#ALSO need to address holts hair

[freaky-flawless]

Holt calls him "Neighthan Hot"

(ID in Alt)

#monster high #monster high fanart #holt hyde #neighthan rot #holt x neighthan #maybe ill come up with a cute ship name for them #this is one of my fave crackships #i think they'd have such a cute dynamic #wanted to write more about them but i wanted to post this before i had to go to work #their colors go together so nicely #ALSO need to address holts hair #i decided a while ago i want him to have a mullet cuz i saw another artist give him one #then i saw another give him locs and i loved that #this is my attempt to marry the two ideas and the execution is???something?? #good probably isnt the word #but i think its' fitting for his character #hopefully next time ill draw it better im not giving up on the idea #my art #sabz art #just realized i didnt color in his earring...smh #too late now

[kingpreciouswrld]

I'll Be There For You

Fluff Prompt- “I just want to be there for you”

Pairing: Miranda Priestly/Andrea Sachs

Word Count: 3k

Summary: Andy just wants to be there for Miranda, even if that means she works behind the scenes to help the editor.

A/N: My first official fanfic. I haven’t watched The Devil Wears Prada a lot and to be honest, I think I’ve only seen it twice, but I love this pairing so much that I wanted to research and study both characters and the movie before I wrote this. Took about two days before I was finally happy with the whole thing :3

_______

It’s been six months since Paris Fashion Week. Six months since she decided to stay. Andy didn’t know why she stayed. Well, she knew why, but it wasn’t for the fashion scene.

It was for Miranda.

The commanding, direct, cutthroat, white-haired fashionista who stole her heart. Miranda said that she saw herself in the young woman: strong work ethic, driven, and devoted. Was it a compliment? Andy likes to think so, yet it intimidated her so much. So much so that she almost walked out on the woman. But Andy didn’t dare to think about life without seeing the editor daily.

So she stayed.

_______

“Go to Cartier and get 25 necklaces. Watch them pack it, last time they were tangled and Miranda fired at least three people that day. Then go to Calvin Klein, the showroom. I’ll give you the address. Ask for Ivan, tell him we’re doing a reshoot tomorrow, we need at least ten skirts. Stay away from Liz, she isn’t that helpful and on your way back, pickup Miranda’s coffee. Remember, one no foam skimmed latte with an extra shot and three drip coffees with room for milk. Searing hot”

Andy shooed off the new second assistant while she stayed back to man the phones. Miranda was out for the morning and it was Andy’s job to train the girl. This was the fifth assistant since Paris and each girl was slowly getting better than the last. Andy was promoted to first assistant when Miranda moved Emily to the art department. The job duties weren't different from when she was second assistant though the dynamic between Andy and Miranda was.

Miranda had changed once they landed back in New York. There were Emily’s and Nigel’s promotions, both of which were surprising, yet the two were very excited and very grateful to the editor. Miranda had also started to open up around Andy. For someone who wasn’t fond of small talk, the editor would make comments about how incompetent people were or how some articles of clothing were hideous. Whenever Miranda wanted coffee she’d “order” Andy to get a coffee for herself. There are instances where Miranda would forego her infamous catch phrase and replace it with a quiet ‘Thank you.’ Each time she heard it Andy would break out into a blinding smile and each time Andy swore that she saw a small twitch of Miranda’s lips before her stoic mask was back in place.

It was the small things that Andy noticed. That’s why it was a big deal to her. For Andy, Miranda respects and trusts her to the point where Miranda could speak freely around her. Andy felt honored to see through the small cracks of Miranda’s walls and she could feel herself falling even harder for the editor.

From the beginning months after Paris till now, Andy swore to herself that she’d help to make Miranda’s life easier. Not just because it was her job, but because she truly cared for the woman.

_______

Just as Andy finished setting down a scalding hot coffee in the office, Miranda came flowing through from the elevator. Lips set in a firm line, her heels clacked against the floor with her brisk pace, never stopping even as she threw her coat on the second assistant’s desk. She had just come back from a showing at James Holts’ studio, surely it wasn’t that bad? Her curiosity was quenched when she got a message from Nigel and she groaned mentally.

Miranda had just gotten off the phone from her ex-husband, Stephen, as she pulled up to the building. Going off Miranda's icy entrance, Andy knew that Stephen had canceled last minute. Again. It was planned that he was to watch the twins for the weekend since Miranda would be out of town for the weekend. Andy knew the man was flaky and usually his cancelling wouldn’t be a problem because the girls had their nanny Cara but the girl was out of town herself. Hence why Stephen was supposed to watch them and now Andy has to deal with the fallout but she was determined to make sure the girls were safe and taken care of for the weekend.

Andy followed the editor as they entered her inner sanctuary, notepad and pen in hand. Miranda had her hand nursing her head, massaging a headache away. “Confirm Demarchelier for tomorrow then pick up Patricia and her medicine from the vet. Pick up everything on the list, Patricia’s on a new diet. Then pick up the girls and take them home. Dinner is in the fridge, bedtime is at nine and don’t give them any sugar past seven no matter what they say.”

The brunette stopped her writing and looked up at the editor. Miranda continued to flip through the magazine in front of her as if nothing had happened.

What?

….What?

“Mira-”

“That’s all.”

_______

After the initial shock, Andy made the necessary arrangements to stay with the girls. Andy quickly got Patrick on the phone for Miranda before she told the second assistant the plans for the rest of the day. The girl was scared to death about being the only assistant in the office but Andy reassured her that she’ll still be available if she had any questions and she left Runway.

Andy and Roy went around town. She picked up the St.Bernard and got groceries for the dog’s new diet. As Roy pulled up to her apartment, Andy’s mind was still reeling. Miranda didn’t outright say it, but she basically asked (okay well maybe told) her to watch the twins. The question was, why? She highly doubted the woman would entrust a different nanny, a practical stranger, to watch her precious girls, but why her? She’s sure the editor wouldn’t even trust Emily to watch the twins. Andy wasn’t complaining though, not at all. She felt honored and touched that she had Miranda’s trust and she’d be damned if she’d let the editor down. After packing a bag, she quickly made her way down to the town car and the two of them, along with Patricia, were off to Dalton.

Upon seeing Andy instead of their father, the twins perked up and practically threw themselves into the car. The three of them had bonded a bit after the Harry Potter incident. Every night that Andy delivered the book, the twins would come down and talk to her about their day. She’d help the girls with their homework assignments and even give the occasional advice whenever they had troubles with friends. They would always ask how their mom was at work and Andy always reassured them that their mother was just fine. They made Andy promise to look after the editor and Andy was more than happy to do so.

Throughout the rest of the evening, they had a little girls' night. They watched movies, painted their nails, and did each other's hair. Andy and the girls even pampered Patricia, painting her little nails on her front paws and putting a bunny ear headband on the dog. It was a bit of a struggle trying to get the ears on the St.Bernard which ended up with Andy chasing the dog around the room while the girls just sat back and watched the whole scene unfold, recording everything. The twins were ecstatic to spend more time with Andy and they weren’t surprised that their mother let her watch them. Alright, maybe a little surprised but they weren’t complaining. At dinner the twins talked Andy’s ear off, spewing suggestion after suggestion about what they should do or where they should go. Although she was happy about their enthusiasm, she finally got them to calm down when they all agreed that they’d talk more about the details in the morning.

_______

Her blaring alarm bounced off the walls of the guest bedroom as Andy groaned herself awake. Once she realized where she was and whose house she was in, she stared up at the ceiling getting lost in her thoughts. The fact that she had slept over in Miranda Priestly’s house and that she’s in here now was still mind boggling. Seeing the townhouse in all its glory was as if she had a small glimpse of Miranda’s world and Andy stood all amazed. She was seeing a different side to the fashion editor. The interior of the townhouse was amazing. The color schemes differed from floor to floor yet it all worked together. Colorful and abstract paintings hung on the wall but there were also things that held family value. There were paper birds that were strung together that were draped around a bookcase on the second floor, pictures of the girls were situated on the coffee table in the sitting room and Miranda being a lover of flowers and their meanings, had multiple bouquets of different flowers on every other table.

Miranda had given Andy, this small town girl who dreamed of being a journalist but actually became an assistant, this ticket to see a of what the editor’s life was like and all Andy could think of was why? She knows what she hoped the reason could be, but Andy didn’t want to get ahead of herself but you bet that she dreams of it being true.

Tired of stressing and guessing, Andy threw on her clothes and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. It was decided last night that they will have crepes and french toast for breakfast and Andy thanked her lucky stars that she lived and dated a cook. She cut up some fresh fruit, freshly squeezed some oranges, and started to make both batters.

Andy was focused on making a good breakfast so she heard the twins come trudging down the stairs before she saw matching messy red hair come around the corner. As she platted the last crepe, the twins sat down at the kitchen island and started to dig in. Even though they just woke up and were currently stuffing their faces, the two were as energetic as they were last night, spewing out even more suggestions than before. Caroline wanted to go to the art museum and Cassidy wanted to go to the zoo. Both options sounded wonderful to Andy and even she couldn’t choose what they should do first.

After a heated game of rock, paper, scissors, and negotiations it was decided that they will go to the art museum and grab some takeout from Shake Shack on their way home. Miranda would never take her children to a place such as Shake Shack but the twins specifically asked for it and Andy just couldn’t say no. It’s okay, Miranda didn’t have to know.

_______

The art museum was fantastic. Although Andy has been to the museum multiple times with her friend Lily, she was amazed to hear Caroline’s knowledge of the art work and the artists who created them. Caroline became a little tour guide of the group, making comments and giving out fun facts here and there. She knew both of the girls were smart. They were definitely knowledgeable in areas that differ from usual kids their age, but it always amazed her to see how vast their knowledge really is.

The trio made their way home, cutting through the park before stopping at Shake Shack. She hoped no one would recognize the twins or else Miranda would hear about it within the hour and she knew the girls wouldn’t rat her or themselves out. They looked over the menu for a while, debating on what they should get. Cassidy and Caroline got the shack burger while Andy settled for the chicken bites. The twins couldn’t decide on what fries they should get so Andy just got an order of regular fries and an order of cheesy bacon fries. God, if Emily was here she’d have a heart attack just hearing about the cheesy bacon fries. They were almost out the door until Caroline stopped them and said that you can’t eat Shake Shack without getting a shake.

With the twins sipping on their shakes, the trio finally made their way back to the townhouse. They all settled around the kitchen island and dug into their respective foods; the twins even picked some chicken bites from Andy’s plate and Andy always tried to swat their hands away. Caroline continued talking about the paintings and sculptures they’ve seen with Andy listening intently and nodding along. The subject changed when they started to talk about tomorrow, and Caroline went on her own knowledge spree about the different habitats and animals that were at the zoo.

Seriously, these kids amazed Andy.

_______

And that’s how Miranda found them.

The twins and Andrea were talking around the kitchen island with their greasy takeout and sugary milkshakes topped with extra whip cream and she watched with amusement as Andrea tried to keep her food away from the girls. Miranda stood in the doorway taking in the scene. She’s never seen the girls take to someone so easily before, aside from Cara. The three never knew this but Miranda knew about the late night talks they had. She would listen to the hushed conversations and smile to herself from the second floor hallway. Every time she heard her girls’ voices with Andrea’s voice, her heart fluttered.

Andrea wasn’t like anyone she knew. She managed to weasel her way into the editor’s heart and Miranda wouldn’t have it any other way. The girl was kind and sweet, yet hard working and determined. Andrea was a force to be reckoned with when she was given a task and she would always get things done in one way or another. To Miranda, Andrea was ethereal; the brunette would walk in a room and the atmosphere would feel lighter. Hell, her presence alone had the power to calm the fiery editor. Andrea was the warmth that slowly melted her icy walls. Miranda cared for the girl, more than a boss should.

Before Miranda could make her presence, she caught Cassidy’s eyes. “Mom! You’re back!” Caroline looked up towards the doorway before letting out a squeal. Both girls bolted towards the editor as Miranda opened her arms. The force of the impact from the girls caused Miranda to stumble backwards a bit with a little ‘oomph’ as she was attacked by the redheads. Kissing their heads, Miranda hugged the girls tightly, “We finished early and Donna was nice enough to give mommy a ride home.”

As the family had their little reunion, Andy looked away from the scene in front of her and tidied up a bit. When Miranda’s presence was known, it came rushing back to her that she was Miranda’s assistant. That was her boss. This was just another task Miranda had given her as an assistant. No matter how different the task was or how different things had changed between them, she will still be seen as an assistant. Right?

“Andrea.”

Andy snapped her head up. She was so concentrated on her thoughts that she failed to notice the absence of the girls. It left her and Miranda alone. Alone. Together. In Miranda’s kitchen. Oh God.

Miranda walked closer towards the brunette, eyeing the takeout on the table, “I see you’ve been spoiling my children with... greasy calories and sugar.” Andy chuckled nervously as she fidgeted with her fingers.

“The girls asked for it specifically and they used their puppy eyes. It was a tough showdown and I just couldn’t say no.”

Miranda hummed in acknowledgement before letting a small smile play on her lips. She knew all too well about those puppy eyes. She fell victim to them many times. “Understandable.” Miranda picked up one of the french fries from the paper bag and plopped it into her mouth, leaving Andy to stand in front of her with wide eyes. The editor looked up at the assistant with a raised brow and a small smirk, “Surely you know that even I indulge myself from time to time?”

Andy tried her best not to gape at the scene as the editor started to pick at the bacon cheese fries, “Of course Miranda. It’s just...I’ve never imagined Miranda Priestly eating bacon cheese fries with her fingers. I mean, maybe with a fork but still.” Andy was even more shocked when the editor let out a laugh. Not one of those fake, dainty laughs, but a real laugh. It was beautiful. It was all Miranda. “Be as it may Andrea, I’m not the one with cheese on her face.”

The brunette blanched in horror and faced away from the editor to try and wipe the leftover cheese off her face. How long has it been there? Why didn’t the girls say anything to her before? Did Miranda know the whole time? Why couldn’t she have said anything before?

Her thoughts were stopped as she felt a hand lift her chin up and wide brown eyes met soft and amused blue eyes. Miranda stood in front of her with a napkin and a small smile, “Silly girl.” As Miranda wiped away the cheese, Andy held her breath. She could feel her skin tingle under the editor’s hand. All of her senses were heightened and her sense of smell was filled with Chanel No.19. The two were closer than they ever were before and Andy was scared to move. Scared that if she did, whatever this moment was would end.

“Why?”

Andy’s brows furrowed ever so slightly. Miranda’s eyes flitted across the young woman’s face before searching her chocolate brown eyes. “You didn’t have to watch them. You could have declined. Yet you didn’t.” Andy held her breath. “Why?”

The brunette searched the editor’s own eyes and watched as the softened ever so slightly, a twinkle of vulnerability showing through and Andy knew that it was now or never.

“I just want to be there for you.”

A moment of pause followed, the two of them communicating through their eyes. Andy just wanted to show Miranda that she cared. She cared more than an assistant should. She cared about the woman’s life outside of work and that included the girls. It included everything and anything that crossed Miranda’s path.

Satisfied and a bit relieved with what she found, Miranda slowly moved her hand to caress Andy’s cheek, lightly rubbing her thumb along a soft skin.

“Thank you.”

______

A/N: I didn’t want to end it with dialogue but I felt like if I continued it, it would be too long for a prompt fic. Anyways, I tried lol BUT feedback is always welcome whether it’s negative or positive, both help with the writing process :)

#mirandy #miranda priestly #andrea sachs #the devil wears prada

[peachykindalovesyou]

My Way Or The Highway

Lucifer x GN! reader

Warnings:: Daddy kink, dom/sub play, rough sex

Day one of kinktober

Word count: 993

Authors note:: These first six prompts that I am writing today will be scenarios or short fics, I am already five days late and I don’t want to be later than I already am! [Also, there is a mystery character in here...I will make an oc card for her. She is a demon as well! She will be used is some fics, and might be shipped a little with the mc/reader. She will never be shipped with canon game characters, though.]

(Reader’s POV)

     I walk m way down the halls of RAD, searching for my Devildom history with Mammon. RAD is such a large school, college? I’ve been going here for a few months already, it seems like everything has gone by within seconds. Through out those past months, I’ve noticed Lucifer getting a little more touchy with me, physically and emotionally.

     He has been more protective as well, holding my hand, always on guard around me, he even went as far as pretending to be my boyfriend to keep away the incubus and succubus demons around me. I appreciated the gesture, I did, I just found it a little weird for him to be acting this way around me. Lucifer. THE Lucifer. One of the most powerful demons here in the Devildom. Protective of a measly human like me.

     I don’t know what’s gotten into him for him to be acting this way around me....what drugs has he been taking, and can I try some? All jokes aside here, I still can’t find my class, I might as well ask another demon around here, hopefully I don’t get eaten whole.

     I find a succubus, she was tall, curvy, and has long pink hair. I tap her shoulder and she turns to look down at me. “Hello there! Is there something you need, little rose bud?” Little rose bud? She seems awfully nice. “Um, do you know where the Devildom History class for first years is?” I ask her with a shy tone in my voice.

     “Ah, I haven’t been in that classroom in a while, I’m a third year, you see. I could show you to there, though. I know this place like that back of my hand! Here, follow me.” She held out her hand for me to take so I don’t get lost in the sea of tall and dangerous demons. I took it in hesitation, as soon as I did that, we were off.

     From the corner of my eye, I can see Lucifer eyeing us with a dark look in his eyes.  She swooped me off into the crowd, leading me to my classroom. ‘She smells like candy..’ I thought to myself with a curious face. We suddenly came to a holt, I read the sign above the door ‘Devildom History’.

     “Here we are! I wish you good luck in this class~ I hope our futures hold more greetings between the two of us, little rose bud.” She bent down and gave me a kiss on the back of my hand, winking at me. “Ahem.” There he is...

     “You. Pink haired girl. What do you think you’re doing with them?” She turned around with a panicked look on her face, but it was quickly excused with a mischievous one. “Ah, hello head of the student council, Lucifer! I hope you don’t mind that I was just showing them to their class~ You see, they were having trouble finding it, so me, being the loveable and helpful demon I am, scooted them there.”

     He just grunted and shooed her off, he then forcefully took me elsewhere. “L-Lucifer, I’ll be late-” I spoke up. “You don’t need to worry about that now, I will tell Lord Diavolo will excuse you for the day.” FOR THE DAY? What is he planning to do with me? “(Y/n), we are heading back to the House of Lamentation.” I thought it was better to stay quiet, I wouldn’t want to get in trouble.

...

...

...

     We were finally back at the house, he lead me through the hallways and towards his room. Oh no. I am surely going to get punished, and I don’t know if its a good thing or not..

     He opened the door, pushing both of us in the room before anyone could see us, he kept on backing me up until I fell back onto the bed, and he crawled over me. “What do you think you were doing with that lowly succubus?” I couldn’t respond to his question, I was too focused on the way his hands were trailing up and down my body, caressing my hips and thighs.

     “I-I-” I couldn’t utter a single word, I was too distracted by Lucifer’s actions. “Lucifer I just ne-” He interrupted me by pressing his lips roughly against mine, slithering his tongue between my lips and entangling it with mine before pulling away, leaving a string of mixed saliva. “Do you want this?” His voice was raspy, and deep. I nodded, “Yes, please Lucifer!” I pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around his neck.

     “You will address me as daddy, do you understand?” I nodded my head shyly beneath him. He pinched my thigh and asked me once again. “Do you understand?” I finally spoke up. “Y-yes daddy..” He nodded in approval. His started going lower and lower, leaving small kisses on my neck that soon turned into nips, that turned into rough bites. 

     I bucked my hips up, desperate for any type of friction. “Be patient.” He said in a strict voice. I obeyed and tried to keep as still as possible, though I struggled. He bit down onto my neck harder, that’s definitely going to leave a few bruises and marks.

     “D-daddy!” I moaned out, he smirked against my skin, I could feel his breath fanning across my neck. Oh this felt like Heaven, which was ironic, because we’re practically somewhere completely different from that place. He started to lower himself, tracing his hands closer and closer to my downstairs, lightly rubbing circles on it. 

     “Please! J-just fuck me!” I called out for him, but it seems that he had a completely different idea in his head. “Oh no, no, no, darling...” He brought his face up to my, grazing his lips over mine. He grabbed my chin with pointer and thumb, making me look up into his red and lustful eyes.

“It’s my way, or the high way.”

#obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me smut #obey me swd #shall we date #obey me lucifer #lucifer x reader #lucifer x mc #lucifer obey me #kinktober #obey me lucifer x reader #obey me lucifer x mc #tw smut #tw daddy kink #🍋 : smut

[frostedfaves]

To Build A Home (6)

Masterlist

Pairing: Rosa Diaz x fem!reader

Summary: Rosa spent years building a friendship, relationship, and eventually a marriage and home with you. This tale follows your journey together up until her sudden murder. Now that you’ve tracked down her killer before anyone else, will you do the right thing and send him to prison or take care of him yourself?

Warnings: brief mentions of a bomb threat, robbery, and alcohol use, poorly written detective work, Jake and Amy ignored on their own wedding day (I’m still so sorry faves)

A/N: this part doesn’t feature as much Rosa and wife interaction as the previous parts because I needed to set the scene for something that will come back later ;) but I hope you still enjoy it! feedback appreciated as always

Previous chapter here

-

Your eyes roamed around the small store after passing the crime scene tape, assessing a surprising lack of damage for a robbery. You didn’t expect the place to be trashed, but there was barely a sign of a struggle or anything taken in a hurry.

“Hi there.”

You turned to face a white man in his possible fifties, at least from what you could tell with the graying strands of hair and incoming wrinkles around the eyes. A hint of a smile was directed your way as he stretched out his hand.

“You must be the detective the cops told me was coming. I’m Mark Collins, the owner of this place.”

“Detective Y/N Diaz,” you introduced yourself before pulling out of the handshake. “So you said you were robbed. What happened?”

He quickly explained to you the events that took place, starting with firing an employee the night before and leading into his return this afternoon.

“I had a feeling Thomas would retaliate and I would’ve been prepared for him, but my sister brought her daughter by this morning and they’re both terrified of guns, so I hid it in the back. I have a license for it, by the way,” he added when your brows raised at him.

“Do you mind if we take a look at your security footage?” 

You followed him into his office, watching as the same situation he described to you played out on camera. You sighed a bit when the armed man shouted his reason for taking the money, feeling that Mark owed it to him to help pay his rent since he didn’t give him time to find income elsewhere. Although you’ve felt the pain of suddenly losing your job before, it didn’t justify you or anyone taking money from someone else.

“Alright, I’m going to need a copy of that footage downloaded. I’ll come back for it later. I’m also going to need the address you have on file for Thomas so I can pay him a little visit.”

-

Twenty minutes later you pulled into a parking spot just down the block from the apartment building of your suspect. You’d just taken off your seatbelt after cutting the engine when your phone rang, a smile appearing on your features at the sight of your wife’s name and picture.

“Hey, baby,” you greeted cheerily as you locked the car doors again. “How’s the wedding day craziness going?”

“Even crazier than expected,” she told you with a sigh. “You’re not on your way yet, are you?”

“No, why?”

“Someone called in a bomb threat on the rec center, so that’s getting checked out while Jake, Amy and Charles try to figure out who did it. I’m waiting for Terry to call back the driver of the car that he left Amy’s veil in.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, so you weren’t kidding when you said ‘crazier than expected’.”

“I was not.” She chuckled along with you for a second. “So where are you?”

“I’m currently outside of where my suspect may or may not be. On the security footage you can hear him say he stole the money for rent since he doesn’t have a backup job but…” You let out a sigh of your own. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m giving him too much intelligence credit, but if I robbed the store I just got fired from, I wouldn’t go back to the address I gave my manager. Still going to give it a shot anyway.”

“Okay, well I won’t keep you on the phone much longer. Driver’s pulling up anyway. Be safe, and I love you.”

“Love you too, Rosa. See you later.”

You made your way up to the apartment quite easily as the lock on the secured door was broken. A knock went unanswered for several seconds. A second knock brought you face to face with a woman much younger than Mark.

“Detective Y/N Diaz,” you introduced yourself as you held up your badge for her to see. 

“Jessica Moore,” she offered. “What’s this about?”

“I’m looking for Thomas Moore. Is he here?”

“He was, but you just missed him by about an hour.” She shrugged. “Tommy was sleeping on the couch for a while because his girlfriend kicked him out. He was only gone maybe half an hour before he came back saying he was headed home, packed up his stuff and left.”

“Do you know where this girlfriend lives?”

“No, sorry. I don’t even know her name! Every time I ask about her, he just tells me I’m asking too many questions, as if he doesn’t try to interrogate every guy I’ve been on a date with,” she grumbled off to the side with her arms crossed.

“I know the feeling,” you told her and she turned back to you with a hopeful smile.

“You have brothers too?”

“Nope, just familiar with men and their double standards.” You pulled a business card from your jacket pocket and gave it to her. “Call me if he shows up, and thanks for your cooperation.”

-

After gathering all the evidence you needed from the crime scene, you’d arrived at the precinct just in time to see Holt cleaning up what used to be a cake version of the Nakatomi Plaza. You had your questions, but you simply saved them for a moment when you weren’t completely focused on your case. Every single moment of the day, every conversation that didn’t come from the computer where you were studying surveillance footage was ignored.

“Yep, Terry fumbled the task. But we got you a bouquet.”

Your ears couldn’t help but tune in at the sound of Rosa’s voice, this moment being the first time you’d heard her in a few hours. Still, you couldn’t bring yourself to pull away from your work until her hands gently landed on your shoulders, effectively melting the tension from them.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” You turned in your chair with a smile, which instantly fell as you caught sight of Amy in a wedding dress. “Please tell me I didn’t accidentally work through the wedding.”

“Jake, Amy, let’s go downstairs. It’s wedding time!” Charles addressed the pair with a proud grin and Rosa gave your shoulder a teasing nudge.

“Looks like you’re just in time. Come on.”

-

“But I do have some bad news. There’s a bomb at this wedding as well.”

“What?” The frown on Jake’s face matched yours, both of you confused by Amy’s calm demeanor.

“Your butt. Your butt is the bomb. There will be no survivors.”

“I love you so much. You’re my dream girl.”

Your laugh at the adorably childish pair was cut short when you realized Rosa was staring at you. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just missed you today.” She threw her right arm around your shoulders, gently pulling you in to lean against her and dropping a kiss on your hairline.

“I missed you too.” Your left hand grabbed hers, locking your fingers together in her lap, both of you smiling at the reciprocated skin-to-ring contact. Satisfied with the physical touch, you both turned your attention back to your nearly married best friends, brows raised as you watched a robot from the bomb squad bring the rings down the aisle.

-

You thanked Rosa as she placed two drinks on the table, sliding into the booth next to you and this time wrapping her left arm around you. You slipped your fingers through hers once more as they dangled over your shoulder, extending your thanks in the form of a quick kiss on the cheek.

“So how did it go earlier? I’m guessing by the way you were buried in your case that your suspect wasn’t stupid.”

“No, he wasn’t,” you sighed. “I found his sister, who told me that he’d left some time before I got there to go back home to his girlfriend. I can’t find any evidence of him having a girlfriend, but I have to wait until Monday to get a search warrant for the apartment. So I won’t know whether or not the sister was lying until then.”

“Well when you do find him, which I know you will, don’t forget to call me. I love watching my woman take down bad guys.” She winked and you laughed so hard you nearly snorted.

“What about you? How’d you end up with a shower curtain and flowers instead of a veil?” you asked after settling down, keeping your eyes on her as you sipped your drink.

“The customer after us knocked the dry cleaning bag out of the car when he left and we found it soaked in urine because, you know, New York streets are gross like that.” 

She shuddered, her look of disgust shifting into adoration when you held her glass and straw up to her lips. As you returned it to the table, you caught sight of Jake and Amy gazing at each other like no one else existed within the walls of the bar.

“I’m so happy for them. I can’t believe our best friends are married.”

“I can,” she responded as she shifted even closer to you, her eyes landing on the pair. “They’re the perfect example of the ‘opposites attract’ concept. They’re going to grow old together.”

“It’s funny that you say that, because they think the same thing about us.”

She turned back to you, that specially reserved smile back on her lips as she took in your appearance. Using the arm around you, she guided your own lips close enough to leave a kiss on them that was far too short for your liking. She settled back into the booth again and picked up her drink, her eyes never once leaving yours.

“Let’s prove them right, then.”

-

Tags: @gaulty74 @creepingwolfberry @rosadiazswifey @milkfromhell @xetherealbeautyx @jay-is-groovy @marie-03

#to build a home #rosa diaz #rosa diaz x reader #rosa diaz imagine #rosa diaz x fem!reader #brooklyn nine nine #brooklyn 99 #brooklyn nine nine imagine #brooklyn nine nine fic series #brooklyn nine nine x reader #b99 fic #b99 imagine #b99 fic series #b99 x reader #b99 fanfic #b99 #stephanie beatriz

[blackchildrensbooksandauthors]

Celebrating Dad: 20 Books for Father’s Day

“Whether biological, foster, or adoptive, they teach us through the encouragement they give, the questions they answer, the limits they set, and the strength they show in the face of difficulty and hardship.” ―Barack Obama

Barack Obama’s Father’s Day Proclamation given on June 15, 2012 was a loving tribute to fathers and men who stand in the gap, taking on an essential role in the lives of children. It is a running joke that Father’s Day does not get as much recognition as other holidays, but there are great men who are ever-present and debunk myths and stereotypes about Black fathers. The search for children’s books that shine a brilliant light on Black fathers, granddads, and men who uplift their families—biological and otherwise—revealed a considerable need for more books on the subject.

Obama’s proclamation also included a call-to-action for some dads to “re-engage with their families.” The reasons for disengagement may vary. Issues like divorce or incarceration, which are the realities for many children, are addressed along with stories and poems about dads and granddads cooking, doing hair, praying, or just hanging out.

Happy Father’s Day!

Our stories matter.

Books:

Hair Love

Matthew A. Cherry | Vashti Harrison | Kokila | 2019 

|Bookshop | IndieBound | Amazon|

I Am Perfectly Designed 

Karamo Brown | Jason "Rachel" Brown | Anoosha Syed | Henry Holt  | 2019 

|Bookshop | IndieBound | Amazon|

I Love You More Than . . .

Taye Diggs | Shane W. Evans | Feiwel & Friends | 2018 

|Bookshop | IndieBound | Amazon|

A Card For My Father

Samantha Thornhill | Morgan Clement | Penny Candy Books | 2018 

|Bookshop | IndieBound | Amazon|

Continue reading HERE on Our Stories Matter Blog for full list

Find more children’s and young adult books by Black authors here

<> Follow BCBA on Twitter | Instagram <> Subscribe to Our Newsletter <>

#Black children's books and authors #celebrating dads #father's day #picture books #our stories matter #amplify Black voices

[calligraphist-artemisia]

25 | Mystery

Written for Kidgetober 2020. Week 4: Halloween. Day 25: Mystery.

Summary: Alternate Universe - Modern Day.  Detective Holt and Doctor Hawkins are called to investigate a murder at Lionheart Manor.

Also posted on AO3 under the username Kishirokitsune. Titled as “Chill in the Air”.

- - - - -

25 | Mystery

Detective Katie “Pidge” Holt and her partner, Keith Hawkins, arrived at the Lionheart Mansion to a most dramatic scene.

A silver-haired young woman openly wept into the shoulder of a man with brown hair, who held onto her and crooned soft words into her ear. Nearby, a man with a meticulously styled mustache who also wore an old-fashioned butler's uniform, watched the pair of them with narrowed eyes. He snapped to attention as Pidge and her partner walked up the steps to the heavy front doors and Pidge made a mental note to talk to him as soon as possible.

The only other person out front was an exhausted plain clothes officer, who Pidge recognized as Captain Kolivan Durand, who was likely waiting for his dismissal from the grounds.

Before she could do that, she needed to interview the others and get their side of the story.

Pidge cleared her throat. “Miss Allura Lionheart?”

The woman with silver hair noisily sobbed for a few more seconds before removing herself from the arms of the man who was comforting her. She dabbed at her eyes with a delicate pink handkerchief and then finally turned to address Pidge. “Y-yes?”

“I'm Detective Holt and this is my partner, Doctor Hawkins,” Pidge introduced. “We're here to ask everyone a few questions about the events that occurred here in the early hours of this morning. Would you have a private room where we could do this?”

“Yes, of course. Please follow me this way,” said Allura. She patted at her eyes one last time and then turned, leading the pair into the mansion. She seemed to shrink away from the grand staircase, which had been roped off by the initial investigation team, and hurried them to a parlor on the right. “There's an office on the other side of that door. I hope you'll find it suitable.”

“The office sounds perfect,” Keith spoke up.

“If you don't mind, we'd like to interview you first, Miss Lionheart,” Pidge said, getting straight to the point. “After that, your remaining guests, and then any staff that were here last night.”

Allura nodded in agreement. “Whatever you need to do, detective.”

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

TRANSCRIPT OF ALLURA LIONHEART – HEIRESS

PIDGE: For the record, I am Detective Katie Holt. I am here with my partner, Doctor Keith Hawkins, who will be taking notes and asking questions of his own to aid in this investigation. Our first witness is Heiress Allura Lionheart. Miss, Lionheart, if you don't mind, we'll be recording this conversation so we can look back and review it when we need to.

[ALLURA makes a sound to indicate her agreement.]

PIDGE: Miss Lionheart, you hosted an even yesterday afternoon? Would you tell us what it was for and who attended?

[There's a shuffling of paper as KEITH flips open his notebook and prepares to take notes. He verbally notes this for the audio record.]

ALLURA: I sent out invitations a month ago. Lance McClain, Ulaz Lange, Thace Nilsson, and Slav Balogh. It was to celebrate my dear friend, T-Takashi. [She pauses to loudly sniffle.] Oh, Takashi, if only I had known, I never would have sent out a single invitation!

PIDGE: I am truly sorry for your loss, Miss Lionheart. You and the deceased were close?

ALLURA: We went to school together and stayed in touch over the years. I hadn't seen him in over a year.

PIDGE: Was there a reason for this?

ALLURA: No, we just drifted apart. Letters became scarce and I didn't want to bother him when he was so deep into his research.

PIDGE: I see. Now, I know this may be difficult, but I'd like for you to recount, in your own words, the events of this past evening leading up to the discovery of the body.

ALLURA: It wasn't until after dinner that the party ended. I invited everyone to stay here at the manor and Lance and Shiro were the only two to agree. I took a leisurely after-dinner stroll through the garden with Lance and then he escorted me to my room. I went to bed shortly after.

KEITH: Do you remember what time this was?

ALLURA: I-I cannot.

PIDGE: Did you happen to notice anything weird during your stroll? Any loud noises? Anyone acting suspicious?

ALLURA: No. There was nothing.

KEITH: May I ask who else remained in the manor overnight, other than your two guests? You said Mr. McClain and the deceased were the two who stayed, correct?

ALLURA: That's right. I also have several live-in staff who have their own rooms. Coran, Romelle, and Hunk were all here last night.

PIDGE: And you weren't woken by anything during the night?

ALLURA: No, I'm a very sound sleeper. I routinely sleep through the grandfather clock in the lobby chiming on the hour, or well... Actually, I did wake once. It must have been around three o'clock or so. That's how many chimes I heard. How odd.

PIDGE: And in the morning, did you wake on your own? How did you discover the scene?

ALLURA: I don't... oh goodness, I woke on my own. And there was this commotion that I could hear. Perhaps that aided me into waking. And I hurried to put on my robe and go see what the fuss was about and... and that's when I saw him lying there. It was so horrid I couldn't bear to look. Please, detective, you must find who did this!

PIDGE: We will do our best, Miss Lionheart. If you have nothing else to add for the moment, we'd like to move on to our next witness. If you think of anything later, we will of course take the time to listen.

[END RECORDING]

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

“So, what do you think?” Keith quietly asked while he and Pidge prepared for their next witness. “That clock thing seemed odd.”

“Or it could be nothing. We'll look into it, but I don't really expect to get much out of a clock,” Pidge said. “Right now I want to focus on our interview with Mr. McClain. According to Miss Lionheart, he was the last person she saw that night, and right now we don't know where he went after walking her back to her room. Lets see what he has to say and then we'll talk to the staff.”

Keith nodded in agreement.

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

TRANSCRIPT OF LANCE MCCLAIN – PILOT

[PIDGE and KEITH introduce themselves to LANCE, who then agrees to answer any questions they have.]

PIDGE: I'd like to jump right in to the events that took place from after dinner last night to this morning when the body was found. You and the deceased were the only two guests who remained in the manor, correct?

LANCE: Yeah. It was the two of us, Allura, and the others who live here.

PIDGE: Their names are...?

LANCE: The butler is Coran, Romelle is the head maid, and Hunk is the head chef. Me and Shiro spent some time with them once Allura went to bed. They're all pretty cool.

PIDGE: We'll come back to that. Tell me what happened after dinner, once the other guests left.

LANCE: Right, so, we had gone to the front hall to see off Ulaz, Thace, and Slav, and Shiro said he was going back to his room to de-stress for a while after having to spend an evening in the company of Slav. They have some kind of strange history together. I dunno. It's like everything Slav did was to push Shiro's buttons. Anyway, once they were gone and Shiro was off doing his thing, I asked Allura for a walk in the garden. I figured it'd be a nice romantic way to end the evening.

KEITH: You and Miss Lionheart are seeing each other?

LANCE: Not officially, but I'd like to.

PIDGE: Please carry on, Mr. McClain.

LANCE: We must have spent an hour or so out there talking and then I walked her back to her room. After that I figured I'd go downstairs to see if there was anymore of the amazing dessert we had for dinner, and that's when I bumped into Shiro again. We went down to the kitchen together and one thing led to another and then we were all sitting around playing cards.

PIDGE: Please state who you were playing cards with.

LANCE: Shiro, of course, and then Coran, Hunk, and Romelle. Well, just the two of us and Hunk at first, then Coran joined us, and then Romelle. We played until midnight – I remember hearing that clock chime twelve, and then we all split up. Shiro and I went back to the second floor where our rooms were and that was the last I saw of him. I went to bed after that.

PIDGE: And did anything strange happen during the night?

LANCE: Eh, I don't know about that. It's an unfamiliar place, so I feel like I woke up with every creak the manor makes. Between that and the clock going off every hour, I feel like I barely slept. But I wouldn't call that strange.

PIDGE: Tell me what it was like when you got up that morning.

LANCE: Normal, I guess. My alarm went off, I washed off my face and got dressed. I was heading down to the kitchen for breakfast when I found everyone else around... around Shiro. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. It's just awful what happened.

PIDGE: Is there anything else you feel we should know?

KEITH: Any odd behavior from anyone you spent time with that night?

LANCE: Nope. Like I said, we were all hanging out and playing cards. It was a good time.

PIDGE: Thank you for your time, Mr. McClain. If there's anything else you can think of, please let us know.

[END RECORDING]

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

“The clock again,” Keith pointed out the moment they were alone.

“It still doesn't mean anything. Besides, we've heard it go off once since we arrived and you have to agree, it's a very loud clock,” Pidge responded. “Anyway, his testimony backs up what Miss Lionheart said, so there are no red flags there.”

“Unless they're both lying.”

Pidge sighed softly, but couldn't disagree with her partner. “Unless they're both lying.”

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

TRANSCRIPT OF CORAN ROUSSEAU – BUTLER

PIDGE: We now pick up with Coran Rousseau, the butler of Miss Lionheart's estate. Mr. Rousseau, you were here for the duration of the event held yesterday and overnight, correct?

CORAN: Correct! I live here in the manor so that I can better serve Miss Allura. All of the head staff have their own rooms over in the servant wing. Last night I was here with Romelle and Hunk, as well as Miss Allura's guests, of course.

PIDGE: I'd like to hear your account of the events that occurred here yesterday evening. You may start from the point where the others left after dinner, if there's nothing that stands out during the get-together.

[CORAN makes a loud humming sound – KEITH notes that the butler twirls his mustache as he thinks back to the day before.]

CORAN: After dinner, I assisted Misters Lange, Nilsson, and Balogh to their vehicles and remained until they were past the gate. I made sure it was securely shut before going back inside, at which point the others had already dispersed for the evening. I went to speak with Romelle while she straightened the dining room and then went about my usual evening routine. Once those were through, I joined Hunk, Mr. Shirogane, and Mr. McClain in the kitchen where they were playing cards. Romelle joined us shortly after. It must have been around midnight when we all split up for bed.

KEITH: You're sure it was midnight?

CORAN: Oh, yes! The grandfather clock in the main hall chimed twelve times. We could all hear it.

PIDGE: Could you go into more detail about your usual evening routine?

CORAN: Oh, I just walk around the manor and make sure all of the windows are locked and everything is in its right place. I always start on the ground floor where I first check the security system and then I move onto the doors and windows. On the top floor are more windows and I make sure the rooms are all in order – unless they're occupied, of course.

PIDGE: How long would you say that takes you?

CORAN: A little over an hour.

PIDGE: And you didn't notice anything odd during that time last night? Anything out of place? Any strange sounds? Smells?

CORAN: Nothing odd at all. I had this whole place locked up tight for the night!

PIDGE: I see. Well, thank you for speaking to us, Mr. Rousseau. Please let us know if there's anything else you can think of.

[END RECORDING]

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Pidge through her hands up the moment they were finished interviewing Hunk and Romelle, who both corroborated the stories that had already been told and also noticed nothing strange during the night. “How is it no one heard or saw anything odd? There were five – okay, six, but I can't really count Mr. Shirogane – people here last night!”

“It just means that whoever committed the murder did so quietly. They must know this manor pretty well, too,” Keith said. “Ready to go sleuthing?”

Pidge's eyes lit up. “Yes! Just let me get something first...”

Keith watched as Pidge reached into her satchel and pulled out a gray deerstalker cap and a small wooden pipe. To his bewilderment, she happily plopped the cap on her head and poured some sort of liquid into the pipe, which she then stuck in her mouth and blew into, causing tiny bubbles to rise up.

“Seriously?” he asked and got no response.

Their first stop on their investigation of the manor was the main hall, where the infamous grandfather clock stood tall and proud in one corner of the room, not far from where the body of the victim was found that morning.

“Well here it is,” Pidge said, coming to a stop in front of it. “Just a perfectly ordinary, not-at-all-suspicious clock. Thoughts, Keith?”

He glared at her. “Everyone we talked to mentioned this clock. My gut instinct says that it's important, but not necessarily suspicious.”

Pidge gave him a few minutes to examine the clock while she plotted out her next move. Walking through the entire manor sounded like the best way to start, but she also had some questions about the security system that she hadn't thought of before. Like, what it only to detect if someone opened the door or a window? Or were there cameras involved as well?

So while Keith examined every inch of the grandfather clock, Pidge flagged down Coran to ask him a few more questions about the security system and learned about a room on the first floor which held the video feed for the cameras outside and the few cameras inside the manor.

“Although... I'm afraid it didn't capture anything in the main hall last night,” Coran said apologetically. “I was asked to turn it off.”

“By who?” Pidge demanded, immediately suspicious.

“That would be Mr. Shirogane. He has a habit of sleepwalking and he asked if I could turn it off. It has a sensor, you see, to detect unwanted movement in the night. He didn't want to wake anyone up if he made it that far.”

Pidge blew into her pipe and watched tiny bubbles erupt from the end.

“Keith, lets go! I think I found something,” she called out.

Ten minutes later, the two found themselves in a cramped security office, fast-fowarding through the limited footage from the night before in search of anything changing.

Suddenly, Keith frowned. “Pause for a minute. Go back to three AM.”

Pidge did so and they sat and watched the unchanging cameras for a minute. “There's nothing there.”

“There's something there,” Keith corrected. He nudged her hand away from the controls and backed up all the way to 1:59 AM. “There's sound, right?”

“Yes?”

Keith hit play and they only had to wait thirty seconds before they heard the muffled gongs of the grandfather clock go off at exactly 2 AM. He waited until it was finished and then fast-forwarded back to 2:59 AM and hit play, but that time it clicked over to 3 AM and there were no gongs.

It wasn't until the time read 3:17 AM that they finally heard it.

Keith looked at Pidge smugly. “I told you there was something important about the clock. This has to be why it woke up Miss Lionheart; it went off at a different time than was normal and she was subconsciously aware of it.”

“Alright, I admit it. You were right about the clock,” Pidge said reluctantly. “The question is: how is it related to the case?”

“I guess that's up to us to figure it out,” Keith said, tossing her an excited grin.

Pidge looked equally as excited to have found a clue, but did a good job of tamping down on that to try and maintain an air of professionalism. “Right, so lets go over what we have so far. Our victim is Takashi Shirogane, who recently received a grant to continue his research. Miss Lionheart hosted a party to celebrate this and it was during the night that he was bludgeoned to death in the main hall. The murder weapon is currently unknown, but we have evidence of someone potentially tampering with the grandfather clock.”

“Only potentially?” Keith asked. “Do I need to replay the video?”

“Potentially because we don't know how accurate it is on average. We need to ask about that before we can conclusively say that someone tampered with it,” Pidge said.

“So, we have to talk to Coran again?”

Pidge nodded.

The pair took their time walking back to the main hall where they'd asked everyone to remain until they finished their investigation. When they got there, they found a strange sight. There was a tall man with dark hair sobbing loudly into Allura's shoulder, who looked utterly bewildered as she tried to comfort him.

For one heart-stopping moment, Pidge thought that their victim had been resurrected and was walking among them, because the man looked alarmingly like Takashi Shirogane.

“What's going on?” Keith asked the nearest person, who turned out to be the Head Chef, Hunk Garrett.

“We don't know,” Hunk said with a shrug. “He just turned up and started wailing about his brother? He says his name is Sven.”

Pidge and Keith exchanged confused looks.

“I don't remember our records saying anything about a brother, do you?” Pidge asked quietly.

Keith shook his head, flipped through his notes, and then shook his head again.

Pidge grumbled something indecipherable under her breath and then marched over to Allura and Sven, loudly announcing her presence by clearing her throat. Keith was close behind her.

“Excuse me? There's an investigation going on here, sir. Why are you here?” she asked.

Sven gave one more loud sob before lifting his head from Allura's shoulder and turning to face the Detective and her partner. Resting above his upper lip was the most obvious fake mustache Pidge had ever seen.

“I-I am Sven. I came the moment I heard about m-my brother.” He spoke in an outrageously bad Norwegian accent; one so awful that Keith had to turn away and cough in order to cover up his desire to laugh.

“Your brother,” Pidge said flatly. “So you would be Sven... Shirogane?”

He shook his head. “Sven Holgersson. Takashi is my half-brother. We have different fathers.”

Pidge stared at him for a moment and then threw up her hands. “I am not doing this.”

At once, the atmosphere of the room changed. Allura brushed away her tears and stood up straight, Keith gave into his laughter and was joined by Lance, and “Sven” gave Pidge a wry grin.

“Shiro, this was not part of the game,” Pidge said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I thought it would be fun to spice things up a bit,” Shiro said with a shrug. “No offense to Kolivan, but there's only so long I can stand around outside and make small-talk before things get boring. And it may have been that I was coming in to ask everyone what they wanted for lunch and then we heard you two come back and I had to think of something on the fly.”

“So you thought of Sven Holgersson?” Pidge asked incredulously.

“It's better than Gyro,” Hunk said. He paused to think about it for a moment. “Marginally. It's marginally better than Gyro.”

Shiro playfully harrumphed. “None of you appreciate my creative genius.”

Keith recovered from his bought of laughter and took Pidge's hand, drawing her in close and stymieing her frustration before it could build any higher. “Why don't we take a break for lunch and then come back to this after. Without Sven Holgersson,” he added in the hope of solving their current biggest problem.

Everyone else agreed, though Shiro did pout over it for a few minutes, until they told him he could hang out in the security room and watch them run around on the cameras for the rest of the game.

And with that they put a hold on their game of Clue and all went out for lunch.

#voltron #kidgetober #kidgetober 2020 #fanfiction #kidge #day 25: mystery #week 4: halloween #this one got away from me a little bit #in which pidge and keith decide to play up their roles of holmes and watson

[mejomonster]

in case u care, i did look up what historical romances at least mention birth control (list of novels and author’s from this forum discussion, so i imagine i’ll need to look into them more for which are more solid)

the requirement was at least one of the leads actually is concerned about pregnancy at some point and mentions bc, and ideally the heroine is aware its a possibility when having sex before stuff happens. -.- i say ideally cause apparently it was a bit of a dig just to find options with bc mentioned to begin with. i imagine some will be solid though...

Diana Gabaldon (Claire character novel? All their novels tend to address bc)

****Susan Johnson’s “Legendary Lover” (bc, very historically accurate author)

******Susan Johnson “Brazen” (bc, well loved novel)

***Jo Beverely’s Something Wicked

The Duke by Galaen Foley

One Night of Sin by Galaen Foley

One Night with a Prince by Sabrina Jeffries

******Lindsay Chase  “The Oath.” (mentions bc more in depth including advocating for it, heroine with career)

Beyond Seduction by Emma Holly

I Do, I Do, I Do by Maggie Osborne

Candice Hern’s In the Thrill of the Night

Only a Duke Will Do by Sabrina Jeffries (heroine preventing pregnancy)

Mary Jo Putney’s Dancing On the Wind

Lisa Kleypas "Forever, My Love" (I’m relieved Lisa Kleypas is on here cause I do like the novel I’ve read of hers so far, so I’m hopeful since she mentions bc in some of her novels then her novels will be a bit more ‘grounded’ just in general story contraction/character concerns)

Robin Schone (pretty much all their writing) Awaken, My Love

Elizabeth Lowell’s Winter Fire

Hope Tarr’s Vanquished

Lisa Kleypas’ Again the Magic

Mary Jo Putney’s THE ROGUE AND THE RUNAWAY/ANGEL ROGUE

Kate Pearce Antonia's Bargain (condoms, concern to not get pregnant)

Jenny Crusie's novels

Cheryl Holt's novels (withdrawl usually in them)

Robin Schone's Awake, my Love (heroine from the present - not sure if bc is in this but concept of a heroine from the present is intriguing, shaving body hair mentioned)

Elizabeth Chadwick (writing rarely succumbs to cliches regarding characters fitting within tropes, also bc mentioned)

Madness of a Seduced Woman by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer (just generally very fascinating read, well loved)

Lord Harry by Catherine Coulter (*maybe hero concerned with bc - in one of Coulter’s novels anyway though not sure if this one)

Authors who themselves stated they mention bc, prioritize having characters aware, and addressing those concerns in their novels: 

Sherry Thomas - https://sherrythomas.com/bookshelf.php (well I’m thrilled, this was one of the authors recommended in general in the genre, the Lady Sherlock writer, and i had a minimum of like 4 books of hers i planned to check out so i’m thrilled they’re less likely to stress me out ToT)

Victoria Dahl - http://www.victoriadahl.com/books.php

Kalen Hughes - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/432951.Kalen_Hughes

Kate Pearce - https://www.goodreads.com/series/list/688826.Kate_Pearce.html (I think I saw her The Sinner’s Club series recommended in the genre in some places)

#rec list #historical fantasy #rant #note to self #imma be real the discussion mentioned 'more novels nowadays mentioning bc and fuck i hope so' #genuinely be stressin me and i forgot how much it Did stress me when historical stuff has #women fucking a lot but no concern at all for potential kids or dying in childbirth #like. black sails? i tolerate cause they're all pirates and rather well aware women who seem like #even if bc isnt being mentioned on screen they seem at least aware of the risks #and stds are mentioned off hand. and the brothel mentions bc off hand. so i can at least assume the adults are all aware of potential outcom #so i dont really feel Stressed for them? #but fuck i read like 3 historical romances so far #and in the most recent one the heroines mom died giving birth to her #and she has sex for the first time and isnt even aware of what causes pregnancy #thats awful to me. that no one lets her know ahead. that she isn't even aware of the choice shes making. #the only comfort was? shes kinda being self destructive and once TOLD she might get pregnant #she just decides if she dies/has a kid thats her problem. since she assumes the other party wont care about her situation. #which is dark af. but at least it serves to NOT romanticise the bullshit that just happened. #whereas the 1st two novels? fuck. the heroine has sex without being told that it can cause pregnancy #or stds considering all the slutty men in these novels #and then when told they could get pregnant again AFTER (can someone please let them know before???) #then its a little more chill cause they seem happy at the idea of a potential kid. but like. please let them be happy #BEFORE they commit to doing it? please??? #like bridgerton was fucked up in this way too #but at least from each character perspective i got it? #daphne Wanted a kid so she wasnt going in avoiding any consequence potential #simon Didnt want kids and didnt think to tell someone who did'nt know how it worked #she fucked up and assaulted him. they luckily had NO kid from the situation #which is good because that wouldve hurt simon even more. #then they didnt try to actually sleep together again until they trusted each other. and both mutually wanted a kid

[vernonfielding]

I got hella homies

Story No. 29 of my Season 7 Countdown Project.

Summary: “Boyle says you brought Jocelyn to Shaw's last week.”

Jocelyn meets (most of) the Nine-Nine. Takes place before The Therapist. (Read on AO3.)

She notices Amy Santiago first, because Amy is standing at the bar wearing a full police uniform, and also, she has incredibly shiny hair, and Jocelyn’s always had a thing for brunettes.

Jocelyn pauses at the threshold of Shaw’s, eyes scanning from Amy to the booths that line the walls, until she finds the one loud group sprawled around a table toward the back. She squints, trying to identify Rosa, and that’s when someone slides up behind her and says, “Don’t move.”

Jocelyn bites her lip to keep from grinning. Rosa smells like fresh lemons and leather and just now, bourbon.

“Or what?”

A hand slips onto her hip and squeezes, and Rosa says, “Or you won’t get the first shower tomorrow morning.”

She gives Jocelyn a quick peck on the cheek, and Jocelyn lifts an eyebrow. “You should probably be careful about sneaking up behind people in a cop bar,” she says.

Rosa shrugs. “I just wanted a second alone before you meet everyone.”

“That’s sweet,” Jocelyn says. She knows Rosa will hate that, and sure enough, Rosa frowns and grimaces.

“C’mon,” she says, and tugs at Jocelyn’s hand.

Jocelyn had picked the right table, and she’s able to identify everyone else even before Rosa makes the introductions. Charles has an open, friendly face and kind eyes, and he’s wearing a tan button-down shirt and the dullest brown tie Jocelyn’s ever seen. Terry is massive and very handsome, but it’s the suspenders that give him away. Amy has re-joined the table and is sitting beside her husband. Jake is the last one she places, because she’s having trouble reconciling this man with the goofy grin and laughing eyes with the obsessed, sleep-deprived, manic detective Rosa described working with on a recent murder investigation. 

“Everyone, this is Jocelyn,” Rosa says. “Don’t be weird to her.”

“Hurtful,” Jake says, but he’s smiling, He has an arm slung around Amy’s shoulders, and he leans over the table and reaches toward Jocelyn to shake hands. “You have neat hair.”

“That was weird,” Rosa says.

+++

Jocelyn’s politics swing way left and she’s definitely never dated a cop before. But Rosa is confident and assertive and Jocelyn finds that extremely attractive, and to be honest, the fact that she carries a gun is weirdly hot. She is eagerly anticipating the day she finally gets to see Rosa in uniform.

She knows the past year hasn’t been easy, since Rosa came out to her parents. Jocelyn’s glad she did it -- to be honest, she doesn’t date people who aren’t out anymore. She gets why people stay closeted, she really does. But Jocelyn has been out since middle school and even at age 14 she knew that if someone couldn’t handle who she was, that person wasn’t worth the trouble. Now she’s 38, and she won’t be anyone’s secret.

So yeah, this feels good, squeezed into a booth at the back of a dingy cop bar with Rosa and her friends. Jake and Charles are shout-singing to Taylor Swift and Amy is pretending to be embarrassed but obviously loving it. Terry tells the table in general that he’s texting his wife that he’ll be home in time to put the twins to bed. And Rosa is definitely sitting closer to Jocelyn than she needs to, one hand on Jocelyn’s knee under the table.

+++

The invitation to join Rosa at Shaw’s came out of nowhere, which has been pretty standard. They’ve been dating a little over three months, and for most of that time Rosa’s been on the murder case with Jake, which means a lot of their dates have been spontaneous and pretty casual. (Rosa also has canceled a lot, which ordinarily would be a deal-breaker for Jocelyn, but Rosa did warn her that a detective’s life can be chaotic.)

Jocelyn got the text as she was leaving her frosting and highlighting class, the last of the day, and wondering if she should see if Rosa was free for dinner. She answered yes immediately and did a literal 180 to catch a train to Prospect Heights. Jocelyn has been dying to meet Rosa’s coworkers, who are clearly the most important people in her life given how much she talks about them. Which, honestly, isn’t a lot, but still about five times more than anyone else.

Still, she was a little afraid that the night would be all cop talk. But the Nine-Nine takes her by surprise. Ten minutes after she’s met them Charles has taken out a stack of actual printed photos of his son Nikolaj and is asking Jocelyn if she’s ever had Latvian beetroot soup, and then Terry has to show her photos (on his phone, like a normal person) of his daughters. After that Jocelyn can’t resist sharing a photo of her niece, who’s just eight months old and sadly lives on the other side of the country.

Then Amy asks her about cosmetology school and says that Jake is right, that her hair is neat.

“I’ve always wanted to try short hair but I’m afraid I don’t have the face for it,” Amy says.

“You should come by the school some time for a consultation,” Jocelyn says, tilting her head to imagine a look for Amy. “I could totally cut it for you.”

“No way!” Jake says firmly, mouth gone suddenly all pouty.

Jocelyn feels a punch of knee-jerk rage, that this guy would dare tell his wife what she can and can’t do with her hair. She opens her mouth, ready to lay into him.

And then Jake says, “You said I could cut your hair if you ever decided to go short!”

Amy rolls her eyes. “No, you are not allowed to cut my hair with the paper cutter at work. We’ve talked about this.”

“My wife is the worst,” Jake says in a whine. But he’s smiling and his eyes have gone all crinkly in the corners, and Amy tips her face up to his and kisses the corner of his mouth.

“Sorry, babe,” she says.

So Jocelyn decides that Jake and Amy are adorable and she wishes she could have been at their wedding, which Rosa said was the most romantic shit she’s ever seen, and that was after the bomb scare.

After a second round, Jocelyn asks if the captain ever joins them for drinks and Amy says, “I wish” in a dreamy sort of voice, and then she and Charles launch into a story about Holt single-handedly saving Shaw’s by drinking himself sick on Charbonnay. 

“Cabernet?” Jocelyn says.

“No,” Rosa says, looking like the very thought of that particular alcohol is going to give her a hangover. Jocelyn drops the subject.

“When do I get to meet him?” she says instead.

“Holt?” Rosa shrugs. “He’s not very social.”

“Are you kidding?” Charles calls out from Rosa’s other side. He leans over the table to address Jocelyn. “Captain Holt and Kevin love Rosa. I bet they’d have you over for Kevin’s famous white rice. I’m dying to try it but I’m not allowed in their home after last year’s tofu incident.”

Jocelyn has so many questions. “What’s the tofu-”

“Don’t ask,” Rosa says. “We should go.”

Everyone ends up leaving at once. Outside the bar, Charles gives Jocelyn a too-long hug, and Terry tells her he’s so glad they met and then seems to tear up a little and walks away in a hurry. Amy’s goodbye handshake is bone-crushing but her smile is genuine.

Jake pulls Jocelyn aside while Amy and Rosa are discussing a murder case and, improbably, blood-sniffing flies. He tells her in a hushed voice that he’s never seen Rosa happier in a relationship, and then he makes her swear to never tell Rosa he said that. (Jake also calls her Jackie, but he’s so friendly about it that she instantly forgives him.)

Rosa walks her home, and they hold hands and Jocelyn gushes about how great her coworkers are. “I wasn’t expecting to like a bunch of NYPD cops so much,” she says.

It’s dark out and Rosa is pretty inscrutable at all times anyway. But as they pass under a streetlamp, Jocelyn’s pretty sure she sees the smallest quirk of a smile.

“Yeah,” Rosa says, “they’re not bad, I guess.”

Jocelyn laughs. She recognizes high praise from her girlfriend when she hears it.

“Speaking of not bad,” Jocelyn says, and pauses, tugging at Rosa’s hand to make her stop too. She slips her arms around Rosa’s waist, and Rosa gives her another of those half-smiles and lifts a hand up to Jocelyn’s face. When they kiss, Rosa’s lips are full and soft and warm, and the slide of her tongue is electric. Jocelyn closes her eyes and hums a little, and Rosa strokes a thumb along her jawline, to the pulse point behind her ear. Her other hand curls around Jocelyn’s neck to pull her closer.

They’re both a little breathless when they break apart. Rosa’s eyes are so dark they’re almost black, but there’s a spark of something fond and joyful in them. She reaches up to brush aside the bangs that have slipped over Jocelyn’s forehead.

“They’re right,” she says, “your hair is neat.”

Jocelyn laughs out loud, and Rosa’s laughing too when they kiss again.

End Notes:

Title is from Feed the Beast (Bash Brothers).

Another massive thank you to @exploding-snapple, who put together a most amazing timeline of Season 6 without which I would have been totally lost trying to figure out the timing of this story. According to her timeline, Rosa and Jocelyn would have started dating around late December/early January of 2018-19. So by the time Jocelyn met everyone (in early April) they would have been dating about three months. (If that’s wrong for some reason, blame my math, not explodingsnapple’s timeline.)

Interestingly, much of their early dating would have taken place during The Crime Scene, which must have been intense, and perhaps influenced Jocelyn’s eventual frustration that Rosa consistently prioritizes her job over her girlfriend. (Canon is fun!)

I purposefully had Rosa sharing quite a bit of personal info about her coworkers with Jocelyn, which I realize runs counter to the Rosa we know. But my thinking is that Rosa really, really likes Jocelyn, and is maybe making an effort to be open with her. Plus, I think Rosa really loves her Nine-Nine family and would maybe want to talk about them, at this point in her life. Anyway, obviously that’s all open to interpretation.

#b99 fic #b99 season 7 countdown project #missing scene #the therapist #rosa/jocelyn #rosa diaz #jocelyn pryce #amy santiago #jake peralta #charles boyle #terry jeffords

[amydancepants-peralta]

So here we have it - what happens when you get a Taylor Swift song stuck in your head and the rest of your brain is only mildly obsessed with Peraltiago.  🤦🏼‍♀️  I give you this ... a Jake & Amy/fwb fic based on the lyrics to Cruel Summer.  ❤️🎶

it’s a cruel summer with you

The bar is noisy tonight, a rambunctious crowd of newly turned 21 year olds taking up court in the centre of the venue as they sing along loudly to a song she doesn’t know playing on the jukebox.

Amy slams another shot glass down on the bar, wincing as the strong liquor burns her throat along the way.  She revels in the ache - it’s weak after all, compared to what her heart is feeling - and she looks up to watch her partner laugh along with their friends, blinking slowly as his mega-watt smile cuts through the crowd, hitting her square in the chest.

Her feet tap restlessly against the metal edges of the barstool, a dull clinking sound barely reaching her ears as she gestures to the bartender for another shot.  She can hear more laughter coming from a booth to her right and she ducks her head until another glass is shoved in front of her, making quick work of the drink and looking up just as things begin to spin.

His eyes catch hers, and the tears begin to well up again.  She can’t do this.  Not tonight.  Her head shakes, hands reaching blindly into her purse and shoving bills onto the bar before pushing herself away, unsteady feet carrying her far from everything with a surprising speed.

The air outside is warm, as it has been for months now, and she runs into the street with her arm raised high, hailing the first cab she sees.  Through the intoxicated haze Amy swears she can hear her name being called out, and it’s a voice she knows (it’s a voice she loves), and for that reason alone she clambers into the car without a second thought, rattling out an address as the tears cascade down her face.  

She had been crazy to think that this could ever be something casual. 

Two months earlier …

Amy can feel his hand heavy on her back as she sits up slowly, fists clenching the sheets close to her body while she draws her knees up.  The room is quiet, a heavy cloud of unspoken words hanging over them as they both fight to catch their breath.  

Dropping her head she uses the length of her hair as a curtain, hiding her face behind it as she listens to Jake’s breathing start to regulate.  There are a thousand things she wants to say, but in this moment she daren’t let herself speak.

“So … what is this, exactly?”  His voice cuts through the silence, confusion clear in the tone.

Amy shakes her head, throwing in a shrug of her shoulders for good measure in case he missed the first response.  His hand is still resting against her skin, the warmth of his fingertips searing through her muscle, and it slips slightly as her shoulder blades lift.  He doesn’t readjust, and with a quick sniff she moves, scooting her body to the edge of the mattress and reaching for her shirt, thankfully one of the few items still within reach.

Once, is a mistake.  Twice is a habit.  Tonight makes three.

She knows his eyes are watching her move about the room, sliding on the pieces of underwear as she recovers them, and she’s careful to keep her face turned away.  Jake has known her and worked with her for so long that she knows if she were to turn, he would read her like a book.

The next sentence takes a lot of courage.  “How about we just stick to what you suggested last time?” She speaks to the wall, wrestling with the band around her wrist until her hair is up and away from her face.  Buttoning her shirt carefully as her hands begin to shake.  Putting on her best version of a relaxed face, she turns to face him.  “No rules.”

He sits up, eyebrows raised in surprise.  “No rules, Santiago?”

“Yeah.  It’s cool.”  The words feel foreign on her tongue.  It’s not what she wants, but she knows it’s what he wants to hear.

He nods, dropping his gaze to the tangled mess of sheets surrounding him.  “Yep.  Cool.  Keepin’ it light and breezy.  Cool cool cool.”

It hadn’t even been a particularly special day the first time it happened.  Just another Wednesday, except this Wednesday they were spending their night at Shaw’s celebrating because after three long months they had finally managed to catch their perp in the act, putting an end to his chain of felonies throughout the city.  Impressed with their work, Holt had given them the following day off, and in hindsight they both should’ve headed straight home - they were exhausted, after all - but the fluorescent lights of the bar were beckoning and before they knew it there were five empty glasses on their table.

They had both been quick to blame the alcohol when they’d woken up the next morning, skin feeling cool against the sheets in the absence of clothing, confused eyes searching for answers amongst the trail of garments that led to Amy’s bedroom.  It had been a stressful few months, and their inhibitions had been low, and it didn’t mean anything.

It was another two weeks before it happened again - the longest two weeks of her life, because for the first time in years she was avoiding her partner as much as humanly possible.  And then a missing person’s case had turned into a manslaughter, and she’d been drowning her sorrows in their booth when he’d looked over at her, and next thing she knew her clothes were on his apartment floor and he was telling her that we should just keep this simple, no rules, just sex and in that moment she would have agreed to anything if it meant that he kept kissing her.  

So now, as the afterglow of three begins to fade, she puts on a brave smile, shrugging her shoulders in what she prays looks like casual indifference, sliding her jeans back on while her eyes scour the floor for her purse.  From the corner of her eye she can see him flop back onto the pillow beneath him, palms resting against his forehead as his fingers rake through his hair, and she wants it to be her hands running through them, like they were just a few minutes ago, but she can’t because he doesn’t want that at all, and so she grabs the strap of her purse, clearing her throat and calling out a farewell.  The door is slamming closed behind her before she can hear his response.

*

*

He finally catches up to her in the break room two days later, both of them pretending that the distance between them hasn’t been deliberate.  

She hears him before she sees him, body already stiffening as she listens to the tell-tale signs of sneakers scuffing across the tiled floor.  Suddenly, she is incredibly invested in knowing the entire contents of the vending machine, eyes glued to the familiar reds and yellows of a Clark bar when he approaches.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were avoiding me.”  

She winces slightly at the obvious hurt in his voice, and even though she can’t yet tear her eyes away from the machine, she shakes her head quickly.  “No, not really.   Work’s just been crazy lately.”  It’s a lie, and a bad one at that, and she knows he can tell.  She’s grateful when he doesn’t push it.

“Look, I just want to make sure after everything - ”

“It’s fine, Jake.  Really.”

His hand rests along the top of the vending machine next to hers, and he releases a heavy sigh as her head turns curious towards his.  The cheap bulbs behind the glass light up his features, the suitcases under his eyes growing obvious now that she’s really looking at him.  A tiny pang runs through her heart that she could be the cause for any of his exhaustion and her hand clenches by her side, resisting the urge to reach up and rest a palm against his cheek.  

“I just think … with the work we do, what we face every day, and let’s face it - my track record, keeping things casual is the best option.”

And she’s trying.  She’s trying so very hard not to let him see how much this is killing her, how difficult it is to plaster on a smile and tell him that light and breezy is a great idea.  That he is right, that trying to be more will only lead to disaster.  It kills her that he already thinks he’s going to screw this up.  She knows, she already knows, that if they ever did this for real, there’s no way he could ruin it.

But he doesn’t want it to be real; and while sporadic, these tiny fragile pockets of heaven were worth the wait, so she nods in agreement to everything he said.  Friends, with benefits: the only rule being that there were no rules - no attachments, no feelings.  

She’s at his apartment by the end of that very day, running hands over a body that is beginning to feel so familiar, so precious, and for the first time in her life, Amy begins to break the rules.

*

*

Like a sucker, Amy waits by her phone each nightfall, fingers hovering over the glass time and time again.  Their arrangement has been working for close to a month now, so she should be confident enough to beckon him to her, but it’s been three days since she last saw him, and logically she knows that it was work that pulled him away, but also maybe he’s decided to move on.  Maybe, he’s found somebody that makes him feel the way she feels whenever she looks at him.  

All the words she wants to write sound desperate, because she is, still craving another fix of him, even though the week before had seemingly provided her fill.  Nearly dropping her phone in shock when it vibrates against her skin, she’s quick to unlock the screen, heart jumping up to her throat as she races to her window, face cracking open with a giant smile when she sees him standing on the sidewalk.  He’s here - everything she needs is waiting for her on the street below - and then she’s pressing the buzzer to release the front door and he’s here and her clothes are falling to the ground.  

His kisses are different.  Maybe it’s her, maybe she’s projecting, but his kisses feel different, like he’s a starving man in the desert and Amy’s a mirage he refuses to let disappear.  She lets him drink her in, returning his touches with her own, and the couch cushions are soft underneath her bare skin and she has a newfound hatred for the word casual.  

Jake doesn’t stay - they never do, an unspoken rule amongst the nonexistent - but he lingers, fingers gliding softly along her back and she closes her eyes, safe in the knowledge that he cannot see the look of contentment on her face.  She wants him to stay, but cannot bring herself to say it, and eventually he moves, throwing a hand up in a casual wave as he leaves.   It’s another few minutes before she hears his footsteps fade down the hallway, and the couch is cold without him there, but her bed is so large and empty and she can still smell his aftershave, so she drops her head back onto the throw cushion to breathe him in.  

She waits until the sound disappears before letting her tears fall.

*

*

It’s been another month (making it three in total, not that she is keeping count), and they’ve almost got the whole thing down to an art.

There are signals and messages and systems set in place, and it rarely stretches past a day or two before one is reaching out to the other.  The neighbourhood that separates their apartments holds home to a relatively well maintained park, and Amy has walked through it so many times that she’s begun to track the growth of the wildflowers, often stopping to admire the blooms along the way.  Sessions between the sheets have extended to takeout dinners and the occasional Netflix session, but nothing ever builds past that, and it’s killing her slowly, but the alternative is far worse.

Today is Boyle’s birthday, and in true Charles fashion he’s thrown a party that promises endless drinks under only one proviso - that everyone turns up in costume.  Despite their greatest of protests, the benefits had inevitably outweighed the costs, and one by one they filter into the apartment, each heading straight to the bar in a desperate need to forget what they are wearing and just have fun.

It isn’t long before the room is filled with a myriad of characters, faces unrecognisable behind masks, conversations fading into the background as the music grows louder and louder.  Charles, in his element, flits between pockets of people, encouraging his guests to try the more obscure appetisers being passed around.  Amy adjusts her outfit, a simple black and white dress covered in a crossword pattern, smiling at Terry as he describes at great length Cagney and Lacey’s recent ballet recital.  It was the end of a long week, and if she hadn’t been surrounded by her friends she would have left hours ago.  

At the back of the room she sees Rosa, smirking at the crowd surrounding her before rolling the dice for a game of Snake Eyes, the red sequinned horns of her devil costume barely peeking out from her mass of dark curls.  She rolls a five, and Hitchcock cries out in victory, clearly unfamiliar with the concept of the game.

To the right of them, Jake stands tall, looking remarkably accurate as Robin Hood, plastic archery set still tied safely to his back.  He’s laughing with a beautiful dark haired woman, who in a vague memory she thinks may be named Sophie, and the woman flips her hair and Amy’s eyes narrow.  She knows that move.  She’s made that move.  This chick was getting her flirt on with Jake, and there was nothing that she could really do.  

Her eyes narrow as she struggles to lip-read, trying and failing to seem casual about it all as she tunes out the sound of Terry’s voice.  From beside her, the glittery halo attached to Gina’s head catches the light and her eyes roll, exasperation obvious as she turns back to Amy, muttering something about being ‘the worst kept secret’ and briefly Amy wonders if perhaps she and Jake haven’t been as covert as they’d thought.  Not that she minds, really - she’d shout this all from the rooftops if she thought he would be okay with it.  

And there are times when it feels like maybe he would be okay with something more than what they have now, when his hands linger more than normal over her skin, or his eyes hold her gaze for longer than a beat and she can almost swear that she can see feelings underneath it all.  

But then he pulls back, and it’s another day or two before they’re back to old habits, and while she’s almost certain there hasn’t been anybody else there was always the threat of somebody, a somebody worthy of a title like girlfriend, and when she watches him talking to women like this (Sophia!  That’s her name.  Sophia) the danger of losing him becomes a little too real.

She excuses herself from the conversation under the guise of needing a refill, quickly downing the remaining contents of her cup as she heads towards the bar - an area that also happened to be conveniently near Jake and this Sophia.  He breaks the conversation with her as Amy nears, and the other woman watches on before stepping back with a raised eyebrow.

“Found a new friend?”  She tries to keep her tone light.

“She’s a D.A.  I actually don’t even know how she got invited.” Jake answers quickly, reaching for the nearest bottle and pouring the contents in as he speaks.  “We were talking about Boyle’s latest arrest.”

“The flasher?”  He nods.  “Well, I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure she wants to flash you.”  The smile she wears is so forced, desperate to keep the tone light, knowing that one wrong move could bring this arrangement of theirs crashing down.

He doesn’t respond straight away, eyes staring at the bottles of liquor, the grip on his cup a little tighter the only giveaway that he’d heard her at all.  And then he’s looking at her, a careful gaze that she doesn’t quite know what to do with, one that makes her feel entirely exposed.  It feels like it stretches on forever, until finally he shakes his head - “Nah.  She’s a D.A., Ames.  That’s like … the closest thing to evil in our world.  And besides, I -”

A cheer erupts from their left, snake eyes finally landing on the table, and Amy is grateful for the distraction as she lifts the red plastic cup to her lips.  He moves a little closer, lowering his voice the way he does during other things and a tiny little tingle runs down her spine.  “Meet me at mine in like … half an hour?"

Her teeth feel sharp against her lower lip, a surprising sensation that cuts through the alcoholic haze, and she nods quickly, ignoring the flush of red that washes over her cheeks.

He falls asleep before she’s even had the chance to leave, laying stomach-down on the mattress, one hand still resting against her abdomen while he snores softly.  Revelling in the moment Amy follows the lightly coloured freckles on his skin, playing connect-the-dot along his arm until she reaches his hand, linking their fingers and trying so hard not to cry when his hand grips hers.  She stays, longer than she probably should, but moments like this are what she craves the most, and even if it’s only an hour, it’s already better than she imagined.  

When he opens his eyes again it is daylight, and Amy is long gone.  She’s left a note on his bedside, neatly spaced out in her careful handwriting, and he reads it over and over but the message never changes.  That she can’t do this, that it’s all become too much, and please don’t talk to her about it because she doesn’t think that she can.

And just like that, it was over.

Present day

The grass is surprisingly cool against Amy’s bare feet as she runs through the park, shoes gripped in one free hand while the other wipes tears away from her face.

She can hear Jake calling out her name from behind, but she just can’t bring herself to turn around.  There’s a part of her that still isn’t sure how she got here in the first place, doesn’t understand why she gave the cab driver this address instead of her own.  She should have just asked him to drive on, rising number on the meter be damned.  

But she’d stepped out onto the sidewalk outside Jake’s apartment, and her eyes had still be trained on the window she knows to live just to the right of his bed when another taxi pulled up, and this time Jake got out, calling out her name as he slammed the car door behind him.

He had moved so quickly towards her that she hadn’t had a chance to prepare herself for his arrival, heart still pounding somewhere outside of her chest because not tonight, because in vino veritas, because all of the things she had been trying so desperately not to say were bubbling up inside of her, and she still isn’t sure just how she got here.

And then she was running.  Turning on her heel and heading straight for the park she knew so well, ready to cover the same path she had taken almost every night this entire summer.

He’s faster than her, calling out her name as he follows, and not for the first time she’s resentful of her shorter legs.  The grass spins, alcohol catching up to her mind and she slows, exhausted by the sprinting but more so because she’s tired of hiding, tired of pretending that everything is fine when it so clearly is not.  

His breath is ragged and his hands are gripping his sides when he stops in front of her.  His confusion is obvious, but more than anything he looks concerned and it’s enough to make her the tears start back up again.  She pushes her head up towards the sky, unfocused eyes trying to make out the glittering dots as she blinks, a quiet sob escaping her throat.

“Ames?”  

She doesn’t trust herself to speak.

“What the hell happened back there?”  Her head shakes, shoes dropping to the grass with a soft thud so that she can cover her face with her hands.

“It doesn’t matter, Jake.  It’s stupid, really.”

There’s a shocked tone to his voice.  “Of course it matters, Ames.”  It’s so sincere, so sweet the way he speaks to her, and she doesn’t want to love him but she really, really does.  He clears his throat.  “I know I haven’t spoken to you tonight, but you told me not to, and I wanted to show you that I respected your decision, even though I .. anyway.  Next thing I know you’re running and you’re outside my place and I’m so confused-” 

The words are bubbling up inside of her and it’s driving her insane, how quickly he makes her say all the things that she doesn’t want to say, and she snaps at him.  “Just leave it, Jake.”  

He matches her exasperation, raising his voice and it carries out over to the edges of the park.  “You ended this!”  She can hear the rustle of his jacket as he throw his hands to the side, and his persistence just frustrates her all the more.  “Just …. tell me why you’re running, Amy!”

“I love you!  Okay?  I love you.  You’re a pain in my ass sometimes, and you cannot clean to save yourself, but for whatever it’s worth, I love you.”  She laughs, a short self-deprecating bark.  “Ain’t that the worst thing you’ve ever heard?  But there it is.  It’s true.  I love you.”

She doesn’t want to look at him, terrified of what she’s certain will be a look of horror on his face.   Damn the alcohol, and damn the feelings that had been building up and just had to explode here and now.  Everything could have stayed just as they were, if she hadn’t opened her damn mouth.

But, the voices in her head reasoned, you didn’t want things to stay as they were.

“Ames.”  His voice is soft again, but still so loud in this dark garden with only them around.

Her head stays low.  “I know.  We’re partners, and we both went into this knowing it couldn’t be anything.  It doesn’t make sense to change things.  And it was stupid of me to - ”

“Ames.”

Amy holds her breath, but raises her head anyway.  Time to face the music.

His head is lowered, one hand resting along the back of his neck, and at her silence he looks up, and her heart may as well have stopped completely.  He’s grinning.  That devilish, incredibly handsome grin that has never failed to make her feel completely at home.

He’s grinning, and she can feel her defences start to kick in, but it’s not in a ‘I’m about to make fun of Santiago’ kind of way.  He looks like a kid on Christmas Day, opening that one present that he knows will make the day amazing.

And then he speaks.  He’s telling her about how long he’s been biting his tongue, his own declarations of love threatening to make an appearance so often that he’d begun to just stop speaking altogether unless he was certain the topic was safe.  

That he dreamed about holding her hand as they walked down the street - about waking up and making breakfast together; of nights at home in their rattiest clothes, falling asleep on the couch while a terrible movie plays in the background.  Nights that aren’t about sex, but just being near each other, knowing the other will still be there when the sun rises again.

His hand reaches out for hers, and she takes it without hesitation.  She’s never been one to take risks, and certainly not to break the rules, but sometimes you just have to take a chance, and she would throw everything away in a second if she could just stay here in this moment.  He tugs her forwards, lips landing on hers as his arms wrap around her so tight, and finally, everything is as it should be.

The sun is warm against her back when she wakes in the morning, his arms still wrapped around her and legs tangled together underneath the sheets.  And they stay together through it all - while the leaves turn brown and begin to fall; as the days grow cool and everything is covered in a tiny white dust. 

The park between their apartments blooms florals bright and strong with the coming of spring and they cross the grass together one last time, the final box of his possessions tucked under his arm as they head towards the home that was once hers but is now theirs.  The memory of shouted drunken confessions pale to the feeling of his hand in hers and she smiles up at him, squeezing his fingers as they pass through the gate and already she is home. 

Whatever came next summer, they would face it together.  

#okay I don't know where that came from but I needed to write it #but I hope you all enjoy it #mine #myfic #b99 fanfic #b99 fanfics #peraltiago fanfiction #taylor swift fanfiction #brooklyn nine nine fanfic #fwb

[triptuckers]

She does care (Rosa Diaz)

Request: No Pairing: Rosa Diaz x female!reader Summary: Rosa Diaz very rarely tells anyone she cares about them or loves them. This is 8 times Rosa tells you she loves you/cares about you without actually saying it + 2 times she did. (Side note: Y/N and Rosa’s desks are positioned the way Jake and Amy’s are, so they’re facing each other). Warnings: Maybe one or two swear words but that’s it. Word count: 4.6K A/N: We all know scary Rosa but we also know Rosa needs her daily doses of fluff as well. It’s currently 1 am here, and I’m exhausted but I wanted to post something. Also this isn’t proof read and, like I said, I’m tired. So let’s hope I won’t have a heart attack due to all the grammar mistakes when I read this tomorrow. Enjoy reading!! Goodnight darlings.

One – The one in which you’re late for work

You open your eyes and roll over to your side, burying your face in your pillow. Almost immediately, you open your eyes again and frown. You never wake up before your alarm. It’s always the annoying ringing that wakes you up. You sit up and run a hand through your hair. You glance at the window and hear the familiar sound of cars rushing by. That’s weird. It’s never this busy in your street when you wake up. Your eyes widen at the sudden realization and you turn your head to look at the time. Shit. You have twenty minutes to shower, eat breakfast and to get to work. You curse as you throw the blanket off of you. Opening your closet, you grab an outfit and rush into the shower. You run through your apartment as you struggle to put your shoes on. You throw everything you need randomly in your back and look over to the fridge. Breakfast can wait. You get your keys and quickly leave your apartment.

As you make your way to the precinct, you yawn as you’re not fully awake yet. You rub your eyes as you walk to your desk and put down your bag. You sigh deeply and close your eyes. ‘Rough morning?’ says a familiar voice. You open your eyes and see Rosa looking at you. You nod. ‘You can say that. I didn’t hear my alarm, had to rush. I didn’t even eat breakfast. Figured I could get it once I got here.’ you say. You open your bag to look for some money so you could get a sandwich. But then you hear footsteps approaching and you look up. ‘Y/L/N, you’re two minutes late.’ says Captain Hold. You sigh and sit up. ‘I’m sorry sir, I didn’t hear my alarm.’ you explain. ‘Well, you’re here now.’ he hands you a file. ‘You and Diaz need to look for this guy. There’s a list of all the places he frequently goes. Bring him in.’ ‘Will do sir.’ you say and you yawn again. You open the file and briefly scan the information in it before giving it to Rosa. ‘Murder, setting things on fire, this is going to be fun.’ you say sarcastically. Rosa chuckles and gets up. You get up as well, taking your keys with you.

The two of you sit in your car, waiting for the guy to show up. You’ve checked out six addresses but so far no luck. You yawn for what feels like the hundredth time. Rosa looks at you and frowns. ‘You really are that tired, aren’t you?’ she says. ‘Yeah.’ you answer. ‘Didn’t get my morning coffee so I didn’t exactly start my day the right way.’ ‘Wait here. Look out for our guy. I’ll be right back.’ she says and she opens the car door and gets out. ‘Where are you going?’ you ask. Rosa leans in through the open window. ‘I said I’ll be right back.’ she says and she walks away. You frown but focus on the front door you were watching. After a couple minutes, Rosa is back and gets in the car. She hands you a cup. ‘Got you your morning coffee.’ she says. ‘Thank you.’ you say. You take a sip and close your eyes as you taste the hot liquid. Just how you like your coffee. You open your eyes and turned to look at Rosa. She has a smile on her lips but it immediately fades as you look at her. ‘Rosa Diaz, was that a smile?’ you say. ‘Nope. Definitely not. That was your imagination.’ says Rosa. ‘Was not. I made Rosa Diaz smile.’ you say smiling. Rosa shakes her head and you laugh. ‘How much do I owe you?’ you say as you get your wallet out of your pocket. ‘Nothing. Coffee’s on me.’ says Rosa. ‘Thank you.’ you say and you take another sip.

Two – The one in which your car breaks down

The sound your car makes is definitely not the sound it’s supposed to make. You try to start it again, but the same weird noise is heard. You sigh and get out. You open the front of your car to see what’s wrong. Thick, dark smoke rises from it and you step back, couching and waving the smoke away. ‘Well that’s just typical.’ you mumble to yourself. Once the smoke has cleared, you get in closer to look at the motor. You have none to very little knowledge of car engines. Your dad used to teach you all about it when you were little, but you didn’t remember a single thing he had told you. You sigh and start to think about what to do next. It’s getting late, so you could order a taxi and get someone to look at your car tomorrow. You get out your wallet and sigh. You can’t get a taxi home if you only have three dollars left.

‘Car trouble?’ says a voice behind you. You turn around and see Rosa, holding her motor helmet in her hand and her keys in the other. ‘Yeah.’ you sigh. ‘It started making weird noises and when I tried to look what it was, all I could see was smoke. Figured that’s not a good sign.’ ‘You could get a taxi.’ Rosa suggests. You chuckle. ‘I could, but where can you get with a taxi when you have three dollars? I’ll walk home.’ you tell her. Rosa frowns. ‘It’s late.’ she says. You shrug. ‘What other options do I have?’ you say. Rosa steps closer and hands you her helmet. ‘I’ll take you.’ she says. You raise your eyebrows. ‘Rosa Diaz letting someone on her motor? What kind of exception is this?’ you say and you smile. ‘The kind of exception I’m willing to make. Now get on, you’re not walking home when it’s getting dark.’ says Rosa. You smile again and climb on her motor. Rosa gets on it as well and turns her head so she can look at you. ‘Hold on.’ she says. You wrap your arms around her waist as she starts the engine.

Three – The one in which you have a ton of work to do

‘Y/L/N, can you make sure these are finished as well?’ You look up and see Captain Holt handing you another stack of files. You smile tiredly and take the files. ‘Of course.’ you say and you put them on the growing pile on your desk. ‘And can you make sure to lock down when you leave?’ says Captain Holt. ‘Will do.’ you say. ‘Thank you. I will see you tomorrow.’ says Captain Holt and he makes his way to the elevator. ‘Have a nice evening, sir.’ you say and Captain Holt nods. ‘You too, Y/L/N.’ he says. ‘Yes. A very nice evening indeed.’ you mumble to yourself as you look at the pile of paper in front of you. You sigh deeply and get the next file. Your fingers hurt from writing so much and your back is aching of all the work.

It feels like hours but when you look at your watch you see only 45 minutes have passed. You sigh and pick up the phone to order a pizza, you’re going to be here for quite some time. You keep on working until the pizza arrives. Once you get down and pay the delivery guy, you notice a familiar head of dark curls walking toward you. ‘Rosa.’ you say. ‘What are you still doing here, it’s late.’ Rosa stops in front of you and looks at you. ‘I could ask you the same.’ she says. She points at the pizza in your hands. ‘You’re going to be here tonight?’ ‘I have to. Holt’s making me do this shit ton of paper work. Figured I might as well get some food.’ you say. ‘You’re not going to get any sleep?’ asks Rosa. ‘Depends on how fast I can work.’ you say. You look at the keys in her hand. ‘You’re heading out?’ you ask. ‘I was.’ she says. ‘Was?’ you say and you frown. ‘You never stay late to do paperwork. It must be a lot. Need any help?’ Rosa says. ‘Thanks, but I’ll make it through. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ you say and you turn around to head back into the building. ‘It wasn’t exactly a question.’ you hear Rosa behind you. You turn around as Rosa walks up to you. ‘I’m helping you. If I can get a slice of that pizza.’ she says. You smile. ‘We can share.’ you say and the two of you head into the building.

Four – The one in which you have to go undercover

‘Lastly, we need to pick someone to go undercover. We need to gain Tessa Wilson’s trust. Any volunteers?’ says Captain Holt. Everyone looks around the room, looking if anyone is going to step up. So far, no one is. ‘Okay. I will pick one. Y/L/N, you have been working the case so I think it is only logical if you go undercover. Meet me in my office later today for the details.’ says Captain Holt and you nod. ‘That would be all, dismissed.’ says Captain Holt and everyone gets up and makes their way to their desks. You sit down at yours in front of Rosa’s and start doing some research on Wilson as you wait for Holt to call you in his office. You and Rosa occasionally share your thoughts about the case. About an hour later the door of Holt’s office opens and he calls you in.

‘So, Y/L/N.’ says Captain Holt once you sit down. ‘You have been working the case a lot, so you know the most about Wilson. She is, however, already in prison, as you know. You also know that we have reason to believe she is still running her business, with the help of someone on the outside. That is why you are going undercover, all you need to do is gain her trust and get her to tell you who are helping her. You will be wearing a microphone, but don’t worry, no one will be able to notice. We will visit you during the visit hours so you can provide us with the information you find. Once we find out who this person is helping Wilson, you will be able to get out.’ Captain Holt explains to you. ‘Do you have any questions?’ ‘No sir.’ you say. Captain Holt gets up. ‘Very well. I suggest you enjoy your time here, a van will be here to pick you up this afternoon.’ says Captain Holt and he opens the door for you.

A few hours later Holt is at your desk again, this time to tell you the “prison transport” is here. A guard hands you an orange overall which you change into. The team gathers around to hug you and to say goodbye. Rosa is the last one to get to you. ‘I’ve been undercover in a prison. It’s a real shit hole. Good luck in there. And also…’ Rosa takes a deep breath. ‘Be careful and stay safe.’ she says quietly and fast. You look at her and your face breaks in a smile. ‘Thank you, Rosa.’ you say. ‘Don’t worry, I will.’ Rosa smiles briefly. ‘I would hug you but you’re already in cuffs.’ she says softly and she looks at your hands. ‘That’s okay. I’ll just get one when I get back.’ you say. Rosa nods. ‘Deal.’ she says. 

Five – The one in which Rosa Diaz smiles a lot

She smiles. She actually smiles. Everybody of the Nine-Nine knew that Rosa Diaz didn’t smile. But today she does. However, she only smiles at you. And she only smiles when she’s talking to you, or if you’re laughing. The rest of the squad couldn’t figure out why Rosa was smiling so much. They also couldn’t figure out why she was only smiling when you were around. Sure, you had been friends for a long time, but just friends, right?

What they didn’t know, was that the night before, Rosa had stayed over at your place. You invited her over. You wanted to start a new tv show, but as always you thought it would be much nicer if you had someone else to watch it with. You knew Rosa was into the same movie genres as you, so you invited her. Rosa told you the tv show was also on her to-watch-list. And so Rosa came over to your place to watch it. And with nearly every episode ending with a cliffhanger, you couldn’t just stop watching (we’ve all been there). The night ended with you falling asleep on Rosa’s shoulder. She turned off the tv but she didn’t dare to wake you. You looked so peaceful, eyes closed, your hair a bit messy. In your sleep, you managed to hug Rosa tighter but she didn’t mind. You must have been exhausted because of all the work you did that day. So she carefully took you in her arms and walked you to your bedroom, where she carefully placed you on the bed. Rosa then went to the couch and slept there. You were surprised when you woke up to find Rosa still in your apartment. But your heart warmed when she smiled at you and said good morning.

Of course, no one at the precinct knew about that. They didn’t know you and Rosa were slowly starting to fall for each other. They didn’t know how happy Rosa felt when she noticed you were asleep on her shoulder. They didn’t know how happy you felt when Rosa stayed with you. And so they could only guess why Rosa was smiling at you all the time.

Six – The one in which Rosa goes to the record shop

You hear a knock on your door and look at the time. You weren’t expecting anyone. You’re making yourself some pasta while listening to some music. The person at the door knocks again. You pause the music and walk over to the door. Opening it, you see Rosa, holding a paper bag. ‘Hi Rosa.’ you say happily. ‘Hi.’ she replies. ‘Can I come in?’ ‘Sure.’ you say and you step aside so she can enter your apartment. ‘I was just making some pasta, there’s enough for the both of us, I can make you a plate?’ you say as you walk back to the kitchen. ‘Well, I actually came to drop something off, but I guess I can stay. I don’t have anywhere else to be.’ says Rosa behind you. You turn around and look at the paper bag which she is still holding. ‘What’s that?’ you ask. Rosa hands you the paper back. ‘Remember when you came to work wearing that band shirt?’ she says and you nod. ‘Yeah, my Y/F/B shirt?’ you say and Rosa nods. ‘Yeah that one. I was walking past this store when I saw another shirt of it. So I went inside and found all these special editions of vinyl’s and shirts of Y/F/B and it made me think of you.’ Rosa tells you. You open the bag and find two shirts and a vinyl in it. Your eyes widen as you see the shirt you’ve been looking for since forever. A limited edition shirt that was made in 1992. You look from the shirt to Rosa, and back to the shirt. ‘Rosa… I’ve been looking for this since forever! And you find it in a local store?’ you say. ‘Figured it would make you happy.’ says Rosa. Your heart jumps at her comment. She got you these very expensive limited edition items because she knew it would make you happy. ‘It does! It really does! But this must have been at least 50 dollars, if not more. I can’t take this.’ you say. ‘Yes you can. The guy at the store says no returns. It’s yours.’ says Rosa. You smile brightly and put the shirt aside. You get out the other shirt, another limited edition. You look at the vinyl that’s in the back. Also limited edition. It must have cost a fortune. You don’t know what to say.

‘Rosa… I… Thank you.’ you mumble. Rosa leans back against your kitchen. ‘You like it?’ she says. ‘Are you kidding? I love it!’ you say enthusiastically. ‘Put the record on then, I want to know what this special edition sounds like.’ she says. You walk over to your record player and put the vinyl on. You keep on rambling about it as you select the right settings. ‘So this one contains a special studio version of their first song. But here’s where it gets cool: you can’t record it. They did something special to the vinyl so you can’t record it. The frequency you can hear with your ears but once you record it with your phone, you hear nothing. Amazing right? I only heard this version once, at a record shop. And I never thought I would have one. I mean, I would always check at my favorite record shop, but of course they never had it, or it would be way too expensive and I’m rambling.’ you say and you blush as you look at your feet. You hear Rosa chuckling. ‘Don’t worry, it’s cute.’ she says and you blush even more. ‘Put it on.’ says Rosa and you press play. The familiar voice of the lead singer fills the room and you start to move your hips to the rhythm. As the song goes on, you start to dance more and you even catch Rosa tapping her toes before giving in and dancing as well.

 Seven – The one in which Rosa gets you lunch

The sound your stomach makes is extremely loud. You look up to see if anyone heard it. No one is giving you any funny looks, so you continue to work. After a while, your stomach rumbles again and you ignore it. You’re hungry, but the report in front of you needs to be finished within the hour, so you can’t take a lunch break. As your stomach rumbles again, you start to think that maybe you should have eaten more during breakfast. You groan as your stomach makes another loud sound. You definitely should have eaten more.

Suddenly someone drops a paper bag on your desk. You look up and see Rosa takes a seat behind her desk in front of you, holding a similar bag. ‘Did you get me lunch, Rosa?’ you say. Rosa is busy opening her paper bag so she just nods. Opening your bag, you take out the huge sandwich. Unwrapping the paper around it, you lift one half of the bread to see the sandwich has all of your favorite ingredients. You smile as you start to dig in. ‘Thank you.’ you say with a mouth full of bread. Rosa chuckles. ‘Well I couldn’t just let you starve to death could I?’ she says.

Eight – The one in which Rosa makes a reference to your favorite tv show

The team was working on one of their biggest cases in the precinct’s history. Everyone was assigned to the case. All everyone talked about was The Case. The NYPD had been investigating a New York crime family for months, no, for years, and for the first time they are really close. Jake and Amy are following a cousin, Terry and Charles are following the family’s supplier. You and Rosa are assigned to shadow one of the most important family members. For hours you had been quietly following him around. At this point, the two of you are sitting on a bench in a crowded street. The man you were following went inside an apartment building. The usual sound of cars passing by and people talking is abruptly interrupted by gunshots and a loud crash. Next thing you know, a television is thrown through a window, landing barely inches from where you and Rosa are sitting.

The two of you quickly pull out your guns and run to the entrance of the building. You run the stairs until you find the source of the chaos. The door of an apartment is open and you and Rosa slowly walk up to it. Rosa nods at you and you enter the apartment. The apartment itself is a complete mess. There’s glass everywhere, chairs and a couch look like they have been thrown across the room. On top of that, there’s a woman lying on her stomach on the floor, with several gunshots in her back.

‘Shit, man. This place looks like that episode of the Mentalist with the crazy psycho serial killer.’ says Rosa as she looks around the room. You put your gun back and turn to look at her. ‘Since when do you watch the Mentalist? I thought you didn’t like cop shows and movies?’ you say. ‘Yeah, well, I started watching it because you like it so much. So I gave it a shot. It’s not as shitty as I thought it would be.’ Rosa tells you. ‘What episode are you on?’ you asked enthusiastically. ‘Y/N, we have a dead body and we lost our guy. Mind if we talk about it some other time?’ says Rosa as she nods at the woman on the floor and at the mess. ‘Right, yes, I’ll tell the Captain.’ you say quickly and you pull out your phone to call it in.

Nine – The one in which Rosa actually tells you she cares about you

A burning pain. That is all you felt in your legs as you are chasing the prime suspect. Your whole body is aching, begging for you to give up but you don’t. ‘NYPD stop!’ you yell but you know it is pointless. You run around a corner and stop running. The man you were following is gone. Like he disappeared into thin air. Your grip on your gun tightens as you slowly walk around the ally. Careful so you won’t make any sudden noise or movement, you make your way toward the end of the ally. You check dumpsters and doors, but there is no sign of your guy. You sigh and put your gun back. All those months of research and hard work thrown away. And for what? Heavy breathing and still a burning pain in your legs. You curse softly as you start heading back to your car. Just as you want to turn around the corner, you hear a gunshot and feel a sharp pain in your stomach. You turn around and see the man you were following. His hand is raised and he’s holding a gun that’s pointed at you. You look down and see your shirt covered in blood. ‘Shit…’ you mumble as your knees give up on you and you land on your hands on the street. You clutch your stomach with one hand as you lean on the other. You take deep, slow breaths and try to ignore the pain spreading from the place you got shot to the tips of your toes and fingers. With difficulty, you pull out your phone and call Rosa. ‘What’s up?’ she says. ‘Rosa…’ you manage to whisper. Rosa’s voice immediately sounds worried. ‘Y/N? Is everything okay?’ she asks. ‘I… got- I got shot…’ you choke out, feeling tears forming in the corners of your eyes. ‘You what?’ says Rosa. ‘You stupid, stupid! Hang on, I’m going to track your phone. Do not hang up, Y/N, you hear me? Do not hang up the phone, stay awake.’ You try to. You try so hard not to pass out. But you start to feel dizzy and your head feels heavy. You eventually give in. Help will be here soon. You will be okay.

You open your eyes and immediately shut them again because of the bright lights. You take a few deep breaths before opening your eyes again, letting them adjust to the light. Your head feels heavy when you move so you continue to lay still. ‘A good, you’re awake.’ says an unfamiliar voice. You look up slightly to see a doctor with a friendly face look down at you. ‘How are you-‘ he can’t finish his sentence, as he’s cut off by a loud voice. ‘What the hell, Y/N?’ the voice says. You shut your eyes, the voice being too loud for your head. When you open them again, a familiar head of dark curls hovers above you. ‘What the hell, Y/N?’ says Rosa again. ‘Rosa… please… not so loud.’ you say softly. ‘I have all the right to be loud! You weren’t answering my questions! You call me, you tell me that you’re shot, and then you stop responding to me? Why didn’t you listen to me? I told you to be cautious! Damn you, Y/N, you know I care about you!’ says Rosa loudly. You blink a few times as you look at her. ‘Did you just say you care about me?’ you ask. ‘Yes, I care about your dumb ass, you stubborn woman!’ says Rosa. You smile. You don’t even care about how loud she is. Rosa Diaz cares about you.

Ten – The one in which Rosa actually tells you she loves you

There had always been some kind of connection, some kind of spark between you and Rosa. Everyone could notice it. The two of you could communicate through looks and smiles. You could easily sit in a car for a stakeout for 24 hours without being annoying to each other. The two of you knew what the other was thinking. So, yes, there had always been a spark between you two. At first, you didn’t want to admit it and neither did she. But after a while, with some encouragement of the team, you gave in. You and Rosa started seeing each other after work, on weekends, on your days off. You grew more and more comfortable around each other, and at the same time you grew more fond of each other. It went like that for some time. Until one night you decided to stay over at Rosa’s place. The two of you had a long conversation and after the talk, it was clear you were in a relationship with Rosa Diaz.

It got you to where you are now. You are cuddled into Rosa’s side, which you very much enjoy. Rosa has her arm wrapped around you and a movie is playing on the tv. You’re not paying attention to it, though. You’re playing with Rosa’s hair. You tangle and twist the curls around your fingers as you rest your head on her shoulder. Rosa pretends to look at the screen in front of you, but all she’s paying attention to is your presence. Your breath, tickling the skin of her neck. Your arm, loosely swung across her stomach. And how your fingers are playing with her hair. This is how Rosa wants to spend her nights. Just the two of you and nothing else. After a while, you stop playing with Rosa’s hair. She looks down at you and notices your eyes are closed. She smiles to herself as she pushes your hair out of your face. ‘God, I love you.’ she says quietly and Rosa carefully rests her head on yours. Your grip on Rosa tightens. ‘I love you too.’ you mumble and Rosa jumps a little. She quickly relaxes again, sinking back into your embrace, a soft smile on her lips.

A/N: The last two I- Maybe I write better when it’s 1 am? I love Rosa Diaz so much wow goodnight darlings!!

If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rules Here’s the list of characters I write for, I’ll be making a masterlist once I have written more. Thank you for reading! Much love, Jo

#carliehansonwya #brooklyn nine-nine #b99 #brooklyn 99 #rosa diaz #rosa diaz x reader #rosa diaz x you #rosa diaz x y/n #rosa diaz x female!reader #rosa diaz x fem!reader #rosa diaz angst #rosa diaz fluff #rosa diaz imagine #rosa diaz blurb #rosa diaz one shot #rosa diaz fanfiction #rosa diaz fanfic #rosa diaz fic #brooklyn nine-nine imagines #brooklyn nine-nine imagine #b99 imagine #b99 imagines #rosa diaz x reader angst #rosa diaz x reader fluff

[rueitae]

Gunpoint/To Hold

My thanks to @rosieclark for beta, @suemaryrakocy and @nina-a-holt for their insight!

In my efforts to make a happy ending, this got out of hand. 4.3k words. I made it a separate fic on Ao3.

~~~~~

“Daddy, I’m scared.”

Lance holds his daughter tighter at the sound of a blaster buzzing to life. He can’t see it, but he knows it’s still pointed at the back of his head. With one arm supporting her weight over her long shirt and leggings, he digs his other hand into Mae’s beautiful brown hair and buries her head closer to his chest, refusing to let her see their captors and their weapons.

He’s scared too. Terrified.

But he can’t let her see that. Even if his muscles strain from holding her, he’ll do it for as long as it’s necessary to spare her the sight for a time. 

“Everything’s fine, sweetheart,” he tells her softly with a kiss to her head. “Just keep your head down, okay?”

Lance walks on at the nudge of the blaster to his back, further and further from the safety of the resort. What was supposed to be a happy treat for her tenth birthday had turned into a trap and a nightmare. Already light years away from Earth, the large ship they approach tests all of Lance’s emotional training. He recognizes the symbol of the Emblem, the largest pirate syndicate in the universe. The very same group the Defenders fight on a weekly basis - that he and Pidge fight either with communications and strategy at the Galaxy Garrison or a firefight out in space. 

They would kill both him and his daughter if it gave them strategic advantage. The group is led by several former Galra commanders, they’re organized, intelligent, and brutal. 

And they had a former Paladin exactly where they wanted him. Alone, he’d probably have put up more of a fight, but not with Mae here. He couldn’t risk it. So Lance refuses to give them a reason to not keep them alive.

“Right this way, Paladin.”

The pirate behind Lance nabs his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. The bulky Galra leading him moves aside and the sight that greets Lance makes his knees weak. 

Both former Galra commanders in one place, standing before him. Any other day it would be a golden opportunity to strike and end the organization. 

But not now, not with their numerous subordinates training blasters at him and his daughter. 

Mae squirms in his arms, taking a peak. Normally Lance loves his that his daughter inherited Pidge’s natural curiosity. Not today. As much as he wants to focus on shielding her, he has to pay attention to their captors. 

“What do you want?” Lance addresses them, with all the authority he can muster. 

Commander Tripik, the tall, lanky one that Pidge usually battles through viruses and codes, grins none-too-nicely. “To the point, I like that,” he says as he looks over to his co-leader.

“I think you’re intelligent enough to guess that you’re here for insurance,” Commander Rovek adds, standing rigidly with her hands tucked neatly behind her back. She’s the muscle, and the founder of the Emblem. “You’ll be assuring our raid on Rigarsus goes smoothly, as well as any future endeavors.”

A fancy way to say hostage. 

“Pidge won’t let you just walk on in there,” Lance retorts. Rigarsus is where the central bank of the universe if located. Pidge designed their security systems herself. 

Taking him and Mae captive is by design. 

“I think she can be persuaded,” Tripik says as he saunters over, towering and circling him like a shark. Lance stiffens when he places his large, clawed hands on his shoulders. “With the right incentive.”

To Lance’s horror, Mae gasps and her first reaction is to try and rip Tripik’s hand away. She succeeds, taking some of Tripik’s hair with her. 

Lance drops Mae, her feet sticking to the ground, unable to keep his hold on her as Tripik yells in pain. He frantically keeps her to his side, hand firmly around her arm, as he moves out of Tripik’s immediate vicinity. Blasters stop him from going any further, but at least he’s gotten her out of any thoughtless retaliation. 

He can try and talk him out of it. 

Before Tripik can do anything, Rovek laughs at him. “The cub has some bite!” she declares. “Truly what I’d expect from the child of two former Paladins.”

Bile rises in Lance’s throat and an otherworldly growl escapes his mouth. He doesn’t like the implications. Like his daughter is some sort of prize to be recruited or… used for show. 

Like they’d done to Shiro.

He’s going to throw up. 

“You won’t touch her,” he promises with venom dripping from every syllable.

Rovek just laughs and approaches them - her eyes not on him, the Paladin, the one who could take her on in a fight - but on his daughter. 

Lance tugs Mae closer, an arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders as she leans into his jacket, clutching his shirt. 

Rovek kneels, her large form puts her at eye level with him, but she addresses his daughter. “What is your name, child?”

“None of your business,” Lance snaps, taking a step back.

In an instant he chokes, metal wrapping tightly around his neck, sending him skidding on the dusty ground. His skin burns, sleeves likely torn .

“Dad!” Mae shrieks.

Lance looks up to see he’s far more than an arm’s length away from his daughter. She’s crying in place, not that he blames her, but it hurts as a father to see her scared for him like this. 

Rovek rises to her full height and stands behind his daughter, Mae barely as tall as her knees. Lance sees red as Rovek moves to hold her shoulders.

“Don’t you dare!” he yells. Ignoring all soreness of muscle he’s halfway to them before pirate grunts subdue him, two straining each arm and a third forcing him to his knees, blaster pressed against the back of his head. 

Mae screams and Rovek kneels behind her, two massive hands engulfing her shoulders and claws pressing against her throat. She sobs, chest rising and falling fast, her bright hazel eyes locked on him.

Lance wants to cry, and might have if he wasn’t so enraged; helpless as his daughter is in the hands of the most vile criminal organization in the universe. 

“Let’s try this again, cub,” Rovek says, twirling Mae’s long, loose hair in a claw. “What is your name?”

Mae hiccups, her eyes still on him. Her mouth opens, but between the tears words can’t come. Lance’s heart beats quicker in fear, if she doesn’t answer he’s sure Rovek will hurt her. 

Distraction and misdirection is what he does best. 

“Leave her alone!” Lance demands, but his voice quickly degenerates to desperation thanks to the tightening grip on his arms. “She’s no- she’s not part of this fight! She’s just a kid!

“Do what you want with me, just leave her alone. Please,” he begs earnestly. 

Tripik growls and enters his field of vision, standing idly between him and Rovek. “We need to get going. You can play with the kid later.”

Rovek frowns, and after a moment of hesitation, relents, “You’re right, as usual.”

As Rovek stands, Lance’s heart leaps into his throat when she shoves Mae into the arms of the closest grunt. Mae trips into his claws, and doesn’t even react to getting slung over his shoulder, she can’t stop crying. 

Lance takes what positives he can from it, at least she isn’t paying attention to her father being held at gunpoint anymore. 

“Put them in the spare officer’s quarters,” Rovek orders as she stands. “Begin preparations for the raid once we break atmosphere.”

~~~~~

By spare officer’s quarters, Rovek had surprisingly meant exactly that. 

Mae is dumped onto the large, circular bed and Lance is pushed onto the same dull metal floor as the rest of the ship. The door slams shut with a resounding lock that lets him know there is no escaping.

The ship has already lifted off. It’s the same Galra battlecruiser design Lance has seen and infiltrated more times than he can count. If he remembers right, the escape pods on each level are indicated by three magenta crystals. If he can get past the door and get off the ship while there’s a distraction, they might have a chance.

He has something more important to do first though.

Slowly, Lance picks himself up and sits with a sigh on the edge of the bed. Mae sneaks in under his arms, her snot and tears already dampening his shirt. 

“I wanna go home,” she tells him. 

Lance sighs, a deep one that betrays his age and experience. “I know, Peanut. I want to go home too.” He holds her as close as he can, letting her cry into his chest as much as she wants. “You’re being so brave. I’m really proud of you, you know that right?”

He can comfort her all he likes, but he also knows he has to prepare her for when they’re separated - an inevitability as far as he’s concerned. 

“Y-yeah,” she sniffles. 

With a deep breath to prepare himself, Lance leans down and brushes her long hair out of her eyes and back behind her ear. “Mom would be so mad to see your hair all messy like this,” he jokes. 

Her teal hair band is loose, halfway off the back of her head. Lance gently takes it off and combs her gentle curls with his fingers best he can, at least to get stray hairs out of her face. Mae’s bangs are nearly grown out, but they’re still short enough she still can’t pull them into a ponytail. 

Calmed by the familiarity of their usual morning routine, Mae tucks hair behind her other ear. Lance places the head band back on like a crown, keeping most of the loose hair at bay. 

She looks so much like her mom like this, even if it’s his hair she has. 

“Mom wouldn’t care, that’s you Dad,” she teases with the most adorable little giggle through her tear stained face. It makes his heart just a little bit lighter. 

“Guilty as charged,” he smiles, planting a kiss on the top of her head. He sucks in a deep breath and places a comforting hand behind her back. Now he must have the conversation he never wanted with anyone, let alone his own child. “You know who those people are, right?”

Mae looks away and nods. “Bad guys, the ones that don’t want peace.”

Lance nods. That’s about all he and Pidge have told her. “That’s right. They’re… very mean and they will hurt you,” his voice chokes, “just because they can. You have to do your best to not give them a reason. If they ask you to do something, you do it.”

Her face scrunches in confusion and distaste. “Even if it’s a bad thing?”

“Even if it’s a bad thing,” Lance confirms. “I promise I’ll make sure you get home safely, but you’ve got to be smart and pay attention, okay? That means no tech, okay?”

Mae isn’t convinced. The tears have dried on her face and Lance can see that spark in her eyes that shows her mind is at work, the same spark of brilliance Pidge gets and Lance usually loves to see in these situations.

But not from his young daughter. It terrifies him she’ll try something without understanding the consequences of her actions should she fail. Looking back on those early days of Voltron, Lance finds himself squeamish over just how much they hadn’t known; how reckless they’d needed to be and how they’d had to shove the fear for their lives to the back of their minds so many times. 

“Promise me, Mae,” he leans around to lock eyes with her. “Please, don’t do anything your mother would do.” This suite has all the comforts of command, including a monitor for video communications. It’s disconnected, but that means nothing to the either of his girls. If any tampering Mae does is detected, there’s no telling what they’d do to her. “I couldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to you.”

Her lip wobbles. “What about you?”

Quiznak. She just had to ask that. “I’m your dad, it’s my job to keep you safe.” He flashes a fake smile in her direction. “And I’m a Paladin of Voltron. I can handle a few pirates.”

“I just don’t want to be with that creepy Galra lady again,” she shivered. 

Lance feels the anger in his belly rise again, for both what happened and the fact that there’s very little he can do to prevent it from happening again. It reminds him that he needs to continue this conversation. 

“I’ll do everything I can,” he promises. “I might not always be in the same room, but I’ll do whatever I can to keep her away from you.”

Mae gulps. “They might take you away?” 

“Or they might take you away,” he hates to say. Her breath hitches and he takes her into a close hug. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this. I love you so much.”

The door unlocks and Lance sucks in his tears. This is far too soon. “Be safe, Mi Flor de Mayo*, don’t do anything stupid. Don’t worry about me.”

“How can you say that?” she gasps as the door opens. “I’m gonna worry about you. I’m scared, I don’t want you to go.”

“Paladin,” a deep voice interrupts, one of the pirate grunts. “The Captain requests your presence.”

Lance takes a deep breath. He doesn’t want to bring her with, knowing they’ll be discussing the details of the situation, possibly be a part of a ransom video, but he also knows that not knowing will scare her more than anything she learns in that room. She’s too much like her mother. 

“I’m coming,” he says with clarity that surprises him, before patting his daughter’s back. “Let’s go.”

The moment they both stand, the Galra pirate holds up a hand. “The girl stays here.”

Mae clings to his arm. “I want to go with you.”

His escort looks impatient, so Lance kneels down quickly. “Remember what I said? You’ll be safer here than with me. I’ll be back.”

That is one promise he is going to keep. 

He hugs her and kisses her forehead before forcing himself to separate and walk towards the guard with a glare in place. He refuses to show fear in front of the grunts, and especially not to show his daughter he’s afraid. 

He wouldn’t be nearly as terrified if she wasn’t here.

A second guard comes from around the corner with handcuffs and Lance allows his arms to be pinned behind his back without fuss. He tries not to watch his daughter’s reaction, but even with his brave face she shakes like a leaf. 

“Sit on the bed and don’t move,” the first guard orders. To Lance’s horror, he clicks a rod on his belt and it crackles with electricity. It takes him half a tick to realize it’s not him they’re threatening. 

Mae looks to him for guidance and Lance nods quickly. “Just like we talked about. It’s okay.”

To his relief, she does sit, her sneakers squeaking on the floor as she lifts herself up onto it.. Lance gets no moment to breathe in relief as he’s yanked across the threshold and out of her sight. 

Instant panic sets in when she shrieks, “Dad!” and the first guard looks back into the room with his electric rod in hand.  

“Get back on the bed!” he yells. He tries his best parental authority voice, but it dissolves into panic after the first syllable. “Leave her alone!” he growls at his guard. “Your Captain is waiting, isn’t she?”

The guard grunts noncommittally, but he locks the door behind him. Almost as soon as it closes, Lance can hear her small fists pounding against the metal, sobbing and screaming for him. 

It hurts him more than any wound he’s ever received that he can’t do anything about it. 

~~~~~~

“Mae is safe?”

Lance glares over at Rovek from between his two guards before turning back to Pidge’s face plastered on the viewing screen of the command deck. “As safe as she can be,” he says. He fidgets and rolls his shoulders, the cuffs already making him stiff. “They left her in one of the officer’s suits. Hopefully she’s just taking a nap right now.”

“So, we have your attention, then?” Tripik smirks. “I can’t wait to see the great hacker herself undo her own safety measures.”

Pidge growls, her eyes piercing Rovek as if she would burst into flames on the spot. Lance feels like a failure. If it were just him, he’d tell Pidge to refuse their request, but he won’t risk Mae’s life over money. 

“You’ll have a twelve varga window, that’s the maximum amount of time the failsafe will let me shut down the system,” Pidge explains. Her professional facade flickers ever so slightly when she locks gaze with him, before she steels it once move in addressing their captors. “Once you have what you want, leave your prisoners in the building - alive and well.”

Lance’s stomach churns at the way Rovek grins at that. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you, Paladin. We should do this more often.”

Pidge’s image disappears, not even allowing Lance so much as a word goodbye. 

Tripik bursts out laughing. “‘Leave them in the building’ she says! That’s too easy!”

“‘Alive and well’ indeed!” Rovek adds. The bloodthirst in her eyes terrifies Lance to his core. “And they will be when we leave them there. Can’t guarantee they will be still alive after the fire.”

Lance jumps forward, straining his entire being with the only goal in his mind to kill Rovek. “You’re monsters!” he screams. The guards attempt to drag him back, but he drops to a squat to avoid them before rushing towards the Rovek. 

He’s almost there, baring his teeth and snarling as a crushing weight finally brings him to the floor, purple hands holding him down just within his field of vision. He struggles and squirms in what small spaces he’s allowed. If he gets so much as an inch off the floor he’s punishingly pushed back down again.

Rovek bends down and takes his chin. The fur feels gross as it brushes against his skin. Barring any other retaliation, Lance bites at her. 

“You are feisty,” Rovek purrs. “I can see why you once piloted the Red Lion.” She sighs dramatically, almost regretfully, just like a movie villain. “I will do what Emperor Zarkon and Commander Sendak could not; bring about the end of the Voltron Paladins… and any trace of them.”

“A pity too,” Tripik sighs. “Your daughter’s potential brilliance to go to waste. I always wanted to use the Green Paladin and her skills after Voltron was defeated. Surely we could keep the child a while longer?”

“And risk her ruining everything when she’s competent enough to do so? Do not think so foolishly, Tripik. That isn’t like you.”

“I know, I know,” he moaned, “it was just a nice thought.”

Lance pushes up with every ounce of energy he has. They’d never intended to spare either of them. He has to… oh quiznak he can’t believe what he’s about to say.

But if it spares his daughter, what choice does he have? 

“She’s already super smart,” he says, muffled with the side of his face squished on the floor. “And I told her to do whatever you say. She won’t be a problem for you.”

Lance can see Tripik light up like it’s his birthday, practically jumping up in excitement. “Just a few deca-phoebs?” he pleads. “Just until I figure out how her coding mind works. If I can figure out her logic, I am that much closer to cracking the Green Paladin’s codes myself.”

Rovek sighs. “Very well,” she concedes. Lance allows himself to relax for the first time since their capture. He’s secured Mae’s safety for a while, now he can just worry about saving his own life before coming to rescue her.

The ship takes a sudden jolt. Suddenly, the weight is off Lance’s back and he slams into a console. Alarms blare and the command deck turns a light red color. 

“Find out what’s going on!” Rovek orders. “Now!”

In the chaos, Lance doesn’t wait to take advantage of this gift. He’s out of the room within ticks and when no one follows him, he runs as fast as he can towards the officer’s quarters. 

Pirates pay him no mind, the situation becoming more and more dire as communicated over the ship-wide comm system. A pressure leak on level two. Escape pods randomly leave. A fire in the engine room from an overheated flux capacitor. 

There are three reasons Lance can think of that might have caused this. One of them is his daughter. 

Lance throws his shoulder into the panel lock of the door. It short circuits and opens for him. 

Mae lies on the floor underneath the inter-ship communicator at the desk. Wires of all kinds drop from it to the floor. Lance’s worst fears are confirmed.

But he’s also so incredibly proud beyond words. 

“Mae, what are you doing?” he asks as if he hasn’t seen Pidge and Hunk do this a million times. 

She pokes her head up and her eyes shine with tears, breath hitching before she exclaims, “Dad!” She rushes over and gives him the biggest hug, sobbing into his shirt. Lance drops to one knee and wishes he could just scoop her into his arms and run. “I was so scared, I didn’t know how long you’d be gone and I had to do something to keep busy and the only thing in the room was the communicator and I just started fiddling around like Uncle Hunk does and I found the ship’s main computer so I ran Mom’s code and--”

“Okay, I get,” Lance says quickly. He feels bad interrupting her, but this is not the time nor the place to catch up. This is exactly the distraction they need. “We need to go. The nearest pod is right around the corner. Tell me all about it on the way home.”

Mae reaches the pod first and Lance plops in after her, kicking the door behind them shut. He can get comfortable later, but right now, leaving is their only option. 

Oh quiznak, he can’t pilot with his hands cuffed. 

His daughter seems to realize this at the same time, her face full of dread. 

Lance doesn’t give himself a chance to worry over it. “Take the stick,” he tells her. “Press the green button now!”

A moment of relief comes when she quickly does exactly as asked, the pod pressurizes and they shoot off into space. A swell of pride fills his heart. She has her mother’s brains, but she also has a pilot’s reactionary instinct. 

Out the pod’s small window, the once grand Galra battlecruiser continues to ram into another ship in the Emblem’s fleet. Like watching a silent movie, the ships break apart in the vacuum of space. 

Only then does Lance allow himself to really relax. 

Mae is quiet, shivering.

“I’m so relieved that you're safe,” he starts, still hating her can’t hug her properly. He settles for scooting as close as he can to her in this confined space. “That’s all I care about.”

His heart is stuck in his throat for her. He and Pidge always hoped she never had to be involved in something as harrowing as this. They’d had a tough enough time dealing with their role with Voltron as teenagers, he can’t imagine how his daughter is grappling with this at her age. 

Her head falls limply onto his chest, her tiny hands gripping his shirt as if she’ll never let go. “We could have died,” she says simply, not looking up. 

“Yeah,” Lance doesn’t lie. Closer than she realizes. “We could have. But we didn’t. Even though you didn’t do what I told you to… you saved our lives, Mae.” He smiles genuinely for the first time and plants a soft kiss atop her head. “I’m so proud of you.”

Tears fill her eyes. “Did this happen with Voltron a lot?”

“Too often.”

“Did you get used to it?”

“No.”

Quiet again. “I don’t want to be a pilot when I grow up.”

“Then you don’t have to,” Lance promises, though he presses his eyes shut in emotional pain. His daughter will have the choice he hadn’t had if he has anything to say about it, but it still hurts to see her reject following in her famous parents’ footsteps, like she’d so proudly proclaimed before. “You can do anything you want with your life. You leave the universe defending up to me and Mom, we’ve gotten pretty good at it so you kids don’t have to.”

Mae wraps her skinny arms around his waist. “I love you, Dad. Stay safe.” When you go out and fight again, remains unsaid but understood. 

Lance relaxes his head against the side of the pod, closing his eyes. “I love you too, kiddo. Thanks for being you.” A sigh. “What do you say we call Mom and tell her to come pick us up?”

She perks up and smiles before reaching for the communications panel. “The Galaxy Garrison number?”

His mouth twitches upward. “Yeah, I doubt she’s home right now.” He returns her smile. “I bet she’d like to finally be able to wish you a happy birthday.”

~~~~~

*My May Flower

#plance #whumptober2019 #no.5 #gunpoint #voltron legendary defender #vld lance #lances kid #pidge just has a cameo in this one #threats of violence against lance and the kid #kidnapping #hostage situation #angst with happy ending

[darley1101]

Emotional Mess

Title: Emotional Mess

Book: Open Heart

Characters: Ethan x Loren/MC

Rating: Mature

Warning/Triggers: Past tense alcoholism and the effects it can have on a family.  

Summary: Loren confronts Ethan about his drinking habits and secrets, past and present, spill out.

Request: July 7 Reflection and July 10 Love from @drakewalkerfantasy and @queen-among-writers. Also using “When you love someone, you don't just stop. Ever. Even when people roll their eyes or call you crazy...even then. Especially then.” from @queen-among-writers

A/N: Tags are in a re-blog. If you would like to be added, moved, or removed please let me know. If you enjoyed the story please consider a like, comment, or re-blog. As always thank you for your support.

Emotional Mess

Exhaustion seeped into Dr. Loren Holt's bones, making her feel decades older than her twenty-eight years. Sixteen hours running consult in an over crowded emergency room had just about driven her to the brink of insanity. What was even more insane was the fact that she had considered taking on another eight hours just so she could avoid going home. Home. The very word made her wrinkle up her nose and tied her stomach up in knots. 'You could always text Sienna, see if you can crash in  her room for a bit,' she silently reminded herself as she leaned against a traffic light pole waiting for the next bus to arrive. Tilting her head back, Loren let out a groan. Had she really just considered texting her former roommate to see if she could borrow her bed? Jesus. She scrubbed a hand down her face and then massaged the back of her neck. 'Get it together Loren. You're an adult. He's an adult. Just tell him that his drinking bugs you.' Her stomach knotted up even more. The last time she had tried to broach the subject of Ethan's drinking he had given her an emotionless stare and reminded her of all the times he'd had to peel her off the floor after one too many margaritas. 'Three times,' she'd countered, 'you had to come get me from Sienna's three times...and that's different. I don't do it all the time. I don't come home and pour myself a drink just because the day was shit.' His response had been to say he wasn't in the mood to argue and then made up some bull shit excuse about needing milk before walking out the door. The scene had felt too much like a blast from the past, only it hadn't been Ethan walking out it had been her father.

Wordlessly, Loren pushed away from the pole as the bus rolled to a stop. She offered the driver a brief smile, flashing her  pass, before finding a seat near the rear exit. Her body slouched, hours of having to constantly be on the go finally catching up with her. She half expected to doze off but wasn't surprised when she didn't. From an early age she learned to live on very little sleep. Between her parents fighting and neighbors blaring music she had been lucky to get three to four hours. Only her third grade teacher seemed to notice and even then the kind hearted woman had bought the lies Loren's mother fed her about catching Loren reading with her flashlight when she should have been sleeping. There had been no mention of the parties next door or the alcohol induced fights that would last until the wee hours. After that, Loren learned not to speak up. All it had earned her was a smile from her teacher for being such an avid reader, followed by a lecture on getting enough sleep. 'Stop dwelling on the past,' she internally chided, 'you have to focus on the present and,' her hand slid down to her queasy stomach, 'the future.'

The weariness accelerated as the bus pulled up to the stop closest to the apartment she shared with Ethan. She took a deep breath, hitched the backpack that doubled as a purse higher on her shoulder, and stepped off. She kept her head ducked down until she seen the familiar brick and glass high rise. If the doorman noticed her sullen mood he didn't comment on it, nor did he seem to take offense to her lack of greeting. His cheerful 'have a pleasant evening' made her feel worse. She paused before getting on to the elevator and turned to give him a small wave. Sagging against the interior wall, she mentally braced herself for the discussion that would have to take place. It couldn't be put off, ignored, or brushed aside. Not anymore. Either he listened or... The or made her blood still. She wasn't ready for 'or' but what choice did she have? She wouldn't be her mother, she couldn't do that...

“Ethan,” she called out a few minutes later, letting the apartment door slam shut behind her. Her backpack slid off her shoulder, hitting the polished wood floors with a solid thud.

“Kitchen,” he called back.

'You can do this.' Squaring her shoulders, Loren walked across the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen. “Hey,” she greeted quietly, sliding onto one of the bar stools that lined the  island. Her stomach somersaulted as he smiled and placed a plate of chicken milanese in front of her. Without thinking she picked up the fork and used it to push bits of breading off the meat.

“Long shift I take it?” Ethan mused. Loren looked up in time to see him take a drink from the low ball of scotch that was sitting next to his plate.

“Please don't,” she said softly, her heart beating wildly.

A deep v formed between Ethan's brows. “Don't what?” He took another drink. “Ask about work?”

“Drink.”

His sigh echoed off the cabinets. “Loren, I've had a long day I'm really not in the mood for-”

Her fork fell, clattering against the marble counter top. “For what? To hear me voice what I feel is a legitimate concern?” She felt her fingers starting to curl into fists when he let out another sigh and muttered something about margaritas and wine under his breath. “No,” she spat out. “We're not going down that path again. Having a few margaritas with friends or the occasional glass of wine is different.”

“It is different,” Ethan agreed. “I have a drink to wind down after a long day at work. You, on the other hand, have to be picked up because you've had a few too many mango-ritas or you let some silly television show drive you to consume a whole bottle of wine.”

“Everyone was shit faced after the Game of Thrones finale!” The words flew out of Loren's mouth before she could stop them. A frustrated scowl creased her brow when she realized she'd let Ethan shift the focus off himself. “Argh! That isn't the point Ethan. The point is-”

“The point is you want to make unfounded accusations without addressing the fact that you-” The sound of blood roaring in her ears drowned out the rest of his words. She felt the room shift, wavering from crisp modern décor to the cheap imitation wood of low income housing. Her mother was screaming again, demanding to know when her father was going to stop drinking and get a job; while her father slouched in his broken recliner sipping gin straight from the bottle. Loren groaned, burying her face in her hands. 'Why, why do I keep comparing Ethan and myself to my parents?' It was a moot question since she already knew the answer. “Loren? Are you even listening?” She blinked, her lips parting to fire back some smart ass retort but nothing came out. Her chest tightened and she had to fight the urge to run. “Loren?” Concern replaced the annoyance on Ethan's face. He rounded the counter and cupped her face with one of his hands. “I need you to talk to me...to tell me what this is really about.”

Gulping around the lump in her throat, Loren stared at him. Her mind felt like it was going at the speed of light towards a brick wall without any brakes. “My father was alcoholic.” Saying the words out loud lifted some of the burden weighing heavily on her shoulders. “He wasn't violent or mentally abusive. His alcohol came first though. Didn't matter if we had groceries or if the utilities were shut off...as long as he had his gin he was happy.” She studied her nails, frowning. “My mom hated it. Maybe she tried talking to him like a rational person...I don't know...I just remember the yelling.” Her body involuntarily flinched. “All she did was yell Ethan. That's what I remember most about my mom...her yelling.”

“Lor-”

Loren shook her head. He needed to hear it almost as much as she needed to say it. “Please...let me finish?” He hesitated and then nodded, concern flickering in his bright blue eyes. “I don't want to be like them. I don't want to be remembered like that...I don't want to be the mom who screams all the time because dad drinks.” 'Tell him...tell him what triggered these fears.' The knot of emotion in her throat thickened and no amount of gulping would budge it. “I thought I was pregnant,” she blurted out before he could say anything. Her tongue darted out to swipe across her lower lip, a nervous habit she'd never been able to kick. “I thought I was pregnant,” she repeated when he didn't say anything. “Did you know you have to wait five minutes for the results of those home tests? It feels more like an eternity though...longest five minutes of my life. The whole time...all I could think about was...what if I'm like my mom? What if...what if you start drinking even more than you already do and wind up like my dad...and it makes me bitter like my mom...” She paused, gasping for air.

He rounded the counter, stopping short of where she sat before closing the distance between them and gathering her close. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I don't know...I guess I just thought what was the point in freaking you out too if there was no reason to freak out.” She buried her face in the crook of his neck, her arms winding around his waist. The familiar, steady drum of his heart beating soothes the tension that had coiled in her belly.

Ethan pulled back, his gaze searching her face before his eyes locked with hers. “We're a team Rookie.: He tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear, his thumb brushing across her jaw. “That means we don't face things alone.”

“You probably think I'm crazy,” Loren sniffed. “You probably shouldn't love me. I mean...I could be...crazy. I think my mom was. Or maybe my dad just made her that way.” Letting go of the past, of the legacy her parents had given her, felt impossible.

“When you love someone, you don't just stop,” Ethan told her. “Ever.” The corners of his lips tugged upward. “Even when people roll their eyes or call you crazy...even then. Especially then.” His cheek rest against the top of her head. “For what it is worth, when the time comes I know you are going to be an amazing mother. And, if it makes you feel better, I promise to find other ways to relax after work. Didn't you say you wanted to start jogging together?”

A groan built in the back of Loren's throat. “Seriously? I share my secret pain and you use it to coerce me into jogging?”

Ethan chuckled. “Think of it as a growth experiment.” His face turned serious, their eyes locked. “I'm sorry that my drinking brought up-”

Loren pressed a finger against his lips and shook her head. “It wasn't you or anything you did. It was me. I guess I've never really dealt with the past and when my period was late it brought all of it to the surface.” She flicked his lower lip and let out a sigh. “Maybe you're right. Maybe jogging will be good for us. I can sort through my thoughts, figure out what its going to take for me to let go of the past...and you...” she narrowed her eyes, tipping her head to the side, “...can figure out how not to be such a grump.”

“I am not a grump,” Ethan protested before shooting her a stern look. “I see what you're doing. Trying to change the subject. I'll respect that choice for now Rook...but some day we're going to have to talk about this...really talk about it.” Loren nodded, knowing that he was right. “Because I love you and one of these days I want to have a family with you.”

A smile tipped the corners of her mouth. “I want that too.”

#choices fanfiction #choices open heart #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #mc x ethan #choices july challenge

[i-write-shakespeare-not-disney]

Fragile Hearts Ch.11- To Have Been Where We Have Been

Click the OP  (Original post) if the READ MORE link does not show!

THANK YOU TO @bluejayb1rd FOR COMMISSIONING!!! IM SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG T.T also, Tumblr doesn’t transfer italics from copy paste, so.... yeah, I suggest the ao3 link, but it shouldn’t be too bad. 

Click Here for Chapter 1

Click Here for Chapter 10

Fragile Hearts Playlist here

AO3 Links: 

Chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11928798/chapters/44004358 Full Story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11928798

It felt like with a single blink, a month and a half had gone by. From spring break to graduation, it felt like the days had passed all too quickly.

Pidge stared at herself in the mirror, her fingers grazing over her new haircut. Accompanying Sam to get her hair dyed and styled a week ago resulted in a free haircut because her own had grown out so strangely, the hairdresser had quite literally begged her to let him fix it. Now it fell in a clean diagonal cut, voluminous by the natural waves of her hair.

Samantha and Ana had helped with her makeup. The dress she wore showed some of her old battle scars, but her graduation gown would cover those for a decent amount of time.

“Nervous?” Pidge looked from her reflection to the reflection of her friend in the mirror.

“A little,” she admitted softly. “But… I also want to get it over with.”

Sam stood next to her and wrapped an arm around her. “Well, your guys are ransacking our pantry waiting for you, so you might wanna head out there so they can see you.” Pidge laughed and shook her head. “Come on. Before I get all emotional when we haven’t even said our goodbyes yet.”

Pidge nodded and started for the door, self-conscious with the clack of her heels. She was so unused to them, they were already hurting her feet.

Sure enough when she walked out into her living room, she could hear Lance, Hunk, and Matt moving around the kitchen and the crunch of chips and the crinkling of wrappers along with their voices talking over each other.

She stood in the entrance to watch as they argued over some game until Hunk’s eyes fell on her and immediately made her blush a thousand shades of crimson. When his words stopped short, Matt and Lance looked over too.

“Pidge! You look amazing!” Lance said. He walked over to her and took her hand to twirl her around as Leon barked and pawed at her legs. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress.”

Matt came up to her and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Oh, Katie.” He hugged her so tightly, she felt the air leave her lungs. “Mom and Dad would’ve been so proud,” he whispered. Pidge felt a knot build in her throat. He kissed her cheek before he let go of her.

Then Hunk went up to her. She looked up at him and felt her heart hammer against her chest with the gentle way he looked at her. His eyes full of undeniable love as he touched her cheek gently. “Exquisite,” he whispered with a smile. He leaned in to kiss her chastely on her lips. He never liked to do more than that in front of Matt.

“Okay, we gotta get going, Katie. It’s gonna be a crowded mess trying to get everyone together,” Samantha said as she hooked another earring into her earlobe. “Wanna ride with me?”

“Yeah, we can meet you there after the ceremony is done. Then we get to stuff our faces with food!” Lance said. He shook her by the shoulders. “Ready to be an official graduate?”

“God yes,” she said with an exhausted sigh.

The three of them hugged her and Sam before they left the house. Sam had a pre-grad and post-grad playlist. They sang along to it and stuck with each other up until they were sitting in lined up chairs. Pidge balanced her feet on her heels, trying to calm all the nervous energy she had pent up in her body. Her graduation gown was a little rough, but she was relieved wearing it.

All that time, and she was finally sitting there, her degree within reach. She wasn’t sure what all she would do with it in Vegas yet. After so much time in war and dealing with therapy and then stressing over classes, she just wanted to breathe. She wanted to be normal for a while, with a normal job where she could just relax for a bit. But for now, she wanted to walk across that stage, get her degree, and enjoy being with the people she loved and cherished.

She might have dozed off in the ceremony if it hadn’t been for how anxious she was about walking across the stage with her heels. The closer they got to saying her name, the more restless she became.

“Katharina Holt.”

She heard an immediate response to her name. Cheers that three people alone should not have been able to make, and yet they managed it. When Pidge looked over at the sound as she walked to get her degree, she noticed a giant banner with her name and a familiar icon- the very one she’d programmed into her computer when she was fifteen. And of course, Lance had a megaphone. And Matt had noise makers. And Hunk had the lungs of a fucking opera singer.

Pidge couldn’t help but laugh and blush the entire way back to her seat.

Once all the names were called, all the families had cheered, the tassels were moved, and a final announcement was made for the graduates of 2019, a final deafening cheer gave way to the chatter of families and the clicks of cameras. Samantha, Ana, and even Sophie found her and huddled with her for selfies.

Once Matt, Hunk, and Lance found her, they also started taking photos. She got one with each of them, and a few selfies.

Then they heard someone ask, “Would you guys want one as a group?”

Pidge looked over and almost immediately recognized the Garrison uniform and the one-eyed man smiling. “I-Iverson?” He smiled wider, and his eyes nearly shut with how the corners wrinkled. “What are you doing here?” she asked through surprised laughter as she accepted his hug.

“I’m 26 and I have this internal instinct to stand at attention right now,” Lance muttered with a groan.

Iverson laughed at him and once he greeted the rest of his former students, he gave them a smile. “We get notified when a former Garrison student graduates from elsewhere. We also gave you a scholarship, so we kept track by default. But when I saw your name on the list of this year’s graduates, I had to come.” He looked past them for a second before putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder, laughing when Lance immediately tensed. “And maybe this can help you feel a little more at ease, cadet.”

“What do you-?”

“Miss Katharina Holt?”

Pidge turned and screamed, “Oh my God!” so loudly that the groups taking pictures all around them were startled.

“No fucking way…,” Lance breathed out.

Hunk was covering his face, having been speechless the entire time.

“Shiro?” Matt said softly.

Sure enough, it was Shiro. In a Garrison uniform, with his tuft of white hair and well kept stubble framing his face, pale scar still visible across his nose, and holding a large bouquet of flowers in his arms. “In the flesh. Mostly, of course,” he answered. Pidge leaned against Matt for support and Lance sat himself on the floor to handle the shock. Hunk was the first to move, engulfing Shiro in a hug. “Hey, Hunk. It’s good to see you,” Shiro said with a gentle smile.

“Oh my God, it’s Shiro. Oh my God. Oh my God, it’s fucking Shiro.” Lance seemed to have short-circuited, repeating the same over and over.

Pidge could feel herself shaking, even as she took the bouquet and hugged him tightly. “How did you even get here?” she asked, her voice unable to go above a whisper all of a sudden.

She pulled back, reaching out to touch his face and his hair as if to be sure he was real. Shiro chuckled and let her as he explained. “Well, Iverson told me you were graduating, so I came back to the Garrison for a while. I wasn’t sure if we should approach you, but when we saw these guys here with you, we figured… why not? I hope that was okay?”

“Yes! Yes, absolutely!” Shiro smiled wider and switched to greet Matt. Pidge moved closer to Hunk who was wiping at his eyes and sniffing. “Thank you so much for coming. That means so much to me,” she told Iverson.

Iverson looked at her, his gaze full of mirth. “Katie, you snuck into my office and returned with fake documents as a boy and became a paladin who saved the world. This is honestly the least I could ever possibly do.” Pidge laughed and felt herself blush. She felt Hunk’s hand slide into hers as Shiro knelt down to coax Lance off the ground where he seemed to be shaking. “And I don’t know if it’s something you might want, but you should know that if you ever need it, a job will always be available for you with the Garrison.” He smiled, and Pidge thanked him again.

“We should get someplace without so many spectators,” Pidge suggested when she saw that people kept glancing over at the uniformed men and the person sitting on the grass in a suit. “Love, you should help Shiro get Lance up.”

Hunk nodded and moved to heft Lance up. He was unsteady in his steps, but he leaned against Hunk for support. “Well, I think a celebration is now doubly called for,” Hunk said, absentmindedly soothing Lance. “We’re heading to Pidge’s to finish packing up for the move before partying. You’re coming right?” he asked Shiro.

“If you don’t mind extra people there,” Shiro said with a smile.

“Of course I don’t mind! This is insane!” Pidge hooked her arm into her brother’s. “This is a better surprise than I ever could have dreamt up, Shiro. I wouldn’t want you to go so quickly.”

Shiro looked at Iverson. “What do you say? Lay down some higher duties for a fun night of catching up?” Iverson laughed and agreed. “We’ll meet you there, just give me the address.”

--

It was easier to finish packing with two extra hands. Pidge hardly had to do much more than tell them which boxes to get and where to arrange them in the U-haul. They were done just in time for her roomates who returned from celebratory dinners.

They were dumbstruck at the sight of Shiro in uniform, and Pidge couldn’t help but laugh to herself. Of course, Sam knew who he was right away.

“Oh wow, it’s an honor to meet you,” she said, wide-eyed as she incessantly shook his hand. “My brother loves you so much-”

“W-what?” Shiro asked with a nervous laugh.

“You haven’t heard of Lance’s best-selling series? It’s all the hype in the YA genre,” Matt said, nudging Lance playfully.  

“I had to pull a lot of strings to get the Garrison to turn a blind eye to that,” Iverson said with a huff. “But I’m proud to see how far along you’ve come too. All of you.” Pidge, Matt, Hunk, and Lance looked at each other and smiled. It was so strange to think that they’d all been in his class at some point, reprimanded and muttering under their breath. Before they knew anything about anything.

But the comment also made something cold sprout in Pidge’s heart because she couldn’t help but notice how much more prominent it was that they were still missing a teammate. And based on the look on Hunk and Lance’s faces, they felt it too.

Shiro was getting an over-excited run down of the books he hadn’t known he was part of from Sam, and once she managed to catch him up to the best of her knowledge which came from her brother, he went over to Lance.

As Iverson continued talking to Matt, Pidge stayed off to the side with Hunk. He wrapped his arms around her and swayed her gently as she watched the scene. The people from her past life catching up with nostalgia in their laughter and the people in her new life dancing and singing along to music that played on a speaker, celebrating a milestone. It felt surreal seeing them both in one place, but at the same time it seemed normal. With Sam asking Matt and Iverson questions about the Garrison, and Ana trying to offer them food, Sophie flirting obnoxiously with Lance and Shiro simultaneously, and Leon running around and getting pet by everyone.

“You okay?” Hunk whispered in her ear.

She hummed and nodded. “It’s overwhelming. But also relaxing,” she said. She turned to him and mess with the collar of his shirt. “It feels like I could’ve been doing this all along, you know?”

“Honeybee… You can’t keep berating yourself over the past. Besides it was a choice we all made.” She nodded and wrapped her arms around him. “Come on. You’re a graduate now. How does that feel?”

“Ugh, like I can finally breathe!” she said with a laugh. She looked up at him and smiled. “I missed you so much.”

“Well now you’ll be a quick drive away. No more long distance. We did it.” She smiled wider and sighed as he leaned in to kiss her.

They heard someone clear their throat and broke apart to see Shiro looking at them with a smile that made crow’s feet appear in the corner of his eyes. “So when did this start?” he asked. “You two were always a good pair, and I guess this was bound to happen.”

Hunk laughed and started playing with her hair. “It’s only been a handful of months. But yeah, it feels like longer sometimes. We gotta thank Lance and the blatant lack of secrecy in his books.” Pidge laughed and nodded, recalling the night they first kissed. “How have you been, Shiro? What’s the universe like without us?”

“Oh, you know. They miss us. They still sell figurines and they have ‘vintage’ photos of the days we visited. But everyone’s safe and happy. Allura and Coran are out there helping the planets prosper. They work with me in keeping relations with Earth and all that.” Shiro looked over his shoulder and Pidge saw Lance with Iverson, blushing at something. Based on the way Sam was laughing, Iverson must have been embarrassing him. Shiro looked back at them. “Lance said you guys found him at a book signing.”

“Yeah. My roommate told me about his books and then I found his books and Hunk found a book tour and…. Yeah.”

“You guys… haven’t heard from Keith, have you?”

Hunk and Pidge shared a look. “No. Lance found a photography portfolio he has online, but….”

“I… found his location around that time. It might have changed, but I never told Lance. I offered to find him, but Lance never got back to me,” Pidge said.

Shiro frowned, looking at Pidge then Hunk. “You did something illegal, didn’t you?” Pidge winced and smiled innocently. “Some things just don’t change,” he said with a smile.

“Wait, so… Keith hasn’t even been in contact with you?” Hunk asked.

Shiro shook his head. “Lance asked too, but…. No. I haven’t heard from him, and I don’t get a lot of news when I’m off in a different galaxy.” He sighed and chugged what was left of his beer. “Do you mind sending that portfolio my way?”

“Yeah, of course,” Pidge said.

“So, Pidge. What’s next for you? Moving in with Matt in Vegas and what?”

“I’m not sure yet. I kind of want to take time to calm down. Maybe travel a bit or something? Settle in to Vegas. I do want a job doing what I love with computational skills, but… I’ve done that for so long now, I just want a break.” She felt Hunk massaging her shoulders languidly. “Maybe try to convince Lance to move there too. So he’s not so far away.”

In the kitchen, Ana had taken out a few bottles of liquor and was already setting up for mixers, shots, and whatever else people wanted to have. “Everybody get a drink so we can make a toast!” she called out. Everyone lined up to get something, sipping idly until they were ready for a toast. Ana cleared her throat and raised her glass. “Katie, you’ve been a wonderful roommate and an amazing friend. You’re possibly the smartest person I have ever met and I know I’ll see your name in scientific journals that future college students will have to read and use for research.” Pidge laughed and shook her head. “It’s hard to believe that you’ll be moving away. We’re gonna miss you so much, and we better be invited to your wedding because we absolutely love Hunk!”

“Oh my God,” Pidge said, blushing as she hid her face in Hunk’s arm.

“The four of us graduated today,” Sam said, stepping next to Ana. “But Katie, it’s no secret that you’ve come the farthest. So it’s not just a grad party, but a going away party, and a much needed celebratory party to thank you for everything you’ve done. For us and everyone around you.” Sam managed to keep it vague enough, for the other girls, but Pidge and her former teammates knew what she meant. And they knew that gratitude extended to them. “So a toast to making it through the biggest obstacles and finally reaching the finish line. I’m so happy to have been a part of it with you for the last four years.”

“To Katie!” Sophie said with a wide smile. “And to the class of 2019!”

“To the class of 2019!” they all responded before drinking.

The music was turned up again. They ordered more food to spread on the table. They danced and talked and said goodbyes and reminisced- either about school years or veteran years. Before long Sophie and Ana were drunk, singing along to the karaoke as Pidge suffered the second-hand embarrassment and gave Iverson an apologetic smile.

Iverson only shook his head and continued to drink his whiskey and spent the time talking with his former students or Sam who said her brother would be interested in being part of the program. Sam was the one who bounced about rambling about everything, practically bursting with the awe and feeling starstruck. She asked Lance about signing a copy of a book for her brother and then listened to Shiro describe what the galaxies were like now, and she rambled to Hunk about how he was her brother’s favorite character and how he resonated with him most, then asked Matt what Vegas was like.

Somewhere among the chaos, Hunk took her hand and pulled her aside. They slipped into her room, which was now mostly bare except for Sam’s side.

“I was hoping to steal you away for a dance,” he said, using his phone to scroll through music.

“How sweet,” she said a giddy laugh. She’d had enough to drink to feel light, but not enough to make a fool of herself in front of Iverson or her brother. She felt warm and happy and floaty.

The strum of a guitar filled the room, louder than the muffled noise on the other side of the door. She slipped her hand into Hunk’s as he pulled her near and started stepping side to side, the two of the twirling in a circle.

“This is our first dance as a couple,” she realized as Hunk spun her around gently before pulling her back into him.

“That’s true. But it’ll be hard to surpass dancing in a living room with the furniture pushed aside and fireworks outside the window.” She laughed and pulled her hand away to wrap her arms around his neck instead. “You look happy.”

“I am. I’m with you.” Hunk smiled and nudged his nose against hers gently. “Teach me to say it.” He hummed in confusion. “How to say I love you in Samoan.” Hunk said the phrase, then said it slowly, with Pidge repeating each word after him. The words felt funny on her tongue, but she was determined to learn it. She wanted to tell him she loved him in every language she could. “Okay. Oute a-alofa… ia te… oe.” Hunk nodded, the smile on his face serene and adoring and wonderful. “Oute alofa ia te oe.”

Hunk cupped her face and kissed her, letting the music play around them. The warmth in her body magnified, and she felt dizzy with all of Hunk encompassing her. He pulled away and ran his thumb over her cheek lightly. “I love you so much,” he whispered.

“Will you stay with me tonight?” she whispered. “I know you have a hotel, but….” She shrugged and he tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Of course.” He kissed her forehead, and Pidge sighed as she let herself melt against him. “We should get back to the party,” he whispered.

“Mm. Yeah.” She pulled away and took his hand. “I can’t believe Shiro found us.”

“Well, it’s thanks to Iverson. He contacted him for your graduation.” Hunk opened the door for her and they managed to catch the end of a drunk rendition of Hollaback Girl from Ana and Sam. “You know, we were always so terrified of Iverson as students. Who knew all it took was two drunk college girls to scare him?”

Pidge turned and saw Iverson staring at the karaoke with wide eyes and a confused look. She laughed to herself and walked over to sit with him. “Hardened war vet scared of a couple of twenty-year olds?” she teased.

He scoffed and puffed out his chest. “Of course not!” Pidge arched an eyebrow. He deflated and clinked the ice in his glass. “It’s the singing.” That made Pidge laugh even more.

Shiro came up to them, chewing on some nachos. “We’ll head out as soon as I finish this, okay?” Iverson waved a hand dismissively. “As for you two- I’m gonna hear from you more now right?”

“Absolutely,” Pidge promised. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned into him. “I’m really glad you came. It really was the best gift I could have gotten today.”

“I always knew you’d do great things, Pidge,” he said, ruffling her hair.

At that moment, Leon trotted up to them, leash in his maw as he pawed at Hunk’s leg and whined. “Hey buddy, you gotta go outside?” Hunk glanced around and frowned. “Where’s Lance?”

“Uh, I’m not sure, maybe in the bathroom. Here, I can take him,” Pidge offered. She clipped his leash onto his collar and tugged gently. “Come on boy.” She opened the door and froze before she could even fully step out.

Leon barked causing Lance and Sophie to split apart. “Um. Hey, Pidge,” Lance said weakly.

“What the fuck…?” Pidge muttered. Having stayed at the doorway, the others inside came to peer out. Lance was trying to get the lipstick smudges off his mouth and chin, and Sophie was blushing furiously.

“What are you doing out here?” Sophie asked, her words slurring together.

Pidge looked at Lance and held out the leash. “Leon wanted to go outside. Um. Sorry to interrupt?” She turned around and ushered everyone back inside and shut the door. “So that’s a good note to end the party on, right?”

“She was flirting with him all night,” Hunk said. “Guess that was bound to happen.”

Pidge laughed it off, but she couldn’t help the unease in her chest. She knew Lance still had Keith on his mind, and frankly who he made out with was none of her business, but Sophie? Sure they weren’t exactly enemies, but she was definitely her least liked roommate.

“Some things just don’t change,” Shiro echoed. “Okay, yeah, we’re going to head out. I have a number for my office in the Garrison. Keep me up to date, okay? I’ll get in touch when I come back down again, and maybe you guys can give me a tour of Vegas. I’ve only been once.”

“If you see Coran and Allura, tell them we miss them,” Pidge said.

“Oh! Actually, hold on.” Hunk pulled out his wallet and pulled out a folded polaroid photo. “I I took this of all of us the last time they they visited. Give it to them.” It was a photo of Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Matt sprawled out on the couch, laughing. It was slightly blurry and tilted because taking a selfie with a polaroid was hard, but it was a good photo. “And see if you can get one of them to bring back for us.”

Shiro smiled and tucked the photo in his uniform pocket. “I will. It was really great seeing you guys again. Safe travels and good luck.” He hugged them each and Pidge had to consciously remind herself to let go. “I promise we’ll stay in touch this time.”

Pidge nodded then turned to Iverson to hug him too. Then she and Hunk followed them out to the car. They said goodbye to Lance when they saw him outside, but Lance still looked embarrassed.

They waited for their headlights to disappear down the street before heading back inside. Lance was leaning against the wall with Leon, and Pidge figured Sophie must have gone back inside.

“Go ahead, let me hear it,” he muttered, kicking at the ground.

“Hear what?” Hunk asked. Lance gave him a deadpan look. Hunk sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Dude, you’re an adult. We’re not teenagers anymore, and you can do what you want.”

“Then why can I feel your judgement from here?” Pidge and Hunk shared a look and Lance scoffed. “No, no, no don’t do that! Don’t do the thing. You know, the thing where couples have a whole conversation with a look. Just talk to me.”

“Lance, I’m more upset because you decided to swap spit with Sophie. Of all my roommates.”

Hunk sighed. “And it’s not fair to her. You’re not into her, Lance, and we all know it. You’re still hung up on Keith-”

“Yeah, and what do I do about that?” he snapped. “It’s not like you and Pidge. You guys got lucky. You guys met again and you were still in love with her and it worked out. Keith left me. He’s disappeared off the face of the Earth and the probability of seeing him again are slim, and even if I did, it’s not like we can just pick up where we left off. And I can’t spend another five years getting over it.” He rubbed his face tiredly and then scratched his head, stuffing his other hand into his jeans pocket. “I’m sorry I kissed her, Pidge. She was pushing, and I was lonely and tipsy and I figured it wouldn’t hurt. I didn’t mean to ruin your fun.”

Pidge smiled and hooked her arm with his. “You didn’t. I just don’t like her. Besides she’s a really messy drunk, and she’ll probably forget this by tomorrow. And I told you- if you want me to find him, I can. Just say the word.”

“What if you can’t?” he whispered.

Pidge looked at Hunk. He nodded. “I already did once.” Lance’s head snapped up. “He was in some tiny island in the middle of nowhere. You still weren’t sure if you wanted to look for him, so I didn’t tell you. But if you want to find him now, I can help.”

Lance stared at her, wide-eyed for a moment. Pidge was already itching to get her hands on her laptop. Then he shook his head. “No. No, if he… if he doesn’t want to be found, then…. I want to respect that. He hasn’t even contacted Shiro. He doesn’t want us finding him. I just gotta move on. Thank you though, Pidge.”

She nodded and wrapped an arm around him. “We love you, Loverboy.”

“Oh my God,” Lance groaned.

Hunk laughed and opened the door for them to head back inside. Sophie was already half asleep on the couch and Matt was making himself another hot dog. Ana and Sam were crying about something and talking over each other in high pitched voices and hugging.

Pidge helped get Sophie to her bed. Ana and Sam decided to share Ana’s so Lance could sleep in Sam’s. Matt would sleep on the couch. Hunk, of course, would sleep with Pidge.

They cleaned up a bit, mostly getting trash into bags and dishes loaded into the dishwasher, before they split up for some much needed rest before they caught their plane the next day. Lance was in charge of making sure everything on the U-Haul made it to Vegas, but he wouldn’t be going with them to Vegas. Then Pidge would settle in at Matt’s and start her normal adult life.

But in that moment, with everyone settled into their sleeping arrangement, it felt like their old sleepovers. Pidge, Lance, and Hunk stayed up a little later, laughing and whispering in the dark. It wasn’t until their voices became heavy with a need for sleep that they let the conversation die out and each succumbed to sleep.

---

Within the next day, Pidge had moved across the country. She didn’t have a lot of her stuff yet other than the luggage she managed to load on the plane. It would be another handful of days before her stuff arrived. The jetlag was so bad, Pidge immediately fell asleep even though it was only seven thirty when she arrived. Hunk stayed because he was pretty exhausted too, and Matt didn’t even make it to the bed- he just turned on the TV and immediately knocked out on the couch.

Even so, Pidge didn’t fully wake up until a little past noon the following day. Hunk was scrolling through his phone when she opened her eyes, one hand idly stroking her hair.

“Hey,” she mumbled, burrowing her face into his chest. “What are you doing?”

“Reading up on news,” he answered. “How’d you sleep?”

“I slept to the point where I’m exhausted, and my body hurts,” she said with a light laugh. “I’m starving.”

“I can make food.” Hunk kissed her forehead lightly and got out of bed. Pidge watched him go and smiled to herself. She couldn’t believe she’d get to have more mornings like this.

She pulled herself out of bed and cleaned herself up a bit before heading out to the kitchen. By the time Hunk finished cooking, even Matt had been lured out of his room.

It was nice to eat with them without the constant reminder that she’d have to leave soon. She was home now. For good.

---

By the next weekend she was home, her stuff had arrived and Hunk helped her decorate and arrange her room. To celebrate the official end of moving in, Hunk arranged a date night at his place.

When they arrived at his apartment, Hunk covered her eyes before unlocking the door. “Has your place been set up all day?” Pidge asked, biting back her smile.

“Honeybee, I've had this planned since you booked your flight home.” Pidge laughed and let him lead her inside. “Okay, ready?” She nodded and Hunk uncovered her eyes. “Open.”

She opened her eyes and felt her heartbeat stutter at the sight of flower petals leading to the living room where the furniture had been pushed away to make way for a blanket. The lamps were on their lowest setting, filling the place with a soft light. By the time she turned to face Hunk, he'd gotten a hold of a basket that looked like it had been plucked right out of a movie.

“Oh my God….”

Hunk smiled and shrugged. “You always said you wanted a date like in the movies. It's no park, but I figured-”

“It's perfect. I love it,” she said with a laugh that bubbled up from her chest and pushed her to wrap her arms around Hunk. “I love you.”

Hunk smiled in a way that made her heart melt. In a way that made her feel like the most important person in the universe.

He took her hand and led her to the living room. They sat down and Hunk pulled out the food he'd prepared. Pidge couldn't help but laugh when he pulled out her favorite picnic food- peanut butter banana sandwiches with the crust cut off. He pulled out Capri-Suns and pudding cups. Pidge had to hide her face because she was blushing and smiling so much.

It really was perfect.

Hunk played music on a speaker. Soft love songs that faded into the background as they talked and ate, but Pidge noticed a couple of songs that she had mentioned she loved in passing.

“Stay still, you have pudding on your face,” Pidge said, reaching forward to wipe at Hunk's cheek.

Hunk grabbed her hand and tilted his face against it. He pressed a kiss to her palm and pulled her closer.

“You're breathtaking, you know that?” Pidge felt herself blush to the tips of her ears and Hunk chuckled. “I could spend every day of forever counting every freckle on your face and every speck of green in your eyes.”

Pidge bit her lip and touched his face with her free hand. “You know… if you really think about it… that would be very creepy.”

Hunk's bellowing laughter filled the room. Then he cupped her face and kissed her through his smile “Pidge, my sweet honeysuckle, you are the epitome of romance.”

She shrugged and smirked at him. “What can I say? I'm a natural.”

Hunk brushed his nose against hers in a slow eskimo kiss. “So how have you enjoyed your first week as an official Vegas resident?”

Pidge took a breath and let it out with a hum. “Let's see. I spent the first day mostly cuddling with you. I haven't had any tests or homework to worry about. I've binged TV with Matt and spent the night with you.” She nodded. “Yeah. Pretty awesome first week.” Hunk laughed and brushed her hair back. “Kiss me.”

He didn't have to be told twice. He cupped her face with his wide hands, keeping her safe and loved between them. His mouth was soft and moved slowly against hers until Pidge had fully relaxed against him.

She shifted to sit in his lap, her legs bent on either side of him. She felt his thumb slide along her cheek, then along her jawline, then down the side of her throat. She hummed against his lips and took a sharp breath when he pulled away from her in favor of tilting her head and kissing her neck.

He froze and rubbed soothing circles into her hip. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathed.

Hunk's lips pressed against her skin and Pidge let her mouth fall open at the sensation of heat that bolted through her. This was so new, it was so new.

She'd been with Hunk for months now, had spent the night with him several times, but the most that had come of it were heavy makeout sessions that they both had to feel back from. Whether it was because they both had a level of apprehension for anything more or because neither of them wanted to do much more if Pidge would be leaving, or if it was something else entirely, she wasn't sure.

She just knew that this was a new side of Hunk she didn't know. Though not entirely. Because even as his hands roamed her body, they stayed at her back, or along her waist, or down the side of her leg. Even with her breaths turning shallow, and the small whimpers of surprise she let out in his ear, he stayed on safe areas of her body.

Then she felt the way he sucked against her skin, the way her skin sparked when his teeth grazed it, and she gasped. She shoved her hands into his hair, keeping him in place, her hips moving of their own accord against him.

He moaned and pulled back, his forehead resting on her shoulder as their breaths tried to even out.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “No, it's okay, love. I just… just don't want to get too carried away.”

“Is that for yourself or for me?”

Hunk brushed his nose against hers. “You. I know… I know you said you haven't done anything. And you went through some shitty people….” He touched her face lightly and twirled a strand of hair that fell forward around his finger. “It's not something I want to trigger or rush or-”

Pidge leaned in to kiss him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled back and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I trust you. I feel safe with you.” She pulled away to look him in the eyes. “Ever since I got back on Earth, I haven't felt safe around any guys. Especially after what happened in my friend's dorm…. But with Lance and Matt, I feel okay. And with you?” She grabbed his hands and intertwined them with hers. “I feel so safe with you. I don't feel afraid of anything when I'm with you.” She kissed his hands and rested her cheek against one. “I know you'd never hurt me.”

Hunk smiled at her and kissed her again. “Well if it's alright with you… I don't really want to do this on my living room floor.” Pidge laughed and nodded in agreement.

She stood up so he could stand too. Then he scooped her up in his arms, making her shriek and laugh as she clung to him.

He carried her to the bedroom and laid her slowly on the bed. Pidge's heart was pounding with what the night had decided to surprise her with. She didn't believe in the whole concept of her worth laying in her virginity. She'd never been religious enough to identify with that. But that didn't mean it wasn't important.

Sex was something intimate and vulnerable to her. She wanted her first time to matter and of course she wanted it to be special. She was still nervous, though. Hunk was her best friend. She loved him with all her heart. He knew her better than anyone. But everything would still be new, and not knowing what to expect… that scared her.

Hunk had returned to kissing her. A kiss not unlike all their other kisses when they were alone. Slow. Gentle. Soothing.

One hand held him up, the other rubbed soothing circles against her side, over her shirt.

Pidge took his hand and led him under her shirt, letting his hand splay across her stomach. He traced his fingertips there, not quite tickling, but still lightly enough to give her goosebumps. His breaths turned shallow.

He kissed her neck again and this time Pidge arched up into him. Heat pooled in her stomach, between her legs, and she felt her heart pound louder in her ears. His hand trailed up just under her bra and he hesitated.

“Okay?” he asked with a shaky voice. She nodded and his finger traced the top edges of the cup. Skin she had never let anyone touch. She shivered, her breaths trembling as her toes curled.

Her shirt was hiked up as far as it could go, but oddly enough she didn't feel as self-conscious as she thought she would. Her skin was pale, with obvious tan lines with the recent spring and summer sun. Freckles everywhere. Her stomach wasn't flat no matter how often she told herself she'd start working out again. And then the scars. Long, white, jagged lines that had faded only slightly over time.

Hunk's knee nudged her legs apart and she gasped when he settled himself between them. He was breathing heavily a sound that was loud over the hammering of her heart in the quiet room. Pidge was grateful for the slowness of it all. He pulled his hand away to settle on the mattress and burrowed his face against her shoulder. His beard tickled, but before Pidge could comment, he scooped his arms around her and she realized he was shaking.

She stilled and moved her hands to his face, insisting on getting him to look at her.

“Hey, what is it?”

“Nothing,” he whispered. But she recognized that look in his eyes. That distant look like he wasn't fully there, the furrow of his eyebrows. His lower lip trembled and his breaths hadn't slowed down. “I'm okay.”

“Hunk. We can stop. You can tell me if you want to stop.”

He sighed and settled over her, his arms around her, holding her between himself and the bed. He rested his head on her chest and she settled for running her fingers through his hair.

She could still feel the slight tremors of his body. His voice was small when he spoke. “But it's you. I love you, and-”

“And we don't need to do this for me to believe that. I know you love me. And you always make me feel loved. But you've had your own bad history with this, and I understand if you want to wait more. Besides, I was kind of nervous too.” She ran her fingers along his tattooed arm and smiled. “We've got time. We're not in a war that's gonna put us in danger. I'm not on the other side of the country anymore.”

He turned to bury his face in her chest. She was flat enough that it was still a chaste gesture, and for once, she didn't feel so self-conscious about small boobs. He didn’t speak again until he’d stopped hyperventilating.

“I love you,” he said, muffled by her bunched up shirt. “But… I think I do need to stop.”

“Okay,” she said. “I love you too.” She followed the swirl of black ink in his skin. “Can you tell me about your tattoos again?”

Hunk shifted to lay beside her. She took the chance to pull her shirt back down and rolled onto her side to face him as his arm pulled her closer.

Hunk began to tell her the stories behind the tattoo sleeve he had. The swirl of flames, ocean waves, tumultuous clouds, earthly rocks, and leafy vines. The lion paw. The arrows, the intricate lines of patterns that derived from Samoan designs. He told her about going into the shop for several sessions, slowly piecing the puzzle together. How he hoped to fill his whole arm one day, maybe his back too, so it could tell his life story.

“You wanna be your own body quilt?” she asked, slightly amused.

“Why not? I could add how we came back to each other. Finding Lance. Seeing Shiro again.” He shrugged and leaned in to kiss the top of her head. “I always said that if I ever had kids, I’d add their handprints or something. Document the milestones.”

“Don’t they hurt?”

Hunk smirked. “You want one?” Pidge winced and smiled. “It depends. These didn’t hurt much. Felt like a pinch or a scrape. I mean, honestly, compared to some stuff we went through with Voltron? Not too bad.” He traced a finger over Pidge’s arm, connecting the freckles with his finger. “You already have art on your body.”

“My freckles?” she asked with a disbelieving laugh. “I mean… I don’t hate them, but they’re not art.”

“They’re like stars. You’ve got constellations all over you. You’re a galaxy, honeybee.” Her ran a finger over one of her scars which ran from her elbow to the back of her forearm. “Complete with shooting stars and meteors.”

She chuckled and poked the top of his nose. “I think you’re the only one who sees it that way, love.”

He shrugged. “More for me to admire then. I’ve traveled the universe, but I’ve got a whole other universe right here in you.” Pidge felt her heart swell and her cheeks burned. It was so easy to believe him when he looked at her that way.

“I love you,” she whispered, putting all of her adoration and love and fascination into those three syllables.

The smile that spread on his face was slow and sleepy, but warm and full of joy. “My heart is yours,” he answered. Pidge’s lips parted in surprise. Her heartbeat fluttered and every part of her relaxed further to curl into him.

Their breaths slowed as they started to fall asleep. Pidge had a fleeting thought of how lucky she was to have fallen in love with someone who love her without inhibitions and did everything to make sure she never forgot or doubted it. Hunk loved her for who she was, and he had since they were young. Pidge never had to hide anything from him, never had to shy away or cover her body or quell her quirks. Hunk knew all of it. Loved all of her.

It was more than she ever dreamed of experiencing.

#hidge #team punk #yellowgreen #hunk and pidge #fragile hearts

[frostedfaves]

Reunion

Pairing: Jake Peralta x fem!reader

Summary: Jake and Y/N have been best friends practically since birth, until an argument broke them apart just before she moved away. Now she’s taking Gina’s place at the precinct.

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: none

-

My fingers shook with excitement (and just a hint of fear) as I rode the elevator up to my new precinct. Not only was it great to be working somewhere I could actually get work done, but I'm so happy to be back home in Brooklyn. I can't believe it took me this long to return.

I stepped out of the elevators immediately into a busy room, recognizing the bullpen as home of the detectives from my last job. However, it was the only thing I recognized, so I was grateful when a female detective with dark and straight hair approached me.

"Hi, I'm Detective Santiago. Can I help you with something?" she smiled kindly at me while clutching a pretty heavy looking binder.

"Yeah, I'm here to meet Captain Holt? I'm the new civilian administrator."

"Oh, right! Follow me." She led me through the bullpen directly to an office door, listening carefully for a second before knocking. "He should be out in a second." She gave me one last smile before going back to work.

Just as promised, Captain Holt appeared a second later from the office, greeting me with just a hint of a smile and a firm handshake. "You must be the new civilian administrator. Lovely to meet you." Before I had a chance to respond, he pulled away and turned to address the rest of the room in a booming voice. "Attention, detectives! I would like to introduce to you, from San Diego, the newest addition of our precinct--"

"Y/N?"

The detectives that had gathered all turned back toward the elevators to reveal the one who spoke, one I recognized very well.

"Jake?" I tried not to smile too wide as he jogged toward me and pulled me into the warmest hug I'd had in a while, hiding my disappointment as he pulled away. "Oh my goodness, how are you? I can't believe I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah, that's kinda my fault." He shook his head, quickly bringing his smile back just as fast as it disappeared. "I'm great, though! Especially now that we get to work together! I wish you could've been here at the same time as Gina."

"I can't believe she told me about her newest hair color and an idea for a Tinder for toddlers, but not that when I took her place, I'd be working with you."

"Then she probably didn't tell you about her daughter, either."

"Sorry, her what?" His eyes widened as he nodded and I laughed a little bit out of disbelief. Not sure what to say next, I looped my fingers through a few loose strands of hair and began to twirl them until we were interrupted by another female detective that didn't seem so impressed with our reunion.

"So are you two gonna continue to eye bone, or can the rest of us meet you?" she asked in a tone that was so blunt, it was basically a statement.

I averted my eyes when they met Jake's again, both of us shying away immediately as I cleared my throat and spoke a little louder, addressing everyone in the room now. "I'm Y/N L/N, and as you probably heard, I'm replacing Gina as civilian administrator. It's really nice to meet you all."

We went around the room as I was introduced to all of the detectives and the sergeant, and Captain opened up the floor for questions anyone had for me.

"What was it like at your last precinct?" Detective Santiago, now identified also as Amy, spoke up first.

"The detectives were nice to me, but kind of arrogant in general. It was really hard to get work done when they were around. And as time went on, the captain made more and more sexual advances at me, saying that I owed him because I worked for him." I noticed Amy seemingly nod in understanding, and I knew I had something to talk with her about later, if she was willing.

"Did you ever go down to LA to meet Nancy Meyers?" Rosa--the moment interrupter--asked with a slight smirk.

"No, but I met her assistant when he almost ran me over, if that counts?"

"Nice. I'll take it."

"What made you transfer precincts so far from home?" The beautifully buff Sergeant Terry Jeffords asked me next.

"To be honest, I would've been happy to transfer to any precinct, but when I found out that the nine-nine in Brooklyn had a spot, I had to take it. I'm originally from here anyway, and I was only supposed to be in San Diego until I finished college, but I was offered the position right before graduation and just stuck with it until the captain got to be too much. I suppose I stayed so long because I didn't think I'd find anything better anytime soon." My gaze floated over to Jake, returning the smile that crept upon his features.

"I have one last question that I'm sure everyone is dying to know the answer to as well," Charles began with a grin that made me a little nervous. "How do you and Jake know each other? Past lovers, perhaps?"

"Oh, um..." I stumbled in response to his question that I must admit took me by surprise at the end, grateful when Jake took over.

"She's my best friend. I mean she was from childhood. She could still be if she wanted to. I-I mean I've known her since birth practically but we lost contact when she left but I'd still like to think of her as my friend and yeah, I'm talking for too much amount of time!" I laughed a little, relieved at the fact that Jake was a little nervous too.

I placed my hand on his upper arm gently. "I still think of you as my best friend too, Jake." We traded smiles again when he noticed my touch, but I carefully removed my hand when I noticed the googly-eyed look Charles was giving us.

-

Once Holt showed me around the precinct, I'd managed to work without flaws all the way up to mid afternoon, when I decided I was ready for lunch. I walked into the break room and stuck last night's pizza in the microwave, leaning on a nearby counter while playing on my phone as I waited.

"Hey."

I looked up from my phone to see Jake standing a few feet away and smiled. "Hi. What're you gonna eat?"

"Last night's pizza." He showed me the plate, grinning when I took mine from the microwave and revealed it to him. "Noice." He took his turn with the microwave as I sat down with my warm lunch and sat at the table across from me.

"So—"

"I just—"

"Go ahead." We spoke at the same time, searching each other's eyes to see who would go first, almost as if we were challenging each other. I nodded at him and he eventually caved.

"Well, I just wanted to say that seeing you today makes me realize how empty I felt when you were gone. I really missed you." His speech faded out a bit toward the end and he fixed his gaze on the napkin in front of him, fiddling with it in his fingers.

"I missed you too, Jakey," I responded just as quietly, and he looked up with just a hint of shock in his eyes. "My anger from our argument was gone the moment I got to my dorm room and realized I was in a new place alone for the first time ever, and all I wanted to do was run back home to you. I know I should have put my petty thoughts aside and just called you, but I didn't and I've regretted it every day since."

"I'm so sorry," he breathed out, and I could tell by the softer look in his eyes that he meant it. "It's my fault that we fell apart in the first place. I only started the argument because I was upset that for the first time in my eighteen years of living, I was going to be away from you, and I didn't know how to deal with it. It's stupid, I know—"

"No, it's not." I quickly placed a hand over his on the table and he turned his over and grabbed mine instead, causing my heart rate to triple in speed. "It's perfectly normal for a teenager being introduced to a whole new adult world to freak out about it. At least, that's what my dad told me when I freaked out on him the week before." I chuckled a little and he let out one as well.

"Well, thanks for forgiving my stupid teen self, but I'm an adult now according to my birth records and laws so I need to learn how to be better at telling you how I'm feeling." He grabbed my other hand and just stared at them on the table until a voice at the door caused us to jump apart.

"Wow, I can just smell the romance in here!"

"Charles!"

#queue #jake peralta #jake peralta x reader #jake peralta x fem!reader #jake peralta imagine #brooklyn nine nine #brooklyn 99 #brooklyn nine nine imagine #brooklyn nine nine x reader #b99 fic #b99 imagine #b99 x reader #b99 fanfic

[roggling]

I would've wanted to seen this in season 8 but can you do allura and Keith team up to fight against hagger?

Wow…Um…WOW. This got WAY longer than I thought it would be. Like…5000 words?? Ummmmmmmmm. Sorry? Okay, so there isn’t any confusion, the Allurance date never happened andthere may be some conflicting romantic feelings in Team Voltron rn. (But theyall still trust each other with their lives so Voltron isn’t affected, buty’all know what I meant.) Also, don’t ask me about timeline, I don’t know wherethis will fit in Season 8 either, just please roll with it :))

AO3 Link

Arrivingon Oriande was faster than they initially thought, but they were up foranything. Thanks to the joint effort of the Holt family, Voltron’s quintessencesignature is masked and, using Pidge’s invisible shield, the Lions are hiddenand perched beside the massive building Honerva erected.

PerAllura’s suggestion, both she and Keith left their lions to investigate as thetwo members with the strongest connection to quintessence. The rest of thePaladins stayed in their lions and kept a close watch on their vitals duringthe reconnaissance mission. Keith, Allura, and Kosmo perched themselves behinda pillar to hide from the Altean guards and they crouched down low. Keithpeeked through the side of the pillar and counted a dozen or so Alteans.

Heturned around and placed a hand on Kosmo’s back, looking at Allura andprompting her to do the same. Once she placed her hand beside his on Kosmo, thecosmic wolf flashed in blue and they were suddenly inside of the Oriandepalace. Allura gasped at the great change the last time she visited thebeautiful palace.

Thestatues were no longer standing tall at the great hall. Instead they werereplaced by dozens of robeasts and all the Alteans of the colonies were buzzingaround working for preparations. Behind some open doors, Allura could see abright glow coming from a pool of glowing liquid and the head of one of the statueswas sinking into the intense concoction.

“No!”Allura tried to scream, but before she could break for the doors to stop them,Keith grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms to hide again andwhispered a panicked, “Shh,” into her ear. 

Her stomach dropped in embarrassmentwhen she saw Keith’s panicked face and felt his muscles tense from behind her.Footsteps were approaching their hiding place and Allura wanted to kick herselffor her sudden outburst and revealing their hiding spot.

“Merla!Can you come check this out? The kromar is malfunctioning. Can you show us theblueprint?”

Merla,the guard who heard her Allura assumed, turned around and started explainingaway what they did wrong. Once Merla was out of earshot, the two removedthemselves from their embrace and Allura tried to avoid his gaze, “I’m sorry,Keith.”

“Iunderstand. But this is a stealth mission. We have to be quick and silent,”Keith assured, calling forth his Bayard’s sword and peering over the side ofthe pillar. Once the room was clear, Keith motioned for Allura to follow himand they crossed the hall to hide behind another pillar. Then the next, andthen the next. Once they made it in the room, Allura pressed her hand on asecurity pad and the doors slid closed.

“Isee you have found our base,” a chilly, emotionless, and almost monotonousvoice rang through the room. It chilled them to their bones and simultaneouslylit a fire in them.

Keithand Allura both turned around, battle-ready, and glared at the new AlteanEmpress standing above them on a catwalk. Behind her, an ominous lookingrobeast stood tall and glared down at them. Honerva’s golden eyes were piercinginto them and almost made them shiver under their intense gaze. Almost.

“Youhave come home my child,” Honerva addressed Allura.

Allura,however, did not take any of Honerva’s fake warmth in the statement and yelled,“I am, most definitely, not your child.”

Honervasighed in frustration and extended her arms, “You have come to the home of ourancestors. You have learned their secrets. And from what I can see, you alsohave access to the celestial entity.”

“Thereis nothing celestial about it,” Keith growled, “It’s intoxicating. We’re justlucky Allura’s will is strong enough to fight it off.”

“Awill is easily broken. It’s nothing but a mere idea in the mind. It can bebroken down through trauma and tragedy. I know. I’ve lived through that,”Honerva spoke softly.

“Seeingthe destruction of your planet isn’t traumatic enough? A will is strong enoughif you have the support of people you love!”

“Ilost the people I love!” Honerva screamed, “And you will too if you don’t helpme bring me my son back.”

“Lotor’stime has passed!” Allura yelled back, tears welling in her eyes, “As much as Iwould’ve liked to still have him around so I could help him become the man hecould’ve been…he’s gone. Life needs to take its course, Honerva.”

Honerva’slips stretched upwards, “And yet you had no trouble reviving the Red Paladinafter he died from electrocution.”

Keithblinked and looked at Allura. Whispering a broken, “Lance?”

Alluratook a deep breath and muttered, “I understand where you’re coming from butthese are different circumstances.”

Honervagrinned, “I don’t see how…”

“Ididn’t have to ruin innocent lives to bring him back to life! You havedestroyed Olkarion! You attacked Earth. You have sucked the Quintessence of somany planets. I understand you miss your son, but innocent lives don’t deserveto die for him! Especially not when he killed his own people through harvestingtheir Quintessence!” Allura yelled.

Alluratook a step closer, her adrenaline running wild and her chin raised up in a challengeto the older woman looking down on them, “Let’s settle this now! You eithercome with us or we fight.”

Keithcalled for both his swords and held them at his sides, looking up at Honervawith the same look in his eyes. Honerva glared and, with a wave of her hand,started the fight.

Awave of quintessence spun around them like a typhoon and Allura glowed bright,opening up her arms and absorbing the quintessence only to release it like apulse wave, knocking down the robeasts lining the walls and tipping Honerva’smecha a bit.

Behindthe duo, the Alteans were banging on the doors, evidently trying to enter andto capture them. Keith looked at the door and then at Honerva and he rantowards the door, Kosmo on his tail, “I’ve got you covered, you deal withHonerva!”

Alluralifted her hand to block another wave of Quintessence aimed at her. She turnedaround quickly to watch her leader run away towards the door and yelled back,“Don’t hurt them!”

Thedoor was burst open and a group of a dozen Alteans tumbled into the rooms, eacharmed with a Bo staff and roaring to start a fight. Leading them was Merla.Keith slid on his knees and dodged an attack aimed at his face, quicklysweeping the feet of the first two Alteans using the blunt side of his sword,knocking them down on their feet.

“I’lltry!” He yelled over his shoulder, catching the Bo staff of another Altean,swiftly kicking him and his buddy in the back of their knees and he placed hishands over their heads, flipping over them and throwing their heads on thefloor, immediately knocking them out. He twirled his blades, swiping left andright to cut clean through their Bo staffs and hitting the Alteans’ heads withthe sword handles to knock them out. Kosmo, on his side, teleported on top ofthe Alteans to knock them down, biting their arms, and swiping their feet withhis tail.

Alluraput her attention on Honerva right on time to block another attack. Honerva wasstill on the catwalk and she wouldn’t make any efforts to go down to meet hereye to eye. That would be up to her. Allura saw a gun on one of the lab tablesand picked it up. Instead of using it like a normal person would have, shethrew it over her head and aimed it at Honerva’s head. The older woman missedit by a hair and winced when she heard the explosion of when the gun hit themecha behind her.

Shedecided she would move away from the fire of the explosion to avoid any moredamage being inflicted on her mecha and Allura followed her lead, jumping onthe shoulders of shut down Altean sentries and latching onto one of the columnsof the catwalk. She started climbing up, never once tearing her eyes offHonerva and she punched a hole through the floor of the catwalk.

Sheimmediately moved on to a sprint to catch up to Honerva. She aimed a powerfulpunch aimed at the witch but it just fizzed through like it did during theirfirst battle. Honerva materialised meters away and Allura growled infrustration speeding up faster and faster and aimed another punch, this onelaced with Quintessence.

Ithit.

Honervareeled to the right and stature bent over the railing of the catwalk. Allurasprinted, grabbing onto Honerva’s royal clothes to attempt to catch her beforeshe fell over the railing. Allura caught her collar and threw Honerva back ontothe catwalk, throwing Honerva at the wall. The older woman fell into a heap onthe floor and her crown fell off her head, sending her silver hair fallingacross her shoulders.

Alluraapproached the older woman and her body glowed as she accumulated morequintessence. Honerva looked up at Alfor’s daughter and raised her arm,striking Allura once more with a powerful hit. Allura was pushed backwards and,with a scream, flipped over the railing of the catwalk, falling to the groundhead first.

Backon their side of the fight, Keith and Kosmo managed to knock out about half ofthe Alteans’ that were sent after him. Keith’s Bayard sword is currentlyholding one of the Alteans above the ground since it sliced through theirclothes and into the metal of one of the columns holding the catwalk up. Sonow, with his Marmora sword, he’s making quick work of the rest of the Alteans.

Afterhe punched another unconscious, he heard the huge doors to the room startopening slowly. He growled and ran towards the controls, sliding under the feetof one of the Alteans and slicing through the control box with a swift swipe.The doors stopped when just a sliver was open and no more reinforcements wereable to enter.

Keithsmiled, but it was quickly swept off his face when he was struck on the cheekwith one of the Alteans’ Bo staffs and he bounced on the floor, his rollaccentuated with grunts. He groaned once he stopped and tried to get up fromhis spot, but he was almost immediately lifted off the ground and forced thekneel with his head tilted downwards.

Hefelt the nape of his neck being poked with a Bo staff and he assumed they wereall aiming their staffs at him. Keith was about to twirl and start anotherfight before he heard a shrill scream coming from above the catwalk. He snappedhis neck in that direction and his eyes widened in panic once he saw Alluraflip over the railing of the catwalk and he whispered a scared, “No.”

Hegrowled and got to his feet, sprinting in Allura’s direction. He felt theAlteans close behind him and he yelled, “Kosmo!” His loyal wolf came to hisrescue and tackled the pursuing Alteans to the ground, teleporting them on theother side of the door.

Keithslid on the ground and opened his arms and grunted when Allura fell in themperfectly. He was smacked by a few unconscious limbs, but that was fine if shewas okay. Other than the fact that she was knocked unconscious, she seemedperfectly fine, but Keith knew that Quintessence can do much worse on theinside than in the outside.

“Allura?!”Keith asked, moving away some stray hairs from Allura’s updo off her face so hecould get a better look, “Come on, Allura. Answer me!” Allura’s face was sweatyand she was shivering in his arms. She was hyperventilating and her breathingwas not evenly paced. Keith felt her temperature and his eyes widened even morewhen he realized she was burning up.

“Nowyou understand the feeling of losing someone you love.”

Thatcreepy, monotonous voice was back and Keith had to fight everything in him torefrain from throwing his sword at Honerva. Instead, he rose his head andhugged Allura close to him and growled, “You don’t know anything about me.” Hegrowled it so low, Keith was sure that his Galra traits emerged.

Hecould see Honerva pause when she saw his face and her face suddenly took on afaux softness that made him sick to his stomach. She took a step closer and hecould see her studying him, “You’re half-galra. Just like my son.”

“Iam nothing like your son,” Keith snapped. Kosmo materialized beside the two andstarted growling at Honerva.

“Ofcourse you are,” Honerva reasoned, “You’re a natural born leader. You wereunderestimated and your fate was decided by others. You’re destined for greatthings, Keith.”

“Iam,” Keith agreed and stood up on his feet, laying Allura to lean on Kosmo’sback as the wolf sat down, and stood his ground in front of Allura’s body, “Butnot what you’re thinking. My great starts with defeating you and bringing backpeace to the Galra and the universe.”

Honerva’ssoftness melted away, truly bringing a chill to Keith’s bones when he sees howeasily and convincing she could act. Her hand began glowing and she lifted herhand to aim at him, “If you think you can take me on without Altean alchemy,you are sorely mistaken.”

Beforehe could retort, Honerva fired on Keith and he leaped away from the Princess inhopes that she would be safe from the crossfire. In his leap, he tucked androlled and grabbed a Bo staff one of the Alteans he was fighting earlierdropped. In the next blast, he was able to hit it away with the staff, wincingwhen it struck the walls and shook the building.

Allurashifted in her spot and Keith immediately looked in her direction, breathingout in relief when he sees her get up again. But his relief was short livedwhen he was suddenly struck by one of Honerva’s quintessence blasts. Allura sawthis and she screamed out, “Keith!”

Shestarted getting up but almost immediately fell on to her side. She winced andlooked down at her leg, realizing that she must have hurt it somehow when Keithcaught her.

Shegot up again and tried to get back to Keith to make sure he was alright andmaybe heal him somehow if he suffered too much. She saw him get up and shecould hear him yell into his comms, “Guys!”

Suddenly,in her own helmet, she could hear Lance, “We’re already inside. The Alteanshave been evacuated into the ATLAS. The doors won’t budge Keith!”

“Blowit up! I’ll make sure we’re clear from the impact!” Keith ordered and she sawhim pick up the Bo staff.

Alluralifted herself off the floor in another attempt to get up. It worked for themost part, but she was struggling to keep herself balanced, “Keith, let mehelp!”

Keithglanced at her and dodged another hit, “No! You’re injured!”

“Don’tbe ridiculous! You need help!”

Onceshe said those words, Honerva fizzed invisible and Allura yelled, “No!”

Keithclosed his eyes and stood still, ignoring Allura’s yells and he honed in hissenses to his surroundings. A flash of light and he saw Honerva’s form growcloser and closer, her hand splayed out and ready to attack him once shematerialized. Keith prepped the Bo staff in his hand and timed the attack.

Oneflash.

Hethrust the Bo staff forward.

Honervamaterialized.

Hisattack hit.

Honervawas knocked far away and bumped into the feet of her mecha. Allura watched thewitch fall to the ground for the second time during their battle and she wasfrozen in shock. Keith soon joined her side and lifted her up to her feet. Shestumbled a bit and had to lean against him for a moment before gaining herfooting again. Keith placed a hand to her waist and watched her fondly, “Areyou okay?”

Allurasmiled and nodded, “I am. Thank you.”

“Youscared me back there,” Keith chastised.

“Well,”Allura squeezed his hand, “You scared me right now, so I supposed we’re evennow.”

“Wouldyou two quit flirting and open the door! It won’t budge!”

Thetwo hastily let go of the other at the sound of Lance’s shrill scream and movedto open the door for their team on the other side. Allura grabbed one side andKeith grabbed the other, both pulling the doors together to make way for themto enter. Once the doors were open wide enough for one person to walk in, theteam squeezed through in a single file line to get inside.

Shiroplaced a hand on both Allura’s and Keith’s shoulders and squeezed, “I’m gladyou two are alright. You had us worried.”

“Well,it seems like it’s over now,” Pidge added, stepping closer to Honerva. Shepeered at the unconscious woman through her visor.

Suddenly,Honerva’s hand wrapped itself around Pidge’s neck and the older woman got toher feet, gripping her neck tighter with the movement. The team immediately gotinto their battle stance and Lance aimed his gun at Honerva’s face, “Let hergo!”

Honervaignored all this and stood up on her feet. She tore Pidge helmet off her faceto get a better grip and she held the girl away from her body to avoid gettinghit by Pidge’s flailing legs. Once she saw Pidge’s face turning blue, she threwher at the team and Lance caught her. Unfortunately, Pidge’s body just took hisbody along and they both crashed against the wall of the room.

Theteam turned around to watch Pidge gasp for air and coughing up a storm. Lancewas immediately by her side, his hand nursing his fractured rib cage, and wasdesperately trying to help her.

However,the team didn’t have time to react. Honerva quickly moved on to her nextvictim: Hunk. Before any of them noticed, Hunk yelled in agony. Shiro, Allura,and Keith turned around and saw Hunk fall to the floor holding his head in hishands and screaming incoherences. Shiro stood up proud in front of his fallencomrades, seemingly ready for anything Haggar could throw at them.

Sadly,that wasn’t the case. Haggar disappeared into thin air and zigzagged her way toher former experiment. Shiro looked around frantically, hearing her laugh echothrough his mind, but he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Suddenly, bothAllura and Keith kicked the space in front of him, kicking Haggar into the legsof her robeast.

“Takethem out of here!” Keith ordered Shiro.

Shirofrowned, “I won’t leave you two to fight her alone!”

Suddenly,Allura was behind him and she grabbed thin air, forcing Honerva intomaterializing before her, and threw Honerva into a robeast. Shiro stood withhis jaw dropped, surprise having not seen an imminent attack for a second timethat fight.

“Shiro,”Allura pleaded, standing attentive at his side, “You can’t sense her presence.Keith and I can, please get the team to safety. You’re helping us by keepingyourself and the team safe.”

Keithkicked the air again, but Honerva grabbed onto his foot and threw him onto thecatwalk above. He got up quickly and saw Honerva heading for Lance and Pidge,who were still trying to recover from the blow they received seconds before.Keith started sprinting down the catwalk and yelled, “Allura!”

Immediately,Allura turned her head to where Keith pointed at and she aimed a punch at thewitch. Honerva caught her blow as well and she caught the second punch Alluratried to land. The two women were in a standstill and they pushed against the otherto try and gain the upper hand.

Alluragrit her teeth and looked at Shiro and hissed, “Get them out of here!”

Suddenly,Keith materialized in a spark of teal embers and kicked Honerva out of the way.Shiro quickly sprinted by Hunk’s side and hoisted the unconscious man onto hisshoulders. He turned to pick up Pidge but Lance lifted a hand and assured, “Ican carry her.” Once the two injured were in their arms, the two ran out of theroom and in a safe zone.

Alluraand Keith were lucky that one time, but Honerva quickly gained the upper handagain. The both of them attacked on different sides, but she always found someway to evade their attacks. She would throw them onto difficult positions, whizout of the way of their attacks, or try to throw them into the boiling metalpool in the middle of the room.

Kosmosaved Keith from that fate and teleported the both of them far from Honerva sohe could catch his breath again. Keith panted and lifted himself up to watchAllura fight Honerva, his anger piling up more and more as he saw her beingthrown around like a ragdoll. So far, he couldn’t even catch her if he tried.

“It’slike she doesn’t want us together,” Keith thought, frowning at the prospect,but then paused and thought again, “She doesn’t want us to fight together.”

Heturned to Kosmo, who was growling at the witch, and he nodded. Kosmoimmediately teleported him to Allura and he rolled her out of the way of one ofHonerva’s blasts. Allura blinked to get her bearings together and smiled ingratitude.

“Doyou think there’s someway for you to use my quintessence to attack Honerva?”Allura blinked and rose a brow, so Keith elaborated, “The reason we can’t get astrong enough hit is that we keep hitting her individually…”

Keithwas briefly interrupted when Allura tackled him to the floor when another blasthit their hiding place.

“…Whatif we attack her using both our quintessence?”

Allura’seyes sparkled and her eyes opened in awe, “That’s perfect!” She extended herhand and ordered happily, “Hold my hand.”

Keithlooked down at her hand and slowly put his on top of hers, letting her slimfingers wrap around his bigger hand. She stood up and he followed after her,both of them hiding behind rows and rows of boxes, narrowly avoiding Honerva’sblasts and getting closer and closer.

“Wait!”Keith tried to stop her, but it was no use as she kept leading them and showedno sign of stopping. “How are we going to do this?”

“Justshut up and trust me!” Allura replied, smirking at properly using sassy humanvernacular.

Keithdid as she commanded and followed her as she ran up the stairs to the catwalk.He had to dodge a few blasts from Honerva and pulling her out of the way a few times,but other than that, they were clear. She was following close and was making itincreasingly hard to dodge the blasts and the two found themselves running intothe railings and almost missing steps on the stairs.

Eventually,the two made it up and ran to the opposite side of the catwalk, making it justin time to see Honerva reach the top of the stairs. Allura tightened her holdon his hand and lifted it up to aim at Honerva. The witch began sprintingtowards them and Keith was about to start running again to put more distancebetween them, but Allura didn’t budge. Instead, she closed her eyes. Before hecould say something, Allura squeezed his hand and pleaded, “Trust me.”

Hewill. He always will.

Heclosed his eyes and concentrated, feeling a foreign warmth envelope him. He thenopened his eyes and gasped when he sees himself in another plane. Almost likewhen he met Shiro in the Black Lion’s conscience, but this time it was bright,almost blinding.

Hemarveled at the change of scenery and awed at the specks of white in the soft red-pinksky. He turned around when he heard a giggle and his jaw went slack at seeing Allurastanding behind him. She was dressed in her Paladin armor, but she was clear ofthe scratches her earned during the past battle.

“You-Whereare we?”

“I’mguessing we’re in our shared conscience.”

“Ourshared conscience?” Keith questioned, “What does that mean?”

Alluralooked up into the sky, “When we both concentrated on our hands and sharing ourquintessence, the interaction happens here. The sky is our flow of quintessencemixing together.”

“Cananyone do that?”

“Noteveryone,” Allura admitted, “Only people who are adept at working with theirquintessence. Your training with Krolia to develop your battle senses developedyour ability to sense quintessence, that’s why you can see Honerva when she disappears.”

“Andyou’re an Altean so you’re naturally good at working with your quintessence,”Keith assumed.

“Exactly.”

Therewas a slight paused before Keith asked, “But how come we haven’t done this as ateam, yet?”

“It’sdifficult. We typically do things like this in the Lions. They sort offacilitate the mixing of our quintessence. Since the Lions also have their ownquintessence, it helps us be able to work together in harmony. But it’ll bealmost impossible for us to join our quintessence together like this. Our bondhas to run much deeper. With Voltron, our bond has to be stronger with our Lionthan with the rest of us in order to make it work.”

“Then,”Keith was almost scared to finish his thought. He had an inkling he knew theanswer already. But he needed to know. “Then,” he continued, “Why can we do it?”

Alluragrabbed his hand and squeezed warmly, “Because our bond is deeper than Ioriginally thought.”

Keithsmiled sheepishly, “Even after I acted like a complete jerk?”

“I’llblame that on you going insane,” Allura teased, “I’ve forgiven you a long timeago, Keith. I know you only truly want the best for the team.”

Alluragrabbed his other hand, “And if I can remember correctly, you defended me fromHonerva attempting to kill me to make you feel the loss of someone you love.”Keith looked at the side and refused to look her in the eye to avoid losing hiscool, “If Honerva’s words rang some sort of truth, then I know for sure that youreturn my feelings.”

Keith’shead shot up to look at her and, if it was possible, Allura beamed brighter. Hefound a smile creeping on his face and he chuckled, “You do?”

Allurastepped closer and looked up at him with her sparkling blue eyes and whispered,“I do.”

Keithlooked down to her lips and back up to her eyes and began to lean in. Before hecould lean in too much, Allura placed a finger on his lips and stopped him. Shegiggled at his look once he opened his eyes and explained, “We finish thisfight first.”

Keithnodded and squeezed her hands in his, “Together. We finish this fight together.”

Allurasmiled, “Of course.”

Keithopened his eyes again and, with a newfound determination, he sprinted towardsHonerva with Allura. Before him, Honerva already had two blasts aimed for themand ready to fire, but they didn’t stop.

Ina flash, two lasers hit Honerva’s shoulders, stopping her from being able toshoot her attacks, and a green grappling hook wrapped itself around her hands,stopping her from trying to aim another attack at them again. Keith should haveknown his team wouldn’t leave them completely on their own. He was sure that ifhe turned his head, he would see them heroically holding their Bayards with purefury written across their faces.

Asa boost, Allura and Keith both roared their battle cries and they thrust theirhands forward. Keith felt an intense wave overwhelm him and, suddenly, a lightblue beam of concentrated quintessence shot from his hand intertwined withAllura’s and towards Honerva. He can feel Allura’s doing the same and theirbeams mixed together as they shot towards Honerva as one powerful hit.

Onceit made impact, Honerva let out a horrible scream, one that he didn’t want toremember, but one that will forever be engrained in his mind. A small blackmass came out of her, but it immediately disintegrated once it was hit with thepure quintessence and, suddenly, the screaming stopped, and she laid limp onthe floor.

Andsomething told Keith she wouldn’t get back up.

Suddenly,exhaustion took over and Keith and Allura both fell over after losing so muchquintessence and they fell in a heap, Allura falling right on top of his chest.

Fromdown below, he could hear Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro all call out to them ina panic and Keith thought it was endearing how much they cared. “We’re fine,”he assured, “Just tired.”

“I’llbe surprised if you weren’t!” Lance quipped, approaching the two of them as hewalked up the stairs, “That was an insane quintessence laser! And it didn’teven come out of the Lions!”

Keithrolled his eyes as Lance began rambling about their laser and Pidge and Hunktrying to figure out how they did it. Keith felt Allura wrap her arms aroundhis abdomen and he lifted his hand to join hers and intertwined their fingers. Hecould feel her smile against his collar bone, so he turned his head and placeda soft kiss on her forehead.

Hebreathed in the scent of her hair and he felt himself relax at the familiarsmell of Mrs. Holt’s juniberries. He felt the weight of the universe finally liftoff his shoulders.

Itwas over and they survived.

#kallura #forever rosegold #kalluracanonsince1984 #rosegold #allura #keith #voltron

[sometimesrosy]

How likely do you think it is that Clarke will get a S6 love interest? I mean Bellarke still endgame but have u seen Grayson Holt the teenwolf lad, basically looks so ALIKE Bellamy but with Finn's hair. Also, she has had a 6 year dry spell...

Clarke Griffin HAS a love interest. A love triangle means there are THREE love interests involved in a romance. 

Clarke’s love interest is BELLAMY.

Bellamy’s two love interests are Clarke and Echo.

It is CURRENTLY a love story in canon. They have not gotten a chance to explore or resolve or confront or end the love triangle. SOMETHING Must be done with that before she can move on. Either he chooses Echo definitively (and I believe he will try until Echo finds out that he’s in love with Clarke and this will not satisfy her,) or he chooses Clarke definitively. Clarke either has to be let go, and let go of HIM so she can move on, OR they have to get together. This needs to be resolved before there can be a NEW love interest because the current one is BELLAMY. COULD there be someone who shows interest in her and Bellamy has to face someone showing interest in Clarke? CERTAINLY, but that STILL makes BELLAMY the love interest, just like Clarke seeing Bellamy with Echo and registering that romantic shock made him her love interest.

The Bellarke love story must be addressed, either to speak to each other about feelings, or to show them to each other, in order to either end Bellarke completely or consummate it. BUT IT MUST BE ADDRESSED. It’s canon. I believe they will get together. If you think the story will move now to B/E then fine, but if you are IGNORING the ongoing canon love interests of Clarke and Bellamy, because you think Clarke doesn’t have a love interest then YOU ARE MISSING THE LOVE STORY WITHIN THE NARRATIVE.

It is an ONGOING storyline that can not move on to a different love interest without resolution.

Bellamy is her ACTUAL love interest WITHIN the narrative. 

#the 100 #bellarke #canon #love story #y'all believe gossip and rumor over narrative and canon