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#would he go numb? would he go crazy? would he give up on superheroing all together?
introspectivememories · 3 months
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multiple fears actually
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safyresky · 1 year
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Shadowy Snippets: In Which Charlie Helps Jacqueline Realize she is the DUMBEST BITCH ALIVE
aka, the moment Jacqueline FINALLY realizes she has a big old crush on Dite 🙃. This one scene has gone through 4 different iterations, and I'm unsure how similar it will be to this most current version in the final draft of Into the Shadows, but figured y'all may enjoy it ;)
It's also a wee bit of an apology for uh. Not having Chapter 5 of Crystal Springs up last week like I had PLANNED! Idk what happened last week? It was BUSY and then EASTER?! HELLO?! I'm getting married in a MONTH. I may explode. Holy hell.
anyway, tldr: got busy last week, felt bad about not posting CS for y'all, decided to share this shadowy snippet as an apology. Will have CS 5 up this week, and maybe even CS 23! We shall see! Enjoy! :3
OH PS: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR INTO THE SHADOWS! If this scene stays, it'd be in like. Chapters 20-30 🙃
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Charlie had never fallen down a giant hole before, nor had he ever planned to. And he certainly hadn't planned on being chased down the hole by a giant boulder. It looked way cooler in Indiana Jones, and also way safer since he. Y'know. Was running on land and not free falling down a GIANT HOLE in an ABANDONED CASTLE.
Thankfully, Charlie had something Indy didn't: an actual Legend.
Jacqueline had managed to turn around in her descent, so she was staring up at the boulder that was fast approaching them. She glanced back down, and stuck her left hand below her and her right hand above them. Both hands turned blue, and suddenly there was a whiteout. Charlie couldn’t see anything, but he could hear a crazy amount of ice cracking all around them. He could feel the cold wind and the pellets of snow hitting his face.
Well, at least when they splattered he'd be too numb to feel pain for long, he thought. That had been nice of her.
But there was no splat.
There was a soft poof, and a Charlie shaped fluffy white cloud of snow shot up around him, drifting in the air before settling on him. Jacqueline superhero landed beside him, a look of concentration so intense on her face that Charlie didn't dare imagine what would happen if he distracted her, but then again, maybe he wouldn't be able to distract her at all. She was in the zone!
The moment she hit the snow pile, her left hand shot forwards, and all of her effort and energy was focused on the icy tornado above them. There was a grating sound, louder than the crackling, and finally a definite, large THUNK.
Jacqueline still focused above them, until Charlie could see a very thick, blue, dome-like ceiling had taken form. Jacqueline brought both her hands down, and hit the floor. Multiple thick columns popped up around them, and a huge one directly in the centre of the surprisingly large space they had landed in.
"Thank the GODDESS the ground was SOLID," Jacqueline said, as the ice chips settled.
"Were you expecting pointy spiky rocks?"
"One hundred percent. How could you not, with the hole and the boulder—"
"And there was a severe lack of snakes," Charlie said.
Jacqueline laughed. "What is this, Indiana Jones?"
"Dude," Charlie said, getting up and shaking the snow off of him. "This was way cooler! Did you see what you just did? That was amazing! Oh my god! The snow!" he said, gesturing to the pile behind him as he shook a clump off of his boot. "And the dome!" he added, gesturing upwards now. "And that two-tone magic there? That's cool as heck," he said, pointing at Jacqueline's still frosty hands. "Do I get some cool two-tone magic too? Is it going to be red and green? I mean, that would check out because Christmas colours but like they're not my favourites—"
"Two-tone what now?" Jacqueline looked down at her hands, and did the last thing Charlie expected her to do.
She shot up, squealed, and started shaking her right hand, as if to fling the dark blue magic off.
"Woah, woah Jacquie! Hey, calm down! You can just poof us out of here, yeah?"
"Yeah, easily, just, give me a second here. Shoo! Be gone! ARGH!" she yelled, shaking her hand until the dark blue finally subsided.
"No two-tone magic for me then?"
Jacqueline sighed, plunked down in the snow, panting. "You better hope not," She said between breaths. "The only reason it's two tone is because half of it isn't my magic. It's Jack's." she ran her hands through her hair and frowned. "And it's getting bad."
Charlie frowned, brushing errant snowflakes off of him. He stepped forwards until he was in front of the sprite, who was still catching her breath. "Must be scary to have that much magic, huh?"
"A little bit, yeah. My roots haven't thawed in weeks, and I have a really nice hair colour."
Charlie laughed.
"No, seriously! Stop laughing! It's dark brown, right? But it also looks black. BUT. Sometimes, when the sun hits the ends juuuust right, it looks reddish. I don't wanna kill my roots, you know?"
Charlie sighed. "I don’t think this is just about your hair, Jacquie."
"It's not. Us Frosts cope with humour as best as we can," Jacqueline said with a soft smile, bringing her knees up to her chest.
"Mind if I join you?"
"Sure, snow's all nice and cold."
Charlie sat beside her, catching his breath. "Coping, huh?"
"Mhmm." Jacqueline replied, running her hands through her hair. "Having two essences is like. It's a LOT. It's hard. Especially when one is double your age. And Legendary. Not that I'm not, but like. It's different."
"No, I get it. Status versus like, title, right?"
"Yeah, exactly," Jacqueline said, sighing and leaning back in the snow. "Anyway. Magical essences are a huge part of a magibean's whole being and identity. And even though Legends and their Legates can literally share their essences with one another, and ours were able to give us theirs to keep safe," she said, summoning the blue magic again, "they aren't ours. And they're kind of squishing us."
"Squishing?"
"Yeah. The longer we hold onto our Legendary counterpart's essences, the more dominant their essence becomes, the less dominant ours is. We're powerful little fucks, but our Legends? Even more so than us. So our essences are slowly getting squashed. It's why Dite's been grumpy lately, for instance."
"You've all been taking on traits from your Legends," Charlie realized.
"Yeah. And for some of us there's a few nasty side effects," Jacqueline said with a sigh, closing her fist and dismissing the dark blue magic. "See: my roots. I freeze dry, right? It keeps the hair out of my face and cuts static down which is great because I get really zappy sometimes! But it never stays for me."
"Why not?"
"I can't permafrost. Mom thinks it's a side effect of global warming. Dad thinks it's heat sprite lineage. But you see these roots? See how they're crispy white? And icy?"
"Yeah."
"I'm not doing that. I'm waking up like this every day! It's not going away," she said pushing herself forward and huffing. "I think that having Jack's essence is freezing me a bit."
"You mean like, freezing you freezing? Like, like your brother was?"
Jacqueline nodded. "I've been feeling a lot angrier lately, and sure, I'm angry sometimes, but levels like this? I haven't seen it since I—" she looked startled; she glanced at Charlie, mouth still open to speak though she was silent. She snapped her jaw shut and hugged her knees, burying her face in them.
"Oh, shit. Hey, Jacqueline, it's okay," Charlie said, throwing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her in for a side hug. Though she kept an iron grip around her legs, she didn't stop Charlie from pulling her in. "You won't freeze. You never have," Charlie said.
"That's the thing, Charlie!" Jacqueline exclaimed, head shooting up. "I keep saying that, and everyone thinks that but it's not—it's not true!"
She inhaled, looking up at the sparkling icy ceiling above them. "Do you know why I managed to fend off the shadows, when they took your Dad, for as long as I did?"
"I assumed it was because you were a badass."
"Awwh, thank you! That's-that's sweet! I am, aren't I?" She said with a smile, holding her head in her hands and staring at her friend.
"I'll say. I saw you kick through that cloud of fear like it was nothing."
"Because it was nothing," she said. Sighing, she let go of her head, hugging her knees once again. "When they descended on me, they showed me my worst fear. It was me. Frozen."
"That's your worst fear?"
"It was. But the thing is, as I stood there and saw myself, you know, cold, no warm flush, angry beyond belief, I realized that I wasn't afraid of myself anymore."
"How come?"
"Because the image it showed me? Was straight out of Frostmas. I had already lived it. And I survived it. I wasn't afraid of frozie Jacqueline anymore. I had been her."
"And then you punched fear right in the face!" Charlie said with a very excitable mimed punch.
Jacqueline laughed, though it sounded watery. "I sure fucking did. And lasted for a bit longer. But then he came."
"The Boogie Man."
"King of Darkness. Erebus," Jacqueline corrected. "And he found my new fear, and. Well. It worked. I couldn't break out of it that time. I don't know what your Dad did, but whatever it was? I think it saved B-Man and I."
Charlie frowned, doing some fast thinking. "Wait. If you lived that fear already, does that mean that you have been frozen?"
"When Jack used the Escape Clause on your Dad, he created an alternate timeline where he was Santa."
"Which would make you Jack Frost."
Jacqueline nodded. "But because of the Legend-Legate connection, I still remembered the proper timeline. And I grew so obsessed with fixing it and proving that Jack wasn't actually supposed to be Santa, that I accidentally froze myself in the process. And when the timeline was fixed, I came back frozen. But not for long. Your sister thawed my brother. And the shock of that, the power of that was so strong that I felt it to, and it thawed me as well."
"Lucy's a powerhouse!"
Jacqueline laughed. "Yes, and I can never thank her enough. I've never told anyone this, Charlie," she said, looking back at him now.
"But you still have your flawless record. The timeline never happened, right? So technically, you never actually froze."
"That's the thing. It never happened. But my brother and I still remember it like it did. And when I came back from that timeline, I came back…frozen," she said, hiding her face once again.
"It's okay. It happens to sprites from time to time, doesn't it?"
"It can," said Jacqueline, lifting her head a bit. "But that's not the point. The point is, here I am, priding myself on being the one existing winter sprite that didn't have a nasty case of hardened heart, ever, at ALL, but that's a LIE, Charlie. I…lied. And I was terrified of what would happen if my friends found out."
"I don't think a single one of your friends wouldn't be supportive," Charlie said.
"I'd like to think that, too! But that what if is really strong, Charles."
He laughed. "I hate that you call me that."
"And I love that you hate it. I live to bother," she said, seriously.
"You know, I got that vibe. I think that's the middle child talking," Charlie said with a grin.
Jacqueline laughed, exhaling. "When Erebus rammed into me, that's what I saw. I saw B-Man and Elle being absolutely disgusted that I had frozen. Elle stopped being friends with me. My family kept me at arms length; the Twins were scared as could be. And DITE! Ugh that one hurt the most, Charlie. She was crying," Jacqueline said, with the saddest face Charlie had ever seen on the sprite. "Because of me. Because I lied to her. That hurt so much."
"Wow, you've really got it bad for her," Charlie said before he could stop himself.
"What? No I don't. What do you mean?"
"What do you mean what do I mean?"
"I've got it bad for her? Are you saying that I have a crush on her?"
"Well, yeah! NO. Wait. Hold on. Don't tell me you didn't know you had a crush on her."
"I don't?" Jacqueline said, doubty.
"Are you sure about that? I mean, you just told me your worst fear, Jacqueline. And in it, the thing that upset you the most was Dite being upset at you. Not your family, not Bernard or Elle, but Dite."
"We're really good friends?"
"Oh my god, this is the best! You really don't think you have a crush on her?"
Jacqueline looked panicked. "No! I just. You know. She's really nice and sweet and funny, and oh my gods she kicks ass, have you seen her in action?"
Charlie shook his head, staring at Jacqueline's roots. The more she talked about Dite, the less…icy they looked. "I can't say that I have," he said, poking Jacqueline's head.
"Hey! What's that all about?" she asked, rubbing her head.
"Check out your hand," Charlie said, as ice chipped off of the sprite's hair.
She gasped, scratching her scalp a bit more. When she opened her palm, ice was sitting in it, melting.
"And that happened when you started talking about Dite."
"No," she said, looking aghast at the ice in her hands.
"Yes," Charlie said, just as aghast.
"This happened? When I talked about Dite?!"
"Yeah!" Charlie said, laughingly. "Just the thought of her alone gets you all slushy," he said, nudging her shoulder.
"AhhhhHHHHH," Jacqueline squealed, her face very, very flushed. "Holy snowballs. I totally have a crush on Dite. Oh my god. Oh no."
"Well THAT'S not what I expected to hear. It's okay, Jacqueline! There are worse people to crush on!"
"No, Charlie, it's not that! She's amazing. It's just. It's embarrassing, now that I'm thinking about it. I think I've had a crush on her for like, three hundred years."
"Three hundred years?!"
"Yes!"
"Three whole CENTURIES!
"YES."
"And you didn't know??"
"No! I didn't! You think we'd be having this conversation now if I had known?!"
"Your Jack is showing."
"Shush," she replied, rubbing her head. "I am the dumbest bitch ALIVE," she finally said, hands up in the air as she groaned and once again fell back into the snowbank. "She's literally Cupid, Charlie! She's probably known the whole time! That's so embarrassing, of all the people to get a crush on—"
"Again, she's not the worst," Charlie said with a smile.
"Absolutely not," Jacqueline shot back fast, with a happy sigh. "I should ask her out. On like, a date."
"I think so too. I mean, thoughts of her are already melting you a little bit. And I think we both know that she would be your number one supporter if you were to freeze."
Jacqueline laughed. "She's everyone's number one supporter. She's nice like that. She's nice to everyone."
"I think she'd understand if you told her you were frozen once. I think everyone would understand, Jacqueline. I mean, you told me, and I'm still here," he said with a shrug.
"Well, yeah, but it's not like you can go anywhere. We're trapped in a hole in the ground."
"Lighten up, would you? I didn't run away immediately, did I? I'm still here for you, Jacqueline. And so is Dite, and Elle and Bernard and your family, I mean, your brother has known the entire time and he certainly hasn't judged you either. He's been there before. I know telling the truth can be scary," Charlie said, getting up and offering her a hand. "But it's not so scary when you're with the people you love. Including the goddess of pleasure," Charlie added, with an eyebrow waggle for good measure.
Jacqueline snorted, grabbing Charlie's hand. "I can't beLIEVE how dense I am," she said, pushing herself up as Charlie pulled.
"Nor can I. I thought you were the Legate with the brain cell!"
"GOD no. What gave you that idea? That's Xander," Jacqueline said, her grip on Charlie's hand tightening. "Thanks for that, Charlie. I really appreciate it."
"Of course! What're friends for? Ready to go?"
"Are you?"
"Whenever you are," he said with a squeeze.
"In that case," Jacqueline replied with an almost feral grin, "Bundle up, bitch! It's about to get chillay."
And with that, the pair disappeared in a flurry of two tone blue sparks and snowflakes.
And not a moment too soon.
Moments after the last spark floated off, there was a large crack, the boulder falling through the hole, getting caught on the icy pillar below it as it capsized.
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Hey girlie when’s the new fic coming, no rush btw xx
IT'S HERE! Sorry for the delay life has been crazy. But im on spring break and very excited to work on some pieces.
Let me know what you guys think. If you want a part 2 or something. Next piece is the drunk peter one.
Just Do It
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WARNINGS: Depression, suicide attempt, mention of drugs, swearing, underage drinking (dont do it kids), angst OMG, fluffy end.
Summary: Based on the Pete Davidson quote " Ive always been suicidal but ive never had the balls"
Pairing: avengers (Steve, Tony, Nat, Clint, Bruce, Sam, Bucky, Scott Peter) x reader
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I hated that I was loved. Life would be so much easier.
It would give me a reason that explains the feeling and thoughts I've had for the past year. But I knew I lived a very fortunate life. I had the best of both worlds, one as a high schooler, the other one as a superhero named Blue Gaze. I thought for a while that if I stopped with my secret identity, life might be better. But it also could become worse, and that was the last thing I wanted. So I just continue to hide under my pain and fears, hiding in the clouded thoughts that fill my head. Reminding me daily that I'm a shitty person, people only care about because of my powers, and nobody would blink an eye at me if I was gone.
And I know when you're feeling like this, you're supposed to talk to someone. but at this point, I don't know what will happen if I talk to someone and I become “better”. it scares the shit out of me. I have kind of become content with my sadness and I don't know what else to do. So I try my best to find different things to distract myself from the feelings.
I'm a junior in high school, going to a local public school. I'm what you call a good kid. I get good grades, don’t stay out late, and was a model student But it all changed around six months ago when I meet my partner Chris. they are the best worst influence I could ask for. They knew and understood my thoughts and knew that I needed a form of escapism. Soon, we were dating and it was a great distraction. They introduced me to marijuana, alcohol, and it was incredible. They made me happy at the moment and not in the long run.
Now here I am, riding up the elevator, at 1 am, to the compound. I had my backpack on, getting a stash of stuff from our friends. I'm staying here this weekend as my parents are out of town. My parents have been concerned about my behavior and well-being for a while now, and even told Tony about their concerns. He tried to talk to me about it, but it only made it worst.
The elevator opened up and I walked into the kitchen. I was out with Chris and their friends and I'm not as drunk as usual, but enough to feel numb. I went to go grab some leftover food in the fridge but before I could even grab the food the door shut and Steve Rodgers had his hand on the fridge. “HEY!” he said, staring at me. If I was sober I would have been scared, but instead, I was given a confidence boost.
“The hell do you want? I'm busy and hungry so get out of my way.” I said as I shoved past his shoulder, going to grab an apple from the fruit bowl but a hand dragged it away. Tony looked at me, with fear and anger in his eyes.
“We have been calling and texting you all night. No answers, no nothing. Hell, you managed to even bypass my security and turn off your location. Mind tell us where the FUCK you have been?” Tony said, gesturing to the mighty heroes behind him. I didn’t even register walking in how many people were in the room. Sam and Bucky were behind the couch, Nat and Scott were sitting on it. Adjacent to them was Wanda and Vision, on the opposite couch, with Bruce standing behind them. But what surprised me the most was Peter standing next to Bruce, eyes red and puffy.
“You don’t need to know everything I do. You aren't my parents, you guys don't own me. I'm allowed to have a fucking life.” I said, annoyed, looking at them.
“We are your parents for this weekend,” said Steve, turning my attention back to him. “You're staying here, therefore you are our responsibility. So let me ask this again. where have you been?” I could tell where this conversation was going, and I didn’t want to deal with it.
“I was out with friends. I'm going to bed.” I said, looking at the team as I walked away.
“Like hell, you're not!” I heard Sam yell behind me. I slowly turn around. “we're going to discuss this. You don't get to walk in here at 1:00 AM smelling like weed and crappy beer, expecting to get out of it.” Sam tells me as he walked closer to me. Before he got too close, Scott appeared next to him.
“What Sam is trying to say is that we're just concerned about you,” Scott said, looking at me like I was a lost dog. “You've been hanging with the wrong crowd, pushing people away. We just want to know what going on. We care about you Y/n.” he walks closer to me, trying to hug me but I step to the side to avoid the interaction.
“Oh cut the crap guys. You don't care about me, you only care about Blue Gaze. You only work with Blue Gaze. Our relationship starts and ends with my mask. You guys couldn’t give two shits about my life." I was annoyed at this point. I had plans for the rest of the night but now they want to talk about my feelings? Fuck no.
"What makes you think that? We care about you. I care about you Y/n” Peter states. I couldn't look at him. He was my best friend, the one I feel closest with out of the bunch. But I haven't spoken to him in a while. Now that they see me as someone who needs help, they are being nice to me now. I hated it. It made me feel angry.
"You don't care about me! All you see is a damsel in distress and you want to save me. But I’m fine.” I said as I heard my voice crack. I could tell they could hear it too. Nat starts talking to me in her motherly voice.
“We just want to help you Y/n. Tell us how we can help” she said. I felt this anger and frustration starting to build up inside me and I felt I was about to break.
“You wanna help me? Fine! Go get a gun and shoot me 'cause I can't bring myself to do it.” I yell as I burst. I looked at my co-workers and they were silent. They couldn’t believe I said that. I couldn’t believe I said that. In fact, I was pissed I said.
"What did you just say?" Bucky asked. I looked at him and I felt fury within me. I didn’t want to say it in the first place but now I have to say it again.
“I'm sorry, Does the Super soldier with super hearing need me to repeat myself? I said I want someone to kill me. It's not that hard, especially for you.” I said. As soon as I said that last part, I knew it was a low blow. But I was in too deep, plus I had a lot to express.
“Y/N! Why the hell would you say that?” Steve said, storming over towards me.
“Why not? It's the truth, and you guys want me to be truthful, don't you? You want me to tell you how I feel. Well, I want to die and Bucky has killed people without any guilt. So I know he can do it so I want him to do it.” I see tears form in the soldier's eyes as he storms out. Sam comes towards me, fire in his eye.
"I don't give two shits about what you're feeling right now, that was incredibly uncalled for.” He shouts before leaving to find Bucky.
“Fine! If he won't do it, how about you Nat?” I said as I make my way to her. “Red room assassin? Go get a gun and kill me. It would solve everyone’s problems, so Just do it!” I scream in her face as I feel us get farther apart from each other. Steve and Scott are pulling me back, as I see Clint get Nat and lead her out of the room. Everyone just continued to stare at me, waiting to see what I would say next. I didn’t even notice the tears coming down my face until Scott pulled me out of my head.
"Hey Kiddo," he said, wiping the tears off my face with his thumb. I looked at him with tearfilled eyes. "Do you want to talk?" i shrugged my shoulders. My heart was telling me to open up because they care, but my head was telling me to run away and avoid talking about it.
“Come here,” he said, walking us over to the couch. I sat down and looked at the floor. Steve sat next to me with Scott on the other side, Peter and Tony on the other couch with Bruce behind them. “What going on Y/n?” Steve said. I couldn't look at him, I couldn't look at anyone. I wanted to hold back but I also knew it would be helpful to talk about it. “Take your time,” he said, putting his arm around me. He brought me into a side hug. I could tell he wanted to do it for comfort, but it was mainly a way to hold me in place so I don’t lash out again. I let out a shaky breath before speaking.
“I want to die but I can't. I have tried multiple times. I've been so close to pulling the trigger, swallowing the pills, or jumping off the ledge. But I think about you guys or my family finding me and I can't bring myself to do it” I say, continuing to look at the floor. I haven’t told anyone this and I know it wouldn’t be the last. "But just because I can't do it, doesn’t make the thoughts and feelings go away.” It was quiet, everyone was waiting for me to say something but I don’t know what else to say. Peter was one of the first ones to speak.
“Why would you want to die? You are a hero, everyone adores you.” Peter said. I looked at him and he hasn’t stopped crying, but they were more silent tears.
“Blue Gaze is a hero, that’s who people love! Nobody cares about a random high schooler.”
“We care about you Y/n, so much,” Scott said, holding hand, caressing it with his thumb.
“No, you don’t!” I start to stand up but Steve's tight hold of me keeps me on the couch. I take a few breathes, to keep myself grounded, so I don’t say something I'll regret.
"Kiddo, we care about you a whole lot. I care about you. But you are scaring me with the way you have been acting. I don't want you to go down the road I was on." Tony said. I knew it meant a lot for him to say that, he doesn't talk about his past a lot. I didn’t even realize Bruce coming over to sit in front.
“Y/n, I need you to be honest with me. I know it will be hard but you have to if you want us to help.” Bruce lifts my chin so I'm forced to look at him. My eyes were full of tears and regret. “Do you think you can do that?” he said, looking at me.
I look around and see my coworkers, or family, waiting for my response. Could I do it? Could I be honest? I want to, but I don’t know what will happen next. Will they send me away? Will I no longer be an avenger? I’ve been holding onto this part of my life for too long, and it's been eating away at me day by day. Maybe it’s time to finally let go. I took a breathe before responding
“Yeah, I'm ready to get help. I'm ready to be honest”
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A/N: Ahhh! what do you guys think? please let me know!
Tags: @winter-soldier-vibes @angeldreifics @luvhann @xennityxen
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reki-of-the-valley · 2 years
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Notes on Ep. 1
Dunno how helpful these will be to people, but here's what I got:
Reki used to watch all sorts of superhero shows (kids shows; pre-school times)
"Do you know what true happiness is?" (premise of the show) -> R: "Well that's messed up; you want kids to go that deep before they're even in school?"
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Cars -> opp. to Canada (driver on the right) ==> LANGA CAN'T FUCKING DRIVE
Langa's reaction to the Okinawa scenery: "It's just weird to not see snow everywhere" -> Set in ~April => Used to spring snow (QC???)
Reki = Right handed
Reki = clearly good at math (Free hands all his estimations and calculations in his notebook)
Reki's first impression of Langa is that he's a nervous wreck
(We know that it's just that he's god awfully awkward)
Oka suggests he isn't fluent; Reki assumes he is because Nanako is a native (NOT SO FUCKING SURE ABOUT THT BUDDY I DONT THINK HE'S THAT GOOD IN JAPANESE LIKE HE CAN MANAGE BUT IDK HOW FLUENT HE //REALLY// IS)
Reki goes thick with the self deprecation (mood though) + inferiority complex
His voice goes lower when he feels like shit, goes high when excited
Langa's not used to being on his knees (legs/feet go numb after being on his knees during the interview)
Reki actually really does not swear (not even ass. "Saved my butt" (please just say ass, kid))
Langa's face recognition???? Reki = stranger, doesn't realize they're in the same class (maybe because there were a lot of new kids he didn't really notice/pay attention? But one on one with Cherry meant he really analyzed his face?? see later notes)
Reki's #1 = share love of skateboarding (Doesn't hold a grudge/isn't petty after get frustrated at Langa or not recognizing him)
Langa gets moody when he fucks up/isn't good from the start and people make slightly fun of him
CHERRY SAW HOW SHIT LANGA IS ON A BOARD
Oka really said "I dont give a fuck if this kid can't /actually/ drive, he's good enough" and Langa said "Fuck yeah! Money!" (but. without emotion except the sparkle eyes)
R: "I'm about to change your life"
(Not to scale)
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Both boys have long/wispy bangs
Reki = frozen panic
Langa = extreme confidence but will throw in a "I think" to soften if he's wrong
Cherry's a FUCKING BITCH
-> he saw Langa fail big time and he's still sending him to his death just for a little fun (also. He won't hire a minor but he'll kill him??)
-> Langa's facial recognition? No one can tell that Cherry = Kaoru, but Langa had a ep. OHSHC moment 💡
Cherry just wants a front row seat of Langa busting his ass, and invites Reki to watch with him (?? Reki clearly is there because he wants to see Langa live, but like?? Cherry confuses me tbh)
Shadow extremely cocky + refers to self as "clown punk"
Calls Langa "Kiddo"
Langa swivels on his board just like on a snowboard
-> goofy boarder (aka right foot naturally forward, but can control with both as with snowboarding -> quite experiences (duh))
Joe's commentary is truthful (Langa doesn't have an assured win); not bitch like Cherry (though skeptical of Langa, but tbh so would I)
"Call me crazy but I know what I saw; Snowflakes began to fall right here in Okinawa."
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rogerslovesstark · 3 years
Text
No More Love
Pairing: Steve Rogers x fem!reader, Sharon x fem!reader [platonic, for now ;)]
Word Count: 2,020
WARNING: ANGST, mean Steve, Sharon being a sweetheart because she is portrayed negatively, I've done it but girls support girls!
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“Steve, where are you going?” You ask quietly, scared of his response because it seemed that he was always on the verge of exploding when you spoke to him. You felt like you were walking around eggshells whenever you were around him. 
Ever since he came back from Bolivia, he was constantly angry when he was around you. You noticed something was off when the night he came back, you tried to give him a massage and he jerked himself away from you. That was two months ago, and he was away for almost three months.
You wrote it off as him being tired and annoyed from the almost failed mission. However, as days continued, Steve kept keeping a cold shoulder to you. Avoiding you in the tower, skipping on date nights saying that he had mission reports to file, sleeping in the tower instead of coming home.
It was almost like he didn’t love you anymore.
Steve saw you approaching him in the tower, he also noticed that there was no way of avoiding you without causing a scene. So he just let you come to him, the new trainees in awe of the two superheroes who were supposedly madly in love with one another. 
You beamed at your boyfriend, he had just come back from Bolivia a few days ago and you hadn’t had the chance to speak with him properly, Steve was constantly swarmed in paperwork because of the operation. 
You knew that he was stressed when he didn’t want to have sex after his mission, but you also didn’t want to force it on him. It was odd that you wouldn’t want to have sex after two months away from your girlfriend, only having jerked off while on the trip. You had doubts that Steve remained loyal to you during the mission but you hid them deep in yourself because you didn’t want to doubt the loyalty of Steve.
Steve faked a smile when he saw you walk over to him, just to keep appearances with everyone around them. He hugged you loosely and quickly pulled away, not making many conversations with you and then excusing himself claiming he needed to speak with Fury about something important. 
You stood in the hallway, visibly upset that your lover wouldn’t spend five minutes with you.
You were starved of basic affection from your boyfriend. You didn’t even know what you did wrong.
Steve was on his way out the door when he heard you ask him where he was going. Just hearing you ask him where he was going angered him so much. You were acting like his mother all the time, so needy and annoying. 
“Out Y/n, why? Do you need anything?” He asked trying not to blow a fuse, his temper was so short with you. 
“Can we please talk before you go?” You asked him, you needed validation and affection so badly that you were itching just to have him hold you again. 
Steve huffed and dropped his keys on the side table and walked towards you, sitting on the couch near you, just not touching you. 
“Are you angry at me Steve?” You asked him, desperate for an answer. You just wanted your boyfriend to kiss you the way he used to.
“No, Y/n.” He answered shortly, temper slowly rising, he was getting annoyed by you already and you hadn’t even said more than 20 words to him yet. 
“Are you sure? You can tell me if I did something wrong, it won’t hurt my feelings,” You said reaching to hold his hand, in need of some sort of affection. Even if it was just holding his large hand. 
“Y/n enough, stop acting like a child, okay?” He shouted, pulling his hand away quickly when he realized that you were going to touch him. “Y/n I need to tell you something, don’t interrupt me okay, I don’t love you anymore, I don’t what happens but I just don’t love you anymore,” Steve said, feeling a weight lifted off his shoulders.
You sat on the couch stunned, absolutely stunned by what your boyfriend had just said. He didn’t love you anymore? What does that even mean? How do you just stop loving someone? You were processing 10 different emotions at once. The one you felt most was pain, so much pain that you couldn’t even cry because of how much it hurt.
Your tongue felt heavy in your mouth, you just stared at him in shock. You didn’t know what to say, you just sat on the couch, feeling like an outlier in your own home. 
Steve just stared at you, seeing you process what he had just said. He didn’t know how you would take it, but it seemed like you were taking it pretty well. He didn’t say anything else to you, he just grabbed his keys and shut the door behind him. Sam and Bucky were waiting for him at the bar, it was boys night and he was finally free from the leash of your relationship.
+++
You quickly grabbed your things from your side of the closet. You still didn’t feel the urge to cry about this relationship. Maybe because you already knew it was over subconsciously. Why cry over something that you were kind of expecting. 
You left his apartment an hour after Steve had left, with your two suitcases and a large bag filled to the brim in tow, you walked to the tower. It was a far walk, from Brooklyn to Mid-town Manhattan. You received so many strange looks because what kind of crazy person didn’t just call an Uber with all that stuff. 
It took you over an hour to reach the tower. You took the elevator up to your floor, constantly asking FRIDAY for updates of where everyone is inside the tower. Once you reached your floor, you requested FRIDAY to lock your floor to everyone until further notice, ban Steve from entering your floor, and disable people from requesting your location within the tower.
You placed all of your things inside your room, not having enough energy to put any of your things away. You walked over to your bathroom and started the shower, the heat as high as it would go.
You stood under the stream of burning water, you tried to avoid thinking of the situation. You still didn’t feel like crying, just the feeling of being numb and cold. You were probably cold because your insane ass walked from Brooklyn to Manhattan in a thin shirt and jeans. 
You turned the water off and changed into a teeshirt, crawling into your bed and requesting FRIDAY to close the curtains and not to open them until you were out of bed, whenever you awoke the next morning.
You laid in the darkness looking up at the ceiling, torturing yourself with the words Steve had said to you. Constantly replaying them inside your mind, hoping that he was lying, hoping that when you woke up the next morning that he would be laying next to you, holding you to his chest.
As you replayed the words in your head, you finally felt the tears coming on. You sobbed softly thinking of your failed relationship, thinking of what you did wrong. 
You finally fell asleep, cheeks wet from all the tears. Sleeping a dreamless sleep.
+++
Steve was drinking the mead Bucky had on hand, a welcome gift from Thor. They were in some club on the lower west side. Some blonde woman was sitting in his lap, talking about something Steve didn’t even care about. All he wanted to do was to sleep with her and kick her out. 
He didn’t care for anything at the moment, not when she had died at the cost of his stupidity. 
Janet, an inter who Fury had placed on the mission in Bolivia because he believed that she was ready to take on the mission with the supervision of Steve.
The first two weeks of the mission was filled with the sexual tension between the two. It happened after dinner had ended and Steve and Janet were buzzed, Steve had walked her back to her hotel room. She kissed Steve, and they ended up entangled in her sheets, any thoughts of you were completely forgotten by Steve. The night ended with the best sex of Steve’s night.
Once he woke up, he noticed that Janet was laying on his chest naked, and he was also naked. Steve had no regrets, he didn’t feel any remorse that he had cheated on you. So he continued the relationship with Janet, claiming that he didn’t love you anymore, that Janet made him feel something that you never made him feel. 
The night before they were meant to leave, Janet went to the local supermarket to get some wine and cheese for the two, to celebrate their relationship. Only to be shot and killed before she could even make it to the store. 
Steve was devastated that Janet had been killed, he mourned her death so painful. Steve genuinely believed that Janet was the love of his life.
Steve began getting annoyed of the blonde woman in his lap just chattering away, so he kissed her quiet, and took her back to her place, tidy and small. He would expect nothing more from a young woman working in some low-paying field, she had mentioned it but Steve was too caught up in his thoughts about Janet to even care about what she was saying.
As soon as Steve finished, he got up and left. He finally made it to his apartment, expecting you to be in the bedroom, but you weren’t here. Good, it's better that way, you were so unbelievably annoying that he could barely stand to be around you. 
He climbed into his bed, the sheets still smelled like your shampoo. He had to wash the sheets as soon as possible, whenever he found the time. 
+++
You had been in a dark place for the last 3 weeks, you had begged Fury to not place you on any mission, you explained the situation to him, with him being infuriated, almost going to the length of finding Steve and shooting him in the leg. 
You realized that you were in such a depressive state and hadn’t been taking care of yourself. In 3 weeks, you had barely eaten, showered, or spoken to anyone. 
You forced yourself to get up, shower, eat a proper meal, and go for a run. The amount of energy it took to even complete those tasks was so unbelievably exhausting that you only wanted to lay in bed all day and read.
You ended up calling Sharon, asking her to come to see you and hang out to take your mind off the hurt you were going through. You and she were friends, meeting each other during the SHIELD initiative. Sharon was always so kind to you, you could sense her attraction to your boyfriend but then again who would be. Well, ex-boyfriend.
You cried your heart out to Sharon, laying in your bed with her, while she stroked the back of your head trying to soothe you, you ended up asleep in her arms. You woke up to a clean room, and Sharon wasn’t in your bed. She was in your kitchen making something to eat you were guessing. 
“Hey N/n, you need to eat some dinner, I’m making spicy penne al vodka, it’s almost ready,” Sharon said while stirring the pot she was using. You took a seat at the counter, waiting to be served by your friend. You stared out the window, just wondering what Steve was doing right now.
“Y/n, Y/n, Y/n, hello,” Sharon waved her hand in your face. She was confused as to why you kept daydreaming, he left you, you should move on because he was a piece of shit anyways.
“I’m not hungry Shar, I ate earlier, I’ll just eat later,” You said while staring out the window.
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Text
Float Like A Butterfly... Chapter 5: So Last Season
Summary: Now that Adrien is no longer Chat Noir he doesn't have to get hit all the time. Unfortunately, his luck doesn't seem to have gotten the memo... Or has it?
------------------------------
"So, how're you holding up?"
"Please, Adrien, it's my mother! I'm positively ecstatic!"
"Exactly. It's your mother."
Chloe looked down for a second before her eyes snapped back up, any doubts she had hidden in an instant. "She's finally coming back! I'll finally be able to show her what she's been missing." Chloe tossed her ponytail back to emphasize the unspoken Me. "Now, I've gotta go. Sabrina insisted we do an 'emotional support routine' or whatever beforehand. Ciao!"
Sighing, Adrien stared at his phone for a moment before putting it down. He knew Chloe was grateful for Sabrina's help but it was still a struggle getting her to admit it.
Or getting her to admit how much Audrey had hurt her.
It was one thing to travel halfway around the world for your career and leave your daughter behind. It was something else entirely to completely ignore her. In all the years since Audrey left Chloe hadn't received a single birthday gift, phone call or text message. Adrien would know. Chloe would've bragged about it endlessly if her mother had taken so much as two seconds to acknowledged her existence-
Adrien's foot jerked, striking the vanity table and making the connected mirror tremble. Heart suddenly pounding against his chest as tension built up in his forehead. Distressed expression reflecting back at him.
Breathe, Adrien. Breathe.
Slowly, he inhaled.
Then exhaled.
Again.
Good.
He was okay.
Adrien was okay.
Guilt pricked like a thorn for thinking of his own problems when Chloe needed him. Adrien crushed it with his anger and annoyance but it was still there. Like a splinter that wouldn't come out.
I hate you.
Swiping out of the video chat Adrien tapped on Nino's number. It rang... and rang... and rang...
He's annoyed with me. I did something wrong again and Nino doesn't want to-
Adrien smacked both sides of his face. No, dummy! Nino's just busy or something. Stop that!
It wasn't every day a teenage DJ provided the music for Paris Fashion Week, after all. Nino had to make sure all his equipment was working properly.
The door to his dressing room burst open.
"Adrien, your friend Mlle. Dupain-Cheng will be bringing the last article of the new Gabriel line," Nathalie announced. "Your father expects everything to be perfect for Audrey Bourgeois."
"Doesn't he always?" Adrien deadpanned.
Nathalie stared at his watery eyes before typing something into her tablet. "Your performance on catwalks only has a 99% success rate. He expects you'll do better."
Father thinks you're a failure just like everyone else. He-
Shut up! Adrien felt something heavy settle in his chest.
One of the makeup artists came rushing in and Nathalie gestured her towards Adrien. "Touch up his eyes," she instructed and then left.
Jaw clenching, Adrien sat perfectly still as the makeup artist did her job. He was never entirely sure what the staff thought about him. 'Professional' was a word that was tossed around a lot. That used to fill him with a little pride... Before all of this.
The last person to suggest that a thirteen year old mourning his mother wasn't 'professional' so much as he was 'depressed' had never come back to work... Oh. Adrien had forgotten about that.
Finishing quickly, the makeup artist left too. Leaving Adrien with his thoughts. He didn't want to be with his thoughts at the moment. They were distracting and Nathalie had not been subtle.
I hate-
His phone vibrated as it received someone's text.
Ni-Non: hey dude!
Ni-Non: it's crazy over here man
Ni-Non: break a leg! ;)
Adrien smiled as his unpleasant mood faded to the back of his mind... And if he saw similarities between his family and Chloe's, well, that's why he could empathize with her.
Adrien: That's theater but I guess there's not much difference.
Adrien: Thanks. ^_^
 ---------------
There was a knock at his door. Adrien stopped fidgeting in the awkward suit to go answer it.
"Hello, Marinette." Adrien smiled in greeting.
"Oh, uh, hello!" Marinette gave a small wave as she stepped up the short stairs and-
Adrien braced himself with one foot while his hands went to her shoulders. Steadying Marinette as she quickly removed her weight from him.
"Oh! Uh, sorry." Marinette looked away in embarrassment at having tripped into him.
"... No worries!" Adrien smiled as he shook his head. Marinette seemed... subdued. Reaching down to pick up the hat that had fallen. "Oh, no." The artificial feather Marinette made for his allergies had come loose. "I hope it's not too hard to fix it."
Marinette looked down. "Uh, y'know, it doesn't really matter. This hat is a complete failure anyway."
"What? No, it's not!" Adrien rose to his feet quickly in shock. "Why would you say that?"
"Because... the queen of fashion, Audrey Bourgeois, saw it and hated it!" Marinette's hands covered her face, voice breaking. "I'm sorry, Adrien. I really messed up. I'm a total no talent!" Her arms wrapped around herself in a hug. "Please, don't put it on," she pleaded.
Adrien's heart went out to Marinette as she laid her insecurities bare. "Marinette, everything's going to be fine." He searched for the proper spot to reattach the feather,  fiddling with it as Adrien reassured her. "Your hat looks great. I think it's awesome and so does... my father." Adrien cleared his throat as he managed to fix her hat. "Otherwise he wouldn't have picked it for me. Look!"
Putting Marinette's hat on Adrien walked across the dressing room like he was already performing. Striking a few poses to ease Marinette's anxiety. "See?"
It seemed to work as Marinette gave a small smile. "You got that catwalk down," she complimented.
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "Really? Thank you."
"Ah-hem," Nathalie cleared her throat. "We have to go." Without waiting for Marinette she turned on her heel and started walking towards the viewing area.
Adrien rolled his eyes but smiled at Marinette's back as she hurried to catch up. Turning back to look at himself in the mirror Adrien scanned his outfit. The suit may have been generic and a few seams too close to last year's entry but Marinette's hat was fire.
"Okay!" Adrien was gonna go out there and make sure they recognized Marinette's talent!
---------------
Holding Marinette's hat to his chest Adrien stuck his head out in a decidedly 'unprofessional' manner. Spotting Marinette's family and a bunch of his friends in the first row. Adrien's blond head caught Nino's eye from across the catwalk and he gave him a thumbs up.
Adrien waved as he ducked back behind the corner before the photographers could take any pictures of the Agreste heir acting like a kid.
You got this, Adrien. Nino's DJ-ing, your classmates came -even though most of them don't care about fashion- with any luck Alix and Kim will tease you about it for the next month.
That would give Adrien the opportunity to dish out a bunch of jokes he never got the chance to use!
The music started; that was his cue.
You got this!
Adrien posed on the runway. Camera flashes already starting. Strutting down the catwalk Adrien smirked at Marinette. See? Stopping at the platform's end he posed in various angles for the photographers. Nino seemed to be enjoying himself too and that made Adrien's smile come much more naturally.
A small eruption boomed behind him and Adrien turned to see Hawkmoth's latest fashion disaster. Gasping, as his heart started hammering in his chest.
"A fashion show without the Queen of Style!? Glitter-ally unacceptable!" The akuma villain announced. "Where's that ungrateful Gabriel Agreste. I demand that he kneels before me!"
Ugh, what has he done now?
"My father isn't here," Adrien snapped in annoyance. Hearing people running for the exits.
"Well, then. If fashion disaster daddy isn't here I'll just have to settle for Agreste Junior! You're fired!"
Adrien's eyes widened as he stepped back. Golden glitter exploding everywhere as his body became numb and his senses dark-
-Glowing ladybugs swirled around him as Adrien had the disorienting feeling of laying  down when he could've sworn he'd been standing. Glancing around, Adrien realized he was now at the Eiffel Tower.
"Adrik- Adrien!" Chloe tackled him as he stood, throwing her arms around him. "I was so scared!"
Adrien blinked in surprise as Chloe set her head on his shoulder. Not letting him go... Adrien smiled as he hugged her back. Enjoying this genuine display of affection.
"Pound it!"
Head snapping towards the sound Adrien saw another Black Cat, this one a girl with long, reddish hair, fist bump Ladybug. They grinned at each other in post battle relief.
I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!
A chill to rival Frozer's ice covered Adrien from head to toe. It was one thing to see Ladybug working with a different Black Cat on the news. Quite another to have his replacement. Three. Frickin. Meters. In front of him!
Chloe didn't notice... Or rather Adrien didn't notice when she'd let go to help her mother. Who tried to fire her own daughter as thanks.
Adrien jerked his eyes away from the superhero duo-
I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!
-Away from the Miraculous holders and forced himself to listen to whatever the Bourgeois were saying. Ears ringing as Ladybug and the Black Cat talked about something behind him...
"Oh, mom. If only you knew what a great team we made!" Chloe trailed after her mother as they walked down the tower's stairs; attempting to capture her attention. "We fired a bunch of incompetents. It was awesome. We should really spend more time together! What if I went back to New York with you?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Casserole- Eh, Chloe!" Audrey dismissed. "First I have to get back to Gabriel Agreste's fashion show. And they better..."
Adrien's eyes narrowed as he looked down from the railing, his grip on it tightening. Heat from a growing indignation melting the ice he felt. What did she just call Chloe?
"Adrien Agreste, right? I can give you a lift back if you want."
His tensed body jerked in surprise as Adrien realized Ladybug was standing right behind him. Throat and chest constricting as his thoughts whirled. Spots darkened his vision as he felt lightheaded. Adrien's knuckles becoming white, the metal railing digging into his skin. A single thought rose above the ringing in his ears.
I don't wanna talk to her.
Giving his best model smile, Adrien schooled his features. "Ah, thanks but-" he pointed down, "-I should really check on them."
"O-oh! Of course!"
Ladybug's face was out of focus but Adrien could still feel the melancholy in her voice.
Powering past his queasy stomach Adrien made his way to the stairs. The sound of Ladybug's yo-yo whirring reached his ears; signaling her departure. Adrien took a shuddering gasp as he leaned against a metal pillar for support. Body suddenly limp.
Breath accelerating Adrien tried to calm himself. Why was he up here? Had- Had Audrey's blast mind controlled him? Again!? He couldn't breathe.
Adrien sank to his knees as he felt his skin crawl at the idea of that- that- asshole reaching into his mind and taking away his free will. He hated it! He HATED it!
Gasping as his rage broke him out of the panic, Adrien steadied his breathing... He wanted- no, needed to know what happened... Which meant getting up and moving forward... Forcing himself to his feet Adrien wiped the sweat from his brow and followed the others down.
---------------
"Remind me to tell your father to fire the person in charge of the Eiffel Tower elevators..." Audrie panted. "This is... unacceptable... utterly unacceptable!"
"Of course, mom. Oh!" Chloe glanced down to see what she'd stumbled on.
Adrien looked up as he fanned himself with Marinette's hat.
And dropped it.
He stared open mouthed at the small, black, octagonal box in Chloe's hands. Heartbeat leaping into his throat.
What the hell is THAT doing here!?
"Ooh! What's this?" Chloe turned the box around in her hands but didn't open it.
Adrien suddenly forgot his exhaustion and rushed to her side. The lie coming easily to his lips. "Oh, I recognize that! They sell them at antique shops."
"Ew, it's old! Get it away from me!" Chloe practically hurled it at Adrien.
Catching it easily. A thrill ran up Adrien's arms and down his spine as the box made contact with his skin. The hairs at the back of his neck standing on end.
Chloe dusted her hands and kept walking. Glancing nervously at her mother. Hoping Audrey hadn't seen her with something so outdated.
I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! The voice in his head said.
Shut up, Adrien told it as he stared at the unknown Miraculous in his hand. Heartbeat hammering in his chest. But it wasn't from fear. No, it was... anticipation.
The corners of Adrien's lips curled upwards.
------------------------------
Notes: Oh, would you look at that. I'm back! It only took... eight months!
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a-smr-things · 3 years
Text
Underwater (Peter Parker x Reader)
T/w: Suicidal thoughts, trauma
Read at your own discretion.
This is my first time and I am still developing my fanfic style...so please do forgive any stupid errors on my part.
********************************
If there was one person you hated in Midtown, it was him. Perfect hair, perfect grades and your academic rival, Peter Parker.
But like, seriously, even Flash didn't annoy you as much as Peter did.
And he just had to interrupt you while you were explaining your interpretation of the poem.
What the hell did he know about literature anyway? Science nerd.
It didn't help that both of you were the chairs of the student council.
"MJ," you yelled out as you ran after her.
"Y/n," MJ acknowledged you as she turned to face you, the wind blowing her hair all out of place.
"Do you have any idea where Peter is?" The exasperation was evident in your voice.
This would be the third meeting he had missed in a row. You didn't understand how the hell he had managed to disappear off to nowhere just before the meeting.
Either the guy knew apparition or he was in serious need of a smack to the head.
"Well, guess I will be alone this time as well," you mumbled to yourself as you walked towards the meeting room.
***
"Ow," Peter groaned as he walked away from the scene of crime.
Falling face first onto a garbage bin wasn't part of his bucket list but sometimes you get stuff you never asked for.
He swung over to the rooftop where he had left his backpack. His phone was buzzing off when he got to it.
16 missed calls from Y/n
"Why is she calling me?" He mumbled as he grabbed his backpack to go back home.
"Oh shit," he said when he realized, quickly changing lanes and swinging towards the school.
***
After school student council meetings are nothing to be excited about. It was pretty evident that Peter didn't like them. You weren't especially crazy about the meetings either.
After all, why would anyone want to sit in a room with some bored ass kids who just wanna go home?
As much as you hated Peter, having him in the meeting did take off some of the burden from you and you would rather he be present. But, no! The guy was apparently continuing his "Let me ditch on the meeting" ritual again.
"Y/n, did you bring the agenda for the segment about lack of sports equipment?" The representative of the football team asked you as you sat at the desk.
"Ah shit, of course Peter had to be in charge of it. Wait, let me go get it from his shelf." You said hurriedly, walking out of the door.
"Thank God Miss Martins asked us to put the files in her staffroom shelf, else I'd be doomed," you thought as you took the shortcut by the swimming pool to reach the staff room.
"Fuck." The tiles beside the swimming pool were slippery and you weren't being careful when it happened.
It was all so sudden.
Water rushed into your mouth and ears as you sank deeper into the pool.
Panic set in and you knew you had to save yourself but a cold yet somewhat warm and tingly numbness settled in your limbs.
Your heart ached and you felt as if someone was squeezing it. The sudden weightlessness mesmerised you.
Your joints felt like lead and your body felt like paper. Your face and chest hurt as you ran out of oxygen...but somehow, it felt good.
You couldn't feel anything but a sense of relief.
You didn't understand where this feeling of satiation was coming from, but it made you feel at ease.
You knew how to swim, but you didn't feel like saving yourself. As your body became oxygen deprived, your struggle increased as you flayed your arms aimlessly in the water.
But somehow you managed to stop yourself from trying to swim to the surface.
An addicting void filled your head as you slowly fell into unconsciousness.
***
Peter ran through the hallway trying to get to the meeting ASAP, cuz no matter how much he hated working with you, he was responsible.
Sure, he did forget about the previous two meetings but being a superhero was hard.
He ran towards the swimming pool corridor to take the shortcut to the meeting room.
He didn't expect his spidey senses to tingle when he passed the deep end of the pool.
He peered into the pool and saw a girl half-floating haphazardly near the floor of the pool.
Without leaving any time for hesitation, he jumped into the pool swimming in to grab the drowning girl.
It was only when he pulled her out of the pool that he saw her face.
"Y/n? Holy shit, Y/n? " He croaked out, rushing to check your breathing.
You weren't breathing.
Peter panicked and checked your pulse only to not feel one. After a moment of confusion and fear, he came back to his senses as he remembered the emergency drill they'd had the previous month.
"Five breaths, then a round of thirty chest compressions, then two breaths and repeat." Peter recited as he laid you on your back He had 911 on call as he started CPR.
He heard a sickening crack but had no other option but to continue. He alternated between thirty compressions and two oral resuscitations like he was taught.
"Wake up, Y/n. Please don't die," he cried as fear, panic and desperation filled his mind.
Her body was cold and her skin was shrivelled up from the water. She didn't look like the prim and proper Y/n he knew.
She looked dead.
Peter was overcome with incomparable relief when she opened her eyes wheezing for air. She wheezed for a while and stared at Peter, looking confused and disoriented.
"Y/n, are you okay? The ambulance is coming, don't worry. You will be fine," he said as he pushed you into the recovery position.
Your consciousness didn't last long. You were in pain and exhaustion.
Peter was on call with his homeroom teacher as you drifted in an out of consciousness.
The ambulance arrived just as Miss Martins reached Peter. She was horrified to see her model student lie unconscious on the wet tiles of the pool, her skin pale and her lips trembling from the cold.
***
You woke up in the hospital with an IV drip and an oxygen mask over your face.
You tried to get up, but the nurse was quick to stop you from doing so.
Soon, people were rushing into your room.
"Mom," you whispered under the mask.
"Baby," she was crying when she sat beside you.
"Wha-," your mom cut you off when you tried to speak.
"Don't strain yourself, you have pneumonia. Take it easy." Your head hurt and your legs ached.
Your throat felt like parchment paper with jelly on it.
"Phlegm and jelly? What a good comparison, Y/n," you thought to yourself.
Slowly, the gravity of the situation weighed in.
You felt like there was a stone in your chest when you remembered how you had let yourself drown.
You didn't try to swim up and save yourself. You had purposefully let yourself drown.
You didn't even know why.
Tears sprung to your eyes as you realised that you had almost killed yourself.
You remembered exactly how you felt underwater. You'd never had these thoughts before.
Why did you do that all of a sudden? Were you suicidal? How could you be? There was nothing wrong with you, you were perfectly fine...Why would you want to die?
The heart-rate monitor went off as you went into a full blown panic attack.
The nurse rushed in, calling for the on-call doctor as she checked your vitals.
Your eyes widened, tears flowing down your face. You wanted to scream but your throat felt like it was clogged shut.
Your hand clamped onto the doctors hand in panic as you fell onto your pillow in exhaustion.
***
"Run, run, run..." You chanted to yourself as you ran through the forest.
You had no idea how you reached there, but somehow you knew that you had to keep running.
You panted as you reached the edge of the forest only to see a huge expanse of rock and a gigantic rock wall in front of you.
You walked over the rocks, your legs shaking from exhaustion. The sun was shining onto you, some of the rays falling onto your eyes giving you a headache.
You fell onto your knees trying to catch your breath.
Suddenly the stone beneath you started rumbling and a loud sound filled the silent atmosphere.
You stood up, afraid and confused. And then it came.
Water rushed from top of the huge rock wall, falling right onto the stone you wear standing.
Your skin hurt, the force of the water bruising it up instantly. Suddenly, you weren't standing on the rock anymore.
The strong current of water swept you off your feet and pushed you along its course.
You tried your best to stay afloat but the current was too strong.
Water rushed around your ears and entered your nose as you struggled to breath.
The water threw your limp body around.
Crack
You woke up screaming, sweat covering your scrubs.
"Y/n, sweetheart, you okay?" Your mother barged in hearing your screams, followed by Peter and MJ.
Seeing Peter, you composed yourself and leant back against the pillow.
"It's nothing. Just a bad dream," You muttered under your breath.
"Honey, I'll wait outside. I have a phone call to make. Meanwhile, you just chat with Peter and Michelle, okay?" Your mom said as she left.
You took a sip out of your water bottle as MJ and Peter made themselves comfortable in the bystander seats.
Your throat still felt clogged up with phlegm, but at least you did not have a fever anymore.
"So, how are you feeling?" Peter spoke awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.
"You scared us, Y/n. One minute you are going out to take a file and the next minute you are being wheeled into an ambo. " MJ said, trying to make her voice monotonous and nonchalant but failing miserably.
"Peter found you." She said, directing her gaze at Peter who was doing his best at avoiding your eye contact.
"I know," you replied, not bothering to look at Peter anymore.
"How did you fall?" Peter asked, still not making eye contact.
"I slipped. " You replied but your gaze was directed towards MJ.
"Thank God you're safe. You are taking swimming classes after this, when you recover, period." MJ says, concern leaking through her usually stone-cold behaviour.
"Anyways, Ned says he will be here soon, I'll go get him," Peter said looking up from his phone. As he stood up to leave, MJ beat him to it and said,
"You stay here with Y/n, I'll go get Ned."
What her intentions behind this were, you didn't know.
You just stared at your arms covered in the hospital bedsheets. A cough racked through your body as you hunched over.
You were surprised when Peter sat beside you and rubbed your back as your body was racked by the violent coughs.
"Here, drink it," Peter said handing you the water bottle. You leant back against your pillow, feeling weak and tired.
"So, how did you find me?" You whispered, straining your throat.
"I was taking a shortcut to the meeting room," He said, finally looking at you as he spoke.
"The whole school is talking," he states out of the blue.
"It's kind of a given with what happened. I don't care," you rasped out.
"Peter-," you began to speak but he cut you off.
"If you are going to say thank you, don't. It's not a big deal. Just don't run beside the pool in those shoes again."
" Well, I wasn't going to say thank you and yeah, of course I need you to tell me not to run beside the pool when all this shit has already happened." You retorted, annoyed at how Peter interrupted you.
"Wow, typical Y/n behaviour," Peter scoffed.
"Well, if this is how you are gonna behave towards me then you might as well have let me die," you weren't gonna give up either.
"Is that what you wanted to do? Die? Did you want to kill yourself?"
Damn, he really hit the nail on the head with that one. But you weren't gonna admit to it. After all, it was an accident in the first place.
"Yeah, sure. You run around searching for a file your partner was supposed to bring but then he is an asshole who ditched three meetings in a row and then when you slip and drown, which you wouldn't have had he came in the first place and then he has the audacity to act all therapist hero-" Your rant was cut off as you went into another coughing fit.
"Fuck, shit, shit, it hurts." You said, clutching your side, your eyes watering from the pain.
"I'll go call a nurse," Peter stood up, panic evident in his eyes.
Saving random people in the streets and saving someone you know, whether you like them or not, are two completely different things.
***
Water in your ears.
Water in your mouth.
Water all around you.
Crack. ******************************
A/n: Part 2 scheduled for next week.
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beerecordings · 3 years
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Okay, here is part three of the latest Marvin's Cage story. Find the whole story so far here Let me know if you enjoy! Thanks for reading. Tws for mentions of possible cannibalism, mentions of past torture, panic attacks, and imprionsment . Light through the side of his box. “Marvin, Marvin,” he mouths, soundless, tears in his eyes. “Brother, brother.” Marvin does not come. “Jameson,” the soft voice is calling. “JJ. We won't hurt you, I promise."
No. This is not right, not right! This has never happened! He clutches at his hair and bites down on the collar of his shirt, tears racing down his face. They need to go away! They're not supposed to be here! They're not supposed to know! Marvin will be so, so, so angry! He can't do it again, can't go back to being alone alone alone alone. His skin so untouched it hurts, so he scratches at it, at his lonely skin, his lonely bones. Marvin will not touch him hold him call him little brother. He can't go back. Makes his brain so numb and then so crazy. Can't can't can't. “Jamie, breathe, Jamie – ” “Give him space, dude! He's scared of us. Jameson... just... he's really just – ” “Marvin did this to him!” He flinches at the loudness of the voice, biting his collar til he feels thread tear. No, no, no. This is Marvin's worst nightmare. His brothers know about him, and they're angry at Marvin. Angry at Marvin who was just protecting all of them, who takes care of him and loves him. This can't be happening. They need to understand. How does he make them understand? How does he even try to explain when his heart is beating so hard it hurts all the way up to his throat and he can't stop crying? This is why you can never fight Anti off, sneer an old pair of hands in his head. You're the most pathetic little creature ever to walk across the earth. Of course Marvin locked us away. Him and Anti are both right. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” he signs desperately. “Brother, brother, M! Please! I want M!” “It's been so fucking long since I took that BSL course. I'm the worst brother.” “Don't start, Jackie, shit. I don't think I ever bothered trying to learn for more than, like, two Youtube videos. Schneep would know. He learned it in about three days and he doesn't forget things.” “Brother – that was brother, I remember! Yeah, JJ, we're your brothers, dude. I mean, if you want us to be. Can you just – please, breathe.” No, they don't understand. These are not JJ's brothers. These are Marvin's brothers. It's a term of endearment more than anything technical: the relationship does not transfer. Marvin always made that very clear and JJ understands. Chase and Schneep and Jackie are not dangerous like he is. Chase and Schneep and Jackie do not have to live in cages, and they get to come find Marvin whenever they want, and they can have things like their own money and lots of friends. They can walk around the city at their leisure. See the sky. Have jobs. Walk around stores and talk to girls and make friends. They pick out their own food and books and toys. They're nice people who have never killed anyone or stabbed each other or made Marvin so upset that he burned their faces on accident and left them alone for days at a time. Schneep is even a doctor who saves lives, and Jackie is a real-life superhero, and Chase has babies who love him. Of course Marvin had to keep them safe from JJ. He's just grateful that Marvin never listened to him when he would beg to get out. Marvin even took care of him when he could have so easily left him to rot like he deserves. “JJ, JJ, please. You can trust us. Didn't you say you remembered me? Please, please, I'm begging you – come here.” Yes, of course he remembers Jackie – remembers the warm voice trying to calm him for hours, and the gloved hand in his own, and the presence watching over him as he drifted close to sleep, the safe and loving presence. How could he forget it? Some days, it is all he thinks about. But it's not something he can have. No, he won't come out. He won't risk making Marvin angry, and he certainly won't let Marvin's brothers get hurt because of him. He will stay here alone like he has to. He is a good boy like Anti told him, like Marvin told him. He is good and he is not hurting anyone ever again. He is staying right here. “Fine, I'll go to him,” comes a vehement voice, and then someone is pushing at the broken wood around his door. Jameson sucks in a wheezing scream and darts behind the curtain over his little bathroom, shoving himself between the wall and the toilet
and squeezing himself into as tight a ball as he can manage around his little stuffed dog, the first present Marvin ever brought him. Jackie can't come in here – neither of them can! Anti will kill them! “Jackie, he's freaking out, stop, stop!” There's a low howl of frustration, but no one comes any closer. His box falls quiet again with nothing but soft murmuring from Marvin's brothers as JJ sobs, biting at deep scars in his palms, the result of being possessed on repeat by a demon with a passionate love of any kind of blade. His hands raise the knife – no hilt. The blade goes down, goes into his palms, goes down, goes into his palms. Goes into her chest. He can hear her screaming. Can hear himself laughing. There's blood in his mouth that isn't his. His birds are already picking at her as she suffocates around the silver of the knife. The bugs are creeping onto her flesh and crawling up his shirt. No, no, no! If Marvin would come – if Marvin would quiet the memories like he always does – But Marvin does not come. Marvin does not come find him. Alone, alone, alone. “JJ, JJ,” they are calling to him, begging at him, but this is not something he can let himself have. He'd rather die right here. No, no, no, no. He is not going anywhere. Ever. His little stuffed dog is licking at his face. He closes his eyes and rubs its fur til the panic fades. His good dog, good boy. He drifts in his head. He's playing with his dog in the yard. Marvin is on the porch reading. The sun is warm. His dog licks his face. He is staying right here... everything is okay... there you go, JJ. There you go. There's a good little brother. You know how much I hate to see you cry. Cut it out, okay? I don't want to hear that anymore. Be good and I'll come back tomorrow. Be good and stay right here. Yeah, he's good. He's good. And when he's good, Marvin comes back again. Marvin will come back. . The soft scrape of cardboard on wood wakes him. He sits in the darkness behind his privacy curtain. Things are quiet again. “I wish he would just...” “I know. But you can't stay here all day.” “Well, neither can he!” “Shhh, keep your voice low. He obviously does, I mean...” The voices devolve back into incomprehensibility, too soft for him to understand. He wipes at his ruddy, weary face and sniffs, curled up against the side of the toilet. He's a little germ freak, as Marvin says, but he doesn't have to worry. He cleans everything every morning so Marvin will not think he's messy. The decorations are always dusted and straightened. He wipes the toilet and his little mirror down, and the sink too, so it's clean when Marvin comes in to shave him on Wednesdays. He isn't allowed to have a razor in here – Anti will try to cut him up again – but Marvin takes care of him anyway. The bathroom smells like their shaving cream and the lemon scent of his cleaners, stacked neatly on the shelves in his back-left corner next to his laundry: Marvin's clothes and some old t-shirts and sweatpants. He isn't allowed to wear anything that isn't Marvin's. Marvin has to be the one to put it through the wash, and if his brothers saw it, they would ask why he was washing things that did not belong to anyone in the house. JJ lets out a tired sigh, a little soothed by the quiet and the reminiscing. Marvin takes care of him. Still, he wants to know what that sound was. When Jackie and Chase's distant voices stay distant, he squeezes his dog for courage and creeps out from behind the curtain, blinking at the light of his sun lamp. The leaves of his plants and the lead in the drawings on the walls gleams quietly in the yellow glow. His place, his things, his presents from Marvin and pictures of Marvin and his shared space with Marvin. Maybe when he comes to see him, they can lie down on the mattress and have a nap, or play some games, or watch pictures on Marvin's magic screen together. Yeah, he feels better. Yeah, there's my tough guy. Stop crying, JJ, I mean it. He gets to his feet and sneaks over to the sill of his box where Marvin sometimes leaves him
things. There's a little pad of paper on his shelf, the sort of book you might use to make grocery lists or notes to pin up on the fridge. He pulls it towards himself, looking right and left for one of Marvin's brothers to leap out at him, but nothing happens. Hi, JJ,reads the first page, in messy, crooked handwriting. My name's Chase (I'm the one in the grey shirt) and Jackie is the one in the red hoodie. He doesn't know what a hoodie is. He glances down the way Marvin usually comes from and can still hear them talking. I'm sorry if we scared you. We're still figuring out what's going on. You don't have to get close to us if you don't want to (but I promise we won't hurt you if you do). I thought it would be easier for you to have a pen and some paper. Is there anything you need? Or anything we can do to show you we are on your side? Do you remember us? I also left some food by your door. It's perfectly safe, I promise. I will eat some with you if you want. Please don't be scared. We aren't with Marvin right now, or Anti. We are not going to let anyone hurt you. If there is anything we can do to help please tell us. I hope you do remember us a little bit. If you don't, though, we want to say hi! Maybe you can write me back? The paper is all for you. - Chase There are some smiley faces and even a little drawing of the plate of food on the paper. JJ glances over at his door. A dish with rice and meat is tucked on the plate alongside fat slices of oranges, a neat line of bright green cucumbers with ranch drizzled on, and a big sweet-looking roll with pecans. His mouth waters. He listens for Marvin's brothers one more time, and when they're still far away, he steps over to pick up the plate and brings it back to his mattress, sitting down and eating with relish. It's hot and fresh and home-made, better than he remembers food tasting. Most of the stuff he gets is take-out from a restaurant or leftovers. Not that he minds! It's just a lot of tasty food. He's eating faster than he means to, scooping the rice up with his plastic silverware and tearing the soft bread of the roll between his teeth. Meat between his teeth – hot flesh, red blood – Anti's smile is crimson and beaming, his own eyes are wild with delight – cannibal – No, no. He hugs himself for a few minutes and goes through the breathing exercises Marvin taught him. He's okay. He does not eat all the beef, but he eats everything else, scooping up the leftover ranch with his spoon and licking his fingers clean of the orange juice and sticky frosting from the roll. His stomach hurts with how full he is. It's a good feeling. “Jameson?” He jerks upright, pupils blown. A figure leaps back from his window. “Sorry! I just – I was just checking if you wrote me back or – sorry, I'll give you some space...” He backs away again. Jameson grabs at his chest, shuddering. Sudden voices in his box only ever mean Anti until today. And Anti – Anti hurts him. Even when they're playing. He doesn't think Anti ever learned how not to hurt someone. He thinks that's why he plays like that – testing his limits. Interested in human suffering as a primary characteristic. He plays with the edge of Chase's note, trying to think. He hasn't talked to anyone but Anti and Marvin in so long. What would Anti say? Pet, look, he's almost as pretty a present as you were. Oooh, but already a scar in his head. Who wants a scar on him I did not put there? Hm. Still pretty though. He looks like my master. Tell him to come over here and snuggle with us, Jameson. I will wrap my hands around his throat and see if he chokes the same way Jack does. Jameson chews on the end of his pencil, sighing. They need to stay away. What would Marvin say? Who, Chase? He's my baby brother. I guess I was always pretty attached to him. I was all jealous when Jack added Schneep, and I do snap at Jackie a little when he ticks me off. Chase, though, he's my – he's my little brother, you know? He's a special person. Well, anyway, it was him you stabbed the night I had to lock you up. Within about five
minutes of finding you, you stabbed one of us. I started to imagine what would happen if we just let you roam free and... you get it, right? Why I had to? Yes. Of course he does. This is what he needs to express. He clears his throat and sets his pencil shakily to paper. Dear Chase, Thank you for my dinner. It was very tasty. You are a good cook. I do remember a little of that night you all found me, but not much. I was rather unwell. I am dearly sorry for stabbing you and I hope your shoulder has healed well. I should not like to stab you again, but I do not always have a choice. Unfortunately, despite Marvin's best efforts to find a way to help, I still fall victim to possession against my will. Please leave me alone so I do not stab you or your brothers. If you will get Marvin for me he will know how to fix the box. I am not bothered by your presence but the thought of what might happen to you is very alarming. It would be in the best interest of you and your family to kindly exit this place and leave me to my own devices. There is no need to be concerned about anyone hurting me, though I appreciate your worry on my behalf. Thank you for your time and understanding, and, again, for the food. Sincerely, Jameson Jackson There. That's okay, isn't it? Maybe? P.S. I would like to see Marvin very much. Is he all right? Thank you. Okay, there. Then he will not have to wonder. Hopefully everything's okay and Chase can go bring Marvin for him. Then things will go back to normal. Things will go back to... To normal. Normal is good. Normal is... His box is quiet. The light gleams on the leaves and the lead. There are scratchmarks in the wood where he has tried to claw his way out during breakdowns. He closes his eyes. Things will go back to normal. He can never leave. He lets himself drift off in his mind again, walking in circles around his box with his eyes closed. He's on a beach with his dog and a big family... little kids come running up to him and he picks them up and plays with them in the ocean, yanking them back from the waves or ducking them under the water while they shriek in delight. The sun is so warm and the sand is hot between his toes. Marvin is suntanning on the beach while Chase and Jackie play in the sand beside him, and everyone is laughing. His box is dead quiet. Not even the wind to keep him company. Alone, alone, alone. . “I'll kill him, I'll kill him.” “Jackie. Breathing.” “I'll – oh, he – I'll tear him to pieces, look at this, he – I'll kill him, I'll destroy him, how could he...?” “Jackie. Jackie.” Chase is so tired he doesn't even get to his feet to try and calm Jackie down. He's slumped across the couch of the living room with Queenie on his stomach, kneading her claws into his t-shirt and purring. Her belly's all swollen with kittens, but instead of becoming more reclusive like a normal cat mother, she has decided she wants to be on top of someone twenty-four hours a day. Chase scratches her ears and sighs. “How could he do this?” groans Jackie, for perhaps the hundredth time today. Chase still doesn't have an answer. Jackie is clutching JJ's note in his hands tightly enough that he's definitely torn a hole or two in it. “He made him think he has to be – he has to be in this box. He – he won't come out to me. He won't come out to me.” Chase reaches for Jackie's jacket, catching his sleeve, and tugs his brother down onto the couch beside him. “Jackie. This note – it could be good news.” Jackie looks at him like he's finally lost it. “Hear me out! I know it's... not great that he seems to think he really does have to stay in there. But Jackie, look, he's not scared of Marvin! What if we jumped to conclusions about how this went down?” “He locked my little brother in a box,” says Jackie flatly. “But what if JJ asked him to do that?” Jackie blinks and looks down at the smudged note. “He... does seem to think he's dangerous.” “And, well, he is, isn't he?” “Don't say that.” “Jackie, it's just facts. Er, not JJ, I mean. Anti is the dangerous one, but he uses the
little man like a weapon. That's not his fault, but it's the truth. He did stab me that night.” “Anti stabbed you!” “Yes. But he used JJ's hands. Jackie, is it so wild to think that maybe JJ was just so scared by the things Anti has made him do that he actually asked Marvin to help him protect us from him?” Jackie's eyes water. He shakes his head. Chase sighs and touches his brother's shoulder. “It still wasn't right of Marvin to do what he did. He definitely should have talked to all of us about it and not left us thinking something terrible had happened to him. But if JJ really came to you and begged you to keep him away from us – well, maybe, as a temporary solution, you might take him somewhere safe and secluded, and take care of him yourself, right? Maybe not a little locked box, but... somewhere. It's not – Jackie, it's not unthinkable.” Jackie just shakes his head, staring down at that note. “What's wrong?” asks Chase softly. “Wanted to make him feel safe,” croaks Jackie. “I should have – if I had made him feel safe, he wouldn't have thought he needed to be locked away. And Marvin – yeah, should have told me. Even if JJ did beg. My baby brother.” After a long day, the tears are finally coming dripping down Jackie's face. “I know, man,” whispers Chase. Jackie falls against his shoulder. Chase wraps his arm around him. Queenie nudges her way into their laps and sits contentedly down, purring like a little motorboat. “Maybe JJ and Marvin really were just working together to protect us,” mumbles Jackie. “Maybe he did take good care of him. If he had told us, maybe it is... thinkable.” “I shouldn't have told Marvin we weren't brothers anymore.” Chase rubs at his face. “I was too quick to think it was the worst scenario.” “No, it's not your fault,” replies Jackie softly. “It's his for not telling us, so it really did look like the worst scenario – and my fault, for exploding on him instead of listening. I should have been calmer.” “I honestly think you were surprisingly restrained for the situation,” says Chase, a little amused. “If it were true that he just locked JJ up against you will, you oughta have kicked his ass.” Jackie snorts, rubbing at his face. “Yeah. I guess. I don't know, though. There's just... there's something really off about that box. The kids' toys and the – I don't know. I get a really bad feeling. It's hard to describe.” Chase hums and nods. “Well, what we need to do is talk to JJ more, right?” Jackie perks up, glancing over at him. “Right. Figure all this out.” Chase smiles at him. The weight on his chest is so much lighter than it was a few hours ago. This – this makes so much more sense than what they thought before. Of course it was unimaginable that Marvin would lock JJ up like a prisoner against his will and abandon him in there, unloved. What he did was still wrong, but this alternative is so much lighter than that one. Maybe they can still fix this. Marvin could come back with Schneep, and once they were all on the same page Marvin would apologize for leaving them out of the loop. Together, they'll all be able to find a better way to keep JJ safe from Anti. Then they can all be together like they're supposed to be. Yeah. He can see it now. Marvin and Schneep will come back home, and JJ will come out of the box, and everything will be wonderful. Just a few hours ago, that seemed so impossible. “You're crying again,” says Jackie, touching his face. “Chase?” “No, it's okay,” chuckles Chase, wiping at his face. Happy tears. He's so relieved it hurts in his chest. For a few hours there, he really thought Marvin might have done something that cruel. But not his brother. Not his Marvin. No wonder it didn't make sense. It wasn't true. He should have known Schneep was right. Schneep is always right. Chase chuckles, shaking his head. “Just a rollercoaster day, that's all.” “No fucking kidding. I'm going to go write back to JJ. Do you want to come with?” “No, no, I think I'll get started on dinner.” Chase has already moved on to their reunion meal in his head. He'll cook
something Marvin loves and make JJ so much good food they can't even eat it all. Bread, ice cream, pasta, casserole... there's so many options. Maybe he'll just make everything. His heart is light again. It's going to be okay. “Okay, then,” says Jackie, heading back towards the mirror. “I'll be in there with him if you need me.” “Got it,” Chase replies, getting up to head to the kitchen. “Oh, um – Chase?” “Yeah?” He turns back towards his brother. Jackie smiles at him in the evening light. “I'm really glad you're here.” Chase smiles back. “Me too,” he says.
Things are going to be different. But surely, surely - they have to turn out okay. Just this once.
. Dear JJ, I don't really know how to right to you. This is Jackie. I'm glad you remember me a little. I'm your older brother. You don't want to come out of the box? When did that start? Was it your idea to be locked up like that? I guess I can see how you would think you could be dangerous. Trust me, I've encounterred Anti enough times to get it but if you give me a chance I promise I will keep you safe. JJ there has to be a better way then you being locked up like that! I don't even care if you and Marvin thought it was a good idea it's terrible. You do not have to be a prisoner you are my brother. I really want you to come stay with me. What can I do to get you out of there? I will do anything to make you feel safe, JJ. I promise I will keep you safe. Marvin is okay. He's just staying at another house right now. He knows I am talking to you. I'm worried about how he might have treated you, can we talk some more before you talk to him? Tell me about how he treats you. I want you to be able to make your own choice. Don't worry about him, okay? Who decided you should be in that box? I want you to be here with me. I really want you to be here with me and I promise I will keep you safe. Maybe we can talk face-to-face? Even though I'm bad at sign languge. I have wanted to see you for a really long time. I love you. I don't care if you hid from me or if Anti has used you, that doesn't matter now, none of us ever blamed you for Chase's shoulder. I've been looking for you, JJ. I've been looking for you this whole time. I thought about you every day. I would have looked forever if I had to. Every day of my life. If you think you have to stay in that box, please tell me why. I need to understand. I won't lose you again. You won't lose me too. I'm your big brother and I really want you to be here. I promise I will keep you safe. JB . Dear Jackie, Please, just go. You weren't supposed to know. I will be in trouble and I will hurt you. It is my fault. I'm not like you. I can't fight Anti. I'm not what you think I am. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you looked. He said maybe he would tell you I was dead, but he knew you would not stop looking unless there was a body, so he couldn't even though he wanted to. He loves you. He didn't want you to be in pain. But he didn't know how to stop it either. He cried over it so much. Maybe now that you know, you won't have to worry about me anymore, and you and Marvin can be happy again. I'm happy here. Marvin has taken such good care of me. He treats me very well. Please go home to your brothers and don't think about me. I'm sorry I made you all so sad for so long. Sincerely, JJ There are patches of wetness on the pages. . JJ, who decided you should be in that box? Tell me. . This time, there is no answer. Big blue eyes look up at Jackie from the corner of the cage, and all he wants is to go in there with him. But when he moves forward, JJ flinches and flees back to the bathroom, and all Jackie can do is sink down beside the cage, hold his head in his hands, and try not to think about the words he wanted to tell you I was dead. . Chase: Schneep you ok Schneep: Yeah. We're at Stacy's Chase: Did you tell her Schneep: Kind of. Still not sure really what happened Chase: Us either dude. Marvin say anything more? It sounds like maybe he and JJ both decided he should be locked up or whatever Schneep: He is all freaked out still. I gave him something to calm him down and he fell asleep. I am worried though. He insists the Jameson must be kept in the box. I think Anti is pulling strings Chase: I don't have any idea what's happening at this point Schneep: How is he? Chase: Very shy. Scared of us. He also thinks he has to stay in the box Schneep: Healthy? Chase: He kind of hides. Won't let us in to see him Schneep: I come by tomorrow and check on him Chase: Ok, sounds good. Tell me if anything changes? Schneep: Yes I will Chase: And say hi to the kids for me. Maybe not a good idea for me to have them this weekend after all Schneep: No worries. We will figure everything
out, my friend. Take care of JJ for me Chase: You take care of Marvin. I think it's going to turn out alright. Schneep: Yes, it will. See you tomorrow, love you Chase: Love you . There's blood in his mouth. JJ circles his cage, using a rag to clean the walls and wipe down the boxes and sink. When it's clean, he sits down again, reaching for his violin. There's blood in his mouth. He gets up again and wets the rag. Circles the cage and wipes down the walls and boxes and sink. He sits down and rubs at his face, exhausted. There's blood in his mouth. No. The box is clean. He's not going to clean it again. There's blood in his throat. He covers his face in his hands. Stop imagining it, JJ. Distract yourself. His dog licking at his face, warm sand between his toes, Marvin is holding him – Blood in his throat. In his teeth. He picks flesh out from between his molars. Copper tang against his tongue. He feels the weight of the blood settle in his stomach. He bites into flesh. Jameson. I am not going to listen to this story again. That's fucked. Anti isn't here. Stop crying, okay? The corpse is going cold beneath his fingers. Anti is laughing. The blade swirls around in his hands. He is torn between hoping Anti will stop possessing him so he can have even a minute alone in his own head and praying that Anti never leaves again, because when he does, that is when JJ becomes the victim of his curiosity. There's blood in his mouth. JJ gets up and wets the rag. Circles the cage and wipes down the walls and boxes and sink. “Jameson,” murmurs Jackie. “Are you okay?” He's standing just outside the box, looking at him. JJ avoids his gaze, scrubbing the clean right wall with vigor. Jackie doesn't seem to want to hurt him. He supposes that makes sense. It's not Jackie JJ should worry about – it's what Anti might do to Jackie that's concerning. He wishes Marvin's big brother would leave. “Can you show me your stuffed animals?” asks Jackie. “Or your puppets? Why do you have all those?” JJ pauses, chewing on his nails as he glance at his animals, arranged neatly on his mattress. The finger puppets are in their box by the barred window. They're just for fun. For distraction. He knows each of them intimately. All the puppets have names and families and jobs and aspirations. All the animals have their own place in the world in his head. It's just a game. It's just a game he plays for hours at a time. He tells the same stories on repeat. The important part is that he knows they're not real people right now. Marvin was so relieved. There's blood in his mouth. He circles his cage. Cleans the walls and boxes and sink. It's already clean. He knows it's already clean. “Do you play the violin?” JJ pauses again, eyes flickering over to Jackie. Yes, he does. For hours a day. “Would you show me?” asks Jackie gently. JJ hovers. He's not sure he should. But he never gets to show anyone except Marvin and the toys. It would be nice. He never got to show anyone Marvin's birthday song. It's not going to hurt Jackie. It's just his music. He picks the violin tentatively up. Sets it back down again. Jackie is looking at him uncertainly from the window, smiling a faint, confused smile. Fuck's sake, he's – he's weird, isn't he? Not Jackie – JJ. He turns away from Marvin's brother, biting at his nails again. It's been so long since he interacted with anyone other than Marvin and Anti. What must he look like to Jackie? He's treating him like he's so fragile. Maybe he is. But this is how he lives. This is how he has to live. He used to fight. Does Jackie know that? Does Jackie know that there were days that he would come out of possession kicking and striking at Anti, spitting at him and writhing before Anti could stuff him back into whatever hiding place he had found to contain him? Does Jackie know that JJ used to curse at Marvin and demand to be let go? That he eventually crumpled beneath the isolation and the monotony and just collapsed in on himself, sitting mindless for days at a time no matter how much Marvin begged at him to
get up? Does Jackie know that he hates this? There are tears dripping onto the violin set beneath his chin. He can't think like this. This is where he has to stay. He can't go. He can't leave. There is blood in his mouth. This is what he has to do. He can't tell on Marvin, can't tell Jackie that Marvin dragged him into this box and locked him up while he cried. This is what he deserves because he's done so many bad things and he will do so many more if he is released. Oh, there is blood in his mouth. He can't get out. He has to be a good boy – he has to stay – he has to – “Major freak-out,” he signs to himself. This is what Marvin calls a major freak-out. Yeah. Okay. “Have to stay calm, JJ, you can't come out of your cage. “Come hold me, Marvin, please! “If you calm down I'll come in there. Okay? “Please can I come out just for a few minutes? Oh, God, I want to see a priest. Are you going to keep me here my whole life? I'll die here! I'm going to die here? I can't take it anymore! I can't take it! Oh, God, I want to see the sky, I want to hear birds, oh, God, our father, who art in Heaven – “JJ, be good. Penguin, stop that. You know you can't come out. So be calm. I'm working on finding a solution. “But you never do, you never do!” “JJ.” And now the voice does not sound like Marvin's. JJ isn't sure why. He keeps signing to himself, circling his cage, chewing on his collar. He talks to Marvin. Marvin isn't there, but he knows what he will say. Yes, Marvin is here. They're talking and hugging each other, yes, Marvin is making it better. Marvin isn't here. “Jameson, hey. Jamie, can you look at me? Jamie, can I come in there with you?” Yes, yes, he wants that! He hates to be alone for freak-outs. They last hours and sometimes he slams his head against the wall so hard the light hurts his eyes for days. Sometimes he scratches at the wood til his nails split. Sometimes he clings to Anti and begs him to take him away from this place, because even the torture and the killing would be better than sitting in this same – fucking – spot – for the rest of his miserable existence. He hates to be alone. Alone, alone, alone. “Please, please,” he begs. “Please, please.” “Okay, I'm coming, Jamie, I'm coming.” Marvin doesn't call him Jamie, but it doesn't matter, because a moment later, there are arms around him. There's no torture quite like the touch-starvation, and JJ is someone who knows torture. When Marvin started touching him and hugging him and sitting with him, it changed everything. And the most wonderful part about it is how those months of his skin crawling and his brain going numb and foggy with a bizarre and visceral sort of insanity as he rubbed at his own skin and rocked and day-dreamed about being touched til he could hallucinate it – they all just fade into the background when someone puts their arms around him. He latches on like a cat in a tree. Octopuses himself around their body. And in return – joy of joy, he is being squeezed back, squished against their body and rocked. He is scooped all the way off his feet, making him giggle. He buries his head in their shoulder and shakes, pressed so tightly together it's a little hard to breathe. “My little brother, my little brother,” someone is singing. “My JJ. Here you are. I have you back again, I have you.” He's grabbed by the waist and spun in a circle before he's drawn back to their chest. He laughs weakly and hears them laughing back. “Here you are. Chase was right. This is all that matters. You are everything that matters.” Kisses along the side of his head. Hands on his back and cupping his head. He's rocked back and forth, back and forth. Steady and strong. Gloved hands. A red hood. The smell of rain and sweat and coconut on the jacket. And that feeling – that feeling of safety... Yeah. He remembers. How could he forget? When this was what he dreamed about for so long? Jackie is holding him. His awareness comes back to him in pieces as he comes down from the second or third panic attack of the day. Jackie has crashed down onto the
mattress with him. He's being held like a little kid, but Jackie doesn't seem bothered by his weight or his neediness. Jackie just clings to him. Clings to him as tight as he's clinging to Jackie. JJ cries quietly as he comes back to himself. Jackie wipes at his face and hums to him, nonsense music in the air. “My JJ, my JJ.” He doesn't seem bothered by the crying either. “I missed you, JJ.” His voice breaks. Jackie coughs and kisses the side of his head one more time, his voice fading away. “Have to go,” signs JJ, crying into his chest. “Have to go, before he hurts you!” “I'm so sorry, James, I never really got to practice with the sign language, I should have worked harder...” “Go, go!” He points to the door. “Go away!” Jackie shakes his head at him. JJ should push him away, but he just – he just can't. Marvin will kill him for this. Anti will kill Jackie for this! “Nothing's going to hurt you anymore,” whispers Jackie. “Never, you're never leaving my sight again. I'm never going to let anything happen to you ever again.” And he wants it to be true so badly it hurts. He just clings to Jackie, shaking. “Oh! He let you get in there with him!” A new voice in the expanse of the mirrors. JJ feels Jackie nod. “Do you guys... do you want some space?” “Yeah, please,” whispers Jackie. “Maybe he'll let you come in too in a minute, but if we could just... just get a minute...” “Just text me if you need anything.” And it's just him and Jackie in the quiet of his box again. “Nothing matters but this,” sings Jackie, brushing at his hair. “My baby brother. I love you.” Love, love, love. He closes his eyes and holds to Jackie, and just for one moment of weakness, he lets himself have this.
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seanfalco · 3 years
Text
The Going Away Party | Misfits Timeline Anomaly’verse
an oc x oc collaboration between @seanfalco & @super-unpredictable98​
Word Count: 5k Warnings: Smut, Jealousy a/n: The quad’s last night in London before starting a new chapter in their lives.
[ masterlist ]
“Okay, so... is that everythin’?” Win’s Nathan asked, trying to peer over Lyddie’s shoulder at the list in her hand.
"I think so, it's not like it's gonna be a ton of people, the flat can’t really fit more ten people sitting down, fifteen, if they’re standing up..." Lydia murmured, checking the list once again, her people-pleasing reflexes kicking in trying to remember what each of their guests liked. 
"Good thing Natty told us, I'm so happy to help you guys," she mused, following Win's Nathan while texting Win to say they would be home soon.  "I'll miss the Estate. I know we're not going forever, but it feels weird... I've been living here my whole life.
“Yeah, I hear yeh, but it’ll be a nice change of scenery,” Win’s Nathan exclaimed, pushing the trolley for her.  “I’m excited for yeh to perform,” he said, flashing her a grin.
"Me too, I think I'm kinda numb at this point, if I actually access my feelings, I might faint," Lydia laughed as she put the groceries on the conveyor.  "Do you think that's enough beer?  Should I get more?" she mused at the four cases in front of them.
“We can tell people t’bring their own too,” Win’s Nathan’s laughed.  “Oh.... shite,” he breathed, quickly ducking down behind Lydia.
"What?" she almost instinctively made a force field around them, but thankfully she held back — that would've been hard to explain.  "Is it someone that tried to kill us?" she asked, looking around.
“No, even worse!” Nathan hissed, the checkout girl giving them a strange look.  “That’s Win’s evil stepmum.  The queen bitch, herself!” he exclaimed, gesturing toward the blonde woman nearby, who bore a rather striking resemblance to her daughter, Delilah.
"Ah, who cares, I'm not scared of her... If she tries me, her and her daughter will have matching scars," Lydia said, bagging the groceries with a chuckle.  "Nothing can ruin my mood today, not even the queen bitch supreme."
“Yeah, y’say that now...” Nathan mumbled, eyeing her warily.  She hadn’t seemed to see them... yet, but with the determined way Lydia was moving, it wouldn’t be long til she noticed them, having just gotten all her bagged groceries back into her own trolley.
"What is she gonna do?  Call the manager and say 'the girl with blue hair assaulted my daughter'?  The worst she can do is bore me to death, you shouldn't be scared of a gold-digging slag with ego problems, you're basically a superhero," Lydia pointed out, turning to kiss him before loading the groceries into the car Simon managed to borrow from their parents.
Win’s Nathan spluttered, but accepted Lyddie’s kiss.  “I guess,” he muttered.  “I don’t always feel like a superhero though.”  As soon as the words would out of his mouth he swallowed thickly, Win’s stepmum having clearly spotted him, her head swiveling his way and suddenly her trolley was changing directions.  He couldn’t see her eyes behind the dark sunglasses she wore, but he swore she was glaring bloody murder at him. 
“You!” she cried, running her trolley right into his shin as he yelped in pain.  “You and you!” she amended, venom dripping from her voice as she turned her glare on Lydia.  “You’re the miscreants that got my Delilah sent to the hospital!” she cried. 
“Oh hi, Karen,” Nathan drawled, “So y’remember me?  I’m flattered!”
"Hey, Karen... name suits you," Lydia added under her breath.  She was probably the only one able to understand the joke from the future, but she didn't care.  "I didn't do anything, Delilah's mouth sent her to the hospital, it wasn't me... and if you touch my boyfriend again you'll see who goes to the hospital next," Lydia growled.  She tried to be civil, but seeing her run into Nathan like that was too much. 
"You okay, sweetie?" she cooed, running her fingers through his curls as he nursed his bruised shin.
“Oh please, he’s fine!” Karen snapped, giving Nathan a disdainful look as he pouted, rubbing at his shin.  “I want you to tell my ungrateful slag of a stepdaughter not to contact us again.  Her father was willing to overlook her past transgressions, which is more than she deserved, honestly, but no longer.  He wishes to have nothing further to do with her and it’s about time.”
"I'll really appreciate if you wash your fucking mouth before talking about my girlfriend," Lydia snapped back, flashing her a hollow grin before taking Nathan's hand to avoid slapping the woman.  "Maybe watch what your own daughter is doing in her spare time.  You know, besides committing crimes, terrorizing children... but it'll be my pleasure, I'll tell Win that her shitty family is finally leaving her alone, she'll be enthused!"
Nathan let Lydia pull him away.  He knew, though, that she was bluffing.  She wouldn’t tell Win what Karen had said, it would hurt Win too much.  She’d always held out hope that her dad might finally come to his senses and try to make up for everything, to be the dad she needed him to be, and anger bubbled up inside him. 
“But what about me?” he called, catching Karen’s attention once more.  “Am I still allowed t’call?  I mean, how else are we supposed to continue our illicit affair, Karen?  You were the best cougar I’ve ever had!  I thought what he had meant somethin’!  And now you’re just throwin’ me away like a old rag?” he cried dramatically, drawing more onlookers’ attention and causing a scene, Karen’s mouth falling open.
"Oh my God!  You're saying that you're cheating on me with this crusty old cunt?" Lydia cried, dramatically falling to her knees, crocodile tears running down her face.  "Tell me now!  She's the one who gave you crabs wasn't she?  WASN'T SHE?” she sobbed, turning next to Win’s stepmum.  
“You homewrecker, I’m pregnant with his child and you stab me in the back, stealing my boyfriend, Karen?  You'll pay for what you did, you monster!"  Lydia knew that would probably end up somewhere in some tabloid, but Karen's expression was absolutely priceless, totally worth the damage control afterwards.
Snickering, Nathan pulled Lyddie to her feet and jumped into the car, leaving Karen gaping after them as people stared and muttered behind their hands. 
“Oh my God, that was priceless!” he laughed. “Lyddie, you were amazing!  Absolute perfection!”
 He knew it wouldn’t be enough to make up for the fact that Win’s dad was finally cutting her off for good, but it had felt good to humiliate Karen one last time.
"Thanks... I gotta practice for my big Broadway debut," Lydia laughed, taking Win's Nathan's face in her hands and kissing him lovingly.  "Once we get home, Winnie can borrow my power and get rid of that bruise — speaking of that!  I don't know what to say to her, she's gonna be devastated; I wanted tonight to be perfect for her."
“Maybe... we shouldn’t tell her?” Nathan ventured hesitantly.  He didn’t want her to be upset either and he had a feeling hearing about this would completely ruin her night.
"Yeah, maybe it's best, at least for now..." Lydia agreed.  "Maybe in New York, if I were to receive bad news, I'd rather be on top of the Empire State than a flat in Wertham."
——
“Jeeze what’s taking them so long,” Win muttered, checking her phone.  She and Lyddie’s Nathan were on decoration duty while Lyddie and her Nathan had gone to the supermarket to grab the food.  Smart idea, Win thought ruefully.  Though Lydia had been teaching her some things, she still struggled in the kitchen and didn’t want to ruin the party with her subpar cooking skills.
With Nathan’s powers and Win borrowing them, it had taken them almost no time at all to decorate the flat for the party.  
"They're shaggin', they have t'be!" Lyddie's Nathan groaned, throwing himself down to the couch.  "It's almost time for the party and they’re shaggin' in her mum's car!"
“Maybe they just got held up,” Win murmured, sitting down next to him on the edge and running her fingers through his hair.  “I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”
"Hey, loves!" Lydia exclaimed, shouldering open the door while carrying two huge paper bags under her arms.  "Sorry we took so long, the line was crazy..." 
"The line, uh huh..." her Natha teased, getting up to help.  "Let's pretend I believe you."
“Oh sure, like you weren’t gettin’ frisky with Win while you were waitin’ for us,” Win’s Nathan teased, carrying the beer in.
"How dare you!  We did no such thing!" Lyddie's Nathan gasped.  "We've been workin'..." 
"I wish we had time for that," Lydia mused, looking over at Win's Nathan, he was really sexy dealing with the whole Karen thing earlier.  "But looks like I'll have to wait until after the party, the guests will be here any second."
“Why didn’t we do that?” Win teased, following Lyddie’s Nathan into the kitchen to help unload the food.
"Cause I'm nervous..." he admitted, it was a little scary, every time he remembered he was moving across the world, he felt slightly sick to his stomach.  "But after the party I'll take care o'that," he pushed that fear aside and smiled.
“Aw, Nats,” Win murmured, wrapping her arms around him, momentarily surprised at his moment of vulnerability.  “I’m nervous too,” she whispered.  “But the important thing is we’ll all be together.”
Since the flat was so tiny, they only invited a few people — their closest friends, but Lydia was still freaking out.  Being anxious about being a good host, on top of leaving for New York the next day, on top of the unpleasant (to say the least) encounter from earlier made her run and hide in the bedroom for a moment, not sure if she was doing everything right.
“Hey Lyds, you alright?” Win asked, pushing the door open a hair, having noticed her hurry out of the room.
"I-I don't know... I think I'm having a little bit of a panic attack, but I'll be fine," Lydia assured her, kissing the back of Win's hands.  "Don't worry, baby, go have fun, I'll be right there."
“Are you sure?  I really don’t mind if you want me to keep you company,” Win insisted.
"Maybe just for a second..." Lydia admitted, curling up against Win, trying to breathe properly.  "I love you, Winnie. You’re amazing, you know that?  If anyone ever says you're not, the problem's with them," she insisted heatedly.
“Oh Lyddie, I love you too,” Win murmured, holding her girlfriend while rubbing soothing circles against her back.  “Did someone say I’m not amazing?” she asked with a laugh.
"I just wanted you to know, that's all," Lydia mumbled.  "You're the best girlfriend I could ask for, and I don't ever wanna be without you."  She said, looking up and placing a gentle kiss to Win's lips.
“Oh babe, you’re so sweet,” Win murmured, kissing her back as she caressed her cheek.  “I don’t ever wanna be without you either, Lyddie.”  She could hear the Nathans’ raucous laughter from the other room and was glad they were out there entertaining.  “Everything’s gunna be alright,” Win assured Lydia.  “Like I told Nathan... the most important part is we’ll all be together.”
"Yeah, that's all that matters..." Lydia agreed, getting up.  Before opening the door, she hesitated, looking in the mirror to make sure everything was in place.  "Let's do this." 
"Hey, are you okay, Lyds?" Simon asked, pulling her to the corner as soon as he noticed her coming out of the room. 
"Yeah yeah, don't worry, I was just a little scared, but I feel better now," she smiled.
Win gave Lyddie’s hand a squeeze before Simon pulled her off to the side to talk to her and she waded into the small sea of bodies, looking for a tall curly head.  
“Hey! There yeh are, Winnie,” her Nathan exclaimed, his twin not too far off.  “Where were ya?” 
“I was talking to Lyddie, she got a little overwhelmed, but I think she’s okay now,” she murmured, looking around at all their friends.  Most of them seemed to know her somehow, more like a faint memory, and though it made her a little sad to think about, it was bearable.  At least they knew her at all.
Lydia tried to forget all the foggy thoughts getting in the way and tried to have fun.  The Nathans worked really hard on planning the party, she didn't want to upset them by not enjoying it.  Grabbing a beer, she sat down with the rest of the gang and her partners.  Everyone seemed happy, chatting about anything and everything. 
"So, what are you guys talking about?"
"Not much, just gushing about you," Win answered, leaning into her side as she joined them, resting her head against her shoulder for a moment.
"About me?" Lydia blushed, laughing as she imagined what they could be saying. 
"Yeah, we were talkin' about your sexual prowess with three lovers," her Nathan mocked. 
"Nathan, Jesus Christ..." Simon shook his head with a wince.  "How many times have I told you not to do that?  I don't wanna know!"
"Actually we were talking about the musical, and how excited we are to be spending time in New York again," Win cut in, giving Simon an apologetic grin.
"It feels so odd to think about it, it's like a dream, I'm really excited, you know even in the future there has never been a female Lonny in Rock of Ages, I have no idea how this happened!"  Lydia was always so excited to talk about the musical.  She knew she’d never be able to repay them for getting her to audition.  "Of course, everyone's coming to the City to watch me when the night comes... I need everyone there," she insisted.
"Of course!" Alisha exclaimed excitedly, grabbing onto Simon's arm. 
"Don't worry, we'll make sure everyone's there, Lollipop," Win's Nathan assured her with a grin, his hand resting on her thigh. 
"Win? Hey, Win!"  A voice through the crowd drew her attention and she looked up to see her bandmate, Max making his way over.  She'd been a little surprised that the Nathans' had thought to invite him, but she was glad to see him.
"Max, hey!" she exclaimed, getting up from the couch to greet him with a hug.
"Who's that?" Lydia whispered to her Nathan, feeling just the tiniest hint of jealousy, not that she would ever admit it... 
"That's Max, th’other Nathan had the idea to invite him," he explained.  
Lydia watched that with an indecipherable expression.  She didn't really understand why she felt so off. 
"You alright?" Kelly asked, following Lydia's eyes. 
"Yeah, sure," she answered distractedly, getting up to introduce herself.  "Hey there."
"Hey!" Win exclaimed.  "Oh, that's right, you guys have never been introduced before," she remembered.  "Lyds, this is my bandmate Max.  Max, this is my lovely girlfriend, Lydia," she said, wearing a bright smile.
"Nice to meet you," Lydia murmured,  shaking his hand.  "Make yourself at home, get a drink, a snack... I think I remember seeing you at the music festival that Winnie and I played at together, is that right?" she asked, taking her seat with a smile that made Simon and Lyddie's Nathan exchange a look. 
“What's wrong with her?” Simon mouthed while Nathan shrugged, but he was wondering the same thing.
Win frowned as Lydia hurried away again before even really waiting for Max's response, but she couldn't exactly ask her about it right then. 
"Hey, Win, d'you think we could go somewhere quieter?” Max asked, interrupting her thoughts.  “There’s, uhh... there's something I need to talk to you about.” 
"Uh, yeah, sure..." Win said awkwardly, looking around for a quiet spot.  She didn’t exactly like the sound of that.
"I don't like him," Lydia announced suddenly, bouncing her leg nervously as she sat back down. "Not one bit..." 
"Aww, is someone jealous?" her Nathan teased, poking her playfully. 
"So what if I am?" she demanded, folding her arms. 
"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Peanut..." Simon took her hand. 
"Yeah, the Nathans should be jealous, but you're much hotter than that guy," Alisha assured her with a grin. 
"I feel like I should be offended, but I don't exactly understand why," Lyddie's Nathan muttered with a twist of his lips.
"Don't worry, Lollipop, I may have been a little jealous of the guy back in th'day, but he's good people.  Surprisingly," Win's Nathan exclaimed. 
"C'mon, we can talk on the balcony," Win suggested, opening the sliding door and ushering Max outside.  "So, what did you wanna talk about, Max?" 
"It's actually somethin' I've been wanting to tell you for a while, and when I heard you were leaving to go to the States... well, I couldn't put off telling you any longer.”
Oh no, Win thought with a grimace.  This can’t be good.
“Winrey, I'm in love with you," Max blurted out, taking her hand. 
"What?" Win exclaimed in response, nearly ripping her hand from his.
"I've been in love with you for years, don't you remember that night we spent together once? Didn't that mean something to you?"
"Being 'good people' doesn't stop him from hitting on our girlfriend..." Lydia huffed. "Did you see the way he looked at her?  I'm telling you, I have an eye for these things." 
"Win has three partners, I think that's more than enough," Kelly laughed. 
"Wow, Lollipop, haven't seen you like this ever since Ruth..." Lyddie's Nathan taunted. "Remember?" 
"Yeah, granny fucker, very funny!" Lydia replied, shifting slightly closer to the balcony to hear their conversation.
"Max, what the fuck are you talking about?" Win exclaimed.  “I never slept with you!”
“I know we were pretty drunk that night, but you have to remember.”
“Oh my God,” Win groaned.  It must have been the other her, the one originally from this timeline before she showed up.
"I'm already in a relationship.  Please don't do this, Max," she begged, saying anything to get him to back off. 
"Do what?  C'mon Win, I know you feel something for me too." 
"Max, I—" Win sighed, unsure what else to say.  This was not the conversation she wanted to be having right now, or ever to be honest.  Max was her best friend outside of the ASBO group, and she didn't want to lose him, but there was no way she was gunna jeopardize her relationship for him, for something she didn’t do.  
"Just, please Win—" Before she could react he leaned in to kiss her.
In a flurry of events the sliding door suddenly flew open and Lydia’s angry voice echoed over the Estate.  "BACK THE FUCK OFF MY GIRLFRIEND" she cried, fuming.  
The two Nathans looked at each other surprised, Lyddie wouldn't act like that without a reason... she must've heard or seen something they didn’t. 
"You come to my flat, in the middle of my party, and you try to kiss my fucking girlfriend?  What the fuck, man?" she shouted angrily.  The rest of the gang was taken back, Simon’s eyes widening — it had been a long time since he'd seen his sister that angry. 
Turns out she did have a good eye for that stuff. 
"Get the fuck out!" Lydia snapped, pointing at the door.  "I've had a pretty hard day, I don't need this shit.  Take the hint and leave."
"But, Win, please?" Max stuttered, hesitating. 
"Max, I'm sorry, but you need t'leave," Win said, giving him a pointed look.  For a moment she didn't think he was going to, but finally he stormed out and Win slumped into the nearest chair, hiding her face in her hands.
"Very well done, Nathan, brilliant!" Lydia snapped at both of them, thought they couldn't have possibly known this was going to happen. "Very memorable last night in England!" she cried, throwing her hands up. 
She wasn't mad at Win, of course not, it wasn't her fault, though the thought of her — any version of her — sleeping with him made Lyddie's stomach churn and she slumped down next to Winnie. 
"Hey, it's okay," she whispered.  "I'm so sorry this happened, I... wanted tonight to be perfect for you."
"It's not your fault, Lyddie," Win murmured, completely embarrassed.  "I'm so sorry, I didn't think he'd... I had no idea he felt that way," she said, squeezing her eyes shut.  "I'm gunna... uh, I'll be right back—“  Before anyone could say anything more Win made a b-line for the bedroom, away from everyone's prying eyes.
Lydia was pretty much used to sharing her entire life with the gang, but she’d known them for a long time, Win had only known them since Community Service and she suddenly felt bad for making such a scene in front of everyone. "
“Winnie, baby," Lyddie exclaimed, hurrying to the door and knocking gently.  "Can I come in?  I just wanna talk and hold you, I'm sorry for all the yelling, I just couldn't help it."
“Yeah, you can come in,” Win said, her voice muffled.  As soon as Lydia shut the door behind her Win quickly scrubbed at her eyes, trying to hide her tears.
“I’m so sorry, I had no idea he felt that way... I can’t believe he tried to kiss me— I can’t believe he actually thought I’d leave you guys for him.  I’m just... I’m sorry, I don’t want you t’think—“  She shook her head and sank to the bed.
"There's nothing you could've done, baby, it was completely delusional of him to come here and pull this stunt," Lydia joined Win in bed and pulled her close.  "I love you, I would never judge you because of that.  I was really jealous and I embarrassed you, I'm so sorry about that."
“You were jealous?” Win asked softly, glancing over, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"Yeah, of course..." Lyddie felt her cheeks burn slightly.  "I saw th’way he looked at you, I saw you hugging him, I was bloody jealous."
“Aw babe,” Win drawled, her embarrassment forgotten for the moment.  “Is it terrible that I kinda like that?  It makes me feel special,” she laughed.  “I’m sorry, I’m terrible.”
"No, you're not terrible and you are special..." Lydia felt happy for being able to make Win smile after that shitshow.  "I just love you too much, and thinking about someone else with you made me lose it, you're mine."
“Someone other than a Nathan?” Win teased.  “I like how fiery you got babe, it was pretty hot,” she admitted, sliding her hand along Lyddie’s jaw as she leaned in to kiss her.
"I've never seen you get jealous over me..." Lydia mused, kissing her back, one hand firmly squeezing her thigh.  "But that's good to know, I should get jealous over you more often," she joked.
“I’ve been jealous before,” Win admitted softly between kisses.  “Though it wasn’t like some asshole was about to try to shove his tongue down your throat,” she said with a small laugh. “But I’ve definitely been jealous,” she said.  “It’s usually when fans flirt with you and you don’t realize it, or when guys at the bar check you out...”
"Yeah you're right, it does feel good," Lyddie murmured, using her thigh to part Win's legs, as she pushed her back, grinding against her.  "To know that you're scared of losing me, it's cute..." she moved to kiss Win's neck.  "I think we might be getting a little outta hand here, do you want me to stop?"
“No, please don’t stop,” Win moaned, tilting her head for Lyddie to keep kissing her neck.
“Win, are you oka—?!” her Nathan exclaimed, cutting off as soon as he saw Lyddie with her. “Oh! I... sorry.  I came t’check on yeh... I knew that guy was bad news!”
"Hey, go on, sit down," Lydia bit her lip.  "That is if you'd like to watch…” she drawled before turning her attention back to her girlfriend.  "Don't worry, we'll be back at the party in no time, but you gotta be quiet, okay, Winnie?" Lydia purred next to her ear, one of her hands sliding under Win's shirt as her thigh kept rubbing against her girlfriend's sex.  "Come on, baby, you know what to do..."
Win nodded, careful not to make a noise as she reached for her Nathan who joined them without having to be told twice.
"So beautiful like this..." Lyddie breathed before capturing Win's lips, one hand sliding between her legs, gathering her arousal as lube to tease her clit.  "Say you're mine, Winnie," she commanded.
“I’m yours, Lyddie,” she breathed, her breath catching, and she rolled her hips against her hand.
"You're so good, baby," Lydia pumped one finger inside of her while nipping at the tender skin of her neck.  "I love you so much."
“I love you too, please Lyddie,” Win whimpered, jumping as she felt Nathan’s thumb circle her clit as Lydia’s fingers pumped into her.  “Oh—“ she sighed, writhing at the pleasure that coursed through her at such two simple touches.
"Please what?  You wanna come for us?  Is that what you want, baby?  Cause I wanna watch you..." Lyddie added another finger, moving faster, while leaving a trail of hickeys down Win's neck.
“Yes, please, I’ll be quiet,” Win whined, threading her fingers in Lyddie’s hair, her other hand seeking Nathan’s.
"Good girl, come for me," Lyddie smirked, by now all the anxiety and sadness had faded, the only one she could focus on was Win.
As if Lyddie’s words were a switch Win climaxed, her body tensing as pleasure took over and she was floating for a moment.  When she came down from her high, her chest heaving, she looked up at her two lovers and gave a tremulous smile.  “I love you both, so much.”
"I love you too," Lydia licked her fingers clean and gently kissed Win's forehead.  "Are you ready to go back?  Can't leave Natty out there by himself for too long," she laughed.
“Yeah, you go on, I’ll be there in a sec,” Win murmured, sitting up, her eyes trailing over to her Nathan who seemed rather quiet.
"Okay," Lyddie stole one last kiss before leaving.  When she came out, she found exactly what she expected: Nathan being Nathan, cracking jokes and pulling tricks that only made everyone roll their eyes, while Lydia laughed.
“Did you ever have a thing with Max?” Win’s Nathan asked quietly. 
“No,” Win answered truthfully.  “He’s a good friend, but I never thought of him that way.  Though,  if what he said tonight is to be believed, apparently my clone from this timeline did…”
Nathan nodded reluctantly.  “Guess he’s been in love with you ever since, huh?  Or at least… well, you know...” 
“Yeah, I guess,” Win murmured.  “This is just so fucked up.” 
“I know,” Nathan exclaimed, reaching for her and Win let him pull her into his arms.  “But it’s not your fault.”
“I know, but I’m still sorry...” she insisted, her words muffled against his shirt. 
“Y’got nothin’ to be sorry for.  I’m sorry he did that t’yeh.” 
Win stayed there for a long time, just letting Nathan hold her.  
“C’mon, let’s go back out there and put all this behind us, huh?  Don’t wanna keep our lovely Lyddie waitin’,” Nathan said, pulling Win to her feet. 
“Yeah, definitely not,” Win agreed, seeming better, and they left the room to rejoin the party.
"So you were right about Max after all," Lyddie's Nathan let his head rest on her lap while they all watched a movie.  
"Yeah, as usual..." she teased.  "But I thought you were used to it by now."  She grinned as Win and the other Nathan joined them.  It felt so odd to know that tomorrow she would have to say goodbye to all their friends and her home. 
"Hey, Simon?" a voice came from the door, Max having left it ajar as he’d left and Lydia looked at her brother, tears springing to her eyes as she recognized the voice. 
"In here, dad!" he called. 
"I was hoping this was the right address, you know how I am sometimes..." 
"Yeah," Lyddie laughed as she shed a tear. 
"The car, right... I'll get the keys.  Dad, you remember my friend Lyddie, right?" Simon asked, taking her hand as he got to his feet.  "She's going to the US tomorrow to perform on Broadway." 
"Wow, that's amazing!  Congratulations!  I remember how talented you are," he exclaimed, holding his hand out to shake hers, but instead Lydia threw her arms around him.
Win watched Lydia hug her dad from her spot on the couch and she was overcome with a sudden wave of emotion. She really wished that Lyddie could tell him the truth about her identity some day.  She wanted her to be happy.  And a part of her wished that she and her own dad could work things out.  For a moment she thought about giving him a call, but what would she say?
"Do you wanna stay?  We have plenty of food and beer," Lydia asked hopefully, fixing her hair to cover the birthmark on her shoulder.  
"Thank you, but I can't, I'm supposed to pick my daughter up at the library.  It's getting a little late, don't want her walking around alone." 
"Yeah, that's... yeah, it's dangerous at night, thanks for dropping by," Lydia stumbled over her words. 
"Well, congrats again on the Broadway thing," he said, giving Lydia a tender look and waved at the rest of the guests.  "Have a good night you lot, sorry for interrupting your party," he chuckled before leaving. 
"Goodbye," Lydia waved back, falling into her Nathan's lap. "—Dad," she added softly after he’d already left.
Win looked over as Lyddie returned, slipping her hand in hers without a word and giving her a squeeze.  “Can I get you anything?” she asked.
"Just a hug," Lydia murmured, wiping the tears from her face as she took Win in her arms.  "Let's just finish the movie, yeah?"
“Of course, babe,” Win murmured, pulling Lydia into her arms.  As they watched the movie, the Nathans cracking jokes and quoting random lines Win idly ran her fingers through Lyddie’s hair, feeling strangely at peace, despite how the evening had gone.
———————-
Tag list: @magic-multicolored-miracle @santacarlahorrorshow @messengeronthemoon @the-freckled-luba @firstpersonnarrator  @spanishmossmagnolia @salvador-daley @forenschik @a-ghoulish-tale @love-is-dirty-baby @vonkimmeren  @violetrainbow412-blog
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nobodyfamousposts · 4 years
Text
ML/DC Crossover: Mominette with Dolls
Conner was having a rough time of things.
He was a clone of Superman. Meant to be his successor and replace him if at any point he should die or be deemed unfit for his role. Though admittedly a lot of people didn’t want to think too hard on that part.
Conner admired the man. He wanted nothing more than to be like him. But for all that he tried to reach out, Superman remained a distant speck in the sky that Conner’s stupid lack of flight would never let him reach.
It was a clash of emotions he had to deal with. To be so angry with someone while at the same time wanting nothing more than their respect and attention.
And Conner tried. Really, he tried. But no matter what he did, Superman refused to acknowledge him. And as if his life wanted to shove it in his face how much of a failure he was, not only did he not meet Superman’s standards, his own physiology failed to be like his progenitor as well.
Then he found out why.
Lex Luthor was the other donor. Superman’s sworn enemy.
It was a crisis of faith. Superman was a hero but would not accept Conner. Lex Luthor at least seemed interested in Conner, but was clearly a villain and no doubt only had interest in how he could use the clone to his own ends.
Conner was...conflicted. What was he? What should he do?
It was perhaps fortunate...or maybe fate that led to an interesting discovery hidden within some previously unnoticed Cadmus files on the Kr project.
The specifics of it went over his head, but from what he understood, the gist was that the attempt to create a viable half-Kryptonian clone still wouldn’t have worked. The scientists couldn’t get Superman and Luthor’s DNA to link without causing abnormalities, so they sought a different means to unite the two.
The “means” in this case involved the use of magic to weaken the Kryptonian DNA enough to allow it to bond with the human DNA and stabilize without degrading. The magic in question came from a mysterious third donor. Another person unaware of Cadmus or the cloning project.
A female magic-based superhero from Paris by the name of “Ladybug”.
He...he had a mother.
Or at least a female genetic donor, he told himself. Given Superman’s response and Luthor’s...Luthorness, Conner was wary of getting his hopes up that this time would be different.
But...he wanted to at least meet her.
M’gann was supportive and fully willing to take him there during their downtime. She didn’t know much about human mothers, but she spoke a lot of what she observed. She also offered reassurances as best she could. That this would be different. That even if the worst happened, the Team would still be there for him.
He knew she was trying to help, but he was anxious.
What would he even say to her once they met? Much like Superman, this Ladybug was unlikely to be aware of the theft of her DNA or what it was used for. She certainly wouldn’t know about the cloning project.
Ladybug had been active in Paris for 4 years by this point dealing with an empath-based terrorist. She couldn’t be older than 20. How would she feel knowing she suddenly had a biological child who looked maybe a couple years younger than she did?
M’gann was able to notice his anxiety. Pointing out that going into this already tense would only make things more difficult, she suggested they take a break once they had reached Paris. After all, Ladybug only appeared during the “akuma attacks”, and may not have been able to meet him just yet anyway.
He agreed, though it was more out of numbness and the need for distraction than anything.
While looking around, M’gann pulled him into a bakery she noticed, exclaiming they could try some French pastries while they were waiting.
As soon as they entered, his attention was drawn to the young woman behind the counter.
Dark hair. Blue eyes. Pale. Freckles.
And a feeling...a buzzing sensation he couldn’t explain.
The woman smiled at them as they entered and M’gann started up a friendly conversation with her as they were the only ones in the shop at the time. But Conner barely heard them.
It felt strange to claim a connection to someone he had just met, but he could swear there was something about the woman...
Was she...?
His thoughts were cut off by the sensation of something grabbing his leg.
Looking down in surprise, his eyes widened at the sight of what appeared to be a...doll? A little doll wearing black, with blond hair and glowing green eyes peering up at him happily.
The woman noticed the commotion and gave a high pitched shriek, though it sounded less out of surprise and more out of concern and fear.
“Chaton! No!”
And...what sounded like a name?
M’gann was also surprised at the sight. Uncertain what the little thing was or if it was a construct, she attempted to link to it telepathically to see if it had a mind.
‘New one! Yay! Little brother!’
It had a mind...albeit simplistic. Downright childlike.
‘Welcome! Hi! Happy! Meeting you! Yay!’
M’gann gasped. Whatever it HE was, he was alive. And...was he calling Conner ‘little brother’?
Conner picked up the creature, a doll from the looks of him. The doll beamed brightly up at him. And while Conner couldn’t hear him, he somehow knew what he was saying.
‘Welcome home!’ Chaton hugged Conner’s hand, his tail wagging happily.
He felt warm.
“What is this?” He marveled, looking up to the woman at the counter who was watching him warily.
The woman who...actually had a rather strong resemblance to the superhero he was here to meet. Who looked too much like himself to be coincidence. Who Conner found himself having a strange feeling about...
“That? He’s just...a toy! Yes! A new creation from Japan! That I won in a tap-dancing contest!”
“He’s alive. A living creation with a mind!” M’gann confirmed. And Conner held the doll closer to him at that.
The woman winced.
“Please, don’t hurt him.”
The emotion in her voice and the sheer amount of concern she had for this doll made his heart ache.
If she could care this much for a living doll...would she care for him?
Chaton purred, offering comfort and encouragement. Conner felt himself emboldened by the affection. It was as if the doll (his ‘big brother’?) was giving him strength, and wanting him to succeed.
“My name is Conner.” He told her, getting her attention.
He took a breath.
“And I am your son.”
A pause.
The woman stared.
Conner waited. Patient. Hopeful.
The woman covered her face with her hands.
“TIKKI! I DID IT AGAIN!”
He blinked.
“I don’t think you had anything to do with it this time, Marinette.” Said a tiny red...floating...thing that suddenly flew out from the woman’s pocket. “The connection is there but it feels artificial. Are you a clone?”
He blinked again.
M’gann gasped. “Wait! Are you...Ladybug?”
The woman groaned.
But she didn’t tell them to leave.
She didn’t try to foist him off on anyone else.
Instead, she locked the doors to the bakery and took him and M’gann to a kitchen.
“Let’s...have some tea. I have a feeling you have a bit of a story to tell me.” She stated as she handed them both cups and a dish of pastries.
It..wasn’t quite the reception he’d either been worried or hopeful he would receive.
But he had a big brother doll clinging to him and purring up a storm in his arms. As well as a woman who was not yet a parent to him but was certainly willing to talk to him without subterfuge or manipulations and at least seemed willing to get to know him (if not just a bit exasperated by the craziness of the situation)
It was a strange first meeting.
And yet, he got the sense it was the beginning of something good.
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Dark Knight {Levi x Reader}
I had this crazy idea about a Levi mafia au that's also Batman au... I'm not insane bear with me
"Sometimes, I wonder" Levi's voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke in your ear, while your head laid comfortably on top of his bicep, hair sprawled everywhere around you.
"Yes, love?"
"How can you be so perfect at it?" He scuffed, pinching his nose in anxiety. He didn't care for what he was about to utter , he knew that if you loved him you wouldn't give a damn about being exposed alas your reaction was what he feared the most. Your soft giggles filled his ears, pumping guilt through his veins alongside his blood. If he had it his way he would never even think of ruining such a beautiful moment but the though of you not entirely belonging to him only sickening him more and more by each passing second.
"How can you get into my bed, climb on top of me and make me feel like I'm alive in your arms? Doesn't guilt eat you from inside when you lay next to me and you hear me proclaiming my love to you, or are you just a monster?"
Levi shut his eyes in utter refusal to witness your face at the moment. His heart throbbed so loudly inside his chest that he couldn't hear anything but his pulse. Your voice echoed in the distance as you spoke in question to what he was saying but he chose to ignore it. He chose to ignore that you were adamant on playing your little game after he had just outed you of it.
"How long have you known?" You spoke in shame. His hand never moved from under your head yet you seeked to crawl under the sheets and close your eyes in defeat. There was no turning back from this point now, Levi could end you here and now, you knew about the gun in his nightstand and the one strapped under his bed, they were just two movements away from his reach, which meant that even if you had enough time to dodge him, you couldn't avoid the bullet he would plant into your head.
"Don't know. When was the last time you met up with Dick fucking Grayson?" His mouth dripped of poison at the mention of the name. He didn't know why he hated the man more, was it because he grew up in the arms of the richest man in Gotham, was it because he was a cop that was always in his business or was it because he had seen you clinging onto him with a flirtatious aura, speaking so casually as if you had known him for years.
A little detailed mob research on his name was all it took for Levi to have a folder with his name on it. It was a big stack, filled with pictures of him in the circus, the crime scene of his parents murder by Zucco, and an extraordinary amount of clews that linked him to self mantled vigilante going under the name Nightwing. After digging a little deeper he found your name linked to him as well, in an old middle school post in the pits of social media and while your civilian form should mean nothing significant to Nightwing, he found a video of a female superhero working alongside him. Levi was sharp enough to grasp and analyse each movement, each step that she made and he knew it was you. His heart ached at the realisation.
"I knew Batman was sick but to send you to seduce me, and you agreeing."
"I wasn't meant to seduce you-"
"Then what? You figured I'd look nice in your collection? You seem to have a type; black hair, light eyes, one minute you're crying over Dick Grayson and then you're with his brother?" Your shocked expression only acted as confirmation to him and you knew, but how could he have figured all those things on his own? Your mind was so puzzled, so numb over the profanities Levi was throwing at you so calmly, as if he was putting you to sleep on a regular day.
Having had enough, Levi finally yanked his arm away from under your neck with force. He hadn't chosen to be this heartbroken, but he had chosen to fall in love with a fake version of you and now he couldn't let go. In the back of his head he wondered if he could trust you to stay with him, if he should offer you a deal to show him your true self. He was so helplessly in love with you that he would do anything you wanted him to, but it had to be different and he had to be strong and strict with himself in the matter.
Signaling for the chip device under the skin in your arm you caught Levi's eye. New waves of agony rushed through him at the sight. Everything he has said to you was on podcast for your lunatic team of vigilantes to hear. He felt exposed, alone, foreign in his own skin.
"I was trying to make Gotham better in the only way I knew how, you know my fucking men are only trying to provide for their families and what's Batman doing? Beating them up?"
You stayed silent as you felt shame overpower you. You had caused this to him, you had made him feel conflicted and afraid when you knew he wasn't the monster people said he would be. You hated that you had seen that side of his that no one else had when you didn't even deserve it. Regret flooded your mind for never stating that you loved him back when you could because now you had broken him. And he had been so kind and patient with you still.
He stood on his feet, walking away from you to find comfort in his own clothes. That disgusted, bored gaze of his burned holes in your skull in a way no bullet ever could and you hated that it was intentional. There was no turning point for you and him and in that moment you both knew.
"Next time you see me, we're not on the same side anymore."
This is very very rushed and I'm sorry it's not that well written I needed to get it out of my system, idk if I should turn this into a (well written) series or not
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mrvltwimagines · 4 years
Text
The Secret
PETER PARKER X READER
SUMMARY: You didn’t even know how to process your own emotions over the situation, what would Peter think?
WARNINGS: None really, a lil self doubt. a bit of angst, but ends fluffy!
WORD COUNT: 2.4k
REQUEST PROMPT: Would you do an angsty one, where reader finds out she's pregnant, and is afraid that peter will break up with her, so a she starts to ghost him, or smth like that, but when peter finds out, he's super happy and they make up - I did age him a bit so the characters are graduated out of high school!
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You and Peter took great precaution when it came to having sex. Like any other eighteen year olds, you both weren’t ready to be parents. Especially considering it’s almost a nightly occurrence that Peter puts his life on the line for the sake of helping innocent civilians.
You have never, and you never would ask Peter to give up his crime fighting. You saw the peace and joy it brought him, even when he ends up with black eyes or other bruises scattered across his body. He found any pain that was planted on him was worth saving someone else from death or serious trauma. You would never want to take that away from him. In fact, it’s that selflessness that made you fall in love with him.
Even with all he’s been through, he always comes home to your guys’ shared apartment with a small smile and a kiss. The two of you dated throughout all of high school, before he even turned into “spider-man”
You guys have been through so much more than anyone knows, and the instant you two graduated you were quick to find a nice apartment in the middle of New York City to start your adventure off by yourselves. You loved everything about being in a relationship with Peter. While you sometimes wished he was there more often to fall asleep together, or even that he was there more than fifty percent of the time to wake up to, there wasn’t anything substantial that would ever make you want to leave him.
That was until the positive sign showed up on the pregnancy test you had just taken.
Your mind wracked through any and all of the times you and Peter had sex, and you can’t think of any time where you had forgotten to take your birth control. You had a set schedule every day, and taking your prescribed pills at the same time is a constant that you haven’t forgotten ever. 
Panic started to set in as you began to think about what this means. A literal human was going to be growing inside of you, and your boyfriend was a crime fighter that could die any day. You hated to think like that, but it was the truth. It was the icing on top that you both were so young. You were just about to start your first year of college, and Peter was about to start training with Tony at the Stark Tower. Things were falling together, just for this tiny plus sign to cause everything to fall apart.
What if he leaves you for this? You shook your head at the thought. You knew he wasn’t quite ready to have a kid, but he wasn’t heartless. But what if he gets angry at you? What if he asks you to get an abortion? You were stuck. You fully supported those who wanted to get abortions, not everyone is fit to be a mother, or has the right financial situation, or some people just don’t want to push a baby out of their vagina, but you’ve always dreamt of having your own kid. You’ve wanted to practice your own and better parenting techniques that you knew you naturally had from years of watching your parents do the wrong thing. You were conflicted between despising that you got pregnant, and feeling unbelievably grateful and happy that you were. 
You looked at yourself in the mirror. You still held the pregnancy test in your hands as you stared at your own wide eyes, unable to stop yourself from glancing down at your stomach as if you would even be showing yet. You were snapped out of your thoughts when you heard the front door open and Peter’s signature greeting yelled out to you. You quickly threw the pregnancy test in your makeup bag, zipping it up, and heading out of the bathroom to the kitchen where Peter was pouring himself a glass of water.
When he saw you, a smile popped on his face, and for a split second your mind was at ease. You loved Peter, no doubt about that, but you couldn’t help but wonder if he’ll still love you after this. You can’t help but wonder if the longer you wait to tell him, the more angry and upset he’ll get with you.
“Hello, love. How was your day?” he asks as he walks towards you, giving you a quick kiss. You swayed a bit and licked your lips that had become dry by the question, telling him your day was fine and that you hadn’t done anything that crazy. You technically weren’t lying. 
“How about you? Anything exciting? Are you going out tonight or are you staying home with me?” You ask, trying to turn the conversation away from yourself.
He went on for a bit, talking about what him and Stark had discussed about him starting to train with the Avengers. The thought of him becoming an even bigger, actual superhero freaked you out a bit. You knew the Avengers were constantly traveling, fighting larger scales of crime that terrorize huge cities versus the usual small crimes that Peter fights by himself locally. The fact that you were pregnant popped into your mind and you could feel yourself grow nauseous. He wouldn’t want this. Not when his life was picking up so much, there’s no way he would want a kid right now.
So you stayed quiet. Each day you woke up, you couldn’t tell whether you felt sick because of the pregnancy or because of this huge lie you were hiding from Peter, but either way, you hated this feeling.
On the fourth day of managing to keep conversation short without disturbing the peace between you and Peter, you had a doctors appointment to confirm whether you were actually pregnant. You didn’t doubt that you were, even though it was early on, you could feel it deep in your body that things were changing.
By the end of the appointment you felt numb. You were indeed pregnant, and hearing it come from a doctor with a “congratulations” after the announcement, you felt everything hit you. You were pregnant. At eighteen. You were pregnant and Peter didn’t know. You were pregnant and sad about it because you didn’t know where to go from here.
What do you do? Is it time to tell Peter? You cursed at yourself when you thought about leaving him just to spare him the pain and awkwardness of telling you that he wasn’t ready and that he didn’t want a kid. You didn’t realize you had started crying until you started to tune in on the looks people were giving you while you walked home. You probably looked crazy, but that was the least of your worries at the moment. 
You made a plan in your head to try and stray away from Peter. You knew it would be hard considering you live together, but he was gone a lot of nights and you knew it would be easier to leave him if necessary if he’s gotten used to functioning without you in every situation.
You thought you had been discreet about slowly pushing yourself away from him. Days went on where you would still hold conversation with him, but didn’t feel it was necessary to be in the same room with him all the time anymore. You didn’t cuddle close to him when you felt him get into bed, and most of the time he didn’t bother to pull you any closer to him. You were breaking your own heart, but it was for the better.
“Alright, are you going to tell me whats going on with you?” the question threw you off as you set a plate with dinner on it in front of Peter before turning back to leave the room.  
“What?” You knew exactly what he meant. If anything you felt a bit stupid trying to play it off.
“You’ve been distant. Did i do something to upset you? Because i promise i’m sorry for anything that might have. I’ve been wracking my brain but i can’t think of anything,” he frowned, gesturing with his hands indicating that he was lost in the entire situation. 
You dragged your teeth against your lip, the entire conversation making you uncomfortable. You had spent days planning everything out in your head, and you’ve thought about how to answer questions just like these, but right now all you want to yell out is that you were pregnant. You didn’t want to hide it anymore, but your mouth wouldn’t physically move for you to say the words. You knew that settling with a shrug of your shoulders wouldn’t be a good enough answer for him, and by the deep sigh that he let out while dropping his head a little to look down at his feet, you could tell he didn’t like that. As quickly as he did that, he began to stand up and walk towards you. Your heart rate picked up, but was lessened at the feeling of his arms wrapping around you. You habitually laid your head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent and calming your nerves a bit. 
“I have something big to tell you, but i don’t know how you’ll react,” you whispered out. His hands started to slowly rub along your back, and he pulled away a bit to look down at you. His eyes were soft, and his touch was even softer as he moved his hands to each of your arms to hold you steady. 
“You know you can tell me anything,” he mumbled out while trying to keep eye contact with you. The second tears started to well up in your eyes, you were quick to avoid his eyes. You didn’t want to cry. You cursed yourself in your head. You had imagined the day you would announce your pregnancy to him so many times, but in those situations you were older and further in life and it would be a purely ecstatic moment. This was anything but that.
“I’m-” you paused, shaking your head a bit before looking back at him. You could tell he was growing frantic at seeing you stumble over your words by the crease in his forehead. You wanted to comfort him and tell him nothing was wrong, but until you got your words out and let him know, you couldn’t guarantee that nothing was actually wrong.
“I’m pregnant,” you squeaked out. You clamped your eyes shut for a split second before daring to look at his face. His hands tightened on your arms for a second before releasing you all together while he stood taller. His eyes grew wide and his mouth didn’t budge much, not giving you a definite answer on how he might be feeling. His hand moved up to his mouth, pinching his lip before nervously running it through his hair.
“And you’re positive?” he manages to ask. You felt your heart break a little at the question. You knew that you weren’t going to receive an extremely happy reaction, but you could feel both your self doubt and his doubt seeping into your body.
“Yeah, i went to the doctor about a week ago,” you mumbled out. This time you couldn’t stop the few tears that escaped from your eyes, turning your head to look anywhere but him while waiting for him to say something else. 
“hey,” his voice was gentle, but you still couldn’t get yourself to look at him. He could still very easily say anything but what you want to hear. He could be thinking of his escape plan and still sound like the sweetest person to exist.
“I think it’s great, y/n!” he continues. Your eyes grew wide as you finally pried them from the wall and back towards him. A gleaming smile covered his face, his eyes lighting up just as much, “If i know you, i know why you waited to tell me this news, but i can reassure you that i’m so fucking happy.”
This time your tears fell, but a smile began to form on your own face. You felt like an entire persons body weight had been lifted from your body. His hands found your own and pulled you closer to him, placing your arms to wrap around his neck. 
“I know we’re young and have so many things going on, but i can guarantee that we’ll be great parents. I can easily talk to Stark and he’ll be more lenient with me. I know you have college, but you can still do that while pregnant. Things will be fine, y/n. I need you to know that. I need you to know that i’m not going anywhere and that i’m ready to do this with you,” his words sent waves of comfort through your entire body, the stress of holding the secret in began to dissipate and excitement was starting to take over.
“You mean it?” you ask, still in disbelief that the secret was out and how confident and accepting Peter was being towards being told that he’s going to be a dad.
“Of course i mean it,” he chuckles. He leant down a bit to place a kiss on your lips, pulling you in even tighter, “We’re going to be parents, y/n! That’s crazy! But a good kind of crazy! You’re going to be such a good mom, and i’m going to be a dad!” he exclaims. A smile still covered his face and prompted your own to grow even wider. 
“You’re going to be the best dad, Peter. i’m so sorry for doubting everything and hesitating to tell you. I was just scared, this is huge!” 
“This is huge, but we’ll be fine! You have nothing to worry about anymore, i will be here with you for everything, alright? We’ll get through this and by the end of it we’ll have our own child. I love you,” he quips back. You nodded at his words, pulling him in for one last tight hug before separating yourself. 
The secret was out, and your world didn’t implode. You felt guilty over keeping it to yourself for the few weeks that you did, but now you knew things were going to be just fine. You had the love of your life still by your side, and now you could enjoy your pregnancy knowing things would be alright. You felt like you could breathe again, and your mind could finally wander to the exciting things that being pregnant brought like putting together a nursery and shopping for the baby. 
You couldn’t be more grateful that you ended up with someone like Peter. You knew the first day that you met him in freshman year that you two were meant to be, and this experience definitely solidified that belief.
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cdelphiki · 4 years
Text
Tim didn’t like the think about that night. 
It was painful enough just having happened. 
When he landed on the roof, his jaw aching and his lip bleeding, he had looked up and looked around and realized something. 
He was absolutely alone. 
In his own family. He was alone. 
But, no. It was worse than alone. 
Alone was back when he was living with Jack and Janet. Alone was puttering around a mansion, shifting between boarding schools and nannies and a housekeeper who checked in on him during the day and left him to his own devices at night. 
Yeah, being alone sucked, but Tim knew how to be alone. He thrived there. He’d been alone his entire life. 
This was worse than alone. This was…. unappreciated. This was mistreated. This was disliked. This was despised.
And Tim didn’t need this shit. 
If Bruce didn’t appreciate his love and devotion, then fine. Tim was done offering it. He put himself out there again and again, sacrificed himself for his family over and over, gave everything he had just to be pushed aside every single time. 
Every. Single. Time.
Tim was tired of always being the one pushed aside. Everyone was more important than him in this family. Damian was younger and cuter. Jason was bigger and stronger. Dick was older and wiser. Tim was… he was just there. He was a placeholder. Someone to sacrifice when needed. 
Toss aside. 
Ignore.
And now. Now, he was a punching bag, apparently. 
Because when he looked around, no one said anything. He saw a couple shocked faces, sure, but no one said a damn thing. 
It was just another night. Bruce was hurting. Bruce was broken. Everyone needed to move on and not press his buttons anymore. Be nice to Bruce and comfort Bruce.
What about Tim? 
Bruce didn’t even look sorry. 
That’s probably what set Tim off, most. 
Internally, of course, because externally all he did was wipe the blood off his face and stand, a little shakily. 
All this time. All these years. Everything. Tim had given Bruce everything. Even his name. He’d changed his name to Tim Wayne and given his all to help Bruce in his mission to save Gotham. 
But did any of it matter?
No.
Because Tim didn’t matter. All that mattered was Bruce and his hurts.
And Tim didn’t need this shit. 
He didn’t have to take it, either. He wasn’t that little boy, all alone in a mansion, craving the attention of anyone who gave him the time of day. 
Tim was an adult now. Well… in the eyes of the law at least. Emancipated was an adult, even if he was still only 16. 
But he was an adult, and he had friends. 
Friends he knew loved him and cared about him. He didn’t need Bruce or anyone else in this stupid ‘family.’ He’d be just fine without them. 
When no one said anything for a solid minute after he stood, Tim decided he was done. He rolled his shoulders, took out his grapple, and made his way back to his apartment with a quickly swelling eye. 
The entire right side of his face felt both numb and on fire. It wasn’t a foreign feeling to him, but knowing Bruce had done it. On purpose. Out of anger. Just made it….
Tim didn’t want to think about it.
He was so tired of it all. So tired of giving so much of himself to just be hurt over and over. 
But he didn’t have to keep going this way. And when he arrived back at his apartment and changed out of uniform, he debated whether he’d ever work with the family again. Work under Batman. 
And looking at his puffy face in the mirror, he asked why he’d ever started in the first place.
Because was it honestly worth it?
- - - 
The first thing Tim did was change his name.
He’d always kind of hated himself, anyway, for changing it to Tim Wayne, back when Bruce adopted him. It had been the reason for one of his breakdowns, after all. Tim Wayne. 
No one had cared about that break of his, either, now had they?
Honestly, he just felt like an idiot for being strung along so long. But who was he kidding? No one had ever asked for Tim to be around. He just planted himself in the family. Pushed his way in and insisted he be included in everything. 
Like a fungus. 
It was no wonder he got back nothing but hurt. 
But that didn’t matter. He had his friends. They made him happy. They loved him and wanted him around. Why would he need anyone else?
His lawyer had looked more than mildly alarmed, though, when Tim met with him the following Monday.
The swelling in his face had disappeared by then, but the bruise had fully blossomed and looked rather painful. Deep purple right at the jawline, right where Bruce’s knuckle had hit, softening out to lighter purple and greens, the further away from the center one looked. 
It was clearly a fist print, too. 
And it took up a good fourth of his face. 
“Mr. Drake,” his lawyer, Esteban, had said, “if- if Mr. Wayne…”
“It doesn’t matter,” Tim said. He had purposely not covered the bruise in anticipation of the meeting. He knew what image it would broadcast. And he didn’t care. It would help his case, make his lawyer more sympathetic, mean there was no argument over the decision. Removing ‘Wayne’ from their name in Gotham, after all, was not something anyone had ever done. 
Wayne was a powerful name. Even more powerful when Bruce Wayne himself had given it. 
But Tim was done with Bruce Wayne. He was ready to just be Tim Drake. 
Tim Drake. Robin. A member of Young Justice.
Maybe he should think about his superhero name, now. Disconnect himself completely from Batman. 
He had certainly already disconnected himself from all of Bruce’s assets. It was probably only a matter of time before Bruce himself cut Tim off, so he’d just taken the initiative. 
It’s not like he couldn’t support himself on his own. Yeah, Drake Industries had gone bankrupt when Jack was still alive, but Tim had been working on it. And, ever since he became the primary shareholder of Wayne Enterprises, he’d been squirreling away as much as he could without arousing suspicion. 
He had more than enough to live for the next twenty years without changing his spending habits. If he put himself on a budget, though? He could live indefinitely. There was no need to be attached to Bruce’s accounts.
Besides, he took some pleasure in cutting every one of Bruce’s credit cards in half and placing them all in an envelope to mail to Bruce. Just so he could be sure, himself, that Tim was done with him.
“We can press charges,” Esteban said, after taking a breath and putting his best ‘lawyer face’ on, “if that is why, we should press charges. He still has another kid at home.”
“You’ve signed a NDA,” Tim reminded him, “just get my name changed.”
“Which doesn’t apply to child abuse,” Esteban said, “Which you knew.”
Tim did know that. He also didn’t care if his lawyer reported it. Damian didn’t need to be living with Bruce, anyway. And Bruce deserved whatever scrutiny such a report would bring down on him. Tim almost didn’t even care if it exposed Batman.
That ‘almost’ was the only thing keeping him from reporting it himself, to get Damian out of there.
“Yeah, well, I’m not a child. And Bruce didn’t do this. So relax.”
Damian could take care of himself, Tim was sure. He lived with the Teen Titans half the time, anyway. Plus the Kents adored him. They’d watch out for him.
Besides, it’s not like Bruce didn’t want Damian around, right? He loved Damian. So Damian had nothing to worry about.
Except…
He hadn’t really chosen Damian. The boy had kind of just… appeared. And stuck himself to Bruce. Demanded to be made heir and everything else. 
So there was a chance he would end up in the same boat…
Maybe he should report it…
But if Tim told Kon, he was fairly certain Kon would tell Clark, who would deal with Bruce himself. Clark was Bruce’s best friend, but he knew Clark would protect Damian from Bruce if he felt it necessary. There was no way he’d stand for Bruce hitting any of his allies. Especially not one he claimed as a ‘son,’ no matter how superficial the paperwork was.
Yeah. That was the perfect plan. 
That’s what he’d do. 
“Then who did it, Tim?”Esteban asked, gently, as if he were going to get Tim to open up and talk by simply being kind. 
Smiling his ‘Tim Wayne’ smile, Tim just said, “Timothy Jackson Drake is what I want my legal name to be.” 
As soon as he was done cutting himself off completely, he’d call Kon and talk to him. Then he’d start his new life, working with Young Justice and maybe finding a profession. 
The more he thought about it, the more excited he got about his life on his own.
It would be nice to live for himself for once.
- - - 
Weeks passed. 
No one seemed to understand why Tim left.
Even though he told himself no one wanted him around in the first place, he’d still been expecting… something. Someone to react to him leaving. To miss him for him. Not for what he was ‘doing to Bruce.’ 
But Bruce acted like nothing happened. When the media went crazy over the revelation that Tim severed ties, sold his shares back to Bruce, and changed his name, Bruce refused to comment. And still hadn’t said anything about it.
That didn’t stop the various members of the batfamily from trying to convince him to stop ‘hurting the family’ and ‘making everything worse’ by ‘blowing everything out of proportion.’ 
Honestly, Tim was tired of them all. 
‘That’s just how Bruce is,’ Babs had said.
‘He was upset,’ Helena explained. 
‘Dude lost everything,’ Duke reasoned. 
‘Master Tim, you must understand-’ Alfred had started, but Tim hung up on him.
Tim didn’t bother to ask Damian his opinion. 
No one understood, and Tim was done trying to explain it to them.
If he could go the rest of his life without thinking about it or Bruce again, he’d live a happy life. 
He didn’t need any of them, anyway.
Jason, though?
Well. Tim had not been planning on Jason. He was fine alone. Because, again, he had his friends. 
But someone told Jason.
Tim wasn’t sure who, but someone did. It was obvious, by the mere fact that Jason Todd was in his apartment, in the dark, waiting for Tim to get home.
It had been almost a month. 
And while he and Jason might not have had a bad relationship, they hadn’t been much more than friendly acquaintances. Ever. At best.
Hostile enemies at worst.
“Welcome to the club, kid,” Jason said, not even looking up when Tim cut the light on to reveal Jason sitting sideways in the armchair, one leg slung up over the side, as he read something on his kindle. One of the ones that lit up.
Tim didn’t really like kindles. He wasn’t a huge fan of reading, in general, but he definitely didn’t like kindles. Tim would have never guessed that Jason, being a book nerd, used a kindle. He kind of seemed like the kind of dork who would prefer to smell the books, or something, while reading.
“Go away,” Tim said flatly, as he dropped his bag down on the ground and went to fix himself something to eat. He’d been away on a mission with his team for the last week. All he wanted to do was eat a bowl of something. Soup, probably. Lie on the couch and eat it while he watched something light and funny, then fall asleep. Possibly right there on the couch. 
Talking to Jason was not any of those things. 
“Heard you cut ties to Bat completely,” Jason said, “Gotta say. I’m impressed.”
Tim rolled his eyes as he looked through the various cans of soup he had in the cupboard, before he picked a hardy chicken and rice thing. “Don’t care. Go away.”
“Bat’s pissed, of course,” Jason said, as if Tim hadn’t said anything, “it’s kind of great.”
He watched his bowl spin in the microwave, while trying to blow Jason up with sheer willpower. Maybe if he thought hard enough, he’d discover latent super power abilities and make Jason disappear. 
It could happen. 
“But what I don’t get is: What did you do?”
“What did I do?” Tim echoed, spinning to stare at Jason, “What the fuck do you mean, what did I do?”
“To piss him off.” 
“Does it matter?” 
It’s not like it took much to piss Bruce off enough to be on the receiving end of a blow. The more Tim thought about it, the more surprised he was it’d taken as long as it did. Bruce had hit both Jason and Dick many times while angry. And Bruce actually chose both of them. Right from the beginning. 
“Well, sure. You always seemed like a goody-goody to me. Daddy’s perfect little solider. What could you possibly do to-”
“I didn’t do anything,” Tim shouted, “Just like you didn’t do anything, and Dick didn’t do anything to deserve it. No one-”
“Let’s be fair here, Timbo. I tried to kill a dude.” 
“So?” Tim asked, shaking his head, “Why does that make it okay for Bruce, your literal Dad, to attack you?”
Jason opened his mouth, but then just blinked at Tim. 
He’d never really- They didn’t use that word. Tim wasn’t sure why he used that word. 
But, that’s what he was, wasn’t it? Even if he only adopted them out of convenience. Or obligation. That’s what he was. 
Bruce was the one who was there for parental guidance, right? He’d signed Tim’s report cards and everything. Gone to his school performances. Attended parent-teacher conferences. Taken him out for pizza and ice cream and to the movies. 
There had been good times. Several years of good times. Tim had felt… wanted. And loved. For years. Bruce even said he loved him. Loved them all. 
And yet, here they were. 
Dealing with the repercussions of living in a lie.
“He- He-” Tim said, absolutely flabbergasted by Jason’s apparent… acceptance? Of all this? Out of all the people in the world, Tim thought Jason would understand. 
Abuse was abuse. It was wrong. Regardless of what the victim did. Or who they were. 
“I didn’t do anything,” he said, as his hand started to shake. He stepped forward and gripped onto one of the bar stools at his island, and kept going, “And that’s what no one seems to get.”
And Bruce had… Bruce had abused him. 
That’s what this was. It wasn’t just an attack. It wasn’t just….and… he’d done it to Jason before him. And Dick before that. 
It didn’t matter how he came into Bruce’s life. What he’d ever done. Bruce had adopted him. Bruce had adopted them all. 
“Parents are supposed to- Dads are supposed to- supposed to love their kids,” Tim said, his voice quieting with each word, as his focus slipped from Jason, to off in the distance. 
Bruce was their dad. And he was abusive. 
“Tim.” 
“I was just telling him I cared,” Tim snapped, angry Jason was making him feel things when all he wanted was some soup and an episode of The Simpsons. Or, maybe something like Futurama would be better. “And he just- he just…”
“Tim.”
Bruce had attacked him. 
For trying to say he cared about him. 
All Tim had done was love his dad, and that was how Bruce reciprocated. 
“I didn’t do anything,” Tim whispered, letting go of the bar stool to wipe at his eyes.
Jason slowly got up and came to the counter, then sat down on the other side of the island. He placed his hands on the counter, then splayed out his fingers while he stared at them.
Tim never had a good example of a parent. His parents had loved him, he was sure, but they weren’t very good parents. He realized that, now. They cared more about their careers than they did about Tim. So when Bruce came around and actually talked to him. Spent time with him. Smiled at him, as if just his presence was enough to make Bruce happy, Tim had been absolutely overjoyed. Enamored with his new dad.
But Bruce had never been a good parent, either. Had he? 
Nothing like Jack and Janet, but still unfit in his own ways. 
Abusive in his own ways.
Eventually, long after the microwave had beeped, and Tim had ignored it in favor of staring at Jason’s hands, too, while he tried to keep his vision from blurring any further, Jason said, “Sorry, kid.” 
“It was wrong,” Tim said numbly, and Jason just nodded, “it was wrong when he did it to you, too.”
At that, Jason scrubbed at his own eye, just briefly, before he seemed to realize he was doing it and put his hand back down on the counter. “It’s whatever,” he said, so nonchalantly that Tim realized Jason was a much better actor than he’d ever realized. 
“He’s our dad,” Tim whispered.
“Yeah.”
Tim didn’t know much about good parents, but he did know one thing. “That’s not how Dads are supposed to be.” 
765 notes · View notes
riseofnightwing · 4 years
Photo
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These Four Walls And Me - Dick Grayson Imagine
Pairing: Dick Grayson x Reader
Summary: Dick, all titans and the reader went to a hard mission against the Joker. Something’s wrong and Dick dies, but is he really dead?
Warnings: Cursing, mention of smut, fights. *Y/S/H/N: your superhero name* *Italic means memories*
Credits: Thank you, @incorrect-titans-quotes​ for always helping me. i’d give up on this if it wasnt u.
Today is D day. The day we will finally do what we’ve been planning everyday for one month. To stop the Joker. Dick has done his best to the team, we train everyday with blinded eyes for hours. Because anything can be taken from you in a battle. I forgot to say that Dick Grayson is also my 4 years boyfriend, i may be suspect to talk about him as a hero and as a lover, after all..everything he does is pretty well done, so if there’s something we are in this moment is ready to catch this fucking crazy villain.
[4 PM. Titans Tower, Training room]
This was our last training, i had Dick watching us and Jason against me right now and it’s not easy, after all, the three of us had been trained by Batman himself. Me and jayson had our sticks so we could practice defence, no attacking. Blinded, i could feel Jason’s breath behind and when i feel the closeness of his stick, i hit it with mine
“Are you asleep, Jaybird?” I mock him
“Wait and see, Y/N”
“Be mad, Jason, but defend yourself, concentrate” Dick said in his particular tone.
Attack followed by defence, the training kept going. Every move was necessary. When both of us had properly trained, we followed to the living room, where we met the rest of the Titans. Dick wanted to reunite us so he could talk about tonight.
“I believe all of you are fully ready to this. But it’s a dangerous mission and i need to ask you all, one more time to be concentrated in this. Be fast, be confident, we are in a bigger number but it doesn’t mean he has no ace up his sleeve. After all, he’s the joker.” Dick has concern lacing his voice as he tried to make them all understand it wouldn’t be easy.
We had already fought agains many villains, but this one really had got us in alert. The fact is: Joker is a psychopath, nothing satisfies him more than provoking his targets, whether through chaos, fear, delirium. He’s been here in San Francisco, but this is our place, and he won’t mess it up.
“We can do that, we know the old train station, we rule here in San Francisco so i believe we have advantage” Kory said
“Yes, we will do that in the most titan’s style, this is what we do, guys!” Gar said with his notorious excitement.
“Be careful, smart and lithe. We’ve seen things the rest of you can’t imagine, when in Gotham, I don’t want it to happen here.”
“Don’t worry, Y/N, we’ll do our best.” Rachel says and hugs me. Since she came in, since the start, Dick had done everything to protect her and i may have got into this with him, because i see her as my own child.
We are a Family, every one of us complete our team, so that’s why 1 month of insane training. We are ready.
[ 10 p.m, Dick and Y/N’s bedroom]
“We will stop him, won’t we?” Dick asks while we were cuddling in bed, we took our bath and we were relaxing right now but something doesn’t seem okay, my black-and-blue Bird doesn’t seem that confident as he Always do.
“We will, love, because we strive for that. You’re our mentor, Dick and you’ve done everything so we could be hundred porcent compatible to him in this mission. Don’t worry that much. You, by yourself would detain him, i blindly believe it.” I tell him, filling him with kissies over all his face.
“Okay, okay, baby, i’ll relax, we’ll be lying here after that and we’ll make love like there’s no other day on Earth.” He says in my ear, I wish we didn’t have a mission to lead.
“You’re such a perv, Dick Grayson” I mock him and he starst tickling me.
“You make me, Y/N” and we kiss.
“I love you, D.” I tell him.
“I love you with all my heart, kitten” the surname he use to call me since we met.
We heard a knock in our door. It was Jason.
“Hey, Guys, C’mon, We need to go, he’s almost out of the old station” He says from behind the door.
“We’re coming.” Dick in his serious tone answer Jason.
“It’s time, love.” And we went to change in our suits.
[10:45 p.m, San Francisco’s Old train station]
We get there, to end it up for once. We recognize the place that we had already beat some bad guys. It is dark but with some old yellow lights, behind the railroad of the train, there is an abyss that’s the reason why this station is closed, there’s 2 trains in the railroad, and a misterious silence.
Dick was the first one to appear, he told us to stay back until the joker appears. We stay in the dark, Jason is already upside the train station.
“Joker, i can offer you a deal. I’ll send you right to arkham and you wont have to fight against all of us.”
When we least expected, he apperead. Not in the way we expected, he had a hostage. He was holding a woman by her neck, she had her 30 years or more, tiny woman with glasses.
“This fucking whore was dealing my penalty for criminal acts in gotham. She was going to send me to arkham, can you believe it? and she ran to San Francisco so she could be safe from me.” The freak laughs out loud in his own typical way. “I guess you all asked yourselves what the hell i’m doing here? This cunt is the reason, now that she’s gonna die, i won’t to Arkham anymore and i’ll be free.” More and more laugh, i can’t bare hearing this asshole laugh like this anymore
He knew we’d be coming, he knew we’d be after him, but he didn’t stop.
“You won’t take a life from a inocent, Joker, let her go.” Dick says, confident and being sure that tonight he has one point: stop him.
“You did surprise me this time, Nightwing. Do you really think i’ll be letting her go? This is the first time i see you so defensive, what’s up? Love has made you soft?”
He draws a gun. Fuck. He points the gun at her jugular.
“Where’s the rest of your team of dumbasses, Little Bird? Are you by yourself? Are you going to tell them to leave or i will have to kill her so fast? I wish I could enjoy a little more”
“We can end up in two ways, Joker, one: you let her go and we will solve it with no inocente lives. Two: i kill you.” I can hear anger, fury in Dick’s voice
We were hiding in the back of the two trains, me, Dawn and Donna.. Jason was up in the roof of the station, ready to act, and now it’s the our. I give him the sign.
In a minute lot’s of things happen, it’s like a movie is passing by our eyes
Jason used the birdarangue to hit the joker in the leg, at the same time Dick pushes the hostage and tell her to go. Dick and the Joker start fighting physically, it gets rough and when we move to get in, a loud noise got us mute.
The joker had a bomb. My ear aches, my head is about to explode, but my only worrie is: is Dick fine? There’s a lot of smoke and i can’t see anything but i try to get closer, i need to see him. Something in my heart say it isn’t good.
“NIGHTWING?” i yell and it only hurts more. I have no answer. I crall a bit more and i call him again. “DICK?” still have no answer.
“Y/S/H/N, I don’t know where Dick is, he was right here, he was fighthing the joker, he..i..don’t know” Jason says still confused because he was also too close to joker like Dick.
The smoke was going away, i could see Jason again, he was all blodied because of the fragments that exploded with the bomb.
I was slowly recognizin the faces around me, and i didn’t see my boyfriend’s face. I started getting anxious, i started feeling bad and i had no more air, where’s Dick Grayson? “DICK WHERE ARE YOU, please answer me, dick” i still had strenght to yell but i felt my vision blur and i have no more strenght to finish the sentence. Where is Dick, where’s him?
“Y/N, I found this, I’m sorry, I think Dick couldn’t make it, i think he fell in the abssys.” Hank gave me a piece of his uniform, the black and blue fabric of his Nightwing uniform.
I couldn’t believe, it was like there was no ground in my feet, i felt everything getting far, i could barely hear anything anymore, this was the biggest pain i’ve ever felt, everything hurted and i felt like had no more air to breath.
I fell on the ground, i called, i yelled for his name but he never came, i can only feel donna come to help me and everything went black.
[6 a.m, TitansTower]
I woke up in our bed, It all felt like a nightmare. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t here, I had to go to the living room. I wish I could have stayed in bed because when i got in the room, all i saw was sad faces looking right at me, and i couldn’t take it, he’s not there.
“Y/N, come here” Dawn says calling me to her side.
“Dawn, it was real, wasn’t it? He couldn’t make it, could him?” I sob and try to think straight but it is too hard. It was like one tonne had fall in my head.
“He couldn’t, Y/N, we can believe it, but he couldn’t” Dawn is in front of me right now. Holding my hands, she was trying to make me feel better but I couldn’t. I could only feel pain but this time something else appeared and it was anger, because the Joker took him from me and he would pay.
“Jason, call Bruce” I said in a serious tone and i left to our bedroom.
When i got there, And I, I wanted the sheets to take me under because I can't help but think, what if I had one more night for goodbye? He won’t be here to turn the lights off, it will be only these four walls and me.
I went to take a shower, and staring at the shower’s wall i just could realize the numb i felt.
“I would give the world for more time to look at you” Dick caressed my face while we were under the shower
“I think we’ll have a long time, baby, because i’m yours and i do not pretend not being yours someday..” He kissed me, grabbing my legs he pressed me against the wall and we loved each other.
It hit me like a truck, the feeling of griefing was taking me. I tried to eat but the lump in my throat got in the way, this feeling, this feeling that i don’t have Dick anymore, it wasn’t human.
I follow to the living room, because i need to do it. Jason has lost his mentor, his old brother, the image of everything he wanted to be. Rachel has lost her image of parent. Gar has lost his leader. I need to be there for him, but the pain crashes my heart in many ways.When I get there, I hug every one of them and I sob by crying because I know how it hurts to understand it, then I left to the training room. I need to put this out, I can’t stand anymore, I’m going to train, I’m gonna make the Joker pay.I start to hit the punching bag, I hit it multiple times and I felt like I was losing my control, I kick it, I punch it with all my strenght.
“You, by yourself would detain him, i blindly believe it.” I told him, filling him with kissies over all his face.
“Okay, okay, baby, i’ll relax, we’ll be lying here after that and we’ll make love like there’s no other day on Earth.” He said
“You’re such a perv, Dick Grayson” I mock him and he starst tickling me.
“You make me, Y/N” and we kiss.
“I love you, D.” I tell him.
“I love you with all my heart, kitten”
“NO!” I yell punch the bag now crying when this memory hits me. “NO, DICK!” I punch it harder “YOU’RE NOT GONE” I keep yelling and i felt my body losing his strenght, until i felt Jason’s arms holding me, helping me and putting me on the ground.
“Y/N, I can’t stand seeing you like this, please” Jason says, after all, he’s like our little Bird, our little brother who’s Always on our feet, Always here.
“He’s dead, Jason, oh my god, he is dead.” I couldn’t believe how much it hurted. It is cruciating.
“You can and you will, Y/N, we need you, you gave the orders when Dick wasn’t here in the tower, you’ve Always been our second command.” I look at the kid’s eye and I start realizing they were needing me. Dick would never want me to destroy myself and give up on Titans, Because I can’t count how many things Dick had done for this team, it was his life. Our life.
“I’m here, Jaybird, I’ll recover for him and for you all. I need to talk to bruce first.”
[9 P.M, TitansTower]
I called Bruce, he was broken. But just like him, we seek for justice and that’s what’s going to happen. I ask Bruce to locate the Joker and me and them would catch him. For once.
“Team, go change, Joker is in the Central Museum, we’re going there.” I tell them the plain, we change and follow to the place.
[10 P.M, Central Museum]
The Museum was already closed, no people in there, only the fucking crazy Joker trying to do more crimes, but he wouldn’t, not here and nowhere.
When we first get in there, silente was dominating, he was hiding but he could show up anytime, so we were ready.
“You’re sure you want to do this, Y/S/H/N? Aren’t you feeling too bad, Darling? Your black uniform fits well your new status, because right now you’re a widow.” The bastars laughs out loud from my pain, but right now, i felt empty, i only had anger and fury going throught my mind.
“Won’t you show up, Joker?” I say so he can hear from wherever he is “Come here, Confront me. You’ve already took the life of the man i love. I don’t feel anything anymore.”
He appears, wth the most sassy and dirty smile in that fucking crazy face. My heart is so tiny right now. This man took my love, the only one i had in life.
“You guys won’t stop trying to detain me until i kill one by one?” He says to us
We get ready to start the Fighting but we get surprised by one of the glasses of the top windows cracking. The noise is so loud
“What is happening?” I hear Donna
“You’re wrong joker, you won’t finish to kill one by one because haven’t even started, you crap” This voice, this so well known voice. My heart pounds in my chest and I ask myself if i’m crazy or it is actually happening.
Then i look to the top of the museum and there he is. Holding on his bat-rope. My Black-and-Blue Bird. Alive.
“Nightwing, I asked myself when we’d see each other again. I believed you’d like to do some mistery but here you are. I have to tell you, your timing sucks.” Joker laughs.
I stay paralised looking at Dick. He was here, right in front of me.
“What can I do? It’s a gift.” He answers the joker, fastly gets down to the ground and kisses me. “I couldn’t die, I fought too much not to die, because I had to come back. To you.” He kisses me.
“Rachel! NOW!” Donna yells, she wraps him in her lasso of truth and Raven envolve him with her black magic. They take him to San Francisco police which was outside the museum waiting to take him to arkham. We did beat him.
[1 A.M, TitansTower]
The going back home was unbeliavable, the guys were crazy about it, Gar and Jason wouldn’t get out from Dick’s feet. Our leader was back.
“Guys, I appreciate your love, You all are my Family and i’m so grateful, I can’t explain how hard it was, but i’m here, and tomorrow i’ll clarify everything. Because right now i’m going to love my girl.” Everyone laughs and we follow to our room.
There’s no words, there’s only two crazy lovers wanting everything the other can give, because the time that passed was too much for both of them to handle.
Dick was home, with me.
108 notes · View notes
heartofholland · 4 years
Text
bitter - p.p.
Tumblr media
summary: you worked your whole life for this, and peter parker took it away without a single second thought.
word count: 2.5k
warnings: a bit of swearing but for comedic effect i swear
authors note: this is my first (and most likely last) time writing. if its not good blame my C in english <3. this idea randomly came to me in the middle of the night and i though i’d give it a shot. shoutout @hollanderheart​ for not only motivating me to write and post this but also being my own personal hype woman at all times. enjoy!!
---
You had never had a solid reason to hate Peter Parker. He was smart, quiet, and always kind to you and everyone around him. You thought he was a nice boy, and never had a problem with him. Until now.
Until Peter fucking Parker stole your internship.
The news was initially broken to you through hallway gossip. Not believing the story, you went straight to the only person who you knew wouldn’t feed you bullshit, MJ.
“Did Peter get the Stark internship?” You practically screamed. MJ turned, stunned from your sudden close proximity and your wide, questioning eyes. Closing her locker after grabbing the books she needed for her next class, she answered, “Yeah, he’s had it for like a week, why?”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” Your back hit the lockers and you rubbed your face in frustration.
“Well, I didn’t know you were so invested in Peter’s business all the sudden,” she quipped, not realizing you weren’t in the mood based on the death glare you returned.
“You realize I’ve been working on getting that internship for like, my whole life right?” You scoffed and let your head fall back and hit the locker.
“It must’ve slipped my mind, my bad.” she replied coolly.
You groaned, “I can’t believe Peter Parker just destroyed my future.”
“I’m gonna sit this breakdown out, I have to study for my Calc test.”  She gave you a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before making her way to the library.
There you stayed, leaning on the lockers frozen with solitude, or was it anger? You couldn’t quite tell.
The rest of the morning passes with a breeze, just going through the motions of your daily routine without even thinking. Everything just felt numb. The final bell rang, allowing you to get away from the possibility of making any contact with Peter. The hatred you held for that boy was unimaginable.
The internship at hand was a once in a lifetime experience. The September Foundation Internship. One high school junior, hand picked by Tony Stark himself, was hired to work alongside the mastermind for an entire year. Rumors claim that if you’re cool enough, he lets you try on the suit. Others claim that if you stay late enough, you can see the Avengers in their daily lives. But no one has ever been able to verify them. Now meeting the Avengers would be cool and all but that's not why you wanted this internship. By featuring this on your applications, it was basically one way ticket to acceptance.
To any school. Anywhere.
Though your resume may be long winded, having the internship on there puts you ahead of any other student there. And if you were trying to get into MIT, it definitely wouldn’t hurt to be friends with an alumni. A very prevalent alumni who donates large sums of money each year.
What irked you the most was that you didn’t even get a letter of rejection. You had to find out through gossip. Like really? How long does it take to write an email?
Hey sorry you sucked so much that you didn’t get the internship. Better luck next time!
XOXO Iron Man :)
Sure, Peter Parker was a hard worker with a big brain but there was no way he was more qualified for that job. You had hundreds of hours of community service, a spotless report card, professional relationships with many prominent authoritative figures, and you participated in extracurriculars that Peter hadn’t even heard of. So how did he get in over you? Sure he has marching band, academic decathlon and robotics but in no way could that ever put you a step above him. It’s not like he’s some sort of superhero saving lives.
The fact that you couldn’t come up with a single thing that could make him stand out over you annoyed you to no end. The internal conflict occupied your brain for almost a week until you decided to confront Peter.
You spotted him in the cafeteria, laughing with Ned acting like he did absolutely nothing wrong.
Oh boy did he have it coming.
“So how’d you do it?” you accused, slamming your lunch tray down and sitting down across from him. Ned scootched away suddenly uncomfortable with your closeness and accusatory voice. Since becoming official with Betty, he knew how women’s emotions worked (to an extent) and he knew that tone did not mean sunshine and rainbows.
“W-What are you talking about?” he squeaked, confusion written all over his face. His eyes bouncing all over your features as if it would help predict what you were going to say to him.
“The September Foundation Internship,” you started with a calmer tone, “How’d you beat out all 5000 candidates, including yours truly?” You smiled innocently, but Peter knew that look meant anything but.
He looked around for a second, coming up with absolutely any excuse to satisfy your jealousy, “I did- I didn’t ask Mr. Stark so- so I really don’t know.” He turned to Ned widening his eyes as if sending a telepathic call for help. Ned frantically shook his head, not wanting any part of his problem. He deals with enough angry teenage girls as it is, he wouldn’t voluntarily put up with any more than he needed.
Peter panicked, spouting out the first thing that came to mind, “Well in my application I-I mentioned that I like to build LEGOS, so I guess Mr. Stark assumed I’m good with my hands?” uncertainty prevalent in his voice. He visibly winced at that poor excuse of reasoning.
You were surprised, “Oh, ok. Thanks Peter,” getting up to move towards your typical spot in the cafeteria.
“Real smooth, bet you really fooled her there,” Ned teased his friend, noticing the concern on his face, “What was I supposed to do? Just casually mention I’m Spider-man? She wouldn’t believe me!” Peter weighed.
LEGOs.
A toy that was meant for children beat you out. Embarrassed was an understatement. You played with Barbies and Polly Pockets! You even played with the sexist “girly” version of LEGOs! Granted you probably haven’t picked up a toy in maybe 10 years but still! That just isn’t fair.
---
“Mr. S-Stark could I have some advice?” Peter was quite literally shitting his pants with nervousness.
Tony looked up from his blasters he was tinkering with, “I mean you can ask but I can’t guarantee I can be your Dalai Lama” he taunted.
“Um okay well,” Peter gulped, “This really pretty girl at my school is mad at me and I don’t know what to do”
Tony was stunned, “Girls talk to you? And you hold a conversation? Congrats kid you’re growing up!”
Peter was embarrassed, “Well, not exactly. You know that internship you host every year?” His hands were shaking from nervousness, so he dropped his web shooters and clasped them in his lap so Tony wouldn’t notice. But of course he did, setting down his blasters and turning his chair to put his complete focus on Peter.
Well that totally makes this conversation easier!
“Of course. But I’m not giving it to you. I spend enough time with you already as it is.”  
That helped ease his stress, “Well to cover for Spider-Man I just tell everyone I do the Stark internship, forgetting that there is a real internship. So this girl applied for the September Foundation Internship and is mad because she thinks I took it from her. But that's crazy because she's like the nicest person and worked so hard for this internship and there is no one I know that is more deserving of the spot and-,” Tony cuts him off, knowing the boy could ramble for days.
“What’s her name?” He questions, “Y/N Y/L/N, But I’m not asking you to like give it to her because that’s not fair, just give her a tour of the tower or something for her to finally realize I’m not that important around here,” Peter justifies.
“I’ll see what I can do.” With that, he walked out of the lab.
---
You’ve accepted the fact that you didn’t get the position and have continued to build your resume, filling in the space you left for the internship.
“Mr. Harrington? Flash isn’t here today so do you want me to do the lab alone?” You asked, grateful your annoying lab partner isn’t there attempting every pick up line in existence on you. Each one followed up with a denial and you completed the lab on your own.
“No,” Mr. Harrington said. “Ned’s partner isn’t here either so you can pair up with him.”  
Begrudgingly, you stood up to join Ned at his lab table. Curious you ask, “Who is your partner?”, Ned hesitates in his answer, “Oh, Peter is busy with the Stark internship.”
Nevermind. Any progress of acceptance you thought you’d made was gone.
“Oh, okay.” You ended the conversation knowing you couldn’t handle dwelling on your failures any longer.
You would’ve been able to juggle the internship and school. Peter can’t even stay a whole day of school without leaving. This was just another reason why you were more qualified than him.
-
Peter was just arriving at Avengers tower to talk to Mr. Stark about how he altered his web shooters to increase the output of webs. He took the elevator up, assuming he would just be in the lab like he always is. And he was there, just not alone. He catches their attention when walking in, embarrassed to be seen so caught off guard.
“Ah Peter! So good to see you! I want you to meet our newest intern, Y/N Y/L/N!” Tony smirks at the boy whose eyes are blown wide staring at the girl in front of her.
“H-Hi Y/N. C-congrats on the internship.”
“Thank you Peter.”
“Well I have to go check on Cap, he gets angry when he doesn’t have his green smoothie. You guys get comfortable with each other! But not too comfortable, I don’t need to see any angsty teenager lovers in my presence.” Tony winked at Peter before he left the lab.
“Well that's awkward,” the girl begins, “I think I just stole your job.”
“Wh-what?” his eyebrows knitted together.
“Well you’re always gone for the Stark Internship so I just assumed it was the September Foundation Internship?” Now they’re both confused, clearly Mr. Stark wasn’t clear on Peter’s affiliation with him.
“N-no I just do a different intern job for Mr. Stark. I-I just clean up the lab.”
He has really gotta pick up his excuse game.
“So you’re a janitor?” She frowns.
“N-no I just make sure it’s tidy for Mr. Stark, organize the supplies and order more when he needs,” Peter stuttered.”
Ok now he's improving with his justification skills.
“Oh ok? Well I have to go, I have a charity thing.” You made a solid attempt at cutting the tension between you both..
---
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
Tony spins his chair, spotting Peter at the entrance. “Well I reviewed her application and you were right, she does deserve it. Plus, I know how you struggle with the ladies, so in a way I was throwing you a bone, whilst still getting a prodigy by my side.”
His jaw set, “I’ll have you know I am perfectly good with the ladies and don’t need your help,” Peter stormed out of the lab like a toddler.
“That’s not what you said in the lab the other day!” He calls after him, knowing full well he was out of earshot.
---
Peter has never felt so relieved than when the quinjet touched down on the top of the building. The mission was a complete disaster. If he had to explain the definition of “abort mission” he’d probably start with that.
After stepping off the quinjet, Peter made a beeline for the kitchen. His throat scratched every time he swallowed, probably from yelling into the coms trying to navigate through the pure chaos.
Passing by Wanda, he could tell by her facial expression he wasn’t in good shape. He could feel the dried blood stuck to his skin and the smell of sweat was unavoidable from even 10 feet away.
After his five minute walk, which would be better described as a limp, he made it to just get a glass of water. Finally, the rush of moisture runs through his whole body. Whilst peacefully chugging his entire cup of water he hears the sound of glass shattering, followed by the words,
“What. The. Fuck.”
He knows the voice from anywhere. Hell, he hears it on the morning announcements with Betty every goddamn morning. Frozen, he doesn’t know what his next move is. Does he run and act like it never happened? Does he just accept it and brush it off like no big deal? His rough draft of an explanation is slowly being put together in his head when you move in front of him.
“You’re not an intern. You’re fucking Spider-man.”
“O-oh hey Y/N, didn’t see you there”
Real smooth Parker. Why don’t you talk about your LEGO skills again. Just try and see if you can make this conversation any more awkward than it needs to be.
“Cut the bullshit. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She always knows how to get straight to the point. Something he always admired about her.
“I-I-I didn’t think it was important?” The apprehension isn’t helping his persuasion skills in the slightest.
“Oh being an Avenger is just a common occurrence nowadays?” You push, determined to get a real answer and not a half assed excuse.
“I mean if you live around here yeah everyone is some kind of super hu-”
“Peter.” You cut him off, annoyance obvious in your tone.
He sighed, “Yes. I am Spider-man. The only people who know are Ned, Aunt May, and the rest of the Avengers. And now you.” Distress was obvious on his face
You began to feel guilty once you saw the panic on his face, “I won’t tell anyone,” you squeak, the first drop of sympathy Peter has ever received from you.
“Thank you, I’m sorry for not telling you. You’re part of the team and deserve a real confession, not finding out by accident.”
The guilt train is on a two way track tonight!
“No, it was your secret. You deserve your privacy.” A small smile tugged at the edges of your lips.
“Thank you for being so understanding. Now that the secret is out maybe we could work together on my suit sometime?”
Peter is nervous. Why is he nervous? Did he just accidentally ask her on a date. Oh god what if she isn’t interested?
“I’d love to Peter! It's a date!” Your smile beaming gave Peter a surge of confidence, and he reached around your waist to pull you into a hug. You were both ecstatic to have finally started to see each other as friends, and even a little more than that.
Your trances were broken when you finally spoke up, “Maybe you should take a shower first,” as you finally realized the stench in your close proximity.
A flush creeping up his face when he realized. “Let me go shower then we can continue this,” he beams.
“See you then Spider-man!”
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heartless-error · 4 years
Text
Broken, not perfect, but together. - Chapter 3
Fandom: DC comics, Batman
Pairings: Jonathan Kent x Damian Wayne (JonDami) & Jason Todd x Timothy Drake (JayTim)
Rating: General, family feels, hurt/comfort, mental health issues, running away
Other(s) links: AO3
Broken.
The Batfamily was broken.
It was six years ago, and they had barely stood together since then, trying to stand up despite guilt and regret.
Damian was sure there was nothing to save, not after losing something that he didn’t know he cared about. But when a new opportunity to get back what they had lost appeared, he cannot help to doubt as his past decisions haunt him again.
If you love somebody, set them free. But you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
Chapter 3
 Now
 A jolt woke him up.
 A jolt followed by a hard squeeze on his hip and an intelligible whisper beside him.
 It’s not as if Damian had expected to sleep well tonight, he even didn’t expect to sleep at all. When they arrived at the apartment, he was ready to spend all night staring at the ceiling quiet and trying not to think too much. However, he underestimated how tired he was and how much his wounded body needed to rest, so he was fallen asleep before realizing it.
But even if he didn’t want much rest, waking up agitated and listening sobs behind him wasn’t a good way to start the day.
 “Jonathan.” He said fully awake and shaking from his grasp. “Nightmare.”
 The super was still holding him tightly, carelessly and causing Damian grumbled for the treatment to his injuries, while the other was breathing restless and mumbling apologies in dreams.
 “Nightmare.” He repeated aloud. “It’s a nightmare. Wake up.”
 It’s neither the first nor the last time any of them have an unpleasant dream and awakes the other. Indeed, it would be very sad to admit it willingly but is also part of their lives and work so far, nightmares come hand in hand with superheroes’ duty and they had worse episodes than this in the past, like everyone else, right? That’s why Damian didn’t want to sleep, he knew something like this would happen again.
 He didn’t get rid of his embrace but could barely turned around to shake his shoulder and wake him up as the other seemed to hesitate in his dreams, not cheerful at all.
 “Jon!”
 Panting hard and trembling, Jon finally opened his eyes, yet some sleepy and groggy, shrugging himself and looking around nervously as he woke up completely.
 “Dami?” He asked in a whisper and still clinging around him tightly, as if he couldn’t believe he was talking to him.
 “You were dreaming.” He explained hastily still squirming in his grip.
 Jonathan fell silent a few seconds, tears about to fall, frowning, sweating and taking his breath back. He calmed down a bit and was apparently back in the real world, assimilating it was a nightmare, but  didn’t make him feel better seemingly.
With a miserable expression on his face, he realized how strong he was clinging to Damian and how he was trying to free himself, letting him go immediately and away from him as if he were on fire.
 “I’m sorry.” Jon said quickly as he sat on the mattress, rubbing his eyes tightly. “I’m sorry, you okay? It was not my intention, sorry.”
 Damian shook his head, looking at him from his position without moving. It wasn’t nothing important, Jon just squeezed him a little like a plushie and was a bit annoying, maybe his bruises were worst, but were minor wounds first so he didn’t care at all.
But he knew Jon cares, and looking at him away, shuddering and breathing deeply to relax, gave him enough proofs to know whatever he had dreamed about had shook him to the point to sobbing in his sleep, and add to that an apparent guilt for unintentionally hurting him didn’t help at all.
 Sometimes nightmares shake Jon like that, leaves him emotional, overloaded and saturated with everything, and Damian hadn’t come to establish a way to help him cope with it yet. Because there were other variables to consider, such as the mood, date, time or the type of nightmare, and none of them appeared to be favorable now.
 But if Damian knows something, is that he hates to see Jon cry. He hated it since he was 13 and still do strongly. Jon crying gives him a rare, visceral and unpleasant sensation on his chest that seems to pull it from inside, willing to rip him. He couldn’t stand it.
When they were kids, he thought it was because he despised how someone powerful and strong as Superboy, with such potential, could show much weakness and so openly. Then, he realized it was precisely the opposite, that what he really hated was how he felt when Jon seemed to trust him so easily to be vulnerable around him. That left him scared, hesitant and unsure just by having a friend, a real friend, who didn’t think he was going to stab him at any moment -something that neither him was sure in those times-. But sometimes he was also jealous, because Jon felt safe and confident enough to express himself and being weak in front of anyone, and Damian… never had that before, until then, he only had the strong statement that he would be killed and replaced if he showed any weakness or proof of not being a worthy heir.
 “Habibi.” He called his attention, waiting his hesitant look to lie sideways on the bed and extend his right arm on the pillow, in a clear invitation.
 Jon seriously seemed to doubt it, quiet and evaluating the situation, as if he would hurt him only by lying there together. Damian snorted at him angrily, scolding him with his eyes until Jon realized how stupid he was and gave up, lying back and resting his head on his arm as he embraced him completely and buried his face in his neck.
 Even if he still didn’t know exactly how to help Jon when he had nightmares, he knew that physical contact helps when it happens. And even though Kent was the most tactile and affectionally open in their relationship, at least Damian now was more used to receive affection and answer to it. Actually, it’s one of the few things that Grayson did right for once.
 He felt how the tension in his mate’s body disappeared as they spent more time in that position, quiet and enjoying other’s touch, trying not to break the momentarily peace. After a while Jon no longer looked like he was going to cry imminently and relaxed as he caressed his free hand down his back, slowly drawing patterns. But, of course, Damian knew the exact moment he would speak to say something stupid when he felt him getting some air.
 “Don’t apologize again.” He cut him off quickly. “You didn’t hurt me, so drop it.”
 He would not let him think about it too much, because he knew how easy it was to do that after waking up sobbing.
 “You know it’s not only for that.” Said Jon seriously and outrage in his tone.
 Damian froze, his hand still on his back and his arm starting to get numb cause of the weight on it. He tried to pull away to look at Jon, but he sank more into his neck, hiding from scrutiny, as if he feared his reaction.
He should have known, the apologies now made sense.
 He sighed, not really knowing what to say or what to do.
 “Then, do you think I should also apologize?” He asked, doubtful.
 That’s what made Jon move and look at him with alarm in his eyes, surprised and with a questioning expression. It’s not as if Damian hadn’t improved in giving encouragement or comfort to people in general, but this was a special case, and both knew they needed a different approach to be reasonable.
 “No.” Jon said angrily, like what he was saying was crazy.
 “And why you did? What’s the difference?”
 Jon stayed quiet, his lips in a fine line and blinking, in conflict. His reasoning had fallen completely, and he was obviously trying to save it, but it was useless.
It’s so simple, if Jon didn’t think that Damian had to apologize, then Jon didn’t have to. Easy.
 “B-Because I-” He started to stammer, willing to discuss.
 “No.” He cut him off.
 “But I-”
 “No.” He cut him off again, tilting his weight over him gradually.
 “But it’s my fault that-”
 “No.” He repeated freeing his arms and laying above him completely, crushing him with his weight.
 “I gave them-”
 “Stop.” He ordered covering his mouth with one hand.
 “Mnph!”
 “I said stop.”
 “…”
 “You know, I don’t care if you lick and drool on my hand, you’ve licked me other things.”
 The answer to that was a strong bite. He complained, putting his hand away in disgust, then looked at him raising an eyebrow as Jon just glared back with a defiant stance despite the embarrassed blush on his face. Then, Damian looked at his drooled hand and decided to clean it in the best place: Jon’s face.
 “Argh! Gross!” Jon shriek squirming beneath him as he rubbed his hand where he could reach. It was known that Jon could lift him and ran away without effort, but no longer worth it, Damian was too fast and saliva has returned to its birthplace.
 “You started it.” He declared at the end and looking at him seriously, as if it were a serious matter instead of… Drool. “And that’s you get for thinking too much.”
 The last statement made Jon sigh and give him that resigned expression that seemed to say, “I did it, right?”, to which he nodded.
As he thought at the beginning, it was easy to sink into the negative thoughts once you have awakened from a nightmare induced by guilt. He would also done that if Jon hadn’t appeared back in the cave, right in time to distract him.
 And it’s not as if they could say directly to each other that was not their fault and that’s it. It was, they know, and this isn’t work that way. They couldn’t get up one morning and be free of any impact or repercussion of what they had caused indirectly around them with their decisions, because they were very aware of them every day.
 But they also knew not all was their fault. There was more than one player in the game, and they were not the main ones.
It’s easy to think otherwise in the worst moments while you hear the accusations of your head, but once you stop to think about it and there’s someone to lift you up hitting with a pillow or drooling in your hand, you keep going and realize it doesn’t have to be like that, you shouldn’t have to apologize for everything.
 Sitting up, Jon lifted his arms around his neck to make him lean and kiss him firmly, what he didn’t hesitate to correspond. He knew it was his way to say thanks for calm him; So, when they separated, he just smiled with a shrug. Damian knew Jon would have done the same for him, he would say that, but the affection in Jon’s look was replaced by fun, and he couldn’t react in time to escape.
 “No! Argh!” He cried as Jon hold him and began to lick his face as revenge. “You’re disgusting! Stop!”
 Jon just laughed out loud as he kept doing it while Damian tried his best to get away. He swears that his boyfriend sometimes is like a dog, it’s like having Titus with him again. And he’s not laughing too, no, not at all.
 And in that room, lighted by the early morning sun, while laughs and tenders’ complaints were heard, both knew that no matter what they or anyone else thought. No one could really apologize and take the full blame for what happened six years ago, not matter what role they played, it’s not going to change anything and nobody needs it, not that.
 After all, Tim and Jason ran away willingly.
 ~ 0.0 ~
 That fact remained and was repeated in Damian’s mind as he lit the coffee pot and leaned on the kitchen counter, waiting.
 It was half past nine, he still had his hair wet because of the shower minutes ago, his body protested less than yesterday, Jon was taking a shower too, he needed a coffee, to make breakfast and instead he was looking at the calendar absently as he remember.
 He just does that, remember. Not wanting to think too much, because he had a lot of that lately.
 It had been six years since the day Damian came back to the manor and went down to the cave to find Red Robin and Red Hood’s uniforms bent at the Batcomputer counter with a paper note and didn’t know how to feel.
 Today he still doesn’t know how to feel, being honest.
 “Goodbye.” The note said.
 Just that. Nothing more. Nothing on the back, or written in invisible ink, no codes, no signs anywhere. Nothing. Only a paper with “Goodbye” written on it and over their suits.
 And as he sat in the chair in front of the keyboard and watched the scene in silence, Dick and Bruce’s could be heard arguing in the background, angrily and their screams resounded in the cave strongly; Cass wasn't even there, but she would stare at everything in silence if she was, Stephanie was probably crying on a corner somewhere, and Alfred nowhere to be found.
The argument between the other two confirmed that nobody had more news than that, all safes houses were empty, no image/video/audio useful for Oracle and even Kon or Clark couldn’t hear them, indeed, any available meta couldn’t.
 They said goodbye and ran away. Just like that.
 And sitting there, staring at the fucking paper they left and reading it non-stop, Damian realized it was true, they were gone. His mind seemed to fit in suddenly that it was true and definitive, they were gone for real, and that hit him with so much force that he felt a part of him broke and fall, causing him started to panic just like his family around him trying to find them.
 But they didn’t.
 There was nothing, nothing, not a minimal detail to hold onto. They had made sure to cover their tracks very well, even the smallest detail, there was not a single clue and, what did they expect to find anyway? Todd was hiding for everyone during years before making his debut as Red Hood and Drake was one of the most valuable assets within technology and intelligence, both had money, contacts, skills, and the most important: reasons to leave.
 Drake and Todd’s relationship with the family was very unstable at those times, even dangerous. So, when father found the costumes and the note, he activated all alarms because there was no way it was a joke.
 Useless, obviously, they would be already far away by then. And six years later they have still not been found and making Damian look absently at a calendar with pictures of bunnies in it while thinking he didn’t want to buy it but he had to because “we had the puppies one last year Dami, now it’s my turn to choose.”
 That and, it would be better if they were dead?
 A part of him feels horrible, filthy, despicable only by thinking that. But another, one that sounds like his 10 years old self, says, “it would be?” He couldn’t help but ask.
Because death was one thing that all the family already knew, with which they were already familiar and whose pain had experienced and overcome with time. Something they had witnessed and suffer so often that much to destroy them at the moment, at least they know how to get up and keep moving.
 But a disappearance? Voluntarily?
 That was something else.
 At least death mean that they wouldn’t be there never again -supposedly-, that they were gone forever and that’s it, there was nothing else. They didn’t have to look for clues or ask metas if they can find them. And if they had died, they would fight until their last breath, clinging to life without wanting to leave, he knows.
But leaving a note and running away together is the opposite, it’s worst. At least if it had been a disappearance against his will they would be equally worried, but would have found them eventually, they would have done so. And surely, they would have known they wanted to be home.
 But it wasn’t and that’s the problem.
 What kind of person he was that sometimes he might wish that his brothers were killed or kidnapped instead of being abandoning him?
 Not a very good one, for sure.
 But he can’t help it because the situation changes so much. Being dead they couldn’t do nothing or going anywhere, but running away and without backup they could meet so many unpleasant and dangerous possibilities; And the fact that they had planned to do everything on their own meant so much things too, and some of them were so, so painful.
As they sought clues and the years passed in blank, they couldn’t help but wonder more and insistently what they’re doing, where they are, or most important, if they are alive.
 And if they are, are they happy?
 That’s the only thing that makes a little bearable the idea they’re gone. Because if they are, whether they are happy wherever they live, whatever they do, then Damian could make peace with them, with himself and with the fact that they defected and abandoned everything and everyone for that purpose.
If they are, he may believe it worth it, even if in the process they have made it seem as if their lives here, their family, their friends and their identities didn’t matter enough to run away without hesitation.
 As if he didn’t matter enough.
 The coffee finished behind him and he sighed, giving one last look at the calendar when he turned around to reach a cup and serve.
 “You want some?” He asked at the other person in the room.
 “No, thanks. I’m fine.” Kon said from the kitchen door, looking at him.
 He knew he was there for quite a while, watching him. Moreover, he knew he was already awake when he had entered the kitchen, but he chose to ignore him completely.
 Damian leaned back on the counter again, this time with a hot cup of coffee in his hands and looked at his guest. Kon hadn’t change much over the years, he was now an adult, but right now was disheveled, sleepy and his clothes rumpled by sleep on his couch, so he didn’t impose respect.
 To be fair, he never imposed him any respect, but now their relationship was more cordial and pacific than before, he’s dating his little brother after all.
 “Did you have fun in Zodome?” Conner said with irony and repressing a grin.
 And, even so, he still was an annoying jerk.
 “Yeah, how about you in the farm?” He asked back.
 Conner’s expression soured a little, but enough to consider it a victory.
 “Cool.” He lied. “I’m glad to see you can finally reach the cups.”
 “I’m glad to see you sleep well. How many times did you fall to the ground tonight?” Damian asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
 This time Conner just laughed, shook his head and then gave him that look of fondness/nostalgia that he wasn’t want to locate, because that’s the one he used to give him since he tried to be intimidating during the shovel talk (which didn’t work at all)  when he did things official with Jonathan and they started to get better.
However, that look soon turned into a serious one, matching with a tic in his leg and a cautious posture. It seemed that Kon wanted to say something, something important, and didn’t know how or where to start, so he was there trying to establish a plan of action that will surely lead them to an uncomfortable conversation or an argument. And supers really don’t know how to act when they want something, right? Damian just hoped to drink his coffee quietly while Kon learns how to be subtle for once in his life.
 “Your brother is taking a shower right now.” He told him after another sip of coffee. “I’m making breakfast, do you want anything?”
 “I want a lot of things.” He answered thoughtfully. “But right now, I want to know why my little brother seems to suffer and blame himself more than me every year. And he’s not the only one.”
 Subtlety.
 Something that Conner Kent doesn’t have at all.
 Damian took a few seconds to recover himself from the verbal punch that the other had thrown at him so sincerely and frankly, analyzing what he said and then carefully placing a mask of complete indifference on him. He just pretended to be interested in keep drinking his coffee as if he didn’t hear anything.
His first instinct might have been to attack, saying he didn’t know what he was talking about or better to ask Jon when he got out of the shower, but it wasn’t the wisest choice and he knew it. Not when Kon-El was serious and focused, a lot, judging by the sententious look he had.
 “What are you two hiding, Damian?” The he asked, and despite the heavy silence that had settled between them, he approached slowly to him until he was right in front, looking into his eyes and firm as ever. “Because I know you are hiding something, and it’s related to all of this.”
 His blood was frozen, the coffee was stiff in his hands and he was using all his effort and strength to keep up the apathetic façade and his heart to a normal rhythm.
 “I wanted to ask Jon back in Kansas, but I had no chance.” Kon explained, looking at him harshly. “Six years is a long time, and you have to understand I can’t wait anymore.”
 The stern gaze wavered for a moment as saying the last, making Damian glimpsed the pain and grief shining in the eyes that now kept him on the place and made him try to appear calm.
It wasn’t easy for Damian to be aware that he was not the only person that Tim and Jason chose to leave behind, and this situation didn’t help.
 “I wasn’t the detective of my team.” Kon said then, his miserable expression making his way ever faster. “But I know when Jon lie. And I know this is how you react when you want to hide something, because Tim told me.”
 His world was punched again, causing the façade to crack a little. This is not okay, no, no, this is not okay at all. He didn’t expect a confrontation, not now, not here, not this way.
He pressed the cup between his hands without looking away, valuing his options, not letting his emotions cloud his judgment.
 “Damian.” Kon called him reproachfully, yet gently, like a parent scolding a child even though they were almost the same height, like another big brother. “What did you do? What are you afraid of?”
 These questions almost made him drop the coffee. Because the answers were so many, so many and shaking his mind, appearing, turning and repeating loudly within him. Reminding him his conflicts and starting to think too much, again.
And Kon, Tim’s best friend, Jon’s brother, looked at him so dejected yet so hopeful of being able to know something that the ability to tell the truth no matter what he know or suspect, or anything in respect, died there.
 He was going to attack, attack and retreat. Being sure not to see him again, or not to go near him until he was sure what are his suspicions exactly and how far did he go.
But a sound between them interrupted and dispelled the growing tension in a moment, making them to look at the source of the sound with surprise. Conner’s pocket, his phone.
 Damian could relax a minimum when Kon finally turned his attention away from him and gave him some space to answer the call, some unexpected judging by the uneasy expression of him.
He was drinking his coffee again and clearing his mind to appear normal and leave the situation when Kon answered, stood still, blinked and then handed him the phone.
 “Is for you.” He said.
 Damian frowned and looked at the phone, undecided. He had left his in the bag he had brought from the manor and was off because he knew would get a lot of calls from Grayson playing to be a good brother -what a liar-.
But he thought that if they had come to investigate who might be with him, then call Kon-El and make him pass the phone to him, it’s because it had to be important. So, he left the coffee aside and answered.
 “Come back to the manor. Now.” Barbara’s voice said. No Oracle, Barbara. “We’ve found something.”
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