#would you let these rabid animals onto your island | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ellewritesathing · 4 years

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So Close - S.S. XLI

Summary: The universe has a funny way of putting the things you want right in front of you, but just out of reach. Stiles and Y/N have been best friends ever since Scott brought him home, but when Stiles realizes that he might want to be something other than best friends, she leaves to go to some fancy private school up North. Now that she’s back though … maybe he’s got a shot? A Teen Wolf AU in which the reader has always been so close to Stiles and yet so far.

Masterlist Prev. | Part 41

Word-count: 6.7k+

A/N: not to like shamelessly self-promote but like. you guys might like this prompt i did for stiles 👀

You couldn’t sleep. Even with your friends safely back in your life and Stiles asleep next to you, you couldn’t sleep. Eventually, you rolled onto your side and watched the rise and fall of Stiles’ chest as he snored. You smiled and reached over to play with his hair. His heartbeat slowed after a little while and his snoring became a bit softer.

Taking your hand back after a while and lying down again, you pulled up your shirt and ran your hand along where the bullet hole should have been. It was freaky; your skin was perfect. You’d been injured internally plenty of times and healed but this was the first time you’d had a proper external wound. It healed slowly at first, better than a human but nothing to write home about, and then Deaton gave you blood. It made you feel sick. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

“Hey,” Stiles said softly. When did he wake up? He yawned and moved closer, putting his hand on top of the one you had on your stomach. His thumb grazed where the wound should have been. “You know I didn’t mean what I said earlier, right? My mouth kinda moves before my brain does sometimes.”

You smiled. “Yeah, I know.” You squeezed his hand before turning back onto your side to face him. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did, though. I mean, it is pretty weird.”

“You could never be weird to me,” Stiles said. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. “That was, like, ridiculously lame. I’m sorry. I just meant … you know. I’m usually the one being maimed, not you.”

“Yeah and it hurts like a bitch,” you said with a sharp exhale and a roll of your eyes.

Stiles laughed and lifted his hand to your face. “Yeah, the worrying isn’t that great either. You wanna trade back?”

“Kind of wish we could give up both,” you said with a small smile.

Stiles shifted and pulled you into his arms. He kissed the top of your head and sighed. “At least, for now, we’re both safe. Neither maimed nor worried.”

“I like the sound of that.” You found his hand again. “Almost as much as your use of ‘nor.’”

“You liked that, huh?”

“Yeah, it really distracted from the blatant lie that neither of us is worried right now.”

Stiles laughed and then it was quiet for a moment. You could hear Noah’s heart beating in his sleep down the hall, but Stiles’ beat louder. His fingers drummed your arms in the silence. You didn’t want to ruin the moment, but you had to tell him what happened.

“Theo wants me in his pack,” you said. No use sugar-coating it. Stiles’ drumming stopped. “He called me the shadow wolf. Said that I was more like them than I was like you guys.”

“He’s wrong,” Stiles said instantly. You could almost hear him frowning. “You know that, right?”

“The thing is … I don’t think he is wrong,” you said quietly. “With all the chimeras - even before we knew they weren’t like us - I felt bound to them. Like whatever they’re made of … maybe I am too. I- I’m not going to join them. I hate Theo. And even if I didn’t, I could never leave you or Scott.”

Stiles was quiet, working hard to choose the right words. As much as you loved him for it, if he didn’t say something soon, you were going to throw up. When he did speak, he didn't start asking the questions you knew were bouncing around in his head. All he said was: “You promise you’re not gonna leave?”

“I promise. No matter what.”

With that out of the way, Stiles relaxed. Still, you waited for him to say something. To ask what you meant, maybe even what it felt like to 'be bound' to the chimeras. But he was quiet, so quiet that you thought he’d actually gone to sleep until he said, “I’m gonna kick his ass.”

“Can I shoot him first? I’m still pretty pissed off about that.”

“Of course. Then you can hold him down while I kick him in the-”

With that colorful image in mind, you went to sleep with a smile on your face. Unaware of Stiles lying awake and anxious next to you.

---

Usually, after half of your group got injured and while you were making plans, things were at least a bit quieter for a few days. Unfortunately, the Dread Doctors weren’t so kind as your other foes; you’d only been shot yesterday and now you were racing down the highway with Scott and Stiles, chasing after the Beast behind a group of police.

“Unit Five heading northwest on Crescent reporting an incredibly large … something,” Clark said over the radio.

Another deputy responded, “Unit Nine to Dispatch, I think I’ve got eyes on the same thing. Some kind of rabid animal.”

“Unit Five to Nine, trust me: That’s no animal,” Clark said.

You laughed and unbuckled, leaning forward to poke your head between Scott and Stiles in the front. “She’s not wrong.”

“Yeah, but-”

Scott was cut off by Strauss coming in over the radio. “Unit Six to Dispatch, we have a situation downtown. Multiple fatalities.”

The voice of the dispatcher sounded cold compared to the overwhelmed officers. “Copy, medics on the way. Do you have a perp insight, Unit Six?”

“Negative,” Strauss said. He sounded overwhelmed. You guessed as weird as Beacon Hills was, not many people knew how to react after a werewolf attack. “Looks like a 10-91E. Animal attack.”

“10-4, can you say what kind of animal?” the dispatcher asked.

Stiles pulled out his radio before Strauss could answer. He also pumped the accelerator and you held onto Scott to keep from sliding back into your seat. “All units stay back. Do not engage,” Stiles said. “I repeat, do not engage.”

“Stiles, get off the radio,” Noah snapped. You almost laughed as Stiles handed you the radio to put back. Still, Noah added, “All unit alert: Wait for back-up. Repeat: No one goes near this thing.”

“Unit Five reporting a sighting on Hill Road southbound.”

“Unit Nine. I’ve got it turning off Oakridge, southbound on Beachwood.”

“All units, this is Dispatch. We’ve got a 911 call with an additional sighting on Mitchell.”

“Wait a second? Beachwood to Mitchell?” Stiles asked.

“It’s headed back for the hospital,” Scott said.

“Mom’s working tonight,” you said. “I’ll call her. Stiles, you gotta tell your dad.”

Stiles grabbed the radio instantly. “It’s headed to the hospital. Dad-”

“Stiles, get off this channel,” Noah said.

Stiles started arguing with his dad and you bounced your leg as you waited for your mom to answer her phone. The first call rang out so you texted her and tried again.

Melissa sounded tired when she answered. “Hey, honey, we’re pretty swamped at the-”

“Mom, you’ve gotta evacuate the hospital,” you rushed out. She started arguing but you talked over her. “Whatever the Beast is, it’s heading towards the hospital. And it’s going to kill people.”

You fell back into your seat as Stiles changed course towards Beacon Memorial. He was going as fast as the Jeep could manage, but the drive felt agonizingly slow. It was made worse by the constant updates from the police radio. The latest being a man on fire running into Beacon Memorial.

When you eventually did get to the hospital, it felt abandoned and eerily similar to that night with the durach and a dying Cora Hale. You shoved those thoughts aside when a gun cocked behind you, overridden by your instinct to pull Stiles behind you.

“Jesus Christ.” You let out a breath when you realized the threat was only Noah. He held his index finger to his mouth and shushed you.

As much as you loved Noah, you could have strangled him right there. Once again, you shoved those thoughts aside when the lights flickered and snarling rose in the distance.

“Fourth floor,” Scott said.

You all nodded and headed up as quickly as you could. Noah took the lead, followed by Scott and then Stiles - you’d insisted on taking the rear in case anything snuck up on you guys.

The fourth floor was ruined. Almost none of the lights still worked (luckily, not a problem for you and Scott), the electricity crackled through torn-open wires, and parts of the ruins were on fire. You wandered around the dark halls until something flew down the hallway in front of you. Since you noticed it first, you pulled Stiles into you and Scott pulled Noah back just before the fireball roared past.

It hit some partitioning and the flames went out. That wasn’t a random fireball; that was Parrish. Cut, charred, and disoriented Parrish. Parrish with glowing eyes.

His eyes extinguished as Noah made his way over to him, but you couldn’t focus on their reunion. Something had thrown Parrish across the fourth floor. Something big.

Scott walked ahead of you, but soon you found a paw print in the dust. The two of you didn’t need to say anything to know that you were going to follow the trail. The paw prints started changing, turning into something smaller and more human. Eventually, you found a sneaker print.

It struck you as odd that it would be a shoe print and not a footprint. Parrish was made out of fire and completely naked when you found him, and the Beast was made out of shadows. Maybe it was just different. Parrish wasn’t a chimera. At least you didn’t think he was.

“Scott …” You weren’t sure what you were going to say.

“I know,” he said with a sigh.

---

Once again, you and your friends were gathered around the island in your kitchen talking through the logistics of a crazy plan. The only thing that made this time different from all the others was the fact that Lydia was missing.

“We get into Eichen, we get into the Closed Unit, we get Lydia, and we get out,” Stiles said, summarizing his (already very long, very detailed) explanation.

“And we have to do it all of this while getting past orderlies, guards, electric door locks, and a Mountain Ash barrier,” Scott said.

“You guys have a plan for all that?” Malia asked.

Stiles pulled out a keycard. “I stole this off an orderly when I visited Lydia.” He paused, looking over at the card. “But it’s useless ‘cause they reset the codes each night.”

“So why did you take it?” Kira asked.

“He’s building up to that,” you said quietly, taking your eyes of Stiles to look at Kira.

“The only way to get Lydia out of Eichen is to make that keycard work again,” Scott said.

“And how are you going to do that?” Liam asked. You held back a smile.

Stiles held out a hand. “We’re getting to that, okay? Just listen.” He spun the laptop around to show you guys a data table. “I pulled all the history off the keycard. Two weeks ago, there was a brownout and the security system rebooted. During a reboot, all of the keycards revert back to a default code. So, if we trigger a reboot …”

“The card goes back to the default code,” you said. “All the keycards work again.”

“But how are we going to cause a brownout?” Kira asked.

“That’s your part,” Scott said with a hopeful smile. “You’re going to draw power from the mainline, but only enough to cause the brownout.”

That’s where Stiles jumped in to ruin their moment. “But not a blackout. If you do that, you send Eichen into lockdown which would be bad. Very, very bad.”

You touched Stiles’ arm lightly to get his attention. He was freaking Kira out. Stiles looked at you with an expression that said he was sorry, and you gave him an encouraging smile. He got a little carried away sometimes but he always meant well.

Scott, forever oblivious, kept talking and tapped on the blueprints that covered the island. “There’s an electrical room behind the reception counter,” he said. “The main power line goes into two breakers that run power to all of Eichen.”

“Okay, slight problem,” Kira said, looking ready to have a panic attack. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“That’s okay, you have time to practice,” Scott said with another trademarked hopeful smile.

“Let’s say all this goes perfectly,” Malia started in a voice that said she expected none of this to go perfectly. “How does the brownout get us into the Closed Unit of Eichen?”

“The system takes five minutes to reboot.” Stiles looked over at Malia. “In those five minutes, all the alarms will be turned off. And the keycard should work-”

“And then Liam, you, me, and Y/N get Stiles to the gate of the Closed Unit,” Scott said.

“After that, Stiles is on his own,” you said. Stiles reached for your hand under the table. “He’s the only one of us who can get through the mountain ash barrier.”

“And when we’re gone, all anyone’s going to think is that there was a reboot of the security system caused by a brownout,” Scott finished.

“So, uh … any questions?” Stiles asked.

They all started talking at the same time. From Liam: How do we get into Eichen House in the first place. Malia wanted to know what the worst-case scenario was. Kira asked what happened if she couldn’t trigger the brownout.

“Okay, admittedly, a lot could go wrong,” Stiles said, holding up his free hand in surrender.

“Everything could go wrong,” Liam said.

Stiles' open hand turned into a fist as you tilted your head. “Biscuit,” you said softly. Liam shrugged and started defending himself when Scott started talking.

“Guys, if we don’t do this, we lose Lydia,” Scott said. “She’s going to die in there tonight. And she might take a lot of innocent people with her.”

“We can do this,” you said. Your friends didn’t look convinced. “Okay, we’ve done a lot worse. At least this time we have a plan.”

---

Eichen House still freaked you out, but you could only imagine what it felt like to Stiles. So many bad things had happened to him here, and you had the feeling that more bad things were still going to happen. Then again, maybe the paranoia was coming from the fact that you were inside a body bag and lying next to an actual dead body.

Parrish was surprisingly good under pressure; when the guard made him open the bags, he was completely calm. Your heart spiked at the sound of the first zip being undone, but then Parrish started opening yours and you got ready for a fight. The fight never came. The guard valued his dinner too much.

Once you were in the morgue, you had to wait a few minutes before any of you could do anything. Stiles' heart was beating out of his chest. Admittedly, so was yours. You tore the bag open without waiting for the others, but they didn’t need any more encouragement after they heard you breaking out.

“Oh my god,” Stiles said between gasps of air. “Never again.”

“How much time do we have?” you asked as you got to your feet. Liam was closest, so you helped him out of his bag and to his feet. He mumbled a thank you as you waited for an answer.

Scott checked his phone. “Fifteen minutes, starting now.”

“Then let’s get started!” Stiles started fumbling to get out of his bag and fell to the floor. “Ow! Jesus.”

You hurried over to help Stiles up. He muttered obscenities the whole time but he accepted your help nonetheless. Scott got out of his bag safely, and then you just had to wait for the orderlies to leave the hallway. As soon as they were gone, you were on the move.

You wanted Scott to take the lead but Stiles knew this place better than any of you did, and personal knowledge trumped an hour spent studying floor plans any day. The best you could do was follow behind him and keep a careful watch for anything that might be a threat.

The orderlies blocking your way to the closed unit were definitely a threat.

You pulled Stiles back and Scott grabbed Liam. The four of you pressed yourselves against the wall in an attempt to hide, and the memory of doing something similar with Isaac, Erica, and Stiles popped into your mind. That felt like such a long time ago.

“What are they doing here?” Scott whispered.

“I don’t know,” Stiles said, stealing a glance down the hall. “Their rounds should’ve ended five minutes ago.”

Liam was decidedly less subtle with his look at the orderlies. “I can take them,” he said.

Both Stiles and Scott glared at him for a moment. “No one’s taking anyone,” Scott said.

“How much time?” Stiles asked, cutting Scott's alpha moment short.

Scott checked his phone and sighed. “Three minutes.”

“I’ll just knock them out and hide the bodies,” Liam said. He was adorably oblivious.

Stiles looked so close to slapping him that you instinctively reached for his hand to calm him down. “Oh my god, please stop,” he said.

One of the patients banged on the glass and scared you all out of your mini-argument. “Did you talk to the doctor?” he asked.

“What?” Liam whispered.

“Did you talk to the doctor?” he repeated. You looked over at Stiles uncertainly. “I haven’t had my medication. I need ten milligrams at 8am, 15 milligrams at 1pm, and no more than 20 at dinner.”

“We’ll get the doctor,” Scott said.

“Doctor Fenris?” the patient asked. Another beat of silence and you hoped that your nod was enough to calm him. “Doctor Fenris.” Then he started crying. He hit the glass as he said, “They took Doctor Fenris.”

“Guys-” You flinched when he hit the glass again. “He’s going to blow our cover. I can take the blame and get the orderlies out of here.”

“No way, you’re not going anywhere,” Stiles said. “Scott, do something.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Scott whispered.

The patient stopped banging on the glass, but he was still distressed. “I haven’t had my medication. I need to see the doctor.” Stiles looked down the hallway. The orderlies were coming closer. “They took Doctor Fenris.”

“Somebody shut him up,” Stiles said.

“I need to see the doctor!”

“Shut him up.”

You pulled your hand away from Stiles before he could argue and stepped into the hallway. “I told you: I don’t know where the doctor is, alright?” you said to the patient. “I’m just looking for my brother- nurses, could you help me? This place is like a freaking maze.”

“How did you get here?” one of the orderlies asked, roughly grabbing hold of your arm.

“I was looking for my brother. They said he was moved to another unit and that they’d take me to see him but no one ever came.” You shook your head and gave them a very clueless smile. “I’m sorry. Is this area, like, restricted or something?”

The orderly that had your arm looked ready to bite your head off but the other one just shook his head and gave you a tired smile. Either he wasn't paid enough or people wandering around the halls was a common occurrence.

“Let’s take you back to the reception area, okay?” he said. “They can sign you in and track down your brother. You can come to see him during visiting hours tomorrow.”

You forced a laugh and started following them down the stairs not too far away from the gate that your friends would need to break through in a few seconds. “You’re the nicest person I’ve run into all night,” you told him, careful to smile at the grumpy one too.

You carried on with your charade all the way back to the reception area, and then you gave them an annoyingly over-the-top thank you. They smiled and told you to wait for the nurse behind the counter to come back. You did not. As soon as they were out of sight, you made a b-line for the electrical room.

Malia immediately grabbed you and threw you against the wall as soon as you opened the door. She looked confused to see you but still held onto you.

“Relax, it’s just me,” you said, holding your hands up defensively.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. "You're supposed to be with Scott and Stiles."

“The dummies almost got busted,” you said with a small shrug. “I fixed it and came to check on you guys. Hey, Kira. How’s it going?”

Kira looked away from her small opening in the door and gave you a small smile. “Could be better. I don’t know if these guards are supposed to be here. How are we going to get out?”

Malia let go of you and the two of you walked over to check out the guards. “We don’t want to set off any alarms until Lydia is out,” she said.

“You’re right. Maybe we could-”

You stopped talking when one of the guards came in over the radio. The perimeter guard hadn’t checked in. You looked at Malia when the two guards rushed out to see what caused the delay. She shrugged and closed the door.

"Not our problem," she said.

Kira leaned against the door to get a better listen, but you and Malia didn’t need to. You heard the nurse loud and clear when he told someone that visiting hours were over, and then you heard Tracy tell him that they weren’t there to visit.

“Shit,” you whispered.

They pulled the nurse across the counter and slammed him to the ground. Tracy wanted to finish him off, but Theo said they were on a schedule and it was better to leave him. You, Kira, and Malia held a collective breath until the chimeras left.

Malia was the first one out the door and she slapped the nurse to get him to wake up. It didn’t work but at least his heart was beating.

“It’s started,” Kira said, looking down at her electrified hands.

“Then we need to get you out of here,” you said. You reached out to grab her arm but stopped when you remembered how she fried Scott. “Let’s go.”

“But what about the others?” Kira asked.

“They should already be back at the morgue,” Malia said. “We need to go.”

Kira took a second to decide and then jumped over the nurse and the three of you made a run for the morgue before Kira messed up Eichen’s frequency again. The others weren’t there, so you hoped they’d gone to the van instead. The alarm started blaring before you could share your theory.

You grabbed the sides of your head and collapsed in on yourself. Malia grabbed your arm to pull you out and reached for the doorknob, but it was electrified and both of you got electrocuted as a result. To top it off, the alarm still made your ears bleed.

Malia took a deep breath once she got back to her feet. “Lockdown,” she said.

You were still cringing on the ground when Scott started roaring. When your body got to its feet, it felt like being possessed again; you weren’t the one who moved your body. But once the brief discomfort was over, your head was clear and the alarm didn’t hurt so much anymore.

“Something’s wrong,” you rushed out. “I need to go help them.”

“No,” Malia argued, turning back to the door as the lights went out. “We need to get out of here.”

You were still arguing when Kira started lighting up again. The buzzing of the electricity didn’t freak you out so much as how worried she looked. She was terrified of messing things up again.

“I don’t know how long I’m going to last,” Kira said.

“How did you stop it before?” Malia asked.

“Scott carried me outside, which almost killed him,” Kira said.

“I’ve already died. It’s not so bad,” you said. You shrugged. “I can take you out.”

“Maybe we could try grounding her to something,” Malia said. “Lydia was teaching me about circuits before-”

You tackled Malia as a bolt of electricity shot out from Kira and hit the door where Malia had been. You held onto her as Kira’s lightning struck every metal surface it could find.

“You guys have to get out of here!” she yelled.

“We’re not leaving you,” you told her.

Kira hit one of the body holds as she turned her back to you. You and Malia got to your feet as Kira cried, “I should’ve stayed in the desert with the Skinwalkers. I can’t control this. I’m never going to be able to.”

“Kira, it worked,” Malia said. “You saw it work. You controlled it enough to cause the brownout. You can stop it.”

“I can’t!” Kira turned to glare at you and her eyes glowed an angry golden color. “Go!”

Even if you wanted to, an escape wasn’t possible because Kira electrified the entirety of her side of the room. Malia pulled you closer to her again and you both waited for the electrical storm to pass, careful not to touch anything conductive.

The storm passed as quickly as it started.

“Kira?”

Slowly, you both got to your feet, but then you had to pull Malia back from grabbing Kira’s unconscious body. She argued with you but you shook your head.

“She’ll kill you,” you said.

“She’s right,” Josh said. You both pulled away from Kira to focus on him. “Electricity is still coming off your friend. I can feel it from here. But I can help her.”

“Why?” Malia asked.

“Because I need your help.” Josh stepped away from the door and revealed Corey bleeding out in the hallway. “With him.”

“Oh my god, Corey.” You started forward when Malia caught your arm. She didn’t trust them; you didn’t blame her. “Mal, we’ve gotta help him.”

Malia let go and you rushed over to Corey. You tried to lift him but he was in too much pain. Josh took Corey’s other side and looked over at you. “I knew you’d help,” he said.

You didn’t know what to say, so you just hurried to get Corey on one of the exam tables. He was in so much pain. Almost his entire body was charred. He must have gotten caught up with Parrish.

“Why isn’t he healing?” Josh asked.

“Maybe he can’t. Maybe it’s too much,” Malia said.

“He’s going to die, isn’t he?” Josh asked.

“His heartbeat is getting slower,” you said. “But I can try to take away his pain. It could help.”

“It might even get him to start healing,” Malia said generously. “But we’ll only do it if you help Kira.” More sparks flew and you all ducked. “You said you could help!”

“Yeah, but it’s not like taking voltage from a car battery,” Josh argued. “She’s got a lot more power than that.” Corey groaned on the table. “Are you two going to do something or not?”

“Mal-”

“After you help her. I don’t trust you,” Malia said.

“I don’t trust you either!”

“Josh, do you trust me?” you asked. You’d never been close before, but you were something else now. “You said you knew I’d help him. I will, I promise.”

More sparks.

“We go at the same time,” Malia said, snapping his attention back to her. “Deal?”

Josh nodded reluctantly and walked over to Kira. You and Malia held each of Corey’s arms as Josh knelt over Kira. “On three?” he asked. “One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

The lights started flickering as Josh absorbed Kira’s electricity, but it was the least of your concerns after only a second of taking Corey’s pain. Until now, you’d never understood the phrase ‘blinding pain’ but with your vision blurring and your entire body burning, it had new meaning.

But Corey’s heart started beating again. Rapidly. He was breathing. Kira gasped for air on the floor but it was almost impossible to hear over Josh’s screams.

Between you and Malia, Corey’s pain faded after a minute. Josh managed to get Kira conscious and not electrified. You stayed with him but Malia went to check on Kira and Josh came back to Corey.

“Anybody know how we’re supposed to get out of here?” Corey asked, sounding scared and hurt.

“This place is still in lockdown,” Malia said.

“But it’s not just locked,” Kira said after shooting a look at the door.

“Yeah, I can feel it, too,” Josh said.

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Corey asked. “Just wait here?”

“We had a backup plan,” you said. Malia didn’t look like she wanted you to tell them, but you did anyway. “Mason is supposed to reset the transformer.”

“How’s he gonna do that?” Josh asked, at the same time that Corey asked if you meant his Mason.

“He’s got the blueprints of the building,” Kira said. “And he has the full map of Eichen’s electrical system. All he has to do is get into the transformer shed behind the building.”

“Don’t worry. Mason knows exactly what he’s doing,” Malia said.

You had to smile to yourself. Thinking back to your first few weeks with Malia when you couldn’t stand her and she said that she would leave you in the desert, you almost couldn’t believe how much she’d grown.

Malia and Kira kept huddled by the body holds while Josh rushed to the door to wait. Everyone was healing now, but you still felt ready to throw up. Taking away Corey’s pain had taken it out of you and if you didn’t drink some blood soon then you weren’t going to be much of a help to anyone. Surprisingly, Corey stayed with you by the exam tables. You heard the shutters on the windows roll back and then Josh pushed the door open.

“He did it!” Josh said.

“We gotta get to the Jeep,” you said, hopping off the table and running out with Kira and Malia.

It didn’t take long to get to the parking lot, and even less time to get to the front and pick up the guys and Lydia. You tossed the keys to Scott as you got out and asked if Lydia was okay.

“No, and we need to go,” Scott said. “We need to get Lydia out of here.”

Before he could get very far, Parrish collapsed onto the Jeep’s hood with claw marks all over his back. “Sorry, but she’s coming with me,” Tracy said. She held onto Lydia, no doubt paralyzing her as she did.

“Okay, Tracy. Just wait,” Scott said. “You don’t know what’s about to happen.”

“I’m taking her. That’s what’s happening,” Tracy said. “And none of you are going to do a thing-”

Electricity crackled and Tracy collapsed. Natalie stood behind her with one of the guard’s nightsticks in her hands. You and Stiles reached out to catch Lydia, but you faltered and he caught her.

“Could somebody please get my daughter out of this hellhole?” Natalie asked.

You helped get Lydia into the car with Stiles in the back. She looked awful, and you could smell the dried blood and gore in her hair. It was nothing on her fear though, nothing on Stiles’ fear either.

Scott drove as fast as he could, but Lydia’s heart was beating too quickly. Without any warning, she let out a scream that burst your eardrum closest to her. Heightened senses meant you were weaker when it came to loud noises like that, and Lydia's scream wasn't like any other loud noise. Stiles started bleeding and the mirrors cracked. You yelled at Scott to drive faster.

Even though the drive to the animal clinic was stressful, helping Deaton treat Lydia was even worse. Your brain was addled by the scream, and she kept screaming until Deaton injected her with mistletoe, straight into the spot where she’d been trepanned. Her final scream shattered all the windows in the clinic but you reacted too slowly.

Scott protected Lydia but Stiles tackled you to the ground, bits of glass sinking into his back.

“Stiles,” you said softly, hands reaching up to his face. The side of his face was still bloody from Lydia’s screams. “What are you-”

“Someone has to take care of you,” he said quietly.

You were both snapped out of your moment by Scott trying and failing to wake Lydia up again. You held onto Stiles’ hand as the two of you joined the others by the table. You couldn’t even hear her heartbeat.

She let out a low moan as her heart started again. Lydia looked terrified when she opened her eyes again but she held onto Stiles’ other hand when he reached for her.

“Are you okay?” he asked. She held onto him and nodded quickly. “You’re okay.” He took a deep breath. “Do you want to try to sit up?”

Stiles helped Lydia sit up, wincing slightly from the glass, and she looked around slowly. Her eyes landed on Natalie in the doorway. “Mom?”

“Oh, honey.” Natalie rushed over to Lydia and pulled her into a hug. She looked relieved for the first time in weeks.

“They saved me,” Lydia said weakly. “Stiles saved me.”

Natalie looked up from Lydia to make eye contact with Stiles. “Thank you,” she said. After her blow up the day before, you knew it meant a lot to him for her to apologize.

Stiles smiled at her to let her know that everything was fine, but then he winced again and ruined his heroic image. He still looked pretty heroic to you, but Natalie was a mother and all she saw was a broken boy covered in glass.

“Let’s get you home, huh?” Natalie flattened Lydia’s hair and kissed her head. She looked ready to cry when she touched Lyd’s trepanation wound. “You can take a bath and we can watch The Notebook. Hmm?”

“I can come with, if you want,” Scott offered with a smile.

Lydia nodded, not bothering to hide the tears in her eyes. She thanked you on her way out and soon it was just you, Stiles, and an awful lot of broken glass.

“Sit with me,” you said gently, tugging on Stiles’ arm to bring him to the exam table. It was so reckless of him to shield you like that but you couldn’t be mad at him. Not when he'd gotten hurt protecting you. “Do you want me to take your pain while I take the glass out?”

“And here I was thinking you wanted to makeout with me to say thank you for saving you from all that glass,” Stiles said with a lazy smile as he watched you get Deaton’s tweezers. You gave him a look and he laughed. “No, I can handle it.”

“You sure?”

Stiles nodded and you bit your lip. You weren’t sure if you had it in you to take his pain away, but still. Taking out all this glass was going to take a while and it was going to hurt.

You started with the shards furthest away from his spine, doing your best to ignore his wincing. The closer you got to his spine, the worse his pain got. You put your hand on his shoulder and tried to take his pain away like you did with Corey, but you pulled your hand away when it started burning.

Thankfully, Stiles was too wrapped up to notice your blunder, but it was pretty hard not to when your hand started shaking. The glass clattered into the metal dish with the other shards and you took a deep breath.

“Hey, you okay?” Stiles asked, looking over his shoulder at you.

“Yeah, just-” You took a breath and squeezed your eyes shut. “Just a bit light-headed. It’s been a while since I’ve had anything to drink.”

“Oh,” Stiles said softly. He looked down for a second and then used his hands to turn on the table to face you, no doubt opening some fresh wounds in the process. “You know you could do it if you wanted to.”

You frowned. “Do what?”

“Drink my blood,” Stiles said. God, when did this become your life? “If you can’t wait until we get home … you could do it.”

“No. No, I couldn’t,” you said. You took a step back. “Stiles, I would kill you. And even if I could control it - which I can’t - I could never ask you to do that.”

“But you didn’t ask, I offered.” Stiles reached for your hand and you felt so guilty for putting him through this.

“I know, but I- I can’t risk hurting you,” you said.

Stiles was quiet for a second. He looked down and drummed on the table for a second. “Malia told me you don’t heal without it.”

Snitch.

“Yeah, but I’m not the one that’s hurt right now.” You sighed and took a step forward to press your forehead to his, your hand holding onto his neck. Your thumb ran across his neck. “Let’s just get you cleaned up, alright?”

Stiles was so still, but eventually, he took a breath and nodded. “Okay,” he said softly. He kissed your hand before you pulled away to finish cleaning him up. He took in a sharp breath when you pulled out the largest (and, thankfully, the last) piece of glass. You apologized repeatedly but it just made Stiles laugh and then wince. “Hey, at least it's over now,” Stiles said in an attempt to comfort you.

You laughed and put the tweezers down. “Close. We still have to clean the cuts if you don’t want an infection.”

“Maybe I want an infection. I could get superpowers,” Stiles said between yawns. You walked around the table and he pulled you into a hug. His face was in your hair when he mumbled, “Do you think it’ll scar?”

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” you said. You pulled back and ran a hand through his hair. “This part will be quick, okay? Can I take your shirt off?”

“You can take my shirt off any time, babe.” Stiles leaned back and gave you a lazy grin which made you laugh despite the horrible night you’d had.

“Slow down, Stilinski. Let’s finish this first.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t call me ma’am.”

“Sir, yes, sir.”

You rolled your eyes and pushed the open button-up off his shoulders so he could take his arms out of the sleeves. You lifted the bottom of his gray t-shirt and threw it at him when he made another flirty joke.

Cleaning and bandaging the cuts went a lot faster, which was a relief because you were exhausted and Stiles must have been freezing. When the last of the bandages were on his back, you leaned in and wrapped your hands around him.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” you said softly. You pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Let’s go home. Do you have a shirt in the Jeep that I can bring you?”

“What’s wrong with my other shirt?” Stiles asked.

“It’s torn and covered in blood,” you said as you pulled away.

Stiles shrugged and pushed himself off the table. “You just want to see me walk around shirtless for a while.”

“You know me well, Stilinski.” You took his hand in yours and lifted it to kiss him again. Stiles rolled his eyes but he pulled you closer anyway, only letting go so you could lock up the animal clinic and then to pull on a sweatshirt.

Exhausted and worn out from the night, you fell asleep almost immediately as Stiles drove home. You weren’t sure what it was about the Jeep that did that to you; maybe the familiarly worn seats or how Stiles pumped the heat all the way up, or maybe just the way Stiles would drum on the steering wheel and play his favorite song on repeat. He was one of the only people who you trusted, and the Jeep was one of the only places you still felt safe.

Part 42

Tagged: @ietss @used-avocado

#stiles stilinski #stiles stilinksi x reader #stiles slow burn #stiles stilinksi imagine #so close #teen wolf #teen wolf au #teen wolf rewrite #mccall!reader

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general-fox-hux · 4 years

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Fic [7/?]

Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, post-TLJ (TFA and TLJ-compliant, TRoS will be ignored), except it’s Modern AU with magic and magical creatures

Category: Gen

Warnings: canon-typical violence; Rey’s attachment issues

Relationships: Armitage Hux and Rey (NOT Reyux)

Characters: Rey; Armitage Hux; Leia Organa; Rose Tico; Finn; Poe Dameron; Kylo Ren

Additional ‘tags’: fox!Armitage Hux; fox spirit!Armitage Hux; witch!Kylo Ren; witch!Rey

Please note:

some TRoS elements, like new characters, may appear in the future;

warnings may change and there will be chapter-specific warnings

I’m still torn about which ships are going to appear (as a side part of the story AND as a main ship) IF they will, so if you’re concerned about a sudden ship happening that you don’t like, feel free to send me an ask

Summary:

Witch Kylo Ren turns fox spirit Hux into a regular fox and sends him to spy on Rey.

Rey tries very hard not to get attached to the ‘stray’ that found her.

Hux must fight his fox instincts, his hatred towards the Resistance, and his own empathy. Oh no!

________________

________________

There’s a Reveal™ about Hux and his powers in this part. Kylo’s being nasty and Hux hates everyone and everything, as per usual

________________________

‘And stop being cute,’ the girl tells him as she stands up, gathering the food he brought.

He literally feeds her and keeps her warm. What has his life become? The reasonable thing to do would be to let her starve to death, but no, Ren wants intel. About Organa. The fool. Weak excuses, as if Hux doesn’t know about his obsession with the girl.

‘How did you even brought it all?’ A short pause. ‘The meat’s for you, right? Let’s cook that. I’m not giving you raw meat.’ Thank all the Kitsunes. ‘You little thief.’

As they move to the kitchen, Hux reflects on his conversation with Ren that happened about half an hour ago. Ren had approached him, taking a body of a huge black wolf – probably had thought himself so clever, since wolves are foxes’ natural enemies and Hux’s terrified eyes must have amused him to no end – and used his magical powers to talk to him telepathically.

It was unpleasant to say the least, both receiving Ren’s words and trying to broadcast his answers. No, he did not hear a word on Organa. No, nobody visited. No, Rey didn’t seem to communicate with anyone.

‘She’s planning on giving me away,’ Hux reasoned. ‘Admit that you were wrong and let me do something actually useful.’

‘What, are you such a bad pet fox she already wants to get rid of you?’ Ren teased.

‘This is a dead end―’

The growl Ren emitted made Hux’s fox form stumble back in fear. ‘You are a faery and a fox spirit’s bastard. As a faery, you failed: your stolen children-soldiers flee our ranks even though you took away their names. Use your fox trickery.’

‘FN-2187 was a single―’

‘More are leaving.’

‘All the more reason for me to come back!’ Hux was shocked, furious, scared. ‘You cannot control my army!’

‘One more week.’ It was an order, but there was something placating about the words Ren chose.

Then, Hux went straight to a little twenty-four hour shop, an image of a cherry yoghurt stubbornly returning to his mind. The girl needed more calories than a small cup of yoghurt could provide though. He waited by the fridge storing meat and stole one packet when a customer opened the sliding door. That, of course, drew the attention to him, so he fled at full speed. The instant noodles were taken from another shop.

Hux looks at the girl. From this close to the floor he can’t see what she’s doing but it sounds like she’s slicing the beef into smaller bits. He jumps onto a chair, and from there he reaches the kitchen island, where he makes a few circles and lies down, curled into a tight ball. He watches Rey as she pours some oil into a frying pan and changes the temperature on the electric cooker. Then his eyes fall closed...

‘Ginger ball, wake up,’ a gentle voice says.

He whines softly. Something touches the top of his head.

‘Sorry to wake you, but your dinner is going to freeze in here,’ the same voice says quietly.

Whining again, he blinks his eyes open.

Oh, right. The girl. And he’s a fox. Still. Stupid Ren.

Rey scratches the side of his neck, then his throat, and before Hux can take full control of his fox body, it positively melts. Next thing he knows he’s lying on his side and making sounds somewhere between mewls and low whines.

This will not be included in his next report for Ren.

‘You look like a cinnamon roll but you’re actually a little manipulative thief,’ the girl accuses him, her voice fond.

She stops her petting and Hux manages to compose himself. He stands up before the girl has a chance to take away more of his dignity and hops down onto the floor. There’s a bowl with fried bits of meat. It looks like the girl has gone to the trouble of draining most of the grease, which he appreciates. Next to the one with the food, there’s his other bowl, filled with water.

‘Enjoy your meal,’ Rey says and, thankfully, leaves him alone, heading to the sitting room area.

The meat tastes rather bland (what with the lack of seasoning) but that’s not a problem for Hux. When he decides he’s had enough, he laps at the water. He hasn’t managed to eat all of his dinner, which isn’t surprising. It’s a small body, with a small stomach.

Later, when the girls heads to the bathroom, Hux waits some time so that she’ll change into her sleep clothes, then jumps at the door handle to get inside, like he’s been doing for a few days now, trying to make her realise that he wants a bath. He needs a bath.

Only when he’s settled in the bathtub does he notice that something’s different. The girl’s still naked, hastily pulling on her pyjama pants as Hux ducks, feeling rather awkward and not knowing what to do and where to look.

‘Why are you like this?’ Rey mutters, teeth chattering.

Hux doesn’t dare lift his head and only whines in answer. Just as all the previous times, the girl doesn’t get his hint.

Well, he is definitely not going to beg her, so he jumps out of the bathtub and follows Rey to her absurd giant bed.

As soon as they’re settled, she starts gently stroking his back, his head, even touches his nose with her finger (smelling of soap and grease and... tree bark, somehow). Hux finds that he relaxes into her touch immediately, no initial stiffness, no internal cringing. Not sure if this is something good or bad, he just accepts it, his ears twitching back with contentment.

Come to think of it, even though Rey treats him like a pet animal, it’s still a treatment much more respectful than any of Hux’s previous relationships with beings who held power over him. Take the damned leash, for example: she didn’t put it on him only because he protested. That’s much more considerate than his superiors ever were.

He uncurls his body, and Rey’s hand immediately attacks his throat, fingers squeezing beneath the collar, petting and scratching, and it’s heaven. Before he realises he’s rolled onto his back, the girl’s already petting his belly, murmuring appreciative remarks about his “soft soft fur”. As a fox, he couldn’t have shown her more trust. And they met about a week ago. Truly, there must be something remarkable about this girl. Or he’s going insane from being stuck in a fox body for so long.

Rey leans over him and places a little kiss on his nose. Well, that’s terribly trustful of her, too. He could easily bite off quite a chunk of her face, if he were so inclined. Instead, he gives her nose a tiny kitten lick. She laughs and says, ‘Oh my god, you are perfect.’

Warmth washes over him at her words (and he hates it, of course he hates it). No-one’s ever given him such a praise. For all his life, he’s never been good enough, always lacking something, always striving for more, never reaching his ultimate goals. And now he’s stuck under Ren’s command, his “rabid cur”, his enchanted fox-spy, with very little hope of taking Ren’s place. Never quite good enough.

But “perfect” for this Rey girl (he hates it).

A girl who defeated Ren, twice.

Hux’s tail twitches when a wave of excitement rushes through him. She could end Ren’s reign. She could kill the incompetent monster, leaving the crown for the taking. But would she let Hux take it and wear it?

Depends on how he plays it...

Oh, but there’s at least one flaw on his barely forming plan: only Ren can turn him back to his true form. And if and when Hux does change back, surely the girl will recognise him as “Hugs” or “the Starkiller”. Those Rebel/Resistance people might be into this forgiving bullshit but they have their limits, surely.

Mood darkening, he resigns himself to enjoying pets given by Rey. Of course, that’s when her phone goes off. She uses her magic to summon it, swipes her thumb over the screen and greets the caller with a cheerful ‘Hi, Leia!’

Tensing as if given an electric shock, Hux can practically feel his ears adjusting for the best listening-in angle while Organa says, ‘Hello, Rey,’ voice warm. Sickening. Oh, Ren is going to be so smug about it, the crazy witch. Must have had one of his Feelings... ‘Just checking in,’ says Organa. ‘Do you need anything?’

Yes, Hux thinks, she needs food, a way to warm this place, and to take a shower. Not that he cares about the girl’s well-being; in order to give away information she has to actually do things, not sleep under blankets to preserve warmth in her free time.

‘I am well, thank you,’ Rey says, absentmindedly touching Hux’s head. ‘Busy. You know, school and work stuff.’

‘I know, darling. But, do you think you’d have some time for us to meet? I... think something happened near your place. I believe I should come over.’

Say yes, say yes, let her walk into this apartment, and I’ll tear her throat open and we’ll be done with this charade.

‘How about I visit you?’ Rey offers. Hux gives an irritated huff. She ignores him.

‘Acceptable,’ says Organa.

‘Though I have to inform you I can’t stay for long; I found someone’s pet, and I need to come back to take him for a walk.’

‘Now, that’s some news! Bring him with you; you know I love animals,’ offers Organa.

Could Ren’s plan work out this easily after all?

Say yes, say yes, say yes...

Glancing at Hux, Rey shakes her head, even though Organa can’t see her. ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea. He’s a fox.’

There’s a short pause.

‘You found a stray fox?’ Organa wants to know. Hux bristles. The way she said ‘fox’, like it’s something nobody would ever want to encounter, a pest or a disease vector...

‘Well, he’s domesticated, collar and all. Very well-behaved. Won’t let me put him on a leash though,’ explains the girl.

‘Then how are you supposed to walk him?’ wonders Organa.

‘I just... kinda let him out?’ Rey mumbles, suddenly sounding like she’s expecting to be lectured on the evil of foxes.

Apparently, there’s no reason for that. ‘Oh, I see. Well then, come alone. Tomorrow okay with you?’

Why does she want to meet the girl so promptly? Hux wonders. It cannot be just a simple friendly visit. If only Rey’d take him to Organa’s current hiding place. That alone would be enough data for Ren. He’d murder his mother like a back-stabbing bastard he is (which might be the one thing he’s got in common with Hux) and Hux would return to his true form, finally straighten his back and sleep, alone, in his own bed that won’t be shaking from anyone’s shivering.

They end the call and Hux’s mind is racing. Should he save the last shreds of his dignity, or should he let Rey put the infernal leash on him so that he can complete his absurd mission? He could stand in front of that closet tomorrow and refuse to walk out of the apartment until she attaches the leash to his collar. Then, during the walk, he could prove to her that he can be very well-behaved indeed, and maybe she’d take him to Organa’s hiding place.

Except his sudden change of mind right after Organa’s call would be suspicious to say the least. Not to mention how not fond of the idea of relieving himself in front of Rey (and other people) he is. No, he’ll stick to the forest, no matter how far it is, thank you very much. Also, he can run freely there, which is something he’s been craving and doing ever since being turned into fox.

That’s it then. He’ll wait for a better opportunity to find Organa. Good to know your own limits. And always good to have a run through the forest. (Now that he thought about it, he itches to go there, his senses already alert.)

#POV Hux #fox!Hux fic

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sapphicsylvari · 4 years

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The Rise of the Dread Fleet - Chapter 1: Liberation

Sorry for the long wait! I’ve had some IRL issues that sapped all my life force, so I wasn’t really in the condition to write - regardless, on we go, Yoho.

Featuring @nouru-vi‘s Captain Sebba! <3 I hope I did her justice.

@tyrias-library

Laughing Gull Island lies ahead, its fortifications looming threateningly on the horizon, along with several ships already sieging the fort, golden shimmers from their hulls.

Vaixx climbs up onto the railings, holding on to a rope.

“Listen up!” his voice bellows over the deck, and the crew turns their attention to him. “The Lionguard are running a major assault on Laughing Gull. Under normal circumstances, we would reinforce their defenses, but nothing about this is normal. Rowan Gaets is dead, and with him dies our control of this ship!” He pauses, looking down at the pirates on deck, leaderless and without direction. Their journey to Lion’s Arch had been put on hold by a large fleet of Lionguard moving south, forcing them to hide. As soon as Vaixx had figured out where they were heading, he’d made a decision. No more hiding. He raises his voice again.

“We are free, my brothers and sisters, and free we will remain! Today, we break Taidha Covington’s yoke and set sail for new horizons! Man the cannons! Light up the sky! Slay the tyrant, once and for all!” Cheers erupt from the crew, as they rush to battle stations and Cariyen at the wheel starts bringing the ship in. Raxxi raises a white flag over their Jolly Roger, signaling the Lionguard not to attack them as the Rascal approaches their fleet. Vaixx jumps off his vantage point and rushes to the front of the ship, and balances up the prow. He’s close enough to make out the happenings on the Lionguard flagship, as it struggles under Taidha’s counterfire. An Asura appears to be leading them, clad in Lionguard Captain’s attire, shouting orders over the roaring battle. Her turquoise hair is whipped by the wind, moving like the arms of a terrible sea creature as she maneuvers about the deck.

“Lionguard!” Vaixx cries out, drawing the Captain’s attention. “You’re wasting your time! There is another way in!” She grits her teeth and gestures to him, beckoning him on board. After a moment’s hesitation, Vaixx orders Cariyen to approach further, until he can comfortably jump off the prow, onto the Lionguard vessel.

He lands on the deck and has to orient himself for a second before he spots the Captain waiting for him.

“Keep the damage coming!” she calls out to her crew, then grabs Vaixx crudely by the arm and chaperones him into what he assumes are her Captain’s Quarters.

The noise dulls behind the closed door and she turns to him.

“Pirate.” she spits the word like it’s profanity. “You have information, then spill it. I have no time for intrigue.”

“Neither do I. I want Taidha gone, just like you.” Vaixx says, keeping his head held high. “There is an underwater passage on the north side of the island, leading directly into the heart of the fort, as a last-ditch escape opportunity. Taidha kept this a secret, and comforts herself in the knowledge that only her Captains know about it.”

“That implies you are one of those Captains?” “Incorrect.” Vaixx crosses his arms. “I was First Mate to one, who recently died. Taidha would take control of my ship if she learned of it, and hunt me to the end of the world, should I betray her. Thus, she must die.”

The Lionguard bares her teeth. “You expect me to just let you go after this is over, don’t you? So you can take over her fleet?”

Vaixx grimaces. “I have no interest in anything related to this woman anymore.” he assures her. “You can continue dulling your claws on her defenses, losing lives and resources with every second, or you can let me aid you. Your choice.”

Seconds later, the door to the chamber flies open and the Lionguard steps out, Vaixx following close behind. “Keep the bombardment up! Buy me as much time as you can!” she orders her crew, then pulls a rebreather from her coat. “You lead the way, pirate.”

Vaixx nods and signals to his crew, then dons his own rebreather and jumps overboard.

The water muffles all sound from the battle, and no marine life has stuck around long enough to become a casualty in this fight. It’s almost peaceful. The peace is disturbed by the Lionguard hitting the water next to him, and a group of combatants from the Rascal approaching them, led by Raxxi.

Vaixx takes the lead.

It’s a long, silent swim around the isle. Vaixx forces himself to remain calm as he guides the group to a small, concealed hatch in the ocean floor. He jams his sword under the heavy trapdoor and levers it open. A cloud of dust spills into the water around them when the door falls open. The Lionguard gives him a long glare before she descends into the tunnel the hatch had revealed. Vaixx follows her.

Taidha Covington’s fortress is strong and the Lionguard assault barely puts her in distress. She has no need to use this emergency escape route yet. Thus, the passage is empty, unguarded, allowing Vaixx’ team to slip inside the fortifications unnoticed.

The tunnel opens up into a small room after rising above water level and the infiltrators can step onto dry ground again. The Lionguard is the first to take off her rebreather. “Very well. Now what?” she asks and Vaixx steps up to her side. “Now we brace for the battle. Taidha is likely surveying the struggle outside from a vantage point. She should be relatively easy to spot once we’re out in the open. “She will also be surrounded by her allies.” The Lionguard remarks sourly, probably regretting going alone. Vaixx can’t blame her. She’s all alone, in an enemy stronghold, surrounded by pirates. “I can make a diversion.” Raxxi pipes up snapping her fingers and letting lightning crackle between them. “All we need is some bad weather.” “Right. You can the others, distract Taidha’s flunkies. My new Lionguard friend and I will finish the job.” Vaixx decides and a displeased noise draws his attention back to said Lionguard.

“I am Captain Sebba.” She introduces herself, then stabs her index claw into Vaixx’ chest. “And I am not your friend, Pirate.” “Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Vaixx responds, his tone equally sharp. “Are you gonna argue about terminology with me or do we want to make the kill?”

Ten minutes later, the final stage of the assault is announced by a crack of thunder over Laughing Gull Island. A raging storm, conjured out of clear skies descends upon the small landmass, vicious winds swirling and straight up lifting pirates off the ground, hurling them in the air, then dropping them. Lightning strikes come down, hitting people and setting fires, all way too calculated to be natural.

Vaixx has left Raxxi at the exit of the building they had been concocting their plan in, guarded by his men as she sits cross-legged on the ground, fists clenched, eyes closed, in deep focus over the hell she’s unleashing upon Taidha’s men.

Captain Sebba, who has revealed herself to be a Mesmer, is holding Vaixx’ hand to keep an invisibility spell up on both of them as he leads her toward one of the larger structures, passing through the chaos that has ensues over Raxxi’s magical storm. Yet again, Vaixx is thankful for his small size, as it makes evading people a lot easier for him. “The spell will fail as soon as we attack.” Sebba’s disembodied voice informs him as the slip into a half-open set of doors and ascend a staircase made of crude driftwood. “She’ll be alone. All we need to do is kill her.” Vaixx responds and stops dead in his tracks. “Do you hear that?”

Heavy footfalls from up ahead, but neither of the two Asura have to guess for long. Taidha Covington herself is barreling down the stairs, cutlass in one hand, flintlock in the other, and expression of raw anger on her face. Vaixx feels a sting of fear as Sebba pulls him to the side, to avoid colliding with Taidha.

“She’s leaving the building!” she hisses and the thin veil of invisibility falls off them both.

Taidha freezes, then whips around, pointing her gun at them. For a second disbelief dominates her features. “Vaixx?” she asks, a mixture of surprise and anger in her voice. “You are behind this?” “Not at all, Admiral.” Vaixx replies sarcastically and mimes a salute. “I just pitched in to help.”

He waits for neither a response, nor Sebba’s contribution. In a flash, he’s upon Taidha and thrusts his cutlass forward. Clashing metal rings in his ears as she parries, forcing his sword arm aside and points her own weapon at his throat. “You little shit.” She growls. “Rowan’ll have your fucking head for this.” “Rowan’s indisposed.” Vaixx responds and avoids backward, just to dive underneath her sword and flank her. “Mutineer!” Taidha curses, just as Vaixx gets her by the shin, severing a tendon. She cries out and a gunshot shakes the building.

Vaixx stumbles back, having yelped in pain. He only barely managed to dodge, causing the bullet to glance his shoulder. His sword drops to the ground as the strength leaves his arm and warm blood soaks his coat sleeve. “Fuckin’…” he snarls and throws his offhand dagger at her, pinning her left arm to the ground and causing her to drop her gun. A breeze of air hits him as Sebba rushes past him, in a daring leap, landing with her knees on Taidha’s stomach and bringing her rapier down upon her.

The scream is cut short by another loud crack of thunder from the outside.

When Sebba steps back, Taidha Covington is dead on the ground, a profusely bleeding stab wound on her chest. The rapier had pierced her heart. For a moment, Sebba looks like a rabid animal, murder in her eyes and blood staining her pretty face and fancy coat, a harsh contrast to her regular demeanor. She turns around, bends down to Vaixx and drags him to his feet.

“Nice throw.” She compliments him, her breathing still shallow as she helps him steady himself. “Will you be fine?” “Nothing a serving of strong liquor can’t cure.” Vaixx groans, trying not to wince as Sebba moves him. “Thanks.” “Don’t thank me.” Is her response to that, but Vaixx does sense a hint of respect for him in her voice. “So, you gonna arrest me now?” he asks, as casual as he can. “Oh, I absolutely should!” Sebba says, as she helps him toward the door. “But we had an agreement. And I never go back on my word.”

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #gw2 fanfiction #tyriaslibrary #My writing #pirate saga #the rise of the dread fleet #admiral vaixx #captain raxxi

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gwenbrightly · 4 years

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Never A Perfect Moment pt3

Finally finished this bohemoth of a fic... Enjoy some Kailor this fine evening!

“You’re sure the flowers aren’t too much?” Kai questioned, fiddling with his hair (for what must have been the hundredth time in the past five minutes). He stared at his reflection as though it could provide the answers he sought. His visit to the hospital had to be perfect. If he messed this up... he’d never forgive himself. From the doorway, Nya shot him a bemused look. How he could be so confident sometimes, yet act like a total wreck now, would always be a mystery to her. She gave her answer, slipping into the cramped bathroom to stand next to him,

“She’ll love them.”

“What about my hair? Does it look okay?” he reached for the hair gel, but his sister rolled her eyes and used her good hand to swat him away from it.

“You look fine. Leave it alone before you end up looking like some sort of rabid porcupine.” Ugh. What was it with people comparing his hair to animals?

“You could always be like Jay and just… not bother to style it at all…” Lloyd’s suggestion floated in from nearby.

“Hey!” the master of lightning cried indignantly, “I’ve been home less than a week and this is how I’m treated?! That was a low blow, greenie…”

“I missed you, I promise. But seriously, you need a haircut or something.” Lloyd told him, earning a glare. They probably all needed one, if they were being totally honest.

“Somehow, I doubt your commentary is helping Kai.” Zane observed.

“Probably not… Honestly, Kai, you gotta stop psyching yourself out over this.” Cole added, joining the conversation. Over the past few days, Kai had questioned the wisdom of being so open about his feelings for Skylor several times (even if it had really been mostly due to his panic over nearly losing her). The others had become surprisingly invested in it, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Giving up on retrieving the hair gel from Nya, he joined the others in the living room.

“Says the guy who’s more interested in food than girls.” he mumbled, seating himself on the couch.

“Pft… I just haven’t found someone who appreciates cake as much as I do.” the master of earth insisted. The others shared a look.

“Either way, Cole does have a point. You and Skylor have been through a lot together. Surely this can’t be any worse?” Zane offered, giving Kai a comforting pat.

“Indeed. It’s obvious you two are meant for each other!” agreed Pixal. He calmed at this, knowing she didn’t say such things lightly. Not since she had come to realize the full effects of the perfect match incident. The nindroid had felt terrible about the heartache caused by her actions, often keeping her observations about her family’s love lives to herself.

“Thanks, you guys. I dunno why I’m so stressed out over this.” Admitted Kai with a sigh.

“Everyone feels a little nervous when they tell the person they love about their feelings for them,” Nya told him, “it’s a big step.”

“Just be yourself, and be honest, and everything will work out just fine... I learned that the hard way.” Jay piped up. Having experienced his fair share of hiccups when it came to his romance with Nya, he knew that the master of fire needed to hear this advice. His girlfriend nodded in agreement.

“You got this.”

“Definitely!” Lloyd encouraged.

“Heck yeah I do,” The master of fire said, confidence growing, “Now where are the keys?”

-------------------------------

“You have a visitor, Miss Chen.” the voice of Marc, one of the nurses frequently tasked with caring for Skylor, called softly, his voice seeping into the rather bizarre dream the master of amber was currently having. A bright red porcupine vaguely resembling Kia was battling snakes made from living noodles. Bits of chow mein flew everywhere with each chop slash. The scene faded away once she registered that the person calling to her actual existed and wasn’t just a figment of her imagination. What a confusing dream… where had that even come from?

“Huh?” she replied with a pained groan, struggling to prop herself up on her pillows and wishing she could just go back to sleep. Exhaustion was hardly a new concept for the master of amber, but she was pretty sure she’d discovered a new peak level of tiredness that hadn’t existed up to a few days ago. The drug induced haze she’d been experiencing had finally worn off, leaving her with a deep-rooted lack of energy, and memories of unrelenting pain that continued linger even now that she was on the road to recovery. And an abnormally overactive imagination, it seemed.

“Your ninja friend is here to see you again.” Marc explained, distracting her from any further desire to question her strange subconscious, “Do you want me to leave you two alone?”

“Oh... um... Yeah, that would probably be… good.” Skylor replied, cringing inwardly. She’d been dreading this moment since she first became lucid enough for him to describe the events of Kai’s previous visit. While the nurse hadn’t been present for everything that occurred, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what else she might’ve let slip.

“Hey.” the master of fire greeted awkwardly from the doorway.

“Hey...” she murmured back, smiling weakly.

“I, uh, brought you some flowers…” he stated, holding out a rather large bouquet as he approached her bed.

“Wow… thanks, Kai… That was really sweet of you!” the redhead commented appreciatively. Kai placed them on the table next to her and pulled up the nearest chair.

“I figured you could use something to brighten this place up a bit.” this hospital room was anything but homey.

“It was definitely needed…” Skylor agreed. Having been raised in the colorful environment of her father’s island had given her an appreciation for beauty, if nothing else (years of trauma and manipulation aside). She’d quickly grown tired of staring at the stark, clinical whiteness of her surroundings. It would be a relief to return to the comforting warmth of her apartment once she was finally well enough to escape from this place.

“So…. How are you?” he asked quietly, glancing at her face, which was still far paler than it should’ve been, “I mean, you look much better than the last time I saw you but...”

“I’m… healing, I guess?” she said with a small shrug, relaxing onto her pillows a bit, “There’s still some pain, and I’m so exhausted that I feel like I could sleep for the next 50 years... But I feel way better now than I did for a while, there…”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. I never want to go through anything like that again…” Skylor told her companion. Absorbing Garmadon’s powers had been a terrible idea in hindsight, even if it had saved her friends. Nothing could have prepared her for the resulting pain and illness.

“I can’t blame you. It was all pretty horrible… Finding you in such bad shape? Was terrifying... We – I was so scared I was gonna lose you…” admitted Kai, sobering. They were quiet for a moment as memories of the events leading up to this day washed over them. This really had been a close call. Skylor shakily reached out, catching one of Kai’s hands with her own. Giving it a squeeze, she broke the silence.

“H-hey now, you can’t get rid of me that easily… but thanks. For everything. The doctors say if you hadn’t acted so quickly, things might’ve ended very differently. I… I’m glad you made it back okay.”

He returned the squeeze without hesitation.

“Me too, Sky. The thought of never seeing Nya, or Lloyd, or Pix, or you again was… unthinkable – there was never a doubt in my mind that I…. I had to get home somehow… There were so many things I never got to say, and I couldn’t just...”

“Give up?” she finished for him. He nodded.

“I know how you feel. Seeing the Bounty being crushed on live TV nearly broke me... it was devastating to think I’d lost so many people I cared about in one awful go. I came so close to just... losing hope completely, but then, sitting there in my apartment, waiting for the nightmare to just be over... I realized that if you were strong enough to go through losing your parents, your brother, and your master, all at different times, and still come out of it okay in the end...” Skylor’s voice cracked as she spoke, “I could face this, too. Even if it felt like I had lost everything. Because that’s what you’d have wanted me to do. And somewhere out there, Lloyd and Nya were hurting just as much as I was.”

Fingers still intertwined with hers, Kai gave the redhead’s hand another squeeze.

“Wow - I didn’t realize... C-can I ask you a question?” the master of fire asked tentatively.

“Of course.” she answered. Inhaling deeply, he looked into her eyes searchingly, and began to speak.

“The other day when I was here, you were a little out of it, but... you said that you were in love with me-”

“I - yes. I am. Have been for... Well, pretty much since we first met, actually. And I wanted to tell you. I was just...” Skylor interrupted, frantically praying this wouldn’t backfire on her.

“Waiting for the right moment?” he suggested, with a sheepish smile, “Yeah, I... I’m in love with you, too, Skylor. So if you were worried that maybe I was just joking that time back on your father’s island... I wasn’t then, and I’m not now.”

The master of fire scooted as close to her bed as he could before continuing.

“I was scared of messing things up for so long that I nearly missed the chance to tell you how I felt completely. But now? I just wanna be with you. I wanna talk to you on the phone until 3am and drive everyone else crazy with all our obnoxious inside jokes! I wanna go out with you and not be too much if a coward to call it a date and bring you flowers whenever I happen to be near the restaurant! I love you, Sky, and I’m so sorry it took me such a long time to tell you that to your face.”

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that.” the redhead replied, eyes bright. She looked so happy it made Kai’s heart burst with affection. Gently, he used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that had gathered in her eyes.

“Mmm. Actually, I’m probably sure I actually do,” he insisted, voice thick, “Meeting you was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me... And I kinda just really wanna kiss you now…”

“Oh? Well, what’s stopping you?” Skylor inquired, looking at him in a way he’d never seen before.

“Absolutely nothing.” he replied, emphasizing each word as he leaned in. She laughed as she met him halfway.

“Wow... I should’ve done that a long time ago.” Kai mumbled against her lips when they finally parted again. The redhead hummed quietly in agreement.

“Soo... I guess we’re together now?”

“Yep. It’s official. You’re stuck with me.” he said with a grin. She lightly punched his shoulder. They smiled at each, still only inches apart.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” she replied before kissing him again.

___________________________________________________________________

Day by day, Skylor’s health flourished, as did her relationship with Kai. He visited her whenever he could, staying for several hours; the rest of her ninja family, along with June and Chad also visited multiple times, ensuring that she was never bored or lonely while stuck in her dreary hospital room. Flowers, stuffed animals, and boxes of candy brightened her surroundings, though she eventually had to insist that Kai stop bringing her gifts every time he showed up. Their first date was a trip to the hospital cafeteria on the day the doctors deemed the master of amber strong enough to leave her bed. The hamburgers and fries weren’t perfect, and neither were Kai’s increasingly cheesy pickup lines, but after having waited so long to simply be together, neither of them cared. They stayed there, laughing hysterically over dumb stories, and tossing fries into each other’s mouths (and missing a large fraction of the time) until one of Skylor’s nurses finally came to drag her back to her room, insisting that she needed her rest. She slept better that night than she had in a long time.

Finally, the date of her release from the hospital rolled around, and not a moment too soon. Skylor was beyond ready to finally go home. To say she had gone a bit stir crazy wouldn’t have been a lie. Sitting on her bed, the suitcase June had brought her already packed, she smiled when her phone vibrated, signaling an incoming text.

Kai: Hey, stranger! Just pulled into the parking garage!

Skylor: Can’t wait to see you, fire boy :)

Kai: Be up before you know it!

The redhead leaned backwards and stared up at the ceiling, sighing happily as she read her boyfriend’s messages. It felt so good to know to know with absolute certainty that Kai loved her. And that she’d be leaving this place in a few short minutes. True to his word, the master of fire quickly arrived outside her room.

“Guess who?” he sang, swinging the door open. Skylor scrambled off her bed, greeting him with a soft kiss.

“Hey, Kai.”

“Hi. You look good today.” Kai complimented holding her at arm's length. She rolled her eyes.

“I mean, I'm in desperate need of a shower, and look like I haven’t seen the sun in years, but I'll take it.”

“So, you ready to get oughtta here?” the master of fire asked, grabbing the suitcase.

“Please,” Skylor told him, “if I never see this place again, it’ll be too soon.”

“Alrighty then. Let’s get you signed out before the doctors change their minds.”

“Good plan.” She stated, following him out the door and into the hallway. Jen, the nurse who practically lived at the front desk, already had the release forms ready for Skylor when the duo reached the waiting room.

“Congratulations, Miss Chen! It’s nice to see you doing so well. You just have a few papers to sign, and then you can be on your way.” The woman announced cheerily. Skylor quickly scanned the paperwork before grabbing a pen. She carefully signed her name to each dotted line, relishing in the feeling of freedom that came with it.

“Everything looks good to me,” Jen remarked, “Just remember to stay hydrated and take it easy for the next couple of weeks or so. We don’t want you ending up back here too soon, now do we?”

“Noted… thanks for everything!” The redhead smiled weakly.

“Of course. Now, I’m sure you’d like to get outta here. That boyfriend of yours looks like he’s starting to get antsy.” observed Jen, nodding towards Kai, who was staring longingly towards the exit.

“He looks even more anxious to leave than I am.”

“He’s probably thinking about the night you were brought in… I was here, you know… The guy was absolutely devastated. It was obvious how much he cared about you – physically tried to fight the nurses when they took you back without him…” The nurse recalled, clearly pleased that they were a couple now. Skylor blanched at this.

“Oh… I… No one had told me that… I- you’re right, I should probably get going.”

“Have a nice evening!”

“You too!” Skylor called over her shoulder as she headed for Kai.

“All set?” Her boyfriend asked.

“Yep. Let’s go home and have a quiet movie night and a nice meal that didn’t originate from the hospital cafeteria.” She begged. They exited the waiting room and stepped into the elevator that would take them to the level the parking garage was on. Watching the floor number meter count down, Skylor leaned against Kai’s shoulder, which, she had discovered, was the perfect height for a head rest.

“You doing okay?” He asked, noticing how quiet she’d gotten. She burrowed into him.

“Yeah, m’fine. Just… thinking.”

“About what?”

“Kai, did you seriously fight the nurses when they wouldn’t let you come back with me?” Skylor questioned, stepping out of the elevator, Kai close behind.

“Well yeah, but don’t worry, Lloyd wasn’t very supportive of me wanting to burn down the entire wing in revenge…” he joked, which earned him a look.

“Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the best idea ever, but I stand by my choices.”

“You really are one in a million.”

“And I’m all yours. Me, my awesome fire powers, and this minivan Nya hooked us up with.” Kai stated, pressing a button on his key fob to unlock their ride, which they had just arrived at. He opened the door on the passenger side and helped her climb in before getting in himself.

“I’ll try not to fall asleep on the drive home this time,” The redhead assured him, referencing their trip to the zoo that had occurred not long after Skylor had first taken over her father’s restaurant. He laughed, turning the key in the ignition,

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did. Your body is still healing from everything it got put through.”

“As romantic as the image of you carrying me into my apartment and tucking me into bed is, I’m pretty sure we’d both end up back in the hospital if you tried that so. Think I’d better stay awake if it’s all the same to you.” Skylor commented with a wink, “And besides, it shouldn’t be a very long ride.” Kai nodded. Their vehicle turned a corner.

“The colossus somehow managed to miss your entire neighborhood, so the streets should be pretty clear.”

“That’s good. So… how’s the gang today?” Asked Skylor, knowing how hectic life had been for them in the wake of Garmadon’s defeat. Getting the city back on its feet entailed a lot of hard work, and they had all seemed exhausted whenever they came to visit her.

“Zane declared our food stores too measly to cook a decent meal with and took Pixal on a shopping spree this morning at 5am, and Nya’s more than a little jealous that you got released from the hospital before she gets to be rid of her sling, but other than that, everyone seems to be holding up okay.” He answered lightheartedly. She stifled a giggle.

“Somehow, I’m not surprised by any of this.”

“My family does have a flair for the dramatic.” the master of fire admitted readily. He himself was no exception, as he’d proven time and time again (he was still being lectured by Lloyd and Nya for his stunt with the colossus).

The duo continued to chat as Kai drove along the streets of Ninjago City, enjoying how easily words flowed between them. They reminisced over past adventures and discussed Wu’s progress in rebuilding the Monastery of Spinjitzu. They occasionally stopped talking to sing along with whatever song was playing on Kai’s playlist, sometimes competing to see who could butcher the lyrics the most horribly. Time passed quickly. Street signs flew by. And soon, they were pulling up in front of the master of amber’s home.

“Sweet freedom!” Skylor exclaimed, shakily climbing out. She inhaled deeply; somehow the air here felt different, fresher, lighter, than that of the hospital, or even the warehouse the resistance had taken refuge in. Kai bit back a laugh when he saw her face.

“Welcome home, Sky.”

“Home,” She agreed, “It feels like a lifetime since I left, but at the same time… like it was only seconds ago…”

“A lot of things have happened since then.” He said, reaching to shut the car door, which Skylor had neglected to do in her excitement at having arrived.

“Yeah, I...” The master of amber paused when she heard the strains of the song Kai’s phone was playing. The music was much quieter without being played through the car’s speakers, but she could still recognize the lyrics.

“Is that... Shut Up and Dance With Me?”

“Uh, yeah. It is.” Kai confirmed, pulling the device from its stand.

“You wanna...?” Skylor started, hesitantly. She glanced at him, shyly. He raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking.

“Dance with you? In the middle of the sidewalk? Sure, I mean, you only live once.” Kai relented with a grin. He pulled her onto the grassy area that lined the sidewalk, more than a little concerned his girlfriend might topple over if they weren’t careful.

“Just tell me if you need to stop, okay?” She nodded and took his hands.

Oh don't you dare look back

Just keep your eyes on me

Kai spun her gently, smiling as her face lit up. She pulled him into a spin of her own, harder, faster, than before.

I said you're holding back

She said shut up and dance with me

They stumbled around the stretch of greenery, laughing as their movements grew increasingly clumsy. Finally, the two collapsed next to each other, breathing hard.

“If my neighbors didn’t think I was crazy before, they definitely do now!” Skylor gasped, cheeks flushed. She looked so alive.

“Worth it!” Kai breathed. He leaned over to kiss her.

“Maybe there’s no such thing as a perfect moment, maybe things never line up exactly how we want them to. But right here, right now? I’d say we’ve gotten pretty darn close to perfection.” She told him before allowing herself to be wrapped in his loving embrace. No matter how much chaos life threw at them, Skylor knew they’d be able to handle it. Together.

#Ninjago fanfiction #Ninjago #Kailor #Kai #Skylor #Guys guess who actually finished this finally!!!!#Cute hospital confessions #Kai is an anxious bean #And kinda awkward #But that's okay because skylor is too!#They love each other and it's sweet #The hospital staff all ships them #Dancing to music on the sidewalk is totally normal what are you talking about????#Can't believe it's over!

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writings-of-dumpy · 4 years

Text

Set it Off - Stiles x Descendants!OC

A/N: Yeah, you read that right. I’m going crazy, okay?!

After a small bought of chaos-causing, Mal, Evie, Carlos, Jay and I were rounded up by Maleficent. I was less than pleased to have to deal with the mistress of evil, but Maleficent basically ruled the Isle, and anyone who disobeyed her word would pay the price.

“You five have been chosen to go to a different school… in Auradon!” Maleficent declared to us.

Jay and Carlos immediately turned around and began to run, but were caught by Maleficent’s goons. Evie and I did our best and freed the boys from their grasp and managed to get them on their feet and facing Maleficent once more. Once we had settled, Mal turned back to her mother.

“What?!” Mal asked. “I’m not going to some boarding school filled to the brim with prissy pink princesses!”

“And perfect princes!” Evie added with a dreamy look in her eye.

“Evie get it together,” I shushed her.

“Yeah, and I don’t do uniforms… Unless they’re leather, you feel me?” Jay added with a chuckle and looked at a very worried Carlos.

“I read somewhere they allow dogs in Auradon,” Carlos asked Maleficent, whose smile was morphing into a wicked grin. “Mom says they’re rabid pack animals who eat boys who don’t behave…”

Jay quickly snuck behind Carlos and poked his sides with a loud bark in Carlos’ ear.

“Jay, flirt later, this is serious! There’s no way we can be shipped off to Boreadon,” I said.

“Yeah, mom we’re not going!” Mal said to her mother.

“Oh, you’re thinking small, pumpkin! It’s all about world domination…” Maleficent said and ushered us all back into the tower where our parents were gathered.

I looked at Evie nervously and saw that not only was my mother there, but my aunt Drizella and my grandmother Tremaine had decided to join in on the apparent meeting. Evie sat next to Queen Grimhilde, Jay stood with his father Jafar, Carlos next to his mother Cruella and I was beckoned by my grandmother to sit with them.

“Now, pay attention, you five. You will go, you will find Fairy Godmother and you will bring me back her magic wand. It’s the only thing that has magic powerful enough to work on this cursed island,” Maleficent declared.

I sighed and listened to Mal concede to be Maleficent’s puppet for the destruction of Auradon and decided that I may as well start packing what little I had in a bag to take to my new school.

“Anastasia, did you bring your daughter’s bag?” my grandmother asked my mom.

“Yes, Dizzy packed it,” my mom said.

Suddenly a car horn was heard and the five of us shared a small worried look. I walked down with my friends to the car and saw my cousin Dizzy standing in awe next to the shiny vehicle. I walked over to her and held her hand. She and I had been through so much together and I felt very protective of her given that I was older than she.

“It should be you going, Diz,” I told her sadly.

Dizzy sighed, “I think you need more help than me.”

Cruella seemed to be the only one not wanting to let her child go, and Carlos made a mad dash for the car with a trash bag full of his items. The five of us piled into the limo quickly and we started our journey.

“Are you okay, Abs?” Evie asked me.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” I said to her and looked at Mal, whose face was expressionless and whose eyes were cast out the window. I looked up and saw that the limo was headed straight for the edge of the bridge. I gasped in fright and our attention was turned to the front of the vehicle, where we could see the edge of the bridge.

“It’s a trap!” Evie screamed and the five of us braced for impact. My heart was pounding and I thought about how we were going to get out of this alive. Jay pulled Carlos and me close to him while Mal and Evie clung to either side of our huddle. The five of us squeezed our eyes shut in preparation for impact, but it never came. Instead, a gold light shone and my eyes opened to find that we were crossing the ocean safely on a bridge.

“It must be magic!” Evie exclaimed. Mal turned to the driver.

“Hey. Did this button open the magic barrier?” she asked him.

“No. It opens my garage,” he said and then held up a different button. “THIS one opens up the magic barrier. And this one…”

He pressed a button above his rear-view mirror and the partition closed, which left the five of us to our own. Jay and Carlos’ hands were intertwined and I looked at them with sympathy. The two had been in love since they first met, which was hard for them both because the Isle wasn’t a place where dating was commonplace. With their parents being two of the most notorious villains in the land, their reputations needed to be protected or else the wrath of Maleficent threatened their very existence.

“It’s going to be okay, guys,” I reassured everyone.

“How can you say that?” Jay asked lowly.

“Because, Jay, when our parents take over, we can do whatever we want! Including date,” Mal said in a hushed tone.

I nodded. “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when we get out of this car.”

Evie and I shared a laugh.

“We have to do this and do it right, guys…” Mal said in a serious tone. “It’s a chance for us.”

After about a half an hour, we arrived at what the signs were saying was Auradon Prep. There was a crowd in the front of the school that held up several “Welcome” signs and a band was playing right where the limo stopped. Jay and Carlos were the first to step out of the vehicle followed by Mal, Evie and I. The band stopped playing and we were approached by a group of five people. The shorter brunette woman in a powder blue dress spoke first.

“Welcome to Auradon Prep! I’m Fairy Godmother, headmistress,” she introduced herself with a slight curtsey.

“Well that was a freebie,” I mumbled to Carlos, who hid a smirk.

“THE Fairy Godmother? As in, bibbity-bobbity-boo?” Mal asked.

“Bibbity-bobbity. You know it,” Fairy Godmother said with a nod.

“I always wondered what it felt like for Cinderella when you just appeared out of nowhere… With that sparkling wand, and warm smile… and sparking wand…” Mal said.

“That was a long time ago. And as I always say, don’t focus on the past, or you’ll miss the future,” Fairy Godmother responded and accented her words with a gesture of her hands.

A boy about our age stepped forward and closely behind him was a girl who wore a pink dress with a blue cardiagan and a gold necklace.

“It’s so good to finally meet you all. I’m Ben,” the boy addressed us while standing closest to Mal.

“PRINCE Benjamin… Soon to be king!” the girl interrupted and squealed out.

“Oh god,” I muttered to myself.

“You had me at Prince… My mom’s a queen, which makes me a princess,” Evie stepped up and curtsied to Ben.

“The Evil Queen has no royal standing here… and neither do you,” the other girl said with a sickening smile.

I could tell Evie was taken aback by her comment, and Ben quickly said with a reluctant and awkward smile, “This is Audrey…”

“PRINCESS Audrey… His girlfriend! Right, Benny-boo?” she said.

At this point, I deemed her obnoxious enough to comment, “Chin up, sweetie. Insecurity doesn’t look very good on you.”

Carlos and Jay chuckled at the girl’s fallen and shocked expression towards me.

Ben brushed off the interaction and smiled in my direction gently. I smirked at the girl who had clearly never been spoken to so bluntly and I could tell Evie was grateful for my intervention.

“Ben and Audrey will show you around. I will see you all tomorrow,” Fairy Godmother said. With theatrical proclamation, she spoke, “The doors of wisdom are never shut! But the library hours are from eight to eleven and as you may have heard, I have a little thing about curfews.”

Fairy Godmother led the remaining band members out of the courtyard, but two boys remained behind Ben and Audrey. They were approximately the same height with one having black hair and a rather uneven jawline, and the other had a mess of chocolate brown hair with a mole-speckled face and honey-brown eyes. I felt myself looking at him for a little bit too long and pulled my eyes from his features. There was a small moment of awkwardness, and Ben spoke up.

“It is so, so, so good to finally meet you all,” he said and approached Jay, who held out his fist and collided it with Ben’s shoulder. Jay seemed to be impressed by Ben’s resilience and smiled at the prince. Ben got the message and moved on with his speech and shaking each of our hands. “This is a momentous occasion…” Ben shook Mal’s reluctant hand and then moved to Evie, who he held onto a few seconds longer. “And one that I hope will go down in history—chocolate..?” Ben shook Carlos’ hand and licked the small amount of confectionery off of his thumb. “As the day our two peoples began to heal.”

“Or the day you showed five peoples where the bathrooms are,” Mal interjected. Ben briefly took my hand in his and it felt odd to shake his hand. He made eye contact and smiled at me with a hopeful look. I didn’t smile back, of course, and withdrew my hand quickly. Audrey passed by me and I raised a challenging brow at her and she neglected to say anything, then Ben spoke again.

“A little over the top?” he asked us and Evie nodded with a small smile.

“A bit more than a little…” she said and he looked at her with a warm smile and kind eyes.

“So much for my first impression,” he said to her.

Evie shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t say that.”

Ben smiled and then turned to the two boys standing behind him and beckoned them over. “This is Stiles, by best friend and soon to be the captain of my knights. Stiles is Slightly’s son, a former lost boy. This is Scott, who is a fantastic resource to have and is Sleepy’s son.”

My eyes were drawn to Stiles. The Lost Boys were somewhat of a legend around the Isle, but mostly for their moral greyness when they arrived from Neverland, but were determined to not have any true ill-will so they stayed in Auradon. Both of them smiled at us, but Stiles made eye contact with me.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Ben and Audrey have to leave here in a few minutes, so we’ll show you guys around,” Scott said.

“I believe bathrooms are the first stop,” Stiles said. As he spoke I swore I heard music. I felt sick to my stomach and like I either needed to puke or eat, but either way, I wasn’t pleased with the reaction I was having to this boy.

After an extensive and boring tour of the castle converted to school, we were handed a class schedule. Scott took Carlos and Jay to their room, and Stiles took me, Evie, and Mal to ours.

“I hope everything is to your liking. If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask!” Stiles said with a smile and left the three of us to unpack.

“Good god, this is a lot of pink,” I remarked. The room was extremely spacious and had three large beds complete with canopies and dressers for each of us. “I don’t think even the Isle is this sexist. Watch Jay and Carlos have a blue room.”

“That would be awful… It’s too bright in here. We’re going to need so much sunscreen,” Mal said to me with a small grin.

I nodded and claimed the bed to our left, then closed the curtain closest to it.

“I think some vandalism is in order,” I suggested after examining the curtain with a deep frown. Not only was the fabric a salmon colored pink, the floral pattern made my eyes hurt.

“Yeah, I wish. We have to stay long enough to get the wand, though. We can’t get it if we get kicked out,” Mal said. I looked over and spotted Evie grinning ear to ear as she looked at her bed. I was glad that she enjoyed it so much. I had always thought Evie maybe belonged in Auradon—she had the poise and grace of a princess with looks to match. She loved pink and different colors that weren’t black (unlike what Mal and I preferred) and had a sense of propriety about her. I didn’t care what Audrey had said—Evie was a princess to me, and the only one I respected.

“Once the sun goes down, let’s head out and find Jay and Carlos, then grab the wand and get the hell out of here,” I suggested.

“Good idea,” Mal agreed with a nod. It seemed that things were going to move quicker than I thought and I shouldn’t have packed as much as I did.

~*~

“Way to go, Jay! Now we have to go to school tomorrow!” Mal complained as the five of us ran from the museum after a botched attempt to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand from where it was being kept.

We all snuck back to our dorms silently. With an exasperated sigh, I fell onto my bed and kicked my shoes off.

“Well, at least now we know where it is and what it’s protected with,” Evie said.

“Yeah, but no way of getting it out,” Mal groaned.

“They do security pretty well, gotta say,” I said. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

The three of us managed to get some sleep and awoke to our alarms going off. I hadn’t slept terribly, which was a first for me. The mattress was comfortable, and the blankets kept me at a good temperature throughout the night. Once the three of us were ready, we began our first day at Auradon prep. The only class that had all five of us together was Goodness 101 and it was our first class. We all arrived a few minutes late and found that, of course, we were the only ones in the class. There was a table in the middle of the room that was set up for five students and Fairy Godmother stood at the head of the classroom and was writing on the chalkboard.

We each sat in a chair and looked over the various notebooks that were placed at our desks. Fairy Godmother turned at the noise and smiled at us.

“Welcome to goodness class! You may remember, I am Fairy Godmother and I will be your guide through your time here at Auradon Preparatory School,” she said.

Throughout the lecture, we were asked various ethical questions and were asked to choose an answer. Mal and I figured the game out and managed to get all the questions asked of us correct. Jay and Carlos showed very little interest, and Evie did her best to mask her intelligence.

“Just pick the one that doesn’t sound like any fun,” Mal said after getting another correct answer and a compliment from Carlos.

I nodded in agreement with Mal. Next, Evie and I had chemistry together while Mal, Jay and Carlos had gym. When we walked into the classroom, everyone stopped at the board and then found their seat. I rolled my eyes and sat in the back of the classroom. Evie gave me a sly look and found her own seat towards the front.

“Um.. I think that’s my seat you’re in,” a cautious voice said to me.

“That’s so weird, I don’t see your name on it anywhere,” I told the brunette girl who had approached me.

“Lannie, you and Jane can sit where we were going to sit,” Stiles said after quickly approaching. I smirked and watched as she turned and sat down with another girl who looked equally as concerned and afraid.

Stiles sat down next to me and gave me a small smile. “Don’t like assigned seats, huh?”

I looked at him with a raised brow. “I don’t like being told what to do, period.”

Stiles nodded. “Well, I don’t think anyone likes that. Mr. Deley is a stickler for rules, though, so fair warning.”

I eyed him carefully. “Why aren’t you scared of me? Everyone else seems to be.”

Stiles shrugged. “Probably because my dad’s a lost boy. I know what it’s like to be… lost.”

I said nothing and faced the front of the classroom and watched as Ben sat next to Evie and the two struck up a conversation with ease. I smiled slightly and hoped Evie wasn’t just trying to impress her mother—Ben seemed like a nice guy.

After class, Mal, Evie and I met up at the lockers. We heard Ben and Stiles talking to what sounded like Audrey and someone named Chad.

“Those kids are trouble…” Chad said.

“Hey,” Stiles said in a warning tone.

“Come on Chad, give them a chance,” Ben pleaded.

“No offense, Benny-Bear… You’re just too trusting! I know your mom fell in love with a big, nasty beast who turned out to be a prince, but with MY mom? The evil fairy was just the evil fairy… that girl’s mother,” Audrey said in a hushed tone and gestured towards Mal. Mal’s face fell slightly. “The evil queen terrorized Scott’s dad, Jafar made Lydia’s mom almost marry her, Cruella literally wanted to kill puppies, and not to mention Chad’s mother was abused by HER whole family!”

“Hey, knock it off, Audrey. They’re not responsible for that,” Stiles said sternly and Audrey sighed.

“I think you’re wrong about them. See you later,” Ben said and began to walk towards us.

“Excuse me, I have plotting to do,” Mal said and left Evie and I to converse with Ben and Stiles.

“Hey, how was your first day?” Ben asked Evie.

“It was great,” Evie said sarcastically.

“You guys are in some pretty advanced classes, it’s impressive,” Stiles said. “One day maybe you guys can help me with my homework.”

I smirked. “Why is it impressive? Aren’t you in the same classes?”

Ben and Stiles shifted uncomfortably. “Well, um.. It’s just we know education isn’t the same on the Isle,” Stiles said.

I nodded, “Ah, I see. So you assumed we’d be dumb?”

The boys looked nervously at each other and Evie and I giggled.

“We’re just teasing you,” Evie said. Stiles looked at me and I shrugged with a small smile. He smiled at me and I felt my cheeks heat up. I had only been in Auradon for 24 hours, but the place was starting to rub off on me.

“Hey, so… There are tourney tryouts in a few minutes and I think Jay and Carlos are going. You guys wanna come, too? To watch and get into some school spirit, maybe?” Ben asked with his eyes on Evie.

She smiled and looked absolutely elated. “Yes, I’d love to.” Ben smiled at her and Stiles looked at me.

I sighed. “Wish I could, but I think I’d better check on Mal…”

Stiles’ smile fell to a look of compassion and understanding, and the four of us split up; I went off to find Mal and Evie went to cheer on Jay and Carlos with Ben.

I assumed Mal went back to the dorm and headed there quickly. I thought a lot about how Stiles treated me as an equal and it felt nice to not be feared, but that could only last for so long. The five of us were expected to obey Maleficent and snatch the wand at the first opportunity.

When I walked into the room, I found that Mal was on her bed and a girl in a powder-blue dress was talking. Mal seemed disinterested, but I knew she was listening.

“Hey Mal,” I said as I walked into the room. I eyed the girl in the dress and scowled at the stranger on my bed.

“Oh, Abby, this is Jane. Fairy Godmother’s daughter,” Mal said pointedly. I raised my eyebrows and flattened my lips from their previous frown.

“Fairy Godmother’s daughter! Jane, of course. Hi,” I greeted her. Jane seemed to be frozen in place and then nodded to me. “Please, don’t let me interrupt.”

“Jane was just telling me about how her mother doesn’t use her wand anymore, but Jane wants to use magic to make herself prettier,” Mal explained to me.

“Yeah, like Mal did for my hair!” Jane chirped up. I looked at Jane and felt sorry for her. She was a beautiful girl and didn’t need magic. As much as I wanted to tell her that she was good enough, I knew Mal had a plan to use Jane to get to the wand.

“Oh, that’s so sad… Mal did such a good job on your hair, I’m sure with that wand she could do a whole lot more,” I said and sat on my bed next to Jane.

“Totally,” Mal said.

After a few hours, Jane went back to her dorm and Evie returned.

“Where have you been?” Mal asked.

“Jay and Carlos made the tourney team, and I snagged myself several conversations with a prince,” Evie giggled.

“You know, you don’t need a prince, Evie. You’re fine by yourself,” I said. Evie sat down and nodded.

“I know. You’ve always told me that… But it just feels… nice,” Evie responded. Mal sighed and nodded.

“Well, I guess we’ll be here a while longer than we thought…” Mal groaned.

~*~

A few days later, I sat on the bench of the tourney game with Mal and Evie and we watched and cheered on the boys.

“Jay’s pretty good at this,” Evie commented.

“Yeah, he and Ben seem to work well together,” Mal joked with a sly smile at Evie.

“I hadn’t noticed,” Evie lied.

“That Scott guy is kind cute, huh?” I said with a smirk, which earned me a wide-eyed look from Mal.

“Why would you say that..?” Mal asked.

I laughed. “It’s okay, Mal. It’s just a crush. It’s not the first you’ll have.”

“It could be the last though. This is Auradon—land of true love at first sight,” Evie teased.

Mal shook her head and closed her eyes. “No! No, that’s not it at all.”

Evie and I smiled at each other and patted Mal’s back. We watched the team run up and down the field and I saw Ben look out to the crowd and point to Evie, which made Audrey glare in our direction.

“Looks like he’s maybe got a thing for you, E,” I joked with her and stuck my tongue out at Audrey. I heard a laugh and spotted Stiles looking at me from the bench and his eyes and smile shone with his laughter. Seeing his smile made my stomach warm up and twist in an uncomfortable but good way.

~*~

After a few weeks, it was starting to feel more normal in Auradon. Evie, Mal and I went to almost every tourney practice and game to support Carlos and Jay. Stiles and I had struck up a friendship of sorts, and I enjoyed his company immensely. Scott and Mal had been seen together more, and a lot of girls around the school had asked Mal to put spells on their hair to make it anything they wanted. I could tell Mal enjoyed helping people feel good about themselves but made a point to explain to us that it was only a manipulation tactic.

Jay walked into our dorm with a newly printed tourney jersey with his name on it. He displayed it and Carlos greeted him with a hug.

“I’m so proud of you!” Carlos gushed and made Jay blush.

Mal smiled and continued to flip through her spellbook.

“So, no luck on the wand yet, huh?” Jay asked her.

“Do you think that I would be going through every single spell in this book if I hadn’t completely struck out?!” Mal snapped.

“Someone’s in a bad mood,” I mumbled from across the room.

“My mom’s counting on me! I can’t let her down,” Mal said in a nearly panicked voice.

The room fell silent and the looming realization that their comfort in Auradon had to end. I thought about how Stiles would feel if he knew what the ultimate plan was.

Jay spoke up, “Guys, we can do this if we stick together.”

“And we won’t go back until we do,” Mal continued. “Because we’re rotten…”

“To the core,” we said in unison.

“Oh yeah, I found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Ben with the wand at coronation and we all get to go… I have nothing to wear, of course,” Evie said with a sigh. There was a knock at the door. We all looked at each other and Mal answered it to find Ben standing there with a smile on his face.

“Hey, Mal…” he said, then looked around the room and smiled widely at Evie. “I didn’t see you guys today and I was wondering if you had any questions or if there was anything you needed.” His eyes fell to Evie’s and she blushed slightly.

Mal turned to us and shrugged. “Not that I know of…”

“Mal didn’t you just have a question..? Like weren’t we JUST talking about something that you were confused about that Ben would know the answer to?” I hinted not-so-subtly.

Mal raised her brows and smiled at Ben. “Yes! Um, is it true that we all get to go to your coronation?”

Ben smiled and nodded. “Yeah, the whole school goes.”

“Wow… that is beyond exciting,” Mal said. Ben smiled wider and darted his eyes to Evie for a moment.

“Do you think that it’s a possibility that the five of us could stand in the front row next to the Fairy Godmother just so that we could… soak up all that goodness?” Mal continued with a conniving tone.

Ben’s face fell. “I wish you could… Up front it’s just me, my folks, and my girlfriend…” I noticed his gaze purposefully avoiding Evie with his last statement.

“Okay, thanks, bye!” Mal said and shut the door in his face.

The five of us shared a look, then all eyes were on Evie and Mal.

“I think it’s time ‘Benny-boo’ got himself a new girlfriend,” I said and raised a brow at Evie.

“Now I need a love spell,” Mal said with a thoughtful look.

The five of us headed to the kitchen and whipped up the love spell into some cookies and went over the plan.

“So, before the tourney game tomorrow, make sure Ben eats this and make sure you are what he’s focused on when he eats it, okay?” Mal instructed Evie. Evie nodded.

“Okay…” Evie agreed with a serious look on her face. I could tell she was slightly torn, but we all knew there was no choice for us.

~*~

I went with Evie to greet Ben before he went off to the field. Luckily he was alone as Stiles had made his way to the locker rooms already. After a brief conversation with Audrey, Evie caught Ben’s attention while the rest of us stood close by.

“Hi, Ben,” Evie said to him. Ben smiled at her and walked over.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“I just made some cookies! Do you want one?” Evie offered the small bag to him.

Ben’s face fell. “Oh, I don’t usually eat before a big game… I’m sorry. Next time, though!”

Evie nodded. “That’s okay! It’s smart to be cautious. I get it, I am a villain kid after all…”

“Wh-Wait, no, that’s..” Ben began, but Evie continued.

“I mean, I bet every kid in Auradon knows not to take treats offered by villains, especially when their parents are known for poisoning food,” Evie said in a slightly sad tone. Mal and I shared a look of respect and impression by Evie’s clever remarks.

“Oh well. More for me, I guess,” Evie said and opened the bag and went to eat the cookie. Ben suddenly snatched it from her hand and took a huge bite.

“No! See? I totally trust you,” he said with a small smile. Evie’s smile turned slightly sad and the four of us approached them slowly.

“How is it?” Evie asked and looked into Ben’s eyes.

“It’s great! I mean, it’s chewy… sweet… Are those walnuts? I love walnuts…” Ben started slowly while chewing. The rest of us started to slowly creep forward. “Evie, have you always had those gold flecks in your eyes..?”

Jay put his arm around Ben’s shoulder and asked, “How ya feeling… bro?”

“I feel… I feel like singing your name! EEVIIEE!” Ben began to sing loudly and Jay quickly covered his mouth. I quickly took the cookie from Ben’s hand and looked at Mal with wide eyes.

“Okayyy…” I said and replaced the spell back in the bag.

“Hey! Ben, Jay, Carlos! There you are! Let’s get ready!” I heard Stiles say from behind the boys. Ben’s eyes were glued to Evie and he only looked away when Carlos and Jay dragged him around the corner.

At the tourney game, Evie, Mal, and I watched the players and reveled in the excitement that the crowd had. I spotted Stiles on the field and noticed how good he looked in the uniform and how much he seemed to make a point to include Jay and Carlos in the plays when he could. As the game was starting to time out, Jay, Ben, and Carlos made a move that allowed Ben to score the winning goal. The crowd went wild with cheers and Evie shook my arm with a huge grin on her face.

“Yes! He won!” she screeched and cheered for him.

I smiled at her and clapped a few times. I saw Stiles take his helmet off and smile directly at me. I smiled back and sent him a thumbs up. He smiled a cheeky grin at me and before our silent conversation could continue, Ben’s voice was heard over the speakers.

“I just want to say something!” he started. The crowd went silent for a moment, and Ben shouted, “Give me an E!”

The crowd and cheer squad responded, “E!” This repeated until he had completely spelled out Evie’s name.

“What does that spell?”

Me, Mal, Lannie and a few other girls that surrounded us looked at Evie and responded, “Evie!”

Evie looked at Ben with a gaping smile. Her face was one of astonishment and a hint of something I couldn’t quite identify.

“I love you, Evie. Did I mention that?” Ben said into the microphone.

“What was in that cookie?!” I laughed to Mal. The crowd split and allowed Ben to come and approach Evie.

“Will you go to the coronation with me?” Ben asked her. Evie nodded.

“Yes,” she said into the microphone.

The next day, Fairy Godmother allowed us to have a video conversation with our parents. It didn’t go very well to say the least. Maleficent kept pressuring Mal to hurry up and get the wand, my mother looked at me with disdain and the entire conversation ended with the five of us feeling guilty and uncomfortable and our parents arguing like children. After the call ended, I looked at Mal.

“What do you think is going to happen if we can’t pull this off…?” I asked her as we headed out of the room to our next classes.

“I think they will be quietly disappointed, but know that we did our best,” she said.

“Really?” Carlos asked.

“No, we are definitely goners.”

Evie and I walked to the science room in silence that day and I took my seat once we arrived. I found Stiles was already in his.

“Hey, you got here early,” I observed as I sat down.

“Yeah, for once,” Stiles joked.

“Good game yesterday, by the way,” I complimented him. He looked up at me with a surprised smile.

“Wow! Um.. thank you. Are you okay?” he asked me.

“I’m peachy,” I said sarcastically and opened up my book.

Stiles was silent for a moment and then spoke up in a small voice, “You know… It’s family day on Sunday. You should come and meet my dad... I mean, if you want to.”

“Isn’t he the sheriff? As far as I know I haven’t done anything wrong here,” I said flatly while not looking up.

“No! It’s not that… I just think that maybe you’d like to talk to him,” Stiles said.

I let out a breath and looked up at him. His warm eyes were shining with hope and it was nearly impossible to resist him.

“How come?” I asked him.

“You’re from the Isle of the Lost… he’s a lost boy…” Stiles said.

I smirked and shook my head. “Alright, fine.”

At the end of the day, Evie and I were in our room while Mal was off with Scott on a date. I kept thinking about what Stiles had said to me and the comparison he made about me and his father. If the Lost Boys were good, why was I similar to Slightly in Stiles’ mind? I was supposed to be a villain, like my mother or worse. The harder I tried to convince myself that I was supposed to be bad and evil, the worse I felt about everything. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be bad anymore. I looked at Evie across the room, who was working on her dress for the coronation in a few days.

“Eve..?” I asked in a small voice. She looked up from her sewing machine with furrowed eyebrows.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I frowned and bit y lip. “Do you ever think… maybe it’s not so bad here..?”

Evie got up and sat next to me with a sigh. “All the time.”

I wave of relief washed over me as she said that. “I just… I know we don’t have a choice—our parents will literally kill us if we don’t do as we ask of them, but… I don’t know that I like being bad anymore…”

Evie nodded. “I don’t think any of us ever did, even Mal.”

I scoffed and shook my head, “Yeah, but there’s more pressure on her than any of us…”

Evie and I sat in silence for a moment. I spoke first, “We can’t bring this up to her, can we?” Evie shook her head. I nodded. “She needs us.”

“She does.”

“Then we’ll stick together and be rotten to the core even if we don’t want to…”

~*~

Family day was held in the vast courtyard. Ben and Evie were seen walking about and holding hands and laughing with Belle and Beast with the other guests. Carlos and Jay had decided to raid the food table, and Mal and Scott had gone off to play a game of cricket, which left me to myself. I sat at a table alone for a while and drank my bubbly drink and enjoyed watching my friends so happy and dreading the coronation tomorrow.

“Hey, I thought I might find you being a loner,” Stiles teased from beside me as he approached. My lips turned upward despite my terrible mood.

“And what’s wrong with that?” I asked and turned to him. He was sat down next to me at this point and had a cheeky grin on his face that sent butterflies to my stomach and tingles to my fingers and toes.

“Nothing at all. I think it’s kinda cute,” Stiles said. I felt my cheeks get hot at his comment and I noticed that he wore a nice suit in Auradon’s colors, with the primary color being the royal blue and gold and white accents. He looked very good in blue, I thought. He cleared his throat and then spoke again, “Um, I’d like to ask you something, if that’s okay?”

I nodded with a small smile, “Sure.”

Stiles licked his lips. “Will you go to the coronation with me? Like, as my date? It’s kind of a thing, there’s a dance and party afterwards… And I know it’s short notice, and I’m sorry about that. I was looking for the right time, but then it never came, and now I’m stuck with this awkwardness, but… Would you like to be my date tomorrow?”

I smiled wider and nodded. “I’d love to.” Stiles beamed with excitement.

“Great! I’ll, um... I’ll stop by your room. We sit kind of towards the front, I hope you don’t mind,” Stiles said and I nodded.

“That’s fine.”

“There you are, Stiles!” a male voice came from behind me. A man with darker blonde hair and blue eyes approached us and I recognized the man to be Slightly, Stiles’ father.

“Hi, dad,” Stiles said and stood up to greet Slightly.

“It’s so good to see you, my boy! Now, you said you had someone for me to meet? Is it a girl?” Slightly asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Dad, I want you to meet Anastasia Tremaine’s daughter, Abby. She transferred here from the Isle of the Lost.”

Stiles motioned to me and I stood up to face the infamous Lost Boy with an undoubtedly nervous expression. Slightly looked at me and smiled, then stuck out his hand for me to take.

“Pleased to meet you! I’m Slightly,” he said.

I smiled and took his hand and we shook hands lightly. “Nice to meet you, sir.” The afternoon was spent with the three of us playing a game of cricket and eating food. Stiles was even more adorable when his dad would embarrass him with stories of Stiles growing up. At various times throughout the day, Stiles would give me a gentle pat on the back or an affectionate rub on the shoulder, and each time he touched me, I felt like I was floating.

At the end of the afternoon and the parents were being sent off campus so the festivities of tomorrow could prepare, Slightly was saying good bye to his son. I smiled at them and started to walk away, feeling awkward by just standing there.

“Hey, Abby!” I heard Slightly say, and I turned to find him stepping away from his son to shake my hand again. “You know, you don’t have to be your mother. And I don’t think you’re anything like her. Just something to think about.”

I was completely dumbfounded and nodded as he walked away. Stiles stood next to me and when they were out of sight, he turned to face me with earnest eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Um, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Stiles smiled and nodded. “Can’t wait.”

I headed off to my room as the sun went down and found Jay and Carlos had already arrived.

“Where’s Evie?” Carlos asked.

I shrugged and looked at Mal, who also shrugged.

“It’s nearly nightfall, we have to get this figured out,” Mal said and started pulling various things out to go over.

“Hey! Sorry, I came as fast as I could—Ben’s parents really like to talk,” Evie said as she came through the door and then quickly shut and locked it.

“Okay! Now that we’re all here, let’s go over the plan,” Mal instructed. Honestly I was only half-listening, but I understood what I needed to do. After Evie grabs the wand, Mal, Jay, and Carlos would get the car ready and Evie and I would run out the door with the wand. After we knew what we were doing, we all went to bed to prepare for tomorrow. I couldn’t sleep, though, and I was amazed to find Mal and Evie sleeping or at least resting.

I headed out of our room and took a walk through the campus completely lost in thought. What Slightly had said to me rang through my head on loop, and I thought about what Stiles would think after our plan unfolded. I ended up sitting on a bench in the courtyard and I felt an intense ache in my chest that made me feel like I was sinking. I didn’t want to do this, but I thought about the threats from my mother and how my friends would feel if I didn’t… I felt empty and lonely and my vision blurred as tears fell from my eyes in rivers.

“Abby…?” a faint voice said from beside me. I didn’t look up or pay it any mind, I just sat there and held my face in my hands. I felt strong arms around me and I heard Stiles’ voice speak softly to me. “It’s going to be okay.”

My body shook with my quiet sobs and I clung to Stiles like a lifeline. I had no idea where this was all coming from, but I knew I didn’t like feeling so vulnerable, especially in front of Stiles. I pulled away from his embrace after a few moments and looked up at him with watery eyes. His expression was gentle and compassionate as he held me close to him. His hand touched my cheek lightly and he wiped my tears away with his thumb.

“How did you find me…?” I asked.

“I was out on my balcony and saw you… What’s going on, darling?” he asked while stroking my cheek. I blushed at his gesture and looked at him with sorrowful and pitiful eyes. “Was it what my dad said?”

I shook my head. “No, no… Your dad was wonderful to me.”

Stiles frowned and sighed. “Is it me..?”

I shook my head again. “I… I can’t say.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“Both, I guess…”

Stiles nodded and pulled me close to him. “Listen, I know things are pretty crazy right now with you being away from home, but… I think you belong here. I think you’re a good person. And I know that’s got to be strange to hear, but I believe it. And no matter what, I’m going to be here for you, okay?”

More tears fell from my eyes at his words because I knew that they were only going to be true for a little while longer. I wanted to be as good as he thinks I am, I wanted to belong… But I couldn’t because my life depended on it. I felt truly awful at this point, but being held by Stiles made things more bearable. He smelled sweet and clean and his skin was soft. Of course, the butterflies returned in full force when he held be so close, but I wanted to revel in the moment a while longer.

When we finally did part ways, I had probably been out of my room for close to two hours, so I snuck back into my bed and tried to sleep. I managed to calm myself by thinking about Stiles’ arms around me and his kind and loving words. I woke up and felt sick to my stomach. Mal, Evie, and I shared a look of worry and sadness. We all got ready for the day and tried to look on the brighter side of things as we complimented each other on hair styles, dresses, and makeup.

“You look like a princess, Evie,” I told her. She smiled with a sad look in her eye. Just as we were finishing up, a knock at our door alerted us to the arrival of our dates. Evie was closest, so she opened the door and there stood Ben, Scott, and Stiles looking handsome and formal in their tuxedos and royal attire.

“Wow…” Ben breathed out when he saw Evie. Evie smiled and blushed, then waved goodbye to us as she took Ben’s hand and they left to line up for the parade. I slipped my shoes on and looked up to find Stiles looking even better than he did yesterday. He wore a formal royal guard uniform and his hair was perfectly messy. He smiled brightly at me and offered his arm.

“Hey…” I said to him with a smile.

“You look stunning…” Stiles said after looking me up and down. I took his arm and we headed down to the processional. I smiled at him and enjoyed the time I had left with him. When we got into the carriage in front of Ben and Evie, Stiles held my hand in his. I smiled at the gesture and felt, for once, more than friendship from another person. It was a good feeling, and it made what I had to do all the worse.

It was finally time for Ben to walk in. Stiles and I stood a few feet from Evie, Belle, and Beast. Fairy Godmother’s wand was released from its glass enclosure and Ben was ready to be blessed. I could hear nothing but the sound of my own pulse and I tried my best to stay calm so Stiles wouldn’t notice my anxiety. Suddenly, Evie lunged forward, but the wand wasn’t grasped by her.

Audrey held the wand in her hands and a burst of light came from the end of it.

“It should be me, up here with you! Not HER!” Audrey roared and pointed the wand at Evie. Acting purely on instinct, I lunged forward and tackled Audrey to the floor and the wand fell from her hands. Evie quickly ran from behind Ben’s protective arm and grabbed it, then stood in the middle of the carpet that Ben had walked down, a few feet from him, wand at the ready.

“Get off of me!” Audrey screamed. I scoffed and looked back at Evie, who had tears in her eyes. Just then, Mal, Carlos, and Jay came up beside her.

“Come on, let’s go,” Mal said.

“Revenge time, you know..” Jay muttered. I got off of Audrey and stood with my friends, Evie and I sharing a look.

“Evie, give me the wand…” Ben said calmly. “Whatever this is about, we can figure it out…”

“Stay back, Ben,” Evie said through tears. I looked over at Stiles, who was closer to Ben now and facing us.

“I told you so!” Audrey yelled, and Evie and I turned to her, ready to attack if necessary. She screamed and Stiles pushed her back to the crowd.

“You really want to do this?” Stiles asked in disbelief while making eye contact with me.

“We have no choice, Stiles!” I said with an exasperated sigh, tears threatening to fall down my face.

Evie continued to Ben, “Yeah, our parents—"

“Your parents made their choice… Now you make yours,” Ben said. Stiles looked at me with hope in his eyes. A tense moment passed as I looked at Evie, then turned to Mal. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Scott looking in Mal’s direction with hope and concern. Mal looked at all of us, then held her gaze at Evie’s tearful form.

“Mal..?” I asked.

“I want to be good,” she said in a small voice after a pause.

“Me too,” Evie said through tears.

“You ARE good!” Ben said with a small smile.

“How do you know that?!” Mal snapped. I noticed Carlos and Jay’s hands were clasped together, and I looked at Stiles, trying to hold back my remorseful tears still.

“Because we can see it. In your eyes… When I look at you, all I see is a good and pure heart,” Stiles said to me and took a step forward.

“Evie, I fell in love with you because of how kind you are, and how smart you are… You are a GOOD person, a true representation of everything a princess in Auradon should be. You’re not your mom. None of you are your parents,” Ben said.

I looked at the four other tearful VKs next to me. “Mal, you’re so much more that a puppet… You can be your own person here. Jay and Carlos—you two can be happy together here! You can have a life together the way you deserve. Evie, Ben’s right… You’re truly a princess, which is what you’ve always wanted to be. We can be anything here, we can CHOOSE… And I choose to not betray the friends we’ve made and the people we’ve become. I choose good.”

Evie let more tears fall and she nodded. “Good.”

“Hell yeah!” Jay said. Carlos nodded and began to sob into Jay’s chest.

Mal looked at all of us and nodded. “Good it is then.”

“Our parents are going to be so pissed!” Jay laughed as he held Carlos.

“Yeah, we’re definitely going to get murdered,” I said with a small laugh and wiped away a tear from my cheek.

“Your parents can’t get you here,” Stiles said and Ben nodded. “You’re safe from them.”

Evie smiled and handed the wand back to Fairy Godmother. “I’m sorry.”

Fairy Godmother smiled and nodded at Evie. “You’re forgiven. And you all get an A in goodness class!”

The five of us laughed and smiled at our newfound hope for the future. Ben took Evie’s hand and led everyone out of the door to greet his people, who were unaware of the events that had just unfolded. I felt my hand being grasped and I looked to see Stiles beaming down at me.

“I really have to stop crying in front of you,” I said to him and wiped my eyes. He chuckled and shook his head.

“Happy tears are better than sad ones, I’ll say that much,” he said. I let my face fall and I took both of his hands in mine.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I hated it, but I guess I just... didn’t realize that I was safe here. That I was free from her,” I told him. “I hope we can still be friends?”

Stiles smiled and pulled my hands to his lips and gave my fingers a gentle kiss. “I’d like to be more than friends, if that’s alright with you.”

I couldn’t help but let a smile spread across my face and I nodded. “I’d like that.”

We all headed towards the castle’s ballroom where music was playing loudly and food and drink were being served. The sun had begun to set, and the room lights shut down to reveal colorful projections on the walls that served as illumination of the room. Stiles looked at me and gestured to the dance floor with his head, and I took his hand to join our friends. Stiles twirled me around and we danced with our hands clasped together, and I suddenly heard a large boom outside. I jumped into Stiles’ arms and he laughed.

“It’s just fireworks. Come on, let’s watch them!” he said and followed the crowd outside to see the show.

I looked up and had never seen such beauty in the sky before. The booming sounds startled me less and less and I felt Stiles’ hand wrap around my waist. I smiled to myself and looked up at him.

“Is this okay..?” he asked me. I nodded and put my arms around him in a soft and meaningful embrace. I felt his arms encase me against him. When I pulled away to look at his face, I felt our cheeks brush and the butterflies that I had come to know so well returned. Our faces were close enough for me to feel his breath hit my skin and I smiled up at him. He gently placed his hand on my cheek and leaned in. When he closed the space between us, our lips molded together and I felt like I was floating. I kissed him back gently and when we both pulled away to breathe again, we smiled widely at each other.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said to me. I smiled wider.

“Me too.”

#stiles x oc

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another-chorus-girl · 5 years

Text

Erik House - Chapter 24

"You're doing better everyday," Gerik said, hoisting Karimloo back up with an arm around him.

"I'm just sorry the wedding will be postponed yet again due to this liability of mine," The West End Merik grumbled.

The film adapted tenor chuckled, "That's alright, more time for us to...catch up."

As the men walked about the yard overlooking the pool, high above on the second floor a set of dark eyes watched the pair.

Panaro's teeth were clenched watching this insulting display unfold.

-Three days ago-

Having been thoroughly interrogated and settled down by Erik, Gerik was finally released from his enclosure.

"You will as I'm sure you're already aware and comprehend behave to put it bluntly" Erik pointed a skeletal finger to Gerik's well toned chest-the latter having discarded his overcoat down to his poet shirt complaining the chamber was too warm.

"And you," The black masked man pointed at Crawford "Will make sure your kin stay in check. If he complies with my request, I should expect no further quarrel under this roof or ON the roof. Am I clear gentlemen?"

Crawford nodded, "Oui"

"Yes," Gerik meekly nodded, refusing to look in the golden eyes directly.

Having felt defeated and alone at last, the film adapted tenor was startled to say the least by Karimloo's mistaken identity and affections toward him.

But this also led to a more dark convoluted thought; who was he to deny the West End Merik his happiness?

Of course he could tell this infuriated the gaggle of Meriks' to no end-Gerik getting special satisfaction seeing Panaro's coat tails in a twist. And the film adapted tenor savored the affection and compassion he was receiving from the West End Merik.

But he was doing no physical harm or unwanted advances toward him, so therefore Crawford along with the others were bound to their oath of keeping the peace.

-Present-

Panaro sneered in disgust seeing Karimloo's hand interlink with Gerik's. Just the other day he walked in on the filmy making Karimloo pizza rolls. Pizza rolls that PANARO bought for Karimloo, he'd had to go all the way downtown to find the meat lovers brand his fiancee loved-and in the process loss a shoe to a rabid 'phan' whom saw him leaving the market.

He couldn't watch this display anymore, something had to be done. A turn of his heel and the Broadway man was storming down the hall banging loud and hard on one Merik's door.

All while this was going on another door was being called upon downstairs. Lerik stood and opened the door perplexed as to who would be knocking at this hour. When he opened the door the mute stared blankly at the masked man playing with his phone.

Unable to clear his throat, Lerik settled on tapping his foot in mild annoyance as the half masked stranger seemed oblivious that he stood there.

Slipping the device in his breastpocket the Merik blinked.

"Oh! I'm sorry about that, was just updating my story." He half chuckled nervously seeing no reaction from the man. "Um, am I in the right place Sir?"

Reaching out, the stranger himmed and hawed as Lerik grasped the man's hand pulling him through the threshold.

Walking in the parlor and seeing no one, Lerik motioned for the masked man to wait and headed to the kitchen.

Finding just who he was looking for Lerik silently waited with his hands clasped together. Crawford gasped, turning around from the pantry to see the mute standing there.

"Really Monsieur," The elder Merik sighed, picking up the box of biscuits he'd dropped in the initial alarm. "I'm understandable to the fact that you can't speak, however some form of making your presence known would be quite appreciation."

Lerik merely pointed a wagging finger toward the door, where a pair of eyes watched the two from the crack in the door.

"Yes?" Crawford called in confusion.

The stranger stepped in suavely but rather timidly.

"I hope I'm in the right house, I need refuge." He said, a briefcase in his hand.

"Ah! No need to feel fearful. You are quite welcome here! If you'll allow me to show you around?"

"Yes! Oh! One moment, I need to just grab my companion, he seems to be quite reluctant to come inside." The new Merik trotted back to the foyer.

"Two of them?" Crawford asked Lerik.

"Don't look at me, I only saw one at the door." The mute signed.

"It's quite safe! We're alright here," The Merik said to his unknown companion.

"You're sure? I'm sure I saw torches down the street! What if that mob followed us?" The deeper voice bickered back.

"Now now, don't be paranoid."

"Don't tell me how to feel Monsieur!"

Crawford scowled, the voice sounding too familiar.

"Y, what is the meaning of this? You better not be wasting my-" But wheeling the corner, his mismatch eyes originally burning with hatred faded to confusion.

The man sounded just like the Coney Island master, but was clearly not the same gentleman, dressed in their similar tailcoat opera suit and his half mask betterly matched their own.

The taller man-with equally bulgy eyes as Mr. Y-blinked in confusion, "Have we met? I apologize if we got off on the wrong foot somehow?"

The elder Merik shook his head, "Non, my sincere apologies. I mistaken you for someone else. Forgive me gentlemen let me introduce myself properly, Crawford."

The mismatch eyed Merik held his hand out for the taller man to shake, whom firmly grasped it.

"Lewis if you please," He greeted.

"Did you say Crawford?" The shorter Merik asked, "Me too!"

"I beg your pardon?" The older man asked, as the young Merik eagerly shook his hand.

"I wonder if that's why people have been abbreviating my name to 'Brawford' to avoid confusion?"

"CRAWFORD!!!" The new Meriks' flinched at the blood curdling screams from upstairs.

"What the devil was that?" Lewis asked perplexed.

The elder Merik tiredly rubbed his unmasked temple with a tired sigh. "Just another unparalleled delight of a day for me."

Jones came bounding down the stairs. "Uh you may want to go check on that my friend."

"Yes yes. Would you be so kind as to show the good messieurs Lewis and...?"

"Just Brawford is fine!" The young Merik waved.

"Yes...Jones if you would be so kind as to show them around a little more s'il vous plait?"

Jones nodded, "Think nothing of it, come along gentlemen I will lead."

"Crawford I DEMAND my staff back!" Panaro roared in rage, normally quite respectful and reserved toward the elder masked man. "I will not stand idly by and let my future husband be stolen away from me! Let me in! LET! ME! IN!!!"

"No one is going to open the door if the bedroom is empty Monsieur," Crawford said clearing his throat, making his presence known behind the Broadway Merik.

Panaro mid knock paused, turning to face the shorter mismatched eyed man. “Oh...”

"And you are NOT getting your staff back. I confiscated it for a reason which you've just proven to me by this was the smart decision."

"This isn't right or fair!" Panaro stomped like a naughty child.

"It is both right and certainly fair, no more bloodshed in this house. I'm sorry monsieur, I truly am. But that is my final word on the matter."

Removing his key, Crawford walked past Panaro and opened his door. Panaro shook his head distraught as the door closed on him. Something needed to be done. Something would be done.

This thought drummed through the Broadway Merik's distorted mind when he trudged up to the third floor with one last plan.

Gerik played wih Karimloo's twitchy fingers, having gone back upstairs to Karimloo and Panaro's room-however the latter was ostracized into living elsewhere whilst Karimloo had a death wish out for him.

"I love when you do that with your hands," He mumbled, caressing the well toned muscular digits.

"Hmm..."

Both men glanced up at the scratching and whining on the end of the door. Gerik scowled sitting up and walking to the door.

Soot panted and whined on the other side, seeming to look up at the film adapted tenor pleadingly.

"Shoo! Go on, he doesn't want you. Go!" Gerik motion trying to push the dog away, but Soot merely laid down and continued whining.

"Grrr," Frustrated Gerik slammed the door shut on the labradoodle, mumbling under his breath. "I don't know what that mutt's problem is. He's mine now."

"What was that?" Karimloo asked.

"Just that fop of a Merik's canine. Annoying beast."

"He was whining?"

Gerik scoffed, "Nevermind him, he's only-"

But the film adaption paused seeing a look of distress on Karimloo's face. Albeit sorrow.

"What's wrong?" He asked, sitting with Karimloo, rubbing the West End Merik's hand again.

"He was upset, he....he's just laying there. He must feel so....abandoned and alone..." Karimloo mumbled, his malformed lip quivering. "I...I just."

Where was all this coming from? Why was he so worked up over this? Gerik knew Karimloo liked animals but he wasn't overly attached to dogs. If anything Karimloo was quite taken with cats.

That was when the Merik started crying.

"K-KAri? What's the-" But Gerik felt himself be shoved as Karimloo backed up onto his bed.

"NO!"

"What??"

"D-Don't say that. Please don't call me that!"

"I don't understand."

"Something...the way you said it wasn't. It doesn't sound right." Removing his mask, he turned away shielding the sight of both his tears and disfigured face. "I just want to rest now..."

Nodding, Gerik patted the West End Merik's back. "Alright..."

Deciding to give him some privacy and quiet, Gerik left the masked man to his jumbled thoughts.

Leaning against the other side of the door, Gerik shook his head.

“What am I doing?” He sighed, “This isn’t right.”

Soot still laying on the ground on the opposite while whined staring up at Gerik. The film adaption covered his eyes holding back a choked sob. Sinking to the ground he reached out hesitantly and stroked the labradoodle’s back.

“Can you tell your master I’m sorry?” He asked the canine, as if expecting Soot to answer back. “Not that Peppermint face would believe me, but I am. And Karimloo....I promise. I promise I’ll try and fix him.”

Couple a footnotes among all the angst!

-For those who aren’t sure who the new arrivals are they would be the latest of fresh Meriks portrayed by Ben Crawford the current Broadway Phantom (No relation to Michael). And Ben Lewis whom until recent months was the current West End Phantom (also no relation to Norm).

-Crawford’s initial annoyance at Lewis voice is of course a joke playing on that Ben Lewis was both the Phantom in London AND Mr. Y of the Melbourne, Aussie version of Love Never Dies (the dvd version of LND). But don’t worry, we’ll get to some Mr. Y fun next chapter...

-Brawford playing with his phone is kind of a play on his behind the scenes self as Ben is VERY active on social media in particular Instagram and almost on a daily basis updates his account with new videos of Ben goofing around with his castmates in and out of costume (but the best ones in costume heheh)

-There’s kind of a joke in Crawford caught snacking on biscuits. It’s revealed in his autobiography that Michael’s actual last name by birth is Smith. Eventually for reasons during his youth-mainly family relevent-wanted to change his name and in a hilarious fashion settled on Crawford after passing a Crawford’s Biscuits truck. Must have been pretty good cookies.

-Gerik’s remark about Karimloo’s hands is partly a play on how in any role Ramin Karimloo has played (Phantom, Les Mis, Anastasia) he has a habit of twitching his fingers every so often. Whether this is some sort of habit or nervous impulse I’m not sure.

#Erik house AU #erik house #phanfiction #Phantom of the Opera #Gerik #cherik #panarimloo

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hrcamping · 7 years

Text

Safe - Chapter 9 - Shoot

Yay, let's terrify everyone.

AO3 Link

Chapter 1

Again, how do guns work? Please tell me I'm not screwing it up too badly.

Enjoy!

Max was woken up by someone violently shaking his shoulder. That someone turned out to be Nikki.

A panting, teary-eyed Nikki who was all but yelling at him and Neil to get up.

“Mmuuuh,” Neil groaned blearily, rubbing at his eyes whilst Nikki kept telling him to hurry up. “Nik, whu’z goin’on?”

“We need to get out of here,” Nikki said, her voice trembling, and Max knew immediately that something was very, very wrong. Next to nothing scared Nikki like this. “Th-there’s this thing in the woods. G-Gwen led it off, but we need to get to the Quartermaster so he’ll help her.”

“‘Thing?’” Max echoed as he pulled on his hoodie with as much haste as he could muster at this hour. “Nikki, what’re you talking about?”

“I almost got eaten by a monster and now it’s after Gwen!” Nikki spat, her breathing shaky and harsh. “She told me to get you and tell the Quartermaster so he can help her! Now get off your fucking asses!”

Oh, shit, Max thought dumbly. This really is serious.

Even Neil knew to pick up the pace now. Throwing on a jumper, he barely had time to slip on his shoes before Nikki hauled him out of the tent and the three of them were racing as fast as they could to the Quartermaster’s hut, just within the outskirts of the woods. Nikki was pounding on the door and yelling in an instant.

“Quartermaster! Quarter-Ach!”

The door opened, and Nikki fell flat on her face at the old man’s feet.

“I’ll get the shovel,” the Quartermaster said automatically, turning back inside.

“There’s a monster after Gwen!” Nikki gasped, on her feet. “This… this big white wolf-thing and it tried to kill me and Gwen told me to get you because David isn’t here!”

Max felt the air around them all still.

Wolf…

David…

“I’ll get my gun,” the Quartermaster said matter-of-factly. “Get inside.”

The kids did as they were told. None of them had been in the Quartermaster’s actual hut before, and Max was surprised to find that it was quite neatly organised. Boxes, clothes lockers and shelves lined the walls, there was a potbelly stove in one corner, a single shuttered window and a small bed with worn-looking covers. The old man had limped over to a workbench and picked up a hunting rifle.

“Was it a big one?” He asked, as he dragged a cleaning tool through the muzzle of the gun.

“Really big, like a bear,” Nikki said shakily, the adrenaline rush having died down. Behind her Neil was giving everything in the hut suspicious looks.

The Quartermaster finished cleaning his gun, checked it over with one final nod, and grabbed a pack from beneath the bench.

“Stay here till one of us comes back,” he said, walking towards the door.

“You’re leaving us here?!” Neil squawked, eyes wide. “When there’s a rabid wolf on the loose?!”

“Not a wolf, Neil!” Nikki spat.

“Safer for you here,” the Quartermaster grunted, halfway out of the door.

“Wait,” Max called, racing over. “I’m coming with you.”

“No, you ain’t.”

“I know how to handle myself around wolves,” Max bristled.

“It’s not a fucking wolf!” Nikki shouted again, but she went ignored.

“You know how to handle yourself around David,” the Quartermaster corrected, hook waving dangerously close to Max’s face.

“What’s the difference?”

“This one attacked your friend. David’s lot don’t go after folk without good reason. Either this one is feral or they just don’t care ‘bout nothin’. Safer for you to stay here.”

“But David-.”

“Would rip me limb from limb if I let you come with me. Don’t you underestimate him, boy. He may be sweet in front of you, but I’ve seen him fight off bears when protectin’ his own an’ come out the better.”

Max opened his mouth to protest further, but a menacing glare from the Quartermaster shut him up.

“Good. Now stay here.”

“You can’t just leave us here alone!” Neil screeched. “What if… whatever chased Nikki comes back?!”

Grumbling, the Quartermaster turned to look back at Max.

“Your dad teach ya to use a gun yet?” he grunted.

“He taught me gun safety last year,” Max shrugged. “But not how to point and shoot.”

“Eh. Good enough. There’s a pistol in the blue box beneath my bed. A little out of use, but as long as you don’t waste those bullets, y’should be set up.”

“Okay.”

“What about me?” Neil demanded.

“Swords; third locker from the bed. You can poke it.”

Spluttering in outrage, Neil waved his arms about in all directions, even as the Quartermaster left and locked the door behind him.

Max didn’t say anything as he began searching under the bed for the pistol.

“David taught you to use a gun?” Nikki asked, sitting on the bed above him and showering dust and insect wings over his head.

“There was a kid who invited people out hunting with him and his dad when he first moved into the neighbourhood last year,” Max coughed, dragging the metal box out of the shadows. “David taught me gun safety, just in case I got asked. Never did, but hey, better safe than sorry.”

“But can you shoot a bitch?” Neil asked saltily, yanking open the locker that the Quartermaster had pointed out. It rattled in protest before snapping open, and several sharp swords came tumbling out. Neil ran off with a manly squeal.

“I play first person shooters on Xbox,” Max smirked.

“If that thing shows up, I’m kicking you into its mouth.”

“Not if you butcher yourself.”

“Fuck you.”

“No thanks.”

Jen was half-asleep in her truck when the first crack of a gunshot split through the woods and startled her into wakefulness. Sat bolt upright, she didn’t move until the echo had died down into nothing, and the only sounds left were the chirping of grasshoppers and rustling in the undergrowth.

What the fuck are hunters doing out this late? she wondered, furrowing her brow. God, she hoped no one had gotten the bright idea to try hunting on the island.

No... she was pretty sure the only people dumb enough to trespass on private property were LaVeyan Satanists and their overzealously religious werewolf friends.

Still... she couldn't help but feel anxiety tying knots in her gut and a sudden lack of safety nagging at her. Frowning, she got out of the truck and sat down in the bed. Looking around, she leaned against the door and willed the hours away. Her phone said that it was just after midnight, but she'd learned from nine months of observation that Daniel wouldn't turn back for another two hours.

It would be a while before she received the text from Daniel saying she could pick him up.

BANG!!! BANG BANG BANG!!!

She snapped to attention, eyes wide as she looked around her. That... didn't sound good.

" Yyeeaaaagh !"

That... sounded wrong...

"Awrooooooo..."

BANG!!

Shit...

Jen's heart shot up to her throat, and before she knew it, she was reaching for the gun in the bag behind her. She recognised that howl, and it wasn't coming from the island.

Daniel was on the mainland.

With a loaded shotgun strapped to her shoulder and an ammo bag clipped to her waist, Jen got up and started running into the thick trees. Of course. She should have fucking known, that Daniel, who turned into a fucking dog once a month, could fucking swim. Yeah, he hated water normally, but she should've known that the animal that took over didn't have the same qualms.

Now someone was going to die because she'd been careless.

Heart pounding, she leapt over fallen logs, stomped through shallow streams and charged through bushes, hoping against hope that whoever she'd heard screaming wasn't dead by the time she found them.

“Fuck off!” Gwen shrieked, pausing her headlong assault through the trees just long enough to take aim again and fire another bullet at the werewolf on her heels. The ground in front of exploded in a shower of dirt and desiccated roots, but this time, the wolf didn’t stop and she was forced to keep running on burning legs. “Dammit!”

Behind her, the wolf was a slavering mass of white, streaked with red where several bullets had already grazed across its sides.

Gwen had never come across a feral before, but from what David had told her, this was definitely one of them.

“So, the pop culture monsters are actually a thing?”

“It… depends. If you were to attribute real life knowledge to those scenarios, then the behaviour would be explained by stress and abuse at the hands of humans. See, the wolf would associate humans with danger based on its human experiences , and they’ll either try to get away from it or decide to… get rid of it first. It’s rather primitive logic, but… it is what it is.”

Gwen wondered what this one had been through to hate humans so much.

Well, you did shoot it and call it a motherfucker.

… besides that.

Then her foot caught on something and she went flying. Her impact with the ground knocked the air out of her lungs and sent the gun skittering away, out of reach.

"No, dammit!" She croaked weakly, trying to pull herself towards the gun with shaky arms. Behind her, the wolf snarled and came closer.

She could feel its hot, wet breath puffing against the back of her neck. See the teeth, feel them biting down on her flesh and tearing, eating,-.

CRACK!!

A howl of agony thundered into her eardrums, and she winced. Something wet spattered across her back, but she didn't waste time figuring out what happened and hauled herself up onto her feet, surprised that she could hold her own weight.

She looked back.

The wolf's pelt had a fresh stain of red blooming across its shoulder, deeper and more vibrant than the ones she'd made. Behind it, she caught the sight of ratty moustache and the glint of a metal hook in the moonlight.

She never thought she'd ever be glad to see the Quartermaster in the middle of the woods with a gun in his hand.

Eyes gleaming with cold malice, the wolf turned towards the Quartermaster, who remained unfazed. Lips peeled back in a growl, it limped towards him.

He aimed the gun between its eyes, and Gwen felt her heart twist.

There was more thudding and the cracking of branches. She saw blonde hair and a denim jacket.

"Daniel, don't!"

Again, the wolf froze in place, and again, its eyes locked onto the newcomer.

Another human. Yellow and blue. The shine of more metal. It smelled of sweet burning and man, and it knew this one

Where where where

H urt G et rid of it

The wolf leapt towards it, jaws open wide. High screams rang in the wolf's ears.

"DANNY NO!!"

In that single, terrifying instant, Jen saw red.

>:D

Do you hate me for the cliffhanger chapters yet?

#camp camp #camp camp fanfic #cc max #cc nikki #cc neil #cc quartermaster #cc gwen #cc daniel #cc david #cc jen #werewolves #blood #mild violence #guns #safe fanfic

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swan-archive · 7 years

Text

@klaproos replied to your post:

But can't he take on some other, weirder tastes than fresh meat, like non-magic obligate carnivores do? One of my parents' cats is always trying to drink our coffee. Anyway, as a canine, surely he's prone to wanting to chew on things he won't necessarily benefit from eating.

chewing, you say? interesting thought, let’s follow that one for a second...

“They say the first month is the worst for, for, ah, bitten—well, at least, that is what I have always heard. More of an adjustment. Hurts more. It will be easier if you have something to chew, to take your mind off things. I can see if we’ve any soup bones?”

“I’m not going to—Christ, Laf—to chew on a fucking bone—”

“Are you sure? I think you would find it helps. Unless you’d rather, I suppose you have your boots...”

“Laf. Please. Just. Shut up.”

Lafayette pulls a reproachful little pout and settles back on John’s cot. Alex does another circuit of the room. Another. Another. Hitches up his sleeve and scratches automatically at the bite mark on his arm, the dark fur itching as it grows in all around. Measures out his steps so that he never comes within arm’s reach of the door. Safer that way.

“You are going to wear through the floorboards, pacing like that,” Lafayette observes. Alex ignores him. “I tell you, Ham, you need something to do with yourself if you’re not going to sleep—”

“So get me some of the General’s correspondence, there must be some, no way did we break even on it without me here to help, and let me work—”

“Something relaxing, Ham, you know that is not what I meant.”

“I don’t need to rest,” Alex growls. “You said do something so I’m trying to do something. Besides,” he adds, “it’s not as if I could rest, is it, not with—all this.” He gestures angrily at his own head, at his ears starting to come to points at the tips.

Lafayette makes a sympathetic noise. He’s trying to sit quietly, but Alex can hear (and Laf must know he can hear) every breath, every scritch of fabric on fabric when he moves, the rustle when he removes his hair from its queue and pushes his fingers through the curls. And even if he couldn’t hear, he can still smell—Laf’s smell of clean fur under Cyprus powder and fine French cologne, smell of John’s hair and John’s sweat musky on the sheets, tallow and smoke from the candle, whiff of mildew from inside the walls, road-dust on his own discarded coat and boots. It’s too much, a constant assault that makes his head spin. Enough to drive a man—

Alex presses his hands over his face to hold in his own whimper. Worries at his features for the millionth time this hour. No changes, or at least nothing he can detect, just the same dull ache in his joints, the crawling itch over every inch of his skin, every so often a jolt of pain shooting down to the small of his back, where he’ll sprout his—Jesus Christ—his tail, there, he said it, in a week or so. Same slight wrongness in length of nose and jaw where they’ve begun the process of stretching out into a pointed muzzle, same scruffiness creeping up over his cheeks. Same eyes, he supposes, wolf-gold, although he only has conjecture to back that up—he hasn’t been able to bring himself to look in a mirror yet.

“How long am I meant to stay shut in here?” Alex demands, after a few more lengths of the room.

“You must know that I don’t know that. But it is just a formality, just a precaution, you didn’t hurt anyone on your way back to camp, after all. They can’t keep you in here more than a night, not when they realize you are safe to be around...” Lafayette trails off, conscious of the mistake he’s made, but Alex has already pounced on it.

“Oh, so you’re saying that if I’m a good boy, they’ll let me get back to my fucking work?” says Alex, sarcastic enough to choke. “How generous. And I suppose if I’m not, I’ll just have to hope they remember to let the dog out for a piss once in a while, won’t I?”

“They wouldn’t—the General wouldn’t let—”

“Oh, no, you’re right, my mistake. No point in keeping a mad dog around the house.” He laughs mirthlessly. “Tell me, do you think the General would be kind enough to get a firing squad together for me, if it came to that? Probably not, not for a bastard orphan mongrel dog. Waste of powder.”

“That’s not funny,” says Lafayette. There are genuine tears in his eyes. “Not at all. Don’t joke about—you are not going to go out of your head, and the General is not going to have you killed.”

Alex scoffs—at Lafayette’s histrionics? At the idea that the General would get sentimental over a rabid wolf? At the concept of there being any kind of certainty that he won’t lose his mind?—and turns away. Scratches again at the itch roiling under the bite mark.

He’d seen a wolf hanged, once, when he was a boy. The creature went moon-mad on the short crossing between islands, just a few days before his ship had made port. By the time they’d gotten him to the scaffold, the madness had ebbed, and Alex can remember thinking how very ordinary, how very scared the so-called monster had looked. A golden-eyed man trembling with a noose around his neck. Nothing more.

What did he do, Maman, said Alex. Always harder to use that animal neuter pronoun when faced with the reality of something almost human.

He's dangerous, said Rachel, squeezing Alex’s hand very tightly. He hurt someone. Killed someone.

Why’d he— Alex had begun, but then they’d drawn the hood over the wolf’s head, and after that point it hadn’t much mattered why he did anything, anymore.

Alex wonders if that wolf had felt it creeping up on him. Had felt, perhaps, an anxiety that wouldn’t abate, a dreadful, oppressive awareness of four walls closing in on him, of nowhere to go nowhere to run. A hunger building in the pit of his stomach. The sick disorientation of a body shifting around him, the ache and the queasiness and the itch of it, he would like to leap from his own skin, he would like to break himself down to blood and bone and guts just to escape the constant thrumming tension of being caught between, would tear apart the world if it meant he could have some quiet—

“Ham—Alexander—stop that, stop it!” Lafayette springs up from the cot and grabs Alex by the shoulder, tight enough to bruise, and Alex startles and growls around the thing he’s got between his teeth, bites down, tastes blood, feels a bright lance of pain.

His arm.

He’s been chewing on his own arm, just where the British wolf’s (the other wolf’s) teeth had broken skin. He spits it out, stares in horror at the bite mark he’s left, at the healing older wound. Two sets of teethmarks there. Not so very different from each other at all.

Lafayette is bigger than Alex, and stronger too, although Alex has thrashing desperation on his side, and when Alex tries to bolt for the door Lafayette manages to catch him by the back of the shirt, spins him around and slams him back against the wall and pins him there.

“No, no, let me go, let go of me, let me, please, please, I can’t stay here another minute please I have to get out I have to get out,” Alex howls, loud enough that they must be able to hear him all through the house. What does he care, though, let him wake the other aides, the General, the entire army if he has to, just so long as he can run. Just so long as he doesn’t have to stay trapped in here with his body and his panic.

“I know, petit, I know,” says Lafayette, quiet, soothing through the strain of holding Alex down. His long-lashed eyes are narrowed, almost closed, and he leans forward as if he means to kiss Alex. Noses at Alex’s cheek. “You are safe. Nothing to fear, here. We are two and two makes a pack and together we are safe, safe, safe...” His voice has taken on the singsong quality of a nursery rhyme, and he nuzzles Alex’s cheek again. Licks it, and half of Alex’s brain recoils in disgust, and the other half drags a whine out of him, makes him put his own tongue out.

It soothes. Oh, God, it soothes, and Alex doesn’t want it, hates that he’s subject to this now, hates the pathetic little firework of joy that goes off in his head at that word, “pack.” But it’s working, God damn it, lowered eyes and touch of muzzle on muzzle and familiar smell. The tension dribbles away, little by little. He lets his head fall forward onto Lafayette’s shoulder, and moans, relieved, despairing.

“You will not run, if I let you go?” Lafayette says against Alex’s hair. Alex twitches an ear and shakes his head, and Laf backs off of him, eases him down to the floor when his legs sag. He’s exhausted, suddenly, the burning drive that had carried him up out of the river and back down the road to camp collapsing out of him. With the last of his energy he curls up around himself like a beaten dog, throws his arms over his head. Sharp nails catch on his scalp. Claws, Hamilton, he thinks, just call them what they are. They’re claws and you’re an animal.

“Alex.” Laf’s voice very soft. “I will go and see if there are any letters that need to be answered still. If there are, I will bring them back here for you. Promise me you will wait.” He shakes Alex a little by the shoulder, and Alex lets out an awful throat-tearing sob. Not a human sound. “Promise me, Alex.”

“I’ll. I’ll wait.”

“Good. I’ll be back soon.” Lafayette stands and walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. Doesn’t lock it from the outside, can’t, this isn’t a prison, but at least he could barricade it, set a guard with a silver bullet in his service pistol to watch it. Doesn’t do either of those things, Alex hears him go straight off down the hall, down the stairs. Stupid trusting dog. Alex licks miserably at his arm for a moment. Stops himself. Listens to the quiet racket of the house. Stops himself again, when he catches himself trying to pick out the sound of John’s breathing through the walls.

It’ll be easier, he tells himself, when he has his papers and his work again. As long as he can write, he can make himself useful.

An animal, perhaps, but a thinking animal, still.

#swan talks #hamilton for ts #wereham au #you know this is all pretty old news everyone and their mother has read a thousand thousand werewolf transformations #no need to slow your scroll for this one just me having some nice self-indulgent fun #laf continues to be dug from up and alex continues to be bf's family dog who is i quote #'a little shit-terrier who we found running around feral on the riverbed'#anyways i bet bitten weres have a bad rap for going moon-mad just because it's harder to cope with the sudden sensory overload #and new instincts if you haven't been born to them #it's confusing! it's scary! it's overwhelming! of course they lash out!#...and occasionally kill people which is bad obviously but like. you know. they are Trying

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