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stressisakiller · 3 years

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Little Sister

Bucky Barnes x Reader Soulmate AU

(Hello Sunflower Part 8)

Summary: Tony has some explaining to do

Warnings: References to murder referenced child abuse also cussing, but I feel like its warranted

Word Count: 2.6k

A/N: Lot of new information in this one as well. Let me know what you think and if you have any requests for future chapters! Thank yall for reading!

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When you were little, you had looked up to your father, what little girl didn’t believe that their father hung the moon? That quickly changed when you were five and your father took you with him to work. You had always wondered what kind of father could have done the things that your father did to you. Now you understood. A father who wasn’t your father at all.

Your eyes were wide as you stared at Tony, your thoughts going a million miles an hour, racing past in an almost unintelligible stream. Wait, he’s your brother? Not only your brother but your twin brother? That meant your father wasn’t actually your father. You weren’t related to that asshole at all! Fuck. fuck. You… you killed… how could you… how could he… no. no. no. There had to be a mistake, you couldn’t have. And yet.

All eyes were on you. Watching your emotions race across your face, watching as your eyes widened in understanding. Watching as your eyes glassed over and you broke.

The ground was hard, unforgiving under the weight of your body. Legs no longer willing to hold you as grief washed over you. A strange feeling of warmth brought you back. A hand sure and strong on your arm, a lifeline, pulling you out of the depths of your grief. Eyes focusing on the face of your soulmate crouching in front of you, concern etched in every line of his skin. Blinking the tears away you looked at him, the man you had saved, the only good thing you had ever done. His words rumbling in your ears as he murmured to you.

“Come back to me my love, the past no longer holds you, I am here.”

His voice pulling you firmly out of the abyss. Staring at his features just a moment longer before looking at the man who called himself your brother.

“How?” your voice sounded scratchy in your ears, “How are you my twin?”

Tony’s eyes were soft as he gazed at you, everyone else turned to him, waiting for the explanation.

“When I was young,” He began, taking a seat on the floor in front of you, “my parents told me that I was not meant to be an only child. I had a twin, a sister. My mother’s labor was long and arduous, we were not positioned in the best way for an easy birth. When I came out I was slightly blue, apparently, I wasn’t getting enough air while being born. The nurses took care of me, making sure that I suffered no lasting damage. When my sister was born, there was no crying, no sign of life. Mother said that the nurse seemed to be acting strange about it but that she was too medicated to do anything. The nurse pronounced the baby dead and took her from the room. My parents never saw her again, and they never truly recovered from it. When they first told me about it I thought nothing of it, but as I got older something about the story started to bug me.” He stood up at that, beginning to pace across the room,

“ I began to look into it, I searched for the records of my birth and found the hospital and the name of the nurse that had been in the room. I discovered that shortly after my birth she was found dead in an alley, a single gunshot wound to the head. That obviously piqued my curiosity and I searched deeper. I finally found that she had been given a large sum of money days prior to my birth. She was paid to steal one of Howard Starks’ babies. I found the proof in the police reports, they cataloged anything suspicious or strange at the nurse’s house. Specifically a note, she had written the day before she was killed, she said that she was sorry and that she had been forced. She didn’t give a name but in the corner, she drew an octopus.” He stopped, letting the information soak in. His body in front of your spot on the floor. Wide eyes looked up at him, your mouth parted in shock, realization flooding over you

“Hydra,” the name came from your lips little more than a breath. “Hydra paid her to steal me from my family.” Tony nodded slowly face solemn. “I could have been normal, I could have been raised by someone who loved me. My whole life is a lie.”

Anger and confusion began to bubble in your veins, thoughts of how much different your life could have been. Your fists clenching as the man you had called father flashed before your eyes. You stood quickly looking around at your friends, all of their eyes filled with pity save one. Bucky looked angry, pissed at the people that had done this to you. He caught your eyes and you motioned for him to follow you,

“I need a minute, I need to release some steam, or I will explode. I am going to the training room, I need to punch something and I’d rather it not be one of you.” Turning quickly you stalked to the practice rooms. Stripping out of your jacket and shoes, wrapping your hands before stepping onto the mats. Bucky mirrored your movements, knowing exactly what you needed. Stepping on the mat in front of you, he didn’t speak, he simply waited for you to make the first move. Stepping forward you struck, Buky blocking with one arm and throwing a punch with the other. Ducking you avoid his fist, bringing up your leg and kicking him in the stomach sending him back a couple of steps. And so you continued, falling into a steady rhythm, moving around each other in a violent dance. Years of training together are obvious in the knowledge you had of each other's bodies, knowing each other's weak points and yet choosing not to exploit them, at least not this time. Grabbing his arm during a punch and using your momentum to throw your legs over his shoulders you pull him to the ground in a chokehold. Both of you breathing hard as he taps out, your anger spent. You are ready to talk. Turning to leave the room, you are surprised to see Tony standing near the door watching.

“Hey,” you say, walking up to him.

“Hey, nice fighting there.” He said with a smirk.

“Yeah, well I’ve had a lot of practice,” you shrug, not knowing what else to say about it.

“Come on,” he said throwing his arm around your shoulder, “Let go talk, I know a great spot”

Tony leads you to the kitchen grabbing you water and a snack, and whiskey for himself, before leading you to the elevator. He presses a button that needs his fingerprint and you feel the elevator begin to rise. You end up on a roof terrace.

“This is my secret place, the place I go when the world and my lab get to be too much.” He gestures to the green space around you, a small couch and table in the middle surrounded by a multitude of plants. You can’t help but smile, it seems so opposite to the Tony you know to have a secret garden, and yet, it makes perfect sense. He leads you over to the couch, relaxing for a moment before speaking.

“I know that you’ve had a lot to take in today and it’s getting late but I really wanted to be able to talk with you before sleeping.” he seems nervous as he speaks as if he isn’t sure just how you will respond. To ease his nerves you give him a small smile.

“I would like that,” you state, turning on the couch so that you are facing him. “I still can’t believe that I’m your twin sister, especially considering that you’re now physically older than me. I hate that we didn’t get the chance to grow up together.” your brow furrowing as you speak, thinking about all the things that you missed out on.

“Hey,” He says softly placing his hand on yours, “it’s not your fault, and I’m just happy to get to spend time with you now, knowing that you are my sister.” Nodding, you try to swallow the lump in your throat.

“Can you forgive me?” your voice comes out as a broken whisper, “I killed our parents.” your head drops, and you feel the tears well up. “I murdered our father as he begged for our mom’s life, and at the time I felt no remorse. How could you ever forgive me? How can I ever forgive myself?” Your whole body trembled as you started to sob.

Tony pulls you into his arms holding you close as only an older brother can do, comforting you as the tears pour down your face.

“Oh little one,” his voice is soft, “How could I ever hate you? How could I not forgive you for something that you had no control over? There was nothing that you could do, the only one to blame for this is Hydra. Not you, not ever.” you pull back looking into his face, searching for any condemnation and yet finding none.

“I will admit that at first, I was furious, I couldn’t believe that someone I trusted could have done that to my parents. Then I walked away, and all I could hear was your broken voice saying that they did this to you when you were only 11. You were still a child and yet they did this to you.” He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before continuing,

“I met this kid a couple of years ago, his name is Harley, he helped me out when I needed it. I thought about how old you were when this happened and my mind saw him. How would I feel if this kid came up to me and told me the same thing that you just did? As soon as I saw him, my anger at you was gone. My anger at Hydra on the other hand is alive and well.” His lip tugged up for a moment before falling.

“You’re my sister, and I will spend the rest of my life making sure you know what it’s like to have a family that loves you.” He paused for a second before grinning, “Now about the Winter Soldier.” You smacking him lightly, chuckling through your tears.

“He’s my soulmate, so sucks for you, but he’s not going anywhere. I’ve worked too damn hard to get us free and safe to lose him now.” There was a ferocity in your voice as you spoke, Tony smiled to himself as he heard it, you had your spark back, he had been afraid that it was gone after everything that happened that day.

He raised his hands up in a placating manner,

“Alright, Alright the grizzly bear stays! Although I’m not sure how I feel about my little sister living in the same room as a boy.” The teasing sound of his voice and shit-eating grin causing you to laugh.

“Well tough, you may be my brother but that doesn’t mean you get to choose who I sleep with,” you said, grinning at the fake shock on his face at your words.

“Well I never,” His voice took on a thick fake southern accent, his hand dramatically clutching his heart, “That is no way for a young lady to speak!”

You giggled again leaning against him. You sat like that for a long while, just soaking in everything you learned today and how much your life had changed in the last two years. Stretching, you finally stood,

“I should go find Bucky,” you said looking at Tony, who was still seated. “I know he’s worried about me and we need to talk about everything.” Tony smiled,

“Well, I think I’ll just stay up here for a while and have a bit of a drink.” He raised the whiskey glass in his hand. “Let me know if you need anything and just ask Jarvis to lead you to your room if you need, it’s the same one as last time.” You nodded, giving him a small smile,

“Goodnight big brother,”

“Goodnight, little one.”

Walking into your room you were happy to see that it was mostly the same as last time, all of your stuff still on the walls. The main difference was the muscley man leaning against the headboard. His hair laid limp on his head, still wet from the shower, he must have taken. His eyes opened at the sound of you entering and he quickly stood and pulled you into a hug. You opened your mouth to speak, but stopped when you felt Bucky shake his head.

“Shh Sunflower, we don’t need to talk about it right now. You are still the same woman I fell in love with, we just know a little bit more about where you came from now.”

You smiled into his chest, heartwarming at his words. Of course, he understood, who could understand more? You thanked your lucky star that this wonderful man is your soulmate. He pulled back, quickly kissing your forehead,

“Ok doll, it’s been a day. Go on and take a hot shower, make it as long as you need, and then when you’re done we can lay down.” He gently pushed you towards the bathroom. Stepping away from his warmth you grabbed onto his hand, pulling him with you.

The heat from the water running over your shoulders caused you to sigh. You were leaning forward, forehead pressed against Bucky’s chest as he gently washed your hair. Gently massaging the knots in your shoulders, causing your eyes to shut in exhaustion. He finished helping you wash up and gently helped dry you off. The adrenaline from the day had faded, leaving you dead on your feet. Picking you up, bridal style, he walked you over to the bed and softly laid you down, turning off the lights before he finally joined you. You snuggled into his chest, basking in the feeling of his heartbeat. The last thing you heard before succumbing to sleep was bucky’s soft voice,

“Sleep my little sunflower, I’ve got you.”

#hello sunflower #winter solider fanfiction #winter solider x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky imagine #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #james buchanan barnes #james buchanan bucky barnes #soulmate #marvel imagine #avengers fanfiction #stark!reader

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smartalker · 7 years

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Magpie Bridge [2/10 - Orihime]

ENTITLED: Magpie Bridge FANDOM: Mass Effect Andromeda - Reyes/Ryder RATING: M LENGTH: 50k via 10 chapters GENRE: Romance/Sci-Fi/Drama/Humor, in that order SUMMARY: With the Kett subdued and Andromeda’s terraforming system running at full power, Kadara Port swiftly establishes itself as the trade capital of the galaxy. The city’s unique combination of affluence, corruption, and growing power inevitably earns the ire of both the Nexus, and Aya. Under tremendous pressure to disavow a known criminal’s legitimacy, Ryder once again returns to Kadara hoping to broker peace, but the Charlatan wants something very different from her… ALT SUMMARY: Two people fall in love, galaxy breaks.

Ryder was different, but in a way that was hard to explain. Rather than changing, she had become more of herself. More confident, more focused. If life could be seen as a series of blows and each strike was another opportunity to shape a person, she had sharpened. Like a blade beneath the blacksmith’s hammer, she had solidified, shook off excesses—rather than bending.

Reyes leaned out over the veranda’s railing. He was at a local favorite, a new restaurant that specialized in breading and frying the local vegetation. The establishment’s peak hours hung between midnight and dawn, the darkest time. Kadara’s vegetation naturally contained weak toxin that, when warmed correctly, could act as a psychedelic for both humans, Angara, and the Asari.

“Waiting for someone?”

Distracted, Reyes reached for his battered leaves. The waitress who’d spoken to him raised her eyebrows. He’d been squatting for nearly half an hour, and the place was overflowing. “You could say that,” Reyes conceded. “But I think it’s going to be a while.”

Annoyed, the waitress eyed him for another moment, then left. He’d have to buy a round for the house soon.

Another important change: Ryder had more freckles.

Reyes considered the aesthetics of freckles as he checked his omni-tool. Nothing. Quiet.

The street below was very dark.

“Not much of a view,” said a soft, low voice.

He glanced back over his shoulder. A petite Asari in clean, new-looking space armor was lounging at a nearby table. She had a small, smug smile, and very dark lipstick. Once she knew he’d seen her, the Asari stood, and picked her way towards him. She was very slight, almost underdeveloped. No scars. Young? Hard to tell. “So who is this person you’re waiting for?” she asked. “A woman?”

“Of course,” Reyes smiled easily. “She takes her time. But I am very good at waiting.”

She regarded him for a moment, her black eyes curving with laughter. “Forgive me. A human is never patient.”

She attacked a half-second later than he’d predicted, with monstrous, raw biotics. Her power was wild, unrefined. It blew out the balcony’s iron railing and sent the now mangled metalwork not only across the street, but through the neighboring building’s wall. If he’d been slower, he’d have been dead. There were screams as those who had avoided the balcony’s blast rushed back into the restaurant—and still more commotion from the street below. Reyes scrambled to his feet, smiling at his attacker. “I thought someone was watching me.”

The Asari was frozen, her eyes livid. She writhed ineffectively at the biotic chokehold his bodyguards had slapped upon her. The veins in her hands bulged, and receded again into her skin. She stared at him, furious, still trying to smile. “You are more important than I had realized.”

“Perhaps.”

“You met with the Pathfinder,” the Asari snapped, her voice clear, almost loud. Was she wearing a wire? Or perhaps she had an accomplice? Reyes kept his features even, careful. He’d been with Ryder only hours before. His opponents were quick. The Asari continued speaking, with that same aggressive, almost confident tone. “Has the Charlatan allied himself with the Nexus? Are they finally ready to pay attention to the problem they can’t contain?”

“I thought the Charlatan was a woman,” Reyes said mildly. His assassin sneered.

“The Angara is nothing. Don’t take us for fools. Tell the Charlatan he can wear as many faces as he wants. We will rip them away, one by one, until there is nowhere left to hide.”

“Tell her yourself!” Reyes said brightly. Her jaw locked, struggling. Reyes watched apathetically. “I always wondered, why do would someone with biotics bother with poison? Surely you can just blow yourself up. Can’t you?”

The Asari’s jaw, frozen to keep her from biting down, strained to answer him, or to end things. You could never be too careful. He kept watching her as the mental chokehold’s pressure increased, until finally, she wavered, her eyelids fluttering. Her body fell pitifully to the ground, and as Reyes searched her, he realized that her slightness was, in fact, to be expected. She was barely more than a child.

She was carrying Angaran daggers, Initiative boosters, and her armor was worth more than the average mercenary could afford, sporting some kind of stylish shield tech he hadn’t seen before. Scans showed that several of her teeth were filled with poison, but she would need to crush her molars to access it. It would be very painful.

Reyes glanced up as his two shadows slid forward, awaiting his orders. He’d chosen the twins—a pair of ancient human biotics, the sort of old women whose discretion could be matched only by their uncaring savagery. Reyes had never liked using the Asari commandos. Too flashy. “Take her back to Keema. Whoever’s sponsoring her already knows she’s been captured, we might as well make sure the Initiative knows it too. When she wakes up, see what you can get out of her.”

“If she refuses to cooperate? We kill her?” one of the old women asked.

Child murderers. Leaving little bodies in the streets. Reyes sighed. Annoying, when the child had lived longer than him. “We’ll give her to the Pathfinder. The Nexus can take her into custody.”

The old women exchanged glances. Telepathy? He would have believed it. Respectfully, one woman dipped her head, considering the young Asari. “There is a chance she may be able to divulge something unsavory to the Nexus…” she trailed off, her silence fat with meaning.

Torturer. Murderer. Sadist. Ryder’s face, when she’d seen what he did to Avitus as punishment for failing to renounce Sloane. Her face, when she’d seen him as the Charlatan, known that even the title he’d chosen for himself marked him as a liar. Her face, aging and recoiling before his eyes, her obvious and instinctive horror. The moment he had realized that there was a part of him she would never, ever be able to see without flinching.

Absently, Reyes dusted the rubble off his thighs, and turned away. “Get what you can from her. Keep her alive. Make sure she’ll never be able to tell anyone, anything. Especially not the Pathfinder.”

Decision: he liked her new freckles.

As Ryder’s party stripped out of their armor and boarded the Tempest, several heads popped around the corridor’s corners to watch. “Nice to see you’re back,” was Lexi’s greeting. It seemed innocent enough. Ryder was already afraid.

“We just stopped for a drink on the way back,” Ryder explained, her voice oddly high-pitched. She glanced hopefully at Drack and Cora, neither of whom seemed interested in covering for her.

Lexi’s arms were crossed, her spine rigid. Very slowly, and with considerably deliberation, her weight shifted to one hip. “Of course,” the doctor acknowledged. “A drink.”

Or several. Ryder grumbled, then realized that Drack had apparently mastered the art of evaporation. Her favorite Krogan was nowhere to be seen.

Lexi had privately decided that she didn’t have the energy to badger someone who regarded their internal organs as currency, and she now settled into easier targets with a sense of relative comfort. “I’m not sure where to start. Wait, yes, I do. Cora?”

Cora’s mouth actually dropped a little. She looked indignantly at Ryder. “Me? Why am I being singled out?”

“Did you even wear sunscreen?” Lexi demanded.

“Yes.” Cora said, immediately and definitively and shifty as hell.

Scans reveal she is lying, SAM pitched in.

“Sunscreen is important,” Ryder pitched in. “Very anti-cancer, that stuff. Yep.” She slunk rapidly towards the nearest escape route, and was more than a little perturbed when Lexi’s hand snagged her jacket sleeve, especially since there should have been several meters separating them. Ryder smiled nervously. “You’re pretty speedy for a Doctor.”

“Aloe vera,” Lexi barked at Cora, who was actually jogging down the hall. Casually. Casual jogging. Lexi returned her glare to Ryder. “And you.”

The Pathfinder wore sunscreen, SAM reported. Nice to know someone was on her side.

“I thought we were arresting your boyfriend,” Lexi growled. “I don’t see a detainee. SAM’s monitors show your oxytocin excretion levels all over the place!”

“I don’t think the word excretion should be allowed on this ship?” Ryder said, to the ceiling. “I also would like to point out that SAM is a traitor and this is totally an invasion of privacy? Just, you know. For the captain’s log.” Lexi was still holding/pinning her by the arm. Which was buzzing. Her arm was buzzing? For one wild moment Ryder wondered if her weird headaches had migrated, but no, it was just her omni-tool. Someone was calling.

“Ryder, you might be able to lie to me, but your body can’t. And I am telling you, as your doctor, you cannot rationally or fairly involve yourself in this mission.” Lexi insisted. Ryder groaned. Why was Lexi so smart and caring? Why couldn’t she be a practitioner of the Band-Aid cure-all methodology? Twisting the knife still deeper, Lexi’s tone softened (her arresting grip did not). “Personally, Ryder, I don’t want to see you or anyone else be hurt. I kept quiet before now because, to be blunt, I knew you wouldn’t listen to me. I also was unable to argue that someone else would be better suited to the job. But I cannot continue to sanction your behavior without, at the very least, regular psychological evaluations.”

Trapped like a rat. The psych evals weren’t bad, truthfully. Lexi was a big believer in comfort as a facilitator of intimacy, meaning she had a very nice couch.

The Pathfinder is considering stabbing a fork through her hand to avoid discussing her feelings, SAM reported. Lexi’s attention diverted.

“Left or right?”

Non-dominant.

“At least you’ve still kept some pragmatism,” Lexi acknowledged. She let go of Ryder’s arm. “Fine. Collect yourself first. But then, we talk.”

Ryder nodded furiously, almost disbelieving her good luck as Lexi turned to go. For good measure, and because she was an excellent doctor, Lexi still remembered to nag. “And for the love of the Goddess, hydrate yourself.”

“Yes. Hydration and reflection. Doing that,” Ryder noted, already checking her omni-tool. Reyes? Reyes.

Meet me tomorrow morning? Café called Tiramisu.

Hell yeah.

Keema flinched the moment she saw him. Reyes preferred to work from the shadows when he could—but there were some things that had to be done in person. And there’d been a time in his past when he’d been good—very good—at climbing in through people’s windows. Even the locked ones. Even the ones that should have been impossible to open, like the window to Keema’s private quarters. “My god,” Keema breathed. She pressed a hand to her breast, likely more for dramatic effect than shock. “There’s no need to glare.” She recovered herself, obviously stalling for time as she waltzed to her private collection of liqueurs. “Drink?”

“I told you to keep your mouth shut,” Reyes snarled. He’d meant to keep things cool. Plans changed.

Keema didn’t quite look at him. “I disagreed.”

Reyes rolled to his feet. A weird, unknown energy vibrated through his limbs. Keema poured, offered. He shook his head. “I don’t want her involved.”

“She is involved.” Keema snapped, and tossed down her shot. She smacked her lips angrily. “Don’t let your feelings get in the way of yourself. The Pathfinder is more than capable of handling herself. She’ll probably find the fake Charlatan before you can.”

Reyes ground his teeth. “Not everyone will be able to tell the difference between the good and the bad, when this fake is found.”

“So that’s it?” Keema’s face began to glow. “I don’t understand you at all.” She poured again, almost forcing the next drink on him. “You worry what she’ll think of you.”

“I worry about losing our alliance—”

“She wouldn’t dare. And you know it. You’re a nasty piece of work that likes pretending to be just rough around the edges. And she’ll find out. And she’ll hate you,” Keema laughed. “You know, I sometimes wonder. What do you tell her about yourself?”

Extremely little. Reyes pulled himself back, returned to the dark window he’d cut his way through. The cold air helped, moderately. He’d come too far to lose control like this. “I should have listened to you,” he conceded, relieved to hear his tone could pass for polite. “Your concerns are real ones.”

“If I’d known it only took a human woman to make you back down, I’d have found you one sooner,” Keema snipped. Reyes drank before answering. Whatever she’d given him was hot, and painful, and nasty.

He turned back to Keema, offering a pleasant smile. “Now who’s being petty?”

“I beg your pardon,” Keema replied.

Cold air. He could be cold. “Your decision to ask for the Pathfinder’s help was the right one. But you still made it without me. I can’t have you making those calls on your own.”

At last, Keema nodded. “I know.”

“We were both wrong. Let’s agree to put this behind us.” He thought about leaping back out the window. It seemed a little dramatic. Reyes headed for the door, adding as he left, “Do this again, and you’re done.”

Reyes was late.

Ryder slouched back against her chair, ignoring SAM’s reminder that doing so would atrophy her muscles. Reyes was late. Of course. No biggie. Except that she was the Pathfinder and how dare he keep the Pathfinder waiting. Just saying.

Kadara was sleepy in the morning. It felt cleaner. Less crowded, that was for sure, but she also could have been feeling lonely thanks to her decision to shake her team. ‘Shake her team’ meaning ‘sneak out of the Tempest,’ a thing that was generally frowned upon and, definitely, bad. Very bad. Bad Pathfinder.

Ryder rubbed her eyes, sulking. She deserved to sulk. She was good at her job and responsible and could shoot a bird out of the sky at 500 meters. Did Kadara have birds? Irrelevant. Point was: people needed to get off her back because she had this.

Suddenly, darkness. A hand, hot and very dry covering her eyes. Close enough for her eyelashes to graze. She should have been afraid. She shouldn’t have relaxed. It was a very big and very stupid problem that she relaxed. “You should take off your armor sometimes,” Reyes mused. “It’s just me.”

Ryder twisted around, pretending to glare. “Do you have some sort of problem with approaching so people can see you?”

“No, just you.”

“Why just me?”

He took his time strolling around the table, claiming his seat opposite her. Even as he pretended to pout, his face was alive with laughter, almost mocking. “You’re so good at running away from me. I don’t want to play nice anymore.”

“That’s not fair.” Ryder protested, with new guilt. Did he think she was running away? She wasn’t running away. She was doing Pathfinder things.

“Isn’t it?” he smiled, almost gently. “Don’t look so upset.”

Ryder blushed, feeling stupid. Of course he didn’t think that. He probably didn’t think of her at all. She tried for a breezy laugh. “Upset! I’m not upset. Anyway. You’re supposed to be telling me about the bad guys.”

“What’s your rush?”

“Uh,” Ryder clamped her mouth shut. She was truthfully not even sure where to begin. Her sense of duty? Professionalism? Her crew’s constant vigilance and clear dissatisfaction with the mission at hand? “Nothing. No rush.”

“Such a bad liar. I almost want to teach you.”

“Why don’t you?”

He just looked at her. Defiant, Ryder stared back. He looked tired. A little older than she remembered. What was he doing that made so worn out? Did he ever get hurt—would he even tell her if he was? Would he tell her anything?

Reyes smirked, and she shook herself free of her thoughts. “Have you eaten?”

“Is it safe?”

“Don’t be that way.” Reyes leaned back, settling himself more comfortably into his chair. “You know, I’ve been thinking about you.”

“About me? What about me?” Ryder squinted at him, suspicious.

“This time apart, has it changed things? Between us? You seem more distant.”

“Distant!” Ryder squeaked, now indignant. “We kissed!”

“No. I kissed you.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“I like it better the other way.”

“You would.” Ryder snorted, then caught herself. She was not going to spend the morning flirting. She had definitely promised herself that. Trying for neutral ground, she gestured at their surroundings. “Why this place? Come here often?”

He rocked forward, pulling his chest over the small table between them. There was a new scar on his forearm, almost startlingly white against his skin. Ryder promised herself not to ask. Watching his shoulders hunch, the way he filled the space in front of her, she struggled to accept his physicality. It was ironic, considering how much time she spent ignoring Liam as he paraded his abs across the Tempest. “It might surprise you to know that it isn’t easy to get good coffee on this space rock,” Reyes intimated. He did his usual sign language with a passing waitress, which Ryder watched jealously.

“Let me guess—you drink it black?”

“Are you out of your mind? Three spoons of sugar. I like them sweet.” He winked.

Ryder stared.

Reyes giggled. “Okay. Sorry.”

“My father would have punched you.” Their coffee arrived. Ryder drank it straight, with a poker face that was almost murderous.

“You old soldier,” Reyes continued to snicker. He leaned back, now trilling an R at her. She kicked him under the table.

“Stop giggling! And! This coffee is terrible!”

“Like I said, you’d be surprised how hard it is to get good coffee on this space rock—”

She kicked him again. “Did you seriously just call me here to drink bad coffee with me?”

“I dream of the day,” Reyes returned. He was coming down from whatever giddiness he’d felt before now, and she felt sorry for it. Ryder glanced down. Her stomach was cramping. She should have eaten something.

The moment stretched and dropped between them. Their silence shrank and made space for the noise of the world around them. Ryder let herself relax, feeling oddly at peace. Beneath the morning sun, saying nothing with a dangerous man, she drank her bad coffee and watched him wake up.

Reyes finished his drink and offered his hand to her, “Come with me?”

She thought about refusing. Or even just asking questions. Instead, she followed. She followed him down side streets, through dizzying crowds of people, into long, dark hallways. Past empty apartments and arguing peddlers. Two fire-eaters were about to brawl for a street corner, their eyes and their flames both flashing. She followed him until she realized that she was lost—so lost that it would be hard to find her way back out, even with SAM. There had been too many things to see, so much to take in. “Will you be escorting me back out of here?” she asked him, half joking. He had never let go of her hand.

Reyes stopped. “I’ll consider it. What do you think of this?”

She wasn’t sure what she was looking at. It seemed like just another of Kadara’s alleys—small, foul-smelling. There was one thing, though—it was empty. An empty path in a city swollen with people.

The street is freshly washed, SAM noted. Ryder’s fingers clenched.

“Did someone die here?” she asked. Reyes glanced at her. He had been looking at the wall. Surprised, Ryder followed his gaze.

“Yes. There was a child here,” he agreed. There was something about the wall. She could sense it. Cautiously, Ryder reached to brush the rough-cut stone with her fingers. Someone had painted this building green—but not recently. At least a year ago. She was just about to ask SAM to run a scan for a deeper analysis, when she saw it.

“It’s a face?” she asked, already knowing the answer. She reached out to touch the left eye’s image. SAM was scanning. Rather than painting or drawing the face, someone had gone into the stone itself, and cut out a rough approximation of human features. The overall effect suggested that someone had just begun to emerge through the wall, face-first. “Well, that’s creepy.”

“Isn’t it?” Reyes asked. “It took me a while to notice too. They usually use the victim’s blood to paint something ridiculous on the walls, which covers up the face. It’s only after things are washed away that you see it.”

“The others were like this too?”

Reyes sighed. “There are others. Not all. The problem is there are too many copycats. Someone’s seen the paintings but not what hides beneath them, is my guess.”

She had to tell her crew. “You have pictures of the others, right? Can you send them to me?”

“Done,” Reyes agreed. He waited for her to finish scanning, then reached her wrist. “I’ll take you back.”

She looked around once more, then followed him obediently. He glanced back at her, grinning. “Some date.”

“We have our own style.”

He laughed. “I like that.”

He’d trusted her, letting her in. She felt good. “Is that the only thing you like?”

“It’s a start,” Reyes murmured. He’d paused to touch a passing door knob—and he’d twisted—something? But with the barest push she heard a lock snap and in the next second Reyes tugged her wrist, and she was in, off the street and in his arms, while whirls of lazy dust lit the air with gold around them.

Her heart was racing. “You came prepared.”

“I am always prepared,” he pulled her more tightly against him. “Are you impressed?”

“Do you want me to be?”

“Yes,” he said, and just barely in time. Ryder lifted herself onto her toes, and pressed her mouth to his. She didn’t want to hurry. As she kissed him she peeked one eye open. He kissed her with his eyes closed. Somehow, this thrilled her. She broke away to kiss his eyelids, and beneath her mouth, they trembled.

“Silly,” he whispered.

She wanted him. She had to go back to the ship. She wanted him.

He knew it.

She pushed herself away, unsuccessfully.

“Where are you going?” Reyes asked, his mouth grazing the edge of her ear—a feeling between ticklish, and an itch. She wasn’t going to look at him. She wasn’t going to look. She looked.

“This isn’t going to work,” she hissed through tight, determined teeth. “I can’t do this right now. I snuck out while everyone was sleeping to be here, I—I said I wouldn’t do this.”

“Okay.” Reyes didn’t let go. “But do it anyway.” He pushed her hair back, rough hands on her neck, holding the base of her skull just a little too firmly. He kissed, lovingly, the extent of her throat. He bit, hard enough to make her gasp.

“Distracting me is definitely not going to work—”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.” He was pulling on her armor. No, he was barely touching it. Like a lock pick, her gear fell around her, like nothing had been standing in his way to begin with. Her shield plate, nearly banging her foot as it dropped. She didn’t even know that her arms could feel naked, but they did—they did. She couldn’t bring herself to even think about stopping him, not when it was so easy—why was it always so easy for him?

“I don’t have to prove anything to you,” Ryder protested, barely hearing herself. He had knelt, and was unthreading the straps and snaps around her legs. Her thighs, now, bared to the air. Unconsciously, she reached to touch his hair, only just grazing the side of his head with her fingertips. He looked up at her, his face now catching the sunlight, his eyes shining. He seemed, suddenly, vulnerable.

“But don’t you want to?” he asked. She couldn’t tell if he asked to tease her, or because—maybe—she was actually something he actually wanted.

“Yes,” she admitted, horrified when her voice cracked. He gazed up at her, unreadable. For too long, he said nothing. For too long, she fell without a safety net.

It was too much. Her face burning, Ryder scrambled to grab her armor, throwing it back on. “I should go,” she muttered. He watched her. She wouldn’t look at him.

“Hey,” Reyes said. Ryder paid attention to her breast plate, to sealing things as fast as possible. “Hey,” he said again.

“What?”

He handed her a missing glove. “Can I try again?”

She hated herself for falling for him. Of all people. He probably didn’t even like her that much. When he smiled at her, when she saw his uncertainty—she believed that he did. Trying to hold on to her anger, Ryder groused, “You’re not a good man.” She pulled on her glove. He pulled her to her feet. His uncertainty was gone, or hidden, or had never been there in the first place. She turned before he could kiss her goodbye.

“Would you believe me if I said that I try to be?” he asked her back.

Ryder didn’t answer.

She was going back to the ship. She really, really was. As soon as she figured out the right way to sneak onto a secured military vessel, she was in there.

Ryder huddled behind a few of the docking bay’s larger shipping containers, sweating. She was so busted. She’d been brave enough to check the messages on her omni-tool earlier. Lexi was pissed. So was Cora. So was Kallo. She hadn’t even opened the messages fully—both because she was sure the read receipts would damn her further, and because the subject lines alone were terrifying.

“It’s the truant,” Vetra said.

Ryder choked, and whirled. Definitely Vetra. Ryder couldn’t tell if the Turian was angry, or amused. Or both? Probably both. Also: everyone and their mothers were sneaking up on her these days. Everyone. This was why she didn’t do things without a sniper. “Oh, hey there Vetra,” Ryder squeaked. “I was just thinking, it’s funny, because I had SAM install all these ‘predictive combat matrices’ yesterday and then everyone started getting the jump on me.”

Vetra crossed her arms. “Ha.”

“So. I was just—”

“I honestly hope you at least got laid,” Vetra interrupted. “Because Lexi has requested a full psych eval.”

“No,” Ryder whispered. She stared hopefully up at the Turian. “You’re teasing me.”

“You are arguably a deserter.” Vetra shrugged. “No biggie.”

Ryder wilted. Vetra snorted, “Jeez Ryder, take a joke. It’s fine if you’re fine. But don’t pull that shit again. You want someone to discreetly supervise your trysts, all you gotta do is ask.”

“Ugh,” Ryder rubbed her forehead again. Seriously, ow. “You’re right. I’ll apologize. I just wanted—I thought—I don’t know.”

“You thought you had a connection.” Vetra said simply. Ryder tried not to die.

“I guess you could say that.”

“You thought that by confronting him solo, you’d somehow be able to…reach an understanding? Or something to that effect.”

Stupid stupid stupid. Ryder buried her face in her hands. “Can you maybe not tell everyone about this?”

Vetra sniggered. “Probably. For a price.”

She could only lurk behind shipping crates for so long. Sheepishly, Ryder straightened, and tried to act like she had always been striding confidently back to her ship. “It’s not like I was completely playing hooky, you know. I got some good data. I’ll have SAM upload it.”

“Good data? From Reyes?”

Ryder lifted her chin proudly. “He showed me some stuff.”

Vetra sighed, and fell in line behind Ryder as they approached the lifts back to the Tempest. “So did you know that the Collective took an assassin into custody last night? Some Asari kid with really nice armor? Ringing any bells?”

Ryder froze. “What?” she whispered.

“He didn’t tell you, huh?” Vetra crossed her arms. “Thought so.”

“It might not be what you’re thinking,” Ryder defended. She’d never felt this way before. This cold, sinking feeling. It wasn’t disappointment or anger, but something more physical—something like fear. And what was she saying, anyway? Like Reyes tickled people until they told him what he wanted to know? Come on.

“Cute,” Vetra snorted. “Almost like you’ve never seen him torture anyone before.”

“We don’t know that,” Ryder snapped. She winced. She hadn’t meant to sound angry. Vetra’s face shifted, expression cool. If Turians had eyebrows.

“Listen Ryder, I don’t have anything against the guy. It’s a rough world. A part of me thinks he’s doing what he’s gotta do, but a bigger part of me doesn’t want to see what happens when you get sucked into it. Just remember that I’m on your side here, and I’ve dealt with more crime lords than you have.”

“Right.” She felt like such an ass. Ryder closed her eyes. Migraine. Again. “I get it. I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Vetra shrugged. “Don’t look so bummed. I don’t care if you fuck him.”

Ryder ignored this. “Wait. How many crime lords have you dealt with?”

“Does it matter? They’re mostly dead.” Imperious, Vetra keyed in the shuttle request to deliver them back to the Tempest. Ryder squinted up at her.

“You know that thing where there’s like a hundred rats locked in a box together and eventually they eat each other until only the strongest one’s left?”

“Ugh,” Vetra wailed. She looked genuinely horrified. “Seriously Ryder, what the fuck? Rats? Those furry things with the little wormy tails, right?”

“I mean it’s not like I ever did it!” Ryder defended. Vetra continued to look repulsed.

“Why are humans so gross?” she moaned. She spent most of the shuttle ride sitting as far away from the Gross Human as possible.

Ryder, meanwhile, spent her time bracing herself for the Mom Coalition, and the snarky looks she’d probably have to endure from Vetra, Chief Audience Member.

Upon arriving at the Tempest, however, Ryder realized she’d made a mistake. She’d assumed Lexi wouldn’t have adapted her tactics. Vetra had already settled into a comfortable vantage point against the wall when Lexi, smiling beatifically, said only, “Oh, Ryder. Your brother’s expecting you.”

“What.” Ryder said. It was not really a question or even an accusation—more like an instinctive, deep rejection. Lexi sniffed.

“I do have the authority to notify next-of-kin in states of emergency. Like, when you go missing.”

“Oh man,” Vetra chortled. “You’re gonna get it.”

“What.” Ryder said again. This wouldn’t do. She cleared her throat. “What did you tell him?”

“Probably just that his sister’s fucking a gang leader,” Vetra whispered gleefully, then in her normal voice, “I mean you are though, right?”

Like Ryder really needed a reminder of how much she wanted to punch a hole through the wall right now. She glowered at Vetra. And Lexi. And the whole damn universe. Assholes. Her arm buzzed. She had four missed calls from Scott—meaning her upcoming conversation with him had officially reached natural disaster levels of bad.

“I hope there’s something left of me after all this,” Ryder said pointedly, now shuffling to her cabin. “I hope you’ve all picked out your new positions of authority following my death. But just remember: someone’s getting a bot downloaded into their head. No movie nights while the mourning period’s on. You’ll be sorry. You’ll all be sorry.”

“Stalling is unattractive.” Lexi snapped. Vetra nodded. Heartless bastards.

Ryder sealed the door to her cabin, walked to the middle of the room, and simply stood there. She gathered her courage. Scott was still 14 seconds younger than her and, also, had once dated three Krogan at the same time, so his opinion on her love life was PRETTY RICH IF YOU ASKED HER—!

Her omni-tool throbbed, interrupting her outrage. Reyes? Scott. Oh, god, it already was Scott. Five missed calls meant she might as well start setting up his guest room. “No, no, no, no,” Ryder whispered. “SAM, put him through. Shit.”

“Shit,” Scott echoed back at her, with venom. SAM had transferred the call to her room’s main terminal, making her brother’s (furious) expression five times life-size.

“Scott!” Ryder laughed nervously. Her brother was glaring. He glared like their mom. Why was everyone in their family so much scarier than her? “Hey! You look tan. It’s good. A good look. I mean, it suits you better than being frozen for hundreds of years. The coma thing was not awesome either. But at least it beats acne! Right?”

Shit. Shit shit shit. So Scott had clearly not forgotten being fifteen. Ryder laughed nervously, now loathing herself. “So, how are the Krogan?”

“I don’t know,” Scott said flatly. “Probably fine, since they can survive nuclear fallout.”

“Yep. Nuclear fallout. Gotta love aliens!” Ryder babbled. She looked frantically for some sort of plausible interruption: the Kett attacking, a sudden loss of gravity, a hull breach, her pet space rodent’s sudden mutation?

All very manageable problems.

“The Krogan have been aggressively expanding their territory on Elaaden by building roads and aqueducts,” Scott said coolly. “Also, shooting things.”

“The tried and the true.”

“Cut the shit,” Scott snapped, his eyebrows shooting up even as his voice lowered—an intimidation tactic he’d copied from his mother. Ryder could feel herself physically shrinking.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but the Nexus sent me here—”

“Don’t start,” Scott interrupted. The video feed of him wavered, and for one glorious second, Ryder thought she might be able to avoid The Conversation. But he was back, snarling, “Do you seriously think I’m going to hang out in a desert while my sister acts out her own Shakespearean tragedy in Andromeda’s asshole? Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Ryder coughed. “I think calling it a Shakespearean tragedy is pretty strong.”

“Is it?” Scott screeched. So the feed was definitely not flickering, as she had previously thought. That was just her brother’s rage-spit. “Because from my point of view,” Scott yelled, “I’m watching my last family member ignore procedure because she thinks playing detective for some shady-ass flyboy is more important than her life.”

Ryder squirmed as the familiar Familial Guilt began chewing up her insides. “Look, Scott—I don’t know what you’ve heard, and I get that this has you freaked out, but everything’s fine. It’s seriously fine. I’m not doing anything outside of mission protocols—I’m not, like, running off on my own—,” guilt levels were now overwhelming, Ryder swiftly changed direction, “—and anyway, I don’t think half the people here even know I’m the Pathfinder.”

The angry lines in Scott’s face grew deeper with every word she spoke. For a long moment, he was silent, only glaring at her. She could see him chew the inside of his cheek—an old habit. When he spoke next, his anger had been muffled into resolution. “You shouldn’t be there,” Scott said calmly. “And you know it. You should be with me. We should be continuing Dad’s work, our work—together. I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“It is, Scott!” Ryder burst, “Of course it’s what I want!”

Scott’s eyes narrowed. “Then wrap it up, and leave. Or I’ll come to you. You might be the Pathfinder, and maybe that means that the others can’t stop you, but you’re my sister. The Nexus can go to hell.”

“Scott—!” Ryder started to protest, but he’d already ended the call. She stared at the screen for over a minute, seething. This was too much. He wasn’t even the older twin! There was a line between concern and controlling and why did no one seem to observe that?

Without another outlet, Ryder simply shrieked. It was sharp, and loud, and none of her crew apparently thought it sounded urgent enough to warrant investigating. Ryder threw herself upright, pacing angrily. It wasn’t enough to have Aya, the Nexus, and her entire crew riding her ass for doing her job, now her baby brother was joining the fray. Great. Just great.

Ryder stormed out of her quarters, brushing past a jittery Kallo, who was lurking near the Med-Bay.

Wait.

Ryder turned around. “Did Suvi eat something?”

“She ate three!” Kallo wailed.

Ryder shrieked again.

#nakmor drack #pathfinder #sara ryder #reyes vidal #reyes/ryder #cora harper #jaal ama darav #mass effect: andromeda #suvi anwar #kallo jath #liam kosta #peebee #vetra nyx #keema dohrgun #kadara #grosscreations #ryder/reyes

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scenariosofkonoha · 7 years

Text

Pein One Shot

I wrote this last year and totally forgot about it. It’s kinda AU, but whatever. I like it, but it’s super long, but if ya got the time, I’d read it. I think I had just finished AHS Freakshow, so that was kinda the inspiration; and I also thought that the way the Akatsuki went out in the series was complete BS but that's another rant.

Never has there been a story of a god who lost his power and was forced into refuge, trying to fight for survival in the land he once reigned over with the utmost glory. Not once a tale of a new almighty being taking a grip onto the entire world, causing the old one to crumble and a new one to mold. Through the centuries, seldom has such a thought come into the minds of those who have inhabited the world. For a god to become lower than the dirt he stepped on was such an obscene notion that no one ever dared to create such a tale.

Yet this was a story that had only began to be told. A new event in the human experience was unfolding within the shadows, an omnipotent falling into the clutches of one who held more authority and power, his world being torn into pieces and scraped into a new. The world of dictatorship and struggle hadn’t stood a chance once the new rulers came, but there was no single ruler to blame. It was a democracy that was forming, a democracy that had been formed with almost no riots or turmoil, something that had never happened before.

It was nearly unbelievable how smoothly the transition was, at least in the public’s eye. By some unknown miracle, every day brought a weaker and weaker dictatorship, and then one day, it was just a god forced into refuge, and a new society ready to be formed. The people, not only of Ame, but of the world, were no longer held in the chokehold of S-ranked criminals, living in fear of what these inhuman beings could do to their pitiful lives. All had come to think that they would never live in a peaceful world again, and gave up on every creating a world of their own, yet as the evils of others perished under the hand of an invisible savior, the bravery of the world grew, prepared to take on the burden of guiding a world.

Though, for those who ruled in the dictatorship, this was not the case at all. It was not something that went over easily; it was if the Akatsuki had been struck by a plague, and day after day, a new member fell, by murder or betrayal. One day the Akatsuki was in complete power with not a single notion of failure, but then it all just came crashing down without a single catalyst. It had all happened so quickly, almost as if they all had been placed under an illusion of time as someone had meticulously planned for their downfall. Not even a second was given for them to regroup and recover, and before the god knew it, his empire had fallen.

Some thought it be fate’s actions; the wrongs being righted. Those had been the last words from the woman who had spent her entire life by the god’s side, but as he remained in that moment, he thought differently. He was wiser than those who had surrounded him and he analyzed every movement of his men, every change in his nation, every flaw in the this invisible being’s plan, and had come to a revelation. This was not work done by a soulless entity; it was work done by someone who knew not only how to control people, but how to remain hidden while the world around them fell to the flames- someone very much like him.

Pein knew who had caused his downfall, and to be honest, part of him was surprised. Though, his surprise didn’t come from the ability of the one who did this, but at the fact that they were still alive and had taken such drastic steps so many years after their fallout. The god knew exactly who was the mastermind behind it all, though it had taken too long for him to come to this realization to save himself, but that was probably part of their plan anyways. Yet, he was still prepared to face this entity, even if the tables be turned from those that had been set many years ago.

And so, Pein sat silently in the rowdy tent, a place where he would have never stepped foot in if it hadn’t been this drastic. Cheering and gasps resonated against the thick canvas of the temporary walls, bringing in a high tension, so similar and so different to the one he had always been surrounded by. All seats in the makeshift arrangement were filled by every type of person that one could think of: young, old; male, female; shinobi, villager; everyone. Pein had never truly paid attention to those who created such an atmosphere among its audience, though that was not entirely his fault. Hell, it was a circus, and it was uncommon for circuses to have anyone with capable ninja skill in the line up, let alone ones able to take out his men, but now as he sat among the commoners, searching for the one who destroyed his empire, he realized that it had been his fatal mistake.

And so, no longer adorning the red clouds upon his cloak, Pein remained stoic as he watched the center ring, eyeing the slender being who remained effortlessly suspended fifty feet in the air. Long black hair was pulled tightly into a ponytail and contrasted sharply against the snow white skin and nearly transparent grey eyes as it’s owner flipped through the air and into the arms of another trapeze. Her movements were clean and precise, a perfect model for all trapeze artists throughout the entire world, but what set her apart from those around her was the fact that she had the chakra strength and control of an elite. In between each trick, a hand seal was made, it’s stealth hidden from the majority of those who witnessed, only being noticeable by those who were looking for it.

She was cunning, slyer than the devil, and Pein was well aware of that. Every move was deliberate and expertly calculated, a clear goal her mind, even if it be hidden from the rest of the world. He was certain she was the one behind everything, the true catalyst when there was thought to be none. There was no one else who could have done so much damage to him and his society. Whether it had been by her powerful genjutsu over the people, or her prototypal time jutsus used on his Akatsuki, or even her pristine plan that brought it all together, this was the girl who had caused a god to fall.

So, continuing to watch her as she defied death, Pein remained patient, waiting for the key moment that the show was over and he could approach her. He didn’t want to fight her- she had already won and he had accepted that, but he was curious to why she would have done such a thing, especially to the one who had saved her life nearly two decades ago. Twenty years ago, she was nothing but a starving child who hadn’t any idea on how to used the power that she possessed, but now, she was almost controlling the world like a doll.

She could have been one of Pein’s strongest tools in controlling the world…

But he made the mistake of underestimating her too early, and throwing out the one who was destined to be the strongest out of all his Akatsuki...

*****

Landing ever so gently on the ground, you smiled and bowed to the audience, not prideful of the tricks and flips you had completed, but of the genjutsu you had successfully placed on each and every soul in the audience, trapping their minds in a fake reality that would soon become truth. You heard the cheers and yells from every being in the tent, all riled from the finale of the show and now under your spell that would allow them the strength to continue to build their new world. You were proud of your feat, using something that seemed so evil to be used to for good, a rarity in the old world.

You took a glance over to the ringmaster, your partner in rebuilding this world, as he held his hand out to, motioning you to join him as he ended the show. Slowly, you made your way over to him, placing your hand in his, and raising it above both your heads while the rest of the circus circled around the ring. He gave a quick wink at you, fully aware that another performance, and another jutsu had been completed successfully, before he started to speak to the audience, “And we thank each and every one of you for coming to our show tonight, being witness to our tricks and charms, and truly being an audience we are not worthy of performing in front of, though we are more than happy to. I, along with my circus, are proud that you all have made us the most successful circus in the world, even in the midst of a revolution. You all are a people worthy of everything and we are merely here to lift away your worry of the every day, and I hope that is something we have accomplished by our feats of tonight.” he finished out the first part of your conclusion, looking over to you, his star in the whole circus.

Giving a smile that displayed every ounce of pride that ran through your being, you looked around at the massive crowd, all still cheering with their new found courage. Taking a deep breath, you finished everything out, sealing the deal, and making sure that you genjutsu was fully placed. It may have been a simple trick, but a little extra strength and the notion that they could do anything was going to give the people of Ame what they needed to finalize their revolution, though the hard part had already been done the second that the Akatsuki fell. “And so, let us all go out without any worry and with the awe of human ability, and create a tomorrow where we are proud of the land we live in! Let us all join together with the strength and courage that each and every one of us display right now and prove the world that we are not just a small nation suffering under a dystopian dictatorship, that we have banished the wrongful rulers, and that we are all ready to join with the other nations to create a utopia where all live in peace and equality!” you proclaimed, a leader rising.

The crowd erupted, cheering and proclaiming words that matched your own, only proving that they were ready to go into the word under your spell, ready to finish out the final steps of creation of a new world. Seeing this, you gave a quick smirk over to your partner who looked equally as prideful as if he were ready to set these people off into the world. So with this silent affirmation, you gave the final statement of the night, “Again, we thank you for coming to us tonight, and though we may not return for many days, we will all meet again! Thank you!” you called out, a final set of cheering following.

And with your final announcement, the curtains around the center ring fell, separating you from the audience. The moment this was done, you saw a change in the people around you. A calmer atmosphere came upon the other circus members, all partially tired from the long nights and the seven shows they had done back to back to back in the last three days. As this calmness came upon them as they began to head back to their tents and trailers, a tenseness came and clenched onto your partner as he let go of your hand and instead circled his arm around your slender waist. “I need to speak with you,” he calmly whispered to you, beginning to lead you out of the ring and into the back.

Slightly sighing, you just nodded, already having some idea of what he was tense about. You should have figured that an old friend of yours would have made an appearance at one of your performances this weekend, and that was something that would have put the ringleader on edge. Though this was something that he should have expected, you were on what used to be his territory, and it used to be almost off limits to you, but that was when he held the power. Now you held the power, but still, he was not one who was going to back down, so it didn’t truly surprise that he came around here, but still you were going to listen to what the ringleader had to say.

Gently guiding you through the back of the tent, he started to walk you to where the main trailers, a place where only the best of the circus resided and where he could find privacy with you. In a near whisper, he avoided the minor members, trying to keep the main point of his circus hidden from anyone besides those who needed to know. “There was someone odd in the audience…” the ringleader stated firmly as the pair of you walked through the various tents and trailers, already well aware of the fact of who it was.

“I know,” you stated, your lips in a tight line, simply because of the history you shared with this person. It wasn’t the nicest story, and it sure wasn’t the cleanest break. It was a history that had too much in all honesty; there was too much reliance, too much weakness, too many mistakes, too many unattended things. It was a pure mess; it was twenty years ago and it was tonight, and that was something that was never going to change. Each of you had seen each other go through pain, power, betrayal, and every other human experience, but instead of making the two of you stronger, it made your relationship weaker, and with the way everything ended, you didn’t know how the moment when you two met again was going to play out.

Stepping into a small trailer that belonged to him, the young man helped you into the safe haven, not wishing to speak of the matter until walls surrounded you. There were few things in this world that caused a worry in the young circus master, but when all his dreams and achievements could be hanging in the balance within mere hours, he become more than cautious. Almost instantly closing and locking the door behind the pair of you as you entered the humble home, the ringleader narrowed his eyes at you, even more unsure of what was going to happen in the near future than you were. “Y/N, why is he here?” the twenty six year old questioned you bluntly.

You simply shrugged as you walked past him and over to the small mirror that you spent a great deal of time at every day. Inspecting your now smudged and faded makeup, you really didn’t give your partner a true answer. “Kazuki, just calm down.” you offered up softly as you took up a cloth and began to wipe away the white and blue makeup that you had spent an hour putting on earlier in the day. Gingerly erasing the lines on your face, you glanced at the tense man behind you, wanting nothing more than for his worry to be gone; he was your closest companion, and for him to be in stress caused you to be in stress. “There’s nothing he can do to us. We’ve already won, and he knows that.” you stated confidently, having the utmost faith in your plans.

Still, this did not ease the brunette and he did nothing, but shake his head at you, “Y/N…” he muttered before picking up a cigarette and lighting it, trying to calm the uneasiness in his being. Normally he was one of the most confident people you could come across, but there was something about this situation that caused him to almost crumble. Blowing a line straight into the air, he shifted his focus back to you. “Y/N. You know that he will try to change your mind, or at least use your power for himself. I don’t care if we’ve already won and how far we’ve come; he’s done it before, and he will try to do it again. I know you’re strong, but there was a time where he was in the exact same position as you are now…” Kazuki stated, an obvious tension saturating his voice.

Slightly frowning at this tension, you sighed before turning around to face him, dismayed by his lack of faith. “And you need to remember who was the one who spent over a decade with this man. I know who he is and what he is capable of, and the second he lost control of the people, he became nothing. You cannot rule without having a nation behind you.” Now, you weren’t necessarily bothered that he doubted either of you, but it was something that you were not going to allow to continue, and so, standing up, you paced over to the opposite side of the trailer. Reaching him and gently taking the cigarette away from him, you gave a small nod, “Why do you worry so? You trust me, right? Have we ever failed together?” you questioned, looking for answers that were to never be spoken. Then, placing a soft hand upon his cheek, you gave him a statement, that needn't any further explanation. “Kazuki, I know you see him as a threat, but have faith in what we’ve created. It’ll always be me and you, and it’s even though it’s never been easy, we’ve always come through and succeeded, like we will now. Let this be. I will handle it, and you do not have to worry, and in the morning, all will be right.” you offered, words of purity rolling off your lips.

Looking down for a small moment, the young ringmaster stared into those nearly transparent eyes that seemed to see nothing, but the utopian future that lie ahead, and he realized that you did in fact have the world hanging on a string. He was staring at the previous god’s most beautiful and cunning angel, the one that the god cast aside foolishly and damned, but now had the world in her delicate hands. You were the maverick of their time, and Kazuki had the faith that you would remain this maverick and continue to right all the wrongs of the god before; there was too much tension between you and the god and there was too much desire to fix the world for you to fail at this point. Yes, Kazuki was well aware of your history, and your history with the pervious god, but his love with you was based upon broken bones and promises, and that was something that no one else could say. And so, he nodded and kissed the top of your head. “Ok, you take care him, but I am cursing the grounds until the sun rises.” the young man whispered before giving one last comment.

“I will not allow him to commit the same evil we committed…”

*****

Leaning against the trailer of a performer who had left the circus long ago, you rested your head against the metal wall, your eyes closed and your being simply feeling the atmosphere that surrounded you. A mixture of a heavy fog and the smoke from both cigarettes and bonfires filled the air, creating an expertly designed disguise for any who snuck around the camp this late at night, something that was a constant among your people. Whether they be sneaking around to a lover, or committing a deed not be spoken of, it was common practice for circus folk to have mastered the art. Hell, you, yourself mastered the art years ago, and still constantly used it to this day; you wouldn’t have had the world in your hands if you didn’t.

Still, for the most part, the hardest part of your scheme was over; the Akatsuki was destroyed, the lord had fallen, the people were empowered. The new world was already being created by those who deserved to create it, and so you would have retired back into a trailer hours ago, at peace at what was happening while you rested your weary body. You had done your work as the warrior who would bring the world to the new Eden and save the people from both the work of a dictator and themselves, and you were ready for them to grow on their own without you controlling everything, but with the events that were transpire tonight, you were forced to remain a constant presence in the camp.

There was part of you that wished this night would have never had happened, that you would never have had to face this man again, yet there was a small part of you that both knew better and secretly wished for him to see you like this- in power and the savior of the world even if you were not going to play such a large part anymore. You wanted him to see what he gave up on, how far you had succeeded and prospered in life, but you knew that this would not be a sweet moment that fast approaching. The pervious god that you used to have so much faith in was not someone who would go down without a fight, and would certainly not cease trying to control the world until every option was no longer available. You could remember your days with him like a child remembers a vivid nightmare, but in a sense that was what you were in those years; a poor helpless child who didn’t know her possibilities and didn’t know the world around her, at least until he came and saved you.

He took you in as that poor child, seeing endless possibilities, yet you were so young and so damaged at the time that he couldn’t use your skills to his needs, but he still kept you. An eighteen year old took in an eight year old, at first seeing it has nothing more than saving an innocent who had been terrorized by the same war he had been terrorized by, but as time went on and the original soul of the leader died, the outlook on you change. All of a sudden, that weak and starving eight year old was a twelve year old who was stronger and smarter than the original creators of the Akatsuki were at that age. You had grown and fought just to live and make sure that you were noticed, yet as you were getting stronger and more valuable, the Akatsuki in itself changed. All of a sudden, everyone was gone, save for two, and that blessed leader who had saved you long ago had the soul of another. New members were brought in; a man who had many hearts and a man who had none; a teen no older than you who had been the end of his name and a teen who who was going to make sure his name was known. They were foreign and forced you to resign to the new leader’s side, simply because you were not yet powerful enough to stand next to them, yet you were able enough to remain a trademark of the leader himself.

Almost six more years passed with you by the lord’s side, and you were no longer a child of innocence, but a woman of cunning lies and powerful tricks, though there was something odd about you that seemed so ironic to the god. It was as if you were the devil, able to charm and lure whoever you pleased, but you wanted nothing more than peace for the world around you; you had the power of evil, but the heart of good. You had become such a person that the pervious soul of the leader and the one whose soul occupied the body would have wished to spend an entity with, though that was something that was never meant to be; the fates were too cruel to create happy endings in the world.

Yes, you had become the companion to the god as he tried to make the evil in the world vanish, though as the days blurred into months and the months blurred into years, something changed in your fate. There was a point in time where you would have never left the god’s side, never letting him go and always leading him to his goal, no matter what the consequences to you. You would have given everything for that man: your soul, the heart of another, the ashes of Eden, it all could have been his with a single request to you, but then something changed in the bond between you two. To this day you did not know whether or not you came to this realization, because you yourself had grown to see the evils he had committed, or because the evils he had committed had caused you to grow. Truthfully that didn’t matter, simply because you realized that his idea of peace was nothing close your idea of peace.

Still even though you realized this, you tried to reason with him, become the conscious that he didn’t have, yet that was probably the worst mistake you ever made with that man. The second he saw doubt in you, he saw weakness. His most beautiful and cunning angel was about to fall to the ground and cause a living hell for him, so he did want every god in their right mind would do: he damned you before you could do any damage. Pein sent you out of a mission that he knew would kill you, or at least thought would kill you.

You remember the mission very clearly, the trap that was set to kill you before you could do any damage to the blessed man and his prophecy. Truthfully, it was an overly simple assault, something that almost insulted you, because you were far more intellectual than what this plan called for, but the brute strength behind it was what made it nearly impossible for you to escape. He took his own men, shinobi who had grown to know you and listen to your orders, to murder you because of your divergence from his orders. And with a the simple instruction from the dictator, that is what they did, and to be completely honest, they almost succeeded. They beat you till you were barely breathing and nearly at the end of your life, but you were god’s most beautiful angel, and even if you had fallen you were still one of the strongest and you were not going to allow this to be the end of your life. The world needed a catalyst to bring Pein down and rebuild itself on its own without living in fear of an omnipotent being ready to strike them down at any second, and you were going to be that catalyst.

That night was the first time you successfully completely a time jutsu, being able to stop time and slip away from those who used to be your allies. Yes, you were on the brink of death and the whole jutsu was sloppy and nearly killed you due to chakra depletion, but you had completed a jutsu that wasn’t even accepted as a possible jutsu in the normal world yet, and that had brought you into the arms of one who would become the backbone of your life. Pein had underestimated you that night, and that was his fatal mistake. It was his mistake to turn his own men on you; it was his mistake that caused you to use that jutsu; it was his mistake that brought you to Kazuki. You would have never met the young and confident man who was ready to take on the world if it hadn’t been for Pein crossing you; you wouldn’t have had the world in the palm of your hands if he hadn’t damned you…

And so, you remained leaning against the trailer, silently recalling the events of the past as you felt the heavy presence of the man who you used to worship come into range. There was a slight variance in the chakra you sensed, but that was most likely caused by the lack of power that the god now had and the trails that he now faced. Just as you were, he was now alone in this world, no one alive anymore who would support him. The tables were turned, but for some reason, you did not wish to see one who used to have such respect from you in such a weak state, though that wish was something was not going to be even heard, for within seconds, that undeniable voice sounded through the smog.

“There was once a time where I would have never thought that you were capable of doing so much damage so discretely, especially to one who saved you from death.” a voice stated monotonically, it’s owner coming into view slowly. Now, you weren’t surprised that he made it into the back section of the circus; it wasn’t too hard in all honesty. People came and went, whether the be children wanting a look at the animals or lovers leaving their marks on another, the back of the circus was something that was not hard to get into as long as Kazuki allowed it to be. It was his decision whether or not to allow others to enter or leave the camp, and if he decided against it, then he would curse the camp, not allowing anyone to enter or leave until daybreak, or they would suffer under his hand until death. It may have been a harsh fate, but unforgiving measures must be taken during a revolutions, and the current curse on the grounds could possibly be it for the fallen god.

Glancing over to him, you stayed stoic as you looked to him with the same eyes that looked to your assassins. Cooly, your words came out like you didn’t even have to think, “And there was once a time where I believed in the same future you did, but obviously the years have changed the both of us, for now I am more capable than you ever thought and the future that is unfolding in front of us is the one that I saw, not the one you tried to force.” you commented, bringing many truths out into the open with a single phrase.

“Y/N.” he answered, his tone acting as if he didn’t believe what you were saying.

“What?” you replied, not letting any time slip away from you. The quicker that this confrontation was over, the better, though there were other thoughts in the fallen god’s mind.

For a moment, he just stared at you, analyzing your appearance and presence, seeing how you had grown and changed as a person, but to be brutally honest, there wasn’t much that he had to analyze. Yes, you were no longer teenager, it had been almost nine years since you had lost that title, but your presence and the way you carried yourself hadn’t changed in the slightest; the only difference in today’s instance was that you led with another and not him. You still had that faith and justice and morality that he had seen the day that Yahiko came back to the hideout, a small child clutching on to him for dear life. A tiny child who could barely even remember where she came from had more integrity than the entirety of fallen leader’s army, and to this day, the soul who occupied the body of the one who saved that child could barely understand it.

Though, there was a lot Pein didn’t understand about the moment, or even about you, so he simply asked one of the first questions that he ever thought of when he realized that it was you behind it all. “How did you even survive? There was absolutely no way that you could have survived an ambush from that team, not with their physical strength against yours.” he questioned, beginning right off where his demised started.

Pushing yourself off of the trailer, so that you stood up straight and were now full facing the Rinnegan user, you shook your head, almost in disbelief about his naivety. “Physical strength is not everything in this world, and you know that; you just thought at the time that I wouldn’t be able to overpower that lot and that they would succeed with their mission. At that point, I knew you had doubt in me, and I knew that you had stopped paying as much attention to me as you had in the past, and that was probably the worst mistake you made. My genjutsu rivaled Itachi Uchiha’s and I had been dealing with time and space jutsus, and that was something you didn’t know. There were times where you just looked at me like I was nothing more than an ornament to a god’s side, but in reality, I was your devil. I was the one who was so close to you that you didn’t see the extreme differences between the two of us until it was too late, and then you simply casted me away in defense, not even trying to work with me. You didn’t know what I was capable of at that time, and that was what allowed me to survive.” you offered up the truth, knowing that this was probably the last time that you would ever see this man, and that he at least deserved the truth.

“They said you were bleeding to death; that you had taken so many fatal hits that there was absolutely no way to survive.”

Hearing this, you simply scoffed, “You don’t understand time and space jutsus do you? I was able to bend time, able to stop them and get myself out of there. Yes, I was bleeding to death, but history repeats itself, Pein. Just as Yahiko found me dying in the rain, Kazuki found me and saved me.” you offered up, bringing your closest companion into the story now. “I’ve been with him ever since, and with him, we brought down your Akatsuki and rebuilt a world that was stuck in the terror you placed it in.”

Already knowing much about this man, Pein just nodded, adding comments about the young ring leader. “He’s a healer and a master genjutsu user. He’s just like you; sly and cunning, able to convince anyone of anything. He was the one who convinced Itachi to leave the Akatsuki and Deidara to return to being a sole terrorist.” Pein stated, bringing up the end of two of his main members.

You just nodded, “Together, we either killed those in the Akatsuki, or convinced them to leave. We committed evils to get rid of the evils, and then once those evils were finished, we began to charm the people into the realization that they did not need you, and that they could lead a nation by themselves. We used evil to create good, and we have succeed. We had wills that wanted nothing but peace, not the lie of peace that was truly nothing more an a dictatorship.” You answered.

“You killed Konan.”

“Yes, I alone killed her. Kazuki had nothing to do with that. She was the last pillar to you, and that was something that we needed to get rid of.”

Again, he just looked at you, this time not necessarily looking for answers. Hearing the heartless tone in your voice as you spoke of the murder of the woman who had be an ally to you for so many years made Pein realize that he had truly lost you. You had moved onto a future where you led and guided those to a life in which was best for them, not what was best for him. You had turned his Eden into nothing more than ashes, and you didn’t even care about his well being. You had left him and belonged to another now, and not only did you succeed with the other, you acted as if you were meant to stay with him. And so, he made one of the final comments that you would ever hear from him. “You used to be so faithful…”

“Pein…” you frowned slightly, still slightly unwilling to tell him the truth that he should have realized long ago as you heard his comment. Slightly pursing your lips, you slowly shook your head as you stated something from decades ago, “I was always faithful to you. I would have done anything for you, anything at all. You just had to say the word and I would have had it done. Yahiko saved me from the Hell I was living, and I owed him my life, and so when he died, I owed his legacy and dreams my life. Yahiko and I believed in a lot of the same things, and you never realized how much I relied on him when I was a child. I owe him everything I am today, and I doubt you and Konan really saw the struggle it put me through after he died. Yes, you two were close to him, yet the bond I shared with him was something that differed greatly from your’s and Konan’s. I dedicated myself to his dream, just as you did, and in the beginning we shared the same dream, but as things went on and others came into the picture, your dream started to shift and you gave in to those who wanted something far different than from what Yahiko wanted. Pein, I stayed faithful to Yahiko. This is was what Yahiko wanted. I never strayed from my faith.” you proclaimed gently, bringing the truth out into the musky night.

And after that, the god said nothing at all.

Knowing that you were in your final moments with him, you gave a final saying. “Pein, there are no gods in this world. Heaven and Hell do not exist in this land, and they will no longer, because we have discarded the idea of an almighty dictator. The people of this nation need to be alone and create the society and world that they desire, without any help from beings like us. They know the turmoil and suffering they have felt through the decades of endless wars, and now they are beginning to lift those pains and make their lives into something worth living, which was what I planned for. I did not bring down your empire because of revenge and hatred; I brought down your empire to live out a dream that you abandoned years ago; the dream Yahiko lived and died for.” you offered out, slight pain in your being as you remember the young man who had treasured you so.

Still, silence came from the being in front of you.

So, knowing that there wasn’t much to be said, you crossed your arms and gave a nod to him, no longer speaking to the body, but the soul who controlled it. “Nagato, realize that I will always look at Yahiko in a light that has eternal glory, but I cannot stand by someone who allowed that hope of peace to fall out of their hands and be molded by evils who want nothing, but selfish desires. I created Yahiko’s promise land, even it meant destroying what you created…” you trailed off, you eyes falling away from those who shared the Rinnegan, knowing that your departure was coming. “Wait till dawn, and then go.” you whispered softly before those transparent eyes gave the fallen one last look, “Save yourself, Nagato. It’s over; the Akatsuki has fallen. Please, it’s time to put Yahiko to rest and finally live in the peace that he wanted, it’s least you can do…” you gingerly offered before turning around and beginning to walk away from him, your final ties with the Akatsuki being severed…

You may have been the devil to the Akatsuki, but to the new world, you were their most beautiful angel, the one who saved them from themselves and allowed them to build a world very much like the one a young leader dreamed of years ago. You had done what your savior wanted, and you knew deep down that Yahiko would have praised that young child he had found lying on the side of the road, and with that, you were finally able to rest…

#this is long #ugh #what do you guys think #i want feedback on this #yahiko #nagato #pein #akatsuki #naruto writing

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