#FINALLY got around to makin more of the oc group

[tiredcowpoke]

TITLE: Blank Spots [4] PAIRING: (Somewhat pre-established) Arthur Morgan/Fem!Reader, could be seen as an OC. REQUEST: Unprompted. BLURB: After waking up at the base of a steep incline and nearly freezing to death, you stumble upon a group of strangers who swear up and down that they know you. WARNINGS: Some creative license for amnesia. Head injury. NOTE: I struggled a bit with this chapter on pacing, direction, and getting it to where I wanted it, so hopefully that’s not easily read. As always, thank you all for the feedback on my previous chapters, it’s been great to get such a warm reception for this story so far. TAG LIST: @on-my-way-to-erebor / @otherthingstoreid @ireallyhonestlydontcare​ @elanisha @darlingsdevil @cirillamylove @bunnyreese12

The next time you awoke, it was marginally warmer than the last couple days in the room you shared with Arthur.

A slow lift of your head and a glance around told you that it was well into the day with sunlight seen through the semi-broken window, Arthur’s cot empty. There hadn’t been much conversation after your meal last night. With at least a little bit of information on your situation and some questions starting to get answered, it allowed your mind to slow enough to sleep when your head wasn’t aching in pain. As you sat up, there was a sharp pain that appeared behind your eye below where the injury was, but it seemed to ebb out somewhat more than what it had been doing the days before.

Still, you knew you should be taking it somewhat easy for a while.

Rising up, you decided to do something other than hide out in the cramped room and stepped out into the main area of the building. The camp was quiet, knowing there was going to be a robbery of a train today so you figured you would be alone. However, Hosea remained behind, almost hunched over in the chair as he sat in front of the fireplace before straightening up slightly at your reappearance.

“It’s warmer today…” you commented, taking a glance around yourself a moment as he nodded slightly.

“It is. It’s good for us, means we can finally get outta here once all them return from that train.”

There was a touch of something to his tone, a bitterness, but you figured it was better that you left that alone. Even if you had gotten out of this with all your memories intact, you had a feeling maybe it wasn’t best to question or poke at the higher ups in the gang. At least...well, you really weren’t sure how they ran their gang. If there was room for question. Dutch was charismatic, headstrong, but he hadn’t done anything so far that suggested you couldn’t mention things to him. Hosea, too. Still, you just...didn’t know.

“How’re you feelin’?” Hosea asked, causing you to come back to the moment at the question.

“Better,” you stated with a soft nod, “My head hurts a little less.”

“Good. There was a lotta concern over that bump on your head.”

“Yeah, I...I could see that a bit in Arthur.”

Hosea nodded in understanding, gesturing toward the chair beside him. You paused for a moment before deciding to take his silent request, sitting yourself down in the chair before taking a moment to take in the heat from the fireplace.

“Told me a bit about that train, too,” you continued.

“Well, you always did have an interest in them. Wanted to go on nearly every one we got our hands on. Maybe once you’re better you can get back to that…” he trailed off at the look on your face, meeting his gaze like he was telling you some story you had been waiting to hear, “Or not, I suppose.”

“I just figured out last night that I was--am an outlaw, running with a group of outlaws. I shouldn’t be surprised, but any information on how I was before all this is something I can’t help but wonder about.”

“Of course, I don’t blame you,” Hosea replied.

“It’s just strange. I’m filled with uncertainty and a part of me feels bad because I know I’m not acting like myself, or at least the person people are expecting, as most people I’ve talked to seem to look at me like I’ve grown a second head.”

“You certainly aren’t acting like yourself,” Hosea confirmed, “Suppose we’ll just...have to see what happens. If we have to get used to this new you or just wait a while longer before you start soundin’ like yourself.”

You didn’t reply to that, looking away from him as you worried your lip between your teeth a moment in thought. He had a point. You could still talk, you had some idea on what you did and didn’t like, you had some memories. You weren’t a completely blank page just waiting for someone to fill. Yet, you still weren’t sure who you were, both past and present. You knew your name, your age, that you had a family somewhere. You had been told you were this outlaw, that you knew how to use a gun and liked to rob trains.

If that was who you were now, you had no idea. It raised the question of if...well, if Arthur had agreed to be in a relationship with the previous you, was it fair on either of you to continue it as it were?

“You don’t have to stay with us if you don’t want to,” Hosea said after your pause, causing you to glance back toward him, “I imagine Dutch’ll have somethin’ to say about that idea, but…”

“I really don’t know what I want, Mr. Matthews,” you muttered, earning a quick chuckle from him that almost dissolved into a cough.

“Haven’t heard you call me Mr. Matthews since you first joined us,” he commented, letting out a sigh as the light amusement seemed to falter somewhat. “Nobody’s forcin’ you to stay or go. Just...have you talked to Arthur about everythin’? What you’re wantin’ to do?”

“Not really. He answered some of my questions last night, but...that’s the hard question.”

“No doubt.”

“I can’t pretend…” you continued, “I can’t tell him the moments where I realized I...felt more for him than just a fellow gang member or pretend that I know what he’s like, why I decided to…”

“You’re gonna have to start over,” Hosea replied, “In a lot of places, I figure. You didn’t just know Arthur, myself, or Dutch. You might have to decide on if bein’ with him is right at the moment, if he’d be willin’ to start over with everythin’.”

“Would he?”

Hosea let out a short huff, “I can give you an idea but it’s best you ask him yourself.”

“Any information helps.”

“He’s always been fond of you in ways...never thought it would get to where it is with him now, but…”

“Is it...is it love?” The question put a pit in your stomach, a part of you really hoping it was ‘no’. However, Hosea let out another rough, wheezy chuckle as he shook his head.

“Now that’s somethin’ I really can’t answer for him.”

Despite the situation and the thought, you couldn’t help the slight pull upwards to your lips at his response. Yeah, that was fair.

“Thank you,” you stated, sincerity lingering in your tone. “For letting me ask strange questions and not putting a bullet in me a couple nights ago.”

“You remember that?” he asked, “Well, I came close. We’d just kidnapped that O’Driscoll, thought one of his buddies had wandered in after him.”

“...You kidnapped someone?”

“Not me personally,” Hosea muttered, “Would’ve been more focused on makin’ sure we had enough here to survive the snowstorm, but...well, that’s somethin’ better left for you to ask Dutch about. It’s a long story but O’Driscolls have been a thorn in our sides for years, and us them.”

“I feel I get more questions every time I get one answered…”

“It ain’t your concern right now,” Hosea stated, placing a hand on your shoulder before rising from his seat, “I would just focus on gettin’ ready to leave this place once all them get back.”

                                                           ***

You didn’t know how far out that train was, but it was another sleep before Dutch and company had come riding in with the pride of a successful job in his tone. Arthur was notably missing from this little parade, but the flurry of action that followed after was enough to push that observation to the back of your mind. It was early morning, but people didn’t waste much time on getting the wagons ready to head out to where they had decided their next camp would be.

Considering you weren’t even sure on where that was, it put a small twist of anxiety in your gut, but you had been allowed to be relatively hands off with the process with the weakness that still persisted from a mix of trying to heal your head and the lack of food. You weren’t the only injured person in camp at the moment, it seemed, as you had watched some people discussing what to do with a man named John and a woman, Sadie, who didn’t seem to be hurt but was definitely disturbed by something. Grimshaw, much as your first impression of her was rough around the edges, had seemed to get even more so under the pressure of getting the camp set up. You were getting used to hearing her ordering people around, though it wasn’t until some sunlight brought more heat that the snow and ice keeping the wagons in place were able to be removed.

You didn’t have anything to really pack, and being pushed aside from doing much in your condition for the moment, it left you feeling out of place and just waiting for something. Eventually, Grimshaw approached you in a bit of a huff, pausing to point toward a wagon that was being loaded up.

“We’re going to put you in with Mr. Marston,” she explained, leaving you to only nod along, much as you had no idea who she was talking about, “If he can keep awake for long enough, maybe the two of you can keep an eye on each other.”

“Is he the man who’s been laid out in that cot in the other room?” you asked, “I remember him from when I showed up here. If anything, I don’t think I’m that bad, but I can keep an eye on him for now if that helps.”

“Well, I appreciate that, miss, but as we needed it more in closing up camp…” she remarked, shifting to look toward your forehead a moment.

“Next time…” you muttered with an almost tense grin, though you found yourself almost flinching back when she reached out and gripped at your bandages.

However, upon feeling her just check the wound, you relaxed somewhat as she looked at it a moment before securing the bandage back to where it was.

“Well, at least Mr. Morgan has this wrapped properly so I don’t have to redo it for now…” she muttered, “That’s going to leave a nasty scar once it’s healed, but it’s lookin’ better.”

“Feels a little better,” you said with a small nod.

“Well, good,” she stated, “Go on, get ready. We have no time to be standin’ around for much longer.”

You weren’t too sure what exactly you had to gather and ready for the trip, but you wandered back into the building you had been staying in to gather up what you knew you at least had. Securing the weapon belt around your hips, you took a moment to remove the gun that had sat in the holster. Thankfully, you at least remembered the basics your uncle had taught you all those years ago, but anything else would have to be relearned. Though, upon further inspection, it appeared a couple shots had been taken in the round, a small frown settling in your expression. You stared at it a moment as if the sight would open something up in your mind, but after nothing seemed to surface you sighed and tucked the weapon back into the holster and made your way back outside.

John had already been loaded up into the wagon by the time you made it over there, climbing up into it before sitting down toward the back of it. You could hear some chatter around you, Grimshaw mostly with Dutch’s voice in and out.

“Well, ain’t you a sight.”

The voice came from behind you, near croaking but it caused you to glance back to see John’s head had tilted slightly toward you, peering out at you from the bandages around his face. You could see the ugly red gashes on his face that were closed haphazardly with stitching. Out of the two of you, it was clear he suffered more physically. Though, again, he was another stranger to add to the list of people who seemed to know you. For a moment you were about to go into the whole “I don’t know you, what happened?” piece that sat on your tongue, but it seemed to die a bit at the woozy state he seemed to be in.

“I’m not the one with the ruined face…” you commented, earning a quick huff from him as he lowered his head back down a bit.

“Ain’t always been anythin’ to look at,” he returned, almost a mutter over the noise around him.

“Guess we’ll have to see how things are once we’re both healed.”

“Mm…” It was a sound of agreement, but with how he seemed to nod off again after the words, you decided that was the conversation you would get for the ride to the new camp. You leaned yourself against the side of the wagon, listening to the people around you as you waited for things to start moving. Which, much as it was getting close to pressing on your patience, things eventually did.

There would still be some snow to get through, more trees and mountains to be seen as the wagon moved along and away from the camp. Away from the lands that held some familiarity to you, even vaguely in parts. Still, you allowed yourself to shut your eyes, knowing John was just passed out as the movement and eventually the warming weather allowed for some sleepiness to take hold.  

However, it really only felt like you had slept for a couple minutes before you were opening your eyes again to the sound of some ruckus, noticing the drastic change of scenery as the light glow of a setting sun cast onto the green grass and tall trees that surrounded you, a river nearby. You raised your head slightly, blinking against the heaviness behind your eyes as you noticed one of the further off wagons had stopped, catching sight of Arthur stepping off to seemingly check on something. Well, at least he seemed to be around. You hadn’t seen heads or tails of him for a day, but you figured you might have to get used to that. Glancing back toward John, who still appeared to be asleep, you situated yourself back down into the wagon and soaked in the heat for a minute, much as there still was a slight bite to it.

You couldn’t help but feel relieved to be out of the snow and cold, away from that terrible mountain and what happened on it.

                                                             ***

“Grimshaw suggested you might need some help?”

Less of a suggestion, really. A day and a half had passed since you had arrived at the new camp, your strength returning fairly quickly and Susan was also pretty quick to catch on to that. She wanted you to start helping out around camp again, something she claimed she had been fairly patient about. To her credit, she had been, much as you could catch the odd comment here and there. Approaching the camp’s cook had been her suggestion, his wagon thankfully already set up and hard to miss so you didn’t have to fumble around with the question on who he was. Still, despite that, he seemed somewhat surprised to see you standing before his table.

“I’m gonna need all the help I can get,” he started, “I’m out of supplies, I need someone to go into town.”

“Someone had mentioned I should check in with the doctor in town,” you commented, “I would gladly do it for you, but I don’t have a horse or much of a sense of direction out here.”

“Well, it’s good we got a wagon and plenty of riders around here,” he said in return, leaning over to look over your shoulder toward someone approaching, “Mr. Morgan!”

You let out a slow breath at the sound of approaching foot falls, not too sure where the pit in your stomach came from. There hadn’t been too much time to really talk with him, Hosea’s words still circling in your head but you still weren’t sure how to go about bringing it up. It would have to be, eventually, but you still didn’t quite have the words for it.

“What you want?” he asked, causing you to cast him a glance as he came to a stop beside you.

“I need someone to go to the general store in Valentine to pick up what I ordered here,” the cook explained, handing him some paper, “and since she’s saying she needs to visit the doctor, figure you two could do it.”

“Oh, so you’re callin’ the shots now?” Arthur asked, sarcasm heavy in his tone.

“No, but I am feeding you all. So, please…”

“It’s not a problem,” you said, shifting away from the table.

Really, you kind of wanted to get out of camp anyway, much as a part of you didn’t fully know where you all were while also still wanted to leave on your own for a while. You gingerly pressed a hand over your eye upon the small ache that appeared at the movement of your body, pulling a small sigh from you. Would be a while still with that, you supposed. Could have been worse, considering the injury, but it was still a bit of a pain to deal with. Outside of the obvious issue your memory presented, that is.

“You need a doctor?” Arthur asked after a moment, causing you to pause as he moved on ahead toward where one of the wagons was sitting.

“I need something for my head,” you explained, “Also, I think one of the women suggested doing so anyway, much as I trust you all in helping me.”

“Oh, nobody here’s a doctor,” Arthur returned, “much as we do well for ourselves.”

You let out a small sound of understanding from the back of your throat before waiting until the horses were ready, climbing up into the passenger seat with Arthur before heading down the trail through the trees and out of camp. Really, you couldn’t help but look around yourself at the cliffs and hills, the deer that would scatter off at the sound of approaching hooves. They had mentioned heading out east, somewhere you couldn’t recall ever heading out to. Your father and uncle liked to keep close to home out west, though...well, it was hard to tell if you had travelled anywhere else. Maybe not this far out east, but still. Somehow you had ran into these people, had stayed for a year or two apparently.

You really didn’t want to dwell on the fact that a couple years of your existence had just disappeared.

“I...hate to ask, but what’s the cook’s name?” you asked after a moment, Arthur glancing toward you with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“You two ain’t been introduced?” he asked, then seemed to realize the answer to his own question, “Ah, guess not. Dutch hasn’t been exactly loud an’ proud ‘bout what’s happened to you. Some people know but not everybody.”

“Neither am I.”

“His name’s Simon Pearson.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” you muttered, “So, what does he need?”

“Nothin’ special, I don’t think. Corn, some provisions…”

“He couldn’t get it himself?” Much as you appreciated the chance to get out, you couldn’t help but wonder why he couldn’t fill his own shopping list if it was that short.

“Oh, he certainly could, but he’s more at home hangin’ out in camp and butcherin’ what’s brought to him,” Arthur remarked around a small chuckle, “You used to avoid camp meals after a while. Used to get his feathers up.”

“Huh…” That stew you had back in the mountains wasn’t exactly the...best, but you figured it would change once there was a more ready supply of meat and things to cook with.

“You still ain’t remember much?”

You shook your head. “Hosea mentioned that I should probably treat this like I’m starting over, but...I don’t know, some things seem familiar but I can’t figure out why.”

“Familiar’s good news, I guess,” he offered with a small shrug. You could feel the addition to what you had talked with Hosea about sitting on the tip of your tongue, but you bit it back as you could see a small town appearing in the distance. That or perhaps you were a little unsure if you should agree to starting over or just...well, the alternative wasn’t really fair.

What the hell was fair in this situation? You had no idea. So, perhaps that is why you decided to leave that for another time. Hopefully soon, you could imagine Arthur’s probably going to start wondering.

Valentine wasn’t much to look at, “mud and morons” as Hosea had said, but you couldn’t help but take in the liveliness of the people around you a bit. Granted, perhaps it wasn’t much, but compared to the bareness of the mountains and different from the faces you had been getting used to seeing around camp. You took in the buildings as Arthur led the wagon next to what appeared to be the stable, dropping down from the wagon as you did the same. Much as you felt your clothes were still a little warm for the town, Valentine was cool enough to at least let you not worry about it too much for the moment.

There was a man standing at a table on the street for what appeared to be donations for some kind of charity, Arthur not really paying him much mind as he passed, leaving you to trail a bit behind him a moment as you watched the man coughing heavily into his arm. You watched him a moment as he lifted his head back up, a sinking feeling dropping down into the pit of your stomach as a quick feeling of recognition washed over you for a moment. There was a moment where Valentine had stilled and you were stuck with the feeling of your father’s hand gripping at your forearm, pulling you harshly into the house. You could remember glancing back to see a man and woman talking outside. Then they were gone behind a heavy door being slammed shut, your father’s voice ringing in your ears.

“She’s gone and married some softhearted farmer and suddenly thinks that gives her the right to tell me that I got no right to raise my own kid?”

He had changed drastically from what you could recall in your memory--frail, sickly, his eyes sunken and rimmed in red. You found some words rising to the tip of your tongue until reality seemed to shift back into focus with the touch of a hand to your elbow, making you flinch.

“Hey--calm down, it’s me. You ain’t heard me callin’ your name?”

You blinked up at Arthur for a moment before you shook your head slightly, swallowing down the tightness in your throat. You were pretty sure your uncle was standing on the street corner looking like he was slowly wandering toward death’s door, but...well, you weren’t too sure how to approach that situation in the moment.

“Just--yeah. I’m sorry,” you replied, Arthur dropping his hand as he glanced toward the man in question before he glanced back down at you.

“You becomin’ one of those givers to charity, now?” he asked, his tone teasing but it pulled a tension out of you that you couldn’t seem to explain in the moment.

“I’m going to the doctor,” you stated, “I’ll meet you out here when I’m done.”

#my writing. #arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan x female reader

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 3

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff), character death

A/N: And we’re back with another chapter! A bunch of stuff happens here so please do let me know what you guys think!

Chapter 7

Daryl had separated with the rest of his old group and gone off with Merle, like how it was supposed to be in the beginning. Just him and Merle wandering the woods together, tracking and hunting their dinner. Unfortunately, they didn’t catch much, only a few squirrels to split between the brothers. Daryl wasn’t with Merle; physically he was, but his heart and mind weren’t. All he could think of was Gloria, and what Glenn had told him today. She loves him. 

“Foods gettin’ cold, baby brother.” Merle calls out as Daryl stares into the campfire they’d lit.

Daryl grunts and throws his portion to Merle, then continues his staring contest with the embers. Merle glances at their supper then back up at Daryl, eyeing him with a frown.

“Wha’s wrong wit’ ya? Missin’ yer old pals, that it?” Merle accuses and scoffs when Daryl doesn’t respond, “or is it about what the chinaman said ‘bout Gloria?” 

Daryl finally looks up at Merle when he says her name, earning a cackle from the older Dixon. 

“So, ya were finally able to step up yer game after I was gone, huh? How far’d ya get with her?” Merle heckles, leaning in.

“Don’ know what the hell ya talkin’ ‘bout.” Daryl mutters, throwing a few sticks into the fire.

“Don’ think I didn’ see how ya were lookin’ at her since day one, little brother.” Merle says, making Daryl look at him warily, “yeah, I saw it. Ya were like a beast eyein’ its prey, ya wanted her bad.” 

Daryl looks back down at the fire, hoping that Merle wouldn’t catch the blush in his cheeks. He couldn’t deny that what Merle was saying was true, the moment he laid eyes on Gloria he was attracted to her. Her beauty was beyond compare to any other woman he’s seen, and his attraction to her only grew the more time he spent with her. Gloria was someone who could carry her own and not need to be protected, hell, she could beat up Merle without breaking a sweat, and that only made him want her more. So, when she offered herself to him at the C.D.C., he couldn’t resist her, especially with the alcohol in his system. 

“Did ya fuck her?” Merle smirks, trying to get a reaction out of him.

“Don’ talk ‘bout her like that.” Daryl mumbles, his fingers fidgeting with a rock.

Merle scoffs, “fine, did ya ‘make love’ to her? ‘S that better?” 

Daryl glares at Merle, “what’s it even matter to ya? Ain’t yer damn business anyway!”

“I’m jus’ concerned for my brother! Ya got yer mind all wrapped ‘round this one girl, can’t think straight, can’t hunt, can’t even eat! Let me tell ya, that girl prolly don’ give a rats ass ‘bout ya.” Merle makes it over to Daryl’s side and puts his hand on his shoulder, “I’m the only one who’s ever gonna care ‘bout ya, little brother, don’t ya think otherwise.” 

Daryl’s eyes narrow at his words, his blood boiling as he shrugs his brother’s hand off him angrily, “she cares. She cares more 'bout me than ya ever cared to show!” 

“The hell ya talkin’ ‘bout?!” Merle shouts back, angrily getting up as Daryl stands. 

“Ever since she brought us back to that camp, she cared! She helped me when I was hurt and made me feel like I was part of the group when she didn’t need to!” Daryl yells. 

“She was jus’ usin’ you! Ya hunt for the group and bring ‘em fresh meat, tha’s why she helped ya!” Merle argues.

“She cared ‘bout ya too but ya didn’ give ‘em nothin’.” Daryl spits out.

Merle frowns at this, “how’d she care ‘bout me? Huh? Punchin’ me in the face and tryin’ to break my arm in front o’ everyone?”

“How ‘bout stayin’ wit’ ya on that roof and makin’ sure ya didn’ bleed out when ya cut off yer own damn hand?!” Daryl reminds him, “she saved yer life and what did ya do? Stuff her into a damn closet and leave her there?! She blamed herself for ya leavin’, ya know that?!”

“I did what I had to, a'right?!” Merle shouts back, “ya have any idea how many damn walkers were on ‘em streets? Makin’ their way into where we were? Huh? I had to go alone, I had to lead 'em away! Otherwise, ya and the Chinese kid wouldn’t’ve gotten to her ‘fore gettin’ bit.” 

The brothers stare at each other in silence for a moment before Daryl sighs and looks away, “they’re Korean.” 

“Whatever...” Merle scoffs, “look, she can't be the last woman out there, we can find ya another one if tha-”

“No!” Daryl cuts off Merle before he can finish, “I ain’t gonna care ‘bout any other woman like I care ‘bout her. She’s special to me an'... we had somethin’ good goin’... best thing I ever had goin’ on in my whole life!”

Merle falters at his brother’s confession, “y-ya gonna go back to 'em then?”

“Nah...” Daryl sighs, “she’s gonna be pissed that I left in the first place... might never come back from that...”

“‘M sorry.” Merle says, almost sounding sincere.

“Only thing special I ever had and I fuck it up ‘cause o’ ya...” Daryl mumbles and walks away. 

---

Unable to sleep, Gloria had spent the entire night up on the platform. She’s been keeping a lookout for any potential threat to the prison, looking for any kind of distraction from the pain in her heart. She saw Sasha and her group leaving the prison the night before, figuring that Rick had made a decision that they weren't welcome, but Gloria didn't care. She glances to the side as she hears the door to the platform open as Glenn comes to join her. 

“Hey, you need to take a break, you’ve been out here since yesterday afternoon, rest and eat something.” Glenn tries to convince her but as she doesn’t respond, he sighs and sits down next to her, “look, I know Daryl meant a lot to you-”

“Did he?” Gloria scoffs bitterly, not even looking at Glenn. 

“Yeah, I’d say so, I’ve never seen you so worked up over a break up before.” Glenn frowns at her reaction.

“Break up? This isn’t a break up, Glenn, you wanna know why?” she snaps, finally turning to look at Glenn, “Because there was never anything to break in the first place! All those times you asked me if there was anything between me and Daryl, I told you there was nothing because that was the truth! There is nothing going on between me and Daryl because we mean nothing to each other!”

Glenn looks at her sympathetically, he knew that denial was her way to cope with what she was going through, that if she kept denying it, maybe she'd end up believing it herself, “you know that’s not true... Daryl almost came back when I mentioned you.”

“Yeah... the keyword there being ‘almost’.” Gloria laughs bitterly, her sarcasm breaking through her words. 

Realizing that this was not the approach to go for, Glenn tries something else, “Daryl might not be here but you still are, and we still need you with us. Maggie’s going through a lot and Rick isn’t fully in his right mind. You’re the only one who can hold the group together.” 

Gloria sighs at his words; Glenn definitely knew her too well. He knew that she would only be willing to take care of herself if it’s for the sake and convenience of others. 

“Someone needs to keep watch.” Gloria says in a small voice.

Glenn gestures for her to go, “I’ll be here. And get some food while you’re at it.”

Gloria nods and gets up, walking past Glenn, “I still plan on sleeping up here tonight.” causing Glenn to chuckle at her.

She makes her way down to the main area and takes some food Carol had made for the group then heads over to the cell block to check up on Maggie. She sees her lying on the bed, her frontside facing the wall. Gloria goes up to her bedside and gently pats her shoulder. 

“Have you eaten yet?” Gloria asks.

Maggie glances up at her then looks back to the wall, “no, I’m not hungry.”

“There’s still food out in the kitchen if your stomach changes its mind, and if you need anyone to talk to, I’m here for you.” Gloria says, not wanting to pry into what happened at Woodbury. 

Maggie nods, “I know... thank you.” 

Gloria exits the cell and heads outside to the picnic bench where she can oversee the courtyard, she starts to pick at the food on her plate. She watches as Rick is on the outside of the fences picking off walkers as Hershel is on the inside of the fences, accompanying their leader. Carol and Axel are overlooking the courtyard as well but standing closer to the inner fences of the prison. Gloria jumps at the sudden sound of a gunshot and sees Axel fall to the ground, his body falling on Carol as more gunfire erupts onto the prison. 

“Carol!” Gloria shouts as she jumps off the table to gain cover. 

Maggie runs out from the prison as she heard the gunfire from inside, carrying rifles and shooting at whoever was shooting at them. 

“Carol, go! I’ll cover you!” she shouts as she shoots.

The gunfire ceases and Carol is able to get to where Maggie was hiding, she straps on the rifle Maggie had given her and gets ready for the second round of gunfire. The roar of an engine disturbs the silence as a van heads straight towards the prison, ramming through the gate. It stops in the middle of the courtyard and the backend of the van drops open, letting dozens of walkers stumble out.

Gloria had made her way over to the fence and panics when she sees the herd going straight towards Hershel who had fallen inside the courtyard, “Maggie, Carol, cover me!”

Gunfire erupts again as Gloria dashes towards the gate, opening it and slamming it closed behind her as she rushes out into the courtyard. She runs towards the herd of walkers, flailing her arms around.

“Hey! Hey! This way! Over here!” Gloria shouts at them, taking their attention away from Hershel.

"What is she doing?!" Maggie wonders aloud as she shoots, covering Gloria from any potential bites. 

Carol looks around, examining the situation and spots Hershel in the field, "she's trying to save Hershel." 

Unsheathing her daggers, Gloria stabs any walkers that come too close to her. The driver door of the van pops open and the driver climbs out, taking out his gun and pointing it directly at Gloria. 

“Shit...” Gloria swears as she sees this, walkers starting to surround her.

Two simultaneous shots are fired. The first one being Carol’s, hitting the driver’s throat; the second from the driver’s gun, hitting Gloria in the shoulder causing her to fall to the ground. The herd is now split in half; one half going towards the driver and eating him alive, the other half making their way towards Gloria who fights her way through the walkers. To her relief, a katana swings right above her, killing the walkers coming for her and freeing Gloria. 

“Come on.” Michonne helps Gloria stand and directs her to start running towards the truck Glenn had driven into the courtyard. 

They both climb into the truck and Gloria is relieved to see Hershel is safe and sound in the truck. As Glenn drives towards the gate, Hershel looks over to Gloria who is pale and looking weak. 

“Gloria... you’ve been shot.” he announces when he sees her bloody shoulder, causing Glenn to worriedly glance in the rearview mirror.

“It’s a deep one...” Gloria groans in pain.

Glenn drives the truck through the open gate, parking the truck he quickly helps Michonne carry Gloria into the cell block. 

“Maggie, get the supplies, we need to get the bullet out of Gloria!” Hershel calls out as he goes into the cell block with the others.

Michonne and Glenn rush Gloria into an empty cell on the lower level of their block. Setting her on the bed then moving back to give Hershel room as he examines her wound. Gloria glances at Hershel and sees a frown on his face. 

“I-is it really as b-bad as it feels?” Gloria says, breathless.

“It’s a deep wound like you said.” Hershel looks over at her with a serious look, “your bone stopped it from going straight through, and it’s close to your joint.” 

Knowing what Hershel is getting at, she groans, “so if you don’t get it out now, I might not be able to use my arm again.” 

“It’s going to be excruciatingly painful for you, Gloria.” Hershel tells her, concern all over his face.

“Well, I can’t exactly wait for any anesthetic to kick in, can I?” Gloria grimaces, then she looks over to Hershel’s oldest daughter, “Maggie, get me a towel to bite on.” 

“Glenn,” Hershel calls out to him, “I need you to hold down your sister, try and distract her from the pain.” 

Glenn sits on the lower half of the bed and leans his body on Gloria’s legs, holding her hands in place, “It’s gonna be okay, sis, you’re gonna be okay.” 

Maggie comes back with a clean towel and Gloria takes it in her mouth, biting onto it as Hershel looks at her with steady eyes. She nods at him, doing her best to ready herself for the pain to come. Hershel digs into the wound, causing Gloria to scream out in agony as she squeezes Glenn’s hands tightly, trying her best not to thrash her body. 

Outside the cell block, Rick had just come inside with Daryl and Merle. He let Daryl know that Gloria hadn’t been the same since he left. Rick frowns when he sees Carol rushing into the cell block with towels, he also sees Beth and Carl looking on from outside the cell, a look of fear and worry on their faces. Before Rick could even ask what happened, a blood curdling shriek erupts from inside the cell. 

“Carol, who is it?” Rick asks.

Carol glances over at him with teary eyes then spots Daryl, “it’s Gloria.”

Blood drains from Daryl’s face at the news and he dashes into the cell block but Carol holds him back from going into the cell. 

“You can’t go in! Hershel’s still removing the bullet!” Carol shouts at him through her tears. 

Daryl is right at the cell, standing outside as he watches Gloria crying and screaming in pain and agony. His heart breaks at the sight of her being in so much pain. To Gloria, it felt like hours had passed when in actuality it was only a few minutes when Hershel had finally gotten the bullet out. She lets out a pained whimper as her grip on Glenn’s hands loosen. Glenn starts to panic when he sees her unconscious. 

“W-what happened?! I-is she...” Glenn looks to Hershel, his face stained with tears.

“She’s just passed out, her body must be exhausted from all that pain she just had to endure. I’ll patch up her wound and we should all let her rest.” Hershel tells him, nodding at him reassuringly.

Glenn nods, sighing in relief as he looks to his sister who’s laying still on the bed. Daryl stands in the doorway, still, and unsure of what to do. He’s unable to take his eyes off her pale face. He’s relieved that she pulled through but the sounds of her pained screaming haunted his mind. With guilt pulsing through his veins, he escapes into the main area where he had left Merle.

“Hey...” Merle calls out, “‘s she okay?” 

Daryl swore he could hear a hint of genuine concern for her in his voice, “she will be, she’s a tough one. She’ll pull through. She has to...” 

---

Next Chapter

Woo! That was a doozy of a chapter... so now Daryl and Merle are back at the prison with the others but Gloria is injured... I loved writing the dialogue between each pair of siblings, it was really fun especially with the Dixons, what did you think of it?? Next chapter coming this Friday!

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, please don’t panic, we will get through this!

And as always, I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

Taglist (please let me know if you’d list to be added/removed!):

@twdeadfanfic​ | @fandomfanatic97​ | @crossbowking​ | @watchmeaspire​ | @spidergirla5​ | @kamieshep​ | @letsstarsfalling​ | @molethemollie​ | @alicewinchester99​ | @neilox​ | @womanup22​

#Daryl Dixon #Daryl Dixon Fanfic #Daryl Dixon Fanfiction #Daryl Dixon Imagine #TWD #TWD Fanfic #TWD Fanfiction #TWD Imagine #The Walking Dead #The Walking Dead Fanfic #The Walking Dead Fanfiction #The Walking Dead Imagine #Glenn Sister!OC #Glenn Sister!Original Character #Glenn Rhee #Fated: Season 3 #Fated: S3: Chapter 7

[morepokemonimagines]

Finally Ready

Ya know what? Fuck it! This has been on my mind FOREVER now, and I need to get it out. I will be making this Piers x OC, and nobody can stop me! I know some people find Canon x OC stuff to be kinda cringe, but I honestly don’t care. Also, I don’t want to keep using “his girlfriend” and whatnot as a placeholder like I did in Fade In because that is kinda dehumanizing, and as a female, I’m not about that. Her name is Dahlia Westwood, and she’s very new to the world of relationships because past trauma has made her have trust issues that never allowed her to get that close with anyone before. She’s 19 (almost 20) and Piers is 24. This is going to be a NSFW oneshot about their first time doing the do and she will be a virgin in this because, again, trust issues. No, she is not based off of myself. Totally different life, different age group, different personality. The most “me” thing in here will be some personal experiences, because there are a lot of misconceptions out there about losing your virginity that I personally found to be untrue and they’re honestly annoying; I don’t want to perpetuate them. I hope ya’ll will give it a chance since I really did work hard on it, but it’s fine if you don’t want to. I’m trying to get Piers’ accent down (may have gone a little overboard with it since he seems to say “to” normal, but “ta” just seems to fit him better), but since I’m not from that part of the world, I don’t know if I’m doing it right. Feedback is appreciated especially on that. Also, let me know of any spelling or grammar errors so I can fix them.

He’d be lying if he said it wasn’t driving him crazy. He knew what he was in for when he asked Dahlia to be his girlfriend since they had become close friends beforehand and she had divulged information about her life prior to coming to Galar, but that didn’t make it any easier. They’ve been together for nearly half a year at this point, and he’s been taking things slow for her since he knows she’s never really been in a romantic relationship before; Hell, she’d never really made human friends until Marnie, that Hop kid, Victor, and Victoria. She’s well behind the curve when it comes to social things, so he doesn’t want to push things too far too fast. That being said, a man’s got needs. He outright refuses to seek relief in another while in a relationship with Dahlia; she’s got enough reason to distrust people as it is, and him cheating would likely do irreparable damage. Plus, he just wasn’t that kind of guy. He’s been taking care of the problem himself all this time, but he would really like to take their relationship to that next level. He wants to make her feel good and introduce her to a level of intimacy he knows she’ll enjoy. Not to mention that her unintentionally cute and sexy behavior has him chomping at the bit, but he’s not sure how to initiate it without freaking her out since she’s such a shy little thing.

Tonight, they were having a movie night, just the two of them. Marnie was staying in Postwick because she was having a sleep over with Victoria, meaning they had the whole flat to themselves. They were laying on the couch with him behind her snuggling her close and burying his nose in her jet-black hair; she always had such nice smelling hair... As the night went on, he found himself paying less and less attention to the movie, and paying more and more attention to his lovely girlfriend. Her commentary on the movie, her adorable giggles, her breathing, just everything about her. It wasn’t log before he felt his pants getting uncomfortably tight and his face blushed beet red. He tried to move his hips away from her rear as much as the couch would allow, but there wasn’t much room to work with. He was contemplating making an excuse to run to the bathroom so he could deal with the problem, but then she just had to readjust herself and press right into him. Being as starved for attention other than his own as he was, he couldn’t help but let out a pleasured gasp at the feeling. He slapped his hand over his mouth as quickly as he could, but it was far too late; she had heard him and she was now a lot tenser in his grasp than she had been just a second ago.

“Shit!” He thought. He was completely mortified at his slip in control. Even more than that, he was worried he had made her feel uncomfortable.

“P-Piers?” She stammered as she turned her head so her violet eyes met his light blue ones, her cheeks dusted red as well.

“Y-yeah?” He gulped, hoping by some miracle that she didn’t realize what just happened.

“U-ummm... Well...” Her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red that was beginning to spread to her ears and down her neck as she broke eye contact.

He sighed in defeat. “Yeah, I know. Sorry ‘bout that. You was just bein’ so cute an’ all... I’m real sorry, love. I din’t mean ta do that, I swear.”

“I-it’s nothing to be sorry about... I should be the one apologizing...” She said softly. “I know it must be hard for you. Going so slow, that is...”

“It’s fine, love, really.” He said as he took her chin in hand and made her look him in the eye again. “All that matters to me is makin’ sure yer comfortable. There ain’t no need ta rush nothin’; I can be patient.”

Dahlia looked off to the side and chewed her bottom lip like she always does when she’s nervous. He was about to say something to try and put her at ease, but then she did something that shocked him. She turned herself around completely so her whole body was facing him and pressed her lips to his. It’s rare enough for her to initiate a kiss as it is, but the way she was pressing herself against him was something entirely new. His eyes went wide for a moment before they slipped shut with a groan as his arms snaked around her waist again to pull her even closer to him. She wove her finger’s in his hair, which he had left down for the day, and licked his bottom lip to ask for entrance. This level of boldness was totally out of character for her, but damn if it wasn’t hot as hell. He opened his mouth for her and she dove right in. It was still obvious that she wasn’t very experienced in this, but she was certainly improving. Not one to let her have all the fun, Piers started fighting her for dominance in the kiss, but the way she was kneading his scalp made it hard for him to get the upper-hand.

Eventually, the need for oxygen became too great to ignore and they broke apart. A string of saliva connected them momentarily as they stared into each other’s eyes and gasped for air.

“Where’d that come from?” Piers asked, still breathing heavily.

“I... I think I’m ready...” She said, her face flushing just about as red as his own.

“You think?” He questioned. “Lia, I don’t want ya pushin’ yerself for my sake! It really is fine! I can take care of this m’self no problem!”

The younger girl just shook her head and pecked him on the nose. “It’s okay... I-I want to.”

“Then how come yer shakin’ like a leaf?” He countered, feeling her body tremble against his.

“I-I’m just nervous is all!” She assured. “Maybe a little scared, but it’s gotta happen sometime, right?”

“It doesn’t gotta be right now though.” He said, removing her hands from his hair and holding them in his. “I want ya ta like this. I want ya ta be sure yer comfortable with it. Let’s talk ‘bout this first, ‘kay? What’re ya scared of?”

The girl gulped and looked away again. “W-well... Nobody’s seen me naked before... It’s a bit embarrassing... And... And what if I’m not actually as attractive looking as you think?”

The older man gave her a soft smile and kissed her knuckles. “Yer seriously worried ‘bout that? Dahlia, I don’t love ya for yer looks, though they’re certainly nice; I love ya for you, darlin’. Even so, I betcha look absolutely stunnin’; ya already do in my opinion.”

Dahlia smiled and looked at him again. “Thank you. I know, but I can’t help but be nervous about it...”

“That’s alright. Is there anythin’ else yer scared of?” He asked.

“Well... I heard it hurts the first time around...” She said, her voice getting a little shaky again. “If it does, then I want you to be the one to do it, but I’m still scared...”

“That’s a bunch’a rubbish, love! It don’t have ta hurt!” Piers assured. “Damn old bats spreadin’ lies to scare the youngins inta stayin’ in line. Then again, them old prudes prolly think foreplay’s a sin er somethin’, so maybe it did hurt for ‘em. Either way, it don’t have ta hurt much at all if the bloke yer with knows what he’s doin’.”

Dahlia smiled and nuzzled her cheek against the back of his hand. “I trust you. Please, I really do think I’m ready.”

“If yer sure about this, we’ll give it a shot.” He said with a loving smile. “But, ya gotta promise you’ll tell me if ya want me ta stop, ‘kay? No pushin’ yerself past what yer comfortable with, got it?”

The girl nodded and he shook his head “Not good enough, love. I need ya ta promise.”

“I promise.” She assured.

“Alright then.” He said with a nod. “Let’s get ta my room then. It’ll be more comfortable than this ol’ couch.”

“Okay.” The girl said as she got up from the couch.

Piers stood up after her and led her by the hand to his bedroom. He locked the door out of habit, but quickly unlocked it after realizing what he did. He didn’t want the girl to feel trapped, and he knew Marnie wouldn’t be home, so it was safe to leave it unlocked. He let go of her hand and contemplated turning on the main light for the room but figured she’d be more comfortable with a dimmer light source this time around, so he settled for turning on his bedside lamp instead before turning to face his blushing girlfriend.

“Right, first things first; the jumper’s gotta go.” He said, tugging slightly at the hem of her black pull-over hoodie, asking for permission to remove it.

Dahlia nodded and raised her arms over her head as he pulled the garment up so that it could be more easily removed. Piers smiled as she stood there in her favorite band t-shirt, some Unovan band, and her faded black skinny jeans. It’s not common for even him to see her without her hoodie on. She said she feels safer when she wears it; even made enough of a stink about it that she was allowed to wear on over her Gym Challenger uniform so long as it had her number and the Gym Challenge logo printed on the back.

“Good!” Piers said and then gave her a peck on the forehead. “Now, get yerself comfy on the bed. Middle’s best so we’ll have plenty a’ room.”

Dahlia nodded again and climbed onto the middle of the bed. She got herself situated on the pillows and looked toward Piers. Her face flushed beet red when she saw that he had already removed his own shirt. She’d seen him without a shirt before since he does like to lounge around at home without one sometimes, but this context was very different. She found herself shamelessly staring at his bare chest. Skinny as he was, he still has some muscle definition, and the dim lighting was exaggerating the lines that defined where one ab muscle ended and another began, adding a little extra definition to them. He’s not covered in tattoos like one would envision when she says that her boyfriend is a rockstar, not that she’d care wither way, but he does have a few. On his upper-right arm, he has his old Gym Challenger number, 061, and on the left side of his rib cage, he has Marnie’s name and birth date; he said that she was the first girl to ever steal his heart, so he wanted her name close to it, but having it right over his heart just didn’t look quite how he wanted and he ended up putting it there instead; Dahlia thought it was the cutest thing ever. Both tattoos were in simple black ink, no colors, and they stood out against his pale skin; they looked good on him.

Piers chuckled smugly “Like what ya see?”

Dahlia pouted and looked away as her blush spread down her neck again. Piers laughed and climbed his way over her, situating himself between her legs, so he could peck her cheek. She was so cute sometimes when she isn’t even trying to be.

“Don’t be embarrassed, love. I’m glad you do.”  He said as he took her chin in hand made her look at him. “Yer still sure about this, yeah?”

“Yeah.” She confirmed with a shy nod.

“Well then,” he said as he started to lean in, “where were we?”

Not long after their lips connected, the kiss turned hungry and desperate. He’d been wanting this for so long that he was practically starving for it! He tangled one of his hands in her long hair while the other was frantically kneading their hip and his tongue was ravaging her mouth. At some point, he ended up rutting against her, causing her to moan into the kiss as she tangled both of her hands into his hair and tugged slightly. Eventually, he broke away from her mouth and she re-positioned her hands onto his shoulders as he peppered kisses along her jaw. He tugged her hair slightly to indicate that he wanted her to turn her head to the side and she complied with a breathy gasp. With better access granted, he went strait for her neck. He left kisses and licks at first, but those quickly evolved into nips and hickies. He knew he probably should have asked before leaving marks like that, but after all this time, he was going to allow himself this one instance of selfishness. Besides, if the way Dahlia was moaning and craning her neck so he could have even better access was anything to go by, it certainly seemed like she didn’t mind one bit. As he did this, his hands ran up and down her stomach under her shirt, brushing against the cups of her bra here and there. The feeling was strange and made Dahlia squirm a bit because it tickled, but she had no intention of stopping him.

Once he was satisfied with his work, Piers tugged at the bottom of her shirt. “Is it alright if I take this off?”

Dahlia was panting slightly with her head still turned to the side when she nodded and slowly sat up so it would be easier for him to remove her shirt.

Once the piece of clothing was gone, Piers bent down and kissed her collarbone before asking her if it would be okay for him to touch her. She gave a breathy but shy “yes”, so he started massaging her breasts over her bra and squeezing slightly every now and then. Dahlia eyes slipped shut and she put her arms behind her to support herself as she let out little gasps and moans from the feeling of it all. Those little gasps and moans got noticeably louder when his hands slipped under her bra so he could touch her directly, skin against skin. He’d been with both men and women before, but one thing he always loved about being with a woman was how soft their breasts were; he would never get used to it. It was like squeezing the best stress ball ever. After a moment of just kneading and massaging the soft mounds of flesh and not getting any signs from the girl that would indicate he crossed the line, he brought his thumbs and forefingers up to pinch and toy with her rapidly hardening nipples, causing the girl to cry out with a throaty moan. He continued to work like this for a little while and then decided she was worked up enough to be more receptive to the next step.

“Do ya mind if I take this off now?” He asked while nibbling on her earlobe and toying with her buds.

“Y-yeah.” She responded with a gulp of nervousness.

With permission granted, he reached behind her and unclipped her bra with relative ease. Once it was unclipped, he pushed on her upper stomach lightly as a silent instruction for her to lay down. Once she did this, he pulled the garment off of her. He got a quick glimpse of her bare chest before she instinctively brought her hands up to cover herself. He quickly snatched her hands up with his own and brought one up to his lips to lay a sweet kiss on the back of it.

“Now, now. We’ll have none of that, love.” He said in a gentle yet scolding manner. “Unless you’ve changed yer mind, that is.”

Dahlia turned her head to the side and started chewing on her bottom lip again, her face red as ever. “N-NO! I-I’m just embarrassed is all...”

“Ya ain’t got nothin’ to be embarrassed of, love.” He assured as he tilted her head back to look at him. “Yer stunnin’, just as I thought ya would be. I promise.”

He watched the tension in her shoulders relax then let go of her hands, allowing them to rest beside her before getting to work. He kissed her again, soft and sweet before licking her bottom lip to ask her to open up for him again. This kiss was a lot slower than the last but no less passionate as his tongue explored her mouth at a much more leisurely pace, rubbing against her own in an attempt to coax her into reciprocating; it didn’t take much coaxing. As their lips were locked, Piers’ hands made their way to her breasts again where they began to toy with them once more, causing her to moan and sigh into the kiss.  

He broke away after a minute or so and kissed along her jawline again before making his way down her neck again. He stopped to nip and suck at the spots that made her the most vocal the last time he did this before making his way lower. Once he was at her breasts, he nipped at the top of her right one before moving that hand out of the way and letting his mouth take its place. He licked her perky bud a few times and felt her shiver at the feeling before engulfing it with his mouth and giving it a good suck. Dahlia let out the most delicious moan yet when he did that and threaded her hands into his hair again. While he continued his ministrations on her right breast, his left hand continued to knead and tweak the other while his right hand made its way down to unbutton and unzip her pants. He then switched sides and used his free had to unbuckle his belt before unbuttoning and unzipping his own pants. Though he was still confined, the little bit of breathing room doing that allowed gave him instant relief for his throbbing member.

Once he was satisfied, Piers lifted his head from his partner’s chest and admired his work. She was breathing heavily with her cheeks dusted red and her eyes half lidded and dazed like she had been drugged with pure unadulterated desire. The side of her neck and her chest were littered with love bites that would surely be visible for days to come. He lifted his lower body from hers and tugged on the hem of her pants, ready to move on.

“These are next, if yer ready.” He said, hoping to the Distortion World and back that she wouldn’t back out now when they were so close.

Dahlia nodded and lifted her hips enough to make it easier for him to pull her jeans off of her. He slowly worked the obstructing fabric down her leg before removing them completely.

He smirked when he noticed the already well-formed wet spot on the front of her panties. “So wet already, Lia? Naughty, naughty.”

“Sh-shut up!” Dahlia snapped and looked away in embarrassment.

Piers chuckled at her adorable reaction and started rubbing her through the soaked fabric, causing her to trow her head back in a moan and arch her back.

“Ta think ya were so nervous before and see how turned on ya are now; it really gets me goin’, ya know?” He said in a husky tone and he leaned over her and started nipping her neck again whilst continuing to rub her sensitive bud over her panties. “Won’t be long now before yer ready for me. I can’t even put into words how excited I am to finally have ya all ta m’self. Yer so sexy I could hardly contain m’self. There were so may times I just wanted to throw ya on the nearest surface an’ have my way with ya. I bet ya’d like that now, huh?”

Dahlia moaned and grinded her hips into his hand in an attempt to get more of the wonderful feeling he was giving her.

“Use your words, love.” Piers said as he took her earlobe between his teeth and tugged slightly.

“Y-yes!” She cried out and arched her back more.

“’Yes’ what, love? Ya need ta be more specific.” He teased.

“Yes, I’d like that!” She whined. “I want it! I need it! I need you!”

“There’s a good girl.” He said as he kissed her lips and his other hand started making its way down her body, tugging at her panties once it got there. “I’m gonna get ya ready, but I need ta take these off now, ‘kay?”

“O-okay...” Dahlia said with another gulp as she lifted her hips again so he could remove the last barrier between herself and his hungry gaze.

He pulled her panties down to just above her ankles and she kicked them all the way off. He sat back on his knees and took in the sight of her, finally fully bared to him. She was gorgeous.

“So beautiful...” He breathed. “I don’t get why ya were ever nervous about me thinkin’ ya weren’t attractive, Lia. Ya look amazin’!”

The girl moaned slightly, just his compliments alone were hitting her right between the legs and making her even wetter.

“I’ll make ya feel real good, love. Bring yer knees up.” He instructed.

She complied, yielding to his demands without a hint of hesitation now.

He pecked her lips again before he started kissing and nipping his way down; down her neck, past her breasts, and down her stomach as he wrapped his arms around her thighs to hold them apart. She turned the reddest she had ever been when she realized what he was doing and snapped her head down to look at him. He looked her dead in the eyes as he nipped and sucked on her inner-thighs.

“W-what are you doing!?” She asked even though she knew full well what his intentions were.

“You’ll see.” He said with a devious smirk.

Before she had a chance to protest or hind her face in embarrassment, he dove in, taking her sensitive bundle of nerves into his mouth and sucking. She practically screamed out as she threw her head back and arched her back. Her hands clamped down on his hair, but she wasn’t sure if it was to push him off or pull him closer, so her pleasure addled brain just settled on tugging on his silky locks. He moaned at the feeling as he kept sucking on her clit, sending vibrations through her that had her seeing stars. He kept one arm wrapped around her thigh while the other unwound itself and started rubbing her inner thigh. Once he released his hold on her leg, her free thigh pressed itself as close to the side of his head as it could manage. He had to push the other one a little further away so his head had room to move as he released her clit and moved lower. Before she could complain, his dexterous fingers took over working on her sensitive nub while his tongue found its way inside of her core, causing her to cry out even louder than before as he eagerly lapped up her fluids. Within moments she was a moaning mess as her legs began to tremble. He lightly pinched her clit between his fingers, and that was the end of her.

“Piiiiiiiers!” She screamed out and accidentally pulled at his hair as her orgasm came crashing down on her and her mind seemed to malfunction, going completely numb to everything but the pleasure he was giving her. Sure, she’d touched herself before, but this was totally different and so much better.

Piers stayed where he was, catching as much of her juices in his mouth as he could and drinking them down like a fine wine. He moaned into her as he did this and the vibrations from it made her orgasm last just that tiny bit longer.

When she was done, Piers removed her now slack hands so he could lift his head and used the back of his hand to wipe the excess juices off of his chin. He sat up and looked at her blissed out state and decided it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her body still trembled slightly from the aftershocks of her pleasure, her chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried desperately to catch her breath, her neck and chest were littered with love bites and her eyes looked like her mind was a million miles away. He sat there and watched her until she came to. Once she’d snapped out of her daze, he captured her mouth in another passionate kiss. She’d thought that tasting herself would disgust her, but it actually turned her on even more if that were even possible.

He pulled away from the kiss and rested his forehead against hers so that he could look her in the eyes. “Arceus, I love ya so much... Yer perfect...”

“You’re not too bad yourself.” She responded with a breathy giggle before biting her bottom lip again. “U-umm... Do you want me to...? I’ve never don’t it before, so I don’t think I’ll be any good, but-”

Piers cut her off with a quick peck and smiled down at her. “Maybe some other time, love. While I would like that a lot, this is all about you this time around.”

“Well, that hardly seems fair...” The girl stated.

Piers chuckled and ruffled her hair. “Thanks fer bein’ concerned about me, but I’ll get mine soon enough. Now, I got one more thing I wanna do ta get ya ready, ‘kay?”

Dahlia gave him a questioning look. What more could he possibly need to do!?

Realizing what she must be thinking, Piers decided to explain his actions.

“What I just did was more ta relax ya than anything else.” He said. “Figured if I got ya ta cum, ya’d be less nervous an’ all that. Plus, it’d make this next bit easier.”

“Okay, what’s next then?” She asked.

“I wanna stretch ya out a bit.” He explained. “Yer prolly not used ta havin’ more than yer girly things up there. Stretchin’ ya out a bit before getting right inta it’ll make the change less... Drastic? Ya alright with me doin’ that?”

Dahlia nodded and waited to see what he’d do next.

Piers kissed her again while his hand made its way down her body to her dripping core. He spent a little time rubbing the sensitive bundle of nerve above her opening, causing her to mewl and squirm into the kiss, before working one of his long fingers inside of her. She tensed for a split second at the new feeling, but quickly relaxed again as his middle finger stroked her inner-walls and his thumb rubbed her clit. She moaned into the kiss as her breathing picked up speed along with his strokes. He added a second finger and she gasped and tensed up again, but this time for longer.

“Ya gotta relax, love.” He instructed. “Ya keep tensin’ up like that and it’ll only make it feel worse. Just take a deep breath an’  relax.”

The girl did as he instructed and it did make things feel better.

“Yeah, just like that. Good girl.” He praised as he started scissoring his fingers inside of her while continuing to rub her clit with his thumb, causing her to start making little moans and mewls again.

Once he felt he had stretched her enough, he switched from scissoring his fingers inside of her to curling them upward as he rubbed them against her inner-walls. He had a look of concentration on his face while he did this, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle or something. Dahlia was going to ask him what he was doing, but whatever he was looking for, he must have found it because a jolt of pleasure shot from the spot he just touched and spread through her whole body, causing her to gasp and then moan loudly as her back arched again and her hands dug into the sheets below her.

Piers smirked as he continued to rub and press on that spot while continuing to rub her clit with his thumb. “There it is. Hey, Lia, I heard ya talkin’ ta Sonia about gettin’ that birth control implant thing in yer arm like she did; did ya ever end up doin’ it?”

Dahlia didn’t even seem to hear him through the haze of pleasure because she didn’t answer him; she just kept moaning and squirming.

“If ya can’t answer me like this, then I’m gonna have ta stop so ya can. I need ta know this before we go any further.” He threatened.

Dahlia seemed to hear that loud and clear because her response was loud and frantic. “Y-yes! I-I did! Justbeforethechampionchip!Don’tstop!”

The last bit was all mashed together as she got closer and closer to the edge, but it was good enough for him since he got the information he needed.

It wasn’t long after he started doing that before Dahlia came undone again, screaming as her body tensed and shook before going slack as she tried to catch her breath. Knowing that this was probably the most relaxed she could be, he decided to move swiftly. He crawled off of her whilst she attempted to gather herself, and in one swift and fluid motion, he removed both his pants and boxers and climbed back on top of her, nestling between her legs again.

“Ya sure ya wanna take this all the way?” He asked, just wanting to get one more confirmation before he took her.

The girl nodded in the affirmative, but that wasn’t good enough for him.

“I wanna hear ya say it, love.” He said as he pecked her repeatedly on the mouth, nose and cheeks. “I wanna make sure this is really okay with ya.”

“Y-yes, Piers... I-I do.” She replied, looking him in the eyes.

Piers nodded and reached down between them to help guide himself into her. She winced and tensed slightly at the pressure that came from the head of his cock pressing against her opening, 

“Shh... It’s okay, darlin’.’’ Piers soothed. “Ya gotta relax; it’ll be over soon... Deep breaths... It’s okay.”

Dahlia did as he said and did her best to relax as he started pressing into her again. 

Suddenly, she let out a strangled gasp as he pushed his way past her opening and sheathed the first few inches inside of her. She certainly understood why it was called “popping your cherry” now, because the sensation was very much akin to some kind of pop. The pain wasn’t what she thought it wold be though; a sharp pinch for a fraction of a second, but that was it. Honestly, the worst part was the slight burning sensation from having her insides stretched so much, but even that wasn’t all that bad. It was just uncomfortable, but nothing more.

“Y-ya alright?” Piers asked sweetly, halting his movement until he got the go-ahead, though clearly struggling with himself to do so.

“Y-yeah, I’m good.” Dahlia responded. “It’s a little uncomfortable, but I can handle it.”

“That’ll go away soon enough.” He assured. “I’m gonna get in all the way, then ya tell me when ta start movin’.”

The girl nodded and gasped again as the man above her pushed himself the rest of the way inside of her, filling her in ways she never knew were possible. The feeling of it made him let out a long, throaty moan before resting his forehead on hers again, his long hair slipping off of his shoulders and forming a curtain around them. Being inside of her felt even better than he could have imagined, and the sound of him moaning like that was better than anything Dahlia could have imagined. He was breathing just as heavily as she was as he stilled himself within her. He knew he wasn’t going to last long this time around, but who could really blame him after all this time? He would just have to get her there quick for the sake of his pride, but that shouldn’t be too hard considering how sensitive she had been up to this point.

They stayed there, panting and staring into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever, but was, in reality, likely no more than a few minutes. The intimacy of it made Dahlia’s heart feel like it were about to burst; she really did adore this man. She locked her lips with his again and buried her fingers in his hair before shifting her hips to indicate that he could move. This time it was Piers’ turn to moan into their kiss as he braced himself on one arm beside her head while the other reached down so he could grip her hip for leverage.

He started slow at first. Even though she had given him permission to move, he was worried about hurting her. He did everything he could to keep her from experiencing any unnecessary pain, but that’s not going to stop him from being careful, even if the slow pace was driving him up the wall.

“P-Piers!” Dahlia moaned as she pulled away for air. “M-more! P-Please!”

While saying this, she started moving her hips with his as she wrapped her legs around his lower back for leverage, trying to get more of the amazing feeling she was getting from their union. Her movements caused her to tug on his hair slightly as she moved, and he loved it.

Spurred on by her needy voice and her tugging on his hair, he started to pick up the pace. His heavy panting turned into pleasured moans that mingled with hers to make the most wondrous chorus either had ever heard; her higher pitched voice contrasting his in the most delightful way. He buried his head in the crook of her neck as he began working faster and faster, pulling out further and further each time and slamming back in with more and more force. His hot breath on her neck added another delicious sensation into the mix, and Dahlia started practically shrieking with pleasure. Her inhibitions had long since abandoned her, and his were nowhere to be found at this point either. All that mattered was this moment and the pleasure it was giving them.

“I-I fucking love ya!” He rasped into her neck. “I fucking love ya so much! Arceus, ya feel so good!”

“Ah! L-Love y-you -AH! TOOOOOOO!” Was all she could get out before her world went white as the strongest orgasm she’d ever had tore her mind apart.

“AH! THAT’S IT, LOVE!” He shouted as he rutted into her as fast as he could “THERE’S A GOOD GIRL! CUM FOR ME! AHHHHH!”

With that, he reached his end, slamming into her one last time and holding her as close as possible as he filled her with his release; the warmth of it and the knowledge of what it was would have been enough to make her cum again if she weren’t so exhausted. 

Piers’ body shook as he collapsed on top of his equally shaky partner. If his mind were working right now, he’d be worried about putting all of his weight on her like this, but that wasn’t the case at the moment. Dahlia didn’t seem to mind though as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through his hair as she shivered and panted. It took all he had for Piers not to fall directly to sleep with her doing that.

Knowing that he would fall asleep if he didn’t move, he groaned as he withdrew from her heat and rolled off to the side to finish catching his breath. Dahlia didn’t seem to be holding up much better. He watched as her eyes would flutter shut before she jolted herself awake again and repeated. He was tempted to just give into sleep and leave the clean-up for the morning, but he knew what could happen if he did that, so he fought the urge and begrudgingly sat up.

“Come on, darlin’.” He said, nudging her to pull her back into wakefulness. “We gotta get ya cleaned up.”

“Don’t wanna...” She whined sleepily.

“Trust me, neither do I.” He said as he slowly slipped his legs off of the bed and pulled himself to his feet. “But, I don’t want ya getting a UTI or somethin’ because we decided to be lazy.”

Dahlia looked at him in confusion.

“I swear to Arceus, the sex education in Unova must be just as bad as bad as what we have here. Of all the things for them to skip, I’ll never understand why they picked this one.” Piers sighed as he scooped up the younger female and started stumbling toward the bathroom. “Ya might get a urinary tract infection if ya don’t get cleaned up properly after a good ol’ romp in the sheets. Blokes can too, but it’s not as common as it is with you lot.”

“Oh....” Dahlia said, embarrassed at her lack of knowledge. “I-I din’t know...”

“Most don’t.” He said, setting her down on the toilet and fetching some clean rags. “Only reason I know is ‘cause I had to tell Marnie ‘bout the ‘Delibirds an’ the Combees.’ I wanted ta be sure I did it right, so I read up on it quite a bit. I was pretty surprised at how much I didn’t know myself at that time.”

Piers handed Dahlia one of the rags after getting it wet at the sink and used the other to clean himself off. He tossed the rag in the hamper once he was done and headed out of the bathroom.

He looked over his shoulder back at Dahlia. “Yer gonna wanna pee before heading back to bed; ‘parently it helps. I’m gonna fetch us somethin’ to drink.”

As he passed by the bed, he noticed a decent sized red stain on his bed sheets; he winced at the sight of it. He knew there was a chance Dahlia would bleed when he took her virginity, but he was really hoping she wouldn’t. He didn’t care that his sheets were stained, those could be replaced if need be; he just felt bad about making her bleed. He knew that he did everything he could and that a lot of it was up to her own anatomy, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he had hurt her more than she had let on. 

Since he had to pass by the laundry room on the way to the kitchen, he figured he might as well try and get the stain out of the sheet before it had a chance to set in.  He sighed and removed the fitted sheet from the bed before pulling a new one out of his closet and getting it put in place. On his way to the kitchen, the threw the soiled bedding into the washing machine and started the wash cycle. Once that was done, he continued on to the kitchen where he got two water bottles from the refrigerator and then sleepily stumbled back to his bedroom.

Dahlia was already curled up in the blankets on her side of the bed, trying not to nod off. Piers sat down on his side of the bed and offered her one of the bottles, which she happily took. She twisted the cap off and quickly gulped down about half of the bottle. Piers slowly slipped his water and stared at the wall in thought. Noticing this, Dahlia set her bottle on the nightstand before scooting over to him so she could wrap her arms around his waist and nuzzle into his bare shoulder.

“What’s the matter?” She questioned.

“Nothing.” Piers assured, ruffling the girl’s hair. “How was it for you?”

“It was wonderful!” She said as she began laying soft kisses on his skin. “I’m sorry I made you wait so long for that. I was nervous for no reason.”

Piers shifted his legs onto the bed and turned to face his girlfriend with a smile. “If I said it once, I said it a thousand times; there ain’t nothin’ to apologize for, love. I wanted to be sure you were ready, so I wasn’t in any hurry.”

“ I really do appreciate that.” She said as one of her hands found his and intertwined her fingers with his. “Something’s bothering you though. What is it?”

The older man sighed and layed on his side, pulling the girl close to him and nuzzling into her hair. “I need ya ta be honest with me, love. No sugar coatin’ nothin’ just ta make me feel better. Did I hurt you?”

Dahlia looked up into his eyes and shook her head. “Not at all. I mean, there was a sharp pinch for a second, but that wasn’t bad. It was a little uncomfortable after that, like I said, but that was it. Why?”

“Well, I noticed some blood on the bed where ya were layin’. I was worried.” He admitted.

“Yeah... I noticed some blood on my leg when I was cleaning up...” She said, looking down in shame and biting her bottom lip. “Sorry about that... I probably ruined your sheet, and there’s probably going to be a stain on your mattress now...”

Piers gently took her chin in hand and made her look up at him again. He gave her one of the most loving looks she had ever seen before giving her a soft kiss.

“It’s not yer fault, love.” He said. “There was a chance of it happening. I was hopin’ ta avoid it if I could, but sometimes there’s just nothin’ that can be done. So long as I didn’t hurt ya, that’s all that matters.

Dahlia smiled and snuggled into his chest. “I love you.”

Piers pulled the blankets over himself and snuggled rested his head on top of hers. “I love ya too, darlin’.”

From there, it wasn’t long before they both drifted off in each other’s arms.

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Marnie returned to the flat around noon the next day to find it unusually quiet. Typically, Dahlia would be up by now and there was almost always a pokemon or two running about the place, but there was none of that today. She called out, but got no reply either. She shut the front door behind her and hugged Morpeko close as she cautiously made her way further into the flat. 

She called out again as she approached her brother’s room in hopes of getting somebody’s attention, but still got nothing. She noticed that the door to Piers’ room was slightly ajar, which was unlike him since he liked his privacy. When she got to the door, she pushed it open a bit more and peered inside the dark room. Once she realized what she was looking at, she blushed and quietly closed the door before making her way to her room. Though both of the adults  had been mostly covered by blankets, it was pretty obvious that they were naked because a fair amount of Dahlia’s back and Piers’ shoulders were visible. Marnie might be young, but she had gotten “the talk”, so it didn’t take much for her to put together just what went on while she was away. 

#piers #piers pokemon #piers swsh #piers sword and shield #oc #piers x oc #gym leader piers #shameless #spicy #spicy stuff #this took longer than it should have #shoehorned in some education

[myfairgunslinger]

Title: Red Dead Revenge: Kiss of Death  [Part 6]

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x OC x John Marston

Warnings: Smut, Minor Cursing

Summary:  Back at camp and things get tense.  Maeve is left to recall the night John left while waiting in anticipation. 

A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been a while but I'm back with a new chapter. Been pretty busy but I finally had time to write this out so hopefully it was worth the wait. Warning: There is smut in this chapter! So hope you enjoy!  Italics means  flashbacks.

Chapter Six: Dirty Laundry

The trip back to camp was a rather silent one with John's countdown to his hollering contest with Abigail, Arthur still resenting the lying pair, and Maeve lost in her thoughts of the Bollard Twins.  The ride was also hot, the sun was at it's highest as it beat down on the trio.  Maeve wiped the beads of sweat off her forehead letting out an exhausted sigh.  She had a long sleepless night, they all did.

"Tired already?" John asked her, trying to make conversation.  Maeve gave him a nod, "I'm gonna sleep in my bed roll until tomorrow."

"That is unless, Mrs. Grimshaw let's you," Arthur chimed in from up ahead, "She usually puts everyone to work some kind of chore at some point."

Maeve rolled her eyes, "She's been kind to me.  And if doing chores is the worst thing I can do for the gang than by all means, bring on the chores."

Arthur and John eyed one another for a moment before the older of the group let out a chuckle, "It's nice havin' you around, sweetheart."

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When they finally arrived to camp John dismounted quickly to then offer Maeve assistance on getting down.  She refused him wanting to only interact with him until after he had his talk, making Arthur sneer at the rejection, "Don't tell me you're gonna try winning her back.  You're just makin' a damn fool of yourself, Marston," he said when Maeve was out of ear shot.

"You sound more bitter than usual, old man," John snarked, "Almost as if you don't want it to happen."

"I don't," Arthur said unstrapping Boadicia's straddle so her back could rest, "Just leave the poor girl alone. She's been through enough trouble. Doesn't need you and that joke you call your marriage to weigh in on her."

John's nose flared, "So now you care? You know you really send mixed signals with being mean to her face then the second she turns around you're worried about her well being.  Startin' to think this behavior of yours is you being smitten with her."

The accused man shut his eyes, made a scoff at John then turned to face him, "I don't care what happens to her," Arthur stepped closer, "Anymore than I care for what happens to you," his eyes burned, they soon caught sight of the perfect person for this moment, "Abigail!"  John's eyes went wide thinking he could have stalled his talk with her for a moment longer.

"Hey, Arthur," she said holding a cup of coffee close to her, "John," the woman said in a neutral tone, "How did the trip to town go with the new girl?" she asked not having a clue what was to come.

Arthur smiled a devilish smile while keeping his eyes on John, "It went well.  John ended up joinin' us too.  He told me the most lovely story while we were in Armadillo.  You should tell her exactly what you told me, John," Arthur took in the dread on John's face, "Word for word."

Abigail glanced between the two men, thinking them strange, "Uh John, what's he talkin' about?"

John had his hands on his hips glaring back at John, "Nothing, Abigail.  Can we talk alone for a minute?"

"You'll need more time than that," Arthur called out. "Do you know when to shut up?" John snapped at him before turning to Abigail to lead her to his tent.

Maeve had watched from afar as Arthur walked away from the 'married couple'.  This was it.  The actual moment of truth.  She only wondered what was gonna happen after.  If Abigail would forgive him and take him back or would John still stay with her.  Part of Maeve still felt their connection was there and he must have too.

She laid down on her bed roll with so many thoughts on her mind, most of them about John.  If he did want to come back to her, would Maeve even take him back? 

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"Yes," she gasped out softly when he kissed the flesh of her neck, "Just like that, John," They were very much in the middle of an intimate moment.  John's arms were wrapped around her naked body, holding Maeve close.

Their legs were entangled until John had used his knee to part hers. His lips kissed down her chest to graze over her soft bosom.  John's hands wrapped around her wrists to pin them above her head, having such a lustful look in his eyes. Maeve breathlessly spoke, "Please."

What followed was John thrusting himself into her, each penetration causing her to fill the room with her screams.  They found themselves always making love those first few weeks after their first passionate night.

John's hands were so gentle against her skin, his eyes always getting lost on her face especially when she slept next to him.  A faint smile would always sneak it's way on to her face as she dreamed while a small frown would appear on his when he thought about the big question.  How much longer was he going to stay here with her?

One early morning he thought too long of this question that when Maeve woke up, she found him sitting up, lost in his mind.

"What's upsetting you, sweet face?" Maeve looked up at him with tired eyes.

 John was caught by surprise when hearing her voice.  He looked over at her, pushing for a smile to not worry her so much, "Just had a bad dream, is all."

"Wanna tell me what it was about?"  John shook his head. He laid back down with her and pulled her close so he was spooning his girl.  Maeve wondered what type of dream would cause him to be this sad, what she didn't know is that it was John waking up to reality.

She glanced outside to see the daylight peeking through the curtains and Maeve pulled away to get up quickly, "Oh my, I gotta go."  John whined for a short moment, "Do you have to?"

Maeve started to put on her clothes that were scattered over the floor, "Do I want to? No way! I'd rather stay and cuddle with you, maybe get breakfast and come back here so you can do that thing you were doing with your hands last night," John chuckled but kept staring at her. Maeve was putting on her boots now, "But I promised my mother I was gonna send out this package," she looked around for the wrapped box.  Cecilia had to mail a dress to Valentine.

 Maeve found the box set on the chair, "There it is.  I was gonna get this to the post before today's mail was collected.  And I'm cutting things really short as it is."

"You sure are," John reached out to grab her hand and pulled her back to the edge of the bed.  Maeve attempted to tug back, "John! I gotta go!" He still kept her, grinning, "Not until you give me something that I want."

"Oh my goodness!  You are so horrible!" Maeve scoffed out a laugh then leaned down to kiss his lips softly.  John kissed her back then parted away after a moment, "I'm the horrible one, when you're supposed to be doing errands, but instead you're here with me in secret."

"Everyone has their flaws, John," she said.  However, things weren't much of a secret.  Her parents weren't stupid to think she's working a lot more at the saloon.  They had started to catch on that she's met someone.

'When are we meetin' him?' her mother had asked one day taking Maeve by complete surprise.  At first, Maeve had denied that their was a 'him', but a sober Cecilia is more sharp than any blade, 'My sweet, you used to have this annoyed look on your face every time you came home.  Now all I see is you havin' this far of look as if your head is in the clouds.  So who is he?'

Maeve opened the door to John's room but then shut it to turn back to him, "Forget something?" he asked.  Looking at John, Maeve opened her mouth to say, "I want you to meet my parents."

John stared at her not sure of what to say.  He thought she would have asked sooner, but when that happened he assumed it would be later.  She trusted him enough to meet her folks, to show him her home.  The man then gave her a smirk that could melt any woman. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maeve felt a kick to her side, the opposite one to her wound, pulling her out of her memories, "Ow! Hey!" It was Mrs. Grimshaw standing over her, "Miss Milley, the time for laying about is over.  The ladies of the camp and myself can use your help today for laundry duty."

The younger woman looked up at the gang's arbiter and thought of how Arthur wasn't kidding.  She got up to get to work, "What am I doing?"

Susan was happy to see she didn't get any lip or complaining unlike the other women around here, "I need you to go get the laundry from all the men."

Maeve's eyes glanced over to John's tent which still occupied him and Abigail, "Umm... all the men?"

Susan winced her eyes at her for moment, wanting to know why that question was asked, "Will that be a problem?" which could have been said in an intimidating tone that Maeve did take in that way at that moment.  However, Mrs. Grimshaw was genuinely curious if it would be an issue.  Who had a problem with her new girl?

"No.  No, problem at all...just checking is all.  I'll go get this done," Maeve picked up a large basket to scurry off, "Meet them at the buckets when you're done!" Susan called out.

Maeve wasn't sure were to start off so she figured why not with Arthur.  When getting to his tent he wasn't there but a pile of his clothes were on the ground as if he knew someone would come for them.  It was on to the next man.

"Mister Strauss?" she approached him as he was looking at his books that had details of loans, "Do you have anything for me to add to the wash?" The old man picked up a pile of clothes that was under his chair, "Be careful with my shirts. They are to be washed delicately and do not use cheap soap! It's the least you can do for me since I stitched you up!"

The girl rolled her eyes at his entitlement when tossing his clothes in the basket, "So wash vigorously with basically animal fat?  You got it, Doctor!"

He grumbled out, "That is the opposite of what I said!"

"Yeah, yeah I heard you," Maeve snarked.

"The first and last time I do anything to better your health! Which you still have not said thank you for!" He shouted to her.  Maeve tilted her head, "I haven't?  Wow...see you around then!" Maeve moved on to the next tent as Strauss said what Maeve could assume as curses in German.

It was Bill's tent who was cleaning his rifle out.  Maeve wasn't sure what to make of Mr. Williamson other than he was big and burly with a hat that was flat on one side, "Do you have any clothes for me to wash?"

Bill took out some pants and a shirt that were filthy beyond comprehension and the smell was enough to get Maeve to gag, "Uh..sorry, ma'am.  Had a busy week."

Holding her breath Maeve forced a smile, "It's fine...I'll just wear a clothes pin on my nose." When she was about to leave Bill did ask for her attention, "Ma'am can I ask a favor when you wash my pants?"

"Sure?" Maeve didn't know where this was going but he continued, "Can you do something in the groin area so I won't....chaff?  It's uncomfortable," his voice was low but Maeve wanted to express an 'Aww' for the man for trusting her with that detail, "I'll see what I can do, Mister Williamson."

The next couple of tents were Sean MacGuire and Javier Escuella both whom didn't have any requests when washing their clothes, just comments of: "Ain't you a pretty little lass! Makes me think heaven likes to drop it's angels on us, ay Javier?"  The other man was tuning his guitar as Sean continued, "Tell you what, you wash my clothes and I'll give you a proper thank you later tonight?" he winked.

Maeve clenched her teeth together and shook her head, "No, thank you.  Stayin' at camp is plenty of a reward," Sean tossed his clothes in the basket, "If ya change yer mind, the offer is always there."

She made a shutter and held the basket out to Javier who decided to comment, "She's not interested you.  Why would she be?  When she can be with a real man?" Javier flirted with raised eyebrows when placing his shirts in.

The girl was already getting fed up with this, "Fellas, I have five other tents I have to go to today.  Is this gonna happen a lot when I come to collect?" The two men shrugged and answered simultaneously.

"Maybe."

"Most certainly."

Maeve rolled her eyes to move on to the next person, which was the cook Pearson.  His clothes smelled of meat and blood with stains of stew.  After him was Uncle and all his booze scented union suits.

"These are your pajamas.  What about your clothes you wear everyday?" Maeve asked him.

"You want me to take 'em off?" he went to slide off the strap of his overalls and Maeve shouted out a, "No! No! Please!" then picked up the basket to run off to Dutch's tent.  This entire time Arthur had kept his eye on Maeve, seeing how well she was handling herself with the men around camp.

"She seems to be doing fine," Hosea said not looking up from his book that he was reading.  Arthur turned to his father like figure, "I suppose so.  Miracle she resisted the charms of the more seductive members of the gang."

"Javier?"

"I meant Uncle," they both had a laugh about that until Hosea closed his book after marking it with his finger, "It is nice to see you care about someone again."

Arthur scoffed while pointing his thumb to the woman, "I don't care about her."

"Really?" Hosea wanted to laugh at the denial, "Then why you so interested in seeing the men of camp conversing with Miss Lily?"

"It's Milley-- shit!" Arthur cursed himself as Hosea pointed at him going, "Ah ha! I got ya!"

"Oh that doesn't prove anything!" He tried to defend himself but Hosea knew better, "It's not a crime to take a liking to the girl, Arthur.  We all know how you have a weakness for brunettes with a pretty face and need rescuin' from some force or another."

He shut his eyes, "Please don't bring her up.  As far as I can tell, Maeve is nothing like Mary.  Or Eliza for that matter."

"Which is a good thing.  Maybe Maeve won't hurt you like Mary did," Hosea did frown at the mention of Eliza, "And you did say that Miss Milley can hold her own based on what you told me when you found her."

Arthur placed his forearm against the pillar holding up the tent to rest. He knew what Hosea was getting at with that statement.  Maeve was a fighter, a strong and stubborn one at that.  He stared at her when she was listening to Dutch go over in extreme detail on how to wash his vests.  As if sensing being watched, Maeve turned her head to see Arthur.

They gazed at each other for what felt like a long moment before one corner of Maeve's mouth lifted then raised her hand up to give him a gentle wave, like she had back on the first night that they met right before leaving the saloon.

"Now--Miss?" Dutch interrupted them to say while still holding his vest, "You need to let this soak for a while. It's important."

Hosea set his book down on the table, "Arthur, you're not with anyone.  She's not with anyone, for now. You both seem to like one another.  What's keepin' you?"

Arthur moved away from the pillar and looked down at his feet knowing the answer.  He was just unsure if he should answer it, even if it wasn't his to tell.  The outlaw brought his eyes to Hosea who was waiting to hear his answer.

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Maeve held up a blue frill-chested blouse against her body while looking in the mirror to see if it was the shirt she wanted to wear for tonight.  With a soft frown, Maeve had another button up blouse in her hand that was a light pink with sleeves going to her elbows.  She liked that one more and put it on while wearing her black skirt with a dark gray strip pattern going vertical on the fabric.

She went over to look at herself in the mirror by her window to practice her smiling while saying, "Mother, Father...This is John Marston. Don't pause for so long," she took a breath stressing too much over this simple introduction, "Mama, Papa-- ew no," she waved her hand in frustration.  Maeve tried again, "Everett, Cecilia, I'd like you to meet Mister Marston.  Oh, come on!  That's much too formal.  Why is this so difficulty to say? You got him to agree with meeting your parents and your parents actually want to meet him,"  Maeve said to herself in the reflection.  Resetting her composer to be that of a more relaxed state, Maeve said, "Mom, Pa.  I'd liked you to meet John.  John Marston."  

She liked that delivery enough to smile at herself, "Now give us your blessing to get married.  John get down on one knee," Maeve giggled at herself, "Maybe just worry about them meeting for now."

A loud ringing was heard from the grandfather clock from downstairs.  It rang seven times notifying Maeve that John would be here soon and she hasn't even started on dinner, "Oh no!" she hurried down the stairs in a panic.  A great scent filled her nose when she ran into the kitchen and it was delicious.

"Ma?" Maeve couldn't believe her eyes.  Cecilia had her hair up in a nice bun wearing a pale yellow silk blouse with small pink flowers embroider on it and a pink floral pattern skirt to match.  Her golden earrings dangled from her lobes.  It wasn't Cecilia's outfit that surprised Maeve, what took the daughter for a loop was that her mother was cooking without a drop of alcohol close by, "Yes, my sweet?"

The platter Cecilia was holding had freshly cooked prairie chicken with some vegetables, "This--this looks amazing.  I was gonna settle on canned goods and salted beef.  Ma, where did you find time to make this and--" she sniffed the air again catching a whiff of dessert, "peach cobbler?"

Her mother let out an amused laugh, "Well, when you put the bottle down for a day or so you find other things to fill in your time.  Besides couldn't have you stressing out so much on what to feed our guest while you gussied up. Then it would have been for nothing.  And how often is it that you take interest in a boy?" Everett had walked in the kitchen and the older woman waved her hand to him to catch his attention, "What was the name of that one boy Maeve shoved in the mud back in Saint Denis?"

The father was setting the table, "That was one of the Wilson's boys.  Neil, I think," he chuckled.

"He doesn't count because I didn't like him," Maeve stared at her mother, eyes filled with gratitude now, "In all seriousness, thank you.  I am at a loss of words," Everett was eyeing the food, "If our guest isn't here in the next fifteen minutes, I'm eatin' without him.  It is a sin to let that go cold,"  Even her father wore his best button up shirt that was a hue of green with suspenders attached to his dark town pants.  Everett went as far as having a fresh shave done to his face.

Cecilia rolled her eyes, "You eat anything without that man present and you sleep outside with the horses, Mister."

Maeve grinned at her mother's warning, "She's very serious pa, better watch out."  Everett put his fists on his hip to say in a playfully firm tone, "I did not shave off my beard to have you two gang up on me!"

Cecilia went to take out the peach cobbler to place it down on the table while saying, "Everett, enough horsin' around," her husband glared at the notion she even used that phrase, but let her continue, "This dinner is very important to our daughter and we will treat it as the most important night of our lives."

The daughter of these two hilarious yet supportive individuals was touched.  Maeve smiled lovingly at them.  Cecilia then added, "And with any luck this man will come take Maeve away to marry her and have eight children together."

Maeve stared at her mother, "Eight?! Are you insane?"

"No, I really want to be a grandmother.  I miss having a baby around the house," Cecilia smiled.  Everett groaned, "Oh gee, all the cryin' and poopin'.  I miss that too," he said sarcastically, "Glad, Maeve grew out of that--well you can still do those I just don't have to put up with it."

"Oh my!" Maeve laughed out.  She didn't appreciate this then, but all this banter did ease the girl of all the stress she had about having this dinner.

Outside the house, looking in on this family through the windows was John.  He had been standing out here since Maeve was talking to herself in the mirror.  Seeing her with her folks, laughing and being decent people, John realized something he didn't want to.  If he went in there, he'd ruin all of their lives with being the man he is.  He'd ruin Maeve.  

Looking at where she came from it was everything he wanted as a child, even now. How long would it be before he started robbing out of desperation or shooting people?  How long would it be before anyone recognized him on a wanted a poster and he had to run again?  He couldn't let this family go through any of that, they were too good for it, too good for him.  It was bad enough he was sneaking around with their daughter, being in love with her.  If he went into that house right now, they would accept him and he would love them making it so much harder for when that day came.  The day where everything came to an end for John Marston.

The conflicted man took a final look at that happy family before turning a way to get back to the saloon for a few drinks and then getting ready to leave Blackwater. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John's tent was going to be last for Maeve.  She did not want to walk in on their talk; not out of fear, but getting shot again was something Maeve didn't find to be fun. Being stabbed seemed annoying as well which was a quieter approach for an angry wife to pull on his husband's ex-lover.  Maeve could only imagine the nasty things that will be said to her once Abigail gets out of the tent. Whore was going to be a popular one.  Homewreckin' Slut would be another wonderful pet name.  Maeve knew this whole situation was not her fault since John never mentioned his marriage, but why did she feel so damn guilty then?

Maeve sighed out when getting the Callander brothers' clothes, "Can you get this back to me before tomorrow morning?" Mac requested for his bloodied blue shirt, "I wanted to hit the town and this is my best shirt." The girl nodded adding it to the rest.  She glanced at John's tent to see if anyone came out and still there was nothing.  Slowly approaching the dreaded tent, a voice called out to her, "Abigail will get John's clothes."

Maeve turned to see it was Hosea saying this as he approached her with a single dirty shirt.  She was rather suspicious as to why the older man went out of his way to deliver his laundry to her, "Are you sure that's all you want done?" The man nodded, "Positive," was all he said when walking back towards his tent, “Huh.”

When she picked up the now heavy basket she started to walk to where Susan instructed, that is until a small child ran right in front of her, startling Maeve to drop the clothes, "Oh my!" It was Jack who stopped to turn on his heel to stick out his little tongue to blow a raspberry.

Maeve scoffed at the little child, "The words you're lookin' for are excuse me, Miss." He put his hands up, thumbs touching his temples, wiggling his fingers, and blew out another raspberry.

She winced her eyes, "I don't know why I expected manners out of a kid being raised by a bunch of outlaws," Maeve got on the ground to pick up the dropped articles of clothing as Jack ran off again.

"He's almost three, what did you expect?" she heard Arthur and tilted her head up to see him standing over her.  Maeve answered with, "I don't know.  Maybe him offering to help a lady carry such a large load of clothes down to the washing area?"

Arthur smirked at her sarcasm, "You expect too much.  Hate to see what you have in mind for John."

Maeve's lip corners dropped after Arthur had said that, "I didn't expect a lot, actually," she aggressively put the clothes back in her basket.

"Say that Abigail doesn't murder him or you, you and John plan on running off into the sunset together?" he said coldly.  Maeve went to stand up, "You know something?  I think I like you better when I'm drunk."

Arthur scoffed, "Wouldn't be the first time a woman's told that to me."

"Yeah?  That's a surprise! Why would any woman, sober or drunk, wants to be around you when you act like such a fool," Maeve grabbed her basket starting to leave.  "I'm the fool?  You're the one pining after a married man."

Maeve set the basket down hard and whipped around to stomp over to her antagonizer, "I didn't know he was married!" she hissed when being inches from his face, "I didn't know he was a father either! I didn't know! He never said anything to me about it.  If he did, maybe nothing would have happened."

Arthur rose an eyebrow at her, "Maybe nothing would have happened?" Maeve let out a breath while staring at a rock on the ground, "Yeah...you heard me."

"Maeve that's--well that's not really good either," his tone dropped from antagonizing to actual concern for her.  There weren't many people around them during their discussion which they both were thankful for.

"Arthur, we--" she started, "John and I were--well what I thought--," Maeve felt so stuck getting the words out until she finally said out loud something even Maeve never wanted to admit again, "I loved him and I wanted him more than I ever wanted anything."

Arthur watched her as she spoke, "Haven't you ever just felt an intense feeling for someone?  Being around them just drives you insane with excitement?" Maeve asked him, "And then to have 'em walk out of your life just when you think things are going well?  Well enough that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with 'em?"

How he wanted to say, 'Yes' or that he knew that feeling of rejection all too well from his former love.  How he had his heart ripped out yet still had to keep going.  Perhaps he was being just a little too harsh on Miss Milley.

Maeve got the basket when he said nothing, "I get it...I'm the bad guy no matter how the situation is.  Call me whatever name you got, Mister.  Been preparing myself to hear nasty words all day," Arthur reached his hand out to her, "Gimme," he said referring to the laundry.  She gazed at him as if he was going to pull a prank on her, but he didn't.  After he gestured his hand again for it Maeve let him carry the load.

They didn't say anything on the walk over to the wash buckets.  A few of the ladies greeted Arthur when he set down the clothes, "Gee Arthur, you tryin' to impress the new girl?" Karen said smoking a cigarette instead of scrubbing shirts like Tilly and Mary-Beth.

Maeve got some clothes to start on.  She ignored the girl's teasing, wanting to get this over with to go back to her lumpy bed roll.  Arthur was a bit taken back by Karen's bluntness but just said, "Well, Miss Milley is in a bit of trouble, ya know."  Maeve's head snapped up to Arthur, on the verge of being mortified if he said anything. "Oh really?" Karen took a long drag before blowing out the smoke. He noticed Maeve's expression then said,  "Mrs. Grimshaw gave her the task of collecting the men's clothing.  How cruel and smelly is that?"

The girls laughed and Maeve, her laugh was nervous relief, "Told ya she would get lovely in a matter of days," Karen pointed out then flicked her but away to take some wet clothes to the clothes hanger.

"Yeah, you did..." Maeve stared at Arthur for a moment, mouthing a 'Thank you' to him.  He gave a soft nod to the girl then tipped his hat, "Ladies, always a pleasure," and walked back to the camp.

Maeve got started on scrubbing each article of clothing, it was a long process.  From Dutch's request to have his vests soak longer in the water, to softening Bill's pants so he wouldn't chaff.  Her fingers were tender and raw by the time she finished washing.  Thankfully, Tilly helped by hanging up the wet laundry as she went.

Susan had came over to check on the girls and was pleased to see that they got this done, "I knew I could count on you to get this done, Miss Milley.  You're a fine addition to our gang."

Maeve smirked but nodded to Tilly, "Miss Jackson was a big help too." "Well you both earned some stew," Susan started to lead them back to camp.  Maeve made a face at that reward, "I thought we did a good job, Mrs. Grimshaw."

Tilly barked out a laugh when approaching the stew pot, "Here you go, Miss.  Nice to see you gettin' a meal in," Pearson handed her a bowl noting how she didn't eat much.  "Thanks," Maeve walked by her bag about to take out a can of her favorite fruit when she saw, sitting by the fire, John, not eating.  He looked exhausted and frustrated which must have meant his talk went about as well as anyone expected.

Maeve was brought up with a decision now.  Go eat her food on her bedroll or go sit by John to see how he's doing.

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

It was past midnight by the time Maeve arrived at the Blackwater Saloon.  Only the worst went through her head as to why John didn't show up to dinner.  Had he been robbed?  Did he get in a fight?  Did he die?  There had to be an explanation as to why he never arrived.

Maeve hitched Liability to a post before running through the doors, startling Lou, "What are you doin' here, Miss Milley? Thought you were off?" he seemed annoyed that she was there at this time.

"Where's John?" she asked.  Lou pointed upstairs, "Where else?"

Maeve climbed the stairs in a hurry and found John shutting the door to his room.  She stepped closer to him when saying, "John, what happened to you? I was worried sick when you didn't show up! I thought--" she noticed the bag over his shoulder.  He hasn't even looked at her yet, "John?  Where are you going?"

He let go of the door handle, "I have to leave.  Tonight."

"What?" she was so confused, "Why? What's so important that you had to skip out on meetin' my parents?"

While he was facing her, the brim of his hat was covering his eyes, "Nothing, Maeve.  I've been here too long and it's time I move on."

'You mean move on from me', is what Maeve thought to herself, "Is it me?"

"Mae--"

"No! What did I do to you? Did I say something?" Her eyes welled up, "If you weren't ready to meet them, it's okay!  We could have done this a different night.  I can wait for you, John.  We can do this whenever you want.  Just please--" her eyes begged him not to leave.

This was really tugging at his heart.  He knew she would wait a century if that's what it took.  Part of him did want to drop everything and just embrace Maeve, stay with her forever and start over.  That would end and every thing he's tried to hide from her for so long would come out.

Not just that he had a wife and child, but his entire past of being an outlaw.  That entire history of being a thief, a murderer, all of it was enough to scare any sane woman like Maeve running for the hills.  She would end up resenting him or worse, turning him in.

"Maeve, I'm not who you think.  I'm not that man you want to bring home to your folks," he finally tilted his head up to see the tears steaming down her face, "You're not gonna even let me decide that for myself?" Maeve's voice raised.  She took a moment to breathe, "Let me come with you."

John shook his head, "I'm not askin' you to leave your family.  To abandon your life here."

Frustrated, Maeve clutched her fists, "I want a life with you! You idiot! I don't care if we have a quiet, boring one or an adventurous one where we travel.  I just want to be with you because I--I--," her voice started to shake.  She shut her eyes for a moment then opened them to look John in the eye as she told him, "I love you."

With a heavy heart, John uttered an, "I'm sorry," staring right back at her, "but you don't belong in my life and I don't belong in yours."

Her mouth dropped open as he walked passed her to head down the stairs. Maeve's heart beat fast against her chest as John slipped away.  There was an empty shot glass on the table close to her.  Maeve on impulse grabbed it in her hand and threw towards the wall that was right by John's head whistle letting out a yell, "I hope you're sorry for the rest of your life!"

John jumped and looked back at her, "Are you nuts?" Maeve huffed a breath at him, eyes scorning with rage something John never thought he would see in her.

"I'm sorry I ever met you!" her words bit like venom.  John nodded his head once, as if understanding her rage.  In his head I figured she'll get over him faster now.  He said taking one last look at her, "Good-bye, Maeve."

As the saloon doors swung shut, Maeve crouched down on the stairs letting out angered sobs.  Lou had stood up from behind the bar after having to hide.  He looked up at his employee, "Miss Milley?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maeve watched John from across camp, his eyes still on the fire in front of him.  She hated him for so long after he left.  After he left her confused, angry, but most of all heart broken.  Cecilia and Everett were there to bring comfort like they always had for her, but that was the only time where it became difficult.

All that girl pondered the entire time she was observing John was whether or not he deserved to have her attention.  To have any emotions that she could give. To have her give him a second chance.  The answer Maeve needed to hear, would be no.  But that definitely wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

Maeve stood up, leaving her untouched stew behind as she walked across the camp to go to John.  Each step brought her closer to him, to the possibility of putting behind their complicated past.  When she was just approaching the fire John's head looked up to see her there and just as his face used to do when he saw Maeve, it lit up.  Not fully, just enough that he had a smirk on his face.

And then it was ruined by a shrill voice, "Hey!" Maeve tensed up turning to see a pissed off Abigail approaching her, "I believe we need to have a talk, Miss Milley!" the wife hissed her name as if saying a curse word.

All that dirty laundry wasn’t quite done yet.  In fact, Maeve was left out to dry "Shit."

#arthur morgan #arthur morgan/oc #John Marston #john marston/oc #rdr2 fanfic

[thefinalexperiment]

The Final Experiment Chapter 30: My Story

Peter Parker x OC

A/N: Kind if an expositional filler part, but here you go. Once again, sentences in italics = Russian

I will no longer be linking things on new part posts due to dumblr and the link censoring, and just to be safe from any potential image post censoring, I will also not be including covers on my stories. All previous parts can be found in my masterlist, in my bio!

---

        “How is he?” Kaitlynn asked as she poked through the cabinets for breakfast the next morning.

        Steve didn’t hear her right away. He was distracted by what Bucky had said…

        “Steve.”

        He looked up. The other few team members who were also in the kitchen, Natasha, Peter, and Sam, were all focused on him as well.

        “Hm?” Then her words caught up to him. “Oh… Well he woke up last night, but he fell right back asleep… Cho’s assistant said he’s feverish. They’re trying to bring that down.”

        Kaitlynn frowned, but nodded, choosing to hide her feelings on the matter by glaring up at the cereal on the top shelf - the shelf which she was too short to reach.

        “Right… did he say anything?”

        Steve shrugged, shaking his head helplessly.

        “A bit, but he wasn’t makin’ much sense.”

        “What was he saying?” Sam asked. “Anything important?”

        Steve stood and reached over Kaitlynn’s head to retrieve the box she’d been eyeing. She gave a small huff of faked irritation, but grumbled a thank you nevertheless and began to prepare her bowl.

        “Nothing I could make heads or tails of,” he finally replied. “Something about a birthday… he was real worried about finding somebody named Sarah, said they took her to America. It was like he was only half here…”

        Kaitlynn froze, mid-cereal pour.

        “Does that mean something to you?” Steve asked.

        “I…” There was a faraway look in her eyes, like she was fighting hard to remember something. She stared down at the counter, but it was clear that the granite wasn’t what held her focus.

        “Kait?” Peter tentatively called, touching her shoulder.

        “Something…” she murmured. Then, the look cleared like a lightbulb turning on. “He means me.”

        She turned to Peter with a hopeful spark behind her eyes.

        “Sarah, that’s what he called me! I have to go see him…”

        With that, she shoved her half-filled bowl of cereal to the side and moved to rush out of the kitchen, but Steve stepped into her path.

        “Whoa there, kid, slow down. What do you mean?”

        “Sarah, Steve!”

        He shook his head.

        “I don’t follow.”

        “After the toughest lady he ever met, his best pal’s ma!” she said again, with more emphasis. It was tricky to understand her when she got tangled up in her mile-a-minute thoughts like this, but Steve had a pretty good feeling he knew what Kaitlynn was trying to say this time.

        “He named you after my mother?” His breath caught when she nodded. “When? How? I don’t--”

        “I’ll explain later,” Kaitlynn said quickly, nimbly stepping around him. “I have to go see him!”

        And with that, she was gone.

---

                                                       Kaitlynn

        When I rushed into Bucky’s room, one of Cho’s people was checking over his vitals. It seemed he had just woken, but he wasn’t quite fully present. Peter was hot on my heels, no doubt wanting to make sure I was okay. Natasha I had also expected to follow, but I was a little surprised to see that Steve had come too. Although I suppose I had sort of just dropped a bombshell on him.

        All the memories that were returning to me seemed to be cluttering my mind. I understood how Bucky was feeling right now. I almost felt feverish with the way my thoughts were swimming. It was difficult to separate the present and the past at the moment.

        When he caught sight of me, it became ten times harder to breathe. Though his expression was clouded with the confused look of disorientation, his eyes lit up in recognition. I vaguely heard Natasha asking the medic about his condition. Something about the fever beginning to decrease, but still enough to disorient him. His super soldier genes would have him with a clear head by tomorrow.

        My feet moved as if by a will of their own, carrying me to his side. He reached out to me weakly and my hand gripped his like a lifeline.

        “Sarah?” he whispered.

        “It’s me, papa,” I said softly.

        “They took you from me,” he murmured in Russian. “I couldn’t stop them…”

        “I know, dad,” I said, squeezing his hand. “You did your best… You’re here now. We’re together again.”

        He smiled sadly at me, as if there were something else on his mind.

        Barely two days ago, I had been angry enough to want to kill him, but none of that seemed remotely important now. All that mattered was that he was okay, and he was here with me.

---

        “What are they saying?” Peter whispered to Natasha. It was kind of weird watching how Kait’s demeanor had changed over the past few days. Not in a bad way, just in a different way. They hadn’t been dating long, but Peter could tell she had a lot of layers to her. It was nice to see her being more open, but he couldn’t deny that her past wasn’t normal.

        “You’ll have to ask Kait later,” Natasha said, raising an eyebrow.

        “Oh,” he said awkwardly. “Right… I guess I should just… Wait. Outside.”

        Peter quickly ducked out of the room. He’d always thought Natasha didn’t mind him, but ever since her relation to Kait was revealed, she’d been watching him more carefully. Having the Black Widow stare you down over breakfast was a little unnerving to say the least.

        Not that he was scared, or anything.

        Maybe just a little intimidated.

---

        Steve chuckled as he watched the kid scurry out of the room.

        “Might wanna take it easy on him, Nat…”

        She shrugged, not taking her eyes off of Kaitlynn and Bucky.

        “Why would I do that?”

        “He’s just trying to help,” Steve said.

        Nat scoffed.

        “He’s trying to get me to like him is what he’s doing.”

        “You liked him well enough before.”

        She gave him a warning glance.

        “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

        Steve raised his hands in a placating gesture.

        “I’m just saying… Kaitlynn has a certain tendency to get overly protective or defensive… and maybe it runs in the family.”

        Natasha crossed her arms, but didn’t reply. Just then, Kaitlynn came over.

        “He fell back asleep. The nurse, I think his name is Lee, he said the fever’s gone down more already.” She had a bright smile on her face, a look that Steve hadn’t seen in ages.

        “So,” he said, “Now that everything has calmed down, care to explain what just happened?” He nodded at Bucky.

        Kaitlynn was about to respond, but then she paused, looking out the window of the room.

        “Where did Peter go?” she asked.

        Steve shot a glance at Natasha, who still wasn’t looking at him. Kaitlynn raised an eyebrow at the two of them, then frowned at Nat.

        “What did you say to him?”

        “Nothing!” Natasha said, a little too defensively.

        Kaitlynn sighed.

        “Nat… please, lighten up, okay? If you wanna play protective mom, then just sit him down for an interview and get the cold shoulder over with. This half-commitment to it is sending mixed signals.”

        Natasha raised an eyebrow but nodded.

        “Okay. Fair enough…”

        Kaitlynn gave her a small smile, then turned to Steve.

        “Now, I believe I promised an explanation…”

---

                                                    Kaitlynn

        Before we got started on the whole “explaining my past” bit, I insisted on sitting down in the commons area with a cup of tea. I fiddled with the string of the teabag, curled up on the loveseat. I had debated whether or not to tell the whole team, but I decided it would be best to tell just the few closest to Bucky and I first. That was limited to Natasha, Steve, Peter, and Sam, who, as much as he liked to irritate Bucky, really did consider him a good friend.

        Peter sat beside me, leaning against the seat’s arm. He was still within arm’s reach for moral support. Natasha, Sam, and Steve sat on the couch across from us. On any average day, “their” spots were more spread out among the common area, but right now, they were grouped together, making me feel like I was some kind of relationship counselor.

        “So…” I began, “I’ll do my best to explain here, but my memories are still fuzzy, and the files we recovered from that base only tell half the story.”

        I took a deep breath, gripping the mug a little tighter.

        “As soon as HYDRA deemed me old enough, HYDRA started my training. I can’t remember how old I was, exactly… The man who trained me… I never knew his name. They called him…” I shuddered, but steeled myself.

        It’s not like he’s Voldemort… just say his name…

        “They called him the Foreman. He was horrible. I have a couple minor scars from the Winter Soldier’s training… but the rest are all from him. He laid the foundations, taught me as much as a kid that young could be taught… Then when I turned nine…” I paused. My throat had gone dry. I gulped some tea from my mug, feeling the barely-steeped liquid scalding my throat on the way down.

        “When I turned nine, they brought the Winter Soldier out of cryo to train me. They told him who I was to him, but that made him resist them, so they had to rethink their brainwashing methods… He trained me for about four and a half months before they decided he’d recalled a little too much of his past. So they put him in cryo for three years… and during that time… the Foreman took over my training again.”

        Peter gently pried the mug from my grip and set it on the coffee table. It was only then I realized that my hands were shaking. I shook my head a little to clear my thoughts, shrinking back against Peter a little, as if his presence could ward off the horrors in my memories.

        “When they made the Winter Soldier train me in knife combat, he cut me pretty badly…” I couldn’t help but rub that curved scar. “Dad managed to convince them to let him patch me up, and while we were alone, he told me who he was to me. And… he asked if he could name me. I said yes, and he said he was going to call me Sarah.” I smiled a bit at Steve. “That was the only name I knew for a year… Sometime during that year, they wiped his memories and sent him on a mission. When they brought him back, I reminded him of who he was, and we started to make plans to escape together.”

        Peter’s hand found mine, and I was glad for the comfort it brought.

        “But HYDRA had plans of their own… they wiped my memories and made him watch… then they wiped his memories. They sent me to start a new life as Kaitlynn Grace, and they sent him to Alexander Pierce in New York. And you guys know the rest…”

        I slowly exhaled, letting it all sink in.

        “Wow…” Sam finally said. “That’s… a lot.”

        “How much does Bucky remember?” Steve asked.

        “Honestly, I don’t know,” I said. “He didn’t seem to remember that compound, but he remembered training me. He’s never called me Sarah before, though… so maybe the fever brought back some things he hadn’t been able to remember.”

        There was a silence as we all soaked in this revelation.

        “Well,” Natasha said, “I guess we won’t know until he wakes up for good.”

        Steve stood.

        “Until then, I’ll be in the training area, if anybody needs me.”

        Sam got up too.

        “Anybody know what Bucky’s least favorite flowers are? I’m gonna put a giant bouquet of ‘em right next to his bed with a note that says “You’re still alive, how disappointing.” They’ll be the first thing he sees when he wakes up, it’ll be hilarious.”

        I laughed softly, and Steve chuckled before he replied, “Daffodils, but if he asks, you’re a lucky guesser.”

        The two of them waved, and went their separate ways. Natasha eyed Peter, as if she wanted to say something, but she seemed to come to a different decision and stood to leave as well. She didn’t say where she was going, but she nodded to me, and I knew she was going to wait to clear the air with Peter after all this with Bucky was over.

        Now, it was just me and Peter.

        “Are you okay?” he murmured. “It’s snowing a little bit…”

        I looked up, and sure enough, it was snowing again. Not as badly as the other day, though. With a wave of my hand, the flurries dispersed and vanished.

        “I’m fine,” I said, “Just a bit…” But I couldn’t think of a word to appropriately describe how I was feeling.

        Peter nodded anyways. That was one of the reasons I adored him. He understood what was going on with me even when I couldn’t necessarily articulate it.

        “I get it,” he said. “That must have been hard to relive…”

        “It was… but I’m glad the four of you all know now.” I relaxed against him, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I wanted so badly to kiss him in that moment, but I still didn’t trust my powers yet.

        “Thank you, Peter,” I said softly.

        He tilted his head, his forehead crinkling adorably in confusion.

        “For what?” he asked.

        “For being so understanding, for supporting me… just… everything.”

        “You’re… welcome, I guess?” he replied, laughing a little. “I’ll always be here for you, Kait. I… I care about you.”

        His voice cracked a little as he said that, and I wondered if maybe he’d almost said something else…

        “I care about you too, Peter Parker.”

--

A/N: Aw, cute Kait and Peter... My ship name for them is Spider Bite. Like Spider Man and Frostbite... get it? Lol, anyways, I hope you enjoyed this new part. Thirty parts now, by the way! How exciting! What would you like to see in the next part? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

Series Tags: @shamvictoria11 @mla02 @fanficcrapforme @goodbyefornow123 @thebookisbtr @what-inspirational-name

Everything Tags: @coconutknees @hollymac79 @jordan-ia @ace-marvel-chick

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #spider-man #spiderman #spiderman imagine #spider-man imagine #spiderman x reader #spider-man x reader #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes imagine #steve rogers imagine #tony stark imagine #clint barton imagine #thor imagine #loki imagine #natasha romanoff imagine #wanda maximoff imagine #pietro maximoff imagine #bruce banner imagine #t'challa imagine #eddie brock imagine #stephen strange imagine #marvel fic #marvel #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #Avengers #avengers fic #avengers imagine

[isa-ghost]

Achievements Unlocked?

The last decade has COMPLETELY shaped who I am now and the fact that it ends today and essentially sends me off into the next one where turning 30 is the end is something I can’t wrap my head around and not just bc it’s barely 9am as I’m writing it. Ten years hasn’t felt like ten years and all the shit that’s happened during those ten years feels like it’s happened in the last like,,, 3.

Basically this is just me going How The Fuck Did All Of This Happen In A Decade and highlighting the big things that shaped who I am now.

Uhhh this is long I’m gonna-

2010/2011 (Shit’s A Blur):

I started noticing aesthetic interests I had.

I developed my love for the outdoors and exploration.

I started realizing vaguely spooky things were really intriguing to me.

I got SUPER into Harry Potter.

Which lead to me creating my first two Ocs.

I started switching from drawing animals/landscapes to drawing people.

I made my first cluster of friends I hoped I’d have forever. (Spoiler alert: only still have one of em).

2012:

I started identifying with punk rock & emo culture/aesthetics.

I made my first cluster of online friends (Spoiler alert: don’t talk to any of em now)

I got into YouTubers.

I got into anime.

I made my first “blog.” It was a Facebook page for a fictional character.

I discovered my favorite band.

I made my first online friend I hoped I’d have forever (still have em so far!)

I met my future wife.

I started roleplaying with Ocs.

Which lead to making more.

I started drawing digitally using bases. Which started my improvement.

I made my own first little community via my FB page.

Which lead to an rp group of more friends I hoped I’d have forever (still got a handful of em!)

I discovered my other favorite bands.

I started using Skype.

I got into more anime.

My parents were officially fully separated. 

Which began the very start of realizing my dad was verbally abusive.

Congrats Isa, You Need Glasses You Dumb Fuck. Hooray astigmatism.

I graduated 8th grade.

2013:

I was essentially forced to move in with my dad for high school.

I started high school.

Officially became total anime trash and started watching them like crazy.

I THINK I hit 100 Ocs at some point this year. Just kept makin them from here.

Met my first cluster of irl forever friends (spoiler alert: only have 1 now).

Learned having Ocs was Not Just An Isa Thing, Holy Shit I Thought I Was Just Weird.

Promptly fell in love with learning about other people’s Ocs.

Realized Wow, I Kinda Can’t Stand My Dad And I Don’t Trust Him.

Had my first boyfriend. *gag* He was nasty.

Experienced my first long distance relationship. It lasted 3 days.

2014/2015 (Shit’s Also Blurry):

Got another long distance boyfriend. First relationship I genuinely liked the person.

I realized talking multiple people through the lowest points of their lives and keeping them from harming themselves was a sign I should maybe get into psychology and do that as a job.

I started getting interested in researching mental disorders.

Realized Okay Yeah, I Lowkey Hate My Dad

Realized I had A Concerning Amount Of Symptoms Of Depression. Fuck.

Realized Huh, Girls Are Pretty Too,,,

My friend taught me about bi and pansexuality. Casually started identifying as pan. Didn’t know shit about LGBT+ stuff.

Was shown a video by my friend. Decided Wow I Really Like This Screaming Potato Guy.

Acquired one more forever friend I still have.

Got slapped in the face by Gravity Falls.

My mom moved out of the rural town I just spent the last like 8 Years Of My Own Character Development In, Dammit

I realized money and finances Fucking Sucks.

Had the,, probably worst year of my adolescence. Angry, depressed, sick of my dad. It was Not Great. Almost started self-harming, only didn’t because I’d be a hypocrite if I did after helping my friends stop doing it.

Homestuck invaded my life around here I think.

Decided I’m Gonna Live With My Online Friends One Day! (spoiler alert: nope).

Was kinda forced by my dad to move out of the apartment I lived in and therefore forced to transfer schools.

Got to meet my future wife irl for the first time. Wow that was,, so gay before we even realized.

Okay Hold On, This New School Is,,, Really Nice.

2016:

New school. New me. New friends. New everything. Fuckity shit fuck.

Okay wait they have an anime club like my other school did we good.

Met another two forever friends that I think really are forever friends now.

Angry Shitty Depression Time Died Down A Little.

Somehow learned about evilsonas. Huh, Does Jack Have One? ... Ok Cool, They’re All People’s Ocs. Meh.

Started learning how to drive. Oh My God This Is Fun.

Lost my second ever pet and was... very confused when I wasn’t as traumatized as I was the first time I lost a pet.

Boyfriend kinda Thanos snapped from existence bc his irl life was hectic.

Experienced what it’s like to have a friend that died.

Wow my irl best friend is hot. ... Okay I Think Boyfriend’s Absence Is Bothering Me. *proceeds to ignore that*

Gets into some more bands.

Knock Knock, You Have Separation Anxiety, Isa.

Finally decided to try out high school things like homecoming. Ooh That Was Actually Fun.

The beginning of the worst end to a friendship I’ve ever had starts. Not Handling It Well.

Discovered Fooster. Cue hyperfixation on new favorite YouTuber and more new friends.

Wait What The Fuck What Just Happened To Jack’s Camera,,,, OH MY GOD HE ISN’T-

HE IS. OH FUCK HE IS. MMMMHELLO KNIFE MAN.

Totally forgets he exists for the next like 10 months.

Realization I Really Fucking Love Halloween.

Discovered what asexuality is and immediately identifies because I thought I was just weird.

Hmm maybe I should start watching this Markiplier guy

Big Sad Times, My Friends Graduated. Next Year Gonna SUCK.

Tried out Dungeons & Dragons. Fuckin loved it.

2017:

Ah fuck I’m a senior in high school this is gonna be a trip.

Discovered I like photography.

Literally where did this school year go it’s so blurry.

Was convinced to end the relationship with boyfriend. He’s still a good bean.

Hey uhhhh online best friend do u big gay.

WE big gay.

Found a book I really like that isn’t Harry Potter, damn it’s about time.

Ok But This Book Really Fucked Me Up, I Love It.

OH FUCK WAIT I’M GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL.

Oh that wasn’t so bad.

Actually had to be PUSHED by my friends to have my first kiss with my girlfriend at my graduation party because I was too busy going [dkasjdjf] about having her physically in my presence at all.

First super memorable vacation. Wow I Fucking Love Traveling.

Got to meet another online friend!! I am,, incredibly lucky about being able to do that, this was like the 4th friend I got to meet.

[That one motion blur conspiracy theorist meme] SABRINA IM TELLING U JACK IS UP TO SOMETHING HIS TWITTER IS FUCKY

Gets punched in the throat with Kill Jacksepticeye on the way home from vacation and remembers how much I fucking love Anti

TIME FOR COLLEGE. I made a mistake.

TIME FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE. Much Better.

Friend I Still Have From High School 1/2 introduced me to Bendy and the Ink Machine. HYPERFIXATION TIME BABEY.

Let’s,,, lets try Tumblr. Jack exists there a lot. And so does good art of everything I’m interested in.

Wait Who’s This Baby With The Mustache, JACK EXPLAIN

Okay there’s More Going On Here, lets get active in the community.

WHY THE FUCK IS THERE SECURITY FOOTAGE. THIS IS SKETCH. THIS ISOH MOTHERFUCKER ITS ANTI

Isa: Become Theorist

The rest is history, really, all stuff I’ve posted about on here. xD

And knowing me I’ve left out other highlighted bits but remembering all of this is,,, really exhausting lmao, I’m surprised I jotted down as much as I did in Relatively Chronological Order.

#happy 2020 new year

[hysterialevi]

When the Devil Cries pt. 19

Fanfic summary: (NO SPOILERS IN THIS STORY) After arriving in Saint Denis, Arthur ends up falling in love with a seemingly innocent pianist, only to find himself in a battle with one of the most notorious outlaws to ever emerge from America. Now, between working for Dutch and robbing money for the gang, Arthur has to also protect the man he loves as the two of them try to find their freedom.

Pairing: Arthur Morgan/Male OC

Previous chapter

This story is also on AO3

From Arthur’s POV

THE NEXT MORNING

SHADY BELLE, INSIDE THE MANSION

Slidin’ the rag up and down my rifle, I made sure all my weapons were ready to go while Eddie gathered his own gear, both of us preparing for the robbery.

Dutch still seemed confident in the plan that he and Micah created, and no one else had protested the scheme yet, but Hosea and I...well...we wasn’t so sure.

I mean, robbin’ a national bank was risky enough, considering how heavy the security was -- but starting another robbery on the other side of town just to distract the law for a few minutes...it felt like suicide. I knew Dutch thought he was buyin’ us some time -- and that we’d be in and out within minutes -- but to me, this plan just seemed like it was gonna end up painting an even bigger target on our backs. And that was the last thing we needed right now.

Ah, well...it was clear to me that there weren’t no use in tryin’ to convince Dutch. For whatever foolish reason, he appeared to be taking Micah’s advice to heart recently, and I knew better than to go in circles with the old man.

I was just worried about what we’d do if things didn’t go accordin’ to plan today. Not only would our gang be split up, we would’ve also attracted the law to both sides of the city, makin’ it much easier for them to corner us.

I just hoped I’d be able to keep Eddie safe. That boy was about to throw himself into one of the most dangerous heists we’d pulled off since Blackwater, and I was gonna do everything I possibly could to ensure he’d get back out.

The money may’ve been Dutch’s main concern today, but the pianist was mine.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” I asked Eddie, earning a hesitant sigh from the boy.

“...Well, I’m not too fond of the idea of robbing people,” he admitted, “but if Dutch is willing to let me stay in his camp, then the least I can do is help the gang earn some money.”

I slipped my revolvers into my holsters, shrugging in response. “If you’re sure. It’s just...there’s a whole lot that could go wrong with this plan, and I wanna make sure you ain’t caught in the worst of it if it does.”

Eddie walked up to me and began straightening my suit, adjustin’ my tie while he spoke.

“I’ll be okay,” he reassured. “I have you by my side, don’t I?”

I smiled at him. “Always.”

The boy let out a soft chuckle, his eyes twinkling in a reminiscent manner as he tidied me up.

“You know, Arthur...when we first met, I never imagined I’d be robbing a bank with you one day. Hell, I didn’t imagine any of this. But...despite the struggles we may face, and the many things we’ve fought through to get here, I just want to let you know -- I’m glad to have you with me.”

I beamed at the compliment and retrieved my bandana, tyin’ the accessory around my neck.

“The feeling’s mutual. You happy you joined the gang though? I know these people ain’t exactly your typical civilians, but they’re alright. ...Most of ‘em.”

The pianist nodded. “I am. Miss Grimshaw introduced me to Tilly and Karen yesterday. I had quite a lengthy talk with them, actually. And Mary-Beth as well. She told me she wants to be an author someday. I never expected there to be so many artists in the gang...but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Considering who the leader is.”

I quirked a brow. “You see Dutch as an artist?”

“Perhaps not an artist himself, but he certainly appreciates it. He’s always reading that Evelyn Miller, and the way he speaks to the gang is quite poetic most of the time. Makes me think Dutch is a romantic. Much like yourself.”

“...Heh, I guess he is,” I replied, decidin’ to change the subject. “So...you’ve met the women in camp. You met any of the men yet?”

Eddie thought for a moment. “Well, Micah’s approached me a few times.”

I chortled at that. “I said men, not snakes.”

The musician returned the laugh. “I’ve spoken with Micah, Hosea, John, Dutch...and Bill is surprisingly interested in my work as a pianist.”

I paused. “Really? Huh. Never pegged him for the...musical type. But I guess we all got our secrets. It’s good to hear the gang’s welcoming you though. I honestly weren’t expectin’ Dutch to let you in in the first place. He’s been...skeptical of newcomers recently.”

“I don’t blame him,” Eddie said. “Sounds like you guys have had it rough for a while now. Hopefully, today’s robbery turns that around.”

I gave him an assuring nod. “That’s the plan.”

Interrupting our conversation before we could talk further, Dutch suddenly strolled into the mansion with an assertive kick of the door as the rest of the gang followed him inside, all of them geared up and ready to go.

Everyone was dressed in opulent clothing and had either a bandana or a mask hangin’ around their neck to hide their identity, and the more the image of Micah wearin’ a tight suit ingrained itself into my brain, the more I felt the urge to back outta this heist.

An ecstatic grin radiated on Dutch’s face.

“Gentlemen!” he proudly announced, glancing around the room. “It’s time. The Lemoyne National Bank has waited for long enough, but we are finally ready to hit it. Is everyone clear on the plan?”

There was a confirming silence.

“Good. Then let me explain who’s doin’ what.”

Dutch pointed out a few of the gang members.

“Hosea, Javier, John, and Charles -- the four of you will be in charge of distractin’ the law. Go to the trolley station, and make some noise. Start a robbery. Do whatever it takes to attract the law there, and try to keep them there for as long as possible. We shouldn’t need too long, but you never know what could happen.”

He turned to everyone else, givin’ each of us specific tasks.

“The rest o’ you,” Dutch addressed, “are with me. We’ll wait until they have the law’s attention, and then we are hittin’ that bank hard. Sadie and Lenny, I want you two to keep watch. Let us know the minute you see any lawmen, and we’ll focus on gettin’ the money.”

“Bill and Micah” he continued, “you just make sure everyone in that bank behaves themselves and stays in place. I don’t want no trouble from the security or the civilians -- we got enough to worry about as is.”

Dutch brought his attention to me.

“Arthur, your job is to get that vault open. But avoid using dynamite. We don’t wanna raise the alarm before we’ve even got the money. And as for you, Eddie, you can help Mister Morgan crack the safes. Make the process a little faster. In case things go wrong today though, we need an escape route outta the city. Now, you know Saint Denis better than any of us...so what d’you think is the best way out?”

Before Eddie could reply, Micah jumped in and offered his own idea, cuttin’ the boy off.

“We could take the back alleys.” He proposed.

The pianist rejected the recommendation.

“No,” he responded. “The alleyways are too narrow for all of us. If we go in there, the law will cage us in within seconds.”

Dutch considered the advice. “Then what do you suggest?”

Eddie thought about it for a moment. “...Ironically, the best way out of the city would probably be through the more populated streets. If we can put enough civilians between us and the law, we’ll slow them down drastically. Not to mention there are also trams and stagecoaches going around all the time, adding even more obstacles for them to maneuver around.”

The other man slowly nodded in approval. “Makes sense.”

“We have to move fast though,” Eddie warned. “If we aren’t careful, we could be trapped in the crowd, too.”

“Sounds good,” Dutch agreed. “Well, alright then. I’d say we’re good to go.” He addressed the rest of the gang. “Everyone! ...Are we ready?”

I picked up my shotgun, slingin’ it over my shoulder.

“Ready as we’ll ever be, Dutch.”

The man smiled excitedly, his expression glowing with a passion for larceny as that ever so familiar spark returned to his dark eyes.

“...Then let’s empty this goddamn bank.”

A WHILE LATER

LEMOYNE NATIONAL BANK

Blowing their whistles while they bolted across the packed city, a group of lawmen came rushing past us as we hid in a nearby alleyway, waitin’ for our opportunity to strike.

At the moment, it didn’t seem like anyone had caught onto our plan, and with most of the law hurrying over to deal with our distraction, we had roughly about ten minutes to get in, get everythin’ we could, and get the hell out. Jesus, I really hoped this plan worked.

Just by standin’ next to the bank, I could already hear a large amount of muffled voices comin’ from the inside, and the fact that we was doing this in broad daylight didn’t exactly help to ease my nerves.

We were out in the open, and the law would be back on our asses at any minute.

We had to move. Now.

“Alright, cowboys,” Dutch whispered lowly through his bandana, “this is it. You all know what to do. Be quick, and be thorough. Let’s get this done!”

Marching out of our hidin’ spot, Dutch stormed his way to the bank’s entrance as the rest of us followed him, constantly checking over our shoulders to make sure no one was tailing us.

There were civilians strollin’ around all over the place, and a few of their gazes had fallen onto us already, but so far, no one seemed to have figured out just exactly what we were doing.

Now was our chance to hit.

Swinging the bank’s doors open with a forceful push, Dutch whipped out his revolvers and sauntered inside, immediately catching everyone’s attention as their heads jolted in our direction.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he called out, raising his guns, “this is a robbery!”

Bill instantly bashed the stock of his rifle into a civilian’s head while Micah held the rest at gunpoint, causing all of them to let out a series of panicked shrieks and screams as they stumbled to the floor.

“Stay down!” Micah demanded, bringing everyone to their knees. “Unless you wanna get shot!”

Dutch turned to me, gesturing to the vault’s door. “Mister M, Mister R! Get that vault open!”

I aimed my own gun at the bank manager and grabbed him by the collar, aggressively hurling the man towards the vault as he yelped out of fear.

“You think we’re foolin’ around?” I shouted at him. “Open the goddamn vault!”

“O-Okay! Okay!” He whimpered, throwing his hands in the air. “Just, please! Don’t hurt--!”

I slammed the grip of my revolver into his head. “I ain’t interested! Just get it open! Now!”

Turning the vault’s lock with a trembling hand, the manager hurriedly followed my instructions and put the combo in, both me and Eddie waitin’ by as we frantically glanced around the bank.

Even with a bandana covering half his face, I could still tell Eddie wasn’t happy with me, and he clearly disapproved of this entire heist. I knew he understood why we had to do this, and he showed no signs of backin’ out so far, but unlike the rest of the gang, the pianist still had his morals.

I was just worried about how this would affect his image of me. He always told me I was a better man than I implied, but...after today’s events, I wasn’t so sure he’d think the same way. Lord. What a goddamned mess this was.

Finally opening the vault’s door with a metallic creak, the manager quickly backed away while I got to work and rushed inside, wastin’ no time in cracking the safes.

“I’m openin’ the safes!” I told Eddie. “Would you kindly get the combos outta our friend here?”

The boy whipped the side of his gun into the manager’s head, leavin’ a rather nasty gash. “What’s the combination?!”

A pained shout escaped the manager and he cowered away from Eddie’s firearm, shakily spittin’ out the numbers one by one.

“S-Seventy-two!” he blubbered out, “Fifty-four! T-Twenty-eight!”

The safe practically fell open once I hit the last number, revealing a beautiful stack of cash on the inside. I instantly snatched the money and shoved it into my pouch, movin’ onto the next.

“Got it! Next one!”

While I worked on the rest of the safes, Dutch brought his attention to Lenny and peered outside the bank’s windows, his body gettin’ a little restless due to our limited time.

“Mister S!” He called out. “How’s it looking?”

“So far, so good!” Lenny replied. “But we gotta get this moving!”

Dutch turned to me. “You hear that, Mister M?”

“I’m on it!” I exclaimed back. “Just got a couple safes left! Mister R?”

Eddie cocked his gun at the manager. “Next combo!” He demanded.

The manager let out a quivering breath, horrified for his life. “Thirty! N-Ninety-five! Seventeen!”

Nearly ripping the safe’s door off its hinges, I fumbled through the valuables sittin’ inside and grabbed as much as I could carry, bringing my attention to the third one.

“Next!”

The manager didn’t even give Eddie a chance to hit him again. “Forty-one! E-Eighty-five! Sixty-seven!”

There was even more money in this one than the last -- and like the petty thief I was -- I shoveled the cash into my bag without a second thought, hopping to the adjacent safe...but there was an interruption.

“Gentlemen!” Sadie alerted. “We have a problem! There are lawmen comin’ our way!”

Dutch cursed. “Already? Shit! Mister M, how much you got?”

I glanced inside my pouch. “There must be thousands of dollars in here!”

Despite his reluctance to leave, Dutch took Sadie’s advice and cut the robbery short, urging all of us to evacuate.

“Then that’ll have to do. Everyone! We got what we need! Grab what you can, and let’s get the hell outta here! Mister R, we’ll follow your lead!”

Jogging to the bank’s front doors, Eddie peeked outside and checked our surroundings, lowering his voice slightly.

“Okay, looks like we’ve got a few lawmen surrounding the bank,” he informed. “But we should be able to take them down and stick to the original plan. What do you think?”

Dutch got a good look for himself, patting Eddie on the shoulder.

“I think we’ll be just fine.” He beckoned the rest of us. “Gentlemen! Let’s ride!”

Hurrying out of the vault, I followed Eddie and Dutch through the bank’s exit as the gang hastily took its leave, all of us immediately gunning down the lawmen as soon as we stepped through the front door.

A choir of screams instantly erupted from the civilians surrounding us, all of them scrambling around the streets in panic as we made our way to our horses.

“There they are!” One of the lawmen shouted. “Don’t let ‘em escape!”

Practically leaping onto my horse’s saddle, I mounted up and fired a number of shots at the lawmen chasin’ us before breaking into a sprint, galloping side-by-side with Eddie as we led the gang outta Saint Denis.

“This way!” He instructed, takin’ a sharp turn.

By now, there was folks boltin’ left and right all over the place as we slithered through the thick crowds, causing people to throw themselves out of the way before we could trample over them.

The sounds of gunfire, whistles blaring, civilians hollering, and horses neighing all filled the air along with my own heartbeat as it hammered in my ears, fueling me with an adrenaline like no other.

It didn’t look like the law was gonna let us go quite as easily as we had hoped, but fortunately, they seemed to be fallin’ behind the mayhem just like Eddie said they would, giving us just a few more minutes to escape.

I whipped my reins, urging my horse to pick up the pace.

“Come on!” Eddie encouraged. “We’re almost out!”

Ridin’ through the packed streets, the gang wildly charged its way across the city like the goddamned cavalry as it shot down any lawmen that got too close, leavin’ a trail of smoke and corpses in its wake.

There were stagecoaches and trams rolling all throughout Saint Denis, and we was forced to swerve our way around them as some of the lawmen got stuck behind the convenient obstacles, leading them to lose sight of the gang. Our plan was working.

“Just a little further!” Eddie called out, gesturing to the city’s exit that was comin’ up in the distance. I fired a series of bullets behind me, puttin’ down the lawmen that were tailing us.

“Nearly there, gentlemen!” Dutch announced. “Don’t get tired on me just yet!”

Puttin’ all my energy into the last bit of this escape, I kicked my spurs into the side of my mount, causing her to haul ass towards the bridge that led outta Saint Denis as the lawmen started closing in on us.

At this point, it looked like they had figured out the “robbery” at the trolley station was nothin’ more than a distraction, and the longer we remained in this dreadful city, the more of ‘em there seemed to be.

But we could still make it. We could still take the money.

And I’d be damned if we didn’t.

Racing across the bridge, the gang rode like there was no tomorrow as we approached the other side, only to hear a familiar voice calling out to us from the woods just before we could leave.

It was John.

“Get clear of the bridge y’all!” He shouted. “I’m about to blow it to hell!”

Making ourselves scarce, we all made sure to put a decent amount of distance between us and the bridge just as the law started gaining on us, queuing John to get ready.

With a simple pull of a trigger, Marston suddenly split the bridge in half as he shot the generous amount of dynamite he had placed on the side, sending lawmen flyin’ all over the place due to the thunderous impact.

Dutch let out a hearty laugh at the sight. “Oh, John! You are a genius!”

John mounted his own horse and joined our group, shaking his head. “Actually, it was Hosea’s idea. He figured you’d be comin’ this way. Thought we could help smoothen the ride.”

“And where is he?”

“Back at camp,” Marston replied. “Hosea and the others made it back early.”

Dutch grinned. “Then let’s not keep them waitin’ any longer.” He glanced over his shoulder, lookin’ back at the rest of us.

“Gentlemen! We made it!” A victorious guffaw escaped him.

“We goddamn made it!”

THIRTY MINUTES LATER

SHADY BELLE

Returning to camp like a group of esteemed heroes, Dutch, Eddie, and I hopped off our horses while the rest of the gang settled in, all of us tired but also filled with exhilaration thanks to the pile of cash now sittin’ in our pockets.

The plan admittedly went much better than I first expected, and despite the many fears I had goin’ into this heist, I couldn’t lie: my faith was well-placed this time.

It turned out Dutch actually knew what he was talkin’ about after all, and regardless of any disagreements the gang might’ve had with each other in the past, every single one of us owed Dutch our thanks. We was a whole lot richer now because of that man, and with the newfound wealth we just stole, we had a lotta opportunities waitin’ for us to seize them.

Heh. I guessed there was hope for us yet.

Yanking my bandana off my face, I fed my horse a quick treat and sauntered towards the mansion, only to find an elated Hosea walkin’ up to me.

The old man smiled proudly in my direction and patted me on the shoulder, glancing at the sacks of money now resting in our camp.

“Well done, Arthur,” Hosea praised with a friendly chuckle. “Well done. Dutch said you guys weren’t able to take everything in the bank, but this should still be more than enough.”

I returned the smile, beaming happily at him. “You think we’ll finally be able to leave?”

“Not to another country perhaps,” he answered, “but we should be able to look further beyond the horizon now. Lord knows I’ve had enough of this godforsaken swamp. It’ll be nice to settle down someplace else.”

“Absolutely.” I agreed.

Hosea brought his gaze to Eddie who was currently helping Pearson carry in some of the sacks. “And what about the boy? He make it out alright?”

I let out a sigh. “Yeah, I think so, but...he ain’t happy, Hosea. During the whole robbery, he just had this look of disgust in his eyes. Especially after the way he saw me beat the bank manager. I think he’s feelin’ a bit guilty.”

The old man nodded in understanding. “Eddie’s not used to this life like the rest of us, Arthur. You need to give him time to adjust. Let him adapt to our world. He’ll come around eventually. But I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. Eddie seems happy to be with you. As long as you’re around, he’ll stay strong.”

A question suddenly popped up in my mind.

“Hey, that reminds me, I’ve been meanin’ to ask -- back when we was talking to Dutch about letting Eddie in the gang, you compared him to Annabelle. And Bessie.”

Hosea paused. “Oh, I’m sorry. Is that not the relationship between you two?”

“No, it is,” I corrected. “I was just wondering how you knew. Did Eddie tell you?”

The old man smirked. “Didn’t need to. I, ah...I saw the way you interacted with each other back at that gala. It was a dead giveaway.”

I chuckled, admittedly slightly embarrassed. “...Ah. I see.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Arthur,” Hosea reassured. “I know some of the fellas here have been pokin’ fun at you because of it, but truth be told, people like me, and Dutch, and Susan...we’re just happy to see you’ve finally moved on from Miss Gillis.”

A soft flutter filled my chest, and I bashfully rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah, I guess I have.”

“Mary was a sweet girl,” he reminisced, “and the two of you made some wonderful memories during your time as a couple...but that’s all in the past. You and Eddie, on the other hand, have a future together. You have a chance to make something out of it. Though, that won’t happen if you allow him to continue down the path he’s currently on.”

I quirked a brow. “What d’you mean?”

Hosea gave me a sorrowful gaze, taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

“...I know you were stuck in bed this past week, Arthur, but I’ve actually spoken to Eddie quite a bit since he first arrived, and I know about his past. I know Atticus Rose killed his entire family.”

“...Yeah,” I confirmed. “He’s the last one left.”

“And that ain’t easy,” Hosea empathized. “You know that. I know that. Hell, most of the people in this gang know that. But the thing that concerns me the most about Eddie is...he seems adamant to take revenge. He wants to make Atticus pay for what he’s done, and rightfully so. But you and I both know vengeance is a fool’s errand.”

“That it is.”

The old man switched to a more cautionary tone. “Eddie can be of use to us, Arthur. Not only is he a good shot, he’s also smart. We need that. But he needs you to help guide his strength in the right direction. Don’t let his desire for revenge consume him. Show him how to find peace in acceptance, and keep him safe. Can you do that?”

I gave Hosea a sincere look, peering at him from under the shadow cast by my hat.

“I intend to.”

He seemed to approve of that response. “Good. I’ve seen too many folks be killed as a result of their own actions, and I don’t know if I could watch the same thing happen to Eddie. ...But enough of that. I won’t keep you any longer. I’m sure Dutch could use your help, and I’ve got matters of my own to attend to. Take care of yourself, Arthur. Things are getting rough out th--”

Zipping right past me and interrupting our conversation, a bullet suddenly implanted itself into Hosea’s forehead with a sharp bang, causing the man’s blood to splatter onto me as he collapsed to the ground.

“What the--?!” I breathed out, frantically darting my eyes around as Hosea fell into my arms.

I dropped the man out of shock and immediately dove behind one of the camp’s barricades as another bullet came flyin’ my way, causing me to suddenly notice the horde of strangers shootin’ at us from the woods.

“...Sh-Shit!” I cursed, whipping out my guns. “Everyone! Take cover!”

Changing into fight mode, the entire gang instantly dropped what they were doing and began shooting back as they scurried behind whatever cover they could find, all of us forgettin’ about the money we just robbed.

“What the hell is this shit?!” Williamson exclaimed, cocking his rifle. “Who are these people?!”

Javier poked his head out, firing aimlessly into the forest. “Is that the law?”

“No!” I yelled back. “They don’t look like lawmen!”

“Who then? O’Driscolls?”

Dutch jumped in, puttin’ an end to our speculation. “We will figure out who these bastards are later! For now, just shoot them!”

I finally regained a portion of the senses I lost from the initial shock and stared at Hosea’s body, suddenly feelin’ like my blood was boiling once his death sunk in.

“Aw, Hosea...!” I growled through gritted teeth. “They got Hosea, Dutch!”

A dark fire ignited in his eyes.

“Goddammit...!” He whispered, his voice abruptly exploding into a hoarse shout as he began gunning down as many people as he could.

“KILL those sons-of-bitches!”

Aiming directly at my head, one of the men shot the barricade I was hidin’ behind as I ducked outta the way, causing wood and dust to splinter everywhere before I fired straight back at them.

“Eddie!” I shouted over the commotion. “Are you alive?!”

A distant voice answered me.

“I’m right here!” The boy replied.

“Good! Keep it that way!”

Continuing to shoot at our unknown enemy, I desperately fought back with nothin’ but a flimsy wall shielding me and no more than twelve bullets to defend myself as they rained hell upon us, filling my cover with more and more holes.

I was currently in one of the worst positions to be in at the moment, and since I weren’t too far from the camp’s entrance, I had the biggest target painted on my back right now.

I was running low on ammo, and I had no idea how much longer this barricade would hold up. I’d have to move soon if I wanted to stay alive.

“Has anyone seen Jack?!” John exclaimed. “If any of those assholes laid a finger on him, I swear I’ll kill them all!”

Charles fired his shotgun. “Christ...where did they even come from? How many of them are there?!”

“None once we’re done with them!” Dutch replied.

Pulling the trigger on my gun, I shot a few more bullets in their direction and put down a number of men, only to hear an empty click once I reached the end.

Shit! I couldn’t run out of ammo. Not now.

Holstering that revolver, I relied on the few remaining shots in my other one as I hurriedly maneuvered my way around the camp, dodging the oncoming fire and rolling into safety.

By now, there was bullets of all types soaring through the air in about eight different directions as they whistled past my ears, causing me to hear a sharp, ringing noise while I continued to fight.

All around me, I could see nothin’ but corpses that had been shot to hell, dirt and blood flyin’ all over the place due to the impact, gun-smoke clouding the air, and a seemingly endless army of enemies pouring out the woods. It was hell on Earth.

“Arthur!” Eddie called out. “Watch out!”

Glancing to my side, I spotted a sniper not too far away from me and managed to dodge their attack just in time as Eddie put his own bullet in the man’s head, leading his body to jolt backwards.

The pianist ran over to my location once the sniper was down, his hands clinging onto his Schofield for dear life as he slid next to me.

“You okay?” I asked him. Eddie nodded, albeit without confidence.

“For now. Jesus -- how did we not see them coming? There’s so many of them!”

“Just focus on killing ‘em! We’ll sort all this out afterwards!”

Lending me his other revolver, Eddie peeked over the top of the barricade and shot a few men who had gotten too close to the camp, getting back down just as another bullet came bolting in his direction.

The crowd of enemies seemed to be thinning out by now, and as far as I was aware, no one else had gotten killed...but even then, we were in deep shit.

We had just lost one of our best men -- a man who was like a father to me -- and now that Hosea was gone, I had no idea how Dutch was gonna cope with this.

It felt like I had just watched a flame be extinguished, and I doubted it was gonna get any easier from here on out. The gang’s lieutenant was dead, our camp was in ruins, and worst of all, we had no idea who was responsible.

Jesus. What a goddamned mess this was.

Gunning down what appeared to be the last man, Dutch took a moment to observe our surroundings as a deathly silence loomed over us following the end of the fight, our heavy breaths being the only audible sound right now.

We didn’t hear anything else. There were no movements, no footsteps, no gunfire...nothing. Did we make it? Had we truly won...? It certainly didn’t feel like a victory.

Slowly rising from cover, Eddie and I gradually stood up from the ground along with the rest of the gang as we came outta hiding, only to see what had become of our home.

There were countless bodies littering the entire property, the front of the mansion was covered in bullet holes, Hosea lay motionless in a cluster of red grass, and some of our horses had even been killed too. It looked like somethin’ straight out of a nightmare, and I mentally yelled at myself to snap out of it...but I knew this weren’t no dream.

This was reality.

And it was time for us to wake up.

Eddie let out a shaky breath, his eyes widened with shock and despair. “Is...is it over...?”

I stared blankly into the trees, suddenly feelin’ so lost and alone.

“I think so,” I murmured. “I...I dunno.”

Countering our morose mood, Dutch stormed over and took a look at Hosea’s corpse for himself, his jaw clenching in rage and heartbreak once he saw that his brother was indeed gone.

The man appeared more broken than I had ever seen in my life, and the longer he gazed hopelessly around the camp, unsure of what to do with himself...the more I feared some part of Dutch may’ve died with Hosea too. It was clear that somethin’ in him had snapped, and for the first time ever, I weren’t sure if I could mend it.

My God...what the hell was happening?

Before we could mourn any further however, a soft rustle emitted from the woods in front of us, causing everyone to perk their heads up in curiosity.

All our hands were instantly resting on our guns’ grips, and it looked like a group of people was headin’ our way...but we still couldn’t tell who they were. They didn’t wear the uniform of the law, and they didn’t resemble O’Driscolls either. In fact, I had never seen anyone like these fools. ...So just who the hell were they, exactly?

Answering my question, a familiar face suddenly emerged from the shadows, giving me a sense of dread and fear I hadn’t felt in ages.

The stranger was approaching our gang with a child in tow as his friends followed behind -- and the closer they got to our camp’s entrance, the more I started to recognize them.

Oh, shit. This was the last thing we needed.

Rodrick Kingsley gave me a malicious grin as he let out a low chuckle, the barrel of his gun pressed directly against the back of Jack’s head.

“...Remember me, sunshine?”

John instantly flew into a rage at the sight of his son, and he wasted no time in running towards him.

“Jack!”

Rodrick strengthened his hold on the gun, warning Marston to stay back.

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you, cowboy.”

John came to an abrupt halt, his eyes nailed onto Jack as the boy called for help.

“Pa...!” The child exclaimed. “I’m...I’m scared!”

“I know, Jack,” Marston comforted. “I know. But it’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna get you back! I won’t let these people hurt you! It’s going to be alright.”

A third, unknown voice stepped in the conversation.

“Enough, Rodrick.”

Calmly approaching the front of the group, an older man came sauntering out of the gun-smoke as he took a position in the middle, his stern, blue eyes never leaving Dutch.

The man appeared to be in his late forties and had a groomed, graying beard covering half of the wishbone-shaped scar on his right cheek, and his hair was hidden beneath a Gaucho hat.

He wore a chocolate, leather duster over a gray vest and red shirt, and had a pair of sleek riding boots covering his neat pants.

This man definitely looked like he could be their leader. He carried a slightly regal nature to him, and had the temperament of someone who’d rather kill than forgive. Despite the cold-blooded impression he made though, there was also something...almost fatherly about him. Like a strange sense of reason and wisdom that he somehow managed to preserve over the years. Similar to the way Hosea was...only minus the compassion.

Dutch steadily walked up to the man with his hands near his holsters as both our gangs stared each other down, silently demanding answers with a simple glare.

He tried to keep his tone as tame as possible.

“...Who...are you?”

The other man examined Dutch for a minute and looked him back in the eye, not even blinking once as he promptly uttered a response.

“Atticus,” the man replied. “Atticus Rose.”

#red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #arthur morgan #eddie ryan #arthur morgan x male oc #rdr2 fanfic #rdr2 story

[thedappleddragon]

how's about 4 days worth of logs because I kept getting too sleepy ok go

Today I fucked around made a lot of pasta spent too much time outside with my cat cut some more paw pattern pieces hand sewed the fingers as much as I could started makin the lining but gave up took a shower and did some much needed moisturizing did dishes ate candy and drew caras oc and started Anna’s final render but I need to do some cleanups

I woke up from a dream that my mom got the dog she signed up for but it was like a golden retriever that actually turn into a fat copy of my cat with bad eyes. Had a bagel for breakfast and saw my dad got chive and onion cream cheese :) Igot ready for the dmv and realized I should probably do laundry soon and put away clothes I’ve let pile up. Left for dmv after a while, went around the area a little bit, it started raining, waited inside dmv, a little nervous but not much, talked to same lady as last time (she was very nice and funny :) ) we had to sprint outside to the car because it was POURING OUTSIDE during the first half of the test and suddenly cleared up the second half. Ran over a big puddle. HOORAY I PASSED! Picked up subway, at half at home, went to grandparents house to look at old photos and read my moms old diary from her last family vacation before marrying my dad, stayed for entirely too long, came home, finished subway, laid down, drew and finished the princess lineup, now it’s only 1 am butn sleepy good night. Perhaps I will remember to post the past 2 days in the morning. Yesterday made 2 pastas and resin-Ed old new leaf charm

Writing the days summary through text for the 3rd day in a row because I am sleepy

I woke up pretty damn early, before 9am. Went outside with my cat, played webkinz, snacked. Then mom asked me to pick up her city barbecue which was my first time driving truly all by myself. I trusted myself to know how to get there but I was one street over and then going from the wrong direction and had to turn around, it was a mess. But I got the food just fine and got home safely and without problem. I wanted to drive a little more, so I went to the park, walked a lap around the perimeter, and came back home, sitting in the driveway for a little bit. I hung out for a bit, played stardew valley, quit because I accidentally died in the volcano, fucked around, idk. My friends ex tried snapping me but I didn’t answer and instead texted shit about him with the groupchat. Then we started talking about lgbt labels which tbh made me a little mad and overwhelmed and frustrated, and people were talking faster than I could type, and we talked about asexuality and lack thereof and everyone got uncomfy and fuckin. AAAAAAAH. I got mad and got a headache from hitting myself stimming and decided to try calming down by washing my hair in the dark. I like showing in total darkness occasionally. There’s nothing I need to see anyway lmao. I found myself not even noticing it was dark if that makes sense. Then my dad scared me by opening the door which I didn’t realize I hadn’t locked and telling me dinner was ready. I ate and we talked a little bit about job applications until I went back to bed and got in a weird board mood, and a mint chocolate chip Klondike bar, and now I’m going to sleep I guess. Lily is better at eating and existing on the floor like an animal after I put her food on the floor

today was very rainy and nice. I went with my sister to drive around and pick up food for mom. we dropped it off at home and went to go get our own food. Emily got a gyro and I got 5 guys. the gyro place had a little store attached off to the side with very cramped isles and kinder eggs, which was interesting because I thought they were still banned in America. 5 guys was very overwhelming because of how busy it was. after getting our food we drove to the top of the parking garage and ate there, looking over the main roads and stores and everything, watching the rain. we ate and watched tiktoks and hung out until we decided to go to mcdonlds for water. 2 large waters was only 54 cents so I paid in coins lmao. we sat in the target parking lot for a moment before shopping around. Emily got some shorts and a face wash, and I got a succulent in a bunny shaped pot. I'm 80% sure there's not any dirt in there, and the succulent is glued in, so I got it mostly for the pot. it looks like the bunny is holding the plant, so I think I'll use it for holding pens when the plant dies. right now it’s sitting on my window, looking very cute. after driving home I sat in the car for a bit watching tiktoks until my sister called me and my phone died. apparently my cat was looking for me and even jumped up onto my sister’s bed. so I spent some time in bed just hanging out with her, playing Webkinz and hopping onto animal jam for th first time in months. theyve added some stuff which is cool I guess. I'm not gonna try to log in every day like I did when I was hyper fixated on animal jam, feral, waking, and Webkinz Next all at the same time. that was A Time. maybe I'll jump onto feral tomorrow to see what’s up there. it’s a very pretty game, and the few mini games they have are fun. I just wish there were easier ways to get new avatars, or at least have more than one design for one species. bleh. anyways my friend sent a tiktok she made about our friend group so I spent the next several hours drawing it but as our royal bloodshed au sonas. saving all the frames to my camera roll filled up my phone and I had to delete Tumblr. its fine because I haven been able to use it on mobile for over a year now I think. my phone is so stupidly fulll because I don't delete messages or pictures x-x I just need to upload them all to a drive and delete them all or something. im proud of the animatic but I've only gotten one response in the grouch so far, probably because everyone’s asleep lmao. now it’s midnight and I'm just gonna take a Tylenol and hang out until I fall asleep.

#thanks for coming to my ted talk #long post #April 2021 daily #2021 daily

[ishouldprobablybewriting]

Heavy Hitters- Chapter Two

Heavy Hitters: Outlaw Country pt 2

Sara convinces an old friend to join the Waverider team- as research and tech guru only, or so she said. As the newbie struggles to adjust to the team and the team struggles to adjust to her, Sara is playing a different game all together. One the new girl might not like too much.

Fandom: Legends of Tomorrow (or Flash or Arrowverse since it’s Mick Rory, but specifically LoT)

Pairing: Mick Rory x Plus Size OFC (cause Mick totally likes thick ladies)

Word Count: 3909

Tags/Warnings: Language, Cannon violence

Part one     |     Masterlist

A/N: Bit more action in this one. And a lot more Emily. Starts out with  2x6: Outlaw Country and follows it almost word for word with the new OC of course. Still not much interaction between Emily and Mick in this one. The next one will be much more action packed. And prolly up within the week. Maybe this weekend. I’ve actually got most of the rest of this chapter typed. At nearly 9k words it just seemed to long so I decided to cut it in half.  Lemme know what you think.

It didn't take too long for everyone to suit up again. Emily made sure to check on the professor before the others left. She found him in one of the engineering work rooms tinkering with something on a desk she couldn’t quite see. He had books spread out open to various pages and was hunched slightly with his back to her. She could just barely make out his voice as he mumbled, talking himself through whatever problem. She smiled softly. “Professor?” Emily called, her voice low. He still jumped.

“Huh? Wha-?” He turned finally catching her eye, “Ah, yes. Ms. Kyteler. What can I do for you?”

“Emily is fine, Professor.” He smiled at her and she knew he’d ignore her like he did the last dozen or so times she had corrected him. She took a step closer, careful not to invade his personal space. “I wanted to check on you. Jax said you weren’t feeling alright.”

Stein huffed lightly making a mental note to thank Jax for covering for him. “Yes, yes, dear. No need to worry. Liberty 1874 is just a young man’s town, that’s all. And I’m feeling a bit strange today. Thought it best to let the others handle this.”

Emily nodded. “Well, Pluto ‘ere is good company if you need it,” she gestured to the medium sized white dog with too-intelligent eyes sitting patiently at her feet as always. His ears perked up when she looked down to him. The click click click of his nails echoed slightly in the empty room before Pluto settled next to the desk the Professor was working on. “And, he’s really good at problem solvin’. Always helps me work mine out.” She looked back up and met the older man’s stare. Emily always like that no matter how much his irritation showed on his face, his eyes and words always seemed to be kind to her. She was sure it had something to do with her being a younger woman- and not an assassin. He treated Amaya the same way. She smiled fully at him, “Alright, then. An’ just for the record,” she started, her grin skewing itself and eyes growing mischievous, “You an’ I both know you could prolly handle half the men in that town by yourself.”

He laughed at her as she turned on her boot heels and strode quickly towards the bay doors to meet up with the others.

Finally as the group arrived in Liberty, the Waverider crew was struck by just how empty it had become. There were still a handful of people, maybe a dozen, milling around but it looked mostly like older shop owners and their porch dogs.

Emily looked around hummed lowly. “Or all of them.” She caught the questioning look Mick gave her. She let a nervous smile twitch onto her face and shook her head quickly before ducking slightly and looking around again.

“Where is everybody?” Clearly Jax, at the front by Hex, noticed the same emptiness.

Hex grumbled a bit. “Well, ever since Turnbull set up shop six months ago, everyone’s been run outta town or made ta work in the mine.”

“Mine?” Mick stepped forward, “What kinda mine? Gold?” Emily rolled her eyes as a corner of her mouth turned up.

“Hell if I know.”

“Nobody’s been mining for gold near these parts for half a century,” Nate recited as he watched a man on a horse walk closely by. “Listen to me, ‘these parts’. I sound like I’m a cowboy.” He couldn’t keep the boyish excitement out of his voice.

“He must of pulled something from under the ground that’s makin’ him rich- Turnbull owns the saloon.” Ray pointed out.

Hex spoke up as he continued to lead the group through the all but barren brown on slightly lighter brown landscape, “An’ hotel, laundry and the whorehouse.”

Sara didn’t skip a beat, “The answers ‘no’, Mick.”

The group slowed to a stop with Hex in front of a building, “Turnbull’s gotta office above the saloon.” He shot Sara a look, “He’s also got about a dozen men makin’ sure no one gets close to ‘im.”

“Well, I think we can.” Sara dug a hand into her pocket as she faced her crew. “Mick,” she tossed something at him, “Why don’t you mosey on in there- have yourself a good time?” Mick looked slightly confused for a second, instantly realizing that Sara had just tossed him a small bag full of coins used in the town. And was asking him to go blow it all on liquor. Emily smiled to herself as she caught onto Sara’s plan.

He wasn’t about to ask questions though. “If you insist.” Emily watched him walk into the saloon before Sara could change her mind.

Amaya, ever the voice of reason, questioned Sara, “I'm not sure I understand you plan. You just sent a match to a powder keg.”

“That is the plan,” Emily answered quietly.

Sara nodded. “And if Turnbull doesn't want his saloon to burn down, he's gonna have to come out of his office and deal with it.” Jax started nodding along, grinning in agreeance with the plan.

“Yeah, get your boy to get into a fight with Turnbull and pull ’im out here to the streets.” Hex suggested.

Seems everyone’s catching up now. Emily lips pulled up again, not quite into a smile.

“Amaya,” Sara continued, “Your job is to make sure Rory keeps his pistol in his pants until he’s outside.”

“Well. Clearly, I drew the short straw,” she sassed at Sara as she walked towards the saloon.

Emily glared a bit after her, lips pursed slightly. That’s no way to think of your teammate.

Jax stepped forward. “So, what do you want us to do?”

“Reckon I could set up close with a long gun,” Ray spit on the ground.

“Are you chewing tobacco?” Nate asked.

Rays eyebrows lifted, “Mm. Tootsie roll.”

“Get rid of your hats, and your guns,” Sara ordered.

“What?” Jax followed his orders anyways, but not before spinning his gun on his finger. “I thought we were supposed to be badass cowboys.” He aimed his gun dramatically.

“You boys wanna know why Turnbull went from a cattle wrestler to owning his own country? Imma need you to infiltrate his base of operations.”

“As what?” Nate was less than impressed with this prospect.

Sara raised her eyebrows and grinned. “No one says no to the tax man.”

All three echoed a small groan. Emily held back a laugh.

Once the three boys were sent towards Turnbull’s accountant, Emily stepped closer to her companions. They were in a comfortable silence for a few beats, simply waiting on the powder keg of Mick in a saloon to explode. Hex looked between the two women. “What? You useless or something?”

Emily eyed him for a second. The turned and shot a look to Sara. “Or something,” Emily shrugged at Hex. He stared at her before shaking off his confusion and falling into companionable silence with the women.

At the accountant’s office, the boys, looking slightly less rough around the edges now, introduced themselves to a nervous, well-dressed man with round glasses. “Ya’ll tax collectors?”

Nate smiled reassuringly, “We’re here to go over your books and make sure everything’s in order.”

“And we’re in a bit of a hurry so, uh...” Jax rushed.

Ray confirmed, “Yes, we're on the next train back to Washington,D.C.”

The accountant looked even more confused. “Well, there ain't no train to Washington. Pass won’t be open til spring.” he nodded at Nate. Nate in turn smiled and forced out a laugh preparing to cover Ray’s blunder.

“He means mule train.” Ray grit hit teeth but didn’t disagree. “This guy.”

Nate walked through the threshold of the office. “How'd we go from desperado to accountant?”

“Well at least Micks having fun,” Jax grumbled following in after him.

“Stuck here doing research while everyone else is out drinking,” Nate complained, pulling open a random drawer. “It's like high school all over again.”

Mick made a beeline for the bar. He slapped a coin on the wood and ordered a beer. A well- if not over- dressed woman at the end of the bar made eyes on the large gruff man. Amaya walked up and stood between them. It was clear she wasn’t happy with her assignment. Mick looked at Amaya. “Make it two,” he sighed.

The bartender gave them both a look. “You’re with him?”

“Unfortunately,” she nodded.

The boys continued to, as quickly and inconspicuously as possible, tear apart the office. Ray was closing a cabinet when he looked over and noticed a tan book, “Ledger” written diagonally across the cover. He opened the cover and took a quick look at some of the pages before calling for the others. “Guys, I think I found something. According to this ledger, Turnbull's stockpiling some kind of ore in a nearby mining camp.” He snapped the book closed as heavy footsteps turned the corner. Two large, armed men walked into the room.

Jax’s face pulled as the men looked at them, trying to scare the time travelers. “And you are?”

“I work for Mr. Turnbull.” Ray noticed a third man enter from the other door, effectively surrounding them as the first man spoke. “Who’re you?”

Ray cleared his throat. “My friends and I are with the Internal Revenue Service-”

“Uh-uh-uh. Mr Turnbull don’t like no taxmen.”

“Well nobody likes paying taxes,” Nate's voice dropped just a bit, “But they are an essential part of the Federal Government. And-”

“Mister Turnbull don’t like the Federal Government, neither.”

Jax tried a different approach. “Is that why he’s trying to start his own country?” It may not have been the best approach.

The man in front squinted at the “IRS agents” while the other two pulled deep frowns. “Oh see, now. Why’d ya have to go and say something’ like that?” He pulled his pistol from its position and made a show of cocking it as the other two men raised their guns as well. “Now I gotta pump some lead into ya so ya don’t go blabbin’ to the wrong person.” His eyes grew a little, making him look crazy.

“Hey, hey,” Nate tried to reason, “Would you shoot an unarmed man?”

The three hired men laughed amongst themselves. “I think that’s a ‘yes’.” Ray said just before all three leaped into action.

Jax lead the charge. He threw a mean right hook and caught the bearded man straight on knocking him down and unconscious. Nate didn’t wait for Jax to even stand and he leapt over both bodies to knock out another one before he could get away. Ray lunged to his right and too out one holding a rifle with strong left punch.

All three stood and smiled at each other, impressed with what they had done.

Hex wasn’t very good at waiting patiently for Rory to pick a fight. He walked across to the laundry. The saloon was still within eyesight but at least there was some shade and a place to sit. He crossed his arms and Emily sat stiffly beside him, while Sara stood a few steps aways. Each kept their eyes on the saloon.

“So what’s your relationship with Turnbull?” Sara asked.

“Come again?” Hex finally looked from the door. Sara turned and joined him at the table.

“Well, you’ve had dealings over the years.” She sat on the other side of Hex. “I can tell a vendetta when I see one. Kinda an expert when it comes to revenge.”

Hex looked towards Emily, just to look away from Sara and her truth. Emily just nodded along, agreeing with Sara’s statement. Hex huffed. Damn fillies “Is this what it's like- working with a woman?” Sara turned to face him more now. Emily turned her head and raised a challenging eyebrow. “Ya’ just, sit around and talk about your feelings?” Hex wouldn’t look either of them in the eye.

“Well, if your feelings are what almost got you hung- then yeah. I’d say they’re worth talking about.”

Hex finally looked Sara in the eye. “Not in this century,” he whispered.

While these three waited for Mick to finish his party, the other trio had swapped clothes with the unconscious outlaws. Though, Jax did find it a little creepy that they apparently had to undress unconscious men.

“Well,” started Nate, walking through the threshold to join the other two, “Now that we got some outlaw outfits, it’s time to find out what Turnbull’s stockpiling at his mining camp.”

“Or we can do the responsible thing and go back to the ship with the rest of the team,” Ray offered, hat in hand.

Nate scoffed lowly. “You’re joking, right?”

The three stared at each other for a tense moment. Ray cracked first, a smile lighting his face as he put his hat on his head. “Time to cowboy up!”

Jax hit his shoulder and they laughed before Jax turned out the door. Ray and Nate slapped each other on the arm a few too many times to be just friendly before following suit.

The dealer laid down cards in front of Mick, a pretty blonde on his lap and Amaya beside him with a bottle in her hand. The pianist continued to play some jonty old tune to fill the bar along with the sounds of other patrons drinking and talking. He flipped over one card- an ace of diamonds- and sighed dramatically. “Ahh…” His smug smile gave him away to anyone who knew him. Mick never smiled like that. Not unless he was planning something.

“Another blackjack,” the dealer commented as he continued placing cards on the table.

“Must be my lucky day!”

Amaya leaned in, “You’re cheating.”

“I’m winning.” He tossed back the shot in front of him. Mick handed the whore that had just gotten off his lap a bill. “Sweetheart, that's for you.” She giggled and took it smiling at him. “I’ll see you around.” He wasn’t done sharing his wealth yet. “Piano man!” Mick slapped another bill on the wooden top of the instrument, “Play something else.” He continued past the musician. “I’ve had more fun at a funeral.” He hit his hand on the bar top a few times. “Bartender!” Loud and obnoxious, this was the Mick Rory the Waverider crew knew and, well, kind of loved.

He turned to the older man beside him at the bar who had started giving him a strange curious look. The man's white eyebrows drawn up as he took a small step back to appraise the unfamiliar man. “And who might you be?” Mick roughed, turning up his glass again.

“Names Turnbull.”

Mick looked unimpressed. “Never heard of him.”

“That’s my name on the sign in front’a the saloon.” Turnbull’s unbelieving face never wavering. “Can’t you read?”

“Ha Ha Ha. So it’s your money I’m winning? Well, that's interesting.” Mick plucked his ever-present lighter from his pocket and took a bill from the bar top. He made a show of flicking open the lighter and bringing it slowly to the corner of the money.

Amaya, who had been watching from her seat, groaned silently. Mick always knew what buttons to push. Then again, that

why Sara sent him into the saloon to begin with.

“I’d say your luck ‘as run out, partner.” Turnbull quipped.

Mick paid no mind, by now transfixed on the golden flame. He broke his gaze and dropped the now useless money.

“Ya’ just gonna stand there and make threats?” Mick challenged. Amaya silently got up. She positioned herself closer, ready to back up her crewmate if necessary. ”Or ya’ gonna do something ta back it up?”

Both men took a step back, reaching for the pistols on their hips.

“Amaya,” Sara’s voice crackled over the coms, “What’s going on in there?”

She pressed her finger to her ear and turned slightly from the piano player. “You wanted Mick to start a fight. Looks like your plans working.”

As the now properly- or rather improperly- dressed trio made their way into the mining camp, dirty bandanas covering their faces to help them blend in more, Jax groaned loudly. “Man, people didn’t wash in the wild wild west?” He could hardly handle the stench of the stolen clothes they were now baking in.

“Well, we’re criminals, remember? It's important to smell the part,” Ray reasoned.

An older outlaw dressed in all black, save his off white bandana tied around his neck, looked up as the boys walked into the camp. He stood from his spot by a fire pit. “Hey boys, we got company,” he alerted the other outlaws as he grabbed his gun. He aimed it directly at Nate.

Jax crossed his arms in a challenging stance. Ray and Nate held their ground, not even blinking. All three played their parts to perfection hoping this would work and they wouldn’t get shot all to hell in a time when “modern medicine” was “puttin’ a lil’ dirt on it”.

“I dun’ reck-on-ize you,” the man drew.

Nate thought fast, “Ah well that’s probl’y because’a our new bandana.” He pointed to his face.

The outlaw looked towards Ray. “This one off ‘is rocker?” He gestured towards Nate.

Ray just shrugged. He lowered his voice deeply, “You could blow ‘is brains out,” Nate sent him a questioning glare. “Only, he hasn’t got any.” 

Apparently, the play worked. The outlaws laughed loudly and patted Nate roughly on the shoulder and back before walking off.

Nate returned the favor to Ray. “Nice work.”

Back on the ship, Professor Stein walked into the medbay with a slight limp. “Gideon, let's run the neuro-imaging scan again. Th-There must be something you missed,” He asked taking a seat in the second chair. Pluto, who wouldn’t listen to the professor’s command to “stay put and leave him alone” stopped just after the first chair, careful to be out of the way but still obviously present despite the dog’s silence.

“The odds that I misdiagnosed your condition are infinitesimally thin,” the AI litted. “The algorithm programmed into my medical diagnostic systems-”

“Oh just do it,” the professor grumbled.

“As you wish, professor.” She fired up the scanner and its blue lights came to life with a soft whir. He breathed heavily while the machine completed its short scan. “Biometric scan reveals all brain functions are within normal parameters. Physiologically, there's nothing wrong with you.”

“A-are you implying that my symptoms are psychosomatic?” He got up from the chair, “Because- ah-” A splitting pain ripped through the professor’s brain. He tried to breathe through the pain and pressed his hand to his head, closing his eyes as images of a young woman flashed through his mind. She had short brown hair and bright blue jacket and smiled at brightly at him like he was her world. He could hear her laughter. Stein’s breathing became labored and he sunk back down into the chair. “Please,” he gasped, “I need you to run another test, again.” He wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers. The lights began to glow again as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly.

Nate, Ray and Jax grabbed lanterns and began exploring the open, and surprisingly not guarded at all, mine shaft. Jax shuffled through a few papers on a crate as they passed but nothing stood out. Ray went to one side to investigate an open crate. A large glittering rock poked up from the edge of the wood. Multiple, small dark points caught the light from Ray’s lantern as he stepped closer. A look of realization crossed his face when he recognized the rock. “Oh my God.”

Nate continued looking while Jax stepped over to see what Ray found, “What is it?”

“It’s dwarf star.” His eyebrows up, eyes wide and a small smile on his face as he spoke, “One of the rarest minerals in the universe.”

“How does this help Turnbull take over the west?” Nate asked.

“I used dwarf star to power the A.T.O.M. suit. The piece I had was the size of your little finger!” he exclaimed. “There's enough potential energy here to power the entire wild west!”

“Or blow it up,” Jax reasoned, eyes cutting to Ray.

“Question is, how does Turnbull even know what it is?”

Nate took a few steps forward towards another crate with another large ore sitting inside. And a glass disk with two white rectangles on either side, no bigger than the size of his palm, sitting on top. “Bet ya’ it has something to do with this.” Nate picked up the device and beeped as it came to life showing a red grid with a large “X” in the center of the crosshairs. The device glowed as he showed it to his teammates. Somehow Turnbull had gotten his hands on future technology. And was using it to his advantage, apparently.

“Its some kind of tracker,” Nate explained, “Definitely not from the 1800’s.”

“Probably stole it from a time pirate,” Jax reasoned.

“We’ve gotta get this out of here.” Ray didn't waste time waiting for confirmation from his teammates as he turned to leave.

Jax sat down his lantern and squatted to pick up the box with the dwarf star. He tried lifting it, groaning a bit under the strain.

Ray turned back, “Oh, I should have mentioned- it’s also the densest material in the universe.” Ray shrugged a bit as Jax glared at him. “Let's get the rest of the team.”

“Amaya,” Sara called, still sitting on the table with Emily and Hex, “Its been forever. What the hell is going on in there?”

Amay pours herself a drink before she answers. “Plans hit something of a snag.”

That didn’t sound right to Sara. “Explain.”

“It’s hard to but,” she paused, “Mr Rory and Mr Turnbull,” Amaya glanced back watching Mick and Turnbull laughing at a table over a bottle of something, “like each other.” The men clicked their glasses together before downing the shot.

“What?” Sara hissed. “What happened to Rory starting a fight?” Mick Rory never turned down a fight.

Amaya tilted her head, “I think it's more likely that him and Turnbull get matching tattoos.” She took a sip of her own liquor, needing something to handle this situation.

Mick’s gruff voice was loud in the busy bar. “So they told me to put my hands up,” he raised his hands mimicking the action, “And my pants fell down,” he lowered his hands smoothly as Turnbull let out a booming, cracking laugh, “Because a’ all the loof I was carryin’!” Mick joins Turnbull in his loud laugh; Turnbull laughed hard enough to make himself cough a bit.

Turnbull gestures a pointing finger towards the door then towards Mick, “Ya’ see! That’s what them damn fools back in Washin’ton don’ understand! That men like you an’ me,” his hand flew wildly between the two of them, “We weren’t meant ta live in cages!” Micks eyes had gone a bit wide making him look a little crazier than usual with the small frown on his face. “Hell!” Turnbull continued, “Tha’s why our forebarers busted away ta begin with! So we could be free!” Mick nodded in agreeance, “An’ that's wha’ Turnbull Country’s all about!” He leaned in about on the table, Turnbull finally lowering his voice back to a normal talking level, “It’s about keeping the wild west, wild!”

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged! I’d be up to start doing that especially since my upload schedule is not consistent at all. 

#my writing #Mick Rory #mick rory x plus size reader #I just really love Mick being all grabby #mick rory x plus size #Plus Size #plus size character #plus size ofc #heatwave #heatwave x plus size reader #heatwave x plus size #OFC #legends of tomorrow #jax jefferson #Martin Stein #Professor Stein #arrowverse #flashverse #sara lance #Jonah Hex #amaya jiwe #Ray Palmer #nate heywood #heavy hitters #fanfic #legends of tomorrow fanfic #legends of tomorrow fanfiction #fanfiction #slow burn #just wait

[general-kenobi357]

Someday Soon-Chapter 6

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Fem!OC

Summary: The Pogues find the gold, now all they need to a plan to get it and everyone to agree to work together.

Word Count: 7.6k

🔅🔆🔅

I woke up the next morning to the sun shining brightly into my room and an arm wrapped tightly around my waist. I could tell it was early as the sky still looked orange from the rising sun but I still felt like I had woken up from the best sleep I had had in months.

Careful not to wake up JJ who was still snoring softly beside me, I slipped out of his grasp and went over to my dresser to grab clean clothes. After finding everything I needed I snuck out of my room to go change in the bathroom. I could hear my Mom and Emmy in the kitchen and hoped JJ wouldn’t wake up and leave the room before I came back. Nothing had happened but I still didn’t think that my Mom would like the idea of a boy sleeping over without her knowing.

After changing I went back into my bedroom to see JJ awake and stretching his arms high over his head.

“Does your house smell like pancakes often?” He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Uh, not all the time my Mom’s making breakfast I think.” I responded, throwing my pajamas in the laundry basket. “Now you need to go before my Mom comes in here and finds you.”

“But I like pancakes.” He complained.

“Okay fine.” I tried to reason, not wanting to argue. “Sneak back out my window and walk around to the front door as if you are just coming over and then I will feed you breakfast.”

“Yes!” He exclaimed, before I threw my hand over his mouth.

“Shh, she’ll hear you.”

I heard a muffled apology from under my hand before I dropped my arm back to my side.

“Okay go, I’ll meet you in the front.” I explained pushing him towards the window.

I watched him walk back towards his dirt bike before I made my way to the kitchen.

“Good morning Honey, how’d you sleep?” My Mom asked as I walked past her.

“Good thanks, whatcha makin’?” I asked looking over her shoulder.

“Emmy asked if we could have pancakes and I figured we hadn’t in a while.”

Our conversation was cut short by a knock on the front door, I was about to go let JJ in when Emmy beat me to the door.

“JJ!” Emmy called out excitedly as she opened the door.

“Morning Princess!” He responded while he picked her up and spun her around all the while Emmy giggled until he set her back down.

“JJ did you smell breakfast from down the road?” My Mom asked from beside me.

“Of course, I have a radar for good food Mrs. Bailer. How are you?” JJ asked with a bright smile.

“I’m good thank you.” She responded as she started putting breakfast on plates. “Iz can you grab the syrup?”

We all sat down together and dug into the food in front of us. The table was pretty quiet while we ate.

“Hey Iz, were you uh, talking to someone last night?” Mom asked as I was eating the last bit of my food, I almost choked on the bite I had just taken when I heard her question.

“Um no, I must have been talking in my sleep.” I tried to cover up my surprise at her question.

“Hmm maybe.” She said and I couldn’t tell if she believed me or not as she stood up and started to clear the table. “What are you and your friends up to today?”

“I think we’re going to meet everyone else at The Wreck.” JJ spoke out as he continued to eat.

“That sounds nice. Did you want anything else to eat JJ?” Mom asked.

“No I think we should probably get going.” I responded before JJ could, I felt like she knew he had stayed over and I didn’t want to wait until she found the words to ask about it.

“Alright.” She said, turning to do the dishes. “Oh before I forget can you take care of Emmy this afternoon for a little while?”

“Okay, I’ll make sure I’m back by one.” I told her as I collected my stuff.

“Thank you.” She said as I went to my room to grab my bag.

“Bye Emmy! Bye Mrs. Bailer! Thanks for breakfast!” JJ called while I directed him towards the door.

We walked up the driveway in silence before coming to a stop in front of his dirt bike. JJ’s bike and I were not fans of each other, the first time I had ever rode on it I managed to fall off the back. Luckily JJ had been going slow and I only received a scraped knee and a few bruises. The next day he had gone out and bought me a helmet but it was months later when I was finally convinced to give it another try.

“You’ll be fine.” JJ reassured me as he unclipped the helmet from his backpack and walked closer to me to put it on.

“Are you sure you don’t want to just walk to The Wreck?” I asked while lifting my chin so he could make sure the strap was clipped.

“That would take forever.” He told me, flipping down the visor over my face. He got onto the bike before turning to make sure I was following him.

“I don’t like this thing.” I mumbled, putting my arms around his waist.

“I know, just don’t let go this time.” He said before starting up the bike. “You know I think that Pope might like the bike more than you do.”

“Yeah well, Pope’s a daredevil.” I huffed as he drove us down the road.

🔅🔆🔅

At the Wreck we were all gathered around a table as Kie brought out drinks for us. Listening to John B tell us about his new living arrangement.

“I'm sorry. You're staying where?” I asked, still in disbelief that Ward Cameron would invite him to stay with them days after he fired John B.

“Tannyhill.” John B reconfirmed for like the third time.

“So you're living with Sarah Cameron.” Kie asked, still wanting nothing to do with the Kook Princess.

“Okay, look, the only reason I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right?” John B tried to explain. “And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn't…”

“Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?” Pope asked.

“I don't know, Pope.”

“What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?” JJ added.

“Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?” I added to the teasing and I'm sure it would have continued had Kie not stepped in.

“Look, you promised. You said you weren't with her.” Kie told John B, we could all see how much it was hurting her. “If you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah.”

“Do you guys see her here?” John B finally asked. “No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic. We've got the map, right?”

“It's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it.” JJ told us, which made me roll my eyes while a smile played on my lips.

“It's 'cause the coast has changed.” Kie explained to him.

“So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed.” Pope told us, while we all looked at the map.

After following the map to an old fort Pope had figured out where we had to go, but as we pulled up beside the stone wall my stomach sunk.

“Not the Crain house.” John B grumbled as he parked the van.

“Are you kidding me?” Kie asked as we all got out of the car.

“Worst-case scenario.” Pope stated.

“Why'd it have to be here... of all places?” I asked, taking a deep breath.

“I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property.” JJ told us.

The rational part of my brain knew that the stories were illogical, I knew that Mrs. Crain was probably not an axe murderer but that didn’t help how scared I felt as we climbed out of the van and stared at the house that loomed large in front of us.

🔅🔆🔅

After a couple minutes of deliberation John B had convinced us all to venture into Mrs. Crain’s yard and as we walked through the overgrown yard it was beginning to be easier to believe the stories I had heard as a kid.

“Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?” Kie asked from her spot at the head of the group.

“Oh, yeah. No, I do.” JJ said, we all followed close together not wanting to get split up.

“Honestly, I don't really believe the stories of this place.” John B spoke up from the back of the group.

“Which stories did you hear?” JJ asked us, I almost crashed into his back when he stopped for a minute.

“The one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since.” Kie started recounting the tale. “On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!”

“No, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true.” JJ explained. “I swear to God, guys, this is all real. I knew Hollis.”

“Wait, you knew Hollis Crain?” Pope asked from behind me.

“How do you know Hollis Crain?” I spoke up suspicious of his story.

“She was my babysitter. She told me all about it. Told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house.” He said before telling us all the things Hollis had supposedly told him. “So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night.”

“What night?” Pope asked, his eyes growing wider as he believed every word JJ spoke.

“It all came back to her. When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink... full of blood. Her mother just says that she cut her finger. The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse. And as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her.”

“God, you are so full of shit.” John B told JJ, rolling his eyes.

“Dude, I swear to God, man.” JJ responded, seeming to believe his own story.

“We can't do this... Wait!” Pope tried to stop us all as we continued to walk through the yard.

“What?” John B asked, turning around.

“You sure you wanna do this? She's an axe murderer. You got a cast on.” JJ tried to reason with him.

“I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay? I got nothin' to lose, right? You comin' or what?” With that we all followed John B until he stopped us again. “So here's the plan. We need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in Denmark's letter.”

“Okay, like, what kind of water? Like, pond water?” Pope asked, trying to get more specific.

“Bong water?” JJ laughed as we all turned to look at him. It was clear he wasn’t paying attention.

“No. It... it just said look for water, okay?” John B tried to recall the letter he had gotten translated.

“That's the shittiest secret message ever.” Kie told him before pushing past to keep exploring the yard.

“You wanna complain a little more, Kie? Nobody said it was gonna be easy.” John B told her, as he got up to help her search the south side of the yard.

“I'll search the northeast quadrant, you search the northwest.” Pope told JJ.

“The decapitation quadrant.” He called to Pope as he walked away. I was about to follow Pope when JJ grabbed my hand. “Nope. You can’t leave me alone.”

“What? I don’t wanna search the decapitation quadrant.” I told him but I could tell I wasn’t getting my hand out of his grip. “Fine can we at least call it something else?”

“Okay, um, what about the sunshine quadrant that might have a head buried in it?”

“How is that better?” I asked, as he was about to respond I noticed John B who was waving us over to the house.

“Hey, come on. It's the only place we haven't looked.” John B told us as he opened the door to get under the house.

“Oh yeah, let’s go under the murder house. What could go wrong?” I replied while JJ pulled my hand so I would follow everyone under the house.

“Down came Mrs. Crain And cut off all our heads. Up came the sun And dried up all the blood.” JJ sang to the tune of itsy bitsy spider, his parody of the song did not improve the situation.

“Can you stop?” Pope asked, turning to face us, clearly on edge.

“See any water?” Kie asked quietly.

“There's not even water on the pipes.” JJ pointed out. “Not a dropamino.”

“Know why we didn't find it?” Kie asked John B bitterly. “Bad karma.”

“Oh, God. Here we go.” John B complained.

“You know, we had a good thing going. And then you decide to rope in Barbie, and now the trail's gone dry. Coincidence? Probably not.”

“This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you about Sarah. What the hell's the deal with you two?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? Is it because I kissed you? Is that the problem?"

"Stop treating me like I'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you.” Kie finished before slapping John B across the face.

“Did you, uh... hit me?”

“Skeeter.” She exclaimed, holding up her hand for proof.

“Skeeter?”

“Yeah, you see it?”

As they continued slapping each other I slapped a mosquito from my own arm. My eyebrows knitted together in confusion, why were there so many mosquitos under a house where there was absolutely no water.

“Why are there so many mosquitoes in a basement?” Pope voiced my question before I was able to.

“Dude. I know, seriously. Tiny vampire bastards, just leave me alone.” JJ said as he continued to shoo away the mosquitos that were attacking us all.

“There has to be water down here right?” I asked Pope, stepping onto the platform he was standing. My hand was still in JJ’s so he followed me up onto the platform, jumping up in one leap a hollow sound echoed below him. Immediately Pope met my eyes as if we were thinking the same thing.

“It’s under us.” We both said at the same time. Pope grabbed a pebble and dropped it down through the space between the wood. After a minute there was a splash at the bottom confirming our realization.

“Guys help us move this.” Pope instructed everyone as I started moving the junk that was littered all over.

We moved as quietly as we could knowing Mrs. Crain was probably upstairs. Finally we got the platform out of the way and gathered around the well that had been hiding underneath our feet this whole time.

“Well, well, well.” Pope said pointing his flashlight down the deep well.

“That was a good dad joke.” I complimented, laughing at his joke.

“They built this part of the house right over it.” Kie said in disbelief.

“This is where she hid the bodies.” JJ told us.

“Stop it! She probably doesn't even know it's here.” Kie reasoned.

“So... we found water.” Pope said with a smile

“We're gonna need a really big rope.” John B stated, as we all continued to marvel at the giant well.

🔅🔆🔅

John B dropped us all off at the Château before telling us he had to go do something, we were all waiting for him on the porch. Soon after my Mom brought over Emmy as she had to go to work for a couple hours and couldn’t get a babysitter.

“Try to keep it PG guys!” My Mom reminded us as she left, she did know about some of the shenanigans we tended to get into.

Now Emmy was standing in front of Pope and JJ telling them about the book she had gotten from the library a few days ago. Kie and I were standing a few feet away from them out of earshot.

“So, are you and JJ good again?” She asked as we looked over to the others.

“Honestly, I have no freaking clue.” I said, pausing to think for a minute before I continued. “He stayed over last night.”

“What? Like what kind of stayed over?” She asked suggestively.

“Oh, no, nothing happened. We didn’t even talk about the kiss, I told him I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“But are you going to?”

“Yeah, maybe, one day, or maybe we won’t. I don’t know.” I said, feeling defeated.

“Well maybe it’s better to wait, you know. Just until after we find the gold.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I looked over towards JJ trying to figure out what to do.

I noticed Kie hadn’t said anything else for a minute, looking up I followed her line of sight to see her burning holes through Sarah Cameron as she approached us with John B. This would be interesting.

🔅🔆🔅

Kie had started pacing up and down the porch so I moved over to where Pope and JJ sat, Emmy had climbed onto the arm of the chair JJ was sitting on. She was fascinated watching the scene in front of her unfold.

“No effing way!” Kie yelled, clearly pissed that John B had brought Sarah back here. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go, on the one hand I wanted to see what would happen but on the other I wondered if I should take Emmy home so she didn’t see it. “You brought her here? So what? She's in on this now?”

“Look, all I care about is her cut comes out of your share.” JJ spoke up before everything started falling apart.

“You know, I don't remember taking a vote. This is our thing. A Pogue thing.”

“I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this.” Pope told us.

“Thank you!” Kie exclaimed.

“When are you not?” John B asked.

“I dunno. I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably.” Pope recalled.

“It's true. Most relaxed I've ever seen him.” JJ said looking at me, I smiled remembering our conversation that morning.

“You know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her.” Kie tried to get back to the point.

“Stop talking about me like I'm not here!” Sarah tried to defend herself, I felt a little bad that we seemed to be ganging up on her.

“Then leave.” Kie stated.

“I told you.” Sarah turned to John B, scoffing at Kie’s comment.

“Told him what, exactly?” She asked, getting even angrier. “That you're a liar?”

“No, that you're a shit-talking bitch.” Sarah yelled back.

“Okay” JJ exclaimed, as he covered Emmy’s ears. I knew I should take Emmy away but it wasn’t like she hadn’t heard these words and I really wanted to see what was going to happen.

“Everybody shut up!” John B shouted over everyone. “Kie, you are my best friend, right? And Sarah, you're… you're my…”

“Say it.” She smiled up at him.

“You're my girlfriend.” He finally said.

“Ohh... that's new.” I said, surprised he was getting so bold.

“She's your girlfriend now?” Kie asked in disbelief before she started ranting about how we were just going to use her.

“Look, love just walked in, okay?” John B explained.

“Oh, vomit.”

“I didn't expect it. It just... it kind of happened. And I'm not gonna deny it. Right?”

“That's corny.” Pope spoke up while JJ pretended to gag.

“Look, cut the bs, John B.” Kie said. “If she's in, I'm out.”

“I'm not doing this. I can't!” John B told her, it didn’t make sense how could he not choose Kie.

“You are gonna decide. I'm very interested, actually. Me or her?”

“Both.” My mouth hung open in shock at John B’s answer.

“Went for the Hail Mary.” JJ whistled lowly.

“Went for the Hail Gary.” Emmy parroted, making Pope and I laugh when she changed the name.

Meanwhile Kie and Sarah were done listening as they both stood getting ready to leave.

“It'll be cool, right?” Sarah asked John B. “I'm gonna leave. Gonna let y'all chat. Let me know.”

“I'd just like to say, you handled that beautifully.” I criticized John B.

“Yeah beautiful John B.” Emmy added with a smile and I wasn’t sure if she understood any of what had just happened.

🔅🔆🔅

Emmy was playing on the porch as I watched her while I sat under the kitchen window which was opened, the boys were in the kitchen and I could hear them from outside. I watched Pope walk back from the dock where he had been talking to Kie. We made eye contact as he walked past me, he shook his head telling me that the talk had not gone as well as it could have.

“What'd she say?” John B asked.

“That you're an idiot.” Pope stated plainly.

“It's a no-brainer. You're picking Kie.” JJ said exactly what I had been thinking.

“Look, I can't make a decision.” John B told them.

“We can't do this without Kie, and you know it.” Pope told him.

“And I can't do it without Sarah.” John B countered. “Okay? They both have to be in on it.”

“Well, good luck with that.” I yelled from outside.

“You know what? I know this was my fault, all right? But it's our problem. I've got a plan. And you two shitheads are gonna help me out.” John B said before he added a little louder. “And you too Iz!”

I held up my middle finger so he could see it from inside the kitchen. I couldn’t understand how he was roping us all in to fix his mistake, much less how we were all fine with it.

🔅🔆🔅

My Mom got home an hour later at which point we dropped off Emmy with her and took the HMS Pogue and Heyward’s boat out.

Pope had just left in the Pogue to go get Kie, John B was giving Sarah some kind of tour of the boat and JJ and I were sitting in the cab effectively deconstructing the alternator so that the boat’s engine wouldn’t be able to turn on.

“This may be John B’s worst plan yet.” I voiced my concerns as JJ passed me the plug he had just removed.

“Yeah probably.” He said going back to work.

“I just can't imagine this ending well.”

“What, you don’t want to stay behind to see how it goes down?” He asked.

“Hell no. I don’t want to watch them tear each other apart.”

“Huh, maybe I want to stay behind. Might be hot.” He joked.

“Stop. Don’t be gross.” I laughed at his mind which was almost always in the gutter.

“How’s it going?” John B asked us as he walked up by himself.

“Where’s Sarah?” I asked concerned where he had left her.

“Um, she’s just taking a look below deck.” He responded innocently.

I was getting ready to respond when we heard Pope and Kie pull up and Kie get onboard.

I stood up with the parts JJ had given me behind my back, I walked past Kie as she started talking to the boys, then I headed towards the back of the boat before I hopped into the Pogue where Pope was waiting.

“How’d it go?” He asked.

“I’d say it went alright.” I responded holding up the alternator plugs.

“This is not going to end well.” Pope said, shaking his head as we put a little distance between the two boats.

“That’s what I told JJ.” I responded as we watched the boys jump off the side of the boat and begin to swim towards us.

Kie appeared a moment later with Sarah by her side as they both started screaming at us, telling us to come back.

“There's food in the cabin, and JJ rolled a blunt.” John B yelled as we got further away.

“Hydroponic!” JJ added.

We watched as Sarah jumped in the water trying to swim towards us.

“Godspeed!” Pope called from over his shoulder as we sped away from the two girls who despised each other. I couldn’t help but wonder if this would really work.

John B figured he should head back to the Cameron’s and try to cover up the fact that Sarah was not coming back that night, so we dropped him off first. Then Pope was dropped off and JJ took over driving us back to the Château. At which point we parted ways before we could have any serious talks. I knew I was avoiding an inevitable conversation about where we stood after the kiss, but I thought maybe if I just put it off for a little longer I would find the right words to tell him how I felt. That or he would forget about it completely.

🔅🔆🔅

The next morning I woke up early to go pick everyone up. I assumed that JJ had stayed at the Château last night so before I left I made him a sandwich. He was already onboard the Pogue getting it ready when I made my way down to the dock.

“Morning’” He greeted me as I hopped onto the boat.

“Hey.” I responded, setting down my bag. “I made you a sandwich, figured you probably didn’t have any breakfast if you stayed at the Château.”

“Oh, thank you.” He smiled, taking the sandwich from me. “You want to drive so I can eat this?”

“Um okay.” I answered timidly. I wasn’t very good at driving on land or in water so I always felt a little nervous when people would ask if I wanted to drive.

“Don’t worry Sweetheart, I’ll be right here if you need help.” He reassured me, sitting down to eat.

I started the boat up and then we were off, as we made our way over to Pope’s dock I was beginning to feel confident in my abilities. That is until we got to Pope’s dock and I managed to scrape the side of the boat against it.

“Shit.” I muttered, cringing at the sound.

“That’s alright.” JJ tried to tell me. “We’re still floating so I consider this a success.”

“Woah, is that Isabella Bailer driving the HMS Pogue?” Pope asked with a look of shock on his face as he walked down the dock towards us.

“Yep you are in the presence of the newest Captain of the Outer Banks right now.” JJ stated as if I were a celebrity.

“Yeah and I only almost crashed once today.” I bragged as we left the dock.

“Wow that makes me feel really comfortable, thanks.” Pope teased, while I sped up the boat and we headed over to Figure Eight to collect John B.

Docking the boat on the Cameron’s huge dock went a lot smoother. And after picking up John B we made our way to the marsh to pick up the girls. But as the Heyward’s boat loomed closer I realized I would have to dock to something that was moving around quite a bit and I started to lose my confidence.

“Okay JJ, time to take over.” I said switching places with him.

“You sure? I think you’ll be fine.” He stated, I didn’t understand how he had so much confidence in me.

“Yeah, I think I need a little more practice before I move into the big leagues.”

“Yeah maybe we don’t let the new Captain dock to my dad’s boat quite yet.” Pope reasoned from in front of us, still a little nervous about my driving. Before turning to look at the girls who stood on his father’s boat. “Uh-oh! You forget your keys or something?”

“You need a tow?” John B asked. “You gotta admit it was funny.”

“Mastermind, huh?” Kie asked.

“I'm always plannin'.” He responded as the girls got into the Pogue.

“We're both gonna get you back when you least expect it.” Sarah warned us.

“So, did you guys, you know…”

“Reconcile our differences?”

“Mm-mm. Not even close.” Kie added

“But we're... willing to work together. Mm.”

“You know what? That's victory.” John B concluded.

🔅🔆🔅

Late into the night after the sun went down we were pulling up to the Crain house again, ready to find gold. John B turned the van off before coming over to the side door so that we could confirm our plans before venturing into the yard.

“You got rope?” John B asked.

“Got it.” Pope responded, I looked at JJ who sat beside me and was gathering the giant bundle of rope over his shoulder.

“Grappling hook?” John B continued asking.

“No grappling hook.” I told him, turning my head to give him a look of confusion. “We're not Batman.”

“Alright” John B put up his hands in mock surrender before continuing on the checklist he was building in his mind. “Pulley?”

“Check.” Kie said holding up the pulley we had brought.

“Dark clothes?”

“Got it.” Sarah spoke up for us all.

“Flashlights?”

“Check.” JJ said while Pope and I held up all the flashlights we had been able to find.

“All right, good.” John B nodded, content with all the supplies we had brought. “We're ready.”

“Let's go get rich, guys.” JJ said while we all started moving towards the door.

“Wait, wait” John B stated, putting his hands up blocking our way. “I wanna say thank you, guys. Seriously. It means a lot to me that you're here tonight.”

“Always.” Sarah responded.

“Of course.” Kie added

“My man.” Pope patted John B’s shoulder.

We all took a moment smiling as John B looked around the van at all our friends. Everyone was proud of all we had done and I hoped John B knew how much we all cared.

“All right, we done with the circle jerk? Can we go do this?” JJ interrupted the sweet moment we were all sharing.

“Yep that was right on time.” I said not surprised that JJ was impatiently waiting for us to move on.

“Let's get that wheat in the water.” Pope told us as we all climbed out of the van with our gear in hand.

“Weed? I'm up for weed.” JJ said while I closed the van door behind him.

“Wheat. I said wheat.” Pope tried to explain to the boy who always seemed to be ready to get high at a moment's notice.

🔅🔆🔅

After we had all gathered on the other side of the stone wall we began making the trek towards the house. I wasn’t sure which was worse, visiting the house in the day with more threat of being caught or going at night and not being able to see what ever could be lurking around every corner. I tried to stick close to the rest of the group but somehow had gotten stuck at the back. My eyes played tricks on me as I tried to stay focused on getting to the basement but couldn’t help but check behind me every so often.

JJ seemed to notice me constantly looking back as he walked just ahead of me, he grabbed my hand and pulled me a little closer so I was walking beside him rather than behind. I tried to focus on my steps rather than all the stories my mind was thinking up. All the fear that I was pushing down suddenly came bubbling back up as a light from the porch flashed on suddenly.

“Shit!” I heard Sarah squeal as we all dropped to the ground trying to conceal ourselves in the thick trees.

“Flashlights!” Kie reminded us as we all turned off the lights we were carrying.

“It's on strobe!” JJ exclaimed beside me struggling to get his head light off. I moved quickly to turn off the light that was now tangled in his hair.

“You need to learn how to turn off a flashlight.” I reprimanded him as the group was swept into darkness.

“Shh!” JJ reminded me pointing towards the porch, but I think he was really just trying to stop me from lecturing him.

“Okay, so she has motion sensor lights.” Pope pointed out the obvious.

“We could, uh... move really slowly, maybe?” JJ suggested.

“What?” Sarah asked, it was clear from her reaction that she had not spent much time around JJ.

“That's not how it works.” Pope told him.

“Oh, shit. Let's throw a rock at it.” John B exclaimed as if that was any better than JJ’s suggestion.

“That's a really good idea. Let the axe murderer know that we're here.” Kie spoke up sarcastically.

“You have a better idea?”

“Literally anything but that.”

“What about the breaker? In the circuit box on the porch. We used to play hide-and-seek here as kids.” I asked, recalling back to the years when I used to lived on Figure Eight. “And if someone was brave enough, they’d go all the way up to the porch.”

“Did you ever get up there?” JJ asked.

“Hell no I don’t even want to be here now..” I responded and even as I said it I still wondered what had really happened in the house.

“I've seen it.” Sarah spoke over our conversation.

“No, no. You're not going in the house alone.” John B said protectively.

“Watch me.” She challenged standing up.

“I'll go with you.” Kie stood up beside her.

“We'll wait for your signal.” Pope told them, not moving from his spot. “Iz, you want to join them?”

“Yeah Iz, we’ll make it a girl’s trip.” Kie joked.

“No, I think I’m good here. Away from the murder house.” I told her nervously. “But thanks.”

“Hey! Be safe.” John B called out to them as the pair snuck away from us.

“We will.” Sarah reassured him.

I watched the pair sneak onto the front porch while I listened to JJ and Pope tease John B beside me.

“Be safe.” JJ said to Pope, turning his head.

“I'll be so safe.” Pope responded by putting a hand on JJ's cheek. “I'll be safe for you.”

“Can you guys stop? I'm gonna kill you.” John B threatened holding up his flashlight.

“But how would that keep us safe?” I asked, feeling a little less scared as we all teased John B.

It felt like hours passed as we waited for the two to shut off the power but in reality it was only a couple minutes before the porch light went dark and we turned our flashlights back on.

As the four of us that remained snuck into the basement, I began to feel some of the fear I felt be replaced with excitement. We were about to find out if the gold really did exist. We were possibly about to become richer than we could ever imagine.

“Down came Mrs. Crain And cut off all our heads. Up came the sun And dried up all the blood.” I sang the tune that JJ had come up with earlier, as we all set down the gear we had brought with us.

“Really Iz?” Pope asked in a disappointed voice as he shone a flashlight in my face.

“What? JJ got it stuck in my head.” I tried to defend myself, looking over at JJ who had a proud smile on his face.

“Holy crap, you know what this is? It just hit me. Iz, look.” JJ said pointing into the well excitedly as I began to pass Pope rope so he could set up the pulley. “This is C.H.U.D. Full C.H.U.D.”

“What is he talking about?” John B asked me confusion covering his features as I rolled my eyes.

“Cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers.” I responded, remembering the movie that JJ had made me watch a couple months ago. “It’s a creepy ass movie.”

“Have you guys not seen that film?” JJ asked the boys, surprised. “It's actually a good film.”

“No it’s not.” I told him, shaking my head.

“It's about cannibals that live in the sewers and under New York City, and it's like…” JJ continued.

“Shut up! Shut up!” John B finally interrupted, not wanting to hear the entire plot. “All right. How deep do you think this is, Pope?”

“I don't know.” He told us truthfully, while we set up the rope.

🔅🔆🔅

After securing John B to one end of the rope he was ready to be lowered into the well. Pope and JJ were both focusing on letting John B go down smoothly while I was standing next to the pile of rope making sure it remained untangled. Just before John B walked to the edge of the well he handed me the keys to the van. I gave him a look of confusion while placing them in my pocket.

“Incase we need to go for help.” He explained to me. “You know I’ll be down in the well.”

“Yeah so give the keys to the worst driver. Another solid plan brought to you by John B Routledge.” I teased while he started his descent.

“Hey, boys. I have one request.”

“Yeah?” The pair beside me asked.

“Don't drop me.”

“Whoa!” JJ exclaimed, jumping so that John B dropped slightly.

“Okay…” I sighed after my heart stopped for a moment, I wasn’t sure I would survive this trip.

“You're gonna die first, for sure.” John B started telling him, sounding just as startled as me.

“All right, just keep payin' it out nice and slow like that.” Pope instructed.

“Keep goin'.” I heard John B tell us, reassuring me that he was alright.

“Wait, hold on one second. I'm gonna get situated.” JJ said pausing and trying to readjust his grip.

“You good?” Pope asked, turning to look back.

Just as he asked the rope slipped and we all dove to catch it before John B dropped.

“Oh, shit!” I huffed once we all had a grip on the rope again.

“I told you not to drop me!” John B yelled at us from inside the well. “What the hell was that?”

“Little technical difficulties.” JJ brushed off the incident.

“Keep going, slow!” John B instructed.

“Okay, we're gonna start paying you out again, all right?” Pope explained.

Now with my added help the three of us worked to lower John B to the bottom.

After a minute or so I looked back at the pile of rope which was getting quite small.

“Hey. Hey, we got like 15 feet left.” I said, trying to warn the boys.

“Are you getting close to the bottom?” Pope asked hopefully. I couldn’t hear his response but Pope instructed us to keep letting out more rope.

“Whoa! Stop!” I heard from the bottom.

“You want back up?” Pope asked.

“Keep goin', I guess…” John B told us hesitantly. “Okay, okay! I'm at bottom.”

“How is it down there?” I asked, moving to peer into the well now that the rope was not holding any weight.

“It's worse than I thought.” John B answered, I could only see the light of his flashlight as we waited for him to explore the bottom of the well.

“You find any gold?” JJ asked.

“Uh, nothin' yet. Wait. I think I felt something with my foot.”

It was silent for a moment then I heard him mutter something I couldn’t quite catch before he began screaming

“JJ! Hey, pull me up! Pull me up! Come on, man! Go!”

“Pull him up! Come on, pull him up!” Pope echoed John B’s plea as we all grabbed a hold of the rope again.

We all struggled to get him back up while we listened to rocks splashing into the water. It almost sounded like the wall was caving in. As we listened to more rocks crumble at the bottom I couldn’t imagine anything good was happening.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Wait!” John B started calling to us. “Hey, I think I found something.”

“What'd you say?” Pope asked as the rope once again went slack in our hands.

“Just give me a minute. Hold on.” John B instructed, this time when I peered over his light had disappeared from view as if he had left the well.

“John B, you okay?” I yelled down, my concern growing as none of us could see anything at the bottom.

“Any dead bodies?” JJ added.

There was no response as we all gathered around the well helplessly and waited for John B. I began to wonder what had happened to the girls as I figured they should have met up with us by now.

As if on cue the two girls came barreling through the door following a loud gunshot.

“Mrs. Crain! She's up there!” Kie tried to explain while catching her breath.

“She tried to kill us with a fire poker.” Sarah added. “We gotta go. We locked her in the parlor, but we gotta go.”

As we all tried to call John B who was yelling from the bottom of the well, I couldn’t make out what he was saying as we all tried to get him back on the rope.

“Hey, John B! Get back on the rope. We're gonna pull you back up, okay, buddy?” Pope explained as we all got a grip on the rope.

Just as John B was getting close to the top Mrs. Crain made her way into the basement, shotgun in hand. It was clear she couldn’t aim but we all still ducked at every shot she made. When we saw John B’s hands reach the edge of the well I let out a sigh of relief.

I grabbed JJ’s arm as we all made a run for it. I had never run this fast in my life as I led the group towards the van. I reached for the keys in my pocket as we ran, holding them out hoping that JJ would take them.

“Go start the van.” JJ urged me as we approached the stone wall. I hoped over and as I turned back to hand him the keys no one was there. Realized he was waiting for the others I raced around to the driver’s side as more gunshots echoed through the yard behind me.

A moment passed before he flung open the passenger door and our friends piled into the back of the van.

“Iz, we gotta go.” Pope reminded me, snapping me out of my trance I put the car into drive before speeding off.

I let out a deep breath trying to calm my nerves as I drove us off into the night.

“Just focus on the road, you’ll do fine.” JJ reminded me knowing how much I disliked driving. I had never been good at driving and it always made me feel nervous knowing that I was in charge of more than just myself, which is why I often elected to be a passenger rather than be the driver.

“Oh, my God!” Kie exclaimed as we all let out a sigh of relief as the distance between us and the Crain house grew.

“Are you okay? Are you shot? You good?” JJ asked, turning to look back.

“Yeah, yeah.” John B muttered.

“I think I'd know if I was shot, right?” Kie asked us all. “God, you smell like ass. What the hell just happened?”

“All-time Pogue Hall of Fame, baby.” JJ shouted excitedly.

“Hell, yeah.”

“That bitch is possessed.” Sarah cried out.

“How does she move that fast?” Pope questioned.

“She's possessed.” Kie confirmed.

The van got quiet for a minute as Sarah noticed John B holding something.

“What is that? No, you didn't!” She demanded with a smile.

“We did it, baby!” John B exclaimed.

“No, you didn't!” The Pogues started yelling, getting curious I looked back to see the gold bars that John B was holding up.

“Oh, my God!” I uttered in disbelief.

“Hey hands on the wheel.” JJ scolded me realizing we were drifting into the other lane.

“Holy shit! Guys, we're gonna be rich!” Kie told us as we all continued to scream.

“Full Kook!” John B called out as we all began chanting.

“Full Kook! Full Kook! Full Kook! Full Kook!”

As our cheers died down, everyone in the back began to discuss how exactly we were going to get the rest of the gold out.

“We’re moving to Hawaii, Sweetheart.” I heard JJ whisper in my ear as his hand came down to rest on my thigh.

The smile on my face grew as I spared a look at him before focusing back on the road. And as I drove us back to the Cut I thought about the future. Our future.

🔅🔆🔅

#outerbanks #outer banks #jj maybank #jj obx #obx #jj x oc #jj maybank x oc #jj x reader #jj maybank x reader