#which are still open for anyone reading this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ghouljams · 2 days

Text

Sin Summer (Gaz) Rating: E (MDNI) Words: 4.8k Tags: Gaz x f!reader, anal, body writing, tickling, pwp, dirty talk, rimming(f!receiving), clit torture(minor), vibrators, overstimulation, free use, dollification(sort of), Gaz is a nasty freak and I love that for him Summary: You're having a lot of fun(and sex) staying with Ghost, but you're still learning your way around the barracks. Good thing Gaz doesn't mind being walked in on. <Part 4 ao3

It’s decided that you’ll stay in Ghost’s room. Less likely anyone will inspect his rather spartan dwelling is what you’re told. Really you think Ghost just wants to keep you to himself. Unfortunately it’s not all sex and blowjobs. The space of time when Ghost and Johnny are off doing whatever soldiers do is sort of boring. You spend two days just sitting in Ghost’s room reading naval fiction(the only thing that man seems to have on his small bookshelf) before Ghost gives you a look and tells you you’re not trapped on base. The man even hands you a card and tells you to have fun.

Which just opens up a whole new world for you. Free room, free sex, and you’re right by a bus station. You spend the rest of the week exploring London and sending postcards to your friends back home. You know where you’re sleeping every night and every morning you wake up to Ghost’s giant frame between your legs. You may as well be in paradise. Except the mattress sucks and you’re having to look up yoga exercises just to get the kinks out of your back.

Ghost shows you where the bathroom is, though he has his own, and gives you the key to his room. “Free reign” you’re told, something about the rest of the team being out and the recruits being home. Doesn’t matter much to you. It’s the military, there’s always people on deployment or off doing something. The specifics are unimportant. You’re here for one thing.

You open the door to Ghost’s room, unlocked, he must be back from training.

“Two words baby:” You call out, bursting into the room with your usual flair, “Crotchless. Panties.” You shake the little pink bag dangling off your fingers. Only it isn’t Ghost you’re talking to.

Your eyes dart around the significantly less spartan room, the football flags, family pictures, record box and definitely not Ghost unpacking a suitcase on the bed. No, this man is smaller, with beautifully warm umber skin and broad shoulders. Actually everything about him seems to radiate warmth, from the deep brown eyes that sweep over you, to the growing smile that lights up his face.

“Christ you’re pretty,” you blink, hold your hand up to shield your eyes from looking at the sunshine on his face. He laughs and it’s movie worthy, are you in a dead wife montage or something?

“You’re the bird Soap was talkin’ about,” Ooh even his voice is like honey, you don’t think you’ve ever heard anything sweeter. You’ve heard Ghost call Johnny that once or twice, this must be one of the guys they said was on mission.

“You’re…” You fish for the names Ghost gave you. You weren’t really paying attention when he told you. Not your fault, his dick was in your mouth.

“Kyle,” Kyle introduces himself, “can call me Gaz if you want.”

“Pleasure,” You return his smile. He tips his head, eyes dragging over you slower this time. His gaze feels heavy, appreciative, thoroughly and explicitly interested. When he blinks you find his gaze holding yours and your cheeks heat.

He holds his hand out, and you walk closer to shake it. His grip is firm, his fingers wrapping around yours are tight and unyielding. When you go to drop his hand, he yanks you closer, pulls your arm up, leaning back as you’re forced against his chest. Your heart beats a little faster, your face burns, and your breath catches.

“Now what-” Gaz asks, his mouth dropping to brush against the shell of your ear as he speaks, “-is a pretty doll like you doing with those two muppets?”

You tip your head instinctively for him. The stubble along his jaw, evidence he’s been without a decent shave in weeks, tickles your neck and you can’t help the bubble of giggles that escape you. Gaz breathes you in with a sigh. You feel his lips curve into a smile and he rubs his scratchy cheek against the sensitive skin until you’re laughing and squirming to try and get away from him.

His grip on you is like iron, even when you shriek and giggle, bumping him with your shoulder until you’re breathless and hiccupping. Your stomach hurts from laughter, the hand he isn’t keeping held out of the way pushes against his firm chest. Nothing you do seems to budge Gaz. The same way you can never move Johnny or Ghost. His fingers pinch your side, and you flinch away from him.

You bounce when he tosses you onto his bed, still letting bursts of laughter slip free, your neck tingling with the memory of his touch. Gaz drags his hand over his jaw, feeling the stubble for himself, and reaches down to strip his shirt over his head. Your cheeks hurt with how hard you’ve been smiling, your heart still fluttering giddily, but you feel like your lungs stop breathing as Gaz’s hand wraps around your knee and drags you back to the edge of the bed.

“They been takin’ care of you properly, doll? Givin’ you everything you deserve?” He coos, his hand sliding up your leg. You nod, push yourself up onto your elbows to watch Gaz watching you. He tips his head, brows twitching together like he’s trying to feign concern. His smile feels hungry as his eyes drag over you, “Got no reason to play with me then, right?”

“I mean,” Your eyes dart to his belt, “I’ve got some time.”

“You sure?” He leans to kiss your knee, dragging his lips over the inside edge and up the sensitive skin of your thigh. “Haven’t seen anything as pretty as you in months, might not wanna let you go afterwards.” His tongue darts out, presses against the inside of your thigh and licks a broad stroke that makes you shiver.

It makes you feel like a virgin the way he looks at you, talks to you, touches you, like he could eat you alive. What do they say about pretty faces? Christ you can’t remember when his hands are so eagerly tugging down the zipper on your skirt. His brows draw together as you lift your hips to help with shucking your underwear. Gaz’s hands grab under your thighs as soon as your clothes hit the floor, pushing your legs up towards your chest, forcing your hips up so he can get a good look at you.

His hands are softer when they drag down your thighs, still marked with callouses, but you’d bet he’s better about wearing gloves. You grab your knees to try and hold yourself in position for him. If you’d thought he was going to inspect your cunt you’re surprised to feel his hands grip your ass, and spread you apart. Gaz tips his head, kneading the soft flesh as he breathes out a groan.

“Look’it that,” He coos, and you feel his thumb brush over your asshole, “knew they wouldn’t touch it.”

Your cheeks blaze with heat. Christ, you’re a slut but this man is doing something to you. It’s not like you’ve never had anyone play around back there, but the slow appreciative way he just touches you, runs his thumb over the tight hole so you can feel the drag of his skin, makes you shiver. The way Gaz talks to you too, like this was a sure thing, a known thing, like Johnny and Ghost were saving part of you for him. You may as well be a toy they’re passing around, stress relief between deployments. The thought lights a fire in your chest, makes your skin prickle and your pussy wet. You can get into that.

“You ever had anyone back here, doll?” Gaz asks, his eyes raising to yours. His hands don’t move. You give a short nod, trying not to give the impression of innocence that he seems to drape over you.

“Fingers, and mmph-” You sink your teeth into your lip, holding Gaz’s gaze as he bends down, his tongue held out to roll ever so slowly over your ass. He makes sure you’re watching him, makes sure you can see the way his tongue licks you, the tip of it flicking over you in teasing strokes before his eyes drop and he spits on the hole. You swallow, feel his hands slide over the curve of your ass to help you hold your thighs.

You can safely say you haven’t had anyone eat your ass before, and it’s making your chest feel a little fluttery. You’ve had folks dip down there when they were giving you head, but never with this sort of singularly focused effort. Not with the sort of eager breath that Gaz lets out, the drawn brows and open mouth. He licks the flat of his tongue over your ass again and again, the unfamiliar feeling making you squirm until he presses the tip of it against you. Gentle, testing, pressure that makes you whimper. Not because of the way it feels but the implication of it, the taboo.

Just the knowledge that you’re doing something new makes heat wash over you. His tongue burns a stripe over your hole, stopping just short of your cunt. Gaz hums, teases the edge of your pussy with the tip of his tongue before dipping back down. It sends a flash of warmth over you, your clit tingling with need as your cunt throbs. You’re sure you must be soaked, you can feel the wetness starting to drip down over your ass, a hot shameful roll of slick that makes Gaz smile.

“Dirty thing,” He tells you, the honey in his voice seems to coat gravel, a rough need deepening his words. Your cheeks may as well catch fire, your voice lodged in your throat as you try not to pout at his teasing. Your stomach tightens in quick bursts, both of your holes clenching around empty air.

You always figured anal was better left to the people you spend more than one night with, maybe you should rethink that. Although you highly doubt the men that had begged for it would have had half the enjoyment Gaz seems to be getting. He pulls back to spit on your asshole again, watching the roll of spit over you, He drags his hand from your thigh to your pussy and you tense. Gaz lets out a huff of laughter.

“Soap’s spanking you raw, huh?” He guesses far too accurately. You wonder how often they do this, bring girls back to play bunny until they’re off on deployment again. You suppose it must get boring on base with nothing to do but prep for the next mission. “Don’t worry,” He drags the wetness that coats your cunt down to rub over your ass, “I won’t touch her again.”

You don’t recognize the threat, just nod and try to breathe through the shame that tries to burn through your body. God you are not a virgin on their first one night stand, you shouldn’t be so flustered over this. It’s not a big deal, you coach yourself, you’ve wanted to try this, and it’s not like he isn’t going to fuck you afterwards. Foreplay is just… a little awkward sometimes, that’s it.

He tastes you, not properly, but finally. Gaz groans at the way your slick coats his tongue, lets him push it against your ass. The slick lubricates you enough for him to wiggle the muscle into your tight hole. It makes your eyes flutter a little, the feeling so alien, so different from the exploring fingers that usually made their way back there. You try to hold still, try not to feel like you’re doing something wrong letting him wiggle his tongue into your ass. It doesn’t work and you find yourself reaching to grab a fistful of short hair.

“Gaz,” You whine, unsure if you’re asking for more or less. It doesn’t matter. Gaz pulls his mouth from you and leans back, smacking your ass to watch the way you clench at the sharp sting of pain.

“On your knees, puppet,” Gaz orders, “edge of the bed.” You’re quick to turn over, stretching your arms out in front of you as you settle on your knees and arch your back. You hear the cap pop on a bottle of lube --you assume it’s lube-- and then Gaz’s thumb is rubbing slick against your ass. He presses, presses, presses. It feels like it takes ages, but it must only be a few seconds. The feeling makes your breath catch in your throat, makes warmth burn up your spine and down your legs. You feel Gaz’s other hand pet up your back, pulling your hips back for a better angle as he rubs back down.

“There you go,” He tugs at your rim, his fingers squeezing one of your cheeks, “fuck look at that.” He sounds almost breathless, completely enraptured by whatever he’s seeing. You can feel, fuck- you whine against the bed, feel him press his thumb in a little deeper. You’ve had guys do this while they fuck you, but never alone. Somehow it feels more intense like this, more focused. One finger is never enough to make you whine, let alone make your eyes roll back, but when he pulls his thumb out you moan against the bed. You can feel your pussy clench, can feel the heat dripping from you as you whimper into the mattress.

He’s teasing you, you know that, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Gaz replaces his thumb with a thick finger and your eyes roll back. That sinful pressure and heat are starting to melt your brain a little bit, and when he pumps his finger in and out of your tight hole, mumbles about needing more lube, you can’t help the way you shiver. It courses through you like a twitch of your hips and settles in the way your fingers clench at the sheets. Every little motion feels so much bigger, so much tighter, than when your pussy is played with. You’re eased into the deep end of the pool, but that doesn’t mean you float.

Quite the opposite, you sink hard. You push back into the feeling, push back until you feel Gaz’s knuckles and hear him chuckle, “Greedy little thing, aren’t you?” You prickle with heat, goosebumps raising over your skin unbidden. Gaz draws his finger back and you feel the cool dribble of lube over your hole. It slides around his finger, only to be scooped up by a second finger pushing into you.

You whine at the stretch, push your face into the mattress until you can’t breathe, until your stomach is clenched tight and your hips are trying to rock back into the feeling of being stretched. You feel so full, and yet so maddeningly empty. Your pussy is awash with heat, your clit tingles, you want so badly to feel his hands on either of them, to be filled properly in the right hole. Gaz takes his time working you open, admiring the way your ass yields to his fingers’ tugging and scissoring, growing softer under his ministrations.

The slight discomfort of it fades all too quickly into something mind numbing and you find yourself on the edge of orgasm. Your untouched cunt wound too tight to do anything but clench and dribble as your ass is fucked open on deft fingers. Your thighs shake, your muscles wound too tight to do anything but shiver. You just need a little more, just a little something extra. Gaz, mercifully, drags his unoccupied hand over your cunt. You whine when he circles your clit, and scream when he pinches it hard. The pain jolts through you, electric. You’d wanted more and you got it, the stimulation just enough to send you over the edge. You come on nothing, clenching desperately around Gaz’s fingers. He hums, the hint of a smile at the edge of his voice. He pinches you a little harder, twists his fingers and you keen.

He thrusts his fingers in and out of your ass, working you through your orgasm. If you thought Johnny’s spanks were bad they didn’t prepare you for the sharp sustained pain that Gaz put you through. It hurt so good, almost distracting from the building pressure of Gaz’s fingers pumping into your ass. You sob when he releases the bundle of nerves and soothes his thumb over it.

Your cheek is smushed in a puddle of your own drool by the time he adds a third finger.

“How’re you feeling, puppet?” You can hardly think to answer, just let your eyes roll back and slur out a, “good” that makes him chuckle. “Good,” He reaffirms, “have you begging in no time.”

You don’t know how he could expect you to beg in these conditions. Your face is pressed to the mattress and you barely have the space to breathe when you feel like you’re about to break on just his fingers. You mumble something, but it isn’t words, just sounds that dribble out of you with each languid thrust of Gaz’s fingers. You don’t have the energy to do more than take it, which doesn’t seem to be the point. No, you know that’s not the point when you feel Gaz’s fingers leave you.

You feel so terribly empty. Stretched out and ready to go without the actual- You hear a click, and then buzzing. You move to push yourself up onto your hands to see what Gaz is doing and he’s quick to push your shoulders back down. You whine under his heavy hold, then you feel the cool unyielding plastic of an egg vibrator being shoved into your aching cunt. You clench around it, pull it deeper into your pussy as Gaz pushes it inside and nestles it right where he wants it. Another two clicks and the vibrations kick into a higher gear, tingling up your spine and making you moan. When Gaz’s fingers ease back into your ass, once again dripping with lube, you feel the fullness from both sides and press your hips back into the feeling. Gaz’s fingers push down against you, feeling for the vibrator and giving an annoyed hum. You don’t count the number of times he clicks the vibrator’s button, only know that suddenly your vision is going white and you’re shaking apart on the toy.

So much stimulation without a care to your poor cunt, your body is too greedy and you’re paying the price for it. If you were just a little less desperate, a little less edged by the fingers inside of you, maybe your orgasm wouldn’t rip through you like it does. Your back bowing as you bite the bedding and rock with the movement of Gaz’s fingers, clenching and unclenching desperately around the vibrator. You wonder if you could convince him to play with your clit. Maybe he’d be nicer this time if you did beg.

“Please,” You murmur, “please, please, please.” You don’t even know what you want him to do. Fuck you, you suppose. He swats your ass, the sharp smack of it filling the room and making your hips jerk. You fading orgasm makes the pain melt all the quicker into pleasure, tempting you to wiggle your hips and earn a second.

“Please what doll?” He asks, his voice is almost cruelly teasing, “good toys know how to use their words don’t they?”

“Please fuck me,” You may as well scream it for how badly you want him. All this build up, all the prep, you’re aching to feel his cock, aching to be filled. He’s not fucking your cunt, you probably don’t have to worry about being oversensitive. Right?

Gaz’s fingers leave you, and there’s a brief shuffle of fabric, the tear of a condom wrapper, and the familiar press of a cock nudging against your hole. You can feel the slip of lube over the synthetic barrier, the liquid pouring over your hole and his cock. You’re sure he’s upending the bottle, hoping to make this a little easier on the both of you. His fingers squeeze your ass, cool and wet with something, as he holds the heavy length and eases his blunt tip into your stretched hole.

You have never been this loud in your life on just the insertion. Hot pressure drags every thought out of your brain. Your hands claw at the bed spread, Gaz’s fingers tightening as he holds you in place and inches his cock into you. You feel tight, feel heat spreading through your core from that singular point, your pussy drips like a faucet onto the bed. Poor thing still drooling and clenching around the vibrator, even with a cock filling your ass. You’re too worked up to care, too drunk on the feeling of a cock pushing into you to do more than moan. There’s the slightest shift, just a centimeter of pullout as Gaz works you open, and you sob. Your hand shoots back to grab his wrist, something to hold onto when you feel like you’re losing your mind.

You’ve never been like this before, never felt like your legs were going to melt, like you’d be a puddle on the bed if Gaz weren’t holding you up. You have to clench your jaw just to swallow the spit filling your mouth, just to stop the stream of soft whimpering moans that leave you. You release his wrist just to fist the sheets, trying to hold onto some semblance of your sanity before it all leaves you.

Gaz pushes his fingers into your hair and grabs tight at your scalp. It’s a dull sort of tug that pulls you up, forces you back onto his cock. “Stick your tongue out puppet,” Gaz tells you, and you’re happy to oblige. You open your mouth, tongue out and your back arched from his grip. “What a sweet little slag you are,” Gaz hums, “glad I caught you before the captain did.”

Even if you knew what he meant, had the brain power to register the advice, you don’t have the words to agree. Gaz’s hips meet your ass and he stills, circling his hips to let you feel the reach of him. He’s deep, thicker than his fingers, and maddeningly deep. You don’t stop the drool that drips off your tongue and onto your chest. Gaz leans over you and pulls out, again you feel like your brain might be melting out of your ears. Every inch of his cock burns against your rim, fights against the tightness of your body, the unyielding muscle. He pushes back in and you have to adjust to the feeling a second time. It’s almost enough. You’re sure he’s just giving you time to get used to it.

Another slow pull out, and then his hips snap to yours. It feels like all the air is being knocked out of you, a shudder rolling up your spine at the motion. You barely get the time to take a breath before he’s doing it again and again. Tears start to prick in your eyes at the overwhelming feeling of it. The vibrator still buzzing away in your cunt, paired with the sharp pace Gaz sets push you to the edge faster than you thought possible. Your muscles tense, your spine arches, and Gaz murmurs in your ear.

“Such a pretty doll for me, aren’t you?” He coos, “Arching your back so nice, bet you wanna fuck yourself on my cock, don’t you puppet?” You nod against his hold, your hips already starting to move. “Good girl,” Gaz’s smile curves against your ear and for the first time in months you get the strangest feeling. Your heart clenches and you-

You wish it was Ghost saying those words to you.

The thought is quickly wiped away on Gaz’s next thrust, your mind as full of him as your body is and unwilling to compromise that with something as petty as a tiny little ache in your heart. You moan Gaz’s name for him, and enjoy the way he pants in your ear as he drives his hard cock into you. He releases your hair to hold your throat, his fingers gentle in direct contrast to the harsh slap of his hips. You feel the murmured praises more than hear them.

“Pretty thing, gorgeous doll, taking it so well,” Gaz’s breath huffs out, his lips dropping to your shoulder before he’s up again. “Tell me how much you love it,” He orders.

“Love it,” you slur, moving to grab his wrist again, you press it tighter against your throat, missing the thick unyielding grip Ghost always seems to have, “feels so good.”

“Can’t believe no one’s fucked this tight arse before, Soap said you were a proper slag.” You don’t have an answer for that, only push yourself back on his cock like a proper slut should. It makes him groan, the sound musical next to your ear. He holds his hips still and you do it again, pushing yourself down his length before pulling back. Gaz lets you drop back onto the bed, his fingers greedily spreading your ass apart to watch your hole swallow him with each stroke. “There you go,” He hums, “proper slag was right, takin’ every inch.”

You nod against the bed, fingers clenched tight in the sheets to help you rock back. It’s too much, and your hips stutter, earning a smack before you pick up your pace again. It’s not your fault though. He hits something inside of you, brushes against the vibrator, and you find your hips trying to run away from the feeling. Heat and pleasure dance behind your eyes when you squeeze them shut, your body isn’t used to this sort of treatment. Gaz takes over when your hips start to wiggle away from him, his hands clamping onto your hips and pulling you back until you’re sobbing.

Gaz’s fingers find your clit again, rubbing light circles between mean pinches. Everything feels wet, your cunt throbbing with heat and need that’s barely supplemented by the way he pinches you. You don’t care about coming a third time, it’s too much, and not enough at the same time. You feel insatiable even as your orgasm starts to tighten in your stomach. The tension in your body draws up and up, snakes its way up your spine to grip the base of your skull. You turn your head to push your forehead against the spit soaked sheets, just trying to ride out the hungry waves of pleasure.

“Wanna make you come,” You choke out, and Gaz let’s out a breath.

“You want me to come?” He questions, sounding almost confused before his smile eats through the fog, “Am I bein’ too mean to you puppet? Don’t mean to break my toys,” He sighs, leaning against your back as he picks up the pace, his hips snapping against yours with a wet smack, “but it is more fun when I do.”

His teeth dig into your neck and you feel his pinching turn into a hard, fast, rub. You clit finally being given the kindness you were craving and sending you screaming over the edge. Your voice is choked off by the way Gaz weighs you down, the way he drives his thick cock into you like he really is aiming to break you. There are tears flowing down your cheeks when you feel his hips still and head him growl out a groan.

Gaz rests his forehead against your shoulder, his breath panting against your sweat soaked shirt. He gives you a moment to catch your breath before pulling out. You whimper at the burn, your muscles still wound tight and needy. Your arms shake when you push yourself up. You don’t think you’ve felt so worn out in ages. Gaz presses you back down, kinder this time, and you feel a wet wipe moving over your abused hole. You take the invitation to stay mostly horizontal, gathering your thoughts back from wherever he’d fucked them out of you. Something felt tipped presses to your low back, makes a few quick strokes, and then Gaz is offering a hand to help you up.

Another clean cloth wipes over your cheeks cleaning up tear stains as Gaz murmurs how good you were for him. He helps you to get your skirt back on, and signs his name in sharpie on your underwear. “A souvenir,” He winks, “wouldn’t want to forget your first time.”

“Don’t think that’s gonna happen,” You tell him, still feeling a little out of it.

“You’re with Ghost right?” You hum, and give a sluggish nod of your head. Gaz laughs, lacing your fingers together and leading you to the door, “Alright, come on, I’ll take you home.”

“Kay,” You agree, letting your mind wander as he pulls you down the hallway towards you familiar, if a little spartan, room.

(Divider by @cafekitsune)

#x reader #cod x reader #kyle gaz garrick #kyle garrick #kyle gaz x reader #kyle gaz x you #gaz modern warfare #gaz cod #gaz call of duty #gaz garrick #gaz mw2 #gaz x reader #gas garrick x reader #f!reader #kyle gaz garrick x reader #sin summer #MDNI

207 notes · View notes

storiesofsvu · 2 days

Text

Forced Hand

Casey Novak x reader warnings: language, regular SVU case details talked about/mentioned, anxiety attack. it's a hurt/comfort besties. A combination of requests that were relatively along the same lines so I put it together into one. Welcome back to the blog Ms Novak, we've missed you! If you don't want to miss a thing, sign up for the taglist here! If you like what you read, don't forget to reblog/comment and always feel free to send in your own requests! They're always open!

You worked homicide, you weren’t supposed to be in a courtroom like this, and you certainly weren’t supposed be on the losing side. Your squad had picked up a case that later appeared to be linked to a string of open cases over at SVU and your captains insisted on working together. A few extra sets of eyes were always a good thing, a fresh perspective on the situation, they said.

What they hadn’t been able to prep you for was the viciousness of the case, and the fact that three of the victims were still alive. The crime scenes had been brutal and you were honestly shocked that anyone had survived through it, you’d been rattled to your core to discover your victims were all girls under the age of twelve. Girls who you had to watch be treated for shock on top of their injuries before retraumatizing them all over again with questioning to get their full stories, children who you then had to spend hours prepping for the brutality of a trial like this.

You were typically good with kids; Casey knew that which was one of the reasons she’d chosen you along with Benson to help her prep everyone. She watched with pride as you were able to break things down from confusing legal terms to something the girls could understand, how soft you were with them, how cautious you were how well you worked with Olivia in reminding them how strong and brave they were for doing this, and that the bad guy couldn’t hurt them anymore.

She also watched how that strong, encouraging façade would drop the moment you stepped into your shared apartment, weariness and exhaustion taking over your features and you turned down dinner and attempted to wash the day away in a too hot shower. You’d eventually reappear a couple of hours later in a pair of sweats and her worn Harvard tee, silently cuddling up to her side on the couch and she’d pass off her glass of scotch for you to finish. She’d put her work away, wrapping it up neatly so you wouldn’t have to see any of the crime scene photos again, urging you to lean into her embrace, pressing soft kisses to your skin and the top of your head until your stomach would let out a growl you’d finally submit to ordering some take out. You never said a word about it, and Casey never once pried or poked around until you said something, she let you go about your day, happy when she would catch you smiling or laughing with someone and she would always make sure she was ready and available for extra cuddles and wordless encouragement. She knew you were struggling, but that you were also handling it, and doing so in your own way, the case was close enough to over that you’d be able to breathe freely again in a matter of days.

However things were looking bleaker and bleaker as the trial strung along. The girls were strong on the stand for Casey, answering properly, detailing what they needed to, not matter how hard it was. When Casey turned around to take her seat again she caught your eye in the gallery and felt her heart tug at the tears shimmering in your eyes and the pain written across your face. What she missed was that pain turning into absolute outrage as the defence attorney started their cross and tore into all three of the victims like he was the devil. He twisted things around, barked out questions too quickly, stepped too close to the witness box, doing everything he could to get at least one person on the jury to side with him. And every motion he made broke down those poor little girls and their families even more. And you right along with them.

Casey lost you at lunch, no clue where you had ran off to when you weren’t in her office when she got there. Still, she knew you’d be there for the verdict, so she grabbed an extra coffee on her way back, deciding to go in the side door to avoid the press. She jumped a puddle as she crossed the street, cursing that she’d left her umbrella in her office, thinking the rain was done for the day. Dodging rain drops she finally rounded the bend to the side door and found you leaning up against the wall, staring down at your feet until you heard her voice.

“It’s raining, you should be inside.” She commented.

“I’m fine.” You replied, and her eyes caught the movement of your hand, hiding it behind your back and she realized you’d snuck out for a smoke.

“Okay.” She stepped up to you, kissing your cheek softly, “don’t get too cold.” She passed off the coffee and you took it from her with a small smile.

“Thanks.”

Her finger curled under your chin so she could catch your eye, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You mustered up a small smile, letting her kiss you softly before she disappeared inside.

Finishing your smoke, you stubbed it out with your toe and took a heavy breath, the last thing in the world you wanted to do right now was go back into that courtroom. You didn’t want to know the outcome, wanted to walk away from this forever and pretend it never happened. But you knew that those families were depending on you and your squads to help get them through it, to be the backbone when the verdict was read and help them figure out what their next steps were. There was a reason you preferred homicide.

The surefire grin on the perp’s face was the first tell, how casually he was talking with his lawyer, the nearly awkward, slightly guilty look on the faces of half the jury was the second, the way Casey’s hand tightened around her pen as she chewed on her lip, her jaw tightening was the last. You felt the burning in your stomach start to creep up your throat, your hands shoved into your pockets so no one would see them shaking as the verdict was read.

“Not guilty on all counts.”

Your ears were ringing, you couldn’t hear yourself think much less the commotion in the courtroom, the scared and confused questions coming from the girls as their parents scrambled to try and figure out any kind of an answer. Your vision was nearly blurring and this time it wasn’t from the tears, everything about this was wrong, it was more than wrong and it was disgusting. Someone grabbed your hand and it was as if you had been clapped on the ears and you could suddenly hear the cries of the girl beside you, the terror written across her tiny features as she looked up at you for an answer. You barely heard yourself when you spoke,

“I’m so, so sorry.”

Your chest was suddenly tight, squeezing all the air out of your lungs as pictures from the case began to invade your brain, memories collaborating with imagination, making everything even worse. You weren’t entirely sure what was happening but you knew you couldn’t let it happen in this courtroom.

When Casey heard the door heavily drop shut she instantly knew it was you leaving and her heart dropped into her stomach. A glance over her shoulder confirmed her theories, catching Liv’s gaze with an incredibly apologetic look in her eyes, the brunette nodded, her way of saying ‘I know you did everything you could’ before her head tilted in the direction of the door. ‘I’ve got this, go get your girl.’ Casey didn’t even bother to give the defence the privilege of a glance as she packed up her things and slipped from the courtroom. Unsure on whether you would still be in the building or not she headed toward the side exit, knowing there was a fairly unused bathroom over there that was still close enough to the part you’d been in. She heard the flush of the toilet through the door, the sound of the tap running as she pushed it open, catching you rinsing out your mouth, splashing cold water over your face as you struggled to catch your breath.

You barely even noticed someone else in the bathroom with you, your vision still tunnelling and filled with gruesome, bloody images and the faces of those poor girls while they told their horrible stories. Wiping the water off your face you took a heaving breath, it still felt like there was a cinder block resting on your chest and as much as throwing up had helped, there was stomach acid creeping up your throat, making it burn even worse. Your brain started to race, remembering all the things you’d said alongside Olivia to the girls, encouraging them that it would all be okay, that you’d caught the bad guy, now you were going to put him away. That their nightmares would eventually stop, they wouldn’t have to be scared anymore because he would be in prison, the promises you’d made them, every single one of them turning out to be empty.

“Oh god….” It came out as a half choked sob and you turned toward the window, bracing your hands on the sill as the heavy cries started to spill from deep within you, tears beginning to stream down your cheeks.

“Hey…” Casey’s soft voice didn’t manage to break through your conscious, but you felt the welcomed coolness of her hand between your shoulder blades and you shuddered, “it’s not your fault.” Her hand began to rub slow circles, “you worked your ass off and did everything you could.”

You tried to form even a single word but you couldn’t find your voice, another choked sob escaping your lips as you started to hyperventilate, completely unable to get enough air into your lungs, feeling even more like you were drowning.

“Whoa, whoa…” Casey’s arms cautiously wrapped around you, “c’mere.” She pulled you flush to her, frowning at the feeling of your heart pounding against your ribs and just how hot your skin was to her touch.

You didn’t struggle, but you protested a little bit, your hands pushing against her arms until she grabbed your wrists in one of her hands, restraining you as she leant forward, pushing open the window as far as she could. You let out a cry, not wanting to be forced to be still but the sudden woosh of cold air was a refuge to your burning lungs and your breath shuddered as you finally collapsed against Casey. Your eyes finally cracked open, tears continuing to trail over your cheeks as the cool breeze ghosted over your skin. You could feel Casey’s heart strumming against your back, slow and steady, a stark difference to yours pounding in your chest, her breath was cool on the side of your neck, breathing calm and even. Her chest rising and lowering slowly, and you were able to slowly match her breathing, calming yourself down and you felt like you could finally breathe again, sniffling as you relaxed in her arms.

“I’m sorry…” you finally whimpered.

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” She murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of your head, “you did your job.”

“I’m not strong enough.” You admitted with another soft cry, finally letting yourself turn around when Casey stepped away to grab a tissue. You took it from her but dropped against the wall, staring down at your shoes. “I can’t do this. I’m not good enough for it, I disappointed so many people today. I’m a complete failure.”

Casey’s hand found your cheek, wiping away your tears as she stepped back toward you, “you’ve been completely out of your comfort zone for almost a month, there’s nothing wrong with that, but you are not a failure.”

You dared a glance up at her, unsurprised at the complete empathetic expression on her face, “how do you do this every day?”

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of times I’ve cried in my office.”

“Case…” Your voice softened as the tears finally came to a stop.

“I know how incredibly hard sex crimes is, I didn’t want to be bringing that home to you every day.” She leant in, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead, “you see enough brutalization over at homicide, I don’t need you getting SVU’s baggage too.”

“I am never going to forget the look on that girl’s face….” You were almost talking to yourself, staring off into the distance and Casey’s thumb and forefinger curled around your chin, redirecting your gaze to her face.

“You will.” She assured, “and it is because you are strong, and you are strong enough. Do you know how I know why?” You shook your head, “because I see the cases that you bring home, the trials you’ve sat through, the amount of times you’ve taken down a perp, dismantled a defence attorney during a cross. You’re not used to living victims, and that is completely okay. Days like today will absolutely rip you to shreds and make you think that you aren’t cut out for it, but you’re going to wipe these tears, keep that pretty little chin up and come out even stronger on the other side. Okay?”

You nodded meekly, trying to hold back any remaining tears as Casey wrapped her arms tightly around you, tucking you into the crook of her shoulder as you finally relaxed into the embrace. She held you for as long as you needed, leaving tender kisses on the top of your hair and your temple, hands soothingly rubbing up and down your back.

“You’re incredible baby, don’t even forget that.” She murmured, “you were forced to try your hand at a new thing and now we know it’s not for you. You’re still an incredible rockstar when it comes to homicide and come Monday that’s what you get to go back to doing. Promise me you won’t let this drag you down too long?”

She pulled away from the hug, her hand brushing a piece of your mussed up hair behind your ear before caressing down the side of your cheek and she left a kiss on the tip of your nose, waiting for a response. You took a breath, finally feeling calmed down enough to feel human again when you finally looked up at her.

“Only if you promise to not keep everything bottled up and to yourself anymore.” You offered and her brow furrowed, “I know you Casey, you wear your heart on your sleeve, someone like you, doing something like this every day? That can’t be easy, I don’t need to know all the details but I don’t want you doing it alone. You shouldn’t have to cry alone in your office when you can come home and cry over a pint of ice cream with some extra cuddles.”

“Okay.” Casey let out a tiny laugh, her lips curving up into a grin, a warmth soothing through her at the sight of smile finally on your cheeks. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” Her arm wound around your shoulders, “now how about we get out of here? A pint of ice cream sounds pretty fucking good right now.”

“And pizza?” You asked, looking up at her with a pout and puppy dog eyes and she chuckled again, kissing the tip of your nose.

“The perfect combo. But that doesn’t answer what Disney movie we’re going to watch to forget about today.”

“Mmm…” you tugged your lip into your mouth as you thought, “Emperors New Groove?”

“That… sounds amazing.” She smiled at you, “you ready to go home?”

“Yeah.” You replied with a soft sigh, leaning into her side for a moment before her hand trailed down your arm, linking your fingers with her own and you were finally ready to leave the bathroom. “Casey?”

“Yeah baby?” She glanced back at you, nothing but adoration pouring from her eyes.

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you to the moon and back.”

____________

@bisexualcrowley @red1culous @imlike-so-gaydude @wannabe-fic-reader @altsvu @disneyfan624 @svulife-rl @svushots @mysticfalls01 @bumblebear30 @solemnnova @infernumlilith @australiancarisi @cerberus-spectre @emskisworld @thestarrynightslover @lawandorderuswnt @ex-uallyactive @hbkpop @samwithnoplan @multifandomlesbianic @narvaldetierra @dxtery @poisonedcrowns @a-little-bit-of-this-and-that @clarawatson @mickey-gomez @momlifebehard @yeeterthek33per @brooklynmhm @alexxavicry @daddy-heather-dunbar @7thavenger @augustvandyne @msvenablesbitch @happenstnces @valentinesfrog @geekyandgay98 @onmykneesformarvel @desperate-gay @riveramorylunar @irishavengersassemble @kmc1989 @holycrapraewth @noahrex @temp0rary-bliss @wittygutsy @chimnlex @nilaues @borinxnovak

#casey novak #casey novak x reader #forced hand #law and order svu #svu #law and order #law and order special victims unit #casey novak fanfic #casey novak hurt comfort #casey novak x you

64 notes · View notes

ronearoundblindly · 3 days

Text

Time and Tines (2/3)

Reasons (see previous or series)

Steve Rogers x Villain!Reader

Summary: With the Winter Soldier on your side, Steve races against time to figure out why...and how to stop you.

Warnings for basically DARKFIC: talk of unspecified terminal illness, medical malpractice, gaslighting, revenge, gun violence, not overly graphic death but still death (not of Reader, Steve, or Bucky), and decidedly too-little editing. MINORS DNI. There's plenty for you to read on my Light Masterlist, but this isn't for you! WC 5242 (which is, yeah, way longer than it was supposed to be)

Steve will do anything to avoid a fire fight with the Winter Soldier. There are too many people involved now, and he has to approach this situation delicately from all angles.

Steve just does not understand yet.

After hours waiting with agents in the dark of Doctor Avani’s house, convinced you’ve ordered Bucky to come right over and kill the man with brute force, nothing happened. There was no sign of anyone. Steve has to try something else.

A small army protects Salvatore while he searches your apartment. If the key to activating his friend is here, he needs to find it, destroy that information, and get a handle on why this is happening.

“This can’t be right,” Steve mutters, pushing past Agent Palmer (who drove) for a better look. “It’s too clean.”

Your one-bedroom would pass a white-glove test.

There’s so little…everything. It’s a far cry from the chaos Steve woke to find in the police station. His head throbs at the memory. He forgot what it was like to have his bell good’n’rung.

“Supe says she’s been selling off furniture,” Palmer calls from the doorway, “but he thought it was replaced. Boxes kept coming.”

Steve inventories a mattress with no frame, half a dozen hanging garments, no shoes. What were you buying? Where did it all go?

The desktop is bare. You’ve taken any laptop with you, it seems. That’s a small comfort. You clearly planned contingencies for your attack andor escape; it’s fitting you had the foresight to hide your research on the Winter Soldier.

Steve is still scared, however, because he sat with Bucky many times, listening to horrible tales of being trapped in his own mind, powerless, isolated in the midst of everyone, unable to control thoughts much less actions.

This one’s gonna take a few more beers for the friends to contend with, but with any luck and quick work, they’ll get through without bloodshed. He and Bucky will decompress somewhere peaceful. It’ll be okay.

He hopes.

Steve scans the lone bookshelf. The most curious edition is a history book about WWII, a few flagged pages open to reveal passages about Bucky’s service record, an underline beneath the location where the sergeant fell from the train, and a mail receipt for an address on Forsythe Avenue keeping your page. That’s all.

It’s not even a unique read. The book isn’t any more specific than an average school text. No other notes are made in the margins, so Steve turns the book upside-down and shakes, hoping for something to fall out. He rips the other books from the shelf and shuffles their pages until a picture comes loose—a polaroid of three women.

You’re on the right, fuller faced but it’s you. On the back is scrawled “the girls” with hearts on either side.

The book is handwritten, no label on the cover or spine, only an embossed mandala design. Steve’s stomach drops, but he opens to the front flap.

Property of Faith Williams

He swallows roughly and closes it, unable to step over that line of privacy. At the moment, he needs evidence of where you could have taken Bucky, and slow-reading someone else’s diary won’t give him that.

Forsythe Avenue might, but that’s just one tiny piece of the puzzle.

Steve checks a different unlabeled book, but it, too, doesn’t have your name inside, just a ‘Z’ fancifully drawn amidst doodles.

Damnit. This is no help.

“Palmer, you finding anything?”

“No, Cap. Bills all paid. Nothing under the mattress. No mention of Barnes on any papers in the drawers. Not even a Cyrillic symbol.”

No trace, just like how you two disappeared from surveillance.

Steve shuts his eyes, head still throbbing from how hard the Soldier landed a blow to knock him out.

The agent wanders through the tiny kitchen. “Fridge is empty. Doesn’t look like she intended to come back here…if…actually, it looks like she barely ate. No condiments, no spices, nothing.”

“How long has she rented here?”

“Over two years.”

Shit. This is a dead end.

“Keep looking,” Steve orders, but he takes the two journals and heads for the car, pulling up your thin file again. You don’t hold any clearances or a government footprint. You were let go of from your last job with a severance package. Nothing overly generous. No medical leave mentioned. Benefits, including health insurance, would be intact. Based on your appearance earlier versus you in the photo, Steve chews on a few wisps of theories, but it’s not solid proof. Without more, Steve has no leads.

“Friday, any connection to properties on Forsythe?”

He adjusts to get comfortable in the back seat of the SUV alone, firing up a view screen.

There’s a low, sad sound that means the AI found nothing in your records.

"For her or him?"

Womp womp, it comes again.

Steve lets out a tense breath, “Where are we with bank statements?”

“Authorizations just came back,” F.R.I.D.A.Y chirps.

“What about medical records?”

“That one’s a lot harder, Captain Rogers. We have to—“

“Just analyze the financials first,” Steve sighs. His head throbs again, and he knows he needs sleep. There’s no time though. If he could just get answers…

Protections exist, of course, for good reason, but Steve feels the frustration of any detective. He’s trying to find a bad guy, and by 'bad guy,' he means you, not the man you’ve taken, not the man you are certainly going to order to kill for you.

Steve rests his head on the chilly glass and pinches his eyes shut. He’ll take a minute, review the money trail, and then interview the doctor. It seems a miracle that man was able to go home to his wife and sleep, even with security inside the room, down every hall, surrounding the house…Steve wouldn’t do it; he can’t even keep his eyes closed long enough for the dry sting to subside.

How could he be so stupid?

You weren’t staring at him from across the room; you were watching your mark, waiting for an opening. Sadly, it occurs to Steve that if he’d just let you inject Avani, Bucky would be fine, here by his side, and safe.

You are the threat, not his friend, but that’s a hard distinction. If anyone else sees James Barnes—who is the stealth assassin Winter Soldier, as far as they know—they’ll shoot. No questions. Steve has to find him first. He has to get to you first.

Bucky is compromised, but Steve won’t let it come to that. Buck shouldn't do anything he doesn't want to do just because some enemy hijacked his mind and body.

“Feel better?” You twirl in the chair as soon as the motel bathroom door opens, steam billowing out.

Winter’s face is shadowed, pointed to the floor.

“Or…at least, okay? Here—“ you offer the seat next to you at the tiny table “—sit. Eat. Let me—I’ve got bandages for your knuckles.”

“Heals,” he grunts, sitting easily but with stiff posture, “fast.”

You let out a heavy breath, muttering, “makes one of us.”

The soldier reaches out for the file in front of you, but your hand pins it down.

“Uh-uh. Food first, and palm up here, please.” You wait for him to flip open the takeout container then blot antiseptic on the split skin. “Does that hurt?”

He shakes his head, focused on the meal before him.

Several months ago, an article was published about Bucky Barnes’ affinity for this one particular deli in Brooklyn, a third-generation shop. It listed his usual order.

You’ve made sure the bread isn’t soggy. You kept the spicy mustard on the side.

He makes a strange face, looking around for your portion.

“Not hungry,” you assure him, “I’m rarely hungry.” You secure the bandage like boxing wraps and spin the file around.

“Eat your food—” The command is soft, encouraging. “—while I tell you the story of how we ended up here.”

Buried in the file you’ve put in front of the Soldier is several lifetimes of horror. Maybe not everyone agrees with you, maybe not everyone cares, but that bastard Avani has to atone. For the next hour, you explain what’s expected of him, glancing every so often at the fancier hotel entrance across the street from your motel room.

It’s too early; you’d be very impressed if the Captain had followed those bread crumbs yet.

You planned so carefully for every obstacle. You anticipated so many setbacks. Men like Avani go down like great stone pyramids, not houses of cards, because their lives are built with safeties. For him to fall, a thousand others have to be damaged, and each one of them will put up a fight to remain untarnished. That approach—the truth, and nothing but the truth—has gotten you nowhere. Diaries aren’t enough proof. The placebo effect is not a crime. Two women are worth far less than a functional, marketable drug.

Plus, they’re two dead women. The pyramid is now their tomb. Nothing ever changes.

No.

You alone cannot topple a pyramid. You’re too far gone. You’re just one person. For justice, you have to go straight to the top, to the man himself. One on one.

Well, one on one-plus-one. Your addition is the sharp-shooter who can get you the top, the target, Doctor Avani.

Winter’s mission is very simple, but he’s thorough, asking all the right questions, thinking of all the right options. You knew he would be perfect.

“Now,” you clap at the end of your story, rubbing boney hands together, “a rundown of my meds. Sound good?” You grab a zippered case from the foot of the motel bed. “Nothing complicated, but here—“ nudging out a syringe and one glass vial “—this is the emergency one. Use 10 milliliters of this if I pass out. Got it?”

The Soldier takes an enormous mouthful of his sandwich and nods, eyes flickering back to that single bed.

You smile sadly. “I…rarely sleep. I’m keeping watch for now. You’re safe. You’ll need the rest.”

He chews and adds more mustard before his last bite.

“Okay? Good.” Your smile fades, fatigue and restlessness swirling in your empty gut as you remove another medication. “Next is this one. Every four hours, twent—wait, no, I’m up to thirty CCs now…”

“Sir,” Steve grits out with far less patience than he intended, pinching the bridge of his nose as if it will stop the throbbing inside his head, “you realize I am trying to save your life?”

Dr. Avani purses his lips in annoyance. “And you realize I am required to keep my patients’ confidence, right?”

Yes, Steve thinks, he’s said that several times.

“Are they current or former patients?” Steve tries to clarify.

So far, Salvatore slipped up only once. When Steve showed him the photo from your apartment, the doctor muttered something about ‘Faith’ and ‘Ziva’ knowing each other, looking confused, then immediately shut down.

Steve has to switch tactics. He doesn’t have time for this.

“Ok. We found over a dozen hotel reservations made with your assailant’s credit card, so look at this list—” Steve taps the smart screen to lay out a map with the names highlighted “—and see if anything stands out.”

“What have this crazy woman’s travel plans to do with me?” Avani bites out, rattling the tea his wife hands him.

A tremor. Not unlike how your hands shook at the table last night. Steve wonders if yours was because you are ill or because you were lying to him.

“Darling, your blood pressure…”

Steve sighs sympathetically to Mrs. Avani. “Thank you, ma’am,” he whispers, taking the next cup and saucer and clearing his throat. “Doc, please. I’m just hoping you can narrow this down for me. We still have no motive.”

“Insanity. Jealousy, maybe!”

“Jealous of what? Do you know what she might want?”

No answer, but Avani chews his cheek, eyes wide, while staring northwest on the map of hotels. Steve files that away in his mind.

The doctor returns to sipping his tea. “Do you know what they call people obsessed with finding patterns in chaos?”

His wife drops the plate of biscuits unceremoniously down on the side table between the men’s chairs.

“Salvatore,” she snips with the same frustrated fatigue wrapped around Steve’s neck like an albatross, “behave.”

“No. None of these are familiar,” the doctor grunts.

Steve can’t accuse the man of lying unless he wants to risk an all-out breakdown in communication during this active threat, but he’s running out of options. He needs real information.

Usually Steve would have more respect for a man staying within the parameters of his vocation, but this is a unique and complicated situation. This is Bucky on the line. Steve’s had enough of secrets and red tape.

“Any idea why she’d mail something to Forsyth Avenue? Do you know anyone there?”

“Forsyth Avenue? No, I’ve never been in that area before, as far as I know.” Though Avani wrings his hands together, no indicates that’s a lie.

Wonderful. Steve’s never been this unsuccessful at gathering intel, and Avani’s status as the newly-appointed Avengers’ lead physician makes it tricky to push harder.

So Steve recommends Avani and his wife consider staying in a more secure location before he sets off to personally check the hotels in the northwest quadrant of the map.

He takes Agent Palmer, riding in the SUV while the two diaries sit in his lap, knowing now—as sure as he can be—that ‘Z’ is for Ziva, and she knew you and Faith Williams. Those are ‘the girls’ in the photo.

Without Ziva’s last name, he can’t do a general search, but there is a death certificate on file for Faith.

Three women. One confirmed dead. At least two ‘former’ patients of the doctor. All visibly ill in either the picture or in person. One mourning the loss of person(s) and out to kill the doctor.

The pit in his stomach grows. Something very bad is happening, yet while Steve has anything else to go on, he will not be reading another’s diary.

He can only hope that your medical records are finally available once the hotel searches are complete.

There’s even a possibility he’ll find Bucky at one of these. Maybe he won’t have to concern himself with the rest at all. Maybe he won’t have to think so hard about your motives for activating a Soviet sleeper agent.

Steve does think, however. He thinks hard enough to spiral as each reception desk is questioned, as all security footage is combed, as every building is cleared. He has to make some assumptions to make the pieces fit.

You believe Avani is responsible for your friends’ deaths—both of them, since when Steve interrogated you, you accepted his condolences—and believe their cause of death was whatever treatment Avani administered.

It’s sad, of course, but it happens everyday. Experimental treatments are just that. If you’re concerned about gross negligence, the doctor could easily be reported to the Medical Board. Considering the amount of research, forethought, and planning required, the Winter Soldier is one of the slowest possible solutions to your problem.

But…Bucky was just your contingency plan. You had an opportunity to kill Avani yourself, yet you still set other options in motion. You used a weapon theoretically deadly to only the doctor

Steve still can’t understand, and it’s driving him nuts.

Finally, after the hotel reservations prove fruitless, Steve sees no other choice. He has to read the diaries.

He combs through the pages, growing nauseous as darker and darker layers of the situation reveal themselves, disturbed by everydetail except updates from the units on Forsyth Avenue or those stationed at the doctor’s house. Nothing is unfolding save the landscape in Steve’s mind.

He asks F.R.I.D.A.Y about the disease Faith and Ziva mention. He asks about the public records of the drug trial Avani lead and its results published just six months ago, after the last entries of the diaries. He notices the treatment was a huge success…for those not in the control group. Finally, he can’t continue.

His head pounds while his stomach churns.

In the early afternoon, Steve lays down to rest his eyes and reevaluate, but he’s met with only a blank canvas and drifts to sleep instead.

He’s woken by a shrill ring of his phone.

“Yeah, Palmer, what’s—what? What do you mean he’s gone?” Steve jumps up, straps on his shield, and races to his bike. “The hell were you thinking letting him make a house call today? Where did agents—“

Steve’s foot slips right off bike for an instant.

“Avani led the driver to some suburban neighborhood. Forsythia Commons.”

It dawns of him just as the garage door squeals open.

Steve never showed Palmer the receipt. No one else saw the numbers to the address. Steve’s rattled brain finished the label with a street name he knew.

He was wrong.

Including battles in Germany way back in the day, he has rarely driven so recklessly, but Steve is nearly a half-hour behind now. He has to catch up.

Palmer tells him Avani went into the residence alone—for patient confidentiality—and after a while, agents couldn’t get an answer at the door. Upon forced entry, they found the woman who lived there bound to a chair with tape over her mouth and the doctor nowhere in sight.

Steve gets lucky.

On his way to exit the freeway, he notices a hole in the noise barrier wall past a slope of grass. He pulls over and asks Palmer what the backyard of the residence leads to, but Steve can hear the reverb of agent comms before anyone is visible through the brush.

“Friday, I need traffic camera footage from my location from thirty-five minutes ago. Were there any vehicles stopped on the side of the road?”

“Yes, Captain Rogers. A standard maintenance truck with the department’s logo shows up and leaves seven minutes later, based on ten second intervals.”

“The license plate, can you read it?”

“Quality insufficient.”

“The highway department, do they have any registered cars out here today?”

A long pause follows.

“Friday?” Steve barks.

“Negative, Captain. Inspection is slotted for the end of next week, not today.”

“Alright, follow that truck on the cameras. Tell me exactly where they went.”

He doesn’t bother to tell Palmer where he’s going because Steve doesn’t want them to know really. He needs a head start to find Bucky—to make sure it’s Bucky who is found and rescued, not the Soldier who is cornered and subdued.

The trail ends at a dilapidated office park near the river miles outside of the city. With his own, short fingernail, Steve peels away the Highway Department magnet slapped onto the white truck parked by one building.

Nobody else is in sight, and the truck cab is empty.

Across the nearest door is sun-shriveled lettering. “-alv—re Ava—, M.D” marks the third name in a list.

Steve doesn’t hesitate. He can’t. He walks right in, eyes adjusting to a cave-like darkness without electricity.

The voices are faint behind another set of double doors, but he hears them.

“I don’t owe you anything, bitch. I hope you die like they did.”

There’s a sharp slapping noise and someone spits loudly.

“Admit it. Admit what you did and you won’t die today.”

You don’t beg him to talk. You don’t plead with him. You sound weak but sure.

“Rot in hell,” Avani annunciates, and Steve flings himself through the doors, knowing what comes after such a taunt.

You give him every opportunity to come clean. He could save himself, but Avani refuses while the camera records behind you. He calls you names. He calls your friends worthless. He says they were ’whores,’ but you will still send him back to the correct authorities if he tells the truth.

He doesn’t, he won’t, and you’re honestly pleased this is how it ends.

You don’t have a choice really; you must honor Faith and Ziva somehow.

Instead of the truth, Avani curses you, though not much could be worse than your current fate, even with Winter standing a few feet away, his gun drawn.

You have readied the syringe in your unstable hand and lift it to the doctor’s throat when—crash—Captain America bursts in and scans the whole room.

“Don’t do it,” he tries plainly. “You don’t have to kill him.”

You’re impressed. That’s faster than you expected, but Steve is looking at his friend to stop, not you.

“Shoot him, you idiot,” the doctor snarls.

As if Winter thinks the order somehow applied to him, he turns toward an open palm and a raised shield.

“SHOOT HIM!”

Winter doesn’t move the gun away from you and Avani.

Steve steps closer. “Bucky,” he starts slowly, “I’m not going to do that. I’m not here to hurt you. No one has to die.”

You need to buy more time.

“Soldat, show him.”

Only then does Winter lower his pistol and reach into a pocket at his chest, revealing the tuning fork that controls his own mind. Doing this will forfeit your exit strategy, but you’ll accomplish you mission. Winter’s mission is now secondary.

Steve’s eyes flicker from the fork to you.

After a tense breath, you give the command, confident the soldier will obey, locking your focus on Steve.

“Fetch.”

Winter sprints to the other end of the room and explodes through a wall and then a window to the lawn banking the river.

Cap makes a choice, his sad blue eyes full of pity, and it’s then you realize he knows.

He read the diaries. He understands what Avani did.

Steve bolts after the Soldier.

The doctor shrieks for his Avenger to come back, to protect him from his earned fate, but the hollow thuds of a vibranium arm and a vibranium shield colliding hum through the hole in the building.

The sound of fighting continues as you return the syringe to Avani’s neck.

Enough. Enough excuses. Enough lies. Enough time has been wasted on this man already. Enough is enough.

The end is more peaceful than he deserves. It’s quick and not nearly as painful as it should be. There’s no time left for suffering.

Salvatore convulses after collapsing on the stained industrial carpet, foam gently dripping from his mouth, a symptom of his condition when mixed with a common resuscitative cocktail, one you have to take frequently, one that spiked Steve Rogers’ adrenaline and nothing more. It kills Avani. His heart nearly explodes in his chest.

If there was ever a human that medicine should fail…

You only know he’s susceptible because Ziva knew. Heart conditions and caring for them are the sort of thing one knows about a person they love.

Avani promised to marry her, to leave his wife, to be with her after the drug trial succeeded. He promised she’d live, but he told Ziva she was taking the real medicine, ensured she took the placebo, and then gaslit her until the day she died.

Ziva spent the rest of her life loving a man who would make her happy and healthy, but instead, Avani made her life as short as possible.

He was not even that kind to Faith.

In her own words, Faith wrote how dying scared her, how she begged the doctor for the actual medication, how she offered anything to get it. Avani accepted. Faith did whatever that bastard wanted for months, all the while told she was healing.

Relief never came.

Faith was bedridden when a package arrived for her—a diary willed to her by a friend she’d lost touch with once you three weren’t gathering in the same hospital suite for the old treatments. That’s when she put it together, but Ziva had passed two months prior. Faith lasted only four more days, just long enough to bequeath the two journals to you.

The victory doesn’t feel as euphoric as you expected. You thought somehow you’d know that Ziva and Faith were proud and at peace, but you’re just empty and tired.

You stare down at Adani’s body, unfazed, when the tuning fork slams against a dangling metal doorframe and Cap shuffles through the rubble.

He’s scraped and beaten which isn’t what you ever wanted, just a necessary evil to fight evil. He watches as Barnes walks in from the grass.

“It’s me, punk. You can put that thing down.”

Bucky doesn’t wait for Steve, snatching the prongs right from his hands and tucking it back in his jacket.

There’s a moment where they almost hug before Steve remembers the doctor and rushes to the man at your feet.

“Call for help! I'm starting CPR.”

Barnes simply holds your gaze.

More sad blue eyes. It brings you hope that he will complete his mission.

You step away from the others to make for a cleaner shot, nodding that it’s okay, breathing a rough but weak “please” for emphasis.

“Buck?” Steve looks up as Bucky points his gun at you again. “What are you doing? STOP. It’s over!”

“His mission was never to kill Avani,” you hiss, unable to take your eyes off the perfectly-centered muzzle directly in front of you. “He’s here to kill me.”

“The hell—“ Steve climbs to his feet “—why would you shoot her?”

“I’m not going to jail!”

“You know what they’ll do to her, Steve.”

Both men take one step closer.

“There has to be another way.”

“I did this because it’s the only—“

“—can understand doctors who taking advantage and manipulating their patients better than anyone—“

“Put the gun down!”

“Pull the trigger! It'll be—“

“—told me he could do better than me,” Bucky barks. “Doc said, to my face, that he could make a better me. He wanted to make soldiers, Steve. More soldiers. Avani didn’t give a shit about what was right.”

You jump in. “If you found the diaries, you know what he was capable of.”

“That’s not how this works. We don’t condemn a man from—“

This time you step toward Barnes. “Just do it. Shoot me now.”

Steve lunges to take your wrist in his hand, your limb comically thin and delicate beneath all his enhancements.

“She doesn’t deserve to rot while they sweep this under the rug,” Bucky adds, voice low and serious.

“This is for the best.” You look at Steve now, and something heartbreaking swims in those morose pools, something unspeakable.

His head shakes, dirty, sweaty hair falling in his face. “What if there’s another way?”

“I don’t want to be saved, Cap. Let me go.”

You offer one final, soft smile, and Steve moves just as Bucky pulls the trigger.

Steve completes his testimony before the panel opposite him. None of the questions are a surprise.

They’ve painted you as completely insane, demented, psychotic, and he can’t argue. What would he tell them? Yeah, but she had kind eyes, so, you know, remember her fondly? No, he can only remain quiet until he has something pertinent to add which is very little. Bucky had far more to offer, and he already spoke.

When Steve steps out of the counsel chambers, Maria Hill is waiting for him.

“Shame she ordered the Soldier to dispose of her body. Took the coward’s way out.”

“You make her sound like a rabid animal that had to be put down,” Steve grit out.

“No, you’re right,” Hill admits, “but it was lucky she left the sound thing for—”

“Tuning fork,” he snaps, “which I destroyed. No one should have that. No one should even know about it.”

Buck does his best to calm Steve down with a heavy hand on his shoulder. “S’okay, pal. The interrogation footage has been wiped and unless someone with perfect pitch was walking by observation--”

“You know that’s not reassuring, right?”

The two huge men look at each other.

Steve finally mutters, “what about Avani’s widow?”

“All the blackmail sent to his mistress in Forsythia Commons was removed before Gloria even knew Sal was kidnapped, and I think it’s fair to say that lady is so grateful her name wasn’t dragged through the press that she won’t be bothering the wife. Good thing the doctor put her car and house in her name, or legally, this would get ugly.”

“Yes. We’re very lucky he was such a skilled adulterer,” Steve quips dryly. He regrets handing over the diaries for evidence. They weren’t mentioned once in any of the hearings.

Bucky flashes Steve a warning glare that reads, don’t start.

Hill obliviously flips through the folder in her hands, nodding. “All in all, this report amounts to an incredibly long lead-in of ‘use that PTO, boys!’ You earned it.”

“Understatement of the century…and I would know.” Bucky is a much better liar than Steve.

Thank god, they are fleeing to the middle of nowhere indefinitely.

Hill heads back to her office. “We’ll be here when you get back. Keep in touch.”

“No,” Steve counters. “I don’t think I will.”

Bucky and Steve leave in an old truck the next morning. They can’t seem rushed or impatient to get to their destination.

Casually accumulating supplies, Steve loads their bags in the flat bed with space for all repair materials they are likely to need. The cabin needs some work; the guys need to get their hands dirty and live simply for a while.

The team is happy for Steve; it’s been so long since anyone saw him moving forward in life, and, of course, he and Bucky deserve some peace and quiet.

No one else has any idea how hard-won this vacation is.

The drive takes all day because they can’t be in a hurry.

Steve takes pictures at every scenic outlook. Bucky climbs up onto some rock ledges to take selfies which Steve is not into. This earns him being featured as a blurry grump in the background of all of them, purposefully.

Eventually, the GPS-free truck pulls up to the place, a large A-frame style cabin that should be plenty big for two super soldiers.

Parked on the gravel path, Steve is careful not to ding the other car when he swings open his door. As Bucky heaves two duffels from the trunk, he calls out, “got the meds, too” and heads inside. Steve gathers up the remaining bags and trudges over, smelling something hearty and delicious cooking, listening to the tinkling, copper-coin wind chime hanging somewhere above him.

He doesn’t stop looking at his feet until they hit the top of the porch, spotting two smaller bare feet on the welcome mat.

There you are, holding the door open, layered in warm knits, more tired before but better than expected.

“Hey,” Steve breathes finally.

“Hey,” you say, your mouth twisted to hide an excited smile.

“Yes, hello,” Bucky grumbles from the living room. “Now shut the damn door. I’m hungry.”

Steve steps inside.

[Last Part]

[Main Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

a/n: Sorry this took so long a fucking year! Tags will be in a reblog.

#steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #time and tines series #steve rogers angst #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers x you #steve rogers fic #winter soldier bucky barnes #villain!reader #captain america fanfiction #captain america x reader #captain america x you #captain america angst #steve rogers x y/n

54 notes · View notes

purple-obsidian · 3 days

Text

miscommunication; option 1 (18+, dick grayson x fem titan reader)

⭓ !PLEASE READ! this is part of a choose-your-ending story. it will not make sense unless you start from here.

"No! Dick, please!" You stand from your chair, cloth napkin falling to the floor, watching him stalk past you towards the exit of the restaurant, anxiety filling your stomach with dread.

You feel frozen in place, watching him leave and disappear through the front doors of the nice restaurant. The older couple seated at the table next to you watch curiously, and you suddenly feel very aware of all the eyes on you.

Your heart feels heavy. You don’t call a cab. You can’t bring yourself to.

He probably hates me now, I can’t believe he really likes me and I just blew it.

You decide to walk home, ignoring the rumble of thunder booming overhead as you hastily exit the restaurant, before you can hear anyone else whisper about you and the scene you just caused. The rain starts just a minute or so into your long trek home.

You want to call him, but part of you thinks it may be best to wait until the morning. He didn’t seem receptive to an explanation right now, anyways. Your mind goes over the events of this evening again, through a new lense. You tear up when you remember how sweet he was. Picking you up, bringing you flowers, getting the door for you, taking you out for Italian, which he knows is your favorite. Wallowing in self-loathing and regret, you barely pay attention as your feet stomp over the discarded trash and cigarette butts that litter the dirty sidewalks of Gotham.

The rain gets heavier, soaking your clothes and chilling you to your core. People are rushing inside, getting umbrellas and trying to stay dry. Still several blocks from your apartment, you let the cold consume you. You wonder how long he’s felt like this for. His angry words echo in your mind, making you feel even more awful about yourself.

‘I really wanted this to be a chance for us to get better acquainted outside of work. I wanted to get to know you better.’

‘I thought we had chemistry. Real chemistry.’

You honestly had no idea he was interested in you. Dicks kind of a flirt, but he’s like that with everyone, for the most part. Outgoing, friendly, quick to compliment and always uplifting those around him. You try to think about your interactions with him since joining the titans. Has he really treated you any differently than Donna? Or Raven?

Hugging your arms to your body, you decide you’ll try and call him when you get home, hoping your phone isn’t too messed up from the rain water.

-————-//-————-

“So… How did it go last night?” Donna asks, a smug smile adorning her kind face.

“Don’t wanna talk about it.” Dick grumbles.

Donna frowns, walking over to where Dick is sitting, his blue eyes glued on the computer screen in front of him. “That bad, huh?” She puts her hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing in a show of support. “Well, don’t worry. As soon as Wally gets here, the three of us can go get some lunch and talk about it.”

��I literally just said I don’t want to talk about it.” He retorts, shrugging her hand away.

“Don’t want to talk about what?”

A rush of air hits Dicks face and ruffles some loose papers on the table next to him. Dick shifts to look over at Wally, who somehow always manages to be late, despite his abilities.

Donna curses under her breath and fixes her hair that was disturbed by their friend’s abrupt arrival. “Good morning, Wally.” She says sarcastically. “Nice of you to join us.”

The speedster takes a seat on Dicks sofa, kicking his feet up in the coffee table and making himself at home. “You know I’ll never pass up on plans that involve food. But- fill me in, what did I miss?”

Dick chooses to ignore his friend, and focuses on saving his open files so he can shut down his PC.

“Well, someone finally asked a certain someone else out on a date.” Donna explains. She takes a seat next to Wally, still finger-brushing her hair. “But apparently it didn’t go too well.”

“Aww, shit. That’s rough, man. You've been wanting to ask her out for a while. When did this happen?” Wally asks.

“Last night.” Dick mutters under his breath.

Wally cocks his head in confusion. “I thought you and her were going on a mission last night. Some stakeout or something.”

“Why would you think that?” Dick closes his laptop, swiveling his desk chair so he's facing his friends.

“She told me. Said you two had work to do, that was two days ago, I called her to ask about Gar's food allergies. She brought it up then, I’m sure of it.”

“Hm.” Dick scratches the back of his neck, the pieces finally falling into place. “…fuck.”

"Yeah! Turns out, he's not allergic to shit. He just chooses not to eat meat. Which, hey, I mean, fair enough, right? But why does he insist of having his food cooked completely separate, a little cross contamination never hurt anyone..."

“Diiiick…..” Donna draws out his name in warning. “How did you ask her out? What did you say, exactly?”

“Over text.” Dick anxiously unlocks his phone, hastily pulling up his last text conversation with you.

Donna holds out her hand expectantly, and Dick begrudgingly hands it over. The amazon’s eyes quickly read through the message history. “Dick, you know how she is, you have to be more clear with her. She totally thought you were asking for her help with a mission.”

“What?” He grabs his phone back, and re-reads it for himself. “What are you talking about? I even said ‘it’s a date’. Look, right there!”

“Yeeeeeaah, I’m with Donna on this one.” Wally chimes in. “You say that all the time, Dick. You’re a flirt. How was she supposed to know?”

Dick glances between his best friends, a look of exasperation in his face. “Oh, come on! You can’t seriously read that conversation and tell me I was not crystal clear with my intentions!”

“Maybe not, but you know how clueless she can be sometimes.” Wally argues, relaxing back into the couch. “Remember a few weeks ago? At the bar? That one guy with the hat was flirting with her all night and it went right over her head.”

Dick groans, holding his head in his hands. “Fuck, I need to go talk to her.”

“Yeah, you do.” Donna agrees sympathetically.

“Does this mean no lunch?” Wally asks, visibly deflating in disappointment at the change in plans.

Dick taps on your contact photo in his phone to call you. He tugs his jacket on, cursing again when it goes straight to voicemail.

-————-//-————-

A familiar knock on your door startles you, causing you to jump a little. You were on your computer, trying to make an appointment with your cell phone provider to see if they can fix your waterlogged phone that's buried in a bowl of rice next to you.

You look in the peephole of the old wooden door just to be sure, and your stomach does a flip when you confirm that it’s Dick again.

“Hey. I’m glad you’re here.” You open your door wide for him, your heart hammering in your chest, hoping he’s willing to hear you out. “Come in.”

Dick says your name, closing the door behind him, and reaching for your hand. “I owe you an apology.”

The sincerity of his tone eases a bit of the nervousness you’re feeling. “Yeah, me too.” Squeezing his hand a little, you look down at the floor, trying to find the right words to say. “Dick, I’m an idiot. I realize that now. I thought you were asking me out to help with Titans business, I didn’t even realize-“

“I know.” His voice is pained and apologetic, reflected also in his expression.

“I probably sounded so shallow, when I said I was up for an all-nighter, I didn’t mean-“

“I know.” He says again, entwining his fingers with your own. “I’m at fault here too. I never should have asked you out via text. Too much room for misinterpretation. I was so nervous for our date, I wanted everything to be perfect, and... I’m not proud about how I behaved. I shouldn't have left you there alone. I’m sorry.”

You let out a relieved sigh, closing your eyes and shaking your head. “Dick, I have so much respect for you. And I enjoy your company, I really do. But I legitimately thought we were there to meet someone or follow a person of interest. If I would have known-”

“Then let’s start over.” He smiles down at you, tilting your chin up with his finger so his ocean blue eyes can stare into yours. “I like you. A lot. I want to take you out. A romantic evening, just you and me. So we can get to know each other better. How does that sound?”

“That sounds wonderful.” Your voice is quiet, but the excitement in your eyes makes Dick’s heart soar. Its the look he was hoping to see last night. “I’d really like that, Dick. I promise I’m into this, into you, and not just because you’re hot.”

He chuckles, letting his hand fall to cup your neck. “For the record, I’m not opposed to pulling an all-nighter with you.” His hand feels warm against your neck, and you feel that fluttering sensation in your stomach again. “I just… I think there’s something more here. Don’t you?”

You answer him with a nod, keeping your eyes on his. “Yeah, I do.”

Your heart beats faster, seeing him lean in slowly, his face gets closer and closer to your own. You let your eyes flutter shut and lean forward to meet his lips in a slow kiss. His touch feels electric, sending goosebumps up and down your spine. You release his hand and go on your tiptoes so you can snake your arms around his neck. His own hands find your waist, pulling you closer while his mouth moves against your soft lips.

After a minute or so, lightheaded from both lack of air and excitement, you break off the kiss and look up at him, trying to keep yourself from smiling too much. "I'm so glad you don't hate me. I thought I really fucked this up."

Dick caresses your cheek and laughs under his breath. "Well, you can be a little dense at times. But I'm glad we could clear the air. I tried to call you earlier-"

"Oh, yeah. My phone got wet. It was raining pretty hard last night."

You gesture towards your coffee table, where your phone is barely visible in the glass bowl of dry rice.

"Please don't tell me you walked home all alone." Dick sounds disappointed, searching your face for confirmation.

"Okay... I won't tell you, then."

"You're stubborn as hell, you know that?"

Dick notices a sparkle in your eyes as you reply, his arms keeping your body pressed against his. "Dense, stubborn, and yet... you still want to take me on a date."

"Yeah," He says back in agreement. "I do."

⭓ go back ⭓ masterlist ⭓

which ending did you choose first? let me know here, or leave a like/comment.

don’t steal my work. don’t repost it somewhere, upload it to another site, use it to train ai, or claim it as your own.

#purple-obsidian #choose your ending

54 notes · View notes

ovaryacted · 4 hours

Text

HOMECOMING

PAIRING: Jackson! Joel Miller x afab! reader

SYNOPSIS: After a long day of patrol, Joel comes home later than he said he would be back. You are just happy to welcome him back into your arms.

CONTENT/WARNINGS: FLUFF. Suggestive content - 18+. Established relationship. Soft & affectionate Joel Miller. Ambiguous age gap (Joel is in his late 50s, reader is 25+). Mentions of early pregnancy. Cute stuff. Banter and teasing. No use of y/n.

WC: 1.8k

A/N: Hey there, been a while. In case y'all forgot, yes I do still write LMAO. This is a little something that I wrote miraculously on my free time, and it is my first Joel Miller piece. I'm also slowly getting back into writing so pls be nice! I did originally write this with the new Pedro Pascal picture as Joel in mind, but I'm a gamer Joel type of girl at heart so that's what I went with. Hopefully, it is enjoyable for those who choose to read it. Any likes, comments, and reblogs are greatly appreciated! Dividers by @saradika-graphics.

➣ TLOU was created by a zionist and is based off of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Please refer to this link to learn how you can help the Palestinian people.

NAVIGATION | MASTERLIST | AO3

Night fell over Jackson, soothing and quiet as it usually was. You’d think after some time, you’d get used to the stillness that often consoled others in a world full of unsettling clicks and gunfire, but you found yourself troubled with the calmness that followed once the sun went down. The change of the seasons propelled a temperature shift outside; bitter winter exchanged for the rebirth of spring, which hopefully meant the sun would stay in the sky just a little bit longer.

Your face nuzzled into the pillow beneath you, the material not yours to claim, but it wasn’t unfamiliar. Digging your nose further into the bedding, you subconsciously chased the faint scent of pinewood and gunpowder, one of the few things that eased your anxiety. It was a smell you got used to recognizing over the past few years, not that you’ve been keeping count.

Despite the warmth the sheets provided you as you rested on the left side of the bed, your body felt cold, missing a familiar set of strong arms and a welcoming chest pressing up against you. He had told you before he left for patrol that he’d be back before sundown, that was the plan anyway. But you knew better than anyone that stepping outside the protective gates of Jackson always left room for the unpredictable.

In the haze of your dreams, you faintly heard the click of the front door opening and closing, the floorboards of the stairs creaking with the ghost of muted footsteps. You stirred in bed, ears trained to pinpoint the noise, yet too stubborn to wake up entirely. A breeze entered the bedroom before you sensed something else sharing the space.

That’s when you felt the phantom touch of plush lips skimming along your hairline. If you weren’t awake then, you certainly were now.

“Joel?” A call of his name equivalent to a whimper at the sudden contact you craved. You caught the slight intake of breath and the exhale that followed.

“It’s me darlin’. Didn’t mean to wake you,” Joel spoke quietly, the peaceful baritone of his voice awakening you fully. As you sighed, you met his tired gaze with your own, bruised knuckles raising to brush your cheekbone affectionately.

“Things went okay on the patrol?” You questioned him, pleased that he was here with you in one piece rather than focusing on the fact that he came later than you’d like.

“Yeah, had to check something out with Tommy to be sure before coming back. I’m sorry honey, didn't want to make you stay up for me.”

Even if it was unintended, Joel felt guilty whenever he didn’t stick to his word. He was not much of a virtuous man, lived a large part of the past two-plus decades giving less of a shit about honesty and ethics. But when it came to you, it killed him when he couldn’t follow through on his promises, even if things weren’t within his control. The last thing Joel wanted was to upset you or make you worry, but no matter how many times he reassured you of his return, you still tried your hardest to wait for him to come back home, back to you.

“It’s okay, I’m just happy you’re here,” you blinked slowly as his voice filtered through the lagged mess of your head. Leaning your face towards his hand, you kissed the inside of his palm. “Go freshen up and come to bed; I’m cold.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled with a smile at your forgiveness, parting from you for a second and heading to the bathroom, not planning to make you wait any longer.

You watched his silhouette from where you lay on the bed, fluttering your eyes closed at the sound of running water. When the door opened again, Joel’s broad figure returned wearing a worn-down flannel and some fleece pants he had snagged long ago.

“Scoot,” he jutted his chin to gesture to the right side of the mattress, your side, suggesting to reclaim his on the left. Shifting to the right, you let him slip into the bed feet first, hauling the sheets to cover the both of you. A bulky arm wrapped around your waist and tugged you close to him, your body molding to his like a missing puzzle piece.

“Not too far now,” Joel grinned as you nestled right into his warm chest, seeking his attention and attempting to siphon more of his warmth. It takes you off guard how your nerves instantly settled once you had Joel near you again. In his arms, that was where you belonged—protected, loved, safe.

“I missed you,” you mumbled, eyes shutting to breathe in his typical musk. One of his hands cradled your lower back, thumb running circles into your skin.

“I missed you too, darlin’. Too damn much.” Joel kissed your forehead, drawing lines up and down your back with his fingertips.

His hand moved again from behind you to the front of your body, palming your stomach protectively. A smile crept up on his face as he felt your tummy under the material of the flannel you stole from him, the only thing you preferred for pajamas. The gentle curve of your belly was not yet prominent enough to be overly detectable, but he knew what you carried. Precious cargo. That’s what he called it after you both adjusted to the shock of adding to Jackson’s current population count.

“Still feelin’ sick?” Joel asked you in the room’s darkness, his eyes shifting to watch over your facial features. The moonlight illuminated the edge of your jaw and the roundness of your cheeks, and his chest ached at the thought of witnessing other growing changes over the next couple of months.

“Sometimes. It bothers me, but nothing I can’t handle.” You reassured him the best way you knew how, having to rely on Maria’s advice for all things related to childcare and Ellie being your new overly protective guard and nurse when Joel wasn’t around.

If someone had told you that you’d find yourself alive after the apocalypse in a safe community and pregnant at that, you’d consider them crazy. Yet here you were, carrying a man’s child when you least expected it, a man years older than you with memories of a reality you couldn’t experience or remember. But you didn’t mind; the end of the world didn’t leave much room for strict morals anyway.

Make the most of it. You don’t know when you’ll miss something once it’s gone.

Joel had told you that after the first few patrols you had with him once you adjusted to Jackson, growing comfortable with the stoic and quiet man who grabbed your attention everywhere he went. He shared stories of a time before the world fell apart, discussing things like watching the sunset, listening to music from artists you’ve never heard of, and sweet treats he missed tasting. Things changed after the seventh patrol together, where you saw him smile for the first time after successfully hunting some game for the town.

That night, one thing led to another. It started after some drinks, a hungry and messy kiss on your doorstep that led to clothes on the bedroom floor, and hands pawing at one another. You woke up the next morning with an arm wrapped around your waist and his nose rubbing the back of your neck.

Simply put, you haven’t left since.

“Oh, I know. Can handle a whole lot, strong woman you are.” Joel taunted you a bit, his memory fleeting momentarily and recalling the spitfire you always were with him in particular. He could never seem to tame your spunk and attitude, but he grew to love it like the rest of you.

“Mhmm, real strong, if you ask me.” You held his gaze with a gleam of mischief, bringing your body closer to his wide chest and tilting your chin upwards, silently asking for more than a cuddle.

“You tryin’ to tell me something I don’t already know?”

“I don’t know. Am I?” You were a tease, always have been, jerking Joel’s chain more than he cared to admit.

“Those hormones are messing with your head, darlin’. Got you acting feisty,” he smirked, shifting nearer to your face.

Curious hands reached up to curl through his thick, graying curls. The contrasting streaks along his temple became more noticeable as time passed, matching the graying beard you’ve come to love and adore. He hesitated to let his hair grow out initially, thinking he’d look too much like his younger brother. Much convincing later, paired with hiding the shears, you got the desired result, and now you were lucky enough to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

The kiss was velvety as it was intimate, your tongue lining his bottom lip before he groaned, granting you entrance into his mouth. You swallowed the rumble he released, drawing a path of your touch from his neck down to his lower abdomen. Antsy fingers itched to skim the waistband of the fleece that concealed him, reaching close to the hardness you felt before he seized your hand away.

“Aht aht, no. As much as I want you there, it’s bedtime.” Joel didn’t necessarily want you to stop. Hell, if it were up to him, he’d let you go to town on him however you wanted. But his energy levels were dwindling, and all he wanted to do after a long day was get some proper rest with you in his arms.

“But-”

“Sweetheart, if you let this old man sleep, I’ll wake you up to a real nice surprise in the mornin’.” It was an effortless proposition, easy to keep you at bay until the next day and enough to curb your insatiable appetite.

“Promise?” You beat your lashes at him, knowing the last thing Joel would do was deliberately not provide for your needs, even if that meant having to keep up with you physically.

“Pinkie swear.” Joel gave you another peck before letting you get comfy against his chest once more, cuddling into him as much as your growing belly would allow without being squished. You started to drift off as sleep called to you, listening to the gentle rhythm of soft beating in your ear.

“Breakfast too, Miller.” You murmured to him, peeping how he laughed in the dark with his eyes closed. The pleasant and lively sound made you smile and your heart pound.

“Oh, I’ll feed you. Don’t worry your pretty little head about that.”

The peace in your bedroom matched the serenity that fell over Jackson. Now that you had Joel wrapped around you, you didn’t mind how quiet it was. So long as you have him, you can handle anything that comes your way.

©️ ovaryacted 2024. Please don’t repost, copy, translate, or feed into any AI. Support your fellow creators by reblogging, commenting, and liking!

47 notes · View notes

moonspirit · 1 day

Note

Hi Moon!

It is likely that the warriors were experimented on by the Marlian government, especially Annie due to the Females titan mimicking ability.

Do u think this will affect them still? How if so? Maybe they have a fear around medical settings, or just tests in general. Considering that Annie is also likely going to be the first ex shifter to have a kid, the doctors are likely to be interested causing this to come up again?

Linking to this, most Titan shifters are careless when it comes down to injures (except the colossal holder cause that won’t end well) so do u think they will constantly be clumsy and hurting themselves without thinking? I like to think that Annie has a nervous habit or playing with her ring, which obviously causes damage (possibly stitches at one point) and Armin lots of stress.

Hello hello!

(Quick edit to add: two fics I've read that talk about this are Little Bird by @aquietjune and Miracle by @flailingkittylover )

You bring up an interesting point! We actually have these pictures of the warriors unit files and the "tests" performed on them. It's in Marleyan, so unfortunately, unreadable, but the photo on the right is of Reiner's legs, I believe. It looks like a leg in the middle of regeneration, but if Annie underwent "experiments" that eventually gave her Zeke's Scream and Reiner's hardening, then it's reasonable to assume the others underwent various such experiments too, atleast in regard to their endurance and titan-specific shifter abilities.

Obviously, they would've been brutal. These were terribly young at the time, a little more so than when we see them on Paradis. I think going through the whole "succession ritual" would've been traumatizing in itself, so to be studied in a lab and have tests performed on them while in human form and also without anaesthetic (because why would they be offered anaesthetic when they weren't even seen as humans) - enough to put a real fear of needles and any sort of medical equipment.

I'm no expert, but trauma of such nature can last years, I believe. Even if you no longer have visceral reactions to needles or tourniquets, the sight of such things can pull severe anxiety and stress out of the body. Thinking about it, I can see RBA having to undergo tests on Paradis too for enlisting in the military. Perhaps blood draws, respiratory fitness and related things. It might've been horrifying to sit through them calmly so as not to arouse any suspicion. Annie especially, since she internalizes a lot of things without sharing and might've suffered through it all alone.

So even when the years pass post-rumbling, there could be a fear of medical settings, as you've mentioned. As for the doctors' being concerned, hmmm, I can see it, especially if Annie's overly concerned with getting tested, treated, checked and such during a pregnancy.

Now, coming to clumsiness!

Personally, it's not as much being clumsy as it is a densensitivity to prolonged pain. I think that to the contrary, RBA would've actually been very careful not to get hurt unnecessarily, as anyone noticing a scratch or a wound healing with steam would be dangerous to keeping their identities secret.

Pain on the other hand, is a different matter. Whenever they had a limb torn or a deep gash opened on their skin as shifters, it would heal within a matter of minutes to hours, with the pain never lasting too long. So prolonged pain for Annie, Reiner and Pieck, would be a foreign thing and quite difficult to get used to. (In contrast Armin, as a shifter from Paradis, would know what continued pain feels like since he inherited the CT only much later in his life).

Annie's ring though... nice headcanon! It's easy to see her playing with it nervously, expecting even the lightest of scratches to heal, but welp, now it doesn't anymore and WHOOPS, lots of blood - Armin's calling that ambulance and crying all over the place.

#ask #aruaniandother #headcanon #annie leonhart #reiner braun #bertholdt hoover #warriors #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #aruani #aruannie #armin arlert #aot #snk #pieck finger #annie leonhardt

33 notes · View notes

albatmobile · 2 days

Text

Cardinal Sins Chapter 5

𓅪 Living with your vigilante boyfriends for the past year has been amazing, well, almost. Butting heads, old wounds resurfacing and a deadly threat still looming overhead could threaten the sanctity of everything you've ever fought for. Will you finally overcome your tainted past and survive the trials and tribulations, or will your relationships and your faith crumble under the pressure?

Rated: M | TW: drowning | 5k Contains: pizza party, arguments, healing, searching for clues fem!Reader x Jason Todd x Roy Harper [masterlist] Previous in Series: Art of Rehabilitating Snowbirds

Chapter 5: Tidal Wave

A few days later, you finally convince Roy to invite Conner over.

Roy’s still been struggling since Cadmus, but each week it has been looking more and more up. However, you can’t help but wonder if he’s just putting on a front.

When you originally brought up the idea of Roy speaking to the Kryptonian, he’d scoffed. That all changed as soon as Lian had heard Auntie Stephanie would be coming as well. From there, it was as good as over for Roy.

With Jason and Lian on your side, Roy eventually conceded, which is where you stand today.

“Shit’s gonna be fucking awkward,” Roy mumbles as he reads over the text one more time before hitting send, confirming the meeting in an hour.

Yesterday Roy’d called Conner and invited him over for lunch. Stephanie must’ve already given Conner the rundown from your evening with her because he readily accepted.

Now, here the three of you are, bustling around with last minute arrangements in anticipation of your friend’s arrival.

It’s warm out, which Jason decides means it’s perfect for pizzas. The back deck contains a state-of-the-art pizza oven that you haven’t broken in yet, so it seems like the perfect day to christen it.

Roy’s helping Lian add her toppings when the elevator suddenly dings a few minutes later.

You’re the only one in the kitchen, so you hadn’t seen anyone call up to be let in. You’re less confused when the doors open to reveal Damian and Jon.

“Hey,” You smile, wiping the flour from your hands as you move to greet him. Damian greets you with a kiss on each cheek, with Jon coming up behind him to squeeze the three of you into an inhumanly tight hug. “Jon!” You wheeze until he releases both of you with an airy laugh.

“Are you expecting company?”

By now, Jason and Roy have taken notice of the unexpected visitors and move inside to greet them. Lian races up to Jon, giggling with glee when he immediately lifts her into a dizzying spin that leaves her absolutely ecstatic.

“Uncle Jon!” She pinches his cheeks as he holds her in his arms. Meanwhile, Damian eyes her with awkwardness oozing from his every chalant movement. Lian doesn’t give him a chance to be awkward because she leaps from Jon’s arms to race toward Damian, “Uncle Dami!”

The little girl latches around his legs, nearly toppling him over upon impact. He pats awkwardly at her shoulder, bending down to give her a side hug in greeting, “Hello there.”

“We were in the neighborhood,” Jon supplies. “Damian and Bruce had a meeting down the street from here so I brought them coffees. As soon as it was done, I figured we’d just stop by and say ‘hi,’ sooo here we are!” He looks around awkwardly at the preparation you have going on, “If we’re intruding, we can totally-“

You wave off his concern easily. The more the merrier.

“How’s Bruce been?” You ask. You haven’t seen him since the family dinner when you’d first moved in.

“Completely preoccupied with his latest fling. Some rich socialite named Samantha,” Damian doesn’t necessarily seem perturbed nor excited, you can’t exactly get a read on the new woman.

Typical Damian.

The call button rings out before you can answer. You excuse yourself, moving to answer it while Jon and Damian catch up with Jason and Roy.

It was a good call on the pizzas; you smile Jason’s way as if to say so. There’s plenty of extra dough for everyone to make their own and it’ll be easy enough to add on two chairs to the patio table.

You catch yourself smiling wide.

It feels exciting to be able to hold events in your home.

Your parents never had any guests over, so this was all new territory for you. It’s completely liberating and only proves how far you’ve come since meeting this rambunctious group.

“Fuck is baby bird doing here?” Steph asks once you let her and her boyfr-… well, her and Conner and Tim up. “Jon!” Stephanie makes a break for the lean man, giving him a tight hug that made his Kryptonian-strength one with you look weak.

The eight of you congregate on the patio as a mess of toppings gets passed around until everyone’s pizzas are in the oven.

As soon as everyone’s seated, Lian insists on pouring everyone lemonade, which means you have to follow behind her with a towel to clean up the spills. She misses Damian’s Jimmy Choo oxfords by a mere centimeter.

You smile apologetically at him, but he waves you off easily and thanks Lian with a small smile.

Thankfully there’s no food fight this time, you’re in no mood to clean up after a Bat Family pizza battle, but it’s filled with boisterous laughter and wide smiles, nonetheless.

After a while, Conner and Roy separate from the group. They excuse themselves from the table as they move to chat in the living room. Lian soon follows behind her dad, begging for him to turn on Young Justice for her. After years of watching the show, she still can’t get enough of it and you know you’ll rue the day she grows out of it.

“I’m sure by now we’ve all heard that Wayne Enterprise was broken into last night,” Damian says once everyone’s had their fill of pizza. “Father and I were in Bialya, but we switched flights to arrive back early this morning.”

This doesn’t seem like news to anyone. if anything, it appears to be more of a way for him to break the ice.

“We all know what the feather means, right?” Tim says. “I thought it was a mere legend, a stupid story Bruce told us to freak us out.”

“What was?” Connor questions.

Stephanie snorts before ominously reciting, “‘Beware the court of owls that watches all the time, gazing from the shadows behind cement and lime. They see you at your heath. They see you in your bed. Take care, beware, or they will send a talon for your head.’” It’s quiet as she finishes, which she uses to fuck with you guys even more, “BOO!”

You hate that you jump but are, at the very least, glad that Jon jumps, too. Thankfully, he shares the heat with you as the table laughs at your plight.

“Not funny, Brown,” Damian scolds her, seemingly deep in thought.

“You know it’s all just bullshit, right?” She rolls her blue eyes with a smirk. “You’re about 15 years too old to be believing in that, Dami.”

“The Court of Owls is very much real,” Damian looks down at his plate briefly as if reminiscing on something, leaving Stephanie’s chuckles to cease. “Father used to tell me that tale. I wrote it off, too, until I met Talon.” The joking atmosphere at the table quickly dissipates. “He’s the top Court soldier. He came to me when I was vulnerable, young and angry, way before I’d met either of you,” Damian motions toward you and Jon. “My grandfather had been murdered in front of my very eyes and suddenly everything I knew changed from that day forward. Father took me in, but he didn’t have a choice. He hated the way I thought, hated how I was trained to kill, hated how I felt no mercy. Now I realize that Father saw me as much of a project as Talon did.

Talon used my prior training to twist my relationship with Father. He corrupted my mind- manipulated it to make me think what was right was wrong. He molded me like clay until I was a primal shell of my former self without me ever realizing the shift. I was a senseless killer under the guise of morality,” He looks so disappointed in himself. Jon won’t allow it, though, as he scoops Damian’s tanned hand into his pale one with a comforting squeeze. “I forgot all my training with Father and Grandfather to follow this… this false idol. Father nearly sent me back to my mother but it was only fair considering I nearly gave away his secret identity to the Court.”

“Why are you telling us all of this?” Tim questions gently.

“Because,” Damian hisses as if it should be obvious, “I don’t want any of you to underestimate the Court, let alone question if they’re real,” His words seem pointedly directed toward Stephanie. “If they’re making moves as big as this, we can’t let our guards down. With all of Father’s extensive data on Gotham, he still has no known record of their base nor any inkling as to who runs it. If the emitter really is in their hands, they’re very much a threat.”

“I can’t help but think it has to do with Joker,” Jason adds solemnly. “He escapes and later that same night, there’s a hit from the Court of Owls? It can’t be a coincidence.”

You can’t help but wonder if Joker is somehow connected to this elusive Court. “If he is, that could explain the chokehold he had on Cadmus,” You say.

The table nods in agreement.

Just what are you dealing with here? This seems way out of your depth now and, looking around at the table, it seems like everyone’s in agreement.

“If he is involved, I won’t hesitate this time,” Jason says, immediately locking eyes with you.

You feel simmering rage stirring within you. What was the point of the apologies if he was just going to bring this same shit up a day later? And in front of your family, too!

Cunt.

Tim seems like he wants to speak but refrains. Even Stephanie seems at a loss for how to address Jason’s rageful resoluteness at the topic.

“Father will disown you,” Damian states what’s on everybody’s minds.

“You sound like you agree with that decision,” Jason spits.

“It’s his code,” Damian meets Jason’s searing gaze with a practiced coolness. “Everyone knows what they sign up for when it comes to this family. It seems like she’s the only one who with any sense between the two of you,” Damian gestures between you and Jason.

“We did it Bat’s way last time,” He growls. “Now, look. He’s broken out, he’s back. Dangerous equipment has been stolen by a dangerous fable that has even Bruce scared and has possible ties to the clown psychopath. He keeps. coming. back,” Jason slams his fist on the table to emphasize each word. “There’s only one way this ever really ends.”

“Jason,” Your brows furrow in concern.

“What? What can you tell me that you haven’t before, that they haven’t before,” Jason shakes his head angrily. “Besides, you don’t actually care whether that fucker lives or not, you just care about what Brucey thinks. Guess what? You’ll never earn his acceptance. None of us have and none of us ever truly will,” Jason gestures wildly at the members of the Bat Family, who hang their heads in response. “You’re blind, babe, if you can’t see it.”

You share a terse smile with the other inhabitants at the table before abruptly getting up.

“Excuse me.”

You don’t bother checking behind you, knowing Jason’s emerald heat was following your every movement as you sidle up to Roy on the couch. You delicately cuddle against him, replaying Jason’s cruel words on repeat while pretending like everything’s fine.

You finally focus in on their conversation somewhat when the patio door slides open and Damian leaves without a word, Jon following awkwardly behind his pissed-off boyfriend. Not even a minute later, Jason follows, storming past the couch to slam your bedroom door shut behind himself.

Roy looks at you questioningly, but you merely encourage him to keep chatting with Conner.

“This is more important right now, baby.”

“Bat shit?” Conner snorts at his question, seeming to understand from his time spent with the family.

You just kiss Roy’s freckled cheek, shuffling against him until he concedes and puts his arm around you.

The sliding door sounds from behind you as Tim and Stephanie shut the patio door behind them and move to fill the remaining seats on the sectional.

Roy doesn’t seem to notice as he continues on with the topic at hand, “You’re the only other person I know who’s dealt with Cadmus’ cloning bullshit.”

“Definitely different sides of that experience, though,” Conner says. “It took a long time for Superman to get used to me and what I stood for. Well, who I stood for.”

“Lex,” Roy supplies.

“Yeah,” He sounds pained.

“Didn’t he,” Tim starts, then trails off when everyone’s eyes fall on him. “Wasn’t that the one who gave you your arm, Roy?”

“Yeah.”

A heavy silence settles across the room.

“More similar than we thought, then, I guess,” Conner finally pipes up after a few beats of silence.

You’re glad Stephanie mentioned the idea and even more so that Conner agreed. It seems like they’re connecting in a way that’s clearly beneficial to Roy’s continued path toward healing. For the first time since your argument with Jason, you allow yourself to exhale.

At the very least, this part of today was going right.

“You seemed so calm being back in that place,” Roy shakes his head like he can’t believe it. “All I felt was this miserable rage. It was like I was seconds away from an all-out rampage.”

“I hide it well,” Conner shrugs. “Obviously, our situations aren’t exactly the same, but even though I was under mind control for most of it, it doesn’t mean I don’t still get flashes of that place. I still have nightmares about situations I can’t even place and I still feel the feelings I felt throughout.”

Eventually, Jason reemerges from the room to sit beside you in a huff. His arms are crossed, but that only lasts so long before he moves his arm behind Roy’s shoulders, trapping you both against him. He runs an apologetic hand up and down your thigh, though he never actually apologizes.

Typical Jason.

As long as Roy remains somewhat oblivious and more focused on the conversation at hand, you’re content to let it slide. For now, that is.

Roy sighs, “The nightmares make it feel like it’s always happening.” Boy, do you know how that feels. You squeeze his thigh in reassurance, catching his soft eyes as you do. “It’s like no matter how many years pass, no matter how much therapy I go through, it never completely goes away. I feel weak sometimes, but I wish it would go away. I wish that all the progress and work I’ve put in every second of every fucking day could make it disappear completely, but I know it never will and I’ll always have to keep fucking working towards being okay with not being completely okay and, you know what? Part of me isn’t okay with that and I battle with that rage every day.”

“You should know by now that after that rage only comes sadness and emptiness, then.”

Roy stills minutely before continuing on as if he hadn’t, “Yeah.”

“Your meetings are good, but if you keep it all inside from the people you care about, you’ll only ever make so much progress,” Stephanie pipes up.

You feel Jason stiffen a bit, knowing Roy felt the same minuscule movement as well.

Part of you wants to turn around and shove her words down into every crevice of his stubborn brain. It’s like no matter how many times you have the conversation about being open with each other, Jason can never seem to fully grasp the concept in a way that’s beneficial for you or Roy.

None of you have ever been used to depending on anyone, but that doesn’t mean it still has to be that way.

“Honestly, what helped me most was having a support system who helped me work through my emotions,” Conner awkwardly rubs at the back of his neck. It’s obvious that he’s not used to talking about his feelings and is only cemented by his next statement, “I’m not very good with emotions even still, but I have people who understand this and still help me work through everything,” Conner looks from Roy to you, then to Jason. “It seems like you’ve got a pretty good support system, too.”

“I do,” Roy says gratefully.

“Lean on them, even us,” Conner says, shooting him a meaningful look. “I promise it’ll get easier.”

•••

Later that week, they finally decide to test the credibility of your visions.

At a loss for leads, you’d told them about your latest vision of tunnels. Once Roy had confirmed there’d been seismic activity in the area, they decided to test your vision one step further.

So, here the three of you are, suited up in the wee hours of the night to investigate your plagued thoughts. They follow you into the tunnels Tim had pointed out the night he’d played designated driver.

Your mask and Jason’s offer night vision. Meanwhile, Roy’s tinkered together glasses that offer him not only night vision but a thermal cam and so much more. You’re waiting to get your own mask upgraded by him, but, for right now, night vision alone will do. As soon as you land in the muck, you activate it, looking around the four tunnels surrounding you as Arsenal and Red Hood join you in the murky stream beneath your feet.

“Which way?” They both look at you like you can somehow psychically summon the answer in your mind on command.

You can’t.

“I don’t fucking know,” You retort more sharply than you’d meant to. “Maybe we should we split up?” You try again, not wanting to start off the night on a bad note.

“You’ve watched enough Scooby Doo with Lian to know that that’s never a good idea.”

“Fair enough,” You laugh. “Maybe try using your thermal cam?”

“Good idea, princess- Cardinal,” Arsenal corrects himself before you can. “Oh, shit. No way,” He trudges toward the right-most tunnel to where you stand. “There’s a small trace over here, but it could just be animals.”

“Humans are animals,” Red Hood points out.

“Angsty ass motherfucker,” You mutter under your breath as you push past him to follow after Arsenal. “Maybe that disposition’s the reason you act like such a dick to the people who support you the most.”

Yeah, you still haven’t fully forgiven him for the stunt he pulled the other day in front of everyone. Though, you suppose forgiving would mean someone, Jason, would have to apologize again. Maybe this time, he’d actually fucking mean it.

You know that the Joker has always been a sore subject between the two of you, but it shouldn’t be tearing you apart like this if you truly do love each other.

Hood scoffs, “Why are you acting like I don’t fucking care about you?”

Arsenal’s kind enough not to call Hood out on the hypocrisy. Usually, it’s the redhead that can��t help but slip up and bring personal life into the field, but this time, it’s Red Hood.

You continue to kick through the water ahead of him, only faltering slightly at the accusation.

“Because you act like you don’t fucking care,” You retort. After all, how could he apologize and then turn around and spit in your face like he had? The two of you are supposed to be on the same team.

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” He hisses, coming to an audible halt behind you.

“Oh,” You stop as well but remain resolute in staring ahead, “I don’t?”

“Fuck you,” Red Hood grabs at his helmet, ripping it off in frustration. He trudges forward to turn you around so that you’re face to face with his desperate expression that’s partially obstructed by his domino mask, “I’d give my life for you. Either of you!”

His declaration echos about the labyrinth of tunnels that surround the three of you.

It’s by no means a resolution, but at least it’s something.

“We should get our heads back in the game,” Arsenal suggests before you can respond.

Hood searches your masked face a few moments more before putting his helmet back on. This time, he moves ahead of you, leaving you and Arsenal to hobble through the water behind him.

Moss hangs from the cracked cement ceilings and the murky water only deepens the further in you get.

By the time you reach your next waypoint, it’s up to your mid-calf. You don’t have to ask what the tunnels were used for when you’ve passed by at least three abandoned subway cars. Each one looks more decrepit than the rest, though they still seem mostly intact for how moss-covered and slimy they look.

“The trail looks like it continues up here,” Arsenal points at the tunnel dead ahead. His voice drops, “These are pretty defined trails. Do you think someone’s down here right now?”

“Better safe to assume so,” Red Hood warbles. “Minimal talking for now. Keep quiet and alert.”

The three of you stay still for a few minutes, waiting for a hint of, well, anything. When nothing produces, your trio finally wades deeper into the abandoned subway system.

Sometimes, you pass by a grate that offers the quiet comfort of moonlight, but it disappears just as fast as it appears.

Even though you’re going deeper into the maze of tunnels, the subway cars you’re seeing seem less gunky and more functional. Hood and Arsenal notice too as they trudge through the water to inspect them. You follow behind them, noticing a platform that looks like it leads to an old stop.

A sharp pang rings out in your skull as if an anvil’s hitting it.

That can’t be good.

“I think he knows we’re here,” You say, completely distracted by the pain in your head. You rub at your temples, but nothing seems to help.

“Joker?” Hood questions now sounding on edge.

Though you’d given them shit for asking you for directions earlier, the pounding in your head couldn’t be any clearer of a warning.

A familiar, sickening nausea sinks into the pit of your stomach as faint laughter echoes about the chambers of your brain. You can’t help but wonder if the ‘two subjects’ the Cadmus scientist had been referring to had anything to do with this feeling… Maybe it had nothing to do with a pregnancy and everything to do with him.

Joker.

Luckily, your partners seem to recognize the severity of the situation.

Hood and Arsenal survey the area with weapons drawn, but everything remains completely quiet. The only sounds that trickle through the searing pain are the constant drips that seem to get louder and louder the more unbearable the pain in your head becomes.

“He knows we’re here,” You say again before cutting yourself off. “No, he’s here,” You look around fast. “Arsenal, put on your gas mask.”

While your mask and Red Hood’s already offered protection against aerosol attacks, Arsenal’s left him vulnerable to aerosol attacks.

He does as you say and they both wait, Roy with his arrow drawn and Jason with his guns locked and loaded.

Cackling strikes like a whip, crashing around the rock walls around you as they echo across your ears.

You freeze, trying not to freak out.

You attempt to pinpoint just where the noise had come from when you see something.

“Look!” You shout at your partners who’ve taken to circling around you, facing the darkness that surrounds you with weapons pointed. “Up ahead, I think I see someone,” You squint, trying to make out the figure.

More cackling, but it’s not coming from the masked figure you have in your sights. Part of you can’t help but wonder if you’re merely imagining the noise entirely, but you can’t afford to question your sanity right now.

It’s still completely dark inside, but you swear you see the same mask, the same long hair you saw in your first vision. It’s so brief you think you’ve imagined it. That is until a large blast shakes the entire underground facility.

There’s no time to react before rubble and thousands of tons of water descend upon the three of you.

You manage a quick breath before you’re pulled under.

All around you, cement chunks fall from the ceiling like thawing icicles

When you surface, you’re scrambling.

Your arms flail around as you attempt to take in your surroundings. The water is easily over 10 feet high now and growing by the minute. If the three of you don’t get out of here soon, you’ll all get trapped and, eventually, drown.

“They blew out the wall to the harbor!” Arsenal’s panicked voice sounds over your comm system.

Before you have a chance to respond, the ceiling above you gives out. You barely manage a scream as you’re once again plunged underwater and become pinned by the debris.

You’d attempted to hold your breath, but as soon as you slammed against the concrete, the breath you’d saved easily releases, leaving you with what little oxygen you have left in your already aching lungs.

Your wet mask plastered against your face isn’t helping anything, nor is the darkness surrounding you. Soon, you find yourself on the verge of panicking.

“I’m in a subway car. Arsenal, do you have eyes on Cardinal?” You hear a deep voice question over the pounding in your head.

You want to close your eyes so bad, you fight them blinking shut but it’s growing harder with each passing second. You know you’re going to pass out soon. Whether from lack of oxygen or blunt force trauma, you don’t know what will win out first.

“Tracking her now.”

They continue to talk, reaching out to you but you’re already moments away from gulping in the water around you. Your head is killing, your throat burns and the pressure behind your nose tempts you to inhale the liquid around you.

Suddenly, you feel a light tug on your body. You kick lightly, not understanding if this person poses a threat in the daze of your head injury. This time, the person pulls harder and you’re pulled from the rubble.

You break the surface with a gasp, hacking as you gulp down the little amount of air remaining in the tight space. You don’t fight when you feel your savior pull your soaking mask away from your face. No, instead, you gulp in the unrestricted access to oxygen.

“Arsenal?”

Your comm finally starts to make sense again and you find yourself helping the redhead next to you paddle.

“We’re going to have to go back under, beautiful.”

You nod, not realizing what he’s talking about until his next statement. “Deep breath, baby.”

You do as he says but struggle against his overbearing hold when he plunges the two of you back into the inky, wet darkness.

“There’s a portion of the car next to me with the roof still uncovered.”

You suddenly feel the direction change and quickly give up on fighting. It seems like the actual danger is the water and not so much a person.

You’re losing consciousness and can’t find it in yourself to hold your breath as you had before. Luckily, you surface before you can suck any water into your lungs.

The redhead- Arsenal, your mind lazily supplies, lifts you onto the exposed top of a subway car. The man soon joins you, panting as he gets to work removing the emergency exit for the two of you to climb into the vehicle.

Roy- Arsenal, you can hardly keep anyone’s name straight right now, scrambles, looking for something, anything, but it’s just the two of you alone in the subway car.

You quickly drop to the floor, feeling helpless as the pain across your body pulsates with each panicked breath you take.

Roy says your name as a desperate plea. “This looks bad. This looks really bad,” He’s muttering to himself with the limited supplies you have to keep you awake as the subway car begins to take on water. “Stay awake for me, princess. Hood?” He scrambles to use your communication device on account of his getting knocked out.

“I’m here,” His voice sounds calm under its signature robotic guise. “What’s the situation looking like?”

“We need to get her to the cave ASAP,” He stops stroking your hair to look up at Jason in the next car.

He’s starting to panic, but Jason needs him to stay calm if you are all going to pull through. He can’t afford to break the glass yet and add another route for water to pour through, but he knows he needs to do something and fast.

It’s at this moment that the glass begins to crack under the pressure of the harbor water.

In your dazed mind, you realize you should get up and help Roy look for a way out. You should look at Jason one last time in case it’s the last time you see him, but your body feels broken, your mind even more so.

“Arsenal,” Jason says over the comms, sounding like it’s the end.

Roy won’t allow it, though. No, he continues to hobble around the small area of the car. Your clouded eyes follow unfocused as he messes around with the subway controls at the very front of the car.

“Your car’s attached to this one, Hood. I think I can get us out of here, just hold tight,” At this, Roy pulls down a stubborn lever and the car slowly creaks to life. The ground below you jolts as the wheels begin to spin. Slowly at first, then picking up speed as your car totes Jason’s along the destroyed tracks. “We’ve only got one shot at this, Jay,” You hear from above you as Roy putters about with his arrows.

The cars are taking on too much water, to the point Roy has to haul you up so you don’t drown on the ground.

“What’s the plan?” Your ear buzzes with Jason’s familiar, deep voice.

Your head feels like it’s splitting in two and the pressure behind your eyes makes you feel like they’re about to bug out of your head, but you try to remain present for a reason you can’t really place right now.

“We crash another hole in this bitch. Right before we hit, shoot out a window and swim up.”

“That’s our best plan?” Your head feels like an axe hitting your skull with each word.

“Might be the only one we’ve got.”

You’re holding onto consciousness when you see Roy take an explosive arrow. He shoots out one of your car's windows just as Jason takes his gun to do the same.

You think you manage to scream that you love them, but too soon after, all that encompasses you is darkness.

A/N: cliffhanger... dun dun duuuunnn

be sure to check out the spotify playlist! i add new chap songs + bonus songs a few days ahead of posting <3

#jason todd x reader #reader x roy harper #reader x jason todd x roy harper #reader x jason todd #my fic: cardinal sins #x reader #jayroy

24 notes · View notes

enjoythesilentworld · 2 days

Text

Wille's Month - Freedom

day 23!! @youngroyals-events <3

Wille and Simon go out to enjoy a nice, summer day in town. Something is weird, though, and they can’t quite place what it is.

read below or on ao3 (G, 800)

Wilhelm was used to people staring at him. He’d gone his whole life that way; still remembers the first time he realized that his life was very different from his friends’ lives, and that not everyone had to walk out on fancy balconies in a suit at 6 years old and wave at crowds of cheering people. While he wasn’t necessarily okay with it – in fact, he rather hated it – he knew how to handle it.

Simon, on the other hand, was not used to it. He’d been unwillingly thrown into the spotlight first by August, and then for a second and third time by Wilhelm. What made it even worse was that the stares Simon got were unkind stares. They were judging and sneering, whispered gossip and smothered giggles.

So, now, despite the fact that Wille’s stepped down and it’s been years since the video and the speech, whenever they go out in public, Wille no longer knows how to handle it. He doesn’t mind the stares on him, but knowing it makes Simon uncomfortable, knowing his beautiful boyfriend pretends it doesn’t, makes Wille all the more nervous and angry. How dare they continue to gossip when they don’t even know Simon at all? How dare they make him hesitant to be in big crowds or, God forbid, anywhere near a royal monument?

He is never thinking about it directly, but the anxiety is always there bubbling in the back of Wille’s mind. So aware of Simon, always aware, and never wanting to cause him any more undue harm; which, that’s the problem, isn’t it? Even after all this time, it’s still Wille and his (former) royalty status that brought all this shit down on them.

It’s a gorgeous summer day, the sun finally out in full force after a rainy spring, and they’ve decided to go out to run a few errands and maybe have lunch at a park. At this point, it’s second nature for him to keep tabs on their surroundings, prepared to throw glares at anyone who dares look at Simon wrong for even a second. They make it to the main thoroughfare of shops without incident, though, and the worry fades to the background.

Simon looks absolutely radiant in the warm sunlight, blissful and smiling. They swing their hands between them as they walk, admiring the pretty window displays and commenting on the delicious smells coming from a bakery nearby. A street performer is playing the violin, and they drift over. Wille wraps his arms around Simon, and they sway there for a moment, enjoying the music and the gentle breeze. As they continue down the path, they pass a jewelry store and Simon eyes the rings in the window. When he turns and sees Wille’s giddy expression, he giggles and shakes his head. They already know; the promise is there. But, they have time. Not yet, but soon.

By the time they grab a few sandwiches and settle down on a park bench, Wille can still feel something weird wiggling under his skin. Glancing around, he doesn’t see anyone staring at them or any ill-disguised camera phones.

“Does today feel kind of weird to you?” Simon asks, looking over at him with a smear of mustard on his cheek. Wille reaches out to wipe it away, then sucks his finger into his own mouth to clean up. Simon smiles in thanks, then continues, “Not a bad weird. Like, today is lovely, but just kind of weird?”

Wille hums when Simon brings a clean hand up to rest against the back of his neck, fingers gently brushing the short hair there. “Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. I don’t know what it is.”

They both look around for a moment, admiring the ducks circling in the pond before them. Somewhere across the way, a group of children laugh and chase each other through the grass.

“Oh my God,” Simon gasps out, grip tightening on Wille’s neck. He drops his sandwich onto the paper wrapping in his lap, and turns back to Wille, mouth open in shock.

“What?” Wille sits up straighter, scanning around them in fear.

“No one’s looking at us! No one’s been looking at us all day!” Simon exclaims, wide eyes still trained on Wille.

It can’t be. Wille looks at the groups of people around them, then thinks back to their walk through the shops. That feeling he’d had wasn’t anxiety, it was confusion.

“Oh my God,” Wille repeats.

Simon laughs joyously. “Are we finally irrelevant?”

Still not fully believing it, Wille continues to think. Not even the cafe attendant spared them a second glance when they’d ordered their sandwiches. They’d even asked Wille for his name for their order – Wille had never given his name for anything like that in his life.

A smile grows on his face, large enough to rival Simon’s. Finally, he looks back over at his beautiful, beautiful Simon, chest bursting with love and glee.

“No,” Wille says, shaking his head. “We’re free.”

#more post canon happiness #it starts a little not-so-fluff but becomes very intense fluff #just the boys being happy #willemonth2024 #young royals #wilmon #yr fic #simon eriksson #wille eriksson #wmday23

22 notes · View notes

ryanyflags · 9 hours

Text

A List of Gender Terms !

So I disappeared for 2 months, but I finally completed this project! :D (Though I've been making some random posts talking about it, so it's not like I was really gone, or what I was working on wasn't obvious.)

It started off as me having trouble keeping track of a couple gender terms (and also not knowing they existed before, since I've never really seen people talk about them), then I thought I should make a list, and if I was going to do that I might as well post it to help other people too. Which I started out trying to make that list on Tumblr, but I found it too limiting so I moved to google docs, which I also found too limiting (I just couldn't achieve my vision, if you will), and now I know html and css.

As usual, I kinda overdid it, but I think I should be a little proud of myself. I had 0 knowledge of html and css, and 2 months later I've made my own website. (I could have made it much quicker, but I often had to take breaks, a bit overwhelmed by all that new stuff.)

Anyways, it has a ton of terms on there.

I have sections for nonbinary, abinary, midbinary, atrinary, midtrinary, androgyne, agender, neutrois, maverique, ilyagender, aporagender, outherine, kenochoric, and xenogender.

For 7 categories (sex terms, adult, general term, child, gender quality, gender-quality-in-nature genders, and spectrum / viagender spectrum).

And they all have sources on both Archive Today, Wayback Machine, and if still existing, the original post too. (At least to the best of my abilities, and there are a couple of exceptions that I couldn't figure out.)

I did put effort into this, but it's possible I missed something. So if I made a mistake anywhere, or if anyone has any extra information to add on, or if you just have some comments, you can tell me. My ask box is open, but comments on this post would probably be fine too.

Also, I checked on a couple of different browsers, mobile too, and read up on web accessibility and checked and all that (I tried using a screen reader, I'm not a pro at it though, so it's possible I may have missed something obvious), so I hope the website itself is useable. But if there's any bugs there, just tell me (it'll be appreciated).

I'm also thinking of making another compilation, but for flags (for all of the terms listed here), and maybe orientations too, but maybe later haha

I also don't know how to write a image id for the top picture, if anyone wants to write to one I'll add it.

Below the cut is a short little video scrolling through the site.

#compilation post #pride #nonbinary #abinary #midbinary #atrinary #midtrinary #androgyne #agender #neutrois #maverique #ilyagender #aporagender #outherine #kenochoric #xenogender #nonbinary language #it's hosted on neocities

28 notes · View notes

just-a-wholesome-writer · 3 days

Text

Unreadable (fluff?)

Warnings: YB x slightly paranoid reader (but are they really?)

"He hates me.”

“You're-” “no TK, really, he does!”, you interrupted your coworker’s futile attempt to console you as you continued to stare at the dowry man in booth two.

“You're overreacting.” They finally managed to say, “He's like this with everybody, including me!”

But you wouldn't hear it, shooting them the meanest glare you could muster.

“This,” you spoke seriously as you stared them down “is how he looks at me. And not just when I'm serving, either.”

“And I don't know why!” you let your face resume it's normal expression, ignoring the way TK rolled their eyes at you.

“I mean…I'm nice, right? I'm good with people!”

“You don't actually want an answer to-” “no. I don't.” you laughed, punching their shoulder.

Tall, skinny, blue shirt, blue eyes with eye bags that spoke volumes had come into the diner and sat down at the same damn booth for a month now. And you were yet to see him smile. See him do anything, really.

He just sat there and stared, and though your friend might tell you you're insane for it, you were certain he was staring specifically at you. And with an intensity that, well to put it frankly, scared you.

To the point that you were getting paranoid, feeling like you were being watched even when he wasn't even there. You began to imagine that someday he'd be lurking outside the diner, waiting until your shift ended to kidnap you or something. He didn't, though. In fact, you never actually saw him outside of work.

He did always stay until your shift ended, however. Still nursing that same milkshake, sometimes strawberry, sometimes vanilla, but always a milkshake. And just before you'd close up, he'd be gone, with no trace left behind except for a suddenly empty glass and the biggest tip anyone had left that day.

“I just don't understand you…” you said out loud, prompting a notepad and a pen to get shoved into your hands.

“Then Talk to him.” your coworker said, shoving you forward into the dining area and disappearing into the kitchen before you had a chance to protest.

And once you were done giving them the silent middle finger, your eyes immediately searched for the strange man. And there he was, still. As always, in booth 2, with his gaze focused on the bottom of his milkshake and his hands…making paper cranes?

You squinted, not having seen him do much of anything before but no. He was really making little origami cranes out of your napkins. Two on the table already, one still in progress. Can this guy get any weirder?

Approaching him slowly, he turned his eyes away from the drink and up to you, freezing you in place like a deer caught in headlights. There it was- that look.

His entire body seemed to stiffen up, the rest of his face neutral but his pupils blown wide, staring directly into yours, not like he was trying to read you but more as if he was trying to consume you. Or your soul. You really didn't know and, to be honest, you didn't want to find out, either.

You just wanted to turn around and hide in the back of the diner until TK closed shop and he was finally gone- but you wanted to get paid. And unfortunately that meant interacting with the customers. So you sucked it up and finally opened your mouth like a normal human would.

“I-Is-” fuck, and you were stuttering.

Coughing into your arm, you took a deep breath and repeated yourself “Is everything to your liking? Uh, sir.”

But he still didn't answer. He just looked. At your face, then your arms, then your hands, then to your face again until he…smiled.

An actual, honest to god, smile!

You couldn't believe it, it was almost enough to make you weep in joy! Which sounds like an overstatement, but given that you were fully prepared for him to get up and yell at you, it really wasn't.

“Y-yeah…” he spoke “the milkshakes here are good.” and you couldn't suppress the thought that his voice sounded kind of sweet.

“Yeah! I like them too!!” you laughed with way too much enthusiasm, but it didn't seem to faze him at all.

“B-but I honestly come here for the service.” he admitted, his cheeks suddenly dusted with a sweet pink.

“I always look forward to seeing you.”

It's ridiculous how quickly your view of the man had shifted from creepy to cutie, and you despised the thought that followed. Ugh, TK was right.

Though your thoughts on how your coworker wasn't ever going to let you live this down were quickly interrupted as ‘Blue Eyes’ continued to sing his praise for you.

“I know this might be sudden…really, sudden. But would you... let me take you out to dinner sometime?” he suddenly asked, and you answered without thinking.

“Like, a date?”

And the way his face flushed gave away his response.

This entire situation was too much for you. The man that hated you- that you thought hated you, were sure of, even. He just asked you out on a date. And even worse…

“G-gladly!”

You said yes.

And that was enough to transform him completely, the gloomy expression from before nowhere to be found, instead replaced by a giant grin and what looked to be hearts in his eyes. His eyes, which you now found yourself so easily lost in.

But before you could do so, you quickly scribbled down your name and number into your notepad and ripped out the page to give to him.

“It's a date, then.”

#this is as ooc as I can make YB without feeling uncomfortable lol #im thinking this is before he got the courage to approach us and is still doing his //research// ifykyk #your boyfriend game #your boyfriend #your boyfriend peter #peter Dunbar #YBFG #Your boyfriend visual novel x reader

20 notes · View notes

emptyblog7 · 2 days

Text

Albina and Luna: A HTTYD School of Dragons Fan Fic

@rascalentertainments @spectator-zee and anyone else who wanted to read this but didn't explicitly say they wanted to be pinged (@uva124 I believe you said that I could ping you about anything, so here it is) :)

Anyways!! Here's my HTTYD fan fic story following Albina, a young student at the School of Dragons. I hope you enjoy it (despite possible errors), and let me know your feedback from it. I'd love to hear from you on this!

HTTYD SoD Story Idea

Albina walked out of one her classes just as it finished and began to walk briskly towards the school beach, hoping no one would notice the obvious.

She didn’t have a dragon.

It had been several months since she was admitted into Berk’s school of dragons, but despite her best efforts, she still couldn’t bond with a dragon. Some of the other students teased her about it and made fun of her for it whenever they saw her, and she had recently made it a point to avoid their hangout places. As she descended the stairs leading to the school beach, she groaned inwardly, “What am I doing wrong? Why is finding a dragon to train this hard?”

Suddenly, a blast flew in her path of travel, and she dove out of the way. The blast hit the rock wall with a sizzle, and when Albina stood up, she recognized the blast marks. “Oh great.”

A chuckle behind her confirmed her suspicions. “Better be careful, ground viking. You never know when you will be attacked.”

Those with her chuckled in response as Albina faced them. “I can defend myself just fine without your help, Swift.”

Swift’s flamewhipper growled in response, and Swift smirked, “Well, maybe you need a bit more practice.” Her flamewhipper then began to shoot several fireballs in her direction.

Albina’s eyes grew wide as she dove out of the way and tumbled back onto her feet. As she regained her footing, two of Swift’s friends began to follow her lead and shoot blasts around Albina, egging her on. Albina dodged most and blocked the rest with her Flightmare shield. She groaned in annoyance; she was getting tired of this treatment. She waited for an opening. “Maybe I can find an opening and throw my shield near their dragons. That could give me time to get away.”

The moment came when Swift called a halt on the barrage. Seeing her opening, Albina threw her shield towards them like a discus with a grunt. Swift gasped in surprise as the shield sped towards them.

Suddenly, three dragon riders intervened. One grabbed Albina and flew her away, another caught the shield before it made its arch, and the third barked at Swift and her crew, “Move it, students! To the school lake. Now!” Her Nadder shrieked in agreement at the riders.

Reluctantly, they did, and they all convened near the shores of the lake. Albina stood sheepishly near Valka and her dragon as Hiccup gave her back her shield and the students landed and dismounted.

Once everyone was gathered, Hiccup turned on Swift and her crew. “Swift, Gale, Winger, how many times have you been told not to attack other students?!”

Swift scoffed, “Come on! She doesn’t have a dragon! How could she still be a student?!”

Valka answered, “Being a student here isn’t all about having a dragon, though it is a good portion of it, student. It is also about learning various skills, the history of vikings’ relationship with dragons, and so much more!” With an eye on Albina, she added, “Including treating your fellow Vikings with respect.”

Hiccup nodded in thanks and turned to Astrid. “Astrid, will you kindly take these students to the headmaster and reveal the situation to him.” Astrid nodded, mounted Stormfly, and led the three students to the headmaster’s office, which was in the main building of the school.

When they were out of sight, Albina began to walk away, but Valka stopped her. “Albina, we are not through.”

Albina sighed as she saw Hiccup face her with an even stare. “No, we are not.”

Albina tried to explain, “Hiccup, what do you expect me to do?! I wasn’t going to hit them with my shield at all.”

Hiccup shook his head, “Maybe not, but you gave in to their taunts, which would’ve led to an escalation of conflict where, inevitably, someone would get hurt. You cannot let those who come against you play with your mind like that, not here in the school nor in an actual battle. When this first started, what did we say about this?”

Albina sighed and revealed, “That I’ll find the right dragon for me in time, that I don’t have anything to prove here, and that I must not take matters like these into my own hands.”

Valka nodded, “That is right, child. A bond with a dragon is a special thing, so it must not be done hastily.” She then placed her hand on her shoulder encouragingly and added, “You will find a dragon to train, Albina. It…may just take time.”

Albina smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgement. She faced the two of them and said, “I’m…sorry about my involvement in this. I was wrong to retaliate.”

Hiccup nodded in approval and answered, “Don’t mention it, Albina. We’ll put this in the past and move on.” He then added emphatically, “We are a team here, students and teachers alike. We need to be able to depend on one another because not one of us can train dragons or fight villains on our own, but together, we are a force to be reckoned with.” Albina acknowledged, and Hiccup urged, “Now, why don’t you find Astrid before she flies off for her patrols around the islands in the archipelago. I’m putting you on leave of absence for now, so that should give you enough time to relax from the pressures here and come back rejuvenated.”

Albina smiled gratefully and went her way, waving farewell to them as she went. As Valka watched, she commented, “Albina truly is trying her hardest, Hiccup, to live up to expectations here.”

Hiccup sighed, “Yeah, Mom. That’s what I’m worried about.”

Albina soon found Astrid in the training grounds just as she was just about to mount Stormfly. Seeing she had company, Astrid turned to Albina and smirked, “Got let off easy?”

Albina secured her satchel around her shoulder and nodded, “Yeah. Hiccup sent me to come with you, since he’s placed me on a ‘leave of absence’.”

Astrid nodded and reached out to her. As Albina swung up behind Astrid onto Stormfly, Astrid answered, “Well, buckle up, student, because this patrol is a long one. You ready?”

Albina answered, “Yes, I am.”

Astrid approved, “Good, then let’s get going!” With that, they took off into the mid-afternoon sky.”

LATER…

They landed on an unfamiliar island just as a mist was rising from the ocean during an early morning. As Astrid and Albina dismounted, Stormfly made sounds in her throat and sniffed around in investigation.

As Albina surveyed the tree line, she asked, “What are we looking for here? I don’t think I’ve seen this island on any of the maps.”

Astrid joined her and revealed, “Hiccup had this island marked due to some warlord activity in recent months. They’ve passed for now, but our job is to search the island for clues on what they are planning.” She then handed Albina what looked like a signal flare. “This is something Hiccup and Heather have been working on. It shoots a steady flame up into the air in a specific way that lets others know that you are in trouble and need backup.”

Albina tucked the device into her belt and asked, “Are we splitting up?”

Astrid nodded, “It’s the best way we can cover more ground in less time.” She pointed west and instructed, “Head west and search that half of the island. Stormfly and I will do the same to the east. If any of us need help, we’ll signal each other. We’ll meet back here and report our findings. Deal?”

Albina nodded and went her way, faintly hearing Astrid say, “Good luck!”

Albina acknowledged and continued on, just as a set of silver eyes appeared in the flora…

A FEW DAYS LATER…

Albina emerged from the bush and came into a rocky clearing and gasped at the sight before her. A dilapidated camp full of torn tents, bent weapons, and the like were strung all around the clearing. Albina looked around as she cautiously walked deeper into the clearing, looking for clues. “This must’ve been the warlords’ camp. They must’ve left in a hurry, if they just left this stuff here.”

She then saw something float off the corner of her eye. She turned and saw a book of some sort flapping its pages in the wind. Albina went to it and picked it up in curiosity. She sat down to inspect it and thought aloud, “This might have some clues.” She took off her satchel and laid it aside as she skimmed through the entries in search of a lead on the warlords’ plans. She was so focused that she didn’t even notice the same silver eyes appear in the brush behind her…

Albina continued to skim through the entries. Most were daily reports that were many days expired and others were drawings of the camp’s perimeter. When she came to the end, an entry caught her eye, and she began to read it. Her amazement grew as she read, and when she finished, she closed the diary and commented to herself, “This might be useful.” Looking at the sun’s position, she supposed, “I’d better get back to the beach to meet Astrid.” She then picked up her satchel and went her way, only slightly noticing that it was a bit heavier than usual.

A FEW HOURS LATER…

As the sunset turned into dusk, Astrid and Albina landed near the school building after their long patrol. When she dismounted, Albina exclaimed, “Wow! What a patrol!”

Astrid shrugged and asked, “Did it do some good?”

Albina sighed and admitted, “Yeah, it did. Thanks!”

Astrid nodded and pulled out the diary Albina had given to her. “Well, I’ll take this to Hiccup and see what he thinks. You’d better get to your dorm and get some rest.”

Albina agreed and went into her single dorm room that overlooked the wilderness entrance. It was small, but it had all her essentials. She plopped onto her bed and dropped her satchel down in exhaustion.

A low growl surprised Albina when her satchel landed on the ground. It wiggled until it fell flat on the floor boards, causing a small, black dragon to tumble out! Albina gasped as she stood in amazement. She stood perfectly still as she watched the baby dragon right itself up and look around curiously. Albina slowly knelt by the dragon in amazement. “It…must’ve gotten into my satchel when I searched that camp, probably because of my provisions.”

Suddenly, the dragon turned to her and sniffed her curiously. As Albina studied it, she realized that it looked like a mini Toothless! “This can’t be another Night Fury, can it?! I thought they were all lost!”

The dragon sniffled a little before letting out a small sneeze, sending out a small plasma blast at the stone plague she had on her wall. She ducked, and the blast hit the plaque with a BOOM. Albina put her hand out to the dragon and mused, “That’s a dead giveaway. This is definitely a Night Fury!” The dragon sniffed her before letting its snout rest on Albina’s palm with a large sigh. Albina was estatic. “Did…did I just…”

The baby Night fury removed its snout from her hand, climbed into her lap, and relaxed as it curled itself into a ball. Albina stroked its wing as it fell asleep. She was happy over the fact that it seemed like she had her own dragon now! It was a Night Fury to boot!

But what if this dragon had a mother? What if the parents of this Night fury were looking for it? What if the others found out about it? All these questions and more swirled in her head. She thought about telling Astrid, Valka, and the others, but then thought. “No. I have to figure this out on my own. First, I’ll sail back to that island and search for the dragon’s mother, then I’ll figure out what to do from there.” She looked out the window and planned, “It’s still dark out. Perhaps I can take a boat out from the docks and search the island before anyone notices. I might even be back before classes!” Content with her plan, she carefully picked the baby Night fury up and placed it back into the satchel. It opened its eyes groggily at her, and she whispered, “It’s okay, baby Night fury,” she placed a few fish in the satchel and added, “You and I are going to find your family.” The baby dragon dove into the satchel for the fish, and Albina carried her satchel out and towards the docks.

HOURS LATER…

Dawn was just breaking on the horizon when Albina found the island. She docked her boat, tied it to a tree, and retraced her steps towards the camp. The baby Night fury popped its head out of the satchel and took in the scenery. It made rumbling noises in its throat as it looked up at Albina. She looked down and couldn’t help but smile back.

They soon made it to the camp, and the baby Night fury ducked back into the satchel with a cry of fright. Albina stopped short and looked to the dragon in concern. “You okay, little one?”

The dragon groaned and shook in the satchel in fright. Albina took off her satchel and held it close to her chest in comfort. “It’s okay. I’ve got you; no one’s going to get you here.”

The dragon seemed to relax as she passed through the camp and walked through the foliage and into a forest-like area. Albina soon noticed a set of small, dragon footprints. Albina knelt down and inspected them. “They must be this guy’s footprints.” She began jogging as she followed the footprints to, hopefully, the little guy’s home.

After a few minutes, the forest gave way to a clearing, where the remnants of a cave stood. Albina’s eyes grew wide as she saw the broken rock, burnt shrubbery, and shards of metal strung about the clearing. She whispered gustily, “What happened here?”

She then heard the dragon whining in her bag. Albina’s heart broke at the realization of what happened. Without thinking, she held the bag close to her heart as she groaned, “Oh, you poor thing!” With a glance at the cave, she added, “Don’t worry, I won’t let any of that happen to you. You can count on that!”

The baby dragon looked up at her with its silver eyes, as if searching Albina’s eyes. Then, with a huff, it laid its head against her collar. She then began walking back to the boat in silence. “Those eyes…they look like a full moon.” With sudden realization dawning on her, she thought, “Luna! Of course! That’s a perfect name! The small contrasts it has against Toothless’ scales seem to make this Night fury a female.” As they came onto the beach, she turned to her baby Night fury. “Don’t worry, Luna. You’ll be safe with me.”

LATER IN THE DAY…

Albina had just docked back into the school and was racing back to her dorm. The morning had fully come upon the archipelago, and she was hoping that she would make it back before anyone noticed.

That’s when she heard her name being called. Albina cringed as she turned around and placed her hand over the opening of her satchel. She answered cooly, “Valka! What brings you here so early?”

Once she met her, Valka answered, “I could ask the same of you, child. You look like you’ve returned from somewhere!”

Albina heard Luna groan softly, and Albina cleared her throat to mask it. “Well…umm…I was checking something from my patrol with Astrid on one of the islands.”

Valka’s eyes grew wide. “Alone? Without back-up of any kind?” She groaned, “Please tell me you at least told someone.”

Albina’s face colored, “I…ummm…”

Valka took that as negatory and chided, “Albina, do you have any idea what that would’ve cost you? Cost the school? Cost your friends? Any number of our enemies would’ve vied for the chance to kidnap one of our students and demand a ransom for your return!” Albina didn’t have an answer, and Valka concluded, “You must break this habit of yours, Albina, or else it might cost us all dearly.” Albina nodded sheepishly and took leave of Valka. Valka watched as she went back up to her dorm and rubbed her chin in thought. “Hiccup and Astrid may need to know about this.” With that, she walked away towards her Stormcutter, Cloudjumper.

When Albina reentered her dorm, she let Luna out of the satchel and let her curl up on her bed to sleep. Albina laid on her own bed and began to rest her eyes as her mind raced. “That was super close! I’ll have to make sure that I keep Luna safe here.” She then thought about Luna’s exposure in the school. “All my classmates clamoring around to see her will be too much, much less the other dragon riders! I’ll have to train her on my own time and place. The wilderness is full of secret places. I’m sure I’ll find one that suits our needs.” She then turned back to Luna, who was now sound asleep and commented, “Don’t worry, Luna. I’ll keep you safe.”

MEANWHILE…

“She went and did what?” Hiccup cried.

Valka shook her head in bewilderment. “She came back safely and didn’t appear to have found anything from the island, but I fear for her. If she continues in this way of life, it may prove devastating to her in the field.”

Hiccup stood there in thought, and Astrid wondered aloud, “What do we do?”

Silence fell for a moment until an idea came to Hiccup. His eyes lit up as he revealed, “A mentorship!” Astrid and Valka looked at Hiccup in confusion, and he explained, “Each of us can chose a student to mentor for a certain amount of time, but for Albina, it may prove to be indefinite. This way, we can both teach other students and mentor Albina away from this habit she has.”

Astrid nodded in approval, “That can work!”

Valka agreed. “This may prove beneficial to more than just Albina.”

Hiccup nodded and concluded, “I’ll bring the idea up to the Headmaster and see what he thinks. In the meantime, we’ll need to decide who we’ll be mentoring.” Turning to Valka, he said, “Mom, you may be the best candidate I know who can mentor Albina in the right direction.”

Valka smiled a bit and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I will do all I can for Albina.”

Hiccup acknowledged and dismissed the others as he headed over to the Headmaster’s office to discuss the plan.

SOME TIME LATER…

Albina wobbled a little as she tried to stay steady on Cloudjumper, who was flying circles around the Wilderness. When the Headmaster first revealed the mentorship program with the dragon riders, Albina was surprised but eager to see what it was all about. She’d been paired with Valka in the beginning, and ever since then, Valka had been teaching her various dragon riding skills personally, as well as checking in on her at various intervals during the weeks. At the end of a school quarter, the mentors switched students…all except for Valka. For the past several quarters, Valka had consistently chosen Albina. Though confused, Albina shook it off. “Probably happenstance or coincidence.”

Valka watched Albina’s progress from one of the platforms and called out, “Relax, Albina! You need to trust Cloudjumper as you fly!”

Albina nodded in acknowledgement, and Cloudjumper roared at Albina before dipping near the hot springs. He then pulled up and looped again before diving down to the platform and landing. He lowered his neck to allow Albina to dismount, and once off, Albina commented gustily, “Wow! That was crazy!”

Valka chuckled a bit before stating, “That was better than before, Albina. You are improving in your skills as a dragon rider.”

Albina smiled a bit as she thought, “This will really help when I go train with—”

She was cut off when a Terror Mail flew in for Valka. As she read it, Albina could see concern register on her face. “What is it?”

Valka tucked the message away and briskly went to mount Cloudjumper. Before flying off, she turned to Albina and revealed, “Dragon hunters have been spotted close to Hobblegrunt Island. Hiccup called for back-up, so I’m going to meet him there to assess the situation.”

Remembering something, Albina asked, “Will you all be back in time for the mentor change tomorrow?”

After some thought, Valka answered, “Perhaps. I doubt the other students would want to miss it.”

Albina laughed lightly, “I don’t doubt that! I’m excited to see who I get this time.”

Worry flitted across Valka’s face before she regained her composure and said, “Don’t wait up for me tonight, child. I will meet with you as soon as I can.” With that she flew off just as the sun was on the horizon.

When Albina saw that she was out of sight, Albina climbed down the platform and hurried back to her dorm to grab some fish and her cloak. She then hurried back to the Wilderness and went down an isolated path that led into the sides of the mountain. As she went deeper, the sun disappeared from view, leaving only natural light to guide her path.

Soon, though, she heard a welcoming rumble, and she hurried through an opening with a smile until she came into a secluded grove, where she was met by Luna meeting her with a kind nuzzle and groan. Albina hugged her, now large, snout and answered, “It’s good to see you too, Luna.”

The time that had passed between Albina and Luna had gone by fast, and the baby Night Fury had grown into an adult that was only slightly smaller than Toothless. In the dark, Luna’s silver eyes sparkled, giving color to her otherwise black scales. The grove that she stayed at while Albina was away studying was no bigger than the Wilderness lake, but it had many of the essentials a dragon needed: Protection, fresh water, a place to fish, and shade to rest under. Because the grove was secluded, Albina could train Luna and learn to ride her without notice, giving them the privacy Albina had desired in the beginning.

Albina opened her pack and gave Luna a few herrings, Luna’s favorite fish, to snack on. Luna received them gratefully, and Albina asked, “Ready to give flight another try?”

Luna looked up and growled lightly. As Albina put her cloak on, she added, “We’ll need to wait until it’s dark, but I think this time, I have it down.”

THAT NIGHT…

As the moon shone high above a sleeping island, Luna and Albina zoomed past undetected. As they darted in and out of sea stacks, Albina couldn’t help but chuckle with delight. It seemed that now, she was getting the hang of flying after all! “Okay. Just relax, Albina. Luna has been with you since day one, so you have every reason to trust her.” Her muscles soon began to relax, and her hold on Luna’s saddle began to loosen a little as a result.

After one more pass around the school. Luna stopped suddenly and roared quietly in surprise. Surprised, Albina whispered, “What’s wrong, Luna?”

Luna flicked her head up, and Albina followed her gaze to see several dragon riders flying by the caldera. Albina gasped. “Those are Hiccup’s riders! Oh no!” They were only several yards from her current position, so she had Luna land quietly and hide behind one of the rock formations, hoping that they would pass without seeing them.

Hiccup and the others stood there by the school building in bewilderment as Fishlegs stated, “Well that was a waste of time!”

Snotlout disagreed. “Come on, Fishface! We totally blew those hunters out of the water! What more could you ask?”

Fishlegs pointed out, “The hunters didn’t have any clues leading to the important Dragon Eye lens we were originally looking for! They didn’t even have any dragons in their cages yet!”

Hiccup concurred, “Fishleg is right. What were they even doing there in the first place? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Albina and Luna listened in as they waited for the riders to move on. Albina stroked her chin in thought as she pulled her hood closer to her face. “Important Dragon Eye lens? What could that lead to?”

Suddenly, she heard a large rumbling beside her. She turned and saw Luna shaking her head and sniffling loudly, as if trying to hold back a sneeze. Albina panicked. “Luna! Don’t—”

But it was too late. Luna let out a large sneeze that got the attention of the dragon riders. They looked towards their position, and while there was no light to expose them, they knew there was someone there. Astrid called, “Come out. We know you’re in there. Come out with your ax in the air!”

Albina’s breath caught. “Maybe I can lose them in flight.” She quickly mounted Luna and instructed, “Come on, Luna. Time to put all we’ve done to practice. Sky!”

With a roar, Luna shot up into the air and flew into the clouds. Seeing this, Hiccup cried, “After that rider!”

Hiccup and the others flew up after Albina and Luna, but when they entered the clouds, their visibility was hindered. Snotlout grumbled, “Ugh! I can’t see anything!”

Hiccup turned to Toothless. “Do you mind, bud?”

Toothless grunted and made a loud and high roar, activating his echolocation. Albina, who was several yards away from them, heard it and groaned. “I forgot he does that!” Turning to Luna, she cried, “Dive! We might lose them if we get to our underwater tunnel before they do.”

Luna rumbled and dove out of the clouds and towards the side of the island. The riders saw this and pursued. Seeing the speed of the mysterious dragon rider, Astrid cried, “Hiccup, you might be able to pursue this rider better than we can. We’ll come up the other side of the island to cut her off.”

Hiccup nodded and urged Toothless on in pursuit of the mystery rider. As Albina made another pass on the island towards their entrance, she turned to see Hiccup hot on her tail. She gasped as she pulled her hood close to her face and had Luna make a sharp turn into a crack in the mountain side and hide within its hidden recesses. She whispered to Luna, “When I give the signal, fly out and dive into the water.”

Luna huffed just as Toothless flew in. Hiccup looked around as Toothless flew in place. The crack was a dead end; there was no where the rider could’ve gone except here. As they scanned the crack, Albina signaled Luna, and she glided just below Toothless and out the cave. Luna then dove into the ocean, making a quiet splash as she went.

After a few minutes, Hiccup shook his head in bewilderment. “Where could that rider have gone, bud?” Toothless groaned and searched with his echolocation…but came up short. Defeated, Hiccup sighed and flew out the mountain and to where his friends were waiting.

When Astrid saw him come alone, she asked, “What happened?”

Hiccup sighed, “This rider was a clever one, Astrid. They flew into a crack in the mountain, but after that, they just…disappeared!” He then looked determinedly at the others and declared, “We will need to be on the lookout for an unknown rider within these waters, and perhaps within the school itself. We can’t afford to have a mole in the school.”

The others agreed and returned to the school to get some rest.

Meanwhile, Luna and Albina burst through the exit of their secret tunnel that led back to their grove and landed near several pine trees in exhaustion. Albina dismounted and Luna went to drink from the pond as Albina said gustily, “That was way too close. We’ll need to be more careful the next time we go flying at night, since Hiccup and the others are now unwittingly on to us.” Luna turned to her and purred as Albina rubbed her frills. “Looks like I’m bunking with you tonight, Luna. I can’t afford any of the riders seeing me like this, or else they’d find out our secret.” Luna rumbled and licked Albina’s face, making her chuckle. As she sat up against one of the trees, Albina answered, “You’re right. I can think of worse things.”

THE NEXT MORNING…

Albina hurried into her first class just as the last of the students came into the building. Hiccup, Valka, and the other riders stood at the front with the Headmaster, waiting for the chance to pick a new student to mentor this quarter. Albina sat down excitedly as she wondered, “Maybe this time, I’ll get a new mentor! I just hope it isn’t Snotlout or the twins…”

Soon, the Headmaster called the class to order and said, “I hope you Vikings had a good night’s rest last night. Today marks a new quarter at the school, which means it is time to assign new mentors to students and students to mentors. Now, just like the last several quarters, the mentor will choose which student he or she will mentor, and then, for the remainder of the quarter, that student will receive private lessons from that mentor apart from regular classes.”

Albina sat excitedly as she watched the pairing begin. On down the line it went as Snotlout and the twins were the first to pick their student. Albina breathed a sigh of relief when she wasn’t picked by them. “Phew! Saved by the bell!”

Next, Hiccup and Astrid picked their students. Though disappointed at not being picked by them this time, she wondered, “Well, there’s still Fishlegs. Maybe I’ll get him.”

Alas, it was not the case.

Albina’s brow furrowed at this turn of events. “What?! But that must mean that—”

“Albina?”

Albina looked up to see Valka gesturing to her. She added, “You’re paired with me this quarter.”

Disappointment and shock colored her face as she wondered, “How is this possible?! All the other mentors change their students regularly, but Valka hasn’t! What’s going on here?!”

Seeing that the mentors had finished choosing their student, the Headmaster concluded, “Excellent! The students who’ve been chosen will meet up with their mentors later. For now, let us start on our study of Viking history between the years…”

Albina meant to return her focus back onto her studies, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the allotment of mentors this quarter. “Something is not right.”

LATER…

Albina was on her way to her dorm after a fishing lesson with Mulch when she overheard a strange conversation between Hiccup with Valka. She hid behind a rocky arch that led to the Wilderness and tried to make sense of the conversation.

Hiccup: “Are you sure, Mom?”

Valka: “I’m afraid I am, Hiccup. Albina might be on to our plan; for the past few quarters, she has thought nothing of being paired with me, but now…I fear she may be suspecting the system of mentors choosing students.”

Albina was confused, “What does she mean? If mentoring students wasn’t their goal, then what is?”

Hiccup: “I see no other option for Albina’s good, Mom. Isn’t she learning well with you?”

Valka: “Admittedly, yes, but what will come if Albina finds out about our desire to curb her self-sufficiency and encourage depending on others for help?”

Albina was shocked. “Was all of this just a set up?”

Hiccup: “Mom, I’m sure everything will work out fine.”

Albina had heard enough. “I can’t believe this!!”

Valka began, “I suppose so, I—”

“You mean this was all just a set-up?! A trick?!”

Valka and Hiccup turned around surprised to see Albina come out from behind the arch and confront them. She cried, “This wasn’t just about teaching the other students personally, was it? This was just an undercover scheme to change my way of doing things?”

Valka tried to reason, “Child, we were only trying to help you! We wanted to protect you from—”

Albina interrupted, “By deceiving me into thinking that this was a normal teaching program?! By trying to ‘help’ me and yet not telling me how you wanted to help me?! You planned behind my back!” Albina shook her head. “Then that’s not something I want to be a part of!”

Hiccup tried to intervene, “Albina, you know that—”

Albina didn’t wait to hear his explanation. Instead, she stormed off into the Wilderness with a huff.

Valka and Hiccup sighed in defeat as they watched her go. After some silence, Valka lamented, “It’s my fault. I should’ve told her in the beginning.”

Hiccup disagreed. “No, Mom, this isn’t your fault. It’s my own. I should’ve never decided to lead Albina on like this. It was my plan to keep her with one mentor and to not tell her about our intentions.”

“What shall we do?” Valka asked.

Hiccup answered with a shake of his head. “I’ll go talk to her later, once she’s cooled off. For now, we’ll need to wait.”

Meanwhile, Albina had made it to the grove, where Luna was resting. Albina had made a pit-stop at her dorm and gathered some necessities before coming to the grove. She walked briskly towards Luna, as Luna stirred and awoke from the commotion. Luna made a groan of concern towards Albina as she came, and she looked up to see her dilated, silver eyes. Albina exhaled gustily as she knelt to Luna’s level. “Come on, Luna. Let’s get out of here.”

Luna pulled up beside Albina as she mounted, and once she got her saddlebags secured, Albina urged, “Let’s fly, Luna!”

With a roar, Luna shot up and out of the grove. As they leveled out towards the eastern side of the island’s edge, Albina took one last long look at the school…before turning back and flying swiftly away in the sunset.

LATER…

Hiccup walked briskly out of the schoolhouse after having searched for Albina inside to no avail. For the past hour, he had been trying to find where she had stormed off to after his conversation with Valka, and he even asked Valka to see if she was at her dorm. The schoolhouse was the last place he needed to search, and he still had no luck. He stopped by Toothless, who groaned in concern. “Where can she be?” he wondered aloud.

Suddenly, he heard his name being called out. He turned to see Valka jogging towards him, and hoping for good news, asked, “Mom, did you find her?”

Valka shook her head with worry. “I’m afraid not, son. However, what I found is more troubling.”

Surprised, he asked, “What is it?”

Valka revealed, “Most of Albina’s stuff is gone, including her satchel. Even the saddle that she’d been given by the Headmaster is gone. I fear that she has left this island.”

Alarmed, Hiccup cried, “We need to round up a search party and find her before any trouble finds her. She couldn’t have gotten that far.”

Valka agreed, and the two of them went off to both warn the Headmaster and round up the other riders for the search.

THAT NIGHT…

It was dark by the time Albina and Luna came upon an island, and it was the same island Albina had found Luna in. Searching the area, Albina suggested, “We’ll need to stop here for the night and continue early in the morning. There might be a cave or something we can bunk in for the time being.” Luna groaned uncertainly, but Albina calmed, “It’s okay, Luna. This place has been abandoned for a long time. We’ll be fine.”

Luna huffed in understanding and flew down to the surface. As they landed, something caught Albina’s eye; she dismounted and picked it up to inspect it. It appeared to be a lens with a metallic purple frame. “This looks familiar,” Albina mused, “But where have I seen this before?” Figuring that it would come to her later, she placed it in her pocket and walked with Luna in the direction of a rock cleft, going around warlord wreckage as they went.

When they came upon it, Albina looked at it in satisfaction. “This should do the trick, at least until morning.”

Luna agreed and made herself comfortable towards the right side of the cleft. Albina sat down against the wall of the cleft and pulled out the lens to inspect it. She racked her brain in trying to remember where she first saw a lens like this. “Have I seen this at the school or something? Was it during one of my lessons?” Suddenly remembering something, she mused, “I wonder…” She turned to Luna, who was about to fall asleep and got her attention. Facing the lens near the wall, she asked, “Luna, do you mind giving the lens some light?”

Huffing in confusion, Luna produced a low light blast in her mouth that shone through the lens. What revealed itself on the wall as a result made Albina gasp in unbelief. “This can’t be!”

A strange map had appeared on the rock wall. At its center was what appeared to be a Night Fury outline with a dotted line running around and past familiar islands until it landed on an island Albina had never seen before. She ran her hand along the route the map suggested until she came towards the end. “It…runs past Titan and Impossible Island? The school doesn’t have a map that goes past those! Does this mean that…” Albina was hesitant to make what appeared to be obvious known, but for Luna’s sake, she hoped it was real. She took note of the map as Luna quenched her flame, and Albina knelt by Luna’s face. “Looks like we have a destination, Luna. If what that map says is true…then you might have other Night Furies to relate to.”

Luna’s eyes lit up, and she purred in hope. Albina chuckled a bit before leaning against the cleft wall once more. As Luna laid down and began to doze off, Albina wondered, “Hopefully we’ll find it before the others find us.”

THE NEXT MORNING…

Albina and Luna woke up to the sound of distant dragon squawks near their area. Albina slowly arose, as Luna sat up and yawned, and peeked out of their cleft. “What could that be?”

Albina got her answer when she saw Hiccup and Toothless wandering around the ruined camp in search of her. Albina’s breath caught in fright. “Oh no! How did they—” Then she realized, “Of course! Stormfly is a Tracker class dragon! They tracked me here!” Luna made a low groan in her direction, and Albina thought frantically on what she could do.

After several minutes, she sighed. “There’s no way I’m going back with the riders to the school, especially since I have an island to find for Luna’s sake. If I got away from Hiccup once, I can do it again.” So, with new determination, Albina led Luna out into the light.

Toothless was the first one to catch sight of Albina and Luna. He growled with surprise, and Hiccup turned to see Albina with…a Night Fury! Hiccup’s eyes grew wide as he cried, “Albina! There you are!!” He then gestured to Luna in bewilderment. “How—I mean…what—”

Albina answered firmly, “It’s a long story, Hiccup, but unfortunately I have no time to tell you. I have somewhere to be.”

Hiccup shook off his amazement for a moment before answering, “You definitely do have somewhere to be: Back to the school!”

Luna made a low growl at his tone, and Albina calmed her before saying, “You seem to misunderstand, Hiccup. I’m not coming back. What you and the others did…I can’t accept. Besides, I have bigger priorities.”

Hiccup groaned, “Albina, you know that we were just trying to help you. When we formulated the mentor plan, we wanted to help you out of the possibility of getting hurt in the future.”

Albina retorted, “By hurting me now? By planning behind my back without talking to me?! I thought you said students and teachers were a team!”

Hiccup sighed. He had been backed into a corner with that one. He rubbed his neck with a glance towards Toothless before looking back at Albina. After some thought, he faced Albina squarely and suggested with a quieter tone, “Look, let’s just go back to the school together and work this out there. I’m sure we can work some sort of an agreement then.”

Albina still didn’t budge. As she turned her back to Hiccup and led Luna away, she answered, “Like I said: I am not going back.”

Surprise flashed across Hiccup’s face before he and Toothless began to follow her. “And like I said: You are going back to the school.”

Albina sighed. Hiccup wasn’t going to be deterred. Without turning to him, she mounted Luna and stated, “I guess there is no way I am changing your mind, is there?”

Hiccup relaxed, thinking that Albina was changing her mind.

Then, without warning, Luna shot up into the air with Albina away from the island and further from the school. Toothless roared in amazement, and Hiccup cried, “What the—” Without a second to lose, he mounted Toothless and urged, “Come on, bud!” With that, they shot up into the air in hot pursuit.

When they leveled out, Hiccup turned to his left and saw Albina flying tens of yards away from him. He urged Toothless, “Come on, bud. Let’s show them how it’s done.” Toothless roared in affirmation and sped towards Albina.

Meanwhile, Albina heard the roar and turned around to see Hiccup and Toothless hot on her trail. Alarmed, she turned to Luna. “Luna, we may need some fancy flying. Use the water if you have to.”

Luna roared and dove out of the clouds towards some sea stacks. They darted in and out, with Hiccup and Toothless keeping pace with them from behind. After the last sea stack, Albina looked behind her and groaned, trying to think of a way to lose them. Then, an idea popped into her head and she instructed, “Luna, touch the sky; fly the depths!”

Understanding her code, Luna shot up once more, but this time, she flew towards the sun’s rays. Albina covered her eyes as best as she could as they went; it was going to be a little bit before they’d do part two of their stunt. “Hold on. Just hold on…”

Hiccup and Toothless had followed after them, but they slowed at the growing brightness of the sun. Hiccup groaned as he covered his eyes. “What are you up to, Albina.”

Suddenly, Luna stopped flapping, turned around, and dove hard and fast towards the ocean. They nearly grazed Hiccup and Toothless at the crossing as they passed, and by the time they regained their bearings to dive down towards Albina, she was several seconds away from the ocean waves. Hiccup urged Toothless, “Come on, bud! Come on!”

They dove down after Albina, nearly gaining on her at the halfway mark, but by the time they were close, Albina and Luna had splashed into the ocean. Hiccup and Toothless dove down after her and swam around to see where she was going.

She was nowhere to be seen.

Defeated, Hiccup and Toothless reentered the sky and began flying back to the others. Astrid and the others met him midway, and Astrid guessed in unbelief, “She got away again?!”

Hiccup nodded in bewilderment, “I’m as surprised as you are, Astrid. Though she is riding a Night Fury!” The others gasped as he continued, “I don’t know how or where she got one, but from what I could tell from their strategy, they’ve been training for a long time.”

Snotlout scoffed, “Come on! How can she be this mad over a little trick?”

Valka corrected, “It wasn’t just a trick, Snotlout, but you do have a point. Her evasion seems to resemble someone who is searching for something.”

Hiccup nodded, “You may be right, Mom. Even though I think she’s still mad at us, she was flying with a purpose before I went after her, which means she is searching for something. What that is…I don’t know.”

Astrid asked, “Well, what do we do?”

Hiccup sighed, “Return to the school for now and begin again once we’ve rested a bit. Then, we come back here and fly in the direction Albina flew. Maybe we will find what she’s looking for.”

The others agreed and began flying back to the school.

MEANWHILE…

Luna and Albina struggled against contrary winds as the rain splattered against their faces. After the riders had left form pursuing Albina, she and Luna had emerged from their hiding place underwater and continued on their course for Fury Island. Unfortunately, they flew into some storm clouds, and what used to be an easy and smooth flight turned into a fight for control over the wind, rain, and lightning.

With another roar of surprise, Luna dodged another lightning strike close to her tail. Albina held tightly to the saddle as Luna made another sharp turn away from an incoming strike. Albina groaned as thunder rolled above them once more. “This is getting even worse! Isn’t there a way around this?!”

Suddenly, another lightning bolt came in front of Luna, and she stopped abruptly in surprise. Albina cried, “Look out!”

Unbeknownst to her, however, another bolt was spidering down above her head. It made landfall on her shield, sending Albina’s spine in a shocked frenzy. Albina grunted in pain…and then fell limply off the saddle, unconscious. Luna made a shrill roar as she dove after her…right into a deep and mysterious fog.

A FEW HOURS LATER…

Albina came to when she heard crackling near her face and a low rumble on the opposite side of her. She slowly opened her eyes as she sat up. She rubbed her throbbing head as she asked, “Wha…what happened?”

“A great deal has happened, young dragon rider.”

Surprised, Albina turned sharply to see an unfamiliar man on the other side of the campfire. He was cloaked and hooded, but Albina could still make out his face. She tensed in alarm as she began to rise. “Who are you?!” She then collapsed back onto the ground in exhaustion with Luna purring in concern next to her.

The man urged, “Please, child! Don’t try to rise so suddenly! You took a bolt to the back and have been unconscious for a few hours now.” He then handed her a bowl of a sort of beef stew. “Eat and regain some of your strength.”

Albina received it cautiously and began eating, all the while inspecting her strange host. She noticed a strange pendant clipped the edges of his cloak together at the collar; it was gold with markings she couldn’t make out, save a crown and a throne at the center. From the way the cloak covered him, it was hard to make out if this man was Viking or not. “He seems…not like the Viking type to me.” She finished her stew and placed the bowl aside as the man threw a salmon in Luna’s direction. She caught it eagerly and gulped it down, purring in thanks.

After some silence, Albina asked once more, “What happened? And who are you, sir?”

The man seemed to chuckle a little as he began, “Who I am, well, suffice it to say that I am Edward of an island unlike anything you’ve seen in the archipelago. However, I happened to come into this part of the islands on business matters when I saw your dragon catch you out of the sky and fly you down the rest of the way. When I had come onto the scene, your dragon was trying to wake you up. I showed her that I was a friend and tended to your wounds before I brought you and your dragon further into the island for safety reasons and made camp here.”

Luna nuzzled Albina’s face, making her chuckle a bit. Turning to Edward, she answered, “Well, if Luna trusted you, then you are someone I can trust as well.”

Edward nodded in thanks. “I’m grateful you think so, but what brings a young dragon rider like yourself out so far from home?” At her confused glance, he added, “It is a very long way to the school from here, and deducing by your clothing, you are a student therein.”

Amazed at his reasoning, Albina conceded, “Yes, I am a bit of a ways from the school, but I found something that might help Luna a bit, a place called ‘Fury Island’. Do you know of it?”

Edward nodded emphatically, “I do indeed, child! It is a place not too far from where I reside, but why do you seek this alone? Surely those who head the school wouldn’t send one rider out for this.”

Albina groaned and sighed at the same time. “It’s…a long story.”

“We seem to have time.”

After a bit of hesitation, Albina relayed her entire story to Edward. By the end of it, Edward rubbed his chin in thought, and a period of silence fell between them. Albina and Luna looked at each other before looking back at Edward. “What is he going to say?” she wondered to herself.

Finally, Edward faced Albina and stated, “I am truly sorry for what’s happened, child. How they should’ve addressed the situation is far different than what they chose.”

Albina groaned, “Yeah, no kidding.”

Edward wasn’t finished. “However, do you deny that their concerns were valid?”

Surprised, Albina answered uncertainly, “Well…maybe…I just…” she exhaled loudly, defeated, and asked, “Well, what could I do? I can’t always rely on their defense of me, right?”

Edward calmed, “You are looking at dependence on others all wrong. Contrary to what you think, you need these riders you’ve mentioned, despite their flawed ways of dealing with you. The fact that they cared enough to intervene on your behalf should say something about what they want for you.”

Albina cried, “But they tricked me!”

Edward replied calmly, “My dear, I did not deny that how they intervened was in the wrong way, but you must be honest with yourself that the fact that they did intervene at all says a lot about what they did right.” He sighed as he concluded, “Child, you are not the first, nor will you be the last to struggle with depending on others for help. I have encountered many like yourself, and I will say to you as I’ve said to many others, you cannot handle everything that this archipelago, let alone your school, can throw at you. You must be willing to receive help from your friends instead of running from them in bitterness.”

Albina thought about what Edward had said. She didn’t really like it, but she couldn’t deny the truth he stated. Groaning in defeat, she conceded, “I…guess you are right, sir.” She then ventured, “But let me just continue on in my journey to Fury Island for Luna. I am so close, and I doubt, if I was found by the others, that they would let me continue to my goal.”

Edward rubbed his chin in thought for what seemed like several minutes. Then, he faced Albina and answered, “I will allow that…on two conditions.” Albina listened intently as he declared, “You must allow me to come with you to this island, so that you have back-up, in case of conflict, and you must allow me to send Terror Mail to your school, detailing your whereabouts.” Albina agreed, and Edward approved, “Good. At first light, we will fly on to Fury Island.”

LATER, AT THE SCHOOL OF DRAGONS…

Hiccup, Valka, and Astrid sat around a table with the Headmaster, trying to formulate a plan and course in searching for Albina. Figuring that her aversion was due to something she was searching for, they were trying to deduce, from the map that they had on hand, exactly what it was she was searching for. Fishlegs stood with the Dragon Eye in front of a canvas, trying different lenses and dragons for any clues as well.

After a period of silence, Fishlegs groaned in defeat and put the Dragon Eye down. Hiccup heard and asked, “Anything?”

Fishlegs shook his head as he joined them, “None, Hiccup. We already know that she isn’t searching for a dragon, so the amount of information the Dragon Eye could give us reduces to almost null. Anything on your end?”

Valka sighed, “In all my travels across the archipelago, there is nothing I remember from any of the islands that could be of interest to Albina.”

The Headmaster suggested, “Perhaps she is in search of an island yet undiscovered.”

Astrid shook her head, “But why? I don’t see a clue here that could unlock Albina’s thinking or goal!”

Suddenly, a blue and gold Terrible Terror flew in from a window and landed in the middle of the table. The Headmaster caught it and took out the letter it bore. As he read it over, he gasped in amazement, “In all my years…”

Hiccup asked, “What is it?”

The Headmaster gave Hiccup the letter and answered, “I think you should read for yourself.”

Hiccup did, and after a moment, his eyes lit up in surprise. “How—how is this possible?”

Valka urged, “What is it, son?”

Hiccup revealed, “Albina has been found! Someone, by the name of Edward, found Albina wounded from a fierce storm and has taken care of subsequent wounds. He affirms that she is safe with him, and that they are both on their way to the place Albina’s been searching for.”

Astrid cried, “Well, what is it?”

Hiccup closed the letter and faced them squarely, “The Island of Furies, also known as Fury Island.”

Everyone gasped, and Fishlegs squealed, “Oh!!! This is exciting!! Perhaps there are more like Toothless then!”

Hiccup answered, “If Albina’s dragon is any indication, then that might be exactly what’s on that island. His letter details the directions to the island, so that we can meet him there and be reunited with Albina, as she has agreed to, per the conditions of his guidance to the island.”

Astrid shot up out of her chair. “Well, what are we waiting for?! Let’s go!”

Hiccup agreed, and the Headmaster said farewell to the riders as they shot up into the sky to retrieve Albina.

THE FOLLOWING DAY…

Albina and Luna followed close beside Edward and his steed, which was a much larger Fury-like dragon, but it was deep blue with gauntlets on its legs and golden armor along its back, chest, and head. Edward had called him a “Royal Fury”. The sun had fully risen by now, revealing nothing more than the sky above them, and the sea beneath them. Silence reigned between them during the better part of their journey.

Soon, Edward spoke as he pointed towards the horizon, “There, Albina. Fury Island is just up ahead. A thick fog shrouds the island, so stay close. It is easy to get lost.”

Albina nodded and flew a little closer to him, with Luna making a low hum. After some thought, Albina turned to Edward, and asked, “Edward, why…is your dragon called a ‘Royal Fury’?”

Edward turned to her knowingly and answered, “His species of Fury is able to mimic the firepower of any dragon. Alpha here has lived a good long while, so his arsenal is formidable to any dragon.”

Albina, though not totally satisfied, became quiet for a moment. “That…doesn’t seem to answer my question fully. This Edward character is so strange.” However, as they entered the fog, Albina figured she’d leave her questions for later.

The ride through the thick fog was long and tense, at least for Albina. She couldn’t see much of anything, save Edward and Alpha! Luna purred as she inspected what could be ahead. Albina sighed as she rubbed Luna’s head. “You can probably sense more than I can, huh girl?”

Luna growled lightly, and, after several more minutes of flying, they came out above the shores of a beautiful island. Albina gasped, “Incredible!”

A mountain range ran along the outer edges of the island, providing the perfect, hidden valley for its inhabitants. As Albina and Edward landed, Albina could see that the vegetation was lush, and the roars in the distant were many…and familiar.

Edward and Albina dismounted at the beach, and Edward instructed, “Follow me, child. We must travel the rest of the way on foot.”

Albina nodded and followed Edward down a well-worn path. Confused, Albina asked, “Edward, if this island is unknown to the archipelago, why are there actual paths leading to the valley?”

Edward revealed, “I and my son come here often to check on the Furies that live here. When Grimmel first started his…ambition, we scoured the far reaches of the archipelago to save as many of the Furies as we can.” As they went through a small cave, Edward concluded, “Grimmel thinks he has hunted the Night Furies to extinction, but in fact, his plan failed before it began.”

Albina was amazed at the history. She looked at Luna, who was walking next to her, and could tell that Luna was anxious to get to the other side. Albina smiled; she could understand Luna’s angst in wanting to see more of her kind.

They soon emerged out of the cave and came upon a ledge that overlooked the valley, and Albina’s eyes grew wide at the many Night Furies that lived there. “This…this is…”

The whole valley was filled with lone Night Furies and Fury families! Baby Furies played with each other, some of the adults either strolled the grounds, flew overhead, or rested by the shade of a tree. Albina smiled broadly at the sight and chuckled a bit at how, finally, she’d found what Luna wanted for so long. Luna also was beside herself with joy and looked to Albina for a cue with a large smile. Albina turned and laughed, “Go on, Luna! Go make friends!”

Luna roared loudly in joy and dove down to the valley to meet the others. Albina watched with a smile as some of the residents Furies came to sniff her and make low rumbling sounds in her direction. Luna did the same, and the others seemed to welcome her in.

Suddenly, another roar sounded further down the valley. Luna perked up and turned to see a male and female Fury standing nearby. Curious, Luna walked over and sniffed the two of them and vice versa. After a few minutes, Luna’s pupils grew bigger in realization, as did the two other Furies’ pupils, and they nuzzled each other in deep affection.

Upon seeing this, Albina wondered, “Who could they be?”

Edward supposed, “Perhaps some relatives. Judging by their age, I think they might be her brother and sister.”

Albina was amazed. “So, Luna still has some family left! How wonderful!”

Suddenly, Luna turned to Albina and flew hard and fast in her direction. Before Albina could think, Luna had grabbed her shoulders and was flying her towards the two Furies. Albina cried out in surprise as Luna dropped her in front of them, and Albina looked up just in time to see them come closer cautiously. Albina turned to Luna, who roared in various pitches in their direction, making gestures as she did. Albina mused, “Is she…trying to tell them something?”

By the end of it, the two Furies turned back to Albina with large pupils, showing that they were friendly towards her. Hesitantly, Albina placed both her hands out to them. After sniffing them, the two Furies put both of their snouts on her hands with a purr. Albina rubbed their snouts lightly with a smile before retracting her hands. Luna bumped her shoulder lightly and nuzzled her face as Albina chuckled, “Oh Luna! I’m so happy for you! You found your family!”

Suddenly, her joy turned to sadness at a realization, and she looked across the valley in thought. “This was my goal from the beginning! To find Luna’s family! Now that she’s found them…” Albina sighed heavily as she realized, “I…have to let Luna go.”

Albina turned back to Luna, who cocked her head at the change in Albina’s countenance and hugged her snout with a sigh. “Oh Luna. You found your family,” As they separated, Albina continued, “That was my desire all along, and now that that’s been established…” She slowly went to her saddle and took it off. Luna made an inquisitive groan in her direction, and Albina fought herself to not start crying as she concluded, “Now, it’s time to return to your own family.” With that, she turned and began walking away with Luna looking on with a sad purr.

When she came close to the side of the valley, Edward came down one of the inclines and gestured her up. Without looking in his direction, she followed him up, and he led her out of the valley and towards the shoreline without a word. Albina wasn’t sure, but she could almost make out one roar louder than the others as she went.

When they came to the shore, where Alpha waited, Edward faced Albina squarely and placed his hands on her shoulders with a sigh. She looked up at him as he stated knowingly, “That was no easy decision, child.”

With that one gentle comment, Albina’s tears escaped, and she began to weep bitterly for her choice. She had let go the one dragon she’d been able to train, a dragon she’d raised since she was a Tiny Tooth, and the loss was deeper than she felt she could bear. Edward groaned and embraced her sympathetically in silence.

Just then, Albina could just make out several dragons landing near them, and she cringed at knowing who they were. However, Edward whispered in her ear, “Child, your friends have arrived.”

Edward and Albina separated, and Albina turned to see the dragon riders, along with Valka, dismounting to meet them. Valka, upon seeing her countenance, rushed to Albina and embraced her tightly. “Oh Albina! You are safe!”

Albina blurted, “I had to let her go, Valka. Her family’s in there, and I—”

Valka slowed her down as they separated, “Slow down, Albina.” When she was silent, Valka continued, “Letting go of someone you love is a difficult lesson, one that cannot be learned alone.” She looked up at Edward and concluded, “Which makes me glad that you had someone with you on your journey.”

Edward nodded in acknowledgement, and Hiccup addressed Albina. “Come on, Albina. Let’s go home.”

Albina exhaled and began walking towards one of their dragons to ride home…

SIZZLE…BOOM!!

With just a moment to spare, Albina dove away from an incoming lightning bolt before it could strike her. The others cried out in surprise, before Fishlegs looked up and gasped. He pointed upwards and cried, “Hiccup, look!”

Everyone looked up and saw a whole group of Skrills flying offensively above the island with a large, Titan Skrill leading them. They appeared to be flying towards the valley sanctuary.

Upon seeing this, Edward mounted Alpha and cried, “They are attacking the Night Furies!”

Valka asked urgently, “But why?”

Hiccup supposed, “If our earlier interactions with a Skrill are any indication, then these Skrills may be a rival group of these Night Furies.”

Edward suddenly heard a branch snap behind him. Turning around, he saw Albina disappear into the trees towards the valley. Alarmed, he cried, “Albina! No!” Without another word, he and Alpha ran after her.

When they left, Hiccup turned to the others and ordered, “We need to buy him and Albina some time! Each of you find a Skrill and distract it; maybe we can even stop them from attacking the Night Furies in this island.” The others nodded and mounted their dragons.

Meanwhile, Albina had just emerged from the cave into the valley breathlessly and scanned the valley for Luna and her siblings, hoping to find them before they did. “Come on, Luna, where are you?”

Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the ledge behind her, collapsing her end of the ledge. She cried out as she plummeted to the valley.

SWOOSH!!

Albina’s breath caught as a pair of talons gripped her body, threw her up and caught her on her back. As Albina gripped the dragon’s shoulders, her eyes grew wide as a familiar set of silver eyes met her. She gasped, “Luna! It’s you!”

Luna roared happily as she looped around and towards the oncoming Skrill army. She growled menacingly, ready for the attack. The other dragon riders seemed to have caught most of the pack, but the titan slipped past them and dove for the valley. Albina gripped Luna’s shoulders tightly and addressed her, “Ready to defend your home?”

Luna roared in affirmation, and they were about to fly off before Edward and Alpha stopped them. “Albina, wait!!”

Surprised, Albina cried, “But the Titan Skrill! I have to stop it!”

Edward remained firm, “This attack is too much for you to handle alone, but if we work together on this, then we have a chance in defeating it.”

Silence reigned for a moment as Albina considered her options. She had gone through too much to not realize the wisdom in his words, so she conceded and answered, “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

LATER…

Hiccup and Toothless had their work cut out for them when they intercepted the Titan Skrill. They flew high above the clouds, dodging the Skrill’s bolts, but for whatever reason, it would not be led away from the island. Hiccup groaned as he looked to see the dragon still on his tail. “Come on, Skrill. What’s it gonna take to get you to leave?”

The Skrill made a high pitch roar as it was about to make another strike, when a sudden plasma blast exploded against his face, neutralizing his bolt. The Titan Skrill turned to his left and saw Albina and Luna flying in place offensively. Luna roared angrily as Albina mused, “I think we got his attention, girl.”

Sure enough, the Skrill turned on Albina and pursued her as Luna darted away towards the ocean. Upon seeing this, Hiccup cried, “Albina, no!”

Albina wasn’t listening, and when Luna leveled out just a bit into the fog, Albina exhaled tensely, “Alright, girl. Make sure he follows but can’t catch us.”

Luna huffed in affirmation and dodged a bolt to the tail. The Skrill shrieked angrily as it gained momentum. However, Luna was faster and more maneuverable than the Titan and weaved in and out of the oncoming sea stacks in the fog. The Skrill, however, bumped into a few of the stacks, making it angrier than before.

When they came into a straightaway, the Skrill flapped harder and began gaining on Albina and Luna. It made several blasts in their direction towards Albina’s head and Luna’s side. Luna looped away from them, and Albina gasped in fright. “Oh man, that was close!” She looked ahead of them and could just barely make out their goal in the fog. She patted Luna’s side as she encouraged, “Come on, Luna, we’re almost there.”

Luna growled in understanding, though beginning to tire at the chase. Luna slowed slightly as a result, and the Titan Skrill gained even more ground on them. Albina, however, didn’t turn around to see how close it was to them but focused on the flying form ahead growing closer and closer by the minute. As the fog began to clear before them, she placed her hand on Luna’s head and urged, “Steady…steady…”

The Skrill roared behind them with a bolt ready to strike just as they emerged from the fog. Upon hearing the sizzle behind her and seeing her aim in front of her, she cried, “Now, Luna!”

Just before she met Edward on Alpha, she pulled up sharply, giving Alpha a clear shot. Edward instructed, “Give the Skrill a taste of its own medicine.”

Alpha roared and fired a large, blue lightning bolt at the Titan Skrill that was much larger than its own. With a shriek of surprise, the Titan was overcome by the bolt and fell to the water unconscious. Before it sunk, however, Edward whistled, and several other strange Fury-like dragons appeared. Edward pointed at the Skrill, and the dragons flew over and carried it away from Fury Island. When Edward saw the other Skrills follow, he flew over to where Albina waited and placed a strong hand on her shoulder. “Well played, Albina!”

Albina chuckled as she admitted, “Your plan was better than anything I would’ve come up with! Thank you!”

Edward smiled in thanks and led her back to the shoreline. When they dismounted, the other dragon riders met her, glad that she was okay. Luna looked on in curiosity at the new people around Albina.

When Hiccup rejoined the others with Toothless, he found Albina safe from the Titan Skrill. When he met her, he cried, “What were you thinking, facing the Skrill head-on?!”

Unphased, Albina simply rubbed Luna’s head and answered, “It was all a part of Edward’s master plan.”

Hiccup looked up at Edward and Edward explained, “Albina would’ve faced the Titan alone, if I hadn’t intervened. Instead, she led the dragon away from the island toward my own steed, which had the firepower to overwhelm the Skrill.” Looking towards the ocean, he added, “Those dragons will think twice before attacking this island again.”

Right then, Albina felt a nudge on her back. She turned around and saw Luna carrying her saddle. She watched as Luna dropped it before her and nudged it in her direction with large pupils in her direction. Surprised, Albina knelt down to her and asked, “You…wanna stay with me?”

Luna roared lightly and nuzzled Albina’s face in affection, as if to affirm her suspicions. Albina hugged Luna’s face in joy as she answered, “I would love nothing more, Luna!”

The others watched as Albina put the saddle back on Luna, and Toothless cautiously walked over to meet her for the first time. As they greeted each other, Hiccup rubbed his chin in amazement. Turning to Albina, he asked, “All this time, you’ve been training a Night Fury without us knowing?”

Feeling caught, Albina nodded and revealed, “I…had found her on the island that was abandoned by the warlords. She…kinda followed me home first before I went to revisit the island, to see if she had family still there, but it turns out that she didn’t, thanks to them. Ever since then, I began training her and with her in secret, because I didn’t want to scare her by showing her to any people.”

Fishlegs pointed out, “You kept this secret for a really long time!”

Albina nodded. “I was nearly caught by you guys once or twice, while you were out on night missions, but I was able to allude your grasp each time, thanks to Luna’s cunning.” She sighed as she realized how she had deceived them. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about her. I wanted to handle this situation on my own, but I realize that that belief was arrogant.” Turning to Valka she added, “I even used some of what I learned from you to train with Luna, so I never really did it on my own.”

Valka cringed a bit at the memory of their deception and approached Albina. “Child, we are sorry as well. We never meant to harm you with our plan to mentor you.” She placed a hand on Albina’s shoulder and added, “We just wanted to protect you from your own vices, but…I’m afraid we did it the wrong way.” Albina looked away at the memory before Valka ventured, “Can we…start again?”

Albina sighed and turned to Edward for direction. He nodded in urging, and she turned back to Valka. She placed her hand on her own as she answered, “Of course we can, Valka.”

The two of them embraced each other as the others watched with a smile. When they separated, Hiccup approached Edward and asked, “If I might, sir, I would like to take Toothless up to the valley to see the other Furies, now that we aren’t being attacked. It might cheer him up, knowing that there are others like him around.”

Edward agreed. “That is fine. Just follow the path up to the cave entrance, but stay up on the ledge, so that the other dragons aren’t spooked. They’ll recognize me and Albina, but not you and your friends.”

Hiccup nodded and went up the path into the forest with the others following. Albina and Edward stayed behind, and Edward went to prepare Alpha to leave. Upon seeing this, Albina asked, “Where are you going?”

Edward turned to her and smiled kindly as he answered, “To finish my business across the archipelago, child. There is still much to be done before I return to my home.”

Albina’s face became flushed in sadness as she realized that she would miss Edward and his steed. She ventured, “Will…I see you again?”

Edward faced her squarely and placed his hands on her shoulders with a sigh, as if thinking. Finally, he answered, “Yes, child. One day, you shall see me again, though hopefully under less trying circumstances.” He then turned to his saddlebag and dug out a strange mahogany horn that was decorated with strange lettering around its edges and middle. He handed it to her and revealed, “Take this. It is a horn made from my island. Sound it in your greatest need, and one of my men will come to help you.” He then gave her a strange journal that also had strange lettering on its edges and explained, “This is a journal unlike any in this archipelago. Write your questions or general words to me on one page, and I am sure to answer on the next page in time.”

Albina marveled at the sudden cryptic language Edward was speaking as she received her gifts. “Your…’men’? Your answering me from a journal?”

Edward chuckled slightly as he calmed, “There is much about me and my land that you and your people don’t know about, nay, don’t understand, but don’t worry, Albina. A mystery never remains hidden forever! Over time, you will come to understand more, and you will find that there is more to me and my land than meets the eye.”

Albina nodded in understanding, though still marveling at Edward’s words to her, and thanked him sincerely for his gifts. Edward gripped Albina’s shoulder with a smile before mounting Alpha and saying, “Tell your friends to fly southwest into the fog and continue heading that direction until they emerge from it. From there, you will find your way back to the school more easily than flying in a different direction.” Albina acknowledged, and Edward flew off into the fog…

Albina watched him disappear into the fog, and Luna purred in her direction in concern. Albina rubbed her neck in comfort just as the dragon riders returned from the valley. She turned to them and met them. “What did you think?”

Fishlegs squealed in amazement. “It’s astonishing! A whole island of Night Furies living safe and sound from all the hunters and warlords around! There’s nothing like it in the archipelago!”

The others chuckled at his enthusiasm, and Hiccup turned to Albina and asked, “Ready to go home?”

Albina turned back to where Edward had disappeared for a moment before turning back to Hiccup. She sighed as she answered, “Yeah. I’m ready to go.”

Hiccup nodded in approval, and after Albina gave Edward’s directions, they began flying back to the school. They flew through the fog in silence, trying to process the day’s events (Albina especially). Once they emerged from the fog, however, Hiccup brought Albina out of her contemplations and called her up front. A bit nervous, she urged Luna forward and asked, “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

Hiccup quirked a brow in her direction and answered, “We’ll see what the Headmaster says…but I’m sure we can sway him, given today’s events.” Albina chuckled lightly, and Hiccup added, “You did great today, Albina.”

Albina shrugged, “Yeah, well, if it hadn’t been for Edward’s appearance, I’d probably be worse off.”

Hiccup chuckled. “Looks like you learned what acting as a team looks like! You admit that you couldn’t have handled the fight against the Skrill on your own and you accepted help for it. That’s real strength.”

Albina smiled a bit before asking, “Maybe you or the others can give me a few pointers on how to bond more with a Night Fury? With…the exception of certain individuals?”

Hiccup laughed outright as he answered, “I’m sure we can help, Albina, though you have quite a bond with Luna already.”

Luna roared happily at Albina, making her chuckle. She answered Hiccup, “Thanks.” Hiccup nodded in acknowledgement, and they continued flying into the sunset.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Oh good! Tumblr let me post the entire story, though granted, it is smaller than my Dreamlight Adventures stories, but who can tell whether their story hits the 1000 block limit?! Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this, and I have an idea for a second one, but it's certainly not guaranteed. I hope you all also enjoyed reading this story too!

Bye for now!!

#fan fiction #httyd #school of dragons

18 notes · View notes