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just-jordie-things · 1 year

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[part five] to build a home - gojo satoru

word count: 4.4k warnings: !!manga spoilers!! swearing, jjk-verse style fighting series summary: when (y/n) (y/l/n) catches wind that the notorious sorcerer killer, toji fushiguro, has children, she makes it her personal mission to find them. the catch being she couldn't tell a soul about them- the risk of the zen'in clan learning about them was too great. keeping the secret isn't the hard part, it's lying to her friends, shoko ieiri, geto suguru, and of course gojo satoru, that she struggles with. especially when satoru has suddenly become so keen on keeping an eye on her lately.

series masterlist

[part five] : "Quality Time"

___

With Satoru’s watchful eyes gone for the week, (y/n) was able to sneak off campus during most of her free time after classes were finished.

On Tuesday, she stopped by the Fushiguro household to get started on chores. She spent the whole afternoon and evening cleaning and organizing. And when the day was done, she happily made the kids a big dinner and dessert. She won Megumi over just a little more with strawberry shortcakes.

On Wednesday, she picked them up from school, much to their surprise. She took them on a shopping spree for some new clothes. Tsumiki happily brought dresses, skirts, blouses, and shoes to her dressing room. Megumi had a little more trouble picking out the things he liked, but after waiting forever for his sister to try everything on, he finally chose a few items for himself. Again, (y/n) sent them to bed with full bellies.

On Thursday, she finally got a call from Tsumiki, who was only calling because she was hoping that (y/n) would come by again, just to hang out. (y/n) happily agreed and told her she’d be there first thing that afternoon. When the call ended, she held her phone to her chest and couldn’t contain her grin, happy to be wanted. When she arrived, she suggested they go to the park. Megumi blew off some steam from school on the swingset, while Tsumiki sat in the sandbox and made little castles. (y/n) spent the afternoon listening to Tsumiki open up more, about her friends at school, what subjects she was good at and which ones she needed help in, and (y/n) was happy to hear all about it. She could only hope that soon Megumi extended the same notion of friendship.

On Friday, Tsumiki asked if (y/n) would read to her before she left for the night.

“Mom used to,” She admitted in a small voice. “It helped me sleep”

Lingering in the doorway of her bedroom, (y/n’s) heartstrings were thoroughly tugged. How could she possibly refuse?

“Of course,” She said softly, and stepped into her bedroom, glancing over the small bookshelf. “What would you like to hear?”

A small tug on the back of her shirt made her turn around. You could imagine her surprise to see Megumi standing there, a book outstretched in his little hand. (y/n) recognized it as the book he often read when he went to bed. She’d never taken a second glance at the cover.

She took it from him, examining it closer, now.

“Charlotte’s Web, huh?” She mused, smiling down at him.

Megumi looked away, but she saw his pink cheeks anyways.

“I loved this book when I was your age,” (y/n) said. “I haven’t read it in forever”

With that, she wanders over to Tsumiki’s little desk, dragging the child-sized chair there with her to the side of the bed where the little girl was patiently but eagerly waiting.

Megumi hesitated at the bedroom door, unsure of whether or not he wanted to come inside and stay for the story, or go back to his own room. His small hands play with the hem of his pajama shirt. (y/n) didn’t pressure him to come in, instead she just flipped to the first page and began reading.

The boy never did come and sit in Tsumiki’s bed, but he did listen for a while, until he was too tired and retreated to his own bed for the night. Soon after, Tsumiki fell asleep as well. (y/n) marked the page they left off on, and tiptoed out of the room, turning off the lights and quietly wishing both the children a good night’s sleep.

As she leaves the house, she draws a curtain of protection, which she’d done every night for the last week, and makes her way home.

When she got back to Jujutsu Tech, it was far later than any of the previous times she’s snuck back on campus. Almost eleven o’clock. The long walk home was tiring enough, but she’d grown quite tired just from reading aloud back at the Fushiguro house. So when she finally crossed over the threshold of the barrier, she was lazily stumbling, a bit tired.

Unbeknownst to her, Shoko Ieri was having a late-night smoke break on the roof of the dormitories. The perfect place for viewing the front gates, and the familiar figure of her best friend dragging herself onto the property.

Curiously, the short haired woman pulled the cigarette from her lips. She hadn’t even known (y/n) had left campus today, she thought that she had a tutoring session with one of the first years. She’d been offering her tutoring services for a week or so now, supposedly looking for some extra cash. For what, Shoko wasn’t sure. But she wondered if it had anything to do with her sneaking back home in the middle of the night.

A smirk plays on her lips as her mind wanders with the possibilities. Whatever it was she was doing, it must have been mighty interesting for her to sneak around to do it.

A boy, perhaps? She wonders. Or girl?

The idea has her chuckling, as she replaces her cigarette between her lips and leans back against the roof’s tiles comfortably. She could keep this to herself, for now, she presumes. Just to see how exactly this plays out.

With Satoru having been gone all week, there wasn’t much drama to keep entertained with, anyways.

As she blows a cloud of smoke above her, watching it slowly disappear into the sky, Satoru crossing her mind raises an interesting thought. What would he think of (y/n) sneaking around Tokyo past curfew to meet up with some mysterious stranger?

Shoko smiles to herself, shutting her eyes as she takes another, slower drag.

This was bound to be interesting. ___

On Saturday, (y/n) finally allows herself some extra time in the morning to sleep in. The past five days she’d woken up first thing in the morning to train with her cursed technique, only to rush to her classes for the day, tutoring first thing after, and then off to tend to the Fushiguro kids for the rest of her night. It had been a nonstop week, but she knew that was what she was signing up for when she told herself she would do right by Toji’s children.

Tutoring had helped her to get some money in her pocket, and she wasn’t so bad at it either. But it took up any extra scrap of free time she might have had between school and the kids. She was lucky that Yaga hadn’t extended any assignments her way in the last couple weeks, but that only meant the more time passed, the more likely he was to approach her with one.

And it wasn’t like she could refuse, it was her duty to protect non-curse users by exorcizing curses. However… she had grown quite fond of taking care of Megumi and Tsumiki. And if she wasn’t mistaken, they were starting to warm up to her, as well. Tsumiki more so than her brother, but she was bound to crack Megumi soon enough.

When she finally got up and around, she was slow to shower and get herself dressed for the day. She planned to go into Tokyo for the day, since Satoru was back tomorrow and she likely wouldn’t get another chance to for a bit. She’d promised Megumi and Tsumiki that as long as they had all of their schoolwork done today, that she would treat them to something special.

She hadn’t decided on what that would be yet, maybe ice cream, or a movie, or both. Whatever they preferred, she would happily fulfill their wishes.

Her fondness for them might have been turning into quite the soft spot.

After deciding on her outfit for the day, a simple button down shirt and pair of jeans, she excitedly grabbed her purse and her phone, and hurried out of her room.

Just as she whipped open her door, she ran straight into someone.

With a squeak of surprise she jumped back, only to have two hands steady her by her shoulders before she could recoil too much.

Gojo Satoru grinned down at her, wide and toothy, always happy to have her so shocked to see him.

“Satoru!” She yelped, half surprised to see him home early, half scolding him for startling her. “You’re home?”

“Miss me?” He asked.

His voice was soft and smooth, like fine silk. It worked it’s way into her head and made her a little dizzy, even though he wasn’t a Cursed Speech user.

“Is that what you were hoping?” She teases, cocking her head to the side.

He chuckles, and releases her shoulders.

“Got sent home on good behavior,” He tells her. “Now I have an extra day to spend with my favorite little hex”

Her breath hitched in her throat at the nickname, not having heard it before. Normally she would roll her eyes when he called her nicknames or affectionate pet names, but this time she didn’t react, unless you counted the rosy hue in her cheeks.

(He did)

“Ah, I can’t possibly train today,” (y/n) told him. “I’ve been pushing it all week, and with all the tutoring I’ve been doing I just want a break from-”

“That’s fine,” Satoru shrugged, pursing his lips. “Where were you off to?” He asks, nodding to the purse and phone she held in her hands. “I’ll join you, then”

(y/n) looked down at the offending items, cursing them for giving her away.

Fuck.

“Oh, just, to go kill time in Tokyo” She said, shaking her head nonchalantly before looking up at him.

“Nothing in particular?” Satoru asked.

She chewed on her bottom lip, wishing that a decent excuse would present itself.

You’ve been troubling Satoru, (y/n) thinks back to the night Suguru had stopped her in the hall. He’s been looking forward to some time with you away from here, you know.

She releases her bottom lip, shaking her head in answer.

Sorry, Tsumiki and Megumi.

“No, nothing in particular” She answers.

Satoru beams.

“Wonderful! Now we finally have time to catch up,” He says, stepping away from her door so she could follow at his side. “Come on, let’s start with breakfast”

Begrudgingly, she follows beside him out of the school. Her heart sinks in her chest, knowing she was going to be letting the Fushiguro children down by not showing up today. Maybe if she was lucky she could find a way to wiggle out and still sneak by their place tonight. But from the animated way Gojo was telling her about his mission, and the way he’d smiled when she’d agreed to spend the day with him, it wouldn’t feel right to just ditch him either.

If only she had the cursed technique to multiply herself, to be two places at once. Then she wouldn’t have to let anyone down with all of her lies and excuses.

As they wander off campus and make their way to town together, (y/n) feels guilty for even thinking of ditching Satoru. He pressed her to hear about everything she’d been up to while he’d been away. Even though besides her double life, she didn’t lead much of an interesting week.

“Come on, something interesting had to have happened,” Satoru whined. “I just told you, like, twenty minutes worth of stuff”

“You were exorcizing Special Grade curses,” (y/n) replies. “That’s interesting. Tutoring first years isn’t interesting. It’s boring”

“You like tutoring?” He asks.

(y/n) shrugs. “It’s alright. They’re nice, and I nee- I like the extra money” She catches herself, but it was too late.

“You need money?” He asks, already reaching for his pocket.

“No!” (y/n) says quickly, her hand snatching his wrist before he could grab his wallet.

For the second time now, she’s surprised she’s able to actually touch him. He raises a brow at the defensive maneuver. She quickly lets go of him, and goes back to walking along the path.

“So you need money but you don’t want my money?” He asks cheekily, following after her with his hands folded behind his back.

(y/n) stares straight ahead, even as he bends forward enough to be at her line of sight.

“I don’t need money,” She tells him. “I like having extra money. There’s a difference”

“Mhm,” He hums thoughtfully, not believing her bullshit. “But if you needed money you know you could always-”

“I know, Satoru,” (y/n) says, peeking at him from the corner of her eye, only to find him still staring at her. “You’re the wealthiest person I know. Of course I’d ask you first”

He grins, and returns to his full height.

“So I saw Haibara Yu last week,” He mentions, not very casually.

(y/n) fights the impulse to whip her neck around to stare at him, instead biting her tongue and waiting for whatever he was going to follow that with.

“You know him well?”

She raises a brow at him, a little confused by the sudden change in subject.

“I suppose?” She replies, unsurely. “He's a kind man. Very friendly” She added.

Satoru hums, eyes scanning the restaurants that line the streets, trying to find the right place for breakfast.

“Right. Well. Turns out he’s got a bit of a crush on you” He tells her.

(y/n’s) face grows hot, and she shakes her head in disbelief.

“And where did you hear that?” She asks. She’s giggling nervously.

His mood sours a bit at her giggling. Did the idea of the second-year having romantic feelings for her excite her?

He keeps his expression neutral.

“Yu,” He replies, voice dry of emotion. “Well, Nanami. But Yu was there and didn’t exactly debate it, so, you know,” He stops walking, and (y/n) turns after taking a few steps ahead. “Figured you’d want to know”

Her expression is hard to read, with her brows slightly pinched together, and the smallest of smirks on her lips as she was trying to figure him out.

“I see,” She says, thoughtfully. Her arms cross over her chest. “So that’s why you told me? To ruin his fun?”

Satoru frowns. That wasn’t exactly the response he was aiming for.

“Well, thought I’d give you a heads up, that way you can let him down easy” He replies.

“Let him down easy?” She laughed to herself, and took a step towards him. “Bold of you to assume I’ll be letting him down at all”

He grinds his teeth, and she can tell from the way his jaw moves back and forth. He’s annoyed.

Finally, she begins to understand why he loves to get under her skin. It was fun to get a rise out of someone who always kept themselves so well reserved.

He reaches out suddenly, his hand sliding around the dip in her back. (y/n’s) eyes widen at the action, but she doesn’t say or do anything to protest.

“Here,” Satoru says, in a low voice, before pointing to the restaurant they were stopped in front of. “This is where we’re having breakfast”

She turns to where he’d pointed, nodding as she takes in the small diner that didn’t seem as busy as the other restaurants on a Saturday morning.

He keeps his hand on the small of her back as they head towards the doors.

“Actually,” A thought dawns on her then, and she steps back until his hand falls away from her. “I just need to make a quick call, do you mind getting us a table?”

He nods, but he looks confused.

“Thanks, I’ll be right back” She says, already pulling her phone out as she steps back outside to be out of earshot.

She’s quick to click on Tsumiki and Megumi’s shared contact in her phone, and hopes that they pick up.

On the second ring, Tsumiki’s voice rings through the receiver.

“(y/n)?”

“Tsumiki, good morning,” (y/n) answers. “How are you and Megumi doing this morning?”

“We’re good,” She replies. “We got all of our work done! I even answered all the questions on my math homework”

Math was the subject Tsumiki struggled with most. She often skipped questions on her homework sheets because she couldn’t figure them out.

It was like someone had a grip on (y/n’s) heart, and began squeezing mercilessly.

“That’s great, I’m so proud of you both,” (y/n) said, but the disappointment in her tone was clear. “But, I’m really sorry, I don’t think I can come by today”

It was silent for a few beats, before, “Oh…”

“Something came up that I can’t take time away from,” She told the young girl honestly. “I promise, if it wasn’t important, I would be there right now”

“It’s okay, (y/n), I know you’re really busy, with the monsters and stuff” Tsumiki said as comfortingly as she could.

(y/n) shut her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. These kids were too kind for their own good.

“I’ll try to come by tomorrow, okay?” She tells her. “You guys be safe today… go treat ourselves to some sweets, or something, I’ll bring by some extra money when I’m around”

“You don’t have to, (y/n), there’s still brownies leftover from the last time you were here” Tsumiki says.

“You’re right, there’s plenty of sweets, huh?” (y/n) replies. “I’m spoiling you too much,”

Tsumiki giggles on the other end. “Well, tell Megumi I’m sorry, okay?”

“Okay, I will”

“I’ll call you later tonight, I want to hear all about your day, okay?”

“Okay”

“Be safe. I’ll see you later”

“Bye (y/n)”

“Goodbye, Tsumiki” (y/n) says, before pulling her phone away, seeing the girl must have already placed the phone back on it’s hook.

She frowns, tucking her phone back into her pocket and quickly wiping her eyes. She couldn’t go into the restaurant and have breakfast with Satoru with such a heavy sadness sitting on her shoulders. She’d have to pull it together.

With a deep breath, she turned around and walked back inside, quickly finding Satoru alone at a window seat, wistfully looking outside.

“Sorry about that”

He looked up to her as she sat across from him, picking up the menu on the table and skimming over it.

“Had to call Haibara to tell on me?” He asks.

Glancing up, she sees him with his elbows on the table, propping his head up in his hands as he gives her a teasing grin.

“I just might have” She replies, smirking back down at the menu. ___

Despite the clawing feeling of guilt in her chest, she enjoys her day with Satoru. After treating her to breakfast, they wander around the shops a bit. He’s relentlessly trying to spoil her, but she continuously turns him down. Nonetheless, She continues to present her with jewelry, snacks, accessories, books- anything he finds that he thinks she would enjoy or would look pretty on her, he asks her if she wants it.

“Satoru,” (y/n) huffs as he places a pretty porcelain hairpiece in her hair, sliding the combed edge in carefully, so as not to scrape her scalp too rough. “Could you give it up already?”

“Of course not,” He says with that toothy grin of his. He’d finally gotten the piece to stay put against the neat bun she’d put her hair into that morning, and he steps back, proud of his own work. “Okay, just take one look at this and tell me you don’t want it. It’s perfect”

(y/n) rolls her eyes, but he’s already taken a small hand mirror from the clerk, and was holding it before her so she could see her reflection. She gives him a look, but when she finally looks in the mirror, even he can see the way her demeanor changes.

Her playful expression fell, a bit taken aback by how beautiful the glass piece looked, how the colors complimented her eyes, and stood out just enough in her hair without being too flamboyant.

Just as quickly as she was admiring herself, her fingers reached for the porcelain comb, plucking it from her head and placing it back on the display.

“What a ridiculous waste of money,” She chuckles. “I couldn’t possibly own something like that”

“What?” Satoru asked in disbelief. “It was beautiful! Come on, I know you liked it”

(y/n) glances back at him, just for a moment, before turning back and heading along to the next display.

“I have no occasions I could wear that for,” She says honestly. “So I couldn’t justify buying it-”

“I would buy it for you!” Satoru replied, slinking around to stand in front of her, stopping her from distracting herself with whatever the next thing was. “And we could make our own occasion for you to wear it to” He adds with a charming smile.

(y/n) scoffs.

“Satoru, a piece like that is meant for a ball, or an elegant dinner, or something,” She deadpans. “I don’t think I could squeeze that in between exorcizing curses, or class” She laughs at the thought of wearing a piece of jewelry so luxurious during one of Yaga’s lessons.

“We could go to dinner,” Satoru shrugs. “I’d take you to dinner”

“Sure,” She chuckles, shaking her head as she walks around him. “With what time?”

“I have time right now,” Satoru shrugs, following beside her despite her trying to put some distance between them. She hoped space would relax her racing heart. “We could go tonight”

“We’ve been out all day, and now you want to take me to dinner?” (y/n) muses, raising a brow at him. “What’re you getting at?”

“Do I have to be getting at anything?” He replies smoothly. “Can’t I just take you to dinner because I want to?”

“Dinner implies that it’s a date” (y/n) says.

“So was breakfast a date too?” He asks cheekily.

“So dinner is a date?” Her response is even quicker.

Satoru just shrugs his shoulders, gazing down at her with that ever so charming grin. She stares back at him inquisitively.

“You’re being silly,” She tells him. “What is this anyways?” She asks. He feigns ignorance, as if he doesn’t know what she’s referring to. “All the shopping, you trying to buy me things, and take me places,” She clarifies. “What’s that about?”

“I can’t spend time with you?”

“You weren’t like this before,” (y/n) comments truthfully. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to keep me occupied”

Satoru throws his head back in a laugh, which takes her by surprise. She was sure that he’d bristle up like a cactus and call her ungrateful for the immense amount of kindness and spoiling he was showing her today.

“That pretty head of yours thinks too much,” He tells her, finally resuming their casual stroll through the antique shop. “You think the world is out to get you, that everyone who wants to be around you just wants something from you”

“That’s not entirely untrue” (y/n) quips.

People wouldn’t stick around if they didn’t need something, she thinks. That wasn’t always a bad thing, but it was true.

“Maybe sometimes,” Satoru agrees, and when he looks down at her, she gets a peek at his eyes from over his sunglasses. It was like seeing the ocean for the first time. “But I promise you sweetheart, I’m just trying to spend some quality time with my friends while I can”

He stares at her a moment longer, before he’s off to show her something else again, this time a vintage bookshelf. While he’s admiring the hand-carved wood that’s designed in pretty spirals, (y/n) feels her heart weakening just a little bit for him.

He’d been on so many assignments in the last six months, she realized. Ever since the incident with the Star Plasma Vessel, the higher ups had been singling him out to take care of anything they didn’t feel like doing. He was stretching himself too thin, she worried. He was barely home for a few days to a week before being shipped off somewhere else in the world. Despite the bragging he’d done around her and their friends, she could see now that it wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.

Being the strongest wasn’t just a title. It was a weight that he had to carry.

Satoru must’ve realized that (y/n) was lost in thought, not paying an ounce of attention to the bookshelf he was trying to convince her she needed. He glances over to her, catching the look of concern on her features before she quickly returns to a blank expression. He frowns for a second, wondering what was on her mind, but he doesn’t ask.

Instead he suggests they head somewhere else, to which she agrees, and happily follows him wherever he wishes to take her next. She realizes that this was his way of reaching out. His own odd way of saying he needed more, because he couldn’t possibly admit such a vulnerable thing. She should have known as soon as he started cornering her for more alone time, and again, Suguru’s words rang in the back of her mind.

He was looking forward to some time with you away from here, you know.

Now she understood what he’d meant. Satoru was losing more and more time with the friends he’d once spent every single day with. And soon, he’d probably be so busy with assignments from the higher ups that he’d barely be around at all.

The thought brings a frown to her face. The idea of him being gone more than he was around filled her with an inexplicable… sadness.

(y/n) glances over at him now, admiring the way the sun seemed to make his hair even brighter. A soft smile adorns her lips. Satoru catches this when he peeks down at her from behind his sunglasses, curious as to what she was staring for. He pretends not to notice.

There’s still guilt eating inside of her for having let down Megumi and Tsumiki. But for a passing moment, she almost forgets, as she’s filled with a warmth she couldn’t explain.

He’s been a little less annoying lately, she thinks. It’s been nice.

___

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xoxo - jordie

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callmewrinkles3 · 8 months

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Anti-hero - DR3 x Fem!OC

Masterlist.

Summary: 2021 hasn't exactly been the best season, and Dan's struggling with the car not driving how he wants it to. But he didn't realise that Emmy was struggling with her own work.

Warnings: Zak Brown, McLaren era in general, smut (piv, kink behaviour (marking, domination, praise kinks, light choking, consensual pain by pinching and spanking) that are in the context of a long term already defined relationship but are not explicitly discussed on the page, fingering, teasing. They're kinky kids who love it), explicit aftercare, mentions of race crashes (Monza 2021).

Words: 11k

A/N: We're baaaaaack! This is a bit of a departure for us, and we really hope you like it. As always let us know what you think, we love hearing from you!

September 2021

Dan couldn’t admit it to anyone, but the fact that Em was travelling with him everywhere was probably the best thing in his life right then. Most of the time he was miserable and he fully admitted it. McLaren meant his days were hard, the car felt weird, and it sucked. At least in Zandvoort he’d been able to have some fun in the orange cape, cheering Max on. As much as a clusterfuck that championship battle would be a part of.

The one he’d been assured he’d be a part of next year. He didn’t fully believe Zak anymore. He wanted to but something yelled at him not to.

They were sitting in the private terminal waiting to be told the McLaren jet was ready to go, Dan watching as Em worked for the few minutes before they were called. The VIP area had become normal to him, but for her it was new. It was bright and shiny and he still remembered the first time that she said she didn’t feel like she belonged there.

They’d been in bed in Italy in 2019, flying to Monza from Belgium with Max and Christian in one of the most awkward flights of his life while Em was her usual sweet self. She’d told him that private jets were for important people and she was just Em. It led to his joke that her middle name should be Humble, not Charlotte. But she deserved the world, and the world included that she deserved to be in the jet with him and everyone else.

He loved every piece of her, wanted to tell the world that he loved her but they’d agreed to keep things to themselves. He didn’t know how much longer he could do it. They were down to days until Italy and he was going to say everything, he just had to keep it in till then. He had a plan and he was sticking to it.

He pulled out the carefully wrapped package Max had slipped him after several requests with a “Vicky said these are the best.”, smiling at the still crisp treat.

“Em, here.” He held the stroopwafel out carefully, caramel nearly dripping from the edge as she shook her head and took a sip from her Pepsi bottle. “You don’t want one?”

“I’m not a caramel fan, Danny.”

“But this whole week?” Every time someone gave him one he’d take a bite and offer her one, grinning while she smiled and took a dainty bite in between checking things on her tablet. It became easy to pass it over to her.

“You looked so happy feeding me bites, I didn’t want to break your heart by telling you I don’t like caramel. Toffee yeah, but not caramel.” She smiled at him before turning her head back to work, Dan staring at the woman he loved and her pure ridiculousness.

He watched as she stared at her tablet and frowned at it not doing what she wanted. But he wanted to curl up with her on his lap the same way they were when they flew separately. But instead they’d be separated in the luxurious white leather seats, she’d have her head buried in a book with her earplugs in and trying to ignore everyone around her. It’d be fine. It had to be. Even if they were spending it with people she didn’t feel comfortable around.

Before Dan started with the team he knew she didn’t have anything against Lando. He was a kid who’d joined the grid and was fine. Dan didn’t want to know a whole lot about him after the awkward moment of Lando’s best friend asking Em for coffee in the middle of the paddock when he was a Renault junior and Em was there as Dan’s guest. It took time for Dan to let his jealousy go and Em giggled at it, but he’d finally chilled out. Then Em couldn’t totally chill out about Lando after Monaco.

The “I’ve no sympathy for him” was burned into her brain, she’d had more than one nightmare about it. That kid who didn’t know what he was talking about, who hadn’t ever had to experience anything, saying that? He was showing how privileged he was having walked straight into a team that was expected to be at the top of the midfield. Dan had told her stories about the four day warning he had before his HRT debut, she knew how it had been for him. But Em would take anything that anyone said about her - and God knew she had this year - but if you said something about the people she loved then you were essentially invisible to her. And Lando Norris had reached the invisible stage.

She was always unfailingly polite, saying good morning and good night and making small talk as they were in the same group, but other than that it was radio silence between them. Dan had tried to convince her that it was all fine, Lando was just a kid who needed to learn, but she couldn’t let it go. Months later it was still the same.

She got on the plane just ahead of Dan, smiling at the flight attendant before taking the window seat that Dan pointed her at. He took the seat beside her, Blake and Michael slipping into the seats on the other side of the table. He watched as Lando sat in on the other side, Jon and Lando’s parents there too. Someone pulled an Uno deck out and everyone except Lando’s parents and Em started playing it.

She was sat quietly in her seat, one of the cloth bound classics he’d gotten for her birthday in her hand as she read. He could see the tiny loop of her earplugs just visible, knowing she could hear everyone but was tuning it out to concentrate and it broke his heart a little bit. He wanted to pull her onto his lap, kiss the top of her head and tell her to take a nap because he knew she’d slept badly the last few nights but he couldn’t. She’d have killed him if he tried.

Nobody in McLaren knew anything about them. He wasn’t stupid, he knew there were debates on what he and Em were, but nobody knew the truth. He’d told a mechanic on Lando’s side of the garage to shut up when he made a comment about Em’s ass before. There were rumours all around the paddock and online, he wasn’t blind, but they wouldn’t confirm what they had. He wanted to keep Em safe, and nobody being able to prove that she was the love of his life was easier. Everyone in Renault knew about them - he was convinced Cyril had deliberately started a fight so the cameras were away so he could kiss her at the Nurburgring - and even in Red Bull Christian and Simon had made jokes about Dan’s heart eyes whenever Em was at a race. But it was never public, it was always between them. And in McLaren it just didn’t feel right to tell them.

Em was having issues clicking with them, the constant “if you need an assistant” comments from Zak and Andreas just pissing him off. Em was his assistant, she did a fucking great job and she was getting no respect for it. Zak had insisted that it was teething problems and it’d be fine but it had been going on for nearly nine months now. It was like his driving style and the car, it just couldn’t click right.

So they were avoiding sharing planes whenever possible. He’d organise his own charter, or go with a different driver, or anything. They’d even gone with Fernando at one point, Nando quizzing Dan on the clusterfuck that was the Renault upper echelons while they flew. Or they’d book commercial and deal with looks and selfie requests, because even being on a plane with 150 strangers was better for her anxiety than a tiny jet with people who she didn’t like. Which made no sense to Dan because people at every other team had liked her. There was a reason that she had a standing invitation into multiple hospitality suites if she wanted it.

But they couldn’t help it going to Monza. It was the final leg of the triple header, everyone exhausted and wanting more sleep. So it was easier to say yes and go so they got to the hotel earlier and actually got some sleep. But it meant that he couldn’t cuddle her, he couldn’t even hold her hand and snuggle with her to forget the world existed. Instead she sat there curled in on herself as she was halfway through Pride and Prejudice, a frown on her face and Dan unable to kiss it away.

After a torturous half hour of flying without touching her Dan was tired of it. Friends got to be affectionate with each other, he’d hugged her in public before. He could be touchy with his best friend. He laid his hand over hers, fingers lying in the gaps. She’d put one hand on the armrest as her other hand held her tablet, half looking out the window at the dark night and half paying attention to her screen. She barely even reacted to him, just her fingers loosening and then lacing with his to squeeze for a moment. It said more to him than a thousand words could have.

He knew her well enough to know she’d be silent during the flight, but he wanted to make her smile instead of the small frown on her face. If they were alone he’d have pressed kisses across her cheeks and nose to make her laugh, asking him to stop because his stubble was scratching her. But that wasn’t an option until they were in the hotel in a few hours. The next best option was texting, watching as the notification of his text appeared on her tablet.

The sky should be really jealous.

???

Because it’s pretty outside but it’s nowhere near as pretty as you.

Cocky. Should be jealous of you though, black looks good on you.

You look better on me than black does.

You’re gonna say we can test it out when we get to the hotel, aren’t you?

U know me so well.

Nobody else noticed the tiny smile that appeared on her face, but Dan did. It was there for barely a second but it was enough. At least until he could make sure she was smiling when they were fully alone.

It wasn’t until they were in the car on the way to the hotel and away from the airport that he could hold her hand and press a kiss to her fingers. There were no questions about where anyone was sitting or who was driving, he got straight into the back seat with Emmy, gripping her hand across the middle seat.

“Can we go for pizza after we check into the hotel? I’ve been waiting for one.”

“Already thinking about pizza?” Michael asked it and Dan frowned at his tone, taking it as exhausted.

“I’m never not thinking about pizza in Monza. This pizza keeps me going through the year. Plus, I didn’t throw anyone off the plane or start an argument so I deserve it.”

“You kind of do,” Dan affirmed, lifting their joined hands to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

Emmy’s wishes were his command so if his girl wanted pizza he wasn’t saying no. The fact that her favourite pizza place was also his favourite was an extra point in their relationship. After they checked in, left their things in rooms and Dan pulled her to his room for a quickie to prove his theory of the best way he looked, they left the room to have dinner.

He loved Italy. It was his family’s country, it was the first place that he’d lived on his own in Red Bull supplied housing, he had thousands of memories there. But his favourite ones were Em in Italy with him.

She always seemed happier there, more carefree. The first time he’d brought her to Italy was that first week in Monaco, eating pasta and showing her places he loved. Even when they were busy with work at races she carried herself differently there. When they had their post Monza vacation every year she was always completely relaxed. He grinned just watching her.

He could feel her relax against him as they got out of the car a few streets away from the pizza place. It always felt like he was a little bit of a spy in a foreign land when he was in Monza, the Tifosi out in force. But she was so chilled out that she didn’t say anything when he reached for her hand and held it tightly. Any time they were in public she always gave him her Dan, we’re in public face because they didn’t need any more rumours or people on the internet asking what they were. They didn’t need more people whispering about them.

He didn’t care about it. He couldn’t care less if people talked about him, that came with the territory of his job. But he couldn’t handle people talking about Em and gossiping about her. So he tried to keep his hands from her even when he kept reaching out to take her hand walking anywhere. That night he couldn’t stay away from her and she didn’t say anything about him holding her hand walking down semi familiar streets, or his hand on her lower back as they were brought to their table, or his arm around her shoulder pulling her in for a hug. She didn’t give him a little look or a gentle nudge in the stomach, no whisper to leave her alone while they were in public. It was completely the opposite, after a sip of his beer she was fully leaned against his side and half snuggling him.

“You know what we should do?” Dan whispered in her ear, only half listening to the debate that Michael and Blake were having about the Black Widow movie.

“I’m scared but curious. Tell me,” Em answered as she ignored her lemon drink in favour of another sip from his one allowed beer before a race week fully started.

“Buy a house in Italy.” He watched as her eyes lit up and her face started to move to a grin before she forced it down.

“You’re the most ridiculous man in the world. When would you have time to spend in Italy?”

“We totally could. A cute little house, a couple of bedrooms, a garden, by one of the lakes. It’d be perfect. We should do it.”

“You’re insane.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Of course it’s not!”

She was saying no but the smile she was fighting to keep off her face was enough to make Dan know it was an excellent idea. After they got engaged and found a place in London he was gonna start trying to find somewhere for them. And hopefully some kids. Showing their kids where their family was from, even if it wasn’t Sicily.

They spent the rest of the night chatting and laughing, eating pizza and joining in the conversation with their friends. Em pretended she was sticking to just soft drinks, stealing a sip from his beer every now and then as Dan winked at her and tried so hard not to kiss her wrinkled nose. The four of them walked back to their hotel as Dan forced himself not to take her hand and kiss her on the street. He had a plan and he was sticking to it. This time next week he'd be on a proper date with her, kissing her and then asking her the question that had been burning a hole in his bag since the previous Christmas. It was going to be perfect.

Em loved lazy Wednesdays in Italy. The fact that she'd had enough of them to know that was a magical feeling. It was the end of their triple header, just one more race to go and then they got to relax and spend a couple of days on the shores of Lake Como. Dan had taken control of booking their trip, a cute villa slightly outside the main tourist area. They spent the day relaxing for most of it. Dan had given her a list of restaurants to look at and they mapped out where they’d eat for the three days. They would have killed for longer but it just wasn’t possible in the middle of the season.

That evening was a sponsor dinner that she had to dress up for and look appropriate to be on Dan’s arm. She hated those nights with a passion. She had to be in a fancy dress and full makeup, talking to the rich men who wanted Dan at events. At least this one was for Google Italy, it was more fun than some of the other events she’d been at. A particularly boring DeWalt shoot came to mind on that.

It was Google shmoozing their own clients, using Dan and Lando to do it. Em stayed on Dan’s arm for the entire night as she smiled and shook hands. Halfway through Zak found them and stopped to talk, his own wife there with him. It was Em left with Tracy for a few moments while Zak took Dan around to speak. The two women had wine glasses in their hands and looked around the room.

“Having a good evening, Emma?” Tracy asked, Em nodding.

“It’s Em, but yeah. These events aren’t always fun but it’s nice to see Dan in his element. It’s part of the job.”

“I suppose. Not every assistant does what you do.” Em took a sip of her wine, careful not to knock the glass back like she really wanted to.

“Dan and I were friends before I started working for him. If it means that Dan can enjoy events a bit more then I don’t mind.” Tracy watched her closely for a few moments but nodded as their respective dates for the night returned.

“Sorry about that, I had to double check some things. Daniel, you’re in with Valtteri for the press conference tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, I am. Should be fun. We’re gonna head off, it’s a busy day tomorrow. See you at the track?”

He took Em’s arm and pulled her along out of the room, the two of them getting into the car and heading back to their hotel. She was tired from the busy room and having to be on around people but she kept it together as they drove on. Dan held her hand on the way back, fingers locked as he pushed a kiss to them. She smiled, looking forward to getting into bed and out of the dress she was in. Even if Dan looked excellent in his suit.

She started pulling pins out of her hair to take it out of the undo she’d managed, Dan standing beside her and pulling them out too. Once they were out he started kissing along her shoulder as he pushed her dress down. Em threw her head back to give him more access before they made it to bed.

Thursdays were weird now. Instead of press conferences it was all digital, the journalists in their hotel rooms asking questions. It meant more setup meetings, more talking, more everything. She used Dan’s meetings as a way to get the weekend planned. But it didn’t seem as busy as normal. Her calendar was half empty. Again.

At Zandvoort she thought it was a mistake but it wasn’t. It didn’t feel right. Em put her worries aside, taking a deep breath as she looked. There had to be an explanation and she needed a moment.

“I’m getting a coffee, anyone want anything?” It was just her, Dan, and Blake upstairs. Michael was out doing some checks and making sure the kitchen was stocked and ready.

“Green tea please Emmy? You make it best.” She laughed at Dan’s puppy eyes, nodding as Blake gave her his order and she went down to the main hospitality area. It didn’t take long to have everything and she went to go back upstairs when a security guard stopped her.

“Sorry Miss, drivers and support only.” His arm blocked the narrow staircase and Em stared at him.

“I am support. I’m Daniel Ricciardo’s assistant, I need to get this up to him.”

“No entry.”

Em sat watching until the guard was called outside and ran upstairs, smiling and pretending it was fine. It had to be fine. There was no other option. The drinks got handed and she watched as they were getting ready until Blake’s phone chimed.

“Shit, Dan, you’ve got a sit down we’ve got to go. Did you not see it Ems?” Blake asked, Em checking.

She stared at her tablet, the realisation hitting her. She wasn’t on any of Dan’s meetings. She looked at Blake’s calendar and his filled up with meetings, things he was in. But hers had a couple of things - the press conference, the race, practices. One of the engineering meetings. A fanzone appearance. But that was it. It was empty and she hated it. Her usually perfectly colour coded calendar was mostly blank and worried her. She was getting blocked out.

“Sorry I must have missed it. My calendar hasn’t synced, I’ll sort it.” Dan and Blake left, Em sitting staring.

She didn’t know why, she didn’t know what had caused this to happen but it was. How? Dan had promised that it was in his contract that his team had full access to all of his information and everything they needed to do their jobs. But she’d missed a meeting and he was nearly late and that was supposed to be why she was there. She had to keep that going. If she didn’t then why was she there?

The evening was half a blur as the realisation she was being pushed out hit her. Security stopping her going up to Dan and Blake. The way McLaren acted in general. All of it. They were pushing her out and forcing her away and she couldn’t keep going like this. It wasn’t fair to her or to Dan if she couldn’t do her job.

“You ok?” Dan asked at dinner, watching her barely touched food.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just been a long, long day. I’m tired.”

“We can go back soon.”

When they got back to the hotel room Em curled up beside him, feeling the warmth of his body around her and the way he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before whispering goodnight. If this was her last race she was going to enjoy it.

Em was always the last one to get up in the morning. She was a night owl, getting up at seven because he had a race was the last thing she ever wanted to do. It was usually him waking her up with kisses and promises that he would bring her for food after that helped. Or early sleepy sex to wake her up. Both were fun for him.

But the bed was never empty at five in the morning. He could count on one hand how many times he’d woken up alone when they’d gone to bed together. The room was dark and silent, Em’s spot cold. She had to have been gone for more than a few minutes.

It took a few seconds for his vision to adjust to the quiet darkness and he slipped out of bed and searched for her. Her clothes were laid out where she’d left them the night before. Her shoes were there by the chair. She had to be either in the bathroom or the adjoining room that was hers in name only.

The worry in his gut turned to cold fear as he opened the bathroom door to discover her missing. His girl was gone and she had to be next door but why was she? What had she done to head to her room? It felt wrong. She should have been beside him. He eased open the adjoining door and spotted a ray of light spilling out from the bathroom. The fear eased. She was there, they could fix everything. It’d be fine. But her quiet sobs got louder as he padded across the carpeted floor to her. It was gut wrenching and painful and he pushed the door open to see his girl curled up on the floor beside the shower, her arms wrapped around her knees as she cried.

Em was in one of his oversized shirts - his in name only because he was pretty sure it was the shirt he’d given her over two years ago to help her sleep when he was travelling and she was still in London - hugging herself. Now that he was in the room her sobs were all encompassing and he had no idea how he didn’t hear her the second he woke up. She looked like a scared child, not the woman who shared his bed and his life and heart every day. This wasn’t the Em he knew.

She looked broken. He sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms, feeling how she tensed until she realised who he was. He wanted to hold her and fight against the world, but he needed to know which of her ghosts he was going to fight that night. But it felt like this time it was a whole haunted mansion. He pushed kisses against her forehead and rocked her gently, telling her how it was gonna be ok no matter what.

“I’m right here, Emmy, I promise. Whatever’s going on we can fix it. I promise. I’ll fix it for us.”

Her tears began to ease and he could look at her face. Her eyes were swollen and red, her cheeks flushed but the rest of her face so pale. He’d never seen her this bad before. She was shaking and trying to pull herself together and he knew she wasn’t gonna have the words to discuss what caused this for a few minutes.

“When you’re ready talk to me, ok? Whatever you need. But tell me what’s wrong so we can fix this. I’m worried about you.” His thumb wiped the tears from her cheeks, but he wasn’t quick enough to get them before more came. Slowly they eased and she could take breaths without sobbing. He kept rocking her until she was ready to speak.

“You need to get ready, D.” She went to get out of his arms but he held on and waited till she looked at him with an angry pout on her lips.

“I’m not going anywhere until we talk. There is nothing more important than you, Emmy. Nothing. You’re crying in the bathroom at five in the morning and you came in here so I couldn’t hear you. What’s going on, Wrinkles? Talk to me.” He stood up still carrying her, bringing her into the main hotel room and sitting on the bed. She was playing with the hem of her shirt nervously but Dan gave her time until she was ready to speak.

“I… Dan they’re pushing me away and they’re stopping me from doing my job. And if I can’t do my job at the track then I shouldn’t be travelling so why am I even here? There’s nothing for me to be here for.” He kept his face calm as she spoke, anger filling his veins. What the fuck.

“What are you talking about, Baby?”

“They didn’t want to let me in your room today. I went down for your tea and when I went to go back upstairs they didn’t let me. I snuck past when he was distracted. It’s why it was cold.”

“Who did that?”

“Some random security guard? I’ve never seen him before, I don’t know his name. He said it was drivers and support only and I wasn’t support.”

“I’ll find out who.” Or at least Blake would. He wasn’t letting them get away with this. He couldn’t.

“Danny they’re not letting me do anything. The meeting you nearly missed wasn’t on my calendar. I’m blocked out from everything and I don’t know what to do anymore. There’s no reason for me to be here now, but I don’t want to be away from all of you. I can’t lose you, Danny. I don’t want to be stuck alone and I don’t want them to keep us apart.” He could see the worry hitting her, and he held on, kissing her forehead while rubbing her back.

“You’re not going anywhere, Emmy. You’re not gonna lose me. I’m not letting you go anywhere you don’t want to without me. You’re the one who keeps us all sane and you can’t do that if you’re at home. When did all this start, Baby?”

“Hungary? Slowly but surely. Spa it was worse and Zandvoort was bad. I didn’t know how to talk to you and Blake about it. I thought maybe I could fix it.” She looked even more nervous, jumping as his phone alarm went off in their room.

“Just my alarm, it’s alright. You did nothing wrong Baby, you hear me? Nothing at all. I’m gonna talk to Blake and we’ll fix it. I promise you, you are perfectly fine and didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Thank you.” She went to stand up but Dan squeezed her tighter before letting go, kissing her cheeks to remove the trace of tears.

“Don’t thank me. You know, right?” He squeezed her hand as she stood.

“I know.” A watery smile filled her face. “I need to get ready, I think I need a shower to fix my face before I’m in public.”

“Grab one. I’m gonna run into Blake for a couple of minutes. Are you ok if I do?”

“I’ll be in the shower, don’t worry.”

“I will anyway. I’m gonna take my phone, if you need me call me and I’ll be back in two.” He made sure she was ok before he shrugged into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. He picked up his phone and key before heading out, grabbing Em’s iPad as he did. Blake was a couple of rooms away and answered the door looking tired and annoyed, hair sticking up. When he saw Dan’s face he calmed.

“What happened?”

“Inside. Now.” Blake let him in and Dan handed Em’s iPad over, her calendar open to today. There was practice and qualifying in it and that was it. He saw how Blake raised an eyebrow.

“What the fuck?”

“I heard her crying through the wall. She’s getting left out of everything.”

“I know you share a room, I’m not a fucking idiot.”

“She went back into hers.” He laid out the little information that Em had given him, comparing her calendar to Blake’s. The missing meetings, how she was kept away. Zak asking when he wanted his new assistant to start. Dan had to stay calm but Blake could be angry then.

“I’m getting a meeting before practice. She’s gonna be fine, Dan. She’s not going anywhere. We know this. It’s Em, she keeps us alive half the time. Go back, have a shower, we’ve got breakfast downstairs for eight and then we’ll go from there.”

Too much time had passed since he got up to find her, but Dan pushed himself to get ready and get his head in the game. It was going to be a busy, chaotic morning but Em came first. The four of them ate breakfast together and he watched as she barely ate her yogurt. He stood and went over to the buffet, coming back with a Nutella croissant and a hot chocolate to put in front of her. She never really ate when she was anxious so hopefully something would be better than nothing.

On the drive to the circuit he held Em’s hand. Blake drove, Michael in the front seat beside him. Nerves thrummed through his body as he linked fingers but Em kissed his hand and he relaxed. She was there. She was right there and it was all ok.

When they finally made it into the circuit Michael went to do some checks while the other three went to his driver’s room. Em sat there staring into space while Dan stretched out. Finally it was time to go down to Zak, Blake tapping his shoulder.

“Emmy we’re heading, ok? I’ll be back in a few. If you need anything call me.”

“I will.” She still looked nervous so he leaned over to peck her lips, smiling as they separated.

“It’s gonna be fine. I promised you. Focus on holiday plans, which beach are we going to first?” She smiled at him and nodded, safe in his room. Nobody was going to remove her from it, nobody was going to kick her out. She belonged there.

He went down the stair with Blake, ignoring the look that his friend gave him.

“So you and Em?”

“Nothing.”

“It didn’t look like nothing.”

“We’re nearly there.”

“Nearly?”

“I’m trying to make it work.”

“Mate, I’m saying this as someone who loves both of you. She loves you. Just tell her.”

“We’re nearly there.” By the time Dan spoke they were outside Zak’s office and he shook his head to end the conversation. A knock on the door and they were inside, Zak standing ready to end it.

“Guys can we talk later? I’m heading to a meeting, but after qualifying we can-“

“We’re talking now.” He sat down, watching how Zak sat too. Blake followed suit.

“What’s going on?”

“Why is Em being kept from my calendar and everything she’s supposed to be on? She’s been removed from everything. She’s not supposed to be removed. It’s in my contract. What’s going on?”

“I don’t-“

“Emma isn’t able to do her job. She’s missing things because you’ve been keeping her away from everything she needs. She needs access.” Blake took over and Dan was fine to let him, he ended it. He couldn’t keep himself calm for this. He let the words wash over him until Zak got his laptop up.

“We need to keep our information safe. Having someone not employed by McLaren affects this. It’s why we’ve been asking about getting you a new assistant.”

“And Blake has access to my calendar. He’s not employed by McLaren. I trust Em with everything, you need to trust her too.”

“Fine.”

It took another two minutes before Zak closed the laptop, looking at them. “She’s there. If we lose anything I will blame her for it.”

Dan stood and left, too angry to talk. He had to get into the car soon and he wasn’t going to let it affect him. He couldn’t. Em was most important.

Emmy was still sitting where he’d left her, staring into space. It was clear to him now how much this was affecting her, she hadn’t even opened her tablet and her makeup was heavier than he ever saw it. All he wanted to do was make it better for her and fix things. This he could fix. He could make this better for her. There wasn’t a whole lot he could always fix but this he could fix. She looked up at him when he arrived and Dan smiled.

“Check your calendar.”

It took all of ten seconds for her to see that everything was back in her calendar and he watched her relax into her seat. If Blake wasn’t there he’d have kissed her, but they both had jobs to do and practice was an hour away. It was squeezing her shoulder before he went downstairs to talk to Tom.

After practice it felt like things might go ok. He went over data and grabbed lunch before getting into a fresh race suit for qualifying. Like always Em was the last person he spoke to before he got into the car. She kissed the side of his helmet and smiled with a whispered “Go fast and be safe”.

For the first time in McLaren his qualifying felt like it went right. He got out of the car just six thousandths behind Lando. It was good. Em was grinning from the back of the garage with her headphones still on when he arrived in.

That evening as soon as he could get out he did, wanting nothing more than to get to bed. The early morning had done him in, and Em was dead on her feet. It was a quick dinner in hospitality and back to the hotel, Michael and Blake in the car with them again before going up to their rooms. He watched Emmy get changed and set out her clothes for the next day like she always did. Once they were curled up in bed he pulled her closer, desperate to hold onto her as tightly as he could.

“Apart from the obvious, how was today?” He couldn’t feel her tense up at least. That was a good sign.

“Weird. But ok. Blake was like my shadow today, I was beside him the whole day. There was a weird security guy who kept looking at us but other than that it was good.” Dan felt his stomach clench but he made himself stay calm. He’d noticed extra security but that couldn’t have been why. There was no way there was extra there for his Emmy. Not at all.

He watched her eyes close and her breathing even out, his thumb rubbing circles on her back. Three more nights after this. By this time Tuesday evening he’d have said everything, and Emmy would know all of it. The ring sitting in his bag would have a home on her finger. He had so many plans for them. He wanted to marry her over Christmas when they were in Perth, make it all official. She deserved every moment of happiness he could give her and this was the start of it.

Saturday arriving to the track was different. The security had definitely lessened, and coming in realising that it had was a kick in the teeth. But he had to concentrate and work, as much as he’d rather do anything else. Two days till they were on holiday. Two days. They could do it. He was gonna get a good result and decent points and then he and Emmy were going to Lake Como for a strictly clothing optional holiday and he couldn’t wait.

Practice was shit. There was no easy way around it, no way to make it sound better than it was. It fucking sucked and he hated that it did. He hated that every time he thought he was improving he wasn’t, that he was stuck in a tractor of a car that was worse than he was promised and maybe he’d made a mistake. Maybe he shouldn’t have left Renault, maybe he should have been in the blue and pink Alpine instead. Then the bullshit wouldn’t have happened.

The anger fuelled him as he made his way upstairs to his driver room. He was tired and pissed off and fed up. What he thought was a good decision for his career had fucked him and more importantly it had fucked Em over. He never wanted to see her like that again. Ever.

Emmy was sitting on the couch upstairs, her head jolting up as he arrived in wearing his race suit. Not even seeing her calmed him fully and he knew she could tell.

“What’s wrong?”

“Guess.” She stood up and he wrapped his arms around her, feeling himself ease up on everything. She was there and it was going to be ok.

“What do you need, Danny?”

“I don’t even know.”

“Ok, rephrase. What do you need from me? What do you need to get it out?” She leaned up and kissed him and Dan caught her lips, pushing her against the wall as they made out. She was perfect. Absolutely perfect. He could feel the way that she pushed against him, her hand gripping the back of his neck.

“I think I just need to fuck you against this wall, you know that? Make you scream and have the whole paddock know this is exactly where you belong. Right here with me. But I’ve to change and go to another fucking meeting. Much less fun than what I want.” He could see the way she shivered at his words and he completely knew if he moved his hands she’d be there with him. Instead he just watched her swallow and look up.

“I’m not saying no. I’m saying not here and now.”

“You deserve better than that.”

“Danny when we get back to the hotel I want you to push me against the wall and fuck me, understood?”

His brain short circuited. Emmy was asking him. Emmy. His Emmy who before was too afraid to tell him she hadn’t had an orgasm because when they started sleeping together she thought she’d be left high and dry without one. Asking him to fuck her exactly how she wanted with no thought for anything else? He was a lucky, lucky man.

“You are amazing.” He pecked her lips one last time before just holding her. He didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to say goodbye and go to engineering and stretch out and everything. He wanted to spend time with his girl away from the world. But he changed his clothes and went downstairs, kissing Em goodbye before he left.

The meeting was boring, getting told to protect Lando off the starting line, as if there was no chance he could make it off himself. He’d won seven races, he could beat Lando off the start line. Even with this car. He knew he could. Finally it was time to start stretching and getting ready, Michael holding out tennis balls and helping him prep.

“You need to concentrate, you’ve got a good chance this weekend.” His trainers words were quiet but Dan could hear the full force of what he meant in them.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean you need to clear your head, mate. Worrying about Em isn’t gonna change anything.”

“Oh fuck you.” He stepped back, shaking his head while flapping his arms out to loosen them. “I’m focused on driving, that’s what matters. I have a life too.”

“I’m just saying.”

The pit lane was about to open and he stepped back, staying out of the camera view. Netflix were with them that weekend to make it worse and he had to keep a smile on his face when he didn’t want to. Em was at the stairs up to his driver room, smiling at him and quickly kissing his cheek.

“Drive fast, be safe, I’ll see you at the checkered flag. You’ve got this, Danny.” He squeezed her hand before letting go, desperate for the words to be right. It was going to happen. It had to.

Going back to the garage he zipped up his suit and ignored his name being called. Nobody spoke to him until he was in the car after Em did, it was his rule. As he stepped into the car the music changed to Stayin’ Alive, Dan looking around.

“This DJ should get fucking shot though!” He called out, staring at the team. Seriously? This bullshit again. But when he put his helmet on he forced it out of his head, determined not to hear it. He was gonna do this. He was gonna qualify well.

The start felt like a dream, and the fact that he kept going even with the touch with Pierre was important. Somehow he ended up behind Max and he wasn’t sure what had happened until Tom came over the radio.

“Good job Dan, P3. Lando’s just behind and will protect.”

Monza was fun to drive. Every moment of it was fun, the swooping curves and fast flowing corners leading to the straight where he let the throttle fly. He knew he wouldn’t beat Max, but that moment going around the parabolica knowing he was third was beautiful. The screaming of the fans, Tom congratulating him in his ear, he’d fucking done it. He’d come third in the sprint and yeah maybe it wasn’t an official podium but he’d done it and he could be proud of that. He had to be.

Seeing everyone cheering for him meant everything, Em standing with Blake’s arm around her grinning and he wanted to kiss her in front of the world. She was right there but he just grinned. It was everything.

After the interviews he was on his way back to the garage when Max stopped him with a wide smile. The paddock had cleared and it wasn’t unusual for them to walk together.

“I’m going to fight you, but if you get the start I’ll hold Lewis back.” Dan stopped and stared at the younger man, raising an eyebrow.

“Max, what?”

“If you beat me. Only if, and I’m going to fight for it. But if you do I’ll hold Lewis off for you to get the win. We both know you’re good enough for it.” Max smiled and Dan replied with one, looking at his former teammate. Sometimes he regretted leaving Red Bull more than he could ever admit. It was the right move to spread his wings, but he missed the support he used to have.

“Don’t tell Christian you said that.”

“Christian would be glad if you won and I came second. Better if I win and you come second, but he still likes you. Stop by some time, Daniel. You won’t be run away unless you try to look at our data.”

“Ah Maxy, you know me too well!” He grinned and turned into his garage, immediately welcomed by applause and cheering. It had really happened, and it was glorious.

After a stupid number of meetings and discussions they were finally ready to leave. Em was tired, her feet trudging alongside him until he bent down.

“C’mon, hop up.”

“What?” She asked, Dan indicating for her to get on his back.

“The paddock is empty, nobody’s around. Piggyback to the car, c’mon.” She held on and he walked down while talking to Michael and Blake, Em pushing a kiss to the back of his neck every few steps. He knew she knew what she was doing and he squeezed the back of her thighs, making his girl tense slightly as they walked. It wasn’t long back to the hotel and heading to bed to relax. Or in his case get all of the adrenaline out of his system.

They didn’t even do the mock of having Em go into the room that was supposed to be hers, instead he pulled her into their room, bags dropped just inside the door as it was kicked shut. Em was right there with him, her arm around him until he pinned her against the bathroom door. It was his hand in her hair to pull her head back as he trailed kisses along her jaw. It held her still as his knee split her legs and ran up to push the seam of her jeans against her. She gasped into their kiss as he held onto her.

“What did I promise you I was gonna do tonight?”

“F-fuck me against the wall.” Her words were gasps as his free hand was everywhere, teasing and pinching. It was easy to get her shirt off, exposing the pretty blue sheer lace bra. He couldn’t help himself, bending down to lick at her nipple through the barely there fabric.

“Danny…please…” she groaned and he loved every noise she made. Clothes went everywhere as he lifted her up, pulling the matching underwear down and settling her onto the barely used desk. Her legs were spread as he stood between them, sucking marks into her skin while he made his way to his ultimate destination.

Any man who wouldn’t eat his girl out was a coward as far as Dan was concerned. It was one of his favourite things to do. Em’s hair running through his curls and pulling on them, his fingers and lips and tongue working to bring her to the edge. If he was feeling particularly mean he’d leave her right there for a few moments and watch his girl beg him to move.

Tonight though he wanted to ruin her. He wanted to leave her boneless and well fucked and knowing that he was the one who did this with her. He’d leave it all behind if it meant that his Emmy was happy and he was going to slowly prove that to her.

It didn’t take long for him to feel her first orgasm come up, Em grabbing his hair and biting her lip as he took his mouth away to look up at her.

“I want to hear you. I’m the one who makes you feel like this, let me hear you. C’mon.” Her moans got louder as he dove back in, his fingers hitting the spot he knew was her everything. Once he was satisfied with the hickey he’d bitten into her inner thigh Dan moved back to her clit. He kept licking at her clit while she came, desperate to taste everything he could. It was just them in that hotel room and he was desperate for everything.

When Emmy finally stopped shaking he stood up, watching how she was flushed down her chest. She was absolutely fucking perfect.

“You ok, Baby?” He asked, leaning in to kiss her and hold onto her.

“I’m good. I promise. But you promised me a wall, Mr Ricciardo. Gonna make good on your promise?” She was grinning up at him and Dan stood, pulling her off the desk and her legs wrapping around his hips. His lips met with hers as he got them to the wall, pushing Em against it to give them more support. His fingers grabbed her hips as he finally slid into her, watching as Em looked up at him with wide eyes.

“All mine, Emmy. You’re all mine and I’m gonna make sure you know it.” His hips set a blistering pace against her and he watched as her fingers slid to where they were joined, feeling the way she tightened around him as between his pace and her fingers she came to another orgasm. She was harder to hold up after this one, tiredness taking over but he needed another.

“Third place today so I want to see three orgasms. Can you do it for me? Gonna give me that third so I can see my pretty girl? You can do it Baby, I’ve got you.”

Instead of keeping her there he took steps back towards the bed, still inside Em as he set them down carefully. His girl was right there in his lap riding him and she felt so perfect. He watched her move her hips carefully, suddenly realising how hard he’d been pushing her. There was the start of marks and bruises along her boobs and stomach and Dan moved his hand away, looking at her.

“I’m good. Danny, I’m good, I promise. If I wasn’t I’d have told you to stop. But you told me you were gonna fuck me hard against the wall and I wanted it. And right now I want you to tell me what you like.”

He looked into Em’s eyes and saw the absolute truth of what she was saying, even though part of his brain didn’t fully get it. They were rough, they’d go further kink wise than they intended sometimes, but not like this much. He knew Emmy could see the unsureness in his face and he watched as she picked up his hand and put it at her neck. It was their favourite thing in bed, and he used the feeling of comfort he knew it gave her to keep going. If she wasn’t sure she’d have called red and stopped him.

“Gonna be my good girl? Gonna let me watch you ride me and put on a show? Is that what my Emmy wants to do tonight?” He didn’t have to thrust, his hand keeping Em steady and feeling her move under him. She looked so perfect like that, chest bouncing as he watched her fuck herself on him. His perfect Emmy. He was so close to blurting everything out but not now, not till they were alone. He couldn’t do it during sex that was just cruel. He needed to do it when they had no distractions.

“Please Danny. Please. Make me feel good.”

“Such a greedy girl for me. Do you deserve another orgasm? Are you my good girl who gets another?” She nodded desperately as she bounced up and down, Dan pulling her lips closer to him.

“What are you, Emmy? Tell me and we’ll see.”

“I’m yours. All yours, Danny. You’re the only one who makes me feel this good. Please let me feel good.”

He could never deny her, pulling her in for a kiss as his fingers went straight to her clit. Between his thrusts, her bouncing, and his fingers she came in less than a minute, Dan following her straight over. He held her as aftershocks went through her body, Em’s head buried in his shoulder while he rubbed her back, unwilling to slip out of her. That meant the moment was gone and he wanted every second of it. He wanted Emmy in all the ways that he could have her. He was so fucking far gone it terrified him. But he was so blissfully happy.

Eventually they had to move, Dan pushing a soft kiss to her forehead as she lifted off him. He hurried to the bathroom to wet a cloth before coming back to clean Emmy up. She was pouting as he did and he couldn’t help but press a kiss to her to wipe it off her face before she went into the bathroom. While she was gone it was a quick call to room service for a strawberry pana cotta and a small cheesecake to be delivered. Dan slipped a robe on to answer the door, clearing their clothes away. He was delighted that he hadn’t actually ripped Em’s underwear getting them off her. One good thing.

When there was a knock on the door he answered with a smile and took the plates while giving a tip. Just as he had them settled on a table Em came out of the bathroom, showered with her hair tied up.

“You doing ok?” He asked, pulling her in for a kiss and running his hands over her.

“Yeah. I think I need some cuddles though.”

“And sugar. I got you dessert. Don’t tell anyone about my cheesecake.”

He shared his cheesecake with her and got bites in return before they curled up in bed together. He didn’t know how, but somehow she was fast asleep against him in about an hour. Emmy’s breathing evened out and he watched her sleep as the bruises he’d left on her chest were darkening. She always grinned every time she spotted a new mark he’d left on her and he hoped this time was the same. Whatever magic was there he didn’t want it to end. But sleep came calling and he had a race to drive the next day.

Em was the one who woke him up the next morning. Her kisses were nicer than his alarm clock, Dan’s hands immediately on her back and pulling her up. He heard her groan, opening his eyes to look at her.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, just sore. It’s good sore, Danny. I promise.” He raised an eyebrow and she laughed. “Honestly. I’m fine. You worked me good last night and every part of it was perfect.” She leaned down to kiss him and Dan smiled into the kiss, chasing Emmy’s lips as she got up.

“You need to shower and I need to get dressed. C’mon Mister Front Row, it’s going to be great. I have faith in you.”

That was all he needed to hear to get out of bed. It was one last kiss to Em before he went into the bathroom to shower. He nearly convinced her for five more minutes of cuddling before they had to get ready but he didn’t get away with it. Instead he showered while she got ready, putting on a McLaren shirt and jeans to be dressed. Once he was done he came out to find Emmy ready to go and he stopped in his tracks.

She was in skinny jeans and vans like usual, but every single part of her dripped his. Her three necklace hanging from her neck, the earrings with three stars he bought her. Her entire outfit was clothes he’d given her as presents and he was nearly sure if he checked her underwear was too. She was a dream and did he really have to leave for the track? It’d be fine to do the race without him. Who’d care?

Instead he pulled her in for a hug and a murmured “thank you” to Em, looking as she smiled up at him.

“For what?”

“For being you and amazing. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Walking into the circuit felt different that morning and he didn’t know why. Things were good and he was going to do his best. He was going to be on that podium no matter what. He could do it.

The time before getting in the car was a blur. He had no idea. He wanted to soak in the moments but he couldn’t, he was focusing on driving. He could drive this place blindfolded. He could do it.

Putting on his suit and boots he took a deep breath before heading downstairs. Em caught him just before he went into the garage. It was another kiss on the cheek and telling him to be fast and safe, but Dan kissed her properly for the briefest of seconds.

“You’ve got this. I’m gonna see you at that barrier.”

He walked in and picked up his balaclava to put it on before getting in the car. But before he could step in Zak caught him, an arm around his shoulder. Nobody ever did that. Emmy was the last person he talked to before he got in the car, always. She was his good luck charm. Even Michael knew not to talk to him when Em had talked to him. He’d get in and connect his earbuds for the radio and then he’d talk to Tom.

“Good luck. It’d be good to have a trophy to show around the MTC on Tuesday along with that medal, wouldn’t it?”

“Tuesday?” His blood ran cold.

“Yeah, we need to celebrate your sprint medal. Did Nicole from PR not tell you yet? Full day in the MTC then. Your calendar was empty so it looked good.”

His calendar was empty because they’d removed Em from access. Without his girl there to block the days out then its looked free. Which meant that their vacation was gone because he had to be in fucking Woking instead.

“See you at the flag!” He wanted to punch Zak’s fucking face. He was so angry he wanted to scream. But instead he got into the car, settling down and putting his helmet on and connecting it to his HANS. The radio connected in while the guys strapped him into place and he had the go ahead to bring the car to the grid. Bring it in, get out, let everything happen.

He had to blank his mind out. It’s was the visualisation crap that Michael beat into his head that he kept going with.

Finally it was the anthems and he bopped along to the Italian one, the texts of good luck from his parents floating in the back of his head.

Waiting for the lights to go out was terrifying. Seeing the five red lights made him nearly forget everything that he’d known for so long, but as soon as they blinked off he was gone. Never ask him how he made it around those first corners but pretty soon he was leading the fucking race.

It was the fastest race of his life. The only time he worried was when the safety car backed everyone up after Max and Lewis crashed, the realisation that he didn’t have Max backing things up worrying him. But he forced himself to stay calm and pushed through, Tom giving him advice on the radio. It was obvious Lando had been ordered not to attack but Dan didn’t care, too focused on making it to the flag.

“YEAH P1! You bloody did it!” Tom was celebrating over the radio, Dan screaming his lungs out. He did it. He fucking did it. Fastest lap and first place and fuck it he did it.

“Deep down I knew this was gonna come, so…thanks. Thanks for having my back. And for anyone who thought I left, I never left. Just moved aside for a while.”

Pulling into that beautiful number one podium spot felt so sweet. He won. He actually won. It took a moment to realise what was happening as he shut the car off, pulling the steering wheel out and standing atop the halo. He fucking did it.Em was there at the barrier, sandwiched between Blake and Michael and he could see tears streaming down his girl’s face in pride and he grinned behind the helmet before tapping his chest three times, watching as she realised.

The jog to the team was sweet, jumping into them in celebration. He hugged Michael and Blake before Em wrapped her arms around him. All he wanted to do was pull his helmet off and kiss her in front of everyone but that wasn’t fair. He couldn’t. So instead he let go and realised she’d been FaceTiming his parents for the race. He took off his helmet and grinned at the camera, a murmured “I love you” escaping before he got pulled back to be weighed and interviewed by DC, a grin on the Scot’s face and the promise of a drink at some point once the cameras were switched off.

He was on the podium. On the top step in Monza. He’d done that and it was a heady feeling to be back up there, the Tifosi cheering because while he might not be a Ferrari driver he was half Australian and for them that was a big moment.

The chaos of interviews and discussions and debriefs and eating were constant, he didn’t have a second to himself for hours. It wasn’t until nearly nine that they were finally done, Zak sending him away to get changed before the party that had been hastily organised for the team in celebration. He bounded up the stairs two at a time, spotting Em in the room before she’d even realised he was there. She stood, grinning and pulling him in for a kiss.

“I am so proud of you. So fucking proud of you. You did that and you proved it to everyone and you are amazing. Well done, Danny.” He pulled her for a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he got the courage to say that they had to cancel everything.

“I need to get in touch with the villa to-“

“I called them earlier to cancel. Turns out the owner is a F1 fan and had put two and two together for when you rented it and your surname. He said congratulations and to call back whenever to rent it out again, there’s no problem. And I cancelled the flight back from Milan to London on Friday. Anything else you need?”

To tell her that he’s completely in love with her. But Emmy deserved better than that. She deserved better than when he was still sweaty after a race because he’d only had a rinse off shower to get the champagne off. She deserved a big gesture, but one somewhere private because if he did it in public she’d be too embarrassed. Just because this plan was ruined didn’t mean it was all bad.

Maybe Austin, the two of them in a city they loved. They were staying back an extra night or two to enjoy it. Or at the farm over Christmas when they got to go home together. After a day of seeing their family. That would be the right way to tell Emmy everything. He’d get down on one knee in their living room with her ring and she’d say yes, he knew her.

“You know, right?” His voice was thick. The tears he wanted to let out were close but he couldn’t start crying or he wouldn’t stop.

“I know. You know too?”

“I really know. C’mon. There’s a party in a couple of hours, let’s go change and shower and maybe nap for an hour.”

He pulled a clean shirt on before picking up his bag, holding his hand out for Emmy to take. At that time of night the paddock was deserted and he didn’t care who saw. If he didn’t get to tell his girl everything this week then he definitely got to hold her fucking hand leaving. He didn't care about the McLaren cameras in his face. He'd already had to give up enough with her this weekend, they didn't get this too.

Taglist.

@dr3lover @sabrinaselina55 @majx00 @tall-tanned-tattoo @lovingdennishauger @lauehr @msolbesg @f1medlife @idkwtfimdoing2 @leclercsbae @hiphopdancer101universe @mehrmonga @lewispool @saintandrea-droidsmuggler @coldheartedmar @sugarbabygirlofdaddy @nonsensical-nonce @a-distantdreamer @tita010 @leslizzle @javden @mloyer @magical-imagination-kgp @danarysstormborn @kakorrhaphiphobia @g-l-o-b-e-w-h-o-r-e @elizanav @neiich @luckyladycreator2 @scotlynaurora @belledawnidk

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trashytoastboi · 3 months

Text

🍞🍀Character Masterlists🍀🍞

One Piece

> Trafalgar Law part 1

> Trafalgar Law part 2

> Eustass Kid

> Roronoa Zoro

> Sanji

> Portgas D. Ace

> Killer

> Dracule Mihawk

> Sir Crocodile

> Charlotte Katakuri

> Shanks

> Monkey D Luffy

> Jewelry Bonney

> Perona

> Page One

> Corazon/Rosinante

> Nami

> X-Drake

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crazyunsexycool · 1 year

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My little love

Chapter 18

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x enhanced!reader

Word count: 4.5k

Warning: bit of angst, fluff, GOATS!!!!

A/N: I wish I could have this out sooner but work has been kicking my ass lately. Anyways I hope you like this chapter I have maybe one or two chapters planned of them being in Wakanda!

Series masterlist

Ch 17

As soon as the alarm went off you were on your feet and rummaging through everyone’s luggage. You had overpacked for a reason. Although you knew the main purpose of this trip was to help Henry, you knew there was a chance that people that Bucky had interacted with would want to see him again. It was important to you that they see he was doing well and was being taken care of. That the chance they had taken on Bucky hadn’t been a waste.

Bucky on the other hand seemed un-bothered that he was going to have dinner with the Queen mother of Wakanda. It was as if he always came to the palace to have Sunday dinner or something.

“Sugar,” Bucky caught you by the waist as you walked back towards the kid’s room. “Why are you freaking out? It’s just dinner.”

“With a literal Queen, James. I want us to look presentable.”

“We will. You practically packed their whole closet but this isn’t some huge feast or something. It will most likely just be Queen Ramonda, Shuri and T’Challa. Maybe Nakia if she isn’t on a mission. There’s nothing to worry about, it’s just a small dinner.” He gave you a kiss on the cheek before calling Henry and ushering him to the bathroom so that he could shower.

“It’s just a small dinner.” You mutter to yourself as you turn your attention toward Lottie who was turning the pages of her favorite picture book about animals.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bucky had been so wrong. There were a few leaders of the other tribes already waiting. You were glad you insisted on dressing up a bit considering everyone in the room looked amazing. They wore the colors representing their tribes and they all looked regal. You and Bucky were dressed both in black, while Lottie wore a dress and Henry wore a button up with a sweater on top and jeans. They looked adorable as they walked hand in hand.

Charlotte of course being the most outgoing was waving at anyone that would look in her direction. Bucky introduced you to a few of the tribe leaders as you all awaited the arrival of the royal family.

“So it’s true what I’ve heard. The white wolf has found a pack of his own.” You turned to see one of the younger men in the room walk towards you and Bucky. He was tall and broad, he wore furs and looked very intimidating.

“M’Baku, it’s good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you back, although I wish it were under better circumstances. Now, who is this?” He smiles in your direction and he doesn’t look as intimidating as before.

“This is Y/N. She’s an Avenger, my girlfriend and the mother of my children.” Bucky said as his hand rested on your hip.

“Pleasure to meet you M’Baku.”

“No no, the pleasure is all mine.” He winks in your direction causing you to smile. “I hope you enjoy Wakanda. Just let me know if you would like a tour.”

“Ok, stop flirting with my girl.”

“I wasn’t flirting, I was just being a good host.” He laughs at Bucky’s unamused expression and you can’t help but join in.

The doors open and in walks T’Challa, Shuri and Ramonda. The Dora Milaje right behind them. When Lottie sees the red uniforms and spears she turns to you and Bucky and points at the group with excitement. Bucky picked her up while Henry moved to stand beside you just as Ramonda approached.

“James.”

“Queen Ramonda.”

“You must be Y/N. I’ve heard many great things already. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiles at both of you.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“And who is this little one?” Her face lights up as she looks at Charlotte.

“This is our daughter Charlotte and this is our son Henry.” Bucky explains with some pride at being able to show his family off.

“Hello Charlotte, how are you?”

“Good.” Lottie responds softly and a bit shy, which is completely opposite of how she entered the room just a few minutes before.

“And how are you Henry?”

“I’m ok.” He says partially hidden behind you.

“Well I know that you are here so that Shuri can help you but I hope your baba takes you out to explore too. Would you like that?”

Henry nods.

“Good, I’m sure you’ll have fun. Now why don’t we sit down?” She says before leading you into a dining room.

The room was large with huge windows that allowed a perfect view of the sunset and of Wakanda. A long table sat in the middle. Ramonda led you to the end of the table you’d be sharing with her and Shuri while T’Challa sat at the head on the other end with the rest of the tribe’s leaders. Bucky sat Lottie next to him and Henry sat between you and Lottie.

****

By the end of the meal you have heard so many embarrassing stories about T’Challa from Shuri. Your mascara was probably ruined from your tears due to laughter. Henry now sat next to Shuri as they made up a handshake of their own. Lottie sat in Ramonda’s lap giggling at whatever Ramonda was doing. Bucky just smiled at the scene and you moved closer to him.

“What’s the smile for?”

“I was just thinking that if we were back in the 40s this is how it would be with my ma and my sisters. They would love the kids and you.” He has that look you’ve seen so many times, it’s a look of yearning for his family.

“I’m sure they’d be very proud of what a great father you are.”

Bucky smiles at you and places a kiss at your temple. Henry tugs at his arm and Bucky leans down to hear Henry whisper something in his ear. He excused himself and Henry and you are left with Shuri, Ramonda and Lottie.

“So tell me Y/N, how is motherhood treating you?” Ramonda asked.

“It’s been a big adjustment. Most of the time I’m afraid I’ll mess up and they’ll be scared of me or hate me. But I love them so much, I can’t imagine my life without them.”

“That is normal. I messed up many times while my children were little.”

“All of those stories of T’Challa are proof.” Shuri chimes in, making you snicker.

“The most important thing is that you tell them and show them how much they are loved. I’m very sure they love you too, isn’t that right Charlotte?”

“Yeah.” She said looking from Ramonda to you with a big smile. “Lobe mama.”

“I love you too.”

Charlotte giggles and stretches her arms out for you to pick her up. You kiss her cheek once she’s in your grasp and then you feel it. She tenses and she has that far away look in her eyes.

“Shit,” you start patting her back once you realize she isn’t breathing. “Come on baby, breathe for me.”

Shuri is up and out of her seat so quickly that it gathers the attention of the others in the room and Bucky who was walking back in. He quickly walks over with Henry as Shuri grabs one of the beads from her bracelet and starts a scan to figure out what’s going on.

“How long has she been like this?” Bucky asks as he takes Lottie from you and sits her on his lap. He starts to rub circles on her chest to try and get her to breathe.

“Just a few seconds.”

Lottie inhales sharply and Bucky prepares to run out since she usually cries after a vision. This time however she just has a scowl on her face.

“Lottie what’s wrong?”

“Steebie.”

“Does uncle Steve have an owie?”

“No, don’t wike it.” She says as she glared up at you and Bucky. Her little hands balled up into fists. “Bad Steebie.”

Bucky looks over at you as you both struggle to suppress laughter. When Charlotte has visions she either smiles or cries but never have you seen her get angry before. It’s somehow even funnier that the person that has made her mad is her precious uncle Steeb.

“Does that happen often?” Shuri asks as she stands beside you.

“The vision thing or the breathing thing?”

“Both.”

“The visions are unpredictable and so is the not breathing part. But she tends to hold her breath when the vision is very intense or upsetting. There have been other visions that don’t affect her this way.”

Shuri nodded while deep in thought as she processed what Bucky had said.

“Bring her to my lab tomorrow morning along with Henry. I’d like to run some tests if that’s ok with you.”

“Of course we’ll be there bright and early.”

“Good, I will see you all tomorrow.” She excuses herself and leaves.

“You deal with that every day?” Ramonda, who had been silently watching the whole thing, asked.

“Yes, it’s very unpredictable. Most visions aren’t as intense but when they are it’s scary.”

“One time the vision lasted so long and she wasn’t breathing that her lips started to turn blue.” Bucky adds. “Usually holding her close helps her not get lost in what she sees. And this is the first time she is able to somewhat communicate what her vision was about.”

“And Steebie is?”

“Steve Rogers.”

“Oh, the Captain.” Ramonda smiles. “Children are so precious at this age.” She looks fondly at Henry and Charlotte. The former gently caresses his sister’s cheek as he checks over her. Charlotte rests her head against Bucky and yawns.

“I think it’s best we call it a night. She’s going to sleep the rest of the night.”

You excuse yourself and head out of the dining room. Bucky holds on to a sleeping Lottie and you hold on to Henry.

“Is everything alright mother?” T’Challa asked.

“Yes, the little one just had a vision.”

A look of understanding crosses T’Challa’s face and he looks at his mother. He furrows his brows at her expression.

“Are you alright mother?”

“Yes, I was just imagining what this place would be like if I had grandchildren running around. I guess I must make the most of Henry and Charlotte while they are here.”

“Mother please let’s not start this again.” T’Challa pleads.

“I won’t say anything else. But I am not getting any younger.”

“Mother.”

She looks up at him and laughs. “Fine I will not bring it up again. For tonight at least. Have a good night my dear son.”

“Good night Mother.”

The next morning bright and early the four of you were in Shuri’s lab. Henry walked toward a display of gadgets that were being worked on by a lab assistant. You, Bucky and Lottie stood to the side waiting for the young genius to walk over to you.

When she was ready Shuri waved you over to a table at the center of the room. For privacy most of the lab assistants left so it was just the five of you.

“Alright let’s start with Charlotte.” Shuri patted the table and turned to grab som equipment.

“Just so you know she may not like this.”

“It’s ok, we will figure it out.”

You looked at Bucky and picked Lottie up. As soon as you sat her down on the table she gripped your shirt with such strength that she almost ripped it.

“Mama don’t wike, pwease. Don’t wike it.” Lottie immediately got teary eyed which in turn made you teary eyed. “No mama. Dada pwease.”

“Doll It’s ok, we aren’t leaving you. Mama and I are right here.”

Shuri walked back over and stood beside you. She held something that looked like a sleek version of a price gun in her hand.

“Look Lottie,” she placed it just behind your ear, near your hairline and pressed the trigger. There was no pain whatsoever and you wondered what she did. Then she moved to the other side and did the same thing. “See, it doesn't hurt.”

Lottie let go of your shirt and blinked away the tears as she looked up at Shuri.

“No owies?”

“No owies, little one.” Shuri smiled. “Here you try.” She walked around the table and motioned for Bucky to move closer. Shuri took Lottie’s hand and placed the gun into it while guiding her to her father’s forehead. It clicked and stuck something to Bucky’s head making Charlotte giggle. “Now you, ok?”

“Ok.”

Charlotte sat still as Shuri did what she needed. There were two small squares stickers placed on her head both behind her ears.

“I want to get some readings first. These will not come off even if she tries to peel them or with water or sweat. Only I can take them off.” Shuri explained as she grabbed a small tool similar to a pen and held it up to Bucky’s forehead, pulling the small square away with ease and then she did the same with yours. “We’ll keep them on for a couple of days, hopefully she will have a vision and we can see how her brain reacts.”

“That would be amazing. We haven’t been able to perform any tests on her.”

Shuri nodded in understanding. “You should be good for now. If anything happens, bring her back. Henry's first treatment will take about three hours.”

“Ok, we’ll see you back in the room.”

You turn to find Henry and see him by the table he was at before. With open arms you kneel in front of him and give him a hug.

“Listen sweetheart, no one is here to hurt you ok? Your dad is going to stay with you all the time and I’m going to be with Lottie. I’ll see you in a little bit ok?”

“Will you cuddle with me later?”

“Absolutely.” You smile and kiss the top of his head before standing up.

“Ok, come on Lottie.”

You stick out your hand in order for her to take it but she doesn’t. When you look down her arms are crossed over her chest and she has a pout. She was upset with you and you hid your smile behind your hand because she looked so cute. You waved goodbye to Shuri and Bucky and ushered Lottie out.

You sat in the garden of the palace with a book in hand while Lottie walked around and looked at all the plants. She was unusually quiet which let you know she was still upset. Every so often you’d look over the book to see where she was at. Little by little she got closer to you until you looked over and she was standing in front of you. Her pout was still present. After placing the bookmark in its place and setting the book aside you look at Lottie as she stares up at you.

“Can mama pick you up?” She nods and lifts her arms for you to grab her and sit her on your lap.

You weren’t sure how to have this conversation with her and how much of it she would understand but it was important to teach her about communication.

“Are you mad my sweet Angel?”

“Don’t wike it mama. Don’t wike owies.” She said with tears in her eyes.

“I know, baby. I don’t like it when you get hurt either. Mama and daddy would never hurt you like that, we just want to make sure you don’t have other owies we can’t see.”

“No habe owies.” She extends her arms so that you can see that there are no cuts or bruises on her.

“You’re right. But mama and daddy want to make sure. We want you to be happy and healthy so we can watch you grow up and be a big girl.”

“Mama,” She said as she put her hands on her chest, looking almost offended that you didn’t know. “Am big.”

You laugh before kissing the top of her head.

“Is that right? You’re a big girl?”

She nods and grins at you.

“Well then you gotta stop growing so fast.” You said as you tickled her. She giggled and tried to get off your lap. “I love you so much my sweet Angel.”

“Lobe you, mama.”

You pull your phone out after giving Lottie another hug to find a message from Bucky saying they finished a bit early. With a quick reply you tell him you’ll be in the room in a few minutes. You put Lottie on your hip and grab your book with the other and head back to the rooms you’ve staying in.

You can hear Henry crying the closer you get to the room and it’s heartbreaking. Even Charlotte looks worried as you walk in. Bucky immediately takes Charlotte from you.

“He doesn’t want anyone near him except for you. ” He says in a rushed tone and you rush into the adjoining room.

The minute you walk into the room Henry runs towards you. His face is red, cheeks are tear stained and his eyes are red and puffy. You manage to open your arms and catch him just before he knocks you down.

“Oh my sweet boy, it’s ok.” You say while rubbing his back hoping it will sooth him. “Just let it out baby.”

After kneeling there for a moment you get up and lift Henry up with you. He’s still sniffling and hiding his face in your chest so you get comfortable on the bed. You hummed a lullaby while playing with his hair only stopping when he fell asleep. Henry’s grip on your shirt is tight though so you stay in the same position and let him rest. Bucky pokes his head in with a sleepy Charlotte in his arms. He mirrors your position on the bed and lets Lottie rest against his chest. You both stay like that for a while so that the kids can get their sleep. Bucky hasn’t said what he had planned for the afternoon except that you’d be out of the palace.

Once the kids were awake and changed into more comfortable clothes you left. Bucky’s excitement was palpable as he led you away from the palace. Lottie matched his eagerness to get out and begin to explore. Henry on the other hand stayed closer to you at all times, he was withdrawn from everything going on around him and instead kept his head down.

The first stop was the small farm Bucky was living at when he stayed in Wakanda. It was far away from the palace and near a lake. Bucky grabbed a blanket he had packed and placed it on the grass near the lake. He had promised to pack everything while you comforted Henry and he did just that. After he set everything up you sat down and Henry made himself comfortable on your lap while Lottie kept Bucky busy by running around and playing close to the water’s edge.

“Are you ok sweet boy?”

“I don’t know.” He said quietly while he watched his sister and dad play. “What happens if we can’t get the words out?”

“What do you mean?”

“If Shuri can’t make me stop being bad, are you gonna stop being my mama, and is daddy not gonna be my daddy anymore?”

You scooped him up and turned him around so that you could look him directly in his eyes. There was so much fear in his eyes and he started going back and forth between transparent and visible. Your hands cup his face gently and you tilt his head up so that he’ll look at you.

“Henry I want you to really listen to me ok. You are not bad, the bad men made you do things you didn’t want to do. I know it’s going to take some time for you to understand that and that’s ok, we’ll work on it together. Now, your dad and I are always going to be on your side. No one in the whole world can make us stop being your parents. We love you so much and we’re always going to take care of you. Do you understand that?”

By the time you’d finished Henry was crying softly again. Bucky had walked over and sat down next to both of you after having heard Henry’s question.

“Hey bubs, c’mere.” Bucky pulled Henry into his own lap and looked over at you, silently asking you for some time alone with his son.

You smiled at him and got up in order to run around with Charlotte.

“I know this is a scary feeling. Not knowing if what Shuri is doing will work. But I promise it will because it worked on me. We just have to give them a little bit of time.”

“I’m scared daddy,” Henry hugged Bucky. “I don’t wanna hurt mama again and I don’t want to hurt baby or you.” He cried into Bucky’s chest but Bucky pulled him back.

“Let’s make a deal ok? I promise that I am going to be there with you the whole time and I’ll keep mama and Lottie safe until the bad words can’t hurt you anymore. What do you say?” Henry nodded and leaned into Bucky again.

They stayed like that for a while as you played with Lottie. You were looking over at Bucky, smiling in his direction when Lottie let out what could only be described as a scream mixed with a squeal of excitement as a small herd of goats walked in your direction.

“Mama, goats.” She said excitedly as she shifted her weight from side to side.

“I see that, let’s go see them.”

She ran toward Bucky and Henry first and tugged on her brother’s hand. He hesitated for a moment but followed her as she led him to the herd. Lottie was usually a happy child but you had never seen her this excited or happy before. Ever since the petting zoo she had loved goats. You teased Bucky saying it was another trait she got from him.

The goat herder recognized Bucky and they started to talk while the herd ran around the field. Lottie was a giggling mess when one of the smaller goats butted her in the belly playfully causing her to fall. When Henry bent down to pick her up the same goat tried to climb his back. He started giggling too and you felt a weight lifted off your shoulders.

Fortunately you had started recording everything as soon as Lottie screamed, so you’d be able to watch it as many times as you liked. You knew the team would love to see this too.

“Mama,” your sweet Angel called between fits of laughter. “Mama look.” She said even though you were watching her trying to mimic a goat's bleat. Henry soon joined her and you had a feeling they would be doing that for a long time after you got back to the palace.

“They’re probably going to lose their mind over this.” Bucky says as he stands beside you. He held the smallest goats you’d ever seen. “These two were born recently and need names and he’s letting us do it.”

You grinned in his direction.

“I bet I already know the names they’ll choose.”

“Me too.” Bucky chuckled as he walked towards the kids who were petting some of the goats. “Hey bubs, doll C’mere.” He said as he crouched down. Once the kids were in front of him Lottie awed at the goats he was holding. “Sit down so you can hold them. These babies need names. How about you each give them a name.”

You were sure Charlotte’s cheeks were going to hurt from how big she was smiling. She sat down quickly and opened her arms to allow Bucky to set one of the goats down and Henry did the same.

“Ok, you have to think about the name you have to give them.”

“Steebie.” Lottie said quickly as her hand gently patted the goats head. “This baby Steebie.”

“What about this one Henry?”

He looked down at the goat in his lap with a very serious expression before speaking up. “This is Sammie. Like Uncle Sam.” He gave you both a small smile when he looked back up.

“Those are great names. Steebie and Sammie.”

“No mama, baby Steebie.” Lottie corrected you.

“Oh ok, baby Steebie and Sammie.”

Bucky chuckled as he got up and went to speak with the goat herder. You sat down with the kids and ended the recording.

“Feeling a bit better bubs?”

“A little.” Henry replies.

“You know your dad took care of goats after Shuri helped him. Maybe we could get a pet when we get back home.”

“Can habe goat mama?” Lottie asked.

“I don’t know sweet Angel. Maybe something smaller like a dog or a cat. We don’t have space in the apartment for a goat.”

“I like cats better.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the black panther now does it?” You raise a brow.

“Maybe.” He smiled sheepishly.

“We’ll talk about it more when we get back home. For right now let’s play with these guys, what do you say?”

Both kids got up and started running around, giggling as they were followed by the herd. Bucky’s arms pulled you against his chest, his chin resting on your shoulder.

“It’s going to get harder isn’t it?” You asked quietly.

“Yeah, he’s going to remember everything they had him do but in the end he’ll be free. He’s scared that he’ll hurt you again or that he’ll hurt Charlotte. I told him I’d protect you both.”

“I’m proud of you. You’re such a good dad.” You say as you turn to look up at him.

“I’m only giving him what I wished I had while I was going through this too. I was alone during most of it and I was terrified most of the time.”

“We’ll never let Henry feel like that.” You reach up and caress his cheek.

Bucky agreed as you watched both kids playing without a care in the world they way it should always be for them. Henry looks at you and smiles before waving you over. Happily you and Bucky join your kids and stay in the small peaceful corner of Wakanda until the sun starts setting. By then Henry and Lottie are exhausted and you make it to the palace before they can fall asleep.

After quick showers and getting dressed in comfy pajamas you all lay down in the kids rooms as they sleepily talk about goats. Once they’re fast asleep Bucky quietly leads you to the adjoining room and pulls you into bed with him. As Bucky absentmindedly runs his hand up and down your arm, you push away the worries of what the next few days or weeks would bring and enjoy the peace of the moment.

Ch 19

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queen-of-writing-bad-things · 3 months

Text

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 5

Episode 23: Sister Twister Part 1

Season 5 Masterlist

~In the Man Cave~

Friends. You can't beat them. But, sometimes, it's so very tempting.

That's what Charlotte thought. She, (y/n), and Henry were in the Man Cave, chilling and hanging in out as they waited for the next disaster to happen, which was nice--for some.

The heroine was sitting on the couch, some cheesy romance novel in her hand, so she occasionally let out a squeal when she reached a good part. As if her life wasn't filled with romance already, what with Casanova Ray swanning around the place or wherever he was. Before he left, he'd gone off someone for something supposedly essential but didn't neglect to give her a parting kiss.

At least it made her happy, something which the girl sitting at the computer desperately hoped for. Not an icky boyfriend, no, but some peace as she read off one of the monitors. Well, she said she was reading, but nothing was sticking in her brain, possibly because of her oh-so-lovely friend poking his head over her shoulder.

Henry - did he know how annoying he was being?

"So, whatcha reading?" he asked as she flicked from webpage to webpage, hoping he'd get the hint from her frosty aura, but, as ever, Henry couldn't read body language or pick up a hint from a girl.

"It's this really interesting article about how annoying it is when someone reads over your shoulder," Charlotte replied sarcastically, assuming something would finally cement in that thick skull of his, but clearly, Henry was just dumb.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hate those people--oh, real quick! Click on that link right there! Ten Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Double-Jointed? What? How'd they know that?" the boy gasped, the only laughter in the room coming from him. Charlotte rolled her eyes as (y/n) chuckled, amused by the situation as she turned a page and kept reading about a woman torn between seven lovers.

Talking about lovers, the secret door opened without warning, causing everyone to glance over and see Ray frantically run out from behind it. He wasn't running back due to a (y/n)-attention deficiency since it'd only been half an hour since he'd wandered off, but whatever it was, it had sure excited him.

"Henry! Sweet girl! Swellview needs us!" He exclaimed as he skidded across the room, stopping only to throw them their gum tubes.

The sidekicks reacted immediately, knowing they had to get ready first and ask questions later, so novels and online reading were abandoned for action, but it would be nice to know what they were doing a little bit. After all, it's not like they didn't have their own gum tubes stuffed in their pockets.

"What's going on?" The kid asked as he caught his tube and took out a ball anyway. (y/n) sidled over to her doofus and lovingly pressed a kiss to his cheek after not seeing him for ages, mimicking his actions of necking some gum.

"No time to explain! Let's chew with urgency!" The hero growled, spurring his sidekicks into moving faster since it sounded like something serious was going down.

"We don't know the emergency..." (y/n) retorted as she swallowed some gum, ready to follow her handsome hero anyway, even if they knew nothing. She was sure he'd explain before they got there - it's not like Ray was full of bad ideas.

"Good one!"

"Thanks!" She smiled when Charlotte recognised her talent for coming up with a quip in no time, and they shared a brief, friendly smile before things got serious. Standing in a line, the trio chewed their gum thoroughly before blubbing three luminescent bubbles, snapping into their super-suits as usual--only nothing was ordinary about the little or big additions they seemed to be sporting.

"Dear god, what is that Raymond?" (y/n) was the first to spot it. As always, they each shook out after transforming to get used to the new fabric, but when she then looked at her doofus, too in love to look at anyone else's face first, her bright smile fell into a deep frown - because of what was strapped to his collar.

A cape - the one thing she refused to let him wear as a superhero.

It was long, a deep scarlet colour, lined with gold thread, and trailed down his back until it reached his ankles in a swoop of majesty. Well, that's how he'd describe it; to his sweet girl, the cape was a waste of her best bulletproof material and a damn tripping hazard if she'd ever seen one. What was he thinking?

"Oh, noooo..." Charlotte, too, wasn't inspired and instantly bit her lip before she got herself fired, not that (y/n) would stand for that. Everyone knew how she felt about cloaks, capes and ponchos since she made no secret of her dislike for the useless, big-headed morons who swanned around wearing them, laughing when they fell over or sniggering when they befell unfortunate ends because they got snagged.

Capes were trouble—the end.

"Is this the emergency? You wanted to show us your new cape?" Henry sighed, seeing how the woman next to him was growing agitated, a state he found growing in him too. It wasn't like he'd been busy before, but he didn't get much time to himself either, so he hated Ray crying wolf--especially for something he knew would set fire to or shred in the end.

"No...I wanted to show you our new capes," Ray smirked, causing his precious girl's face to darken even more as Henry's brows twitched.

"What?" He gasped, wondering what he was talking about. He wasn't perverse to capes, per se, unlike (y/n), so he felt a glimmer of curiosity in his tummy before extinguishing it. He couldn't let himself think things like that, not when he already felt sorry for the poor soul who thought capes were a good idea in the first place.

"Yeah!" Ray exclaimed, thinking they'd be thrilled, but there was a big difference between his cape and theirs. A huge difference.

"What?! Wait--what--what is this? Doofus? These aren't capes! Are you kidding me right now?" (y/n) growled as she and the teen twisted in circles to try and find out what he'd sneakily done to their uniforms with his stupid new gum. In the end, they had to use each other to grab hold of them because all they had were small, square flaps of red silk stitched onto their shoulders - hardly a quarter of what Ray boasted.

"I am one hundred per cent serious, darlin'," her lover replied throatily, facing her with a smouldering look born from the confidence he oozed in his majestic cape. His hands gently settled on her face, thinking he'd be able to appease her about the shortness of their capes since he'd long since mastered the art of making his precious girl weak at the knees.

If only he remembered the first rule about superheroes.

"Why? You know how I feel about these--these death traps!" she spat, feeling like a fool as she tried to angrily gesture with her cape in hand, only to discover she could do that without looking like she was having a stroke. So, in the end, she settled for grasping the red material of his, yanking at it as she pushed away his tender touch.

"Sweet girl..." Ray whimpered and launched his not-so-secret weapon. Fluttering his eyelashes, he gave her his best puppy eyes, hoping they'd be enough to subdue her since they made him look all stupid and adorable - like a doofus - which usually melted her heart into forgiving him. Usually.

"Don't sweet girl me, Raymond! No capes!" (y/n) huffed, prodding his chest with an angry finger as her lips pursed. Did she need to remind him of all the great heroes who'd met with sticky ends because the capes they loved to show off with got stuck or sucked into something? Or should she mention Henry's first day and uniform fitting when she put her foot down about a caped costume?

If this was how he was going to be, then it was going to be a very long, challenging day.

"I've made up my mind on this, sweetheart," Ray told her tiredly, walking off as though he didn't want to argue anymore, but it would simply end there. Just because he swished his cape around and felt all cool didn't mean they were done; even if capes were allowed, why was his so grand and theirs so puny?

"You don't need a cape if you don't fly!" Henry exclaimed, reaching around his neck to try and rip the offending square from his back, but like his fellow sidekick, he couldn't reach.

"You don't have to fly to have a cape. You just need to own it," the hero scoffed as he climbed onto the back of the couch, where he thought his cape would look the most beautiful. Why he got these silly ideas in his head was anyone's guess, and as he stood up there in all his pompousness, (y/n) tried her best to be stern...and not check out his hulking body.

"Doofus, every superhero who's ever had a cape ended up getting caught, killed, or looking stupid!" She snapped at him, looking up with her arms folded as her eyes dragged across his broad chest, down his trim waist, to his beefy thighs. Under any other circumstances, she'd be melting, but all the red ruined it.

"And why are ours so much smaller than yours?!"

"Yours and Henry's are smaller because you're the sidekicks...and I'm the hero," he replied in a low, gravelly voice, crouching down to her level to give her his smoulder again. It worked--it so very nearly worked as he tilted her chin up at him and used his Captain Man charm to steal her breath and make her heart quicken, but then, she remembered what she was fighting for.

"I don't want a stupid, tiny cape, doofus, and neither does Henry!"

"Yeah, dude!" The boy joined in with her protest, glaring at his boss as he spun around in circles like a puppy trying to catch its tail, only he was trying to grab a corner of the dishcloth stuck to his back.

Ray was sympathetic to their disposition; he figured that his sweet girl would come around to the idea of wearing them - something else to highlight her beauty - so he came up with a compromise, which went well.

"Well, maybe we can come up with a system where you could earn extra inches for your cape by doing things like being a good listener...or giving me a kiss and making me a nice pie," he suggested, sounding as if he genuinely believed the utter drivel falling from his lips as their faces became stony.

"Do we look like girl scouts, Raymond? Or better yet, do I look like a nineteen-fifties housewife to you?" (y/n) asked in a sweetly sarcastic voice, watching with narrowed eyes as he sat on the table, thighs deliciously spread far apart - perfect for her to stand in between as the pie baked and she kissed h--no. No, no, no, he was doing it again - he was being too perfect for his own good.

"Ooh, you'd look all cute as a girl scout, sweet girl. I wonder if they do sweet girl sizes..." the man mused, a broad smile spreading as he took everything as a joke. It planted a seed of irritation in her stomach, which would undoubtedly begin to grow hideous roots if he continued to be annoyingly rude, but she ignored him and his poor, smutty flirting for now.

"Well, you won't be getting any of my cookies tonight if you don't drop this thing," they bantered back and forth, growing increasingly icky with their clever comments, which always hid subtle flirting no matter what, and Henry and Charlotte wished they had no ears.

She was meant to be annoyed with him, but even so, the heroine couldn't help but tug the cape before stroking Ray's cheek, meaning she wasn't so stern after all.

"Just get these things off us before I puke, dude!" Henry interjected, his lips twisted into a sneer as his boss angled to sneak a kiss. His charms were working, and he smiled at his sweet girl as she stood there, pouting and puffing in protest - did she know how she had him wrapped around her finger?

"I found the fan you wanted!" She would if he wasn't such a show-off today. Everyone turned to the secret door again as it opened, and this time, it was Schwoz. As usual, he was in high spirits and doing some menial task set by Ray, wheeling a large fan across the tiles typically used to circulate air in the seldom-visited rooms.

Only now, Ray wanted a slight breeze to emphasise his cape, which endeared him to his family even more.

"AH! Prepare to be blown away!" The man giggled at his pun and clapped his hands as the genius pushed the fan in front of him, meaning it captured his attention and not his precious fiancée. (y/n) huffed and pouted some more as he stepped past her, whipping the right side of her body with that glorified towel and leaving any girl scout-related flirting as he did.

"Aw, this is going to be good. You're going to want to get your phones out," he said to Kid and Miss Danger, who didn't look impressed at the command.

"I'm not doing that."

"Yeah, I'll pass on that, doof," they scoffed and shared a dry look as Ray quickly faced Schwoz again, eager to look at his glorious machine whilst they fanned his vanity.

"Oh, do you have a slow-mo setting?"

"No."

"You're going to want to take a picture of this. It's going to be the best thing ever!" Ray insisted as they stood there, half-amused, half-irritated by his whining for a photo. Neither moved to take out their PearPhones and waited for the so-called "best thing ever" to start.

With crossed arms, (y/n) watched as her lover posed in front of the fan like a model, body tensed to bulge his muscles whilst Schwoz flipped the on-switch.

The fan roared to life and steadily increased its wind power from a slight breeze to a wind strong enough to make Ray's silken cape dance in the air behind him. In the name of fairness, one might say it gave him a mighty, perhaps even impressive air, given how he placed his hands on his hips and became a figure of all things manly, but Henry and (y/n) wouldn't know. They could see anything but red silk lined with gold thread.

"Do you love it?" The arrogant hero shouted above the fan's racket, hoping his pretty girl swooned over how good he looked since she looked extra beautiful today. He didn't know what it was, but he wanted to take her into his arms and have her all to himself - much like every day, so he was eager to get her approval, even if it would never come.

"No!" The boy and woman replied together, faces screwed up as the cape tickled their skin. Perhaps she'd have a change of heart if she saw how epic it made him look; after all, it was no secret that she, the Swellview Tech graduate, qualified engineer and kicker of evil ass, could become a babbling idiot if he looked hot enough.

"I am currently loving it!" Charlotte butted in as she reclined on the supercomputer's chair and observed the whole thing. It was all right for her; she had a good view and could appreciate how the cape complimented Ray like a rippling red sea spread out behind him. He looked good, so it was probably good that her friend couldn't see him - they'd have to pick her tongue up from the floor.

"Charlotte loves it!"

"Don't encourage him, Char!" (y/n) shouted as she battled with the flapping cape, spewing and spluttering when it whacked her in the mouth. Honestly, she didn't need to see the front to know he looked hot - she knew that from both experience and how his biceps looked from behind, but she wouldn't cave. No capes!

"She can have mine!" Henry joked, causing his friend to raise an eyebrow at the thought. She'd seen those handkerchiefs when they turned around and snorted at how ridiculous they looked. So, on this occasion, the boy was more than welcome to keep his kindness to himself.

"I'm good!" she quickly replied, just as an emergency call flashed on the monitor behind her, ending Ray's fun since he had to knuckle down and focus on something severe. However, he didn't deflate; instead, he saw it as an opportunity to look fabulous in front of the paparazzi and his adoring fans.

"Emergency call!" He shouted, only to fall over when the breeze became too strong and the red silk too heavy. He would look fabulous if he didn't get twisted up in his cape and fall over like a nincompoop.

"That's why I don't like capes..." (y/n) giggled, watching with little sympathy as he plopped onto his butt, face smothered by the thick material as he clawed to peel it from his eyes, which was no mean feat when Schwoz still had the fan blasting him with air.

"Schwoz, turn it off!" With no further dallying, the genius hit the button to save himself from the hero's wrath and swiftly skedaddled with Charlotte behind the secret door so whoever was calling didn't see their identities. Meanwhile, the pompous hero and his sidekicks gathered around the computer, some straightening their fancy capes whilst others rolled their eyes at his fussing- no guessing needed.

"Hey, Vice-Mayor! What's up?" Henry answered politely as the sulking man appeared on the screen like a grumpy bulldog. He hadn't been overly fond of the heroes since their fuck-up with Mob Boss Rob Moss, but he was learning to put it behind them since the city had no other heroes. If only he'd take the time to learn Miss Danger's name--or at least properly acknowledge her role within the troupe.

"I need you at City Hall right now!" The politician demanded, leaving no room for arguing as Ray comfortably slipped an arm around his sweet girl.

The movement coated her in his cape and cologne, which always seemed to permeate through all fabrics, even if he'd only worn them for five seconds. It made her feel warm and safe - knowing he was standing right next to her - and she rested her head on his shoulder as she thought about how capes had one positive. Only one.

"Uh, could you ask politely? Manners cost nothing, y'know..." (y/n) frowned, crossing her arms in defiance of Vice-Mayor Willard and all his moodiness. He might've been the guy who ran the place and paid their paychecks, but she hated being manhandled--unless Ray was doing the manhandling.

"Or maybe notice my cape?" Speaking of Ray, he still obsessed over his new garment and tugged it over his girl's form until it nearly covered her entirely, highlighting the rich material and quality stitching.

"Oh, it looks great!" Willard exclaimed, a little smile stretching across his features as he analysed the cape covering the hero and...uh, Miss Danger, ma'am. Of course, he was nice to Captain Man; he was the muscle; the other two were like mere decorations - backup, at the very least.

"Thank you."

"Good for you, dude," Henry sneered to his boss, who gazed at him with a shit-eating grin as he basked in the Vice-Mayor's praise. Finally, someone liked his cape, and in his excitement, he pulled his sweet girl closer, turning her around so he could scatter tiny, affectionate kisses across her cheeks.

And as he met her lips, it gave the politician a great view of what she and the kid had pinned to their backs, which was humiliating.

"And your tiny cape is adorable, Kid Danger!... And, uh...yours too, Miss Danger, ma'am."

"It's not--I don't want to be adorable, okay? I'm a man," Henry told the statesman, growing agitated at the thought of being bundled up like some baby. He could tolerate his mom and even (y/n), who still saw him as that cute little blondie, but he'd grown since then. He'd grown a lot.

"Well..." Captain Man and Miss Danger, however, disagreed. He'd grown, definitely, and perhaps he wasn't a child yet, but saying he was a man pushed it. He was too gangly for that, couldn't grow a beard, couldn't drive a car, lived off instant noodles on his own, and still squealed at the first snow of the year. Man? No. One of (y/n)'s little babies? Just about.

"You're still adorable, sweet girl. So cute and soft...so precious," Ray murmured in the woman's ear as Henry sulked, too caught up in his pubescent mood swing to become too nauseated over the sight of his boss nuzzling his nose behind his friend's ear.

The hero practically purred as he did, inhaling deeply to take in her floral scents as she giggled and writhed in his arms - ticklish and highly aware of how the Voce-Mayor glared at such frivolous behaviour. Y'know, Captain Man used to be much more attentive before she came along, but he went on strike whenever the City Council complained.

"Captain Man, I ask that you put your lady friend down and get your butts down to City Hall! I'm the Vice-Mayor, not the say-it-thrice-mayor. So, that's the last time I'm going to say it!" Willard snapped before clicking off the video call angrily.

"Jeez, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," (y/n) muttered as the trio were left in silence, Ray's embrace awkwardly loose around her after getting told off by the Vice-Mayor of all people. He didn't care, and even if Willard had threatened him, he'd continue to pack on the PDA whenever, wherever.

"Whatever. You heard what he said we should do with our butts. Let's go!" The large man exclaimed, patting his sweet girl's ass once as a silent, secret fuck you to the Vice-Mayor. He'd never see it or know about it, but they would, and as he ran toward the tubes, cape fanning out behind him, mischievous smirks spread across their faces.

"All right, just give us a second!" Henry called out, and it was only when he was loitering on the right tube pad that Ray realised his sidekicks were lagging. He watched in horror as they took their laser controllers from their belts and helped zap the pathetic flaps from their backs in a coordinated pincer movement.

"What are you doin'? Those capes were gifts!" He hissed as the squares fluttered the floor, singed, unwanted and left behind.

"Relax, we're coming with you," Henry said cooly as they trotted up to the tubes and took their respective positions. To calm him down, the boy ushered (y/n) into his arms, and Ray gratefully received her as always, bringing her in close so they could both fit--and so he could enjoy the proximity.

Tapping their belts, the glass lowered around them, cramming the couple into the cylinder with seemingly less room than usual, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing in their case, but (y/n) still blamed his cape. Not only was it getting stuck under their feet and the tube's metal rim, but it made his shoulders feel too padded - as if there was hardly any muscle there.

"But what about your capes?"

"No capes!" She repeated firmly as he held her figure to his and rested his chin on her head, glum at the thought of his kindness being rejected. He took it way too personally, even though it wasn't like that at all - she would always love him, even when he looked like a moron.

"Up the tubes!" Henry quickly shouted before any arguing could ensue, and they shot off at the speed of light. However, a minor factor that Ray hadn't taken into his calculations was that his cape was so grand and weighty that under the tube's suction, it was like a parachute.

As he and his darling girl took off, the material pulled back against the whoosh until the vacuum became too much, and the stitching gave way. Ray cried in anguish as he felt the warmth quilting his back pull away, leaving a puddle of scarlet satin under them and him as dull as he was before. Still, some minor losses can be victories for others.

"Awww, m'cape!"

"HA!" (y/n) cackled as she felt the cape swish around their legs and then disappear. He'd sulk when they got to the top, but she could work with that; the only thing that mattered was that her lover was now a lot safer and, in her humble opinion, even more handsome, if that were possible.

He didn't need ornaments or clutter to make him mighty - his actions had already proved something he should've remembered.

And if he wanted to find a new way to Miss Danger's heart, then spending hours at her sewing machine, using her best threads and materials to embellish himself, wasn't going to help either.

(y/n) fell in love with the man, what he did, what he fought for and what he believed in, not what he wore or what others thought of him. But, for the love of god, if he only ever remembered one thing from their relationship, whether long or short, she wanted it to be this.

No capes.

~Some dirty, backstreet alley, Stank Street~

"God, this is disgusting..." (y/n) grumbled to herself as she shimmied through the end of the tube, stuck behind her doofus and Henry.

In fairness to the boys, they'd done the decent thing and let her go last; after all, those in skirts... But no one could save her from the grime that coated the tube inside - one of the oldest and least used in the system. It wasn't visited regularly for a good reason; Captain Man wanted some secret exits to be genuinely secure, so this tube end came out in the middle of a back alley, strewn with garbage, discarded food and a broken-down car.

That was the disguise. Schwoz had managed to dump the car and fit a hole through its hood, creating the perfect illusion and cover for the heroes to come and go as they pleased--except they weren't.

Henry hated being in the middle, especially since he had to follow Ray's butt once the suction pushed them into the final stretch and left them to do the last climb.

Ray hated it because of his dilemma. On the one hand, he sorely wanted his sweet girl to go in front since he'd never complain about getting to stare at her butt for a duration, but that would mean putting her in the firing line should there be an ambush waiting. There wasn't; no one ever used the alleyway, given how grotty it was, but he refused to take the chance, so he went first—no butt-staring for him.

And (y/n) hated the smell. And the dirt. And the crawling. And the idea that someone might see them sneaking out of the car and get curious. According to Ray, that was highly unlikely, but she didn't like taking chances, so she grumbled the whole way there about the dirt, smell, crawling and so on.

"Don't worry, darlin'. We're here," Ray chirped, throwing a grin over his shoulder even though only Henry could catch a glimpse of it. There was no way he'd pass on the message; he'd probably have to throw in a kiss or something too, and he was above that, but at least they'd finally be able to breathe fresh air.

"Coast is clear!" The hero announced as he lifted the car's hood and looked briefly to see if any hoodlums or bums were loitering. Nope, not a soul, just as he thought, so he wasted no time stepping out into the open, relieved to be out of the confined space with no fiancée near him.

"Did you actually check to make sure the coast is clear, or did you just say that?" Henry asked as he poked his head out, albeit with a little more caution than his boss had. Ray was impatient, but even in a shitty alley like this, the kid hated the idea of someone discovering a way into the Man Cave.

"It's Stank Street, man. No one's ever here," Ray replied, watching as his overly way sidekick clambered out of the car. Then, to his instant joy, (y/n) looked over the top, looking as cute as a little meerkat as she thoroughly checked from left to right before slowly emerging.

"You can't be too careful though, doofus," she said, stumbling as her heels wobbled upon breaching the hole's lip, so Ray leaned forward to hook his hands under her arms. Carefully, he lifted her up and out, bringing his darling girl to his chest, so her feet touched the ground gently, and they stayed that way even when it was time to pull away.

"Sweet girl, coast is clear is just one of those things that people say like, look both ways or stay in school," he told her as they gazed at each other, noses rubbing as he refused to stop cradling her small form against his massive one.

Henry sighed at the sight they made and wasted a few seconds by closing the hatch, so their secret tube was hidden again, but when his eyes returned to them, they were still at it.

"You're such a doofus, doofus," (y/n) giggled, the cutesy sounds stifled when Ray placed his lips on hers, too entranced by the warmth and comfort she provided to let go. Her arms looped around his neck to pull them closer together - if that were even possible - and they sighed as they melted into the kiss, oblivious to the impatient boy and chaos around them.

"Dude? Dud--hey, by the way, dude, why'd you tube us out at Stank Street?" Henry butted in, raising his voice when his initial attempts didn't cut through the love haze. Ray didn't look happy when his lover pulled back, and he soured even more when she rubbed the cherry lipstick from his mouth, but Henry didn't care.

"There's tons of other exits in Swellview that don't stank."

They were needed at City Hall, and he'd hate to think of the shitstorm the press would create if they saw Captain Man wearing Miss Danger's smeared lipstick, even if he wore it with a smirk. God, the embarrassment...

"It's the one closest to City Hall," the large man told him frostily, feeling a little miffed that his girl wiped all the evidence from his face, but he quickly got over it, "Besides, it's near the store that sells...things."

"Do you mean capes?" (y/n) asked, folding her arms as Ray stared at her boots and shuffled his feet. A smarmy expression crossed his face as if he was fighting a smile, which ultimately failed when he glanced up and saw her pretty eyes.

"I dunno..."

"What's the place called?" Henry asked, curious to see if they could drag it from the man's lips, although he wouldn't go crazy like the woman once they did.

"Nothing But Capes!" Ray revealed excitedly, grinning like a kid at Christmas as he thought about running down the cape-filled aisles with his credit card raring to go in his wallet. (y/n) sighed tiredly, feeling the same old annoyance creeping up within her again at the thought of such reckless spending on something so...stupid, ruining the sacred moment.

It wasn't like they were saving for a wedding, and it wasn't like weddings weren't expensive. It wasn't like she'd sworn the whole cape thing was over once they'd left the Man Cave. And it certainly wasn't like she wanted to be in a relationship with a grown-up, just one time.

"You're a child," she told him flatly, crossing her arms to show that she wasn't in the mood anymore, not when he seemed more interested in running around, pretending he could fly than discussing wedding details.

They still hadn't picked the flowers. He hadn't given her the cheque for the third payment chunk for her dress. They hadn't worked out a colour scheme. None of the invitations had been written. He still hadn't told her who he wanted to invite from his family. They didn't have a venue, a date, a hope in hell.

And yet he was smiling in her face like the happiest day of their lives wasn't in tatters at their feet.

"Who will soon have a cape!"

"An enormous child!" She growled and stormed past him, enjoying the mad click-click of her heels against the concrete as she headed for City Hall. Ray gleefully followed her, ignorant to her darkening mood as he let out a childish "wheeee!" and skipped behind his darling girl, dreaming about how he'd soon be splashing their cash on matching capes.

"We're not wearing capes!" Henry called out behind the couple, hoping to mediate between them. Just because Ray couldn't read women didn't mean Henry couldn't--well, he could read (y/n) and hear the anger in her every footstep. So, he ran after them, praying they'd behave in the Vice-Mayor's office and save whatever was brewing for home.

But things wouldn't be all too peachy there.

Another lesson for Ray to learn; always check if the coast is clear. Like Piper, you never know who might have fallen over behind parked cars. She didn't mean to eavesdrop on their conversation, really she didn't, but it's hard to switch off when you hear the unmistakable voices of Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger.

It wasn't her fault she was in Stank Street, either. The stupid judge just had to give her community service in the grossest alley in the city, and she just had to fall over after taking off her gross orange jumpsuit too.

If anything, her hearing and seeing where they'd come from was Captain Man's fault - he should've looked instead of making out and bickering with Miss Danger, who wore her hair in a very familiar style today, although the girl couldn't work out where she'd seen it before for the life of her.

She didn't dwell on the fact or how her red lipstick reminded her of someone else, and instead, she tiptoed out from her hiding place, peeking down the alleyway to see the heroes retreating toward the city.

It wouldn't hurt to take a peek at the car, right? She rattled her knuckles against the hood in a few experimental knocks, finding it as hollow as she thought. They'd climbed out of it. Therefore, there had to be something inside, so to satisfy her curiosity, she lifted the lid, glancing over her shoulder to ensure Captain Man wouldn't shout at her for snooping through his secrets.

A gasp tore from her throat as she saw the tunnel, expertly hidden within the car where the engine should be. She shouldn't snoop; her mom taught her better than that, and from the looks of things, it was impossible to tell how deep the fucking thing went.

"Hello?" She called down the hole, hearing it echo through the tunnel until it travelled too far for her to hear. Miles and miles of blue plastic-lined walls and not knowing where she'd end up.

"Curiosity killed the cat," she thought to herself, pausing when she truly realised how deep the tunnel was and something in her mind told her it would be safest to pull back now that she'd stuck her nose in.

"But satisfaction brought it back," another voice whispered, egging her on to look closer. It was nothing major; stick her head in and shout to see if someone called back—no harm in that.

Deciding to go with the latter, Piper leaned in, wrinkling her nose when the contained smell of Stank Street wafted up from the tube, but in some ways, that was a good thing. A draught meant something was on the other side, so she leaned in more, hoping to find some more clues as to what the mysterious hole was - but then, she went too far.

Her hand slipped as it rested against the propped-up hood, and she fell forwards. With nothing but smooth plastic suddenly around her, the girl had nothing to grab onto as she slithered face-first down the tube, hearing nothing but her scream and the slam of the heavy metal falling shut behind her as she zoomed down.

She learned her lesson: never be curious.

The satisfaction wasn't worth the trip down...or so she thought.

A couple of hours later, the trio were finished at City Hall. The Vice-Mayor had told them some convoluted story about a porch package thief and how he wanted them to do something about it, but it was as Ray said.

They were superheroes. They dealt with a severe crime. The petty, run-of-the-mill stuff could be left to the cops so that they did something worth the taxpayer's money. It didn't make Willard happy, but that was a him-problem, so they strolled out of his office with confident smirks, glad that they'd stood their ground and refused to cave for one common misdemeanour.

A quick stop at the local fried chicken place made the trip worth it, and then, it was back to Junk-N-Stuff, where they could wait for a real emergency to come in. Henry wasn't complaining; Ray graciously bought him a mini bucket, so he couldn't, but he swore he only went to get the food so he could feed (y/n) and see her bright smile when he dabbed the crumbs from the corner of her mouth. All annoyance over the capes was forgotten, and their roaming hands proved all was right in the world again.

It was almost enough to put him off his fried chicken, but then he remembered this was his doing, and he had to admit he wouldn't have it any other way grudgingly. They'd stay in love forever if it were up to him; he just wished that Ray watched his damn mouth sometimes. He really knew how to screw things up.

"Ahhhh, my face!" Jasper yelled as they chatted and walked in - before all the upset. It was all right for Charlotte, who stood at the cash register with electric hair clippers in one hand and a comb in the other as she trimmed a funky plant. It looked like a man with a busy, green afro and eyebrows, and it was her job to neaten it up whilst Jasper cleaned the soot and grime from the dinosaur head's teeth. Very different tasks, very different danger levels.

"Oooh, whoopsies."

"Sorry, dude."

"Curly, are you okay?" the three heroes cringed as they froze in the doorway, instantly feeling guilty as the T-Rex breathed fire like it always did, but this time, Jasper was in the way. The right side of his poor face took the full brunt of the flames, singing the hair there until his eyebrow looked cleanly shaven, not that he knew.

"Is it bad?" he asked innocently, looking at his friends with a hopeful expression like he was praying the scorching temperature made his skin sore and left everything else all right.

"Nah..."

"Well..." At least Henry and (y/n) were subtle and considerate, reluctant to tell the boy he looked weird with just one eyebrow, but as always, Ray didn't pick up on their cue and reverted to his typically blunt manner.

"Did you use to have two eyebrows?"

"I think so..." Jasper replied pensively, looking as though he was deep in thought over such a trivial thing. Meanwhile, Charlotte took her hair clipper and carefully removed her clay head's right eyebrow, trimming the delicate leaves until it bore a remarkable resemblance to her clueless friend, who could be left in ignorant bliss as the weary heroes came in to eat their chicken.

"So, why'd the Vice-Mayor need you guys at City Hall?" The girl asked as the boys took seats on two wooden stools, eager to sit down after such a pointless trek. (y/n) predictably sat on Ray's knee, snuggling into his side as she took another leg and began munching on it, softly smiling when Ray's arm curled around her waist to keep her steady.

"Somebody stole a package off his front porch," she told her friend through a mouthful of chicken as she squirmed from the feeling of Ray dotting kisses down her shoulder line. He smirked against her skin, triumphant that he could evoke such a reaction from her, although he had to stop when she offered him a bite of chicken. How could he refuse that?

"Yeah, a box full of neckties with his face on it or something," Henry shrugged as he snacked on his own food, ignoring how affectionate the couple were so he didn't barf before he could enjoy it.

"Anyray, we told him we'd get riiiiight on it," Ray nodded, acting as though he was bothered by his promise to Willard, but he didn't seem too eager as he languished kisses from his sweet girl's cheek, down to her jaw, down her neck, and to her shoulder. Anyone would think he had all the time in the world, something that made Charlotte wonder since (y/n) didn't make a move, either.

"Doesn't sound like you're gettin' right on it. And you won't find the thief inside (y/n)'s mouth," she retorted, eyeing how her boss pecked at her friend's lips a few times before lingering. She could make out the movement of his tongue against the woman's lip, making her wrinkle her nose in disgust, wishing they'd give it a rest.

"It's not worth our time. We're superheroes. We don't care about some package thief," Ray told her once he pulled back, with an enchanted smile at having the best girl in the world all to himself. He couldn't be happier or more chill at that moment, feeling on top of the world as his fiancée leaned into him and relaxed.

"Yeah, the police can get off their butts and sort it out. We're happy waiting here for something serious," (y/n) added, leaning in to kiss her lover again as if to confirm her words. They'd move when a real job came in, but for now, it was just them, their chicken and plenty of sweet kisses with nothing to ruin it.

But goddamn, they wouldn't order from that fried chicken place again. Her tummy was feeling all weird - woozy and topsy-turvy like there was a washing machine inside, and even though it fried her nerves, she did nothing about it. After all, no one saw it coming when Henry's phone beeped.

"Whatcha got there, fella? Little text?" Ray asked casually after pulling back his sweet girl, intrigued by the kid knitting his eyebrows together in thought. He had that blank stare that all kids have when texting, and when Henry went to reply, he didn't even think about his answer, speaking robotically despite the touchy subject.

"Yeah, it's from my mom," he replied and (y/n) tensed instantly. It was reflexive, a natural defensive for when anyone mentioned that woman because she was...floozy material. She didn't have proof, she didn't have witnesses, and she didn't have any leads, but there was history and her gut to tell her that Mrs Hart consorted with her doofus. She'd seen them whispering, and no one could forget Ray's endless flirting both before and after they got together, so the woman practically brought her out in a rash. If only she would do something to tarnish her perfect reputation, so she didn't feel horrible when deeming Henry's lovely mother a bitch.

"Nice..." she held her tongue and punched out the acid-coated word as she deposited the stripped bone back into the bucket. Her appetite wasn't what it was all of a sudden, her stomach lurching at having to cross paths with Mrs Hart again, even if Ray remained perfectly calm behind her and gave her no reason to worry.

"Yeah...she says that, uh, her new hairdryer was supposed to get delivered today, but it got stolen off the front porch," Henry explained, briefly glancing over the text and thinking nothing of it, despite the connection to Vice Mayor Willard's request. It should've been no big deal; after all, they didn't deal with that shit as superheroes, but you'd think the end of the world had come if you saw Ray's reaction.

"Saddle up and ride, Henry! There's a thief needs killing!" The hero spat, abruptly standing up, so the bucket of chicken and (y/n) tumbled from his lap. At least the woman managed to save herself, unlike the food scattered across the floor for either Charlotte or Jasper to clean up, but she wasn't concerned about that. She couldn't care about anything when her heart lurched from her fiancé's telling reaction to a crime against the beautiful blonde.

It was one rule for one and one rule for hot moms - and that broke her heart.

"What the fuck, Raymond? The chicken! Me! What?!" She spat, and Jasper and Charlotte joined her protests about the wastage, but they weren't focusing on the bigger picture - like he was obsessing over Henry's mom again and adding colour to her nightmares.

"This is no time for greasy, delicious chicken, (y/n)! There's a crime wave, and it just hit Henry's mom!" Ray growled, not realising he said her real name or how that wounded her even further since she turned her back on him to hide the tears pooling in her eyes.

Henry's mom, arguably one of the biggest yet most unlikely supporters of their relationship, a genuinely lovely lady who gave him sound advice when he still didn't know how to approach a meaningful relationship, had been targeted by some scumbag. And she was family to his family; it made sense to help out now it was personal.

"Now, we're gonna find this package thief, and we're gonna ruin his life," the doofus went on, unaware that (y/n) was spirally further and further into self-doubt and betrayal. She trusted him with her life and heart, but she wouldn't trust that woman as far as she could spit, and rested her arm on the cash register's edge as she held her nerve and gritted her teeth, knuckles turning white from how tightly she clenched the wood.

"Okay, just relax, dude—" Henry, bless his heart, tried to calm his boss as he saw his friend work herself into a frenzy over what might be or have been and how Charlotte placed a hand on her arm to try and ease her mind. Anyone would swear Ray would never betray her like that - the guy was too in love - but it was hard to tell when he clenched his perfect jaw and muscles for someone else's problem.

"I'm going to hurt him until he cries, and then, I'm going to collect his tears, boil them down and use their essence to make a high-end cologne called Not On My Watch!"

"Whoa!" "A little too far!" The teens said through gritted teeth, fighting the urge to shake some sense into the man as the tears finally rolled down (y/n)'s face. She wiped them away even faster, panting to stem the flow since she didn't want him to see her cry or anyone else. It was just a damn pity the kids of all people saw them as they were the last ones she sympathy from, knowing that Henry and Jasper didn't deserve to have her issues dumped on them and that Charlotte swore that no guy was worth crying over.

But Ray was.

"What's our first move?" She asked in a voice that was far too put together for how torn-up she was feeling inside, but Ray was too entangled with revenge to see her red, watery eyes when she quickly turned around like all was okay in the world. Everything was fine; if he wanted to use an Uno reverse card and care about the package thefts, then that was fine - she just wasn't sure if she wanted to be there when Kris threw her arms around him in thanks.

"I'm not done." Oh, good - what piece of her heart hadn't he stomped on?

"Then, I'm gonna cover him in honey, roll him down a hill of fire ants—fire ants that shoot lasers out of their butts—that's when things get real crazy—"

"Orrrr...Orrrr.. or we put a fake package on my front porch as bait. We wait in the surveillance van until the thief steals it, and once he does, we grab him, and we take him to jail," Henry suggested, thinking as rationally as possible in the hopes that they could smooth the situation over without damaging the star-crossed relationship they secretly cherished. It didn't bear thinking about what would happen in the Man Cave if Captain Man and Miss Danger should go pear-shaped in whatever way.

"Okay, love that—you just earned two inches on your cape, buddy!" Ray grinned, chipping another fragment from (y/n)'s heart at how he jumped to help Mrs Hart and showed more enthusiasm for her damn delivery than he'd ever done when planning their ceremony. All those times, it felt as if she was tying him down when clearly, he was meant to fly - probably with a cape.

"Wait, what? I don't want—"

"Two inches to Kid Danger's cape!" Henry tried to get him to quit it or to be serious for once, but it was no good. Annoyance surged alongside the heartbreak, and as her lover turned to march out the door, (y/n) firmly planted her feet on the ground, knowing that if she had to listen to him sing capes' and Kris' praises in an hours-long stakeout, she might go insane.

"Ugh, y'know what? Let's go—you coming, (y/n/n)?" The kid asked, looking at her with a kind, understanding smile since he had to handle the man-child too, but he could see it in her eyes. All the money in the world wouldn't convince her to help his mom, whether she was technically duty-bound.

"Uh, no, I'll sit this one out. Gotta find some burn lotion for Jasper," she lied and gave him the glimmer of a sickly sweet yet half-assed smile. It wasn't meant to convince, just put him off, and Henry didn't push her any further; he could try and tell her Ray was just excited, a people pleaser, and in one of his funny moods, but devoted to her.

It wouldn't change anything, so he nodded and left, hot on Ray's heels as the man yanked the door open and bolted to the garage where the manky, old surveillance van was. Seeing him go was never pleasant, especially when he went to that woman's house, but the time apart would do her good. At least she had something to distract her when the T-Rex breathed fire again, burning the other side of Jasper's face and his other eyebrow.

"Is it bad?" He never had much luck, and the girls winced as Charlotte remained silent and shaved the other eyebrow off her plant head. Her silence spoke volumes, and the teen grimaced at the thought of looking like a mole rat and, from how sore his skin was, secretly thankful that the Man Cave's nurse decided to stay behind.

"I'm gonna need a bigger bottle of lotion...and possibly a stiff drink," (y/n) sighed, dipping her head to them before slinking off into the back room, where it was safe to shed some more tears and curse herself for being so damn jealous.

It wasn't right; Kris was kind, pretty, generous, a good mom and wife, and she'd never done anything wrong, save for the egg incident - hardly worth eternal damnation. Ray was funny, gentle, adorable, a brave man, a good mentor, an even better fiancé, and he'd never crossed any line, save for the odd comment here and there - hardly worth her blazing wrath and fury.

So, Miss Danger swallowed the lump in her throat and skipped off to go and root through her medical supplies, determined not to let the worst side of herself show. She treated Jasper's sizzled skin like a professional before going downstairs to help Schwoz with some repairs like an angel, and to someone who didn't know her, she seemed all right.

But they knew her better than that. In the ten hours Ray and Henry were gone, Jasper, Charlotte and Schwoz saw the doubt in her eyes, the pain behind every smile, and how she checked her phone every five minutes to see if "Doofus ❤️" had texted something mushy to ease her worries. He hadn't, for reasons that wouldn't become clear until later, but she insisted that was fine, just like everything else was.

Everything was fine, but Charlotte sure wished they could return to when fine meant she gagged and retched at the sight of the couple kissing, snuggling and holding hands, back to when she swore she'd trade anything if it made them quit all that icky stuff.

Now, she would trade anything to bring it back if it meant everything would return to being fine.

~Ten hours later~

"Where the fuck are those morons?" Yeah, things weren't fine anymore.

Charlotte cringed as she heard her friend mouthing off while she paced back and forth behind her. The girl stood by the supercomputer, with Schwoz in the seat, hoping to make contact with the idiotic boys who'd gone on a stakeout and then gave them nothing but radio silence for hours after. It made the heroine sick with worry to know that her beloved doofus and fellow sidekick were out there, doing god knows what with god knows who, but every time they tried to call them, there was no answer.

Gone was the sadness; in its place was pure fury, and (y/n) swore she'd relieve Ray of something when she got hold of him. Charlotte wasn't too sure what that something was, but before she could ask, the woman always moved on to another topic to rant about. She was pissed off - obvious - but what was less pronounced, except to her nearest and dearest, was how torn she was, bottling everything up because she could decide whether she was the bad guy here. Ray was in the wrong too, no doubt there, but she was the green-eyed monster.

"I can try them again," the girl told her with an understanding smile, and for a split second, (y/n) smiled at her helpfulness. She hated being like this; mean, rude, bossy and spiteful, especially with her family, but she had to know what was going on in that van and whether they'd found the package thief or not. Whether they'd recovered the hairdryer or not. Whether Mrs Hart had slipped in to reward their valiant mission or not. It was eating her up - not knowing a thing.

What had they been doing? Whilst she tossed and turned in bed, arm stretched across the cold chasm where her fiancé usually slept, rife with the cruel imaginings from the darkest parts of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder - had he thought about her as much as she did about him?

"Man Cave to surveillance van, Man Cave to surveillance van...Ray? Henry? Can you hear me?" Charlotte spoke into the radio, growing increasingly impatient with each passing moment since they should be able to hear her. She turned to (y/n) with an apologetic wince, cringing again when she pinched her nose and released a tired sigh - exhausted from an entire night of little-to-no, nightmare-filled sleep. But then, everything became apparent, and the clouds grew darker still.

"Five more minutes, mom..."

"Thank you...Henry's mom." With the speakers raised to full volume so they could catch the slightest peep, the small group huddled around the computer heard the boys' sleep talk as clearly as if they were in the room, and Jasper, Schwoz and Charlotte could pinpoint the exact moment (y/n) saw red.

Not only was it an insult to them that they'd fallen asleep on the job, which was why it was always best to take Miss Danger with them to avoid such things, but it appeared like they were dreaming of a certain blonde. And that was fine for Henry, but when Ray muttered those four heartbreaking words, it was like the world stopped.

She wasn't a dream-reader; (y/n) had no way of knowing what her doofus was thanking Mrs Hart for, but she doubted it was for anything fucking good. Of all the men she'd ever felt something for, she would never have guessed he'd be the one too...she really hoped he hadn't—wasn't—whatever.

"Hello?! We haven't heard from you in ten hours!" Charlotte snapped into the speaker microphone, seeing how her friend twisted her engagement ring with a stony face that also reflected a million emotions. She felt for her, aware that Ray would never look at, consider, dream, or imagine someone else now that he'd found her, but (y/n) didn't see it that way. She wasn't aware that his eyes were on her at all times, that he smiled when she came into the room, frowned when she left, pined every waking second until she came back - that she was the centre of his universe.

"Dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude!" Henry groaned as he slowly woke up and realised the time. He shoved Ray in the chest, which eventually woke him up, too, spluttering and moaning because he didn't remember his darling girl's hands being so rough. And since when did their bed feel so lumpy and uncomfortable? He cracked open his eyes to see the blinking lights of the surveillance van's computer screens, servers and endless cords of worm-like wires, and then, he remembered.

This was stakeout territory, not the cotton-down heaven with the soft-skinned angel he'd been dreaming about.

"I think we fell asleep," the kid grumbled, recalling how he'd only closed his eyes for a second - just to let them rest - and then accidentally let ten hours slip by.

"You fell asleep?!" Ray spat accusingly, whipping his eyes to scan his slacking sidekick. He'd given up a night between the sheets with his sweet girl for this—to help his mom as thanks for giving him so much advice on married life. And he took a nap? Utterly shameful.

"So did you!" Henry quickly responded, glaring at the hypocrite, who snuffled and rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his eyes to clear the sleep from them. They were in this together, and if he felt so strongly about it, Ray was more than welcome to go back to the Man Cave and crawl into bed with (y/n). Hell, he'd do more good there than he was doing here, so very close to his mom.

"Prove it..."

"I just woke you up!" They bickered, the boy too tired for his boss' games, what with his ruffled hair and blurred vision. He couldn't believe they'd slept through the night after preparing so well, but now that he thought about it, warm milk and ocean sounds weren't exactly meant to keep people awake. Oops.

"You know, I was having such a good dream. Your mom was there at my wed—"

"What?!" Henry baulked at the news, not wanting to hear the story's end since it creeped him out to think that Ray thought about his mother in his sleep. Not like that, of course, no way. No, Ray still smiled about it now, recalling how Dream Mrs Hart patted him warmly on the back as she kissed his cheek and congratulated him on his marriage to that lovely girl (y/n). She fondly remembered her wedding and told him there was nothing more beautiful than a bride on her big day and that he shouldn't keep her waiting before the first dance.

Such a shame it had to be cut short.

"Man Cave to the surveillance van, Man Cave to the surveillance van... Can you hear me?" Charlotte repeated impatiently, and finally, Henry picked up the other microphone. It was too late; the damage was already done. (y/n) heard every word uttered by the boys, including about her lover's dream, and felt her insides clench as they turned green - the ugliest colour, making her want to puke.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we hear you loud and clear."

"Did you two fall asleep?" The woman asked as she took the radio from Charlotte's and mashed the button so hard, it nearly broke. Her tone was curt and frosty, indicative to Henry that she was in no mood for playing games, but to Ray, her dulcet voice was music to his ears just like any other day. It brought a dopey grin to his face.

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, we did not."

"Good morning, darlin'!" The doofus interrupted in his cheeriest voice, snatching the mic as she had with Charlotte, only when her tummy tingled with butterflies, her heart stopped, and the butterflies fell dead. It always came back to this, does he or doesn't he bullshit. She wasn't one for going in circles, but she'd always return to him, her fatal flaw.

"Yeah, hi, doof. And, yes, you did, Hen. Don't lie to me," she returned his affection half-heartedly, scared to show her love again for fear of getting it wounded again, but he made it show easy. She'd always fall for his unending, adorable charm - that was the problem.

"We didn't fall asleep, sweet girl. We were just resting our eyes," Ray replied smarmily, perhaps in a brattish manner. He recognised her subdued response and felt his heart deflate a little at the lack of warmth in her nickname, but he didn't dwell on it. The clock had barely struck eight, and he was in a crabby mood from the early start away from her; maybe she was tired too.

"Okay, well, if you didn't fall asleep, then what's the status of Henry's lovely mom's lovely package?" she questioned bitingly, her voice light and sweet as she pictured Mrs Hart smiling and glowing in her mind. On the other end, Henry snatched the microphone back, glaring at Ray as the man slumped into his chair - dejected that his lover wouldn't flirt back.

"Uh, the package...yup. Let me see," the kid mumbled as he grabbed a pair of binoculars and glanced across the street. He zoomed in on his porch and the spot where Ray had left the box in plain view, only to come across a slight problem.

"The package is...gone." Schwoz chuckled at that whilst the girls rolled their eyes and groaned. They had one task and nothing but a simple solo mission, but it seemed even that it was easy to screw up for the hero and sidekick, who didn't appreciate being laughed at.

"Shut up, Schwoz!" Ray snapped and tossed the microphone down, so he didn't have to hear the taunting noise. However, Schwoz wasn't so dumb and quickly dialled his boss on his private PearPhone, which Ray was dumb enough to answer.

The embarrassment was real, and there was no escaping it, but Ray didn't care about that. He was more concerned, dare he say irritated, by his fiancée's crabby mood. When she was angry, he was furious. When she was sad, he was miserable and strived to cheer her up to be his happy, smiley girl again.

But for his life, he couldn't work out what was wrong.

~In the Man Cave~

Needless to say, the embarrassment had stewed when the boys made it home. The journey to Junk-N-Stuff was brief but painful, especially with Schwoz cackling for the entire five-minute drive, so Henry and Ray were steaming by the time they got down to the main room.

Things only worsened when Ray walked up to his sweet girl, wanting some affection to perk up his mood. As always, he leaned in for a kiss, badly needed fortification after going ten hours without one, only to feel his stomach plummet when his lips met her cheek and nowhere else.

He despised the cold shoulder - hated it with every fibre of his being, but he couldn't even call this that. She didn't avoid him, didn't ignore him or walk out of the room; instead, she clung to his side like she always did, allowed him to hold her hand and gave brief, gentle smiles when he looked down at her.

She was his sweet girl, as always, but she was holding out on him, curled up, protecting herself in her shell as she did all those years ago. She didn't want to talk, and he hated that even more.

A storm was coming.

"Ahhhh! How could we fall asleep?!" The man bellowed from up on high, near the sprocket. If he couldn't relax in her arms and melt his anger with her kisses, then he figured shouting it out was the best alternative. Henry copied his actions, spurred on by his boss' pettiness and foot stamping and the tension between the couple.

"How could we let that guy take the package right from under us?!" he asked, pulling a growl from Ray's throat. Meanwhile, (y/n) and Charlotte were being clever - as usual - taping a box shut since it was part of their foolproof master plan. And it gave the woman a distraction from her grief, which she didn't want to unleash on her doofus if he pushed her away.

"I am so angry!"

"So am I!" They yelled, pacing back and forth in some weird competition on who could become the angriest in the room.

"I'm angrier!"

"That is a lie! Because I am the angriest!" Henry argued as Ray stomped, torn between his rampaging and pulling his sweet girl to the couch. Maybe if he did that, she'd smile and tell him to let it be because where would being angry get him? But then again, she could also frown, thump his chest for being so rough and march away, offended. Angry it was, then...

"No, I am King Andor! Ruler of Mount Furious!" Now, it was just getting strange. Ray seethed as he looked down upon his kingdom, neck pulled so tight, the veins and tendons there pulsated through his skin - pining for his queen.

"Yeah? Well, I am Rage! Vengeful God of Anger!"

"Well, I am (y/n), queen of are you guys done being angry? Because you're giving me a headache!" The heroine interrupted, shouting over their nonsense since she could feel the pressure mounting between her temples.

"Does it sound like we are?! Does it sound like we are (y/n/n)?!" Henry growled and held his ground, refusing to come down when he was enjoying acting like a five-year-old. People should shout and scream and complain like this more; he loved it.

"Can't you see us stomping?!" Ray snapped, too and shuffled over to the couch where she was standing so she could hear his sneakers drag across the floor. And just for good measure, he kicked the spongy back a few times as he showed his pouty face to her amused one, hoping his tantrum would earn him a scrap of the attention he so desperately craved.

"Yes, I can see that, but you look like a constipated chicken, Raymond," (y/n) told him flatly, crossing her arms as she waited for him to finish. He held eye contact with her, refusing to break it since she'd been avoiding his eyes since they came back, but Ray was disappointed to see nothing in those pretty peepers - not even a smidge of sympathy and comfort for the man-child within.

"Well, she only asks because we're done making another bait package to put on Henry's porch," Charlotte piped up, drawing the two out of their trance, so they looked away.

People always say that eyes are the windows to the soul, and (y/n) prayed that wasn't true because if it were, her doofus would've been able to see the envy, insecurity and despair rise behind her (y/e/c) pools upon the mention of sending him back to the lioness' den.

"What?"

"Well, THANK YOU!"

"That's actually incredibly helpful!" They replied haughtily, too stubborn to drop the angry façade but not rude enough not to give them credit where credit was due. Suddenly, the red haze fell, and the boys didn't need to shout so much, making them feel pretty stupid after all that mouthing off, so to save their blushes, Ray stomped over to collect what they'd so lovingly prepared.

However, when he wrapped his beefy arms around the box...it wouldn't budge. Not even Captain Man,, with all his super strength, could lift it without doing something serious to his back, so after a few seconds of straining and grunting, he pulled away and looked at his precious girl with a baffled expression.

"This package is too heavy, sweetheart!" He whined, trying to come across as all tough and moody still, but he was more like a puppy as he whimpered and growled, too soft for her to ever use any malice.

"Why's it so heavy, swee--I mean, (y/n)?!" Henry quickly asked and corrected himself even quicker when he copied his boss' gross nickname in his grumpiness.

"Because we put Jasper inside," she replied, giving them a courteous smile as her tummy fluttered from her fiancée's attention. She wished he wasn't going back out there since everything was terrific until Henry's mom came into the picture.

"Hey, guys! I've got a taser in here!" Henry and Ray stared at the box in shock as they heard Jasper's muffled voice coming from inside--and then the unmistakable buzzing hisses of him messing about with the taser. Yeah, giving it to him in such a tight space wasn't a good idea, but it was too late now.

"Ow!... It works!"

"That way, he can jump out and tase the package thief in case you two fall asleep again," Charlotte explained when Ray gave her a dirty look for involving that moron. It was a great plan, but they didn't take too well to her accusations; they didn't know the meaning of sleep; how dare she?

"Fall asleep? Fall asleep?"

"Oh yeah, we're going to fall asleep two times, Charlotte! King Andor does not sleep! He stomps!" They shouted as Ray jumped in front of the girls and started thumping his feet against the floor in a mad display of his petulant stomping and arm-waving.

"Yeah, I'm just getting chicken vibes again, doof," (y/n) giggled, feeling her heart grow lighter than it had since yesterday, and for a brief moment, Ray gazed at her with hope in his eyes. Oh, how he'd longed to hear that giggle when the van got cold at night.

"How could we possibly fall asleep when we are this angry?!" But Henry came in and ruined the moment, yelling until his throat was sore, and when he stomped, so did Ray. Watching with unamused faces, the girls stood and waited for them to calm down with folded arms.

They left eventually, roaring about victory and drinking their enemy's blood or something as they hauled the Jasper Package into the elevator. He warned them not to be so rough with his delicate little body, but Ray hurled him in any way.

He had more important things to do, like sidling up to his sweet girl and promising he would return soon. (y/n) tried to give him her most convincing smile and pulled him into a tight hug before Henry groaned and called for Ray to step into the elevator.

"Time to go, darlin'," he murmured as he reluctantly pulled away from her arms with his same-old cocksure smirk and leaned to peck at her lips. She sighed into the agonisingly brief kiss, wishing she could freeze time and keep him there forever when he loved her and didn't think about anyone else.

Kris Hart didn't know how lucky she was - that she had such a brave man wanting to give everything to help her out...and that she hadn't had her face ripped off for straying too close to the green-eyed monster.

~Later that night~

"Where are they?" (y/n) grumbled as she strolled around Junk-N-Stuff, hands wedged deep in her pockets to look casual. It wasn't working; three times she'd circled the centre display, five times she'd sat down on the manky, old couch to stand up again, and seven times she'd counted the money in the cash register.

She couldn't sit still, not the sunset, and the darkness fell. Ray and Henry had been gone all night and day, camped out in that stupid van, but they weren't answering the radio. The last she'd heard was a goodnight text from "Doofus ❤️", but that was hours ago. Many hours ago, enough to make her go grey and become so worried that Charlotte caught her nerves.

And she was usually the level-headed, unflappable one.

"I'm trying to call them," she told her friend, tapping Henry's contact again, only for it to immediately go to voicemail. His phone was turned off - the same for Ray's - and whenever they tried to call, no one would answer. It drove them insane not knowing, but then, Schwoz came in, looking all innocent and friendly like he always did as he came up to "see how they were doing".

"Oh, Schwoz, have you heard from Ray and Henry? We've not had a single message from them, and I'm getting wor--" the heroine explained, not looking up from her cell as the genius approached, so neither of them saw his mischievous smirk until it was too late.

"No greenie, yes peenchie!" he squealed in his funny voice and reached out with both hands to pinch them on the arm. They gasped from the brief yet excruciating pain and glared as they rubbed the sore patches he'd given them for seemingly no reason.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Ow! What the heck, Schwoz?!" They yelped. It wasn't so bad for (y/n) since the pain and subsequent bruise healed almost instantly, but Charlotte would feel it for the next ten minutes. What was wrong with that fuzzy coconut?

"It's Avocado Day!" He told them happily as if it was apparent, something everyone knew, and they were being dumb.

"Eh?

"Avocado Day!" he told (y/n) with a gentle eye roll as she frowned in confusion, "If you're not wearing green, you get pinched on your skin!"

"No, that's St. Patrick's Day!" Charlotte corrected him as she quickly swatted his hand when he went in for round two. Yeah, he didn't like it when they returned the pain...or when they pointed out that he had his green-based holidays mixed up.

"What the heck is Saaaaaaynt Paaaaaaytreeeeck's Daaaay?" The genius asked, his eyebrows knitting together as he tried to pronounce the funny words, but (y/n) wasn't playing ball. He could say 'day' at least - he wasn't that bad.

"Saint Patrick's Day is the day when Saint Patrick died. Y'know, the patron saint of Ireland? It's a big thing, Schwoz. I'm surprised you haven't--" she began to explain after carefully enunciating the name for him, but she was cut off when something alarming stepped through the door.

At the tinkle of the bell and the breathing fire of the T-Rex, everyone looked at the door, expecting a customer or, y'know, something normal. What they didn't expect to see what Ray and Henry were stomping into the shop, covered from head to toe in glitter.

From their hair to their faces to their shirts, they were doused in glitter - the fine, annoying, powdery stuff that clung to everything it touched and refused to come off. Only, it did come off sometimes - onto whatever they felt. A sparkling trail followed behind them as they entered swiftly, giving a unicorn a run for its money at the stardust left in the air whilst (y/n) stared at them in shock.

What the hell had happened?

"You will never guess what happened to us!" That's what she said. Ray growled as he came to stand in front of her, sprinkling her jeans and sweater with glitter as he got so close their chests bumped together. She didn't mind the proximity - welcomed it - but when he stepped back, and she was left coated in silver specks, too, she wasn't too happy.

"You fell asleep again, then the package thief delivered the glitter bomb to the surveillance van, and you opened it without realising what it was, and now you look like a unicorn pooped on you?" Charlotte suggested, taking a step back and analysing the situation briefly before coming to a sound and uncanny conclusion.

"No..."

"Maybe...why'd you have to be so smart all the time?" The boy replied coyly, scuffing their feet against the ground, so it too became glittery, and upon clocking what he dusted her with, (y/n) jerked away from her lover with a gasp.

"Oh, doofus! This stuff doesn't come off, and you've got it all over me!" She whined as her hands frantically brushed her sweater to no avail. Despite only touching him for a second, the glitter found its way between the fibres and, once there, refused to move even when she plucked and flickered and prayed for it to go away.

"Oh, sweet girl, let me--" Ray gasped, seeing the mess he'd made across her chest and immediately reached out to help clean it up. The problem, however, came when he failed to remember what was on his hands until it was too late and an even bigger streak of shining glitz stretched across her clothes.

"Thanks," (y/n) said dryly, sighing in defeat as his hands stilled on her ruined sweater, meaning she had to swat them away because whilst he had no issues standing with his hands on her boobs, she did - especially when others were in the room. She loved that sweater, and now it would have to be tossed out, which stoked the fires of fury within her even as her lover sheepishly apologised.

The clouds were growing darker.

"No greenie, yes peenchie!" And, in the worst possible moment, Schwoz snuck in between the hero and sidekick and pulled the same mean trick he'd done with the girls. As if Ray wasn't in a steadily declining mood, he nipped his skin between his forefinger and thumb - hard - drawing a sharp "ow!" from the man before the pain faded. It hurt like hell but then he remembered... "Is it Avocado Day?"

"Yeah!" The genius replied with a playful grin.

"Man, I forget every year!" He grinned, seeing the fun side of the situation, even though it trickled into his growing pool of annoyance. He didn't show it, but that pinch would fester, as would the glitter in his hair, shirt, and pants. Hell yeah, it was in his pants; glitter was coarse, rough, irritating, and it got everywhere, but worse was he'd have no one to help him wash it out later if his sweet girl kept giving him that scolding expression.

"Okay, what is Avocado Day?" Henry asked, perplexed by their bizarre interaction.

"No greeny, yes pinchy!" Ray squealed, imitating Schwoz's voice, though it would never be precisely the same. Although the pain Henry felt when his boss leaned forward and pinched him roughly on the arm was the same - mean-spirited, excruciating, perhaps even a bit cruel.

"Ow! What the heck, Ray?!" He whimpered as the man retreated, appealing to (y/n) for help with his best "I'm one of your babies. Please come help me against your doofus" looks, but she merely shrugged. There was no way she would get any more glitter on herself, not after a couple of days she'd had.

"It's Avocado Day. You're not wearing green, so you get pinched."

"But that's St. Patrick's Day," the kid disagreed, giving the large man a skeptical look at how he'd hurt him for a misunderstanding, which was more common than it seemed. Well, common between repairmen and doofuses.

"Stop making up fake holidays!" Ray shouted back, disliking all the sudden insubordination going on around him. The atmosphere felt mutinous, and made him uneasy, not that he'd ever suspect anyone in his family of betraying him. His mind told him theoretically everything was safe, but his heart and gut were saying something else, and it led back to...

"Stop shouting at Henry, Ray! It's not his fault you mixed up your holidays!" (y/n) bit back, jumping to the side of her blondest baby since she didn't like the accusatory of her beloved. She didn't know why but it was one of those days, having finally figured out where she was so furious.

It was just a day out of three-six-five when he pushed her buttons more than usual, not for any reason, but things had pooled together and stretched her thin as not enough jelly spread across too much toast. She couldn't be everywhere, do everything, and please everyone, but in the Man Cave, that was her job, and some days, she was sick of it.

"We gotta find a way to stop this package thief, (y/n)!" Ray hissed, looking down on her, not at her, for the first time in a long while. Every couple hit rough patches every once in a while, and they were no different since they drove each other crazy by being crazy for one another. They were opposites, too so both hindered and helped to push them together, even when circumstances conspired against them.

"You're right. You're right..." Henry nodded, patting the woman on the shoulder to say thanks and call her off. He loved her mother bear instincts but not when they led to bickering, so she stepped away and left it for the sake of him and Charlotte. But that didn't mean she was finished.

"Well, step one, stop falling asleep!" She told them sternly, pointing a finger straight at their faces as if to say, "I mean it". And that was fine; Henry knew they couldn't nap through another package thievery, or this would never be put to bed, but Ray, suddenly finding himself in an accusatory mood, fought back with the dirtiest of tactics.

"A—a—choo!" He sneezed violently, feeling it creep up his spine with no warning - that bit wasn't his fault; after all, Mother Nature moves in mysterious ways. However, he wasn't faultless when he pointed his snot rockets in his sweet girl's direction, not to mention poor Charlotte - the victim of circumstance - and, contrary to how his mother brought him up, sprayed her in his droplets and snotlets.

His head shook from the force, meaning not only was she showered in his saliva, but a fine dusting of glitter settled over her and Charlotte like the first snow falling. If she thought the sweater incident was terrible, then this was horrific. Glitter on their bodies, hair, and shoes - it was like they'd been victims of the bomb too, except they were merely victims of a doofus who fought like a child when he wasn't happy.

"No—Raymond Manchester! That was deliberate, you...you...god! I cannot believe you!" She growled as her chest heaved and her hands froze in mid-air - useless in their attempt to shield her body. Upon hearing her friend's drawn-out "ewwwww!", the girls retreated to the counter, where they stored some alcohol wipes and tissues, grumbling about how stupid boys stupidly spray it and don't say it.

"Now, to catch a package thief, you got to think like a package thief," Ray smirked at Henry once they were somewhat alone, despite his heart roaring at him to shift his ass and apologise. There was no need for that, and honestly, he had no idea why he'd done it after feeling the powdery glitter tickle his nose, but it was too little too late. He hoped flowers and a box of chocolates would make up for it.

"We start stealing packages ourselves!" Henry suggested, thinking like his boss and not his usual, rational self. Jeez, he had to stop hanging out with Ray; he was starting to rub off on him.

"Okay, love that! Gas up the van, warm up some milk and let's roll!" And Ray being Ray, he loved that idea, so they shared a grin, a high-five, and made for strolling out of Junk-N-Stuff, leaving nothing but a trail of magic and a wounded sweet girl behind them.

"Uh, guys," Charlotte butted in, having something much more straightforward in mind, which she thought would work out in their favour since the lovers could stick together. Sure, they were going at it like a cat and dog today, but they always faired worse when separated and even if they wouldn't sit down and talk it through, at least they could be near each other and feed off that. "I have an idea."

"Wait!"

"What's up, big dog?" Henry was there immediately, halting when Ray called for it since he was a good, obedient sidekick expecting to hear his friend out. But no...

"I got a better idea!"

"Listening..." he nodded, all his attention on the leader, despite his brain telling him that history had taught him Charlotte's ideas were nearly always better than Ray's. The girl rolled her eyes as he completely blew her off and shared an exasperated look with (y/n), who, for once, was powerless to help since she wasn't exactly feeling peachy with her doofus either.

"We go down to the Man Cave. We get Schwoz's pot of gold—"

"I'm sorry, what?" Henry frowned the minute said that features contorting in bafflement since it sounded so strange. Schwoz, who incidentally was wearing green for "Avocado Day", owned a pot of gold like some literal leprechaun at the end of the rainbow. This he had to see.

"We get Schwoz's pot of gold. We leave it outside the store as bait—"

"Schwoz has a pot of gold?" The kid asked, too shocked to care about Ray's plan now that he'd received the news. He knew the guy was weird, but riches beyond belief were far out there - perhaps a little too far out there.

"Pfft! A pot of gold! I'm not a leprechaun! Why would I have a pot of gold?" The genius scoffed, playing coy, so they didn't suspect him, but he wasn't a brilliant actor. Henry could smell a liar a mile away after being Kid Danger for so long, and it seemed like something Schwoz would have, from whichever land he hailed from.

"He does, though...fiddly-diddly-dee," (y/n) smirked, staying quiet at the cash register, but she couldn't help but sprag on her friend. Not in a mean way, that wasn't like her, but Schwoz was a liar and loved to show off his pot whenever he could. It was only when someone wanted it that it suddenly went missing, and the fear of Ray getting ahold of it was enough to make him bolt.

"You can't have my pot of gold!" He exclaimed angrily and like an angry little leprechaun, skipped off to hide it away from prying eyes and grabbing hands. He looked so funny as he scampered through the beaded curtain, causing (y/n) to giggle silently and shake her head - he was never good at hiding things.

"We'll get it," Ray hissed to the blond boy, proving her point, although she refrained from smiling at him. Her heart said yes, yes, yes, smile at soulmate now, but her brain said no, no, no, we're supposed to be mad at him, you can't have it both ways.

"Uh, I said I have an idea!" Charlotte called to them, trying her luck again once the genius disappeared, but like every time before, it seemed she was invisible or they were rude. No, they were rude.

"Okay, so we get Schwoz's pot of gold, maybe run some electrical wires through it..."

"We warm up some milk, and wait for the package thief to show up!" Ray grinned at his young sidekick, who seemed to be full of unique ideas today,. The girls looked on, exasperated at how life had landed them working/loving such morons and why they hadn't yet received a medal.

"Do some meditation, get in that zone, you know what I mean?"

"Listen to songs of the humpback whale?" The hero suggested, sounding like he was in severe pain as he imitated the whales and their lonely song. Henry was the only person who liked it, unaware that outside their little bubble, they looked and sounded ridiculous with their oo'ing and awwing.

"You guys!" (y/n) snapped abruptly, slicing through their conversation with pure frustration at how her poor friend hadn't gotten a word in edgewise, and all they wanted to do was make whale noises. Instantly, they looked at her, taken aback by her sharp, uncharacteristic tone because she never yelled like that and certainly not at one of her babies or her beloved doofus.

"Charlotte has a plan that doesn't involve whales or milk or Schwoz's pot of damn gold!"

"Thank you, (y/n/n)," the girl inhaled calmly, bowing her head at her friend as she massaged her temples before carrying on with her explanation, "I put an ad online yesterday that says Junk-N-Stuff buys things now."

"So?" Henry asked, confused at what she meant by that. So what if they bought crap now? Didn't matter to him.

"So, the ad said we'll buy stuff, pay cash, and not ask where they got it from," she smirked with a mischievous glint in her eye, feeling so intelligent and smug for the trap they were leaving. It was all legit and the perfect way to lure in the thief, who had to be one clever bastard if he knew where to return the glitter bomb package after noticing he was being watched. Now, if only Ray could understand that...

"Uh, I did not authorise that, so I will subtract the cost of the ad from your paycheck," he told the girl with an air of authority that didn't wash with his sweet girl. Usually, she loved it when he played the big, strong, hot leader as it reminded her of his strength and extermination, but now he was coming across as arrogant and dictatorial. Plus, she supervised Charlotte all day, said she could publish the ad and even called it a great plan. What about her authority?

"Yeah, well, I authorised it, so I will add the cost back into her paycheck for doing our job for us," (y/n) folded her arms as Ray stood in front of the cash register. Now they were getting into the ridiculous part of the argument, where they questioned each other on stupid stuff, and as she gave him a complex, challenging look that no one else would ever get away with, he found himself biting his lip and glaring back.

"You didn't ask me first?"

"I didn't think I needed to ask for permission for a stupid online advert." The hairs on the back of her neck bristled at his cold voice, and she huffed at the insinuation that he'd suddenly changed his mind about how everything was run. What was he was hers - that's how things were, and she'd never assumed she could cross any line, but it was plain to see he was being stubborn. As was she.

"Check next time."

"Yes, sir, no, sir, three bags full, sir," she scoffed, unafraid to mock him since he wounded her pride with his haughty instructions, despite telling her numerous occasions that he didn't give a rat's ass about Junk-N-Stuff. She cared more about it. Therefore, he left most of it to her, saying she'd have half of everything when he finally got to call his wife, which would be in a million, billion years if he was planning the wedding.

"Don't be a child, sweetheart," he sneered as he turned away, done with the conversation, but he couldn't help when the nickname slipped from his tongue. He could never use it with malice, even if he were being hypocritical, stupid, and stubborn, so he wasn't ashamed about it as he looked at Henry, just about their poor handling of the situation.

"Me?! A child?! Have you heard yourself? That's rich com—"

"Come on, kid. Let's towel off this glitter, take a quick power nap and steal Schwoz's pot of gold," he grinned at the kid as he cut her off. How they were tired after so much sleep was anyone's guess, but it was probably something to do with the fact they slept in a van; for all his pouting and foot-stamping, Ray could never deny he slept better in his bed, with his precious girl, after tiring themselves out. Maybe it was that that made him so crabby.

"Good call; I am so tired..."

"I know, right? Must be from all that sleeping," they shrugged and grabbed some towels from one of the shelves just as Schwoz dashed through the store with a small cauldron suspiciously full of gold coins. He ran so fast that he spilt a few as he zipped out of the store, practically hissing at anyone who looked at him or his treasure, whether they were a friend...or foe.

"You'll never get my pot of gold!" Ignoring Ray and Henry's promises that they'd get that pot eventually, he bounced out of the store, proving to be a peculiar sight for the guy who walked in as he left. At first glance, he was like any other customer, just a guy with a box of junk under his arm, so the heroes didn't stop towelling as he walked up to the counter.

"Hi, can we help you?" (y/n) asked politely, switching to her demure, perpetually smiling mode as she did for every customer she served. A quick rake of her eyes over the young man and his demeanour made her tummy feel funny, not in that way, he was far too young for her, and as much as he pissed her off, she was a taken girl, but this guy seemed shady - jumpy, maybe. Highly suspicious.

"Yeah, I saw your ad online," the guy replied as he walked up to them and placed his box on the counter. Huh, a glance inside told (y/n) everything she needed to know, recognising the contents instantly, but they pretended to be innocent. No point going in for the kill before getting a confession.

"Oh, did you?" Charlotte asked loudly, hoping the boys were still paying attention, even with the towels over their heads.

"Yeah. Said you'll buy stuff, pay cash, not ask where it came from?"

"You know, that is what the ad said. I bet you came top of the class for your reading skills," (y/n) smiled brightly and ignored when the guy noticed and frowned at the glitter coating her and her helper. She really hoped he wasn't intelligent enough to put two-and-two together, and thankfully, he didn't say anything despite seeing the sparkles, preferring to get in and out with the hot goods.

"Whatcha lookin' to sell?"

"Uhh...I got a bunch of neckties with the Vice Mayor's face on them. You interested?" He told them, holding up the hideous, bright blue ties with Willard's face splashed all over them. The girls hated to think what they'd been ordered for but pushed the thought to the backs of their minds as Henry and Ray slowly stopped rubbing their hair. Neckties? With Vice Mayor Willard's face? Now that caught their attention.

"We are very interested in those. Got anything else?" Charlotte asked, seeing her friends turn around in the corner of her eye as the thief rummaged through his box again.

"I've got season two of Will and Grace on Blu-Ray!" He told them, holding up the DVD so they could see it. It wasn't on their list, but it was stolen. The guy didn't have many morals in that box of his.

"That's a good season!"

"It's a great season!" (y/n) recoiled when the shady guy snapped at her, causing Ray to put his hands on his hips as his anger rose. Whether they were in the middle of an argument or not was beside the point; no one, and he meant no one, yelled at, intimidated or was rude to his sweet girl. She was the loveliest, kindest, gentlest soul he'd ever encountered, and he loved her more than life itself - this guy would pay.

"I've also got this hairdryer specially made for hot moms," he moved on and lifted the hairdryer so they could see it. (y/n) clenched her jaw at the description, wondering why on Earth the hot mom bit was so important and why salt seemed to pour into her wounds every time she turned a corner. Kris Hart this, hot mom that, was there any wonder she hated that she hated that woman?

"That—that is fantastic stuff. Where'd you get it?" Charlotte questioned as the hero and sidekick pulled the towels from their heads. They were dense but not that dense and suddenly aware that Charlotte's plan had worked - the guy came straight to them. Who was dense now?

"The ad said you wouldn't ask where it came from," the thief replied frostily, unaware that Captain Man and Kid Danger were now stalking his ass right as he copped to the entire job. "But whatever. I stole it."

"Oh, wow, and nobody tried to stop you?" Miss Danger raised an eyebrow, curious about what he'd say and her doofus' reaction. The poor guy didn't know he was signing his death sentence as he and Henry loomed over him from behind, jaws clenched as he started insulting them freely.

"Well, there was this old guy and his son in a van trying to catch me."

"Old guy?!" Ray spluttered as he heard the terrible insult. Henry let it go like water rolling off a duck's back, but he knew how touchy his boss was about his age - forever strung up about how he would someday lose his fresh-faced, boyish youth and be forced into retirement. It didn't matter if it happened to everyone; he hated how it was happening to him, and he hated that he already had six years on his future wife when he wanted to spend every second of her life with her, worshipping everything she did.

"Oh, yeah! There you are," the guy laughed breathily as he turned around to see the numskulls he tricked, unaware that the girl and hot lady at the counter were cringing at how he was the numskull, "you like that glitter bomb, old man? EUhhhhhhh!"

As he laughed at his mischief, the others joined in, cackling like he was the best comedian in the world for pulling such a good prank on those trying to hunt him. Whilst they laughed, (y/n) nudged Charlotte, telling her it was time to make herself scarce as Henry went over to the door, intending to lock it so the three heroes could take their revenge on such a gunch.

"What's going on?" The thief queried as the shopkeepers and numskulls kept laughing to the point where it was getting creepy. He didn't understand why the old dude was slowly creeping towards him and twisting the red towel in his hands into what looked like a rope.

"Why's she heading toward the back?" He asked, feeling the joy leave his voice as a shiver ran down his spine. Things didn't seem so funny as he took in the situation and suddenly felt like an animal getting cornered, his instincts telling him to run even when all the exits were covered.

"Why's he locking the door? And why's she coming over here?" He asked again as the fake laughter died down into chuckling and then into silence. The thief found himself staring down Captain Man of all people, with Miss Danger breathing down his neck and Kid Danger looking down on him, but it would be okay, right? They were just three weirdos in a junk store - nothing scary there.

"...Say, friend, I couldn't help but notice..." Ray whispered to him in a husky voice that had (y/n) shivering from how undeniably hot he sounded, even though it wasn't the time or place to go all gooey, "you're not wearing green."

"And it's Avocado Day," Henry hissed, too, staring at the man as he stood in the doorway.

"Sort of..." (y/n)'s hot breath rolled down the man's neck as she leaned in to murmur in his ear, and he jolted at having her so close. Never in his life had he felt so caged, and the thief hated how they all glared at him like that, especially when the old guy with the...huge muscles growled from the lady getting so near and when he realised what Avocado Day meant.

"Oh, god..." he gulped, fearing what they'd do to him as Ray tightly gripped the towel. Oh, he didn't have to worry that much. He wouldn't pinch too hard.

At first.

~A while later~

There was nothing like job satisfaction at the end of a long day. Being able to say that the packages of Swellview were a little safer, thanks to them, made the job worth it for the Man Cave crew, and now that the asshole thief was in a police car on his way to the jailhouse, they could rest easy.

Well, some found it more straightforward than others.

Against her better judgement, (y/n) agreed when Charlotte asked if she wanted to help get the glitter out of Ray and Henry's hair, saying that the man wouldn't let anyone but her touch his. Then, she did some very well-played grovelling, saying all sorts of stuff like how she loved to touch her fiancé's hair, how no one could remove glitter as she could and how she, her poor helpless baby, needed some help from mama bear.

That tugged at her heartstrings, and the woman caved, tearing up at the thought of the girl struggling against two boys and their beloved hair, so they got to work. Saying nothing, (y/n) picked up a hairdryer and began blowing Ray's hair, using her famous patience and perseverance to get down to the root where the glitter caked every strand. They were still arguing, at least in her head because Ray could joke, grin, purr and smirk at her all he wanted, but she was at the end of her rope.

The storm was nearly here.

"Man! How crazy was it that that package thief guy just happened to walk into Junk-N-Stuff, right?" The doofus shouted over the noise from the hairdryer, feeling cocky and victorious after pinching the hell out of that lowlife as his sidekicks held him down. Now, he got to lie back and think of honey-laced lips and soft hands that stroked through his hair so graciously, which was all down to luck. Nothing else. Definitely just luck.

"Uh, he walked in because Charlotte put an ad online," she told him, prodding his head to ensure he was listening, but Ray didn't reply. He stared off into nothingness with a dopey grin because the work and stress were done now, which meant he could quickly patch it up with his precious fiancée. Oh, it was tragic how he didn't feel himself falling until he hit rock bottom.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, dude. Luck is a skill," Henry shouted, ignoring the outrage stewing behind him. Neither recognised how arrogant and conceited they were or how cruelly unfair to Charlotte as they sat back and enjoyed the spoils of war whilst those who did the actual work paid them a kindness.

"Yeah, well, lucky for us, we got that skill!" Ray smiled and bumped fists with his youngest sidekick as they boasted about how amazing they were - and that was the last straw for poor Charlotte.

"Well, good luck getting the glitter out of your own hair," she told them in a sugary voice before slamming the dryer down and briskly walking to the secret door. She ignored (y/n)'s calls for her to come back, knowing that she'd end up ripping their heads off if she stayed any longer, wondering how her friend hadn't already.

She didn't care at that moment; she didn't care what was said or done between the boys or between the couple; she just needed some air, so she left them to it. And that didn't go down very well with (y/n), who huffed and death-glared the giggling children on the couch as she too, approached the end of her rope.

"What's her deal?" Henry asked blankly, wondering why his friend stormed off like that, but as a male running off cocky endorphins, he couldn't work it out, and neither could Ray.

"Uh, she gets like this every Avocado Day," he replied with a shrug, not realising he was digging his hole deeper, even when (y/n) copied the girl and turned her hairdryer off. Sometimes, it baffled her how he could be so dense, emotionally stupid and inconsiderate. It made her wonder why she had to go and fall for him all those years ago because, certainly, there were easier men out there.

"Well, who's gonna blow the glitter out of my hair now?" Henry questioned, glancing around the room with a vacant, almost expectant expression. Okay, (y/n) would have to remember to stop waiting on him hand and foot because this was ridiculous. She thought it was bad when her lover sat there with his mouth open and hands out, expecting everything to be given to him, but she wouldn't do it for both of them. Hell, she didn't want to do it for anyone right now.

"Nah, it's all right. (y/n) can do both of us, right, sweet girl?" Ray suggested, tilting his head back so he could smile at her as she stared at him in disbelief. Since when had she turned into the Man Cave's maid?

"Raymond, I am also covered in this fucking glitter. If you think I'm going to run around after you two, then—"

"Ooh, I got an idea!" He cut her off with a high-pitched gasp, causing the heroine to bite her tongue until it risked bleeding. It was like he was using every trick in the book to try her patience, toeing and crossing every line, so she had to reign in her temper before she said something awful, but he was making it so damn difficult.

"Sweet, dude. I'll warm up some milk," Henry grinned and went to stand up. She couldn't blame him when he was feeding off the boss' energy - Ray was the ringleader, the one barking orders and Henry, bless his heart, wasn't one for being so...fucking annoying. And he'd never intentionally jeopardise their relationship by encouraging his friend's pigheaded behaviour - he'd invested too much time and effort in it.

"No, no, no, no, no, we can't nap our way out of this one, pal," Ray stopped him before he reached the auto-snacker, standing up to take his gum tube from his back pocket. His sidekicks eyed him curiously, wondering what he was thinking as (y/n) impatiently tapped her foot against the tiles.

"Check it out. Pop a gumball, transform into Captain Man, Kid Danger and Miss Danger, and poof! All the glitter is gone!" He grinned as if he'd just solved world hunger, looking from the kid to his sweet girl, who scoffed at the notion of him finally acknowledging her. She'd been invisible all day, or he'd ignored everything she'd said, so now he was including her made her even angrier because it played into his ego.

"Ah, question—do you ever get tired of being so awesome?"

"Don't encourage him, Henry. You'll make his head even bigger than it already is," she told the boy bitterly, causing him to freeze as she glared at Ray, whose entire body tensed up at the ice in her voice. What was her deal?

"Uh, well, actually, I've been tired the past couple of days, so I don't know why you're getting so moody," he scoffed, turning his back on Henry so he could fully face her, which used to make mousy (y/n) (y/l/n) back down instantly, but now, she was ready for an argument - gloves on, fury boiling over, venom prepared to spit.

"Oh, you're tired? Are you tired after sleeping on the job for two days straight? I've been worried sick, running round, and cleaning up all your crap, Raymond, and you dare to call me moody?" She hissed, jabbing the space between his pecs with her finger, and he grabbed it in a tight, rough grip, ready to fight if ,that's what she wanted.

"Yeah, I'll call you moody 'cause my fiancée can't seem to let me do anything without getting her panties in a twist. Don't shout, Ray! Don't eat with your mouth open, Ray! Don't talk to Henry's mom in case she flashes you, Ray!" He growled at her, riling her up with a mocking tone that was supposed to be her, although, in sane minds, neither of them would say she ever sounded that shrill and bossy.

"I don't see why you have to bring her into this!" (y/n) whispered harshly, glancing over her shoulder to see Henry scuffing his foot against the tiles awkwardly. It was like getting caught between his mom and dad fighting, even if that was part of the problem. He could pinpoint the moment the woman internally panicked at being called out, recoiling into her best defences rather than admitting she was nothing short of jealous.

"Oh, please. Do you know how difficult this mission has been, knowing you're at home sulking?"

"Difficult? Try twelve years loving you, and then you'll know the meaning of difficult, Raymond. I've put up with so much shit from you and never complained about it!" She shouted, growing increasingly frustrated and upset as she did her best to hurt him, and he did his best to hurt her. Tears sprang in her eyes at the scowl on his face, knowing it was directed at her as he fought them back, too, knowing he was making her cry.

"Well, why don't you just leave if I'm such a bastard?" He asked cruelly, hating the question the moment he asked it because he didn't want to know the answer. He didn't want her to take it as rhetorical either since that would mean he'd have to stomach everything being over, and he couldn't do that. This would blow over like always, right?

"Because everyone knows you would fall apart without me! This place barely ran before I got here!" It was her turn to brag, gathering what was left of her pride and using it to batter him - a terrible, cruel way of showing him that she wanted to stay because her place was in the Man Cave, as part of his family. She wouldn't leave, even if the shouting match implied otherwise.

"Well, there you go, then. Stop shouting, and you can stay as long as you want, darlin'. I'm sure I can make us forget all about this..." Ray replied with a smirk, feeling his anger melt into cockiness as he interpreted her words as a desperate cry for affection and validation. So, in a terrible misjudgement, he stepped forward and placed his large, warm hands on her upper arms, the smirk never leaving his face as he wiggled his eyebrows at her in the suggestion that they could fuck and this would all go away.

And then the first stab of lightning struck.

"What? For God's sake, Raymond, why do you always have to be so cocky, smug, and annoying?!" She cried, exasperatedly hitting her fists against his chest as his attempts to calm her down made her heart bleed even more. What should've made the tears stop and her words dry up made her feel trapped like she had nowhere to go, but into his arms and for once, she didn't want to be there, not when she felt like this, so she lashed out. And wounded them both.

"God, Ray, I just—-I—fuck, sometimes, I—I hate you!" She screamed as her fist connected with his chest for the final time, and as it did, it was like the world stopped. Ray felt his heart stop as she hit him like she took what she held and crushed it in one simple squeeze.

All the joking died within him, his smirk falling as she held her glare and breathed raggedly, hoping in her anger she'd done enough to be set free, but as his face drained of colour, she knew what damage she'd done.

His fingers became loose and shaky on her shoulders, allowing her to wrench free from his grip so she could turn away from him and walk around the couch to stand alone for a moment. She cut a lonely figure, arms curled around herself to provide comfort as she cooled down and reeled from the argument, where she'd said and done things she didn't mean - but she'd said and done them anyway.

Ray blinked a few times, surprised and expecting at the same time to feel tears in his eyes, and he tried to process those three ugly words.

Only in his nightmares had he heard them, the darkest, cruellest ones that could never be real when he woke up in the morning to find his beloved still in his arms, smiling and in love with him. It didn't feel real, and in another moment, he would've worked out that she said it out of spite and anger, not from her heart, but he didn't want to listen to reason. He wanted his sweet girl, but she didn't want him.

He always knew this would happen.

"Um, let's just pop some gum and get this glitter outta my bum," Henry piped up in a small voice, not knowing what else to do. It was an awkward and clumsy attempt to break the ice, but no one could blame him for trying, not when he'd had to endure seeing that between the strongest couple he'd ever known. They'd never fought this bad, and a part of him was genuinely worried that things had been said and done that couldn't be taken back.

"Y-yeah, popping, kid," Ray replied breathlessly, his hands shaking as he titled his tube until a glowing orb landed in his palm. He shoved it past his teeth quicker than Henry could ask if he was all right—he obviously wasn't, but he didn't know what else to say other than he'd bet his left kidney that (y/n) would rather die than end up hating him.

He wanted to tell him everything as an outside observer, but he couldn't because his dad had an uncanny knack for calling at precisely the wrong moment.

"Sup, pop-pop?" He answered the call as (y/n) begrudgingly trudged over and swallowed a gumball too. In the five seconds, she'd had to think, she knew that this was the lowest point in her life and possibly the one where her future self would look back and curse her for being so careless and cruel. That wasn't who she was; she was (y/n), the girl people went to for her kindness and caution, but in a split-second, she forgot herself and made the biggest mistake of her life.

Telling the man she adored that she hated his guts - how could she ever forgive herself? Would he ever forgive her?

"Hey, happy Avocado Day. I'm looking for Piper." Mr Hart told his son, chirping before growing more serious since he hadn't seen his youngest in days. He couldn't think where she could've got to, but then again, she never told him of her movements or business.

"Uh, when was the last time you saw her?" Henry asked, wishing this could wait until later since he had two broken lovers chewing gum, but he perked up in concern at the news about his sister.

"Been a couple of days, and according to this parenting book I've been reading, I should be worried!" Well, duh, his daughter was missing. Why wouldn't he be worried?

"Wasn't she picking up trash for community service?" Henry suggested, vaguely remembering the screaming match between Piper and their mom about something involving a stolen elephant. He'd had enough of those for a lifetime and felt antsy to get off the line so he could get the morons standing on either side of him to apologise and go back to being soulmates, but it seemed a good enough excuse for his dad.

"Ah! We'll go with that!"

"Yeah, anything else? I gotta go," he told him quietly, glancing up to see the lovers standing uncharacteristically three feet apart and looking anywhere but at each other. That was not how it was supposed to be; they were supposed to be three millimetres apart and looking at nothing but each other, preferably with their eyes shut and their lips touching. Not that Henry would ever confess to thinking the icky sight was cute.

"Yeah. There's a really big package on the front porch. Did you order something?" Mr Hart asked as he circled the mysterious box, which appeared out of nowhere, and his wife swore she hadn't ordered. She was too busy mailing out wedding invites and writing a list of good florists on behalf of her son's nice boss to order anything.

"Um, I don't think soooo—-oh, no, we forgot about Jasper, dude! He's still in the box on my porch!" Henry cringed as he remembered their second failed stakeout and how his poor best friend had sat throughout the night just to be forgotten on his doorstep.

He covered the receiver so his dad couldn't hear anything and looked to Ray for help, but he didn't feel like helping anyone when he pictured telling everyone he'd bragged to that he was no longer marrying the hottest, loveliest, sweetest girl on the planet, all because he pushed her to the brink.

"I'll just open it..." Mr Hart shrugged as the line went quiet and figured that if someone had left it on their porch for so long and not come looking for it, then it was his to explore. Sort of.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, don't open it!" Henry told his dad quickly, keenly aware that Jasper was lurking in the box with a goddamn taser in his hand, but it was too late. Mr Hart pulled his PearPhone away from his ear and reached down to remove the tape from the cardboard. All Henry heard in the final seconds what sounded like Jasper yelling, and the sound of a grown man suffering one hundred thousand volts of electricity before a thud, and the line went dead.

Oh well, hopefully, that problem would sort itself out.

"How—how's your dad? Say anything i-important?" (y/n) asked wearily, her voice shaky and scratchy like she was trying not to cry again because who was she to be upset? She'd done this, no one else; if anything, her doofus should be the one crying because he made the mistake of falling for the biggest bitch ever. She made Kris seem like an angel, and she selfishly felt her heart crack when she dared to glance up and see her steeled gaze - so strong even when she ripped holes in him.

"Not really. Jasper tased him. Piper's missing. Let's get this glitter off," Henry told them, bringing them up to speed so they could finally remove the offending glitz. It would be the first of many remedies, and the kid planned on the second being shoving them in a room until they came out all lovey-dovey again, so even though the melon holy woman looked concerned at the mention of the missing girl, they took their places and began to blow.

The bubbles pushed past their lips as the lovers awkwardly stood next to each other, closer than either would've liked since they were sure the other was wildly uncomfortable. Still, they ignored the tension and behaved like adults, steadily blowing the bubbles until they were nearly ready to pop.

And that's when everything went wrong.

In a shocking, bizarre twist of fate; a sharp squeal came from behind them as a small, dazed figure dropped from the tubes and luckily landed on its feet. Piper.

She'd crawled through those goddamn tubes for days, taking every twist and turn in good humour until her stomach growled for food and her brain melted into mush from how far they went. She was sure she'd never find her way out after two days of crawling from Stank Street and that stupid car (looking inside was a massive mistake), but then, there was a sudden drop, and she had no choice but to go down.

She landed on hard, solid ground - a relief after crawling on her knees for so long and she breathed a sigh of relief as she'd finally made it to the other side, wherever the other was. But then, her breath was stolen as she peered up through her messy hair and took in the bright, wacky room she'd landed in—and that's when she saw them.

Her brother, Henry Hart, standing next to one of her best friends, (y/n) (y/l/n), standing next to her dumb fiancée and his boss, Ray Manchester, each of them blowing a luminescent bubble, and then, they popped.

"Henry? (y/n)?" She asked in confusion, wondering what the hell they were doing down here and what that stuff was they were blowing, but it was too late for excuses. There was no time to run, and there was nowhere to hide. In a flash of light, Piper witnessed it all as the trio stood there in shock, powerless to stop the red and blue uniforms materialising around their bodies as they became those unmistakable figures.

In front of her stood Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger, in the flesh, in their masks and shock. And she knew who they were. And they knew she knew; there was no denying it as she screamed at the top of her lungs from the pure shock.

Her brother was Kid Danger.

One of her best friends was Miss Danger.

She was getting married to Captain Man - possibly.

And now, the shitstorm was here.

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omegaworld · 1 year

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I write only alpha male character x omega female reader.

All my fanfics have a happy ending.

You can choose tag lists for all fanfics, for a fandom, collection or for specific characters (you can choose more than one).

Characters that are here are the ones I guarantee I will write in the collection or fandom, for fandom with a collection means that currently all my fanfics in that fandom are being for that collection/series and so for now each character will only have one fanfic, I plan to do more collections in each fandom further down the line.

Characters that appear in brackets are characters I might do more for later on but I can't guarantee it. I may have forgotten some character so if there's one you want me to write and it's not here let me know.

Tags lists:

General

Fandoms:

Wednesday

One piece (Mates collection)

Dr. Stone (Mates collection)

My Hero Academia (Omega Program collection)

Wednesday

Xavier Thorpe Ajax Petropolus

Dr. Stone (Mates collection):

Senku Ishigami Chrome Kinro Ginro Gen Asagiri Ukyo Saionji Tsukasa Shishio

My Hero Academia (Omega Program collection):

A1: Denki Kaminari Eijiro Kirishima Katsuki Bakugo Hanta Sero Fumikage Tokoyami Mezo Shoji Shoto Todoroki Mashirao Ojiro (Izuku Midoriya) (Tenya Ida)

Other students: Yosetsu Awase Neito Monoma Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu Mirio Togata Tamaki Amajiki Hitoshi Shinso Yo Shindo Inasa Yoarashi

Pró heros: Hawks Eraser Head All Might (Best Jeanist) (Fat Gum) (Present Mic) (Endeavor)

Villans: Tomura Shigaraki Dabi

Others: Natsuo Todoroki

One piece (Mates collection):

Straw Hat Pirates: Monkey D. Luffy Roronoa Zoro Ussop Sanji Vinsmoke (Jinbei)

Other pirates: Charlotte Katakuri Charlotte Perospero Charlotte Cracker (Charlotte Oven) King Page One X Drake Portgas D. Ace Izou Marco The Phoenix Benn Beckman Shanks Trafalgar D. Water Law Eustass Kid Killer (Dracule Mihawk)

Marines: Kuzan Koby Donquixote Rosinante

Others: Vinsmoke Ichiji Vinsmoke Niji Vinsmoke Yonji Sabo

#Dr Stone #dr stone fanfic #dr stone x reader #one piece #One Piece Fanfiction #one piece fanfic #one piece x reader #wednesday #wednesday fanfic #wednesday x reader #mha #mha x reader #mha fanfiction #omegaverse #alpha/beta/omega AU #Alpha x Omega #angst to fluff

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fevermedia · 6 months

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✧ ⁺ ⁺ a warm welcome to everyone! please make sure to follow everybody on the masterlist (or use the quick follow here) and have fun! we've missed you!

HEADS UP! due to the amount of applications there are two follows posts!

the mods have worked diligently over the past few days in order to welcome you all! despite this, we are only human and sometimes things do slip through cracks. if you notice we have missed anything or input any information incorrectly on any of our pages (relationships pages will be live later this evening!) then please do not hesitate to reach out to us to have things corrected!

✧ Aleksi Hintz┊ Tattoo Artist┊ blckhvrts ✧ Alex Snowden┊ Guitarist┊ discountslash ✧ Andrew Schafer-Hozier-Byrne┊ Musician┊ hozemedown390 ✧ Awsten Knight┊ Musician┊ texasboyfriend ✧ Bang Chan┊ Idol - Stray Kids┊ nooddinarychan ✧ Bishop Briggs┊ Singer┊ unchainmylove ✧ Cale Makar┊ Hockey Player┊ 8cakemakar ✧ Cassidy Moon┊ Makeup Artist┊ makeitupcass ✧ Chloe Dupont┊ Model / Influencer┊ pumathurmans ✧ Clementine Rue Power┊ Social Media Manager┊ snctgirl ✧ Courtney Lottie Villen┊ Content Creator┊ wishingyouhxll ✧ Crystal Jennifer Dennings┊ Model/Vlogger┊ twistedxcherry ✧ Danny Worsnop┊ Singer┊ daddysnop ✧ Delilah Wolf┊ Model┊ cobraremixx ✧ Dermot Kennedy┊ Musician┊ checkthatmath ✧ Edie Marie┊ Exotic Animal Rescue┊ txxnxgedirtbxg ✧ Elizabeth Green┊ Social Media Manager┊ Elizabethallisongreen ✧ Esa Lindell┊ Hockey Player┊ palestfinn ✧ Esmeray Schafer┊ Tattoo Artist┊ skinofakilla ✧ Han Jisung┊ Musician┊ devilsspite ✧ Hunter Schafer┊ Actress & Model┊ wutrfeelins ✧ Isabella “Ella” Mercy Williams┊ Merch Manager┊ lilellaphant ✧ Jack Hughes┊ Athlete┊ lacroixdenier ✧ Jada Jones┊ Photographer┊ ssaccharineheartss ✧ James Deberg┊ Vocalist┊ letgourlove ✧ Joakim “ Jolly ” Karlsson┊ Guitarist┊ dadomcns ✧ Julien Baker┊ Singer/Songwriter┊ thornedrosaries ✧ Jung Wooyoung┊ Musician┊ gltteremoji ✧ Juniper Jones┊ Baker┊ heresyrletter ✧ Kim Mingyu┊ Musician┊ thatdancingtree ✧ Kinsey Mae Lindell┊ Business Owner┊ imtherealwednesdayaddams ✧ Lee Felix┊ Musician┊ caselixie ✧ Lee Minho (Lee Know)┊ Musician┊ fortypersonality ✧ Lee Taemin┊ Musician┊ redbottomcroc ✧ Lucia Pineda┊ Model┊ downunder.mp3 ✧ Lucy Dacus┊ Singer/Songwriter┊ redlipclassicc ✧ Lynn Gunn┊ Musician┊ romanticterrors ✧ Mason Marchment┊ Athlete┊ puckedoff27 ✧ Madison Beer┊ Musician┊ loversdelux ✧ Mateo Ibarra┊ Tattoo Artist┊ himbocore ✧ Minatozaki Sana┊ Musician┊ cryingflex ✧ Nico Hischier┊ Athlete┊ scarlethazed ✧ Noah Sebastian┊ Vocalist┊ diganothergrave ✧ Nikolai Sokolov┊ Tattoo Artist┊ wastelvndbxby ✧ Nora Casella┊ Tattoo Artist┊ rebellicns ✧ Octavia “Tavia” Rhodes┊ Band Manager┊ urfinalgirlxx ✧ Olivia Cynthia Villen┊ School Teacher┊ theshrxke ✧ Parker Cannon┊ Vocalist┊ quoteiguessunquote ✧ Patrick Miranda┊ Singer┊ worstwiishes ✧ Pete Wentz┊ Bassist┊ waxedpoeticz ✧ Phoebe Bridgers┊ Musician┊ lilmissnonsensical ✧ Quinn Hughes┊ Athlete┊ rizzlybears ✧ Ramone Valerio┊ Musician┊ shrimpramon ✧ Rinley Jones┊ Photographer┊ elegantrhiino ✧ Rissa ‘Seven’ Owens┊ Influencer┊ callmeseven0607 ✧ Roope Hintz┊ Hockey Player┊ aceandspades24 ✧ Rosalie Cooper┊ Photographer/Model┊ rosieposeyfallsdown ✧ Ryan Snowden┊ Tattoo Artist┊ featmarkhoppus ✧ Seraphine Charlotte┊ Librarian┊ suckerpcnch ✧ Shane Madej┊ Youtuber┊ ratbxy ✧ Sidney Crosby┊ Hockey Player┊ siidsthekiid ✧ Tara Yummy┊ Content Creator┊ glitterbreakdown ✧ Taylor Swift┊ Musician┊ spicytakisluv ✧ Tyler Glenn┊ Singer┊ skxlxtonboy

#fm.follow

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neshabeingchildish · 4 years

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Charlotte Page Kids Masterlist

This is only for stories that I wrote. in which Charlotte becomes a mother. I have written several different careers for her over the past year and some change that I’ve been creating possible futures and I made a Masterlist for that, and now I just wanted to make a list of all of the various children that I’ve given her…

FAMILY DANGER: Hamilton “Hammy” or “Hank” Henry Page (Because Henry and the kids take Charlotte’s name in this fic)- A divo. He’s the one that got Charlotte’s intelligence and in fact, she acknowledges that he’s smarter than she was at his age. Grows up knowing who his parents are and in the supers world, but he doesn’t have powers of his own and has a bit of a complex about it when he’s young. Comes across as harsh a lot, because he definitely doesn’t hold back on saying things, but is one of the most caring and protective people in the family. Charlotte Ambrosia Page II “Charlie” - A daddy’s girl. She’s got superpowers and has always wanted to be a hero, even though Charlotte is wary of letting her do so. The two of them butt heads over it and over their differences, in general. She thinks her mom is too overbearing and Charlotte thinks that she is too lackadaisical with the immense power that she has. Yeah, they eventually work it out.

SO: (Unnamed in the story - I didn’t really feel a need to describe or name any of them in the story, because they were only mentioned in the very end to show how things wound up, but I did have my own little ideas of them). 16 Year old girl who “looks just like Henry, but with a tan and curly hair.” I think of her as “Henley.” She’s a protective eldest, like her dad, but relentless in dragging him, like her Aunt Piper. 12 Year old boy who I thought of as the nice but blunt one. He says things that probably shouldn’t be said, but doesn’t really mean anything by it. He’s actually quite sweet and loyal. He’s also the one who got Charlotte’s height, but is often picked on because of it. 8 year old girl who is quiet and a daddy’s girl. She doesn’t speak up when her siblings are sticking it to dear old dad, but she doesn’t really like it, even though they’re innocently giving him a hard time.

DETERMINED: Jasper Determined Dunlop “Jazz” - The Fighter and Athlete. She takes after her dad, but looks like her mom (only a little lighter, a lot taller, and muscular, Amber Reign - The Princess, the Lesbian, the Revenge Seeker, the only one that was really “light skinned,” but she always got a little browner in the summer. Her hair was curly like Jasper’s when he was a kid and it didn’t grow down, but out, so she had a huge curly fro. Very feminine, but very vindictive. Ruby Andromeda “Andro” or “Rascal” - Charlotte’s clone, because they had similar mannerisms and the same face and hair. The genius of the kids. Top of her class, technology student, Diamond Supreme - Little Brown Jasper, she looks just like her dad, but darker, with Jasper’s mother’s light brown eyes - a trait that Charlotte does not like to acknowledge. She’s the least visible, time jumping from the womb going into HS by the end of the story.

HAPPY PRANKSGIVING/HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY: Maximilian Chael Thunderman (Mini Max) - Takes after his father, Max and that’s endearing to Charlotte, 6 years later Phoenix (Nix) - The black sheep. She looks just like Max, but she’s not as intellectual as the rest of the family and she has no superpowers, so she feels inadequate at times, 3 years later Maxwell and Maxavier (the twins - Max 1 and Max 2) - VERY smart and cocky. Often trying to live up to the reps of Big Max and Mini Max, close with their older sister, but sometimes feel like they have to guide her because they underestimate her due to their intelligence levels, 5 years later Charbonnet (BonBon, Bonnie, when she gets older) - The baby. She looks and takes after Charlotte, but I haven’t fleshed her out anywhere yet.

#Charlotte Page #henry danger #Nesha HD Fics #Charlotte Page Kids Masterlist #The Thundermans #Because Thunderbolt #Thunderbolt #Chasper #Chenry

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angelamoores · 5 years

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Friends Don’t Series

Pt. 1 - Friends Don’t Get Crushes

Pt. 2 - Friends Don’t Kiss

Pt.3 - Friends Definitely Don’t Ask Each Other Out

#henry danger #henry hart #kid danger #charlotte page bolton #chenry #my writing #masterlist #easy to find #to be added to #friends don’t series #friends don’t

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midnightswithdearkatytspb · 3 years

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VelvetCardiganBucky’s Recommendations 2021: Week 16 | April 11th – April 17th

Welcome to week 16 of my recommendations, if you would like to be featured on a future list, I follow the hashtag #VelvetCardiganBucky, message me, tag me in your future works, or reblog this post and link to your story, one-shot, Masterlist, writing challenge, etc.

Be aware some if not most stories and writers on this list are meant to be consumed by an audience of those 18+. My blog is also an 18+ blog.

✨Page breaks are made @firefly-graphics✨

«Last Week

Week 17»

My Masterlist

My Fic Rec List of Mafia/Mob Bucky/Sebastian & Steve/Chris/Andy

Stuff I Posted This Week:

Lee Bodecker

One-Shots:

Rough Love by @ladyfallonavenger » Lee Bodecker x Reader — Lee wakes to his wife getting ready for the day. This work is inspired by the song Poker Face by Lady Gaga. | So very hot. 🥵

I Can’t Wait To Meet You by @not-a-great-writer » Lee Bodecker x Pregnant!Reader — Request: Lee doesn’t want to leave his pregnant wife’s side. | I summarized the requested one-shot up. It’s very fluffy and domestic and sweet. I say we petition for the user name to be changed not a great writer to a fantastic writer!

(Mini) Series:

*Give In 🎡 Pt.21 🎡 Pt.22 by @not-a-great-writer » Soft!Dark!Lee Bodecker x Shy!Reader — She didn’t think she was anything special. So when the intimidating Sheriff takes an interest in her, she can’t help but feel a little unsettled. Her boring life is about to get a little interesting. | Can I just say this story is just *chefs kiss*? Lee Bodecker? *chefs kiss* Reader? *chefs kiss* It’s just all so perfect and so is the smut.

Bucky Barnes

One-Shots:

I’m In The Water by @nsfwsebbie » Dark!Winter Soldier x Reader — He’s in the wind, and you’re in the water. Nobody’s son, nobody’s daughter. | Read the tags, this is extremely dirty as well as dark, but I honestly enjoyed it. Sabrina really blew my mind with this one.

Show A Little Gratitude by @thicccsimp » Bucky Barnes x Reader — You discover a new kink with Bucky after making a bad call during a mission. | Hot, Hot, Hot 🥵

Just Wondering by @infernal-fire » soft!dark!Buck Barnes x Reader — Reader is pregnant and has some mixed feelings. | This is sort of adorable, and pregnancy hormones really come out in this.

Sunday Kinda’ Love by @msmarvelwrites » Bucky Barnes x Reader — You weren’t sure when it happened, falling in love with Bucky Barnes. | Brontë is such an amazing writer who wrote something that made my heart squeal while the rest of me just thought it was really hot.

Don’t You by @pagesoflauren » Bucky Barnes x Reader — Bucky sees you for the first time after breaking up with you. | Taylor Swift and Bucky Barnes what more could you ask for in life?

(Mini) Series:

Just Like Dad 💋 Pt.2 by @ladyfallonavenger » Bucky Barnes x Reader — The Reader loses Bucky in the snap and life presents a whole new challenge. | It’s got your angst and your fluff, everything you need for a perfect one-shot.

Sweet Dreams Pt.3 ✨ Pt.1 ✨ Pt.2 by @jedimastermelkor » Bucky Barnes x Reader; Mystery Avenger x Reader — Your daily routine involves waking up in the morning, going to work and sulking at night. But then you meet the man you’ve fantasized about for your entire life, Bucky Barnes. At the same time, you’ve caught someone else’s eye and his first step in winning you over is to cook you breakfast. But will you be welcoming of that person’s affections? | You can tell Bucky really likes the reader in this and the reader has a crush on Bucky. Now you add Peter who you know has a crush on the reader. It's sort of adorable. I highly recommend it. It will keep you at the edge of your seat and your jaw hitting the floor a couple of times along the way.

Stucky

(Mini) Series:

The Miracle Pt.3 ✨ Pt.1 ✨Pt.2 by @heavenhatesme » Soft!Dark!Stucky x Reader — When infertility threatens mankind with extinction and there hasn’t been a baby for almost 18 years, what happens when two certain super soldiers fall for the same woman and accidentally impregnate her? | Heed the tags folks. I want to call them soft!dark, but they are pretty dark, but it’s up to you the reader to decide. The smut in this is great, and the storyline just as good, it also pulls on your heartstrings.

Vampires Will Never Hurt You by @missgraceomalley » Steve Rogers x Darcy Lewis; Bucky Barnes x Darcy Lewis; Steve Rogers x Darcy Lewis x Bucky Barnes — Darcy's been hiding something and Steve can't pin what it is. Can the serum help him? Or will he be compelled away? (AO3)| I love stories that take you on twist and turns, I also love vampires, add in Damon Salvatore plus the two Super Soldiers? You make me very happy!

*Brooklyn Wars by @world-of-aus » Mob!Steve x Reader, Mob!Bucky x Reader / Eventual Mob!Stucky x Reader — Childhood friends pulled apart by a move and a rivalry between families, will a shared promise of ‘till the end of the line’ be enough to keep them together. Or will a deal struck up gone wrong, and an indecisiveness to choose who your heart loves be the ‘end of the line.’ | I spent my Saturday morning re-reading this and loving every part and wishing for more. @world-of-aus is such a fantastic writer that doesn’t get enough recognition in my list.

Steve Rogers

(Mini) Series:

*His Koala Bear by @kinanabinks » Dark!Steve Rogers x Innocent!Reader — You and steve have been best friends since you were 5. for the longest time, he has wanted so much more from you. and it’s getting harder for him to stop himself from taking it. | Prepare for the emotional roller coaster this story is going to take you on and to change your underwear or perhaps to take a cold shower, maybe both.

*Lipstick and Crayons 🖍 Pt.5 by @oneoftheprettynerds » Dark!Mob!Steve Rogers x Single Mom!Reader — Steve can’t ever repay you for what you did. After meeting you, Steve believes his broken family is the missing piece in the puzzle of your own wrecked one. Indebting the crime lord to you has been the biggest mistake of your life, cause now you can’t get rid of him, no matter what. Loyalty and favours go a long way in the mob. | This story makes you feel like you are watching a Dark!Mob Romantic movie staring Steve Rogers. It’s just that good and I love it.

Ransom Drysdale

One-Shots:

Sugar by @chrissquares » Ransom Drysdale x Reader — Reader sees Ransom in his glasses for the first time. | Let’s be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing Ransom in his glasses more often, especially if he looked like that.

(Mini) Series:

Stolen What’s Mine Pt.1 by @wanderinglunarnights » Ransom Drysdale x OFC!Charlotte Callahan — Charlotte and Ransom are up for the same promotion at the publishing house. She hates his handsome ass, especially when he steals the job as editor in chief out from under her nose. | Charlotte is sassy and she isn’t going to take any of Ransom’s nonsense, I love it! You can tell it’s going to be a good one!

Andy Barber

One-Shots:

I’ll Be Here by @candlefics » Andy Barber x Reader — Jacob grew up with you around. What happens when he’s convicted of murder, and his family falls apart? What will your relationship with Andy turn into? | I like this take on a show I have still yet to watch. It was sweet and emotional, a must read in my book.

(Mini) Series:

*Moment’s Silence Pt.3 🥞 Pt.1 🥞 Pt.2 by @syntheticavenger » Frank Adler x Reader; Andy Barber x Reader — The tumultuous relationship between twin brothers Frank and Andy takes a turn for the worse when Andy offers to wipe out Frank’s debt by asking for the one thing Andy wants that Frank has. | This story has me wanting to bite my nails in anticipation even though I can’t. So freaking good!

Misc.

Drabbles:

Good Behavior by @syntheticavenger » Dark!Andy Barber x Reader; Soft Dark!Steve Rogers x Reader — Andy’s special delivery arrives with a familiar face. | This is hot in a way you wouldn’t expect it to be, and I’m sort of wishing for a part 2.

One-Shots:

*Distractions by @rebelwrites » Jax Teller x Reader — I requested “Can you please put a shirt on?” | Let me just say this prompt was just so well written and it put a smile on my face. I would welcome Jax as a distraction any day, as long as he threw one of his signature panty dropping smiles my way.

Seal Team

One-Shot:

I’m Not Good Enough by @rebelwrites » Sonny Quinn x Reader — “So, we’re just going to ignore the fact that you drunk-dialed me to tell me you love me?” | This broke my heart than it fixed it. 💗

No Damsel In Distress by @rebelwrites » Clay Spenser x Reader — #3 and #13 for Clay Spenser. “Even when we were kids, i always kicked your ass!” And “How is my wife more badass than me?” | So hilarious and badass.

You Aren’t Allowed To Be Sick by @rebelwrites » Clay Spenser x Reader — “What do you mean you’re sick?! You’re my partner in crime!” | Clay can buy me flowers and take care of me any day.

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raysofcrosby · 4 years

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CHANCES – M. TKACHUK

requested: yes | no

warning(s): none that i can think of.

word count: 5,066

listened to: chances by the backstreet boys

inspiration: mixed luggage au [ i can’t find the og au-prompt masterlist, but if this is your au idea, lemme know and i’ll link you for credit (: ]

authors note: listen– i don’t know what it is, but i’ve literally been on a tkachuk thing lately. like, i used to despise this little curly-headed gremlin, but now??? it’s all hearteyes motherfucker. this is purely a writing to help me get back into the writing groove again after these last six months of nothing– so i might be a lil rusty. anyway, i hope you enjoy <3333

I’m sorry Y/N, but if you’re not here in the next 5 minutes I need to keep going.

That text haunted you– it was all you could think about the moment you got off of your flight. The uber your sister had ordered for you was close to canceling– all because there were too many planes taxiing on the airstrip and your stupid flight ended up circling in the air for thirty minutes. If this were any other airport, no doubt you’d be screwed. Luckily though, you knew good ole St. Louis Lambert International like the back of your hand. So getting from point A to point luggage claim would be no problem at all. The only delay would be the luggage getting put out onto the carousel.

Which of course, did prove to be the problem at hand.

You were the first one from your flight at the carousel and hoped to be gone before any disgruntled passengers you managed to bump into, could show up. Unfortunately for you, just as the bags were being loaded onto the carousel, your fellow passengers were arriving too– more than a few giving you a look that would normally result in you rolling your eyes in response. Yet, your focus wasn’t on them, it was glued to the small carousel door, keeping an eye out for your suitcase.

Teal bag with a grey handle. Teal bag with a grey handle. Teal bag with a grey handle. Teal bag with a grey hand–

“Ah-ha!” You smiled, catching eye of your suitcase and rushing to meet it instead of letting it eventually make its way to you. You grabbed the suitcase and extended the handle to drag it away, already walking towards the exit.

One minute.

You had one minute to catch your uber before they left you and you hoped and prayed that luck was on your side and the black Toyota Corolla just happened to be parked near the door you chose to exit from. The warm summer air of the Missouri summer weather practically smacked you in the face and it fit wasn’t for the awning covering the pick-up zone, you would have no doubt been blinded by the sun too.

“Oh, thank God,” you sighed, catching sight of a black Toyota Corolla that your sister said to find, parked just six cars down to your left. You sped walked to the uber, coming to a stop at the window and waving at the driver, catching her attention. “I’m so, so sorry I’m late.”

The woman, probably in her early 60’s gave you a friendly smile instead of the scowl you were expecting. “Are you Y/N?”

“Yes ma’am,” you replied, nodding.

“Go ahead and put your suitcase in the trunk, it’s opened for you.”

You walked to the trunk and lifted it open, placing your suitcase inside before closing it and walking to the back passenger door, getting into the backseat. “Again, I’m so sorry for making you wait. We had to circle in the air for 30 minutes because of the traffic on the airstrip and,” you exhaled, relaxing back into your seat. “I’m so sorry.”

She laughed, pulling away from the airport. “It’s no problem sweetheart. I saw your reply. I was going to give you a little extra time. I know how hectic airports could be. Especially this time of the year. Everyone’s traveling for vacation.”

“Yeah, I think I might have accidentally elbowed one too many people trying to get to luggage claim.”

“Are you visiting or coming home?”

“Coming home…kind of,” you laughed, staring out the window at your hometown. “I actually just graduated from college a few weeks ago, so my roommates and I rented a house on the Jersey Shore to celebrate. But, my sister is getting married tomorrow, so that’s why I’m back.” You looked back towards her, laughing softly to yourself. “But then come September, I’ll actually be moving to Calgary for a new job and to get my Masters.”

“So a lot of traveling, I see.”

You took a deep breath and sighed, nodding. “Yeah, but I’m glad to be able to spend all of this time with my friends and family before I start working. Especially since I’ll be moving so far away.”

“It sounds like a great time,” she smiled, looking at me through the rearview mirror. “I’m a sucker for weddings, why don’t you tell me about it?”

Normally, you weren’t one to talk a lot whenever you and your friends would take Ubers downtown on the weekends– but this driver was sweet and you found yourself talking nonstop as she drove you towards your final destination. After all, she didn’t abandon you at the airport like you thought she would.

The car ride to your parents' place went by a lot faster than you thought it would and it was all thanks to Mrs. Sheila, your lovely uber driver. Whom, you learned, started driving after she lost her husband late last year. Her kids lived out of state and once they went back home after those first few weeks, she wanted to find something to do to keep herself busy and get herself out of the house– so, she became an uber driver.

Walking into your parents' house, you were greeted with empty echos of your footsteps. Your parents were still at work and wouldn’t be home until just a little before the rehearsal dinner tonight. Your brother, well, as far as you knew, he had absolutely nothing going on, so you didn’t know why he wasn’t around. If anyone was guaranteed to be home, it was your sister. She was the one who ordered your uber and had them take you here, so she was more than well aware of what time you’d be arriving home.

“Hello?” You called out, leaving your suitcase by the door and making your way to the living room. “Char, are you here?”

“Is that my favorite sister?” You heard her voice call out from upstairs. Looking up, you could see her rounding the hallway corner, carrying a closed laundry basket full of, no doubt, stuff for tonight’s bridal party sleepover.

“I’m your only sister,” you laughed as she made her way down the staircase.

“Unless you count all of the times we got bored and turned Nick into Nikki,” she giggled, reaching the end of the staircase and putting the basket down before stepping forward and hugging you. “How was the flight?”

“It was great up until our 30 minutes of circling in the air,” you laughed, pulling away from the hug. “Where’s my dear brother?”

“Working out with some friends. We probably won’t see him until tonight.”

“Nothing says welcome home like being greeted to an empty house.”

“Excuse you, I was here to greet you.” She laughed, picking the basket back up. “But if you really want to be upset, you should see all of the packed boxes in your room.”

“I leave in three months! Why are they packing me up now?” You gasped, acting dramatically.

“Nick and dad are planning on transforming it into some kind of training room or something.”

“But they–“

“Already took over the garage? Yeah, I know and mom is pissed.”

You rolled your eyes, grabbing the handle of your suitcase again. “He literally told the Blues that he was going back to Michigan in the fall to try and win a championship. Why the hell are they even treating him like he’s already a hall of famer?”

“Perks of being the youngest, not to mention dad’s only son,” she laughed, looking at the door. “Ready to head to the Airbnb?”

“Can we get food first?” You asked, dragging your suitcase along. “I’m starving.”

She laughed as you held the door open for her. “Good, because we’re most definitely getting food before we go and take a nap.”

You laughed, walking out of the house with her and then closing and locking the door behind you. “I knew we were related.”

Lunch and a nap turned out to be exactly what you needed. The two of you had stopped at a subway to get some food before driving over to the Airbnb that you, your sister and the rest of the bridesmaids would be staying for the night.

It was a beautiful three-bedroom, modernized cottage that looked like it was stripped directly from the pages of a fairytale book. It was tucked away, just off to the side in the backyard of a beautiful colonial house, whose farm would tomorrow be transformed into a whimsical fairytale wedding location. The men would be getting ready in the house, while the women would be getting ready in the cute cottage. Sort of like a secret getaway paradise before the wedding.

When you got back with your food, your sister took you on a tour of the property while the wedding planners and staff were setting up all of the bigger decorations for tomorrow. You were off at school during the entire planning process, only ever seeing every one of her ideas in pictures. The only things you were able to take part in, were the dress shopping and her bachelorette party since they were both held at a time you were on a fall break from school. Besides being there for those two things, the only other thing you helped with– was the proposal.

Colton has been in your life for as long as you could remember. He and Charlotte have been best friends since Pre-K. It was the cliché friends to lovers kind of story that was told time after time– but in theirs, there were no other people in it. It was just them. There were no other boyfriends or girlfriends, no other crushes– from the very beginning, they were it for each other. They were each other's first everything– kiss, date, girlfriend/boyfriend, time– in their love story, they had found their one great love…all before they turned five.

Wherever Charlotte was, there was Colton– they were stuck like glue and your parents loved it. It was their friendship that brought both of your families together to the relationship that you all had now. Your families were best friends, all because of their relationship. You often took vacations together, spent holidays together, hell, you and Colton’s middle brother, Mason, even had joint birthday parties– as did your two younger siblings, Nick and Addie. Your families even try to go as far as to dropping hints that all three kids should date.

Colton and Charlotte. You and Mason. Nick and Addie– all the same age and practically family already.

It was perfect.

Until you and Mason tried to date in the tenth-grade and realized that kissing the person you’ve shared every birthday party with, used to take baths with and shared every key moment growing up– wasn’t all that great. In fact, it was weird. So the two of you remained as the almost black sheep of the families, especially since Nick and Addie were headed down the same path as Charlotte and Colton. They started dating in eighth-grade– like Colton and Charlotte– and have maintained a healthy and strong relationship to now, even long-distance, when they’ll both be sophomores in college in the fall, Addie at the University of Missouri and Nick playing hockey at the University of Michigan.

You and Mason were there, always making jokes about how it runs in the family but skipped a generation. Never letting your siblings live it down that the two of you will be the ones to break the cycle. Funny how you two were also the ones who played the biggest roles in Charlotte’s engagement.

Both of your dads are huge St. Louis Blues fans. So naturally, they tried to rub that off onto their children. And it worked, all except for you. You tolerated the blues, but never really adopted hockey as your favorite sport. You understood it, watched it whenever you never had a choice– but like your mom, you gravitated more towards football and adopted her hometown team as your own– the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Colton and Charlotte, however, were both diehard Blues fans from day one. There were even pictures to prove it. They even went to a game on both their first ‘supervised’ date and ‘unsupervised’ date. So, when the Blues were making a run for the Stanley Cup– it was imminent for your families to attend at least one game. You and Mason did everything in your power to get the Blues attention. You emailed anyone and everyone who worked in their front office, you spammed their social media accounts– anything and everything to get their attention so you could share their story and Colton’s plan.

And at game four it all came to life. Charlotte was ‘randomly’ selected to participate in an intermission event after the first period where she’d be blindfolded and needed to walk along the ice to find Louie after collecting ‘Blues momentos’ along the way. The Blues had played the short slideshow of Colton and Charlotte that you and Mason had sent them, as they introduced her to the crowd. Unbeknownst to her, both of our families were on the ice with her, standing behind her while she was blindfolded. You and the other three siblings were scattered in front of her, each holding a single rose.

The Blues staff member helped her walk along the ice and the moment that she took a flower from someone, they needed to go back to where she started, which was where Colton was standing with the ring in his pocket. The four of you each had a sign, that when held up together read ‘Will you marry me?’ Once Charlotte neared Louie, he cut the distance to just by center ice where all of you were waiting. And when she found Louie, the entire crowd had erupted into cheers as she took off her blindfold, all smiles until she turned around to see the signs and Colton on one knee.

She said yes. The Blues won. The proposal went viral and your families were given a box to game seven where the Blues won the Stanley Cup.

All in a day's work between the two middle siblings, and one that led you all to this moment– the wedding tomorrow. Where Colton, who was already like a big brother yo you, would officially, pretty much become your big brother.

“Y/N,” your sister said, shaking your arm. “Y/N, get up. We’ve got like 45 minutes to get ready for dinner before we have to leave and no offense, but you need to shower.”

“Your lucky that you’re getting married tomorrow or I’d kill you,” you mumbled into the pillow, taking a deep breath and exhaling before pushing yourself up. “Can you charge my phone for me? I won’t take too long, just need to rinse off and I’ll be back.”

“In your backpack?” She asked as you walked out of the room.

“Mhhm, small front pocket. The charger is with it.”

You walked out of the room and into the connected bathroom, closing the door behind you before walking towards the shower and turning on the water. Your nap was more than enough to help you make it through dinner. You hadn’t thought that you were even that tired, but the moment you laid down to relax after eating your sandwich– you were absolutely knocked out.

To be fair though, you had spent the last two weeks partying it up on the beach with your college roommates, trying to relive every moment from your last four years of partying, downing booze, and making out with any attractive guy who caught your eye. You know what they say, no rest for the wicked– and boy, oh boy, were the wicked actions of shotgunning beers with strangers in the hot summer jersey sun, coming back to haunt you.

At least you got one hell of a tan and more memories to last you a lifetime, out of it all.

You turned off the shower before you stepped out and wrapped a towel around your body, then wrapping your hair up in a second towel. You walked out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom, only to find it empty. "Hey, Char?"

"In the living room...er, kitchen, I guess!"

You walked out of the bedroom and into the living room to see Charlotte sitting at the kitchen counter, a make-up mirror propped up in front of her and hot curling iron in her hand. "Why are you doing your hair in the kitchen?"

"You were in the bathroom and the lighting is lacking in the bedroom." She let a curl, fall from the iron and turned to you. "What's up?"

"Well, for one, the bathroom is free," you laughed, looking around. "And two, I was wondering where you put my suitcase? It was in the room and now it's not."

"No," she dragged out her reply, focusing on wrapping another piece of hair around the iron before averting her eyes towards the door. "You left it by the front door. Never brought it in."

You turned towards the front door and sure enough, right there not even three feet away from the door...was your suitcase. "Awesome, thanks!" You said, walking over and tugging on the handle, extending it out before walking back to the room. "And my phone?"

"Charging in the kitchen. It was dead by the way."

"Great," you huffed, walking into the bedroom and over to the bed. You lifted up the suitcase, letting it plop down onto the bed and exhaled a deep breath. It was a lot heavier than you thought it was. But maybe your body was just tired from traveling and last night's final night out.

You caught a glimpse of the alarm clock that was set up on the bedside table and saw that your getting ready time was vastly starting to dwindle. So, not thinking anything more of the heavy suitcase, you unzipped the zipper and threw the cover back, ready to grab the romper you had placed directly on top, just so it wouldn't get wrinkled. You stared down at the contents of the suitcase, quickly grabbing the cover and shutting it again.

Okay, maybe you were imagining things.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling, and then opening your eyes and opening the suitcase again.

No, you definitely weren't imagining things.

The same spike ball netting was still staring you right in the face. Surrounding it, were three spike balls and a crumbled up bag that was supposed to house the set. Beneath it, a bunch of crumpled up clothes and other things.

"No," you shut the suitcase again, repeating the same steps: close your eyes, take a breath, hope you're dreaming, open your eyes and then the suitcase, only to be disappointed. "No, no– oh my God, this can't be happening. Charlotte!!"

You heard her footsteps echo off of the wooden floor as she made her way to the bedroom, half of her hair curled and set. "What?"

"This isn't my suitcase."

"Of course it is," she scoffed. "Colton and I got you that big traveling set for graduation, and that," she pointed at the suitcase, "is it."

"No, it's not," You opened the suitcase and reached in, grabbing the first thing you felt and holding it up to show her. "See? Not mine!"

"Y/N," her eyes widened before she started to laugh. "You might want to put those down."

"It's just the spike ball bag, it's not big–" you turned to see what you were holding and sure enough, it was not the spike ball bag you thought you had picked up. It was a pair of Ant-Man boxers, and it was unknown whether or not they were clean or not. "Ah, ew!" You tossed them back into the suitcase, wiping your hand on your towel. "Ew, ew, ew, I just touched a stranger's dirty underwear."

"You don't know if they were dirty."

"You don't know if they were clean!" You argued back, looking around the handle for an identification tag. "This definitely isn't mine. My travel tag isn't on the handle."

"Who uses a travel tag?" She laughed, shaking her head.

"Me," you turned towards the suitcase, slamming it shut and zipping it. "I use a travel tag, so if my luggage gets lost or switched, they can contact me. It's common travel knowledge."

She sighed, walking over towards the suitcase and unzipping the two pockets on top, looking in and shaking her head. "Nothing hidden in those pockets. Did you think to go through the rest of the suitcase? Maybe they have a tag in there."

"And risk touching another pair of possibly dirty boxers and God knows what else? No thanks," you zipped up the suitcase and picked it up, placing it back onto the ground. "I'm doomed. That suitcase had all of the clothes that I took to Jersey, in it. It had my outfit and makeup for tonight."

"I have something you can borrow," she walked over to the closet, opening it to reveal it was empty besides two dresses hanging up. "And I've got make-up and whatever your little heart desires for your hair."

"Your wedding present was in there too," you sighed, walking over to the closet. "Which one?"

"This." She held out the rose-colored dress, handing the hanger to you. "You can get away with no bra and I can give you a pair of underwear from the new pack I bought this morning–"

"Why would you buy new underwear?" You asked, taking the dress.

"In case of emergencies," she closed the closet and turned back to you, nodding. "Which, this is. Unopened pack in that laundry basket I was carrying, feel free to take a pair and keep them. As for shoes...you're kind of on your own on that one."

You sighed, defeated as she walked out of the bedroom, leaving you to get dressed. You unwrapped the towel around your hair, letting it drop onto the floor as the towel wrapped around your body went with it. You took the dress off of the hanger and untied the straps, lifting the dress over your head and tugging it down. Your mind was going over every detail of just how you picked up the wrong suitcase. Fair, it was a dead-ringer for the suitcase you took with you to Jersey, but even you should have known to realize that there was no bright red luggage tag hanging on the side handle. And it was all you could do but hope that whoever picked up your suitcase thinking it was theirs, would at least call or text.

"Oh shit," you said, holding onto the straps that hung down on the side, trying to tie them in the back. "Charlotte! My phone!"

You ran out into the living room to see her now finishing up her make-up at the counter, turning to you with wide eyes. "Okay one, sit down and let me brush your hair," she stood up and grabbed your wrist, bringing you over to counter and sitting you down. "And two, your phone is right there."

"If they figured out our luggage was switched, they'd call! My luggage tag!" You reached across the counter, grabbing your phone and turning it over to see that the screen was still black. "Oh come on, my phone wasn't that dead!"

Charlotte tugged you back and started to brush your hair, not bothering to go slow. "I plugged it in the moment you went to take a shower, just give it a few seconds."

If looks could kill, your phone would be nowhere ready to turn on. You were glaring at the screen as if pure intimidation would turn it on. This could go one of two ways:

1) This person left your suitcase in the dark abyss that is lost luggage at the airport.

2) Like you, they didn't realize that they had grabbed the wrong luggage until they went to open it and they'll find your luggage tag and call you.

"Ah!" You yelled, jumping out of the chair as your phone lit up. You leaned over the counter, your heart racing as Charlotte tried to keep brushing your hair. "Come on, come on, come on..."

"Right there," Charlotte said, pointing at your screen as a text message notification popped up on the screen from an unknown number. "That has to be them!"

"Oh thank God," you sighed, thumb ready to swipe the message open. "Oh...yikes."

"Uh," Charlotte laughed as the two of you continued to watch your messages pour in, at least 5 coming in from the unknown number, along with three phone calls. "Yikes indeed, I guess they're panicking just as much as you are."

You swiped on the notifications, unlocking your phone, and going to the message.

unknown: hi y/n i think you grabbed the wrong suitcase...

unknown: yeah, uh, you most definitely grabbed the wrong suitcase.

unknown: is there any way we can switch in the next 30 minutes before i reach my house?

unknown: ok, so i'm sorry for the spam texts and calls...but this is kind of urgent.

unknown: like life or death.

"Life or death?" Charlotte asked, looking at you with a raised eyebrow. "What the hell was in that suitcase?"

"Spike ball and dirty clothes," you replied, shrugging. Your eyes went wide before you turned back to her. "What if they're a drug smuggler and there are drugs in there?"

She opened her mouth to speak before looking down at your phone, nodding. "Now's your chance to find out. Look who's calling."

You looked back down at your phone to see the unknown number flash on your screen. You looked back at her, shaking your head. "You answer it."

"Your luggage, you answer it," she laughed, pulling back segments of your hair to tie back. "But put it on speaker, I'm curious what the drug dealer sounds like."

You shoved your elbow back, avoiding her as you nervously slid your thumb across the screen, answering the call and pressing the speaker button. "Hello?"

"Oh thank God," the unknown called sighed, clearing his throat. "Sorry for the spam calls, I've just been panicking."

"Yeah, I’m sorry...my phone died," you replied, looking at Charlotte as your voice dwindled off.

"The suitcase," she mouthed, nodding her head back towards the room.

"Oh, the suitcase!" You said, almost a little too excited. You cleared your throat, calming yourself down. "I most definitely have your suitcase...maybe."

"Well I have yours," you could hear rustling in the background. "Y/N L/N, right?"

"Yep, that's me," you looked at Charlotte again, shaking your head. "Sorry to kind of do this...but how do I know I have your suitcase? I mean, what if I grabbed someone else's and you grabbed mine and there's three of us in this and–"

Charlotte smacked your back lightly with the back of the brushed, shaking her head as the voice on the other side of the phone laughed. "Um, shit," he coughed, smacking his lips. "Uh well, there should be a spike ball set in there. If not, then I left it at Johnny's. Otherwise, it's just clothes."

"Congratulations," you laughed, leaning back into the chair. "I've got your suitcase."

"Oh thank God, I was really worried there for a second," they replied. "Is there any chance we can exchange them soon?"

"Okay, so about that," you sighed, biting the inside of your cheek. "I kind of have a wedding rehearsal and dinner to go to in 20 minutes...and I don't think that will be over with till about...two hours from now. Is that okay?"

There was silence on the other side and you couldn't help but feel horrible at the fact that you were keeping this stranger away from his luggage and that he had to keep yours until then. "My family and I are going to dinner in two hours, reservation and all."

"Where at?" You spoke before your brain could even catch up with what your mouth was doing. "I'm sorry that was creepy."

He laughed and you felt a little flutter feeling in your stomach. "No, it's fine. I think we're going to Maggiano's in–"

"In the Westfield town center?" Your eyes widened as Charlotte placed the brush down on the counter behind you, looking at you with a smile. "We're going to Pieology in the Westfield town center!"

"Pieology for a wedding rehearsal dinner? Sounds like my kind of party," he laughed. "So, do you just want to exchange then? When I get there and you're leaving?"

"Sounds perfect!"

"Great! So I'll just, text you when I get there and I promise I won't forget the suitcase."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"All right, bye, Y/N!"

"Bye!" You hung up the call and Charlotte leaned against the counter a smile on her face. "What?"

"He sounded cute." She stuck placed the extra bobby pins she didn't need, onto the counter. "Maybe he can be your date for my wedding."

"Not this again," you groaned, getting out of the chair. "For the last time, I don't need a date. Besides, this guy is a total stranger– I don't even know his name!"

"You can learn it later," she laughed, wiggling her eyebrows. "Either way, do your makeup quickly because we need to leave in ten."

She walked off towards the bedroom the two of you had claimed and you sighed, sitting back down into your seat, grabbing her mascara, blush, and golden liquid shimmer eyeshadow. It was the best you could do for now, until you got all of your stuff back from this stranger. As you applied the eyeshadow, you couldn't get Charlotte's comment out of your head. She was right, he did sound cute. But who's to say that he's not a total creep? Or that he's even your age? He could be in his 40's or even barely cruising 18. And then stood the real issue, you didn't even know his name.

Your phone screen lit up once again and you looked away from the mirror, seeing that you had another text from the unknown number. You furrowed your eyebrows and unlocked your phone, opening his text.

unknown: my name is matt, by the way 😊

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