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equallyshaw · 4 months

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connor x kailey hughes au thoughts (:

↳ Hughes edition !

↳ 5/?

↳ au masterlist.

kailey x quinn:

besides luke, these two are the closest

kailey looks up to him and has always wanted to do right by him

constantly trying to prove herself but does not realize that just by being her is enough

and that he will always be proud of her

when the boys used to play hockey growing up, he would always be on her team, even when jack and luke would complain

he just wanted to protect her from the roughhousing their brothers did and wanted her to have a chance at scoring because we know damn well jack wanted to score 24/7 and so would luke when he was paired with her

he took piano lessons alongside her before she quit (she thought it was stupid- explained a bit in the finale blurb)

she always felt less her siblings because she didn't choose skating or hockey, but quinn has consistently told her and showed her that choosing a non-ice sport was more than okay

reassures her that she chose soccer and lacrosse for a reason, those were her two callings.

when they moved to the states after a stint in canada, even though he was about 30 minutes away in ann arbor for college, he was there to drop her off for her first day of highschool

took her to get a tim hortons hot chocolate on a 85 degree day, but it made her feel more comfortable being in a new place

because he was in ann arbor for two years before going to canada, he was there as much as he could be physically

she had a hard time in highschool with bullies and when he'd hear that she'd had a bad day, he'd come home for a bit or the day and they'd spend time together. just the two of them

when he moved to vancouver to play professionally, it was really hard on kailey

she took it the hardest because her biggest supporter and best friend, behind their parents was going to be further away

though whenever he had a chance, he'd call and text. he even flew her out for breaks through the year so they could spend time together

when she got into michigan, he was on facetime with her and he completely lost it

he was jumping and screaming, and all he wanted to do was give her the biggest hug (which he did once he came home)

throughout her four years, he still constantly checked in, making sure her classes and her friend group was doing well

him and jack paid (generously) for her study abroad and semester at sea, even though she tried protesting

but he wanted to give her the opportunity to explore and study around the world, something he'd wanted to do even though he made the decision to leave for the NHL

when her and connor began to date, he never had an issue with it because he could see how much he loved his baby sister

so when they they've been together for about 10 months, quinn ofcourse does his big brother speech when he flies out to vancouver for a game.

connor appreciated it and respected it because of how much kailey talked about quinn, and he knew right away how much she respected her older brother

connor and quinn became thick as thieves at one point

quinn was the first one off of his seat, when she walked the stage at michigan for her graduation

he cheered the loudest, as she waved towards her family

after connor broke up with her right after graduation and while all of her brothers are in the playoffs, he offers to fly her up to him

she declines, but once the season is over he gets a little time to see her before she heads off to california for a few months

definitely doesn't like her being in trevor land but pushes his grief aside for him, to make sure that trevor keeps tabs on the girl

he didn't see her until training camp, when she came to vancouver for a week to visit with him

the two fall back into a familiar and comforting routine, and he's just speechless with how much shes grown over the past few months, understands now- how time, freedom and the sea can do

Kailey x Jack:

as kids they never got really along, they were so alike, it hurt

constantly bickering, butting heads, and hitting each other with hockey sticks

once they got into such a bad fight, ellen had to pry away a skate from kailey because she was about to start running after jack after he called her ugly (be honest, we have all had a dangerous fight with our siblings at one point lol)

yeah, ellen had to put herself in between these two a lot !

jack is somewhat of a sensitive topic for her even to this day, just because after they moved to michigan he wanted nothing to do with her. that's why when they moved, quinn stepped up and tried extra hard and wanted to fill that void a bit

despite kailey being a few years younger than jack, she never let that be an issue

despite them not getting along, they still went to each other things. if not, ellen would throw a fit and call either one of them a 'dummy' if they didn't go (endearingly ofc)

during highschool her and jack rarely spoke to one another, and at one point kailey believed that jack didn't think of her as her sibling. just another roommate

when he left for jersey, she felt like she could breathe a lot more and when she got into michigan, she finally could be herself

during her time at michigan, with luke ofcourse, that's when her and jack started to talk a bit more. just because of how much luke talked to him and quinn.

shed walk into the hockey house, unannounced, and would open his bedroom door without a care in the world and plop down next to him. if she was feeling sad, lonely, bored or just wanted to annoy him- she'd pop on over

while she was at michigan, it didn't take a lot of convincing from quinn to help pay for her study abroad and semester at sea

after a long heart-to-heart with quinn, jack realized how much shit he'd done and believed that this was a peace offering for everything

but kailey doesn't care about how much jack can buy her, she just wants a relationship with him- not his credit card.

obviously when jack finds out about connor, he goes ballistic

he doesn't want her dating him, let alone any guy

he softens up a bit when connor and kailey hit the one year mark

her and jack continue to work on their relationship but its still rockey

then after connor breaks up with her after graduation, jack has to hold his tongue back by not saying, "i told you so." but jack is jack and he says it in his own way

so when she goes off to california, she cuts jack off and the last thing she said to him was 'fuck you'

the two don't really speak to one another until connor comes back into the hughes' life and the two siblings have a heart-to-heart on vacation in europe (finale blurb)

despite jack and her having a rocky relationship, he would do anything for her

he would go above and beyond if she needed him too, (i might do a blurb on his pov during those lost years)

he would drop everything at a moment's notice if she needed him or his help

Kailey x Luke

besties

besties for the rest

irish twins

known as "the twins" by family and friends

luke would go above and beyond for 'his' kails

they bonded a lot as kids over their anxiety of not fitting into the hughes dynasty

besides quinn, she goes to him A LOT

during highschool he'd walk her to class, wait for her practices to be over if he didn't have practice or he'd come and pick her up so she didn't have to take the bus home or drive with a teammate.

he knew that at some point he'd be leaving for the show too, so he wanted to make as many memories with her beforehand

when she got into michigan while he was a freshman, he was over the moon

he was so ecstatic and excited for her to be with him

he invited to everything, so she'd never be alone (this was pre sorority and pre friend group)

the michigan boys fully welcomed her into the hockey family, and considered her an honorary member of the team

they'd like to joke that they liked her better than luke, which she always rubbed in his face - endearingly ofc

kailey has test anxiety, and so during her first semester, luke and her would spend hours testing her on her courses. he'd even started to read and watch videos on her course subjects, so he could really help her out

while he did this, she helped him on all of his papers- because lets be honest, she's the best writer out of the four

luke goes to her for all of his girl questions, which she loves

her and luke rarely fight, and if they do- it's serious and has been something that has been weighing on eachother's minds for a bit

when her and connor got together after new years, luke could tell something was different

she seemed happier and more distant. whenever they were on facetime, it always seemed like her mind was somewhere and sometimes, she'd be in a different location and seemed like somebody was there with her

was not shocked that she had a boyfriend when she told him right after she broke up with connor

he took to connor extremely quickly when they got back together

once they got back together, and before he left for jersey (first breakup was for about 4 months (july-nov)) he would butt in on connor and kailey's facetimes.

he loves seeing his sister be absolutely head over heels for this boy (even if he is a hockey player lol)

he hated seeing her be miserable over that summer

but when connor breaks up up with her, he's absoluetly heart broken. he'd considered connor to be apart of the family at that point

and he made it his mission to give connor hell once they played again next season

luke hated seeing kailey leave for california

he's upset that the twins wont be togther anymore ):

and that they wont get their day together, well not in michigan atleast. he'd have to come out to see her

and he did, and that was after her and brendan got together. besides trevor finding out, luke found out by accident but didnt say anything

he realized that once she came out after new years, after her breakup with brendan, that something was different

she was happier, happier than she'd been for a few months

he quickly suspected that she saw a certian someone in chicago for new years

and he didnt have to ask for confirmation and let it be

was happy when connor showed up on their family vacation that summer

he was happy and excited to have his buddy back, even if connor was just an extension of kailey

but basically, if kailey is happy - luke is happy. if shes sad, luke is sad.

luke basically feels everything that kailey does, as if they were truly twins

ellen always said that they were even if they were less than a year apart

kailey x the brothers

despite jack's rocky relationship with kailey, all four of them are extremely close after kailey begins college and finishes it

had a close childhood in toronto and new hampshire, but ofc when they come to michigan it falls apart

ellen and jim are at a loss for words not understanding what happened, but it was hockey that happened :/

the brothers are her best friends and biggest cheerleader

when she got her dream school in chicago for her masters, they were the first one's she called and put on facetime

kailey x ellen

this is her girl

ellen is kailey's best friend forever

ellen was her biggest supporter with her sport of choices, and was there every game come hell or highwater

ellen made her feel loved and adored when kailey realized early on that iceskates and her do not mix well

ellen did everything in power, i mean everything. made sure she tried every instrument alive, settled on piano before jack called it stupid and therefore, she quit despite quinn joining her

she tried musicals and then realized that she couldn't sing that well, tried dance and gymnastic and realized how bad her balance was and how uncoordinated she was

ellen was beaming when she found soccer and lacrosse, and when kailey came home declaring that she'd found her passion and outlet, ellen and jim were overjoyed

ellen was terrified to let her go off to study abroad and semester at sea, but she promised to call everyday. and it took quinn and jim convincing her that everything would be ok

ellen was the first one in the family to know about to connor, about two months after dating

she came home for spring break and called/texted him all day every day - it was hard for ellen to not notice. she even tried not to pry or make kailey uncomfortable with questions

knew from the very moment she met connor a few weeks later, after coming to visit kailey for the weekend, that he was the one

even after they broke up the first and second time, she knew they'd get back together

and she most certainly knew that her and brendan were never gonna last...call it a mothers intuition lol

treated and treats connor like one of her sons

kailey x jim:

that's his girl

the two bond over everything not related to hockey

one of her biggest cheerleaders

the two even joined a fathers - daughter group when they were in toronto and spent two nights a week, the majority of the time if his schedule allowed (like Girl Scouts!)

growing up, he would in advance take off games for father daughter dances and other special events that she would take part in

jim shows her how every girl should be treated

lays a hard and sturdy foundation for the girl that would rivel any guy in the future

only connor comes somewhat close to it

while she's at school, he pops in and out, making sure to spend an afternoon with her here and there

for valentines day he will either send her flowers or will pick her up for a brunch, and give her flowers there

jim was always there to give her a hug after a long day during highschool

he was always there to take her mind off of it- thats where her love of movies came about

her and jim used to see a movie once a week, no matter what day of the week. it was a way for them to bond and a way for her to get her mind off of school for a few hours. jim defintly sat through some bad rom coms and chickflicks over the years, but he didnt mind as long as his favorite girl (besides ellen ofc) was having a good time

hope you all enjoyed (:

#connor bedard #connor bedard au #connor bedard x k hughes au #star crossed lovers au #quinn hughes #jack hughes #luke hughes #new jersey devils #vancouver canucks #hockey #hockey blurb #hockey imagine #nhl #nhl blurb #nhl imagine

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givemea-dam-break · 11 months

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a/n: requested by @mischivana " can you please do 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 48 either jason or connor. or 24 or 44 (or both) with jason. can you make them x mortal reader cause there really isn't enough mortal reader stuff around and I've been craving it, thank you!!!! " i've done this for jason since i haven't written much for him, so i hope you enjoy! my past two things for him have been very sad, so this is a bit happier lol

warnings: minor injury detail prompts: "Don't worry; it hurts a little less each time." and "I love you and it terrifies me." gn reader

What Are You So Afraid Of? - Jason Grace

Midnight. There's a crash downstairs.

You jolt up in your bed, heart pounding. It's silent for a moment, and you start to think that you might just be hearing things, but then there's another. Louder, closer. Heavy. With your heart racing, you grab the nearest thing you could use as a weapon - a stuffed teddy, for heaven's sake - and stand on tired legs.

There's a bang on your door, and you jump. You should call the police, but your bones feel locked with terror. You can't bring yourself to reach for your phone. This is perhaps the worst time for your parents to be away.

Another bang, and a rattle of your door handle, and the intruder stumbles in. All at once, they fall into your wardrobe with a series of curses and shouts, and you launch the teddy bear at them. It gets the expected result, simply bouncing off the intruder's header, and it's then that you notice who it is.

"Jason?"

"Yours truly," the intruder groans.

"What -?"

He makes a gasping sound as he steps forward, and you can only see his shadowed form as it stumbles. Immediately, you rush over, catching him under the arms and dragging him over to your bed, laying him over top of your dishevelled covers.

"Watch your eyes," you say before flicking your bedside lamp on.

He curses again when the light switches on, covering his eyes with a bruised and bleeding arm. Already, there's blood on your bed sheets.

"What happened?" you demand.

Jason shifts slightly, getting as comfortable as he can as you check him over for other injuries. Besides his arm and a gash on his leg, he's seemingly all right, but the amount of blood is making you nervous.

"On a quest."

"Yeah, I guessed. But what happened? Haven't you taken some ambrosia?"

His arm moves now, and his eyes slowly adjust to the dim light of your room. Though bloodshot, they still gleam a gorgeous glittering blue that has you almost transfixed. You catch yourself before you get distracted, rifling around in your nightstand for the little first aid kit you keep in there for situations like this.

"Ran out," he says quietly. "You've still got some here, right? I think I left some last time."

You pull it out just as he asks, wordlessly passing him a chunk of the godly food. It's sat in your drawer for a few weeks now - somehow it hasn't gone off - and you're glad that you forgot about it. As a demigod, the ambrosia helps Jason heal, but if you, a mortal, were to eat it, you'd likely combust into flames and die. If it always smells as good as it does now, you're eternally grateful for your bad memory. You probably would've been a pile of burnt ashes had you remembered.

"Fighting some monsters at North Beach, but they got some good hits in." He looks over at you then, noting the horrified expression on your face at how easily he speaks about being almost killed. "Don't worry; it hurts a little less each time."

"That's supposed to make me feel better? Jason! You're bleeding everywhere!"

He waves his hand nonchalantly and plasters on a smile, but you notice the way the pain he's in makes the scar on his lip twitch. "I'm all right, (name). Promise. just needed some ambrosia. I'll be healed up in no time."

You watch carefully as the blood slowly stops flowing, and the skin gradually mends itself back together. Begrudgingly, you shove the first aid kit back into your nightstand.

"I can't stay long," Jason says, closing his eyes for a moment. "I can't put -"

"Me in danger, yes I know. Son of Jupiter and everything." Kneeling beside the bed, you resist the urge to take his hand in yours and squeeze it, more for your own comfort than his. "You can't just walk back to your camp from here in the middle of the night. It's too dangerous. You always say monsters are more dangerous at night."

"I'll be fine."

"Jason."

His eyes open again, locking onto yours. Fifteen years old, and already those eyes hold more than they should have. You've seen your fair share of things in that same amount of time, but you can't even begin to think what life as a demigod could entail. What it could do to a person. Already, they hold more memories and horrors than they really should.

"I can't risk your life, (name)," he insists.

"You and your saviour complex! You're staying here tonight. You can head back in the morning when I can call you a taxi."

"You could call me one now."

"Absolutely not."

"(name) -"

"I won't hear any more about it," you say.

You grab the spare blanket you keep in your wardrobe, wrap it around your shoulders, and pull the duvet on your bed over Jason until it reaches his chin. He could easily move and hinder the process, but he stays still. You've got a feeling that he doesn't mind being taken care of sometimes. Not when he's usually the one taking care of others.

"Get some sleep," you tell him, sitting on top of a pillow beside the bed. "You have to be exhausted."

He shakes his head and rolls onto his side so he can face you. "I want to make sure you're all right."

"I'm not the one that was attacked tonight."

"That could change."

You give him a look. "Jason, I've been fine every other time you've come here. What are you so afraid of? In all the time we've known each other, no monsters have shown up at my door."

He goes quiet then, and you worry that you've pushed too hard. Jason may be in charge of the camp he stays at, but you know how hard it all is for him, what with being the son of the king of the gods. He's lonely, and you're well aware that his coming to see you, whether it be after a quest or just on a whim, allows him to escape that life. But always with the monsters, the warnings. He's never stayed more than an hour, afraid he'll get you killed, but you want more than that. You need more than that. You don't want to spend the rest of your life waiting for him to appear, just for him to leave so soon.

"I'm sorry," you murmur. "I just -"

"I love you," he interrupts, "and it terrifies me."

The rest of your sentence gets stuck in your throat, and for a moment you can't breathe.

He looks away, the lamplight reflecting in the bright blue of his eyes. "I've loved you for months. Ever since we met, really, when you accidentally saved me from a bunch of monsters following me in the Legion of Honor and told me that I needed to brush my teeth if I was going to get so close to you. But I'm - I'm scared of losing you."

Your hands are shaking a little. "You're not going to lose me."

"I don't want to risk that," he says. "I don't remember my family - my mom and sister. I've known nothing but being a demigod all my life. But you help me forget about it all and pretend that I'm a normal kid for a little while. I don't want to lose that or you. But me being here puts you in danger."

"Jason..."

"You don't need to feel the same." He still won't look at you. "I just needed you to know."

"Will you look at me?"

He struggles with himself for a moment, but eventually, he turns his head, fixing his gaze on yours. With a shaky hand, you find his beneath your duvet cover and squeeze gently, offering the best smile you can manage.

"I do feel the same," you say. "And, I've been safe all this time. I'll stay that way regardless if you stay a few more hours, okay?"

He doesn't look entirely convinced, but still, he nods and says, "Okay. But just this once."

"Like hell it'll be just this once."

A soft laugh escapes his lips. "I'll keep you safe."

"Of course, you will, Jase."

Even still, it takes barely ten minutes for him to doze off peacefully, smiling so softly that it makes your heart feel warm. You don't let go of his hand, ensuring that even in sleep he knows you're still there. And you press a soft kiss to his forehead as you switch your lamp off, praying that this wasn't all a dream or some figment of your imagination.

I love you. The words still echo in your mind, even as you eventually fall asleep, head fallen on the pillow his own rests on.

I love you.

#jason grace x reader #hoo jason x reader #hoo x reader #heroes of olympus x reader #heroes of olympus fanfiction #heroes of olympus #hoo fanfiction #jason grace fanfiction #jason grace #x reader #fanfiction #givema-dam-break

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crow-the-unknown · 4 months

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ok but not enough people are intrigued and obsessed and fascinated by connor mcdavid in the way i and others on this site are. like yes, yes i could ramble on and on about his skill. he is the best player in the world. period. you can't challenge that and if you are... are you blind? potentially uhm, how do i say this lightly, not smart? etc? there's no contention there, everyone knows it. and he's fast, and whatever. but i don't care about that. that's mcdavid. that's the man that i used to be so annoyed with because no one would shut up about him even when he wasn't even playing (and that's still annoying to me tbh it just happens less now). that's the star player on a team i used to hate when the avs played them ( idk why, i just always hated playing the oilers even when i started getting a soft spot for them). but, and i've said it before, mcdavid isn't connor.

connor is the one i'm so fascinated and intrigued by. it's not his hockey iq or his speed or anything. what i'm obsessed with is that haunted aura he carries everywhere and i mean everywhere. he just seems so... out of place? like you can almost tell he doesn't quite fit in. which is a little ironic and sad for the best player in the world, isn't it? but accurate, too. he's so unique and set apart and burdened with expectations that he wouldn't be allowed to be normal even if he tried. and you can see it clear as day. everyone jokes around about him having no personality but what else is he supposed to do when he gets asked the same question a million times anymore? i'd look just as haunted and annoyed if i were him.

but here's the thing. he's not just that broken boy either. he's a bit of a goof, actually. and it still surprises me, but he is. he's a silly fucking guy. i mean he goes out there and just lights it up, every night. and then you come to find out that he was the one organizing those stupid post-game berets and the plungers and shit? like i'm sorry? you're telling me the face of the league and one of the guys known for being incredibly dry, did that? and that he's out here helping with the all-star stuff, being sweet and showing (at least in part) some of his real self to these little kids who are growing up idolizing him, and being lovey with teammates. he's slipping on the ice hugging the team made of people he loves with all the passion he can muster because god he just wants to win it here. with them. FOR them. he wants to so so bad and it hurts.

like seriously i could go on and on about this guy. about how if people would just give a shit they would see the real person he is - haunted and silly in full - behind the layers of stress about expectations so high they're unachievable, annoyance with the same stupid questions being thrown at him, and the pressure to be the perfect star. if they would just care enough to pay attention to how he smiles at leon or how he cellys or how he hugs his teammates like they're his lifeline they would see connor, not just mcdavid. they would see the love and the care that shapes those haunted eyes. maybe. just maybe.

anyway connor mcdavid is an enigma and a weirdo and i love him so so much and i'm so so fascinated by him 🫠🫶

#edmonton oilers #connor mcdavid #idk if any of this is literate but i have so many thoughts about him i cannot contain myself #he's like a scared lost little doe on the side of the freeway and i want to give him a hug and then send him out there with a knife #watching him claw his way to a cup with edmonton like a proud mother who would die for her son #it's a need. i need him to win it with leo in edm. that's my christmas wish. santa i'm begging. hockey gods im begging. anyone #GET THIS SILLY LITTLE MANIAC A STANLEY CUP OR SO HELP ME-

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romeulusroy · 11 months

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Succession Preference: Having A S/O With Chronic Illness

Requested: Hiiii love ♥️ You've been working yourself absolutely ragged trying to get content out here, so if you can't get to this that's totally okay, please take the time you need for yourself! If you're still doing requests, could you possibly do what the Roy siblings would be like with a partner that has a chronic illness? If not, all good! Sending love!!! - anon

A/N: Thank you my love, you're too kind!!! I really hope you like it!!! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜💜

Connor tries his best to help, though he's not that knowledgeable about chronic illness. He thinks that tea and eating right and lots of sleep will help, and maybe it does a little, but it's definitely no cure. Eventually, after the third pot of tea, you have to sit him down and explain that while it helps, maybe, it's not going to get rid of your pain. You know he has the best intentions possible. You've built a routine over the years, a plan of action for when things get bad. Over time he picks up on this and always remains one step ahead of you just in case. Connor has never really dealt with anything like this before, so he has a lot of questions. He can't understand why there isn't some magic pill or shot to make your pain go away completely. You've accepted long ago that there isn't one. It's just how it is. Sometimes it gets to you, but you try not to let the disappointment and frustration control you.

Kendall has no idea how to handle this. He panics when his kids or siblings get sick, so dealing with something that is chronic feels like a beast he can't tame. Before he has the chance to freak out during a flare up and make things worse, you gently talk him down, reminding him that this isn't your first time dealing with this. Afterwards, he kind of relaxes, though he worries whatever he does he's going to make it worse. He becomes scared to touch you, to cuddle, to hold your hand. You have to tell him you're not a porcelain doll, that he can touch you and love you like he always has. He has everything you need in his apartment, asking you for a list of what you use when you're going through it, so that you can ease your pain even when you're with him, so that you don't have to suffer. He checks in with you a lot, wanting to be sure you're not in pain and when you are it's manageable.

Shiv knows exactly how to help during a flare up. She sort of panicked the first time you illness was really acting up in front of her. She wasn't sure what to do, how to help, etc. She never wants to feel that helpless again, so she does a ton of research and reads all kinds of articles on how to help, how she can make it just a bit more manageable for you. She secretly stocks up on pain meds, ice packs, heating pads, the softest blankets she can find, anything that you need to make it hurt less. She can always tell when you're in pain even when you're sure you're hiding it well. She picks on your little tells and, never in a condescending way, reminds you that her apartment is your apartment. If you need to rest, you can always go back to her place. She definitely worries when you're apart, how you're doing, if you're going through a flare up, but she tries not to smother you either.

Roman doesn't really take things seriously. Everything is a joke to him. At first he doesn't really understand when you're in a flare up, how taxing that can be. He thinks if you just pop a pain pill it'll all be okay. It isn't until he sees how tired you are, exhausted from dealing with it, does he realize maybe it's not as manageable as he thought. After that, he's a little more thoughtful. He's very in tune with you. He takes notice of when you're starting to get tired or frustrated before you do, calming you down before you tire yourself out. He definitely goes to Shiv on how he can help because he's clueless. Quietly, so as not to make anything out of it, he'll ask you if you think you can go to the party, gala, jet, etc. Sometimes you can and sometimes you can't, he always understands. Together you and Roman take naps, your head always on his shoulder or chest. It maybe isn't necessary, but you definitely love it.

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honey-beann · 1 year

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Ruiner, Ruination (RK900 x Reader)

Chapter 5: An Overwhelming Overture - Insight

Series Masterlist

Chapter Synopsis:

Part one of another two part special that tells the tale of the infamous DPD mandatory gala, and all of the things that can happen in apartments and empty hallways.

In this part, everyone's favorite duo deals with an injury that requires a lot of teamwork, which may or may not lead to them growing a bit… closer so to speak. What will happen at the Gala? How are Reader and Nines doing after Reader's long drop from the Hughes family attic? And how did Hank and Connor get dragged into this mess?

AKA: Reader gets hurt, Nines experiences guilt, and they both have to learn to adjust for the sake of the other's sanity. What could go wrong?

Chapter Content Warnings:

Mentions of injury

Mentions of blood

Mentions of death

Vague android self harm

Word Count: 8,510

You sighed nervously as you entered into the foyer, fighting the urge to adjust the sling on your right arm as your gaze shifted from person to person.

Everyone here was dressed in formal attire, no one wanting to disappoint Fowler or the higher ups with less than stellar clothing on a night like this one.

Tonight was the Detroit City First Responder and Civic Services Gala, one of very few events the entire department was expected to attend annually, and here you were, in your very best dress, with a trademark blue sling supporting the shoulder injury you'd received while working the Hughes case six days ago.

How fun.

Well, at least you looked good.

Your dress was long and black, with a thin slit that ran up your right thigh in a way that nearly revealed the light bruising present there.

And suddenly, standing there in the foyer, your mind flashed back to that night without warning.

You had only just come to after passing out mid-fall during your death defying drop from the third story of the Hughes' House, and every nerve in your body felt as if it was on fire.

But the most notable feeling by far was that of cool fingers, long and thin, pressing hard into the flesh of your upper thigh with enough force to leave the aforementioned bruising even days afterward.

Even still, you had neglected to mention said bruising to Nines, even after you'd realized it was his intense grip that had caused it.

You didn't want to make him feel bad for something that, if nothing else, almost seemed to show how deeply he cared for your well being, so afraid to lose his grip on you and let you down (literally), that he had held you tight enough for it to bruise.

It was about as sweet as Nines could get, honestly.

You swayed a bit on your feet, eyes unfocused as the familiar feeling of falling unconscious began to overcome you once more, just as it had shortly after you'd felt Nines' hands on your neck and thigh that night, and you were only brought back to reality by the faint smell of cedar and clary sage, the familiarity of it causing you to refocus your gaze with a sharp intake of breath.

You looked over to find your partner, the source of the familiar scent in question, taking in his curious and mildly concerned expression as he looped his arm through yours, as if worried you might fall over without the extra support.

"Are you feeling alright, Detective?"

He asked cautiously, his words slow and purposeful in a way that made you focus intently on each individual syllable.

You nodded quickly, although perhaps too much so based on the face that Nines made in response,

"I'm fine, just a little distracted is all."

You reassured gently, noting the look of subtle displeasure that flickered across Nines' features before he was right back to his same neutral and vaguely disapproving expression.

"I see. Would you prefer it if I found you a seat, then?"

You thought for a brief moment before shaking your head, offering your partner a mostly genuine smile as you did so,

"I'm alright to stand. I have plenty of support if I need it."

You joked, watching as Nines rolled his eyes in response, guiding you further into the venue where most of your fellow coworkers and various other supporters of the DPD were mingling, their conjoined conversations melding into one loud noise as you grew further away from the foyer entrance.

The sudden shift in sound made you feel dizzy for a few moments, your mind briefly flashing back to the shouts and clamor that had surrounded you as the scene of your previous case effectively crumbled to dust behind you.

Thankfully, there had been no casualties or injuries amongst your coworkers (save for your own), but as you thought back to that night you couldn't stop your mind from conjuring up the image of the little android girl you had so desperately wanted to save.

Gwyneth.

She had been blonde, although the blood of her abusive guardians had dyed her hair a sickly orange, and she had been so incredibly excited when you'd mentioned knowing Connor. She was just like so many other little girls, she had idols, loved her family, felt fear, and was so undoubtedly alive that it sickened you to know that a great deal of people didn't believe that to be true.

You could remember so vividly the way her fear had consumed her, blue blood staining that matted orange hair as she slammed her head against the floor again and again in an attempt to end the influx of negative emotions she was feeling.

"It was self destruction."

Nines had explained to you afterward while sitting in the arm chair you kept in your living room, his gaze cast downward as he spoke, guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders whether he would ever admit such a thing aloud or not.

"It is common in deviants, especially those who have only recently deviated or are younger and more prone to rashness as a part of their protocol. There was nothing you could have done to stop her once she started."

The unspoken words at the end of his sentence were that what had happened to Gwyneth was therefore not your fault, but you couldn't bring yourself to address that wordless promise, the same way that your partner hadn't been able to bring himself to say it outright.

Neither of you wanted to talk about the guilt you harbored over that night,

Yours for letting both Gwyneth and your partner down when they had trusted you,

And Nines' for allowing you to be hurt when he had promised no harm would come to you.

Of course, in the end, a simple dislocation because of your arm positioning upon being caught was far less severe than any injuries you would have received otherwise.

But your android companion seemed to struggle to see that as a positive.

In his eyes, you never should have been injured at all,

It never should have been possible.

Suddenly though, and without any warning, you were thrown back into the present, this time by a voice that pulled you far from the recesses of your inner thoughts in a single moment.

"Hello, you two, enjoying the evening so far?

You smiled up at the speaker, nodding politely as you addressed him,

"Of course sir, how could we not?

You spoke to your captain formally, grinning up at him as he gave you an apologetic smile of his own.

"I'm glad to hear it, Y/n, as well as to see you in attendance tonight. I was happy to learn that RK900 was willing to help you make your way around safely the same way he did with your reintegration into the department on Monday. It has been great to see the successes of your partnership within the office this past week."

You let your gaze flicker over to your partner, who was regarding the captain with the same cool politeness he always did, his eyes meeting yours for the briefest of moments before they moved back to Captain Fowler once more.

You let him take the lead of the conversation after that brief look of acknowledgement, and as you further considered the captain's previous words, you felt your mind leave you once more as you recalled all of the ways in which Nines had supported you throughout the past week.

You remembered vividly the way he had looked when you had awoken for the second time on the night of the case, this time in a hospital rather than in the arms of your partner.

You had panicked briefly before you'd caught sight of him sitting there, tie loosened around his neck, collar unbuttoned, and jacket foregone entirely as he sat in stasis mode, his only obvious movements being the rise and fall of his chest due to his internal fans, and his eyelids as they fluttered ever so slightly on occasion, as if he could sense you looking at him even when he wasn't aware of the world around him.

You had watched him like that for a while, surprised to note that it had been the very first time you had seen him in even vaguely casual clothing. Sure, it was just the usual pieces of his uniform being worn in new ways, but still, it almost made him look like a completely different person.

You continued to admire him even as your eyelids grew heavier with sleep, taking in the way that one of his long legs crossed over the other as he sat, straight as a board, at your bedside.

He'd looked almost painfully beautiful like that, and you could recall that being your final thought before you finally succumbed to slumber once more, your dreams that night so incredibly vivid that you could envision them even now.

They came in bright flashes and short bursts,

The feeling of his broad shoulders beneath your hands,

His fingers digging into your thigh,

His voice rumbling in your ear,

Breaths cold and short,

His hand in yours.

Disastrous.

You had awoken with a start the following morning, surprised to find that save for you, your room was entirely empty.

You looked around for a few moments, attempting to sit up in order to get a better view when a sharp pain burst throughout your right shoulder.

You let out a low groan of pain and settled back down into the bed, jumping ever so slightly as the door to your room began to open, revealing your partner and three other figures as they entered quietly.

Nines was the first of the group to notice that you were awake, and he regarded you with a quiet relief as he walked over to your bedside, his LED blinking yellow as he scanned you for any concerns.

You watched him for a few seconds, confused, before you recalled the other individuals in the room, recognition hitting you hard as you shifted your gaze to look them over.

"Hank? Connor?"

You asked, your tone revealing more of your surprise than you'd intended as you took in the sight of your two coworkers, who were just about the closest thing to friends you had due to your busy work schedule.

"Hello, Detective."

Connor greeted politely, a soft smile gracing his lips as he stood towards the end of your hospital bed, shifting to the right a bit as Hank moved to stand beside him.

"Hey Kid, how ya feelin?"

He asked gruffly, and you attempted to shrug in response, only to wince in pain.

Nines shot a glance towards the unidentified individual who had entered the room with the three of them, and it was only then that you noticed he was a doctor rather than another visitor.

"Don't worry, the pain is completely normal."

He clarified immediately, smiling as he approached the side of your bed that Nines wasn't standing at,

"She doesn't have any serious injuries, but she did dislocate her right shoulder. It should start feeling better within a week or two, but I'll send her home in a sling to make sure it heals well."

You groaned internally about being spoken about as if you weren't there, but chose not to say anything. It sounded like if you played your cards right you might just be able to head home, and there was nothing you wanted more in that moment than to sleep in your own bed.

"So she can be discharged after you help her into the sling?"

Nines asked, his tone betraying his look of pure disinterest as he looked you over for any further injuries.

"I don't see why not."

The doctor replied soon after, checking his tablet for any necessary information he may have been missing before he continued,

"I'll have a nurse bring in a sling and her discharge papers in a few minutes. I take it that one of you can take care of that for her?"

Nines nodded immediately as his gaze met yours once again,

"I can."

The doctor nodded before heading out of the room to grab a nurse that would be able to assist him, leaving the four of you to wait for his eventual return.

Thankfully, it did not take very long for the doctor to get your sling on, nor did it take very long for Nines to finish up your discharge paperwork, and thus you were exiting the hospital within the hour, nothing in your possession save for your cell phone.

"You guys need a ride?"

Hank asked gruffly as the four of you slowly made your way towards the exit, and Nines seemed to think for a moment before he answered for the both of you,

"A ride would be beneficial, Lieutenant. Thank you."

Hank shrugged and lead the way to the parking garage, unlocking his car remotely as you approached in order to allow everyone access.

As if you had all done this a million times before, everyone slid into a seat quickly, with Hank driving and Connor in the passenger seat.

You and Nines on the other hand sat on opposite ends of the back seat, both of you nodding in confirmation when Hank asked if everyone was buckled in.

Thus began the drive back to your apartment.

Silence filled the vehicle for the first few minutes of the drive as everyone took the time to relax after a long day, until suddenly, Hank spoke up for the first time since you'd left the parking garage.

"I'm not gonna lie to you Kid, I'm kinda jealous of the whole injured shoulder thing. I've been looking for an excuse to get out of Jeffrey's annual DPD gala bullshit for weeks now, and I've still got nothin."

You groaned in response, cursing as you leaned back against the seat,

"Fuck, is that this week? I already bought my dress for it, and it's nonrefundable. The hell am I supposed to do with that now?"

Your ears perked up as Connor spoke from the front seat, his voice light and almost amused as he spoke,

"If you still wish to attend, I'm sure that RK900 would be perfectly suited to accompany you safely in spite of your injuries."

You raised your brow at that statement, resisting the urge to lean forward towards Connor and risk exacerbating the low thrum of pain already present in your shoulder.

"Perfectly suited?"

You asked cautiously, turning to face your partner as he hummed in confirmation from the seat beside you, looking rather unamusedly at his predecessor.

"I believe that Connor is referring to my extensive medical knowledge pertaining to the human body. It was originally intended to bolster my chances of success during my original mission in the case of... unnecessary casualties. As a result, I am theoretically capable of supplying better support to injured individuals that require it."

You bit back a laugh at that, amused at the idea of your normally standoffish partner attempting to provide someone with care.

"I have no idea why you wouldn't have told me any of this sooner, 'Nurse Nines' has a great ring to it."

You continued to hold back laughter as you spoke, and your partner, though barely sparing you a glance at your words, allowed his lips to curl upward ever so slightly at the edges, his gaze aimed out the window as you grew closer and closer to your apartment.

The rest of the ride was fairly silent, save for the occasional comment from Hank or the exceedingly bad joke from you.

It was nice. You didn't get the opportunity to hang out with friends due to your busy job, and honestly, this was as close as you'd gotten to doing so in a long time.

When you finally did arrive back home, you thanked both Hank and Connor profusely for coming to visit you at the hospital, and made them both promise to let you treat them to a night out sometime soon (although what benefit that could possibly have for Connor, you weren't sure yet).

You waved to them from the front door of your building as Hank slowly pulled back into the road, sparing both you and your icy looking companion a wave of his own before he drove off towards home.

Afterward, you turned to face Nines once more, taking a deep breath before you spoke,

"So, how bad do you think this is gonna hurt?"

You asked, referencing the long stair-filled walk up to your apartment on the fourth floor of the tall brick building that stood before the two of you. You were not looking forward to the jostling all of those steps had in store for your shoulder, nor the long walk up with no railing since the only one was to your right.

Nines gave a fake contemplative hum of response at your words before he tossed the jacket he'd been carrying over his shoulder, freeing up his hands to better help you ascend the steps.

"Depends on how determined you are to struggle."

"Wha- Hey!"

You could've sworn you heard Nines chuckle at your reaction as he lifted you unceremoniously off the ground, one arm supporting your neck while the other rested beneath your knees.

"Feel free to place your arm on my shoulder if it provides it better support, Detective. Though I can't imagine this will take me very long at all."

You huffed in response to your partner's teasing tone, but relented nonetheless, supporting your injured shoulder against his body as he made quick work of the stairs leading up to your apartment.

It was only then, as he set you down just outside of your door in order to allow you the opportunity to unlock it, that you realized that he had never actually been inside before. It wasn't like you were hiding it from him or anything, but even still you couldn't help but feel a rush of nerves as you inserted your key in the lock. twisting it slowly until you felt the deadbolt recede, allowing you to turn the handle and use your foot to push the door inward, causing it to swing forward.

"Home sweet home."

You muttered as you walked inside, attempting to bend over to remove your shoes only to hiss as yet another bolt of pain ran through your injured shoulder.

"Sit down, Detective,"

Nines' voice was stern as it sounded out from behind you, and almost immediately you did as you were told, too distracted by the pain to bother putting up a fight for the sake of your dignity.

"Thank you,"

He began, a hint of satisfaction evident within his tone,

"Now, elaborate upon what it is you need in order to be more comfortable please. I have no sense of what that entails."

You nodded to show your understanding before you opened your mouth to speak,

"Right um... My shoes first I guess, after that I think I can figure everything else out on my own..."

That wasn't really the truth, since you knew how horrendous putting on a new shirt and pants was going to feel later that evening, but you weren't about to admit that to Nines and risk having him insist on helping you with that task too.

You'd much rather take your chances with the unbridled agony.

Nodding in response to your previous words, Nines knelt down in front of you to untie your shoe laces, adept fingers pulling at them until they came undone entirely. Afterward, you watched as he grabbed your foot by the ankle, cupping it within his palm as he began to pull it off slowly, as if worried he could hurt you if he went any faster.

Once that was over and done with, he moved on to the other shoe, expertly removing that one as well before helping you up gently, looking around the room as he did so.

"Are you sure there is nothing else that you may require assistance for, Detective? I am perfectly content to help with whatever you may need."

You shook your head in response to your partners words, leaning your good shoulder against the doorway between the kitchen and the living room as you addressed him,

"I'll be fine, Nines, It's a dislocation not a break. I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

The android in front of you nodded in the affirmative,

"Of course. I can come and pick you up if that would be helpful. Though I would need to borrow your car in order to do so."

You thought for a moment before shrugging your shoulders,

"Yeah sure, what the hell, you already drive it damn near as much as I do anyway."

You fished your keys out of your pocket before tossing them to him, watching as he caught them with ease.

He looked over to you again afterward, keys jingling a bit as he adjusted them within his hand,

"Please contact me if you require any assistance, Detective."

You smirked at him, raising a brow in response,

"Whatever you say, Nurse Nines. I would hate to strip you of a patient to care for."

The man in front of you rolled his eyes but grinned ever so slightly nonetheless as he approached the door once more, swinging it open and taking a step into the hall before he called back behind him.

"Oh, Little Mouse?"

He called, his tone haughty and unconcerned.

"Yeah?"

You answered meekly, praying he wasn't about to say anything abundantly humiliating for all of your neighbors to hear as if the nickname wasn't already bad enough.

"I would be more than capable of supporting you on your venture to the gala later this week. If that would be of interest to you."

And with that he was gone, the door closing abruptly behind him and the sound of his footsteps slowly fading into the distance as he went.

And after that, Nines' help had only grown more and more crucial.

It had started off small, helping with your shoes each day and taking on the majority of typing for your conjoined reports, but eventually, you'd been forced to admit you needed more support than you'd initially let on after one too many issues with injury.

After that, you were finally willing to ask for extra help, especially when it came to things like cooking, cleaning, and various other embarrassing chores you would've preferred to simply do on your own.

One incredibly embarrassing example of the extra support you needed was what you were now lovingly referring to as "the pants incident", but that was far too much for you to think about right now.

No, now you were thinking of how well you had worked with Nines throughout the week, reading him various cases aloud to help as best you could with the paperwork process that you were now effectively useless to support him with.

Of course, both of you knew that things would go even faster if Nines had done the reading himself in the background of doing said paperwork, but truth be told, you both enjoyed the teamwork aspect of the routine. It gave you something to do, and it ensured that Nines wouldn't be distracted by your nonsensical need for entertainment every few minutes.

Needless to say, it was a good system, and it wasn't even close to the only one that the two of you had developed in response to your injury.

For example, you would work together to make you coffee in the break room, with you gathering materials while Nines did all of the two handed motions required, such as stirring, packing the coffee machine, and pouring the milk and sugar.

But truthfully, the most beneficial thing Nines had done for you thus far had occurred today, when he'd helped you into your ridiculously long gala dress.

You had been hoping to avoid requiring any clothing related help, especially when it came to the type of clothing that you had to be almost entirely naked to put on, but even so, there was no way you could have managed the task of getting that dress on alone.

He had shown up at your door at 6:00pm on the dot, just as he'd said he would earlier in the day, and you had to fight the urge to bite back an audible whine of frustration when you realized he'd arrived in time to learn of your embarrassing dilemma.

For the past six days, you had been wearing solely sweatpants and tee shirts to work after receiving special permission from Fowler, and honestly you'd managed to get pretty good at getting dressed in the mornings.

But this dress? This was a whole new obstacle for you to worry about.

Currently, you had it pooled upon the floor, perfectly maneuvered for you to step into and pull up, except you lacked the motor capabilities necessary to do that incredibly important last step.

And those straps? Those were basically a death trap without extra help with getting them onto your shoulder.

You sat on the edge of your bed, desperately wishing you had the ability to place your head in your hands as you tried to find a solution before your android partner assumed you'd hurt yourself and burst into your apartment, leaving you with a mess and a door bill you had no interest in paying.

Nines knocked again, louder this time, and fearing for your wallet, you forced yourself up slowly, careful to nurse your still bruised shoulder, which was currently without the sling you typically used to support it, since you had been about to attempt the insane feat of putting on a dress.

"Coming!"

You called out as you tugged on your bathrobe, walking quickly towards the door before unlocking and opening it, glaring a bit at the man who stood on the other side.

"You literally have a key, Nines, I've been using the spare since I gave you my key ring with my regular apartment key on it so you could take the car."

Your partner shrugged and brushed past you, looking you up and down slowly with a slight tilt of his head.

"You aren't dressed? I thought you said you wanted to be at the event by 6:30 tonight. I'm not sure how that will be possible if you have yet to get ready."

You resisted the urge to shoot your partner another glare as you shifted your gaze towards the floor, feeling warmth rise to your cheeks as you spoke,

"I tried to get ready. The dress is too long to pull all the way up by myself with my shoulder still injured."

Nines was silent for a few moments before he gave a brief nod of understanding and stepped closer to you, using his heel to close your apartment door behind him as he did so.

"Would you like some assistance?"

You blanched at that, certain your cheeks were bright pink as you continued to keep your gaze fixed on your kitchen floor, lips unable to form words as you tried to think of some way to respond to that question.

The android standing before you watched with vague amusement and slight confusion as you continued to look anywhere but at him, and he crossed his arms and sighed before he elaborated upon his earlier question,

"I can close my eyes, if you would prefer. I can assure you that I do not require vision to assist you in pulling a dress up and maneuvering some fabric over your shoulders for you."

You rolled your eyes at his ever persistent confidence before you gave in and nodded slowly, turning around and leading the man in question quietly to your bedroom, where he made his way over to the dress that was lying on the floor without a word, gesturing for you to stand before him as he prepared to ready the dress for you to step into while he was holding it.

Swallowing thickly, you sighed, moving to stand with your back to your partner and watching as his hands appeared from behind you, maneuvering around your body before holding the dress before you expectantly.

"Step in first, after that I can close my eyes and you can take your robe off."

He murmured, his voice coming from behind and below you as he knelt on the floor to ensure you wouldn't have to take too high of a step in order to get your legs into the dress.

You nodded softly, trying to ignore the subtle heat that emanated off of Nines as you stepped into the long black gown he was holding between his finger tips.

"Done."

You said softly, your voice almost meek as you resisted the urge to fidget, knowing full well that the android behind you would notice instantly and call you out before you could even think of a good excuse as to why you were doing it.

"Alright Detective, my eyes are closed. You can remove your robe now. I will not open until you tell me to."

Desperate to dissipate some of the tension in the air, you let out a nervous laugh as you clumsily untied the knot at the front of your bathrobe,

"Until I tell you to? Since when do you take orders?"

You joked, letting the robe drop to the floor in front of you, shivering ever so slightly as the cool night air drifting in from your open bedroom window hit your bare torso.

Nines let out a low hum in response to your teasing, but didn't say a word as he slowly started to pull your dress upward, his knuckles occasionally grazing your thighs and hips as he moved the fabric skillfully up your frame, stopping when his hand grazed your upper back, which left you fighting off yet another, far less temperature related, shiver in response.

"Can you put your hand through the strap if I lower it a bit?"

He asked calmly, feeling to you like the very antithesis of yourself with his grounded attitude and unbothered feelings towards the situation you were in.

"Yeah, I just need it a tiny bit lower and I can get it in."

You murmured, feeling the hair on the back of your neck stand up as your partner's artificial breaths hit it, and you were surprised to find that they were slightly warm rather than cold the way that they usually were.

Strange.

Without a word, Nines lowered the right strap of your dress, and you slid your hand in without issue, thus allowing him to pull it the rest of the way up before situating it gently on your injured shoulder.

"Does that feel alright, Detective?"

He asked, his voice low and smooth in a way that had you hoping all of this would be over before too long, because you weren't sure how long you could endure torture like this.

You cleared your throat in response, giving several quick nods to answer his question,

"Feels perfect. Wanna hand me the other one? I can do that myself."

You said quietly, hearing a light and affirmative hum from behind you as Nines placed the left strap into your left hand, allowing you to maneuver it upward before pulling the built in bra portion of the dress to your chest, adjusting things accordingly before you spoke up again,

"Would you mind zipping me up?"

You asked, resisting the urge to shift your weight between your feet as Nines replied,

"Not at all, Little Mouse. May I open my eyes?"

There was a teasing lilt to his tone that made you inhale sharply, and you prayed that he hadn't noticed as you struggled to regain your ability to speak.

"Oh yeah, sorry..."

You trailed off, having forgotten about his previous promise to leave his eyes closed until you said otherwise almost entirely before he'd brought it back up again, leaving your cheeks red and your hands clenched slightly where they hung.

You bit back a surprised gasp as the sudden feeling of a cool hand pressed against the warm skin of your back as Nines used his other hand to deftly pull at your long zipper, which began to close to your lower back and ended just below your shoulder blades.

He zipped your dress slowly, breath still slightly warm on the back of your neck as he moved your hair out of the way, voice incredibly close to your ear as he made his way towards the end of the zipper.

"How does it feel, Little Mouse?"

He asked, the sound of his voice, ever so slightly lower than usual, so close to your ear making you shiver involuntarily for the third time that night.

Your brain felt fuzzy and far away as you tried to think up a reply, eventually squeaking out an embarrassed,

"Fine!"

Before the android behind you hummed in response, taking a step away that had you briefly missing the almost unnoticeable warmth of his body before you snapped out of it and took your own step forward before turning to face your partner who was stood behind you, gaze locked on your form as you gave him a nervous laugh,

"How does it look? Gala appropriate?"

Your partner gave a subtle nod before his gaze moved upward towards your own, causing you to realize with a start just how long he had been looking you over.

"It is perfectly suitable for tonight's event."

He said cooly after a few moments of silence, picking your sling up off of your bed not long after he finished speaking in order to help you put it back on.

And it was only then, your chest just inches away from his own as he helped you put on your sling, that you started to notice what your partner was wearing tonight.

Nines was dressed in a grey turtleneck sweater with black dress slacks, the silver watch adorning his wrist catching in the light of your bedroom as he adjusted the strap of your sling accordingly.

God where did he get his clothing?

It seemed that everything that Nines wore was perfectly tailored to fit his trim but imposing frame, every single detail perfect in every possible way no matter where he went or what he was wearing.

Talk about unfair.

"Is everything alright, Detective?"

The sound of your partners voice, this time from what sounded like very far away, caused you to start, and suddenly, without warning, you were tossed right out of your own thoughts and back into reality, only to find that Captain Fowler had excused himself to greet more guests and that Nines was staring down at you intensely, his hand gripping your arm in a way that was almost forceful.

"Detective?"

He repeated, eyes burning into your own as you cleared your throat awkwardly, giving your partner a nervous grin as he continued his unwavering ocular interrogation, eyes narrowing as he tried to discern what exactly was going on.

Thankfully enough for you though, you must have looked far more lucid than you had previously, because after a few seconds of this he relented, loosening his grip on your good arm before he motioned over to the bar.

"It would be best if you had some water, Detective. You appeared to be more than a little bit dazed for quite some time during my discussion with the captain."

You started shaking your head, only to groan audibly as your partner began to guide you towards the bar against the wall to your right, his hand never leaving your arm as he did so,

"It was not a suggestion, Little Mouse."

He said, his tone almost stern as he helped you into one of many empty bar stools before gesturing for the bartender, ordering you an ice water as you turned your attention towards some of the other people at the bar, your coworker Chris included.

"Y/n!"

He said excitedly, grinning as if he hadn't seen you at your desk just hours prior as he moved to sit at the empty stool to your right, his gaze briefly flickering to your still occupied partner before he looked towards you once more.

"Hey Chris."

You greeted with a smile, looking around to see if he had brought any of his family members with him to the gala,

"Did you not bring your wife or son? I thought you just told me the other day that you had a little suit ready to go and everything."

You teased, and your friend laughed as he shrugged his shoulders,

"Eh, turns out kids have to have strict bed times when they're still that young. I'll convince the wife to let him go next year, or to at least get a babysitter so she can come along."

You laughed at his response, having only just opened your mouth to reply when a familiar hand placed a cup of water on the bar top in front of you from behind.

You shifted your gaze back to Chris only to find he was grinning slightly at the very same figure who had brought you your water, his eyes flickering between the two of you before they settled behind you once more.

You shifted slightly in your seat, turning your head to see that Nines was standing directly behind your back, watching you expectantly until you finally relented to his wordless command with a sigh and drank some of the water he had insisted upon you getting.

When you set the cup down again, Nines didn't look entirely pleased, but he was significantly less pointed with his expectations than before, so you took what you could get and turned your attention back towards Chris, who was still watching the two of you with what appeared to be amusement.

"And what's so funny?"

You asked, your tone betraying your tough guy question as you watched Chris roll his eyes at you,

"Oh nothing, I'm just wondering how much you must've drank already to have the android on water duty."

You scoffed at your friend and placed your left hand to your chest as if offended,

"Excuse you, officer, but I haven't had a drink all night long, so you can cool it with those accusations of yours. Besides, I couldn't drink even if I wanted to, Nines has decided I must be the most severely dehydrated woman on earth and has restricted me to only drinking water for the remainder of my time at the event."

You could almost feel the eye roll that Nines gave in response to that, his voice cool and unbothered as he replied,

"You may drink whatever you please, Detective. I may be acting on your best interest at the moment, but I can assure you that I have no intention of baby sitting you all night."

You felt your cheeks turn bright pink at his words as Chris burst out laughing at his response,

"He got your ass!"

He all but cackled, arms wrapping around his stomach as he leaned forward on his bar stool, and you had to resist the urge to nudge him off with your foot as you prayed this humiliation would be over soon.

Luckily enough for you, it appeared that Chris had a few beers in his system and didn't have much of an attention span to work with, because when he came back up from his raucous laughter, wiping a tear from his eye as he did so, he had an entirely different topic at the tip of his tongue.

"By the way, did either of you stop by the Hughes crime scene again after the incident?"

He asked, and you hid your slight grimace at the reminder of the case behind your glass as you sipped at your water.

"No."

Nines responded far before you could, having been so dreadfully occupied with your water, and you were just about to apologize for his curtness when Chris nodded.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. But when Tina and I got there today it was crazy, the whole house is a pile of rubble, and the city apparently has no idea what to do with it since they don't want to bother spending any money to rebuild or even clean it up. It's a huge shit show, I do not envy the poor soul that has to deal with that property now that the family is gone."

You nodded absent mindedly, placing your glass on the bar as you felt yourself slowly slipping into your own memories once more, the reminder of the case bringing back the sounds, smells, and sights that night had unfortunately had in store for yourself and everyone else who had been present on the scene. You were just about to let yourself go entirely when the feeling of someone grabbing your good arm once more planted you firmly back into reality, your eyes widening a little when you'd realized what had happened.

You looked over to the owner of the hand that had gripped your arm, unsurprised to find your ever vigilant partner all but glaring down at you, concern and what almost looked to be anger evident within his gaze as he gently tugged you off of your stool and away from the bar without another word, leaving Chris to watch in confusion as you were dragged out of the crowded event room and into an empty hallway.

You swallowed thickly as you finally felt Nines let go of your arm, allowing yourself to lean slightly against the wall behind you as you took in the unfamiliar sight of this new area of the building.

The wallpaper here was fancy, almost a yellowed paper color with various swirls on it that made you feel dizzy if you looked at them for too long. You averted your gaze, but regretted it almost immediately as your eyes locked onto those of your partner, who still looked a bit too mad for your liking, even in the dim light of the hallway, where his features were just a bit less clear than they had been before.

"Nines I-"

"Tell me what is going on with you. Now."

He ordered, his voice just barely above a growl as he took a step closer to you, the look in his eyes betraying him as you watched the anger all but drain from his eyes, leaving behind only concern and something else you couldn't quite put your finger on.

Pain?

You brushed it off, gaze falling to the floor as you quietly explained what had been happening to you throughout the night, hands playing nervously with the fabric of your dress as you spoke.

"I'm not really sure what it is or why it's happening..."

You clarified towards the end of your explanation,

"But for some reason, I just can't stay focused tonight. I keep almost drifting off and getting stuck in my thoughts for a while until something catches my attention and suddenly I'm right back here."

Nines listened intently, nodding from time to time as something new,

Relief maybe?

Filled his grey eyes.

And finally, several long seconds of silence after you had finished explaining yourself to him, Nines spoke up once more.

"I believe you are overwhelmed, Detective. There are a great deal of people here, both known and unknown, and given your recent experiences, I believe it is normal for you to react to so much sudden external stimuli this way, especially after we have been so careful to avoid it throughout the past week. My apologies for not considering this could occur, I neglected to consider your mental state as much as I did your physical and-"

"Nines, I'm fine."

You cut him off abruptly, wishing you had the ability to cross your arms as you watched the man in front of you blink in surprise at your sudden interruption before continuing,

"Well, regardless, I think it would be best for me to bring you home. I can apologize to Fowler for our early disappearance tomorrow, and I am sure that he will understand given your circumstances."

You sighed and gave your partner a pleading look, desperate to do something, anything, but sit in your apartment alone for yet another night.

"C'mon Nines, please don't make me go home so early, it took me forever to finally get this stupid dress on, and everyone will think we're total losers."

That last part was meant to be a joke to lighten the mood, but the RK900 model android in front of you ignored it entirely, watching you in silence for a few moments before he sighed, and you had to fight the urge to yell out in victory.

It was very rare that you got your way if Nines thought something else was best, so honestly, this felt like a pretty historic moment for you.

"Fine. We can stay for a little while longer, but only if you allow yourself a few minutes more of quiet before going back into the event room. I have no interest in dragging you back out here in ten minutes because you went back in there and overwhelmed yourself again immediately. If anything like that becomes necessary for a second time tonight, I will consider the venue to be too much for you and bring you home without a second thought. As I said earlier, I have no interest in being your baby sitter, Little Mouse."

Your cheeks began to grow warm again at the nickname, and you were just about to open your mouth and make a retort when the sound of voices coming towards your secluded hallway shocked you into silence, although that was mostly due to the fact that you easily identified the large group of voices as seven to eight of your coworkers, something Nines appeared to have done instantly, his gaze flickering back and forth between the direction the voices were coming from, and you.

Suddenly, without warning, you gasped as Nines took multiple steps forward, shushing you as he all but pressed his larger form up against your own, making it all but impossible for anyone to see you if they made it as far as this particular hallway.

"Don't make a sound. I am certain that multiple of the individuals I have identified would be more than just a little bit chatty if they happened to see you, and as I said before, if you must insist on staying, then I must insist upon you letting your mind relax before attempting to take in even more external stimuli."

Still shocked by your partner's unfamiliar closeness, you nodded without a word in response, noting in your mind the way that he had braced your injured shoulder with one of his hands before he had all but forced you against the wall, thus ensuring he didn't cause you any harm in the process.

Watching your partner through still slightly widened eyes, you both listened intently for several minutes as the voices slowly grew louder and louder until they finally began to fade away once more, headed back in the direction of the event room.

You let out a sigh of relief at the sound of the voices growing fainter as they moved further away from where the two of you stood, only realizing then just how glad you were to not have to talk to anyone at that moment. Maybe your brain did need a break.

Relenting to the idea that Nines had been right all along, you moved your gaze up and down his form, your hand moving up to the neck of his turtleneck before you even realized what you were doing, causing the android in front of you to jolt a bit in surprise at your sudden touch.

You looked up at him, vaguely amused by his reaction and grinning as you spoke,

"What's with the high neckline shirts all the time, by the way? Got some sort of secret under there?"

You teased, pulling the fabric away from his artificial flesh before allowing your finger to graze the normally covered area before you froze entirely at Nines' response, which was a harsh and sharp sudden intake of breath, something you knew for a fact he didn't do often.

In fact, you had never heard him react to anything like that before.

But then, it got even weirder,

Because standing just over an inch away from you with his hand wedged between your injured shoulder and the wall at your back, Nines, an android created to hunt down and destroy his own kind, shivered.

You fought the urge to gape at that, desperately trying not to seem as in awe of him as you were as he slowly opened eyes that you hadn't even realized he'd closed when you'd touched him, and gazed down at you intently, his chest rising and falling with each slightly heavier breath he took.

"Are you alright?"

You asked softly, watching as the man in front of you nodded tensely, his gaze never leaving yours as he spoke,

"Yes, I am perfectly fine, Detective. My apologies for the impromptu reaction, I'm afraid that there wasn't anything I could do to control it. Your actions were... unexpected."

He finished, and when you raised a brow at him he opened his mouth again to clarify,

"Due to all of the necessary technology required to make me more advanced than my predecessor, I required significantly more data analysis capabilities. As a result, I was equipped with many sensors, most of which can be utilized via the primary sensors found on my tongue, which then sends that data to multiple other sensors that were stored within my neck. This had lead to what could be described as a vulnerability in my physical form at my throat, as this issue was not remedied prior to the uprising, and was not seen as important to remedy afterward. Therefore, I simply decided that clothing that covers my neck is best, though I have never outright avoided clothing with a normal neckline."

You nodded slowly at your partners explanation, feeling almost disappointed as he suddenly took a step backward, allowing you to move away from the wall as he readjusted his shirt, his cheeks an incredibly pale blue color that was so faint you weren't sure if you'd seen it at all before it was gone entirely.

A trick of the light maybe?

You shrugged it off before realizing that Nines was offering his arm to you once more, just as he had upon your arrival, and you found yourself accepting it eagerly as the two of you took slow but deliberate steps towards the event room once more.

AO3 Link

Series Masterlist

#DBH x reader #rk900 x reader #nines x reader #nines x reader series #rk900 x reader series #dbh rk900 #connor dbh #dbh blog #dbh fics #rk900 fics #rk900 series #dbh series #dbh nines x reader #dbh connor #ruiner ruination #DBH connor x reader #detroit become human connor x reader

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the-likesofus · 1 year

Text

As It Slips Through Your Fingers

Buddie 6x07 coda/sperm donor future spec fic

9-1-1 on Fox | 2370 words | buddie re-relationship, angst, fluff, forehead kisses, christopher diaz has two dads, hopeful ending, they finally talk about the will

tw miscarriage

Read on AO3

“So you’re obviously finished with your juice cleansing. You inhaled that burger.” Eddie teases.

“Ah, yeah. I had my appointment last week so technically my job is done. I’ll admit that green juice wasn’t as bad as it looked but having them for every meal got old pretty quick.” Buck laughs and takes another swig of his beer.

“And how are you feeling about that?” Eddie asks. He tries to sound as perfunctory as he can but he’s curious. For all of Buck's secrecy, he thought that maybe now he knows about the sperm donor thing that Buck might be more open to talking about it with him. He still doesn’t know why he felt he couldn’t talk to Eddie about it in the first place. Maybe if he’d known sooner he would have tried to talk Buck out of it, or maybe he wouldn’t have but even now, Buck’s barely said a word about it.

“It’s good! They're excited, ready to move on to the next step and–.”

“Buck,” Eddie puts his beer down and turns so that he’s facing Buck front on. “I asked how you feel about it.”

“Oh,” Buck stops like he hasn’t really thought about that himself yet and Eddie wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t. From the sounds of things, getting as far as this appointment has been a debacle in itself and so Eddie can’t blame him for being relieved to have it behind him. But that doesn’t mean that Buck has stopped to think about what the next step is for him. Really, now that he’s given them what they need–so to speak–there probably isn’t much for Buck to do. “Good, I guess. I mean I’m excited for them. As soon as my ahh, contribution passes all the needed testing, they can move on to the next stage.”

“That still doesn’t really tell me how you feel.”

“I don’t know, Eddie. How am I supposed to feel?” Buck throws his hands up before leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. “I jizzed in a cup and handed it over to some lady. It’s quite literally out of my hands now. It’s probably the most hands-off parenting experience there is.” He laughs again like he’s said something funny but Eddie just hurts for him more.

“You're not parenting though, Buck.” He doesn’t know how to put it less bluntly but when it boils down to it, Buck is right. It’s out of his hands. He’s done his part and now the rest is up to Connor and Kameron. They get the excitement of doctors' appointments and ultrasounds, hearing the baby’s heartbeat for the first time and holding him or her when they’re born. Buck most likely won’t be a part of any of that.

Buck stops, takes a mouthful of his beer, picks at the label on the bottle for a moment, and then sets it down next to Eddie’s. “I know.”

Eddie watches him quietly, imagining the ways the cogs will be turning in his best friend’s head.

“I’ve thought about it, I have. And I know, Donor not Dad. And that will suck, it will. Some days more than others but at the same time, knowing that I got to help them, that by giving them a small piece of me I was able to help bring this whole other happiness into their lives. That's a good feeling.” He smiles softly and Eddie can feel the pride emanating from him. “And besides if I never get to have my own kids, kids that would truly be mine, I mean, then just knowing that out there is a kid who is a little bit of me and gets to have this whole life with two loving parents who wanted them so badly. I think that's okay too.”

Eddie waits for a moment and lets Buck’s words sink in. “What makes you think you’ll never have kids of your own?”

“Well,” Buck laughs. “I haven’t exactly had the greatest dating track record. I mean, even if Taylor and I had stayed together, she didn’t want kids so there is always that possibility that maybe one day I do find someone else and they don’t either. Maybe I’ll just have to learn to be okay with that.”

He picks up his bottle again and takes a long drink. Eddie does the same and then his bottle is empty. He stands up to go get two more from the fridge. “Well, I know it’s not the same but you’ll still have Chris.”

“Yes, Eddie. Tell me again about the child I’ll acquire when my best friend dies. That will definitely make me feel better.” Buck rolls his eyes and passes Eddie his empty bottle but Eddie’s feet are suddenly rooted to the floor.

“Buck.” He says firmly.” What are you on about, you don't seriously–, that’s not what I meant by that at all.”

“You didn’t? Wait– then what do you mean?”

“Jesus, Buck. Is that really what you've been thinking this whole time? That me putting you in my will was just some sort of contingency plan?” He watches the confusion continue to spread across Buck’s face and his heart sinks, a lump forming in his throat as he puts both of the bottles back down on the table and rounds the corner to crouch in front of Buck. He hesitates for a second before taking Buck's hands between his own and looking up at him carefully. Buck looks down to meet his gaze and his blue eyes are wide and pleading. “Buck. Buck, you are already Chris’ Dad. It’s hard to explain what you mean to him, to both of us but that’s the best way I can describe it. When I said that I trust no one with my son more than you, I meant it. And not just in some hypothetical scenario where I’m dead, because God forbid it ever comes to that, but now Buck, already.

“Putting you in my will was a formality. I wanted to make sure that there was no legal way that anyone could try to change what you already are to him because you are what I want for my son and I know that if it came to that then you would continue to love him the way that I do, the way that you already do.”

There are tears forming in the corners of Buck’s eyes and Eddie gently reaches up to wipe them away. Internally he’s beating himself up for ever letting Buck believe that Eddie would write him in as a contingency plan. Let alone that Buck has been walking around believing that for months. But watching the way that hope seems to blossom across Buck’s face right before his eyes, warms some not-small part inside him.

“You mean that?’ Buck asks and Eddie gets to his feet again, and before he can think better of it he presses a kiss to Buck’s forehead and collects the bottles once more.

“I do.” He says and then hurries into the kitchen.

Six weeks later Buck calls him all excited to tell him that Kameron got a positive result at her blood test. She’s pregnant. Eddie expects this to be the moment that it hits Buck but he still sounds genuinely excited. He proceeds to tell Eddie all about the probabilities involved in IVF.

Eight weeks after that there’s another excited phone call and Buck raves about the ultrasound image that Connor had sent him.

“I’ll bring it to work on Monday and show you. They're so tiny, Eddie!” Eddie remembers the first ultrasound he ever saw of Christopher. He missed the appointment because he was away at basic training but he remembers staring at the grainy photo for hours after Shannon sent it to him. How amazed he was that something so small would ever grow into a human being.

A Friday in late May finds the two of them at the beach with Christopher, the weather is barely starting to warm up again but Chris insisted that they spend their evening down near the pier. Eddie is still in awe of how far Chris, and Buck, have come since the tsunami. Not half an hour ago the two of them were splashing about in the shallow waves, giggling and screeching almost as loud as the seagulls. Buck’s phone had started ringing on the towel next to Eddie and he had called him in from the water to take the call. He’s been gone for a while. Chris soon got cold and Eddie had bundled him up in Buck’s sweatshirt and towel off his hair before he collected up the buckets and shovels they had brought with them and set off with great plans to build a moat.

When Buck comes back he looks hollowed out, like someone took a spoon to his insides and scooped him out like a jack-o-lantern. “Buck?” Eddie says softly and glances over at Christopher quickly but the boy is occupied with his sandcastle a little further up the beach. Buck’s hands are shaking and he almost lets his phone slip through his fingers.

“Kameron lost the baby. She– umm.” Buck chews the inside of his cheek and his glassy eyes flit everywhere but at Eddie’s face. “Connor just– he just wanted to let me know and he said– said they're probably not going to be trying again.”

“Oh, Buck.” Eddie’s not sure what to say. What do you say? He remembers how excited he’d been when Shannon had thought she was pregnant again, once he got over the initial shock. The idea of having another little Christopher in his life had sprouted in his chest and already made a home for itself by the time she told him that it was just a scare and then washed it down with divorce papers. “I’m so sorry.” Is what he eventually settles on and Buck raises his hand as if you wave off Eddie’s apology.

“No, umm. It’s okay, I’m fine, just for Kameron and Connor, I–.”

“Buck. They were your kid too.”

“No, they weren’t–.”

“But they were. You can try and convince yourself otherwise but I know you, Buck. You loved that kid from the moment they existed and even if you had never met them you would have loved them still. You’re allowed to be upset, Buck.” Eddie steps forward and tentatively rests his hand on Buck’s shoulder, rubbing his thumb slowly across his collarbone.

Buck looks back up at him and his entire person crumbles in an instant as he falls against Eddie’s chest and buries his face in Eddie’s neck. His shoulders shake with sharp gasps as sobs wrack his body and Eddie can do nothing but wrap his arms around him and hold him up as Buck clings to him.

Eddie tries to convince him to pack up and go back to the house but Buck insists that he doesn’t want to worry Christopher and that he looks like he’s having fun. So instead they sit on the towels they laid out earlier and Eddie tucks Buck firmly against his side as they watch the sun slowly sink over the horizon.

Buck becomes pretty withdrawn over the next few weeks. Eddie doesn’t blame him and he tries to be there for him wherever he can. He invites him around regularly even though he usually turns down the offer. He takes him a few home-cooked meals, courtesy of Bobby’s assistance. He has Chris send him video messages every now and again just to check in and tell him about what he’s been working on at school. At first, he worried that hearing from Chris might be too much but after the genuinely grateful message Buck sent him back after the first one he knew that those little things were helping as much as they possibly could.

There’s a knock on his front door one evening almost a month after their trip to the beach and Eddie opens it to find Buck standing on his doorstep with a duffle bag hooked over one shoulder and a resigned look on his face.

“Hey, I– is Chris home? I just wanted to see him. If– if that’s okay?” Buck has the effrontery to look bashful about asking.

“Of course,” Eddie says and opens the door wider to wave him in. “He’s in the living room.”

Eddie slides a hand carefully across the span of Buck’s back as he passes him and he could swear that the other man leans into his touch even just a little bit. He follows Buck into the living room and watches as Christopher’s eyes widen in excitement when he sees Buck standing next to the sofa. The kid quickly pauses his game and pulls the headphones off just in time for Buck to sink to his knees on the floor next to him and they both drive into each other’s arms.

“Hi, Buck.” Christopher’s voice is muffled against Buck’s shoulder but Buck just squeezes him tighter and buries his nose into Christopher’s hair.

“Hey, Buddy.” He whispers just loud enough for Eddie to hear from where he’s standing in the doorway. He catches Buck’s eye over Christopher’s shoulder and Buck flashes him a grateful smile which Eddie returns.

The late evening sees the three of them curled up together on the couch, one large blanket thrown across their laps as a reasonably recent David Attenborough documentary plays on the television. Christopher is leaning back against Buck’s chest as Buck presses himself into Eddie’s side. Slowly, throughout the evening, all of the tension in Buck's face and muscles has drained out until he has been left pliant and warm under the arm that Eddie has wrapped around his shoulder.

Eddie leans forward to press his nose against Buck’s temple and waits for Buck to press back before he drops a soft kiss against the delicate skin there. Buck sighs softly and flashes Eddie a grateful smile as one of his hands finds Eddie’s beneath the blanket and squeezes softly, Eddie twines their fingers together and they turn their focus back to the animals on screen.

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ladylooch · 6 months

Text

17 - Lio & Lucie

A/N: Since a few of us miss these babes... here is a lil angst for our sweet babes.

17.

The number rings in Lucie’s head as she washes out her coffee cup in the kitchen sink. Connor and Lio are both asleep still, but she’s been wide awake since 6:00am, thinking the same thing: 17. The number of women Connor has slept with.

She wishes she didn’t ask.

She also realizes she should have asked that earlier. Before they ever did anything to begin with, but instead it came up in a game of Buzzed in which the prompt was drink if you’ve had more than 10 partners. Lucie’s throat closed up when she saw her boyfriend tip his beer bottle back. Lio did too, but that was significantly less surprising. Connor had looked over at Lucie, chuckling.

“What is your number?” She asks, trying to act like she is chill about this.

“17, not including you. Rookie year was… interesting.” He is a bit sheepish, rubbing his fingers along her arm. Lucie had widened her eyes and laughed it off. Connor breathed a little easier seeing her do so.

But now, Lucie is nauseous, thinking of Con with so many different women. She can count her partners on three fingers, including him.

Swishing footsteps sound behind her, she glances over her shoulder, seeing Lio coming out shirtless. He scratches at his bare chest, squinting against the light coming in.

“How long you been up?” He murmurs, beginning to prepare the espresso machine.

“Awhile.”

“Yeah, I know. You woke me up.”

“Sorry.” I shrug, setting my cup next to the machine for him to make me another one.

“I swear Connor could sleep through a concert in your room.” He shakes his head. Lucie quietly leans with her butt against the counter, lost in her thoughts again. Lio hip checks her gently. “Stop thinking about it.” Lucie looks at her cousin. “I know you, LuLu.”

“Did you know that?”

“Yeah, I thought you did too. But then I saw your face last night and it was clear you didn’t.”

“I guess I should have asked.”

“Would it have changed anything?”

“I mean, no. But…” Lucie shakes her head. For once in her life, she doesn’t want to talk to Lio about something. This realization makes her retreat within even more. She hugs herself, tugging at the ends of her sweatshirt to enclose her hands in the sleeves.

“Con follows you around like a lovesick puppy. I wouldn’t worry about anyone before you. He never talks about anything but you either. It’s actually super annoying. Kid needs a hobby.”

Although Lio’s words help, it doesn’t stop Lucie’s racing thoughts. Nothing does. Not Connor’s sweet, sexy kiss when he wakes up. Not brunch with him and Lio or when they fall asleep cuddling together on the couch for an afternoon snooze. The thoughts follow her into the evening when she is getting ready to go to bed with Connor. He watches Lucie brush her teeth next to him in the bathroom.

“Lu, are you okay?” He asks as he puts his toothbrush back in place. She nods continuing to brush her teeth while avoiding his gaze. He doesn’t believe her. Connor waits for her to be done before he speaks again. “I can make it better?” He reaches for her hips, bringing her into his body.

“I don’t want to.” She pulls a little harshly away from his grasp. A flash of hurt contorts Connor’s face. Lucie grabs her moisturizer out of the drawer then meticulously applies it to her skin.

“Did I do something?” He asks.

17 things, Lucie thinks to herself, but gives him no response.

“I would rather you tell me than us do this.” He says, annoyance filling his tone. Lucie bites her bottom lip. She feels so small and immature, but she can’t change how much last night effected her. The silence in the bathroom is heavy. It fills Lucie’s lungs until breathing becomes laborious. She tediously closes the lid on her moisturizer, then lowers it back into it’s home.

“I’m having a hard time with how many people you have had sex with.” She stares down at the counter while she talks. “I know you had a whole life before me and… I have no right to be upset, but I am.”

“Baby, I’m sorry you’re hurt. But I also can’t change anything about my past.”

“No, I know that.” She nods. She reaches out for his hand, lacing their fingers together. She raises her eyes to his in the mirror. Connor is sad; Lucie can see it in his eyes. “You have so much more experience than me. You must think what we do is so boring and.. vanilla.”

“Luc.” Connor snorts incredulously. “I don’t think that at all. I also don’t need to do anything crazy with you. I love being with you. And everything we do that is new for you is exciting. Because I’m the one who is doing it with you. I feel so connected to you afterwards. Like, ‘wow she really trusts me’. That’s sexier than anything I did rookie year.”

Lucie steps forward, digging herself into his chest. Connor holds her there, arms crossing over each other to keep her tight to him. His mouth presses into her hair. He inhales her sweet scent, resisting the urge to grab her ass. He wants to throw her over his shoulder and worship her body until the only thing she feels is pleasure. Because of him.

“I love you.” Connor tells her instead. He yearns for her to understand how his heart beats in his chest only for her.

“I love you too.” Lucie responds.

“Forever.” He reminds her. Lucie nods, closing her eyes. She focuses in on his heartbeat and warm skin.

Lucie wishes his words were enough to erase the ache in her body. But it’s not. It’s also not his fault, or hers.

Some things just take a little longer to work through.

#lio & lucie

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leiflitter · 3 months

Note

Can we have some pov thoughts from Oliver's family please from the wedding planning/time leading up to the big day. 😘 if you're happy to share!! Also my names Harriet and my friends all me Harry and that is my claim to fame

AYYY i manifest for you being It Girl Harry forever and always

Keeping it fast n loose as ever

Paula- her baby boy is getting married! She has had a little chat with Father Davies once the initial Felix Shock passed; there was a little worrying about Oliver's immortal soul, but she's a very trusting person, and Father Davies is very chill. "You don't love Oliver any less, so neither does The Big Man Upstairs." That was enough for her.

She is absolutely a nuisance at Saltburn, because she cannot STOP DOING THINGS. Traditional British mum, and she keeps interrupting Oliver and Felix trying to get five minutes alone. "Oliver, love, do you or Felix want a snack?" "Felix, dear, I'm a bit lost- would you mind reminding me where my room is?"

Jeff- he still does not Get It but if Oliver's happy then that's fine. He has absolutely gotten into a few spats with his mates when he mentioned Our Oliver's getting hitched in the pub. Mostly because Oliver is marrying some posh wanker, which Jeff takes great offence to. Especially as Felix has been a stand up bloke and paid for the girls to go off to London to get fancy dresses, and has been very enthusiastic about Oliver's family bringing some friends down if they want.

He has been trying to give Felix a Fatherly Talk about hurting Oliver, except he's still kinda using the speech he prepared for his daughters, so it always ends up a bit confused.

Jess/Hannah- They are mostly confused about how on earth Oliver snagged this man. They're a good 7/9 years older than him, so they were always a unit and he was the accessory dork- and by the time he wasn't just an annoying baby they were pretty much grown ups.

They're actually enjoying getting to know him as an adult, and there's a bit of Older Sibling Guilt going on.

Also, a chance to get dressed up and get drunk? Awesome.

The Niblings-

They are all absolutely stoked. Oliver has always just been like... a card at birthdays and a tenner at Christmas, so now he's suddenly cool??? Awesome

Saltburn is a dream, the Cattonlets are just effortlessly NICE. The girls are already a Squad because of insta.

Ru and Connor have a fight when Connor says something rude- they're playing video games and the trashtalking starts fun but gets a bit TOO rough. It actually bonds them a bit, though, because Ru is actually tough as nails even though he's quiet. An abrupt diversion from being a bit of a Fifa Lad for Connor, tbh.

#leiflitter answers #you're almost home #YAH!spoilers #YAH!asks #YAH!posting

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felicitysmoaksx · 10 months

Photo

Hi all! Welcome back to this story and thanks so much for the kudos! I'm glad to see everyone is enjoying my little story! This chapter is a little bit heavier in some places. But it does have it's lighter moments too. In the form of Autumn (you'll understand when you read the chapter) and we finally get to meet a character I mentioned in the first story of this universe, Tucker!So I hope you all enjoy this chapter and happy reading! P.S. If you want to set the mood of this chapter I recommend: Flares by The Script, Sympathy, and Iris both by the Goo Goo Dolls.Remember kudos and comments are good sources of protein for the author

Rating: Mature

Summary: Her eyes squeezed shut before she dropped her head. Borrowed time. It was meant to be her…It was meant to be-

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: Inaccurate medical procedures, and implied/references a canonical character death and in depth survivors’ guilt

Read On AO3 | Fic Playlist | Fic Playlist but Less Shippy | Chapter 1 | Want to be tagged when I post a Rheese story?

Bottled Up Feelings are Silently Screaming (You Were Breaking Down)

Ch. 2

“Claire, please. I know I need to sign those forms for the store. Just hold off Dad for a day or maybe two? But today at the very least. And I'll be there by the end of the day tomorrow.” Connor said into his cell phone, glancing at the closed bathroom door, where Sarah was getting dressed.

“I know you and Dad have your issues, but why can’t you just stop by after your shift? You wouldn’t even have to see him.” Claire asked before he heard her direct someone to ‘put that dress on a mannequin for the window display.’

Connor glanced at the bathroom door again, before he lowered his voice so Sarah wouldn’t hear him as he explained the situation to his sister.

“Claire, I’m not on shift today. I took the whole week off because something happened and Sarah was hurt.”

“Hurt?” His sister repeated the word and it sounded like a question coming out of her mouth. Concern seeped into her voice. “Hurt how?”

“Sarah and her brother were both shot the day after you and I had dinner with Robin and her husband.”

“Oh god.” Claire breathed, “Is Sarah okay? I mean you just said she’s not okay, but…”

His little sister trailed off, but Connor understood his sister’s question. He exhaled slowly, “She was discharged a few days ago, but her doctor didn’t want to do that. She wanted to keep her for observation. But Sarah wasn’t going to miss her brother’s funeral today.”

“…Which is why you can’t come to sign the forms because you’re going to the service with her,” Claire said slowly. Connor nodded even though his sister couldn’t see him before he told her carefully, “Sarah would have her family and I know that. But she’s grieving. She’s fragile right now and pushing everyone away. I want to be there for her. Today especially.”

“I’ll hold Dad off,” Claire reassured him, “And I’ll keep a good thought for Sarah and her family. That today goes as well as it can.”

“Thank you,” Connor said as his sister told someone else to ‘please put out those new vases we just got and price them.’

There was a crash in the background then and he heard Claire sigh, “I’ve got to go. Got a situation to handle.”

“Yeah, I should probably go too. We’ve got to leave soon anyway.” It turned out the siblings hung up just in time because the door to the bathroom opened up a moment later.

“I still think I should go with the other dress. It covers more.” She said, coming to stand in front of the mirror as she rubbed at her wrists. Her wrists were now scabbed over and in the process of healing. But they were still agitated and red and added that to the white bandage over her neck. Sarah was worried about people staring. About the pity in people’s eyes. She didn’t want people to focus on her today. Not at her best friend’s funeral.

“Sarah, it’s going to be in the upper eighties today. You’ll overheat in the other dress.” He reminded her, thinking of the black sweater dress she was referring to. Though it was technically autumn, it was still the beginning of the season. This meant summer was fighting for its last legs in Chicago right now and that produced unusual warm weather like today.

When she remained quiet, staring at her reflection, Connor stood and moved so he was behind her. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he kissed her head.

“How did this happen, Connor? Why did this happen? Why did I get shot? Why am I getting ready to go bury my best friend?” Sarah asked in a weak, brittle voice. Connor frowned because he didn’t have an answer for her. Not one that made sense at least.

So he told her that. “I don’t know, baby. I don’t have any answer that makes sense and I’m so sorry for that and that this even happened in the first place.”

It shouldn’t have gone unspoken. The brunette in his arms released a shuddering breath that could’ve been a sob as she turned in his arms and cried.

“I’m sorry baby. I’m so sorry.” The surgeon had been saying those words since she woke up in that hospital room just days ago. And though he meant them every single time he said them, with every fiber of his being he meant those words; the words had started to feel hollow even to himself. He couldn’t imagine how they felt to her.

She said something, but he couldn’t understand her through her tears or her voice being muffled by his suit jacket. It was probably a good thing he didn’t. It would’ve just broken his heart that much more.

“Everyone leaves me at some point. Everyone.”

[LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“Does someone need to go get Sarah? She shouldn’t be driving right now, should she?” Tucker asked, coming to stand by Olive, Erin, and Teddy. While Olive had her arms full with Baby Danny, Autumn’s hand was tucked into her father’s and she pressed her face into his leg when more people arrived. At least until she tugged on Hank's pant leg and asked to be picked up.

“Autumn Kimberly, leave Grandpa Hank alone right now. He can play with you later.” Tucker scolded his daughter softly in that Texas accent that he never lost when he and his parents moved from Dallas to Chicago. The accent he got teased for in school that made Camille Voight introduce him to her son. The reason he and Justin were best friends and had been since that day in sixth grade.

Hank waved a hand to show that Autumn was fine and bent down to pick up his pseudo-granddaughter. When the little girl was settled on his hip, she patted his cheek. “Daddy and Aunt Olive says Uncle Justin was hurted very bad.”

“He was,” Hank told her in a solemn soft voice. Autumn nodded in the way that all children seemed to do when mulling over information.

“Daddy also said he’s in a better place, a place where he can’t be hurted anymore. That he’s with my mommy and his mommy.”

Hank nodded, “He is. I promise. He’s not hurting anymore.”

Autumn nodded again before she patted Hank’s cheek again. “Does that make you sad? That’s even though he’s not hurted anymore, he’s not here?”

Hank mulled over his answer. He never wanted Justin to suffer but…“Yeah, yeah it makes me sad, baby.”

The small girl looked over at her pseudo-aunt holding her cousin. “Aunt Olive? Are you sad too?”

Like Sarah, the young widow had been crying on and off for the last few days and she knew her niece was four-years-old. She wasn’t asking these questions to be cruel. She was just trying to make sense of everything, of Justin being here one day and gone the next. But that didn’t lessen the ache, the hole in her heart growing wider with every beat of her heart because her husband was gone.

The sob bubbled out of her mouth before she could stop it causing both children to look up at her. Danny grabbed at her chin. “Mama?”

“Auntie Olive, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you start crying.” Now Autumn looked like she was about to cry.

“I know you didn’t little autumn leaf, but Aunt Olive just cries easy these days because I miss your Uncle Justin.”

“Me too. Daddy says it's okay to be sad though.” The little girl told the room in a soft tone. Hank gave her the best attempt at a comforting smile.

“Your Dad is a smart man.”

Autumn fell silent then, laying her head on Hank’s shoulder. Until she saw a familiar mop of brown curls.

“Aunt Sarah,” she said softly, wiggling out of Hank’s grasp and darting across the room to get to her pseudo-aunt.

“Autumn Kimberly,” Tucker narrowly avoided colliding with a man in a Marine uniform and scooped up his four-year-old daughter before she got to Justin’s baby sister. When he turned her in his grip, he saw the frown she wore and her tiny arms were folded.

“What conversation did we have about your Aunt Sarah?” He asked her patiently after she stopped whining and squirming. Instead choosing to glare at her father. The child huffed, blowing a stray piece of dark hair out of her eyes. But Tucker just stared at her, waiting. Finally, his daughter huffed again before uttering.

“Aunt Sarah was hurted like Uncle Justin. But not as bad, but that doesn’t mean you can go climbing and jumping on her like your person-al junglely gym.”

She repeated his words back to him with enough sass of a teenager. Four going on fourteen. Tucker sighed and hugged his daughter. Then he set her back down, but not before he cautioned her, “Gentle little leaf.”

His daughter didn’t disappoint. Slowly, the little girl approached her pseudo-aunt, who bent down with a half-hearted smile. Then she crashed into the brunette.

“Missed you,” Autumn’s voice was muffled by Sarah’s shoulder.

“I missed you too, Autumn Breeze,” the woman said softly. Brown eyes peered up at her then. Not quite filled with suspicion, but certainly on their way there.

“Then why didn’t you let us visit you? When you were in the hospital for your ouchies?” Sarah licked her lips, unsure how to approach her answer.

How could the brunette explain to a child that she blamed herself for what happened to Justin? That she didn’t deserve comfort? That she wanted to keep everyone away because the guilt was eating her alive? Because it was meant to be her…Borrowed time…It was meant to be-

“Autumn,” Tucker said softly, not quite admonishing his daughter. But stepping in to save his best friend from having to answer the complicated question.

“Aunt Sarah just hasn’t been feeling her best. And you know the hospital can be a pretty scary place. I just didn’t want you or your Dad to be scared.”

Then using a stage whisper, loud enough for her best friend to hear Sarah told her pseudo-niece, “You know your Daddy scares easy.”

Tucker snorted but covered it up with a cough before his daughter could hear him.

“Oh,” the little girl nodded before she peered up at Connor. Now the suspicion was clear in her eyes. “Who are you?”

“Autumn Breeze,” Both Sarah and Tucker admonished the little girl softly as her father reached down and picked up his daughter, settling her on his hip. “Be nice.”

But Connor chuckled slightly, not the slightest bit deterred. “I’m a friend of your Aunt Sarah.”

The little girl nodded but her brown eyes still stared at Connor with a borderline glare in them before she noticed Travis and Annie arriving. She looked at her dad and the glare was gone. “Can I go say hi to Travis and Annie?”

Tucker set Autumn back down with the warning, “Stay where I can see you little leaf,”

His daughter nodded once before she darted across the room again. Tucker watched her hug Annie’s son before he turned his gaze back to Sarah.

Their trio was a duo now.

[LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Tucker said to her, reaching out to wrap her in a one-armed hug. Sarah sighed as Justin materialized in the corner of her eye. He narrowed his eyes at her with a look. One that meant he was annoyed with her.

“He doesn’t mean that like you’re taking it and you know that.” He said as Sarah sighed and grimaced at the ghost’s best friend as she returned the hug. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“I didn’t mean it like that and you know that. I just meant that you wouldn’t let Annie or me visit you while you were in the hospital. Your siblings and Olive seem to think you’re pushing everyone away because you are under the delusion that what happened was your fault.”

Because it was her fault. It was meant to be her. Because it was always her that lived on borrowed time. Not Justin. Not when he had just married a really good woman and had a baby. Not when his life had just gotten on track.

Still, the brunette gave Tucker a wooden smile and said in a hollow voice, “Wonder why that is. It’s not like I’m here and he’s not, Tuck-Tuck.”

(“It wasn't your fault, Sarah,” Justin repeated his words from earlier that morning. Just like before, the brunette ignored him.) Despite Tucker repeating his best friend’s words with a heavy sigh. Connor remained silent but grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly in hers. The movement seemed to make her best friend remember their duo wasn’t alone.

“I’m sorry, I’m being rude,” Tucker said with a shake of his head. Sarah saw the opening and took the opportunity to duck away from the conversation before it could get turned back on her, about it not being her fault when it so clearly was.

(“I wish you would stop saying that.” Justin’s ghost told her, “Because it’s not true.”)

Ignoring the transparent version of her pseudo-brother, she squeezed Connor’s hand. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to go say hi to Dad, Olive, Erin, and Teddy.”

When her lover nodded, Sarah’s hand slipped from his grasp as she walked away, giving Justin’s best friend since middle school her best attempt at a tight smile. Both men watched her go, then Tucker turned back to face Connor. Sticking out his hand, he introduced himself in his southern drawl.

“I’m Tucker Carvin. Justin’s and Sarah’s best friend. And I’m sorry my daughter. She’s been trying to make sense of everything with Justin being here one day and then gone the next. This is her first real experience with something like this and it’s manifesting into stranger danger.”

“Stranger danger isn’t always a bad thing, but it’s okay. I’d be wary of a new person too, if I was in her situation. I’m Connor Rhodes. Sarah’s boyfriend.” Just like days earlier with Teddy, the title rolled off of his lips easily as he took Tucker’s hand. Shaking it.

“Yeah, I heard about you. Didn’t know Sarah was really seeing anyone till she was in the hospital though,” the man commented and Connor winced, raising his hand to rub the back of his neck. “That's my fault really. We’ve had some miscommunication about what we are. But I’m working to remedy that.”

Tucker nodded then he nodded to Sarah, talking with Annie.

“How’s she doing? I’ve asked Erin, Olive, and Teddy but they say they don’t know because she’s not talking to them. Not really by giving them vague answers. I didn’t want to ask sergeant Voight because I didn’t want to add salt to an open wound. And she refused to let me visit when she was in the hospital and she hasn't answered any of my calls. The only thing she’s been responding to is text and even those are one-word answers.” Tucker sighed sadly as the worry for his friend grew.

“She’s…” Connor sighed once more as he struggled to talk about his lover and how her grief and survivor’s guilt were getting to her. “I want to say she’s managing, but that would be a lie. She’s all over the place because it’s almost as if her misplaced guilt and her grief are warring within her. She’s actually keeping a better handle on it then you would think. But it still spills over and she can’t handle it without breaking down. I’m trying to be there for her. But I don’t know if it’s working as well as I hoped because I don’t want to smother her, but I also don’t want her to feel like she has to deal with this by herself.”

“Olive said she shouldn’t have been released as early as she was.”

“She shouldn’t have. Typically with gunshot wounds, Med keeps you for two to three days afterward and Sarah was a doctor there. So maybe she was being a little over-cautious but her doctor wanted to keep her observation. Sarah was determined to be here today though. She was going to leave against medical advice if she had to.” The double-certified surgeon explained.

“Heard you stopped a fight there too.” The man from Texas drawled slowly. Connor shook his head as Sarah started to make her way back over to them, “I just tried to offer a solution that would help everyone.”

“Dad said Justin wanted both of us to speak?” She asked Justin’s best friend as she leaned her uninjured side against Connor’s shoulder. His lover had been doing that a lot lately, clinging to him. (And calling Hank, Dad but that wasn’t Connor’s to touch.) Connor didn’t mind. She needed the support right now and in all actuality, she wasn’t being clingy by the same measure of other people. But she was being clingy for her. In fact, tragic events aside he was probably the more clingy out of the two of them because of how physical he tended to be when he was in a relationship.

“Afterwards, at the house. Good memories. Memories that make us laugh. That type of thing. Before…” Tucker trailed off before he cleared his throat, “He told me he didn’t want people to be more sad. So he wanted us to remember the happy memories and he thought you and me would be the best because-”

“We have the most embarrassing memories of him?” Sarah said with the ghost of a smile on her lips. Her friend mirrored her.

“Well, that. But also we were his best friends. I think Olive was going to speak too, but she doesn’t think Danny will let her right now because he doesn’t want anyone else to hold him right now. She can barely go to the bathroom without him throwing a fit right now because he’s so confused right now with Justin not here.”

[LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

Tucker excused himself a few minutes later to go call his parents. They were coming in for the service, but they weren’t here yet and he was starting to worry. So that left Sarah and Connor to go mingle around the room. Well, Connor was mingling, being his naturally charming self. Sarah was more or less standing by his side, listening to his rich raspy voice as he talked.

Only talking quietly when someone spoke to her directly. A lot of the people in marine corps uniforms seemed to know who she was. Or they recognized her name. Apparently, Justin and Olive talked about her often and it was ‘nice to finally put a face to the famous sister we’ve heard all about despite the circumstances.’

In those cases, not knowing what to say, Sarah just gave them a tight smile and let her lover make conversation for her. The brunette knew it was a cop-out to lean on Connor with this, to use him as her crutch. Because he was here for her. This was her best friend. Her pseudo-family. But as the service continued, Sarah’s energy had started to wane. (And they hadn’t even made it to the actual service yet.)

[LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“By the way, just so you know,” Annie told her best friend in a quiet undertone while Travis entertained Autumn with a piggyback ride because Tucker was still talking to his parents, “When you told me Sarah didn’t have a boyfriend and I told you she did because I caught a vibe between her and a guy at her hospital-”

“Let me guess, he’s the guy?” Erin interrupted looking over to where her little sister and Connor were talking to a group of people in marine corps uniforms.

“Yup.”

“Yeah, I know. I was wrong,” Erin said with a rueful smirk at herself, “Apparently, I’ve been wrong for six months now.”

The blonde woman whistled but didn’t say anything more than, “Well, no one can blame you for being out of the loop. You did kind of go into a black hole with Nadia’s death.”

Erin felt herself grimace as she opened her mouth, but before she could get a word out, a voice called for everyone’s attention.

“Sorry for the delay folks, but if you’ll follow me into the viewing room, we’re ready to begin the services now.” The funeral home director told the crowd of people. Olive released a sob. Hank reached out and grabbed Danny, passing him off to Teddy. Then he wrapped an arm around Olive’s back.

“Olive, maybe taking a seat will help. Come on,” he told his daughter-in-law in a gravelly yet gentle voice. Then he moved forward and one by one the crowd followed behind Hank as they made their way to say their final goodbyes to Justin Voight.

#Rheese #Chicago Med #One Chicago #Sarah Reese #Sarah Reese Whump #Connor Rhodes #Chicago PD #Erin Lindsay #Hank Voight #Chicago Med Fanfiction #Chicago PD Fanfiction #One Chicago Fanfiction #My writing

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herrmannhalsteadproduction · 1 year

Text

Wingman? Wingwoman? Wingperson. (Chapter Three)

Summary: This is Part Seventeen of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.

Click here for the Series Rundown where you can find the links to read all of the previous installments (which I highly recommend you do so that this one makes sense.)

Rating: Teen and Up

Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, pre-Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz/Original Female Character, Will Halstead/Connor Rhodes, Assorted OC Couples

Warnings: Referenced Domestic Violence and Threatening Behaviour (these are warning tags for a brief scenes with Ty), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Rejection, Self-Sabotage, Swearing, but also on the flip side - Connor and Will being too freaking cute to handle.

A/N: To underscore my previous note, this is an alternate universe so things have unfolded differently. This will not follow the canon arc exactly by any means. But I hope you'll still enjoy it!

Chapter One Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Will

Bex and Emery had pushed him out the door that morning with a travel mug of coffee and an earful of encouragement.

That had bolstered him right up until he was about to step foot inside of Med and now, here he was. Frozen in place.

He could do this.

He was thirty-one years old for chrissake. He could ask someone out on a date.

He could look that someone in his handsome friggin’ face and say—

“Will!”

“No, I’m Will,” he blurted out to an amused looking Connor who had popped up out of nowhere.

Great start. Absolutely fantastic.

“Yes, you are,” Connor said sounding, oh god, stupidly fond. Will tried to fight the blush working its way up his cheeks, but it was a useless battle.

“You coming in?” Connor asked, nodding at the front door. “Or hanging out here for the day?”

“No, yeah, I’m uh, I’m coming in,” Will said, floundering for his words. Any string of comprehensible words. “I just need to call Bex first? About this thing that I forgot—we forgot about it, the two of us, and I need to tell her—but I’ll be right there. You go ahead.”

“Okay,” Connor said slowly, like he was trying to decide how concerned to be. “Say hi to Bex. I’ll see you in there.”

“Mm-hm, yup, bye,” Will said, waving him off. As soon as Connor was out of sight, he clenched his fists and banged them against his forehead. “Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Deep breath.

One more.

Okay.

Will dug out his phone and called Bex, willing her to pick up which she did instantly.

“Hey! That was fast! How did—”

“I already messed it up!” Will exclaimed, cutting her off and quickly relaying the last few minutes to her blow-by-blow.

“You didn’t mess it up,” Bex said immediately.

“No, it sounds like it was cute,” Emery added in, her voice slightly tinny. Bex must have him on speaker phone. Good. This could be a group effort.

“I’m freaking out a little bit here,” he confessed. “I was all confident and then I saw him and got weird and I think I need another pep talk. Or a plan of attack. I need to figure out how to pick my moment.”

“Try and get him alone,” Bex said. “I think you’ll be less nervous if it’s just the two of you.”

“Hasn’t worked out so far,” Will muttered.

“You need a confidence boost again,” Emery said, voice louder like she was leaning in. “You need a green light to give your green light.”

“I don’t—”

“Do something hot,” Emery continued like that explained things. “And then when you see that he’s into it…you pounce. Ask him out.”

Will was silent for a full five seconds while he absorbed that advice. And another five when he realized he was considering it. “What hot thing could I possibly do while I’m at work?” he asked in a strangled voice.

“I’m gonna let Emery take the lead here because this is way too awkward a conversation to have with my brother,” Bex said.

A shuffling noise while he guessed Emery was taking possession of the phone.

“This is going to be easy, Will,” she assured him. “Do any of the following…push up your sleeves to show off your forearms—”

“My fore—”

“Don’t interrupt,” she said. “This is science, Will. Sleeves. Forearms. Trust me. Also, run a hand through your hair and let it go a bit messy. You’ve got great hair. It’s like your own personal wingman.”

Why did he feel like he was supposed to be writing this down?

“Lips,” Emery declared. “Bite or lick your bottom lip. Keep it brief. Extended is creepy.”

“Okay, no. Thank you for the help, but I think I’ll just figure this out as I go,” Will said and there was another shuffle before Bex came back on the phone.

“Just breathe, Will. Do what feels right in the moment,” she said. “You and Connor already have something great. This is just you taking a step to make it even better.”

He took a deep breath and let her words sink in.

Okay.

He could do this.

“Thanks, Bex,” he said softly.

“Go team,” she sing-songed back.

“Go forearms!” Emery yelled in the background.

“I’m going now,” he laughed. “Good-bye. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Bex said before disconnecting the call.

“Go, team,” he whispered himself before squaring his shoulders and heading into the hospital.

***

Bex

“I’m so nervous for him,” Bex groaned to Emery as she set her phone back down on the kitchen table. “I just want to go there and give him a hug.”

“No,” Emery said, pointing a finger at her from her perch on the counter. “That is a delay tactic to avoid going to see Mouse. I see you, missy.”

Bex rolled her eyes and picked up her phone again. “I’ll send him a few more messages,” she said. “Boost that confidence a little more.”

“Good idea.” Emery picked up her own phone. “Arm flex emoji. Lips emoji. Eggplant. Eggplant. Eggplant—”

“Emery! Stop!” Bex laughed. “You’ll freak him out.”

“Nah,” she said, finishing off the rest of what was probably a ridiculous string of symbols. “It’ll make him laugh just like you and then you’ll both be a bit more relaxed.”

Bex hoped so, for Will’s sake. And that he read his messages where no one else could see…

“Now,” Emery hopped off the counter and plopped into the chair on the other side of the table. “What’s your plan?”

“I haven’t been able to nail him down for a get together lately,” Bex said, propping her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her hand. “So, I thought I’d try and catch him outside the station? There’s a little garden park a couple of blocks over that we could walk to.”

“I like that,” Emery agreed. “Good thinking. And then, all you have to do is bite your lip—”

“Stop,” Bex cackled, throwing a grape from her plate at her. Emery caught it and popped it in her mouth with a grin. “What are your plans for the day?”

She was well aware that Emery hadn’t left the apartment since she got there except for when they went to retrieve her stuff. Bex was letting her set the pace, not wanting to push her, but she didn’t want her feeling trapped either.

“I hadn’t really thought about it yet…” Emery trailed off.

“My afternoon is free,” Bex said. She could push the work she was planning to do on her graphic novel to tomorrow. “Do you need anything? We could go run errands together. Maybe grab lunch?”

Emery hesitated for a moment before nodding with a small smile. “That would be really nice. It’s been—I haven’t really wanted to go anywhere by myself yet.”

“And you don’t have to yet if you don’t feel ready.” Bex reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “Whatever you feel most comfortable with is what we’ll do.”

“I don’t want to feel like I’m hiding here,” Emery said with a quiet sigh. “The whole point of—of getting out of there was to be free of him so I don’t want the worry that he’s out there to keep me from doing anything.” She squeezed Bex’s hand back. “But I think starting small is a good idea? I like the idea of going out for errands. Especially with a buddy.”

“I can bring you back here before I go to the station,” Bex offered. “Or maybe drop you off at Kira and Malia’s if they’ll be home? If you’d like to see them?”

“Yeah. That sounds great,” Emery grabbed her phone, getting into the plan. “I’ll check.”

“I’ll get changed.” Bex left her to it and headed to her room to get changed out of her pajamas. She wanted something cute, but not too cute? She didn’t want to start out declaring her intentions with her outfit. Did that even make sense? “Normal,” she muttered to herself. “Just aim for normal.”

Jean shorts, red boho top, and slip on yellow Converse.

There. Just a normal outfit to wear when going to pour one’s heart out and pray for reciprocation.

Perfect.

She put her hair up, added a bit of make-up, and left before she could overthink it.

Emery was sitting on the couch texting, having been dressed and ready since before Will left. “Isaac says they’re all available tonight and want to have a get together at Kira and Malia’s,” she said as soon as Bex entered the room. “As long as you’re not too busy…” Emery looked up from her phone and waggled her eyebrows.

“Let’s not jinx anything,” Bex warned her. “And that sounds awesome. I’d love to see everyone.”

“Great, I’ll let him know.” Emery dashed off another text before grabbing her bag and rising from the couch. She gave Bex a slow onceover once she was in front of her and held out a thumb’s up. “You look great. Casual, but still hot.”

“Step one of the plan.” Bex grinned at her. “Come on, let’s go.” She twirled her keys on her finger as they headed down to the parking lot. There was something about today. Something crackling in the energy.

She was going to take it as a good sign.

***

He watched Bex pull out of the parking lot in her piece of shit car with Emery sitting in the passenger seat.

He could admit that he’d lost his mind a bit when Emery left. All he’d been able to think about was tracking her down and bringing her back home.

But he went in too hot and that stupid bitch and her fucking cop brother slapped him with a restraining order.

And that was fine.

Looking down at his phone, Ty watched the little dot moving along the map as the tracker he’d stuck under the bumper of her car did its job. It was amazing what you could buy on the internet these days.

Now that the shock had worn off, he could be calm.

He could be patient.

He could plan.

Because he knew where Emery belonged.

And soon enough she would too.

***

Shay

“Oh, my god,” Shay jumped in her seat as she looked down at her phone. “Oh, my god.”

“What?” Brett looked over at her in concern. “Is everything okay?”

“Where’s Herrmann?” She looked around the break room, not spotting him anywhere.

“He’s out at the Squad table talking to Severide and Casey about something,” Otis said around a mouthful of apple. “What’s up?”

She waved her phone at him. “It’s happening. It’s happening!!!”

“What’s happening?” Dawson plopped down beside her.

“Bouse.” Shay let the enormity of that hang in the air.

“Ugh,” Dawson groaned. “I still think we can come up with a better nickna—wait.” She sat up ramrod straight. “What you mean it’s happening?”

“Bex’s friend Emery told Isaac who just texted me that Bex plans to talk to Mouse today and ask him out. On a date.” “Oh, my god,” Dawson whispered.

Otis immediately crammed himself into their little huddle and Mouch ambled over from the couch. “Who had today?” Otis asked. “What are the circumstances? She’s definitely asking him? I put money on that.”

“She and Will made a pact?” Shay said, scrolling through her messages. “I guess he’s going to ask out Connor today too?”

“Um?” Brett raised a hand in question. “I thought Will and Connor were already dating?”

“Yeah, there’s a whole thing there,” Dawson said, shaking her head. “So, we didn’t include them in the bet. This is strictly a Bex and Mouse show.”

“And now it’s happening. Finally. I’ve never been so invested in a heterosexual relationship before,” Shay said, staring off into the distance. “I don’t know who I am anymore.”

“Text Trudy,” Dawnson urged her, “We need to know where the pot stands and compare notes with Isaac and Devon.”

“On it.” She started typing rapidly, shooting off a message to the group chat while she was at it, warning everyone to keep this close to the vest. The last thing they needed was someone spilling the beans before Bex had a chance to make her move.

Man. They were going to have to have another party to celebrate those two finally sorting themselves out.

***

Will

He’d gone most of the day without finding the opportunity to talk to Connor. It was like the ED was conspiring to keep the both as busy as possible.

Finally, mid-afternoon, he managed to sneak away when he saw Connor headed into the break room. He slipped inside and helped himself to a bottle of water while Connor stood at the counter, fixing a cup of coffee.

“Hey,” Connor smiled at him. “Crazy day, eh?”

“Always is,” Will sighed, aiming for a casual stretch as he carefully side-eyed him.

Okay, do it.

Do it now.

Would you like to go out on a date with me? That’s all he had to say.

Connor glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow and Will found himself reaching for his wrist to push up a sleeve that didn’t exist because it was summer, Emery.

“You okay?” Connor asked.

“Yeah.” Will rubbed at his arm and headed over to his cubby because fuck it. Apparently, he was going all in and doing this. “Air conditioning’s getting to me a bit.”

He pulled out his white lab coat and put it on.

“Won’t you get overheated in that?” Connor gave him a look when he came to lean against the counter beside him.

Will shrugged. “I can always do this,” he said, grabbing one sleeve and folding it back a couple of times before slowly—because if he was doing this ridiculousness, he was doing it—pushing it up over his elbow.

Connor took a sip of his coffee and tracked the movement with his eyes.

Hunh.

So far, so good.

Will shot him a grin and went to do the other arm and—

Ow. Okay, Sleeve up over the elbow was a bad idea. Too tight. Now it was bunchy and cutting off circulation. “Hang on,” he grumbled, trying to get the right angle to pull the damn thing down, but it was stuck and christ, this was a disaster—

"Jesus."

“Hang on, let me help,” Connor said, chuckling softly as he set his coffee down. He stepped into Will’s space and gently tugged the bunched up fabric over his elbow and down his arm.

Connor kept his touch light, looking up when he was done. “All fixed.”

...he hadn’t let go of Will’s arm yet.

Will bit his lip lightly.

For science.

Connor’s eyes darted down, watching, darkening slightly and—

Oh.

“Go out with me,” Will said, words rushing out in one go.

“What?” Connor blinked in surprise, taking a small step back.

“Would you, Connor,” Will said slowly, savouring the words this time. “Like to go out on a date with me?”

“I would love that.” A wide grin spread across Connor’s face. “How about tonight?”

Holy shit. “Tonight sounds perfect.”

Connor moved closer. “I could pick you up in my fancy car.”

“Ah, no,” Will laughed, poking at him. “The asker gets to do the picking up.”

Connor shrugged, unfazed. “Fine by me,” he said. “I’ll pick you up for our second date.”

Will’s eyebrows flew up. “Second date? Feeling pretty confident there, are we?”

“Let’s just say,” Connor leaned in close. “I’ve thought a lot about getting you in my car.”

A whole series of not safe for work images flashed through Will’s mind. He could see exactly how it would play out and it was fast. Too fast. Flame out too soon fast. “Oh, ah, haha…”

“Too much?” Connor took a careful step back, picking up on the change in the room.

“No?” Will said, voice pitched about an octave higher than normal. “Maybe?”

Emery’s voice piped up in his brain. Honesty. Horrible, horrible honesty.

He straightened up and reached out to stop Connor from retreating completely. “It sounded a little too good,” he confessed, taking a deep breath. “I had my fill of fast and fun in New York. I never really had anything that lasted and you know all about the reasons behind that.”

Connor nodded, leaning against the counter as he listened.

“I want to take things slow here with you,” he said. “Because this is important to me. You’re important to me. I want…whatever it is we’re starting to last.”

“Me too,” Connor said, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze.

“Good,” Will said before shaking his head. “Still going to be thinking about you and that damn car for the rest of the day though so thanks for that.”

Connor instantly relaxed the rest of the way, releasing Will’s hand and shooting him shit-eating grin. “Good.” He headed for the door, calling over his shoulder. “Pick me up at seven.”

“I’ll be there,” Will called after him.

He took a quick look around and made sure no one was looking his way before doing a quick little fist pump dance. “Yes, yes, yes!” He shucked his coat and scrambled for his phone.

He had to call Bex.

Click here to read Chapter Four.

Click here to read Wingman? Wingwoman? Wingperson. on ao3:

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@sorry-i-spaced, @iunnowatuwant, @thegirlwhowishedeveryonelived, @ivyalmighty, @thewannabewriter, @lexhalstead3, @multifandomgrl08, @foxes-and-cats, @sensitivemallysix, @thebewingedjewelcat

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