aziraphale can tell her how to court Nina?

What about Aziraphale would scream to anyone who vaguely knew him-- let alone Maggie, who seems pretty close to him, more than other humans-- that he knows a lot about Maggie's brand of gentle, loving romance here?

The entire street, including Maggie, saw Gabriel arrive at Aziraphale's door earlier lol. Maggie would be well within her rights to think the same thing as the rest of the street-- that the rich, old bookseller gets him some and good for him-- and leave it at that.

Aziraphale is not married. He's single enough seeming to others that at least some of us (ahem, including me lol) believe that Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets has been trying to bag him for awhile now. Why does Maggie seem to know him differently enough to ask him what she should do about Nina and when and how did she meet Crowley and, even if Maggie has it all wrong about them (and I don't think she does), is it even possible for these things to not be related at this point?

#ineffable husbands #good omens #good omens 2 #crowley #aziraphale #maggie good omens #good omens maggie #good omens meta #ineffable wives #nina good omens #good omens nina #aziracrow

[observeowl]

Unwanted Marriage | Chapter 3 - A taste of what can happen

Series Masterlist

The next morning, your team leader held a meeting with you and Wanda as you received your first assignment at work. Part of the work at Stark News is to interview popular celebrities and your task was to interview the new star idol, Sherry.

"I will let you guys handle this interview. Hope you'll do a good job." Your team leader said before leaving. You were excited to start your first assignment as you reached your desk, but Wanda warned you not to be too excited as she heard that she could be very troublesome. "Isn't she an adorable young lady?"

"You're so naive! You really think that people in the entertainment industry are all what they look like?"

Having arranged for a meeting with her agent, you waited for her at the confirmed location. However, after an hour and the next, there was no sight of her. "Isn't she too cocky?! She actually let us wait for so long." Wanda complained as she was onto her second cup of coffee.

Right then, the door chimed sang and attracted your head towards the door. Finally Sherry arrived wearing her wide hat and sunglasses. "I only have 15 minutes. You should quickly as now, I have no time to spend with you two." She said rudely and refuses to take off her sunglasses.

"Then, let's begin!" Wanda said after making eye contact with you. "Why didn't you give me water? I am very thirsty! Where is my water?" She demanded. Thankfully the cafe wasn't populated to see this scene. You quickly went to order her a lemonade after asking what she preferred.

"Excuse me..." Wanda was about to start when she interrupted. "Okay, time's up. I still have other appointment to go to!" She stood up and got ready to collect her bag. "Wait, Miss Sherry." You tried to hold her back. "It wouldn't be good if word of your behaviour spreads out, isn't it?"

"Who do you think you are? Do you think people will believe what you say?" She raised her hand and gave you a tight slap that you were surprised you didn't fall. "Why are you hitting her? Y/N, are you okay?" Wanda stepped closer to make sure you were fine. "I advise you not to write anything bad, or else you'll suffer." She smirked. "I am not Maggie. You want to fight with me? You are far from capable."

"What? What does this have to do with her?" Your cheeks were still pulsing from the pain when you asked. "Becasue Maggie, is my sister!" She revealed. "You guys wait and receive my lawyer's letter! You already disturbed my timetable and work. You'd better think about how to compensate me!"

"Y/N... do you know each other? Who is Maggie?" Wanda asked as both of you could only watch Sherry leave. "I guess so, I have some encounter with her sister."

"What about the interview? Do we really need to compensate her?"

"Don't worry about it."

===

When you reached home, you checked around to make sure that no one was around as you quickly looked for some ice for your face.

"Y/N, you're back." You heard Brooke coming from behind hurried packing the ice. "Mmn, I just got back, I need to settle some stuff upstairs." You gave a random comment to get her off your back.

You looked at your reflection once you're upstairs. "This little star is so rough, I've already got a bruise." You touched the tender part of your bruise before pulling away, wincing. Never have you gotten an injury from a second party.

"Y/N." You heard Natasha's voice out the door and dove into your bed to hide. "I'm tired! I want to have some rest, you just go out!" In fact, Natasha knew something was wrong with you as Brook told her that you rush upstairs with red cheeks and thought you were sick. Not caring what you said, she pulled the cover away. "My cover! Return it to me!" You reached out for the cover and she took this opportunity to make sure you stay close enough for her to inspect.

You pulled away. "I accidentally knocked into a door, nothing serious. It will recover tomorrow." She stared at you before wheeling herself away. "I will check it out if you don't tell me the truth."

"Don't! I, I can handle it myself. I will give you an answer later."

"Okay."

===

The next day, you rushed to the office as your team leader screamed at you through the phone.

"What are you young people thinking! What do you treat your work as?" Your team leader said in the presence of Sherry and her lawyer in the meeting room. "Yesteday, I asked you to make an interview. What happened?"

"Even if you guys are newcomers, and don't know the rules yet, how come you let Miss Sherry wait for you for so long?" You were presented with a compensation agreement and flipped through them. "You even questioned her private life, that's taing it too far!"

"Miss Millicent, she's lying! Actually it's us who waited for her for more than an hour, she also-." Wanda spoke up. "How can this lady take nonsense." Her lawyer started defending Sherry. "You can't slander Miss Sherry."

"I... I cannot believe you guys will say this about me. Yesterday, I was still contemplating on letting this matter go, but now, I don't see the point anymore." She sure know how to act, putting on fake tears for the show. "Miss Sherry, your acting is so amazing, why not consider being an actress instead?"

"What nonsense are you talking about! Apologise immediately!" Miss Millicent couldn't believe you were trying to add oil to the fire. "Why do I have to apologise to someone who framed us? Team leader, here is the record about what had happened yesterday." You placed the recorder on the table. "You will know who is at fault after listening to it."

Sherry instantly reached out for it but you weren't afraid. "It's okay if you destroy it. I've already made back up copy of this recording."

By now, everyone was looking at her, disappointed. "Sherry.. What should I say now..." Even her lawyer have given up on her.

"Miss Sherry, even though our company isn't that big, you shouldn't humiliate and threaten people." Her lawyer was trying to extinguish the fire when she shouted at you to watch out and left.

"Y/N, Wanda. I'm so sorry that I misunderstood both of you."

"That's okay, so do we publish the interview?"

"Why not? This is great news! Both of you had done a great job." Millicent has a sinister look on her face, like she won a huge catch.

By the next day, the news was on all major headlines. And you were kinda worried that you have pissed Stephanie off again.

"Nat, the rest of the monitoring results have been sent to your email. And Sherry is Maggie's sister." Clint reported as she was working. That's why she didn't want me to interfere, Natasha thought. "Ask all companies under Romanoff Corporation to terminate all cooperation with Sherry, and pressure those companies that are in business with us. Otherwise, don't let her know."

"Got it."

===

"It's nothing but a small news, why all the cooperate have been cancelled? It's impossible." Sherry complained as she continues to receive numerous emails about the termination of contract with her.

"Sherry, what happened?" Maggie called to ask her after reading the news. "Sister, I only wanted to teach Y/N a lesson for you."

"Who did you say? Y/N Y/L/N? Sherry, you must be crazy to do that to her! This is your end!"

As if to make a final nail in the coffin, she received another message that the company has decided to forgo her.

Series Masterlist

@natsxwife @franfineashell @dvrkhcld @reginassweetheart

#natasha romanoff #natasha x reader #natasha x you #my writing #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff fanfiction #black widow x female reader #black widow x reader #unwanted marriage #mcu x reader #marvel #avengers

[thisisnotthenerd]

ok, i know i put a poll up and that relationship tracking won the poll for what came next on the stats series.

but consider this: relationship tracking takes so goddamn long. i had already started it by the time that i put the poll up, and as of now i'm still not done. granted the list is comprehensive: romantic, platonic, familial, and adversarial relationships, separated by pc-npc and pc-pc. for every season.

anyway, i started tracking character ages in the meantime while i build up the motivation to finish the relationship tracking.

without further ado:

d20 character ages

some of these are listed in the wiki. some of these are based on vibes and more vague indications from the seasons in question. all of them have some element of my commentary. if there isn't an age given i will explain why. it's in the seating chart because that compacts the format into an understandable block and not an infinitely long list.

to be clear, some of these are confirmed with actual numbers, but some aren't, and i'm listing them as unknown and offering my opinion in place of a confirmed number.

fantasy high freshman year: i am convinced that the ages the cast give are vibes based. as someone who did not fit the normal age range of high school, i can tell you that in the US, freshmen are typically 14-15, sophomores 15-16, juniors 16-17, and seniors 17-18. that's not to say that someone can't fall out of those ranges. i did. anyway:

fig faeth: ~15. this is a rough estimate--she'd be born just after fall cutoff for her year to start at 15.

gorgug thistlespring: 14-15. he was confirmed 14 at the start of the season, and presumably turns 15 at some point during the year.

adaine abernant: 14-15. this is based on the fact that she turns 16 before the events of sophomore year

fabian seacaster: 16. a bit older than your average freshman, but i knew people who were 16 freshman year, so it's not that weird.

kristen applebees: 15-16. again a bit older than your average freshman, but younger than fabian.

riz gukgak: 14. this was confirmed in episode 13 iirc. riz is the youngest of the party

escape from the bloodkeep: this party has some major age differences that are very unclear. no real confirmed ages.

maggie: unknown. she and zaul'nazh had been in a relationship for ~100 years, so she's probably got a good couple of centuries under her belt

leiland: unknown. similar deal to maggie--he spent centuries serving zaul'nazh. how many? who knows

efink murderdeath: unknown. she's a tolkienesque high elf. if we go full lotr comparison to arwen, she's over 2000 by the time she marries percival.

sokhbarr: unknown. again, we don't really get confirmation of an age for him--he's just kind of an ageless bog-lord.

lilith: old as time. she ate the stars. definitely the oldest of the party.

markus st. vincent: unknown. human, so he has a human lifespan. i'd pin him in his 30s. given that his closest comparison is probably faramir, who's 35 at the start of the war of the ring, i think 30s tracks.

the unsleeping city: here we have a mix of confirmed ages and some straight up vibes.

ricky matsui: late 20s early 30s. more specifically around 26-31. this is vibes-based. i based this on his career progression.

sofia lee: early-mid 30s. another vibes-based one. again based on career progression. she feels a little older than ricky and pete, but not by much. married to dale for 5 years, so if they got married when she was in her late 20s, this tracks.

kingston brown: 55. thank god a confirmed number.

misty moore: ~400. at least that's how long she's been on earth. this actually comes from tucii. i'd put her misty form in late 70s early 80s, and her rowan form in her mid 20s.

kugrash: ~60, based on his 30 years as a rat druid.

pete conlan: younger than 31. this is based on a reference ally makes in tucii to big business (1988), so i aged him back three years. i would guess mid-late 20s during tuc; he mentions not having seen his dad in 6 years. assuming pete fully transitioned during college/around college age, it would make sense for him to be around 25-28 during the first unsleeping city.

tiny heist: some of these characters just straight up don't age, so they don't really count when evaluating age.

rick diggins: unknown. he's a clicko man. he cannot age except in spirit.

boomer coleoptera: unknown. vaguely middle-aged, though that might just be clint mcelroy's general dad energy

agnes: elderly. no confirmed number, though she's old enough to have a grandma schtick, a reputation, and a terminal illness prognosis of 2 months

ti-83: a teen. and that's all we know. probably younger than bean.

bean: late teens early 20s. a vague range, but at least it's something.

car-go jones: another ageless toy. at least a decade in human years, if we estimate that max got him at a similar age that he gives him to dylan.

a crown of candy: finally some goddamn numbers.

liam wilhelmina: 17-18. he starts at 17 and turns 18 in ep 15 iirc.

theobald gumbar: ~50. this tracks for him assisting lazuli and being amethar's friend during the war

jet rocks: 18. and she never lived past 18.

saccharina frostwhip: 23-24. this tracks for her being born around the ravening war, before the rocks sisters were killed.

ruby rocks: 18. and she keeps living.

amethar rocks: 48. reasonable. he'd have been in his mid 20s during the ravening war.

lapin cadbury: old man. yes that is the actual entry. i'd say he's probably 10-15 years older than amethar to really be considered old.

cumulous rocks: late 30s early 40s. tracks for being created by lazuli while theo was starting his knighthood under her.

fantasy high sophomore year: i'm halfway convinced that the intrepid heroes just don't know how old high schoolers are. granted, they may be going for general teen, i.e. 13+1d6, so the more batshit stuff they do comes across as a little more normal. it's like having actors in their 20s play teens. except they're actually dnd characters. and they're in their 30s.

fig faeth: 16-17. another rough estimate for fig.

gorgug thistlespring: 17. a little funky, since he was 14 at the start of fhfy. the principle of 13+1d6 comes across here

adaine abernant: 16. her age range for the year is 15-16, which is normal for a high school sophomore.

fabian seacaster: 18. definitely stretching it a bit. the listed current age is 18-19, which i'm assuming is using boy's night as reference.

kristen applebees: 16-17, which tracks with her progression from freshman year

riz gukgak: 16. confirmed in ep 14 iirc. since he was 14 in feb of freshman year, and assuming spring break is ~april, he has a spring birthday.

pirates of leviathan: there's a pretty clear split of age groups in this season--the first to introduce adults in spyre.

sunny biscotto: 18. her first adventure as an independent person, even though it was technically her running away from home.

barbarella sarsaparilla gainglynn: 22. it tracks; she grew up isolated on leviathan and isn't super far into her career, though she has a pretty strong base

cheese stormcrank: 16. the youngest of the party, even though he's his family breadwinner. the left table is the young people in this party.

myrtle: 30. aabria calls her a 'dirty thirty'. so that may not be exact.

jack brakkow: late 50s equivalent. granted he's a ratkin, and middle age starts at 25 for them, with old landing at 40. so he may actually be younger, probably closer to myrtle's age if not a little older.

marcid the typhoon: unknown. he's never given a specific age. given that he's known myrtle for a long time, and at some point was nearly drowned in a shipwreck, i'm going to put him in his 30s as well.

the unsleeping city chapter ii: again, a mix of confirmed ages and vibes.

ricky matsui: early 30s. 29-34. this is just three years aged up from the first unsleeping city.

sofia lee: mid 30s. another age-up from

kingston brown: 58. thank god a confirmed number.

iga lisowski: 45. it feels like she kind of plays up the old lady schtick for her job, bc 45 isn't that old.

rowan berry: ~400. at least that's how long she's been on earth. rowan form in her mid 20s.

cody walsh: 26. this is a 26 year old hot topic manager with 12 swords and extreme mediocrity. truly a character designed to cause chaos.

pete conlan: younger than 34. again based on the reference ally makes in tucii to big business (1988). i'd put him at around 28-31. definitely around cody's age, a little older, but not much.

mice & murder: they are animals using variant human stats, so they're using human ages.

gangie green: 55. he definitely acts younger in certain circumstances.

buckster $ boyd: unknown. probably younger than gangie--late 40s perhaps? we know he's a gemini.

daisy d'umpstaire: almost 60. she's past her prime and wondering if she really wants to do this for the rest of her life

ian prescott: unknown. definitely middle aged, probably around buckster's age.

lars vandenchomp: 18, supposedly in dog years. also a cancer. i don't know how, given that they served in the schnauzer war and supposedly have a business degree.

sylvester cross: 55. another person past his prime, and wondering what's he's doing with the rest of his life.

misfits & magic: the first school season to actually have consistent ages, assuming they're entering as sixth years who were in their junior year in the us.

whitney jammer: 16. born around 2005.

k | dream: 17. born around 2004

sam black: 16. another 2005 baby

evan kelmp: 17. born around 2003. this tracks for him not having formal education-- a little old for the grade.

the seven: the first spyre school season to have the ages be consistent. the ladies know teenagerhood well.

the fact they lost a year or so in the palimpsests makes placing their grades a little fuzzier: we know sam, ostentatia, and zelda get taken during the school year. penny goes missing just before the start of the year, and antiope, katja, and danielle get taken beforehand.

antiope jones: 18. she lost a year in the palimpsest, so she's technically a super senior, making her a junior during fhfy.

katja cleaver: 18. another technical super senior, who was a junior during fhfy.

penny luckstone: 18. again, she lost her junior year during fhfy.

danielle barkstock: 16-17. i'd say 17, because that makes her a sophomore during fhfy--she'd have repeated the year to be a junior during the seven.

ostentatia wallace: 16-17. leaning toward 17 again, but younger than danielle. we don't get full confirmation of how old she is/what grade she's in during fhfy, but given the fact that she's established enough to host a party at her house during fhfy, i'd say she's a sophomore, and that's the year she repeats.

sam nightingale: 18. i'd say close to 19, because she's definitely in penelope's age group if not grade, and i'm pretty sure i recall penelope being a senior during fhfy. she may have been young for her grade initially, but came out on the other end after fhfy.

zelda donovan: 16-17. leaning towards 16 for zelda; she's a freshman with the bad kids during fhfy, and is the last maiden to be captured, at some point during the second semester. she could conceivably retake classes over the summer and catch up in order to be a sophomore the same year as the bad kids.

shriek week: this is a college season, so they're college aged. i don't have that much to say--we know exactly how old they are.

terry talbo: 22

megan mirror: 23

tuti iv: 21

seven: 22

a starstruck odyssey: there's a mix here--some vagueness, some numbers. in-universe their ages would be counted differently anyway, since they work off of 6-month cycles and not 12-month years.

gunnie miggles-rashbax: mid 30s. he's got two PhDs and a master's as well as a cyborg body and years of trying to pay off debt.

riva: unknown. it's reasonable to assume that they're on the younger side, given that they are on their galavant. i'd assume around early-mid 20s for their species.

norman takamori: unknown. based on the art and his general timeline, i'd say ~40s. maybe 50s.

skip | valdrinor: unknown. he's a cerebroslug who was presumably raised somewhere, tried to escape, ended up in space and then in a crate of powdered egg substitute.

margaret encino: 24. a savant who began working at 18. truly a girlboss on a quarter life crisis.

sundry sidney: n/a. she's an android--aging doesn't really apply to her. i think it's only been a year or so since the line was shut down, since it's been revamped as the warfare whitneys.

big barry syx: 38. this also carries over to barry nyne. we know barry bohunk created the barry battalion before anarchera 200 (current=220), but they were born as 25 year old beautiful big boys. in short, barry's age is a little questionable.

coffin run: another age split season, since half of the party is immortal.

aleksandr astrovsky: 41. young to be florina's zayde. also 15 sons? especially when he and marina had not been in contact for ~7 years? insane.

squing: old as time. younger than dracula, but only just. just a squishy headed vampire who eats letters.

wetzel: 26. has not even lived a majority of his lifetime and already wants to be a vampire.

may wong: 24. granted that's because she was turned at 24 so as to be eternally young and hot, so she's a bit older than that probably.

a court of fey and flowers: they are archfey that don't die. blooms are centuries apart. assume these age ranges are going to be like the bloodkeep ranges.

andhera: unknown. younger than most of the fae--he's the current heir to the unseelie, but has had many siblings who died previously in pursuit of the throne. most of the others knew them when they were younger; hob unhorsing him on the field of battle is only one example. so definitely like just of age for this prince.

k.p. hob: unknown. definitely older than andhera and likely binx, he's in the prime of his military career. getting closer to middle age, but still a relatively eligible bachelor, given that the goblin court sought to make a marriage alliance with lady sylmenar.

chirp featherfowl: unknown. i'd put her at the archfey equivalent of late 20s early 30s just based on vibes. she's still getting down at the bloom but has a 4 year old at home on the material plane.

squak airavis: unknown. i'd say slightly younger than chirp, but they've been cousins for so long that the difference is irrelevant. late 20s, getting down and breaking hearts at the bloom. considering marriage but shopping around.

delloso de la rue: unknown. rue is a little tricky--they were brought to the court of wonder as a child and presumably aged normally to that point, but they've been an archfey ever since. closer to hob's age than the lords of the wing.

binx choppley: unknown. the crisis of the court of craft happened relatively recently in fey terms and she was an adult by that point, though not truly the leader at the time. i'd say she's older than andhera, younger than the lords of the wing.

neverafter: some weird age splits in this party; kids, adults, inexplicable trickster spirits.

rosamund du prix: 18. technically 118, but that doesn't really matter.

timothy goose: unknown. he's old enough to have greying hair and an adult son--late 40s-early 50s maybe?

pinocchio: 12. this is based on both him and ylfa being 21 during the epilogue, so i'm assuming they're the same/a similar age.

puss in boots/pib: unknown. we meet him when he's on the older side for a cat, but also he's an eternally reincarnating trickster spirit, so that doesn't really matter.

gerard of greenleigh: 32. the other adult in the party, even though he doesn't have everything figured out.

ylfa snorgelsson: 12. this is confirmed in story, and she and pinocchio are the same age.

the ravening war: this season is a little weird because of the time skip and the fact that some ages are unconfirmed.

delissandro katzon: starts at 19, 21 after the first timeskip, 26 after the second. a young man.

raphaniel charlock: unknown. i'd say he starts in his late 60s and ends the season in his mid-70s. old enough to be deteriorating and have specific signs of age, but still spry enough to pull off a cunning action dash.

karna solara: 14 to start, 16 post-timeskip 1, 21 post-timeskip 2. rotting from a young age.

colin provolone: unknown. i'd place him in his late 20s to start, mid 30s by the end, based on his art and the start of cheese pattern baldness.

amangeaux epiceé du peche: unknown. mid 20s to start, early 30s by the end. she and her husband had been trying for heirs for a while--assuming she married young, she's not past her prime, but not having a kid in her position would be a little sus. also the fact that she must have had a relatively healthy uncomplicated pregnancy points to her still being pretty young to start.

dungeons & drag queens: a lot of variance here as well. mostly vibes-based.

troyánn: 242. she's got a combination of elf and immortal mermaid queen--this is reasonable.

princess foehammer: unknown. probably in her 20-30s.

gertrude: unknown. explicitly immortal--the only sign of age is her hair. she's been around for a while.

twyla: unknown. she's another fairy of unknown age.

mentopolis: some of these characters have stated ages. they are also concepts in a brain.

conrad schintz: 10. his growth has been stunted for years.

anastasia tension: 24. an up and coming journalist running form her rich family? say no more.

hunch curio: unknown. he's a concept in a brain. on vibes? 40s.

imelda pulse: unknown. i'd say she's probably around anastasia's age, given that they demonstrably grew up together.

dan fucks: unknown. another concept in a brain. 20-30s on the vibes alone.

the fix: unknown. concept in a brain. old enough to be a father and a contract killer is all i'll say.

burrow's end: this follows stoat aging--some of these are confirmed, some are guesses.

tula: 1-2 years old, leaning towards 2. old enough to have kids of a reasonable age, if the 1 year mark is adulthood (male stoats achieve sexual maturity at 10-11 months)

jaysohn: somewhere between 6 and 8 months old. growing up fast.

viola: 1-2 years old, same litter as tula. i looked up stoat reproduction against recommendation.

thorn vale: 1-2 years old. in the vague adult range with tula and viola.

ava: 4 years old. potentially could live for 15 more winters. unbelievable.

lila: somewhere between 6 and 8 months old. same litter as jaysohn, but is the elder of the two of them.

and that's all for this time! despite being this long, this is still going to be shorter than the relationship tracking. as always the spreadsheet is available for perusal.

#dimension 20 #dimension 20 meta #thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats #dimension 20 statistics #fantasy high #escape from the bloodkeep #the unsleeping city #tiny heist #fantasy high sophomore year #a crown of candy #pirates of leviathan #the unsleeping city chapter ii #mice & murder #misfits & magic #d20 the seven #shriek week #a starstruck odyssey #coffin run #a court of fey and flowers #neverafter #the ravening war #mentopolis #burrow's end

[sourwolf-sterek32]

Found You- Part 7

Summary: Nearly 10 years ago, you left home after a bad incident with your parents, Rick and Lori Grimes. In that time, you married a redneck down south and started a family. But it all came crashing down when the dead started to walk.

Pairings: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 10.4k

Warnings: language, violence, blood, death

PART 6

Taking out the Saviours at their satellite base didn't go as smoothly as planned, but it still worked.

The Saviours were dead. They couldn't hurt the Hilltop any longer and now Alexandria was able to trade supplies with them.

Within a couple of weeks, Alexandria had gone from having limited food and supplies to having nearly too much. The storage garage was stocked to the brim and the garden Maggie had planted was flourishing. Fresh tomatoes and carrots were already being harvested, the other vegetables and fruits not too far behind.

Alexandria was thriving.

"Morning Y/N." Denise greeted walking into the infirmary with a bright smile.

"Someone's happy." You observed, looking up from the notepad in your hand.

Denise's smile brightened at your words, her cheeks flushing a little as she ducked her head.

"Tara and Heath are due back in a few days from their two-week run."

"Ah. That makes sense." You nodded. "Bet you can't wait to see her again."

Tara and Denise made a cute couple. They suited each other perfectly and you knew how much Denise was missing her girlfriend. If you had been apart from Daryl for that long, you'd be missing him like crazy.

"I can't wait." She confirmed, still smiling as she looked down at the notepad in your hands. "You making a list of supplies we need?"

You nodded, "Daryl, Rosita and I are heading out for a quick supply run. Figured I'd get a list of stuff we're low on and go with them."

"Oh, cool. Um..." Denise began to say before trailing off.

You looked over at the other woman to find her biting her thumb nail almost anxiously before she turned away and began going through the medicine cabinet to help add to the list.

"What is it?" You asked carefully knowing she wanted to say something but clearly needed a small push.

She grabbed one of the bottles before holding it up and you nodded writing it down on the list before she put it back and sighed.

"I... I want to go on the supply run."

Her words caught you off guard as you scribbled the last few letters down before looking up at her in surprise. Denise had never gone on a supply run before. Hell, you weren't even sure she had left the walls of Alexandria since she arrived here whenever that was.

She never showed any interest of wanting to get out. She liked the safety of the walls which was totally understandable, so you were confused as to why she suddenly wanted to go out.

"Why?" You asked cautiously because the thought of her going outside the walls did not sit right with you.

She could get hurt out there. She wasn't entirely defenceless, but she wouldn't hold up well in a fight against the living or the dead.

"Someone has to stay here at the infirmary. We both can't go, and I know you, Daryl and Rosita have had this run planned for a few days now, but... I really want to go, and I know a good place."

You stared at the blonde woman for a few seconds unsure what to do before you reluctantly nodded, and she grinned.

"If the others agree to take you, then okay. I'll stay back and hold down the fort." You answered motioning to the infirmary around you. "C'mon. Let's go talk to them."

Denise followed you out the building without hesitation and before long you found Daryl and the boys by his motorcycle in front of your house.

Ricky and Dean both wanted to go on the supply run. Initially, you had flat out refused. It was dangerous out there and you wanted them to be safe, but at the same time, they were older now.

They both knew how to fight and protect themselves and they wanted to help. So, reluctantly you had agreed.

Rosita arrived shortly after and agreed that the boys could tag along. She had been training them with knives and machetes along with hand-to-hand combat. Rosita knew how capable and responsible Ricky and Dean were, so she didn't see a problem with them wanting to join.

"There's this place, Edison's Apothecary and Boutique." Denise continued to ramble on about the place she wanted to scavenge. "I remember driving past it when the world ended. It's just this little gift shop in a strip mall, but it it's really an apothecary, they had drugs."

"How do ya know they still got 'em?" Daryl asked.

"It isn't that far. I just wanna check."

Rosita frowned in confusion, "I thought Y/N was coming with us not you."

"I was. But Denise wants to, so I can stay back." You answered.

Daryl glanced over at you with a questioning look. A flash of concern in his eyes as he glanced down to your baby bump hidden beneath your jacket in worry. He thought something was wrong. You never stepped down from a chance to go on a supply run. Never.

"I'm fine." You hurriedly reassured staring at your husband. "Denise wanted to check herself."

Daryl nodded, a look of relief washing over him before he glanced over at Denise.

"How much time you spend out there?"

Denise hesitated, "none."

"Forget it."

"I can ID the meds. I know how to use a machete now. I've seen roamers up close. I'm ready." Denise said defensively.

"You good with this?" Daryl asked looking over at Rosita who shook her head.

"No."

"I'll go alone, if I have to." Denise piped up.

"You'll die alone." Daryl responded bluntly.

"I'm asking you to make sure I don't."

Nobody said anything for a minute as you stood there in silence staring at each other before Rosita spoke up.

"I'm not babysitting her by myself."

Denise then looked over at your husband with hopeful eyes before he sighed and reluctantly nodded.

"Don't worry, we can help protect her." Little Dean declared looking up at Denise with a stern nod.

"Thanks, kiddo." She smiled.

"Boys, why don't you go help Denise and Rosita get the car ready. I gotta talk to your dad for a minute." You said looking over at your sons.

They both nodded and Rosita and Denise followed them down the street leaving you and Daryl standing by his motorcycle.

Daryl chewed at his thumb nail while watching the others walk away. It was a nervous habit that he's had since you've known him.

"Ya sure everything's alright?"

Those crystal blues flashed over to you once the others were out of earshot and you could see the worry etched on his face.

"Everything is fine. I promise." You reassured stepping forward and grabbing his hand with a gentle squeeze. "It'll be good for Denise to go out there. She rarely leaves the infirmary... just take care of her, okay? I'd say the same for our boys but we both know those little rascals can handle themselves."

Daryl smiled proudly, "yeah, they can."

-

Later that day, you found yourself in Abraham's house with Merle. The two guys were chatting away in the kitchen cooking some kind of meat that would usually smell delicious but was only making you feel nauseous.

You tried to ignore the feeling hoping it would go away but the longer the scent of cooking meat hung heavily in the air, you soon could no longer ignore it and had to rush out the room.

You barely made it to the toilet in time before throwing up the little food you had inside. Your stomach churned violently, and you spat into the bowl before flushing away the horrible scent. Only when you were certain that you weren't going to throw up anymore, you rested your face down against the cool porcelain lid breathing heavily.

Throwing up wasn't unusual for you. Morning sickness had been bad when you were pregnant with Ricky and Dean, and although the morning sickness hadn't been too bad this round, you were not expecting food scents to trigger this.

"Y/N?" Abraham's voice worriedly called out before a gentle knock rapped against the bathroom door. "Are you okay in there?"

You remained silent taking in a deep breath trying to compose yourself before you stood up and pulled the door open but turned away from the redhead standing outside and went to the sink to rinse your mouth with water.

Abraham didn't say anything for a moment as he leant against the doorframe watching you carefully before he broke the silence.

"You know, my late wife used to get sick to the smell of cooking meat while she was pregnant."

Your head snapped up, eyes locking with his through the mirror.

You opened your mouth, but no words came out because you had no idea what to say and Abraham smiled softly at you.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Daryl and Rick." You answered, turning around to face him while leaning against the basin. "We were trying to keep it a secret for a while."

The redhead nodded in understanding, "is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I'm fine. Just wasn't expecting that reaction to meat." You admitted, pushing yourself away from the sink before walking out the bathroom, Abraham following behind.

The meat was no longer cooking on the stove top. You actually had no idea where the food had gone but what you did know was that you could no longer smell it. The kitchen windows were now wide open, the curtains blowing in the wind while Merle sat at the table looking over at you with a knowing smirk.

"Pregnant?"

"Well, so much for keeping it a secret." Abe chuckled from behind you, and you sighed but smiled at your brother-in-law.

Merle was on his feet instantly and walked over with his arms out.

"Congratulations." He said sincerely before you stepped into his embrace and hugged him. "Don't you worry, I ain't gonna tell no one. That's your business to tell not mine."

The three of you ended up having sandwiches for lunch together. The guys had given the freshly cooked meat to the couple next door to get it out the house which you greatly appreciated and knew how much that would have sucked for them. They didn't say it, but they would have rather eaten the meat over crappy sandwiches.

"Why do you want these?" Abraham asked handing over his dog tags while the three of you sat on the couch together.

"She has a necklace with 'em." Merle answered pointing to the silver chain hidden under your shirt.

You looped your finger around the chain and held it up for him to see your grandfathers dog tags and Merles tags from Basic. Abraham leant forward reading the words engraved before his brows furrowed and he looked over at Merle.

"You got kicked out the army."

"Still counts." Merle grinned kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

"You're part of our family too." You began to explain reaching up and taking his dog tags before connecting them to your necklace. "So, you should be part of the necklace."

The redhead seemed genuinely surprised by your words, his warm eyes almost glistening with tears, and you had no idea what to say because you didn't mean to make the ex-soldier almost cry. But then Abraham was throwing his arm around your shoulder and pulling you into his side without a word.

Merle smiled watching as you rested your head against his best friend's shoulder.

-

Abraham and Eugene had left saying something about a factory that could be used to make bullets? You weren't too sure, but with Abe gone, you left Merle to nap on the couch and went down the street to the infirmary.

There were no patients. There hadn't been for a long time, just the occasional civilian coming in with an everyday cold or cut that needed fixing or medicine for.

You began making room in the cabinets for the new supply's the guys would bring back shortly but then the front door slammed opened with a loud bang followed by Deans panicked shouts.

"Eugene's been shot! He needs help!"

You spun around so fast, heart sinking in your chest when you saw Dean holding open the front door, his eyes red from crying just as Daryl, Abraham, Rosita and Ricky rushed through the open door holding an unconscious and bleeding Eugene.

Oh, fuck.

Your eyes briefly scanned over Ricky making sure he was okay but other than the haunted and terrified look in his wide eyes, he seemed to be fine.

"Put him on that bed. Rosita, I need his shirt cut off. Abe, that trolly of tools bring it here. Ricky and Dean find whatever towels you can. Daryl, keep pressure on the wound." You barked off orders frantically, switching into doctor mode easily.

The guys all did as they were told, and you hastily washed your hands under the sink before peeling away Daryl's own hands from the other man's stomach to inspect the gunshot wound. It wasn't as bad as you had originally thought. The bullet had grazed his side, so there were no open or exit wounds and there was no bullet stuck inside of him which was a small miracle.

You got to quick work with disinfecting the wound because although he wouldn't die from the gunshot, an infection could definitely kill him.

Ricky and Dean were by your side handing you anything you needed while Daryl paced the wall of the infirmary silently, worry and anger boiling inside of him. Rosita and Abe stood nearby watching on worriedly before you finished stitching the wound and covered it with a clean bandage.

Then once you set the needle down and let out a shaky exhale of relief, a horrible realisation hit you like a truck.

"Where's Denise?"

There was a beat of silence.

The others all looked at each other, your boys lowered their heads, so you turned to Daryl, and he had that look, the look that said everything and nothing at all. You braced yourself and knew before a word was spoken that Denise was gone.

-

Daryl had barely said a word about what happened. He barely spoke period.

Ricky and Dean had told you everything. How they had gotten ambushed on the train track and a man with their father's crossbow had killed Denise with a bolt through the eye. The boys were traumatised from seeing that, but they kept up brave faces while retelling it.

They helped fight. Killed a few of the bad guys, but some of them got away.

Alexandria was put on high alert. Guns were distributed out to people and double watch shifts became mandatory. Rick wasn't taking any chances because apparently you hadn't killed all the Saviours and this Dwight person said that he knew about your community.

Early the following morning, you were standing with Rosita by the front gate about to take over watch shift from her. The boys were still fast asleep back at the house. They had stayed awake most the night unable to sleep after the things they had witnessed.

Suddenly the roar of a familiar motorcycle filled the air, the revs of the engine echoing across Alexandria as Daryl sped up to the front gate where you and Rosita were standing.

Oh, this wasn't going to be good.

"Where are you going?" Rosita demanded realising that whatever the archer was up to, it wasn't good.

"Out." Daryl muttered dismounting the bike before walking straight past you and pulling the front gate open.

"No, shit. You got specifics?" Abe questioned from the top of the watch platform.

Your husband ignored him and climbed back onto the bike, but you quickly stepped in front of it and grabbed the handlebars causing Daryl to shoot you a warning look from behind his messy hair.

"Get out the way." He ordered sternly.

He was angry.

He was really angry, and you couldn't even remember the last time you had seen Daryl so worked up like this, but knew it was because of Denise. He felt guilty for her death, and he was on a mission to get revenge.

"You're not going anywhere. Let's just take a breath and talk about this." You said calmly but Daryl shook his head before he wheeled the bike back and you were forced to let go of the handles just as he tapped it into gear and sped off. "Daryl!"

He was out the gate before you could even say his name.

You stood there for a moment watching his bike disappear down the road before you turned and rushed over to the nearest vehicle.

Daryl was going to get himself killed out there. He couldn't take on the Saviours alone. He wasn't thinking straight. You needed to stop him.

"I'll drive!" Glenn shouted reaching the van the same time you did after witnessing what just happened.

You simply nodded and jumped into the passenger seat, Michonne jumping in the back before Glenn turned the key in the ignition and bought the car to life, however before he could start driving Abraham stepped in front of the vehicle.

"Make room for my freckled ass."

"No." Rosita snapped, marching past him and opening the back door. "Cover my watch. You stay."

"Hey, we should keep numbers here." Glenn spoke up, but Rosita shook her head.

"I know where Daryl's going."

"Get in." You instructed and the woman nodded climbing into the back before you looked over at Abraham who did not seem happy about this in the slightest. "Tell the boys we'll be back soon."

The redhead sighed but nodded and stepped out the way of the car before Glenn put his foot down on the gas and sped off down the road in the direction Daryl had gone.

Rosita instructed Glenn on where to go. She took you to the train track where Denise had died and pointed in the direction Dwight had run the day before, and then you stepped forward and began tracking your husband's trail.

Living with the Dixon brothers for over a decade, listening and learning from them about hunting and tracking before the world even ended had come in handy. You led the others through a tall field heading towards the woods following Daryl's faint but distinct track through the weeds.

You were so focused on looking at the ground you didn't see or hear the person nearby until a crossbow bolt shot straight past your head imbedding into the trunk of a tree beside you.

Your head shot up instantly, hand reaching for your handgun when your eyes met Daryl's widening blue ones and you realised that he hadn't known it was you. A look of instant panic and guilt washed over his features after nearly killing you, but his expression soon switched back into anger as Rosita yanked the bolt from the tree trunk.

"Watch the hell out, asshole." She snapped.

"Yeah, I did. Ya shouldn't have come!" He snatched the bolt out the other woman's hand before marching off in the opposite direction.

"You shouldn't have left!" You shot back matching his anger.

That had Daryl stopping in his tracks. His back was so tense he was nearly shaking before he whirled around and marched back towards you. His cold blue eyes locking with yours and you held his gaze, not backing down.

"When I split off from Merle 'n Abraham, he was out there in the woods, in that burnt-out forest with 'em girls! Put a gun to my head! Tied me up! I even tried to help him."

That was the most Daryl had said since yesterday. And suddenly, all his pent-up anger and aggression made sense. He blamed himself for this because he had let Dwight go all those months ago and now Denise was dead.

Shit.

Daryl turned and began storming off, but you quickly jogged after him and grabbed his shoulder, "so you think it's your fault?"

Daryl lowered his head but didn't try and shrug your grip from his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know it is." He mumbled, his voice now so small, so sad, it broke your heart.

"Daryl, it wasn't-" You tried to say but he cut you off.

"He killed her right in front of me! In front of our sons!" Daryl shouted, his voice louder and angrier than you had heard it in a long time. "I'm gonna go do what I should've done before."

"What, for her?" Glenn called out. "She's gone, man. You're doing this for you."

Daryl spun around at the other man's words, your hand falling from his shoulder as he glared past you towards Glenn.

"Man, I don't give a shit."

"Daryl." Glenn was suddenly by your side. "We need to get back there and figure this out from home. Our home. We need you, and everyone back there needs us right now. Think of your sons. It's... it's gonna go wrong out here."

"We'll square it. I will. I promise you." Michonne began to say slowly stepping forward. "Just come back."

Daryl's eyes shifted between you all for a moment before he shook his head, "I can't."

"Daryl-"

"Man, I can't!" Daryl shouted, his voice breaking as he cut Glenn off before he turned around and marched off into the woods.

"I can't either." Rosita stated following after your husband.

"Go back to Alexandria. " You instructed glancing at Glenn and Michonne.

Glenn shook his head, "Y/N, don't-"

"I can't just leave him." Was all you said before you jogged after Daryl and Rosita.

-

Daryl didn't say anything about you joining him, but you could tell he wasn't happy. Rosita wasn't in a talkative mood either, so the three of you trekked through the woods in silence. You weren't sure how long you had been walking for when you heard a familiar shout echo through the trees.

It was Michonne.

That was definitely the sound of Michonne's shout.

You doubled back, your guns drawn up at the ready and it wasn't long before you spotted Glenn and Michonne in the distance. The two of them were tied up and gaged on the forest floor. A man with a gun standing beside them.

Was it a Saviour?

Daryl slowly raised his crossbow, and you lifted your handgun until your sights were hovering over the man, but you didn't dare squeeze the trigger. A loud gunshot would be a death sentence if that man wasn't alone. Daryl's silent crossbow needed to be used.

"Hi, Daryl." A voice said from behind you.

Then a gunshot fired.

The loud bang was inches from your ear momentarily deafening you. Loud ringing was all you could hear as Daryl's body fell to the ground from beside you.

You spun around with your gun raised and saw a flash of blonde hair and a scarred face but then something hard slammed into the side of your head, and then there was nothing.

-

The first thing you noticed when you slowly began to gain consciousness was that you were in some kind of moving vehicle. The second thing was that your head hurt.

You could feel dry blood plastered along the side of your face, no doubt matted in your hair from the hit to the head earlier. But where the fuck were you?

Blinking your eyes open, everything was dark. Small streams of light shone in through what appeared to be bullet holes through the back door of a van that you were apparently now sitting inside. It took a moment, but your eyes slowly started to adjust to the darkness and that's when you noticed Glenn and Michonne sitting opposite you.

"What-what happened?" You asked, your voice coming out rougher than you expected.

Someone shifted from beside you, "are you okay?"

Daryl.

It was Daryl.

You turned your head to look at him and saw the faint outline of his body in the dark.

"Am I okay?" You asked in disbelief. "You got shot. Fuck, how bad is it?"

"It got his shoulder. Bled a lot, but the rag is helping." Rosita's voice answered and you squinted in the dark spotting the woman sitting on Daryl's other side holding what you assumed was a rag to his shoulder.

You carefully sat yourself up from where you had been leaning against the wall of the van and winced at the pain in your head.

"Where are they taking us?" You asked almost afraid of the answer.

"Nowhere good." Michonne mumbled.

"They took all our weapons." Glenn added.

You reached down to your hip with your free hand to find your weapons belt had been stripped of your handgun and knife.

Damnit.

"How long have I been out?" You asked, wincing as you touched the cut on your forehead.

"A while. You took a hard hit to the head, you okay?" Glenn asked worriedly.

"Been better." You admitted, because your head hurt something awful. "Daryl are you-"

"M'fine, sweetheart." Daryl's gruff voice replied before his hand reached blindly for yours and squeezed it tightly. "Are ya sure you're okay though? The baby?"

"I-I'm fine. We're fine." You reassured resting your free hand over your baby bump under your jacket.

"You're pregnant?" Michonne questioned in shock.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter." You dismissed turning back to Daryl. Your eyes were adjusting more to the dark as time went on and you could see the rag Rosita had against his shoulder and how dark it was with blood. "Fuck. How bad is it?"

"M'fine."

"You're not. You got shot!" You exclaimed.

"I've had worse."

That was debatable.

A gunshot wound was pretty bad.

You didn't have the energy to argue with him, so you sighed and leant back against the wall of the van. Daryl squeezed your hand again and you squeezed it back in a silent reassuring comfort.

Nobody said anything for a few minutes as you sat anxiously waiting to see what would happen. The van was driving, each bump in the road making Daryl grunt in pain from beside you, but he still refused to acknowledge that he was badly hurt.

It was hot in the back of the van. Glenn and Michonne had taken their jackets off a while ago and you followed suit unzipping the front of it before shrugging it off.

Eventually the van came to a stop.

None of you dared to move or speak as you sat there and waited.

Muffled voices were speaking outside somewhere, but you couldn't understand what they were saying. Daryl's hand was still holding yours, almost like he was afraid to let go. And honestly, you didn't want him to let go.

The only good thing about this whole thing was that your boys were still safe in Alexandria with the others. Rick and Merle would look after them, no matter what happened, your father and brother-in-law would never let anything hurt them.

Suddenly the backdoor of the van clicked and your head snapped towards it just as the door swung open and you were momentarily blinded by the bright car lights that were shining towards you.

It was dark outside now, but those car lights made it look daylight.

"Come on. You got people to meet." A familiar voice declared.

The man's body was a silhouette in front of the lights, but it was definitely Dwight.

He reached over and grabbed your arm first yanking you out the van roughly. The quick sudden movement made your head spin, and you were starting to wonder if you had a concussion or not from that hit earlier.

"Don't touch her!" Daryl shouted from behind you.

"No talking!" A different man yelled.

Before you knew it, Dwight shoved you down onto the dirt on your knees beside Daryl and that's when you saw the others.

They were here too.

No.

Eugene, Aaron, Sasha, Carl, Rick, Maggie, Merle and Abraham. They were all lined up on their knees and staring at the rest of you with terrified eyes.

Rick's wide tear-filled eyes met yours from across the lineup and you had no idea what to do. You tried to give him a small nod to silently tell him that you were okay, but well, it didn't work because he was staring at the blood covering the side of your face in pure panic.

Yeah, it probably looked worse than what it was.

You glanced back at Daryl to your right taking a look at his injury in the light for the first time and it was worse than you thought. His entire shoulder and up over the side of his neck was stained bright crimson.

How much blood had he lost?

Rosita had been doing her best with the rag in the back of the van, but it was still bleeding.

You glanced over at Merle who was on his knees beside you, but he was staring at his brother worriedly taking in the blood and paleness of his skin before Merle's eyes flashed over to you and you held his gaze.

There was nothing either of you could do, and you both knew it.

"Let's meet the man."

You looked back up to find a guy with a moustache looking at you all before he turned and walked over to the RV that was parked in front of you and knocked on the door.

A few beats of silence passed before the door suddenly swung open and a man wearing a leather jacket stepped out holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire over his shoulder.

Negan.

There was no doubt in your mind that this was Negan. The leader of the Saviours.

The very same Saviours that you thought you had killed at that satellite place. But you didn't kill them all and you never killed Negan, and now they wanted revenge.

"Pissing our pants yet?" Negan questioned stepping towards the lineup. "Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close. Yep. It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon. Which one of you pricks is the leader?"

Your eyes snapped towards your father in sudden panic. None of you dared to say it, but then one of the Saviours behind the lineup answered.

"It's this one. He's the guy."

You glanced over your shoulder and had to do a double take when you saw how many Saviours were actually standing around behind you leaning against the various cars with melee weapons and guns clutched tightly in their hands.

They had you outnumbered.

Negan slowly walked over to your father before pausing in front of him, "hi. You're Rick, right? I'm Negan. And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is. But I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly. Yeah. You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes."

A sickening wave of terror welled in your stomach at the man's words. He had something planned. Something bad.

"Yes, you are." Negan grinned still staring at Rick. "You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very may well be, you can understand it. You ready? Here it goes. Pay attention."

Negan lowered the bat from his shoulder and held it towards your father's face. Rick instantly lifted his head, tilting it away from the bat and your own body grew tense to the point of shaking as you watched on helplessly.

"Give me your shit... or I will kill you." Negan simply stated before his face broke out into a sickening grin.

He lowered the bat from your father and began to walk along the lineup. His predatory eyes scanning over each of you while he continued to say his speech that had clearly been rehearsed beforehand.

You were barely paying attention to what he was saying as your eyes darted around maniacally, looking for an escape, but there wasn't any. The Saviours had you trapped here. You were all at their mercy and Negan knew it.

"... and what I want is half your shit." Negan continued to ramble. "And if that's too much, you can make, find, or steal more, and it'll even out sooner or later. This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be."

Negan paused in front of you, dark eyes flashing up to the cut on your forehead before he began to look you up and down. Your hand instantly went to your baby bump protectively on instinct which was now visible without your jacket. Negan followed your movements and his eyes paused on your stomach before a malicious smile spread across his face.

You held your breath waiting to see what would happen but after a moment he turned and kept walking along the lineup while speaking.

"So, if someone knocks on your door... you let us in. We own that door. You try to stop us and we will knock it down. Do you understand?" He asked, walking back over to Rick who remained silent.

Negan leant forward with his hand around his ear, "what? No answer."

Rick didn't say anything. You weren't sure if your father could speak even if he wanted to right now. He was breathing heavily, you all were, but his fearful eyes were locked with Negan's watching his every move.

"You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, now did you?"

Oh, no.

"I don't want to kill you people. Just want to make that clear from the get go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're dead, now, can you? I'm not growing a garden. But you killed my people, a whole damn lot of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that, for that you're gonna pay. So now... I'm gonna beat the holy hell outta one of you."

No.

This couldn't be happening. Negan couldn't kill one of you guys. No.

"This..." Negan began to say spinning his barbed wired laced bat in the air. "This is Lucille, and she is awesome. All this, all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honour."

He was going to kill someone with the bat.

Fuck.

"You got one of our guns. You got a lot of our guns." Negan stated, pointing at your brother before walking over and kneeling in front of him. "Shit, kid, lighten up. At least cry a little."

Carl, like your father, remained silent as he stared up at Negan. Your brother kept his expression hard, unphased by the man's words but you knew he was freaking out on the inside.

Slowly, Negan backed away from your brother and you let out a small breath that you hadn't realised you were holding in before he began to walk back down the lineup again until he stopped in front of Maggie.

"Jesus. You look shitty."

Your eyes shifted from Negan to Maggie and, fuck, he was right. Her skin was pale and clammy, and you had a horrible feeling it wasn't just because of what was happening now. She was sick, or hurt, or... something was wrong with the baby.

"I should just put you out of your misery right now."

"No! No!" Glenn screamed, jumping to his feet but Dwight shoved him to the ground before he could reach Negan and held Daryl's crossbow to the back of Glenns head.

"Don't!" You shouted desperately but you didn't dare move.

Negan shook his head in frustration, "no. Nope. Get him back in line."

Glenn fought every step, but Dwight managed to get him back on his knees. You remained still, watching cautiously before Negan continued speaking.

"Alright, listen. Don't any of you do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First one's free. It's an emotional moment, I get it. Sucks, don't it? The moment you realise you don't know shit."

Negan scanned over the lineup once again. His frustrated expression fading back into that sickening smile. He was enjoying this. Negan liked having people at his mercy.

His eyes paused on you for a moment before looking over at Carl and Rick before flashing back to you and realisation washed over him.

"You two are his kids, right?" Negan asked, but it seemed like he already knew the answer. He pointed at Carl, "this is definitely your kid."

Negan began to walk back to you, and you lifted your head to meet his gaze with a hard glare which made Negan's grin only widen.

"Oh, you are definitely his daughter and-"

"Just stop this!" Rick suddenly shouted, speaking for the first time.

"Hey!" Negan snapped, his attention shifting from you in an instant as he pointed the bat towards your father angrily. "Do not make me kill your beautiful daughter. Don't make it easy on me. I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order."

His eyes raked over you all once again before he started to whistle. Your eyes followed his every step as he made his way along the lineup for what felt like the millionth time before he shook his head.

"I simply cannot decide."

He chuckled softly to himself and turned his back to you all. Eerie silence spread across the woods. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Until Negan suddenly turned around with that stupid smirk plastered on his face.

Oh, this wasn't going to be good.

"I got an idea." He declared before marching back up to your father and pointing the bat at him. "Eenie." He shifted to the next person in the lineup, "meenie." Then the next, "miney.... mo."

He was using a children's counting rhyme to decide who to kill.

What the fuck.

Negan continued along the lineup, not going in any particular order as he continued to point and speak.

Your heart was racing and stumbling over its own rhythm, your breathing deep and ragged.

He held the bat in front of your face, and you could see Daryl tense out the corner of your eye, but you sat yourself up straighter as you glared at Negan causing the man to chuckle before he moved onto the next.

"My mother. Told me. To pick. The. Very. Best. One. And. You. Are... It." Negan dragged out his words and you watched in horror as he stopped and pointed the bat towards Abraham.

You heard Rosita and a few others gasp before Negan continued.

"Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that."

He raised the bat and there was nothing you could do but watched as he slammed it down against the top of Abraham's head. You couldn't stop the scream that escaped your lips as you watched your friend fall to the ground.

Hot tears poured down your face as you forced yourself to look away, unable to watch.

"Look at that. Taking it like a champ!" Negan shouted, causing your head to quickly snap back towards Abraham who had forced himself back up onto his knees, blood dripping down his forehead.

"Suck... my... nuts." He grunted, his eyes locking with Negan's.

The man just grinned down at him before raising the bat and slamming it back against the redhead causing his body to fall forward.

He hit the ground with a thump before Negan continuously slammed the bat down against Abraham's head, until you couldn't recognise it anymore.

Your eyes were transfixed with horror, unable to look away no matter how much you wanted to. Merle's body suddenly shifted from beside you and you glanced over at him to find his body shaking with rage.

He pressed his lips together in anger watching Negan butcher his best friend. A cloud of warning settled over your brother-in-laws features and you knew exactly what he was about to do.

You shot your hand out and grabbed Merle's wrist just as he tried to stand up, but you managed to yank him down before Negan could notice. He tried to shrug off your grip, the line of his mouth tightening a fraction more as his body vibrated in rage, but your fingers tightened around his wrist, not letting go.

You were not going to let Merle get himself killed.

You couldn't lose him too.

No way.

After a moment, Merle let out a shaky exhale before his body deflated and the rage soaring through his veins turned to sadness as he stared at the mushed-up head of his best friend. Tears began to rise in Merle's eyes, but he didn't show any intention of fighting Negan, having realised it would be a suicide mission.

Cautiously you released his wrist and to your relief, Merle remained defeated on his knees beside you. Hot tears were burning in the back of your eyes, but you refused to let them spill. You were not going to give this monster the satisfaction of seeing you cry.

"Oh my goodness! Look at this!" Negan exclaimed, taking a step back from Abrahams body as he swung the now bloodied bat in the air causing some of the blood to fly off and hit Rick in the face making Negan chuckle even more. "You guys, look at my dirty girl! Sweetheart, lay your eyes on this."

Negan suddenly walked over to you and held the bloodied bat inches from your face.

You ducked your head out the way not wanting to see it.

"Oh, damn. You two were close, huh? There was a reason for all this. Red, and hell, he was, is, and will ever be red. He just took one or six or seven for the team! So take a damn look." Negan ordered, tilting the bat closer to your face, but you refused to look at it. "Take a damn look!"

Suddenly, Daryl launched himself from beside you, and you had been so worried about Merle doing something stupid, you didn't see it coming until it was too late.

You watched in panic as your husband punched Negan across the jaw sending the man stumbling back a few feet before Dwight and another man grabbed Daryl and tackled him to the ground.

"Daryl!" You, Rick and Merle all yelled, but your voices were broken, you could barely recognise them.

"No! Oh, no!" Negan shouted, pointing the bat back towards you as a silent warning.

Negan's expression was now dead serious as he glared at you before shifting over to Merle and Rick. But a grin soon broke out across his face, but your attention was on Daryl who Dwight now had pinned to the ground with a crossbow at his head.

"That? Oh, my! That is a no-no. The whole thing. Not one bit of that shit flies here."

"Do you want me to do it? Right here." Dwight spoke up and your hands formed fists by your sides as you stared at the blonde man with the crossbow.

If he so much as made a move, you were attacking him. Fuck everything else. You would do anything for Daryl, and you knew for a fact Merle would back you up in a heartbeat to hell with the consequences.

"No, you don't kill that, not until you try a little."

To your relief, Dwight lowered the crossbow before grabbing Daryl and dragging him back into the line beside you.

Daryl was breathing heavily trying to control himself as he glared at Negan from under the hair covering his face.

"Anyway, that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people. First one's free, then what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions. Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with, but I'm a man of my word." Negan continued to say as he walked towards Daryl and your stomach dropped.

He was going to kill Daryl.

No, you couldn't let him do that.

"First impressions are important. I need you to know me." Negan's attention suddenly shifted over to Merle.

The world around you came to a standstill as Negan's hard eyes glared down at your brother-in-law before he raised the bat and, in that moment, you realised, this was it.

He was going to kill Merle, not Daryl.

You acted on pure adrenaline, not even realising what you were doing until it was too late.

You jumped to the side in front of Merle just as Negan swung the bat.

"Don't!" You screamed holding your hands up and at the last possible second, Negan stopped the swing, the bat only inches away from your head. "Don't. You don't have to kill anyone else. Please!" You begged.

Negan stared down at you in surprise, "you have some mighty big balls. I could have killed you just now. Maybe I should."

He raised the bat once again.

"No! She's pregnant! Don't!" Rick's voice yelled desperately from down the lineup.

Negan kept the bat raised as he glanced over at your father, "I beg your pardon?"

"She's fuckin' pregnant. Kill me! Not her. Kill me!" Daryl suddenly shouted and your heart stopped as your head snapped towards your husband, but he wasn't looking at you, he was staring up at Negan with pleading teary eyes. "Kill me!"

Negan smirked and took a step towards him.

"So back to it."

"No!" You cried in a voice raw with terror just as Negan swung the bat but moved straight past Daryl and slammed it against Glenn's head.

Your mouth opened in a silent scream. Glenn staggered back up on to his knees and you had to look away.

"It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit. I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out, and it is gross as shit!"

"Maggie... I'll find you."

The tears you had been trying so hard to keep back were now streaming down your face as you stared down at the dirt in front of you. Your entire body was trembling. Chest growing so tight it became hard to breathe.

"Oh, hell. I can see this is hard on you guys. I am sorry. I truly am. But I did say it. No exceptions!"

The sickening crunching sound of Negan's bat had your body recoiling in horror. Your eyes flashed up involuntarily and you barely contained your scream as you watched Negan beat Glenns head down with the bat.

Maggie was sobbing. the others were crying silently, but nobody tried anything. Not again. Daryl was hunched over beside you trying to contain his own tears and Merle was staring blankly down at Abrahams body, unmoving.

"I'm going to kill you." Rick's broken voice spoke up.

"I didn't quite catch that. You're gonna have to speak up." Negan responded, making his way over to your father before crouching down in front of him leaning the bloodied bat over his knee.

"Not today, not tomorrow, but I'm gonna kill you." Rick repeated and for a moment, Negan didn't say anything as he stared at the other man before laughing.

"Simon, what did he have, a knife?" Negan asked, keeping his eyes locked with Ricks as he spoke.

"Uh, he had a hatchet."

"A hatchet?"

"He had an axe." Simon clarified.

"Simon's my right-hand man. Having one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without them? A whole lot of work. Do you have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathing? Or did I...?" Negan trailed off and made a clicking noise with his tongue as he motioned towards his bat. "Give me his axe."

You watched through tear-filled eyes as Simon walked over and handed Negan the axe. He stood up tucking the weapon through the belt of his jeans before he leant down and grabbed Rick by the collar of his jacket and began dragging him towards the RV.

"No!" You screamed, about to get up but both Daryl and Merle grabbed your shoulders, stopping you.

"I'll be right back. Maybe Rick will be with me and if not, well, we can just turn these people inside out, won't we? I mean, the ones that are left." Negan shouted over his shoulder pushing your father into the RV before slamming the door closed behind him.

You stared at the RV waiting for them to come back out the door any second, but then the engine roared to life, and you watched the vehicle drive off. You couldn't stop the small whimper escaping your lips as you stared at the RV disappearing into the darkness of the woods.

Time blurred together after that.

Seconds ticking by into minutes. Maybe hours had gone by, you had no idea. But the sun was now slowly rising along the horizon. Beams of light shone through the treetops before the familiar sound of the RV filled the air.

The vehicle pulled up a moment later parking in the same spot as earlier. But the once clean RV was now covered in walker guts and blood.

Your heart was hammering in your chest as the door slammed open and Negan dragged Rick out and dumped him in front of the group.

Your relief at seeing your father still alive was short lived because why would Negan put him in front of you all? Why didn't he put him back in the lineup?

"Let me ask you something, Rick. Do you even know what that little trip was about?" Negan asked, looking down at your father who was slowly pushing himself onto his knees. "That trip was about the way that you looked at me. I wanted to change that. I wanted you to understand. But, you're still looking at me the same damn way, like I shit in your scrambled eggs, and that's not gonna work. So, do I give you another chance?"

"Yes." Rick whispered, his eyes glued to the ground in front of him, his body shaking.

"Alright, and here it is, the grand-prize game. What you do next will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone's last crap day or just another crap day. Get some guns to the back of their heads."

Suddenly, the Saviours guns all cocked and a moment later you felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed to the back of your head. You didn't dare move as you kept your eyes on your father.

Rick looked up in panic taking in all the guns until his teary eyes locked with yours. You gave him a small sad smile, but Rick just shook his head unable to process what was happening.

"Grimes kids! Right here." Negan suddenly ordered and your eyes snapped away from your father to find Negan looking between you and Carl.

Neither you nor Carl moved as you both glared at Negan.

"Now."

You spared a glance at your brother who met your gaze briefly. You gave him a small nod, silently reassuring him that it would be okay before you slowly rose to your feet and Carl followed your actions.

Negan then pulled off his two belts -who the fuck even wears two belts?- and secured them around your upper arm, doing the same with Carl.

Before you knew it, you and Carl were laying on the ground with your arms out and you had a sickening feeling about what was going to happen.

Negan grabbed a pen from Simon and crouched down between you and Carl before drawing a line along both your forearms.

Yep, this really wasn't good.

"Please. Please don't. Please don't." Rick begged, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Me? I ain't doing shit."

Oh. Oh.

He was going to make Rick do it.

"Rick, I want you to take your axe and cut one of your kids arms off, right on the line. I don't care which one, but you have to pick." Negan instructed as he stood up and took a step back. "Now, I know. You're gonna have to process that for a second. That makes sense. Still, though, I'm gonna need you to choose and do it, or all these people are gonna die. Then both your kids die, then the people back home die and then you, eventually. I'm going to keep you breathing for a few years, just so you can stew on it."

"You-you don't have to do this." Michonne stuttered, speaking up for the first time. "We understand."

"You understand. Yeah. I'm not sure that Rick does. I'm gonna need a clean cut right there on one of those lines. Hurry up and pick which kid. Now, I know this is a screwed-up thing to ask, but it's gonna have to be like a salami slice. Nothing messy, clean, 45 degrees, give us something to fold over. We got a great doctor. Whichever kid you pick, they'll be fine. Probably."

You tilted your head up in Daryl's direction. His terrified eyes locked with yours through his scruffy hair and even from the distance you could see the tears falling down his face. With your free hand, you lifted it slightly and signed, 'I love you' in sign language.

You had picked up sign language through work before the world ended. It was quite useful, and you taught your family the basics like, run, stay, I love you, mum, dad, brother, and so on. It was good to use when out hunting to be able to communicate without scaring the game away and now in this new world, it had come in handy a few times too.

Daryl shook his head at you, but you smiled sadly at him.

You signed the words again as a silent goodbye because you knew the chances of not dying from blood loss in the middle of the woods was not great. And everyone else seemed to know it too.

"Rick, this needs to happen now or I will crush both of their skulls myself." Negan threatened, but Rick just shook his head as he stared down at the two of you with watery eyes.

"It can-it can be me." Rick whimpered.

"No. This is the only way. Rick, pick up that axe. Not making a decision is a big decision. You really want to see all these people die?"

"Leave my brother out of this. He's just a kid!" You snapped, glaring up at Negan before shifting your focus to your father. "Just do it, dad. It's okay."

"No. Not her." Carl argued from beside you. "She's pregnant. Just do it to me. Just do it."

You opened your mouth to argue but Negan continued to speak.

"Oh my God, are you gonna make me count?" He grabbed the axe and shoved it into Ricks hand. "Okay, Rick. You win. I am counting. Pick one of them. Three!"

"Please. It can be me. Please!" Your father begged, his voice breaking as he cried.

"Two!"

"Please, don't do..." Rick trailed off as he sobbed. His broken eyes flicked between you and Carl forced to choose between his own children.

Rick reluctantly raised the axe into the air with shaky hands and you closed your eyes, not wanting to watch him choose. You waited for it to happen. You waited for the pain and the sound of bone breaking, but it never happened.

"Rick." Negan's voice suddenly said, and you snapped your eyes back open to find the man lowering Ricks arm. "You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?"

Rick frantically nodded.

"Speak when you're spoken to! You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me, right?!" Negan shouted, his hands grabbing Ricks chin forcing him to look at him.

Your father nodded in agreement, "right."

"Right. That is the look I wanted to see." Negan declared letting go of Rick as he stood up taking the axe.

You slowly sat up resting your hands on your knees as you breathed heavily through your nose trying to calm yourself down. The adrenaline soaring through your body from nearly getting your arm cut off was quickly vanishing and the head wound from earlier was starting to catch up to you.

Negan was still talking, rambling on like he had been doing the whole night. You blocked out his words though and blinked back the flecks of white that shimmered across your vision.

Yeah, you definitely had a concussion.

"Ah. Dwight... load him up."

Your head shot up so quickly it made everything around you spin momentarily but when your vision cleared, the blood drained from your face because Dwight was now pulling Daryl back towards the van.

"No!"

You were on your feet before you realised what you were doing but one of the other Saviours grabbed you by the arm and practically threw you back to the ground causing you to cry out in pain as he pressed his boot down against your neck and aimed a gun down towards you.

"M'gonna fucking kill ya!" Merle thundered, springing to his feet but Simon was quick to stop him. "Let go of me!" Merle thrashed in his arms, but it was no use.

"They're brothers, aren't they?" Negan observed, watching Merle before glancing back to Daryl already in the van. "Load that one up too and release her."

Simon began dragging Merle towards the van as the man removed his boot from your neck and took a step back, but kept the gun drawn on you.

You gaped, uncertain whether to breathe or scream as you watched Simon throw Merle into the van too.

"No! Let them go!" A voice you wished to never hear suddenly shouted.

Panic swept over your body. The concussion long forgotten as you jumped to your feet ignoring the man with the gun completely just as you spotted Ricky running out from behind the tree line.

He shouldn't be here.

Why the fuck was your son here?

No. He wasn't meant to be here. He couldn't be here. Not now.

He his handgun raised towards Dwight and Simon who were still by the back door of the van, but one of the other Saviours were quick to rush over and yank the weapon from your sons grasp before shoving him to the ground.

"No!" You screamed, rushing over and dropping to your knees beside him.

Ricky instantly wrapped his arms around your stomach burying his face against your chest. His body was trembling as you wrapped your own arms around him protectively just as Negan slowly walked over.

"Damn! Aren't you a cute little spider monkey hiding up in that tree this whole damn time."

Ricky suddenly let go of you and turned around to face Negan, shifting his own body in front of yours protectively.

"Oh, look at you. That wild Grimes hair, the blue eyes. You got another kid here, Rick? Or is this your kid, darling?" Negan asked in amusement trying to piece together your family tree.

"Nah, that's Daryl's kid. I've seen him before." Dwight spoke up.

Negan smirked, "so Daryl hooked up with Rick's daughter and had a kid? Well, shit, I did not see that coming."

Negan looked back over at your son with a sickening grin before he knelt down in front of him. Your hands tightened around Ricky still sitting protectively in front of you before you pulled him away from Negan. The man smirked, his eyes flashing down to your wedding ring on your finger before he met your gaze.

"Relax, mama bear. I'm not going to hurt him. I'm going to keep your husband though. And his brother." Negan declared, staring at you for a moment before he stood up and walked back over to Rick who hadn't moved from where he still was sitting on the ground. "They have guts. Not a little bitch like someone I know. I like them. They're mine now. But, you still want to try something? 'Not today, not tomorrow'? I will cut pieces off of... Hell's their names again?"

"Daryl and Merle." Simon answered.

"Wow. That actually sounds right." Negan chuckled. "I will cut pieces off of Daryl and Merle and put them on your doorstep. Or better yet, I will bring them to you and have you do it for me."

You looked back over at the van. Dwight had Daryl's own crossbow raised and aimed at him and Merle in the back of the van, but neither of them were looking at the weapon. They were both staring at you and Ricky until Simon slammed the van door shut.

"Ahh! Welcome to a brand-new beginning, you sorry shits! I'm gonna leave you a truck. Keep it. Use it to cart all the crap you're gonna find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week. Until then ta-ta." Negan announced, tossing Ricks axe over his shoulder.

All the Saviours began to pile into various vehicles before driving away leaving the remaining group sitting on the floor of the woods.

None of you moved or spoke for quite some time. Everyone was paralysed in shock at what had just happened.

"I snuck onto the RV... I wanted to help. Dean is still home, I made sure he was safe before I left." Ricky frantically explained, snapping your attention back to your son in front of you. "I snuck out when the Saviours weren't looking and hid up a tree like dad taught me."

You were speechless.

Dean was still back in Alexandria. That was good. That was... that was really good. But Ricky had seen everything that happened here. He saw it all.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Rickys eyes filled with tears as he looked over at Glenn and Abraham's dead bodies.

"Don't look. Come here." You pulled Ricky back into a hug and he wrapped his arms around you tightly while he cried. "It's okay, baby. I got you. I got you."

Then in the weakest, saddest, most innocent voice you'd ever heard; "they're dead, mum. And dad and Uncle Merle are gone."

"I know." You whispered, looking over your son's shoulder and your eyes locked with your fathers own glazed over eyes who looked as broken and as helpless as you felt.

-

Next part

MASTERLIST pinned to profile

#daryl dixon #the walking dead #twd #norman reedus #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfic #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead fanfic #rick grimes

[janetsboys]

Can you do a Carl x Rhee reader when the reader gives birth? ( And by chance can the baby be a boy☺️)

The moment

A/N: i really love this + i didn’t have ideas anymore so requests are very well appreciated, i hope you will like it <33 (that was hard to write i hope i portrayed it good😭🫶🏻)

warnings: emotional stuff, giving birth so blood mentioned etc, mentioning of grief (pretty much fluff)

summary: Rhee!reader is carl’s girlfriend and she’s giving birth at the hilltop. fem!reader is glenn and maggie’s adoptive daughter. this happens during season 7 i don’t know when exactly ;)

english is not my first language ;)

You knew you were due for this month and you prepared yourself, you talked a lot about this with your mom who’s also pregnant, ironic isn’t it?

These lasts months were really tough, you had lost your dad, you had a lot of pressure on your shoulders because you had to keep the baby safe with the saviors around you.

A whole war could start at any moment and you were in the middle of that, pregnant as hell with a really really worried boyfriend.

That was a huge problem too, Carl was with you the whole pregnancy, trying to reassure you but he was in fact the most anxious man in the world at that moment.

He got on runs with your dad to get baby products months before you gave birth, he found books about pregnancy risks, some were really worrying so you begged him to stop reading this because it would end badly.

But he still was the most supportive person, always here to help, your mom confessed to you that he had a long talk with her about the situation, that he was very scared.

Maggie was there to help Lori giving birth to Judith, that was really traumatizing for both of them but it made them closer so he wasn’t scared of talking about it with her. Plus she was also pregnant.

You had symptoms telling you that you were going to give birth soon enough. You got all your stuff to the hilltop, you made multiple visits with the doctor Carson, he told you you could start going into labor at any time. When he said that you felt Carl squeezing your hand without even noticing he did.

He looked so focused on what Carson said, you rubbed his hand with your thumb, knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy.

That day, you had really bad contractions so Rick, Michonne and Carl all left Alexandria to take you safely to the Hilltop.

“Y/N, are you okay?” you heard your mom coming out of nowhere when you entered the Hilltop.

“I’m fine” you responded, a hand on your stomach.

“We think she might start to go into labor.” Rick calmly said, holding Michonne’s hand.

Maggie gave you a comforting smile before taking you and Carl to the doctor Carson after telling Rick and Michonne that she got this and they could leave if they had things to do at Alexandria.

Michonne quickly kissed your cheek and Carl’s, Rick gave y’all a reassuring hugs and then they left, scared that Negan could come at Alexandria at any moment.

Everything was pretty slow and even if you were stressed, people around you were so relaxed and acting like this happened everyday that you calmed down.

“How are you miss Rhee?” the doctor asked, “In huge pain but okay.” you laughed, feeling like you got struck by lightning for the 50th time of the morning.

You were laying on the sort of hospital bed, Carl sitting next to you, you felt you were really close to the moment. Carl was very silent, he didn’t want to stress you even more.

Carson made many tests to confirm you would literally give birth today, your cervix was dilated.

You already knew you would have to do this naturally, they didn’t have the equipment for a c-section or an epidural. They also couldn’t give you pain management. You really have to man up for this.

It started hurting more and more, but you had to stay like this for 4 hours, you were sweating and everything, your mom was waiting alone outside, she wouldn’t leave for a second in case the doctor or you would need her.

“Hey, mags, how is it going in there?” Sasha asked, approaching your mom.

“Hi, i don’t really know, i hope she’s okay, i’ve only heard little pain screams so far…The doctor left the room 30 minutes ago he told me to not worry too much. And that she was in good health, and the baby was in a great position.”

“Ugh, you look tired. You should go rest a bit, that can last for a really long time.” “Yeah i know, it’s already been 4 hours and a half. I wanna wait here until i’m sure she’s alright.” Maggie said, resting her head on Sasha’s shoulder.

“You’re a really great mom, you know that?” Sasha said laughing. “Thank you, i’m trying my best!” Maggie answered, closing her eyes.

Sasha rubbed Maggie’s hand “God i wish Glenn was there, it’s so hard to do this without him.” she sighed, tearing up a bit. “I know, i know…” Sasha replied, also closing her eyes.

At the same moment, you still had huge contractions, Carl was caressing your forehead, “It’s gonna be okay.” he tried to comfort you but at that moment, the pain was so big you couldn’t even hear him.

“Ugh, i’m dead serious Carl, we’re never having sex again” you angrily said, looking at him. He had the audacity of laughing then kissed your forehead “We’ll see that later, for now you’re pushing a whole human being out of your vagina, Y/N, i think it’s a bit too late for regrets!”

The doctor came back in the room at that moment, he checked on you and encouraged you to start pushing right now. That’s when you got scared, the baby was going to arrive in maybe two hours, or eight hours you can’t know before it’s here.

After long minutes, you started to feel the baby starting to come out as you were moaning in pain, destroying Carl’s hand by squeezing it like a stressball, you had instructions to take deep breaths, you obviously cried all the tears of your body.

You had flashbacks of all those give birth training when you were laying on the floor, legs opened and breathing like an animal to prepare yourself for this moment. But you couldn’t imagine it would be so painful and uncomfortable.

Carson was looking down there to finally start seeing the baby start to show up. “Okay keep going, keep going Y/N.” he encouraged you as you screamed so loud you almost lost your voice.

You never had that amount of physical pain in your whole life, you cursed a lot of course, then after a really long day, you felt like you ran two hundred marathons and got stabbed fifty times in your vagina, but the baby finally came out entirely.

Carson immediately cut the cordon off, then the baby started crying, you let out a huge relieved sigh with lots of tears because this meant the baby was okay and breathing by it’s own.

He quickly washed off the blood on your baby then wrapped it around a little warm cover. He gently gave it to you, “And here’s your son.” you started sobbing as you felt his little body against your chest, you learnt at the same time that it was a baby boy.

As soon as you saw him you knew your dad sent that baby from heaven just for you, Carl put his hand on the baby’s back, you’ve never seen your boyfriend crying of happiness like this, he seemed so overwhelmed.

He looked at the doctor “It’s- it’s a boy?”, Carson nodded as Carl smiled at him, tears rolling down his eyes “Congratulations.” He left the room to let you in your intimacy.

For the first few minutes, you guys didn’t say a word, the room was completely silent. You felt your son’s heartbeat and caressed his hair (of course you had a hairy baby just like everyone predicted when you announced your pregnancy).

After that really sweet moment, you got a little bit up to pass the baby to his daddy of course.

They finally met, the baby that made Carl crazily stressed out for 9 whole months was in his arms.

He looked at his son with simply fascinated eyes, it felt unreal to him, that baby was an angel, he couldn’t realize it was his own son.

He started sobbing, letting out all his worries, the bad memories of his mother giving birth in terrible conditions, his mom that had to sacrifice herself for his little sister, that image was finally replaced by the love of his life giving birth in a beautiful way.

Carl couldn’t leave his eye of his son, he was mesmerized by this sleepy little human. He never imagined feeling like this, loving someone you don’t even know yet, someone you literally created feels so surreal.

He was so close to his son during the pregnancy, always touching your belly, talking to him, trying to hear his heartbeat, he needed this proximity with him and now that he’s there, he doesn’t know how to act. He wants to hug him forever and protect him against anything. Carl could die right now for this baby.

“You’re the cutest little man ever.” he sobbed letting these words out.

You were watching him in tears, you remember how scared you were of announcing your pregnancy to Carl, now you see how happy you made him, how much he loves you. You’re just starting a family with the person you love the most.

After everything y’all have been through, you finally get this peaceful moment, you can finally see Carl get the family he always dreamed of, you in your hospital bed watching your boyfriend holding your tiny son in his arms.

“He’s got your hair, Carl.” you bursted into laughing as Carl started to laugh and cry at the same time. “Oh shut up!” he couldn’t even see anything because of the amount of water in his eye.

“That’s it, he’s there!” Carson smiled to Maggie and Sasha, Maggie stood up with a worried face and teary eyes. “It’s a boy? She’s okay?” she frenetically asked as Sasha was rubbing her back. “She’s perfectly fine and their son is too.” he answered winking at your mother.

She let go tears before turning around, Sasha took her in her arms so gently.

You got a whole night and day of resting after this, you had a lot of pain and work so you were really weak after giving birth. You took a long time to stay with Carl and your son before you fell asleep against Carl’s caresses as he told you you don’t have to worry, he’ll take care of your son while you’re resting.

You woke up and took a shower even though it was hard to walk and you had to wear some sort of baby diapers because of the blood coming out after giving birth.

You came back to the room and sat back down into your bed “I wasn’t joking when i said we’re never having sex again, do you know how much that hurts?” you said looking at Carl feeding the baby. “I assure you we’re still having sex just- with a condom on. But, imagine if we would’ve been intelligent persons, we wouldn’t have the cutest baby ever.“

He said with a sassy tone. “And, maybe we should finally give him a name, now he’s opened his blue eyes, tomorrow he’s gonna start walking!” he said jokingly.

“The tradition likes the first boy born to be named after one of his grandpas.” you answered looking at your son, with kinda sad eyes.

“We’re certainly not naming him Rick. That baby looks like a Glenn to me.” when Carl said this smiling, you felt your heart shattering. You lost your dad not long ago and this was just the right thing to do to heal your heart.

“Do you like it?” Carl obviously noticed you crying, he lied down the baby on his bed to come hug you and wipe off your tears.

An hour later, Maggie came to visit y’all in your room. Carson had made a little sign with a tigre drawing where it was written “Glenn Grimes” with a little angel drawn next to his name.

Maggie ran to you and kissed your forehead “How are you guys?” she emotionally asked before walking to Carl to give him a huge hug. “We’re more than good.” He said rubbing her back to reassure her.

“Look at your grandson, mom.” she walked to his carriage and you saw the look on her face when she read his name.

It didn’t fail to make her start crying, “I’m so thankful to have you.” she struggled to say as she walked to you to hug you. “I love you so much.” she whispered. “I love you so much mom. You should take him in your arms.” you said kissing her cheek.

As she was holding her grandson for the first time, Rick and Michonne entered the room. You saw Michonne’s mouth wide opened when she saw the baby in Maggie’s arms, they both stopped walking out of shock.

You heard a “Dear god” from Michonne and saw a smile on Rick’s face.

They both came to you to give you a kiss and congratulations. Rick ran to Carl to hug him and congratulate him too, Maggie looked at Rick smiling and passed him your son “And here’s Glenn Grimes in his grandpa’s arms” when Maggie said this, Rick’s face lightened, tears formed in his eyes, he looked at the newborn with pure love.

Michonne was looking at them, holding Carl, rubbing his back, trying to contain her own tears.

Rick turned to her “Come hold your grandson.”

Carl winked to her and she walked to Rick, “Hello little Glenn junior.” that’s when she lost it and started crying. You knew this would end up with everyone crying but you were so happy.

Carl came to sit with you as all the very young grandparents were fascinated by Glenn jr.

“You gave birth to an angel, Y/N” he said, holding you tightly against him, stroking your hair and kissing your temple. You closed your eyes, against his chest. You sent all your love to your dad. You truly believe this is all thanks to him.

You’re devastated that he will never meet his grandson, you know he would’ve loved him so much. He was the first one you told about your pregnancy and he was the happiest for you.

“Dad would’ve loved that angel.” you say with a little voice. “I’m glad your dad is his guardian angel. He’s watching him very closely Y/N.” Carl’s voice went straight to your heart. You know your dad will always be there for your son.

“I’m sure your mom is also going to watch over him.” you respond. Carl kissed you softly, thinking about how his mom would’ve been so proud of him.

“I can’t wait for people at Alexandria to meet him.” you told your boyfriend. “I can’t wait to see Judith. She’s gonna be so excited.” he says giggling about this thought.

————————————————————————————

thank you so much for the request, this was hard to write i hope i did a good job🫶🏻

don’t be shy guys send me requests i love seeing your ideas and i’m really opened about pretty much everything!

#carl grimes #carl grimes x reader #carl grimes x y/n #carl grimes x you #the walking dead #reader insert #twd carl

[lineffability]

"Crowley... for now, can’t we continue to pretend that everything is fine? Perfectly fine? Can’t we… can’t we pretend to be human? Just this once? Just one night?” There was desperation in his eyes. And… something else.

“What do you mean?” Crowley croaked, though he was quite sure he knew exactly what the angel meant. His hand was still resting on his chest, and he could hear his heart beating furiously against it. 

Aziraphale blushed, confirming his indecent thoughts, and looked down. Couldn’t say it. His voice was shrinking, becoming evasive. “Uh… we could watch a movie, maybe– that’s human, right? Like Nina and Maggie. Lord of the Rings, maybe. Or, or Jane Austen.”

Watch a movie. Right. Crowley, fluent in modern human ways, understood the code that Aziraphale was accidentally speaking in. He was sure that Aziraphale was, ironically, entirely unaware of the contemporary implications of ‘watching a movie’. Ironically creating exactly the kind of ruse the humans did when they invited someone over for a, how did they phrase it, chill movie night . Aziraphale wanted… him. Like that. Crowley was rather certain at this point that his demonic cheeks had gone up in hellish flames. He felt hot, for sure. 

“Erm. Movie. Yeah, cool. Cool, coolcool. Jane’s.” He took a deep breath. Jane had probably written some spy thrillers, had she not, he thought, remembering Aziraphale’s words. She wrote books. Did she? Yes. Good ones. Surely, a little spy thriller would be bearable. Nothing too… lovey-dovey. “One of Jane’s, I think.”

Aziraphale, curiously, blushed even deeper, and swallowed, and looked away. “Sounds… lovely,” he said, and the two of them stood there, so intensely awkward that the humans could have learned from them, and not knowing how to go on. Both so painfully aware that they weren’t really talking about movies at all. Both so painfully realizing how badly they wanted it. It. Such a simple little word, holding so many potential meanings. Stupid noun. Pronoun. Whatever. 

Crowley wanted so much. Him, yes, in that way, yes, but also in all the ways. In all the ways he could not currently have him, because he belonged to Heaven like stupid fucking furniture, like property, and he hated it so much. Yes, he wanted it, he wanted to feel his body, the flesh and the soul, wanted to feel the pleasure and give it, too. He wanted all that he could get, all that Aziraphale was willing to give. 

He wanted to watch a movie with him. 

He would be happy, truly, to actually watch a movie with him, just sit there, not even touching, and it would be the most sublime of joys. 

But he also wanted to watch a movie with him. 

How about that?

[continue reading]

[read from the very beginning]

#good omens #good omens fanfic #good omens fanfiction #my writing #meanwhile the world goes on #inefficable #BONUS CHAPTER #and we all know what that means

[ragingstillness]

Ok so I just finished the episodes and by a cruel twist of fate I once again have to work in the morning so here’s my quick thoughts:

Calypso’s bday was clearly a pride celebration and I love that for them

I actually picked up on it surprisingly fast, like literally when Frenchie left the galley to go prepare for the party

Izzy’s voice is of course always tops, we knew Con could sing but man he really belted it this episode

Ned Low is a dick and deserved what he got

I now stan Hellcat Maggie

Not surprised murder turns Stede on, frankly it was smtg I was always expecting

While their previous two kisses have been sweet and romantic I was happy to see one with some passion

Izzy, Jim, and Wee John in drag mean everything to me

Poor Roach, he seemed to be enjoying his torture

Wish we’d seen whatever torture there was that “turned Izzy on” lol

Can confirm, people who play violin are assholes (source: I am a violinist) /jk

Ngl the episode felt a tiny bit rushed idk if that was just me

Ricky’s a dick and his speech immediately made me think of a gay priest who is denying himself and condemning homosexuality (for which specific priest, just take your pick there are a lot of them)

As much as I like Ed trying to encourage Stede not to “kill in cold blood” I think that ship has totally sailed on both their parts. Even if you don’t claim Stede’s killing of the Badmintons as “cold blood” he did totally set that ship of French aristocrats on fire

I like that the show’s acknowledging that jumping right into sex especially after trauma is not necessarily a good idea no matter how much some part of my shipper heart is like ugh why are they fighting again let them be happy

The second episode in particular Stede spends kind of acting like a dick and knowing Djenks and his team this is on purpose but it’s still unpleasant to watch

I feel like Stede’s fallen into the trap of now that he’s back with Ed he thinks everything is going to be fine and he’s turned Ed into this idealized figure again and is ignoring the actual things that Ed says

That being said, I do agree with him that Ed is being a coward by running off to become a fisherman as if he wasn’t a bloodthirsty pirate who still hasn’t made up for his actions to the crew.

Ed becoming a fisherman is clearly a “I was happy fishing for the first time in a long time I want to hold onto that feeling” decision

Essentially both Ed and Stede are running from their faults and pasts and I think they need to talk it out

Ed seems to be trying to say to Stede that he wants to have time to love himself before falling headlong into a relationship but he missed the mark a bit

Izzy briefly plays Lucius’ role in congratulating them on sleeping together and giving Stede advise

It fits him like an over large suit but I understand they needed a character to fill that role and Lucius has his own plotline now

I do think Izzy is being remarkably calm and that might not last, he’s probably bottling it up

Has the Jim/Olu/Archie polycule expanded to include Zheng? I’m so confused by it all. I don’t disapprove in any way I just feel like some of the relationships in that square are qpps and some are romantic and I can’t really nail down which is which

Fang and Roach bonding I kind of ship them a little

The Paper-azzi hysterical

Jackie’s new outfit: yes queen

The Swede’s new look: bitchin’

I feel like most of the cast have gotten hotter over the season. Shows what a few modifications in costuming can do (note, I said in costuming not in body or face or anything I’m not shaming anyone)

At one point I straight up thought Izzy was a ghost the way he kept popping up near Stede and Ed and giving commentary, idk if that was intentional

Izzy is still dealing with his alcoholism and I’m glad they didn’t pretend that’d be solved in a few days

RIP Ed’s leathers, you were hot

I knew there was smtg up with those clocks but I thought there was some sort of secret message in them not that they’d explode. That might be just because I considered it an anachronism. The earliest I can find evidence of a time bomb with a little googling is 1776 but that may be wrong

Who was firing on the republic? Was it Ricky or did the bombs somehow set off the canons on Zheng’s ships?

Stede deserved the beat down he got he was being a misogynistic dick

Also, it’s about time Stede detached from Ed long enough to realize that he hasn’t spent enough quality time with his crew to get them to stay with him when there are other options

Not surprised Ed didn’t kill Ned Low but a little surprised Izzy didn’t, as Izzy’s canonically killed everyone Ed couldn’t

Izzy mentioning how Ed shot him when he told him he loved him and Stede responding as if he’d heard that before I would have loved to see that scene

In general these two episodes felt a little rushed but idk if I’m perceiving that correctly I’m too tired

#ofmd #ofmdspoilers #ofmd spoilers #ofmd season two #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season two spoilers

[frangipanilove]

Carol’s Blue Ford Mustang (or "Consumed Part 2")

TWDDD 1x6 Coming Home ended with a scene of Carol searching for Daryl. Personally I’m thrilled to see Carol again, partly because I love her (I know, controversial...) but also because she's tied up in so much of the symbolism we see around Beth. In this case, it's the hints of a "Consumed Part 2" that particularly thrills me.

I had already seen a spoiler pic of Carol’s stunt woman in a Blue Ford Mustang, so I knew going into the episode that there was a chance we'd see Consumed-related symbolism. And holy moly I was not disappointed!

I’ll do a post on license plates eventually, because that’s a rabbit hole in its own right. But for now, let’s appreciate that the license plate on Carol’s blue Ford Mustang, 502AV2A, points directly towards TWD 5x2, which is the episode when Carol and Daryl left searching for Beth. And when they did, it was in a car with this license plate: LC6M187. Keep this in mind, I’ll get back to it.

I’ve touched on the significance of the cars in TWDU in posts before (here and here), and the news of a blue Ford Mustang made me super happy. We’ve only seen it in a short scene, so I won’t expand on it too much, but I do want to say a couple of words about why it thrills me so intensly.

First of all, there's the role it plays in the scene. With Carol behind the wheel, it comes up behind Daryl’s bike, it’s one eyed (tape over the right headlight = Sirius symbolism), and it took a bullet. So plenty of interesting stuff already, parallels and retellings of what happened in 5x6 Consumed and 5x8 Coda. Then we see Carol knock out the guy driving Daryl’s motorcycle, and we see him wake up. He wakes up in the trunk of the car.

And if that's not enough, he's left in there for an unknown length of time. Time will tell if Carol returns to let him out. I think she will, but it doesn't really matter.

All of these things are variations of a sequence of events myself and many other TD’ers theorize possibly happened to Beth after Coda.

So, why is the blue Ford Mustang important?

First of all, it’s blue (here).

Second, it’s a Mustang.

I talked about Mustangs and horse symbolism in Trunk Resurrection 2.

We saw a yellow Ford Mustang in TWD 2x1 What Lies Ahead, when the group got stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. This was around the time when Sophia ran off. They left supplies for her on the Mustang, along with a note about how they’ll come by every day. We later learned that Sophia likely died soon after running off, but had she been alive long enough to get back to the car, the supplies would have saved her, and TF would have come by eventually. The Mustang represents a hope and an opportunity to survive even when the odds are against you.

Take a look at the license plate of the yellow Ford Mustang from 2x1:

Yup, it’s the same as on the car that Carol and Daryl used to search for Beth. LC6M187.

A Mustang is a horse, which means it tied to the Buttons symbolism.

It is also tied to the scene from 5x11 Them, when Maggie found a car with a trapped walker in the trunk. We saw a sea horse key ring attached to the car keys Maggie used to open the trunk, and we know that walker was supposed to remind her of Beth, because it was confirmed on The Talking Dead.

We also knew it was a callback to Beth because of this scene from 4x11 Still:

And finally, there's this guy. Daryl's brother Merle. Disappeared in season one, presumed dead, only to return in season 3.

Here seen enjoying a drink before making his final sacrifice, drawing walkers in to ambush the Governor rather than handing Michonne over, as was the original plan. There are many paralells between Beth and Merle, and interestingly, the license plate of the car he drove when leading the walkers to ambush the governor looks familiar:

It's LC6M187 again. Same as on the yellow Ford Mustang where TF left supplies for Sophia. Same as on the car Daryl and Carol drove when following the Grady car with the white cross. Merle sacrificed himself to save Michonne and TF.

Carol's blue Ford Mustang from TWDDD 1x6 has a licence plate that directly points back to 5x2 Strangers, when they left to search for (and eventually found) Beth. The license plate points us to 5x2 for a reason.

We're about to see “Consumed Part 2”, and again, they will find Beth.

#bethyl #daryl dixon #beth greene #team delusional #team defiance #beth x daryl #the walking dead #twd #twddd

[sheetsonfire]

Intruder

Fandom: Chicago Med, Chicago PD

Pairing: Will Halstead x Reader, Jay Halstead x Sister-In-Law!Reader

Genre: drama, angst, romance, thriller

Warnings: violence, swearing, gunfire, stabbing, injuries

Word Count: 3770

Requested by @megafandomsxassemble: Hi! New follower here! Love your account btw ❤️ My request is as a nurse/Dr./Surgeon, you get off work and head home and Will having an hour left of his own shift. You call Will after you get home and ask him if he wanted you to grab dinner or just go to bed when he gets home. As youre on the phone with him, you hear a thud (intruders or serial killer...you pick). "Will, there's someone in the house. Call Jay." He does and Wil rushes home to find you stabbed/shot/hurt severely in some way. Jay runs in and tries to help. You decide the ending. (Inspired by Arrow 3 19 Thea Queen Stabbed) Thanks love. Im so excited to read this.

-

Walking up to your front door it was like your body knew it was time to creak into a defunct heap on the couch. Your back ached and your shoulders were stiff, your feet were in dire need of your husband’s hands to massage them - the perks of being an ED doctor.

Will, your aforementioned husband, had unfortunately been caught by a last-minute patient, leaving you to make the return home a solo journey.

You’re clutching a bag of takeout in one hand as you keep your phone pressed between your ear and your shoulder, using your other free hand to turn the key in the front door and nudge the door handle down with your elbow.

“Yeah I just got in, I’ve got us a few dishes to share from that Turkish place we like, I was just gonna have a snack and then eat the main bit with you when you got in.”

Will was sat in the on-call room, glancing over scans for what would hopefully be his last patient of the night. He smiled at your words, he wanted nothing more than to be on his way home to enjoy dinner on the couch with you, both of you resting and indulging in a film before bed.

“Honey, don’t wait for me, it’ll get cold. Just enjoy the food, and I’ll have it when I get in.”

You frown, plopping your keys into the bowl on the table by the front door, gently pushing the door itself shut with your foot. The bag of takeout rustling in your arms as you start to walk down the hall to the kitchen, “Will, babe, are you sure, I really don’t mind-” 

Your sentence is cut off by a loud thud coming from upstairs, icy cold fear strikes you in the gut. You glance upward, trying to steady your breath, searching for a rational explanation for the noise. Staring at the ceiling, ears straining to hear a second sound.

Had the neighbour’s cat got in again?

Will’s not focused on the scans now, waiting near impatiently for you to continue, the numbers on the call’s time still ticking upward. The sudden silence was worrying. “Y/N? Are you still there?” 

You feel your adrenaline remain on alert, your spidey senses won’t relent, knowing that it wasn’t just a random thud. Only to hear the sound of heavy boots, moving at speed towards the stairs, confirming your fear, 

The footsteps leave you no time to turn back towards the front door, placing the food on the table as quietly as possible, tucking yourself into the small pantry and pulling the door closed by the apron hook on the inside. The boots descend with resounding stomps, making you shiver, you whisper quickly and as calmly as possible to your husband, “Will, call Jay, there’s someone in the house. Please, call Jay.”

Will feels his entire reality spin, standing up and knocking the chair over he plucks the door open, stepping out into the ED. Maggie eyes him worriedly, seeing the urgency in his expression as he marches over to her. 

��Sweetheart, find somewhere safe to hide or get out if you can, I’m gonna hang up and call Jay, alright? It’s gonna be okay, we’re coming. Put your phone on silent, leave the line open, I’m gonna call you right back.”

“I’m in the pantry. I couldn’t get out to the front in time. I love you.”

“I love you, sweetheart. Stay put, find something you can use to defend yourself. I’m gonna call Jay, hold on.”

The line cuts, you are left alone as the sounds stop again, squeezing your eyes shut as your head spins. Waiting in anticipation of what could happen next, turning slowly in the dark to feel for the rolling pin you knew was on a shelf in the pantry.

“Will?” Maggie queries, reaching out to touch his arm, not liking the look on his face one bit. He stands, foot-tapping restlessly as he waits for Jay to answer. 

“Come on, Jay, come on…” Will glances at Maggie, 

“It’s Y/N, someone’s in the house. She’s hiding.” Maggie’s eyes widen, squeezing his hand as she waits with him. He exhales, trying to wrangle his nerves, almost jumping when a voice answers at the other end.

“Hey man, I’m just on my way to yo-”

“Don’t come to Med, go to the house. Y/N’s trapped in the pantry, someone’s in there, Jay. Someone’s in the house.” 

Jay barely lets Will finish the sentence before he flips the sirens on, swerving in traffic to turn around towards your and Will’s house. You and he had become really good friends, and he adored having you as his sister-in-law. “I’m on my way, she got a weapon?”

Will’s voice is frantic, shaky, “I don’t know, she’s in there with jars and tins, maybe a rolling pin? I told her to keep the line open and the phone on silent so I could call her back.”

Jay’s focus is solely on weaving in and out of traffic carefully, taking the quickest route to you. “Alright, man. Let me call her, okay? So I can hear what’s going on. I’m gonna get her, don’t you worry. I’ll call the team in too. You just get there safe.” 

“Ok, thanks, Jay. I’m on my way.” Maggie is practically steering Will out of the ED and towards the parking lot. 

“Go, it’s okay, I’ll get someone to cover your patient and I’ll let Goodwin know.”

“Thanks, Mags.” He drops a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Let me know what happens, Will” Maggie pleads.

“You got it.” He calls back, hurriedly running out of the building and to the car.

You feel a strange sense of relief when your fingertips brush over smooth round marble, the fancy and quite weighty rolling pin Will had bought you for Christmas was about to provide an altogether different use. You knew it wasn’t a match for a gun or a knife, but it was almost certainly better than nothing. Gripping it tight like a baseball bat, you waited with bated breath for the intruder to find you, ready to swing at either the crotch or the head with everything you had and make a run for it to the outside world. 

Your phone illuminates silently with Jay’s caller ID and you hastily flick the “answer” button up as your phone connects the call, resuming your stance and preparedness with controlled breath.

Jay doesn’t speak, only listens for any sound that might occur within the house.

After what felt like an hour’s silence from the boot steps, they continue down the hall towards you. 

“Come out, baby, I know you’re here, I heard you talking to loverboy and I’m not in the mood for games.” A voice teases. You swallow hard, a light sheen of sweat forming on your skin, it was hot in the space and that voice did nothing good for your nerves. You wished Jay would appear, so you could be safe with your brother-in-law until Will came for you. 

Staying ready with your ‘weapon’, hearing with each pulsing thud of your heart that the boots were stepping in time, getting closer. They were loud enough that, aside from the taunting, Jay could hear them on the other end of the line, willing time to pass faster as he drove to you. 

“Hang in there for me, Y/N.” He mutters, taking a turn to head towards your neighbourhood. 

-

The intruder is whistling now, a casual yet haunting tune that sends spikes of fear into your stomach, they stop outside the pantry door. The handle begins to turn and hot prickly fear runs down your spine, without thinking you take a swing as soon as the door is open, hearing the sickening crunch of the rolling pin against the flesh and bone of the masked man's face.

You let out a yelp as you sidestep his groaning hunched-over form, not stopping to see him clutch at his now very bloody nose. Running towards the front of the house in strides you don't even register. Just as you reach the door you hear the most enraged roar, which in turn has you screaming in anger and fear as the iron grip of a fist clutches at your hair. You don't stop, still attempting to move forward even if you could feel your hair being ripped from your scalp.

Getting outside renews your hope of escape, ignoring the throbbing at the back of your bleeding scalp, screaming for help instantly as you sprint down the path to the sidewalk. Between the hedge and the open area of the street you feel it, just an intense pressure at first, then a terrible, white-hot, burning that you register as having been stabbed in your side - between the top of your hip and the start of your ribs.

Your legs keep moving but your body gives way, falling sideways onto the concrete, your elbow and your knee take the brunt but they're the least of your worries. The angle of the knife is such that you cannot twist your arms or your body to hold the wound, crying out with each searing spasm, blood thundering in your ears as a dark shadow looms over you.

You try and push away, but even with your unrelenting energy to keep moving, you knew you would be caught again. Bracing for what comes next you’re startled by the sound of several gunshots, and a voice yelling at your assailant. Then, there’s an almighty thwack of something, someone, hitting the ground a few feet away from you.

Hurried footsteps approach your side, and gentle hands soothe your head as something soft is placed beneath it. There’s a different kind of pressure on your side, something is being padded and tied around the knife still pressing into your agonised flesh, still, it's a pressure that makes you wail in pain, eyes fluttering as wooziness washes over you.

You think you can hear the voice apologising and telling you to stay awake.

“Y/N, it’s Jay, I’m right here, I’m gonna take care of you, Will’s coming. Can you hear me, Y/N?” 

“Nh… J-Jay…You came.” You mumble, he squeezes your hand, looking at you worriedly as he sees how ashen you're becoming, wondering where the hell the Ambo was and where Will was. 

“Hang tight, help’s coming, it’s coming, Y/N. You’re gonna be okay.”

You nod feebly, feeling the cold settle into your skin, you knew you’d pass out soon, and your blood pressure starts to drop more than was acceptable for still being in the field. You exhale weakly as you hear the piercing sound of sirens even through your muffled hearing, feeling like it was okay to sleep now.

“No, no, it’s here, the ambulance is here, stay with me, Y/N!”  Jay squeezes your hand again, remaining firm pressure with his other on your wound, but you can’t oblige his frantic pleas. Letting your eyes drift with you into unconsciousness. 

“Detective?” The paramedic jogs over, making a swift exchange of hands with Jay as their partner begins to work on you as well. Jay exchanges details of your injury, how long you’d stayed conscious, the rate of bleeding, and your age. He stands, hands covered in your blood, a frantic look on his face as he spins around for a sign of Will. 

As if on queue your husband’s car comes speeding down the street, a factor Jay would absolutely overlook and fight anybody on if they queried it. 

“Jay!” Will yells, flinging his door shut, jacket half hanging off of him as he runs towards his brother, towards his home, towards you. 

“Will, thank god man, the paramedics are with her, she was stabbed in the right side, and she just lost consciousness.”

Will is moving past his brother at lightning speed, asking for an update from the paramedics who immediately recognised him from Med.

Jay does what he can only do in this situation, begin the investigation into your home invasion and subsequent stabbing, waiting for the rest of his team to arrive. It wouldn't be a complicated case as he had already taken out your attacker, but there were still processes to follow. You deserved closure and knowledge of who this was.

The sound of the gurney being brought to full height grabs his attention, hurrying over to Will to reassure him he'd be along to the hospital just as soon as the house and the scene were secure. The brothers exchange a caring glance as they part ways, Jay lets out an exhale as he watches you disappear into the ambulance, it was always harder when it was family. He was worried for you and worried about how his brother would handle seeing his wife in such a state.

-

The scene that meets your fellow colleagues leaves them all in a deeply shocked and concerned state for you, the knife had nicked part of your large intestine and caused significant bleeding, it had sent you to surgery for repair with Crockett.

Will was made to observe from the viewing room in the OR, Maggie staying by his side throughout the surgery as he paced anxiously back and forth, still covered in your blood and exhausted from a shift that had never officially ended.

After several hours the repair was complete and you were taken to a recovery room, in that process Maggie forced Will to change and take a quick shower, making the gentle quip that you didn’t deserve to smell his stink upon regaining consciousness.

Your husband sinks into the chair by your bedside, now back in his ordinary clothes, hair drying in a mess of red curls. He immediately clasps your hand, eyeing your pale and peaceful face, machines steadily beeping as they keep working to keep you stable. 

Those soft brown eyes fall closed for a moment, full of realisation that if Jay hadn’t arrived when he did you could have very well been taken from Will for good. The reality rolls around uncomfortably in his stomach, so much so that he has to take a moment to catch his breath and calm down. He soothes his thumb over your fingers, feeling the smooth metal of your wedding ring as a comfort to himself, letting a few stray tears fall. Head dropping as he focuses on the feel of you…

The sensation of wiggling fingers makes his head snap back up.

“Mh, no crying by my bedside, Mr Halstead…” Your voice is hoarse from the surgery, mouth dry and lips cracked. A small half-sob escapes your husband, smiling gratefully as he stands, leaning forward to kiss your forehead. You laugh a little too, but wince as you feel the strange tug of your sutures.

“Hey, you, take it easy.” Will coos, stroking your hair as he takes in the very wonderful sight of your open eyes and adoring smile directed at him. 

“I’m so glad to see you.” You whisper, humming gratefully as Will presses a straw and a cup full of water to your lips. 

“And I’m glad to see your beautiful face, honey. So glad.” He murmurs, taking the cup away when you’re done. Sitting back down in the chair so he can keep holding your hand and stroking his thumb over your wrist. 

You take a breath, as good as you can under the restriction of gauze and bandages to support your midsection. 

“Will…” You start, already feeling the emotions bubbling up to the surface. 

“Y/N, we don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready.” He reassures, hating to see you in such distress. For all his vows, he still couldn’t protect you from this. 

You shake your head a little, “No, it’s just… Will, I thought I’d never see you again, I thought our future was done.” You’re crying softly, desperate to be in the safety of Will’s warm embrace, to feel his lips brush against your neck and his voice talk soothingly to you, cursing that you couldn’t do much of anything right now. 

“It’s not done, baby. And we’ll never come close to anything like that again if I have anything to say about it.” Will stands once more, cradling your face carefully in his hands, the comfort of his palms soothes your aching head and stinging eyes. You feel his kisses land all over your cheeks, your jaw, chastely landing on your lips. 

“I’m right here, I got you.” He murmurs, you nod feebly, letting yourself be vulnerable where normally you’d go out of your way to be headstrong. 

There's a knock at your door, and you both turn your attention to a smiling Crockett.

"Ah, Dr Halstead and Dr Halstead. Good to see you awake, Y/N. How are you feeling?" His voice is soothing like Will's, you always did commend Dr Marcel for his bedside manner. He had been a good friend to you, and Will had worked things through with him in the past few years.

"Pretty rough, but also I guess pretty great considering you did a wonderful job of not letting me die." You smile half-heartedly, the grimness of that reality still had a sting to it.

He lets out a small chuckle, patting your leg.

"Well, let's do some checks, shall we? And then I can let you get back to being alive and making this guy run errands for ya." He winks at Will which earns him an eye-roll, but really Will's still grinning, turning his attention back to you with a twinkle in his eye, coming to hold your hand again.

"She can have whatever she wants."

-

Crockett finishes checking that everything’s as it should be after your surgery, leaving you to sit and doze peacefully as Will finally feels able to do the same with his head on the side of your bed, you keep your hand on top of his curls, lightly stroking through them in bouts of awakedness. 

It’s a few hours later, virtually in the dead of night, when Jay manages to leave the scene, take his own shower and come along to visit you. The nurse on duty was ready to boot him back in the direction of the exit, but he of course sneakily used his badge and an explanation of being the rescuing officer to come and see you. 

Carefully he approaches, trying not to wake either of you but you were so in and out that you just happened to be checking the time when his movement caught your eye. Initially, your heart lept, not sure who would be poking around at this time of night, but you relaxed back into your pillows at the sight of your also very tired-looking brother-in-law. 

You silently wave at him with a tired, appreciative, smile. You pat the other side of the bed, inviting him to sit in the chair opposite Will.

He silently moves further into the room, groaning quietly as his tired limbs meet the comfort of being able to sit. He sighs, giving you a chastising look.

You raise your eyebrows with a smirk, a silent "What?"

He speaks in a hushed tone, "Let's not do that again, you're my favourite sister-in-law and I'd be pretty damn disappointed if I lost you."

You huff out a silent laugh through your nose, "Buddy, I'm your only sister-in-law."

"Exactly, I only got one and she's kinda important. Besides, my grieving brother would be insufferable and likely to be moping for all eternity."

"Well, I better behave then, huh?" You reach out for him, still soothing Will's tired head with your other hand.

He immediately takes it, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Thank you for being there, Jay. I could have-... Well, you know." You exhale, just thankful to have two of the most important people in your life with you.

"Anytime, anywhere, you're his family and you're mine too." Jay gives you an almost serious stare, just to convey how solid that pact was.

Jay's face then creeps up into a smile again, "And if you could come by the little league games for the Police Explorers and teach those kids how to swing like you swung that rolling pin into that guy's face, we'd be champions this season."

You laugh a little louder this time, surprised when you actually feel Will's shoulders shaking with laughter too.

"Hey! Are you fake sleeping down there?" You query, tugging gently on Will's hair.

"Ow!" He mumbles into the blanket, lifting his head with a sleepy expression.

"I wasn't fake sleeping, only for the last bit about your baseball swing into that guy's nose." He pouts and you shake your head, amused. Stroking along his tired face with a loving look.

Will hums happily, finally looking at his brother.

Jay grins, "Hey sleeping beauty."

"Hey, how're you?" Will knows Jay would have been at the scene until somebody forced him to go home, which is how he would have ended up here so late.

"All good, the scene's cleared up, the house is secure and my two favourite people are safe in this room."

Will looks around with fake confusion, "Y/N is here, but there's no Hailey. Me, your pain-in-the-ass smothering brother, I'm a favourite?" His smile getting more shit-eating by the second.

You fake gasp then, joining in with teasing Jay. "Wait, is Hailey not one of your favourite people?"

Jay scowls, "You two have been reunited for a few hours and you're already on my ass. I meant you two were two of my favourite people, of course, Hailey is one of my favourites, she just didn't have a near-death experience today." He huffs and you pat his arm with a small giggle.

"I think you need a nap now, Jay Jay." Biting your lip as you tease him with his childhood nickname, glancing at Will who's stifling his own laugh.

"You told her about Jay Jay?!" Jay glares at his brother.

"Oh come on, Jay, it's not the worst nickname ever, is it? Besides, I could have told her about-" Will mimes what he's referring to and Jay's eyebrows go up in disbelief.

"Say another word and you'll need a bed and a room too."

Will holds up his hands in surrender and Jay relaxes again, shaking his head at the two of you, but so very glad you were still here to keep spending your life with Will and the little family you had become a part of.

-

Fin.

#will halstead x reader #one chicago #chicago pd #chicago med

[athenashaw]

In a funny way, we got what we wanted

Beelzebub x Gabriel confirmed

Crowley confesses to and kisses Aziraphale

Maggie and Nina fix things by just having a chat

Crowley and Aziraphale dance together

The many faces of Crowley

They knew eachother before the Fall

But still... Not like this

#the emotional pain #it hurts #gos2 spoilers #gos2 spoiler #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens season 2 #aziracrow #aziraphale x crowley #aziraphale good omens #good omens crowley #Aziraphale #Crowley #anthony j crowley #the ineffables #ineffable idiots #Beelzebub x Gabriel #op

[biggerbetterbat]

WITH YOU [31] I’M SORRY

Daryl Dixon x OC!Charlie Reed

Summary: Some hard conversations leads to healing and peace. But the peace is a short thing and is once again disturbed.

Warnings: none

Song: Olivia O'Brien Complicated

"Everybody okay?" Rick asked and everyone turned their attention towards him.

Charlie couldn’t even look at him - still ashamed and guilty for what she had done. That’s why she continued eating whatever was in her bowl. "What about you?" asked Hershel when Glenn confirmed that everyone was fine.

"I cleared out the boiler block," he answered and passed them.

"How many were there?" asked Glenn.

"I don't know.A dozen, two dozens," Rick shrugged. "I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl."

Charlie’s head snapped up after his words. Carl? What about the baby? Their gazes met and she fought herself to keep it up, she also wanted to show her disapproval. But Rick didn’t care about her angry stare just as he didn’t care about his daughter, so he turned his eyes away.

She wanted to make a scene and throw questions at Rick, but it was impossible. Charlie was the reason for his behavior.

"Everyone have a gun and a knife?” a cop asked as he looked away from Reed.

"Yeah. We're running low on ammo, though,” Daryl nodded.

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon," Glenn reported. "Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula."

"We cleared the generator room," said Daryl. "Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well."

"Good," Rick nodded. "Good," he repeated and headed to doors.

He ignored the calls and just followed his own mind.

It was all killing her inside. Lori wasn't the only problem now. The whole group's dynamic was broken due to Rick's absence. He wasn’t just a member of the group, he was the leader who was making decisions for past eight months. They tried to be happy that the baby was healthy and getting better with each day, but the shadow of Lori's death was following them on every step. "You don't want to hold her?" she heard a question.

“Is he any better?” Charlie asked ignoring Hershel’s question.

“No,” he answered. “He’s going mad.”

Charlie looked at the older man and let out the air. “That’s all on me.”

“Don’t say things like that,” Hershel shook his head. “You did the right thing.”

“Making both Carl and this girl orphans was the right thing?” she looked away. “I should have let them both die.”

“Charlie…” said concerned Hershel, letting go of her shoulder.

“I made a promise to Lori,” she said after a moment of silence. “And I will have to break it.”

“Those kids have no one but you.”

“They have all of you,” Charlie said. “And they still have a father.”

In that moment, she knew that there’s a way to walk away from her responsibility. Hershel with his soft reasoning couldn’t help, but Charlie wouldn’t pat Rick’s back. She was going down to talk him out of his madness.

"May I?"

Rick looked at her, but he said nothing.

"You saved my life Rick. All of us," Charlie said. "More than once."

Silence.

"She wanted me to keep an eye on Carl and the baby," Charlie said. "I promised her that."

"She was sorry for what had happened between us," Rick interrupted. "We could have talked it out."

"I understand what you feel," she said. "You're...taking your time...You were strong for so long. I know you want to get away from this...we all do."

"You know nothing, Charlie," he leaned in. His voice turned colder and rougher. "It's not safe here. I'm waiting for a call."

Charlie was looking at Rick who wasn't even the shadow of what he once was. She said to his back. "Your daughter needs you."

He turned around and looked at her with nothing, but emptiness in his eyes. "This is not my daughter."

"Well…he’s dead. Should have thought about it before killing him,” Charlie noticed. "So what about Carl? You've been torturing him. He doesn't get to be sad about his mom's death?"

"Stop it!" he screamed, making Charlie jump. "Lori didn't die! She was killed!" he added and pushed the chair so it fell on the ground.

"I know!" Charlie snapped. "Because I'm the one who killed her! With those hands!"

" You better go now," he swallowed and raised his hands.

"No," Charlie shook her head. "You're no longer the leader. You don't get to tell me what I should do! You're going to listen to me!" she yelled and stepped forward. "I promised your wife to take care of your children, and I am keeping my promise. Carl needs you. He is left with a baby, while he is still a baby!  Whether you like it or not, you have a daughter. And they need you."

Rick raised his eyebrows in awe.

" I killed your wife. I made you like this and I made your kids an orphans. I will have to live with this to the day I die, and believe me I already hate every second of this life. I hear her in Carl’s voice, I see her in your daughter’s face. But I did that. I killed your wife," she said with a hoarse voice. "So don't make your kids life miserable, while I'm the one to blame. I'm...sorry. I'm sorry."

A sob broke through her lips, and hot tears became running down her cheeks. After a moment she felt his hands on her shoulder, and tight squeeze. "It's all right," he whispered and one of his hands ran down her hair.

Silence Thank you fell from Rick's lips as he was holding his daughter for the first time. His face was curved in a smile as he was looking at the little girl, walking outside to show his little girl the world and so she could soak in the sunrise - and that brought a hope that maybe one day, Charlie would be able to do the same to the girl.

"She looks like you," Rick smiled at Carl as they went out with the baby.

"Big brother Carl," Charlie remembered how he said it on the farm, which only made his smile bigger. She turned her gaze towards the gate, initially to see any signs for Glenn and Maggie, and then her smile dropped. "Rick."

The man placed his baby into Carl's hands and walked towards the gate.

previous masterlist next

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon series #daryl dixon twd #daryl dixon x reader #daryl fanfiction #daryl the walking dead #daryl twd #daryl x reader #katniss everdeen gif

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Do you think Daryl sees the painting and it looks like Beth and it triggers that conversation who he loves and it breaks the internet. Like it's a kind of callback to the earlier seasons when he broke down after Beth's death and Rick said he knew Daryl lost something back there. He knows this man like his brother and he suspects Daryl loved Beth or close to it, but Daryl is so closed off Rick cant be sure. But actions speak louder than words, with Daryl running after the car all night after it took Beth, his despair that drove him to join with the Claimers to the point his judgement was clouded, his grief after Beth's death. Beth wasn't just some farmer's daughter anymore, just a member of the group he took care of automatically like.maybe he did before, like they're not close or anything. Beth meant something to him big time and it's weird for the show to put a lookalike painting in the credits and advertise it. There's tons of paintings they could have used. Why that one? There must be some reference to Beth coming up even if not her return. Maybe we will get some kind of confirmation straight from Daryl's lips that he loves Beth. Carol gave him Beth's knife as well as a memento which is weird because it should have gone to Maggie as her sister. Carol knew Beth was important to Daryl in some away even though she wasn't sure in what kind of way I think as Daryl wasn't very forthcoming

What happened to the knife anyways. Did it get lost or what

Great points, especially about how they could have used any painting and chose one that looked like Beth. I don't know how the conversation will start. I'm assuming he'll be talking to Isabelle or Laurent. But it would be super cool if it was in reference to the painting. You're right that it's odd for them to advertise it the way they have.

You know, I just had a thought. It would be relaly cool if they found this actual painting and a conversation started over it, much like Beth and Edwards' conversation in Slabtown. Would just be a nice parallels.

Like you, I hope the name drop that breaks the internet is Beth. Or some version of her name. Something obvious.

A couple of years ago, at a panel, Norman confirmed that Daryl still has Beth's knife. Even though we don't see it on screen, it's still around somewhere. The last time we saw it was 6x12. So, I have to assume he stashed it at Alexandria somewhere. I doubt he would have kept it while in the ocean.

We don't know the details of where it is beyond that, but if Norman can automatically answer that, yes, he knows Daryl still has Beth's knife, that says to me that they have kept it for some future storyline, and Norman knows enough about it to know that the knife will resurface at some point. That alone should give us hope of Beth's return.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us. Xoxo! 🍁🍂💞

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #team delusional #team defiance #td theories #td theory #beth is almost here #bethyl #daryl dixon spinoff #dd spinoff

[beachy--head]

Hey Nonnie, Hang on...because yur bout to hate Krusta more than you may already (really anyone who is reading this will, if they don't know) Because they completely screwed over Sarah, Jessica, and Jesse. I don't remember the name anymore, because they long ago disappeared and left GA completely. We had a source who either was on set, or had access to someone who was, like a crew member. And this posted was trusted because they had been right many times in the past. This source was rightfully angry because of all the lying and just crappy behavior. They made a big post calling GA out ( that I can't find anymore) What happened was Maggie was a brainchild character that they loved (because she was theirs) but really wasn't being received well. The character never tested well with test audiences, or GA generally. Too many people though she was annoying (wonder why lol) The plan was to make Maggie more popular by pairing her with their remaining "single" most popular male character, Jackson.

For back story, Krista doesn't like April or Japril. She has never made a secret of it, and I think she called them toxic years ago when she came back she also made negative remarks if asked about them or passive aggressive swipes in interviews. I don't know if they are still there, but her likes had negative Japril things as well. And I think Jesse even trolled her once for it with a Sarah pic lol When she took over she wanted everyone to adopt only her vision. We know this for a fact because when she came in she did a blind writing test and fired everyone who she didn't agree with, or more like..who didn't agree with her. The source told us that. And it was also confirmed later when that GA writer who lied about cancer was caught and investigated. She was one of the ones Krista fired, and then rehired for pity and because it wouldn't look good.

Problem was to put Maggie with Jackson they knew they had to nix April/end Japril. GAudience would never accept him with someone else while April was still around. During that season Sarah Drew herself pitched her crisis of faith storyline. It was supposed to be a path to Japril getting back together. They told Sasse that, they lied. And actually when Jesse found out, he was pissed. We know this is true because after we were told, photos surfaced of Jesse meeting with Krista and clearly being pissed. And if you look at things Sasse says knowing the truth, it makes more sense.

Jessica, was unfortunately collateral damage. They didn't want GA to see the truth of what they did so they figured if they fired two actresses people wouldn't be smart enough to figure out the real target was Sarah, April by extension. April is so much of who Jackson is, but they wanted to push Maggie w/ Jackson to work for Maggie, but knew they couldn't with April still present.

I'm sure budgeting played some role, but ultimately this was Krista and her personal ridiculous dated opinions of two of the most popular remaining OG characters. And one of the only superships Grey's had/has left.

Just look at the show itself, Jaggie was sloppy. Jackson makes comments about her being his sister, they place them as siblings. Jesse made posts about them being siblings. The actress did as well. Neither of them liked the pairing. And I think Jesse was at times almost forced to show support. They never would have done that if it had been any kind of plan. They make APRIL of all people point out Jackson likes (his sister) opps, I mean Maggie. They rip off an iconic Japril bus explosion to do it. Maggie is the one they make sure April thanks for saving her.

Watch how Jesse and Sarah play their scenes during the COF. They play it like they think Japril is heading to a reunion. They gave interviews like it. They made posts that make sense if that was the truth. Sarah and Jessica found out about their firing on Woman's Day for crying out loud. No smart comp would do that to two of their most beloved actresses.

Obviously I can't quote directly, because the person and posts are long gone. But this is what I remember and why so many of us quit GA. And why a lot of us did the airplane surprise in part, because it was so messed up. They lost millions of viewers when they disrespected Sarah and Jessica. And many of us I'm sure will never come back. Krusty is gone now and they wised up and tried to fix Japril. I believe part of that was actually because Jesse used the power he gained and demanded it for his exit. He's gone to bat for Japril many times, and so has Sarah. But they/Krispy did what they did.

And personally, I'm thrilled to call them out on their BS once again for those who weren't around or don't know.

This ask is for the previous anon who wanted more info on the BTS. The screenshots of the post referenced in this ask are here btw.

I'm going to be honest and say that I've already read this and I go back and forth with believing all of it. At times it reads like fanfiction, but at the same time, some of the stuff said would totally explain some things that happened, so I truly don't know. One thing I believe is, like I said, that Sarah and Jesse firmly believed Japril would go back together in season 14.

#ask

[blackbird-brewster]

Welcome to another instalment of sad trash Jemily head canons! Today's song: 'Light On' by Maggie Rogers.

Rated: General Pairing: JJ/Emily Tags: Angst, open ending WC: 3400 Cross Posted to AO3 - READ HERE

Emily has trouble sleeping. She always has, but her insomnia/night terrors are really bad when she first joins the BAU because it's her first time in active field duty in a long while. and it naturally pings shit about Doyle.

They're coming back from a long case, it's a red eye flight. everyone is sleeping, but Em is just reading. JJ wakes up to use the bathroom and sits back with Em and says something casual like 'oh can't sleep?"

Emily dismisses it like 'haha, no, i never sleep. even if we were already home, i'd probably just be driving around to clear my head'

But JJ actually gets it, she doesn't sleep well most nights either. So she extends a vague invitation like 'well, if you ever find yourself in my neighbourhood in the middle of the night -- just knock. I'm probably up too'

Emily doesn't think anything of this, passes it off as a joke.

But then after Children of the dark, Emily finds herself driving. she's thinking about Carrie and that leads to thinking about Declan and she's NOT going to sleep anytime she thinks of him.

She's been in the car for who knows how long, but ends up gravitating towards JJ's although she doesn't consciously understand why.

And to her surprise, the porch light is on. She parks outside for a minute and remembers the off-hand comment JJ said sometimes last year about always being up late.

But Em realises that was a year ago, it'd be way too weird to knock at 2am now.

So, she goes home.

>>> More Below the Cut

The very next month, Pen gets shot. Emily is worried sick after leaving the hospital. But she can also still feel JJ's hand in hers even though that was three hours ago and that scares her in ways that have recently become more conscious to her, even if she's still trying to deny it.

She goes for a drive.

She winds up in front of JJ's again -- and the porch light is on.

This time, Emily actually parks. She gets as far as the front step before realising she's being an idiot and chickens out.

JJ has never said anything about this stupid vague offer to her ever since that ONE time, it'd be WILD for Emily to show up now.

She goes home and tries to forget about the whole thing.

months go by. Em finds herself in front of JJ's every few weeks in her usual night drive. The light is on every time, but she can never work up the courage to knock.

But in that same period, Emily has finally admitted to herself just how much she likes JJ. They're inseparable at work, she thinks JJ is the most amazing woman she's ever known.

And Emily knows she's hard crushing, but there's no way in hell she's going to tell JJ any of that

The team gets called to Miami.

Will is there. This random redneck guy from New Orleans who JJ laughed about the entire case the year prior. She'd tell Emily how he was hitting on her and stuff and the two of them thought he was so grating.

But now he's here. In Miami.

And the way JJ greets him -- something about it makes Emily uncomfortable.

She watches them together and it's not hard to see what's happening. At some point after the case in New Orleans, they obviously got together.

In a form of self-preservation, Emily pushes JJ towards him the whole time they're on the case. She's trying to get JJ to admit the truth.

But when it's confirmed, when JJ does go after him and make their relationship known - -Emily feels sick

She knew she had a crush, but the moment she sees JJ kissing Will at the end of the case -- she realises its SO much more than a crush.

When the team gets back, Emily is driving all night. She goes through half a tank of gas, just mindlessly driving so she doesn't have to focus on how much this HURTS.

She finds herself in front of JJ's, like she always does.

The porch light is on.

As if she doesn't have control of her own body, she parks.

She gets out.

She walks to the door.

Her hand is halfway to knocking when she pulls away.

She can't do this to JJ, not RIGHT after JJ told everyone she's in a relationship.

She's already turned to leave when the door opens.

"Em?"

She turns around and finds JJ standing there. God, how is she THAT beautiful at 3am??

"I thought you'd never actually knock," JJ says. "Come in."

Emily follows her inside and JJ points to the front window that faces the street. There's a big comfy chair there with a side table full of books.

JJ says, "I've been sitting here every night for over a year. Just waiting for you to actually do it. I left the light on, just hoping one day you'd knock. But you never have."

"No, I haven't." Emily mutters. She's so embarrassed. JJ has SEEN how many times Emily has parked outside of her house and never done anything about it.

JJ smiles and nods kind of solemnly. Of course she knows why Emily's never had the courage. She knows Emily well enough, she knows that Emily likes her. And truthfully, JJ has liked her back for even longer. But Emily never made a move, so JJ thought it was all in her head.

JJ makes them tea, they talk about the case, they talk about the weather, politics, current events, they talk about EVERYTHING except the one thing they both KNOW needs talking about.

Even then, neither of them want to name their feelings.

Emily doesn't leave until sunrise. And for once, she sleeps soundly. She's never gotten better sleep in her adult life.

Over the following weeks, she and JJ have this little middle of the night routine.

And every time Emily goes home, she sleeps for a solid eight hours without night terrors.

It's a miracle.

Then, Will shows up while the team is on a case. He's mad, telling JJ she shouldn't be in the field.

And Emily realises suddenly, that although she's known that JJ was in a relationship with him ever since the case in Miami -- in all the nights they've stayed up together, JJ has never brought him up. And it basically made Emily forget about him completely.

But here he is now, so it's hard to ignore.

It's even harder to ignore their relationship when he outs that JJ is pregnant.

She must have known for a while, Emily thinks. She must have known she was pregnant all those nights they've been staying up talking.

And it makes Emily sick. The unrequited love she's been trying to compartmentalise consumes her and she finds it impossible to think about anything else.

So she goes driving.

She finds herself naturally heading towards JJ's and there's a very big part of her that is SO ready to tell JJ to leave Will. To leave him, because he's not good enough for her. She doesn't have to stay with him JUST because she's pregnant.

Emily is more than ready to admit she loves her. To tell her she'll help in any way JJ needs, if only JJ could give her the chance.

But when she gets there -- the porch light is off.

She sits there, staring at the house, deciding whether or not to knock, but ultimately, she takes the light as a clear indicator this was a mistake.

She goes home. she doesn't sleep. she never sleeps if she hasn't talked to JJ.

Time goes by, it gets less painful to be around JJ now that Will's moved to DC to be with her properly.

Some nights, Emily still finds herself outside the house.

But the light is always off.

She never knocks.

She pushes away how much she loves JJ. She tries to ignore it, to forget it, to get over it.

But how can she when she's pretty sure JJ is the only person in the whole world Emily want's to be with for the rest of her life.

It's gruelling, painful, but Emily is the master of masking her true feelings. So she never says anything.

She never knocks.

She never sleeps.

And years pass. It's not a good routine, but it is a routine. She's so used to her insomnia, it doesn't bother her much. She stops driving by JJ's house eventually, there's no reason to. It just makes her feel worse, so she stops driving to that side of town when she's night driving.

JJ gets reassigned and it makes it easier at least. Emily doesn't have to see her every day. She misses her at work, but it's actually a blessing in disguise because it finally allows her time to get over her feelings.

Emily already wasn't sleeping, so when she realises Doyle is back, it's not too much of a change in her routine to stay up nights on end.

She doesn't drive though.

She spends her nights sitting in front of her door with a gun in hand.

Waiting for him, because she knows he'll be coming for her.

Even if she was out driving instead of just waiting -- it's not like she could talk to JJ about any of this. The team don't know about Doyle or Lauren or Valhalla.

It makes Emily realise that for how much she and JJ have talked, they really never said anything to each other.

Nothing of true substance. And that realisation hurts, because it's jsut another reminder that Emily's feelings have ALWAYS been unrequited.

Any gesture or chat or subtext she's built up in her mind, any hint that JJ might love her too, none of it's real. JJ doesn't even truly know anything about Emily.

Emily realises NO ONE knows her, not really. She's been on the team for four years and she's never let them truly get to know her. It wasn't on purpose, she's just so good at building walls, she doesn't even realise she's built them in the first place.

Before Doyle can come for her, she comes for him first.

Everything goes wrong.

She very nearly loses her life, but by some miracle, she makes it.

JJ escorts her to Paris for Emily to go into hiding, at least until Doyle's arrested.

It's the first time they've spent any real time together since JJ left the BAU.

This time, they do talk though. They really talk and Emily learns so much about JJ and to her own surprise, she tells JJ plenty about herself too.

They still don't talk about their true feelings, but they do connect in a way they never had before.

In Paris, Emily doesn't drive, but she walks. She walks at night to clear her head. It's never quiet in Paris, not really, there's always people bustling around. It's loud in ways DC wasn't, similar, but different.

But she walks, because she doesn't drive and she tries to clear her head most nights.

But she doesn't sleep.

The day Hotch calls her back to DC, the day she sees the team for the first time since they buried her. The first time she sees JJ since Paris, Emily feels so lost.

She doesn't sleep, so she drives.

She ends up at JJ's house.

And she parks, because she sees the light on.

Now that she knows where JJ's reading chair is, she eyes that window and she sees the curtains move.

She knows JJ must be waiting up for her, even though she's a mom now, she's got Will now, she should be sleeping -- but for whatever reason, she's not.

She's sitting there with the light on, just waiting for Emily.

Emily doesn't get out. She can't.

She leaves, goes home, and doesn't sleep.

Six months go by and she never sleeps. Everything is so loud and constant and conflicting and hard.

Her job never felt hard before. She's a great profiler, but ever since she came back, it's all wrong. It's difficult to focus on anything other than the fact everyone looks at her like she's a ghost, because to them, she is. To them, she always will be, in some regard.

She already wanted to leave, but JJ agreeing to marry Will was the deciding factor.

After the reception, Emily finds herself driving. She goes to JJ's, even though it's stupid, because it's JJ's wedding night. What does Emily plan to achieve tonight?

She's surprised, conflicted mostly, when she sees the light on.

It should feel comforting, to know JJ's still there for her, to know JJ's still waiting up for her. But it doesn't feel like that.

It hurts. God it hurts so bad Emily's half convinced she's actually having a heart attack.

It takes her ten entire minutes to recover enough to be able to drive again.

She gets home and doesn't sleep.

She stares at an email from Clyde. An email she's been avoiding for a week now.

She sends her reply and in doing so, she accepts a job in London.

When Hotch calls her to tell her JJ is missing, Emily is on a flight in an hour.

She barely makes it in time, but she does make it in time.

She stays in DC for a week, just to be sure JJ's alright -- even though Emily knows first hand, JJ will never be alright again after what she endured.

Emily finds herself driving her rental car at night. Haunting the same streets she's spent so many nights driving down.

She winds up at JJ's and she tells herself it's just because she's worried about her.

Emily's been living in London for nearly two years now, she's a different woman now. She's gotten over those feelings about JJ, she's really moved on.

But there she is. Right back in front of JJ's house in the middle of the night.

She's only hand surprised to see the light on.

She's a different woman now. She's braver, or she likes to think she is.

So she parks, she goes to the door, she knocks.

JJ answers and they sit in the kitchen all night long.

And when the sun rises, Emily leaves and goes back to her hotel. And she sleeps.

Not that she knows it, but JJ sleeps too. It's actually the first time in two years that JJ really sleeps through the night. Which is unexpected considering what she's just gone through.

But it's true. She sleeps.

Another two years. Emily comes back for a case and she stays an extra handful of days to catch up with the team.

It's really hard for her. Everyone asks how she's doing, is she happy in London, what's it like being the bigshot running an entire Interpol office?

She has a flight back to London at the first crack of dawn, so she doesn't sleep beforehand, in hopes she'll sleep on the plane.

She finds herself outside of JJ's house. There's no light, why would there be?

She and JJ don't really keep in touch anymore. They've grown apart like adults tend to do.

Emily gets on her flight and she spends the next eight hours not sleeping.

The next time she comes back, it's specifically to help out at the BAU.

JJ seems genuinely happy to see her and they go for a drink, they catch up in the same way they used to -- they talk without saying anything. But just spending time with JJ again is plenty for Emily. She missed this, she missed her best friend.

And late that night, Emily finds herself driving. Seeing JJ started to kick up old emotions Emily thought were long gone. And her head is so loud, she just needs to try and clear it. She's sure this feeling will pass, it's just her nerves about seeing the team again after so long.

She drives. She doesn't even pretend like she's heading anywhere other than JJ's house.

She's also not surprised when the light's off. Why would JJ be waiting for her, when Emily's barely a visitor here?

Emily can't possibly know that Will hates it when JJ leaves the light on. Early on, when he first moved in with her, he made a habit of flipping it off every night.

He mentioned it to her at the time, but she said it was just a habit, since she was used to coming home from cases at all times of night. And it was nice to have the light on to welcome her home. (It's a lie, but he believes it)

He always turns it off though, reminding her she doesn't need the light when he's right there to welcome her home now.

There would be random periods of time where she'd leave it one sometimes and he'd always flip it off. It was such a mundane thing, neither of them talked about it. Will just accepted it as one of those quirks that you get used to when you live with someone who does something out of habit and over time, it just became the routine. JJ would leave the light on randomly, he would turn it off.

It was so mundane, it's not like they talked about it. It was just about as normal as JJ closing the toilet seat when Wil left it up.

Suddenly -- Emily's here to stay though. She's taking up UC without warning and the team i shocked, but more so than anyone -- JJ is shocked.

She's shocked because this change stirs up something she had forgotten long ago. Feelings. It stirs feelings about Emily, about all the nights they stayed up talking. And it terrifies her.

She's got a whole life with Will and their two kids now. She cannot be feeling things for Emily.

She doesn't sleep anymore. She tosses and turns and spends most nights going downstairs to read in her chair.

She always leaves the light on when she does, some part of her just hoping Emily will turn up and take the choice out of JJ's hands. She wishes Emily would knock and finally, finally, talk to her and ACTUALLY say something. Because JJ knows she's never going to make the first move, not after all these years.

She never sees Emily's headlights though. Every night she sits and reads in her chair in the front window, with the light on, no one ever drives by.

The thing is -- Emily's a different person now. She loves being UC and she's good at it. It doesn't feel hard like it did after Paris.

And she actually sleeps now. Sleeps through the night with very little night terrors or issues. She owes that to years of therapy and the miracle of SSRIs.

She has no need to drive at night anymore.

Emily has her job, her career, and every once in a while, she'll date someone for a short stint to relieve her loneliness. Those relationships are only ever a temporary fix, she can never fully commit herself to any one person.

Not when she's known for years, that JJ is the only person in the whole world Emily would ever consider being with for the rest of her life. Not that it matters, that ship sailed too many years ago and Emily is okay with that. She's accepted her solitude and in actuality, she sleeps much better on her own anyway, so at least she has that. 

She and JJ find a new way to exist around each other. Mostly, they give each other a wide berth. They don't talk about why, but on some level, they both understand why it's difficult to have Emily back here, back here after so many years of late nights and talking where they never said what they meant.

And for the most part, it works for them. There are still times where one or both of them hint at the truth under the lies. But they never name it outright. They only ever acknowledge it through lingering glances, or vague conversations about the 'what-ifs' and 'if-onlys' of life.

But -- sometimes, after a really difficult case, JJ leaves her porch light on. Just in case. 

#criminal minds #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss #jemily #cm fanfiction #cm headcanon #my writing