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failing-to-write-again · 9 months

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The Dancer and The Deadbeat

The poll has spoken and so here is the first installment in the Shu rewrite.

Since these releases are a series, if you want to be tagged to be alerted when the next part comes up just say so in your reblog. :)

I hope you enjoy it, this is a new thing for me so constructive critiques are appreciated.

Contents page will be linked HERE.

Prologue Part 1-Ch 1

“So he's dead.”

“Lizzie! Show some respect”

“He’s hardly deserving of it anymore, Charlotte. But yes Liz, that's what the report said, he went ahead with that ridiculous plan for her and was killed by the sons.”

“He’s still the one who took us in, Adelaide. That has to be deserving of some respect.”

“He was being selfish, he was the one who could keep spoiled vampires away from us. Without him we are going to die.”

“Victoria!”

“Don’t ‘Victoria’ me, it's true. We’re human no matter how long we live. The second word is out everyone who knows of our existence will be on us. We might be able to keep them away, but those who do not know our history will be harder to dissuade.”

“Since when has that been our approach?”

Eyes all turned to the latest addition to the conversation. Standing in the open door was Evelyn, the oldest among them, and within the foyer of the recently deceased Richter Sakamaki sat four women. The five of them looked to be no older than 21, however, they had long since passed that age by centuries.

You see while vampires are naturally immortal there are magical ways to keep humans around should they be useful. Richter had taken the girls in, and while the occupants of the foyer would doubt his intentionality, each of them worked well together and filled in each other's gaps as ‘sisters’. Yet Richter had never sought to turn them, so really who is to say what his thought process was.

Adelaide was leaning against a side table. She was the second eldest and was taken in with her biological sister Evelyn. Her hair was dark and long, when not in the braided updo she wore daily, it fell to her mid-thighs. Her eyes were a sharp, cold blue, near ice like in colour identical to Evelyn. Her crisp white blouse tucked into waist high flared black pants, giving a baggy effect which defeated the point of the corset she wore. Something about bras being less comfortable and feeling less secure, always the traditionalist. Incredibly irritating chess opponent as well. From the frizz-less top of her head, past her manicured, black painted nails, all the way down to her red-bottom clad toes she was the image of a bond villain.

Victoria sat, one leg crossed over the other on a chaise. Her bobbed, blonde hair a stark contrast to Adelaide, yet their expressions could not be more alike. Well put together in a maroon commuter suit, not an eyebrow out of place or revealing more emotion than vague disinterest. Hazel's eyes focused on the new entrant, waiting for instruction. Also a nightmare to play chess with, and poker. Far too competitive really. She resembled the CEO you expect to encounter in those Hallmark movies where Christmas and joy are illegal.

Nearby Charlotte was leaning back in a wingback chair, fingers laced together resting by red stained lips and legs crossed as comfortably as a black pencil skirt and grey shirt allowed. Her collarbone length brunette hair blocking the sides of her face from view, brown eyes lost in thought. For a survivor of the Reign of Terror her maintained humanity was shocking. Unlike Adelaide and Victoria, when it came to chess you had a chance to beat her on the board if you didn’t let her talk. She wasn’t as overtly maniacal in appearance. More akin to the secretary you write off who’s really the one who holds the entire operation up.

Elizabeth was half laying back on the other end of Victoria’s chaise. Arms crossed and legs kicked out in front of her and crossed the ankles, boot clad feet rhythmically tapping against each other. She sat scowling at the fire crackling gently, probably running through garden management to stretch resources to lay as low as possible for the foreseeable. Her black skinny jeans still held grass stains regardless of how many washes they were put through, and a wide strapped tank top displayed well tanned and toned arms with odd scratches and marks. Hates chess, last time she played she flipped the board to be permitted to return to her own devices.

Leading this small group was Evelyn, flared blue jeans with heeled boots, matched with a white sweater acting as almost an alternate reality Adelaide. While she had tawny hair in a ponytail sitting considerably shorter than the thigh-length locs of her sister, her blue eyes could have been copy pasted. As the charismatic elder she tied together her sisters to view a more bigger picture approach, abysmal at chess however, gets too bored with the idea of line memorization.

Taking her seat in another armchair Evelyn tossed a letter from her back pocket onto the coffee table in the centre of the group.

“Karl Heinz knows Richter had human women, he’s planned to spread them out between vampire allies of his. He thinks the head of staff is the butler and left the head of staff as responsible for where each of the staff is sent.”

At that Victoria stood scoffing in exasperation.

“Exactly as I said. Yet you tell me we have a different approach rather than face the reality! Are we not even his heirs?”

Holding up a hand Evelyn began once again.

“No, it isn’t. He wants to send his sons and adopted ones some of us, with orders to not kill them.” Pausing, it was Elizabeth who spoke this time.

“What are you getting at here?”

“So we pick our poison and bind our time?” Adelaide’s arms rose to cross her chest as she gleaned the meaning of her sister’s words.

When dealing with vampires it was the strong belief of the group that it was easier to let them think you were going along with them to a degree. While vampires often threaten to kill boring prey it is always troublemakers who die fastest, if you let them think you’re fairly docile you can generally bend the situation to favour you in some way. At least that's how every other vampire Richter allowed within his castle was, annoying until you could get them to hang themselves in front of Richter. He didn’t take lightly any attempts to get close to his so-called ‘children’. That and the fact young dukes and barons are so averse to acknowledging the fact they were raised to be repressed fools. Give them some attention, toss them some compliment and they start doing what you want while denying they are for weeks. Vampire’s being a more predator-like species aren’t as directed towards social interactions to the level of humans, their habit of looking down upon what they view as lesser often bit them in the ass. The mere existence of vampire hunters makes that point far more evident than any extensive essay on vampire culture could.

The majority of the true humans kept about by Richter were released upon his death as per his will, the few remaining were prisoners of no consequence and sent off. The exception being the five girls meant to be inheriting the estate, alas the fool had not changed the will as he wanted to wait to be on his deathbed to not give anyone time to try to slip in to replace them. From all of Richter’s musings they had discerned enough to know, while not ideal, the Sakamaki sons and Mukami brothers were a safer choice. That and the Tsukinami… prince? King? Safe may be a strong word but predictable reactions meant at the bare minimum you could prepare.

“No way is Reiji a smart idea. He is going to be cut throat from all accounts.” Evelyn chalked her cue as she watched the ball she hit bounce off the table edge millimetres off target. Adelaide lined up a shot at a corner pocket as she gave an admittedly weak defence of her choice.

“I agree, but it seems he hyperfocuses that aggression on manners. All you have to do is stick to proper decorum. Shu is more likely to pass you off to one of the younger ones who will kill you and fast.” The ball spun once hit falling into the table with a click. The decision of where Charlotte, Victoria, and Elizabeth were going was made quickly. Elizabeth and Charlotte as the youngest, paired with the loyalty the Mukamis seemed to have towards Karl Heinz, meant it was not a hard choice to send them where they were least likely to be harmed. Victoria, being younger than the blue eyed pair had to accept their decision in sending her to Carla, a vampire suspected to be suffering from the Endzeit virus. How could someone being actively weakened by disease pass up on compliant food? The remaining issue serving as a sticking point was neither Adelaide or Evelyn felt comfortable with the other going to a Sakamaki brother.

Adelaide maintained that while more open to violent methods,of the recovered sacrificial bride autopsies were to be believed, seemed to be the most likely to have a reasoning behind his actions. From what Richter had told them Reiji ran the daily household events and was a stickler for manners. Adelaide being the most ‘stiff’ of them all would seem ideal to Reiji as a source of blood easier to keep alive. She felt Shu, what with rarely showing up at events you would expect him to, and passing over brides to his brothers to dispose of meant he was less likely to bother preventing harm to her sister. She was arguing that Evelyn should go with Reiji.

Evelyn meanwhile agreed with nearly all points aside from the fact that Adelaide wanted to go with Reiji. In her eyes Adie would not last a day with Reiji, nor would any of them. Evelyn was confident she could at least avoid him until able to get a proper exit strategy made for them. The theory of Adelaide being mannerly enough to have an easier time handling him was too risky. In response to that Adelaide repeated how Evelyn’s ballet history means she would be liked by Shu, who had been seen by Richter at many Royal recitals. Whereas she would be too stiff and boring, thus easier to send to the wayside.

Ultimately, a decision had to be made, Adelaide’s concern of Evie being left in the hands of a vampire so lazy to avoid eating losing to the age card. That did not, however, ease any of the oldest’s concerns when her sisters were split between three cars, their phones taken, or meeting said creepy vampires . She especially did not like how Laito and Ayato had looked at them, or how Reiji reacted to the announcement he was to be paired with Adelaide. The only comfort being that Shu lived up to expectation exactly; he would be easy to work around to afford her time to form an escape plan.

As the five brothers dispersed after introductions, only she and Shu were left. Evelyn let her eyes trace around the room as she slowly turned in a circle before finally returning to land on the blonde lazing under a window. Evelyn could appreciate that he wasn’t too hard on the eyes, and seemed to be closer to her age than most other vampires she had been forced to interact with.

While busy musing over where in the shit to good scale her situation lay, he opened his eyes and began to speak.

“I’m not going to bother draining you so don’t look at me so expectantly.”

“Excuse me?”

“And I’m not going to sleep with you either, you’re staring like you expect me to do something. You’re not worth the effort.”

Sealing his position as manageable asshole, Evelyn resigned to stand and look rather cross as a signifier of her less than stellar mood. Her fingers drummed to the tempo of some dance long forgotten, a waltz maybe? It was hard to say what it was just a melody passing through her brain from a long lost memory.

The vampire spoke again.

“Women like you are all so boring. You offer your body to try get close to the head of the household. You’ve chosen the wrong person to do that, I have no interest in such things.”

“I honestly have no idea what you're on about. I didn’t choose to be here and I’ve just met you.”

“God what a pain.”

And then he was gone.

#shu sakamaki #diabolik lovers #shu sakamaki x reader #The Dancer and The Deadbeat

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lyssismagical · 4 years

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we swapped our smiles, gifted advice

Parkner Week Day Five: “He ordered one black coffee for himself and kept driving.” / irondad / parents au

Tony doesn’t get to babysit very often. Living so far out of the way in the cabin, already dealing with one child, he’s not the first choice very often as a babysitter. Whenever it’s only for a couple hours, they have a babysitter in the same building they’ll pay, and whenever it’s overnight or longer, they’ll let May have the kids.

Tony really only gets to see his children and grandchildren is if it’s at the same time. For holidays or birthdays or anniversaries or whenever he begs them to spend a weekend at the cabin.

This weekend is one of those times.

Harley and Peter take their three children up to the cabin on Friday night, planning on staying until Sunday afternoon. Morgan’s home too, now sixteen, and misses the family like crazy whenever they spend months away, too busy to make trips down to the cabin with all of them. She’s decided that when she leaves for college, she’s hoping to go to NYU, she’ll become the permanent babysitter for their kids.

Their oldest is five, Elizabeth. One of their mutual friends got pregnant, but couldn’t keep the baby, so they offered to take her in. The other two are twins, June and Ben, surrogate kids, who just turned three.

Between the three young kids’ schedules, especially now that Lizzie’s started kindergarten, their careers as co-owners of SI, and superheroing, it’s nearly impossible to find weekends they can all take off.

Harley makes it to the door first, grinning brightly with a cup of coffee in his hand. He’s holding June on his hip, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he lets Pepper take her from him. She doesn’t seem too bothered, but Peter makes it through the door pouting with an angry Elizabeth on one side, an uncaring Ben on the other side.

“What happened?” Pepper sighs exasperatedly.

Peter rolls his eyes, shooting a glare at Harley. “We wanted to get Macdonald’s. We all wanted fries or milkshakes. Harley was driving. Do you want to tell them what you did?”

Elizabeth pipes up from where she’s got her head tucked in the crook of Peter’s neck. “He ordered one black coffee for himself and kept driving.”

“Nice one,” Tony says, lifting his hand to high-five Harley. At Peter’s scoff, he moves forward and takes Ben off him so he can put Elizabeth on the floor too before moving into the house to close the door behind him. They’ve left their suitcase in the car for now, not having enough hands.

“Hey, bug,” Peter murmurs, seemingly forgetting about his previous sadness. He tugs Morgan into a hug, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “How’s high school treating you?”

Morgan smiles, corners of her eyes crinkling. “Good, it’s really good. And before you ask, no, nobody’s treating me badly, nobody’s mean to me, I’m not hiding anything from you, and I’m still very much single.”

“Acing all your classes?”

“You know it.”

Elizabeth, still hanging onto Peter’s jeans, lets go in favor of grabbing onto the hem of Morgan’s shirt. Morgan tries to pretend she doesn’t have a favourite between her nieces and nephews, but she’s got a particularly soft spot for Elizabeth.

Morgan scoops her up, peppering her nose, cheeks, and forehead in raspberries and kisses. “I’ve missed you, Liz. You ready for a weekend of fun with your favourite aunt?”

Careful of everyone gathered in the foyer, Peter moves to the side where Harley’s leaning against the wall, sipping his coffee, to step into his arms. He slips into Harley’s awaiting arm, leaning his head against Harley’s shoulder and accepts the coffee when offered.

“You excited?” he asks, ducking his head to press a kiss to Peter’s forehead. “We get to sleep in tomorrow!”

Peter laughs, leaning heavier against Harley like just the mention of sleep is enough to make him feel exhausted. There’s been a lot of late nights and early mornings and no time to catch up. It’s no wonder they’re tired, CEO’s of a multibillion-dollar company, parents to three under the age of six, and Spider-Man to balance.

“I’m so happy to be back here again, we need to make this trip out more often,” Peter murmurs, pressing his lips to Harley’s jaw quickly.

“Next trip we make has to be Tennessee. I know you said we’d wait to take the twins on a plane, but Mom’s starting to freak out because she hasn’t met them yet. Abbie’s going to be back home in a couple months, maybe we should match up our trips.”

Peter laughs, looking over at where Morgan’s dancing with Elizabeth on her feet. June and Ben’s watching with wide eyes, and Morgan promises she’ll dance with them too.

“Abbie has to fight for her title as favourite Aunt. We need to get the whole family together too. Maybe this Christmas we’ll do a party, pay for Mom and Abbie to come out here,” Peter suggests, lifting an eyebrow tiredly. “That way, Abbie and Morgan can duke it out in person.”

The younger girl looks over with a glare. “I’ll win. I fight dirty.”

“Abbie fights dirty too. Don’t forget she grew up in Rose Hill, she spent most of high school getting into fist fights behind the school like I did.”

Peter opens his mouth to join the argument, but June lets out a whine before he can, squirming in Pepper’s arms. He sighs and pulls away from Harley’s chest to take the toddler back.

“It’s not really babysitting if you won’t let us help,” Pepper says, but she hands June over nonetheless. June’s a shy kid, so she doesn’t talk much to strangers. Ben and Elizabeth are both much louder and chatterboxes like their dads.

June presses her face against Peter’s chest, little hands curling into his shirt. “Hey, sweetie. You getting a bit overwhelmed?”

Harley presses his chest against Peter’s back, kisses his temple and then turns to the rest of the family. “What do you say we get dinner going and then a movie?”

“I could use a hand or two in the kitchen,” Pepper says, nudging her husband and then giving Harley a pointed look.

The three of them head off without a question, leaving Peter and Morgan with the three kids.

“How’s parenting treating you?” Morgan asks, lifting Ben onto the couch and patting the cushion on her other side for Elizabeth to sit. Peter falls into the armchair, June curled up on his lap.

Peter yawns, finally letting his muscles relax. “Lizzie being in school is a gamechanger, but don’t let people fool you, it’s hard. I have no idea how May did it. If I didn’t have Harley, I think I would’ve lost my head a long time ago.”

“Can you be honest about something?” Morgan’s voice goes serious, eyebrows furrowing, making an identical expression to one Peter’s seen on Tony hundreds of times. “Are you going to give up Spider-Man?”

“Why? Do you want me to?”

Morgan shrugs, swallowing thickly. She looks down at Ben who’s playing with the string on his sweater, so small and innocent. “I just worry. About you, about Harley, about your kids… Do you not think about what could happen?”

He pauses for a second, not wanting to give her an answer off the top of his head.

He’s thought about it before, but he tries not to. It hurts to think about the possibilities. He grew up without his parents, he lost his uncle, he spent a long time scared that May would be taken from him too, he got awfully close to losing Tony. He was drowning in grief for years of his life, he’s dealt with a lot.

And he knows the consequences. He knows that one wrong move out in his suit would leave Elizabeth, Ben, and June without a second parent, without their Dad. It would leave Morgan without her brother, May without a kid, Tony and Pepper without a son. It would leave Harley on his own. Harley would lose his husband, his best friend, his second half. He knows the kind of stress he’s put Harley under because of Spider-Man.

But if he doesn’t go out, it’s risking a lot.

There would be daughters and sons who wouldn’t make it home to their parents. There would be husbands, parents, who wouldn’t make it back to their family.

He can’t even imagine what it would feel like to lose a child. If he can stop that, he has to try.

“It’s more complicated than that,” he settles on eventually. “I know what I have to lose, and I will do everything in my power to make it home to them. I wouldn’t do anything to put me too close to harm. I know my limits. But I can’t leave New York to fend for itself. I can’t, in good conscience, leave the little guys.”

Morgan frowns like it’s not the answer she expected. “I almost lost Dad because he’s a superhero. He gave it up for us. He retired to make sure none of us would go through that.”

“Do you really think he wouldn’t put on a suit if the world was in danger? Do you think he’ll stay side-lined forever?”

June snuffles against his chest, little fist lifting up to touch his jaw and mouth before falling back to his shirt. Elizabeth’s eyes are on him, face set in concentration and hands fiddling in her lap. “Daddy?”

Blinking back sudden tears, Peter focuses on his oldest daughter. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“Are you going to leave?” She looks too worried for a five-year-old. It’s one of those things that would haunt Peter forever if she felt like she was going to lose her dad. If he made any close calls. This is what he’s fighting for.

“No, honey, Daddy’s just fine. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

Morgan seems to see just how close Peter is to breaking, and guilt immediately floods her eyes. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up, I just- I guess, I just worry about you. Do you need a second? I’ll watch them if you want-”

He nods quickly, definitely needing a second to stop seeing that future. The possible future of these wonderful children growing up knowing loss and grief and pain like he did. He quickly shifts June onto Morgan’s lap, bending down to kiss both girls’ foreheads and promising his children that he’ll be back in a second.

As soon as he can, he ducks into the kitchen where Tony’s make a bad dad joke, and Harley’s cracking open a bottle of wine, and Pepper’s cutting vegetables, looking properly like a family.

“Harley?” Peter says, voice thick and shaky even to his own ears. Immediately, all three sets of eyes are on him, and he knows he must look like a mess already. “Could I talk to you for a second?”

His wonderful husband, all wide-eyed with worry and hushed tone, leads him down the hall to their bedroom where they’ll be staying, Peter’s old room. As soon as he shuts the door he asks the question, “What happened?”

“Morgan asked why I haven’t retired from Spider-Man.”

They’ve had enough talks, enough breakdowns, enough arguments, to know the heaviness and the meaning of the words. It’s been something Peter’s been struggling with for a while. Ever since they took in Elizabeth, Peter’s been weighing the pros and cons.

“Darlin’,” Harley says gently, arms encircling his waist and drawing them close. “We’ve got the weekend off, you don’t have to think about-”

“I want to give it up,” Peter says, something he hadn’t even admitted to himself yet. It’s so true, it hurts, but he needs to say it. He needs to be honest with himself and with Harley.

Harley frowns, bending just enough to look at Peter in the eyes properly. “What?”

“I want to give Spider-Man up, I’m just scared that New York won’t be safe if I’m not there. Whenever I go out, I can’t stop thinking about not coming home to you, and I can’t do that.” His voice breaks and he curls his hands around his husband’s biceps to ground himself. “I don’t want you or our kids to have to worry about my life every day. I don’t want there to be a possibility that our children grow up without me.”

“Okay, take a breath, if that’s what you want, we’ll make it happen. We’ll find someone else to look out for the city. We’ll figure it out,” Harley soothes. “If you want to hang up Spider-Man, you can. Nobody will stop you.”

Peter finally lets out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding and relaxes into Harley’s hold. “I know what it’s like to lose parents, to lose people, I know what it’s like and I don’t want to do that to them, to you.”

There’s a knock on the door and they both look over to see Tony leaning against the doorframe.

Harley offers a half-smile, tightening his hold on Peter. “I suppose you want to give your advice?”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Tony says. “Less grey hair for me, at the very least. I’ll get in touch with Wilson and Barnes, and the Young Avengers program. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Love you, dad,” Peter mumbles, smiling against Harley’s shoulder. “I’ll love you even more if you want to watch your grandkids tomorrow and let me and Harley sleep till noon? Maybe even take the whole family to the zoo?”

Tony scoffs. “And leave you two in the house by yourself? I don’t think so.”

“We’re married adults now, Tony. I can’t believe you still pretend we don’t have-”

Tony, forever the mature adult he is, plugs his ears and starts humming loudly, backing out of the room. “You’re coming to the zoo with us!”

Harley laughs, pressing a kiss to Peter’s temple. “Please tell me we’re cooler parents than Tony.”

Taglist: @littlemissagrafina @spidey-reids-2003 @romeoandjulietyouwish @c-artara @shadedrose01 @likeaphoenix13 @pj-hermes-tonystark-obsessed @you-get-killed-walk-it-off @kitkatwinchester @emo-girl10 @justme--emily @hold-our-destiny @imalivebecauseirondad @spiderman-peterman @dykeragee @maryserrao @heeeyitskay @parknerandirondad {Let me know if you wanna be added or removed}

#lyss writes #parkner week 2020 #parkner #parkner fic #peter parker #harley keener #morgan stark #tony stark #pepper potts #irondad #Irondad and Spiderson #spiderman #this is probably the worst one thus far but yk it's fine #i wrote this in one sitting #also unedited so oops

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flutter2deceive · 3 years

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Inspired by @everybodyknows-everybodydies recent ER dream posts, I figured I'd share some of my ER dreams from the past year. I text myself whatever i remember after waking up from interesting dreams so that's the grammatically incorrect format they're in lol

buffy out on the streets moving vans with her strength, timothy olyphant is a vampire and he and his vamp buddies need romano to inject blood back into his circulatory system so he can go out in daylight again, they're taunting him like "come on didn't buffy train with you for a week to be a surgeon before giving up?", idk

The coolest stop motion video ever of this ER drawing turned into a storyline, mark leaves i guess jennifer and is running down the hallway to someone and i'm curious to see if it will be susan or elizabeth, it's elizabeth but then the pov switches to susan and she continues running down the hall to the trauma coming in and she high-fives abby and it's like the main point of contact for all the friendly characters when they do something cool is to high-five, watching this whole thing run thru and have the absolute biggest look of gleeful wonder on my face, i say some very nice words and hope they make it to whoever the author/vid marker are

In a steam engine room like that titanic ep of newsradio, there were also demons, so hell??, then there was a thing about carter being gay and in love with his best friend but then he called me lisa (which is my name) but i took that to mean that it was actually dave and it was a whole thing about maura tierney's fake ex-boyfriends?, and carter was out in my parents' front yard confessing his love but he accidentally stepped in the path of a chainsaw and the top of his toe got chopped off so then he was in a wheelchair

Kerry and elizabeth talking about sandy and mark and how they dread talking to henry and ella about them without breaking down, but it's also like they're still there, and then it's kerry and mark having the same convo but it's mark talking about his dad, they're in the hospital bathroom, a scene where sandy is temping in a library at the hospital and arizona robbins also working there and the implication is that they used to date, arizona comes up to sandy's table and notices that she seems to be doing wedding planning meanwhile kerry is sitting by herself at another table, arizona is judgy about what appears to be sandy chasing a girl who's in the closet and ashamed, sandy explains that kerry doesn't know and it's a surprise which is why she has the flashmob people standing 2 deep around kerry's table so she doesn't see the minister bringing the shrubbery in (this never happens in the dream but also what?? lol), then kerry has a successful hip replacement surgery that luka performed and mark is telling everyone about it, susan and abby were just starting to feel out a relationship and were making out in the bathroom

The er hospital but housed in an amalgam of my workplace and childhood church, i guess i'm like an orderly?, corday is pregnant and examining a patient and she's like ready-to-pop pregnant but she's still insistent that she's good to work until she's 8cm dilated and she's only 6 right now, we're all like dude go up to ob now, she's doing like yoga stretches on the floor to alleviate pain but still insists she's fine, meanwhile her patient is like ???, her water breaks and romano is gonna take her up to surgery, there's a space issue at the elevators and only he can fit, me and the other orderly say we'll take her up on the gurney in the other bank of elevators, we go flying down the hall and yelling for people to move cuz mrs corday's-- "sorry, dr. corday's"-- water broke, we get stopped by a security guard who won't let us through and then stopped again cuz there's construction in the warehouse, somehow romano manages to get lizzie but me and the other orderly are locked out, go to a bar downstairs to wait and nick kroll is there and he alerts everyone at the bar to the fact that he found several fan art/fic hits for "nick kroll/luka kovac" on the company's subreddit, he seems oddly intrigued, how weird of a pairing

In the future, there are no doctors because they're all burnt out from covid so healthcare in the future is just holograms of scenes from er but they're not the medical scenes they're the relationship drama stuff, alex kingston is named ceo of brain things due to her time on both er and doctor who, an interviewer asks what her favorite katy perry song is and romano answers for her, then maura tierney kicks everyone's ass at a banquet

The specifics elude me but somehow abby made it so that neela's memories of gallant's death are erased, and he's not exactly alive but also not dead, maybe she went back in time and changed something or had magic?, but neela is now texting with michael who is actually abby with his phone pretending to be him, abby is feeling really guilty for playing around with life and death and neela's feelings when she didn't have a gameplan, she ends up telling weaver she did something extremely morally questionable, now the two of them have to think thru how to handle the situation, neela is concerned now cuz michael texted that he'd talk with her at 23:00 but he hasn't called yet, then there's this really annoying intern that's pissing all the docs off, weaver starts to say something and ppl think she's gonna tell this woman off but she's like "this is an intern that's working here? She should be the hospital's lawyer", and then abby and susan smirk at each other and put on a tie? Idk but i think it's a different reality than the gallant-still-alive one

On a road trip or something and get back to abby's apartment, i may be susan but also possibly just me, we get the luggage from the car and while abby is trying to find her keys to unlock the door, we hear a noise from down the alley, the blonde woman that luka had been flirting with is near the luggage and is drunk or high, we wrestle with our conscience on whether to help her, she ends up asking to crash on the couch, abby and i get her inside and on the couch, we then end up sharing the bed and giggling

Caring for romano while he was in the hospital, mei lin from top chef is a med student and robert keeps insulting her, i think i might be corday, order a butterfinger and bottle of water from the hospital convenience store, go back to robert's room, he's muttering about the salad they brought him, i ask if he wants me to tell the nurse that he wants them to leave the salad for when he wakes from his nap, he squints up at me and smiles, says that his coping mechanism for stress is egg salad, idk

Living an ep of ER, i am susan, walking to my car alongside elizabeth, we're kinda tensely discussing when the kids will be at each of our houses for the holidays, i say let's just fuck it and join our celebrations, it's like a thing as if mark actually used to be married to susan and had a kid, don't know if it was supposed to be little suzie or rachel, elizabeth smiles unexpectedly and my heart kicks up, get in our cars and drive off, i am fumbling with a cigarette and the lighter from the car, drop them both as i'm driving down the hill out of the hospital parking lot, but now i am abby and have the season 9 hair, keep talking about this guy coworker i'm secretly seeing but it's actually susan and i'm trying to throw people off the scent, and there's something also about trixie and katya in this part of the dream but i don't remember specifically what, maybe guest star patients?

#er #dreams #i am a ridiculous human being #even in slumber lol

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kaalamarii · 4 years

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MC’s Totally Rad 80s Party

I haven’t written in years and my new obsession with Obey Me + not working=me attempting to write again. Also new to tumblr and don’t know wtf I’m doing.

Summary: You’re feeling homesick and the boys throw a party for you.

Pairing: None yet. This is just the prologue and then each demon will have their own part. Like a Choose Your Own Adventure sort of deal, I guess?

Word Count: 2339

Warnings: Set before Belphie’s out of the attic.Talk of sex, talk of alcohol. General cheesiness. Probably some swearing b/c I’m a potty mouth. I’m also the CEO of Run On Sentences. 2nd person pov/female mc, also a random OC that is mentioned (from mc/your life pre devildom)

As much as you’d hate to admit it, you were having fun in Devildom.

At first, you felt nervous, scared, not knowing what to expect. But somehow the six demon brothers had wormed their way into your heart and you had developed a soft spot for each of them. And you knew the feelings were mutual. You knew that no matter how much they insulted you, picked on you, that they all cared for you.

It was surprisingly comforting, you thought. Though you knew any of them could easily kill you, you felt safe around them. They didn’t feel like predators, but protectors.

Still, a part of you missed the human world. You missed your phone, your family, your friends. The human world was, well, home.

The homesick feeling sunk in on one particular night as you were bored and organizing your room and found an old invitation smashed and crumpled in the pocket of the jeans you were wearing the night you got to Devildom. Unraveling it, you smile.

“Come to Lizzie’s Totally Rad 80’s Party! Costume contest, photobooths, and lots and lots of booze and amazing food.”

You sighed. You had known Lizzie since the first grade, and although you had drifted apart since becoming young adults, the two of you always had a bond. You had been looking forward to that party. You had a super cute Madonna costume all carefully pieced together and had the perfect gift for Lizzie.

You laid back on your bed with the invitation still in your hand, wondering what everyone back at home was doing and whether or not they were worried about you. Where did they think you were? You made a mental note to ask Lucifer about it later.

Your thoughts are interrupted by an obnoxious pound on your door. “Yo, MC! Open up! The Great Mammon is here to spend time with you!”

You both rolled your eyes and chuckled at the needy demon friend of yours before getting up to let him in.

“You know,” you say, “you don’t have to knock so loudly.”

Mammon scoffed, waving his hand at you, “Yeah, yeah.”

He made his way over to your bed, sitting down at the edge. “I’m bored. What’re ya up to in here?”

“Just doing some re-organizing.”

“Oi,” the second born said with a sigh. “That’s definitely not going to kill my boredom.”

You shook your head with a smile as you finished putting some things up. Mammon picked up the invitation on the bed and read it. He looked at you. “Where’d you get this?”

“It was in my pocket when I got here. It’s for a friend’s party from back at home.”

“Did you go?”

“I didn't have a chance to,” you say with a frown, looking over the invitation again. “She gave me this and the next day I was here.”

Mammon looks at you while you scan the flyer, noticing your sadness.

“But it’s okay,” you continue. “Lizzie has a lot of other friends, so it’s not like she’ll be missing out not having me there.”

“But you missed out,” Mammon replied.

“Yeah, well, there will be other parties.”

You’re playing off your disappointment, but Mammon could see through it. He knew the look well, having disappointed many people many times. Still, he didn’t press it. He wasn’t so good with all that, and what if you started crying? He would not know how to handle that.

“I should go,” he said awkwardly. “You’re being all weird.”

You nodded, his blunt comment not bothering you much. You were used to it and knew it was him covering up his softness for you.

What you didn’t notice was Mammon stuffing the paper into his pocket as he left your room.

“I wanted to run an idea by you all. Something for MC,” Mammon told his brothers the next day at school when MC wasn’t around.

“Yes, I agree,” Asmo said, not even bothering to listen to Mammon’s idea was, “That girl needs some slap and tickle, if you know what I mean.”

The others all gave the Avatar of Lust a blank look.

“You know, the mattress mambo, bumping uglies, playing hide the salami, riding the flagpole, the down and dirty, boning…”

“What the hell?!” Levi cried, hands going up to cover his ears.

Satan snickered.

Asmo continued, “knocking boots, making love, if that’s your thing. Oh! And then there’s eating out, eating ass…ugh. You all are such prudes.”

“Hmm, eating,” Beel said, the rest of the words in the crude list quickly forgotten as he held a hand to his stomach. “I’m starving.”

“Okay, STOP!” Mammon said, frowning. “That’s not what I’m talking about...and nobody will be doing that with MC.”

“Nobody but you, huh, Mammon?” Asmo said, nudging his brother with his elbow.

“NO! Why would you say that? I’d never be with a lowly human like that!”

“Except MC, right?” Levi teased his already embarrassed brother.

Asmo smiled dreamily. “I’d do delightfully dirty things to MC.”

“First of all, no you wouldn’t. Second of all, why are we still talking about this? This is what I came to you for.” The Avatar of Greed slammed the flyer down on the table before all his brothers. “MC was invited to this party and never got to go because she came here. I think we should have our own 80s party at the House of Lamentation.”

Asmo was the first to accept the idea. “Oh! I love the 80s! One of the sexiest decades...tight pants, mini skirts, big hair.”

Leviathan’s face lit up. “The 80s had some awesome anime! It’s when Studio Ghibli started!”

“Nobody cares, Levi,” Mammon replied.

“Nobody cares about you, Mammon! Scumbag.”

“Hey!”

“Does that say amazing food?” Beel spoke up over his arguing brothers. “I’m in!”

“I’m in too,” Satan said, “It’s been a while since we’ve had a party at the house. I know where Lucifer hides the alcohol.”

“Yeah, in the kitchen next to Cerberus' food,” Asmo stated.

“Nah, he moved it,” Beel replied. “It’s not in the kitchen anymore. He moved it once when I found it looking for snacks.”

“Yeah,” Mammon added, “When he confiscated that expensive bottle of tequila I bought in the human world, he put it in the music room.”

“Oh, really?” Lucifer’s voice boomed from behind them, making the five demons jump.

“G’aaah!” Mammon yelped.

“I guess I need to find a new hiding spot then,” Lucifer said, walking over to his brothers. “What is it you all think you need alcohol for?”

Levi handed the invitation to him. “We want to throw a party for MC.”

Lucifer looked over the paper, brows furrowed. “Why?”

“She’s feeling homesick,” Satan explained.

“Ya, she showed me this last night. She seemed all moody, so I thought maybe we could do this for her.” The second eldest told him.

Lucifer picked up the paper, looking it over. The rest of the demons looked up at him, hopeful. “And where would this gathering take place?”

“At home,” Satan replied, receiving a glare from Mammon.

“Hey, Satan, what’s the big idea! I’m the one that came up with the idea. I was up all night plannin’ this!”

“You were up all night planning a party for MC?” Levi teased. “How romantic.”

“Shut up! It’s not romantic!”

The demon brothers started arguing again until Lucifer cleared his throat. “Enough, you two. We can have the party for MC.”

The demons all cheered.

“BUT-”

Their cheers turned into frowns.

“I knew there’d be a but,” Mammon whined.

“No alcohol. Not on a school night. And it’s over by midnight.”

The younger brothers all started protesting.

“This isn’t up for debate…”

More protesting and boos from his brothers.

Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, I guess we can have some alcohol.”

“Over by 2 am?” Mammon asked, with an award winning smile.

Lucifer sighed. “Fine.”

The group cheered and Lucifer let a smile play upon his lips when the others weren’t looking.

A week later, you were doing homework in your room when your D.D.D. goes off, distracting you. Your eyes flick over to see that Mammon had sent a message to the group chat between the brothers.

(Mammon:) Alright, Beel and Levi have gotten the food. Beel, didn’t eat any of it, did he?

(Levi:) Food’s safe.

(Mammon:) Okay, good. Asmo, Satan, you two got the decorations?

(Satan:) Yep, got everything.

(Asmo:) Remember there’s a costume contest! Though we all know I’m going to win it.

(Levi:) No way! I’m going to win it! Diavolo is giving out Grimm as the first prize and I’m going to win it so I can get the new Ruri-chan figurine!

(Lucifer:) How does Diavolo know about this party and when did he become part of the planning?

(Levi:) He overheard us talking about it at RAD and got excited. He just kinda sat down and started planning stuff with us. Apparently some of his favorite music and movies from the human world are from the 1980s.

(Lucifer:) Okay, we need to change some of the rules of this party then.

(Mammon:) ugh

...What the hell? Nobody had mentioned a party to you…

And why were they talking about the 80s? Wait. you got up, searching for the invitation for your friend’s party. Where did it go?

D.D.D. again. This time a chat between all brothers excluding Lucifer.

(Satan:) We need to get some booze. The invitation says booze.

(Levi): He’s not going to let you all drink with Diavolo around.

(Satan:) Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re going to find whatever is lying around the house and spike the punch bowl.

(Asmo:) ❤❤❤

(Asmo:) This party is going to be amazing! I hope MC will like it.

(Mammon:) Of course she will! Our parties are way better than any stupid human parties!

(Satan:) How would you know, Mammon? Like you’ve been to any parties in the human world.

(Levi:) Lolololol

(Mammon:) Hey! I’ve been to tons of human world parties!

(Levi:) Sure, you have.

You couldn’t help the grin that took over your face as you reread the messages over and over. The boys were throwing a party...for you. You thought back to the night you were feeling homesick. Mammon actually listened to you complain about missing your friend’s party! And they’ve seen the invitation.

You immediately open up the Akuzon app, hunting down pieces for your costume. An 80s party for you, thrown by your favorite demon guys? Asmo was right... this was going to be amazing.

At breakfast the next morning, you try to act surprised as the demon brothers sit down one by one, all smiles and hand you a white envelope with your name printed neatly on it.

“What’s this?” You ask, pretending you don’t already know.

“Open it,” Mammon replied, a twinkle in his eyes.

You turn the envelope over and gently rip it open. You pull out a folded sheet of paper that was literally a copy of your invitation to Lizzie’s party, except Lizzie’s name was crossed out and your name was sloppily written above it. The date and time was also crossed out and rewritten. ‘Booze’ had a question mark drawn on after it, which was also crossed out with a ‘NO’ beside it.

“Surprise!” The boys howled.

You felt tears gathering in your eyes.

They all slowly, one by one lost their smiles.

“Aw, man,” Levi whined. “She hates it! I told you the invitation was stupid, Mammon!”

“Hey! I didn’t see any of you assholes trying to make up an invitation!”

“Cause you just had to be the one to do it! And now you’ve made her cry,” Levi argued. “Idiot!”

Asmo shook his head. “Drop dead, Mammon.”

“Guys,” you speak up, wiping your face with your sleeve. “These are happy tears, okay? I love it.”

Their smiles return.

“I can’t believe you all did this for me. For demons, y’all are pretty sweet.” You got up, giving each one a hug. “Also, I’m going to slay all of you in the costume contest.”

You felt nervous as you got ready for the party. You tried to calm yourself as you teased and sprayed your hair a bit before tying a headband over it. You lined your eyes with black and added some colored eyeshadow. The outfit itself consisted of a black miniskirt and a couple belts over lace tights and a sheer shirt with a black bra underneath. And of course, lace black gloves with lots and lots of bracelets and necklaces.

You checked yourself out in the mirror, confident and self conscious at the same time. You wondered to yourself how the boys would react seeing you like this.

It’s not like you hadn’t shown skin around them before, and you admitted to yourself that you liked the way they all looked at you when you wore something revealing. Even your RAD uniform didn’t keep much to the imagination when you sat down and it rode up your thighs. And you had caught more than one of the guys ogling you as you walked around the house in your pjs, which usually consisted of short shorts and a tank top.

The sound of loud music echoing through the house and bass rattling the room pulled you from your thoughts. You smiled, eager to see how your boys dressed up and decorated.

You couldn’t get that smile to leave as you stepped into the dining room and saw all the decorations. Neon greens, yellows, blues, and pinks glowed under black light.Colored streamers hung from the ceiling and the table and walls were adorned with various 80s pop culture; posters of John Hughes movies, records and cassette tapes, Rubix Cubes, Trolls, and Pac-Man. “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley blared from giant speakers.

You felt herself blushing as she looked around the room in awe...they put so much work into this. For you.

You scanned the room, searching through the room of your scattered friends until you set your eyes on the one you wanted to go to first...

Masterlist

Mammon Satan Lucifer Levi Beel Asmo Belphie

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me mammon #obey me satan #obey me lucifer #obey me beelzebub #obey me asmodeus #obey me mc #obey me leviathan #obey me diavolo #obey me fanfic #obey me swd #obey me fanfiction #obey me main character

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aniray · 4 years

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Where You Least Expect It...

Here's the first part of my 5 part story.

It's Tommy x Lizzie. A Modern Surrogacy AU

~*~

“I’m so nervous, Thomas.”

Tommy looked over a Grace. Her golden hair was falling a bit out of the neat ponytail she had put it in that morning. She was fidgeting with the brochure from the clinic. If she twisted it anymore, Tommy was sure the thing would tear apart. But he didn’t say anything. He simply reached over and pulled the brochure out of her hand.

“Thanks,” she sighed. But two seconds later she was running her fingers along her brow. “God, Thomas, we tried so hard. And we’ve spent so much on all of this. Should we have gone with adoption?” They had had this same conversation the night before, and last week, and two months ago. But the answer was always the same. Grace sat up straighter, her head lifting a bit in determination. “No, this is what I want for us. A baby that’s at least part you, even if it can’t be part me as well.”

It had taken Grace a long time to accept the doctors’ verdict that she wouldn’t have children. After months and months of hormone treatments and strict dieting and far too many nights of his wife crying herself to sleep, Grace had let go of the idea of carrying her own child. And then there were even more months of trying to harvest her eggs. But when none of them were viable, Tommy had to step in before depression stole Grace away from him.

So they had turned to surrogacy. It wasn’t quite what Grace had wanted- having to use another woman’s egg as well as her body. But it was the closest to what Grace wanted and could actually get. So Tommy had gone to information seminars. He had read up on the different agencies. And when Grace had picked a place and a girl, Tommy didn’t voice his own worries. This was what Grace needed and he needed her, so this was what they would do.

The GPS told Tommy to take the next turn. But he’d already memorized how to reach the facility. Planning was what he did when he was unsure about things. Take control wherever he could had always been his way, but even more so since this whole fertility process had started. Polly was annoyed about it. Arthur was pulling at the leash. And John had gone and fucked his way into early fatherhood.

Something Grace wouldn’t admit she was hurt and bitter about.

Another turn and the facility came into view. It was nothing special, just a plain brick building. But it was clean and highly recommended. And mostly it was discreet- something Tommy had insisted on even if Grace hadn’t been concerned. Business was doing well and that always brought people who would rather Tommy or his loved ones not be breathing.

Pulling into a parking spot, Tommy turned the car off and turned to face Grace. “You ready?” He watched the emotions flit across her face. It was something not many people got to see. Grace had been raised to keep her emotions to herself. And then she had worked as a financial security investigator. Succeeding in that world meant not letting CEOs and their like see you anything other than calm and in control. So for her to show her fear and her anxiousness with him was just another thing to prove that they were supposed to be together.

“I don’t know. I just- I shouldn’t be nervous. It’s all been arranged. The papers have been signed.” She turned to look at him and Tommy felt a twinge in his chest at the tears in her eyes. “Its not even me who has to do anything. You’re the one about to…you know.” Tommy smiled. Always so proper. “But what if we do it and she changes her mind? Or you change your mind? What if-“

“I’m not changing my mind. She won’t change hers, either. And even if she does, this baby will be a Shelby. That’s why we got a lawyer for all of this, remember?” Tommy tucked a few strands of her hair back up into her ponytail. “Now, come on. It would look a bit bad if we were late because we took too long in the parking lot.”

Grace gave him a smile- the one that always seemed to make his world a bit brighter. “You’re right. I’m ready.” With a quick nod, Tommy got out of the car and went around to open the passenger door. Grace didn’t hesitate. She got out and took his hand as he closed the door. She was calm and strong and beautiful walking beside him.

And he’d be damned if this all went to shit.

~*~

The clinic was cold.

It always was, but today it bothered Lizzie a little bit more than the other times she’d come. They had her sitting in a small conference room, waiting for the couple she’d agreed to carry for- the Shelbys. Grace and Thomas Shelby. Wealthy, and from what Lizzie had heard from a staff member, trying this before settling for adoption. She didn’t like that word- settling. It reminded her of too many decisions she’d made in her life.

But that wasn’t really the point, was it? No, the point was, she was sitting in a cold room about to meet the people she’d be dealing with for the next ten months more or less. And she still wasn’t sure this was what she wanted. You already signed the damn papers, Lizzie. The thought didn’t make her feel any more ready for this. But she was a bit desperate.

Ryan, the asshole, had harassed her for years before she finally quit working for him. She had dealt with enough men putting their hands on her in her life. That’s why she had left her home town, club work and waitressing all behind her. And now she was leaving Ryan and his too small office and his too rough hands behind her, too.

“Don’t think about him. He doesn’t deserve it.” Standing up from the seat she was in, Lizzie paced the room. Everything was so…bright. The walls were white with framed pieces of abstract art to break up the monotony. The windows were frosted to let light in while keeping everything inside private. But stuck in the room alone Lizzie just felt like she had stepped into some Sci-fi horror movie. “Get a grip. It’s not that bad.”

She had just made her way to the far side of the room for the thirteenth time when she heard voices. Quickly, Lizzie went back to the seat she’d started in. Her heart was pounding suddenly. Her palms were sweating. This was it- there was no going back after those doors opened. A knock came half a second before the door opened. Dr. Stone came in with one of the office assistants right behind her.

And then she saw her- a well-dressed woman with her blond hair up in a high ponytail. This was the woman who would be raising the baby Lizzie was going to have. She looked so elegant. It made Lizzie a little self-conscious, honestly. But then a man stepped into the room and shut the door. He wore a very nice suit- obviously tailored for him. His expression was neutral, but Lizzie had a feeling it was an intimidation tactic more than lack of interest. She eyed the way he stood and realized that behind his respectable appearance, this man was dangerous.

Suddenly self-consciousness was replaced by trepidation. But Lizzie forced herself to smile. Dr. Stone motioned for the Shelby’s to take a seat and Lizzie watched as Thomas pulled out Grace’s chair for her. The two shared a quick smile and Lizzie looked away. It was barely anything, but it had felt intimate. She turned her attention to Dr. Stone. The woman stood at the head of the table as the assistant passed out three folders.

“Alright, let’s get started. First off, Ms. Stark,” she said turning to face Lizzie, “This is Thomas and Grace Shelby. They are the couple that we felt would be best for you.” Then she turned to the Shelbys. “Mr. and Mrs. Shelby, this is Elizabeth Stark. She will be your surrogate. We have done an extensive background check on both parties, the results of which are in your folders. The contract you signed is included as well, for your records.”

Lizzie shifted a bit in her seat at the mention of background checks. She’d told them about her past, she had agreed to the check, but it still made her nervous knowing these fancy people would see her entire life laid out on paper. Mr. Shelby lifted his head and caught Lizzie’s eye. She forced herself to be still and focus back in on what Dr. Stone was saying. “We have already collected Lizzie’s ovum and it is ready for fertilization. That process will happen today after we collect Mr. Shelby’s sperm. At the end of this I’ll have the three of you sign a document stating that we went over all of this. And then in about three to five days Ms. Stark will come back in to have the embryos implanted.”

It all sounded so clinical. She’d known that, of course. She’d done the homework and all the reading. She’d even gone to see a lawyer about what rights she did and didn’t have during the pregnancy. But sitting there in that white room with the frosted windows, Lizzie couldn’t help feeling… Honestly she didn’t know what she was feeling. She heard Dr. Stone ask if there were any questions and she shook her head. She knew what happened next.

“Alright then. Mr. Shelby you can follow Erin and she’ll take you to a private room. A nurse will give you instructions.” Lizzie felt an absurd bubble of laughter rising. The idea of a nurse having to tell a man how to handle himself seemed a bit hilarious for some reason. But she bit her tongue and kept her head down until the man was out of the room. “Now that it’s just us ladies,” Dr. Stone continued, “I think it would be good for you ladies to discuss things. I’ve found that the women have the hardest time figuring out their roles in each other’s lives during this process. So I’ll leave you two to chat.”

Then she was gone, and Lizzie was alone with Grace.

~*~

She’s pretty.

It was the first thing that had entered into Grace’s head as she walked into the conference room. The second was that this baby wouldn’t have any features that could be ‘from’ Grace. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but perhaps subconsciously she had assumed the clinic would find a blond woman. Or at least someone with the same eye color that Grace had. But no, instead here was this green eyed, raven-haired, beauty.

A sliver of insecurity had threatened to rise when she saw Elizabeth Stark. Thomas had always preferred dark-haired women. It was something that his family never seemed to let her forget. And every woman who had ever impressed Thomas, especially in business, had dark hair. Most times it didn’t bother her- this obvious inclination her husband had. Most of the time she simply reminded his family that she, and not these others, had been the one Thomas married. But today- the day she felt so lacking as a wife and a woman- all she could see was dark hair.

Of course, Thomas barely glanced at Ms. Stark. Grace knew that he had no interest in the woman. And to be fair, the woman kept her focus on Dr. Stone. But insecurity was not logical. So when Dr. Stone had left them alone to ‘chat’ Grace found herself trying desperately to keep all of the anxiety she felt from showing.

“So,” the other woman started. “Is there anything you want to ask me?” Grace fixed her eyes on the woman across from her. Her voice was soft, but her speech was more like Thomas’ when he was tired. Opening the folder, Grace skimmed the neatly printed words until she found what she was looking for. ‘Place of Birth: Small Heath, Birmingham.’ She preferred to be called Lizzie, the paper said. “I have a few for you, if that’s alright?”

Again Grace met Lizzie’s eyes. “Of course. What don’t you understand?” She could hear it- the ice that had crept into her voice. It was the tone she used in boardrooms and closed-door meetings with men who had too much power. And Lizzie didn’t like it. But for some reason Grace couldn’t bring herself to regret her tone.

“It says in the contract that I’ll be living in your guest house during the pregnancy.” Lizzie paused for a moment and Grace wondered if it was to collect her thoughts or to keep from running out of the room. “But it also said that if, once we met properly, either party wanted to renegotiate that…”

Grace arched a brow. “Are you suggesting that we let you live somewhere separate from us?” And she hated that she could hear her mother in her own voice. But it was a ridiculous idea. Surely Ms. Stark could see that. An incredulous smile came to Grace’s lips. “How would we know if something happened? This is not your child, Ms. Stark. This is mine and my husband’s child. Why would we allow a stranger to just go off with our baby?”

A flash of defiance showed in Lizzie’s eyes. She had sat up straighter in her chair, leaning forward a bit. “I understand your concern. But what exactly do you think I’m going to be doing at my place? Snorting blow and having orgies?” Grace’s nose crinkled at the mental image. “Listen, Mrs. Shelby, I’ll come by and visit every day. You’ll be at every appointment. But I don’t think it would be good to live so close together. I don’t want to get attached.”

She was trying to manipulate her. Grace could hear it. She could see it. But it didn’t make Lizzie’s point any less valid. And the last thing Grace needed was for Lizzie to decide that she wanted to fight for custody of this baby. Still, the idea of her not being just a walk across the lawn from her child… “No. I’m sorry, but no. Not this early. Maybe toward the third trimester-“

“I’ll be huge and tired and it’ll be too much trouble to move by then.”

But Grace didn’t back down. She couldn’t- not with this. She stared the other woman down, neither willing to give up their positions. But Grace had years of experience getting her way. And Lizzie Stark was not going to change that. “We’ll hire movers. You’ll never lift a finger except to get into the car when everything is finished.”

Lizzie lifted her chin and Grace prepared herself to fight whatever argument came next. Only one never came. Lizzie nodded slowly and leaned back in her seat. “Alright. No later than the start of the third trimester.” Then she stood up and walked out of the room. Grace sat at the table, heart pounding. She gave up too easily. She had put Grace on the backfoot, as Thomas would say, and she didn’t like it.

Mostly she wondered if she’d just ruined a chance at getting through this in peace.

~*~

Grace was alone when Tommy got back. And she was upset. He could tell by the stiffness of her shoulders and the tilt of her head as she stood at one of the windows. He had seen the doctor on his way back to the little conference room. She told him that Grace and the woman- Ms. Stark- were having a chat. It had sounded friendly enough, but still he’d picked up his pace. And now he was glad he had.

“What happened?”

Grace turned from the window to face him and Tommy could see the fear she’d pushed away was back. “I just-“ Grace took a deep breath. “I think I’ve started something. Between me and the surrogate.” Tommy tilted his head in confusion. Grace’s shoulders slumped and Tommy watched her blink back tears. “She wanted to stay at her own place. Simple enough, right? And I said no. No, Tommy, don’t look like that. I told her ‘no’ the way my mother told you she wouldn’t be able to come to the wedding.”

Tommy winced at that. Mrs. Burgess has made no effort to hide how much she hated Tommy and his family and the fact that he had married her daughter. She hadn’t come to the wedding. And when she announced as much, she had been cold and disdainful and the most well-spoken bitch that Tommy had ever dealt with. And now Grace was telling him she’d treated the surrogate that way?

“Alright. So you were a bit cold to her. Why? We said it would be fine if she didn’t live with us. It’s in the contract that living arrangements were negotiable.” He hadn’t wanted to have any new people on their property- not even in the guest house. And Grace hadn’t seemed so set on it either. “I read the file, there’s nothing in there that says she shouldn’t be on her own.”

Grace rolled her eyes in exasperation. It was something she didn’t do often. “I know, Thomas. But I just hate the idea of her having our baby so far from us. I mean, we don’t know her. What if she smokes? What if she drinks and the baby is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.” Tommy held in a sigh. He knew Grace- she didn’t think any of those things would happen. She was just nervous and trying to keep as much control as possible. It was something he’d done far too often to not see the signs.

Coming around the table, Tommy set his hands on Grace’s shoulders. “Stop. I didn’t want her at the house to begin with. But you agreed, if she wanted to stay at her own place she could.” His arms went around his wife and Tommy held her tight. “We’ve got her number. We’ll call, invite her to lunch one day. You can apologize-“ Grace scoffed and Tommy shook his head with a smile. “You can apologize and then the three of us can figure out the living situation. No big deal. Alright?”

He pulled back to see Grace’s face. Her lips were set in a pout and her eyes were red-rimmed, but she was still beautiful. “Yes, that’s fine.” She lifted up and gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you for calming me down. Thank you for all of this. I love you, you know?”

“I know. Now come on. We’ve got reservations for dinner.”

~*~

Four Days Later

Lizzie had just walked in the front door when her phone rang. Fishing it out of her pocket, her brows scrunched together as she looked at the unfamiliar number. It had been a long day. She had taken the day to go to the library and read up on what to expect during the first three months of pregnancy. It had been information overload. And then she had gone to the clinic for them to implant the embryos. It had been fairly easy, but now she couldn’t’ stop thinking about the fact that this was all real now. More real than it had been when it was just talk and paperwork.

So she wasn’t really in the mood for a bill collector or one of those scam calls telling her she’d won a free vacation to Aruba. So she tossed her phone on the sofa and made her way to the kitchen. There wasn’t much in it- rent came first these days. But that would change soon. The clinic had given her a check as she left from the Shelbys. It was to cover her food, rent, and utilities for the month- until it was confirmed that a baby would be showing up in approximately nine months.

Standing at her mostly empty refrigerator, Lizzie pulled out the milk and a carton of strawberries. Turning to grab a glass from the cupboard, the sound of her ringtone came again. Setting the milk and berries on the counter she rushed back to the living room and snatched up her phone and answered. “Hello?”

“Is this Elizabeth Stark?” Lizzie tensed at the deep voice on the other end. It was the last voice she expected to hear. She pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the screen. The same number from a minute ago was on the display. Quickly she put the phone back to her ear. “Yes, this is she.”

There was a pause on the other end and she thought she heard someone else speaking in the background. “Good. This is Tommy Shelby. My wife and I were wondering if you’d like to join us for dinner one day this week.” Lizzie blinked, then blinked again. She hadn’t expected that. And she really couldn’t understand why Mrs. Shelby would want to see her. “Ms. Stark, are you there?” Mr. Shelby asked, a hint of impatience in his tone.

“Yes, sorry. I’m here. Um..” God, Lizzie, just fucking say no. Because she really didn’t want to see them before she’d gone back to the clinic. She wanted as much of her freedom as she could get before their lives became enmeshed. “Sure. I mean, that would be fine. Do you have a day in mind?” She hadn’t needed to read the file Dr. Stone had given her to know that the Shelbys had very busy lives. They might try to make it sound like this was all spur of the moment, but Lizzie knew better.

Another pause, then the click of someone typing. “Wednesday at six?” Lizzie got the feeling that she was not the one that question was being directed to. Not that it really mattered. She didn’t feel like she had much of a say in all of this anyway. Especially after how things had gone at the clinic with Grace. “So does six o’clock Wednesday work for you, Ms. Stark?”

“You can just call me Lizzie. And yes, that works fine. Where should I meet you?” She hoped it wasn’t anywhere too pricey. She didn’t want them to pay for her, but she also hated pretending she wasn’t hungry at places simply because she couldn’t afford more than water. So of course the place Mr. Shelby named was a fancy restaurant downtown. “Sounds good. See you then,” she replied, stomach twisting itself into knots.

“And Lizzie? Call me Tommy.”

Lizzie mumbled her assent and quickly got off the phone. She looked back at the screen, brain still processing the last…three minutes and twenty-six seconds. ‘Call me Tommy’ he’d said. Tommy- such an innocent sounding name. A name that made you think of little boys running after a ball or the shy kid in high-school who was always really sweet. But somehow when Mr. Shelby said it, all those thoughts disappeared. Instead you were left with that old school Mafia vibe. Darkness and danger wrapped up in every syllable.

“Great, Liz, just great. You’ve really stuck yourself with quite the pair, haven’t you?”

~*~

Tommy motioned for the waiter to bring him another whiskey.

So far dinner had been awful. Lizzie had arrived on time, dressed appropriately, if not quite up to the usual price standards for the place. She had been nervous, but tried to hide it. And Tommy had been sure that once they got settled at their table things would begin to smooth over.

He did not expect Grace to insult Lizzie’s dress. He didn’t expect to hear his wife- who had been completely apologetic before getting to the restaurant- turn into her mother the minute Lizzie arrived. And he didn’t expect to have to make small talk to cover the tension. He wasn’t good at small talk. It was always Grace who handled things like that when business required playing nice with people.

He’d given up two whiskeys ago. Instead he sat and watched as Grace ate her meal and Lizzie sipped at the lemonade she’d ordered. He’d told her he was paying- to order what she wanted. She’d refused. It’d been a while since Tommy had been broke. But not long enough that he forgot how fucking annoying it was to take handouts. So he didn’t push the issue.

But it had been almost an hour and the tension was starting to aggravate him. So, Tommy reached over and took Grace’s hand, ignoring his wife’s questioning look, before turning to Lizzie. “So, Lizzie, we asked you here because we wanted to get some things settled.” He felt Grace tense beside him while he watched Lizzie stiffen in her seat. Tommy didn’t miss the way her eyes slid to Grace for a moment. “I believe things may have gotten off to a bad start.”

“Yes,” Grace said, “I think there were misunderstandings on both sides.” There hadn’t been- not from what Grace had told Tommy. But he kept his thoughts to himself. “Ms. Stark, Lizzie, I hope you know that I wasn’t trying to force you into anything. I just feel so protective of my baby already.” Lizzie didn’t respond. “I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Lizzie reached for her glass and took a sip of her lemonade. Tommy could see her thinking. He knew she was trying to decide if Grace had meant what she said. Not that it really mattered. The papers were signed, she had gone to the clinic to have the embryos implanted. This was happening. But he didn’t want Grace upset. And he didn’t want to have to fight for custody of this baby. So he wanted the two women to play nicely.

Setting her glass back down Lizzie looked at Grace. “I’m glad you feel so protective. It’s nice, knowing that this baby will be taken care of. And I hope that we can get through this whole thing without any problems. So I will stay until the end of the second trimester.” She turned to Tommy. “But I still think it would be better if I stayed at my own place from the beginning. Like I told Mrs. Shelby, I’ll visit every day and you are going to be at the doctor’s appointments anyway. So I don’t see why I need to live on your property.”

“But,” Tommy turned to Grace. “As I explained to you, it’s a matter of safety and knowing what is happening with our child,” Grace said. “You obviously have financial issues. And in your background check it said that you’ve been in trouble a few times. I just need to know that you aren’t going to do anything that could harm my baby.”

Tommy stared at Grace. They had talked about this. They had gone over how things would go at the dinner. And she’d gone off course from the minute Lizzie arrived. He tossed back the rest of his whiskey and tried to think of a way to salvage this. But he could see it in his wife’s eyes- she’d dug in her heels. “Grace.” She turned to face him, eyes bright with defiance. “We agreed, yeah? We wouldn’t force anything.”

He felt Lizzie’s eyes on him. It made him uncomfortable- having someone see him and Grace like this. He didn’t like people seeing the inner workings of his marriage. But it couldn’t be helped. Not this time. “It’s fine. Alright? It’s fine. But I’m still going to need rent money. I’ll need to still have a place after this is all over with.” Tommy reluctantly looked away from Grace. The woman facing him had just as much defiance in her eyes as his wife, but her shoulders were slumped in defeat. It was an odd sight.

“Can you be ready to move by Wednesday after next?” It was two weeks, and Tommy didn’t think Grace would wait much longer. And he just wanted this whole thing to be over. He had business that needed his attention and he couldn’t referee between his wife and the surrogate. Lizzie tensed, but nodded. For the first time Tommy wondered just how bad off she was to be going through with all of this. “Movers will be at your apartment on the day, then.”

He saw the waiter and motioned for the bill.

~*~

“What the fuck was that?”

Grace winced. “I know. Thomas, I know. She just-“

“Just what? Showed up on time? Ordered a drink? Agreed to what you fucking wanted?” She bit her lip. She hated fighting with Tommy. It didn’t happen often. They understood each other too well for that, usually. But this whole thing was increasing Grace’s anxiety. “You were meant to apologize. The whole point was to smooth things over so we don’t have problems later.”

Grace felt a spike of fear at those words. It would be so easy for Ms. Stark to sue for custody. It would be so easy for her to terminate the contract- abort the baby. And Grace knew she wasn’t helping matters. If anything she was making things worse. But she couldn’t seem to help it. “I’m just scared, Thomas.”

Her husband looked over at her from the driver’s seat. But instead of the usual softness and love, Grace found Tommy’s face tight with annoyance and his eyes cooler than they’d been with her in a long time. “You can’t let that matter. You can’t let the fear get into your head and muck it up. We had a plan. You broke from the plan, Grace. And that- that shit that happened back there? That’ll be what fucks this whole thing up in the end.”

The rest of the drive was silent. It was excruciating, mainly because Grace knew Tommy was right. But that insecure part of her couldn’t let herself care. She couldn’t admit it, not to him. Not when he was defending that woman. It shouldn’t feel like this. None of this should feel the way it did. Grace should be happy. Tommy should be happy. They should be planning for a baby to arrive, not fighting over the woman who was carrying said baby.

But…She saw the way Lizzie had watched Thomas. Grace had seen something in her eyes that made her wonder. Something that made her want to hold him tighter, closer. And she’d seen the way Thomas had looked at Lizzie- there had been an understanding there. When Lizzie had only ordered lemonade, when she had politely declined to let Tommy pay for her meal- he’d looked at her like he recognized something in her. It was something Grace didn’t recognize and she hated it- that small thing that Thomas and this woman shared.

The car pulling to a stop brought Grace out of her troubling thoughts. They were home. The sun was just setting behind the house and it cast a golden glow over everything. It was beautiful- perfect. Thomas had picked it for her as a surprise and she had fallen in love with it immediately. And every time she returned, no matter how upset or scared or hurt she might be, seeing it always made Grace smile. But not this time. This time her eyes went to the guest house to the left of the property- almost out of sight.

“She’s going to live there, Thomas. She’d going to be right there.” She felt her husband’s eyes on her. It wasn’t comforting like she had grown accustomed to. This time his gaze was too heavy. “It feels too close. But I can’t stand the idea of her being a step farther away. God, I wish…” But it didn’t matter what she wished. Her wishes hadn’t come true even after all the money and the medicine and the tears.

Thomas got out and walked around to the passenger’s side. He opened her door like always, and gave her his hand to help her out of the car. But the warmth of his hand was gone as soon as she was securely on her feet. He closed the door and went into the house- without her. The only other time he’d done that was the night Ada had gone missing. He’d run in to make calls- to find his baby sister.

This time he just didn’t want to be near his wife.

#tommy shelby #lizzie stark #tommy x lizzie #peaky blinders fanfic

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spn-safeandsound · 4 years

Text

11. Too Many Coincidences

Safe and Sound

Dean Winchester x Original Character

Episode: 1x16; Shadow

Word Count: 8,933

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, minor character death, angst

Author’s Note: Introducing the Petersen clan! Tell me what you think of this chapter! Enjoy, reblog, and like!

Find the masterlink pinned on my profile!

Julia could feel their eyes on her every now and then. First it would be Dean; his green eyes would look into the rearview mirror and study her pouring over her bible, head bowed. He would look away and then, not even three minutes later, Sam would turn to check on her, his puppy dog eyes peaking over the back of the seat. She would ignore them and continue on reading, her eyes stinging harshly.

She got the call the night before, just after they rescued Sam from the creepy family that hunted humans for sport. It was Taylor, Beth's husband, that called her, telling her that she needed to come home now. They were supposed to be on their way to Chicago for Beth and Levi's birthday in a day's time; now they were going for a different reason.

Levi was dead. The police had found him in his condo in Chicago after he didn't show up to work for two days. She didn't know how her brother died because at that point, she was a mess. Sam had pulled her into his arms while Dean took the phone, getting the details from Taylor. They were on their way to Chicago as soon as they packed up their things.

Julia had been inconsolable for the first half of the eight-hour drive from Hibbing, Minnesota to Chicago. Dean had stayed with her in the backseat, holding her tightly while Sam drove them. Then Julia fell asleep; when she woke up only an hour later, she was alone in the backseat. She cried silently as she pulled her bible out of her backpack and started reading, trying to find strength from whatever passage she turned to.

Now they were just getting out of the early morning traffic on their way to Winnetka, the village that the Petersen-Alexander family lived in which was only sixteen miles away from Chicago. Beth, Taylor, and Lizzie still lived in the house that the siblings grew up in while keeping rooms for Luke, Abby, Levi, and Julia.

"Jules," Dean spoke up gently as he pulled up to the gates that kept strangers and any enemies off the Petersen property. "We're here."

Julia barely looked up, just enough to give Dean a view of her bloodshot eyes. She looked back down, hearing Dean sigh and roll down his window to speak into the speaker in front of the gate.

"Name?" a gruff voice spoke.

"Dean Winchester," Dean stated. "I'm here with Julia and my brother, Sam."

"Codeword?"

Dean cleared his throat and recited the codeword that Taylor gave him the night before. "Peanut butter cup."

As the gate buzzed and slowly opened, Julia wondered if Lizzie picked the codeword. It had been food before, but Lizzie's favorite candy was a Reese's Peanut Butter cup. She probably insisted that it would be the week's passcode. Her niece was a special one, that was for sure.

The head security guard, a man named Mike that had been with them since Julia was a baby, greeted them at the front of the house. He hardly acknowledged Sam and Dean as Julia got out of the car, immediately pulling her into a tight hug.

Julia felt the tell-tale sting in her eyes as she buried her head in Mike's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Jules," Mike said hoarsely; he was just as upset as the siblings, considering they considered Mike and his wife, Judy, their family. "Levi was a good man. One of the best."

Dean felt his heart ache for Julia when he saw his shoulders heave, a sign that she had started crying again. He felt so bad for her on top of his own sadness; he and Levi had been good friends since childhood. Everyone was feeling his loss right now.

Julia pulled back from Mike and wiped her eyes, giving him a tired smile while Sam and Dean started getting their stuff out of the trunk. "How's Judy?"

"She's okay," Mike told her, grabbing her bags from Sam and Dean. "We've missed you around here."

"I've missed you guys too," she assured him. Turning to face the house, she sighed heavily. "Is Abby home yet?"

Mike nodded. "Yep. Maggie got here an hour ago."

"And no Dad?"

"Not yet," he frowned; Dean and Sam copied his expression. "Sorry, Jules."

Julia didn't answer verbally; she reached for his hand and squeezed it before climbing up the steps to the front door. She typed the four-digit code in to unlock the door and opened it when the locks unlocked loudly.

"Auntie Jules!" a squeal erupted from the foyer before Julia was almost knocked over by a small force.

"Lizzie!" Julia plastered a smile on her face for her niece, who probably didn't understand what was going on. All she knew was that Aunt Julia and Aunt Abby had come home earlier than they were meant to. She picked Lizzie up and poked the dimple in her right cheek. "Look at you! You're almost as tall as me!"

Although Lizzie was tall for her five years of age, she wasn't almost as tall as Julia. She was the cutest little girl that Julia had seen, though. She got her dad's face full of freckles and height but everything else was Bethany. The wavy brown hair that all Petersen women inherited, the brown eyes, and the pretty smile.

Lizzie giggled. "Yep!" she exclaimed as her eyes left her aunt and found Dean behind her. "Uncle Dean!"

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted her with a grin, reaching forward to tug on one of her braided pigtails. "Lizzie, you remember Sammy?"

"Hi, Uncle Sammy!" even though Sam and Lizzie had only met three or four times, she was always fond of the tall man. "Your hair is silly!"

Dean chuckled in amusement while Sam smiled. "Hey, Lizzie."

Julia shook her head and hid her laugh. Clearing her throat, she gained her niece's attention once again. "Hey, Lizzie, where's your mom?"

"Upstairs in her room," the bright smile fell from Lizzie's face. "With Aunt Abby."

Julia set Lizzie back down. "I'm gonna go check on her, okay? Why don't you bring Dean and Sam to your dad?"

"Okay!" Lizzie chirped, grabbing Dean's outstretched hand. "Nana Maggie is here, too."

Forcing a smile, Julia waited until Lizzie led Sam and Dean out of the foyer. Mike had already gone to put all of their bags in her room and the guest rooms, so all she had to do was go to Beth and Taylor's room.

She knew as soon as she saw her sisters she would break down again. Levi was a quiet man but he had always watched over them. He was protective and the best big brother Julia could have asked for. The three sisters would feel his loss forever.

Julia wandered around the staircase to the hallway at the back of the foyer. The master bedroom, as well as two guest rooms, and her dad's room were on the main level. The closer she got to the master bedroom, the more she could hear gentle sniffling. She gently knocked on the door before opening.

Beth and Abby were laying together on the king-sized bed, their eyes red and faces puffy. They looked up when Julia entered the room and, when she broke into sobs and ran to the bed, they started crying again.

Julia buried her head in Beth's shoulder, inhaling her rose and vanilla scent. She already felt better in her sisters' arms but she'd be perfect if Levi was still there, too.

It was a somber night in the Petersen-Alexander house with all three sisters not coming out of the master bedroom since Julia arrived. Sam and Dean had greeted Taylor and Maggie fondly, knowing both of them quite well, and the four of them made sure that Lizzie was entertained and the sisters were checked on every hour.

In the morning, the news had centered around Levi's death. As one of the most eligible bachelors in Chicago, it was a big deal to hear that Levi Petersen had passed away. Taylor had to turn the channel when Maggie burst into tears over her cup of coffee from the rumors that were going around about her nephew.

Julia was the first of the sisters to emerge. At eight, she was freshly showered and dressed in lounge shorts and a PSC t-shirt. She and Taylor greeted each other fondly and then she and Maggie had an emotional reunion.

Maggie was one of Julia's heroes. Her aunt was a spitting image of Naomi, with the wavy brown hair and dimple, but that wasn't the reason why Julia looked up to her. When Naomi first got sick when Julia was ten, Maggie took over as the CEO of Petersen Sports Co.. She was thirty-two years old and previously the head of sales, much like Levi was. She thrived in her new role and kept the company successful while making sure her sister was taken care of while Luke was out hunting every week. And when Naomi died, Maggie was the one to take care of Julia while grieving her sister and still taking care of the family business. Even if Maggie didn't fight or hunt, she was a badass in her own way. She stepped up when she needed to, was a faithful woman, and she loved her family fiercely. Julia hoped to be half of the woman Maggie was as she aged.

"Julia," Maggie sighed into her hair as they hugged tearfully. "I've been worried about you."

Julia pulled away from the hug and wiped her tears away, giving her a confused look. "Why?"

"Well, you're hunting," Maggie pointed out the obvious. "Without your sister, might I add."

"Sam and Dean are great, Aunt Maggie."

"I know they are," Maggie nodded, sending Sam and Dean a warm smile where they sat on one of the couches in the large living room. "I just worry about you kids."

"I know you do," Julia squeezed Maggie's hand. "but I'll be okay. I promise."

Maggie smiled and kissed the top of Julia's head before going to join Lizzie by the coffee table to color from a princess coloring book.

"So," Julia took a deep breathed and smiled at Sam, Dean, and Taylor. "Who wants blueberry pancakes for breakfast?"

"I do!" Lizzie exclaimed excitedly. "You always make them the best!"

"Hey, I heard that, you rugrat!" Beth entered the living room, giving her daughter a mischievous smile. Abby walked in right behind her, both of them showered and freshly dressed.

While Abby greeted Sam and Dean, Beth picked Lizzie up and kissed her cheek, making her giggle, "Sorry, Momma."

"How about I teach your mom how to make them like Nana Naomi taught me?" Julia asked Lizzie. "Extra blueberries?"

Lizzie nodded jerkily. "Extra blueberries."

Beth shook her head in amusement and set down Lizzie before walking over to Sam and Dean.

"Hey, guys," she pulled Dean into a hug, who returned it easily. The Petersen family were huggers and he was comfortable enough with them to return the affection. "How are you?"

"Hanging in there," Dean smiled sadly. "I'm so sorry, Beth."

Beth's dimple popped out as she frowned but gave him a grateful look. "Thanks, Dean," she turned to Sam, wrapping her arms around him. "Sam, you need a haircut."

Sam pressed his lips together while Dean laughed. "Lizzie said that too."

"Yeah," Sam rolled his eyes as Beth started laughing with his brother. "Laugh it up, guys. Real funny."

Dean and Beth continued to laugh until Julia called over for her sister. "Beth, come on!"

Beth sobered up and grinned at the men she considered her brothers. "I better go before she gets all bossy on me."

Dean looked over Beth's head to where Julia stood with Lizzie on her hip, both of them looking over the oldest sister expectantly. She looked good with a kid on her hip, he realized. It made him think of his dream, of Peter, Jonah, and Levi and their life together.

He didn't know that he had a certain glint to his stare as he watched Julia but Beth did. She quickly looked between the two, noticing that Julia was now staring back at him with a small smile and looked to Sam to see if he noticed too.

She raised her eyebrows at him in a silent question; do Julia and Dean have feelings for each other? Sam nodded back at her; they're both oblivious, but yes.

An amused smirk crossed Beth's face as she crossed the living room to her sister and daughter. "All right," she gave in. "Let's go make breakfast, girlies."

Maggie followed Julia, Beth, and Lizzie into the kitchen, leaving Dean, Sam, Abby, and Taylor. Abby waited until the sound of the mixer started before sitting next to Taylor on the couch and bringing up a difficult subject with all three men.

"Did Taylor give you the details about..." she hesitated for a long second, swallowing the lump in her throat. "about Levi?"

"I didn't," Taylor shook his head. "Not all of them, anyway. I figured you'd have a better perspective about the whole thing."

Abby nodded and Dean gave them a curious look. "What are you talking about?"

"Levi's death wasn't—" Taylor shook his head sadly. "It wasn't from natural causes. Someone—or something—murdered him."

"Something?" Sam raised his eyebrows at Taylor, stomach sinking in dread. "You mean you think something supernatural killed him."

"I do."

"I do, too," Abby added. "His condo was locked and the security system was on without any reported break-ins or tripped alarms."

"Have you seen the condo?" Dean asked; Taylor nodded. "Was there anything weird or any sign of a presence?"

"I took pictures of it," Taylor's face paled immensely as he remembered the crime scene. "It—it was bad. I had to identify the body and, well, Levi put up a fight."

Abby sniffed as tears filled her eyes; Sam and Dean gave her sympathetic looks while Taylor wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulders.

"Listen, I looked more into it," she pulled herself together. "There was another death a week or so ago and this morning. Same thing as Levi; locked apartment, no tripped alarms."

"This morning?" Sam asked in shock.

Abby nodded. "Guys, I think this is something," she inhaled deeply. "and I would do this myself but I-I just can't."

"We'll take care of it," Dean assured her quickly; he knew how important this way. This was Levi and he wasn't about to let his friend's little sister look into his murder. "We'll find what did this to Levi."

Abby wiped her eyes and sniffed noisily, taking the tissue Taylor offered her. Dean hadn't seen her cry since Naomi died; Abby was a tough one and didn't wear her heart on her sleeve like her sisters.

"Thank you," she managed to smile at them before standing up. "I'm gonna go see how they're doing in there."

As she left the room, Sam and Dean exchanged serious looks. They had to find out what exactly happened to Levi. They owed it to their friend and his grieving family.

After a delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes, eggs, sausage—because Lizzie was weird and she didn't like bacon—and bacon, the arrangements for Levi's memorial began. While Maggie was on the phone with the funeral home where Naomi had her memorial—the family knew the home's director, who made sure their family was salted before being cremated—Taylor, Sam, and Dean retreated into the former's study, where they went over the photos of the crime scene in Levi's apartment while Julia, Abby, Beth, and Lizzie went through pictures of Levi to display at the memorial.

There were around twenty photo books to go through since the Petersen family were big on pictures. There were three whole photo albums just on Levi himself, from infancy to adulthood, while there were five books or so of the siblings all together and even more for special events and holidays.

It was heart breaking to go through the books, looking at Levi's smiling face but there was also something calming about it for Julia. Seeing Levi's bright smile in the pictures made her miss him so much but she knew he was happy up in Heaven with their mom. He had been a momma's boy through and through and he was destroyed when Naomi died. Julia would see her big brother again; she was sure of it.

"Look at this one," Beth smiled sadly down at the picture in her hands. She showed Abby and Julia, who were sitting side-by-side across the kitchen table. "Do you remember this?"

"Oh, my God, was that the Easter?" Abby reached for the photo and grinned widely when her question was answered. "It is. God, that was the funniest thing that ever happened to me."

"Yeah, funniest for you, most embarrassing for me," Julia grumbled as she took the picture from her sister; she couldn't help but smile at it anyway. "I tripped and fell at the Easter egg hunt, right in front of the boy I liked."

The picture was from when Julia was ten years old, Abby was thirteen, and Beth and Levi were seventeen. It was Easter and they were all dressed up in their best spring outfits. Right before the picture had been taken by Naomi, there was an Easter egg hunt that Julia participated in while her family watched on. She ended up tripping in the church parking lot in front of Simon Johnson, the boy she liked from her school. Her knees were still bloody and her face was tear-stained in the picture where she was smiling forcefully in front of Levi.

Beth and Abby snickered and Julia tried to glare at them but she couldn't keep it up. "All right, fine," she admitted. "It's kind of funny now."

"It was funny then!" Abby exclaimed before turning to Lizzie who sat next to her mother. "Auntie Jules is clumsy, isn't she?"

Lizzie nodded, her eyes eagerly soaking in the picture as Julia handed it back to Beth. "I like that picture."

"Me too," Beth smiled fondly. "It's going in the sibling pile."

Julia sighed; why must her sister torture her. "Fine."

She grabbed a photo album from the middle of the table and opened, smiling when she realized that it was Levi's teen years. It was full of awkward but sweet pictures. There were some of him with the youth group they all participated in; some from school events like prom and soccer games; there were a lot with Beth, especially when they graduated; and there was even one with Dean by his side, both of them looking at the camera with unamused looks. She saved that one, intending to give it to Dean later.

It was nice to see the pictures and remember times that she may not have on her own. She was seven years younger than Levi and Beth, which meant that some of her memories of them were different with a child's point of view. When she was younger and Levi went to prom with his date, she thought that he needed to hire a stylist. Now, as she looked at the picture, she knew that he dressed as best as he could, considering it was the nineties.

They went through the rest of the photo albums, pulling the pictures they wanted to frame for the memorial. They had to take a few breaks for the sisters to shed some tears. The worst part for them was when they had to decide which picture they needed to blow up for the large frame that would be in front of the church. It hurt them so much to know that the picture was the last representation of their brother.

Lizzie, bless her heart, was a Godsend. Taylor had explained what happened to her Uncle Levi the night before and she was sad but she was smart, too. She understood that her mom and aunts were grieving so she took it upon herself to cheer them up. To distract them, she'd the song that Beth sang to her while tucking her into bed every night.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..." It made all of them smile.

Lizzie's favorite thing, though, was something she had in common with her Aunt Julia. She was a big fan of corny jokes and it was something so simple that had the sisters crying in laughter.

"What do you call a cow with no legs?" she'd say so innocently. "Ground beef!"

Normally, Beth and Abby would snicker politely but when Julia really got going—and she laughed hard at stupid jokes like that—they couldn't contain themselves. And then, Lizzie would join in, looking very happy that she made her mom and aunts laugh.

It was nice to laugh instead of cry. It felt right; Levi never could bear to see his little sisters cry.

Dean climbed out of the Impala outside of the apartment building of a woman named Meredith, the latest victim that fit the pattern of Levi's death. They had spent the morning and most of the afternoon pouring over the crime scene photos of Levi's condo and more details about Meredith's death. When they found the woman's address, the brothers decided to go check out the apartment for themselves.

"All right, Dean," Sam got out of the passenger seat, allowing Dean to lock up. "This is the place."

Dean nodded and tugged at the jumpsuit Sam insisted he wear so they could pass as workers for the company that provided the security in Meredith's apartment. "You know, I gotta say that Dad and me did just find without these stupid costumes. I feel like a high school drama dork."

Sam gave him his famous bitch face, making Dean chuckle.

"Hey, what was that play you were in?" he asked Sam. "What was it—Our Town," he nodded, grinning when he recalled how adorable Sam looked a the main tree. "Yeah, you were good. It was cute."

Sam sighed in annoyance. "Look, you wanna pull this off or not?"

"I'm just saying," Dean shrugged as they got closer to the building's entrance. "these outfits cost hard-earned money, okay?"

"Whose?"

"Our," Dean answered Sam's skeptical tone with an obvious one. "You think credit card fraud is easy?"

"Just shut up," Sam scoffed, holding back his laugh as he opened the door for his brother.

They spoke to the landlady, Maria, about who they were and why there were there and she led them up to Meredith's apartment.

"Thanks for letting us look around," Sam thanked Maria as she let them into the apartment.

"Well, the police said they were done with the place, so," she trailed off, shrugging as she and Sam moved further into the apartment. Dean closed the door behind them, his eyes looking around the place curiously.

If he closed his eyes, he could still see the gruesome photos that Taylor took of Levi's apartment. It was messy, obviously from when Levi struck up a fight, and it was bloody. Meredith's apartment was bloody, too. The white carpet was absolutely destroyed from the blood that was soaked up in it.

"You guys said you were with the alarm company?" Maria asked them.

"That's right," Dean confirmed.

"Well, no offense, but your alarm's about as useful as boobs on a man."

Dean and Sam exchanged a taken aback look.

"Well, that's why we're here," Dean assured her. "To see what went wrong and stop it from happening again."

As Dean started to look around the living room, Sam asked Maria, "Now, ma'am, you found the body?"

"Yeah."

"Right after it happened?"

"No, just this morning," Maria sighed sadly. "Meredith's work called—she hadn't shown up in a few days. I knocked on the door and that was when I noticed the smell."

Dean nodded and studied the windows, looking for any disturbances. "Any windows open? Any sign of a break-in?"

"No, the windows were locked, the front door bolted," Maria told him. "The chain was on the door and we had to cut it just to get in."

Dean turned back to her. "And the alarm was still on?"

Maria nodded. "Like I said, bang-up job your company's doing."

Dean hummed, his eyes searching the area of the room where it faded into the kitchen. "You see any overturned furniture, broken glass, signs of a struggle?"

"Everything was in perfect condition," Maria's eyes filled with tears. "Except—except Meredith."

"And what condition was Meredith in?" Sam wondered, remembering the police report on Levi.

"Meredith was all over, in pieces. The guy who killed her must have been some kind of whack-job," Maria shook her head in disgust. "But I tell you, if I didn't know any better, I'd have said it was a wild animal that did it."

Dean pressed his lips together and bowed his head; the report had said the same thing about Levi's body. Not about the wild animal, but that he was in pieces. When he read that part of the report, he had to take a minute to pull himself together. He couldn't imagine Levi—who was the closest to a best friend that Dean had—like that.

Sam, seeing the distant look in Dean's eyes, turned to Maria. "Ma'am, do you mind if we take some time to give this place a once-over."

"Oh, well, go right ahead," Maria agreed. "Knock yourself out."

As soon as Maria left the apartment and the door was shut firmly behind her, Dean pulled the EMF meter out of the tool box he brought. "So, a killer walked in and out of the apartment—No weapons, no prints, nothing."

The EMF meter whirled to life as Sam sighed. "Just like Levi's place," he stated. "So, you talked to the cops, right?"

Dean nodded. "Nothing we don't already know," he told his brother. "but the deputy I talked to told me something and it matched right up to Levi's case."

Sam raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Hmm?"

"Meredith's heart was missing."

"Just like Levi's?"

"Just like Levi's," Dean confirmed as he started waving the EMF meter around the room.

"So, what do you think we're dealing with?" Sam wondered he finished his own snooping and met back up with Dean in the middle of the room.

"Well, Maria said that it looked like an animal attacked Meredith," Dean reminded him. "Maybe it was a werewolf?"

"No," Sam shook his head. "No, the lunar cycle's not right. Plus, if it was a creature, it would've left some kind of trace."

Dean nodded in agreement, catching some of Meredith's blood out of the corner of his eye. He looked down at the blood splatter fully, eyebrows furrowing when he saw that the drops were in some kind of pattern.

"See if you can find any masking tape around," he said to Sam.

Sam went searching throughout the apartment and it didn't take long until he found some electrical tape in the junk drawer in the kitchen. Dean got to his knees and started taping the stains together, like a gruesome connect-the-dots challenge.

The tape made out a symbol that Dean had never seen before. There was a circle in the middle with two lines going off either side of it and curving up on one side and down on the other.

Sam studied the symbol with furrowed brows. "Have you ever seen that symbol before?"

Dean shook his head. "Never."

"Me either."

After talking to the bartender at the bar that Amanda worked at, Dean walked back to the table where Sam was waiting for him, pages deep into their dad's journal. He sat on the stool across from his brother and tapped the surface of the table, almost impatiently.

Sam looked up from the journal and Dean sighed, "I talked to the bartender."

"And did you get anything besides her number?"

Dean rolled his eyes at his brother. "No, and I didn't ask for it, either."

"Really?" Dean wanted to punch the bewildered look off of Sam's face. "Why?"

"Dude, one of our friends—who was pretty much family—just died," Dean avoided his brother's eyes; truth was, it didn't feel right drinking and flirting with attractive women while Julia was at her house mourning her older brother.

"Hmm," Sam hummed and Dean looked over at him with narrowed eyes; Sam quickly moved on, "so, what did you find out, then?"

"Meredith worked here; she waited tables," Dean told him something they both already knew. "Everybody here was her friend. Everybody said she was normal. She didn't do or say anything weird before she died, so..."

"Huh..."

"Yep," Dean clicked his tongue. "So, did you find anything out about that symbol?"

"Nope, nothing," Sam shook his head. "It wasn't in Dad's journals or in any of the usual books. I just have to dig a little deeper, I guess."

"Okay..." Dean tapped his fingers on the table again as he tried to think of something that would help. "Well, what about the first victim? The one before Levi?"

"Right, yeah," Sam pulled a newspaper clipping out of his jacket pocket, handing it to Dean. "His name was Ben Swardstrom. Last month he was found mutilated in his town house. Same deal as Levi and Meredith—the door was locked, the alarm was on."

"Was there any connection between the three of them?" Dean asked as he skimmed the article.

"Not that I can tell," Sam sighed. "I mean, not yet, at least. Levi worked for PSC, Ben was a banker, and Meredith was a waitress. None of them met or knew anyone in common."

Dean handed the newspaper clipping back to Sam. "So, we have nothing."

When he didn't get an answer from his brother, he looked over at him. Sam was looking across the bar and, when Dean followed his gaze, he saw that there was a tall woman with short blonde hair seated at a table with a few other people.

"Sam?" he looked back to his brother. "Hello?"

Sam quickly stood up and left the table, heading across the bar to the blonde woman. Dean quickly followed him, watching, bewildered, as Sam hugged the woman fondly.

"Sam," the woman pulled away from the hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I'm just in town visiting friends," Sam answered her with a half-lie.

The woman looked around Sam, her eyes sliding past Dean without a pause. "Where are they?"

Sam stiffened for a second before he spoke. "Well, they're not here right now. But, what about you, Meg? I thought you were going to California?"

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. Is that how Sam knew this chick? He met her while he was trying to hitchhike his way to California to find their dad?

"Oh, I did," Meg—that was what Sam called her—told him. "I came, I saw, I conquered. Oh, and I met what's-his-name, something Michael Murray at a bar."

"Who?" Sam looked confused.

Dean knew who she was talking about, though. Julia was a big fan of One Tree Hill and watched it every week when a new episode premiered. Chad Michael Murray played one of the main characters that Julia wasn't a fan of because he cheated on Brooke with Peyton and it was a whole thing. He didn't even know he knew exactly what she passionately rambled about until this moment; did this mean he was a fan of One Tree Hill?

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Meg grinned up at Sam. "Anyway, the whole scene got old, so I'm living here for a while."

Having enough of being left out of the conversation, Dean cleared his throat to get their attention. He was promptly ignored.

"You're from Chicago?" Sam asked her in surprise.

"No, Andover, Massachusetts," Meg told him. "God, Sam, what are the odds we'd run into each other?"

"Yeah, I know," Sam smiled. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Well, I'm glad you were wrong."

From the looks Dean saw coming from Meg to Sam, it looked like those two had a connection. He grinned, amused like he always was when Sam met someone he was interested in, and cleared his throat again.

Meg immediately turned to glare at him. "Dude, cover your mouth."

Sam realized that Dean was there. "Yeah, um, I'm sorry, Meg," he apologized to the blonde. "This is, uh—this is my brother, Dean."

Meg gave him a surprised look. "This is Dean?"

Sam nodded while Dean smiled charmingly. "So, you've heard of me?"

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of you," Meg said; Dean was taken aback by the hostility in her voice. "It's nice, the way you treat your brother like luggage."

Dean furrowed his eyebrows; maybe her head her wrong. "Sorry?"

"Why don't you let him do what he wants to do?" Meg scolded him like she had any right to. "Stop dragging him over God's green earth."

"Meg, it's all right," Sam intervened; Dean gave him a surprised look. Is that what Sam really thought about him?

"Okay, this is awkward," Dean mumbled, wishing Julia was there to break the ice. "I'm gonna go get a drink now."

Dean only got through half a beer when Sam all but dragged him out of the bar. Dean immediately started questioning him, wondering exactly had happened earlier.

"Who the fuck was she?" he asked as they walked through the parking lot.

"I don't really now," Sam admitted. "I only met her once. Meeting up with her again? I don't know, man, it's weird."

Dean didn't pay much attention to Sam's concerns. "And what was she saying, huh? I treat you like luggage? What, were you bitching about me to some chick?"

"Look, I'm sorry, Dean," Sam sighed. "It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana...but that's not important, just listen—"

"Well, is there any truth to what she's saying?" Dean interrupted him worriedly. "I mean, am I keeping you against your will, Sam?"

"No, of course not," Sam assured him. "Now, would you listen?"

"What?" Dean stopped walking once they crossed the street; Sam did the same and faced him.

"I think there's something strange going on here, Dean," Sam stated. "Like, our kind of strange. Maybe even a lead."

Dean blinked at him. "Why do you say that?"

"I met Meg weeks ago, literally on the side of the road and now I run into her in some random bar in Chicago?" Sam pointed out. "I mean, the same bar where a waitress was killed and the same time Levi was slaughtered by something supernatural? You don't think that's a little weird?"

Dean didn't know what to think. Maybe Sam was right. Maybe it couldn't be a coincidence but even if it was, they could still check Meg out to see if she did anything suspicious.

"Okay, so you follow her," Dean suggested. "I'm gonna go back to the house and look through their library. See if they have anything on that symbol."

"Okay," Sam nodded. "and check to see if there's really a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts."

Dean agreed and the brothers split up.

Julia wandered through the house, looking for Dean. She had heard the Impala roll up to the house around ten but she hadn't seen him at all in the hours since. Granted, it was midnight and pretty much everyone else was asleep, or trying to fall asleep, but Dean was a night owl. He usually stayed up until the infomercials came on and even then, he'd sit and watch some of them that he thought were interesting—he was especially interested in the knives that claimed to cut through anything, which Julia thought was kind of adorable.

She entered the small library that was connected to the study and was surprised to see Dean at the large table in the middle of the room, flipping through some pages in one of her dad's old hunting journals.

"Hey," she greeted him as she walked over and sat in the seat next to him.

"Hey," he gave her a small and concerned smile. "How are you?"

"I'm managing," Julia tried to conjure a full smile but she didn't have it in her. "What are you doing?"

Dean hesitated for a couple of seconds and Julia could tell that he was seriously thinking about something.

Finally, when he spoke, his voice was careful. "I'm gonna tell you something and it's gonna be hard to take," he said cautiously; Julia stiffened nervously. "Abby and Taylor thought that something was off about Levi's death so Sam and I are looking into it."

Julia swallowed harshly as she took in the new information, her eyes stinging. She let herself shed a few tears before forcefully pulling herself together. If something that they hunted killed Levi, then she owed it to him to help find out what—or who—it was.

"What do you have so far?"

"Julia—"

"I'm not saying that I want to go hunt the thing," Julia cut him off and grabbed his hand; he was the one to give her a comforting squeeze this time and it almost made her cry again. "I just—I want to help if I can. I need to help, Dean."

"Okay," Dean's green eyes stared sadly into her hazel ones. "Okay, there was another victim this morning so Sam and I went to check it out. The apartment was locked, the alarm wasn't tripped, and there was no sign of forced entry. We found something, though."

He took his phone and pulled up the picture he had taken of the symbol. Once he handed her the phone, Julia studied it for a minute or so before her eyes lit up in recognition.

"I know what that is," she declared, standing up to head to one of the large bookshelves.

Dean followed her with his eyes. "You do?"

Julia nodded, finding the book she was looking and pulling it from the shelf. "Yeah," she confirmed as she walked back over to him. "It took me a second to place it, but yeah, I know it," she flipped through the book. "My dad...he told me about this one time."

"Okay, so what is it?"

"It's Zoroastrian," Julia informed him. "It's old, like two thousand years before Jesus was born. It's a sigil for Daeva."

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. "What's a Daeva?"

Julia skimmed the information on the page she stopped at, the familiar symbol inked into the top. "It translates to 'demon of darkness'," she read. "The Zoroastrian demons are savage and animalistic."

Dean looked at one of the drawing of the demon. "Like a demonic pitbull?"

"Exactly," Julia nodded at him and then looked back to the book. "This says that the Daevas have to be summoned or conjured."

"So, someone's controlling it?" Dean asked.

"Yeah and they look terrifying," Julia's voice wavered as her eyes started to sting again. "If Levi...I mean, who would want to kill him? Why would someone do this to him?"

Dean couldn't stand to see Julia so upset and not comfort her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her into his chest. Her body shook with sobs but Dean held on tight, determined to support her just like she always supported him. He rested his cheek on the top of her head, whispering comforting words.

It wasn't until Julia fell asleep in his arms that Dean let his own tears fall.

Levi's memorial was scheduled for the next day, his and Beth's birthday. Beth insisted that it was done that day so she could give him one last birthday party. The house was quiet in the morning as everyone gathered in the foyer, dressed in black, to pray before they left the church. Dean didn't pray—he didn't really at all—but for Levi, he did. He held onto Julia's and Sam's hands and prayed to whoever or whatever was out there, hoping that the Petersen family would find peace with the loss of Levi and that his friend was up in Heaven like he told Dean he would be going after he died during one of the conversations in high school about faith, Christianity, and God.

The church was crowded when they arrived and the family was swept up in condolences from PSC employees, family friends, school friends, and church members. They were all very kind but, like any church, there were a couple of people who just seemed like snobs to Dean.

The memorial itself was beautiful; a large picture of Levi was at the front of the church next to the podium where the pastor spoke and there were more pictures in white frames around the church that detailed Levi's life with friends and family. Dean sat in the front row with the Petersen family on one side of Julia—with Abby on the other side of her—holding her hand and letting her squeeze it as tightly as she wanted.

There were eulogies and kind words spoken about Levi. Beth's speech was by far the most moving and it had Julia quietly sobbing into Dean's shoulder, his own tears falling down his cheeks as he held onto her. The pastor's message was moving, too, and for a second, it made Dean appreciate the faith that Julia, Levi, and the rest of the Petersen family had.

When the service was over, completed with a rendition of Amazing Grace from the church's choir, they moved into the banquet hall part of the building to enjoy a meal in remembrance of Levi. It was a potluck; made up of foods brought in by church members and Levi's friends.

It was after Dean finished eating that Sam pulled him aside to tell him about his night of watching Meg. It didn't really shock him to find out that Sam was right about seeing Meg was too much of a coincidence. It was her that summoned the Daeva and it was her that killed Levi.

"That's not all," Sam said as Dean's blood boiled. "She was communicating with someone."

"Someone?" Dean raised his eyebrows. "With who, the Daeva?"

"No, you told me those things were savages," Sam shook his head. "No, this was someone different. "Someone who's giving her orders. Someone who's coming to that warehouse."

Dean closed his eyes in realization; he had looked up some more information on the other victims and he had completely forgotten to tell Sam what he found.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. "I looked into the records of the other victims. We missed something."

"What?"

"The first victim, the old man, he spent his whole life in Chicago but he wasn't born here," Dean informed his brother. "He was born in Lawrence, Kansas."

Sam's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"Mmhm," Dean nodded. "and Meredith, it turns out she was adopted. And guess where she's from?"

"Lawrence, Kansas," Sam breathed. "Shit."

Dean hummed. "Yeah."

"I mean, it is where the demon killed Mom," Sam sighed. "That's where everything started. You think that Meg's tied up with the demon?"

"I think it's a definite possibility."

Sam frowned. "I don't understand. What's the significance of Lawrence? Why was Levi targeted? How do these Daeva things fit in?"

"Well, we're from Lawrence," Dean pointed out. "and Levi was practically family."

"And the Daeva?"

"Beats me," Dean shrugged. "but I say we trash that black altar, grab Meg, and have ourselves a friendly little interrogation."

"No, we can't," Sam shook his head immediately. "We shouldn't tip her off. We've gotta stake out that warehouse. We've gotta see who, or what, is showing up to meet her."

"Fine, we'll go tonight," Dean agreed. "In the meantime, we need to support Jules."

Sam nodded and clapped Dean's shoulder. "Yeah," he stated. "We do."

The hallway to the motel room Sam got for them seemed much longer after they were thrown around by Meg and her little Daeva friends. Sam trashed the black altar she was using to control the demonic pit bulls but not before they got a little slashes in; Sam's right cheek had three claw marks scratched into it and, compared to him, Dean was let off easily.

"Why didn't you just leave that stuff in the car?" Dean asked his brother about the duffle bag full of weapons he was carrying as he pulled the room key out of his jacket.

"I said it before, and I'll say it again," Sam said, adjusting the bag's strap on his shoulder. "Better safe than sorry."

Dean shrugged and unlocked the door; he walked into the room but stopped just beyond the threshold when he saw two tall but dark figures standing near the window.

"Hey!" Dean barked at them, reaching for his gun.

The two men turned around as Sam reached for the lights, allowing him and Dean to see them clearly. The brothers recognized them immediately; Dean felt hope swell in his chest.

"Luke?" his eyes flicked between the blonde man and the brunette man. "Dad?"

John smiled warmly at his sons, his dimples making an appearance. "Hey, boys."

Dean didn't care if he usually didn't do chick-flick moments. He hadn't seen his dad in almost nine months and he thought he was dead for half that time. He walked forward at the same time as John, both of them pulling each other into a warm but strong hug.

Dean inhaled the usual scent that his dad gave off, peppermint and leather, and committed it to his memory for the thousandth time. The hug ended then, as Sam and John greeted each other, and he walked over to Luke to shake his hand—Luke was definitely not as touchy-feely as his children were.

"Luke," he greeted Julia's father; Luke's grip was as firm as it usually was but there was a sadness in his blue eyes that wasn't always there. "I'm really sorry about Levi."

"Thanks, Dean," Luke nodded, his gruff voice wavering only a little. "How are my girls?"

"Managing," Dean told him. "but they need you."

Luke pressed his lips together but didn't say anything; he wasn't positive, but Dean took that to mean that Luke wasn't visiting his grieving daughters while he was in town. It was discouraging and he grew irritated enough to turn away from the older man.

Dean had never really loved Luke—despite the fact that he was his dad's best friend—but he never disliked him, either. Now, though, his respect for the man had plummeted. His son had died and he wasn't at the memorial and he wasn't going to show up for his daughters, either. If Dean knew Naomi—and he did, she was the closest thing he ever had to a mother—she'd be rolling over in her grave right now at her husband's behavior.

"Dad, it was a trap," Dean focused on what was happening at the moment instead of letting his anger at Luke get the better of him. "I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"It's all right," John nodded with a small smile. "We thought it might've been."

"Were you there?"

"We got there just in time to see the girl fall from the building," Luke told him and Sam. "She was the one who killed Levi, right?"

Sam and Dean nodded in unison. "Yes, sir."

Luke inhaled deeply, his eyes flicking to meet John's. "Good. That's—that's good."

Well, as least he seemed grateful that his son's murderer was dead, Dean thought to himself.

"Well, the trap doesn't surprise me," John kept the conversation going, though there was a hint of sadness in his eyes, as well. "It's tried to stop me before."

Sam looked at him in surprise. "The demon has?"

John nodded. "It knows we're close," he told his sons. "It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to Hell—actually kill it."

Dean furrowed his eyebrows; from what Julia told him and what he already knew, he didn't think demons could actually be killed. "How?"

John and Luke shared smiles. "We're working on that."

"Let us come with you," Sam insisted immediately. "We'll help."

"No, Sam," John bowed his head as he denied is youngest son. "Not yet. Listen, try to understand, this demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in the crossfire. I don't want you hurt."

"Dad, you don't have to worry about us," Sam tried to talk sense into his father.

"Of course, I do. I'm your father," John shook his head and then paused, his eyes softening. "Listen, Sammy, last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight."

Sam's lips pursed as he started to tear up. "Yes, sir."

John sniffed. "It's good to see you again," he said thickly. "It's been a long time."

"Too long," Sam agreed; the two hugged, tightly holding onto each other as they fought their emotions.

To matter the circumstances, Dean was glad this was happening. It'd been four years since that nasty fight when Sam took off for Stanford; it had been one of the worst nights of his life; Sam was gone, John was an angry mess, and Dean's favorite person in the world had left him. Things were looking up now, though. Sam was by his side—until they found the demon, at least—Julia was hunting with them, and his dad was okay.

John and Sam finished their hug and John was looking at Dean tearfully when he was forcefully thrown back against the wall with some invisible force. Sam went down next, falling hard on his side when the Daeva attacked him, and then it was Luke who was on the floor.

"No!" Dean shouted before he was soaring through the air, too.

There was a lot of screaming from John and Luke as the Daeva seemed to focus on them but Dean couldn't focus on that them with all of his attention as he tried to get away from the Daeva knocking him around. Frankly, the grunts of pain Sam was letting out concerned him more but he couldn't shake the Daeva on his tail.

"Shut your eyes!" he heard Sam shout just after the Daeva swiped its claws down his forehead. "These things are shadow demons, so let's light 'em up!"

Dean covered his eyes as Sam lit a flare; flooding the room with bright light and smoke. The Daeva attacking him disappeared and so did the ones on John and Luke. He slowly got to his feet as he coughed heavily and tried to make his way to John.

"Dad?"

"Over here!" John called back to him.

Dean followed his voice and found his dad where he was tossed in the kitchen. He ducked under John's shoulder and helped him up while Sam got Luke to his feet. The four of them piled out of the bright and smoky room and tried to get out of the motel as fast as they could.

"All right, come on," Sam said hurriedly as they approached the Impala; he let Luke lean against the car while he put the duffle bag full of weapons into the backseat. "We don't have much time. As soon as the flare's out, they'll be back."

"Wait, wait, wait," Dean stopped him, his mind racing. He took in a deep breath as he turned to face John and Luke. "You guys can't come with us."

"What?" Sam looked to him in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"You boys," John argued breathlessly. "You're beat to Hell."

"We'll be all right."

"Dean, we should stick together," Sam protested angrily. "We'll go after those demons—"

"Sam, listen to me!" Dean interrupted him. "We almost got Dad and Luke killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop, they're gonna try again. They're gonna use us to get to them. I mean, Meg was right, Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He's—he's stronger without us around."

Dean saw the look of realization and understanding on his dad's face.

Sam saw it, too. "Dad, no," he put his hands on John's shoulders. "After everything, after all the time we spent looking for you...Please, I gotta be a part of this fight."

"Sammy, this fight is just starting," John grabbed Sam's wrist. "and we are all gonna have a part to play. For now, you've got to trust me, son. Okay? You've gotta let me go."

Sam hesitated for a couple of seconds before he finally nodded and let go of John's shoulders. Luke, who was in much better shape than John was, went to his friend's side and helped him stand on his own.

"He'll be all right," Luke assured Sam and Dean. "I'll take care of him. You take care of my Jujube."

Dean pressed his lips together and nodded; he had hoped that Luke could stay around for Julia, Beth, and Abby but now he saw that it wouldn't be safe. Luke was just as wanted by the Daeva as John was and he couldn't bring it around his children, sister-in-law, and granddaughter. For now, it was best for him to leave.

John smiled at his sons. "Be careful, boys."

Dean and Sam watched as Luke and John limped away, back down the alleyway to John's truck. As the truck started and pulled away, Dean grabbed Sam's arm and urged him toward the Impala.

(Gif is not mine)

#supernatural rewrite #dean winchester x oc #dean winchester x reader #supernatural #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #dean winchester fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #dean winchester x original character

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shophotlavablog · 4 years

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Inspo: Lizzy Alvarado

Lizzy went from an internship at Steakworld to a career woman at depop. One of my favorite Lizzy stories is that she used the tips from a post I made on tumblr about” how to land an internship” ON me and got the job. Now She is the the marketing manager at Depop and constantly making waves. She is always inspo for Hot Lava design and aesthetic so I wanted to highlight this hustler to inspire everyone to seize the moment and make it happen for yourself.

Q: What have you been working on lately?

With my job everything has turned digital, which has been a crash course on how to do an event in digital format. So, I’ve been doing a lot of [Instagram] lives with different artists and trying to bring the energy that I used to do with my work IRL to digital, so it’s kind of been a challenge, but it’s been fun.

At home, kind of just nesting it up. I feel like every few weeks I realize how long we’re going to be in quarantine—so I, like, redo my house a different way, so I think it’s kind of nice because since quarantine started I’ve really settled into my house. I have a lot of house plants and cats, so I’m kind of like trying to keep everything alive.

Q: What are some things you’ve been doing to prioritize “me time”?

I think by making myself a challenge. Right now, me and my best friend are doing this workout challenge, where we FaceTime each other and do the workout at the same time. It’s been my mental and physical entertainment, and gives me something I have to be held accountable for, like trying to workout and having a goal.

Recently, I took a week off. Even though were working from home I don’t think it’s the same as when you’re working; you always have to take a little break and reset and a lot of my coworkers and myself have not given ourselves that, because we’re working at home, when are we going to take that time and just sit? But recently I took a whole week off and I didn’t answer one Zoom meeting or do anything. For me, that reset my whole mindset and gave me time to just think about the reality of the position we’re all in, and my reality, like what I need to do instead of living in limbo of half doing things because I’m waiting for us to be out of quarantine his life for now just telling yourself that you need to adjust at least until like January or something for now and just set my dates back, pushing things back as things happen.

I feel like I’ve been working later and more sporadically when I’m working from home because you can just check your messages or your computer whenever, and you can get up and see the dishes are piling up and spent two hours cleaning your kitchen, and then you have to make up for it, and then you’re working until nine or something, so it’s definitely a balance figuring it all out.

Q: Can you give us a small walk through on how you started out in your career, and what younger you would need to hear to get where you are?

I started off by doing a PR internship in NY that was focused on beauty products. It was there that I learned a few hard truths like the "top 10 best products for glowing skin" mentioned in vogue was actually just a list of products that various PR agencies were able to pay off editors to add. It just didn't sit right to me and I didnt end up staying at the agency after my internship, but it did spark something in me about promoting products that I did like and that aligned with my values: sustainability, female owned brands, etc.

One great thing about my time in NY is that's where I happened to meet my boyfriend on one fateful night out at Max Fish which is usually the opposite of the place you meet your soulmate lol. Anyways fast forward a few months and I ended up moving to LA for said boyfriend and had to completely start over. I had no connections in LA, no friends, and at that point was still too early in my career for my resume to stick out of a pile. The start was rough and I had to get PT jobs to make money while I figured out what the fuck I was going to do in this new place where people usually move to with very specfic big dreams.

Now to the good part, the part where HOT LAVA started it all for me. Rachael loves this story and I didn't actually admit it to her until several months after working for her. Basically I had been reading her advice column Steaktalk for a long time and she had a post about how to get a job. Literally she broke down how to set up your resume, cover letter, and mentioned ways to set yourself apart from the rest. Well I used it to apply for an internship with her and it worked! Once I had that experience in LA under my belt I was able to transition into a brand manager for The Cobra Shop which was right next door to the HL office and eventually I started working for Depop as a Marketing Manager which is where I am today.

Q: Tell me your most embarrassing moment in your current career/ relationship/ creative endeavor:

That’s a tough one. I feel like when you’re first starting out, everything feels embarrassing. I remember the first time I came to Hot Lava—I didn’t do anything I can think was embarrassing, but like, being embarrassed of my existence of just not knowing how to interact with people. Because when you just see everything online, when you finally meet people in person, sometimes it can be really overwhelming. It’s kind of funny to just be embarrassed for being yourself sometimes, but I feel like you grow out of it.

Q: Do you think about where you’d like to be in 5 years or even 1 year, or are you more of the “in the moment type”?

I am more of a person who is in the moment. I do think of where I want to be in five years but I don’t hang onto that title too much, because I think if I think, “In five years I want to be a CEO,” and right now I’m just a marketing manager, in my head I’m like, “What am I doing? I’m just out here everyday not doing that.”

I feel like I live in the moment as far as knowing that, if you are in the moment, it’s going to pay off in the future. If I do work on whatever I’m supposed to be doing at the time, or whenever I’m given the opportunity to do that, then yeah, it will pay off in the end.

I don’t think my career really started to move until I was able to accept being in the moment. For me, when I think about my jobs and how I got to being hostess in New York, to being a dog walker and now to becoming a marketing manager, I don’t think I was able to do that until I was able to say that I just need to live in the moment and get that job to make money right now.

I knew I thought I could do something great but I wasn’t able to do anything great until I was able to sit myself down and handle the basics like, get a job—not “the” job, but a job, and just do OK at that, get your money right, and get to the right place. And slowly I was able to start looking for internships and then I was able to get one. Then it just grew from there.

I feel like if I was living with my head in the clouds, thinking about the future, I wouldn’t have been able to do that because I wouldn’t have accepted just getting a basic job for now.

Q: What causes you stress and how do you ease those stresses?

Prioritizing my work/home life tasks stress me out, especially working from home RN if you have a deadline but also a pile of dishes to do it's hard to ignore that when you aren't able to leave the house and ignore the home life stuff. I try to read self help books, make lists, ect. The biggest help is self talk and just reminding myself that the world won't just because your todo list isn't complete.

Q: Name one hobby:

I really like going out and riding my bike, so finding places are safe right now has kind of been the thing. I don’t go mountain biking or anything, I like riding my bike in a nice/safe area. I also don’t want to be in the city, so I’ve been looking for national parks nearby and local areas where you can do a 14 mile bike ride or something. I used to live in New York and I would ride my bike everyday, so I used to ride 25 miles a day, but now it’s like 12 miles I’ll make a whole day out of it.

I also really like music, but it’s sort of like a personal thing. I write songs and work on stuff, but I’ve never thought of it as something I’d do in reality. But, I’ve been doing that a lot more since we’ve been in quarantine.

Q: One thing you always tell your best friend:

I mean I tell her everything. I literally have become attached to Facetime with her daily since quarantine started. It's kind of a nice thing because she lives all the way in Texas so being stuck inside has brought us closer. I used to call her every couple of days and give her the highlight reel of my week but now it's like every 3 hours and life is so boring stuck inside that no detail is spared.

Q: If you wrote a book what would the title be and why?

Scared for No Reason: Why Doubting Yourself is Your Downfall.

I feel like there are already many books about this subject but I haven't found one I really connected to specifically. One of my biggest realizations in life is how much fear has stopped me from doing things I am actually really passionate about or interested in. I am still on the road to ultimate confidence (giving myself a deadline of reaching age 30 for this), but a lot of things changed in my life when I pushed past the fear and doubt that is a big part of my inner voice. A few examples are applying for internships that have led to my career (thanks Hot Lava), talking to my boyfriend who I have now been with for 5 years, walking up to a brand's creative director and telling them I can produce content for them and making that my side gig. The point is none of this would have happened if I was listening to that fear voice in my head saying I'm not good enough, pretty enough, or qualified enough.

Q: What's your favorite Hot Lava piece and why?

My fav Hot Lava piece recently would have to be the bike shorts or zebra dress just from a design perspective. I think the team really hit the nail on the head and created trending pieces in a unique Hot Lava style. My all time fav piece and first piece I ever bought is the surf top! I purchased the first one HL ever produced the night it launched in 2014 or 15? Its white and has an eye! But I love the cut the most. I have it in black and lime green too. It's just the perfect top, a contrast of modesty with the high neck but also sexy with the tightness.

What's on Lizzy's Playlist:

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ymnfilter · 4 years

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Let Me Take You In My Arms (You Can Cry Cry) [Klaine AU]

On ao3

Pt.2 Of Expensive Klaine

Summary:

Glee Alternate Universe in which Elizabeth and Burt separated instead of Kurt's mother dying. Elizabeth's side of the family is crazy rich and she got Kurt's custody so he's also been raised in Luxury. Kurt is enrolled at Dalton when he reaches high school, where he meets and falls in love with Blaine Anderson whose family is equally rich and influential. This is going to be an entire series of Klaine just being expensive, but for now:

Burt Hummel and Elizabeth Alarie get a divorce, Nanna Alarie takes baby Kurt with her to France. Andersons find out their son is gay. Kurt and Blaine meet in middle school at Westerville and start to become each other's everything.

When Cooper Anderson was born to Devon and Pamela Anderson, they were ecstatic. Finally, they had an heir. Someone who would take over after Devon and become the next CEO and face of ANDRSN Publications, a fashion and lifestyle magazine that had been started by Devon’s great grandmother and was now one of America’s biggest names. Devon himself knew little about fashion, nor did he have any interest in learning about it. No, unlike Vogue or Elle or other magazines in the industry, ANDRSN didn’t have a fashion line of their own, instead giving big names in the industry like Marc Jacobs or Valentino or Alarie a chance to show off their collections in their magazines.

Cooper was difficult though. He preferred sneaking out to the dollar theater over finishing his school homework, he preferred dating and sleeping around with girls over after school clubs, he preferred fast cars and black cards over responsibility and common sense. By the time he was eighteen, neither Devon or his wife were surprised to find him gone one day after graduation, with only a single note that said,

I wanna act. Say bye to Blainers for me, will ya?

They weren’t surprised, really. Didn’t mean they were any less disappointed.

And so, Devon’s attention shifted from his first son to his second. Blaine was a jumpy, hyper eight year old kid when Devon decided he was going to be the next CEO of ANDRSN, and for a few years, Devon had no doubt Blaine would be the perfect heir. He was a straight A student, he played football after school, he wore bow ties and suspenders and behaved appropriately and charmingly amongst guests of all circles. Blaine was the perfect son anybody could ever ask for, and he seemed perfectly happy to fill the role. Ticking all of his father’s requirement boxes with effortless smiles and a skip in his step.

Then Blaine turned eleven.

“I’m gay, dad.”

Devon remembered feeling like his entire world had stopped. They had been having their regular family dinners and Devon froze mid bite, his fork hovering somewhere in the middle of his plate and his open mouth. Next to him Pamela jerked, but she didn’t look very surprised, and Devon figured he was the last one to know about this.

Devon sighed, placed his fork back on his plate,

“You’re sure?” He asked his son, knowing it was futile anyway. No way Blaine would risk telling them something of this magnitude unless he was completely certain. Blaine jerked a nod, keeping his gaze on his own plate, tiny fists clenched on his sides.

“Okay.” Devon said, and nodded. Being gay… it may not have been in his list of requirements needed for the perfect son, but he supposed it couldn’t do much harm either. Blaine’s eyes snapped to his,

“Okay?” He croaked, Devon nodded,

“Well, I’m not exactly happy about it, but, it’s not like you can do anything to change it. So, I will learn to accept it.”

Devon knew he wasn’t the warmest of parents, but from the tears of relief that welled up in Blaine’s eyes, at least he knew what he had said was partially comforting,

“This doesn’t mean that you’re excused to date anybody you want to though, do you understand?”

Blaine blinked at him, “What?”

“I don’t care if it’s a girl or a guy, Blaine, but make sure that whoever you bring home is worthy of being a part of this family.”

Nobody said anything for a while, the tension around them didn’t break until Blaine nodded, giving them a small smile, “Okay.”

“Okay.”

Blaine may not be a perfect son, but Devon figured he was as close to perfection as he could ask for.

Kurt Hummel’s parents start fighting when he’s five. The garage Burt opened just a couple of years ago isn’t doing very well and he’s almost always at work, leaving behind his wife to cook, clean, take care of Kurt and work at her mother’s company from home. It’s not fun, and Elizabeth’s exhausted, and Burt doesn’t understand because in his mind, if you’re not really going out to work, are you really working? Which leads to more fights and more lonely nights and Kurt finds himself hiding under his bed cuddling his Nanna’s soft cashmere sweater almost every night.

Elizabeth has never really been comfortable living as a housewife to a middle class man, but that man being Burt has always been enough reason to be happy. She loves her husband. Has loved him ever since he saw her in highschool cheering for the rival football team while he played quarterback and promptly asked her out on a date afterwards. Her mother did not approve, of course she didn’t, and Elizabeth found herself eloping with the man of her dreams right after highschool. They had been happy in the beginning. So happy. They had a lovely child, and Burt was working at the garage of one of his friend’s fathers and she was doing her best to not get bored out of her mind staying at home all day. But then Burt had wanted to open his own place, and Kurt had turned three and demanded a tutu and dance classes and everything had slowly unraveled.

Burt had started taking on mortgages even when Elizabeth offered to help him out, he and Kurt had started becoming more and more awkward with each other, both giving each other looks of confusion and hurt rather than the love and affection they had before. Elizabeth knew that if Burt just spent some alone time with Kurt he would be able to figure his own son out, but again, Burt hardly had any time for his family anymore, so the father and son remained practically strangers and Christmases and birthdays were filled with grossed out faces at unused boy-gifts and hurtful thank yous.

Looking back, Elizabeth honestly doesn’t know how she survived those years, but it was when Kurt was seven, and her mother had showed up for a surprise visit for her only grandson’s birthday, that everything finally came to a head. Burt hadn’t gotten home until an hour after Kurt’s bed time that evening, and after asking her mother to please tuck him in, Elizabeth was waiting for her husband on the living room sofa, arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Elizabeth has become fairly good at masking her emotions when faced with her husband’s late nights, but none of their problems should affect Kurt’s birthday, she firmly believes that. But Burt hadn’t been there. And she doesn’t know what hurts more, his absence or that fact that Kurt had looked so much more comfortable and happy with just his mom and grandma to celebrate.

When Burt staggers into the house, he’s exhausted. He’s trying to get his garage to a more stable ground, while also trying to earn enough money with part time jobs at the dock to help with the mortgage, not that Lizzy needs to know that bit. She’ll just try to make him talk to her mother, and god knows Burt has had enough of that snobbish Madame Alarie to last him a lifetime. When he does get home though, he knows something’s wrong. The house is quiet. No sounds coming from the TV or the radio (and Burt’s house is never quiet. Not with the love his wife and son share for show tunes) he can’t hear Kurt’s high pitch giggles coming from the kitchen as he tries to help his mother bake cookies. One look at his watch tells him he’s late. Another at the calendar tells him he’s very late on the absolute worst day. He sighs, he knows he’s in for it now. Their screaming matches are sort of legendary in the neighborhood, and as embarrassed as he is about the commotion, Burt figures he’s too tired to care about it at this point.

The verbal back and forth that follows is legendary, but it doesn’t last very long. Just as Elizabeth starts crying, there are suddenly footsteps stomping downstairs, and Burt looks up to see Nanna Alarie rushing downstairs, his glare fierce and directed straight at him. He loses all the fight inside of him when he sees Kurt in her arms, crying and clutching at her sweater with a grip so tight Burt’s afraid he won’t ever want to let go,

“What in the world are you two doing?” She demands and Burt knows that the only reason she also isn’t screaming is because she thinks herself too dignified for it. Burt hates her. She’s rubbing comforting circles on his son’s back, and Elizabeth is sobbing in the corner and Burt honestly does not remember everything he said in his rage and exhaustion but from the way his mother-in-law is looking at him, Burt feels exactly 2 inches tall.

That isn’t new. Burt has always felt 2 inches tall under her gaze,

“You are-” She continues, completely floored at their behavior, as if they would even dare , as if he would even dare to raise his voice at her daughter, irrationally, he feels the anger simmer at the bottom of his belly again, “You both are parents how on earth do you justify screaming at eachother so loud that Kurt wakes up screaming- ”

Oh, and as if those words are just not a thousand stabs to his heart right there-

“ He tries to stay quiet and tries to hide under his bed What in the entire world is wrong with the both of you- ” Her tone doesn’t change, still remains low and harsh but there are tears running down her face too, tears for nothing and nobody but her grandson because that boy is still sobbing, she can feel her neck wet, but he still won’t make a sound-

Nanna Alaria shakes her head, her grip tightening on Kurt in a stance that is purely protective. Burt tries to take a step, who on earth does she think she is trying to protect his own son from him , but his feet don’t move. He watches her calm herself down with just a breath, and god does he hate how in control she always is, as if nothing ever shakes her for too long, and hears her say, “I’m taking him with me right now. I don’t care what anyone says, but he’s coming with me to France and he’s staying there until you two finish this. It doesn’t matter to me how this ends.” She says this as if she isn’t talking about her daughter’s marriage of eight years. She says this as if she’s talking about a particularly bloody wrestling match, “I don’t care if you decide to stay together or separate but Kurt isn’t staying one more second in a place that so completely terrifies him.”

Burt waits for Elizabeth to say something, maybe to protest. Burt wills himself to protest, but nothing follows his mother-in-laws proclamation except silence. They watch her scoff at their cowardice, as if they are children, but she doesn’t spare them another glance, just walks right of the door with their son in her arms. No need to pack or make arrangements. She’s rich enough that she’s never had to think about these things. Burt feels relief course through him, and the only person he hates more than himself in that moment is her.

They try to make their marriage work for exactly two days before Eizabeth presents him with divorce papers. Burt isn’t surprised. Doesn’t try to convince her to stay. The last two days without the buffer that was their child has made him realise how bad they actually are at this. How much Elizabeth has been keeping in and how annoyed and angry he gets at any and everything of hers that reminds of the difference in their class. Her stay at home job, her superior sense of style, her mannerisms and words of choice. Even after 10 years together, and living those 8 years with him in his rundown apartment, she’s still very inexplicably rich and he feels like a hick in front of her. Everything about her that he had found alluring and sophisticated back in highschool now serves as a reminder of how much better than him she is, and Burt hates himself for feeling this way, but they just don’t fit together.

It takes 4 months for the divorce to finalize, it would’ve been a lot faster if Kurt had been present, but neither he nor Lizzy had wanted to have that conversation with her mother. She leaves for France as soon as it’s done though, leaving behind only a phone number mumbling at him to call if he wants to speak with Kurt.

Burt stares at that number, wonders how long he should wait to call, wonders if he even should call. It’s no secret that he and his son don’t share any common interest, and all Burt’s ever done is make Kurt feel uncomfortable with his pushiness, but Kurt’s still his son and don’t all sons need their fathers?

He calls Elizabeth a couple of days before Christmas, demands that at the very least he still wants his son with him for the birthdays and holidays. If she wants to make a crack at his sudden willingness to be a father, she doesn’t do it. And if Burt is surprised at how easily she agrees to the arrangement, he doesn’t show it.

Kurt only comes home for the 25th and the 26th. And if Burt is angry at the beginning about how little time they will have together, by the end of it he’s only thankful. Kurt shows up at the airport with an airhostess next to him in a pair of pressed shorts, suspenders and bowtie, with his shirt tucked in and his hair in a careful side part. Burt can feel the airhostess in charge of his boy judging him when he picks up his son in stained jeans and a wrinkled plaid shirt. It’s the same look people gave him all the time when he walked beside Elizabeth anywhere. He hates that look. At 7 years old, Kurt already has more class in him than his old man.

The next two days, Burt takes Kurt to the garage with him and is pleasantly surprised at how fascinated Kurt is about everything. Kurt talks about his life in France while learning about oil changes, and Burt tries to pay attention to him as he goes on and on about his new school, and his new home, and how nobody makes fun of him and how everybody dresses so nicely, daddy.

Burt cringes slightly at the high pitched daddy but doesn’t say a word.

The arrangement works for a while but not for long. Kurt hates travelling so much. For Easter, for his birthday, for thanksgiving, for christmas. He hates that he can’t spend any of his holidays with anyone except his dad. His english is deteriorating slightly from disuse, and he rants in French when he gets too excited or too nervous. His mother-in-law refuses though to move him, though. Says Kurt is happy where he is and if Burt has that much of a problem with Kurt getting comfortable with French, maybe he should learn the language himself.

A few years later though, Elizabeth calls in the middle of September, when Burt isn’t expecting her in the least,

“Mamma’s opening a new branch of her fashion house in New York next year. She thinks it’s high time New York was graced by the beauty and power that is Alarie. I just think it’s because Kurt’s already been talking about going to college at Parsons. So, we’re moving back to the states this December. I managed to convince her that Kurt is old enough now that if he wants a relationship with his father, she can’t say no to him. We’re still not going to be staying in Lima. But, I’m looking for a house in Westerville.”

“You’re coming back?” Burt still can’t really wrap his head around it.

“Yes. Look, I need to go. I need to pick Kurt up from school. Good bye.” She says and hangs up before Burt can respond.

Blaine attends Westerville Heritage Middle school and is known amongst his peers as some sort of a boy wonder. He’s in AP classes and maintains a straight A grade card. He’s in football and is considered the ace even though he isn’t the quarterback or the captain. And though he isn’t in their school’s choir because of how religious and catholic the whole is, he does sometimes play the organ for them. Even if Blaine didn’t have any of those talents, he’s sure he would be popular enough just based on the fact that he’s one of the very few students who has a chauffeur picking him up and dropping him off every day. Blaine knows he’s not the only rich guy in this school, but he’s probably one of the richest and he’s definitely the least snobby about it. Rich kids usually like to stick to their own groups, but Blaine is too sociable to limit himself like that, so he befriends everybody and is well-liked in return.

It’s in his last year of middle school something interesting finally happens. He’s walking towards his math class after a bathroom break when he sees him coming out of the principal’s office. The hallway is empty because classes started 10 minutes ago, and the new guy looks incredibly confused by his schedule (and he’s definitely new. There is no way Blaine would ever forget a face that pretty). Considering how pretty the boy is, and how social Blaine is, it’s no surprise that he forgets all about math and starts walking towards the new kid instead,

“Hey.” Blaine calls out, and the boy looks up from where he was studying his schedule as if it was an ancient scripture. Blue eyes meet hazel ones and Blaine promptly stumbles on thin air, almost landing face first on the dirty floor,

“Hello?” The new boy’s tone is nervous and a little questioning, but Blaine is having trouble getting over how soft his voice is,

“Hi. You’re new?” Blaine asks, making the other kid blush and look away,

“I stand out a lot?”

Blaine wants to say yes. Yes because you look like an angel and sound like an angel and breathe like an angel excuse me, maybe, are you possibly an angel? But Blaine also really doesn’t want to look like a crackhead. Blaine shakes his head no, notices how thick the other boy’s accent is. European. But, his english is confident too, so at least, he’s fluent.

“Not at all. You just looked a little confused.” He says and motions towards the schedule the boy is holding,

“Oh. Yes, This is a little confusing. I am supposed to go to different rooms for different classes?”

Blaine chuckles lightly, the boy looks adorable with the confused furrow of his brows, “I take it you’re not from the States.”

“No. Yes- I mean, I am American. Just, I was in France for most of my elementary and middle school.”

“So, what brings you to little old Ohio?”

The boy smiles, as if Blaine’s just made a joke, “My Nanna needed to move to New York for a while, and my mom wanted me to get closer to my father who lives in Lima, so we moved here.”

“Hmm.” Blaine makes grabby hands for the schedule and says, “Gimme, I’ll show you how to figure this place out.”

The relief on the boy’s face is so stark it makes Blaine laugh, “Thank you so much. I’m Kurt, by the way. Kurt Alarie-Hummel.”

Blaine blinks, “Alarie? You’re from France? Alarie like the fashion house?”

“Yes, you know it?” Blaine nods,

“I’m Blaine Anderson. Like the ANDRSN magazine? My mother likes to keep on top of things like these.”

“Oh! I love ANDRSN! I started reading them a couple of years ago when I was stuck at my Nanna’s office and ran out of vogue. Their 2008 summer issue is probably my favorite cover of any magazine yet.”

Blaine laughed, and before he could question himself too much, he took Kurt’s hand and squeezed, “I believe we’re going to get along great, Kurt.”

And they do. Blaine helps Kurt adjust to the american school system, showing him around town on weekends, taking him to the mall where Kurt looked absolutely appalled by the selection of clothes they sell, he takes him to dinner in lieu of showing him diners and restaurants and places to eat. Neither of them call the outings dates. They’re just getting to know each other. Becoming close friends. But, sometimes when Kurt takes his hand in his across the table at a coffee shop or when Blaine insists on paying the bill for their dinner even though they’re both more than capable of splitting it, neither of them bother to hide their smiles.

Blaine doesn’t think Kurt is having a hard time at school. He has no reason to think so. So, he is definitely shocked at the scene he comes across one day coming out of his AP chemistry class,

Kurt is standing right across the hallway from Blaine’s class, no doubt waiting for him so that they can go study together (Blaine is in dire need of some French lessons, and Kurt is beyond fluent) when he sees 3 guys from the Hockey team coming towards him, carrying a bucket of something or the other in one of their hands. One of them points at Kurt and nudges the guy in the middle, snickering. The guys walk by nonchalantly, so much so that Blaine is sure he’s just being paranoid, but then the make a sharp turn, and just upends the bucket over Kurt, cold water and ice cubes raining on him as he freezes under the assault, head ducking down, and shoulders going high, his eyes are squeezed shut against the pain and mouth open to gasp out a breath,

Blaine doesn’t even think, he runs over, feeling a kind of rage building up inside him aimed at those stupid laughing buffoons like he hasn’t ever felt before,

“What do you think, princess? We’re just trying to help you live up to your name.” One of those guys laughs again, but Kurt doesn’t say a word, Just forces his body to relax against the cold and corrects his posture. His cold blue eyes regard them with no emotion, and slowly their laughs die on their lips,

“What the fuck you looking at, you freak?!” And that’s when Blaine steps in, pushing the guys away from Kurt when they start closing in on him and standing between,

“Back off, Reynolds.” He spits out, and though their looks of contempt don’t shift, the guys do take a step back,

“This doesn’t concern you, Anderson.”

“Fuck it doesn’t! You mess with Kurt again, I’ll have you pulled out of the hockey team.” Blaine says, then raises a brow, “The principle really likes my dad, you know?”

It’s a low blow, using his last name like that to get what he wants, and usually, Blaine would never do something so cliche. He likes depending on his skills and talents rather than his parent’s money. But, this is Kurt. And if there is anything Blaine has figured out about himself in the past couple of months, it’s that there are not a lot of things that he wouldn’t do for Kurt.

When the idiots walk away, Blaine takes Kurt’s hand and pulls him towards the boy’s locker room. Kurt stays strong and still till he’s in the hallway, but as soon as Blaine closes the door to the locker room behind him, Kurt’s shivering and coughing and getting out of his wet clothes as fast as he can,

“Here, go take a hot shower. I’ll get you some of my gym clothes, okay?” Blaine waits for Kurt to nod, and then goes to his locker to take out his towel, a spare t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that he keeps for gym. The shower starts running, and Blaine focuses on calming himself down. The confrontation is over. He would be no help to Kurt now by being angry.

Kurt turns off the shower, and turns around to see that Blaine’s already laid out a towel and some clothes on the bench. He quickly towels off and changes, walking over to the other side of the lockers to find Blaine shaking off his sopping wet clothes and trying to fold them without getting wet himself,

“You don’t have to do that-” He says softly, but Blaine’s already shaking his head, giving him a small, tired smile,

“It’s fine. Are you cold still?”

“Not anymore. Thank you for the clothes.” Blaine sighs,

“It’s fine, Kurt. You don’t have to be so formal all the time.”

Kurt flinches, and even though he knows Blaine means nothing bad, the word is too close to other meaner words, words like ‘uptight’, and ‘prissy’, and ‘ice queen’,

“I’m not trying to be formal- I.. I’m just grateful.” Maybe it’s the slight desperation in his tone, but it makes Blaine look up at him again, and when he sees the expression on Kurt’s face, he places the wet clothes on the bench and moves closer, placing warm hands on Kurt’s slightly cooler cheeks,

“Those guys, do they pick on you often?”

Kurt hesitates, feels his cheek burn at the lack of proximity between them, “Not- not like that. Never this much. It’s only ever some taunts here and there. It’s okay.”

“Taunts?” Blaine raises a brow,

“Yes, like-”

“Like ‘princess’?”

“Like ‘Ice Queen’ and ‘Prude’ and ‘That guy with the stick up his ass’.”

Blaine scowls, his eyes darkening, “Kurt-”

“I’m not trying to be, I swear. It’s just… It’s a little difficult for me to open up like this-”

“God Kurt, You’re doing nothing wrong. Those guys are just assholes, okay?”

Kurt doesn’t speak for a moment. Blaine is still holding him by his cheeks. He averts his eyes because he can’t turn his face, “You are very friendly with everyone here-”

“Doesn’t mean you have to be just as friendly. I just have this obsessive compulsion to make everybody like me. It’s not something I always enjoy about myself. Trust me. You’re perfect. You don’t have to have a hundred friends to be alright, okay?”

Kurt blinks, “Okay.”

“You just need me. I’ll be enough, okay?”

Kurt smiles, small and shy and tries to duck his head but fails,

“Okay.”

Kurt’s Favorite Cover Of The ANDRSN Magazine

#Klaine #Glee #Kurt Hummel #Blaine Anderson #Kurt and Blaine #Klaine Fanfic #Klaine Fanfiction #ao3 #Rich!Kurt #Rich!Blaine #Expensive Klaine

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wpbaes · 4 years

Text

okay i didnt proofread any of this and this is a brain dump and i s2g i wont dump all these charas at once but i love them all already so deal WITH IT lmfao

HAVE FUN!!

Ari’s Characters:

Carter Crane - Alex Fitzalan FC - 21 - College Senior/Aspiring Actor

Still a #richbitch

Still has a booked gig w/ THE Thalia Nasri and is the younger half brother of Georgie Banks. Its a recent development but he’s kind of thriving

His parents just left and got divorced. Basically everything is the same he’s just still in college and younger

He and Eleanor just started dating too but it’s a lot newer and she only recently broke up w/ her Ex who’s a dick and wont leave carter alone

Realistically only likes about a total of 3 people

Still a partier and that will perhaps lead to plenty of bad choices

#helovethecoco

will learn his lesson eventually..maybe

he still gonna get that degree tho!

Ella Cooper - Crystal Reed FC - 31 - Cannabis bakery owner & skate park enthusiast

still that bitch

gay af + stoner af

still bffs with cass #rideordie (will they end up married? let’s find out! lmao)

grew up in willow park but left for some years to ny and got her bachelors in english and political science/got her mba at NYU.

she moved back to town a few months before anna killed her husband and has been home since.

she still has her little doggies zeus & franky

she opened Dazed & Confused Bakery last year after dreaming it up with Cass one night one their couch and with the help of her sister. They’re a smaller venue at the moment but very popular and always featuring a new special baked good. They’re a big fan of mixing munchie cravings and genuinely good food.

On weekends they hold an open mic night and do a few more menus items that go along with the munchie theme. lots of grilled cheese, vegan and non. Big hit w/ the hipster and 55+ population.

She’s been in therapy for two years now and doing a lot better after breaking off her engagement and leaving behind a fiancee in new york. She also ended an affair she was having with a married woman a few months ago

Shes been trying to get herself back on track and make less dumbass choices.

Still the biggest flirt and making heart eyes at every woman who walks her way

she’s been working on building a skate park near the bakery but has been having issues with the zoning

in the meantime you can find her skating all over town/at the small skatepark that does currently exist.

Andy Asal - Alia Shawkat FC - 28 - Baker

Pronouns: She/Her/They/Them & occasionally He/Him

Cake Decorater/Baker @ Sinfully Sweet for the past five years

Originally from portland, moved to Willow Park for a new adventure/has loved the little family they’ve found

Bffs with Sofia Miller and has a lowkey (highkey) crush on her

general cinnamon roll/generally oblivious when someone is flirting w them

big on friendship

also big on good food and staying in/not a big drinker or partier

still a proud member of grace ko’s book club

Grace Ko - Lucy Liu FC - 50 - Author & Professor of English & Women and Gender Studies

has been in willow park for seven years, originally from queens, NY

Has been divorced for a year and a half and has managed to find a civil co-parenting relationship ground w/ Alana

Hasnt told anyone that she and Alana have recently started to hook up but refuses to talk about it

Just finished their book tour for their now fourth NY times best selling book

has a 8 year old, 14 year old and 17 year old

lives in a bigass house where they host a lot of dinner parties, they’re very involved in local government and their kids PTA board

They teach at the local university and also instructs a few online courses

Has become someone a lot better with casual hook ups though they have a tough time not consistently offering to make someone a meal.

still a surrogate parent to rebecca

a very proud aunt to annisa

#bigmomenergy

Hector Fuentes - Clayton Cardenas FC - 33 - Cartel Member/Mechanic

a willow park lifer

the biggest hypeman

was born raised and will die in willow park and he has no issues w that

has an older sister and three younger brothers

u know the deal the fuentes fam be on that queen of the south shit

but a lot of their work is way outside of willow park

he still lives in an apartment by himself.

he has two kids and both of them have different baby mamas. he doesnt have full custody but he he pays child support and gets most weekend with them. he has a son and a daughter.

his son is name Angel (3) and his daughter is name Maribel (5)

He has a decent relationship with both baby mams but i imagine Maribel’s mom really loves being petty w/ him and Angel’s mother is more likely to try to seduce him every time they’re together

He lowkey thrives on the drama

and he LOVES being lil Theo Cooper’s godfather, he still is the best dad and just tries his damn best

lowkey emotional/hella protective/still checks up on anna every damn day

his day job is as a mechanic at the local auto body shop. he can mostly be seen getting around on his motorcycle.

Levi McCoy - Jesse Lee Soffer FC - 30 - Willow Park PD Officer

willow park native,big angel energy

younger brother of Chase McCoy

spends a lot of time at the barcade maintaining his pacman high score

was a volunteer firefighter for a long time and got his associates degree at willow park community college

only became a cop after his brother started to get into legal trouble

has no ambition to be a detective and enjoys cruising around in his patrol car

he coaches a middle school basketball team of all genders and places on the police departments rec league though sometimes he wishes he was still playing with the firefighters

lives in a cute lil apartment downtown, a pretty neat and clean guy, v focused on his health and just having a simple life

hes not at all curious about his biological parents and he’s just happy his brother is out and doing better, chase is basically his number one priority

turns a blind eye to a lot of things, especially when it comes to the fuentes cartel

Ultimately he’s committed to keeping people safe but not to throwing people into prison just for the hell of it

Kareem Salia - Kofi Siriboe FC - 21 - College Junior/Basketball Player

originally from new jersey

star basketball player at willow park university(which I have decided is division I lmfao) he’s a point guard

such a charmer and he knows it. he’s v flirty and somewhat cocky but he plays it off well

knows what he wants and goes for it

nothing will get in the way of his potential NBA career and he’s aiming to get drafted before graduation though his father has a few words about that

was raised by a single dad back in Newark and has an older brother who’s in the Marines

He’s been in Willow Park since he started school three years ago and is fairly well known around town, especially during basketball season

V committed to his work out routines (workout buddies wassup)

lives in an off campus apartment with a few of his teammates/tries to stay out of trouble but isn’t always successful

bi bi bi

def has a few baes on campus and off

perhaps w someone slightly older??

hes a fun time and a hell of a talent

Reagan Tucker - Lizzy Caplan FC - 35 - Stylist

abortion tw

originally from westchester, NY

a mess of a human but boyy do i love her sm

has never gotten along w/ her parents. its as if they had a child just to have one not to actually raise one

so she grew up with a p rebellious crowd, never had great boyfriends or people in her life who actually gave her great love aside from her one best friend since childhood

went to college in NYC to study fashion/has always had an eye for fashion

as a kid she found her solace in large stacks of vogue and cosmo magazines, dreaming and studying, knowing one day she’d get to be a part of that world

it didnt happen as easily as she wanted to but it she eventually found her way into the industry

when she was a junior in college she found out she was pregnant with her then on and off’s boyfriends baby

he was p shitty about it and she ended up getting an abortion that she never talks about/still thinks about often

shes the most non committal, she hates the idea of relationships mostly because she had no idea how to let herself be loved anymore

has left a lot of people in the dust

which is partly why she left ny and moved to willow park

she wanted a fresh start and already had a couple of high end clients. she still travels for work but shes found herself a nice af apartment in willow park that she feels is her safe haven. even if it mostly serves as a place for her to kick off her shoes and sleep before she gets up and goes out and makes more bad choices

never on time

borderline alcoholic but will never admit that

#hotmessexpress

but i love her v much shes v near and dear to my heart

Simon Walker - Ryan Gosling FC - 36 - CEO of Sanders Corp.

willow park native

the oldest of two, his family has been in willow park since it’s founding. his father is a fairly prominent politician and currently serves as a US senator.

Inherited the family company from his grandfather

They started out as a small ad company and grew into one of the biggest advertising conglomerates in the world (think modern day don draper and the plot of succession lmfao) now they’re a huge media company but focus a lot on ad revenue and represent some of the biggest companies around

one of those companies that kind of have their hand in everything

Simon has been a big part of making them more current an inclusive. made a lot of brows raise when he fired half of his board and brought in a ton of women, especially women of color and some of his old new york buddies to help him bring some diversity into the company

his father is a democratic senator but his grandfather is republican so thats where the split kind of forms

his father is still a bit of an asshole though and wants simon to be in politics but simon refuses

his passion is art and always has been and he sometimes gets a little too involved with the graphic design aspect

he has a room at home where he paints and keeps all of his work, its really just a hobby now

has a 4 year old son that he adopted after an ex lover of his overdosed and left the baby with no family. his own family wasnt happy with his decision but he refused to let the kid go into the system

is generally friendly/likes to keep up a good image

is happiest at a baseball or basketball game or at home painting while his son naps

loves to hold big ol barbecues in the summer and his family throws a huge 4th of July event every year

his face is on a lot of ads around town and he’s currently involved in helping his father’s re-election campaign

Shawn Pearson - Jacob Elordi FC - 20 - College Sophomore

originally from california

grew up in foster care/always caused a lot of trouble

lowkey genius which is how he got into willow park U with a full ride

he’s definitely the broody/silent type

v rude and v bad at having healthy relationships

only really knows how to use people for what he wants

definitely will crumble to pieces once someone makes him face his feelings enough

definitely has the whole “i have no one” mentality

excels in mathematics and really just wants to use his skills with numbers to go make big money so he can buy a house where no one will bother him

mostly goes to parties to hook up and find a bed to sleep in for the night

spends most school breaks working, he’s a delivery boy and does some illegal bookeeping. anything to keep him fed and going. while his tuition is paid he doenst really have much going into his pocket

hes based off an older chara of mine i just made him a lot younger and slightly more impressionable

probably only has a couple people he counts as actual friends but generally likes to keep his distance, sure that everyone is out to get him

knows he has a brother he was separated from in the system but has never looked for him/barely remembers him since he was a newborn when their parents dropped them off in front of a firehouse.

picked willow park because it had a good finance/accounting program and because he wanted to go anywhere that wasn’t california.

Viola Lancaster - Aly Michalka FC - 37 - District Attorney

originally from Northampton, MA - twin sister to Micah

(yes im a sucker who loves to make rosa’s dreams come true lmfao)

originally from chicago (go cubs!) but spent a substantial amount of time in NYC

Went to Smith College for undergrad and Harvard for Law School

a boss ass bitch

not one to be messed with and is v protective of her brother

she and micah lost their brother when they were teenagers, he was kidnapped and killed, it was a big national story. neither of them ever talk about it

very gay, shes my og lesbian character. so VERY near and dear to me

has probably been in willow park for a couple of years and took the job as DA to really beef up her portfolio. doesnt really see herself settling down there but she likes it so far

can often be found at her office or at the bar having a glass of merlot

v active/always goes for morning runs and very big on yoga and meditation

ugh i just love her ok lmfao

Devon Reynolds- Milo Ventimiglia - 40 - Construction Worker

willow park native

recently released from prison

unknowingly shawn’s older brother, he always knew he had a younger brother but a lot of the documentation is blacked out and he hasnt had the resources to find him until now

he was adopted when he was 6 by a fairly loving but very strict family

was framed for murder that he didn’t commit

used to be willow parks start quarterback until he injured himself and got addicted to his pain meds

arrested at 20 and spent the next 20 years of his life in prison

his adoptive parents basically turned their backs on him and have since moved out of willow park

So he was released and really started from zero. lived in a homeless shelter until he was able to save up enough for a shitty apartment in the shitty part of town

he just tries to make his curfew and not fuck up his parole

recovering addict and alcoholic

spends way too much time w his toxic ex

got a decent job as a construction worker but is always doing odd job/hard to find people who hire formerly incarcerated folks.

just #doinghisbest

#about muses #LONG AF #intro post

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a-sjournals-posts · 4 years

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favorite ao3 - all of them now

Booksmart - Amy and Hope: - indefinitely, maybe by freerangeegghead: In which Amy navigates post-high school life and finds something she never knew she was looking for (2 chapters, 16,532 words) - Never Break the Shape We’ll Take by lco123: Five girls Amy kisses after graduation. (5 chapters, 10,820 words) - homemade dynamite by magnet: A twelve-year-old Hope moves into the same apartment complex as Molly Davidson. (2 chapters, 26,818 words) - scoring points on and off the field by lover_of_many_things: Hope is the captain of the soccer team. Amy is her nerdy and activist obsessed self. She and Amy just kind of fall into each other–literally. (one shot, 5,955 words) Fifth Harmony - Camila and Lauren - waterloo by listenup_folks: Lauren has always known Camila is the most amazing person in the whole world. It isn’t until her senior year that she realizes there’s only one “most amazing person in the world” and that she wants nothing more than for that person to be hers. (10 chapters, 29,825 words) pitch perfect - emily junk and beca mitchell (seen pp2 and missed them) - Fake It ‘Til You Make It by bmcbapej: It takes years for Beca and Emily to properly question why they’re so good at making other people believe they’re dating. (one shot, 4,165 words) - to have and to hold (until we grow old) by moxiemorton: If their paths crossed before they met at Barden, it would’ve purely been luck. Not fate, not destiny, none of that soulmate crap. Just luck. (one shot, 8,083 words) - Look Into My Eyes And Say You Want Me, Too (Like I Want You) by saturndust: The first time Beca Mitchell saw Emily Junk was when she met her at HSMUN. Debate was dull as hell and Beca wanted to go home. But then she saw the tall brunette sitting and blowing bubble gum and crap She’s pretty. And then she talks to her and Beca wants the conference to last forever. (one shot, 5,402 words) - hey honey you could be my drug (…all this trash talk make me itchin’) by sylviewashere : There’s a new a capella group on campus, and they’re the Bellas main competition for Nationals. It’d be easier for Beca to hate them if their captain wasn’t so cute. (one shot, 4,168 words) - i wouldn’t know where to start (sweet music) by sylviewashere: Beca’s known Jesse and Emily for most of her life. She never thought of Emily as more than Jesse’s little sister, and then suddenly, they become roommates, and Beca thinking that Emily is cooler than she thought. Maybe a lot cooler. (one shot, 3,666 words) - Can I Get Your House Key? by wherehopelies: Since they were kids, Emily and Beca always used to joke how they would live together when they got older. Emily never expected those jokes to become reality, but she never expected to fall in love with her best friend since kindergarten either. (one shot, 16,706 words) - I Wish the Real World Would Just Stop Hassling Me by wherehopelies: “Being a guardian angel is kind of the worst. Especially when you’re designated Human is the disaster that is Beca Mitchell.” (one shot, 3,761 words) - I’m Starting To Want You (More Than I Want To) by wherehopelies: "In the years after, they’ll say it started with a kiss on a stormy night. They’ll say it began with tequila and lust and boredom. They’ll remember hot skin and frantic breathing and the taste of alcohol mixed with new beginnings and maybe just a little bit of we-shouldn’t-do-this.The truth is, it was much more innocent than that.“ (one shot, 5,907 words) - is it cool that i said all that? (is it too soon to do this yet?) by wherehopelies: bemily tattoo au or the one where beca’s a tattoo artist and chloe is the resident piercing specialist and they’re totally into the cute girls who stop by one day. side flirty chacie because i can (one shot, 11,026 words) - like a needle on a record (you fit right into me) by moxiemorton: She literally just wanted to get rid of a persistent frat boy at the bar. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love, damnit. (3 chapters, 9,597 words) Girl meets world - Riley and Maya: - When the Stars Shoot Across the Sky by TruthandLies: Maya once found her safe place in a girl who loves the stars. When that girl gives her love to someone else, Maya is forced to find a new safe place. Along the way, she and her star-loving best friend discover important things about themselves - and each other. (one shot, 11,289 words) (just makes so much sense still) - drowning (in you) by truthandlies: Lucas has always been Riley’s excuse. Her head-cheerleader-dating-captain-of-the-football-team, straight-girl-in-love-with-straight-boy, normal-normal-normal excuse.Maya is her cataclysm. (one shot, 2184 words) - we only know this light deep in the woodwork by BerryliciousCheerio: “She thinks she could write a hundred thousand pages on it and barely scratch the surface.or: it takes a day and also her entire life for riley matthews to fall in love” (one shot, 8,334 words) juliantina - juliana and valentina - que quieres de mi by unsocial_kid: Juliana is the stoic bodyguard assigned to protect the youngest Carvajal heir. Valentina is the bratty rich girl who can’t stop teasing her new bodyguard. (one shot, 2,543 words) Legacies - Hope and Josie (and Penelope) - From dusk till dawn by SilentRain91: It started off as stolen moments when nobody was looking. Soon, it became their little secret. Josie never kept something this big from Lizzie before. (16 chapters, 35,144 words) - Soccer and Sunshine by misa_pisa: Josie is asked to join her school’s soccer team, by no other than the captain herself. Josie had always admired Hope from the far and now gets the chance to train right beside her. The two of them start to spend a lot of time together during private soccer lessons and math tutoring. In between looks, talks and jokes the feelings between them start to grow. (6 chapters, 11,523 words) - Have I lost my mind by Knight_of_darkness: Josie has to question her sanity as she keeps seeing a strange girl in her dreams (2 chapters, 34,035 words) - Stealin’ My Heart by Thatoneloser_kid: “I’m leaving as soon as I turn eighteen,” Hope said.“Where?” Penelope asked.“No idea,”“Maybe we could all go,” Josie suggested offhandedly, reclining back on the blanket, both Penelope and Hope mirroring her, Hope hooking an arm behind her head.“Thelma and Louise this shit,” Penelope added with a little laugh.“Didn’t they die?” Hope asked.“Mm,” Penelope hummed, “Went out in a blaze of glory.” (one shot, 12,931 words) - the infinite curse of a lonely heart by dandelionlighters: For centuries, he had served as a winged assistant to Aphrodite, doing her bidding and sometimes—when she wasn’t looking—his own. He had been reaching for an arrow from his quiver when it had happened. He had felt a pull at the back of his head one second, and then he had disappeared from existence in the next moment. (2 chapters, 3,325 words) - the game by PosieParkzman: Everyone knew of Hope and Penelope. Desired by many, heartbreakers by trade. Though not everyone knew that love to them was a game, a game they liked to play. With a new year the game resets and the hunt begins. What happens when they both desire the new girl in town, Josie Saltzman. (28 chapters, 47,079 words) - by summer’s ripening breath by slytherinmayflower: "This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, may prove a beauteous flower when next we meet” (9 chapters, 79,720 words) (I think I finished this in 2 days and I don’t regret any minute of it) - when I kissed the teacher by Little_Miss_Silver: Josie's failing one of her classes. What happens when the reason she's failing ends up tutoring her? (2 chapters, 4,473 words) Supergirl - Kara and Lena - hope you’ll be safe (in the arms of another) by thistableforone: Lena Luthor and Maura Isles went to boarding school together. They had a close relationship, and despite the years they find the chemistry is still there. The only difference is, they’re both in love with someone else now. (3 chapters, 13,112 words) - A Ribbon at a Time by abcooper: After Lex Luthor defeated Superman, after the courts declared him innocent, after CADMUS rose to power, 16 year old Kara Danvers went into hiding. Five years later, a chance encounter with L-Corp CEO Lena Luthor throws her back into everything she’s been running from. (5 chapters, 27, 929 words) - If you don’t love me, pretend (just for a few more hours)… by Khrat9: where Kara and Lena aren’t friends. One night stands… but like several night per month, sometime more. (5 chapters, 24,817 words) - “Professional” Curiosity by TheSpaminator: Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers are the CEO’s of their own respective family owned companies. Their families are feuding. Their companies are feuding. So does that mean that by default, so are they? (6 chapters, 17,582 words) - here we are, two helping hands by falsealarm: A chord of unease vibrates in the pit of Lena’s stomach as Kara sets the folder in front of her and says, “I need to talk to you about something important.” (one shot, 9,016 words) - Surprise Me by Thatoneloser_kid: Kara is a Barista who is in a band and Lena is a CEO with a child and an ex-husband (one shot, 5,060 words) - the more it’s gone (the more it takes away) by cyclothimic: A huge part of her was tempted to just leave National City to the wind and go around the globe. But deep down, she knew that if she abandoned the city, that would only piss Lena off more (one shot, 5,273 words) - in black ink my love may still shine bright by PandaPaladin: On an awfully slow day at CatCo, Kara writes on her desk to complain about her work life to nobody in particular. When she comes back from a break, someone with messy, loopy penmanship writes back to her. (one shot, 11,412 words) (love it so much) - supergirl in training by wtfoctagon: Lena Luthor doesn’t plan to have any kids. Or to get married, even, really. After the revelation that she is actually of Luthor blood after all, she’s quite set on ending the family line with her and not taking the risk of any more drama.Then Lorelai L. Danvers crashes into her life, claiming to be her seventeen year old daughter from the future. (19 chapters, 71,381 words) (just take your time while reading it. It makes everything so much better) - take my hand, take my whole life too by pandapaladin: “There’s a stone statue in Midvale. A beautiful lady with her hands on her hips, a confident smile on her lips, and every feature on her body looks like it was molded from the corners of space. Her chest has a wide, golden ‘S’ on it, and the locals like to affectionately call her Supergirl.” (one shot, 15,135 words) - now you’re speaking my language by pandapaladin: Lena, wanting to surprise her best friend, learns Kryptonian to make Kara feel at home.During a night out with Kara and her cousin, Lena overhears them speaking in Kryptonian— about how much Kara liked her. (one shot, 7,073 words) - we were mint to be by pandapaladin: The door to the ice cream parlor jingled to signify the arrival of a new customer. Kara Danvers looked up from her cramped work area, wishing that there was a way she could catch the eye of a certain Luthor, who ordered a modest scoop of mint chocolate every Wednesday morning. (one shot, 17,221 words) - a spoken word is not a sparrow by pandapaladin: Linda agreed to help Kara confess her feelings to a certain friend. She’ll just confess Kara’s undying love for Lena, then they’ll switch out, and Kara will get the girl. It was as easy as baking pie.Except Lena doesn’t believe them. (one shot, 9,045 words) - I believe, you can get me through the night by jazzfordshire: Kara is a sexless housewife in 1969, feeling trapped with nowhere to go. But when mysterious, kind-hearted Lena Luthor moves in next door, hosting swinger’s parties but ignoring the men, Kara’s whole world shifts on its axis. (2 chapters, 21,206 words) - I keep my distance (but you still catch my eye) by jazzfordshire: Lena and Alex, two strangers recovering from breakups, swap houses over the holidays for a spur-of-the-moment trip. Neither of them expected to find a holiday fling – but what happens on vacation, stays on vacation. Right? (2 chapters, 26,451 words) - love & collecting butterflies by somanyfeelings: "a childhood au where Lena and Kara grow up near each other and are BFFS and they have pillow fights and hang out in Lena’s treehouse and carve their names into the tree and then as they grow up they go from BFFs to soulmates” (one shot, 3,860 words) - You to Me, Me to You by wtfoctagon: When Kara sees a vase of flowers on Lena’s desk, she doesn’t get jealous per se– it’s just that she thinks that Lena deserves so much better than a measly, cliche bunch of roses. (one shot, 6,497 words) - we are what we pretend to be by C_AND_B: After the unrestricted office access, and the flowers, and the surprise visits to Catco, everyone just kinda starts to assume Kara and Lena are dating, and maybe they should let them. (AKA, Lena and Kara really just date whilst pretending they’re fake dating). (one shot, 25,164 words) - Luthor Escort Services by uhpockuhlipz: Kara needs a last minute date to her sister’s wedding. Luthor’s Escort Services is there to help, but Lena is nothing like what Kara was expecting (one shot, 4,315 words) - let’s make this a reality by spacemanearthgirl: Or Kara goes back into the past one more time. A fix it of sorts for the last episode. (one shot, 940 words)(found it on tumblr) - Don’t Be A Cliché by BroodyJC: “I am ashamed of all of you for not letting me know about this.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest, shakes her head. “It makes so much sense know.” And she smiles, as if she knows something the others don’t. “So, Kara, are you going to ask her to the game tomorrow?” (3 chapters, 28,240 words) (think I read this one 3 times already) -Sanctuary by SilentRain91: Lena is curious about a new project her mother has been gushing about without sharing specific details. Wanting to find out more, she sneaks into the restricted area to see what the fuss is about. What she didn’t expect was to find a girl in a cage. (2 chapters, 5,367 words) - the coldest blood (runs through my veins) by AgentJoanneMills: “You know I’d kill for you, right?”Lena laughs, amused, even as her toes curl at the affection in Kara’s voice. “You kill people anyway,” she points out.“True,” Kara allows, “but I’d enjoy doing it more, if it were for you.” (one shot, 2,810 words) - i don’t wanna give you up (so what’s it gonna be?) by statisticallysignificant: it was practically high school code for the most popular girl to end up with the most popular boy at school, the nerdiest girl to end up with the dorkiest boy at school. thank god, the parties in question have different ideas.(3 chapters, 3,167 words) - Scripted Destiny by devschreibt: On her 17th birthday, her destiny will reveal itself. On that day, the first words of her one true love would mark her skin forever. And when she finally gets the courage to actually see the writing, she cringes, because on her shoulder blade it says, “(mouthed) above us only sky.” Now what? (3 chapters, 18,795 words) - the heiress, the girl of steel, and the man who fell to earth by littlebrother: Basically, what if Lena found Mon El's pod? (12 chapters, 66,388 words) (this is my favorite. Seriously it made me miss mon el) - The Fifth Wall by Black_Tea_and_Bones: Kara goes to bed with Mon-El, and wakes up with Lena Luthor.But it isn't Kara’s bed, and they’re not in Lena’s apartment, and that is definitely not their baby... Right? (28 chapters, 109,226 words) - For the Things We Lost in the Undergrowth by seabiscuit: All Kara Danvers wants to do is go to college, solve the crime, get the girl, and secure her beat on the campus newspaper. Unfortunately for her, it doesn't all happen in that order. (6 chapters, 47,479 words) - A Foolish Wit by seabiscuit: Lena Luthor needs a husband, Clark Danvers needs an easy resolution to his cash flow problem.Unfortunately, the best laid plans often go awry. (3 chapters, 27,890 words) dc’s legends of tomorrow - ava and sara - you make me smile (please stay for a while now) by CoffeeAndArrows and moonlitprincess: "Something about Ava's small smile, about the comforting warmth of her beside Sara, the familiarity of wandering to class together, the way she didn’t seem to look at Sara as though she expected anything, expecting a way of acting and being and reacting, as though Sara didn’t owe her anything. For the first time since she’d walked into school earlier that morning, Sara felt like she could breathe.Maybe, just maybe, this year wasn’t off to an entirely bad start." (35 chapters, 342,035 words) (read it in a month, while working and uni and it made life so much happier) - i just wanna spend the nights with you by moonlitprincess: college au where ava is only MILDLY crushing on campus heartthrob sara lance and can totally 100% be chill with a casual hookup ... until she realises sara has abs. (ft. our favourite ladies being useless gay disasters & plenty of unexpected feelings) (one shot, 8,963 words) - for reasons wretched and divine by Phoebmonster: AU - Ava is a princess, and Sara is the bandit who's kidnapped her, and together they have an adventure that changes them both, and their world, forever - featuring the rest of the legends as the loveable rogues we know they are at heart. (6 chapters, 20,727 words) - the day before you came by Phoebmonster: "So, the brief is ..." She tapped her fingers on the wheel. "Make your Mom believe you're really gay and give you some peace and quiet next year."Ava nodded, and Sara grinned."Right, I can do that." She said, more to herself than anything.aka the 'i've hired you to pretend to be my partner to annoy my family at christmas but i think i'm really falling for you' AU that Absolutely no one asked for. (6 chapters, 13,566 words) -if only, if only (you were mine) by Phoebmonster: high school au - ava and sara are paired together to look after a robot baby for their social studies classthey've never liked eachother, so a weekend in close proximity of eachother with a screaming baby can only end badly ... right? (one shot, 10,787 words) - inching close, closer to the edge by JourEtNuit: “But why do we have to pretend to be married?” Sara whines. “Can't we, I don't know, go as friends or cousins, or something. Oh, I know! She could be my secretary...”“It's a couples retreat, Miss Lance," Rip says, tiredly. (one shot, 5,381 words) - see me, feel me (love me) by lexa_lives_in_us: Sara notices. Of course Sara notices. She’s a former assassin and a vigilante, a really good one at that, she has to be observant and aware of other people’s quirks, to get her job done. So, of course, she notices. It’s Ava who doesn’t notice how closely Sara has been paying attention to her. (one shot, 4,454 words) (i cried through the whole thing) - Not The Way You Plan by plinys: In which Sara lies about dating a guy in a coma, and might accidentally be falling in love with his sister in the meantime. (one shot, 6,816 words) - painted me golden by lucylikestowrite: Ava and Sara meet at Ava's sister's wedding. (one shot, 3,914 words) - sleepovers (in my bed) by izziebee: Sara and Ava are not friends. Okay, fine they are friends, but definitely nothing more than that.Or 5 times Ava and Sara sleep together (it's platonic of course) and 1 time they don’t. (6 chapters, 6,633 words) runaways - Karolina and Nico - like or like like by makeitmakesense: But, she supposes, all great rivalries have some sort of wild origin story to explain the bitter air that surrounds them - what would make her and Nico’s any different? (3 chapters, 37,891 words) - and now she’s so devoid of color she don’t know what it means (and she’s blue) by abnormalhuman: Nico Minoru hasn’t been able to see color for as long as she can remember. Needless to say, Nico has lost all hope of ever meeting her soulmate and getting to see the beautiful colors of the world again. The chances of ever meeting her soulmate and kissing them is slim to none. It’s a hard concept to grasp, but then again, a world of darkness is all she knows. (one shot, 10,655 words) - maybe if I told you the right words at the right time (you’d be mine) by somniatoressinespe: or “they go on a roadtrip and nico spends half the time staring at karolina” (one shot,16,173 words) - the 100 - abby griffin and raven reyes - On the Way Home by hummingbirdswords: “we catch the same bus home and i always fall asleep, but you always wake me up at my stop” AU (one shot, 5,308 words) bonus - lena luthor and sara lance (yes it’s real) - Stumbling Toward Enlightenment by Selenay: Sara Lance is a yoga instructor. Lena Luthor is CEO of Luthor Industries.They're from different worlds, but they might just be exactly what each other needs. (one shot, 8,992 words) (best one, gays, best one)

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theblacklistscripts · 4 years

Text

3.11 Mr. Gregory Devry #95

We've got 20 minutes.

There are three sleepers in this main room and one in the master bedroom.

Time is short, so we won't be doing cut-downs on site, I've got a carpet van en route.

I want a full scrub.

Cheyenne, windows.

Haunani, floors.

We have 18 minutes, ladies.

Let's get to work.

[ Maxine Nightingale's "Right Back Where We Started From" playing ] ooh, and it's all right and it's coming long we gotta get right back to where we started from love is good, love can be strong we gotta get right back to where we started from ah, ha [ Silenced gunshots ] do you remember the day You're a lucky one, sugar.

We're gonna leave you alive so you can deliver a message to Reddington personally.

Tell him we know.

[ Thunder rumbles ] - if you get hurt - [ Door closes ] by the little things I say ooh, and it's all right and it's coming long [ Cellphone rings ] - Hello? - love is good - love can be strong - Yes.

we gotta get right back to where we started from Yes, I understand.

all right and it's coming long Please, not at all.

I've been waiting for this day for a while.

I'll be in DC soon.

[ Closes cellphone ] all right, and it's coming long we gotta get right back [ Telephone rings in distance ] I feel terrible about this.

Don't.

I mean, if anything, feel relieved.

A week ago, I was facing 16 counts of capital murder.

Besides, I still got my personal piece and a CCP.

Liz, you're a convicted felon.

They withdrew your concealed carry permit.

I'm gonna have to confiscate any other firearms you have in your possession.

Will I at least be issued a weapon for field operations? You're a consultant, not a sworn officer.

- You won't be going on field operations.

- [ Gun clatters ] What you are going to be is a phenomenal resource.

- Your ability as a profiler is-- - I'm good.

It's okay.

I appreciate the pep talk, but I'm good.

I really am.

That makes one of us.

I told myself I wasn't gonna cry so I'm gonna make this quick.

[ Sighs ] [ Voice breaking ] Apparently not quick enough.

- We love you, Agent Keen.

- You see, that's I'm not an agent anymore.

I put you all in an impossible situation, and for reasons I'll never quite understand, you gave me the benefit of every doubt, even Mr.

I'm-Just-Doing-My-Job.

You did so much more than that.

There's nothing harder than hunting one of our own, especially when she's innocent.

Hey, in all my years with the Bureau, I'm proud of the jobs all of you did.

What have you heard from Reddington? I feel like you're overreacting.

Given the circumstances, I don't believe that's possible.

- About the ladies-- - Their families know they'll be well provided for.

Thank you, dearie.

[ Door opens ] Hello, Elizabeth.

Word of caution-- he's in a bad mood.

What do you know about Shell Island? - Never heard of it.

- Please.

The Shell Island retreat is the pet name for an assembly of affiliated criminal organizations.

I'm sorry, wait.

Are you giving me a case? You look surprised.

I thought maybe after all we've been through the past three months that you might want to take a break.

I mean, aren't you exhausted? Your past three months have been what my life has been like for the past 25 years.

I'm often exhausted.

The Shell Island retreat is a ritual that dates back to the roaring '20s.

The de facto master of ceremonies is Marcus Caligiuri, next in line to Espen Van Der Merwe, but to assume leadership in the Pater Dei group, the world's oldest and largest weapons dealer.

The leaders of the Bratva, Yakuza, and assorted international cartels.

They gather when they are presented with a problem so difficult, it can only be resolved by enemies working together.

And where is this Shell Island? There is no Shell Island.

It's just a name.

The actual location of the meeting is always a closely guarded secret.

I'd have thought you would've been invited.

Howard Jasnoch.

He's a competitor of mine.

He's arranged transport for the individual who called the meeting.

- And who is that? Red: - I don't know.

What I do know is if he's called a meeting and the members are gathering, he's a very big fish.

Whatever is troubling him, whatever has caught the attention of these men is critical.

No less than an existential threat.

These meetings are infrequent, Lizzy, making this a very rare opportunity.

Follow this fish, and you can net the entire school.

Dmitri Sarkovski, the CEO of Vitus One bank, helped orchestrate and now profits from the Greek financial collapse.

- Espen Van Der Merwe - Wanted by The Hague on, uh, accessory charges for a slew of war crimes.

All of them are at large for charges, including narcotics trafficking, smuggling, cyber crimes, and assassination.

And Reddington has confirmed that all of them will be in attendance at this meeting? The Shell Island retreat provides a rare opportunity to capture the heads of some of the most lethal organized crime syndicates.

Does he know where this meeting will take place? He knows someone who does-- Howard Jasnoch.

He's an underworld travel agent of sorts.

According to Reddington, he's preparing travel for one of the attendees.

Hang on.

I got a flag on him.

Georgetown address.

Roll out, people.

- Keen.

- Oh.

Sorry.

Instinct.

It's not so bad.

[ Lowered voice ] I downloaded the fourth series of Doctor Who on the mainframe.

Tom Baker is amazing.

[ Sea birds calling ] [ Object clatters ] We need to go to your boat.

Yeah.

- Now.

- Okay.

- [ Laughs ] - Wait.

I gotta do one thing.

Okay, uh This is a washer.

But I promise you, I'm gonna replace it with something so much better.

Elizabeth Keen will you marry me? I know I wasn't the best husband.

But I-I can be.

I can be.

I don't wanna be anyone else.

[ Laughs ] I don't know what to say.

"Yes.

" You can say "Yes.

" [ Breathes heavily ] Tom If I've learned one thing from being on the run these past few months, it's that I can't tell you what I'm gonna want 10 years from now.

Even a year from now.

I just know what I want right now.

Mypet: - tricky anaconda - [ Both moaning ] coming down the rabbit hole did you ever wonder So, this isn't a no? - [ Laughing ] - how it's gonna go? [ Both breathing heavily ] coming out from under round you go I got you where I want you never know never know oh, I got you where I want you where to go well, this one is gonna cost ya Howard Jasnoch.

We know you're moving a client to the Shell Island retreat.

I want a name and location now.

I don't have a name, I swear.

Only an address.

FBI! Hands, hands! [ Men shouting indistinctly ] Ressler: Who are you? Man: Move, move! [ Indistinct shouting continues ] Navabi: Ressler.

Who are you? I said! - Reddington.

- [ Handcuffs click ] Raymond Reddington.

Where have you been? I came as soon as I got the call.

- Who is this guy? - He claims he's Reddington? Yes, and we can't disprove it with DNA because there's nothing on file from 1990 when Reddington disappeared.

Whoever he is, he has got Intel on nearly every blacklister Mr.

Reddington has brought us.

There's criminal histories, rap sheets, news clippings written when they were captured or killed.

He doesn't even look like him.

Well, in the five years I hunted Reddington, we had one photo of him.

It only had a passing resemblance to the man we've been working with.

He disappeared 25 years ago.

Could've had surgery.

Truth is nobody really knows what he might look like today.

But whoever he is, he has too much classified data for us not to take him seriously.

I wanna know what he knows and how he knows it.

[ Telephone rings in distance ] [ Doors whirring, alarm wailing ] [ Whirring, alarm stops ] So you're Raymond Reddington? Must make you wonder who you've been working with these past few years.

Why don't you tell me about the case files? You know, for years, I couldn't figure out why my colleagues were being targeted.

I didn't understand.

And then I saw you on TV with him.

You're the fugitive.

Agent Keen, right? You were in possession of classified data.

How did you get it? I knew someone was helping the FBI.

Imagine my surprise when I realized it was me.

Ray Reddington.

The case files-- how are they connected to Shell Island? You keep calling them "case files.

" These were people.

My friends.

They were criminals who were taken down by the Bureau.

With the help of a man you call Raymond Reddington.

He's an imposter.

He's using you.

You wanna know about the case files? About Shell Island? I'll tell you, as soon as you give me 10 minutes with him, face to face.

The FBI has no relationship with Raymond Reddington.

No, they don't.

But they think they do.

The cases you've given us, he said that you've been targeting his colleagues.

He's a probe.

When we brought him in, he was in possession of classified data.

I'm not interested in the data he has.

I'm interested in the data he's looking for, about me and my relationship with this task force.

The manhunt exposed your relationship to Liz.

Yes, people are talking about whether I'm cooperating with the FBI.

Rumors are swirling.

And whoever he is, he was sent to determine whether those rumors are true.

Has our friend arrived yet? [ Telephone rings in distance ] I'm excited to speak with him.

I know you're there, and I know you told them about Shell Island.

But since you're not me, you didn't receive an invitation, and you don't know when and where the meeting is taking place.

I do.

Of course you need a taste.

That's how this works, right? He trades information on his friends to get what he wants.

Taste this-- an FBI executive is going to be taken.

I can save her.

In exchange, I want a meeting with him.

Face to face.

- He's bluffing.

- He has nothing to gain by gaming us and everything to lose.

If you agree to talk to him, you're acknowledging - we work together.

- Yeah, but if he doesn't, an innocent person could die.

Reddington, you cannot-- [ Button clicks ] Hello there.

Are you enjoying the accommodations? Ah, there he is.

Excellent.

Let's begin.

In less than an hour, an FBI executive, Janet Macnamara, will be abducted by my friend and regular at Shell Island, Marcus Caligiuri.

Okay, Macnamara, Janet P.

Uh, she runs the FBI's Human Intelligence Unit.

She's not an agent? Why would she be a target? She's a high-level executive cleared to know all Bureau assets, including CIs like Reddington.

Caligiuri needs confirmation about our relationship, - she can give it to him.

- Okay, she's not at work.

She's picking up her son at a piano lesson.

41st and Macaroy in Hyattsville.

Ressler, Navabi, get there now.

Oh, sorry.

No, it's cool.

I got somewhere I gotta be, so [ Sighs ] It's a secure building.

There's a 24-hour patrol officer.

It's the perfect apartment for a young woman like you.

I love it.

Here's my application.

How soon can I move in? Um, soon as possible, Miss Keen.

Elizabeth Keen? - Yes.

Is there a problem? - No.

It's just There are a number of other prospective tenants who've already submitted applications.

- But I thought you said-- - We'll review your application and get right back to you.

I see.

Okay.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

We're looking for Janet Macnamara.

[ Piano playing ] I'll need a minute to check.

- We good? - We're fine.

Because you didn't say anything on the way over.

You didn't just fire me.

We slept together one day, and you fired me the next.

It's a little more complicated than it, uh, sounds.

Room 5B.

Thank you.

[ Piano playing ] - Janet Macnamara? - Yes? Agent Ressler, FBI.

This is Agent Navabi.

For your safety, you need to come with us right now.

- What's happened? - We'll explain it to you on the way.

No, I'm not going anywhere without my son.

Whatever you're here for, this must be some kind of mistake.

[ Lowered voice ] We got a problem.

Come here.

[ Lowered voice ] Get back in your room.

[ Gunshots ] Oh! - Stay down! - Don't shoot! [ Grunts ] Everybody back in your room! FBI.

- [ Hammer clicks ] - [ Grunts ] - Just the woman I was looking for.

- Mom, no! Let her go! Mom! Tyler, stay there! [ Grunts ] Janet! Hey, where's your mother? Stay there.

[ Tires screech ] [ Gunshots ] [ Tires squeal ] [ Gunshot ] [ Tires squeal, gunshot ] [ Tires screeching ] [ Horn honks ] [ Tires screech ] - [ Gasps ] - [ Grunts ] You.

Who are you? March 8, 1985, I ran point on an attack on the Beirut home of Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.

June 1989, I coordinated Operation Minesweep, which provided back office support and oversight for Naval Intelligence operations in Kuwait carried out by the 160th SOAR.

The op was off the books but can be confirmed by Assistant Director Harold Cooper.

How the hell does he know that? If I'm not who I say I am, how would I know that Raymond Reddington held TS-SCI clearance from the office of Naval Intelligence? If I'm not Reddington, how would I know that four years ago he hosted the Shell Island retreat at a chateau in Ile-de-France? [ Laughs ] I must confess to feeling curiously flattered.

Hook us up to a forensic polygraph and ask the only question that matters-- are you an imposter? I'll submit to the test.

Will you? How'd he know about Fadlallah? Did you host a Shell Island retreat four years ago? - I did.

- But you can't tell us where it's being held this year? Why didn't you take him up on the polygraph test? Because I can defeat a polygraph.

So can he, or he wouldn't have suggested it.

If I were you, Harold, I'd concern myself with finding Janet Macnamara, who apparently knows all about our little arrangement here.

You need to find Janet before she talks.

I forgot how much it sickens me to come here.

Then why bother? Why give a guy like that the time of day? Because my life depends on it.

Not if you move on.

We beat Berlin and the Cabal.

Isn't that enough for you? It is for me.

Is it? I-I know I'm lucky the way things turned out, but I can't even rent an apartment because people think I'm a criminal.

Tom thinks we should just go away and start over.

Maybe he's right.

- Tom.

- [ Door whirring ] There's something you need to see.

[ Candlestick holder thuds ] The Cabal is in green.

Their affiliates are in red.

Their competition is in blue.

Since I've been a fugitive, the pestilence on this map has only grown.

This is what we're up against-- a multi-headed hydra.

You cut off one head, it grows two others, you have to cut off every head and burn the rest of it.

It's a mythic battle, and it's not anywhere close to being over.

It's your battle, not mine.

I wish that were true, Lizzy.

But the manhunt revealed certain facts that had long been hidden about you.

Me? Katarina Rostova was a name that had been lost to history.

Masha Rostova was never more than suspicion and rumor.

The manhunt and the publicity it generated changed all of that.

But who would care that I'm Katarina Rostova's daughter? The daughter of a legendary spymaster, the secret-keeper who disappeared-- Disappeared? You and Sam told me she's dead.

The secrets she took with her could compromise any number of players on that map.

They'll be coming.

They'll be coming for you.

- But I don't know anything.

- They don't know that.

You can't walk away, Lizzy.

They won't let you.

Who are you? Knowing my name is no way to stay alive.

So let's forgo introductions, shall we, Janet? What do you want? Information.

One of two men will die today.

One is a killer-- filth who deserves what he gets.

The other one is a cabinetmaker.

No.

He's very good with his hands.

He has an eye for beautiful design and fine details.

I'm sure that's why you married him.

[ Gasps ] [ Lowered voice ] If you tell me what I need to know, I'll make certain the right man dies today.

- Hmm? - [ Breathes unevenly ] Janet Macnamara's been taken.

To get her back, we have to find Caligiuri.

I want the location of the Shell Island retreat.

I'm not the FBI informant.

Reddington doesn't know where they're meeting.

Unless he knows exactly where it is because it's the scene of his next command performance.

That's why he had me arrested-- so I'd be here while he's putting on his show.

He's using you to take my seat at the table.

[ Chuckles ] What do you want? Let me walk.

Not gonna happen.

Hmm.

If you do, I will tell you where the retreat is taking place.

You said you weren't an informant.

I lied.

I'm a criminal.

He exploited me.

He's exploiting you, too.

I get my freedom.

You get a dozen major criminals.

I mean, forget it.

The guy's unreliable.

Everything he has said has checked out.

It's our best chance at finding Macnamara.

For all we know, he could've staged her abduction to increase his value.

A woman's life hangs in the balance.

Trusting him is a risk we have to take.

- I disagree.

- Well, it's not your decision to make anymore, is it? Sir? Make the deal.

Put a wire on him.

Don't let him out of your sight.

We cut a deal-- immunity in exchange for taking us to the meeting.

We're marshalling strike teams now.

Harold is nothing if not predictable.

I know you said you don't know where this meeting is, and I want to believe you, but if this is another one of your games, if you have some sort of hidden agenda, and you plan on going, don't.

If we show up and you're there, it'll only confirm their suspicions.

Thank you for your concern, Lizzy.

Borsheim.

[ Keypad beeps ] [ Elevator bell dings ] [ Indistinct conversations ] Thank you.

Reddington.

Fashionably late as always, huh? Marcus.

Hello, everyone.

It's good to see so many friends and even more enemies.

Welcome to Shell Island.

Man: - Cheers.

- [ Woman toasts indistinctly ] You'll be recording evidence of a conspiracy which will be used in their prosecution and to justify your release.

If you could remove your jacket.

[ Latches click ] [ Groans ] This isn't the TSA.

These people have real security.

Before I'm allowed to even set foot in the penthouse dining room, I'll be diverted into an adjoining suite.

I'll be asked to relinquish all weapons and personal items.

- [ Whirs, beeps ] - I will then be relieved of electronic devices and asked for a password.

Red: Borsheim.

My clothes will be physically and electronically inspected before I step out onto the 22nd floor.

Which is why we'll be deploying the latest surveillance tech from the CIA.

What about transmitter intercepts? The transmitters run on a delay.

Once activated, they won't come online for four minutes.

And during that window, they can't be detected by security.

What if it takes longer than four minutes to get through security? Let's hope it doesn't.

Comforting to see that everyone's appetites for food, lies, and larceny have not diminished over the years.

And although some of you might have room for yet another dessert or patience for one more hilarious story, I'm afraid I don't.

Earlier this week, the murder of three of my contractors was ordered by someone in this room to send a message that they believed I was working with the FBI.

It was a vile, cowardly, unforgivable act, that quite frankly has resulted in very little impact on me when compared to the devastating loss felt by the children of those three dead women.

Now, given the publicity surrounding the assistance I rendered to Special Agent Elizabeth Keen during her recent stint as a fugitive, I understand where one's suspicion may come from, but it is unfounded.

And before this dinner is over, I will not only prove that I have not betrayed us, I will identify the person who has.

Save your breath, Reddington.

Your grave's already been dug.

I'm sorry, but "been dug"? Is that correct? That doesn't sound correct, Marcus.

- I think it's "digged.

" - It is "dug.

" I'm fairly sure "digged" is the archaic past tense.

I suppose they're both grammatically correct.

Sounds funny either way.

I'm sorry.

You were saying? 2 years ago, 20 of us broke bread at this table.

Now there are 12.

We have lost Hector Lorca, Floriana Campo-- And others.

What's your point, Marcus? [ Snaps fingers ] My name is Janet Macnamara.

I run the Human Intelligence Unit at FBI headquarters.

We keep track of all the criminal informants employed by the Bureau.

Over the past two years, our most valuable asset has been Raymond Reddington.

I thought we weren't supposed to have phones.

[ Horns honking ] Aram: Okay, do we need to review? You have-- Ray: Four minutes.

Status? Alpha teams have taken the northeast corner on Benson Place.

Bravo's covered the hotel.

Charlie holds the south, and Delta's waiting on my command.

90 seconds.

One spotter at the door.

I'll take him on breach.

Has the target cleared the lobby? Not yet.

Okay, he's in the elevator.

You allege you have nothing to do with the demise of our associates, and yet do you deny that you have benefited from their misfortune? No, I profited handsomely.

I didn't realize that was against the rules.

It's not, but we know you weren't just working with Agent Keen while she was a fugitive.

Okay, transmitter's up.

- [ Taps key ] - Why am I not hearing anything? Aram, is he in or not? The only assistance I gave Agent Keen was after she shot the Attorney General.

They were on TV always working together.

She was a fugitive, Dmitri.

I was paid a significant fee by certain unnamed parties to aid in her escape.

It's what I do.

That is true, but we are not just relying on the word of Janet Macnamara.

She provided us with access to documentation confirming that in the last 28 months, significant resources have been directed to a top secret task force dedicated to the apprehension of key figures in the so-called criminal underworld based on information provided by a single high-level informant.

You.

And that is a fact.

One you cannot deny.

Take your seat, Marcus.

Your information is incorrect, and you're standing in my light.

You know what your problem is? You talk too much.

That's not gonna be a problem anymore.

[ Whispering indistinctly ] It appears we have a late arrival.

- Okay, he's in.

- [ Elevator bell dings ] How fortuitous.

We were just talking about you.

You.

How the hell did you get in here? - Wait, is it me or-- - That sounds like Reddington.

This can't be good.

May I present to you Raymond Reddington? [ All murmuring ] Pour the man a glass of this wonderful port.

It appears this party's just getting started.

[ Murmuring continues ] He lied to us.

He knew that location the whole time.

Why? What's his angle? I don't know, and I don't care, but I'm calling that breach.

The minute you do, it'll prove Red's with us.

He'll be killed.

Liz: Reddington knows our protocol.

If he's in there, it's because he knew we'd find him.

He knows we're listening.

If he's willing to roll the dice, we should be, too.

Raymond, what is this? He's not Raymond Reddington.

He knew I called this meeting.

He knew that I was going to accuse him of being an impostor, so he beat me here.

I told you that before this dinner was done, I would prove my innocence and identify the person who'd betrayed us.

Meet the fake Red.

Faux Red.

Fred.

Fred? I took Agent Elizabeth Keen on as a client when she was a fugitive to gain her trust in exchange for information as to who was responsible for decimating our ranks.

Like you, I'd heard the rumors that I was the one who betrayed us.

And sure enough, after gaining her trust, she confirmed that the Bureau's confidential informant was a Raymond Reddington.

- I am so totally confused.

- Is it possible they know each other? If that's true, my head is definitely going to explode.

Red: By the way, very clever, Marcus.

Abducting Janet Macnamara in your search for the truth.

But you and I both know the confession you coerced from that poor woman you're holding at Calabrese Fine Imports was simply to confirm your lie.

You got that? Yeah.

Calabrese Fine Imports.

2119 McWhorther Street.

On my way.

Dispatch tac teams.

[ Engine revs, tires screech ] I think we're gonna kill both of you.

You've been nipping at my heels ever since the incident at that awful karaoke bar in Mombasa.

You're a liar.

I would very much like to hear what he has to say.

It's simple.

Marcus hired him.

- Hired? - To surrender himself to the FBI, pretending to be me so he could use the feds to dismantle my business.

- [ Laughs ] This is absurd.

- Words, words, words.

No proof.

You want proof? The FBI would never fly blind into an operation like this.

He's wired.

Ahh! Aah! [ Grunts ] You can go after a man's business, Marcus, even his associates, but other than family, the only thing off-limits is a man's reputation.

You have given false allegations against my good name, which will be whispered and repeated by those who envy my success no matter how thoroughly I repudiate them.

"Repudiate them.

" Words.

That's all you ever had.

Gentlemen, gentlemen.

I never wear cufflinks.

[ Thudding, clatter ] [ Radio static whines ] [ Helicopter blades whirring ] - I lost the signal.

- Go! Breach! Now! [ Gun cocks ] [ Grunting ] The FBI.

Actually, those belong to me.

Helicopters.

They'll be escaping on the roof.

But I suspect the FBI is on its way because of you.

So now we're all in a bit of a hurry.

Man: Move! [ Men shouting indistinctly ] I need you to put to rest any question about who hired you.

Now.

It was Caligiuri.

You lying bastard! He came to me, said he had a plan, said he knew about Elizabeth Keen.

I'm gonna kill you.

[ Grunts ] [ Whispers ] You were right, Marcus.

I am the informant.

Tell all our friends in Hell to be patient.

I'll be along soon enough.

[ Grunts, Marcus thuds ] Perhaps we should all get our hats and coats.

What about him? Oh, yes.

About him.

[ Gunshot ] Fastest way to the roof is this express elevator.

We're not going up, Dmitri.

We're taking the service elevator down to the garage.

Then who are the choppers for? [ Blades whirring, men shouting indistinctly ] Navabi: Why aren't they landing? The roof is clear.

I repeat, the roof is clear.

[ Sighs ] The choppers were just a diversion.

[ Gun cocks ] [ Explosion ] [ Gunfire, men shouting indistinctly ] Aah! - Janet Macnamara.

- Yeah.

You okay? Yeah.

Yeah.

Hang in there.

I'm gonna get you out of here, all right? [ Indistinct radio chatter ] I know you've been through a terrible ordeal, Janet, and I'm sorry for that.

But unfortunately your knowledge of my relationship with the Bureau is inherently dangerous to you, your family, and to me.

So please listen carefully and follow my instructions to the letter.

First thing tomorrow, you will inform your superiors that the trauma of today's experience was such that you have re-ordered your priorities and wish to spend more time with Bob, Tyler, and the dogs.

You are going to move to Santa Monica, California.

I've purchased a beach house.

The deed is in that envelope.

Your property taxes will be paid for on a biannual bases, and I'll be checking on you from time to time to make sure you're still safe.

Travel safely, Janet.

The sunset over the Pacific is magnificent.

What was his name? Gregory Devry.

Were you close? Gregory was a dear friend and a brilliant grifter.

He made a good living conning con men.

Short of George Sanders, I can think of no one I'd rather have pretend to be me.

But you killed him.

Gregory had terminal stomach cancer.

So at his request, I euthanized him.

You manufactured a doppelganger to reclaim your reputation.

I have many contingency plans in place.

This was one.

Why not tell us? The FBI would never permit me to do the very thing necessary to make the plan work.

Let everyone escape.

So they could spread the word that we're not working together.

Are we working together? The way you were talking before, I wasn't so sure.

[ Cellphone vibrating ] [ Sniffles ] Tom? No.

The woman who turned me down for the apartment.

Elizabeth, this is Barbara Menninger.

Look, I wanted to apologize.

When I realized who you are, I just-- I overreacted.

Frankly, I thought you were a pretty terrible person, and that was wrong.

You've been exonerated.

You deserve a second chance, and so I want you to know, the apartment's yours, if you still want it.

[ "It Works Itself Out" by Half Moon Run playing ] is it all that you need to get back and feel good satisfied that you did what you could it works itself out works itself out Thank you for everything.

just, is it time to take a look You won't lose her, no matter what happens.

bound by you put your thoughts into the shape of a weapon all you did was learn a terrible lesson You wanted to see me? What is this place? sell me out again You will not marry her.

[ Scoffs ] Why? Because I didn't ask daddy's permission? Is that really why you called me here? Or did you just want someone to play go fish? You married her over my objection once.

It will not happen again.

by distractions - Are you that woman? Elizabeth Keen? - [ Car door closes ] - [ Grunting ] No! - [ Thud ] [ Grunting ] You're a traitor! [ Both grunting ] Ms.

Keen.

How you feeling? [ Inhales sharply ] Well, all things considered [ Sighs ] Like crap.

Well, we, uh, we got back your MRIs and, uh, looks like you sustained three broken ribs.

No other internal injuries or bleeding.

There's really nothing much we can do about those ribs, but just tough it out until they heal.

I've broken a few before.

Yeah, we noticed that.

But hey, uh, good news.

The baby's fine.

It is? The baby.

Uh, yeah.

But you really, uh, have to be more careful now that you're pregnant.

[ Exhales sharply ]

#the Blacklist #scripts #mr. Gregory Devry

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loserholland · 6 years

Text

𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧

004 ➺ Family drama

Pairing ➺ Assistant!Tom Holland x Ceo!Reader

Warning ➺ A bit of angst

Word Count ➺ 2,021

Summary ➺ When an Tom moves to New York to pursue his dream of acting career, but to pay the bills he finds himself working for a billionairess.

A/N ➺ Add yourself to the taglist! or just message me!// also if I had a 1.4k celebration would you guys participate? Also I’m so sorry for the lack of updates I’ve been so busy with school and stuco I never have time to get some writing in and when I do have time I have a writers block ARGH! So if I don’t update for a while it’s because of my busy schedule so please bear with me guys! Mucho love <3

Tagslist ➺ @an-open-panda , @love-joeyy , @loxbbg, @starfulwonderer , @spideyyypeter, @saturnspideys, @depressedkidvibes, @mad-the-all-powerfull, @annathesillyfriend, @strrwberries, @spicygrethan, @bishopl, @cosmicinferna, @greenarrowhead, @iamtrashsry, @dangerdolns, @lizzy-xie, @thatrandomfandomchic

☞ Masterlist ☜

Camera’s flashed from every direction shouting for (Y/N) to look here and there, so this is what it would feel like if he was ever at a movie premiere huh? The paparazzi shouted from every direction “Who’s your date (Y/N)?” “Who’s the guy?” “(Y/N) look here!

(Y/N) glanced at Tom ushering him to stand next to her as he slowly walked over wrapping his left hand around her waist while the other was shoved in his front pocket. He kept a poker face, while (Y/N) gave a them small smile looking in every direction of the flashing lights, “Ms.(Y/L/N), it’s time to head in.” Josh her security said holding the doors to the venue for her and Tom.

“(Y/N)! Before you go! Who are you wearing and who’s the handsome?” one of the reporters asked pointing her mic towards her direction as (Y/N) leaned forward to answer her question wearing a warm smile. “It’s Versace & this handsome is Thomas Holland.” (Y/N) turned on her heels taking Tom’s hand in hers as they entered the venue.

He stood out like a sore thumb, they both did. Standing in a room full of high nosed rich folks who only cared about money and cared less about other things life had to offer. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on them, shared glares and whispered filled the room at the two who were dressed in crimson red.

As for the rest of the party was dressed in white, something Alexander left off on specifically (Y/N) invitation. Tom’s palms began to feel clammy earning a small squeeze with (Y/N) hand that was entwined with his.

“Keep your head up high, don’t worry.” (Y/N) whispered in a nonchalant tone caring any less of what her other relatives and family friends had to say about their outfit. Though she came off calm and collected, deep down she felt nervous and unsettled knowing she was about to see her brother whom she hasn’t heard from in five years. She held onto her clutch and small box that held the gift she’d give to her brother, a brand new set of keys to a white Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII.

Her heart beat began to increase slowly approaching her brother, his back was faced her breath hitched in her throat lifting her hand to tap his shoulder. Alex turned around the smile he wore slowly fading coming in eye contact with he was most excited to see yet fucked over.

“Happy birthday Alexander.” (Y/N) whispered handing over the small red box to her brother who’s gaze was fixed on Tom, eyeing him from head to toe before fixing his attention back to (Y/N).

“Thank you for coming (Y/N/N), and thank you for this.” Alex said nonchalantly taking the red box into his hand glancing back at Tom sticking his free hand out for Tom to shake.

“Alexander Andrews.” Tom took his hand into his giving it a light shake “Tom Holland.” Tom’s accent caused Alex to raise a brow at (Y/N) “Oh? English, hm interesting doing business with (Y/N)?” that was (Y/N) queue to send Tom off to the bar fetch them a drink.

(Y/N) grabbed his forearm giving it a small squeeze “Tom could you um.. get us some drinks from the bar? I’ll have whatever you have.” (Y/N) whispered sweetly earning a small smile from Tom leaving (Y/N) to speak with Alex.

“It’s none of your business, you shouldn’t be questioning my date.” (Y/N) whispered angrily crossing her arms over her chest as anger began to radiate through her body. It’s been five years and instead of asking ‘How’ve you been?’ his first question is ‘Are you doing business with (Y/N)?’.

Andrew mimicked her actions crossing his arms over his chest glaring at his sister “Hm, well what should I ask you then? Oh! How could you betray the family business and create your own business?!?” his words dripped with venom his hazelnut eyes piercing into (Y/E/C) eyes.

“I did not betray the family business! I dropped the Andrews name and took mom’s last name, I left the family that could never be there for me!” (Y/N) argued back wanting to slap her brother right then and there.

Tom watched from the bar and (Y/N) and Alexander went back and forth, “Huh, must be her ex.” he thought sipping on his whiskey as he made his way back to (Y/N). Pushing himself off the barstool to make his way back to (Y/N), he could feel the longing stares women gave him when he passed by tables the way some of the men glared at the young dashing handsome young man.

Tom stood awkwardly behind (Y/N) tapping on her shoulder lightly as she turned around anger painted her face till she caught sight of Tom her anger slowly fading away. Drawing her out of the conversation she was having with her brother “Thomas! Oh good you got our drinks! Let’s go to our table hm?” (Y/N) grabbed Tom’s wrist tugging at it slightly as they made their way to table seven.

“Oh now now (Y/N) don’t leave just yet, join us for a picture!” a voice (Y/N) was all too familiar with, the voice she was dreading to hear the voice of her father Steven. (Y/N) turned around to look at Tom then her father leaning up to whisper into Tom’s ear to tell him to head to the table first which he gladly obliged pressing his lips into a thin line heading to table seven that was near the corner.

Anger radiated through her body as she followed her father and brother into the hallway turning the corner that led into a small room where her mother was waiting. Aria stood up from her seat at the sight of her daughter, well she never really saw her as a daughter at this point if anything she was just the girl that left without a word. It happened so quickly, (Y/N) didn’t see her mom stand from where she was and now here she stands in front of her anger painting her face as her right hand came in contact with (Y/N) left cheek.

“You ungrateful child! You don’t speak to your own family for five years and decided to show up when it’s your brother’s birthday?” Aria said in anger as (Y/N) shook off the pain that was radiating through her cheek that was now red. “Nice to see you too mom, and I’ve been great how have you been?” (Y/N) questioned with sarcasm dripping off every word that left her mouth earning a littler snicker from Alexander.

Steven shot a glare at his son causing the small laughter to end as he drew his attention back to (Y/N) “Why are you here (Y/N)?” Steven questioned only to earn a small scoff from (Y/N). “Seriously? Alex invited me, I came here out of the goodness of my heart yet I thought you mom and dad would change over the past years I’ve been gone. I also thought you’d stop treating me like some sort of burden yet, you still do. Will you excuse me? My date is waiting for me.” (Y/N) turned on her heels heading out the door to the main hall.

Tom on the other hand sat uncomfortably as a girl came over to flirt with him not long after she left with Alexander and another older man, “So, how do you know.. (Y/N).” the blonde asked vaguely forcing a smiling as she said (Y/N)’s name. “I-I-um-” “He’s a friend of mines Genevieve, now why don’t you go back to your table you’re making my date uncomfortable.” she watched as her cousin stormed off throwing a mini tantrum as she headed back to her own date.

“I’m so sorry about that Tom I swear I’ll explain everything.” (Y/N) apologized placing her hand atop of his giving him a warm smile. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, dinner will be out shortly but before the dishes come out I’d like to invite someone special onto the stage. The birthday boy, well man now Alexander!” the room was filled with claps as Alex made his way to the stage. She knew what was happening, it was something her parents could never stop talking about at dinner when Alex turned twenty-one the company would be in his name.

(Y/N) sat upright in her chair as she watched her brother stand beside their parents with a smirk painted on his face, “If only I could strangle your right now.” (Y/N) thought as she shot a glare to her brother. It was a tradition the Andrew family had, when your first born turns twenty-one a huge gala is thrown and during dinner that’s when you sign a stupid contract for the company.

“Alexander.. he’s my-” “(Y/N)! Why don’t you join us on stage?” Steven announced interrupting (Y/N) mid-sentences watching his daughter head turn to the stage with a blank stare. “I promise I’ll explain everything.” it was the least she could do after dragging him to an event like this and to see the confused daze written on his face when her dad called her onto the stage.

(Y/N) stood awkwardly on stage next to her brother the way her family members stared at her whispers filling the room about how she started her own successful company. “Now you all remember (Y/N).. our first born..” Steven began walking closer to (Y/N) “Well when she turned eighteen, she ran off to Manhattan and started her own company! Going against the Andrews name!” (Y/N) scoffed listening to the lies that left her father’s mouth.

At this point in time she shouldn’t even call him her father, after what they’ve done to her. She reached for the mic prying it out of Steven’s hand “I didn’t run off, I moved out because you and mom were never there for me NEVER! The only person that was there for me was Alexander! When it was my birthday you and mom would go on a ‘last minute’ trip, when I was graduated high school I was valedictorian! You never saw me walk across the stage! You and mom didn’t think I was fit to run a company, yet here I am running my OWN successful company! So if you want me to look like the bad guy go right ahead, I got a lot more to say about the way you and mom treated me.” the crowd was silent.

Her own family was silent, not knowing what to say Alexander took the mic from (Y/N) “No, no don’t listen to (Y/N). Our parents loved and cherished her, she just ran off.” sadness washed over her, the fact that her own brother would lie about such thing. He knew what she went through he saw it happen, yet he couldn’t catch her back and say the truth instead he lied.

(Y/N) right hand came in contact with Alexander’s left cheek, tears began to slip down her rosy cheeks watching as her brother cradled his cheek “You were the very one Alexander that knew how they treated me and now you decide to lie? I don’t know who you are anymore.” (Y/N) walked off stage heading for the exit Tom and her bodyguard following not to long behind.

“(Y/N) hey hey hey, slow down.” Tom yelled jogging towards his employer watching as she turned around meeting Tom halfway only to wrap her arms around his torso catching him off-guard. He stood there in shock slowly coming back to reality as he wrapped his arms around her hugging her tightly “Hey, you’re okay. Let’s get you out of here okay?” Tom whispered earning a small nod from (Y/N) as she pulled away from him wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Tom had so many questions that he wanted to ask but, that would be for another time. He didn’t want to bombard her with questions with the state she was in right now, all he needed to worry about way getting her home safely. When she was ready to talk about what happened a few minutes ago then he’d ask his questions.

#new tom holland au series #tom holland au fanfiction #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #ceo!reader #assistant!tom holland #loserholland #tom holland x reader

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hawthornewhisperer · 7 years

Text

You got me going again

For @absnow. Henry/Lizzie from The White Princess Modern AU. ~1,800 words, rated T for now but definitely gonna have an M-rated part II because I know what I’m about. (Title from Pink’s You Make Me Sick because I was born in 1985, okay?)

“Whatever it is, the answer’s no,” Lizzie said with her eyes still on the pile of papers on her desk.

She knew without looking up that Henry’s jaw tensed and his nostrils flared. “It wasn’t a question,” he bit out. “We have to present to the American investors next week. They’ll want to see that we’re working under unified leadership so we’re both going. End of discussion.”

He swanned out of her office and Lizzie waited until he was gone to stick out her tongue. Immature, yes, but Henry Tudor was the bane of her existence. Her father had built York Industries— pardon, Westminster Industries now— out of nothing, only for this nobody to crawl out of some gutter and take it over. She’d be damned if he got all the glory of securing a new line of investment, however, so apparently, she was going to New York. An email from Margaret popped up on her screen, confirming the tickets.

At least he had the sense to book First Class tickets. But still, she wrinkled her nose at the idea of spending several days with no one but his royal-pain-in-the-arseness to deal with, and then returned to signing the contracts. She’d deal with him later.

Henry Tudor

9:13pm

Why did your mother think she would be welcome on this trip?

Elizabeth stopped stuffing brushes into her makeup bag and groaned. Because this company should be hers, not yours she wanted to scream, but instead she ran her tongue across her teeth and angrily tapped out a response.

Elizabeth York

9:14pm

Perhaps because she doesn’t trust someone with absolutely no qualifications to run a multinational company like ours.

Henry Tudor

9:14pm

You mean like mine.

Elizabeth screeched in frustration, the sound echoing around her bathroom.

Elizabeth York

9:14pm

Buying something doesn’t make it yours. But I can’t imagine someone like you would know that.

Elizabeth York

9:14pm

How much did your last date cost, by the way?

She felt a vicious surge of satisfaction as the message zoomed away, even if it was a low blow. And truth be told, she was a little annoyed that her mother had tried to talk Margaret into booking her on the trip too— mostly because the optics were terrible— but she understood her mother’s frustration with being out of the loop after running things for so long. Lizzie couldn’t imagine being sidelined like that, and she knew her mother was going mad up in Grafton with nothing to do but raise the little ones. Elizabeth Woodville was not meant to be a housewife, anymore than Lizzie was.

Her phone rattled on the counter with another incoming message.

Henry Tudor

9:20pm

You’re a brat, did you know that?

Lizzie made another face at her phone— sooner or later she was going to slip up and do it to the man himself, which would not be good— and continued angrily packing.

Three days. She only had to make it three days.

The insufferable jackass left her alone for the five hour flight, thanks be to god. He barely even nodded at her when she arrived in the lounge, and the First Class seats were spaced out enough that Lizzie could put in her earbuds and situate her eye mask without feeling like she was deliberately ignoring him.

Which she would have done anyway even if they were flying coach, but still. She did have to work with the man, after all.

They managed LaGuardia with chilly politeness, and he even helped her lug her rather oversized bag from the carousel. She’d have called the gesture gallant from another man, but from Henry she categorized it as deliberately infuriating, because that was what he did. He never did anything just to be nice, he did it to throw her off her game. But two could play at that, so she smiled brightly at him and silently celebrated when he seemed to stumble a little at the sight.

But then they arrived at the hotel and disaster struck. Margaret— sweet, well meaning Margaret— had somehow only managed to book one room and the rest were full up. Henry’s jaw did the thing again, and Lizzie noticed that it wasn’t unattractive when directed at someone who wasn’t her, but then she heard what he was saying. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she interrupted. “This is New York. There’s other hotels. I’ll just go elsewhere,” she declared.

Henry closed his eyes and visibly steeled himself. “We’re here to show the investors we’re the picture of fiscal responsibility. A last minute booking at a luxury hotel just so the princess can have her own room wouldn’t be the best optics.”

She laughed at that. “We just flew here First Class; they will hardly expect us to save money,” she countered.

“It will make us look disorganized.”

“So it makes us look disorganized,” she said with a shrug.

“Fine then. Book your own hotel and I’ll fire Margaret first thing when we return.”

Lizzie’s chuckle died on her lips. “Fire Margaret?” She was a little scattered at times, but she was a dear girl. And she was family.

“She made a mistake. A rather large one, when you think about it.” He smirked, like he’d caught her.

“Then we’ll just share,” she said loftily, and wiped the smile right off his smug face.

With great effort he returned to the concierge. “You heard her. We’re sharing.” The man flashed them a pained, uncomfortable smile, and handed over the keys.

The room, it turned out, was a suite meant to double as an office, which meant it only had one bed and a couch that pulled out. Lizzie tossed her purse on the bed and Henry raised his eyebrows. “Who said that was yours?” he asked, handing it back to her and loosening his tie. “You wanted to share. You get the pullout.”

“I did not want to share,” she hissed, but Henry shrugged and went about unpacking his suits. She narrowed her eyes and decided to concede the battle, if only to win the war.

What the war was, exactly, she wasn’t sure. But she was going to win it.

The man in the ill-fitting grey suit shook her hand and leered. “It was a pleasure to meet such a beautiful young woman,” he said in the manner of middle-aged men who imagined they were flirting with her. He’d spent the dinner telling her increasingly dull stories about his golf game, clearly thinking she was enthralled with him and not with the money he’d give her company.

“And it was lovely to meet such a sparkling wit,” she replied and tried to extricate her hand from his clammy grip. Next to her, Henry snorted quietly, and she cut a glance at him to find his eyes dancing. She had to bite back a grin and for a heartbeat, it felt like they were united.

Unexpected warmth flooded her chest. Lizzie was loathe to admit it but attempting to undermine the new CEO of your family’s company was a lonely game. Henry was the enemy, but he was also one of the only people who understood just how lonely it was. And Lizzie was tired, and not just because the pullout bed had a spring that poked her back no matter where she lay. She was tired of fighting a war for her mother that she was increasingly doubtful they could win, and she was tired of securing layers of armor around herself every time she approached Henry.

He was awful and infuriating, and then there would be moments like this, or like that morning, when he’d silently handed her a cup of tea— no milk, two sugars, and he hadn’t even asked how she took it. She’d thanked him sarcastically at the time, but there was a tiny part of her, deep down, that wished she could have done so genuinely.

“Your jacket, Lizzie,” Henry murmured quietly, and her captor’s eyes darted between them suspiciously. Henry helped her into her coat before they shook hands with the rest of the investors. And then, with his hand resting lightly on the small of her back, Henry guided her from the restaurant.

The moment they approached the car he dropped the charade and she told herself she was grateful, but she couldn’t help but notice that her skin didn’t exactly crawl at his touch.

Lizzie turned over in bed and reached for her phone, sighing dramatically. It was 2am and she was wide awake while the bane of her existence slept peacefully in the king-sized bed that probably had perfect back support and no creaking springs. Not to mention it had enough space for a family of four, occupied by just one aggravatingly handsome man. Annoyed and cranky, she made her decision and tossed back her covers.

Henry roused as she climbed into his bed. “What— what’re you doing?” he mumbled drowsily.

“Sleeping. In a comfortable bed,” she said crisply. “It’s plenty big enough for the both of us. Go back to sleep.”

He watched her for a moment, his eyes soft, and then he turned away and his breathing deepened.

Lizzie sank down into the luxurious softness of a real mattress and told herself that was her only motivation.

Lizzie was warm. Warm and comfortable and deliciously happy, the scent of something familiar but enticing filling her nose. She blinked, the morning light leaking around the edges of the curtains, and shifted a little deeper into his arms.

His arms. She froze like a deer caught in the crosshairs, because Henry Tudor’s arm was draped across her waist. His nose was buried in her hair, somewhere behind her ear, and his breath fanned softly across her neck. She could feel his heart beating against her shoulder blade, and she could feel something else pressed to the small of her back.

Okay, so Henry Tudor’s arm was around her waist and his decently-sized erection was tucked into her back. That was unexpected, to say the least.

Even more unexpected was the realization that she didn’t want to move, because she liked how this felt. She liked waking up in his arms, and she liked how he smelled like a combination of himself and the hotel shampoo. She liked how she fit in his arms, and she liked the soft noises he made when he slept.

But then he rolled to his back, still asleep, and she let out a breath she didn’t even know she’d been holding. Slowly, making sure he didn’t wake up, she eased herself out of the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. Normally, Lizzie took showers so hot they scalded, but this time she kept the water as chilly to try and shock some sense back into her system.

By the time she finished it had almost worked and Henry was awake and dressed, her tea sitting out by the nightstand. He smiled tightly at her and they finished packing in silence like nothing had changed.

Except for maybe everything.

#the white princess #henry/lizzie #the white princess fanfiction

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